a few days after i agreed to gex’s plan, he and i set out for the empire of u…………, each of us to try to woo the emperor’s fair daughter.
such journeys on our or our brothers’ parts were by no means unusual, and excited little notice in the court of our father, the god tex.
nor was it considered all that unusual that we departed with such a modest retinue, each of us accompanied by a single faithful old servant.
we each rode a wingless steed, with the two old retainers accompanying us on mules.
we made a leisurely progress across the desert of y—————.
gex, usually so boisterous and talkative, was strangely silent, and i did nothing to discourage his unusual mood.
when we reached the opposite side of the desert and headed down a winding country road in the general direction of the empire of u…………., the skies suddenly filled with dark clouds , and we resolved to stop for the night at the next inn, no matter how humble.
a very humble inn indeed appeared around the next bend in the road, and we duly stopped at it.
as was our practice on such excursions, our intention was neither to announce our identities as gods, nor to deny them , if they somehow became apparent to our hosts.
the inn, as i said, was a humble one, actually more than a little run down, and we thought for a moment it might be abandoned, as no one came out to greet us.
“what ho!” cried thomas, my trusty old servant, “is there no one here to greet a pair of gentlemen travelers?”
it was then that we noticed sitting against the wall of the inn, concealed in shadow, a pair of ragamuffin small boys.
“look here,” thomas addressed them in a loud voice, “are you two scamps in the employ of this worthy establishment? if you are, i advise you to look lively and give us some service.”
neither of the two boys rose. “no, master, we do not work here,” the smaller of the two boys answered thomas, “but if you just rap upon the door, master harris will make haste to accommodate you.”
“so you do not work here,eh?” thomas replied. “what then do you do?”
“we are beggars, sir,” the smaller boy said.
“beggars!” the worthy thomas had a low opinion of beggars, and had spent his life shooing them away from whatever masters he was serving. “and why do you beg, eh? would you rather not earn your keep, and hold your heads high?”
“we are blind, sir,” the boy replied, “ and as for earning our keep, as you put it, i am a poet , and my associate here is a musician. we would be happy to recite and play for you.”
gex and i had come down off our horses and come closer to the boys, and i saw that the one who had not spoken had a small harp by his side, and that both boys indeed had the look of the blind.
“a poet, eh?” i said to the smaller boy, “i , too, am a poet. and i am pleased to make your acquaintance.
”it is always a pleasure and an honor to meet a rival,” the ragamuffin replied, turning his sightless eyes towards me.
i smiled, thomas scowled, and gex and his servant william laughed at this suave rejoinder.
“enough of this foolery,” exclaimed thomas and began beating on the door of the inn with his stick.
“that is the way, master,” the second boy, the harp player, spoke for the first time. “old harris takes some rousing, some times.”
“and he has trouble getting good help,” added the poet. "or any help.”
no sooner had he spoken than the door opened, and a hulking low browed fellow, more bear than human, opened the door.
he took one glance at gex and myself, and if he did not recognize us as gods, at least quickly saw that we were gentlemen of some means, and straightened himself up as best he could.
“welcome, worthy sirs, welcome, “ he addressed us. “come in and make yourselves comfortable while i attend to your beasts. i am a bit short of help in this dry season.”
“thank you,” gex replied. “william and thomas will help you with the beasts.”
the innkeeper glanced at the two beggar boys. “i hope these rascals are not annoying you, gentlemen.”
“not at all, ‘ i replied. “in fact i beg you let them accompany us. they may prove diverting, especially the budding bard.”
“as you wish, sir,” the innkeeper bowed to me.
gex and i entered the inn, with the poet and the musician behind us.
the interior of the inn was as dark and unprepossessing as we could have imagined, but both gex and i had frequented lower haunts before, when weary of the pomp of the court of the gods.
the poet scampered ahead of us, tapping the walls as he went. “this way, sirs. i will bring you to the parlor and the fireplace, such as they are.”
gex and i followed.
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