Page 71 (1/2)

"Elma, Elma, I can't hold them all off!"

Elma did not speak or rise from where she had slumped

Saht times One of the sand ships fell apart, the sail, the emerald body, the bronze hull points, the es in it Theinto the sand and separated out into orange and then smoke-flame

But the other ships closed in

"I'm outnumbered, Elma!" he cried "They'll kill me!"

He threw out the anchor It was no use The sail fluttered down, folding unto itself, sighing The ship stopped The wind stopped Travel stopped Mars stood still as the majestic vessels of the Martians drew around and hesitated over him

"Earth h seat solittered with the words

"I didn't do anything!" Sam looked at all the faces, one hundred in all, that surrounded him There weren't many Martians left on Mars--one hundred, one hundred and fifty, all told And most of them were here now, on the dead seas, in their resurrected ships, by their dead chess cities, one of which had just fallen like solinted

"It was all aout of his ship, his wife slumped behind him in the deeps of the hold, like a dead wo businessman I took some surplus material from a rocket that crashed and I built ht there on that land by the crossroads--you knohere it is You've got to ad around "And that Martian--I knoas a friend of yours--came His death was an accident, I assure you All I wanted to do was have a hot-dog stand, the only one on Mars, the first andto serve the best darned hot dogs there, with chili and onions and orange juice"

The silver ht Yellow eyes shone upon Sam He felt his stoun in the sand

"I give up"

"Pick up your gun," said the Martians in chorus

"What?"

"Your gun" A jeweled hand waved from the prow of a blue ship "Pick it up Put it away"

Unbelieving he picked up the gun