Nothing more, I do assure
you.'
"'That may be,' says Billy Fish, 'and yet I should be sorry if it was.' He
sinks his head upon his great fur cloak for a minute and thinks. 'King,' says
he, 'be you man or God or Devil, I'll stick by you today. I have twenty of my
men with me, and they will follow me. We'll go to Bashkai until the storm
blows over.'
"A little snow had fallen in the night, and everything was white except the
greasy fat clouds that blew down and down from the north. Dravot came out with
his crown on his head, swinging his arms and stamping his feet, and looking
more pleased than Punch.
"'For the last time, drop it, Dan,' says I, in a whisper; 'Billy Fish here
says that there will be a row.'
"'A row among my people!' says Dravot. 'Not much. Peachey, you're a fool not
to get a wife too. Where's the girl?' says he, with a voice as loud as the
braying of a jackass. 'Call up all the Chiefs and priests, and let the Emperor
see if his wife suits him.'
"There was no need to call any one. They were all there leaning on their guns
and spears round the clearing in the centre of the pine wood. A lot of priests
went down to the little temple to bring up the girl, and the horns blew fit to
wake the dead.
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