*
The snow stopped before he reached the edge, and the sun was shiningwhen he found a slanting way down into the valley. Then, out of thenorth, a black dot appeared in the sky and grew larger, until he sawthat it was a Government airboat--one of the kind used by the men whomeasured the growth of the Ice-Father. It came curving in and downtoward him, and a window slid open and a man put his head out.
"Want us to lift you down?" he asked. "We're going to Long ValleyTown. If that's where you're going, we can take you the whole way."
"Yes. That's where I'm going." He said it as though he were revealing,for the first time, some discovery he had just made. "For yourkindness and help, I thank you."
In less time than a man could walk two miles with a pack, they wereletting down in front of the Government House in Long Valley Town.
He had never been in the Government House before. The walls were clearglass. The floors were plastic, clean and white. Strips of bright newlumicon ran around every room at the tops of all the walls. There wereno fires, but the great rooms were as warm as though it were amidsummer afternoon.
Still carrying his pack and his rifle, Raud went to a desk where aSouthron in a white shirt sat.
"Has Yorn Nazvik's ship, the _Issa_, been here lately?" he asked.
"About six days ago," the Southron said, without looking up from thepapers on his desk. "She's on a trading voyage to the west now, butNazvik's coming back here before he goes south. Be here in about tendays." He looked up. "You have business with Nazvik?"
Raud shook his head. "Not with Yorn Nazvik, no. My business is withthe two Starfolk who are passengers with him. Dranigo and Salvadro."
The Southron looked displeased. "Aren't you getting just a littleabove yourself, old man, calling the Prince Salsavadran and the LordDranigrastan by their familiar names?" he asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Those were the names theygave me; I didn't know they had any others."
The Southron started to laugh, then stopped.
"And if I may ask, what is your name, and what business have you withthem?" he inquired.
Raud told him his name. "I have something for them. Something theywant very badly. If I can find a place to stay here, I will wait untilthey return--"
The Southron got to his feet. "Wait here for a moment, Keeper," hesaid. "I'll be back soon."
He left the desk, going into another room. After a while, he cameback. This time he was respectful.
"I was talking to the Lord Dranigrastan--whom you know as Dranigo--onthe radio. He and the Prince Salsavadran are lifting clear of the_Issa_ in their airboat and coming back here to see you. They shouldbe here in about three hours. If, in the meantime, you wish to batheand rest, I'll find you a room. And I suppose you'll want something toeat, too...."
* * * * *
He was waiting at the front of the office, looking out the glass wall,when the airboat came in and grounded, and Salvadro and Dranigo jumpedout and came hurrying up the walk to the doorway.
"Well, here you are, Keeper," Dranigo greeted him, clasping his hand.Then he saw the bearskin bundle under Raud's arm. "You brought it withyou? But didn't you believe that we were coming?"
"Are you going to let us have it?" Salvadro was asking.
"Yes; I will sell it to you, for the price you offered. I am not fitto be Keeper any longer. I lost it. It was stolen from me, the dayafter I saw you, and I have only yesterday gotten it back. Both mydogs were killed, too. I can no longer keep it safe. Better that youtake it with you to Dremna, away from this world where it was made. Ihave thought, before, that this world and I are both old and good fornothing any more."
"This world may be old, Keeper," Dranigo said, "but it is theMother-World, Terra, the world that sent Man to the Stars. Andyou--when you lost the Crown, you recovered it again."
"The next time, I won't be able to. Too many people will know that theCrown is worth stealing, and the next time, they'll kill me first."
"Well, we said we'd give you twenty thousand trade-tokens for it,"Salvadro said. "We'll have them for you as soon as we can draw themfrom the Government bank, here. Or give you a check and let you drawthem as you want them." Raud didn't understand that, and Salvadrodidn't try to explain. "And then we'll fly you home."
He shook his head. "No, I have no home. The place where you saw me isKeeper's House, and I am not the Keeper any more. I will stay here andfind a place to live, and pay somebody to take care of me...."
With twenty thousand trade-tokens, he could do that. It would buy ahouse in which he could live, and he could find some woman who hadlost her man, who would do his work for him. But he must be careful ofthe money. Dig a crypt in the corner of his house for it. He wonderedif he could find a pair of good dogs and train them to guard it forhim....
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