When she waked, well after daybreak, and sat up blinking, he said:
"Er--Babs. We're in this together. From now on, if you want to tell me
something for my own good, go ahead! Right?"
She rubbed her eyes on her knuckles and said,
"I'd have done that anyhow. For both our good. Don't you think we'd
better try to find a place where we can get a drink of water? Water has
to be right to drink!"
They set off, Cochrane carrying the weapon he'd brought from the ship.
It was Babs who pointed out that a stream should almost certainly be
found where rain would descend, downhill. Babs, too, spotted one of the
small, foot-high furry bipeds feasting gluttonously on small round
objects that grew from the base of a small tree instead of on its
branches. The tree, evidently, depended on four-footed rather than on
flying creatures to scatter its seeds. They gathered samples of the
fruit. Cochrane peeled a sliver of the meat from one of the round
objects and put it under his watchstrap.
They found a stream. They found other fruits, and Cochrane prepared the
same test for them as for the first. One of the samples turned his skin
red and angry almost immediately.
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