I realized that Chumblot’s brief had told only the official story which, as in many sophisticated societies, departed starkly from the practical fact… - Matt Hughes

My alter ego was awake and listening. “Magic,” he said.
“To one whose only instrument is a drum, all melodies are much the same,” I answered inwardly.

The commerciants of Olkney were renowned for their egalitarian spirit, judging rich and poor alike solely by the weight of their purses.

"The likelihood seems farfetched."
"So have several of the situations in which we have found ourselves in the recent past," I said.
"But you are resolved to avoid those kinds of situations in the future."
I made a gesture ripe with fatalism. "I have come to understand that the universe accords my resolutions a good deal less consideration than I would prefer."