{"quotes":[{"text":"Halt eyed them balefully. They were all being so obvious about not mentioning his sudden reappearance that it was even worse than if they had commented on it...'Oh, go on!' he said. 'Somebody say something! I know what you're thinking!''It's good to see you up and about, Halt,' Selethen said gravely...Halt glared at the others and they quickly chorused their pleasure at seeing him back to his normal self. But he could see the grins they didn't quite manage to hide. He fixed a glare on Alyss.'I'm surprised at you Alyss,' he said. 'I expected no better of Will and Evanlyn, of course. Heartless beasts, the pair of them. But you! I thought you had been better trained!'...'Halt, I'm sorry! It's not funny, you're right... Shut up, Will.' This last was directed at Will as he tried, unsuccessfully, to smother a snigger.","author":"John Flanagan","tags":["alyss","evanlyn","halt","laughter","ranger-s-apprentice","seasickness","selethen","will"],"id":14861,"author_id":"John+Flanagan"},{"text":"Right! Let's get on with it! All right... You... Will... Have trained as apprentice to Ranger Halt of Redmont Fief these last five twelvemonths and blah blah blah and so on and so on. You've shown the necessary level of proficiency in the use of the weapons a Ranger uses- the longbow, the saxe knife, the throwing knife.'He paused and glanced up Halt. 'He has shown the proficiency, hasn't he? Of course he has,' he went on, before Halt could answer. 'Furthermore, you are a trusted officer in the service of the King and so on and so on and hi diddle diddle dee dee...' He glanced up again. 'These forms really do carry on a bit, don't they? But I have to make a pretense of reading them. And so forth and so on and such like.' He paused, nodded several times, then continued.'So basically...' He flicked a few more pages, found the one he was after and then continued, 'You are in all ways ready to assume the position and authority of a fully operational Ranger in the Kingdom of Araluen. Correct?'He glanced up again, his eyebrows raised. Will realized he was waiting for an answer.'Correct,' he said hastily, then in case that wasn't enough, he added, 'Yes. I mean... I do... I am. Yes.'Well, good for you.","author":"John Flanagan","tags":["crowley","halt","ranger-s-apprentice","will"],"id":66401,"author_id":"John+Flanagan"},{"text":"How do we get there? How did you get here, by the way?' [Will asked].He heard Halt's deep sigh and knew he'd done it again.'Do you ever,' the older Ranger said with great deliberation, 'manage to ask just one question at a time? Or does it always have to be multiple choice with you?'Will looked at him in surprise. 'Do I do that?' he asked. 'Are you sure?'Halt said nothing. He raised his hands in a 'See what I mean?' gesture...'Halt,' [Selethen said], 'I could be wrong, but I think you were just guilty of the same fault. I'm sure I heard you ask two questions just then.''Thank you for pointing that out, Lord Selethen,' Halt said with icy formality.","author":"John Flanagan","tags":["halt","questions","ranger-s-apprentice","will"],"id":118632,"author_id":"John+Flanagan"},{"text":"Halt! How are you? What have you been doing? Where's Abelard? How's Crowley? What's this all about?' 'I'm glad to see you rate my horse more important than our Corps Commandant,' Halt said, one eyebrow rising in the expression that Will knew so well. Early in their relationship, he had thought it was an expression of displeasure. He had learned years ago that it was, for Halt, the equivalent of a smile.","author":"John Flanagan","tags":["halt","ranger-s-apprentice","will"],"id":119479,"author_id":"John+Flanagan"},{"text":"Will raised both eyebrows. 'Well, you learn a new thing everyday,' he said reflectively.'In your case, that's no exaggeration,' Halt said, completely straight-faced.","author":"John Flanagan","tags":["halt","learning","ranger-s-apprentice","will"],"id":141062,"author_id":"John+Flanagan"},{"text":"Gundar, seeing Halt upright for the first time in two days, stumped up the deck to join them.'Back on your feet then?' he boomed cheerfully, with typical Skandian tact. 'By Gorlag's toenails, with all the heaving abd puking you've been doing, I thought you'd turn yourself inside out and puke yourself over the rail!'...'You do paint a pretty picture, Gundar,' Will said...'Thank you for your concern,' Halt said icily...'So, did you find Albert?' Gundar went on, unabashed. Even Halt was puzzled by this sudden apparent change of subject.'Albert?' he asked. Too late, he saw Gundar's grin widening and knew he'd stepped into a trap.'You seemed to be looking for him. You'd lean over the rail and call, 'Al-b-e-e-e-e-e-r-t!' I thought he might be some Araluen sea god.''No, I didn't find him. Maybe I could look for him in your helmet.'He reached out a hand. But Gundar had heard what happened when Skandians lent their helmets to the grim-faced Ranger while onboard ship...'No, I'm pretty sure he's not there,' he said hurriedly.","author":"John Flanagan","tags":["gundar","halt","ranger-s-apprentice","seasickness","will"],"id":141642,"author_id":"John+Flanagan"},{"text":"There are always risks in battle. It's a dangerous business. The trick is to take the right ones.' [said Halt].'How do you know which are the right ones?' Shigeru asked.Halt glanced at his two younger companions. They grinned and answered in chorus, 'You wait and see if you win.","author":"John Flanagan","tags":["battle","danger","halt","horace","ranger-s-apprentice","risks","will"],"id":156805,"author_id":"John+Flanagan"},{"text":"The Rangers were founded over one hundred and fifty years ago, in King Herbert's reign. Do you know anything about him?' Halt looked sideways at the boy sitting beside him, tossing the question out quickly to see his response. Will hesitated. He vaugely remembered the name from history lessons in the Ward, but he couldn't remember any details. Still, he decided he'd try to bluff his way through it...'Oh ... Yes,' he said, 'King Herbert. We learned about him.'Really?' said the Ranger expansively. 'Perhaps you could tell me a little about him?' He leaned back and crossed his legs, getting himself comfortable...'He was ...' he hesitated, pretending to gather his thoughts. 'The king.' That much he was sure of. Halt merely smiled and made a rolling gesture with his hand that meant go on. 'He was the king ... A hundred and fifty years ago,' Will said, trying to sound certain of his facts. The Ranger smiled at him, gesturing for him to continue yet again. 'Ummm ... Well, I seem to recall that he was the one who founded the Ranger Corps,' he said hopefully, and Halt raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.'Really? You recall that, do you?","author":"John Flanagan","tags":["book-1","funny","halt","ranger-s-apprentice","will"],"id":167870,"author_id":"John+Flanagan"},{"text":"Two-thirds of all preachers, doctors and lawyers are hanging on to the coat tails of progress, shouting, whoa! While a good many of the rest are busy strewing banana peels along the line of march.","author":"Elbert Hubbard","tags":["doctors","funny","halt","humor","joke","lawyers","preachers","progress","science"],"id":177777,"author_id":"Elbert+Hubbard"},{"text":"But...' Horace looked from one familiar face to another. 'How did you come to..?'Before he could finish the question, Will interupted, thinking to clarify matters but only making them more puzzling...'We were all in Toscana for the treaty signing,' he began, then corrected himself. 'Well, Evanlyn wasn't. She came later. But, when she did, she told us you were missing, so we all boarded Gundar's ship-you should see it. It's a new design that can sail into the wind. But anyway, that's not important. And just before we left, Selethen decided to join us-what with you being an old comrade in arms and all-and...'He got no further. Halt, seeing the confusion growing on Horace's face, held up a hand to stop his babbling former apprentice...Will stopped, a little embarrassed as he realized that he had been running off at the mouth.","author":"John Flanagan","tags":["babbling","halt","horace","ranger-s-apprentice","will"],"id":188348,"author_id":"John+Flanagan"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":24,"pages":3,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}