"Leave the woman!" it demanded angrily. "The webfoots are nearing your position."
"I cannot leave her. She is helpless against them."
"What form of primitive stupidity are you practicing now? Leave, or they will kill you."
Stinson shook his head.
The Sand God pulsed more violently than before. Ice melted in a wide area around it. Brown, frozen grass burned to ashes.
"You will allow them to kill you, just to defend her life? What business is it of yours if she lives or dies? My race discarded such primitive logic long before it reached your level of development."
"Yes," Stinson said, "and your race no longer exists."
The Sand God became a sphere of blue flame. A wave of intense heat drove them backward. "Earthman," the great voice said, "go back to your Earth. Take your inconsistencies with you. Do not come here again to infect my planet with your primitive ideas. The webfoots are not as intelligent as you, but they are sane. If you bring your people here, I shall destroy you all."
The sphere of blue fire screamed away across the frozen wilderness, and the thunder of its passing shook the ground and echoed among the lonely hills.