now
in the greenhouses will have to be destroyed, but that cannot be
helped."

He stopped for a moment, and when he began again his voice took on a
note of sadness.

"I will be away from you until the war is won. While I am gone, the
barony will be run by my wife. You will obey her as you would me. The
finances of the barony will be taken care of by my trusted man,
Kevenoe." He gestured to one side, and Kevenoe, who was standing there,
smiled quickly and then looked grim again.

"As for the actual running of the barony--as far as labor is
concerned--I think I can leave that in the hands of one of my most
capable men."

He raised his finger and pointed. There was a smile on his face.

Anketam felt as though he had been struck an actual blow; the finger was
pointed directly at him.

"Anketam," said The Chief, "I'm leaving the barony in your hands until I
return. You will supervise the labor of all the men here. Is that
understood?"

"Yes, sir," said Anketam weakly. "Yes, sir. I understand."

IV

Never, for the rest of his life, would the sharp outlines of that moment
fade from his memory. He knew that the men of the barony were all
looking at him; he knew that The Chief went on talking afterwards. But
those things impressed themselves but lightly on his mind, and they
blurred soon afterwards. Twenty years later, in retelling the story, he
would swear that The Chief had ended his speech at that point. He would
swear that it was only seconds later that The Chief had jumped down from
the gate and motioned for him to come over; his memory simply didn't
register anything between those two points.

But The Chief's words after the speech--the words spoken to him
privately--were bright and clear in his mind.

The Chief was a good three inches shorter than Anketam, but Anketam
never noticed that. He just stood there in front of The Chief, wondering
what more his Chief had to say.

"You've shown yourself to be a good farmer, Anketam," Chief Samas said
in a low voice. "Let's see--you're of Skebbin stock, I think?"

Anketam nodded. "Yes, sir."

"The Skebbin family has always produced good men. You're a credit to the
Skebbins, Anketam."

"Thank you, sir."

"You've got a hard job ahead of you," said The Chief. "Don't fail me.
Plant plenty of staple crops, make sure there's enough food for
everyone. If you think it's profitable, add more to the animal stock.
I've authorized Kevenoe to allow money for the purcha