The next several weeks Hale spent in going from village to village on the mainland, dispensing the drugs he had received from the _Caduceus_. There were seven major villages, including the capital, where the Commander of Cardigan's Green lived, and twelve smaller ones which were not much more than little clots of houses scattered over the countryside. He had to walk every foot of it, but he didn't mind; it was worth it. The disease spread like ink on a blotter as Hale tramped from town to town. He took with him three men who had recovered from the epidemic; they carried the drugs while Hale strolled along unburdened. But they didn't mind; it was an honor to help the man who fearlessly helped to stem the tide of the awful Plague. But in spite of his best efforts, three thousand people, nearly a tenth of the total population, succumbed to the terror. Hale, perhaps, could have sent others around to administer the panacea, but he insisted that only he knew how to do it. And only he--but of _course_--collected the diamonds for his services. Those who were really poor were treated for nothing, but those who had Crystals were soaked--but good. And then, at last, it was over; it had burned itself out. The people of Cardigan's Green could relax once again. Hale wended his way back to Taun, which had become the new capital. The old Commander had died, and Yon the Fisher, backed by Hale's word-of-mouth propaganda and his own reputation, had been elected to the position. "Yon, old friend," said Hale when he had been admitted to that worthy's august presence, "we are, I think, ready to do business." "Business?" asked the new Commander. "In the matter of your spaceship," Hale reminded him. They were sitting in the same modest stone house that Yon had always lived in; he had not yet had time to build a larger, more sumptuous home--a home fit for a Commander. Caryl, her eyes demurely lowered, served them cups of the purple ferment as they sat at the stone table. "Oh, yes; the spaceship. Are your people ready to go back to the stars, then?" Yon asked shrewdly. "As a matter of fact, no," Hale said. "Actually, we've grown used to Cardigan's Green in the past twelve years. We've decided to stay. Now that we have medicines which will stop the Plague, we feel we should move to the mainland--under your benevolent Commandership, of course." Yon looked pleased for a moment, then his eyes narrowed. "But what about the spaceship?" "Oh, you'll get that, naturally. But it will have to be paid for in Crystals." He named a figure. Yon's eyes grew wide. "But that's almost half of my total wealth!" "That's true. But there are so many of us aboard the _Caduceus_, and none of us has any of the new coin of the realm. Oh, a little, perhaps, from the sale of our drugs, but we asked so little. And of you, we asked nothing at all to save your life." "He's perfectly right, Yon," Caryl said suddenly. "We both owe him our lives."