“It’s on the tip of my tongue to say, but it just escapes me. Let me drink again, and then I shall have it.”
“Go and drink, then.”
Maskull strode over to the tree, drank, and returned. “In ages to come,” he said, speaking deliberately, “he will be a grand and awful tradition. A seer possibly, or even a divinity. Watch over him well.”
The eldest boy looked scornful. “I want to be none of those things. I would like to be like that big fellow.” And he pointed his finger at Maskull.
He laughed, and showed his white teeth through his beard. “Thanks for the compliments old warrior!” he said.
“He’s great and brawny,” continued the boy, “and can hold his own with other men. Can you hold me up with one arm, as you did that child?”
Maskull complied.
“That is being a man!” exclaimed the boy. “Enough!” said Polecrab impatiently. “I called you lads here to say goodbye to your mother. She is going away with this man. I think she may not return, but we don’t know.”
The second boy’s face became suddenly inflamed. “Is she going of her own choice?” he inquired.
“Yes,” replied the father.