“‘Don’t ask him,’ said Maia. ‘He’s dying to tell.’
“Then they said not another word, but stood in a lovely row, locking arms and balancing on their toes, and looked at him; and Orion looked back at them. Then he pushed his lion’s skin up over his shoulder and spoke to his dogs:—
“‘Come, Sirius! We’d better go and get ready before the Stranger comes,’ and he turned to go. But there were seven girls to stop him, and they were around him in a second.
“‘No, you shall not—’
“‘Now, Orion—’
“‘Oh, please—’
“‘What is it?’ they asked; and he was dying to tell!
“‘I can’t tell you so very much,’ he said. ‘But they say we are to have a visitor from the Far-Away Isles.’
“‘Who says so?’
“‘Who is coming?’