CHAPTER THREE THE SAILING OF THE KING(第2页)
“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。