“Aii—Aii—Aaow—Awah，”screamedtheCat。
“Artthoualki?”saidthe。“Thenholdthydevilishalk。”
Whatfollowedwasratherhorrible。Tiriae（andsodidtheothers）thattheCatwastryingtosaysomething:butnothiofhismouthexceptthelyoisesyoumighthearfromanyangryhteominabaEngland。AndtheloerwauledthelesslikeaTalkihelooked。UneasywhimperingsandlittlesharpsquealsbrtheotherAnimals。
“Look，look!”saidthevoiceoftheBear。“It'ttalk。Ithasfottenhowtotalk!Ithasgoobeingadumbbeast。Lookatitsface。”Everyoitwastrue。AhegreatestterrorofallfelluponthoseNarnians。Foreveryohemhadbeentaught—whenitwasonlyachickorapuppyoracub—howAslanatthebeginningoftheworldhadtursofNarniaintoTalkisahatiftheyweren'tgoodtheymightournedbaahepoorwitlessasiries。“Andnowitisinguponus，”theymoaned。
“Mercy!Mercy!”wailedtheBeasts。“Spareus，LordShift，staweenusandAslan，youmustalwaysgoiohimforus。Wedaren't，wedaren't。”
Gingerdisappearedfurtherupiree。Nooneeversa>
Tirianstoodwithhishandonhissword-hiltandhisheadbowed。Hewasdazedwiththehorrorsofthatnight。Sometimeshethoughtitwouldbebesttodrawhisswordatondrushupontheemomeitwouldbebettertowaitaurnaffairsmighttake。Andurncame。
“MyFather，”cameagiheleftofthecrowd。Tiriaowasoheenesspeaking，foriisroytheoheofficers“MyMaster”buttheofficerscalltheirseniorofficers“MyFather“。Jillaa'tknowthisbut，afterlookingthiswayandthat，theysawthespeaker，forofcoursepeopleatthesidesofthecrowdwereeasiertoseethahemiddlewheretheglareofthefiremadeallbeyonditlookratherblack。Hewasyoungandtallandslender，aherbeautifulinthedark，haughty，ene>
“MyFather，”hesaidtothe，“Ialsoin。”
&h，”saidthe，“Whocalledtheetosel?Doesitbeeaboytospeak?”
“MyFather，”saidEmeth。“TrulyIamyouhou，yetIalsoamofthebloodoftheTarkaahouart，andIalsoamtheservantofTash。Therefore。。。”
“Silence，”saidRishdaTarkaan。“AmnotIthy?Thouhastnothingtodowiththisstable。ItisfortheNarnians。”
“Nay，myFather，”ahouhastsaidthattheirAslanandourTashareallone。Andifthatisthetruth，thenTashhimselfisinyonder。AthouthatIhavenothingtodowithhim?FladlywouldIdieathousahsifImightlookohefaceofTash。”
“Thouartafoolanothing，”saidRishdaTarkaan。“Thesebehighmatters。”
&h'sfacegrewstertheashandAslanareallone?”heasked。“HastheApeliedtous?”
“Ofcoursethey'reallone，”saidtheApe。
&，Ape，”saidEmeth。
“Ohdear!”whimperedShift，“Iwishyou'dallstme。Myheaddoesache。Yes，yes，Is>
&her，”saidEmeth，“Iamutterlydetermiogoin。”
“Fool，”beganRishdaTarkaan，butatoheDwarfsbeganshouting:“ealong，Darkie。Whydon'tyoulethimin?WhydoyouletNarniansinandkeepyourow?Whathaveyougotiyoudon'twantyourow?”
TirianandhisfriendslyseethebackofRishdaTarkaan，sotheyhisfacelookedlikeasheshruggedhisshouldersandsaid，“BearwithatIamguiltlessofthisyoungfool'sblood。Gettheein，rashboy，ae。”
&asGingerhaddohcamewalkingforwardiripofgrassbetweenthebohestable。Hiseyeswereshining，hisfan，hishandwasonhissword-hilt，andhecarriedhisheadhigh。JillfeltlikegwhenshelookedathisfadJewelwhisperedintheKing'sear，“BytheLion'sMane，Ialmostlovethisyoungwarrior，ehoughhebe。HeisworthyofabettergodthanTash。”
“Idohatisreallyihere，”saidEustace。
&hopehedoorain，intotheblackmouthofthestable。Heclosedthedoorbehindhim。Ospassed—butitseemedlohedooropenedagain。Afigureinorreeledout，fellonitsbadlaystill:thedoorclosedbehiaiowarditaostareatitsface。Hegaveastartofsurprise。Thenhereselfahecrout:“Therashboyhashadhiswill。HehaslookedonTashaakewarning，allofyou。”
“ill，”saidthepoorBeasts。ButTirianandhisfriehedeadeohey，beingsoclose，couldseewhatthecrowd，beingfurtheroffahefire，otsee:thisdeadmanwash。Hewasquitedifferent:ahiotsotall，withabigbeard。
“Ho-ho-ho，”chuckledtheApe。“Anymore?Aogoin?Well，asyou'reallshy，I'llchoosethe。You，youBoar!Onyoue。Drivehimup，enes。HeshallseeTashlaoface。”
“O-o-mph，”gruheBheavilytohisfeet。“eorymytusks。”
&iriansawthatbraveBeastgettiofightforitslife—andenesinningtoonitwiththeirdrawnscimitars—aoitshelp—somethioburstinsidehim。Henolohiswasthebestmomenttoi。
“Swordsout，”hewhisperedtotheothers。“Arr。Follow。”
&theastonishedNarnianssawsevenfiguresleapforthinfroable，fouroftheminshiningmail。TheKing'sswordflashediashewaveditabovehisheadandagreatvoice:“HerestandI，TirianofNarnia，inAslan'soprovewithmybodythatTashisafoulfiend，theApeamanifoldtraitor，andtheseehyofdeath。Tomyside，alltrueNarnians。Wouldyouwaittillyourershavekilledyouallonebyone?”