without influence, without money,
didn't have a chance.

* * * * *

Grant had thought about that a good many times on his long trip across
the swamp, but he had worried more about how to dispose of his own
stones before Relegar got hold of him. He would of course have to use
deception. But how? If he could hide the stones some place he could go
on into The Pass empty-handed and pretend that he'd had the usual lack
of luck. Then he could see Netse, the Jovian fence, and make a deal
for protection. He'd have to give up half, but that was the easiest
way out, for Relegar would keep hands off if Netse got there first.

But where could he hide the stones? There was too much continual
volcanic subterranean activity in the swamp, and on what little dry
land Venus had it was doubtful that any hiding-place could be called
permanent. It might be solid today and swallowed by an earthquake
tomorrow.

The only real solution was to have somebody else keep them for a
while, Grant thought, and that was a discouraging thought, for whom
could he trust in The Pass even if he could reach them? For that
matter, who in The Pass would risk his life to help out Grant Russell,
the Hard-Luck Man of the Swamp?

He'd been known as a hard-luck man as far back as he could remember.
His parents had been killed in a rocket crash on a trip to Mars; he'd
been raised by one relative after another and they'd each one gotten
rid of him as soon as they could. Finally he had married a nice girl
and they had been happy until their daughter was born. Then the mother
had died.

Grant had gone to pieces for a while. When he came to, he was broke,
hungry, ragged. Then when it was too late he had become frantic over
the safety of his small daughter, Beth. He found that she was safe in
a child welfare home in New Jersey, but they would not release her to
him until he could pay what he owed for her care and have enough left
over to establish himself as a substantial citizen.

He had told her goodby. She was the image of her mother, and she had
held onto his hand as long as she could and said between sobs, "Daddy,
can we have a farm some day, and raise strawberries, and have just us
two? I don't want to be an orphan." He had gulped and said, "Sure,"
and then he had come to Venus. It was a new planet, largely
unexplored, full of opportunity.

That had been three years ago. Things had been tough at times but now
he could afford