Kir-Um reminded Harl of their determination by pinching his nostrils together and, assured of Harl's co-operation, resumed the questioning of the youth. "Do you have a _Joke_ with you now, creature?" he asked curiously. "You bet," Joe replied. "I'm lousy with 'em. Wanta hear one? I got one that'll simply kill you." The Martians recoiled in terror. "No," Kir-Um said sternly. "We do not wish to have the _Joke_ demonstrated on us. The first suspicious move you make, Earthling, and you are dead. You may exhibit the _Joke_ and operate it, if you wish, but do not direct it at us, for your life." "Okay," Joe agreed amiably. "I'll just give you sort of a sample. Here goes: Why did the moron plant dynamite in the dairy? He wanted to see a boom in the ice cream industry!" Joe bent double, clasping his hands to his stomach and emitting loud "Haws" and raucous "Hee hees." His head bobbed back and forth like an apple in a tub and his feet played a staccato rhythm on the carpeted floor. * * * * * Harl and Kir-Um looked on in confused wonder. They could see no reason for the boy's sudden outburst. They looked in vain for the weapon Joe had promised to display. Then the light dawned in Kir-Um's mind and he let go with a tremendous: "E-e-e-ump!" "Harl!" he said excitedly. "Don't you see--it's the words! The words are the weapon; his _Joke_, as he calls it. Imagine it--words built into a complex pattern to form a destructive force! It is in an embryo stage though, Harl. This creature barely averted disaster just now when his _Joke_ back-fired on him. The pain must be excruciating, the way he is retching and gasping for breath. We may consider ourselves lucky he didn't aim the weapon at us. I shudder at the thought." Harl was shuddering, too. They were indeed fortunate they were not the object of the force Joe had unleashed, or they would probably now be nothing but lifeless hulks, rotting on the weird world that had betrayed them. He could not understand how words could cause such havoc, but undoubtedly they could, for wasn't the pitiful Thing before them even now contorted with the paralyzing torture he had accidentally inflicted upon himself? Harl knew he could never forget the gruesome drama he was now witnessing. Why, even the creature they had encountered at the citadel of science must have been a victim of a _Joke_, for he had acted in the same strange manner.