It was still snowing when he woke. He started to rise, wondering, at first, where Brave was, and then he huddled back among the robes--his own and the dead men's--and tried to go to sleep again. Finally, he got up and ate some of his pemmican, gathered his gear and broke camp. For a moment, and only a moment, he stood looking to the east, in the direction he had come from. Then he turned west and started across the snow toward the edge of the Ice-Father. * * * * * The snow stopped before he reached the edge, and the sun was shining when he found a slanting way down into the valley. Then, out of the north, a black dot appeared in the sky and grew larger, until he saw that it was a Government airboat--one of the kind used by the men who measured the growth of the Ice-Father. It came curving in and down toward him, and a window slid open and a man put his head out. "Want us to lift you down?" he asked. "We're going to Long Valley Town. If that's where you're going, we can take you the whole way." "Yes. That's where I'm going." He said it as though he were revealing, for the first time, some discovery he had just made. "For your kindness and help, I thank you." In less time than a man could walk two miles with a pack, they were letting down in front of the Government House in Long Valley Town. He had never been in the Government House before. The walls were clear glass. The floors were plastic, clean and white. Strips of bright new lumicon ran around every room at the tops of all the walls. There were no fires, but the great rooms were as warm as though it were a midsummer afternoon. Still carrying his pack and his rifle, Raud went to a desk where a Southron in a white shirt sat. "Has Yorn Nazvik's ship, the _Issa_, been here lately?" he asked. "About six days ago," the Southron said, without looking up from the papers on his desk. "She's on a trading voyage to the west now, but Nazvik's coming back here before he goes south. Be here in about ten days." He looked up. "You have business with Nazvik?" Raud shook his head. "Not with Yorn Nazvik, no. My business is with the two Starfolk who are passengers with him. Dranigo and Salvadro." The Southron looked displeased. "Aren't you getting just a little above yourself, old man, calling the Prince Salsavadran and the Lord Dranigrastan by their familiar names?" he asked. "I don't know what you're talking about. Those were the names they gave me; I didn't know they had any others." The Southron started to laugh, then stopped. "And if I may ask, what is your name, and what business have you with them?" he inquired. Raud told him his name. "I have something for them. Something they want very badly. If I can find a place to stay here, I will wait until they return--" The Southron got to his feet. "Wait here for a moment, Keeper," he said. "I'll be back soon." He left the desk, going into another room. After a while, he came back. This time he was respectful.