His descent to the base of the scales, where the walls joined, might have been a harmless fall. Yet who knows how sensitive is the material of the vast living thing called Kao-Wagwattl? The knife plunged into deep _Kao flesh_ beneath our feet. The flesh opened. Gravgak whirled, tried to escape the opening. His arm twisted under him. And went down. As if something drew it. His back--his whole body, from hips to shoulders--was caught in the gaping hole that he had seemingly opened with a plunge of the knife blade. It closed on him. It severed him. Part of him was gone. Before our eyes there remained his legs, cut clean away. And his head, and part of one shoulder. The rest of him? It would not return to sight. Kao-Wagwattl was a living thing. When it wished it could devour. Many of the tribe came back to this spot to examine what remained of the traitorous guard. I too observed him closely. I examined his eyes with a glass. Also the eyes of the murdered Leeger. Neither showed any traces of eyelashes or eyebrows. 12. The tribe rode on tranquilly. There would be new legends of Kao-Wagwattl, after what had occurred. Many were the stories, and I relayed them to Campbell, at the ship, who faithfully recorded them all. There was a tragedy to be added. It could not have been otherwise. For some months the news of Omosla and her little daughter had been vague. It was the Benzendella tradition that weddings should not be delayed for long after the arrival of the first-born child. It was rumored that this young mother now faced the shame of having been left without a mate. It was hard to get exact information. Even though Vauna and I had always sought an understanding between us, some things were not talked about freely. Deepest, most important truths in new worlds are often the most elusive. Now I questioned Vauna closely, and I learned of the tragic end of Omosla. "She and her baby are no longer with us," Vauna said quietly. "It happened one night when the stars seemed very close. They say she had studied the sky each night, wondering which of the worlds beyond was the world of Campbell." "And then?" "Two of her caretakers saw it happen, but they could not stop it. With the babe in her arms, she walked over the side of Kao-Wagwattl. And went down. Under." Vauna went on to tell me that Tomboldo had urged silence about it. He would always believe that the girl had lost faith too soon--that Campbell might have come back when his work was done. Moreover, Tomboldo felt that it was important to the morale of the tribe that both Campbell and I be held in high esteem. When Vauna finished telling me these things, she said she would ask me the questions she had been saving for many days. "Did you believe, Jim, that you would find some other person among us from your world?" "I didn't know." "If you had found such a person, what would you have believed then?" "That he, and not Campbell, was the father of Omosla's child."