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try to meet any more storms a long way from land, if I were you."
"Right," Barlennan agreed. "The difficulty in a sea you don't know is being
sure where you stand in that respect Perhaps you would tell us the disposition
of lands in this sea? Or would you, perhaps, have charts you could provide us
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with? I
should have thought to ask before."
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"Our charts of these islands, of course, are secret," the interpreter replied.
"You should be out of the group in forty or fifty days, however, and then
there is no land for some thousands of days' sail to the south. I do not know
your ship's speed, so I
cannot guess just when you are likely to make it. Such lands as there are are
mostly islands at first; then the coast of the land you crossed turns east,
and if you keep straight south you will encounter it at about " He gave an
expression which referred to a spring-balance reading, and corresponded to
about forty-five Earth gravities of latitude. "I could tell you about many of
the countries along that coast, but it would take a long time. I can sum it up
by saying that they will probably trade rather than fight-though some will
undoubtedly do their best not to pay for what they get."
"Will any of them assume we are spies?" Barlennan asked pleasantly.
"There is that risk, naturally, though few have secrets worth stealing.
Actually they will probably try to steal yours, if they know you have any. I
should not advise your discussing the matter of flying while there."
"We did not plan to," Barlennan assured him, with glee that he managed to
conceal. "We thank you for the advice and information." He gave the order to
hoist the anchor, and for the first time Reejaaren noticed the canoe, now
trailing once more at the end of its towrope and loaded with food.
"I should have noticed that before," the interpreter said. Then I would never
have doubted your story of coming from the south. How did you get that from
the natives?" In the answer to this question Barlennan made his first serious
mistake in dealing with the islander.
"Oh, we brought that with us; we frequently use them for carrying extra
supplies. You will notice that its shape makes it easy to tow." He had picked
up his elementary notions of streamlining from Lackland not too long after
acquiring the canoe.
"Oh, you developed that craft in your country too?" the interpreter asked
curiously. "That is interesting; I had never seen one in the south. May I
examine it, or do you not have time? We have never bothered to use them
ourselves." Barlennan hesitated, suspecting this last statement to be a
maneuver of the precise sort he himself had been employing; but he saw no harm
in complying, since Reejaaren could learn nothing more from a close
examination than he could from where he was.
After all, it was the canoe's shape that was important, and anyone could see
that. He allowed the
Bree to drift closer inshore, pulled the canoe to him with the tow-rope, and
gave it a push toward the waiting islander. Reejaaren plunged into the bay and
swam out to the little vessel when it ran aground, in a few inches of liquid.
The front part of his body arched upward to look into the canoe; powerful
pincer-tipped arms poked at the sides. These were of ordinary wood, and
yielded springily to the pressure; and as they did so the islander gave a hoot
of alarm that brought the four gliders in the air swinging toward the
Bree and the shore forces up to full alertness.
"Spies!" he shrieked. "Bring your ship aground at once, Barlennan if that is
your real name. You are a good liar, but you have lied yourself into prison
this time!"
XIV: THE TROUBLE WITH HOLLOW BOATS
Barlennan had been told at various times during his formative years that he
was someday pretty sure to talk himself into more trouble than he could talk
himself out of. At various later times during his career this prediction had
come alarmingly close to fulfillment, and each time he had resolved to be more
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careful in future with his tongue. He felt the same way now,
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together with an injured feeling arising from the fact that he did not yet
know just what he had said that had betrayed his mendacity to .the islander.
He did not have time to theorize over it, either; something in the line of
action was called for, the quicker the better. Reejaaren had already howled
orders to the glider crews to pin the
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