or. But
a smothered nearby gasp caused his head to jerk up. He met the
incredulous stare of a paunchy, heavy-jowled man seated some chairs
away. There was more than incredulity, there was furtive fear in the
small beady eyes sunken in folds of fat.

Hilary gave way to unreasoning anger.

"Stop looking like a stuck pig," he called sharply. "Give me a hand
with this poor fellow."

The response was surprising. The man got up from his chair
precipitately, stark panic written all over him. The sweat oozed from
his shiny forehead as he backed cautiously away. He tripped over the
edge of the seat behind, and fell. Once more he scrambled to his feet,
and as if the fall had released his trembling muscles, he turned and
ran, stumbling and dodging across the local conveyors, never once
looking back.

* * * * *

Hilary watched his mad flight wonderingly. "Good Lord," he thought,
"does my face frighten people so? Maybe I've turned into a Martian."

He turned to appeal to the others on the conveyor, and received
another shock. The few men within earshot were already on their feet
and moving away from there with unostentatious celerity. Hilary
surveyed their receding backs thoughtfully. What was there about
himself to frighten grown men out of their wits? Or was it the poor
tortured wretch he was trying to release who was responsible for the
exodus?

Already the express was almost clear. He saw the deserters throwing
themselves guiltily into seats on the local belts, and then he was
carried swiftly past. Only one man remained stubbornly in his seat,
some fifteen rows back. He was a huge mountain of a man, a giant upon
Earth, and there was a strangeness in his wide stare.

Hilary frowned, then shook his head, and dropped down to his task
again. The blind man moaned and jerked as he felt the bite of stellite
upon his fetters. Hilary made soothing sounds, forgetful that he could
not hear, and worked steadily. There was a little clinking noise and
the links that bound the arms fell apart. He attacked the leg shackles
next.

There was a tap on Hilary's shoulder, light, electric, yet strangely
heavy in its implications. Hilary turned his head sharply, saw the
landscape blotted out by a huge overshadowing bulk. Five years in a
hostile universe had made him cautious. He pivoted on his heels and
rose in a single flowing motion, stellite blade ready for instant
action.

CHAPTER II

_The Stra