The Truth (Discworld 25)

'That's it, yes. Mr Carney says people won't notice the difference anyway. He doesn't like you very much, Mr de Worde.'

'He's got wandering hands,' said Sacharissa. 'You can't trust a man like that.'

William pulled the latest copy of the Inquirer towards him and picked a story at random.

'"Man Stolen by Demons",' he said. 'This refers to Mr Ronnie "Trust Me" Begholder, known to owe Chrysoprase the troll more than two thousand dollars, last seen buying a very fast horse?'

'Well?'

'Where do the demons fit in?'

'Well, he could'Ve been stolen by demons,' said Dibbler. 'It could happen to anybody.'

'What you mean, then, is that there is no evidence that he wasn 't stolen by demons?'

That way people can make up their own minds,' said Dibbler. 'That's what Mr Carney says. People should be allowed to choose, he said.'

To choose what's true?' ack came out of the muck with a sucking sound, and Arnold pulled himself aboard as it was dragged back to the bank.

'Oh, very well done, Arnold,' said the Duck Man, helping him off the sodden sack and back on to his trolley. 'I really doubted if the surface would support you at this stage of the tide!'

'Bit of luck for me, eh, when that cart ran over my legs all them years ago!' said Arnold Sideways. 'I'd have drowned, else!'

Coffin Henry slit the sacking with his knife and tipped the second lot of little terriers on to the ground, where they coughed and sneezed.

'One or two of the little buggers look done for,' he said. I'll give 'em mouth to mouth respiritoriation, shall I?'

'Certainly not, Henry,' said the Duck Man. 'Have you no idea of hygiene?'

'Jean who?'

'You can't kiss dogs!' said the Duck Man. They could catch something dreadful.'

The crew looked at the dogs that were clustering round their fire. How the dogs had landed in the river was something they didn't bother to wonder about. All sorts of things landed in the river. It was the kind of thing that happened all the time. The crew took a keen interest in floating things. But it was unusual to get this many all at once.

'Maybe it's been raining dogs?' said Altogether Andrews, who was being steered by the mind known as Curly. The crew liked Curly. He was easy to get along with. 'I heard the other day that's been happening lately.'

'You know what?' said Arnold Sideways. 'What we ort to do, right, is get some stuff, like... wood and stuff, and make a boat. We could get a lot more stuff if we had a boat.'

'Ah, yes,' said the Duck Man. 'I used to mess about in boats when I was a boy.'

'We could boat about in mess,' said Arnold. 'Same thing.'

'Not... exactly,' said the Duck Man. He looked at the circle of steaming, retching dogs.

'I wish Gaspode was here,' he said. 'He knows how to think about this sort of thing.'

'Ajar,' said the apothecary carefully.

'Sealed with wax,' William repeated.

'And you want an ounce each of...'

'Oil of aniseed, oil of rampion and oil of scallatine,' said William.

'I can do the first two,' said the apothecary, looking at the little list he'd been given. 'But there is no such thing as a whole ounce of oil of scallatine in the city, you realize? It's fifteen dollars for enough to go on a pinhead. We've got about enough to fill a mustard spoon and we have to keep that in a soldered lead box under water.'

'I'll take a pinhead's worth, then,'