“There.”

With delight, I saw what it was. A drawing, spidery but definite, of the skeleton of a bat. And alongside it, in neat, crabbed Greek letters, phrases which I immediately, forgetting even Galapas’ presence, began to spell out to myself.

In a minute or two his hand came over my shoulder. “Bring it outside.” He pulled out the nails holding one of the dried leathery bodies to the box-lid, and lifted it carefully in his palm. “Blow out the candle. We’ll look at this together.”

And so, with no more question, and no more ceremony, began my first lesson with Galapas.

* * *

It was only when the sun, low over one wing of the valley, sent a long shadow creeping up the slope, that I remembered the other life that waited for me, and how far I had to go. I jumped to my feet.

“I’ll have to go! Demetrius won’t say anything, but if I’m late for supper they’ll ask why.”

“And you don’t intend to tell them?”

“No, or they’d stop me coming again.”

He smiled, making no comment. I doubt if I noticed then the calm assumptions on which the interview had been based; he had neither asked how I had come, nor why. And because I was only a child I took it for granted, too, though for politeness’ sake I asked him:

“I may come again, mayn’t I?”

“Of course.”

“I—it’s hard to say when. I never know when I’ll get away—I mean, when I’ll be free.”

“Don’t worry. I shall know when you are coming. And I shall be here.”

“How can you know?”

He was rolling up the book with those long, neat fingers. “The same way I knew today.”

“Oh! I was forgetting. You mean I go into the cave and send the bats out?”

“If you like.”

I laughed with pleasure. “I’ve never met anyone like you! To make smoke signals with bats! If I told them they’d never believe me, even Cerdic.”

“You won’t tell even Cerdic.”

I nodded. “That’s right. Nobody at all. Now I must go. Goodbye, Galapas.”

“Goodbye.”

* * *

And so it was in the days, and in the months, that followed. Whenever I could, once and sometimes twice in the week, I rode up the valley to the cave. He certainly seemed to know when I was coming, for as often as not he was there waiting for me, with the books laid out; but when there was no sign of him I did as we had arranged and sent out the bats as a smoke signal to bring him in. As the weeks went by they got used to me, and it took two or three well-aimed stones sent up into the roof to get them out; but after a while this grew unnecessary; people at the palace grew accustomed to my absences, and ceased to question them, and it became possible to make arrangements with Galapas for meeting from day to day.