As Conley had said, Kaarji wasn't of much help. The tall, leathery, heavy-chested Martian was even more taciturn than the usual members of his race. He seemed to show a distrust of Jim.
However, he did agree to accompany Jim across the mile strip of desert to Frank Landor's mine nestled against the hills. As they trudged through the sand in silence, Jim glanced occasionally at Kaarji. He was sure he had made it plain that he was Frank Landor's brother. The Martian wasn't dumb, he knew why Jim was here.
With a friendly and almost instinctive gesture Jim offered the Martian a cigarette. Kaarji accepted it, looked at it with distaste as though he had tried them before and abhorred them; but he placed it clumsily in his lips nevertheless and smoked it valiantly. At the same time he reached into his pocket and handed Jim a few tiny purplish objects. Jim accepted them, looked at them and shuddered. He had heard of Martian tsith stems and knew that they made almost all Earthmen violently ill. Nevertheless he plopped them into his mouth and began chewing.
Kaarji looked at him approvingly and gave a grotesque smile. As though the Earthman's act were a signal, he began talking.
"I don't like it in town," Kaarji said. "Too many Earthmen. I like it over here."
"At Frank's mine, you mean?"
"Yes. Frank Landor was a fine man. I am sorry he did not come back."
"Perhaps he will come back," Jim suggested.
But Kaarji shook his head.
It took very little effort then to get the entire story. It seemed that Frank Landor and Kaarji had trekked four days into the Martian Cap. Only Kaarji had ever gone that far before. Late on the fourth day, as they camped, Kaarji was awakened by a shout from Frank. He had leaped up and glimpsed Frank Landor running toward a vehicle that rested at the bottom of an icy decline....