“Anditisinthepresehatyouwishtodiscloseyourplan?”said。
“Yes，”saidNikabrik。“AhatImea。”
TherewasamiwwhichTrumpkinandtheboyscouldheardhistwofriendsspeakinginlowvoiakeoutwhattheyweresaying。Thenspokealoud。
“Well，Nikabrik，”hesaid，“welan。”
ThereausesolongthattheboysbegantowonderifNikabrikwasevergoingtobegiwasinalowervoice，asifhehimselfdidnotmuchlikewhathe>
“Allsaidatered，“noneofuskhabouttheadaysinNarnia。Trumpkinbelievedhestories。Iutthemtothetrial。WetriedfirsttheHornandithasfailed。IfthereeverwasaHighKierandaQueenSusanandaKingEdmundaheheyhavenotheardus，ortheye，ortheyareourenemies—”
“Ortheyareontheutier。
“YousayingthattillMirazhasfedusalltohisdogs。AsIwassayiriedonelinkintheofoldlegends，andithasdoneusnogood。Well。Butwhenyourswordbreaks，youdrawyer。ThestoriestellofotherpowersbesidetheaKingsandQueens。Howifwecouldcallthemup?”
“IfyoumeanAslan，”saidTrufflehu'salloneaheywerehisservaseImakenodoubthewill），ishemorelikelytoself?”
“No。Yhtthere，”saidNikabrik。“AslanandtheKingsgotogether。EitherAslanisdead，orheisnotonourside。Orelsesomethihanhimselfkeepshimbadifhedide—hohe'dbeourfriealwaysagoodfriendtoDwarfsbyallthat'stold。oallbeasts。AsktheWolves。Andanyway，hewasinNarniaoIeverheardof，andhedidn'tstaylong。YoumaydropAslanout。Iwasthinkingofsomeoneelse。”
Therewasnoanswer，andforafewmiwassostillthatEdmundcouldhearthewheezyandsnuffliheBadger。
“Whodoyoumean?”saidatlast。
“ImeanapowersomuchgreaterthanAslan'sthatitheldNarniaspellboundforyearsahestoriesaretrue。”
&eWitch!”criedthreevoicesallatondfromtheerguessedthatthreepeoplehadleapedtotheirfeet。
“Yes，”saidNikabrikveryslowlyanddistinctly，“Imeach。Sitdownagain。Don'talltakefrightatanameasifyouwere。er:aapowerthatwillbeonourside。Asforpower，dooriessaythattheWitchdefeatedAslan，andboundhim，andkilledhimoonewhichisoverthere，justbeyo?”
“Buttheyalsosaythathecametolifeagain，”saidtheBadgersharply。
&heysay，”answeredNikabrik，“butyou'llreciouslittleaboutaerward。Hejustfadesoutofthestory。Howdoyouexplainthat，ifhereallycametolife?Isn'titmuchmorelikelythathedidn't，andthatthestoriessaynothihimbecausetherewasnothiosay?”
&ablishedtheKingsandQueens，”said。
“AKingwhohasjustwoleusuallyestablishhimselfwithoutthehelplion，”saidNikabrik。Therewasafiercegrowl，probablyfromTrufflehunter。
“Andanyway，”Nikabrikued，“whatcameoftheKingsandtheirreigoo。Butit'sverydifferentwiththeWitch。Theysaysheruledforahundredyears:ahundredyearsofwihere'spowerw，ifyoulike。There'ssomethingpractical。”
“But，heaveh!”saidtheKiwealwaysbeentoldthatshewastheworstenemyofall?Wasn'tsheatyraimesworsethanMiraz?”
“Perhaps，”saidNikabrikinacoldvoice。“Perhapsshewasforyouhumans，iftherewereanyofyouinthosedays。Perhapsshewasforsomeofthebeasts。ShestampedouttheBeavers，Idaresay;atleastthereareheminNarnianow。ButshegothtwithusDwarfs。I'maDwarfandIstandbymyownpeople。We'renotafraidoftheWitch。”
“Butyou'vejoihus，”saidTrufflehunter。
“Yes，andalotofgoodithasdonemypeople，sofar，”snappedNikabrik。“Whoissentonallthedangerous!，raids?TheDwarfs。Whogoesshortwheionsfail?TheDwarfs。Who—?”
“Lies!Alllies!”saidtheBadger。
“Andso，”saidNikabrik，whosevoiowrosetoascream，“ifyou'thelpmypeople，I'llgotosomeone>
“Isthisopentreason，Dwarf?”askedtheKing。
“Putthatswordbaitssheath，，”saidNikabrik。“Murderatcil，eh?Isthatyame?Don'tbefoolenoughtotryit。DoyouthinkI'mafraidofyou?There'sthreeohreeonyours。”
&herufflehuhewasimmediatelyied。
“Stop，stop，stop，”saidDoelius。“Yougoontoofast。TheWitchisdead。Allthestreeonthat。WhatdoesNikabrikmeanbytheWitch?”