“How shall I do it? He wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Try it.”
“Shall I say that you sent me?”
“No, he wouldn’t believe it. Tell him that you have explored and are persuaded. Do try.”
He begged and implored with so much persistence that at last I decided to please him. I put him in my hat, mounted my horse and started.
I found the general riding in the midst of his guard. I asked to speak to him alone on a very important affair.
“General,” I said gravely, “if you enter that valley you are lost!”
He stopped his horse, looked at me in amazement, and broke into a laugh.
“Ha, ha, you are joking.”
Indeed, I felt a little shaky. I should have liked to beg his pardon and withdraw in peace, but I knew that Fiam was listening, and I had unlimited faith in him.