"Be calm, good Drgon," said Gope, staring at me incredulously. "No common man with his wits about him will challenge an Owner. He is a warrior trained in the skills of battle. None less than another such may hope to prevail." * * * * * I smacked my fist into my palm. "I should have thought of this sooner! The cooks cook for their places, the pipers pipe ... and the best man wins. It figures that the Owners would use the same system. But what's the procedure? How do you get your chance to prove who can own the best?" "It is a contest with naked steel. It is the measure and glory of an Owner that he alone stands ready to prove his quality against the peril of death itself." Gope drew himself up with pride. "What Owner can I challenge? How do I go about it? What's the procedure?" "Give up this course, good Drgon--" "Where's the nearest buddy of the Big Owner?" Gope threw up his hands. "Here, at Bar-Ponderone. Owner Qohey. But--" "And how do I call his bluff?" I asked. Gope put a hand on my shoulder. "It is no bluff, good Drgon. It is long now since last Owner Qohey stood to his blade to protect his place, but you may be sure he has lost none of his skill. Thus it was he won his way to Bar-Ponderone, while lesser knights, such as myself, contented themselves with meaner fiefs." "I'm not bluffing either, noble Gope," I said, stretching a point. "I was no harness-maker in the Good Time." Gope sat down heavily, raised his hands, and let them fall. "If I tell you not, another will. But I will not soon find another piper of your worth." CHAPTER XV Gaudy hangings of purple cut the light of the sun to a rich gloom in the enormous, high-vaulted Audience Hall. A rustling murmur was audible in the room as uneasy courtiers and supplicants fidgeted, waiting for the appearance of the Owner. It had been two months since Gope had explained to me how a formal challenge to an Owner was conducted, and, as he pointed out, this was the only kind of challenge that would help. If I waylaid the man and cut him down, even in a fair fight, his bodyguards would repay the favor before I could establish the claim that I was their legitimate new boss. I had spent three hours every day in the armory at Rath-Gallion, trading buffets with Gope and a couple of the bodyguards. The thirty-pound slab of edged steel had felt right at home in my hand that first day--for about a minute. I had the borrowed knowledge to give me all the technique I needed, but the muscle power for putting the knowledge into practice was another matter. After five minutes I was slumped against the wall, gulping air, while Gope whistled his sticker around my head and talked. "You laid on like no piper, good Drgon. Yet have you much to learn in the matter of endurance."