I rode off with a chuckle. I knew that I had struck deep into his pride as a horse trader, and that he would now keep his lips as close as a rat trap about the whole transaction. He would brood over it, and wait for the day when he could get even with me; but though the skies fell, he would never speak of that horse again to any one.
The bargaining had taken nearly an hour, and I feared the sands of Volna’s patience would be running out fast.
She greeted me with a sigh of relief. “I had begun to fear all sorts of things.”
“You have never had to buy a horse in these parts. It’s an acquired art and can only be accomplished with many lies and much time. But we’ll be off now. You can manage to ride bare-back, I hope?”
She smiled. “I have ridden bare-back ever since I was a child.”
“Then you haven’t had time yet to forget.”
“Is that a reflection on my youth or another compliment?”
“It’s about the truth, that’s all.”
“I’m nearly one and twenty,” she declared with a delightful air of dignity.
“It is a great age,” I agreed. “I remember how I felt at the time. One is never so old again, they say, until quite late in life.”