second part of their plan must be put into operation.

While Dalgard willed his body motionless, the merman lay relaxed upon
the ground before him as he might have floated upon his beloved waves
in some secluded cove. His brilliant eyes were closed. Yet Dalgard
knew that Sssuri was far from asleep, and with all his own power he
tried to join in the broadcast: that urgency which should send some
hopper, some night runner, on to spread the rumor that there was
trouble in the north, that danger existed and must be investigated.
They had already met one colony of runners ranging southward to
escape. But if they could send another such tribe traveling, arouse
and aim south a hopper exodus, the story would spread until the fringe
would reach the animals who lived in peace within touch of Homeport.

The sun was gone, the dark gathered fast. Dalgard could not even see
the clustered buildings of the city now. And since he lacked Sssuri's
range and staying power, he had no idea whether their efforts had met
with even a shadow of success. He shivered in the bite of the wind and
dared to lay his hand on Sssuri's shoulder, feeling anew the electric
shock of warmth and bursting life which was always there.

Having so broken the other's absorption he asked a question: "Would it
not be well, brother of the knife, if with the rising sun you returned
to the sea and struck out to join your tribesmen, leaving me here to
watch until you return?"

Sssuri's answer came with a speed which suggested that he, too, had
been considering that problem. "We shall see what happens with the
sun's rising. It is true that in the sea I can travel with greater
speed, that there are hunting parties of my people striking into these