"Let's see, Staines and Petrucci were taking soil samples. And Bondieu
was chasing what he likes to call butterflies. It was very quiet. Those
tall plants were just hanging limply. I remember Hakim saying, 'If we
were home, I'd say we were going to have a storm.' I said something
like, 'It'd be nice to see grass again for a change, even in a storm.'
About that time, Bodkin got up and walked away from his cameras. I
said, 'Where are you going?' He didn't answer. He took his head in his
hands, and stood still, and I knew immediately what it was. But before
I could get to him he collapsed."
"Did you look for insects?" Fenner asked.
"Yes, we thought of that at once. We looked to see if any of the
_leptorrhinae_ were on him, or any other bugs. There wasn't a
thing, not a mark, not a sting or a puncture. Nothing."
He stopped and drew a long breath. "Well, then I thought about animals.
I asked Bondieu--he'd been running around, after all. He said he
thought he saw the oil-bushes moving, but he couldn't be sure. I set
Staines and Petrucci to beating the bushes, but nothing turned up. I
thought, then, if we could get Bodkin right back something might be
done for him."