Brander's find, laid tenderly upon the deck, studied by Noll Wing and
the officers on their knees, set the _Sally_ buzzing with the clack of
tongues.
There was a romance in the stuff itself that caught attention. It came
from the rotting carcass of the greatest thing that lives; it came from
the heart of a vast stench.... Yet itself smelled faintly and fragrantly
of musk, and had the power of multiplying any other perfume a thousand
fold. Not a man on the _Sally_ had ever seen a bit larger than a
cartridge, before; they studied it, handled it, marveled at it.
Cap'n Wing stood up stiffly from bending over the stuff at last; he
looked at Brander. "It's ugly enough," he said. "You're sure it's the
stuff you think?"