Jim turned his gaze on the man with slowly dawning wonderment, and would have spoken, but was interrupted by Conley: "Jim, we thought we'd head up into the Cap in the morning, four or five of us. Wessel wanted to leave several days ago, but I insisted on waiting for you. However, I can't say how far north we'll be going. It all depends on the radite traces." "Thanks, Conley, I really appreciate it. All I know about this Polar Cap is what I saw flying over it. What do we do, make the trek afoot?" "Afoot, he says!" Wessel scoffed before Conley could answer. "Man, what a lot you've got to learn yet about that country up there!" "No," Conley answered, with a distasteful glance at Wessel. "Most men who've tried it afoot have not come back. We're trying it with a couple of sleds. Motor-driven, of course, of very little metal alloy. Furnished benignantly by Tri-Planet Mining, since it's to their advantage that we find new radite deposits." The slight scorn in his voice was not lost on Wessel. "We figure it'll be a two or three day trip each way." "But of course," Wessel said suavely, "if we find M'Tonak or any other cities up there with big fabulous emeralds, we'll forget about the radite." Jim was fast learning to dislike this man; he turned to Conley. "I think I'll see this Martian you were telling me about, the one who accompanied my brother." "Kaarji? Sure. I'll go fetch him." "Better take me to him instead, I'd rather talk to him alone." * * * * * As Conley had said, Kaarji wasn't of much help. The tall, leathery, heavy-chested Martian was even more taciturn than the usual members of his race. He seemed to show a distrust of Jim. However, he did agree to accompany Jim across the mile strip of desert to Frank Landor's mine nestled against the hills. As they trudged through the sand in silence, Jim glanced occasionally at Kaarji. He was sure he had made it plain that he was Frank Landor's brother. The Martian wasn't dumb, he knew why Jim was here. With a friendly and almost instinctive gesture Jim offered the Martian a cigarette. Kaarji accepted it, looked at it with distaste as though he had tried them before and abhorred them; but he placed it clumsily in his lips nevertheless and smoked it valiantly. At the same time he reached into his pocket and handed Jim a few tiny purplish objects. Jim accepted them, looked at them and shuddered. He had heard of Martian _tsith_ stems and knew that they made almost all Earthmen violently ill. Nevertheless he plopped them into his mouth and began chewing. Kaarji looked at him approvingly and gave a grotesque smile. As though the Earthman's act were a signal, he began talking. "I don't like it in town," Kaarji said. "Too many Earthmen. I like it over here." "At Frank's mine, you mean?" "Yes. Frank Landor was a fine man. I am sorry he did not come back." "Perhaps he will come back," Jim suggested. But Kaarji shook his head.