ran, and we went down the valley
in spite of Dravot’s protestations. He was
swearing horribly and crying out that he
was a King. The priests rolled great stones
on us, and the regular Army fired hard, and
there wasn’t more than six men, not counting
Dan, Billy Fish, and Me, that came
down to the bottom of the valley alive.

“‘Then they stopped firing and the horns
in the temple blew again. ‘Come away—
for Gord’s sake come away!’ says Billy
Fish. ‘They’ll send runners out to all the
villages before ever we get to Bashkai. I
can protect you there, but I can’t do anything
now.’

“My own notion is that Dan began to go
mad in his head from that hour. He stared
up and down like a stuck pig. Then he was
all for walking back alone and killing the
priests with his bare hands; which he could
have done. ‘An Emperor am I,’ says Daniel,
‘and next year I shall be a Knight of the
Queen.

“‘All right, Dan,’ says I; ‘but come
along now while there’s time.’

“‘It’s your fault,’ says he, ‘for not looking