'An
Emperor am I,' says Daniel, 'and next year I shall be a Knight of the Queen.'
"'All right, Dan,' says I; 'but come along now while there's time.'
"'It's your fault,' says he, 'for not looking after your Army better. There
was mutiny in the midst, and you didn't know--you damned engine-driving,
plate-laying, missionary's-pass-hunting hound!' He sat upon a rock and called
me every foul name he could lay tongue to. I was too heart-sick to care,
though it was all his foolishness that brought the smash.
"'I'm sorry, Dan,' says I, 'but there's no accounting for natives. This
business is our Fifty-seven. Maybe we'll make something out of it yet, when
we've got to Bashkai.'
"'Let's get to Bashkai, then,' says Dan, 'and, by God, when I come back here
again I'll sweep the valley so there isn't a bug in a blanket left!'
"We walked all that day, and all that night Dan was stumping up and down on
the snow, chewing his beard and muttering to himself.
"'There's no hope o' getting clear,' said Billy Fish. 'The priests have sent
runners to the villages to say that you are only men. Why didn't you stick on
as Gods till things was more settled? I'm a dead man,' says Billy Fish, and he
throws himself down on the snow and begins to pray to his Gods.
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