they'll often hit you over the head to find out where you hide your! money." '} Chilke's appearance, while not at all remarkable, combined an unobtrusive flamboyance with a droll corded face. His features wercj weather-beaten and somewhat irregular, under a coarse and tattered^ crop of short dust-colored hair. He stood at average stature, with a:

short neck and heavy shoulders which caused him to hunch slightly;

forward.

Chiike described himself as a farm boy from the Big Prairie.

He spoke so feelingly of his old home, the neat little prairie towns and the wide windy landscapes that Glawen inquired if he ever planned to" return.

"Indeed I do," said Chiike.

"But only after I've amassed a fortune. When I left they called me a vagabond and threw rocks after the car. I want to return in style, with a band playing and girls dancing ahead of me throwing rose petals in the street." Chiike thought back over' the years.

"All taken with all, I suspect that the consensus was correct.

Not that I vas mean and vicious; I just took after Grandpa Swaner, on my mother's side. The Chilkes never thought highly of the Swaners, who were felt to be society folk from the city and hence worthless. Grandpa Swaner was also considered a vagabond. He liked to deal in junk: purple bric-a-brac, stuffed animals, old books and documents, petrified dinosaur droppings. He had a collection of glass eyes of which he was very proud. The Chilkes laughed and jeered, sometimes behind his back, sometimes not. He wasn't troubled in the least, especially after he sold the glass eyes to a fervent collector for a princely sum. The Chilkes stopped laughing and began looking around for glass eyes of their own.

"Grandpa Swaner was a canny old bird, no question about it, and' always turned a handsome profit on his deals. The Chilkes finally had to stop calling him names out of embarrassment. I was his favorite. He gave me a beautiful Atlas of the Gaean Worlds for my birthday. It was an enormous book, two feet high by three feet wide and six inches thick, with Mercator maps of all the settled worlds. Whenever Grandpa Swaner came upon an item of interesting information regarding one of these worlds he'd paste it to the back of the map. When I was sixteen he took me to Tamar, Capella Nine, aboard a Gateway Line packet. It was the first time I'd been off-world and I was never the same again.

"Grandpa Swaner belonged to a dozen professional societies, including the Naturalist Society. I vaguely remember him telling me of a world at the end of Mircea's Wisp which the Naturalists kept as a preserve for wild animals. I wondered if the animals appreciated what was being done for them, so that they would abstain from eating people like Grandpa Swaner. I was just an innocent kindly child. Strange to say, here I am now, still innocent and kindly, at Araminta Station."

"How did you happen to come here?"

"That's a peculiar story, and I haven't sorted it out yet.

There are two or three puzzling coincidences which are very hard to explain."

"How so? I'm something of a vagabond myself, and I'm interested."

Chiike was amused by the remark.

"The story starts off sedately enough. I was working as a tour-bus operator out of Seven Cities, on John Preston's World." Chiike told how he became aware of "a big white-skinned lady wearing a tall black hat" who joined Chilke's morning tour four days in succession. At last she engaged him in conversation, commenting favorably upon his amiable manner and sympathetic conduct.

"It's nothing special: just my stock-in-trade," said Chiike modestly.

The lady introduced herself as Madame Zigonie, a widow from Rosalia, a world to the back of the Pegasus Rectangle. After a few minutes of conversation she suggested that Chiike join her for lunch:

an invitation which Chiike saw no reason to refuse.

Madame Zigonie selected a fine restaurant where they were served an excellent lunch. During the meal she encouraged Chiike to talk of his early years on the Big Prairie and the general facts of his family background. Presently the focus of the conversation in.shifted and touched upon a number of various subjects. As if on sudden impulse, Madame Zigonie revealed to Chiike that she was conscious within herself of strong clairvoyant powers which she ignored only at grave risk to herself and her fortunes.

"Perhaps you have wondered at my

manifest interest in you," she told Chilke.

"The fact is that I must hire an overseer for my ranch, and this mysterious inner voice insisted that you were the right and proper person for the position."

"Interesting!" said Chilke.

"I'm an old farm boy, no question as to that. I hope that your inner voice recommends a high salary."

"Adequately high," said Madame Zigonie.

"Shadow Valley Ranch comprises twenty-two thousand square miles with a hundred or more employees. It is a responsible post. I can offer a salary often thousand sols per year, along with travel and living expenses."

"Hm," said Chilke.

"It sounds like an important job. The proper salary would seem to be twenty thousand sols: less than a sol per square mile, which I consider a bargain."

Madame Zigonie said decisively: "The salary is not reckoned on that basis, since not every square mile needs careful supervision. Ten thousand sols is quite adequate. You will reside in a private bungalow, with ample room for all your belongings. It is important to be surrounded by one's little treasures; don't you think?"

"Absolutely."

"You will find conditions quite congenial," said Madame Zigonie.

"I shall see to it personally."

Chilke spoke with great earnestness: "I want to reassure you in regard to a rather delicate matter. Never fear that I might become overfamiliar! Never, never, never!"

"You are remarkably emphatic!" said Madame Zigonie coldly.

"The possibility had never occurred to me."

"It is wise to be clear on these things, if only for your peace of mind. You need expect nothing from me except dignified and formal conduct. The fact is, I am sworn to celibacy, and I am already married, to boot. Also, if the truth be known, I am somewhat underpowered, shall we say, which makes me nervous and flighty when ladies get too friendly. Hence, you may rest easy in this regard."

Madame Zigonie gave her head a toss which almost dislodged her tall black hat. She noticed Chilke staring at her forehead, and quickly rearranged the russet curls which fringed her face.

"That is only a birthmark you see; pay it no heed."

"Just so. It is rather like a tattoo."

"No matter." Madame Zigonie carefully adjusted her hat.

"I

take it that you will accept the post?"

"Regarding the salary, fifteen thousand sols would seem a nice compromise."

"It would also seem an inordinate sum for a person of your inexperi'Oh?" Chiike raised his eyebrows.

"What does your clairvoyant power tell you in this regard?"

"It inclines to the same opinion."

"In that case, let us abandon the entire idea." Chiike rose to his feet.

"I thank you for the lunch and for an interesting conversation. Now, if you will excuse me--" "Not so fast," snapped Madame Zigonie.