The Gift of Rodin

Mathan released the clasp and opened a lid, rode in, leaned forward eagerly. At the top of the chest a bronze neckpiece lay upon a scarlet cloth. Mathan picked up the piece and patted it affectionately. "This shall always remain in my token chest, because the owner has passed on into the great darkness" He reached for a ring carved of ox bone. This belongs to a farmer. I buy the rugs of his women. The locusts came and they had not food. I helped him, and when the new crop came he repaid me. Later he came again and told of strange goats in a distant land as described by a traveler. They had