Page 8 (1/2)

CHAPTER EIGHT

HOW THEY LEFT THE ISLAND

"AND so," said Trumpkin (for, as you have realized, it was he who had been telling all this story to the four children, sitting on the grass in the ruined hall of Cair Paravel) - "and so I put a crust or two in er, and took to the woods in the grey of theaway for many hours when there came a sound that I&039;d never heard the like of in et that The whole air was full of it, loud as thunder but far longer, cool and sweet as h to shake the woods And I said to myself, `If that&039;s not the Horn, call me a rabbit&039; And a moment later I wondered why he hadn&039;t blown it sooner - "

"What time was it?" asked Edmund

"Between nine and ten of the clock," said Trumpkin

"Just ere at the railway station!" said all the children, and looked at one another with shining eyes

"Please go on," said Lucy to the Dwarf

"Well, as I was saying, I wondered, but I went on as hard as I could pelt I kept on all night - and then, when it was half light this , as if I&039;d no more sense than a Giant, I risked a short cut across open country to cut off a big loop of the river, and was caught Not by the are of a little castle which is Miraz&039;s last stronghold towards the coast I needn&039;t tell you they got no true tale out of h But, lobsters and lollipops! it is a good thing the seneschal was a poh there and then But nothing would do for hihosts in the full cere lady", (he nodded at Susan) "does her bit of archery and it was pretty shooting, let me tell you - and here we are And without my armour, for of course they took that" He knocked out and refilled his pipe

"Great Scott!" said Peter "So it was the horn - your own horn, Su - that dragged us all off that seat on the platfor! I can hardly believe it; yet it all fits in"

"I don&039;t knohy you shouldn&039;t believe it," said Lucy, "if you believe in ic forcing people out of one place - out of one world - into another? I hts calls up a Jinn, it has to come We had to come, just like that"

"Yes," said Peter, "I suppose what makes it feel so queer is that in the stories it&039;s always so One doesn&039;t really think about where the Jinn&039;s co from"

"And noe knohat it feels like for the Jinn," said Edmund with a chuckle "Golly! It&039;s a bit uncomfortable to know that we can be whistled for like that It&039;s worse than what Father says about living at the mercy of the telephone"

"But ant to be here, don&039;t we," said Lucy, "if Aslan wants us?"

"Meanwhile," said the Dwarf, "what are we to do? I suppose I&039;d better go back to King Caspian and tell him no help has come"

"No help?" said Susan "But it has worked And here we are"

"Um - um - yes, to be sure I see that," said the Dwarf, whose pipe seemed to be blocked (at any rate heit) "But - well - I mean - "

"But don&039;t you yet see e are?" shouted Lucy "You are stupid"

"I suppose you are the four children out of the old stories," said Trulad to , no doubt But - no offence?&039; - and he hesitated again

"Do get on and say whatever you&039;re going to say," said Edmund

"Well, then - no offence," said Tru and Trufflehunter and Doctor Cornelius were expecting - well, if you see what I mean, help To put it in another way, I think they&039;d been ireat warriors As it is - we&039;re awfully fond of children and all that, but just at the moment, in the middle of a war but I&039;m sure you understand"

"Youred in the face

"Now pray don&039;t be offended," interrupted the Dwarf "I assure you, my dear little friends - "

"Little fro up "I suppose you don&039;t believe on the Battle of Beruna? Well, you can say what you like about ood losing our tempers," said Peter "Let&039;s fit him out with fresh armour and fit ourselves out from the treasure chamber, and have a talk after that"

"I don&039;t quite see the point - " began Edmund, but Lucy whispered in his ear, "Hadn&039;t we better do what Peter says? He is the High King, you know And I think he has an idea" So Ed Truain into the dark coldness and dusty splendour of the treasure house

The Dwarf&039;s eyes glistened as he saw the wealth that lay on the shelves (though he had to stand on tiptoes to do so) and he muttered to himself, "It would never do to let Nikabrik see this; never" They found easily enough a mail shirt for him, a sword, a helmet, a shield, a bow and quiverful of arrows, all of dwarfish size The helold on the hilt of the sword: Trumpkin had never seen, much less carried, so much wealth in all his life The children also put on mail shirts and helmets; a sword and shield were found for Edmund and a bow for Lucy - Peter and Susan were of course already carrying their gifts As they ca in theirmore like Narnians and less like schoolchildren, the two boys were behind, apparentlysome plan Lucy heard Edmund say, "No, let me do it It will be more of a sucks for him if I win, and less of a let-down for us all if I fail"

"All right, Ed," said Peter

When they caht Edot so to ask you Kids like us don&039;t often have the chance of reat warrior like you Would you have a little fencing htfully decent"

"But, lad," said Trumpkin, "these swords are sharp"

"I know," said Edet anywhere near you and you&039;ll be quite clever enough to disare"

"It&039;s a dangerous game," said Trumpkin "But since you make such a point of it, I&039;ll try a pass or two"

Both swords were out in a moment and the three others ju It orth it It was not like the silly fighting you see with broad swords on the stage It was not even like the rapier fighting which you sohting The great thing is to slash at your enes and feet because they are the part that have no armour And when he slashes at yours you juoes under theI don&039;t think Edht Trumpkin twenty-four hours earlier But the air of Narnia had been working upon him ever since they arrived on the island, and all his old battles caers re Edmund once more Round and round the two coave, and Susan (who never could learn to like this sort of thing) shouted out, "Oh, do be careful" And then, so quickly that no one (unless they knew, as Peter did) could quite see how it happened, Edmund flashed his sword round with a peculiar twist, the Dwarf&039;s sword flew out of his grip, and Tru" from a cricket-bat

"Not hurt, I hope,a little and returning his oord to its sheath

"I see the point," said Trumpkin drily "You know a trick I never learned"

"That&039;s quite true," put in Peter "The best swordsman in the world may be disarmed by a trick that&039;s new to hiive Tru match with my sister? There are no tricks in archery, you know"

"Ah, you&039;re jokers, you are," said the Dwarf "I begin to see As if I didn&039;t kno she can shoot, after what happened this ruffly, but his eyes brightened, for he was a fa his own people

All five of them came out into the courtyard

"What&039;s to be the target?" asked Peter