"And you take it for granted that I want to be properly grateful," said Fani in one breath, "and yet you haven't shown the least appreciation of my getting two horses over in that patch of woodland yonder"--she pointed and Hoddan nodded--"and having Thal there with orders to serve you faithfully--" * * * * * She stopped short. Don Loris appeared, beaming, at the top of the steps leading here from the great hall where conferences took place. He regarded Hoddan benignly. "This is a very bad business, my dear fellow," he said benevolently. "Has Fani told you of the people who arrived from Walden in search of you? They tell me terrible things about you!" "Yes," said Hoddan. He prepared a roll for biting. He said: "One of them, I think, is named Derec. He's to identify me so good money isn't wasted paying for the wrong man. The other man's police, isn't he?" He reflected a moment. "If I were you, I'd start talking at a million credits. You might get half that." He bit into the roll as Don Loris looked shocked. "Do you think," he asked indignantly, "that I would give up the rescuer of my daughter to emissaries from a foreign planet, to be locked in a dungeon for life?" "Not in those words," conceded Hoddan. "But after all, despite your deep gratitude to me, there are such things as one's duty to humanity as a whole. And while it would cause you bitter anguish if someone dear to you represented a danger to millions of innocent women and children--still, under such circumstances you might feel it necessary to do violence to your own emotions." Don Loris looked at him with abrupt suspicion. Hoddan waved the roll. "Moreover," he observed, "gratitude for actions done on Darth does not entitle you to judge of my actions on Walden. While you might and even should feel obliged to defend me in all things I have done on Darth, your obligation to me does not let you deny that I may have acted less defensibly on Walden." Don Loris looked extremely uneasy. "I may have thought something like that," he admitted. "But--" "So that," said Hoddan, "while your debt to me cannot and should not be overlooked, nevertheless"--Hoddan put the roll into his mouth and spoke less clearly--"you feel that you should give consideration to the claims of Walden to inquire into my actions while there." He chewed, and swallowed, and said gravely: "And can I make deathrays?" Don Loris brightened. He drew a deep breath of relief. He said complainingly: "I don't see why you're so sarcastic! Yes. That is a rather important question. You see, on Walden they don't know how to. They say you do. They're very anxious that nobody should be able to. But while in unscrupulous hands such an instrument of destruction would be most unfortunate ... ah ... under proper control--" "Yours," said Hoddan. "Say--ours," said Don Loris hopefully. "With my experience of men and affairs, and my loyal and devoted retainers--"