第23章

CHAPTERXVII

Thetent-Pleasantdiscourse-IamPharaoh-Shiftingforone’sself-Horse-shoes-Thisiswonderful-Blessyourwisdom-A

prettymanoeuvre-IlldaytotheRomans-MynameisHerne-

Singularpeople-Anoriginalspeech-Word-master-SpeakingRomanly。

WEwenttothefarthestofthetents，whichstoodataslightdistancefromtherest，andwhichexactlyresembledtheonewhichI

havedescribedonaformeroccasion；wewentinandsatdownoneoneachsideofasmallfire，whichwassmoulderingontheground，therewasnooneelseinthetentbutatalltawnywomanofmiddleage，whowasbusilyknitting。’Brother，’saidJasper，’Iwishtoholdsomepleasantdiscoursewithyou。’

’Asmuchasyouplease，’saidI，’providedyoucanfindanythingpleasanttotalkabout。’

’Neverfear，’saidJasper；’andfirstofallwewilltalkofyourself。Wherehaveyoubeenallthislongtime？’

’Hereandthere，’saidI，’andfarandnear，goingaboutwiththesoldiers；butthereisnosoldieringnow，sowehavesatdown，fatherandfamily，inthetownthere。’

’Anddoyoustillhuntsnakes？’saidJasper。

’No，’saidI，’Ihavegivenupthatlongago；Idobetternow：

readbooksandlearnlanguages。’

’Well，Iamsorryyouhavegivenupyoursnake-hunting，many’sthestrangetalkIhavehadwithourpeopleaboutyoursnakeandyourself，andhowyoufrightenedmyfatherandmotherinthelane。’

’Andwhereareyourfatherandmother？’

’WhereIshallneverseethem，brother；atleast，Ihopeso。’

’Notdead？’

’No，notdead；theyarebitchadeypawdel。’

’What’sthat？’

’Sentacross-banished。’

’Ah!Iunderstand；Iamsorryforthem。Andsoyouareherealone？’

’Notquitealone，brother。’

’No，notalone；butwiththerest-TawnoChiknotakescareofyou。’

’Takescareofme，brother!’

’Yes，standstoyouintheplaceofafather-keepsyououtofharm’sway。’

’Whatdoyoutakemefor，brother？’

’Foraboutthreeyearsolderthanmyself。’

’Perhaps；butyouareoftheGorgios，andIamaRommanyChal。

TawnoChiknotakecareofJasperPetulengro!’

’Isthatyourname？’