"We could use some of that Point Four aid right now," commented Adams. "They threw me out," said Hudson. "Everywhere I went, sooner or later they got around to throwing me out. They were real organized about it." "Well, we tried," Adams said. "And to top it off," added Hudson, "I had to go and lose all that film and now we'll have to waste our time taking more of it. Personally, I don't ever want to let another saber-tooth get that close to me while I hold the camera." "You didn't have a thing to worry about," Adams objected. "Johnny was right there behind you with the gun." "Yeah, with the muzzle about a foot from my head when he let go." "I stopped him, didn't I?" demanded Cooper. "With his head right in my lap." "Maybe we won't have to take any more pictures," Adams suggested. "We'll have to," Cooper said. "There are sportsmen up ahead who'd fork over ten thousand bucks easy for two weeks of hunting here. But before we could sell them on it, we'd have to show them movies. That scene with the saber-tooth would cinch it." "If it didn't scare them off," Hudson pointed out. "The last few feet showed nothing but the inside of his throat." Ex-ambassador Hudson looked unhappy. "I don't like the whole setup. As soon as we bring someone in, the news is sure to leak. And once the word gets out, there'll be guys lying in ambush for us--maybe even nations--scheming to steal the know-how, legally or violently. That's what scares me the most about those films I lost. Someone will find them and they may guess what it's all about, but I'm hoping they either won't believe it or can't manage to trace us." "We could swear the hunting parties to secrecy," said Cooper. "How could a sportsman keep still about the mounted head of a saber-tooth or a record piece of ivory?" And the same thing would apply to anyone we approached. Some university could raise dough to send a team of scientists back here and a movie company would cough up plenty to use this place as a location for a caveman epic. But it wouldn't be worth a thing to either of them if they couldn't tell about it. "Now if we could have gotten recognition as a nation, we'd have been all set. We could make our own laws and regulations and be able to enforce them. We could bring in settlers and establish trade. We could exploit our natural resources. It would all be legal and aboveboard. We could tell who we were and where we were and what we had to offer." "We aren't licked yet," said Adams. "There's a lot that we can do. Those river hills are covered with ginseng. We can each dig a dozen pounds a day. There's good money in the root." "Ginseng root," Cooper said, "is peanuts. We need _big_ money." "Or we could trap," offered Adams. "The place is alive with beaver." "Have you taken a good look at those beaver? They're about the size of a St. Bernard." "All the better. Think how much just one pelt would bring."