The brandy was welcome. They drank it in gulps, and worried about Cousin Aurelia, and the robot fanned them considerately while they did so. Then, again, they were off. In less than ten minutes, they looked down on the valley, on the clearing. They caught sight of the _Beautiful Joe_. The voice of the waterfall reached them. And so did another one. A man's voice. A deep one. "Ow!" it yelled hoarsely. "Let me up! Ow! Let go!" Charles moaned. "We shouldn't have waited for brandy. Now they're killing him, too!" With the robot behind them, they raced down the hill, splashed through the stream, broke through a circle of giggling Sugar Plum natives and goggle-eyed creatures. "Don't give up!" croaked Charles. "We're coming!" On the grass were four figures. Two were thrashing around and being sat on. Two were doing the sitting. The Buttons braked to a stop. Something was radically wrong. The larger of the two thrashing figures was being sat on by Cousin Aurelia! "Try to kidnap _me_, will you?" _Slap._ "Make me throw myself into that pool!" _Slap._ "And swallow a gallon of water and have to drag myself out!" _Slap-slap-slap_. "You will, will you?" "Ow!" cried the figure. "Leg-go!" Aurelia looked over her shoulder. She spied Charles and Betty. "Hey!" she shouted. "Bear a hand here with Possett!" "You don't have to hold him," called Captain Burgee, dismounting from Loopy the mate. "He can't get away. Sugar Plum's got him." They both rose and the two writhing figures continued to writhe. "They're _scratching_," Charles exclaimed. He wasn't quite right. The skipper and the mate of the _Beautiful Joe_ were trying to scratch, but they didn't have enough hands. They were groaning, and bleating, and begging for aid as they wriggled. Cousin Aurelia gave Possett a push with her foot. "I'm soaked to the skin," she announced. "Betty, help me off with this dress. If I don't wring my petticoat out, I'll catch something." "Why, Cousin Aurelia!" Charles blurted. "In front of the captain?" "And why not?" she demanded. "I have undies on, don't I?" The captain broke in, his voice urgent. "We've got to get these characters back aboard in a hurry! They can't live on Sugar Plum; they're the wrong kind of people. I started to tell you. They're allergic to the critters, the trees, the natives--to everything here. You, Steward!" He beckoned. "Call the crew of the _Beautiful Joe_." The robot ran to the ship. It whistled. Immediately, four other robots appeared. "Bosun," said the captain to the one in the lead, "Captain Possett is ill. He is--er--delirious. The mate, too. Carry them in. And take off quickly for New Texas." "Aye, aye, sir." The bosun saluted. They lifted up Possett, who was grunting and swearing. They hoisted the weasel-faced mate. The hatches clanged shut. Fire burst from the stern. The ship lifted. When there was quiet again, Cousin Aurelia looked at the captain. She examined him carefully.