 Why can't the Captain find Purnie?
With everything around him in a state of perfect tableau, Purnie hurried toward the ocean. With it under his arm he bounded along a dozen more steps, then stopped abruptly in his tracks. Further down the beach was a pair of two-legged animals poised in mid-step, facing the spot where Purnie now stood. It was time itself that Purnie had stopped, not the world around him. The tripon thought Purnie's feat was superb. Purnie ran from pillar to post, trying to see and do everything at once. Purnie shrieked with joy at this new frolic and promptly stood on his head. He saw the noose spinning down toward his head, and, before he knew it, he had scooted out of the circle and up the sandy beach.
 Purnie lost consciousness outside of time.
 Purnie lost consciousness outside of time.  Purnie drowned in the ocean.  Purnie is covered by the petrified logs and too weak to call out for help.  Purnie lost consciousness and is now invisible.