the neck. While one of these persons is talking, two or three of his
fingers pass from notch to notch along the rod. These indentures of the
rod represent, in their language, certain kinds of sounds and are used
to assist the vocal organs in expressing the more intricate combinations
of ideas. Naturally, the listener watches the fingers more than the
mouth.

It is amusing to see a Scumite busily engaged in delivering a speech to
a few of his fellow creatures. It would remind you of a person playing a
fife or violin without producing any sound.

The children of Scum learn this rod language just the same as our
children at first learn to speak our language by observation and
practice.

The face of a Scumite does not resemble a human face of our planet. The
mouth and jaws are at right angles to ours and this arrangement seems to
be just as convenient to these Scumites as the formation of our mouth is
to us. The nose lies above the mouth, but is relatively much higher, its
point coming between the two eyes which are situated more toward the
sides of the head.

The startling fact about this world is that at one time in its past
history fair intelligence reigned on a few parts of the planet. These
intelligent sections were working their way upward on the measureless
incline of progress and had won some distinctions in their sciences, as
well as their religious devotions. These bright spots on the surface of
this large orb were surrounded with large black patches of war-like
humanity and, between these two extremes, a warfare of subjection or
extermination raged without any hope or peace.