"The answer is no." "But, sahib, that was your answer last week." "And next week, too." "You still choose to ignore the fact that my rajah," "Kasimundra of Kwarlal, once saved your life?" "The rajah once refrained from executing me." "But you accepted his gift... the tooth of the killer whale." "It's true." "And the acceptance in some areas implies that I must grant the donor any wish he desires... not excluding matricide." "You still choose to ignore the custom?" "Fervidly." "And here is your tooth back." "Then your heart is cold and your ears deaf to the tears of a poor, lonely pilgrim in a far-off land." "My friend, as I have explained to you, it would take a good deal more than the tooth of a whale... any kind of a whale..." "to get me to guide a person 150 miles across desert country." "I have received permission to offer you more." "Is it enough?" "Enough to cool a magnum or two of champagne." "Will you be making the journey with us?" "If you are to be our guide and protector." "Protector?" "I should think Koro would be about the right size to handle that kind of freight." "My religion does not countenance violence or killing." "Where is that, uh, settlement you're headed for?" "Makasi." "I will show you the way." "My friend, you have already shown me the way." "This is native wine." "It's always served at room temperature." "110 degrees?" "The rajah Kasimundra." "The rajah is dead." "Dead?" "As well as most of the royal family." "That is why we came to America." "Oh?" "They were murdered by Thuggees, fanatics who have taken over our homeland." "To drive them out, the Royalists need a person of high rank about whom the people can rally." "And that person must be kept alive." "Yes." "Even if it means secreting her in the remoteness of a strange land." "In her tent, resting, the sole survivor of the Kasimundras..." "Skiri." "We are here." "Here is Makasi, a settlement established by our loyal countrymen." "Well, you pinpointed this camp easily enough." "Finding a whole city should be very simple for you." "Yes, but the revolutionists may attempt the life of the rani, even in this country." "And you don't approve of violence, but you don't object to my using it where your necks are concerned." "I do not think there is danger... but I welcome your company." "Thank you." "There are about 12 miles of daylight left, and I think we'd better get started." "We can't disturb Her Highness." "Oh?" "Well, I can." "Who is this lout?" "Young lady, you get your things together." "We're leaving." "Hear this, boy." "We travel on my command." "Young lady, if you were capable of making decisions and judgments, they would not be paying me." "Now you get your things together." "We're leaving." "Koro?" "Take this impudent clod outside... and execute him." "Is it your desire to see me hurt, Mr. Paladin?" "Well, I certainly don't want anybody executing me without feeling some small twinge." "I merely removed you from the tent." "You know my faith." "Well, it's just that I don't really have any faith in your faith." "What do you know of faith, Mr. Paladin?" "Well, I'm impressed." "How much water do we have?" "Koro, you may put away the tents." "Tell the bearer to choose smooth terrain." "I do not like to be jostled." "As I was saying, Koro, how much water do we have?" "Four barrels." "Three barrels." "There are three barrels of water." "While I was waiting, I used one... to take a bath." "I want to tell you about an old American custom." "Two wagons... one, two..." "comprise a wagon train." "A wagon train is run by maritime law." "I am the guide, the captain." "If you interfere with one of my whims or fancies or orders, that interference constitutes mutiny, and I can have you imprisoned or put on bread and water." "There are no yardarms out here and precious few trees." "But if I so desire," "I can send a wagon tongue on in, run a rope over the top, around your neck, and run you up, is that clear?" "And from now on, you sleep in the wagon!" "Well, don't just stand there, start loading your gear!" "Whoa." "You know, I can usually tell a wine by the year, but this one has me baffled." "You do not like it?" "Well, a man always enjoys being baffled... temporarily." "In my land, we learn that very young." "My country has many things to learn about customs." "What customs?" "Well, such as... courtesy." "I do not act out of courtesy." "Few women do." "A woman likes a man when he does something she would like to do but is not brave." "Well, who has done this extraordinary, brave thing?" "You defied the rani." "The rani?" "I should have spanked the rani." "And if I, uh... defied you?" "Now, why would you want to do that?" "Two days, 50 miles..." " this is good traveling." " It's fair." "However, we are not traveling alone... a person is following." "Koro, have you seen a person?" "Too far away for only the eye." "Well, what did the person look like?" "He moved quickly, but... his skin was dark, like mine." "And his face was as fierce as the hawk's." "He have a saddle on the horse?" "I think not." "Well, then he's probably not a Thuggee." "Your people have used saddles since the third century." "Still, he is following us." "He's probably a renegade Apache... they'll follow a wagon for miles, just waiting for something to fall off." "You are not sure." "Well, I might be sure if you'd let me have the telescope." "Mr. Paladin... may I speak with you privately?" "Your Highness." "Mr. Paladin, there is very little chance that I shall complete this journey... alive." "You must take these." "If I am killed, hide them so they can never be found." "As long as my death cannot be proved," "I will live in my subjects' minds and therefore..." "fulfill my purpose." "Well, you could just take these things out and bury them in the sand." "No." "If I should live," "I will need them to identify myself." "Paladin!" "Well, that's fine." "In this place, now, without any water!" "It is your job to prevent such things." "You said you might not survive this trip;" "well, it might just work out that way." "Koro... how much does one of these barrels weigh full of water?" "50 viss." "180 pounds." "Now, who among us can lift 180 pounds from this wagon down to the ground?" "You and I." "Or the man who is following us." "Koro, nobody has seen the man following us but you!" "That narrows the choice, indeed." "I wonder..." "Now, if these were open and the water was allowed to drain out well, then anybody here could've lifted the barrels down to the ground." "If they were empty, why put them on the ground?" "To let the last inch of water drain out." "How far are we from water?" "Three days, in any direction." "There are still 14 bottles of wine." "Well, what about the horses?" "They've got to pull us out of here." "When they can pull no farther, we walk." "Koro... in this heat, over sand and rocks, you could walk about 15 miles, and with a great deal of luck, you might crawl three more miles." "Koro..." "Yes, Paladin?" "May I have the key to the wine chest?" "The keys are hidden." "You are a violent man, Mr. Paladin." "Still, it would be impossible to make me tell where." "14 bottles could be enough, if we don't have to walk." "We could share it with the horses." "Animals get sick on alcohol." "This wine contains no alcohol." "Intoxicants are against our belief." "I remember something else about your belief." "In order to achieve Nirvana, Paradise, you must anoint yourself daily with water from the Ganges River." "And also be cremated and have our ashes cast into the Ganges." "Or you may be reincarnated nine times." "That is so." "And we may come back as a tiger... a snake... or even as an ant." "Koro, where is the water from the Ganges River?" "That water may be used for holy purposes only." "Life is holy, Koro." "Mr. Paladin... would you condemn yourself to purgatory?" "Three days out here without water is purgatory." "If you die here, your ashes'll never see the Ganges River, anyway." "You're doomed." "How much water is there?" "A little over a gallon." "All right, you take charge of it." "And from now on, we travel from 10:00 at night till 8:00 in the morning." "Uh, Punya... you would be safer if you made more noise." "I shall remember next time." "Shouldn't you be asleep?" "The night is too lovely." "I sometimes find it so." "You have known loneliness, haven't you, Paladin?" "Yes." "It leaves a mark in a man's eyes." "And in a woman's." "And I thought that you and Koro..." "Mm." "Koro speaks to me only when he cannot avoid it." "Still..." "Since I have seen you, Paladin, I..." "I speak to no other man." "You are a woman of your country." "You're a man of yours." "We have traveled two nights and are not halfway out yet." "I know that." "The horses are jading." "We could leave the wagons now, ride the horses." "The horses will last longer pulling than carrying." "Paladin!" "Paladin!" "The rani has collapsed!" "Well, what did she do?" "Did she drink all her water the first day, or wash her hair in it?" "I did not drink any." "Why not?" "I am a rani." "I have no country, but these people, they are my subjects." "If they suffer from thirst, I do not drink." "Well, you haven't earned the right to be a martyr yet." "The privileges of rank mean absolutely nothing if you let the responsibility kill you." "Now, you drink this!" "Punya." "See that she drinks half of this, and slowly." ""Cool hands..." ""pink-tipped..." ""like lotus buds that float on the cool water where we used to dwell."" "We will make it safely, Paladin?" "We... will make it." "There is no chance we will perish here in the desert, hmm?" "None." "Your friend is dead!" "Friend?" "He is the one..." "These coins!" "If you hired him to kill the rani, why did you tell me about him?" "Would I hire a man t... to kill me?" "Skiri." "I am sorry, Paladin." "Truly." "When did you know?" "This morning." "When your hands touched me, they were hot and rough." "So were Koro's when he served me." "Punya's hands were cool... and damp." "Whoever emptied those barrels, they would have secreted a supply of water for... personal use." "Cool hands to touch the brow of a lonely man... or drop gold coins in the hands of an Apache." "Where is Koro?" "Dead." "Poor Koro." "He died as he would have wished... in your service." "They would wish to be sent home." "I'm sorry, we'll bury them here." "But it is our belief that if..." "I know your belief, and I'm sorry." ""Have gun will travel," reads the card of a man" "A knight without armor in a savage land" "His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind" "Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam?"