said Dan . ' A Pict -- there were many such -- who speaks a few words of our tongue , and slips across the Wall to sell ponies and wolf-hounds . Without a horse and a dog , and a friend , man would perish . The Gods gave me all three , and there is no gift like friendship . Remember this ' -- Parnesius turned to Dan -- ` when you become a young man . For your fate will turn on the first true friend you make . ' ` He means , ' said Puck , grinning , ` that if you try to make yourself a decent chap when you 're young , you 'll make rather decent friends when you grow up . If you 're a beast , you 'll have beastly friends . Listen to the Pious Parnesius on Friendship ! ' ' I am not pious , ' Parnesius answered , ` but I know what goodness means ; and my friend , though he was without hope , was ten thousand times better than I. Stop laughing , Faun ! ' ` Oh , Youth Eternal and All-believing , ' cried Puck , as he rocked on the branch above . ` Tell them about your Pertinax . ' ` He was that friend the Gods sent me -- the boy who spoke to me when I first came . Little older than myself , commanding the Augusta Victoria Cohort on the tower next to us and the Numidians . In virtue he was far my superior . ' ` Then why was he on the Wall ? ' Una asked , quickly . ` They 'd all done something bad . You said so yourself . ' ` He was the nephew , his Father had died , of a great rich man in Gaul who was not always kind to his Mother .
When XXXXX grew up , he discovered this , and so his uncle shipped him off , by trickery and force , to the Wall .
All-believing Cohort Dan Father Gaul Numidians Pertinax Pict Puck Una