Part of his Future History series, it originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction (March 1941).Two well-off Earth men are arguing about whether there is slavery on Venus, and one of them gets shanghaied there, or so he believes; they later find out that they have bet one another about the topic, gotten drunk, and signed on. Upon his arrival, he finds his contract sold to a farmer. His discovery that it will take him years to work off his debt is compounded by his realization that he cannot get to sleep at night without rhira, an expensive local narcotic, which thus increases his debt every day.