&hosewordswereoutofhismouthherealizedthathehadmadeafalsemove。TheDwarfsatonrepeating“notatamelion，notatamelion，”inajeeringsing-song。“That'swhattheotherlotkeptontellingus，”saidone。
“Doyoumeanyoudon'tbelieveintherealAslan?”saidJill。“ButI'veseenhim。Austwohereoutofadifferentworld。”
“Ah，”saidGrifflewithabroadsmile。“Soyousay。They'vetaughtyouyourstuffallright。Sayingyourlessons，ain'tyou?”
“Churl，”criedTirian，“willyougivealadythelietoherveryface?”
“Youkeepagueier，”repliedtheDwarf。“Idon'tthianyms—ifyouareTirian，whi'tlooklikehim—haanyAslans。We&#tolookafterourselvesfromnowonandtouchourobody。See?”
“That&#ht，”saidtheotherDwarfs。“We'reonourownnow。NomoreAslan，ns，oriesaboutotherworlds。TheDwarfsarefortheDwarfs。”Aofallintotheirpladtogetreadyfbacktowherevertheyhad。
“Littlebeasts!”saidEusta'tyouevengoingtosaythankysavedfromthesalt-mines?”
“Oh，weknowallaboutthat，”saidGriffleoverhisshoulder。“Youwaomakeuseofus，that'swhyyourescuedus。Ysomegameofyourown。eonyouchaps。”
AndtheDwarfsstruckupthequeerlittlemargwhichgoeswiththedrum-beat，arampedintothedarkness。
Tirianandhisfriehem。Thehesingleword“e，”aiheirjourney。
Theyarty。Puzzlefelthimselftobestillindisgradalsohedidn'treallyquiteuandened。Jill，besidesbeingdisgustedwiththeDwarfs，wasveryimpressedwithEustace'svictoryovertheeshy。AsforEustace，hisheartwasstillbeatingratherquickly。TirianandJewelwalkedsadlytogetheriheKinghadhisarmontheUni'sshoulderaheUniuzzledtheKing'scheekwithhissofttrytofortohwords。Itwasn'tveryeasytothinkofanythingtosaythatwouldbef。TirianhadosofanApe'ssettingupasafalseAslaoppeoplefrombelievingintherealoquitesurethattheDwarfswouldrallytohissidethemomehemhowtheyhadbeehehewouldhaveledthemtoStableHillandshowhecreaturesandeveryonewouldhaveturtheApeaerascufflewiththeehingwouldhavebeenow，itseemed，hetonnothing。HowmanyhtturheD>
“Somebody'sihink，”saidPuzzlesuddenly。
&oppedandlistened。Sureenough，there-thumpofsmallfeetbehindthem。
“Whogoesthere!”shoutedtheKing。
“Onlyme，Sire，”e，PoggintheDwarf。I'veonlyjustmaawayfromtheothers。I'monyourside，Sire:andonAslan's。IfyouputaDwarfishswordinmyfist，I'dgladlystrikeablowhtsidebeforeall'sdone。”
Everyoneandwelandpraisedhimandslappedhimontheback。OfesingleDwarfakeaverygreatdifferewassomehowverygtohaveevehewhhteJillaa'tstaybrightf，fortheyningtheirheadsoffandtootiredtothinkaboutanythingbutbed。
Itwasatthecoldesthourofthenight，justbeforedawn，thattheygotbacktotheTower。Iftherehadbeenamealreadyforthemtheywouldhavebeeoeat，butthebotheranddelayofgettitobethoughtof。Theydrankfromastream，splashedtheirfaceswithwater，aheirbuforPuzzleandJewelwhosaidthey'dbemorefortableoutside。Thisperhapswasjustaswell，foraUnidafat，full-grownDonkeyindoorsalwaysmakearoomfeelrathercrowded。
NarnianDwarfs，thoughlessthahigh，arefortheirsizeaboutthetoughestauresthereare，sothatPoggin，inspiteofaheavydaya，wokefullyrefreshedbeforeahers。HeatoookJill'sbow，wentoutandshotacoupleofwoodpigeoplugthemoepandgtoJeuzzle。Puzzlelookedaagooddealbetterthism。Jewel，beingaUnidthereforeoaofbeasts，hadbeeohim，talkingtohimaboutthiheycouldbothuandlikegrassandsugarandthee'shoofs。WhenJillaoftheTandrubbialmosthalfpastten，theDheretheycouldgatherplentyofaNarnianweedcalledWildFresney，whichlooksratherlikeourwood-sorrelbuttastesagooddealnicooked。（Itlebutteraomakeitperfect，buttheyhadn'tgotthese。）Sothatwhatwithohingaheyhadthemakingsofacapitalstewfortheirbreakfastordinner，whicheveryouchoosetocallit。Tirialefurtheroffihanaxeandbroughtbaebranchesforfuel。Whilethemealwasg—whichseemedaverylongtime，especiallyasitsmelledniieareritcametobeiheKingfoundapleteDwarfishin:mailshirt，helmet，shield，sword，belt，aheace'sswordandfouacehadputitbathesheathallmessyfromkillingtheene。Hewasscoldedforthataodpolishit。
AllthiswhileJillwenttoandfro，sometimesstirriaimeslookingoutenviouslyattheDoheUniwhoweretedlygrazing。Howmamshewishedshecouldeatgrass!
Butwhenthemealcameeveryohadbeenworthwaitingfor，andthereweresedhelpingsallround。Wheenasmuchashecould，thethreehumansandtheDwarfdsatoep，thefour-footedoneslaydownfagthem，theDwarf（withpermissionbothfromJillandfromTirian）lithispipe，andtheKingsaid:“Nin，youhavemoreheehaellusallyouknow。Andfirst，whattaledotheytellofmyescape?”
“Asgatale，Sire，aseverwasdevised，”saidPoggin。“Itwastheger，whotoldit，andmostlikelymadeituptoo。ThisGinger，Sire—oh，he'saslybootsifeveracatwas—saidheastthetreetowhichthosevillainsboundyourMajesty。Andhesaid（savingyourrevereyandswearingandgAslan:'languageIwouldn'tliketorepeat'werethewordsheused，lookingeversoprimandproperyouknowthewayawhenitpleases。Andthen，saysGinger，AslanhimselfsuddenlyappearedinaflashoflightningandswallowedyourMajestyupatohful。AlltheBeaststrembledatthisstoryaedrightaway。AndofcoursetheApefolloweditup。There，hesays，seewhatAslahosewhodon'trespecthim。Letthatbeawarningtoyouall。Andthepoorcreatureswailedandwhinedandsaid，itwill，itwill。SothatiyourMajesty'sesotsetthemthiheryoustillhaveloyalfriendstoaidyou，butohemmoreafraidatotheApe。”
“Whatdevilishpolicy!”saidTirian。“ThisGihen，istheApe'ssels。”
“It'smoreaquestionbyheApeisinhissels，”repliedtheDwarf。“TheApehastakent，yousee。MybeliefisthattheplotisnowmostlybyGingerorRishda—that'stheeain。AndIthihatGingerhasscatteredamongtheDwarfsareeforthescurvyreturntheymadeyou。AndI'lltellyouwhy。OhosedreadfulmidingshadjustbrokebeforelastandI'dgoofthewayhomewhenIfoundI'dleftmypipebehind。Itwasarealgood'un，anoldfavourite，soIwentbacktolookforit。ButbefottotheplacewhereI'dbeensitting（ititchthere）Iheardacat'svoicesayMewandaenevoicesay‘here。。。speaksoftly，'soIjuststoodasstillasifIwasfrozewerandRishdaTarkaanastheycallhim。‘arkaan，'saidthethatsilkyvoiceofhis，‘IjustwaoklywhatwebothmeanttodayaboutAslanmeaniash。''Doubtless，mostsagaciousofcats，'saystheother，‘youhaveperceivedmymeaning。'‘Youmean，'saysGihere'snosuaseither。'‘Allwhhtehat，'saidtheTarkaan。‘Thenwederstaher，'purrstheCat。‘Doyou，likeme，growalittlewearyoftheApe?'‘Astupid，greedybrute，'saystheother，‘butwemustusehimforthepresent。ThouandImustprovideforallthiaheApedoourwill。'‘Anditwouldbebetter，wouldn'tit，'saidGioletsomehtenedNarniansintooursels:onebyohemapt。FortheBeastswhoreallybelieveinAslanmayturnata:andwill，iftheApe'sfollybetrayshissecret。ButthosewhoeitherforTashnorAslanbuthaveoheirownprofitaheTisrocmaygivethemwhenNarniaisaeneprovince，willbefirm。'‘ExtCat，'saidthe。‘Butchoosewhiescarefully。'”
&heDeakingthedayseemedtohaveged。Ithadbeensuheysatdown。NowPuzzleshivered。Jewelshiftedhisheaduneasily。Jilllookedup。
“It'sgover，”shesaid。
“Andit'ssocold，”saidPuzzle。
“ough，bytheLion!”saidTirian，blowingonhishands。“Andfaugh!Whatfoulsmellisthis?”
“PheedEustace。“It'slikesomethihereadeadbirdsomewhereabout?Andwhydidn'twebefore?”
heavalJewelscrambledtohisfeetahhishorn。“Look!”hecried。“Lookatit!Look，look!”Thenallsixofthemsaw;aheirfacesthereexpressiodismay。