nd back again, gesturing as he talked.

"It was only with the greatest effort I pulled myself back together
again. I doubt that you could have done it. And then all the while
you've been sitting here, probably enjoying yourself with your special
brand of humor I have grown to despise."

"You didn't have to come along at all, you know," Arvid 6 said.

"How well I know! How sorry I am that I ever did! It was only because
I was sorry for you, because someone older and more experienced than
you was needed. I volunteered. Imagine that! I volunteered! Tendal 13
reaches the height of stupidity and volunteers to help Arvid 6 go back
6,000 years to bring Kanad back, to correct a mistake Arvid 6 made!"
He snorted. "I still can't believe I was ever that stupid. I only
prove it when I pinch myself and here I am.

"Oh, you've been a joy to be with! First it was that hunt in ancient
Mycenae when you let the lion escape the hunters' quaint spears and we
were partly eaten by the lion in the bargain, although you dazzled the
hunters, deflecting their spears. And then your zest for drink when we
were with Octavian in Alexandria that led to everybody's amusement but
ours when we were ambushed by Anthony's men. And worst of all, that
English barmaid you became engrossed with at our last stop in 1609,
when her husband mistook me for you and you let him take me apart
piece by piece--"

"All right, all right," Arvid 6 said. "I'll admit I've made some
mistakes. You're just not adventurous, that's all."

"Shut up! For once you're going to listen to me. Our instructions
specifically stated we were to have as little as possible to do with
these people. But at every turn you've got us more and more enmeshed
with them. If that's adventure, you can have it." Tendal 13 sat down
wearily and sank his head in his hands. "It was you who conceived the
idea of taking Reggie right out of his play pen. 'Watch me take that
child right out from under its mother's nose' were your exact words.
And before I could stop you, you did. Only you forgot an important
factor in the equation--the dog, Tiger. And you nursed a dogbite most
of the afternoon before it healed. And then you took your spite out on
the poor thing by suggesting suffocation to it that night.

"And speaking of that night, you remember we agreed I was to do the
talking. But no, you pulled a switch and captured Martin Laughton's
attention. 'I came as soon as I could, Martin,' you said. And sudd