her way to a certain house of pleasure near the
city docks. She asked to see the house's master and was ushered in.
54 The master looked at her, and shook his head. "I have no new girls,"
he announced, "to entertain you. You will have to come back another
time. Most of the girls have sworn to die before they'll let you touch
them again!"
55 "I don't want a girl," remarked the woman, "I have some information
to sell about my mate's plans; information The Oneness would be willing
to pay a great deal for. If you give me five-hundred gold I will tell
it to you."
56 "Five-hundred?" argued the master of the house, "Ridiculous! I have
to pay my messengers, and The One might not be as generous as you
think! What is the information?"
57 "I know what routes my mate will be taking south, and what days he
plans to be in what places. The enemy would pay you one-thousand gold
for that information. I want half!"
58 The man rose. “Three-hundred," he offered, "no more!"
59 The woman rose. "There's others in the city," she announced, "that
will buy this information."
60 "Wait!" cried the man, "I will not give you any more gold, but I
will give you something else. You like the new girls before the men
touch them, when they're sweet and pure. I'll give you the next twenty
girls free, and charge you only half price for the next twenty. A fair
bargain, indeed! I will be loosing much in the deal, but I want to be
fair."
61 The woman smiled. "You know how to make an interesting offer," she
answered. "Agreed!" And she told him all she knew. The man's messengers
were