Without doubt. I've
already been told that, you might say. Already. Certainly. Wouldn't
think of such a thing." He moved over and stood near Forrester, peering
down at him. "My goodness," he said. "Let me see that eye, young man."

Forrester turned his head wordlessly.

"Oh, my, yes," the priest said. "Black indeed. Very black. A fight. My,
yes. An altercation, disagreement, discussion, battle--"

"Yes," Forrester cut in.

"Certainly you have," the priest said. "And what'd the other fellow look
like, eh? Beaten, I'll bet. You look a strong type."

Forrester relaxed. It was the only thing to do while the priest babbled
on, touching his wounds gently as he did so with various parts of his
caduceus. The pain vanished with a touch of the left wingtip, and the
lacerations healed instantly as they were caressed with first one and
then another of the various coils of the snakes.

But Forrester now was free to worry. Arrest was out of the question. As
the High Priestess had said, on the evidence it was clear that Aphrodite
intended to honor him in some way. And there was nothing at all, he
thought, wrong with an honor from the Goddess of Love.

But another sacrifice? After the sacrifice to Aphrodite he'd made
earlier, and the fight he'd gotten into, he just didn't quite feel up to
it. It wouldn't do to refuse, but ...

"Well," the priest said, stepping back. "Well, well. You ought to be all
right now, young fellow--right as rain."

Forrester said: "Thanks."

"Might feel a little soreness--tenderness, you might say--for a day or
so. Only a day or so, tenderness," the priest said. "After that, right
as rain. Right as you'll ever be. _All_ right, as a matter of fact: all
right."

Forrester said: "Thanks."

The priest went to the door, turned, and said to the High Priestess:
"Hermes' blessing on you both, as a matter of fact, as they say.
Blessings from Hermes on you both."

The High Priestess nodded regally.

"And," the priest said, "merely by the way, as it might be, without
meaning harm, if you would ask a blessing for me--Aphrodite's blessing?
Easy for you. Of course, it would be nice curing--curing, as they
say--stupidity, plain dumbness, as they call such things--curing
stupidity as easily as I can cure small ills. Nice."

"Indeed," the High Priestess said.

"But there," the priest went on. "Only the Gods can cure that. Only the
Gods and no one else. Yes. Hm. And not often. They don't do anything
like th