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"Ho, aye Dinna like ter snivel's h'all What yer want ter know?"

Tansy ventured, "What happened to you? How?"

Pig laughed, a deep boo h'as me? Freak's what Ma said"

"How you" Tansy's voice fell away "We-we'd like to have a child, and I worry, you know, that sorow up big and strong I'd like that"

Hound said, "Without offense Could you see, when you were a boy? "

"Ho, aye Was a trooper's h'all Got caught, an' they dinna like er comin' h'at me een, an' 'twas ther last Tookcanna see 'es h'at s Doon here's flatlands" Pig spooned up more soup and sed noisily "Yer nae eatin' naethin', bucky What's wrong wi' yer?"

"I-" He picked up his spoon "Because you would have heard h I try tosoup You ca?"

"Aye Yer knows a' ther wee folk, bucky?"

"Children, you mean? Or us? We must seem very small indeed to you"

"Smaller'n yer Hereabout folk don't know such, but h'in ther light lands 'tis different They coher than the table "Little bits a' men, an' morts small ter them h'even 'Fore me een's took, they dinna hardly never come Not many's never seed such h'up close, like H'after, they co h'as they stayed h'out a'his beard "They'd nae been afore, maybe Canna say Ane name a' Flannan come particular h'often Still nae eatin' yer soup, bucky?"

"I suppose I'an

"Bird eat!"

"Besides, I was listening to you with rapt attention" He dipped up soup, and sipped "This was in the ht lands, as you call them?"

"Ho, aye Na braithrean was takin' care a' ive me h'up Settin' Nall ter meself h'in ther sun Settin' h'on a stone, kneas h'in the sun by the warm a' h'it h'on ie new een Gae ter t'other h'end a' ther sun 'Tis Mainframe says h'it, Flannan says What fashes yer, bucky?"

He had dropped his spoon into his bowl, and Tansy asked, "Yes, what is it?"

"I understand! I-what a fool! You talked about little people, Pig, and I ought to have understood you at once They fly, don't they?"

"Do they fly, bucky? They do"

"We call them Fliers here," he said, "and I used to know one The mountains you mentioned, are those the Mountains That Look at Mountains?"

"Aye, bucky, but 'tis lang h'on ther tongue sae Pig says s, mostly"

He spoke to Tansy and Hound "The Mountains That Look at Mountains surround Mainframe at the East Pole I went there once We flew over them"

Wide-eyed, Tansy asked, "Can you fly, too? Like a Flier?"

"No I was a-a passenger, I suppose I should say, on the airship of the Rani of Trivigaunte Auk and Chenille and Nettle and me And Maytera, too, and Patera Remora A lot of people We went to Mainframe and spoke with the dead I kno that sounds, how incredible You need not believe me, and I won't blao!" Oreb declared

"Will you, good bird?" He fished a slice of celery from his soup and offered it

"This is" Tansy pushed a lock of her long hair from her eyes "You really are extraordinary people, Horn Both of you are"

"Everyone is an extraordinary person," he told her solemnly "I haven't profited from life as I should I haven't learned very much at all But I have learned that, a fact I know beyond all doubt and question That's so "But you don't want to hear about me, and I certainly don't want to hear aboutto me about myself all the time, and to confess the truth, I'm heartily sick of it This Flier, Flannan-he said that they could give you new eyes at the West Pole? And that Mainframe had told him it was possible?"

"Did he say sae? He did Soon h'as he's h'off hih"

Hound asked, "To the West Pole? I've never heard of anyone traveling anything like that far Have you, Horn?"

"No It's hundreds of leagues, I'm sure If memory serves, Sciathan-that was the Flier I knew-said once that it would take months for a mounted party to reach the East Pole, and I believe we're considerably nearer the East Pole than the West Ityears to walk to the West Pole Or so I would i inclined toward hi and lit fro candle, desperate and resolute "H'only ter me, h'if een can be put back there, een can be put back so yer way?"

"Why not indeed?"

"Gae ter t'other h'end, though, h'if there's nae help fer h'it Yer need nae come wi'called bucky ss us to runted, and Hound and Tansy nodded, while Oreb bobbed his approval "Silk talk!"

"My name is Horn, as you knoas born in the city; I lived there until the age of fifteen, when a group of us boarded the lander that carried us to Blue, where we founded the toe call New Viron My wife, Nettle, and I settled outside the town, on Lizard Island We manufacture paper there and sell it-or we did" He took another sip of water "It's so hot here I had forgotten"

Hound said, "Lately Hot summers and short winters"

"Yes, I re control of the sun, and Pas is trying to drive all of you out"

Tansy nodded "That's what the augurs say"

"Gae h'on, bucky"

"As you wish New Viron has groon't call it a city, yet that would be only a slight exaggeration Others have co to live in New Viron or working land in its territory, or fishing or lu Some have been froes, no doubt including this one, and son city lands, they are not permitted to establish a town of their ohere they landed, for reasons that should be apparent They must either join us in New Viron or leave our territory Most choose to unite themselves to us"

Hound said, "I understand"

"Some are forced to stay and labor for us, I'ht and sold like cattle; in any case, they too swell our population There has been natural increase as well, as one would expect Nettle and I have three sons, and ours is not considered a large faht or ten children are by no means uncommon"