And in the evening they came to the deserted village, with its houses

that seemed so small and odd to them: they found it golden in the glory

of the sunset, and desolate and still. They went from one deserted house

to another, marvelling at their quaint simplicity, and debating which

they should choose. And at last, in a sunlit corner of a room that had

lost its outer wall, they came upon a wild flower, a little flower of

blue that the weeders of the Food Company had overlooked.

That house they decided upon; but they did not remain in it long that

night, because they were resolved to feast upon nature. And moreover the

houses became very gaunt and shadowy after the sunlight had faded out

of the sky. So after they had rested a little time they went to the

crest of the hill again to see with their own eyes the silence of heaven

set with stars, about which the old poets had had so many things to

tell. It was a wonderful sight, and Denton talked like the stars, and

when they went down the hill at last the sky was pale with dawn. They

slept but little, and in the morning when they woke a thrush was singing

in a tree.

So these young people of the twenty-second century began their exile.

That morning they were very busy exploring the resources of this new

home in which they were going to live the simple life. They did not

explore very fast or very far, because they went everywhere

hand-in-hand; but they found the beginnings of some furniture. Beyond

the village was a store of winter fodder for the sheep of the Food

Company, and Denton dragged great armfuls to the house to make a bed;

176

Tales of Space and Time