Toolls concentrated for a minute, absorbing the feelings and thought pulsations emanating from the creature. "The conscious plane of its mind has blanked out," he said. "I presume the pain you caused by touching its wounded member resulted in a breakdown of its nervous system. The only thought waves I receive now are disjointed impressions and pictures following no rational series. However, I'm certain that it will be only temporary." "Don't you think that in justice to the creature we should repair its wound before we free it?" Macker asked. "I had intended to have it done," Remm replied. "You shouldn't have any trouble fixing it, should you, Toolls?" "No," Toolls answered. "I may as well attend to it right now." He rolled the portable _converter_ over beside the creature and carefully laid its arm in the "pan." The _converter_ automatically set its gauges and instruments of calculation, and gave its click of "ready." Toolls fed a short length of _basic_ into the machine and it began its work. The native was still unconscious. The bone of the wounded arm slowly evaporated, beginning with the wrist joint. The evaporated portion was instantly replaced by the manufactured bone of the _converter_. At the same time it repaired all ruptured blood vessels and damaged ligaments and muscles. "It was not possible, of course, for me to replace the bone with another of the same composition as its own," Toolls said, after the machine had completed its work. "But I gave it one of our 'heavy' ones. There will be no force on this planet powerful enough to break it again." * * * * * The native's first evidence of a return to consciousness was a faint fluttering of the lids that covered its organs of vision. The lids opened and it looked up at them. "Its eyesight is as slow as its muscular reactions," Remm said. "Watch." Remm raised his hand and waved it slowly in front of the native's face. The eyes of the native, moving in odd, jerking movements, followed the hand's progress. Remm raised the hand--speeding its action slightly--and the eyesight faltered and lost it. The native's eyes rolled wildly until once again they located the hand. Remm took three steps forward. The native's eyes were unable to follow his change of position. Its gaze wandered about the room, until again its settled on Remm's waiting figure. "Can you imagine anything being so slow," Remm said, "and still ..." Suddenly Macker interrupted. "Something is wrong. It is trying to get up, but it can't." The native was registering signs of distress, kicking its legs and twisting its body into new positions of contortion. "I see what the trouble is," Toolls said. "It's unable to lift the appendage with the new bone in. I never thought of that before but its 'light' muscles aren't strong enough to lift the limb. We've got the poor creature pinned to the box by the weight of its own arm."