??????I??™m sorry, Dan,??™ says I, ???but there??™s no
accounting for natives. This business is our
Fifty-Seven. Maybe we??™ll make something
out of it yet, when we??™ve got to Bashkai.??™
??????Let??™s get to Bashkai, then,??™ says Dan,
???and, by God, when I come back here again
I??™ll sweep the valley so there isn??™t a bug in
a blanket left!??™
??????We walked all that day, and all that
night Dan was stumping up and down on
the snow, chewing his beard and muttering
to himself.
??????There??™s no hope o??™ getting clear,??™ said
Billy Fish. ???The priests will have sent
runners to the villages to say that you are
only men. Why didn??™t you stick on as gods
till things was more settled? I??™m a dead
man,??™ says Billy Fish, and he throws himself
down on the snow and begins to pray
to his gods.
???Next morning we was in a cruel bad
country??”all up and down, no level ground
at all, and no food either. The six Bashkai
men looked at Billy Fish hungry-wise as if
they wanted to ask something, but they said
never a word. At noon we came to the top
of a flat mountain all covered with snow,
and when we climbed up into it, behold,
there was an army in position waiting in
the middle!
??????The runners have been very quick,??™
says Billy Fish, with a little bit of a laugh.
???They are waiting for us.??™
???Three or four men began to fire from the
enemy??™s side, and a chance shot took Daniel
in the calf of the leg.
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