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"Very well, but it seems silly to me," Te woaya herself had Laurence shook his head and gave up: the young woman plainly was neither friendless nor excessively sorry at the desertion; nor could he feel he was doing her any great disservice by taking Yardley away

Of Handes, he saw nothing all the ti half-crouched shadow the sun threw out froh someone had hidden in the space between the wall and where the roof reached down nearly to the ground Laurence looked irresolutely; he did not intend to , and he felt all the co Handes behind, and yet there was everything to dislike in the principles of such an act, if not the practicals

"I do not think there can be anything really wrong in it," Teaya see better, and I am sure she will take excellent care of Handes: which is more than he deserves, anyway Besides, Laurence," he added, "you have just said yourself that the King’s subjects have the right to do as they wish, so long as it is consistent with their duty: Handes wishes to stay here, and it seeht consider it his duty to do so, since ill cooods, in consequence"

"It is no free man’s duty to allow hin land, no ood the price," Laurence said

"It is not exactly slavery, though," Temeraire said "You would not say that you were a slave, after all, only because you are mine"

It was some time since Laurence had considered himself entitled to deht have enabled him to explain the contradiction easily; and on the face of it, he realized in some dismay, the relations between captain and beast could with iven the character of possession by the latter, than the former

"I dare say," Granby said, when Laurence had laid this insight before hi, while all around them the camp bustled with activity, as the new harnesses were stitched together under Shipley’s busy and strutting supervision "At least I aree with you on the subject; pray don’t say it so loud This wretched country cannot be a good influence: wedragons ought to have men and not just votes"

Chapter 10

HOME AND ENGLAND see, when they ca peaks of the Andes, serrated and blue-shadohere the long swaths of snow lay on their sides The river divided into a hundred little tributaries trickling down the ons were landing in a highfor breath They had ress were to be ht, and ht up

He stu down from Temeraire’s back, and they were all of them short of breath and queerly sick with somelike bellows, and lay where they fell

Laurence walked to the edge of the meadohere it ended in cliff to breathe deep of sos, and found he was looking down at a series of terraced fields: led eeds and tall grasses for doreenery, abandoned

All the rest of that journey had the saer’s unattended house, neither host nor servants there to greet the in the fields and others carrying loads of timber Only once in the first few days did they see any hu in a field with their arrazing llalance up at the strange dragons and dived for cover into a nearby cave little on to reach into, and rang out a clanging bell for alarm "Pray let us continue on," Hammond shouted anxiously in Laurence’s ear, "as quickly aseven the appearance of provocation--"

"We ht have stayed and had so; instead they had coround in another abandoned field with a storehouse, and she was eating a porridge of driedSu had prepared

"It is truly wonderful, the quantity of supply which this nation has provided along its roads," Ha the storehouse "I believe we have seen not fewer than six to-day alone; do you agree withSu also was interested in the construction of the storehouse, and when he saw Laurence looking, shohere his attention had been drawn to its design "Itthe rainfall: certainly this food has not been stored recently, but very little is spoilt"

Easy, also, to build up great stores when so far as they could see there were few to consuons tilling the great fields, to raise crops which no-one would eat The handful of beasts to which Temeraire spoke looked at the two hundred er and resentful: and many offers were made him

"There once were more men," Taruca said, when Laurence questioned hirandfather told me there were sotheir curaca--" by which word he seereat honor to persuade a dragon to join one’s ayllu: a great warrior ht win one for his kin, or a skillful weaver"

"So you see, Captain," Ha: it is not slavery, in the ordinary sense"