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.processtext.com/abcpalm.html321he said. They suspect, thusly, that you might be rather good.They arelooking forward to trying you out. Yes, Master, I said.I would try to serve with perfection.We were now ascending the rise toward the square tent, the overseer s tent.Behind it, and to the left, at the foot of the hill, on the low ground, in asoft area, were the pens for the female work slaves.I could see a corner ofthem as we climbed the hill. I was told, Master, I said,  that I was sold to my master, Ionicus, for fivesilver tarsks and a tarsk bit. I have heard that, he said. Is that not a high price to pay for a female work slave? I asked. It would be quite high, under normal circumstances, for a normal work slave,he said, amused. But my employer, Ionicus, enjoys a good joke.He is the sortof man who will pay high, to be amused.I see, I whispered. Stop here, he called to the coffle.We had now ascended the rise, and wereon a flat, open space, before the tent. This, ladies, said he,  is the tent of the overseer.Much may depend on howyou please him.Murmurs of fear coursed through the chain. You will be removed from the coffle, and taken before him, one by one, hesaid. It is my advice that you open your tunics.One by one, beginning with the first girl, we were removed from the coffle.Aseach of us was removed from the coffle, we briefly crouched down, so that wemight reach the upper part of our tunics with our chained hands, the chainjoining our hands chained, in turn, to our ankle chain.We then pulled openour tunics. Let me help you, said the guard.I stood up, before him, thecollar gone now from my neck.He jerked the sides of the tunic apart, and thenpulled it down, back over my shoulders. Excellent! he said.322CHAPTER 24IN THE WORK CAMP Let me carry water to them, she said.Her legs were excellent.She had along mane of dark hair.it was no wonder she had once served in a tavern.Thebrief, clinging work tunic well revealed her.Our feet were covered to theankles in the sand.I stepped back.I would not dispute the labor with her.I feared to approachthis group of fifty men. No, said the guard, grinning. Tuka.Ten days now I had been with the  black chain of Ionicus.Never before, however, had I been assigned to this crew.Two girls, commonly,are assigned to each crew.The  black chain, as a whole, consisted of severalsuch groups, most of some fifty men.The other chains of Ionicus, the  red chain, the  yellow chain, and so on,were at other locations, not in the neighborhood of Venna.Ionicus was on of the major masters of work chains.He himself resided, Iunderstood, in Telenus, the capital of Cos, where his company had itsheadquarters.His work chains, however, were politically neutral, understoodunder merchant law as hirable instruments.They might, accordingly, andsometimes did, work for both sides in given conflicts.The tarsk of gold isPage 221ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthe symbol of such men.I looked down into the area where the men labored.The men were bagging sand,later to be used in the making of mortar.TheVennans were concerned to repair and heighten their walls. Do you hesitate? asked the guard. No Master, of course not, Master! I said. Beware, said the other girl.My body, and even my legs, ached from the weight of the water bag, slung onits strap over my shoulder.I was pleased when the contents were depleted, forthe weight was less, but then, soon, Imust hurry back to the wooden tank, to submerge the bag again and, as thebubbles streamed up to the surface, and broke there, refill it.During the day I was not allowed to drink from the bag, but only from thetank.Usually while one girl returned to the tank, the other would remain withthe crew.In323this way, there was generally water available, except when the guards wishedto punish the men.We might then be made to kneel or sit in the sight of them,the damp, bulging water bags beside us, which we were not permitted to bringto them.Sometimes the guards, during such times of denying the men drink,would help themselves to the water before them, sometimes spitting it out, orpouring it over their heads and bodies.Sometimes they would even empty thebag out before them, into the dirt or sand.About my neck, on a long string,threaded through the handle, hung a metal cup.This metal cup hung a few inches below my navel.It was a joke of masters.Mychaining was now different from what it had been when I had been brought intothe camp, that I might serve more efficiently.The vertical chain joining mywrist and ankle chains had been removed.Additional links had beeninterpolated into my wrist chain and my ankle chain.My ankles were nowseparated by some two feet of chain.There was apparently a rationale to thedistance.The guards, at any rate, had taken measurements.The distance, seeminglyrather small, on the one hand, and rather large, on the other, was seeminglydictated by a twofold consideration, the preclusion of my capacity to run andthe convenience of the guards, particularly when I was supine, a position inwhich they sometimes placed me.My wrists were separated also by a similar,but somewhat shorter, length of chain.This, in its normal placement, allowedme to use my hands fairly well.This usage was restricted, of course, if thechains were thrown behind me, which tends to hold the hands, as they mighttwist or struggle back, near my waist or hips.These chaining arrangementswere fairly normal with the female work slaves in the  black chain ofIonicus. The only differences between our chainings were usually the numbersof links separating our ankles, this being a function of the length of ourlegs. You know that he is down there, among the others, said the girl, near me,she, too, chained, standing in the sand, on the top of the small hill, her ownwater bag on its strap over her shoulder. Yes, I whispered, frightened.It was he I feared most, of all of them. Beware, said the girl, again.I nodded, sick. Do not fear, said the guard. It is unlikely that they will attempt to killyou while they are in their chains.How could they (324)escape? Too, if they do attempt to kill you, I might attempt to intervene.Imight even be in time [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]