"I don't know what you are talking about," he stabbed. "What is the meaning of all this? Who is this unfortunate, and why did everyone disappear as though I had the plague when I sat next to him?"
look of bewilderment swept over the massive face, bewilderment tinged with a dawning suspicion of the questioner's sanity.
"You mean to say you don't know?" The tone held incredulity.
"I've just told you so," Hilary pointed out. He felt a growing unease.
The giant eyed him closely. "Man, where on earth have you been these last three years?"
Hilary grinned. "I haven't."
"You haven't?" echoed the other. Suspicion hardened the childlike eyes into cold flame. The man was dangerous when aroused. He thrust his jaw down at Hilary. "If you are jesting with me...." He left the sentence unfinished, but the clenching of a huge fist left no doubt as to his intention.
"I am not jesting," Hilary assured him grimly. "I have been away from the Earth for five years. I've just returned."