CHAPTERSIXTHEWILDWASTELAH
ATaboutnineo'threelonelyfiguresmighthavebeenseenpigtheirwayacrosstheShribblebytheshoalsaowasashallow，noisystream，andevenJillwasaboveherkheyreaorthernbank。Aboutfiftyyardsahead，thelahebeginningofthemoor，everywheresteeply，andoftenincliffs。
“Isupposethat'sourway!”saidScrubb，poiaowhereastreamfloweddowhroughashalle。ButtheMarsh-wiggleshookhishead。
&smaihesideofthatge，”hesaid。“Youmightsaythegewaslikeastreettothem。We'lldhtahead，eventhoughit'sabitsteep。”
Theyfouheybleup，andiesstoodpantiheyginglookbackatthevalley-landofNarniaaurheirfacestothe，lonelymoorstretdupasfarastheycouldsee。Owasrround。Jillthoughtthatmustbetheedgeofthegiants&#eanddidnotmuchcareaboutlookinginthatdire。Theysetout。
Itwasgr，andadayofpalewintersunlight。Astheygotdeeperihelonelinessincreased:onecouldhearpeewitsandseeanoalhawk。Wheedinthemiddleforarestandadrinkinalittlehollowbyastream，Jillwasbeginshemighteuresafterall，andsaidso。
“Wehaven'thada，”saidtheMarsh-wiggle。
Walksafterthefirsthalt—likessafterbreakorrailwayjourergtrains—nevergoonastheywerebefore。Wheagain，Jillherockyedgeehaddrawherockswerelessflat，mht，thantheyhadbeen。Infacttheywerelikelittletowersofrodwhatfuheywere!
“Idobelieve，”thoughtJill，“thatallthestoriesaboutgiantsmighthavethosefunnyrocks。Ifyalowashalfdark，youcouldeasilythinkthosepilesofriants。Lookatthatone，now!Youagihelumpontopwasahead。Itwouldberathertoobigforthebody，butitwoulddowellenlygiant。Andallthatbushystuff—Isupposeit'sheatherandbirds's，really—woulddoquitewellforhairandbeard。Ahingsstigoutoneachsidearequitelikeears。They'dbeh，butthenIdaresaygiantswouldhavebigears，likeelephants。And—o-o-o-h!—”
Herbloodfroze。Thethiwasarealgiant。Therewasnomistakingit;shehadseenitturnitshead。Shehadcaughtaglimpseofthegreat，stupid，puffcheekedface。Allthethis，notrocks。Therewerefortyorfiftyofthem，allinarow;obviouslystandingwiththeirfeetoomeandtheirelbohege，justasmenmightstandleaningonawall—lazymen，onafinemafterbreakfast。
&raighton，”whisperedPuddleglum，whohadoo。“Don'tlookatthem。Andwhateveryoudo，don'trun。They'dbeafterusi。”
Sotheykeptnottohavesees。Itwaslikeastthegateofahousewherethereisafierlyfarworse。Thereweredozensahesegiants。Theydidn'tlookangry—orkiall。Therewasnosignthattheyhadseeravellers。
Then—hizz—someheavyobjectcamehurtlingthroughtheair，andwithacrashabigboulderfellabouttwentypacesaheadofthem。Ahud!—ayfeetbehind。
&heyaimingatus?”askedScrubb。
“No，”saidPuddleglum。“We'dbeagooddealsaferiftheywere。They&#tohitthat—thatovertheretht。Theywon'thitit，youknow。It'ssafeenough;they'resuchverybadshots。Theyplaycock-shiesmostfinems。Abouttheohey'reoughtouand。”
Itwasahorribletime。Thereseemedhelis，andtheyneverceasedhurlingstones，someofwhichfellextremelyclose。Quiteapartfrer，theverysightandsoundoftheirfadvhtose。Jilltriednottolookatthem。
&weesthegialyhadaquarrel。Thisputahecock-shies，butitisobewithinamileiaormedaoherinlong，meaninglesswordsofabouttwentysyllableseach。Theyfoamedandgibberedaheirrage，andeachjumpshooktheearthlikeabomb。Theylammedeachotherohgreat，ers;buttheirskullsweresohardthatthehammersbouncedoffagaihemonsterwhohadgiventheblowwoulddrophishammerandhowlwithpaihadstunghisfiheidthathewoulddoexactlythesamethingamihiswasagoodthinginthelongrun，forbytheendofanhourallthegiathattheysatdowotheysatdown，theirheadswerebelowtheedgee，sothatyousawthemJillcouldhearthemhowlingandblubberingandboo-booibabieseveheplacewasamilebehind。
Thatnighttheybivouathebaremoor，andPuddleglumshowedthehowtomakethebestoftheirblasbysleepingbacktoback。（Thebackskeepeaandyouhavebothblaop。）Butitwaschillyevenso，andthegroundy。TheMarsh-wiggletoldthemtheywouldfeelmorefortableifohowverymuchcolderitwouldbelateronah;butthisdidn'tcheerthemupatall。
&ravelledacrossEttinsmoorformanydays，savingthebadlivihemoor-fowl（theywerenot，ofcourse，talkingbirds）whichEustadthewiggleshot。Jillrathereacefabletoshoot;hehadlearonhisvoyagewithKing。Asthereweretlessstreamsoheywereofwater。Jillthoughtthatwhen，inbooks，peopleliveo，itellsyouwhatalong，smelly，messyjobitispludgdeadbirds，andhowakesyers。Butthegreatthingwasthattheymethardlyanygiasawthem，butheohlaughterandstumpedawayabouthisownbusiness。
Aboutthetenthday，theyreachedaplacewherethetryged。Theycameteofthemoorandlookeddownalong，steepslopeintoadifferent，andgrimmer，laomoftheslopewerecliffs:beyoryofhighmountains，darkprecipiyvalleys，ravinessodeepandnarrowthatoneotseefarintothem，apouredoutofeggestopluoblackdepths。osay，ituddleglumwhopoiasprinklingofsnowoslopes。
“Butthere'llbemoreohsideofthem，Ishouldn'twonder，”headded。
Ittookthemsometimetoreachthefootoftheslopeaheydid，theylookeddowhecliffsatariverruhemfromwesttoeast。Itwaswalledinbyprethefarsideaswellasontheirown，anditwasgreenandsunless，fullofrapidsaheroarofitshooktheeartheveood。
&sideofitis，”saidPuddleglum，“thatifwebreakettingdowhenwe'resafefrombeiheriver。”
“Whataboutthat?”saidScrubbsuddenly，pointiheirleft。Thentheyalllookedahiing—abridge。Andwhatabridge，too!Itwasahuge，sihatspahegefromcliff-toptocliff-top;andtheofthatarchwasashighabovethecliff-topsasthedomeofStPaul'sisabovethestreet。
“Why，itmustbeagiants&#e!”saidJill。
“Orasororelikely，”saidPuddleglum。“We'vegottolookoutforesihis。Ithinkit'satrap。Ithinkit'llturnintomistaae'reoutonthemiddleofit。”
“oodness'sake，don'tbesuchawetbla，”saidScrubb。“Whyohshouldn'titbeapre?”
“Doyouthinkaswe'veseenwouldhaveseobuildathi?”saidPuddleglum。
“Butmightn'tithavebeenbuiltbyiants?”saidJill。“Imean，bygiantswholivedhundredso，andwerefarclevererthanthemodernkind。Itmighthavebeenbuiltbythesameoneswhobuiltthegiantcitywe&#for。Andthatwouldmeaherighttrack—theeleadiy!”
“That'sarealbrain-ole，”saidScrubb。“Itmustbethat。eon。”
Sotheyturhebridge。Aheyreachedit，itlyseemedsolidenough。ThesiasthoseatStohavebeensquaredbygoodmasohoughnowtheyweredcrumbled。Thebalustradehadapparentlybeehrigs，ofwhietraed;mfasofgiants，minotaurs，squids，tipedes，anddreadfulgods。Puddleglumstilldidn'ttrustit，buthetedtocrossitwiththe。
Theclimbuptotheoftheargandheavy。Inmahegreatstoneshaddroppedout，leavinghapsthroughwhichyoulookeddownontheriverfoamingthousabelow。Theysawahroughu。Aheywent，thecrew，andthewitheycouldhardlykeeptheirfootioshakethebridge。
&heyreachedthetopandcouldlookdowherslopee，theysawwhatlookedliketheremainsofarawaybeforethemihemountains。Maspavementweremissingandtherewerewidepatchesofgrassbetweeremained。Andridingtowardthemonthataroadweretwopeoplerown-uphumansize。
“Keepohem，”saidPuddleglum。“Aihisisaslikelyasnottobeawemustn'tletthemthinkwe'reafraid。”
Bythetimetheyhadsteppedofftheendeohetwerswerequiteewasaknightiearmorwithhisvisordown。Hisarmorandhishorsewereblack;therewasnodevihisshieldandonhisspear。