[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Galaxy Science Fiction January 1952.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Problem: How can you arrange marriages with
men in one solar system, women in another--and
neither willing to leave his own world?
I
"The beasts aren't much help, are they?"
Karl Allen snatched a breath of air and gave another heave on the line
tied to the raft of parampa logs bobbing in the middle of the river.
"No," he grunted, "they're not. They always balk at a time like this,
when they can see it'll be hard work."
Joseph Hill wiped his plump face and coiled some of the rope's slack
around his thick waist.
"Together now, Karl. _One! Two!_"
They stood knee-deep in mud on the bank, pulling and straining on the
rope, while some few yards distant, in the shade of a grove of trees,
their tiny yllumphs nibbled grass and watched them critically, but made
no effort to come closer.
"If we're late for ship's landing, Joe, we'll get crossed off the list."
Hill puffed and wheezed and took another hitch on the rope.
"That's what I've been thinking about," he said, worried.
They took a deep breath and hauled mightily on the raft rope. The raft
bobbed nearer. For a moment the swift waters of the Karazoo threatened
to tear it out of their grasp, and then it was beached, most of it
solidly, on the muddy bank. One end of it still lay in the gurgling,
rushing waters, but that didn't matter. They'd be back in ten hours or
so, long before the heavy raft could be washed free.
"How much time have we got, Karl?"
The ground was thick with shadows, and Karl cast a critical eye at
them. He estimated that even with the refusal of their yllumphs to help
beach the raft, they still had a good two hours before the rocket put
down at Landing City.
"Two hours, maybe a little more," he stated hastily when Hill looked
more worried. "Time enough to get to Landing City and put in for our
numbers on the list."
He turned back to the raft, untied the leather and horn saddles, and
threw them over the backs of their reluctant mounts. He cinched his
saddle and tied on some robes and furs behind it.
Hill watched him curiously. "What are you taking the furs for? This
isn't the trading rocket."
"I know. I thought that when we come back tonight, it might be cold and
maybe _she'll_ appreciate the coverings then."
"You never would have thought of it yourself," Hill grunted. "Grundy
must have told you to do it, the old fool. If you ask me, the less
you give them, the less they'll come to expect. Once you spoil them,
they'll expect you to do all the trapping and the farming and the
family-raising yourself."
"You didn't have to sign up," Karl pointed out. "You could have applied
for a wife from some different planet."
"One's probably just as good as another. They'll all have to work the
farms and raise families."
Karl laughed and aimed a friendly blow at Hill. They finished saddling
up and headed into the thick forest.
* * * * *
It was quiet as Karl guided his mount along the dimly marked trail
and he caught himself thinking of the return trip he would be making
that night. It would be nice to have somebody new to talk to. And it
would be good to have somebody to help with the trapping and tanning,
somebody who could tend the small vegetable garden at the rear of his
shack and mend his socks and wash his clothes and cook his meals.
And it was time, he thought soberly, that he started to raise a family.
He was mid-twenty now, old enough to want a wife and children.
"You going to raise a litter, Joe?"
Hill started. Karl realized that he had probably been thinking of the
same thing.
"One of these days I'll need help around the sawmill," Hill answered
defensively. "Need some kids to cut the trees, a couple more to pole
them down the river, some to run the mill itself and maybe one to sell
the lumber in Landing City. Can't do it all myself."
He paused a moment, thinking over something that had just occurred to
him.
"I've been thinking of your plans for a garden, Karl. Maybe I ought to
have one for my wife to take care of, too."