"Alms, for the love of Ipsnadd." He thrust forward his begging bowl. "Regard, it is the beggar! Why were you not at the festivities, worthy mendicant?" Raoul hiccuped. "Lovely party. Beautiful women. Delicious fish." Skkiru started to stand on his head, then remembered this was no longer a socially acceptable expression of grief and cast his eyes down. "I was not invited," he said sadly. "Like the little match girl," Raoul sympathized. "My heart bleeds for you, good match gi--good beggar. Does your heart not bleed for him, Cyril?" "Bad show," the older ethnologist agreed, with a faint smile. "But that's what you've got to expect, if you're going to be a primitive." He was very drunk, Skkiru decided; he must be, to phrase his sentiments so poorly. Unless he--but no, Skkiru refused to believe that. He didn't mind Cyril's being vaguely suspicious, but that was as far as he wanted him to go. Skkiru's toes apprehensively started to quiver. "How can you say a thing like that to a primitive?" Raoul demanded. "If he were not a primitive, it would be all right to call him a primitive, but one does not accuse primitives of being primitives. It's--it's downright primitive; that's what it is!" "You need some coffee, my boy." Cyril grinned. "Black coffee. That guslat of theirs is highly potent stuff." They were about to go inside. Skkiru had to act quickly. He slumped over. Although he had meant to land on the doorstep, he lacked the agility to balance himself with the precision required and so he fell smack into the mud. The feel of the slime on his bare feet had been bad enough; oozing over his skin through the interstices of his clothing, it was pure hell. What sacrifices he was making for his planet! And for Larhgan. The thought of her would have to sustain him through this viscous ordeal, for there was nothing else solid within his grasp. "Ubbl," he said, lifting his head from the ooze, so that they could see the froth coming out of his mouth. "Glubbl." * * * * * Raoul clutched Cyril. "What is he doing?" "Having an epileptic fit, I rather fancy. Go on, old man," Cyril said to Skkiru. "You're doing splendidly. Splendidly!" "I see the sky!" Skkiru howled, anxious to get his prophecies over with before he sank any deeper in the mud. "It is great magic. I see many ships in the sky. They are all coming to Snaddra...." "Bearing anthropologists and chocolate bars, I suppose," murmured Cyril. "Shhh," Raoul said indignantly. "You must not interrupt. He is having personal contact with the supernatural, a very important element of the primitive ethos." "Thank you," Cyril said. "I'll try to remember that." _So will I_, thought Skkiru. "They carry learned men and food for the spiritually and physically hungry people of Snaddra," he interrupted impatiently. "They carry warm clothing for the poor and miserable people of Snaddra. They carry yams for the larcenous and frustrated people of Snaddra."