no lightning
played along the mountain ridges and the blaze of the sun was so bright
and clear that one could hardly believe in the fantastic happenings of
that swamp clearing where men had fought with weapons not made by hands.
The three from the _Queen_ moved away from the parapet to meet the Chief
Ranger as he came down the stairs.

"A messenger has just arrived. The hunter was hunted indeed, and his
going was witnessed by many--though they did not see those which hunted
him. Lumbrilo is dead; he came to his end by the Great River."

Jellico started. "But that is almost fifty miles from the swamp, on this
side of the mountain!"

"He was hunted and he fled--as you promised," Asaki said to Tau. "You
made strong magic, off-world man."

The medic shook his head slowly. "I but turned his own methods against
him. Because he believed in his power, that same power, reflected back,
broke him. Had I been facing one who did not believe...." He shrugged.
"Our first meeting set the pattern. From that moment he feared a little
that I could match him, and his uncertainty pierced a hole in his
armor."

"Why on earth did you want 'Terra Bound?'" burst out Dane, still seeking
an explanation for that one small mystery among the others.

Tau chuckled. "In the first place, that blasted tune has haunted us all
for so long that I knew its rhythm was probably the one you could keep
to without hardly knowing that you were beating it out. And, in the
second place, its alien pattern was a part of our particular background,
to counteract Lumbrilo's native Khatkan music, which was certainly a big
factor in _his_ stage setting. He must have believed that we would not
find out about the drugged water and so would be prepared for any
fantasy he cared to produce. When they saw us coming out over the swamp
they counted us easy takings. His practice had always been with
Khatkans, and he judged us by their reactions to stimuli he knew well
how to use. So he failed...."

Asaki smiled. "Which was good for Khatka but ill for Lumbrilo and those
using him to make mischief here. The poacher and the outlaw Hunters will
meet with our justice, which I do not believe they will relish. But the
other two, the spaceman and the company agent, are to be sent to Xecho
to face Combine authorities. It is my thought that those will not accept
kindly the meddling of another company in their territory."

Jellico grunted. "Kindness and Combine are widely separated