Jarl Gare went through the card-catalog of his brain. The Chameleon men, the Venusian natives, evolved from reptiles who walked upright, were intelligent but could converse with men only through thought pictures. They were the guardians of the pearl-beds.
Their vision in their fog world was as good if not better than Waltk's. They needed no infra-red rays to penetrate the fog as the Earthmen did.
They had fought viciously against colonization by Earthmen. Despite punitive measures by Earth, they were not conquered and finally there had been an Earth-Venus treaty.
Earthmen were permitted access to the oil fields and were allowed to create The Hole. In token of the great pact, the Earth had given its largest, most perfect diamond to Venus. Venus, ruled by its hierarchy of the Guardian Priests, had given a pearl.
The pearl had touched off cupidity on Earth—and adventurers by the score had attempted to wrest others.
Earth at first had sought to halt the adventurers, but Venus had replied cryptically. "Let them come. If they can obtain a pearl, they have won it fairly."
Of the hundreds who had tried, only three had won through successfully. Only three had been strong enough to pass the test of weakness.
If an Earthman made it to the pearl-beds, he was given the test of weakness. If he passed it, he went free with a pearl of his choice. If he lost, he disappeared.
Only three ... and Jarl Gare chuckled. Soon there would be four. Jarl Gare.
The Venusians were sluggish moving and web-footed, perfectly at home on their spongy earth. But in the trees?