“What in the world are you two doing?” Dr. Kenton asked.  
Ted told him the whole story of the rescue, ending up with a request that they keep the Martian animal for a pet.
 
Ted’s father shook his head. “That’s impossible. There’s no place to keep him.” His face grew stern again. “You two did a very foolish thing going out alone near that bog. You might have fallen in. I want you to promise that you won’t go near that place again.”
 
They promised. Ted knew it was no use arguing about keeping the color bear. When his father made up his mind, he rarely changed it.
 
112
As the three walked along the hallway with the bear, Dr. Kenton said, “You kids woke me up with all that splashing in the bathroom, but, fortunately, Mom is still asleep. We must be quiet so that we won’t waken her and Jill.”
 
The bear was reluctant to be forced out of the house through the air lock. Ted knew the animal felt no worse than he did. He had become quite attached to the little fellow in even this short time.
 
When the bear was outside in the dark, he looked mournfully through the transparent doors at his former friends who had rejected him. Then he began wailing softly. Ted looked hopefully at his father, wishing that he would have a change of heart. But Dr. Kenton’s expression was set, and Ted knew there was no chance of the color bear coming back inside.
 
The three of them retired to bed, but Ted was a long time getting to sleep. For almost an hour the Martian creature kept up a soft wail. Ted covered up his ears with his air-filled pillow, and he was finally able to drop off to sleep.
 
113
The next morning Ted and Randy went to the front door the first thing after they rose. There was no sign of the color bear.
 
“I guess he finally gave up,” said Ted unhappily.
 
“I can’t understand his being alone like he was,” Randy said. “Usually the little bears travel around in families of about ten. I guess this one was an orphan.”
 
Hearing this, Ted felt even worse. “Maybe a wild animal got him,” he murmured. “If it hasn’t already, it probably will sooner or later. By the way, what kind of wild animals do they have here?”
 
“None of them ever come close to the colony,” Randy answered. “Hundreds of miles away, there’s the Great Martian Forest where all kinds of them live. One of the fiercest kinds are the elephant ants. Big herds of blue rovers run across the desert closer by. There are different kinds of birds here, too.”
 
“I’ve heard of a dangerous plant in the Great Forest,” Ted said. “What’s it called?”
 
114
“The whip tree,” Randy answered. “It throws tentacles around anything that’s near and draws it into its center mouth.”
 
Realizing the dangers to the lonely little bear, Ted had not much appetite for breakfast. Neither of the boys nor Dr. Kenton had mentioned the adventure of the night before, but Mrs. Kenton had heard some noises, although they had thought she was asleep. She began asking questions and finally got the whole story.
 
“I wish we could have kept that little animal!” Jill sighed. “He sounds wonderful!”
 
“We can’t adopt every stray animal that comes along,” Dr. Kenton said. “I’m sure the color bear will get back to his family all right. He probably just strayed temporarily.”
 
Dr. Kenton next said that he was going to report to the science organization this morning. He asked the children if they wanted to go along and register in school. They’d have to within the next few days anyhow.
 
“Are the schools like they are back home?” Jill asked.
 
115
“They sure are,” her father said. “Just as modern as you’ll find anywhere.”
 
Hearing this, the children were eager to go. Schools in the twenty-first century were a combination of wholesome entertainment and instruction. No dry textbooks or cramped wooden desks with hard seats. Ted and Jill had heard about the poor children of the mid-1900’s who had to plod through school with such handicaps as these, and they felt sorry for them.
 
Ted noticed that Dad seemed reluctant to leave Mom by herself, but she did not seem to mind.
 
“Don’t worry about me,” Mrs. Kenton said merrily. “I’ll have plenty to do unpacking our clothes and things that they dumped in the living room yesterday. I won’t even miss you four children!”
 
When the young folks and Dr. Kenton went outside in their space suits, Ted saw that the sun was just a little above the horizon. He had learned that men rose early on Mars to take advantage of the warmth and illumination of daylight.
 
116
Dr. Kenton looked into the purple sky through which the stars gleamed. “It’s exactly six-fifteen now,” he said.
 
“How did you know that?” Ted asked in surprise. “You didn’t look at your watch.”
 
“I didn’t have to,” his father answered. “That little disk in the sky gives it to me.”
 
“That’s Phobos,&r............