It winked, and Samlor winked cheerfully at the amazement of the man whom he saw for the first time. Money was generally the best way to approach a stranger. "What d'ye wanna know?" said the watchman. His voice was no less suspicious than before, but now it was pitched an octave lower. The coin disappeared somewhere out of sight as soon as he realized that he was flashing it to the world. "How long you been here?" Samlor asked. Then, realizing that he knew exactly what answer he would get Huh? Since sundown he added, "How many weeks, I mean?" The watchman's hands reappeared in the light. He was counting on his fingers while his lips mouthed one, two, three He paused. "Pay me," he demanded. "When I'm satisfied," the caravan master said, "you get all the rest of this. If I'm not satisfied, I'll take back the first, and I'll have your guts for garters." Gold danced from one hand to the palm of the other in time with Samlor's broadening smile. The mixed message suddenly got home in the watchman's brain.
