ing to do? Live
in a lonely shack and read books for kicks? Because you were a man, you
sought out a woman. And because she was a woman, she got a kid, and that
was the end of it. It was nobody's fault, nobody's at all.

He stared at the red eye of Mars low in the southwest. They were running
out there now, and next year he would have been on the long long run ...

But there was no use thinking about it. Next year and the years after
belonged to _little_ Hogey.

He sat there with his feet locked in the solid concrete of the footing,
staring out into Big Bottomless while his son's cry came from the house
and the Hauptman menfolk came wading through the tall grass in search of
someone who had cried out. His feet were stuck tight, and he wouldn't
ever get them out. He was sobbing softly when they found him.

Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from _Fantastic Universe_ September 1955.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and
typographical errors have been corrected without note.

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