healthy, if you wish to end this endless cycle of disease and death, IT MUST BE DONE!"
94 An old man dressed in black robes came forward. Without any acknowledgement from The High Chieftain he came before Bold Fox and knelt. "Sir," he explained, "we Priests of Shadows for generations, have cared for our people. We have been physicians and teachers since before anyone can remember. I beg of you, teach us your magic, the secrets of your medicine, and we will make the people understand. We, too, dream dreams, we, too, have visions. And The Shadows predicted your coming would make great changes, and that prediction has proven true. Forgive us our ignorance. Teach us your magic!"
95 Bold Fox reached down and helped the old man up. "You must not," he explained, "bow before me. I am but a servant of The Lords. And it is only to Them that glory must be given. Arise. Our Healers will teach your people all they know. We do not, like other peoples, keep our ways of healing secret. What you must teach your people, what they must understand, is they cannot continue to live in filth, as they have done before. They cannot empty their pots in the streets, or throw their rubbish there, to rot. It must be gathered and disposed of properly.
96 I understand you have a place where you treat the waste from your city and turn it into fertilizer for your fields. Why can't ALL your rubbish and waste go there?"
97 A man stepped out of the crowd. "Sir," he explained, "I am the supervisor of the rubbish works. It would be impossible to take all this rubbish to the plant. We simply could not handle that much. Another place will have to be found to store it until it can be processed."
98 "Then that will have to be done," Bold Fox acknowledged. "Among my people, big barrels mounted on wheels come around our camp every day, and all the people dump their pots in these. The ox carts are then taken into the forest and dumped in especially dug holes. Your people should do something similar. Then, you can store the barrels somewhere or take the stuff outside the city and bury it!"
99 "That can be done!" the supervisor agreed. "We are going to need many carts, and, alot of barrels! But we can do it. I'm sure we can! But the manpower we'll need will be enormous. And to make that many smoke pots will require days. I do not know if there is enough sulfur but I will find it....somewhere!"
100 Several of the merchants had been grouped together talking. Their spokesman suddenly came forward. "Sir," he announced, "we have a suggestion. We feel it will be beneficial to us if we give our workers a day's leave with pay on the condition that they use that day to clean their homes and, the streets. After all, in the course of time, it will benefit us; a healthy worker is a better worker! They produce more, and, the quality of their work is much better. The benefits should make the expense nominal."
101 The leader of the soldiers came forward. "And my men, also," he added, "are completely at your disposal. Tell us what must be done, and we will do it."
102 "It sounds to me," Bold Fox said, "that we have an excellent plan. The only thing now, is to put it into practice, gather our materials, prepare the smoke pots, pick a day and do the job! It will not be easy to clean an entire city. But if we work together, it can be done."
103 The people agreed, and the meeting broke up. Supper that night was not quite as joyous as the previous night. The Old Chieftain brought in musicians and dancers to lighten everyone's mood. The Healers were pleased with Bold Fox's report, and so were The Elders. They quickly worked to decide who would help who. And they were amazed by the effort The Giants were putting forth.
Bold Fox reaching down to help the Priest Of Shadows stand up.
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