" You've known him how long?" Malcolm asked. " Since he was a small boy. I firs noticed him when he slipped into Master Chubb's kitchen to steal some pies." " So, what did you have to say to Will when you caught him stealing these pies? " Oh, I didn't let on I was there. We rangers can be very unobtrusive when we choose. I remained out of sight and watched him. I thought he might have potential to be a ranger." Halt said. Horace joined in " Why?" Halt answered carefully. " Because he was excellent at moving from cover to cover. Chubb entered 3 times and never noticed him. So i thought that if he could acheive that with no training, he would make a good ranger." " No" Horace spoke. " Thats not what I meant. Why were you hiding in the kitchen in the first place?" " I told you. I was watching Will to see if he had the potential to be a ranger." " Thats not what you said. You said that was the first time you noticed Will." " Does it matter?" " Not really. Were you hiding from chub yourself and Will just turned up by coincidence?" " And why would I be hiding from master Chubb in his own kitchen?" " Well, there were freshly made pies on the windowsill, and you like pies, don't you?" " Are you acusing me of trying to steal those pies?!?!" " No, of course not. I just thought i'd give you the opportunity to confess." After a pause, Halt continued. " You know, Horace, you used to be a most agreeable young man. Whatever happened to you?" " I've spent to much time around you, I suppose." And Halt had to admit that was probably true. "