“You tell me while I’m getting something to eat for you, all right?”

“All right.” But Steve didn’t go on.

After a few moments of silence, Pitch spoke while he was opening a can of soup. “You found him, didn’t you.” It was put not as a question but stated as a fact, as though Pitch already knew what Steve’s reply would be.

“Yes, I found him.” For reasons Steve could not explain he now wanted Pitch to wait, to ask him about his search for Flame, rather than to tell it all as he had so eagerly planned. His eyes were drawn to Pitch’s pockets again.

Was that it? he asked himself. Was it the “treasures” that Pitch valued so highly? Were they responsible for his own reluctance to tell Pitch all? Was it because he felt that Pitch thought more of the things he was carrying in his pockets than he did of the horses which were truly treasures in their own right? But even if Pitch did feel that way, Steve argued with himself, was there anything wrong in it? Pitch was a scholar, and if he preferred relics to horses, that was his business. There were plenty of people in the world who didn’t love horses, or who loved other things more. Still …

“Did you just see him? Or get close to him? Or what?” Pitch asked with genuine interest in his voice. He placed the soup on the stove and turned around, facing Steve.

“I got close to him, Pitch. Real close. So close I guess I must have touched him. I’m not quite sure, though.” Now it came easier as Steve saw the interest mounting in Pitch’s eyes and the incredulous look upon his face. He felt his own enthusiasm mounting once more and he wanted to confide in Pitch. “I first saw him in the valley,” he continued quickly. “He was drinking from the stream and—oh Pitch!—if only you could have seen him!”

“It’s funny I didn’t see him,” Pitch said. “Wait a minute—there isn’t any stream running through this valley. There’s no outlet to that pool below.”

“It wasn’t this valley, Pitch. It’s another one—a smaller one on the other side of the marsh.”

“Marsh? What marsh? Where’s a marsh and where’s a smaller valley?”

Quickly Steve pointed far down to the left side of the valley. “You can just make out the hollow from here, Pitch,” he said. “See the slight gray mist rising from the ground?”

“Yes, I see it all right. This morning there was more of it. I was wondering about the land there. And the valley?”

“It’s after you go through the gorge to the left of the hollow. You can’t see the gorge from here, but it goes right into the walls.”

“What kind of gorge?”