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'That's a lie!' Drummond said.
'It's only a speculation,' Gribardsun said. 'And don't imply I'm a liar any more. You're in no position
to be calling names or accusing anybody of anything.'
'Are you all right, Drummond?' Rachel said. She sounded sympathetic, but she did not make any
move toward him.
'My head feels as if I have a fracture.'
Gribardsun examined his scalp and then applied the sonic photo camera to the wound. Six seconds
later, the film slid out of the tiny box. He looked at it through a magnifying glass and said, 'There's no
fracture of the skull. But you do have a slight concussion.'
'Slight!' Drummond said.
'You're lucky to be alive,' Gribardsun said. 'You escaped killing twice.'
'Why don't you put me out of my misery?' Drummond said.
'Don't be an ass,' the Englishman said, and he lifted Drummond to his feet. 'You saw us kissing, no
doubt. That was entirely unpremeditated; it was brought about because of a peculiar concatenation of
circumstances. Not that it might not happen again, if you continue to be such an utter nincompoop.'
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'A what?' Drummond said.
'An archaic word,' Gribardsun said. 'Another nail in the coffin of your absurd suspicions. You forget
that I'm more than a doctor and physical anthropologist. I'm also a linguist.'
He turned Drummond over to Rachel, and she half supported him while Gribardsun led the way
down the other side of the mountain. He followed the deep tracks of the intruder. Occasionally he halted
and warned the others to get down in the snow while he reconnoitered. When the possibility of an
ambush was cleared away, he motioned them to continue.
The tracks suddenly disappeared when they were within a quarter of a mile of the campsite. The man
had taken to a pile of boulders and smaller rocks, the tops of which had been swept clean of snow by the
wind. He had leaped from one bare spot to another. Since the rocks were widespread, and since there
were many tracks from the tribespeople around the rocks, the man had effectively eluded them.
He would, however, have had to conceal the rifle and the box of ammunition he had stolen. This he
could easily do by taking the rifle apart and concealing it under the heavy fur garments. But if he thought
to hide it in his tent, he would soon be found out. There was very little privacy inside the camp and few
places to hide anything inside a tent. He would have to conceal the rifle inside furs, and the first time one
of his family bumped into the bundle, the contents would be detected. It was probable that the rifle and
ammunition had been hidden somewhere in the several acres of rock detritus near the camp.
Gribardsun put Drummond inside his plastic hut and made another examination. Then he went straight
to the tent of Dubhab. Laminak greeted him with her usual joy and unconcealed worship. Gribardsun
gave no evidence that he was looking for her father. He chatted with her for a few minutes, then said that
he mustn't be holding up her work, which was sewing a parka. Where was her father?
Laminak said that he was out hunting of course. She hoped he would bring home at least as much as
Gribardsun had, she said, looking at the hares still slung over his shoulder.
Gribardsun saw nothing in her demeanor to indicate she was lying. Besides, he did not think that she
would make the slightest effort to deceive him. She loved him more than anybody, even her father.
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Gribardsun gave her a hare and left, though she was trying desperately to keep him by asking a string
of questions. He said he would speak to her later, then stooped and went out through the exit. At that
moment Dubhab left the woods nearby and approached the camp under the overhang of rock. He saw
Gribardsun waiting for him but did not check his pace. He smiled when he got closer and loudly greeted
him.
Gribardsun had decided by then that Dubhab had hidden the rifle - if he was the thief - and that it
would be better not to let him know he was a suspect. He talked with him for a few minutes, inquired
about his hunting, and was told that Dubhab had been very unlucky. Gribardsun mentioned that he had
left a hare for his family, and walked away.
That evening, after everybody had eaten, he announced at the council fire that they would be moving
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