ected of him and his crew--when he saw
Hanlon several times correct the sorters who had left too much rock in
with the ores--he turned to leave.

"You'll hear the siren when the shift's over," he said. "Bring your gang
back and lock 'em in the stockade then. Be sure you lock both gates
carefully."

"Cookie gave me a lunch for half-time," Hanlon said. "What about the
natives? Do they eat then, too?"

"Naw, they don't eat," was the surprising answer. "Once a day they stick
their hands into the dirt for nearly an hour. Must get nourishment that
way."

"That seems to prove they're vegetable matter. Their fingers must be
some sort of feeding roots," Hanlon observed sagely. "They sure are the
strangest beings I've ever heard of."

The superintendent shrugged and left without further words.

Hanlon looked about and found a rock near the sorters, and used this for
a seat. He sat watching the natives work, and speculating about them,
and also about what this was all about. The mine seemed to him a very
rich one, and by using slave labor those men could well be reaping a
huge fortune from it. No wonder they could afford to pay guards a
thousand a month.

After a bit one of the natives, seeing Hanlon merely sitting there
instead of being alertly on guard close to them, dropped its shovel and
turned away from its work. Hanlon got up leisurely, but walked
purposefully over to confront the Greenie. He smiled and motioned the
native back to work.

The Greenie's face showed surprise at Hanlon's action, but it made no
move to go. It did, however, appear to be keeping its eyes alertly on
that dread shock-rod hanging loosely in Hanlon's hand. The guard could
see that the others had also stopped work, and were carefully watching
the little drama.

Hanlon smiled and again motioned the native back to work, and when it
did not move, he reached out, grasped it gently by the shoulder and,
still gently, pushed it in the direction of its shovel, with what was
really a pat on the back.

There were looks of surprise that amounted almost to stupefaction on the
faces of all the natives. The one who had first stopped now picked up
its shovel and resumed work, and the rest followed its example. Hanlon
resumed his seat, still with that friendly smile on his face. He noticed
with satisfaction that they were soon working harder and faster than
before the incident.

"I was right," he told himself almost smugly.

The six hour shift was fina