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was chewing on a piece of skin to make it soft. An hour and a half passed, and most had crawled into
their tents and tied down the flaps to keep out the wind. The fires in the hearths were covered with ashes;
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the coals would be revivified in the morning.
Dubhab and Amaga and the girl, Laminak, had retired into the tent with the sick boy. Glamug danced
again around the tent, chanting in a low voice, shaking his rattle, and occasionally making a sign at the
four major points of the compass. He folded his thumb and two middle fingers together and extended his
little finger and index finger. All four of the scientists noted the sign; it was indeed an ancient one.
Glamug soon tired again. But he did not enter his tent, even though his wife had stuck her head out
from time to time and looked at him as if she wished he would come home. Glamug got a huge bison fur
and wrapped himself in it while he sat in front of the sick boy's tent. His head was hidden in a great fold
of the fur, but one hand was out in the cold, holding the reindeer bladder. Evidently he was on duty all
night, guarding against the spirit of sickness and death.
The scientists decided to call it a day. They started out on the cold and weary walk to the vessel. The
village was quiet; there were no guards; even Glamug was snoring in the depths of his robe.
The next morning they ate a good breakfast and rehashed the previous day's events. Rachel and
Gribardsun fed the bear cubs and played with them a little. Rachel seemed happier than the day before.
Gribardsun wondered if it was because she was with him. She smiled much at him, laughed at almost
everything he said, and reached out and put her hand on his arm or shoulder and once moved her
fingertip along his jaw. He was aware that yesterday's events had raised him even further in her esteem.
Whatever was driving the Silversteins apart was carrying her toward him. He did not believe that he was
the original force that had split them. But he might get blamed before they settled their troubles.
He decided that he would have to talk seriously to her, perhaps to both of them, apart or together,
and straighten them out. But he did not think that now was the time for it. He would put it off for a while.
If he did so, then her interest in him might die away, or she might find means to sublimate it, or she and
her husband might come to terms with their differences. He believed much in allowing time to effect
cures.
The next job was to move the building materials to the site chosen for their camp. Carrying large
packs, they hiked to the ledge, where it took them only an hour to erect two beehive-shaped buildings.
Since these were so light that a strong wind could carry them away, they were enclosed around the bases
with piles of stones. And some small boulders were placed on the floor inside to secure them even
further. The Silversteins moved into one building; the Englishman and German into the other.
At noon they returned to the vessel and packed more materials. They carried these to the 'village,'
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where the women and children and a few men crowded around them in wonder. The people were
amazed at the spraying and hardening of the foam. Only after some talk among themselves did they get
courage enough to approach and touch the plastic. They watched as the four piled stones around these
and placed some heavy ones inside. Gribardsun cut out the door and replaced it with hinges and a lock.
This dome was to hold artifacts and records and specimens and to serve as a temporary home and
workshop. Gribardsun walked around it twelve times chanting Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark and
making meaningless gestures. He hoped by doing this to convince the villagers that magic was being
invoked to protect the dome.
After that, he went in Abinal's tent and found the boy sitting up and eating meat from a bone. The
boy, who had been laughing with his sister, fell silent as Gribardsun entered. But Laminak spoke a few
words to him, and he relaxed somewhat. Gribardsun examined him, noticing that the boy shrank from the
touch of his fingers. But his sister jollied him, and she even spoke to Gribardsun, though she knew he
could not understand her.
When the Englishman and the girl left the tent, he pointed at various people or objects and asked
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