Page 75 (1/2)

It was becoly obvious that Narasan would need the rest of his army here very soon The Albatross had see to have second thoughts about that

2

‘She‘s tight now, cousin,’ Pantal advised Gunda late in the after- several days later, ‘and I think she ht surprise you She hasn’t been treated very well for several years, but now that she’s been re-caulked, she’ll go through the water like a hot knife through butter’

‘I hope so,’ Gunda replied ‘I’d really like to get back to Castano like about four days ago’

‘I don’t think she’ll go quite that fast, Gunda, but you never know’

‘I’ll do ht sky for the last few days, and we’ve got a full moon now If the sky stays clear, I won’t have to drop anchor when the sun goes down’

‘That isn’t the best idea in the world, cousin,’ Pantal said a bit dubiously ‘If you’re going to try sailing at night, stay a goodly distance away from any coast or islands The Albatross doesn’t draw much water, but still--’

‘I’ll be careful cousin,’ Gunda assured hiht around here before tooto need the rest of his army here, not down in Castano’

Pantal’s assessment of the potential of the restored Albatross turned out to be a slight understatement Sometimes it seemed that she almost flew as Gunda raced on down the east coast of Veltan’s Do out froht the prevailing wind Somewhat reluctantly, he lowered the sail and fell back on the oars

Fortunately, the wind changed direction before the blisters on his hands started bleeding, and he raised the sail again

Then he discovered that there was a steady currentthe north side of the ice zone, and he reached the channel that led south in just under two days Of course, he was taking advantage of the fulltime probably wasn’t much different than it had been when he’d come up from Castano He wasthe channel, but he’d discovered that he could get by on no ht He was always tired, of course, but he prohts of sleep after he reached Castano

It was late in the afternoon of his fourth day out from Veltan’s harbor when he saw the north coast of the empire low on the southern horizon ‘Well, well,’ he ood, baby I’m proud of you As soon as we reach the harbor, we’ll be able to catch up on our sleep Won’t that be nice?’

Then Gunda laughed just a bit wryly ‘I think ain I almost expected her to answer me I really need some sleep’

He was jarred back into complete wakefulness as soon as he entered the harbor of Castano, however As closely as he could deter the entire waterfront of the city had several broad-beamed ships tied to it, and thethe distinctive red unifor here?’ Gunda exclaimed ‘Those idiots!’

He beached the Albatross some distance up the coast froe tree, and then went around the city wall to the arh the gate and entered the headquarters building