As he led the pony away into the darkness of the river trees, Temuge could hear his companions resume their argument in fierce whispers. He wondered if they had a chance of surviving the trip to the city of Baotou. When he had made a mat of rushes and lain down, he tried hard to shut out the strained voices, repeating the phrases Kokchu had told him would bring calm. They did not, but sleep came while he was still waiting.

In the morning, Ho Sa raised his arm to another boat as it tacked against the wind to come upriver. Nine times the gesture had been ignored, though he held a leather purse of coins and jingled the contents. All three breathed in relief as the latest boat swung across the water toward them. On board, six sun-darkened faces stared suspiciously in their direction.

"Say nothing to them," Ho Sa murmured to Temuge as they stood in the mud and waited for the boat to come closer. He and the two brothers wore simple robes tied at the waist that would not look too strange to the river crews. Khasar bore a roll of saddlecloth over one shoulder that contained his bow in its leather half-case and a full quiver. He stared at the boat in some interest, never having seen such a thing in daylight. The sail was almost as high as the boat was long, perhaps forty feet from end to end. He could not see how it could come close enough for them to step onto its small deck.

"The sail looks like a bird wing. I can see the bones of it," he said.

Ho Sa turned sharply toward him. "If they ask, I will say you are a mute, Khasar. You must not speak to any one of them. Do you understand?"

Khasar scowled at the Xi Xia soldier. "I understand that you want me to spend days without opening my mouth. I tell you, when this is over, you and I are going to go somewhere quiet-"

"Hush!" Temuge said. "They are close enough to hear."

Khasar subsided, though he held Ho Sa's gaze long enough to nod ominously at him.

The boat maneuvered close to the bank and Ho Sa did not wait for his companions, stepping into the shallow water and wading out to it. He ignored Khasar's muttered curse behind him as strong hands drew him over the side.

The master of the boat was a short, wiry man with a red cloth tied around his head to keep the sweat from his eyes. Apart from that, he was naked except for a brown loincloth with two knives slapping against his bare thigh. Ho Sa wondered for an instant if they had been taken in by one of the pirate crews said to raid villages along the river, but it was too late for misgivings.

"Can you pay?" the master demanded, reaching out to slap Ho Sa on the chest with the back of his hand. As Khasar and Temuge were dragged on board, Ho Sa pressed three warm bronze coins into the outstretched palm. The little man peered through the hole in the center of each one, before stringing them on a cord under his belt.

"I am Chen Yi," he said, staring as Khasar straightened. The Mongol was a head taller than the largest crewman and frowned around him as if affronted. Ho Sa cleared his throat and Chen Yi glanced at him, cocking his head to one side.

"We are going as far as Shizuishan," Chen Yi said. Ho Sa shook his head and reached for more coins. Chen Yi watched closely as he heard the sound of metal.

"Three more to take us to Baotou," Ho Sa said, holding them out.

The captain took the coins quickly, adding them to the line at his waist with practiced skill.

"Three more to go so far upriver," he said. Ho Sa struggled to master his temper. He had already paid more than enough for a passage to the city. He doubted the man would return the money if he decided to wait for another boat.

"You have had enough," he said firmly. Chen Yi's eyes dropped to where Ho Sa kept his money under his belt and he shrugged.

"Three more or I have you thrown back," he said.

Ho Sa stood very still and sensed Khasar's irritable confusion as the conversation went on. At any moment, he would blurt out some question, Ho Sa was certain.

"Where will you find yourself next on the wheel of life, I wonder?" Ho Sa murmured. To his surprise, Chen Yi seemed unconcerned and only shrugged. Ho Sa shook his head in bewilderment. Perhaps he was too used to the army, where his authority was never challenged. There was an air of confidence about Chen Yi that sat oddly with his rags and the grubby little boat. Ho Sa glared as he handed over more coins.

"Beggars do not go to Baotou," Chen Yi said cheerfully. "Now stay out of the way of my men while we work the river." He indicated a pile of grain sacks in the stern of the little boat by the rudder, and Ho Sa saw Khasar settling himself on them before he could nod.

Chen Yi cast a suspicious glance at Temuge and Khasar, but he had new coins on his cord, which jingled as he moved. He gave orders to turn the sail across the wind, making the first cut across the river that would take them north to their destination. The boat was cramped with so many and there were no cabins. Ho Sa guessed the crew lay down on the deck at night. He began to relax just as Khasar stepped up to the rail and urinated into the river with a great sigh of relief. Ho Sa raised his eyes to heaven as the sound of spattering water went on and on.

Two of the crew pointed at Khasar and made an obscene joke, slapping each other on the back with hoots of laughter. Khasar flushed and Ho Sa moved swiftly to stand between the warrior and the crew, warning him with a glare. The sailors watched the exchange with wide grins before Chen Yi barked an order and they scurried to the prow to heave the sail over.

"Yellow dogs," Khasar said after them. Chen Yi had been in the middle of guiding the sail over his head when he heard the words. Ho Sa's heart sank as the master of the boat came strolling back to them.

"What was that he said?" Chen Yi asked.

Ho Sa spoke quickly. "He is a Moslem. He does not speak a civilized tongue. Who can understand the ways of such a people?"

"He does not look like a Moslem," Chen Yi replied. "Where is his beard?"

Ho Sa sensed the eyes of the crew on them and this time each man rested a hand near his knife. "All merchants have secrets," Ho Sa said, holding Chen Yi's stare. "Do I care for a man's beard when I have his wealth to trade? Silver speaks its own language, does it not?"

Chen Yi grinned. He held out a hand and Ho Sa pressed a silver coin into it, his face showing nothing.

"It does," Chen Yi said, wondering how many more coins the warrior carried in his pouches. Whatever the three men claimed to be, they were not merchants. Chen Yi indicated Khasar with a jerk of a grimy thumb.

"Is he a fool, then, to trust you? Will you be throwing him over the side one night with a dagger across his throat?" To Ho Sa's discomfort, the little man drew his finger over his own throat, a gesture that Khasar watched with growing interest. Temuge, too, was frowning and Ho Sa wondered how much he had understood of the fast exchange.

"I betray no man, once I have given my word," Ho Sa told the master quickly, as much for Temuge as anyone else. "And though he is certainly a fool, he is a fighter of great skill. Be careful not to insult him, or I will not be able to hold him back."

Chen Yi cocked his head again, a habitual gesture. He did not trust the men he had taken on board, and the tall, stupid one seemed to burn with anger. He shrugged at last. All men slept, and if they caused him trouble, they would not be the first passengers he had slipped into the wake of his little boat. He turned his back on them after pointing to the pile of sacks. Relieved beyond words, Ho Sa joined the other two in the stern. He tried hard to look as if the incident had not been a strain.

Khasar did not look at all apologetic.

"What did you tell him?" he asked.

Ho Sa took a deep breath. "I told him you are a traveler from thousands of miles away. I thought perhaps he would never have heard of the followers of Islam, but he has met at least one in the past. He thinks I am lying, but he will not ask too any questions. Still, it explains why you cannot speak the Chin language."