He stretched. "Well, guess I'd better get on my way. I've got to get into that house somehow. Think I'll take a wander out there and see if I can get some ideas." The merchant put up a detaining hand. "Take it slow," he advised. "You can't go up there tonight." "Oh?" "No. It wouldn't be wise at all. There are a bunch of young fellows that have been hanging around there lately. It isn't safe to walk around that neighborhood. They've beaten five or six people pretty badly. And they've killed a couple." Korentona paused. "Funny," he added. "The police don't seem to be so upset about that." "They wouldn't be," Don told him. "So you think I'd better wait till morning?" "It'll be a lot better. I can give you a place to stay tonight. And my house isn't too far from the Waern place, so you can get over there in a hurry if you want to." Korentona paused. "Say, how about that fellow, Foree? Are you sure he'll keep quiet?" Don smiled. "Pretty certain. Of course, I don't know whether an effort to talk would actually kill him. But he'd be pretty uncomfortable for a while. Might even come up with shock amnesia." The smile broadened. "He may have already done enough careless thinking by this time to make him pretty sick." He regarded Korentona thoughtfully. "You say there's a gang of young fellows hanging around the Waern neighborhood?" The merchant nodded. "Quite a few of them, I think. People living around there don't spend any time on the street or in the park, you can be sure of that." "I see." Don nodded slowly. "That way, it's a lot easier to watch the Waern place at night. Look, there must be quite a few hillmen in this city. I should think you'd know quite a number of them." "Yes, I do, of course." Korentona smiled. "We don't exactly form a closed group, but ... well, I'll have to admit we do think a little differently from the plainsmen." "I know." Don reached into his jacket and slowly withdrew a stick with a thong wrapped around it. "Many of your friends carry these?" The merchant laughed. "Certainly!" He produced a polished stick of his own. "Can you imagine any clansman without this sling?" Don looked at him speculatively. "I wonder," he said casually, "what would happen if these young toughs found themselves being hunted down by ... say ten or fifteen blood hungry clansmen. Might worry them a little, wouldn't you think?" Korentona shook his head doubtfully. "You know what the situation is here in Riandar," he remarked. "The police don't worry too much about these robberies and beatings. But they'd be pretty perturbed if someone started hunting the hunters." "That's what I mean." Don spread his hands. "Might even get the people watching the Waern place upset and nervous." He shrugged. "And who's to know what caused the uproar, or who's involved? After all, all the clansmen were at home. The watchers on their houses could testify to that."