Tilting his great white-haired old head to one side at her open young face, Bassdag said to her in a quavering voice, "Si'Wren, you must never, never stop serving the Almighty Lord God."
"She does," assured Habrunt confidently, "and she shall!"
"That is good!" said Bassdag, with a slow, ponderous nod of his tired head and stooped shoulders. "May the Almighty bless you, Si'Wren, and may your name be remembered forever in Heaven."
He patted Si'Wren on the shoulder. Then, he let fall his arm, and awkwardly, lowered himself back down again with the use of his shepherd's crook and seemed not to see her anymore.
"You must come see me again," Habrunt said to Si'Wren. "I am always to be found here, sitting with the elders in the gates of the city."
Then, Habrunt's face became more serious as he put his hands gently upon both of her shoulders and looked down into her upturned, questing eyes.
"Si'Wren, I would speak quickly of a certain matter, before you go. We no longer have the Master Rababull to worry about. It is possible for us to hope of living to the Invisible God, and—to ourselves…"
Si'Wren studied him as if seeing him for the first time, marveling at his strange manner of speech. But Habrunt was so involved in putting together his words that he was already going on, as if oblivious to the way she suddenly changed her expression from one of attentiveness to one of wonder while still looking up at him, her wide-open eyes fastened upon his so intently.
"I have convinced many of those whom you see here, these wise ones whose custom it is to sit in the gates of the city, that they must give up their blind idols and worship the true and living God," said Habrunt.
"All," Habrunt went on, "except Bassdag, who was already a true believer. But they would never listen to him, until I came along, and sat with them, and spoke of the same God. Then, when they saw that Bassdag and I were in agreement, each separate from the other, then they finally began to believe both of us. While I have not been entirely successful in convincing them all, I have managed to save some.