“Yes，ifyou'lle，”aheHorse。“Thisistheceforbothofus。YouseeifIrunawaywithoutarider，everyonewhoseesmewillsay“Strayhorse”aermeasquickashe。WithariderI'veaceth。That'swhereyouhelpme。Oherhand，you'tgetveryfarowosillylegsofyours（whatabsurdlegshumahoutbeiaken。Butonmeyououtdistaherhorseinthistry。That'syou。Bytheoseyouknowhowtoride?”
“Ohyes，ofcourse，”saidShasta。“Atleast，I'veriddenthedonkey。”
“Ridde?”retortedtheHorsewithextremept。（Atleast，thatiswhathemeant。Actuallyitcameoutinash—“Riddenthewha-ha-ha-ha-ha。”Talkinghorsesalwaysbeorehorsyiheyareangry。）
“Inotherwords，”itued，“you'tride。That'sadrawback。I'llhavetoteachyouaswegoalong。Ifyou'tride，youfall?”
“Isupposeanyonefall，”saidShasta。
“1meanyoufallaupagainwithandmountagainandfallagaibeafraidoffalling?”
“I—I'lltry，”saidShasta。“Poorlittlebeast，”saidtheHeone。“Ifetyou'reonlyafoal。We'llmakeafineriderofyouintime。An'tstartuhebutareasleep。Meantimelans。MyTarkaanisonhiswayNorthtothegreatcity，toTashbaahecourtoftheTisroc—”
“Isay，”putinShastainratherashockedvoice，“oughtn'tyoutosay'Mayheliveforever'?”
“Why?”askedtheHorse。“I'mafreeNarnian。AndwhyshouldItalkslaves'andfools'talk?Idon'twanthimtoliveforever，andIknowthathe'snotgoingtoliveforeverwhetherIwanthimtoornot。AndIseeyou'refromthefreeNorthtoo。hisSoweenyouandme!Andnow，backtoourplans。AsIsaid，myhumanwasonhiswayNorthtoTashbaan。”
&meanwe'dbettergototheSouth?”
“Ithinknot，”saidtheHorse。“Yousee，hethinksI'mdumbandwitlesslikehisotherhorses。NowifIreallywere，themomentIgotlooseI'dgobaystableandpaddock;backtohispalacewhichistwodays'jourh。That'swherehe'lllookforme。He'dneverdreamofmygoingonNorthonmyown。Andanywayhewillprobablythinkthatsomeovillagewhosawhimridethroughhasfollowedustohereandstolenme。”
“Ohhurrah!”saidShasta。“Thenwe'llgoNorth。I'vebeenlongingtogototheNorthallmylife。”
“Ofcourseyouhave，”saidtheHorse。“That'sbecauseofthebloodthat'sinyou。I'msureyou'retrueoottooloud。Ishouldthinkthey'dbeasleepsoonnow。”
“I'dbettercreepbadsee，”suggestedShasta。
“That'sagoodidea，”saidtheHorse。“Buttakecareyou'renotcaught。”
Itwasagooddealdarkerexceptforthesoundofthewavesonthebeach，whichShastahardlynoticedbecausehehadbeedayandnightaslongasheber。Thecottage，asheapproachedit，showednolight。Whehefronttherewasnoroundtotheonlywindow，hecouldhear，afterasedortwo，thefamiliarheoldfisherman'ssqueakyswasfunnytothinkthatifallouldagain。Holdihandfeelingalittlebitsorry，butmuchlesssorrythanhewasglad，Shastaglidedawayrassahedonkey'sstable，gropedalongtoaplaewwherethekeywashiddehedoorandfoundtheHorse'ssaddleandbridlewhichhadbeeherefht。Hebentforwardahedonkey'snose。“I'msorrywe'ttakeyou，”hesaid。
“Thereyouareatlast，”saidtheHorsewhebacktoit。“Iwasbeginningtowohadbeeofyou。”
“Iwasgettingysoutofthestable，”repliedShasta。“Andnow，ehowtoputthemon?”
FortheesShastawasatwork，verycautiouslytoavoidjingliheHorsesaidthihatgirthabittighter，”or“You'llfindabucklelowerdown，”or“You'lloshorteirrupsagoodbit。”Whenallwasfisaid:
“Now;we'vegottohavereinsforthelookofthething，butyouwon'tbeusihemtothesaddle-bow:veryslacksothatIdowhatIlikewithmyhead。And，remember—youarenottotouchthem。”
“Whataretheyfor，thea。
“Ordinarilytheyarefme，”repliedtheHorse。“ButasIiodoallthedirethisjourney，you'llpleasekeepyourhandstoyourself。Andthere'sahing。I'mnotgoingtohaveymymane。”
“ButIsay，”pleadedShasta。“IfI'mnottoholdonbythereinsorbyyourmaamItoholdonby?”
“Youholdonwithyourknees，”saidtheHorse。“That'sthesecretripmybodybetweenyourkneesashardasyoulike;sitstraightup，straightasapoker;keepyourelbowsin。Andbytheway，whatdidyoudowiththespurs?”
“Putthemonmyheels，ofcourse，”saidShasta。“Idoknowthatmuch。”
“Thenyoutakethemoffahesaddlebag。Wemaybeabletosellthemwheashbaan。Ready?AndnowIthinkyougetup。”
“Ooh!You'readreadfulheight，”gaspedShastaafterhisfirst，atempt。
“I'mahorse，that'sall，”ly。“AhinkIwasahaystathewayytoclimbupme!There，that'sbetter。NowsitupaItoldyouaboutyourknees。Funnytothinkofmewhohasledcavalrydwonragapotato-sacklikeyouinthesaddle!However，offwego。”Itchuotunkindly。
Aaiheirnightjourhgreat。Firstofallitwentjustsouthofthefisherman'scottagetothelittleriverwhichthereraniookcaretoleaveinthemudsomeveryplainhoof-markspointingSouth。Butassoonastheywereinthemiddleoftheforditturreamaheywereaboutahundredyardsfartherinlandthaage。TheedaofbankwhichwouldtakenofootprintsaheNortherhen，stillataatNorthwardtillthecottage，theohedonkey'sstable，ahing，infact，thatShastahadeverknown—hadsunkoutofsightinthegraysummer-nightdarkheyhadbeengoinguphillahetope—thatridgewhichhadalwaysbeentheboundaryofShasta'sknownworld。Heotseewhattthatitenandgrassy。Itlookedendless:wildandlonelyandfree。
“Isay!”observedtheHorse。“lacefallop，eh!”
“Ohdon'tlet's，”saidShasta。“。Idon'tknowhowto—please，Horse。Idon'tkno>
“Breehy-hinny-brinny-hooky-hah，”saidtheHorse。
“I'llosaythat，”saidShasta。“IcallyouBree?”
&'sthebestyoudo，Isupposeyoumust，”saidtheHorse。“AndwhatshallIcallyou?”
“I'mcalledShasta。”
“H'm，”saidBree。“Well，now，there'sa'sreallyhardtopronowaboutthisgallop。It'sagooddealeasierthantrottingifyouonlyknew，becauseyoudon'thavetoriseandfall。Gripwithyourkneesandkeepyoureyesstraightaheadbetweenmyears。Don'tlookattheground。Ifyouthinkytofalljustgripharderandsitupstraighter。Ready?Now:forNarniaah。”