was causing a drought in the countryside?'
'That is not true, of course,' said Marcus.
'No, of course not,' said Boots. 'It is really a quite nice stone.'
'And it could be rained upon like any other stone,' said Marcus.
'Of course,' agreed Boots.
'It comes from a well-watered area, in the Vosk Basin,' said Marcus.
'I am sure of it,' said Boots.
'I remember,' I said. 'The substitution was made so early? I asked.
'Yes,' he said.
'Not when you sneezed?' I said.
'No,' he said. 'It is often my practice to make the substitution early, before the audience is really ready to watch for it. They are not yet that alert. Then one acts as though the substitution, if it is a magic show, is to take place later. One may even hint at times and ways of doing it, and have the audience crying out, thinking they have caught you, but then they are mystified when you show them that things are not as they thought. Also, if the substitution is made late, people may perhaps even recall, remembering things they did not pay attention to at the time, or deduce what must have occurred. Thus, you wish to give them a great deal to think about after the actual substitution. One does not just do the substitution and rush off. That might suggest the time at which, for example, and perhaps even the manner in which, the substitution had taken place. To be sure, this was not really a performance of that sort because no one, except you two, I suppose, was expecting anything of the sort. Indeed, it was, all things considered, little more than a brief, startling revelation of comedic brilliance, with a casual substitution thrown in. You will never know the temptation I felt to show both Home Stones afterwards, so that the audience might come to a fuller appreciation of the entire matter.'
'It is good that you resisted that temptation,' said Marcus.
'I think so,' said Boots.
'You might have been roasted alive within the Ahn,' said Marcus.
'In my thinking on the matter I did not neglect to take such considerations into my calculations,' said Boots. 'I permitted them to exert their influence, to add their weight, so to speak, to the scales.'
'Know that we, for what it is worth, and all those of Ar's Station,' said Marcus, 'appreciate your brilliance!'
'Thank you,' said Boots..
'We salute you!' he said.
'Thank you,' said Boots.
'You did not do it when you sneezed? I asked.
'No,' he said.
'Why then did you sneeze?' I asked.
'My nose itched,' he said.
'Then,' said Marcus, pleased, 'if the substitution was made early you were not, most of the time, reviling the actual Home Stone of Ar's Station.'
'True,' said Boots.
'And I almost killed you for nothing,' marveled Marcus.
Boots shuddered.
'You nose itched?' I asked.
'Yes,' said Boots.
'I think,' I said, 'that you should prepare to leave the city as soon as possible.'
'No,' said Boots.
'Tonight,' said Marcus.
'No,' said Boots.
'Marcus is going to assist me tomorrow,' I said. 'But he will catch up with you, with a slave, Phoebe.' I looked at Boots. 'No?' I asked.
'No,' said Boots. 'Tomorrow night is better. If the substitution is discovered today, on the same day I was within the circle, and I left the city today, this might seem too improbably to be a mere coincidence. It seems likely that it might be conjectured I was in flight.'
'He is right, of course,' I said.
'Yes,' said Marcus, in anguish.
Both Marcus and I, of course, now that the Home Stone was in our keeping, were anxious for it to be on its way north.
'Perhaps it is just as well,' I said. 'Then, if all goes well, Marcus and Phoebe can leave with you tomorrow.'
'If all goes well?' asked Boots.
'You need not assist me, of course,' I said to Marcus.
'I will assist you,' he said.
'My thanks,' I said.
'What of you?' asked Boots.
'Do not concern yourself with me,' I said.
'You are remaining in Ar?' asked Boots.
'For the time,' I said.
'If the fraudulent Home Stone is a plausible duplicate,' said Marcus, 'it should not matter too much. The substitution might never be discovered.'
'Ah,' said Boots, beaming. 'But the substitution will be discovered, and probably quite soon, doubtless within a few days at the most.'
'What?' Marcus.
'You do not wish the duplicate to be a plausible duplicate,' said Boots. 'If it were, Seremides, and the Ubara, and their minions, could pretend it is still the Home Stone of Ar's Station. Indeed, they might challenge the authenticity of the stone which reaches Port Cos, should we make it that far.'
Marcus regarded him, astonished.
'It must be clear to everyone,' said Boots, 'that the true Home Stone of Ar's Station has been snatched from under their very noses.'
'Such things would surely weaken the grip of Cos in the city,' I said. 'Such things would surely give heart to Ar. Indeed, such things have toppled regimes.' 'I have made certain that there are many small discrepancies between the original and the copy,' said Boots, 'but mostly they are such as would be noticed only by one quite familiar with the Home Stone of Ar's Station.' 'And few of Ar's Station are in Ar,' said Marcus, 'and of those of Ar's Station who might be in Ar, presumably few would approach their Home Stone under these circumstances, when expected to revile it.'
'And if they did notice these differences,' said Boots, 'one might plausibly suppose they would not hasten to bring them to the attention of the guardsmen.'
'I would think not,' smiled Marcus.
'But then,' I said, 'if these differences are subtle, might not authenticity be claimed for the fraudulent stone?'
'I can guarantee that it will not be,' said Boots.
'How can you guarantee that?' I asked.
'If you have noticed,' said Boots, 'and I certainly have, for I made it a point to note such things, and over a period of several days, almost no one touches the Home Stone. I was very unusual in picking it up and handling it. It is flat, and it lies on its board.'
'Yes?' I said.
'So I took the liberty,' he said, 'I the fraudulent stone, of cutting a message into its under surface, and, indeed, of even coloring the lettering.'
'What is the message?' I asked.
'It is simple,' said Boots. 'It says 'I am not the Home Stone of Ar's Station.''
'That seems clear enough,' I said.
