prowler to know
that he understood; that for them in that moment the gulf of two hundred
and fifty light-years did not exist.

He stopped near it and squatted in the grass to begin binding up his
broken arm so the bones would not grate together. It watched him, then
it began to lick at its bloody shoulder; standing so close to him that
he could have reached out and touched it.

Again he felt the sense of wonder. They were alone together in the
glade, he and a prowler, each caring for his hurts. There was a bond
between them that for a little while made them like brothers. There was
a bridge for a little while across the gulf that had never been bridged
before....

When he had finished with his arm and the prowler had lessened the
bleeding of its shoulder it took a step back toward the ridge. He stood
up, knowing it was going to leave.

"I suppose the score is even now," he said to it, "and we'll never see
each other again. So good hunting--and thanks."

It made a sound in its throat; a queer sound that was neither bark nor
growl, and he had the feeling it was trying to tell him something. Then
it turned and was gone like a black shadow across the grass and he was
alone again.

He picked up his knife and bow and began the long, painful journey back
to the caves, looking again and again at the ridge behind him and
thinking: _They have a code of ethics. They fight for their
survival--but they pay their debts._

Ragnarok was big enough for both men and prowlers. They could live
together in friendship as men and dogs of Earth lived together. It might
take a long time to win the trust of the prowlers but surely it could be
done.

He came to the rocky trail that led to the caves and there he took a
last look at the ridge behind him; feeling a poignant sense of loss and
wondering if he would ever see the prowler again or ever again know the
strange, wild companionship he had known that day.

Perhaps he never would ... but the time would come on Ragnarok when
children would play in the grass with prowler pups and the time would
come when men and prowlers, side by side, would face the Gerns.

* * * * *

In the year that followed there were two incidents when a prowler had
the opportunity to kill a hunter on prowler territory and did not do so.
There was no way of knowing if the prowler in each case had been the one
he had saved from the cloudburst or if the prowlers, as a whole, were