The gathering of the lichen began. They picked it by hand, working singly or in pairs, searching out the rocks and hidden places where it grew. From time to time they would catch glimpses of the natives watching them from a distance. They were careful not to get close. On one of these occasions, Captain Renner and David were working together. "Do they have a language?" Captain Renner asked. "Yes, sir," David answered. "I have heard them talking among themselves." "Do you suppose you can learn it?" Renner asked. "Do you think you could get near enough to them to listen in?" "I could try," David offered. "Then do so," Renner said. "That's an assignment." Thereafter David went out alone. He found that getting close to the natives was not too difficult. He tried to keep out of their sight, while still getting near enough to them to hear their voices. They were undoubtedly aware of his presence, but, with the feeding, they had lost their fear of the men, and did not seem to care. Bit by bit he learned their language, starting from a few key roots and sounds. It was a job for which he had been trained. Time passed rapidly, and the work went on. Captain Renner let his beard grow. It came out white and thick, and he did not bother to trim it. The others, too, became more careless in their dress, each man following his own particular whim. There was no longer need for a taut ship. Farrow threw a dam across the little stream, and, while the water grew behind it, went on to breaking up the soil with his machines. Beeson searched for nitrate, and found it. He brought a load of it back, and this, together with the moss and lichen, was chopped into the soil. In the end, it was the lichen that was the limiting factor. There was only so much of it, so the size of the plot that they could prepare was small. "But it's a start," Renner said. "That's all we can hope for this first year. This crop will furnish more material to be chopped back into the soil. Year by year it will grow until the inhabitants here will have a new world to live in!" "What do you expect to get out of it?" Farrow asked bitingly. Renner's eyes glowed with an inner light. * * * * * Renner's beard grew with the passing months until it became a luxuriant thing. He let his hair go untrimmed too, so that, with his tall, spare figure, he took on a patriarchal look. And, with the passing months, there came that time which was to be spring for this planet. The first green blades of the new planting showed above the ground. The natives noticed it with awe, and kept a respectful distance.