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They walked on, savoring the crowd and the fun. Presently Thorby said, "Shall we try that wheel? I've spotted the gimmick."
Fritz shook his head. "Look at those so-called prizes."
"Okay. I was interested in how it was rigged."
"Thorby --"
"Yeah? Why the solemn phiz?"
"You know who Baslim the Cripple really was?"
Thorby considered it. "He was my Pop. If he had wanted me to know anything else, he would have told me."
"Mmm . . . I suppose so."
"But you know?"
"Some."
"Uh, I am curious about one thing. What was the debt that made Grandmother willing to adopt me?"
"Uh, 'I have said enough.' "
"You know best."
"Oh, confound it, the rest of the People know! It's bound to come up at this Gathering."
"Don't let me talk you into anything, Fritz."
"Well . . . look, Baslim wasn't always a beggar."
"So I long since figured out."
"What he was is not for me to say. A lot of People kept his secret for years; nobody has told me that it is all right to talk. But one fact is no secret among the People . . . and you're one of the People. A long time ago, Baslim saved a whole Family. The People have never forgotten it. The Hansea, it was . . . the New Hansea is sitting right over there. The one with the shield painted on her. I can't tell you more, because a taboo was placed on it -- the thing was so shameful that we never talk about it
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