I bowed low, wet my lips, and launched into the One O' Clock Jump. To judge from the roar that went up when I finished, they liked it. I followed with Little Brown Jug and String of Pearls. Gope pounded and the table quieted down.
"The rarest slave in all Rath-Gallion, I swear it," he bellowed. "Were he not a slave, I'd drink his health."
"By your leave, Owner?" I said.
Gope stared, then nodded indulgently. "Speak then, Dugong," he said.
"I claim the place of Chief Piper. I——"
Yells rang out; Gope grinned widely.
"So be it," he said. "Shall the vote be taken now, or must we submit to more of the vile bladderings ere we proclaim our good Dagron Chief Piper?"
"Proclaim him!" somebody shouted.
"There must be a Trial," another offered dubiously.
Gope slammed a huge hand against the table. "Bring Lylk, the Chief Piper, before me," he yelled. "He of the wretched air-skins."