"I'm afraid I don't follow you, sir."
"Well, damn it all, you know that Forbes took a pot shot at him. Got him in the leg. That being the case, why would the fuzzy little devil come back to his tormentors—back to us—when we were trapped under those logs?"
"Well, I guess as long as we were trapped, he figured we couldn't do him any more harm.... I'm sorry, that was a stupid answer. I guess I'm still a little shaky."
"Forget it. Look, you go ahead to the ship and make ready for take-off. I'll join you in a few minutes. I think I'll go back and look around. You know. Make sure we haven't left anyone."
"No need to do that. They're all ahead of us. I've checked."
"That's my responsibility, Cabot, not yours. Now go on."
As Purnie lay gathering strength for the long trek home, he saw through glazed eyes one of the animals coming back along the beach. When it was nearly directly below him, he could hear it making sounds that by now had become familiar.
"Where are you?"
Purnie paid little attention to the antics of his friend; he was beyond understanding. He wondered what they would say at home when he returned.