"Come, now!" cried Aries.

"That's not good enough! We want an answer, and we want it straight and for the record!

Because I know very well you tell old Bodwyn Wook everything that goes on."

Glawen gave a stony shrug and turned away. Aries took his shoulder and whirled him around.

"Answer, if you don't mind!

We want to know whether you are a spy or not!"

"I am an officer in Bureau B," said Glawen.

"What, if anything, I report to my superiors is official business, which I am not free to discuss."

Aries gave Glawen's shoulder a shake.

"That is not what I asked you!"

Glawen pushed away Aries' hand.

"You are becoming very tiresome, Aries."

Kirdy came forward.

"Come, now! Let's not quarrel and spoil the whole day!"

"Bah!" cried Jardine.

"The day is already spoiled!"

"And I say Glawen is responsible," cried Aries in a passion.

"Answer me, Glawen! Do you inform on us or don't you? Give us a straight answer! Or consider yourself expelled from the Bold Lions!"

"Expelled? Bah! I resign from your drunken group!"

"That's good to hear, but it's still not an answer." Aries reached again to seize Glawen's shoulder; Glawen thrust the arm away. Aries struck out with his other fist, buffeting Glawen glancingly on the neck. Glawen drove one fist into Aries' belly and struck up at Aries' heavy chin, hurting his own knuckles. Aries snorted in fury and lurched forward, windmilling blows. Glawen backed away. Kiper, squatting on the sand, cleverly thrust out his foot; Glawen tripped and fell. Aries rushed forward and kicked Glawen in the ribs, and tried to do so again, but Kirdy intervened and pushed him aside.

"Come, now!" said Kirdy sternly.

"Let's have fair play!

Kiper, that was a rotten act."

"Not if he's a spy!"

"Quite right!" panted Aries.

"This smirking little sneak deserves nothing better! Allow me just one more good kick, where it will do the most good!"

"Absolutely not," said Kirdy.

"Now, stand back, or you'll be dealing with me as well. As far as the wine is concerned, Glawen obviously had nothing to do with it. No one knew what was up but Jardine and myself."

"He probably heard you talking."

Glawen picked himself up, conscious of a sharp pain in his side. He contemplated Aries, standing ten feet away and watching him with a grin. Glawen turned and limped away: up the beach to the Clattuc power wagon. He climbed into the seat and drove back to Araminta Station.

From Clattuc House he called Bodwyn Wook by telephone.

"I am no longer a Bold Lion."

"Oh? How so?"

"Jardine Laverty tried to steal a cask of wine and was caught in the act. Aries accused me of informing. We had some words, and I was expelled from the Bold Lions, which is easily worth a kick in the ribs."

"Confound and blast," said Bodwyn Wook.

"There go my plans."

Glawen thought it wise to hold his tongue. Bodwyn Wook made thoughtful hissing sounds through his teeth.

"I take it you do not care to rejoin?"

"That is correct."

Bodwyn Wook slapped his hand gently down on the desk.

"You shall still go to Yipton, and in the company of the Bold Lions. Kirdy will invite you. It may work out just as well."

"Whatever you say."

Two ferries plied the route between Araminta Station and Yipton:

the old Spharagma, now dedicated to the transport of cargo and a few Yip laborers; and the new Faraz: a catamaran with comfortable accommodation for a hundred and fifty passengers. At speeds of forty to sixty miles an hour the Faros skated across the blue ocean, making the passage to Yipton in six to eight hours, laying over for the night and returning the next day, thus making three round trips each week.

A few days before the half-term holiday Jardine Laverty sheepishly sought out Glawen.

"In the matter of that ridiculous wine cask, I stand embarrassed. I find that Volmer simply happened to be working when he should have been off duty. You were most unfairly blamed and so, herewith, I tender my apologies. Words, I realize, are insufficient, but at the moment I can offer nothing else."

Glawen said stiffly; "I can't pretend to have happy memories of the event."

"Naturally not! It's a pity that you felt compelled to resign from the Bold Lions." Jardine hesitated, then went on somewhat lamely: "I

suppose that you could be reinstated if you so chose--though Aries might be a bit difficult."

"No, thank you," said Glawen.