"I hope you're right," said Adams uneasily.
Old Buster had moved out from the grove and was shuffling warily toward the camp. Adams picked up the rifle that lay across his knees.
"Wait," said Cooper sharply. "Maybe he's just bluffing. It would be a shame to plaster him; he's such a nice old guy."
"I'll give him three steps more," he announced. "I've had enough of him."
Suddenly a roar burst out of the air just above their heads. The two leaped to their feet.
"It's Chuck!" Cooper yelled. "He's back!"
The helicopter made a half-turn of the camp and came rapidly to Earth.
Trumpeting with terror, Old Buster was a dwindling dot far down the grassy ridge.
They built the nightly fires circling the camp to keep out the animals.
"It'll be the death of me yet," said Adams wearily, "cutting all this wood."
"We have to get to work on that stockade," Cooper said. "We've fooled around too long. Some night, fire or no fire, a herd of mastodon will come busting in here and if they ever hit the helicopter, we'll be dead ducks. It wouldn't take more than just five seconds to turn us into Robinson Crusoes of the Pleistocene."
"Well, now that this recognition thing has petered out on us," said Adams, "maybe we can get down to business."
"Trouble is," Cooper answered, "we spent about the last of our money on the chain saw to cut this wood and on Chuck's trip to Washington. To build a stockade, we need a tractor. We'd kill ourselves if we tried to rassle that many logs bare-handed."
"Maybe we could catch some of those horses running around out there."
"Not me," said the ex-ambassador extraordinary bluntly.
Cooper squatted down beside the coals of the cooking fire and twirled the spit. Upon the spit were three grouse and half a dozen quail. The huge coffee pot was sending out a nose-tingling aroma. Biscuits were baking in the reflector.
"We've been here six weeks," he said, "and we're still living in a tent and cooking on an open fire. We better get busy and get something done."
"The stockade first," said Adams, "and that means a tractor."
"Do you want to take the chance? That's our getaway. Once something happens to it...."
"We could use some of that Point Four aid right now," commented Adams.
"They threw me out," said Hudson. "Everywhere I went, sooner or later they got around to throwing me out. They were real organized about it."