Chad Ames and Dick Burke dropped their guns. Rod added, "Roy! Grant Cowper! Gather up their toys. Get their knives, too." He turned back to Bruce McGowan, pricked him under the chin. "Let's have your knife." Bruce turned it loose; Rod took it and got to his feet. Everyone who had been up in the cave was swarming down, Caroline in the lead. Jock McGowan was writhing on the ground, face turned blue and gasping in the sort of paralysis induced by the poison used on darts. Bob Baxter hurried up, glanced at him, then said to Rod, "I'll take care of that cut in your ribs in a moment." He bent over Jock McGowan. Caroline said indignantly, "You aren't going to try to save him?" "Of course." "Why? Let's chuck him in the stream." Baxter glanced at Rod. Rod felt a strong urge to order Caroline's suggestion carried out. But he answered, "Do what you can for him, Bob. Where's Jack? Jack- you've got the antidote for your darts, haven't you? Get it." Jacqueline looked scornfully at the figure on the ground. "What for? He's not hurt." "Huh?" "Just a pinprick.
A practice dart- that's all I keep in Betsey. My hunting darts are put away so that nobody can hurt themselves- and I didn't have time to get them." She prodded Jock with a toe. "He's not poisoned. He's scaring himself to death." Caroline chortled and waved the rifle she carried. "And this one is empty. Not even a good club." Baxter said to Jackie, "Are you sure? The reactions look typical." "Sure I'm sure! See the mark on the end sticking out? A target dart." Baxter leaned over his patient, started slapping his face. "Snap out of it, McGowan! Stand up. I want to get that dart out of you." McGowan groaned and managed to stand. Baxter took the dart between thumb and forefinger, jerked it free; Jock yelled. Baxter slapped him again. "Don't you faint on me," he growled. 'you're lucky. Let it drain and you'll be all right." He turned to Rod. "You're next." "Huh? There's nothing the matter with me." "That stuff on your ribs is paint, I suppose." He looked around. "Carmen, get my kit." "I brought it down." "Good. Rod, sit down and lean forward. This is going to hurt a little." It did hurt. Rod tried to chat to avoid showing that he minded it. "Carol," he asked, "I don't see how you and Jackie worked out a plan so fast. That was smooth." "Huh? We didn't work out a plan; we both just did what we could and did it fast." She turned to Jacqueline and gave her a clap on the shoulder that nearly knocked her over.
"This kid is solid, Roddie, solid!" Jacqueline recovered, looked pleased, and tried not to show it. "Aw, Carol!" "Anyway, I thank you both." "A pleasure. I wish that pea shooter had been loaded. Rod, what are you going to do with them?" "Well . . . ummph!" "Whoops!" said Baxter, behind him. "I said it was going to hurt. I had better put one more clip-in. I'd like to put a dressing on that, but we can't, so you lay off heavy work for a while and sleep on your stomach." "Unh!" said Rod. "That's the last. You can get up now. Take it easy and give it a chance to scab." "I still think," Caroline insisted, "that we ought to make them swim the creek. We could make bets on whether or not any of 'em make it across." "Carol, you're uncivilized." "I never claimed to be civilized. But I know which end wags and which end bites." Rod ignored her and went to look at the prisoners. Roy Kilroy had caused them to lie down one on top of the other; it rendered them undignified and helpless. "Let them sit up." Kilroy and Grant Cowper had been guarding them. Cowper said, "You heard the Captain. Sit up." They unsnarled and sat up, looking glum. Rod looked at Jock McGowan. "What do you think we ought to do with you?" McGowan said nothing. The puncture in his side was oozing blood and he was pale. Rod said slowly, "Some think we ought to chuck you in the stream. That's the same as condemning you to death- but if we are going to, we ought to shoot you or hang you. I don't favor letting anybody be eaten alive. Should we hang you?" Bruce McGowan blurted out, "We haven't done anything." "No. But you sure tried. You aren't safe to have around other people." Somebody called out, "Oh, let's shoot them and get it over with!" Rod ignored it.
Grant Cowper came close to Rod and said, "We ought to vote on this. They ought to have a trial." Rod shook his head. "No." He went on to the prisoners, I don't favor punishing you- this is personal. But we can't risk having you around either." He turned to Cowper. "Give them their knives." "Rod? You're not going to fight them?" "Of course not." He turned back. "You can have your knives; we're keeping your guns. When we turn you loose, head downstream and keep going. Keep going for at least a week. If you ever show your faces again, you won't get a chance to explain. Understand me?' Jock McGowan nodded. Dick Burke gulped and said, "But turning us out with just knives is the same as killing us. "Nonsense! No guns. And remember, if you turn back this way, even to hunt, it's once too many. There may be somebody trailing you- with a gun. "Loaded this time!" added Caroline. "Hey, Roddie, I want that job. Can I? Please?" "Shut up, Carol. Roy, you and Grant start them on their way." As exiles and guards, plus sightseers, moved off they ran into Jimmy Throxton coming back into camp. He stopped and stared. "What's the procession? Rod what have you done to your ribs, boy? Scratching yourself again?" Several people tried to tell him at once.
He got the gist of it and shook his head mournfully. "And there I was, good as gold, looking for pretty rocks for our garden wall. Every time there's a party people forget to ask me. Discrimination." "Stow it, Jim. It's not funny." "That's what I said. It's discrimination." Rod got the group started on the wall with an hour or more of daylight wasted. He tried to work on the wall despite Bob Baxter's medical orders, but found that he was not up to it; not only was his wound painful but also he felt shaky with reaction. Grant Cowper looked him up during the noon break. "Skipper, can I talk with you? Privately?" Rod moved aside with him. "What's on your mind?" "Mmm . . . Rod, you were lucky this morning. You know that, don't you? No offense intended." "Sure, I know. What about it?" "Uh, do you know why you had trouble?" "What? Of course I know- now. I trusted somebody when I should not have." Cowper shook his head. "Not at all. Rod, what do you know about theory of government?" Rod looked surprised. "I've had the usual civics courses. Why?" "I doubt if I've mentioned it, but the course I'm majoring in at Teller U. is colonial administration. One thing we study is how authority comes about in human society and how it is maintained. I'm not criticizing but to be blunt, you almost lost your life because you've never studied such things." Rod felt annoyed. "What are you driving at?" "Take it easy. But the fact remains that you didn't have any authority. McGowan knew it and wouldn't take orders. Everybody else knew it, too. When it came to a showdown, nobody knew whether to back you up or not. Because you don't have a milligram of real authority." "Just a moment! Are you saying I'm not leader of this team?" "You are de facto leader, no doubt about it. But you've never been elected to the job. That's your weakness." Rod chewed this over. "I know," he said slowly. "It's just that we have been so confounded busy." "Sure, I know. I'd be the last person to criticize. But a captain ought to be properly elected." Rod sighed. "I meant to hold an election but I thought getting the wall built was more urgent. All right, let's call them together."
"Oh, you don't need to do it this minute." "Why not? The sooner the better, apparently." "Tonight, when it's too dark to work, is soon enough." "Well . . . okay." When they stopped for supper Rod announced that there would be an organization and planning meeting. No one seemed surprised, although he himself had mentioned it to no one. He felt annoyed and had to remind himself that there was nothing secret about it; Grant had been under no obligation to keep it quiet. He set guards and fire tenders, then came back into the circle of firelight and called out, "Quiet everybody! Let's get started. If you guys on watch can't hear, be sure to speak up" He hesitated. "We're going to hold an election. Somebody pointed out that I never have been elected captain of this survival team. Well, if any of you have your noses out of joint, I'm sorry. I was doing the best I could. But you are entitled to elect a captain. All right, any nominations?" Jiminy Throxton shouted, "I nominate Rod Walker!" Caroline's voice answered, "I second it! Move the nominations be closed." Rod said hastily, "Carol, your motion is out of order." "Why?" Before he could answer Roy Kilroy spoke up. "Rod, can I have the floor a moment? Privileged question." Rod turned, saw that Roy was squatting beside Grant Cowper. "Sure. State your question." "Matter of procedure. The first thing is to elect a temporary chairman." Rod thought quickly.
"I guess you're right. Jimmy, your nomination is thrown out. Nominations for temporary chairman are in order." "Rod Walker for temporary chairman!" "Oh, shut up, Jimmy! I don't want to be temporary chairman." Roy Kilroy was elected. He took the imaginary gavel and announced, "The chair recognizes Brother Cowper for a statement of aims and purposes of this meeting." Jimmy Thruxton called out, "What do we want any speeches for? Let's elect Rod and go to bed. I'm tired- and I've got a two-hour watch coming up." "Out of order. The chair recognizes Grant Cowper." Cowper stood up. The firelight caught his handsome features and curly, short beard. Rod rubbed the scraggly growth on his own chin and wished that he looked like Cowper. The young man was dressed only in walking shorts and soft bush shoes but he carried himself with the easy dignity of a distinguished speaker before some important body. "Friends," he said, "Brothers and sisters, we are gathered here tonight not to elect a survival-team captain, but to found a new nation." He paused to let the idea sink in. "You know the situation we are in. We fervently hope to be rescued, none more so than I. I will even go so far as to say that I think we will be rescued . . . eventually. But we have no way of knowing, we have no data on which to base an intelligent guess, as to when we will be rescued. "It might be tomorrow . . . it might be our descendants a thousand years from now."
He said the last very solemnly. "But when the main body of our great race re-establishes contact with us, it is up to us, this little group here tonight, whether they find a civilized society or flea-bitten animals without language, without arts, with the light of reason grown dim . . . or no survivors at all, nothing but bones picked clean." "Not mine!" called out Caroline. Kilroy gave her a dirty look and called for an order. "Not yours, Caroline," Cowper agreed gravely. "Nor mine. Not any of us. Because tonight we will take the step that will keep this colony alive. We are poor in things; we will make what we need. We are rich in knowledge; among us, we hold the basic knowledge of our great race. We must preserve it . . . we will!" Caroline cut through Cowper's dramatic pause with a stage whisper. "Talks pretty, doesn't he? Maybe I'll marry him." He did not try to fit this heckling into his speech. "What is the prime knowledge acquired by our race? That without which the rest is useless? What flame must we guard like vestal virgins?" Someone called out, "Fire." Cowper shook his head. "Writing!" "The decimal system." "Atomics!" "The wheel, of course. "No, none of those.
They are all important, but they are not the keystone. The greatest invention of mankind is government. It is also the hardest of all. More individualistic than cats, nevertheless we have learned to cooperate more efficiently than ants or bees, or termites. Wilder, bloodier, and more deadly than sharks, we have learned to live together as peacefully as lambs. But these things are not easy. That is why that which we do tonight will decide our future . . . and perhaps the future of our children, our children's children, our descendants far into the womb of time. We are not picking a temporary survival leader; we are setting up a government. We must do it with care. We must pick a chief executive for our new nation, a mayor of our city-state. But we must draw up a constitution, sign articles binding us together. We must organize and plan." "Hear, hear!" "Bravo!" "We must establish law, appoint judges, arrange for the orderly administration of our code.
Take, for example, this morning-" Cowper turned to Rod and gave him a friendly smile. "Nothing personal, Rod, you understand that. I think you acted with wisdom and I was happy that you tempered justice with mercy. Yet no one could have criticized if you had yielded to your impulse and killed all four of those, uh . . . anti-social individuals. But justice should not be subject to the whims of a dictator. We can't stake our lives on your temper . . . good or bad. You see that, don't you?" Rod did not answer He felt that he was being accused of bad temper, of being a tyrant and dictator, of being a danger to the group. But he could not put his finger on it. Grant Cowper's remarks had been friendly . . . yet they felt intensely personal and critical. Cowper insisted on an answer. "You do see that, Rod? Don't you? You don't want to continue to have absolute power over the lives and persons of our community? You don't want that? Do you?" He waited. "Huh? Oh, yeah, sure! I mean, I agree with you." "Good! I was sure you would understand. And I must say that I think you have done a very good job in getting us together. I don't agree with any who have criticized you. You were doing your best and we should let bygones be bygones." Cowper grinned that friendly grin and Rod felt as if he were being smothered with kisses. Cowper turned to Kilroy. "That's all I have to say, Mr. Chairman." He flashed his grin and added as he sat down, "Sorry I talked so long, folks. I had to get it off my chest." Kilroy clapped his hands once.
"The chair will entertain nominations for Hey, Grant if we don't call it 'captain,' then what should we call it?" "Mmm . . ." Cowper said judicially. "'President' seems a little pompous. I think 'mayor' would be about right-mayor of our city-state, our village." "The chair will entertain nominations for mayor. "Hey!" demanded Jimmy Thruxton. "Doesn't anybody else get to shoot off his face?" "Out of order." "No," Cowper objected, "I don't think you should rule Jimmy out of order, Roy. Anyone who has something to contribute should be encouraged to speak. We mustn't act hastily." "Okay, Thruxton, speak your piece." "Oh, I didn't want to sound off. I just didn't like the squeeze play." "All right, the chair stands corrected. Anybody else? If not, we will entertain-" "One moment, Mr. Chairman!" Rod saw that it was Arthur Nielsen, one of the Teller University group. He managed to look neat even in these circumstances but he had strayed into camp bereft of all equipment, without even a knife. He had been quite hungry. Kilroy looked at him. "You want to talk, Waxie?" "Nielsen is the name. Or Arthur. As you know. Yes." "Okay. Keep it short."
"I shall keep it as short as circumstances permit. Fellow associates, we have here a unique opportunity, probably one which has not occurred before in history. As Cowper pointed out, we must proceed with care. But, already we have set out on the wrong foot. Our object should be to found the first truly scientific community. Yet what do I find? You are proposing to select an executive by counting noses! Leaders should not be chosen by popular whim; they should be determined by rigorous scientific criteria. Once selected, those leaders must have full scientific freedom to direct the bio-group in accordance with natural law, unhampered by such artificial anachronisms as statutes, constitutions, and courts of law. We have here an adequate supply of healthy females; we have the means to breed scientifically a new race, a super race, a race which, if I may say so-" A handful of mud struck Nielsen in the chest; he stopped suddenly. "I saw who did that!" he said angrily. Just the sort of nincompoop who always-" "Order, order, please!" Kilroy shouted. "No mudsling or I'll appoint a squad of sergeants-at-arms. Are you through, Waxie?" "I was just getting started." "Just a moment," put in Cowper. "Point of order Mr. Chairman. Arthur has a right to be heard. But I think he speaking before the wrong body. We're going to have a constitutional committee, I'm sure. He should present his arguments to them.
Then, if we like them, we can adopt his ideas." "You're right, Grant. Sit down, Waxie." "Huh? I appeal!" Roy Kilroy said briskly, "The chair has ruled this out of order at this time and the speaker has appealed to the house, a priority motion not debatable. All in favor of supporting the chair's ruling, which is for Waxie to shut up, make it known by saying 'Aye.'" There was a shouted chorus of assent. "Opposed: 'No.' Sit down, Waxie." Kilroy looked around. "Anybody else?" "Yes" "I can't see. Who is it?" "Bill Kennedy, Ponce de Leon class. I don't agree with Nielsen except on one point: we are fiddling around with the wrong things. Sure, we need a group captain but, aside from whatever it takes to eat, we shouldn't think about anything but how to get back. I don't want a scientific society; I'd settle for a hot bath and decent food." There was scattered applause. The chairman said, "I'd like a bath, too . . . and I'd fight anybody for a dish of cornflakes. But, Bill, how do you suggest that we go about it?" "Huh? We set up a crash-priority project and build a gate. Everybody works on it." There was silence, then several talked at once: "Crazy! No uranium." - "We might find uranium." - "Where do we get the tools? Shucks, I don't even have a screwdriver." - "But where are we?" - "It is just a matter of-" "Quiet!" yelled Kilroy. "Bill, do you know how to build a gate?" "No" "I doubt if anybody does."
"That's a defeatist attitude. Surely some of you educated blokes from Teller have studied the subject. You should get together, pool what you know, and put us to work. Sure, it may take a long time. But that's what we ought to do." Cowper said, just a minute, Roy. Bill, I don't dispute what you say; every idea should be explored. We're bound to set up a planning committee. Maybe we had better elect a mayor, or a captain, or whatever you want to call him, and then dig into your scheme when we can discuss it in detail. I think it has merit and should be discussed at length. What do you think?" "Why, sure, Grant. Let's get on with the election. I just didn't want that silly stuff about breeding a superman to be the last word." "Mr. Chairman! I protest-" "Shut up, Waxie. Are you ready with nominations for mayor? If there is no objection, the chair rules debate closed and will entertain nominations." "I nominate Grant Cowper!" "Second!" "I second the nomination." "Okay, I third it!" "Let's make it unanimous! The question, question!" Jimmy Throxton's voice cut through the shouting, "I NOMINATE ROD WALKER!" Bob Baxter stood up. "Mr. Chairman?" "Quiet, everybody. Mr. Baxter." "I second Rod Walker." "Okay. Two nominations, Grant Cowper and Rod Walker. Are there any more?" There was a brief silence. Then Rod spoke up. "Just a second, Roy." He found that his voice was trembling and he took two deep breaths before he went on. "I don't want it. I've had all the grief I want for a while and I'd like a rest. Thanks anyhow, Bob. Thanks, Jimmy." "Any further nominations?" "Just a sec, Roy . . . point of personal privilege." Grant Cowper stood up. "Rod, I know how you feel. Nobody in his right mind seeks public office . . . except as a duty, willingness to serve. If you withdraw, I'm going to exercise the same privilege don't want the headaches any more than you do."
"Now wait a minute, Grant. You-" "You wait a minute. I don't think either one of us should withdraw; we ought to perform any duty that is handed to us, just as we stand a night watch when it's our turn. But I think we ought to have more nominations." He looked around. "Since that mix-up this morning we have as many girls as men . . yet both of the candidates are male. That's not right. Uh, Mr. Chairman, I nominate Caroline Mshiyeni." "Huh? Hey, Grant, don't be silly. I'd look good as a lady mayoress, wouldn't I? Anyhow, I'm for Roddie." "That's your privilege, Caroline. But you ought to let yourself be placed before the body, just like Rod and myself." "Nobody's going to vote for me!" "That's where you're wrong. I'm going to vote for you. But we still ought to have more candidates." "Three nominations before the house," Kilroy announced. "Any more? If not, I declare the-" "Mr. Chairman!" "Huh? Okay, Waxie, you want to nominate somebody?" "Yes." "Who?" "Me" "You want to nominate yourself?" "I certainly do. What's funny about that? I am running on a platform of strict scientific government. I want the rational minds in this group to have someone to vote for." Kilroy looked puzzled.
"I'm not sure that is the correct parliamentary procedure. I'm afraid I'll have to over-" "Never mind, never mind!" Caroline chortled. "I nominate him. But I'm going to vote for Roddie," she added. Kilroy sighed. "Okay, four candidates. I guess we'll have to have a show of hands. We don't have anything for ballots." Bob Baxter stood up. "Objection, Mr. Chairman. I call for a secret ballot. We can find some way to do it." A way was found. Pebbles would signify Rod, a bare twig was a note for Cowper, a green leaf meant Caroline, while one of Jimmy's ceramic attempts was offered as a ballot box. "How about Nielsen?" Kilroy asked. Jimmy spoke up. "Uh, maybe this would do: I made another pot the same time I made this one, only it busted. Ill get chunks of it and all the crackpots are votes for Waxie."
"Mr. Chairman, I resent the insinua-" "Save it, Waxie. Pieces of baked clay for you, pebbles for Walker, twigs for Grant, leaves for Carol. Get your votes, folks, then file past and drop them in the ballot box. Shorty, you and Margery act as tellers." The tellers solemnly counted the ballots by firelight. There were five votes for Rod, one for Nielsen, none for Caroline, and twenty-two for Cowper. Rod shook hands with Cowper and faded back into the darkness so that no one would see his face. Caroline looked at the results and said,
"Hey, Grant! You promised to vote for me. What happened? Did you vote for yourself? Huh? How about that?" Rod said nothing. He had voted for Cowper and was certain that the new mayor had not returned the compliment . . . he was sure who his five friends were. Dog take it!-he had seen it coming; why hadn't Grant let him bow out? Grant ignored Caroline's comment. He briskly assumed the chair and said, "Thank you. Thank you all. know you want to get to sleep, so I will limit myself tonight to appointing a few committees-" Rod did not get to sleep at once.
He told himself that there was no disgrace in losing an election- shucks, hadn't his old man lost the time he had run for community corporation board? He told himself, too, that trying to ride herd on those apes was enough to drive a man crazy and he was well out of it- he had never wanted the job! Nevertheless there was a lump in his middle and a deep sense of personal failure. It seemed that he had just gone to sleep . . . his father was looking at him saying, "You know we are proud of you, son. Still, if you had had the foresight to-" when someone touched his arm. He was awake, alert, and had Colonel Bowie out at once. "Put away that toothpick," Jimmy whispered, "before you hurt somebody. Me, I mean." "What's up?" "I'm up, I've. got the fire watch. You're about to be, because we are holding a session of the inner sanctum." "Huh?" "Shut up and come along. Keep quiet, people are asleep."
The inner sanctum turned out to be Jimmy, Caroline, Jacqueline, Bob Baxter, and Carmen Garcia. They gathered inside the ring of fire but as far from the sleepers as possible. Rod looked around at his friends. "What's this all about?" "It's about this," Jimmy said seriously. "You're our Captain. And we like that election as much as I like a crooked deck of cards." "That's right," agreed Caroline. "All that fancy talk!" "Huh? Everybody got to talk. Everybody got to vote." "Yes," agreed Baxter. "Yes . . . and no." "It was all proper. I have no kick." "I didn't expect you to kick, Rod. Nevertheless well, I don't know how much politicking you've seen, Rod. I haven't seen much myself, except in church matters and we Quakers don't do things that way; we wait until the Spirit moves. But, despite all the rigamarole, that was a slick piece of railroading. This morning you would have been elected overwhelmingly; tonight you did not stand a chance."
"The point is," Jimmy put in, "do we stand for it?" "What can we do?" "What can we do? We don't have to stay here. We've still got our own group; we can walk out and find another place . . . a bigger cave maybe." 'Yes, sir!" agreed Caroline. "Right tonight." Rod thought about it. The idea was tempting; they didn't need the others . . . guys like Nielsen- and Cowper. The discovery that his friends were loyal to him, loyal to the extent that they would consider exile rather than let him down choked him up. He turned to Jacqueline. "How about you, Jackie?" "We're partners, Rod. Always." "Bob- do you want to do this? You and Carmen?" "Yes. Well . . "' Well' what?" "Rod, we're sticking with you.
This election is all very well- but you took us in when we needed it and teamed with us. We'll never forget it. Furthermore, I think that you make a sounder team captain than Cowper is likely to make. But there is one thing." "Yes." "If you decide that we leave, Carmen and I will appreciate it if you put it off a day." "Why?" demanded Caroline. "Now is the time." "Well- they've set this up as a formal colony, a village with a mayor. Everybody knows that a regularly elected mayor can perform weddings." "Oh!" said Caroline. "Pardon my big mouth." "Carmen and I can take care of the religious end it's not very complicated in our church. But, just in case we ever are rescued, we would like it better and our folks would like it if the civil requirements were all perfectly regular and legal. You see?" Rod nodded. "I see." "But if you say to leave tonight . . ." "I don't," Rod answered with sudden decision. "We'll stay and get you two properly married. Then-" "Then we all shove off in a shower of rice," Caroline finished. "Then we'll see. Cowper may turn out to be a good mayor. We won't leave just because I lost an election." He looked around at their faces. "But . . . but I certainly do thank you. I-" He could not go on. Carmen stepped forward and kissed him quickly. "Goodnight, Rod. Thanks." 9 "A Joyful Omen" Mayor Cowper got off to a good start. He approved, took over, and embellished a suggestion that Carmen and Bob should have their own quarters.
He suspended work on the wall and set the whole village to constructing a honeymoon cottage. Not until his deputy, Roy Kilroy, reminded him did he send out hunting parties. He worked hard himself, having set the wedding for that evening and having decreed that the building must be finished by sundown. Finished it was by vandalizing part of the wall to supply building stone when the supply ran short Construction was necessarily simple since they had no tools, no mortar but clay mud, no way to cut timbers. It was a stone box as tall as a man and a couple of meters square, with a hole for a door. The roof was laid up from the heaviest poles that could be cut from a growth upstream of giant grass much like bamboo- the colonists simply called it "bamboo." This was thatched and plastered with mud; it sagged badly. But it was a house and even had a door which could be closed- a woven grass mat stiffened with bamboo. It neither hinged nor locked but it filled the hole and could be held in place with a stone and a pole. The floor was clean sand covered with fresh broad leaves. As a doghouse for a St. Bernard, it would have been about right; as a dwelling for humans, it was not much. But it was better than that which most human beings had enjoyed through the history and prehistory of the race. Bob and Carmen did not look at it critically. When work was knocked off for lunch Rod self-consciously sat down near a group around Cowper. He had wrestled with his conscience for a long time in the night and had decided that the only thing to do was to eat sour grapes and pretend to like them. He could start by not avoiding Cowper. Margery Chung was a cook for the day; she cut Rod a chunk of scorched meat. He thanked her and started to gnaw it. Cowper was talking. Rod was not trying to overhear but there seemed to be no reason not to listen. "-which is the only way we will get the necessary discipline into the group. I'm sure you agree. Cowper glanced up, caught Rod's eye, looked annoyed, then grinned. "Hello, Rod." "Hi, Grant." "Look, old man, we're having an executive committee meeting.
Would you mind finding somewhere else to eat lunch?" Rod stood up blushing. "Oh! Sure." Cowper seemed to consider it. "Nothing private, of course- just getting things done. On second thought maybe you should sit in and give us your advice." "Huh? Oh, no! I didn't know anything was going on." Rod started to move away. Cowper did not insist. "Got to keep working, lots to do. See you later, then. Any time." He grinned and turned away. Rod wandered off, feeling conspicuous. He heard himself hailed and turned gratefully, joined Jimmy Thruxton. "Come outside the wall," Jimmy said quietly.
"The Secret Six are having a picnic. Seen the happy couple?" "You mean Carmen and Bob?" "Know any other happy couples? Oh, there they are- staring hungrily at their future mansion. See you outside." Rod went beyond the wall, found Jacqueline and Caroline sitting near the water and eating. From habit he glanced around, sizing up possible cover for carnivores and figuring escape routes back into the kraal, but his alertness was not conscious as there seemed no danger in the open so near other people.
He joined the girls and sat down on a rock. "Hi, kids." "Hello, Rod." "H'lo, Roddie," Caroline seconded. "'What news on the Rialto?'" "None, I guess. Say, did Grant appoint an executive committee last night?" "He appointed about a thousand committees but no executive committee unless he did it after we adjourned. Why an executive committee? This gang needs one the way I need a bicycle." "Who is on it, Rod?" asked Jacqueline. Rod thought back and named the faces he had seen around Cowper. She looked thoughtful. "Those are his own special buddies from Teller U." "Yes, I guess so. "I don't like it," she answered. "What's the harm?" "Maybe none . . . maybe. It is about what we could expect. But I'd feel better if all the classes were on it, not just that older bunch. You know." "Shucks, Jack, you've got to give him some leeway." "I don't see why put in Caroline. "That bunch you named are the same ones Hizzonor appointed as chairmen of the other committees. It's a tight little clique.
You notice none of us unsavory characters got named to any important committee- I'm on waste disposal and camp sanitation, Jackie is on food preparation, and you aren't on any. You should have been on the constitution, codification, and organization committee, but he made himself chairman and left you out. Add it up." Rod did not answer. Caroline went on, "I'll add it if you won't. First thing you know there will be a nominating committee. Then we'll find that only those of a certain age, say twenty-one, can hold office. Pretty soon that executive committee will turn into a senate (called something else, probably) with a veto that can be upset only by a three-quarters majority that we will never get. That's the way my Uncle Phil would have rigged it." "Your Uncle Phil?" "Boy, there was a politician! I never liked him- he had kissed so many babies his lips were puckered.
I used to hide when he came into our house. But I'd like to put him up against Hizzoner. It'd be a battle of dinosaurs. Look, Rod, they've got us roped and tied; I say we should fade out right after the wedding." She turned to Jacqueline. "Right. . . pardner?" "Sure . . . if Rod says so." "Well, I don't say so. Look, Carol, I don't like the situation. To tell the truth . . . well, I was pretty sour at being kicked out of the captaincy. But I can't let the rest of you pull out on that account. There aren't enough of us to form another colony, not safely." "Why, Roddie, there are three times as many people still back in those trees as there are here in camp.
This time we'll build up slowly and be choosy about whom we take. Six is a good start. We'll get by." "Not six, Carol. Four." "Huh? Six! We shook on it last night before Jimmy woke you." Rod shook his head. "Carol, how can we expect Bob and Carmen to walk out . . . right after the rest have made them a wedding present of a house of their own?" "Well . . . darn it, we'd build them another house!" "They would go with us, Carol- but it's too much to ask." "I think," Jacqueline said grudgingly, "that Rod has something, Carol." The argument was ended by the appearance of Bob, Carmen, and Jimmy. They had been delayed, explained Jimmy, by the necessity of inspecting the house. "As if I didn't know every rock in it. Oh, my back!" "I appreciate it, Jim," Carmen said softly. "I'll rub your back." "Sold!" Jimmy lay face down. "Hey!" protested Caroline. "I carried more rocks than he did. Mostly he stood aramid and bossed." "Supervisory work is exceptionally tiring," Jimmy said smugly. "You get Bob to rub your back." Neither got a back rub as Roy Kilroy called to them from the wall. "Hey! You down their lunch hour is over. Let's get back to work." "Sorry, Jimmy. Later."
Carmen turned away. Jimmy scrambled to his feet. "Bob, Carmen- don't go 'way yet. I want to say something." They stopped. Rod waved to Kilroy. "With you in a moment!" He turned back to the others. Jimmy seemed to have difficulty in choosing words. "Uh, Carmen . . . Bob. The future Baxters. You know we think a lot of you. We think it swells that you are going to get married every family ought to have a marriage. But . . . well, shopping isn't what it might be around here and we didn't know what to get you. So we talked it over and decided to give you this. It's from all of us. A wedding present." Jimmy jammed a hand in his pocket, hauled out his dirty, dogeared playing cards, and handed them to Carmen. Bob Baxter looked startled. "Gosh, Jimmy, we can't take your cards-your only cards." "I- we want you to have them." "But-" "Be quiet, Bob!" Carmen said and took the cards. "Thank you, Jimmy.
Thank you very much. Thank you all." She looked around. "Our getting married isn't going to make any difference, you know. It's still one family. We'll expect you all . . . to come to play cards . . . at our house just as-" She stopped suddenly and started to cry, buried her head on Bob's shoulder. He patted it. Jimmy looked as if he wanted to cry and Rod felt nakedly embarrassed. They started back, Carmen with an arm around Jimmy and the other around her betrothed. Rod hung back with the other two. "Did Jimmy," he whispered, "say anything to either of you about this?" "No," Jacqueline answered. "Not me," Caroline agreed. "I was going to give 'em my stewpan, but now I'll wait a day or two." Caroline's "bag of rocks" had turned out to contain an odd assortment for survival- among other things, a thin-page diary, a tiny mouth organ, and a half-liter saucepan. She produced other unlikely but useful items from time to time. Why she had picked them and how she had managed to hang on to them after she discarded the bag were minor mysteries, but, as Deacon Matson had often told the class: "Each to his own methods. Survival is an art, not a science." It was undeniable that she had appeared at the cave healthy, well-fed, and with her clothing surprisingly neat and clean in view of the month she had been on the land. "They won't expect you to give up your stewpan, Caroline."
"I can't use it now that the crowd is so big, and they can set up housekeeping with it. Anyhow, I want to." "I'm going to give her two needles and some thread. Bob made her leave her sewing kit behind in favor of medical supplies. But I'll wait a while, too." "I haven't anything I can give them," Rod said miserably. Jacqueline turned gentle eyes on him. "You can make them a water skin for their house, Rod," she said softly. "They would like that. We can use some of my KwikKure so that it will last." Rod cheered up at once. "Say, that's a swell idea!" "We are gathered here," Grant Cowper said cheerfully, "to join these two people in the holy bonds of matrimony. I won't give the usual warning because we all know that no impediment exists to this union. In fact, it is the finest thing that could happen to our little community, a joyful omen of things to come, a promise for the future, a guarantee that we are firmly resolved to keep the torch of civilization, now freshly lighted on this planet, forever burning in the future. It means that-" Rod stopped listening.
He was standing at the groom's right as best man. His duties had not been onerous but now he found that he had an overwhelming desire to sneeze. He worked his features around, then in desperation rubbed his upper lip violently and overcame it. He sighed silently and was glad for the first time that Grant Cowper had this responsibility. Grant seemed to know the right words and he did not. The bride was attended by Caroline Mshiyeni. Both girls carried bouquets of a flame-colored wild bloom. Caroline was in shorts and a shirt as usual and the bride was dressed in the conventional blue denim trousers and overshirt. Her hair was arranged en brosse; her scrubbed face shone in the firelight and she was radiantly beautiful. "Who giveth this woman?" Jimmy Thruxton stepped forward and said hoarsely, "I do!" "The ring, please." Rod had it on his little finger; with considerable fumbling, he got it off. It was a Ponce de Leon senior-class ring, borrowed from Bill Kennedy. He handed it to Cowper. "Carmen Eleanora, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?" "I do." "Robert Edward, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? Will you keep her and cherish her, cleaving unto her only, until death do you part?" "I do. I mean, I will. Both."
"Take her hand in yours. Place the ring on her finger. Repeat after me- Rod's sneeze was coming back again; he missed part of it. "-so, by the authority vested in me as duly elected Chief Magistrate of this sovereign community, I pronounce you man and wife! Kiss her, chum, before I beat you to it." Carol and Jackie both were crying; Rod wondered what had gone wrong. He missed his turn at kissing the bride, but she turned to him presently, put an arm around his neck, and kissed him. He found himself shaking hands with Bob very solemnly. "Well, I guess that does it. Don't forget you are supposed to carry her through the door." "I won't forget." "Well, you told me to remind you. Uh, may the Principle bless you both." 10 "I So Move" There was no more talk of leaving. Even Caroline dropped the subject. But on other subjects talk was endless. Cowper held a town meeting every evening.
These started with committee reports- the committee on food resources and nature conservation, the committees on artifacts and inventory, on waste disposal and camp sanitation, on exterior security, on human resources and labor allotment, on recruitment and immigration, on conservation of arts and sciences, on the constitution, codification, and justice, on food preparation, on housing and city planning- Cowper seemed to enjoy the endless talk and Rod was forced to admit that the others appeared to have a good time, too- he surprised himself by discovering that he too looked forward to the evenings. It was the village's social life, the only recreation.
Each session produced wordy battles, personal remarks and caustic criticisms; what was lacking in the gentlemanly formality found in older congresses was made up in spice. Rod liked to sprawl on the ground with his ear near Jimmy Thruxton and listen to Jimmy's slanderous asides about the intelligence, motives, and ancestry of each speaker. He waited for Caroline's disorderly heckling. But Caroline was less inclined to heckle now; Cowper had appointed her Historian on discovering that she owned a diary and could take shorthand. "It is extremely important," he informed her in the presence of the village, "that we have a full record of these pioneer days for posterity.
You've been writing in your diary every day?" "Sure. That's what it's for." "Good! From here on it will be an official account. I want you to record the important events of each day." "All right. It doesn't make the tiniest bit of difference, I do anyhow." "Yes, yes, but in greater detail. I want you to record our proceedings, too. Historians will treasure this document, Carol." "I'll bet!" Cowper seemed lost in thought. "How many blank leaves left in your diary?" "Couple of hundred, maybe." "Good! That solves a problem I had been wondering about. Uh, we will have to requisition half of that supply for official use- public notices, committee transactions, and the like. You know." Caroline looked wide-eyed. "That's a lot of paper, isn't it? You had better send two or three big husky boys to carry it." Cowper looked puzzled. "You're joking." "Better make it four big huskies. I could probably manage three . . . and somebody is likely to get hurt." "Now, see here, Caroline, it is just a temporary requisition, in the public interest. Long before you need all of your diaries we will devise other writing materials." "Go ahead and devise! That's my diary." Caroline sat near Cowper, diary in her lap and style in her hand, taking notes. Each evening she opened proceedings by reading the minutes of the previous meeting.
Rod asked her if she took down the endless debates. "Goodness no!" "I wondered. It seemed to me that you would run out of paper. Your minutes are certainly complete." She chuckled. "Roddie, want to know what I really write down? Promise not to tell." "Of course I won't." "When I 'read the minutes' I just reach back in my mind and recall what the gabble was the night before-I've got an awfully good memory. But what I actually dirty the paper with . . . well, here-" She took her diary from a pocket. "Here's last night: 'Hizzoner called us to disorder at half past burping time. The committee on cats and dogs reported. No cats, no dogs.
The shortage was discussed. We adjourned and went to sleep, those who weren't already.'" Rod grinned. "A good thing Grant doesn't know shorthand." "Of course, if anything really happens, I put it down. But not the talk, talk, talk." Caroline was not adamant about not sharing her supply of paper when needed. A marriage certificate, drawn up in officialese by Howard Goldstein, a Teller law student, was prepared for the Baxters and signed by Cowper, the couple themselves, and Rod and Caroline as witnesses. Caroline decorated it with flowers and turtle doves before delivering it.
There were others who seemed to feel that the new government was long on talk and short on results. Among them was Bob Baxter, but the Quaker couple did not attend most of the meetings. But when Cowper had been in office a week, Shorty Dumont took the floor after the endless committee reports: "Mr. Chairman!" "Can you hold it, Shorty? I have announcements to make before we get on to new business." "This is still about committee reports. When does the committee on our constitution report?" "Why, I made the report myself." "You said that a revised draft was being prepared and the report would be delayed. That's no report. What I want to know is: when do we get a permanent set-up? When do we stop floating in the air, getting along from day to day on 'temporary executive notices'?" Cowper flushed. "Do you object to my executive decisions?" "Won't say that I do, won't say that I don't. But Rod was let out and you were put in on the argument that we needed a constitutional government, not a dictatorship.
That's why I voted for you. All right, where're our laws? When do we vote on them?" "You must understand," Cowper answered carefully, "that drawing up a constitution is not done overnight. Many considerations are involved." "Sure, sure- but it's time we had some notion of what sort of a constitution you are cooking up. How about a bill of rights? Have you drawn up one?" "All in due time." "Why wait? For a starter let's adopt the Virginia Bill of Rights as article one. I so move. "You're out of order. Anyhow, we don't even have a copy of it." "Don't let that bother you; I know it by heart. You ready, Carol? Take this down. "Never mind," Caroline answered.
"I know it, too. I'm writing it." "You see? These things aren't any mystery, Grant; most of us could quote it. So let's quit stalling." Somebody yelled, "Whoopee! That's telling him, Shorty. I second the motion." Cowper shouted for order. He went on, "This is not the time nor the place. When the committee reports, you will find that all proper democratic freedoms and safeguards have been included- modified only by the stern necessities of our hazardous position." He flashed his smile. "Now let's get on with business. I have an announcement about hunting parties. Hereafter each hunting party will be expected to-" Dumont was still standing.
"I said no more stalling, Grant. You argued that what we needed was laws, not a captain's whim. You've been throwing your weight around quite a while now and I don't see any laws. What are your duties? How much authority do you have? Are you both the high and the low justice? Or do the rest of us have rights?" "Shut up and sit down!" "How long is your term of office?" Cowper made an effort to control himself. "Shorty, if you have suggestions or, such things, you must take them up with the committee. "Oh, slush! Give me a straight answer." "You are out of order." "I am not out of order. I'm insisting that the committee on drawing up a constitution tell us what they are doing. I won't surrender the floor until I get an answer. This is a town meeting and I have as much right to talk as anybody." Cowper turned red.
"I wouldn't be too sure," he said ominously. just how old are you, Shorty?" Dumont stared at him. "Oh, so that's it? And the cat is out of the bag!" He glanced around. "I see quite a few here who are younger than I am. See what he's driving at, folks? Second-class citizens. He's going to stick an age limit in that so-called constitution. Aren't you, Grant? Look me in the eye and deny it." "Roy! Dave! Grab him and bring him to order." Rod had been listening closely; the show was better than usual. Jimmy had been adding his usual flippant commentary. Now Jimmy whispered, "That tears it. Do we choose up sides or do we fade back and watch the fun?" Before he could answer Shorty made it clear that he needed no immediate help. He set his feet wide and snapped, "Touch me and somebody gets hurt!" He did not reach for any weapon but his attitude showed that he was willing to fight. He went on, "Grant, I've got one thing to say, then I'll shut up."
He turned and spoke to all. "You can see that we don't have any rights and we don't know where we stand- but we are already organized like a straitjacket. Committees for this, committees for that- and what good has it done? Are we better off than we were before all these half-baked committees were appointed? The wall is still unfinished, the camp is dirtier than ever, and nobody knows what he is supposed to do. Why, we even let the signal fire go out yesterday. When a roof leaks, you don't appoint a committee; you fix the leak. I say give the job back to Rod, get rid of these silly committees, and get on with fixing the leaks. Anybody with me? Make some noise!" They made plenty of noise.
The shouts may have come from less than half but Cowper could see that he was losing his grip on them. Roy Kilroy dropped behind Shorty Dumont and looked questioningly at Cowper; Jiminy jabbed Rod in the ribs and whispered, "Get set, boy." But Cowper shook his head at Roy. "Shorty," he said quietly, "are you through making your speech?" "That wasn't a speech, that was a motion. And you had better not tell me it's out of order." "I did not understand your motion. State it." "You understood it. I'm moving that we get rid of you and put Rod back in." Kilroy interrupted.
"Hey, Grant, he can't do that. That's not according to-" "Hold it, Roy. Shorty, your motion is not in order." "I thought you would say that!" "And it is really two motions. But I m not going to bother with trifles. You say people don't like the way I'm doing things, so we'll find out." He went on briskly, "Is there a second to the motion?" "Second!" "I second it." "Moved and seconded. The motion is to recall me and put Rod in office. Any remarks?" A dozen people tried to speak. Rod got the floor by outshouting the others. "Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman! Privileged question!" "The chair recognizes Rod Walker." "Point of personal privilege. I have a statement to make." "Well? Go ahead." "Look, Grant, I didn't know Shorty planned to do this. Tell him, Shorty." "That's right." "Okay, okay," Cowper said sourly. "Any other remarks? Don't yell, just stick up your hands." "I'm not through," insisted Rod. "Well?" "I not only did not know, I'm not for it. Shorty, I want you to withdraw your motion." "No!" "I think you should. Grant has only had a week; you can't expect miracles in that time- I know; I've had grief enough with this bunch of wild men. You may not like the things he's done- I don't myself, a lot of them. That's to be expected. But if you let that be an excuse to run him out of office, then sure as daylight this gang will break up." "I'm not busting it up- he is! He may be older than I am but if he thinks that makes the least difference when it comes to having a say- well. . . he'd better think twice. I'm warning him. You hear that, Grant?" "I heard it. You misunderstood me." "Like fun I did!" "Shorty," Rod persisted, "will you drop this idea? I'm asking you please."
Shorty Dumont looked stubborn. Rod looked helplessly at Cowper, shrugged and sat down. Cowper turned away and growled, "Any more debate? You back there. . . Agnes? You've got the floor." Jimmy whispered, "Why did you pull a stunt like that, Rod? Nobility doesn't suit you." "I wasn't being noble. I knew what I was doing," Rod answered in low tones. "You messed up your chances to be re-elected." "Stow it." Rod listened; it appeared that Agnes Fries had more than one grievance. Jim?" "Huh?" "Jump to your feet and move to adjourn." "What? Ruin this when it's getting good? There is going to be some hair pulled . . . I hope." "Don't argue; do it!- or I'll bang your heads together." "Oh, all right. Spoilsport." Jimmy got reluctantly to his feet, took a breath, and shouted, "I move we adjourn!" Rod bounced to his feet. "SECOND THE MOTION!" Cowper barely glanced at them. "Out of order. Sit down."
"It is not out of order," Rod said loudly. "A motion to adjourn is always in order, it takes precedence, and it cannot be debated. I call for the question." "I never recognized you. This recall motion is going to be voted on it it is the last thing I do." Cowper's face was tense with anger. "Are you through, Agnes? Or do you want to discuss my table manners, too?" "You can't refuse a motion to adjourn," Rod insisted. "Question! Put the question."
Several took up the shout, drowning out Agnes Fries, preventing Cowper from recognizing another speaker. Boos and catcalls rounded out the tumult. Cowper held up both hands for silence, then called out, "It has been moved and seconded that we adjourn. Those in favor say, 'Aye.'" "AYE!!" "Opposed?" "No," said Jimmy. "The meeting is adjourned." Cowper strode out of the circle of firelight. Shorty Dumont came over, planted himself in front of Rod, and looked up. "A fine sort of a pal you turned out to be!" He spat on the ground and stomped off. "Yeah," agreed Jimmy, "what gives? Schizophrenia? Your nurse drop you on your head? That noble stuff in the right doses might have put us back in business. But you didn't know when to stop." Jacqueline had approached while Jimmy was speaking.
"I wasn't pulling any tricks," Rod insisted. "I meant what I said. Kick a captain out when he's had only a few days to show himself and you'll bust us up into a dozen little groups. I wouldn't be able to hold them together. Nobody could." "Bosh! Jackie, tell the man." She frowned. "Jimmy, you're sweet, but you're not bright." "Et Tu, Jackie?" "Never mind, Jackie will take care of you. A good job, Rod. By tomorrow everybody will realize it. Some of them are a little stirred up tonight." "What I don't see," Rod said thoughtfully, "is what got Shorty stirred up in the first place?" "Hadn't you heard? Maybe it was while you were out hunting. I didn't see it, but he got into a row with Roy, then Grant bawled him out in front of everybody. I think Shorty is self-conscious about his height," she said seriously.
"He doesn't like to take orders." "Does anybody?" The next day Grant Cowper acted as if nothing had happened. But his manner had more of King Log and less of King Stork. Late in the afternoon, he looked up Rod. "Walker? Can you spare me a few minutes?" "Let's go where we can talk." Grant led him to a spot out of earshot. They sat on the ground and Rod waited. Cowper seemed to have difficulty in finding words. Finally, he said, "Rod, I think I can depend on you." He threw in his grin, but it looked forced. "Why?" asked Rod. "Well. . . the way you behaved last night." "So? Don't bank on it, I didn't do it for you." Rod paused, then added, "Let's get this straight. I don't like you." For once Cowper did not grin. "That makes it mutual. I don't like you a little bit. But we've got to get along and I think I can trust you. "Maybe." "I'll risk it." "I agree with every one of Shorty's gripes. I just didn't agree with his solution." Cowper gave a wry smile, unlike his usual expression. For an instant, Rod found himself almost liking him.
"The sad part is that I agree with his gripes myself." "Huh?" "Rod, you probably think I'm a stupid jerk but the fact is I do know quite a bit about the theory of government. The hard part is to apply it in a. . . a transitional period like this. We've got fifty people here and not one with any practical experience in government- not even myself. But every single one considers himself an expert. Take that bill-of-rights motion; I couldn't let that stand. I know enough about such things to know that the rights and duties needed for a cooperative colony like this can't be taken over the word for word from an agrarian democracy, and they are still different from those necessary for an industrial republic." He looked worried. "It is true that we had considered limiting the franchise." "You do and they'll toss you in the creek!" "I know. That's one reason why the law committee hasn't made a report. Another reason is well, confound it, how can you work out things like a constitution when you practically haven't any writing paper? Ifs exasperating. But about the franchise: the oldest one of us is around twenty-two and the youngest is about sixteen.
The worst of it is that the youngest is the most precocious, geniuses or near-geniuses." Cowper looked up. "I don't mean you. "Oh, no," Rod said hastily. "I'm no genius!" "You're not sixteen, either. These brilliant brats worry me. 'Bush lawyers,' every blessed one, with always a smart answer and no sense. We thought with an age limit- a reasonable one- the older heads could act as ballast while they grow up. But it won't work." "No. It won't." "But what am I to do? That order about hunting teams not being mixed- that wasn't aimed at teams like you and Carol, but she thought it was and gave me the very deuce. I was just trying to take care of these kids. Confound it, I wish they were all old enough to marry and settle down the Baxters don't give me trouble." "I wouldn't worry. In a year or so ninety percent of the colony will be married." "I hope so! Say . . . are you thinking about it?" "Me?" Rod was startled. "Farthest thing from my mind." "Um? I thought- Never mind; I didn't get you out here to ask about your private affairs. What Shorty had to say was hard to swallow- but I'm going to make some changes. I'm abolishing most of the committees." "So?" "Yes. Blast them, they don't do anything; they just produce reports. I'm going to make one girl boss cook- and one man boss hunter.
I want you to be chief of police." "Huh? Why in Ned do you want a chief of police?" "Well . . . somebody has to see that orders are carried out. You know, camp sanitation and such. Somebody has to keep the signal smoking- we haven't accounted for thirty-seven people, aside from known dead. Somebody has to assign the night watch and check on it. The kids run hog wild if you don't watch them. You are the one to do it." "Why?" "Well . . . let's be practical, Rod. I've got a following and so have you. We'll have less trouble if everybody sees that we two stand together. It's for the good of the community."
Rod realized, as clearly as Grant did, that the group had to pull together. But Cowper was asking him to shore up his shaky administration, and Rod not only resented him but thought that Cowper was all talk and no results. It was not just the unfinished wall, he told himself, but a dozen things. Somebody ought to search for a salt lick, every day.
There ought to be a steady hunt for edible roots and berries and things, too- he, for one, was tired of an all-meat diet. Sure, you could stay healthy if you didn't stick just to lean meat, but who wanted to eat nothing but meat, maybe for a lifetime? And there were those stinking hides . . . Grant had ordered every kill skinned, brought back for use. "What are you going to do with those green hides?" he asked suddenly. "Huh? Why?" "They stink. If you put me in charge, I'm going to chuck them in the creek." "But we're going to need them. Half of us are in rags now. "But we're not short on hides; tanning is what we need. Those hides won't sun-cure this weather." "We haven't got tannin. Don't be silly, Rod." "Then send somebody out to chew bark till they find some. You can't mistake the puckery taste. And get rid of those hides!" "If I do, will you take the job?" "Maybe. You said, 'See that orders are carried out.' Whose orders? Yours? Or Kilroy's?" "Well, both. Roy is my deputy." Rod shook his head. "No, thanks. You've got him, so you don't need me.
Too many generals, not enough privates." "But, Rod, I do need you. Roy doesn't get along with the younger kids. He rubs them the wrong way." "He rubs me the wrong way, too. Nothing doing, Grant. Besides, I don't like the title anyhow. It's silly." "Pick your own. Captain of the Guard. .. City Manager. I don't care what you call it; I want you to take over the night guard and see that things run smoothly around camp- and keep an eye on the younger kids. You can do it and it's your duty." "What will you be doing?" "I've got to whip this code of laws into shape. I've got to think about long-range planning. Heavens, Rod, I've got a thousand things on my mind.
I can't stop settling a quarrel just because some kid has been teasing the cook. Shorty was right; we can't wait. When I give an order I want a law to back it and not have to take lip from some young snotty. But I can't do it all, I need help." Cowper put it on grounds impossible to refuse, nevertheless . . . "What about Kilroy?" "Eh? Confound it, Rod, you can't ask me to kick out somebody else to make room for you." "I'm not asking for the job!" Rod hesitated. He needed to say that it was a matter of stubborn pride to him to back up the man who had beaten him, it was that more than any public-spiritedness. He could not phrase it, but he did know that Cowper and Kilroy were not the same cases. "I won't pull Kilroy's chestnuts out of the fire. Grant, I'll stooge for you; you were elected. But I won't stooge for a stooge." "Rod, be reasonable! If you got an order from Roy, it would be my order.
He would simply be carrying it out." Rod stood up. "No deal." Cowper got angrily to his feet and strode away. There was no meeting that night, for the first time. Rod was about to visit the Baxters when Cowper called him aside. "You win. I've made Roy chief hunter." "Huh?" "You take over as City Manager, or Queen of the May, or whatever you like. Nobody has set the night watch. So get busy." "Wait a minute! I never said I would take the job." "You made it plain that the only thing in your way was Roy. Okay, you get your orders directly from me. Rod hesitated. Cowper looked at him scornfully and said, "So you can't co-operate even when you have it all your own way?" "Not that, but-" "No 'buts.' Do you take the job? A straight answer: yes, or no. "Uh. . . yes. "Okay." Cowper frowned and added, "I almost wish you had turned it down."
"That makes two of us." Rod started to set the guard and found that every boy he approached was convinced that he had had more than his share of watches. Since the exterior security committee had kept no records- indeed, had had no way to it was impossible to find out who was right and who was shirking. "Stow it!" he told one. "Starting tomorrow we'll have an alphabetical list, straight rotation. I'll post it even if we have to scratch it on a rock." He began to realize that there was truth in what Grant had said about the difficulty of getting along without writing paper. "Why don't you put your pal Baxter on watch?" "Because the Mayor gave him two weeks honeymoon, as you know. Shut up the guff. Charlie will be your relief; make sure you know where he sleeps."
"I think I'll get married. I could use two weeks of loafing." "I'll give you five to the one you can't find a girl that far out of her mind. You're on from midnight to two." Most of them accepted the inevitable once they were assured of a square deal in the future, but Peewee Schneider, barely sixteen and youngest in the community, stood on his "rights"- he had stood a watch the night before, he did not rate another for at least three nights, and nobody could most colorfully make him. Rod told Peewee that he would either stand his watch, or Rod would slap his ears lose- and then he would still stand his watch. To which he added that if he heard Peewee use that sort of language around camp again he would wash Peewee's mouth out with soap. Schneider shifted the argument. "Yah! Where are you going to find soap?" "Until we get some, I'll use sand. You spread that word, Peewee: no more rough language around camp. We're going to be civilized if it kills us. Four to six, then, and show Kenny where you sleep." As he left Rod made a mental note that they should collect wood ashes and fat; while he had only a vague idea of how to make soap probably someone knew how. . . and soap was needed for other purposes than curbing foul-mouthed pip squeaks.
He had felt a yearning lately to be able to stand upwind of himself . . . he had long ago thrown away his socks. Rod got little sleep. Every time he woke he got up and inspected the guard, and twice he was awakened by watchmen who thought they saw something prowling outside the circle of firelight. Rod was not sure, although it did seem once that he could make out a large, long shape drifting past in the darkness. He stayed up a while each time, another gun in case the prowler risked the wall or the fires in the gap. He felt great temptation to shoot at the prowling shadows but suppressed it. To carry the attack to the enemy would be to squander their scanty ammunition without making a dent in the dangerous beasts around them.
There were prowlers every night; they had to live with it. He was tired and cranky the next morning and wanted to slip away after breakfast and grab a nap in the cave. He had not slept after four in the morning but had checked on Peewee Schneider at frequent intervals. But there was too much to do; he promised himself a nap later and sought out Cowper instead. "Two or three things on my mind, Grant." "Spill it." "Any reason not to put girls on watch?" "Eh? I don't think it's a good idea." "Why not? These girls don't scream at a mouse. Every one of them stayed alive by her own efforts at least a month before she joined up here. Ever seen Caroline in action?" "Mmm . . . no. "You should. It's a treat. Sudden death in both hands, and eyes in the back of her head.
If she were on watch, I would sleep easy. How many men do we have now?" "Uh, twenty-seven, with the three that came in yesterday." "All right, out of twenty-seven who doesn't stand watch?" "Why, everybody takes his turn." "You?" "Eh? Isn't that carrying it pretty far? I don't expect you to take a watch; you run it and check on the others." "That's two off. Roy Kilroy?" "Uh, look, Rod, you had better figure that he is a department head as a chief hunter and therefore exempt. You know why- no use looking for trouble." "I know, all right. Bob Baxter is off duty, too." "Until next week." "But this is this week. The committee cut the watch down to one at a time; I'm going to boost it to two again. Besides that, I want a sergeant of the guard each night. He will be on all night and sleep all next day . . . then I don't want to put him on for a couple of days. You see where that leaves me? I need twelve watchstanders every night; I have less than twenty to draw from." Cowper looked worried.
"The committee didn't think we had to have more than one guard at a time." "Committee be hanged!" Rod scratched his scars and thought about shapes in the dark. "Do you want me to run this the way I think it has to be run? Or shall I just go through the motions?" "Well . . "One man alone either gets jittery and starts seeing shadows- or he dopes off and is useless. I had to wake one last night- I won't tell you who; I scared him out of his pants; he won't do it again. I say we need a real guard, strong enough in case of trouble to handle things while the camp has time to wake up. But if you want it your way, why not relieve me and put somebody else in?" "No, no, you keep it. Do what you think necessary." "Okay, I'm putting the girls on. Bob and Carmen, too, And you." "Huh?" "And me. And Roy Kilroy. Everybody.
That's the only way you will get people to serve without griping; that way you will convince them that it is serious, a first obligation, even ahead of hunting." Cowper picked at a hangnail, "Do you honestly think I should stand watch? And you?" "I do. It would boost morale seven hundred percent. Besides that, it would be a good thing, uh, politically." Cowper glanced up, did not smile. "You've convinced me. Let me know when it's my turn." "Another thing. Last night there was bare wood to keep two fires going." "Your problem. Use anybody, not on the day's hunting or cooking details." "I will. You'll hear some beef. Boss, those were minor items; now I come to the major one. Last night I took a fresh look at this spot. I don't like it, not as a permanent camp. We've been lucky." "Eh? Why?" "This place is almost undefendable. We've got a stretch over fifty meters long between shale and water on the upstream side. Downstream isn't bad, because we build a fire in the bottleneck. But upstream we have walled off less than half and we need a lot more stakes behind the wall. Look," Rod added, pointing, "you could drive an army through there- and last night I had only two little bitty fires. We ought to finish that wall." "We will." "But we ought to make a real drive to find a better place. This is makeshift at best. Before you took over I was trying to find more caves- but I didn't have time to explore very far. Ever been to Mesa Verde?" "In Colorado? No." "Cliff dwellings, you've seen pictures. Maybe somewhere up or down stream-more likely down- we will find pockets like those at Mesa Verde where we can build homes for the whole colony. You ought to send a team out for two weeks or more, searching. I volunteer for it." "Maybe. But you can't go; I need you." "In a week I'll have this guard duty lined up so that it will run itself. Bob Baxter can relieve me; they respect him. . . .. ." He thought for a moment. Jackie? Jimmy? "I'll team with Carol." "Rod, I told you I want you here. But are you and Caroline planning to marry?" "Huh? What gave you that notion?" "Then you can't team with her in any case. We are trying to re-introduce amenities around here." "Now see here, Cowper!" "Forget it." "Unh . . . all right. But the first thing- the very first- is to finish that wall. I want to put everybody to work nght away." "Mmm . . ." Cowper said. "I'm sorry. You can't." "Why not?" "Because we are going to build a house today. Bill Kennedy and Sue Briggs are getting married tonight." "Huh? I hadn't heard." "I guess you are the first to hear.
They told me about it privately, at breakfast." Rod was not surprised, as Bill and Sue preferred each other's company. "Look, do they have to get married tonight? That wall is urgent, Grant; I'm telling you." "Don't be so intense, Rod. You can get along a night or two with bigger fires. Remember, there are human values more important than material values." 11 The Beach of Bones "July 29- Bill and Sue got married tonight. Hizzoner never looked lovelier. He made a mighty pretty service out of it- I cried and so did the other girls. If that boy could do the way he can talk! I played Mendelssohn's Wedding March on my harmonica with tears running down my nose and gumming up the reeds- that's a touch I wanted to put into darling Carmen's wedding but I couldn't resist being bridesmaid. The groom got stuck carrying his lady fair over the threshold of their 'house'- if I may call it that- and had to put her down and shove her in ahead of him. The ceiling is lower than it ought to be which is why he got stuck because we ran out of rock and Roddie raised Cain when we started to use part of the wall. Hizzoner was leading the assault on the wall and both of them got red in the face and shouted at each other. But Hizzoner backed down after Roddie got him aside and said something- Bill was pretty sore at Roddie but Bob sweet-talked him and offered to swap houses and Roddie promised Bill that we would take the roof off and bring the walls up higher as soon as the wall is finished.
That might not be as soon as he thinks, though- usable rock is getting hard to find. I've broken all my nails trying to pry out pieces we could use. But I agree with Roddie that we ought to finish that wall and I sleep a lot of sounders now that he is running the watch and I'll sleep sounder yet when that wall is tight and the pincushion back of it finished. Of course, we girls sleep down at the safe end but who wants to wake up and find a couple of our boys missing? It is not as if we had them to spare, bless their silly little hearts. Nothing like a man around the house, Mother always said, to give a home that lived-in look. "July 30- I'm not going to write in this unless something happens.
Hizzoner talks about making papyrus like the Egyptians but I'll believe it when I see it. "Aug 5- I was sergeant of the guard last night and Roddie was awake practically all night. I turned in after breakfast and slept until late afternoon- when I woke up there was Roddie, red-eyed and cross, yelling for more rocks and more firewood. Sometimes Roddie is a little hard to take. "Aug 9- the salt lick Alice found is closer than the one Shorty found last week, but not as good. "Aug 14- Jackie finally made up her mind to marry Jim and I think Roddie is flabbergasted but I could have told him a month ago. Roddie is stupid about such things. I see another house & wall crisis coming and Roddie will get a split personality because he will want Jimmy and Jacqueline to have a house right away and the only decent stone within reach is built into the wall. "Aug 15- Jimmy and Jackie, Agnes and Curt, were married today in a beautiful double ceremony.
The Thruxton has the Baxter house temporarily and the Pulvermacher's have Kennedy's dollhouse while we partition the cave into two sets of married quarters and a storeroom. "Sep 1- the roots I dug up didn't poison me, so I served a mess of them tonight. The shield from the power pack of that Thunderbolt gun we salvaged- Johann's, it must have been- made a big enough boiler to cook a little helper for everybody. The taste was odd, maybe because Agnes had been making soap in it- it wasn't very good soap, either. I'm going to call these things yams because they look like yams although they taste more like parsnips. There are a lot of them around.
Tomorrow I m going to try boiling them with greens, a strip of side meat, and plenty of salt. Yum, yum! I'm going to bake them in ashes, too. "Sep 16- Chad Ames and Dick Burke showed up with their tails tucked in; Hizzoner got softhearted and let em stay. They say Jock McGowan is crazy. I can believe it. "Sep 28- Philip Schneider died today, hunting. Roy carried him in, but he was badly clawed and lost a lot of blood, and was D.O.A. Roy resigned as a boss hunter and Hizzoner appointed Cliff. Roy is broken up about it but nobody blames him. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. "Oct 7- I've decided to marry M. "Oct 10- seems I was mistaken- M. is going to marry Margery Chung. Well, they are nice kids and if we ever get out of this I'll be glad I'm single since I want to buck for a commission in the Amazons. Note: be a little more standoffish, Caroline. Well, try! "Oct 20- Carmen???? "Oct 21- Yes. "Nov 1- well Glory be! I'm the new City Manager. Little Carol, the girl with two left feet Just a couple of weeks, temporary and acting while Roddie is away, but say 'sir' when you speak to me.
Hizzoner finally let Roddie make the down-river survey he has been yipping about, accompanying it with a slough of advice and injunctions that Roddie will pay no attention to once he is out of sight-if I know Roddie. It's a two-man team and Roddie picked Roy as his teamer. They left this morning. "Nov 5- being City Manager is not all marshmallow sundae. I wish Roddie would get back. "Nov 11 - Hizzoner wants me to copy off in here the 'report of the artifacts committee'! Mick Mahmud has been keeping it in his head which strikes me as a good place. But Hizzoner has been very jumpy since Roddie and Roy left, so I guess I will humor him- here it is: "12 spare knives (besides one each for everybody) "53 firearms and guns of other sorts- but only about half of them with even one charge left. "6 Testaments "2 Peace of the Flame "1 Koran "1 Book of Mormon "1 Oxford Book of English Verse, Centennial Edition "1 steel bow and 3 hunting arrows "1 boiler made from a wave shield and quite a bit of metal and plastic junk (worth its weight in uranium, I admit) from the Thunderbolt Jackie salvaged. "1 stewpan (Carmen's) "1 pack playing cards with the nine of hearts missing "13 matches, any number of pocket flamers no longer working, and 27 burning glasses "1 small hand ax "565 meters climbing line, some of it chopped up for other uses "91 fishhooks (and no fish fit to eat!) "61 pocket compasses, some of them broken "19 watches that still run (4 of them adjusted to our day) "2 bars of scented soap that Theo has been hoarding "2 boxes Kwik-Kure and part of a box of Tan-Fast "Several kilos of oddments that I suppose we will find a use for but I won't list. Mick has a mind like a packrat. "Lots of things we have made and can make more of- pots, bows, and arrows, hide scrapers, a stone-age mortar & pestle we can grind seeds on if you don't mind grit in your teeth, etc. Hizzoner says the Oxford Verse is the most valuable thing we have and I agree, but not for his reasons.
He wants me to cover all the margins with shorthand, recording all special knowledge that any of us have- everything from math to pig-raising. Cliff says go ahead as long as we don't deface the verses. I don't see when I'm going to find the time. I've hardly been out of the settlement since Roddie left and sleep is something I just hear about. "Nov 13- only two more days. 'For this relief, much thanks. . .' "Nov 16- I didn't think they would be on time. "Nov 21- We finally adopted our constitution and basic code today, the first town meeting we've had in weeks. It covers the flyleaves of two Testaments, Bob's and Georgia's. If anybody wants to refer to it, which I doubt, that's where to look. "Nov 29- Jimmy says old Rod is too tough to kill. I hope he's right. Why, oh, why didn't I twist Hizzoner's arm and make him let me go? "Dec 15- there's no use kidding ourselves any longer. "Dec 21- The Throxtons and Baxters and myself and Grant gathered privately in the Baxter house tonight and Grant recited the service for the dead. Bob said a prayer for both of them and then we sat quietly for a long time, Quaker fashion. Roddie always reminded me of my brother Rickie, so I privately asked Mother to take care of him, and Roy, too- Mother had a lap big enough for three, any time. "Grant hasn't made a public announcement; official they are just 'overdue.'"Dec 25- Christmas".....
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