“Humph!” said Graypate to the world at large.
“I have been anxious to find an adult because the children can tell me little. I would like to ask questions. Do you feel inclined to answer questions?”
“It depends,” answered Graypate, becoming leery.
“Never mind. Answer them if you wish. My only desire is to help you.”
“Why?” asked Graypate, searching around for a percentage.
“We need intelligent friends.”
“Why?”
“Our numbers are small, our resources poor. In visiting this world and the misty one we’ve come near to the limit of our ability. But with assistance we could go farther. I think that if we could help you a time might come when you could help us.”
Graypate pondered it cautiously, forgetting that the inward workings of his mind were wide open to the other. Chronic suspicion was the keynote of his thoughts, suspicion based on life experiences and recent history. But inward thoughts ran both ways, and his own mind detected the clear sincerity in Pander’s.
So he said. “Fair enough. Say more.”