&eady!Steady!”saidthethreetravellerstooher。
“Oh,youhaveheartsofstone,”saidtheKnight。“Believeme,youlookupochwhohassufferedalmostmorethananymortalbear。WhatwronghaveIeverdohatyoushouldsidewithmyeokeepmeinsuchmiseries?Aesareslippingpast。Nowyousaveme;whenthishourhaspassed,Ishallbewitlessagaioyandlap-dog,hepawnandtool,ofthemostdevilishsorceressthateverplahewoeofmen。Andthisnight,ofallnights,whensheisaway!Youtakefrommeacethatmaynevereagain。”
“Thisisdreadful。Idowishwe'dstayedawaytillitwasover,”saidJill。
“Steady!”saidPuddleglum。
Theprisoner'svoiintoashriek。“Letmego,Isay。Givememysword。Mysword!OnceIamfreeIshalltakesugeoUnderlandwilltalkofitforathousandyears!”
“Nowthefrenzyisbeginning,”saidScrubb。“Ihopethoseknht。”
“Yes,”saidPuddleglum。“He'dhavetwiaturalstrefreenow。AndI'mhmysword。He'dgetusboth,Ishouldn'toleonherowotacklethesnake。”
Theprisonerwasnathisbondsthattheytohiswristsandankles。“Beware,”hesaid。“Beware。OIdidbreakthem。Butthewitchwastherethattime。Youwillohelpyoutonight。Freemenow,andIamyourfriend。I'myourmortalenemyelse。”
“g,isn'the?”saidPuddleglum。
“Ondforall,”saidtheprisoner,“Iadjureyoutosetmefree。Byallfearsandallloves,bythebrightskiesofOverlaLion,byAslanhimself,Ichargeyou—”
“Oh!”criedthethreetravellersasthoughtheyhadbeenhurt。“It'sthesign,”saidPuddleglum。“Itwasthewordsofthesign,”saidScrubbmorecautiously。“Oh,whatarewetodo?”saidJill。
Itwasadreadfulquestion。WhathadbeentheuseoheywouldnotonanyatsettheKheywerenowtodosothefirsttimehehappeoetheyreallycaredabout?Oherhand,whathadbeentheusethesignsiftheyweren'tgoihem?YetcouldAslanhavereallymeaounbindaic—whoaskeditinhisname?Coulditbeamereat?OrhowiftheQueenoftheUnderworldknewallaboutthesignsandhadmadetheKhisnamesimplyirapthem?Butthen,supposingthiswastherealsign?。。。Theyhadmuffedthreealready;theydaren'tmuffthefourth。
“Oh,ifonlyweknew!”saidJill。
“Ithinkwedoknouddleglum。
“Doyoumeanyouthihingwillerightifwedountiehim?”saidScrubb。
“Idon'tknowaboutthat,”saidPuddleglum。“Yousee,Aslandidn'ttellPolewhateoldherwhattodo。Thatfellowwillbethedeathofusoncehe'sup,Ishouldn'twohatdoesn'tletusofffollowingthesign。”
&oodlookiherwithbrighteyes。Itwasasient。“Allright!”saidJillsudde'sgetitood-bye,everyoheyallshookhawassgbynow;therewasfoamonhischeeks。
“eon,Scrubb,”saidPuddleglum。HeandScrubbdrewtheirswordsaothecaptive。
“InthenameofAslan,”theysaidahodicallygthecords。Theinstanttheprisonerwasfree,hecrossedtheroominasinglebound,seizedhisohichhadbeentakenfromhimandlaidoable),a。
“Youfirst!”hedfelluponthesilverchair。Thatmusthavebeenagoodsword。Thesilvergavewaybefelikestring,andiafewtwistedfragments,shiningonthefloor,wereallthatwasleft。Butasthechairbroke,thereitabrightflash,asouhunder,and(foro)aloathsomesmell。
&here,vileengineofsorcery,”hesaid,“lestyourmistressshouldeveruseyouforaim。”Theurnedandsurveyedhisresdthesomethingwrowas,hadvanishedfromhisface。
“What?”hecried,turningtoPuddleglum。“DoIseebeforemeaMarsh-wiggle—areal,live,ho,NarnianMarsh-wiggle?”
“Oh,soyouhaveheardofNarniaafterall?”saidJill。
“HadIfottenitwhenIwasuhespell?”askedtheKandallotherbedevilmentsarenowover。YoumaywellbelievethatIknowNarnia,forIamRilian,Prinia,andthegreatKingismyfather。”
“Yhness,”saidPuddleglum,sinkingohedidthesame),“wehaveehitherforoseekyou。”
“Andwhoareyou,myotherdeliverers?”saidthePrioSdJill。
“WeweresentbyAslanhimselffrombeyondtheworld'sendtoseekyhness,”saidScrubb。“IamEustacewhosailedwithhimtotheislandofRamandu。”
“IoweallthreeofyouagreaterdebtthanIeverpay,”saidPrin。“Butmyfather?Isheyetalive?”
“HesailedeastagaiNarnia,mylord,”saidPuddleglum。“ButyhsiderthattheKingisveryold。ItistentoonehisMajestymustdieonthevoyage。”
“Heisold,yousay。HowlongthenhaveIbeenihewitch?’
“ItismorethantenyearssinceyhnesswaslostithenorthsideofNarnia。”
“Tenyears!”saidthePringhishandacrosshisfaceasiftorubaast。“Yes,Ibelieveyou。FornowthatIammyselfIrememberthatehoughwhileIwasentedIbermytrueself。Andnow,fairfriends—butwait!Iheartheirfeet(doesitnotsi,thatpaddingwh!)oairs。Lockthedoor,boy。Orstay。Ihaveabetterthoughtthanthat。IwillfooltheseEarthmen,ifAsla。Takeyoure。”
Hewalkedresolutelytothedoorandflungitwideopen。