While attempting to remain as true to history as possible, I created a world of witches and wizards, earthdrakes and talking ravens, according to my imagination.

America! / The international Jekyll and Hyde / The land of a thousand disguises / Sneaks up on you but rarely surprises

That tale may have served as a pipe-opener, but one could not see its wood for its trees, so I threw it away.

I had only one canvas water-breaker; that was a big one, too big for me to carry single-handed from the spring to the dinghy. I should only be able to fill it half full—say seven or eight gallons on each journey.