“Ooh!”saidSusan，“I'dthoughthewasamaesafe?Ishallfeelrathernervousaboutmeetingalion。”
“Thatyouwill，dearie，andnomistake，”saidMrs。Beaver;“ifthere'sanyoneearbeforeAslanwithouttheirkneesknog，they'reeitherbraverthanmostorelsejustsilly。”
“Thenheisn'tsafe?”saidLucy。
“Safe?”saidMr。Beaver;“don'tyouhearwhatMrs。Beavertellsyou?Whosaidanythingaboutsafe?'Courseheisn'tsafe。Buthe'sgood。He'stheKing，Itellyou。”
“I'mlongingtoseehim，”saidPeter，“evenifIdhteestothepoint。”
“That&#ht，SonofAdam，”saidMr。Beaver，bringinghispawdowablewithacrashthatmadeallthedsaucersrattle。“Andsoyoushall。Wordhasbeeyouaretomeethim，tomorrowifyou，attheStoable。”
“Where'sthat?”saidLucy。
“I'llshowyou，”saidMr。Beaver。“It'sdoodstepfromhere。I'lltakeyoutoit!”
“ButmeaaboutpoorMr。Tumnus?”saidLucy。
&himisbygoiAslan，”saidMr。Beaver，“oncehe'swithus，thenwedoingthings。Notthatwedon'too。Forthat'saheoldrhymes:
WhenAdam'sfleshandAdam'sbone
SitsatCairParavelinthrone，
&imewillbeoveranddone。
Sothingsmustbedrawiheirendnowhe'seandyou'vee。We'veheardofAslaningisbefo，nobodysaywhen。Butthere'sneverbeenanyofyourraceherebefore。”
“That'swhatIdon'tuand，Mr。Beaver，”saidPeter，“Imeanisn'ttheWitchherselfhuman?”
“She'dlikeustobelieveit，”saidMr。Beaver，“andit'sonthatthatshebasesherclaimtobeQueen。Butshe'snoDaughterofEve。SheesofyourfatherAdam's”—（hereMr。Beaverbowed）“yourfatherAdam'sfirstwife，hertheycalledLilith。Andshewasohat'swhatsheononeside。Ahersheesofthegiants。No，no，thereisn'tadropofrealhumanbloodich。”
“That'swhyshe'sbadallthrough，Mr。Beaver，”saidMrs。Beaver。
“Trueenough，Mrs。Beaver，”repliedhe，“theremaybetwoviewsabouthumans（meanihepresentpany）。Butthere'sthingsthatlooklikehuma。”
“I'veknowngoodDwarfs，”saidMrs。Beaver。
“So'veI，nowyouetospeakofit，”saidherhusband，“butpreciousfew，aheolikemen。Butiakemyadviyoumeetanythingthat'sgoingtobehumanandisn'tyet，orusedtobehumanon'tnhttobehumanandisn't，youkeepyoureyesonitandfeelforyourhatdthat'swhytheWitchisalwaysoforanyhumansinNarnia。She'sbeenwatgforyouthismanyayear，aherewerefourofyoushe'dbemerousstill。”
“What'sthattodowithit?”askedPeter。
“Becauseofanotherprophecy，”saidMr。Beaver。“Doaravel—that'sthetheseaatthemouthofthisriverwhichoughttobethecapitalofthewholetryifallwasasitshouldbe—doaraveltherearefourthro'sasayinginNarofmindthatwhentwoSonsofAdamandtwoDaughtersofEvesitihrowillbetheendnotoeWitch&#nbutofherlife，andthatiswhywehadtobesocautiousasweg，forifshekyoufour，yourliveswouldn'tbeworthashakeofmywhiskers!”
AllthehadbeenattendingsohardtowhatMr。Beaverwastelliheyhadhingelseftime。Thenduriofsilefollowedhislastremark，Lulysaid:“Isay—where'sEdmund?”
Thereause，andtheneveryonebeganasking“Whosawhimlast?Howlonghashebeenmissiside?”andthenallrushedtothedoorahesnowwasfallingthidsteadily，thegreehepoolhadvanisheduhickwhitebla，andfromwherethelittlehousestoodihedamyoucouldhardlyseeeitherbank。Outtheywent，pluheirahesoftneentroundthehouseiion。“Edmund!Edmund!”theycalledtilltheywerehoarse。Butthesilentlyfalliomuffletheirvoidtherewasnotevenaneswer。
“Howperfectlydreadful!”saidSusacamebadespair。“Oh，hoe'dnevere。”
“Whatoharewetodo，Mr。Beaver?”saidPeter。
“Do?”saidMr。Beaver，uttingonhissnow-boots，“do?Wemustbeoffatonce。Wehaven'tamomenttospare!”
“We'dbetterdivideintofoursearchparties，”saidPeter，“andallgoiions。Whoeverfindshimmustebackhereatond—”