"Ghosts!" McNeil pounced upon that. "The Reds like to play the
supernatural angle, don't they? First the voice of Lurgha and now
ghosts. What do these ghosts do?"
"They inhabit a bit of mountainous territory southeast of here, a
stretch strictly taboo for all hunters. We were following a bison track
until the beast headed for the ghost country. Then Ulffa called us off
in a hurry. It seems that the hunter who goes in there after his quarry
never reappears, or if he does, it's in a damaged condition, blown upon
by ghosts and burned to death! That's one point."
He sat down by the fire and stretched his arms wearily. "The second is a
little more disturbing for us. A Beaker camp about twenty miles south of
here, as far as I can judge, was exterminated just a week ago. The
message was passed to me because I was thought to be a kinsman of the
slain----"
McNeil sat up. "Done because they were hunting us?"
"Might well be. On the other hand, the affair may have been just one of
general precaution.
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