“Andwe'vebeeofiPrince，”saidJill，whohadbeenanxiouslywaitiheversation。
“It'sthefirstI'veheardaboutit，”saidEustace。“rince?”
“YouhadbettereaheLesaid。“That'shim，overthereinthede;TrumpkintheDwarf。”Thebirdturnedandbegaheway，mutteringtoitself，“hatato-do!I'tthi。It'stooearly。”
“WhatistheKing'sname?”askedEustace。
“theTenth，”saidtheOwl。AndJillwonderedwhyScrubbhadsuddenlypulledupshortinhiswalkaraordinarycolor。Shethoughtshehadneverseenhimlooksosickaboutanything。Butbeforeshehadtimetoaskaheyhadreachedthedasjustgatheringupthereinsofhisdonkeyaodrivebacktothecastle。Thecrowdofcourtiershadbrokenupandweregoingiiowosas，likepeopleingawayfromwatgagameorarace。
“Tu-whoo!Ahem!Lent，”saidtheOwl，stoopingdownalittleandholdiheDwarf'sear。
&'sthat?”saidtheD>
“Twers，mylord，”saidtheOwl。
“Rad'yemean?”saidtheDwarf。“Iseetwounonlygrubbyman-cubs。Whatdothey>
“Myname'sJill，”saidJill，pressingforward。Shewasveryeagertoexplaiantbusinessonwhichtheyhade。
“Thegirl'scalledJill，”saidtheOwl，asloudasitcould。
“What'sthat?”saidtheDwarf。“Thegirlsareallkilled!Idon'tbelieveawordofit。Whatgirls?Whokilled'em?”
“Onlyonegirl，mylord，”saidtheOwl。“HernameisJill。”
“Speakup，speakup，”saidtheDwarf。“Don'tstandtherebuzzingandtwitteringinmyear。Who'sbeenkilled?”
“Nobody'sbeeedtheOwl。
“Who?”
“NOBODY。”
“Allright，allright。Youshout。I'mnotsodeafasallthat。Whatdoyoumeanbyiellmethatnobody'sbeenkilled?Whyshouldanyonehavebeenkilled?”
&ellhimI'mEustace，”saidScrubb。
“Theboy'sEustace，mylord，”hootedtheOwlasloudasitcould。
“Useless?”saidtheDwarfirritably。“Idaresayheis。Isthatanyreashimtocourt?Hey?”
“Notuseless，”saidtheO>
&，ishe?Idon'tknowwhatyabout，I'msure。Itellyouwhatitis，MasterGlimfeather;whenIwasayoungDwarfthereusedtobetalkisandbirdsinthistrywhoreallycouldtalk。Therewasn'tallthismumblingandmutteringawouldn'thavebeeedforamoment。Notforamoment，Sir。Urnus，mytrumpetplease—”
AlittleFaunwhohadbeenstalybesidetheDwarf'selbowallthistimenowhandedhimasilvereartrumpet。Itwasmadelikethemusistrumentcalledaserpent，sothatthetubecurledrightroundtheDwarf'sneck。WhilehewasgettiheOwl，Glimfeather，suddenlysaidtotheinawhisper:
“Mybrain'sabitow。Don'tsayanythingaboutthelostPrince。I'llexplaiwouldn'tdo，wouldn'tdo，Tu-Whoo!Ohwhatato-do!”
“Now，”saidtheDwarf，“ifyouhaveaosay，MasterGlimfeather，tryandsayit。Takeadeepbreathanddon'tattempttospeaktooquickly。”
Withhelpfromthe，andiofgooftheDwarf，GlimfeatherexplaihestrangershadbeebyAslantovisitthearnia。TheDwarfglancedquicklyupatthemressioninhiseyes。
&heLionHimself，hey?”hesaid。“Andfromm'm—fromthatotherPladtheworld'send，hey?”
“Yes，mylord，”bawledEustapet。
“SonofAdamandDaughterofEve，hey?”saidtheDeopleatExperimentHousehaven'theardofAdamandEve，soJillaa'tahis。ButtheDwarfdidn'tseemtonotice。