, on
the trip out, had included the learning of the native language.

The sun was hot and Sweets wore only his shoes, trousers and a T shirt.
It seemed absurd that a sun that appeared no larger than an egg should
be so hot. But he knew it generated all that heat because it was a blue
sun and not one of the ordinary yellow-white type, as it appeared. The
deceptive appearance was caused by the heavy atmosphere that held out
the ultraviolet and the heat and light came in on the yellow band. Last
night, the darkness had had a dim violet haze.

The interview with Chief Faffin went quite smoothly. He received the
Earthmen with great cordiality and Sweets was certain that he detected
in the chieftain's manner more than mere courtesy. He seemed to have a
genuine liking for them. He accepted gravely the gyroscope top which
Bruckner had sent and agreed, without argument or reservations, to send
his men in search of the ores that matched the samples Sweets showed
him.

He would be happy to assist his friends, the _Lacigule_, the chief said.
_Lacigule_ was the natives' name for the Earthmen, used in both the
singular and the plural.

The same afternoon, a dozen natives brought samples of ores to the ship.
At Bruckner's orders, Sweets gave each native a comb from the ship's
supply of trading goods.

During the evening, Teller and his men set up a portable mass
spectograph separator at the mine site and, three days later, they had
the hold of the ship two-thirds full.

During all this time, the crew members had been restricted to the
vicinity of the spaceship and by the third day were showing signs of
unrest. They sent Sweets to talk with Bruckner and the captain.

"We'll be leaving here in a few days," Sweets told them. "It's been a
long trip out and it'll be another long trip back. The men feel they're
entitled to some fun before they go."

"That seems like a reasonable request," the captain said. "What do you
think, Mr. Bruckner?"

"It would be risky to let them mingle too freely with the natives,"
Bruckner advised. "We aren't familiar enough with the local customs. One
wrong move might spoil all the good will I've been able to build up so
far."

"Unless you let them have a little fun, you're going to be awfully
unpopular," Sweets said. Without knowing it, he was something of a
psychologist himself.

"Hmmm." Bruckner was thoughtful. "I'm for the men," he said finally.
"One hundred per cent. Let's say we wait until t