The boy's tracks were clear in the dirt,that had been freshened by recent rainfall. The glass had broken up anddisappeared, here; sprouts of pale grass rimmed the path. Nothing, not even theradiation, was consistent about the badlands.

      The boy had gone into the building. Mostnomads were in awe of solid structures of any size, and avoided even thecomparatively-modest buildings of the crazies. But the Master had traveledwidely and experienced as much as any man of his time, and he knew that therewas nothing supernatural about a giant edifice. There could be danger, yes-butthe natural hazards of falling timbers and deep pits and radiation and crazedanimals, nothing more sinister.

      Still, he hesitated before entering thatancient temple.

      It would be easy to become trapped inside,and perhaps the wily boy had something of the sort in mind. He had been knownto place dead falls for unwary trackers, laboriously scraped out of the Earthby hand and nail and artfully covered. That was one of the things he hadevidently learned from the measures applied against him. Too smart for ananimal-adding to the terror surrounding him-and not bad for a human.

      The Master looked about. Within theshelter of the window-arches there were fragments of dry wood. Most had rotted,but not all. There was bound to be more wood inside. He could fire it and drivethe boy out. This seemed to be the safest course.

      Yet there could be invaluable artifactswithin-machines, books, supplies. Was he to destroy it all so wantonly? Betterto preserve the building intact, and assemble a task force to explore itthoroughly at a later date.

      So deciding, the Master entered at thewidest portal and began his final search for the boy. The hound whined' and stayedso close that it was tricky to avoid tripping over it, but the animal did sniffout the trail.

      There were stone steps leading down, anavenue of splendid and wasteful breadth, and this was where the boy had gone.And, so easily that it was suspicious, they had tracked the marauder to hislair. There did not seem to be another exit apart from the stair. The boy hadto be waiting below.