people there greeted us warmly.
54 And while I regathered supplies, and waited for my servants to regain their strength, the leader of The King's garrison at Ti befriended me, and gave us the hospitality of his house. Though I wanted to journey on quickly, he would hear none of it, until he could ready his best soldiers skilled in the wildnerness to go with us. And glad that I am they did! For such a large body of people, you move at a great speed! I would never have caught up with you alone!"
55 "Glad I am that you have!" answered The Old Fox. "Journey where you are today, tonight you will join our family in its camping place and journey with us after that."
56 So it was Dreaming Fox joined the caravan and they journeyed on.
57 Now that evening when all of his duties were finally concluded, Gray Dove went to the Healer's tent where Loyal Dog was staying. As he entered, a young woman was kneeling by his bed talking to him, but when she saw Gray Dove she rose quickly, and left. Gray Dove pulled up a stool and sat down beside his friend.
58 "Greetings, Master!" the other man said. "You look weary and tired. I will be glad when I can get out of this bed and help you. You will do no good to your people if you work yourself to death."
59 Gray Dove shook his head. "Loyal Dog, how many times have I told you, you do not have to call me Master! Whatever debt you owed me for sparing your life has been paid double. We are more than master and servant, even more than friend. We are like those of the same flesh; brothers!"
60 "Old habits," answered Loyal Dog, "are hard to break. And I call you Master from respect, not of duty. And Lord, I can never repay what you have done for me. In the old days, if I had been injured, my so-called friends would have laughed and considered it a blessing. But now, daily the women come and pray for me....even those I do not know! And when I was being carried through the camp and the children saw me, they wept.
61 I was once ruled by The Beast. I thought I was a man among men. But you have opened my heart. Now, I know what a true man is. I know what it is to be gentle, to sit on a stone and tell stories to children, to have a woman look at me with true love.
62 No, Lord, never, if I lived one-hundred times, I could never repay the debt I owe you!"
63 Gray Dove reached down and seized his brother's shoulders, and Loyal Dog replied. "Then I ask you again," pleaded Gray Dove, "let me take you to my tent. You are well enough now, and my servants can easily tend you. You would be far more comfortable there."
64 "But I am comfortable here, Lord," argued Loyal Dog, "I am well cared for, and I have my good companions in misery here, for company. Really, Lord, I am quite comfortable here."
65 Gray Dove noticed that his brother's eyes were not looking at him, and he turned in the direction he was looking. The young woman who he had been speaking to earlier was watching them. Gray Dove's gaze made her turn away. Suddenly he understood his brother's resistance to leave the Healer's tent. "You spoke of a woman's true love," he asked, "hers?"
66 Loyal Dog nodded.
67 "Well, why haven't you spoken for her?" Gray Dove asked.
68 "Lord," stammered Loyal Dog, "with you I have always been able to speak, but you know how I am with others. My tongue sticks to the top of my mouth and ony babbling comes out!"
69 "Do you babble with her?" asked Gray Dove.
70 "Lord, with her," his friend answered, "I chatter like a morning bird!" The others about them laughed. "And there are other things, too," said Loyal Dog. "My income, and, my past."
71 "What says she of these things?" Gray Dove inquired.
72 "She says she would be mine," Loyal Dog answered, "if she had to live in a hovel, that all she wants is to keep my house, fix my meals, and bear my children. She says no woman could be richer than that."
73 "I think all your objections are foolish," argued Gray Dove. "I think you should speak to her father. Who is he, by the way?"
74 "He is the Healer here," Loyal Dog answered, "a fine and honorable man. And there is also tradition, Lord," continued Loyal Dog. "You know it is customary for a man's father to speak for him, or, brother. But I have no kin."
75 "Do you wish me to speak for you?" asked Gray Dove.
76 Loyal Dog's eyes brightened. "Would you?" he pleaded, "Could you?"
77 Gray Dove rose. "Now seems like as good a time as any!" he announced. "Let us see which way the winds blow." He turned and walked towards the Healer's quarters. There was a stick hanging by the flap, and with it he rapped on the post.
78 "Enter," came an old man's voice.
79 Gray Dove went in. Inside was a desk and medicine chests, and two sleeping cushions separated by a carpet hung from a rope.
80 The Old Healer looked up. "Our Warlock!" he inquired, "Is there something wrong? Do you need my services?"
81 "No," Gray Dove answered, "I come on another mission on behalf of my brother, Loyal Dog. There is a great treasure in your house upon which his eyes have fallen, and he desires to take it from your house to his own."
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