" Unconsciously, Cochrane looked
grim. "Then there'll be plenty. Food, for one thing. We don't know,
actually, whether or not there's anything really edible on this
planet--for us. It could be that there are fruits or possibly stalks or
leaves that would be nourishing. Only--we don't know which is which. We
have to be careful. We might pick something like poison ivy!"
Babs said:
"But the ship will come back!"
"Of course," agreed Cochrane. "But it may take them some time to find
us. This is a pretty big planet, you know."
He estimated his supply of burnable stuff. He improved the rampart he
had made at first. Babs stared at him. After four or five minutes he
stepped back.
"You can lean against this," he explained. "You can watch the fire quite
comfortably. And it's a sort of wall. The fire will light one side of
you and the wall will feel comforting behind you when you get sleepy."
Babs nodded. She swallowed.
"I--think I see what you mean when you say they may have trouble finding
us, because this planet is so large."
Cochrane nodded reluctantly.
"Of course there's this burned-off space for a marker," he observed
cheerfully.
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