"But I found it, I tell you! A big one. I'll sell it to you, Penger.
I'll--"
Penger said, "You're crazy with tsith. There hasn't been a Josmian
found in this swamp for ten years."
"Penger, listen to me--"
Penger said, "Forget it. You want tsith? You'll have tsith. But you'll
work and you'll work hard. You'll get the draanga-weed out."
"Penger, I'm an Earthman! I'm asking you as one Earthman to another--"
Latham stopped. He shivered. He looked into Penger's colorless eyes
and what he saw made his soul curl up within him.
"You're a what? An Earthman? You _were_ an Earthman! Now you're a
grubby little specimen of the genus tsith! You're a miserable, whining
little speck of matter wriggling toward the final transfixation! In
another year you won't even be that. You'll be dead and forgotten.
Don't come crawling to me talking about Earthmen!" The voice scraped
across Latham's naked nerve-ends. Penger's eyes blazed, and in his
trembling anger he almost raised a fist.
Latham cringed away. From out of his forgotten past something came to
Latham. He stared at the loom of jungle where Kueelo and the Jovian
had disappeared.
"I've seen the day," he complained miserably, "when they wouldn't get
away with this!"
"You've seen the day--period!"
"I'm asking you once more, Penger. Help me! At least give me back the
dis-gun."
"The dis-gun? Now what would you want with the dis-gun? You'd only
come trading it back to me. You bring in the draanga-weed, that's all
I'm interested in! And if you work especially hard, there'll be some
tsith--enough for your needs."
Latham's eyes went fever-bright. His lips writhed back, a fit of
trembling took possession of his limbs. Almost, he succumbed to the
immediate vision of the tsith; almost, he forgot about the Josmian.
But somewhere deep in his alchemy was a well of stubbornness he never
knew he possessed.
He clutched at Penger's sleeve as the man turned away. He found
himself screaming, "Then I'll go without the gun! I'm going to get
that Josmian, do you hear? You'll believe me then! You'll believe when
you see it, Penger!"
Penger shook him away. "Sure, sure. You bring me a Josmian. Then we'll
talk a deal."
He wanted to ask for a drink, just one drink of tsith right now, but
Latham had learned the essential fact that there could be no
compromising with this man. He reeled away. His brief outburst had
left him weak and trembling. Nevertheless, he went stumbling toward
the looming wall of jungle.