CHAPTER EIGHT THE HOUSE OF HARFANG（第2页）
&ravellerslookedateachotherindismay，awhistle，Scrubbsaidwhattheywereallthinking，“Thesedthirdsignsmuffed。”AndatthatmomentJill'sdreamrushedbaind。
“It'smyfault，”shesaidindespairingtones。“I—I'dgivehesig。IfI'dbeenthinkingaboutthemIcouldhaveseenitwastheinallthatsnow。”
“I'mworse，”saidPuddleglum。“Ididsee，orhoughtitlookedunonlylikearuiy。”
“You'retheonlyonewhoisn'ttoblame，”saidScrubb。“Youdidtrytomakeusstop。”
“Didn'ttryhardenough，though，”saidtheMarshwiggle。“AndI'dnocallt。Ioughttohavedo。AsifI'thavestoppedyoutwowithonehandeach!”
&his，”saidScrubb，“weweresojollykeeothisplacethatweweren'tbaboutaleastIknowIwas。Eversiwomawhodidn'ttalk，we'vebeenthinkingofnothingelse。We&#ottenaboutPrin。”
“Ishouldn'twonder，”saidPuddleglum，“ifthatwaslywhatsheintended。”
“WhatIdon'tquiteuand，”saidJill，“ishowwedidn'tseethelettering?Orcouldithaveetheresinight。Couldhe—Aslaherei?Ihadsuchaqueerdream。”Ahemallaboutit。
“Why，youchump!”saidScrubb。“Wedidseeit。Wegotiering。Don'tyousee?WegotierEiwasyoursunklane。WewalkedaloomstrokeoftheE，duenorth—turhtalo—otherturhat'sthemiddlestroke—aothetopleft-hander，or（ifyoulike）theerheletter，andcameback。Liketheballyidiotsweare。”Hekickedthewisavagely，aon，“Soit'snogood，Pole。Iknoerethinkihinkingthesame。YouwerethinkinghowwouldhavebeenifAslanhadn'tputtheinstruthestoheruiillafterwe'dpassedit。Awouldhavebeenhisfault，notours。Solikely，isn'tit?justownup。We'venstogoby，andwe'vemuffedthefirstthree。”
“YoumeanIhave，”saidJill。“It'squitetrue。I'vespeversinehere。Allthesame—I&#htfullysorryandallthat—allthesame，whataretheinstruDERMEdoesn'tseemtomakemuse。”
&does，though，”saidPuddleglum。“Itmeanswe'vegottolookforthePricity。”
“Buthowwe?”askedJill。
“That'sthequestion，”saidPuddleglum，rubbinghisbig，frog-likehaher。“Ho?Nodoubt，ifwe'dhadourmindsonourjobereattheRuinousCity，we'dhavebeenshownhow—foundalittledoor，oracave，oratusomeoohelpus。Mighthavebeen（youneverknow）Aslanhimself。We'dhavegotdowhosepaving-stoher。Aslan'sinstrusalwayswork:thereareions。Buthowtodoitnow—that'saer。”
“Well，weshalljusthavetogoback，Isuppose，”saidJill。
“Easy，isn'tit?”saidPuddleglum。“Wemighttryopeningthatdinwith。”Andtheyalllookedatthedoorandsawthathemcouldreadle，andthatalmostlyurnitiftheydid。
“Doyouthinktheywon'tletusoutifweask?”saidJill。Andnobodysaid，buteveryo，“Supposingtheydon't。”
Itleasantidea。Puddleglumwasdeadagainstaelliheirrealbusinessandsimplyaski;andofcoursethe'ttellwithouthispermissioheyhadpromised。Andallthreefeltprettysurethattherewouldbenoceofesthecastlebynight。Oheywereintheirroomswiththedoorsshut，theywouldbeprisoillm。Theymight，ofcourse，asktohavetheirdoorsleftopen，butthatwouldrousesuspis。
“Ouronlyce，”saidScrubb，“istotrytosneakawaybydaylight。Mightn'ttherebeanhourierofthegiantsareasleep?—aealdow，mightn'ttherebeabackdooropen?”
“It'shardlywhatIcallace，”saidtheMarshwiggle。“Butit'sallthecewe'relikelytoget。”Asamatteroffact，Scrubb'splanwasnotquitesohopelessasyoumightthink。Ifyouwaofahousewithoutbeihemiddleoftheafternoonisinsomewaysabettertimetotryitthanthemiddleofthenight。Doorsandwindowsaremorelikelytobeopen;andifyht，youalretendyouweren'tmeaningtogofarandhadnopartis。（Itisveryhardtomakeeithergiantsrowhisifyou'refoundgoutofabedroomwindowatoneo'them。）
&themuard，though，”saidScrubb。“WemustpretendwelovebeinghereandarelongingforthisAutum。”
“That'stht，”saidPuddleglum。“Iheardohemsayso。”
“Isee，”saidJill。“Wemustpretendtobeawfullyexcitedaboutit，andkeeponaskiheythinkwe'reabsoluteinfantsanyillmakeiteasier。”
“Gay，”saidPuddleglumsigh。“That'swhatwe'vegottobe。Gay。Asifwehadn'tatheworld。Frolie。Youtwoyoungstershaven'talwaysghspirits，I'venotiustwatddoasIdo。I'llbegay。Likethis”—andheassumedaghastlygrin。“Andfrolie”—hereheournfulcaper。“You'llsoo，ifyoukeepyoureyesohinkI'mafunnyfellowalready，yousee。IdaresayyoutwothoughtIwasatrifletipsylastnight，butIdoassureyouitwas—well，mostofituton。Ihadawouldeinuseful，somehow。”
The，whealkedovertheiradveerward，everfeelsurewhetherthislaststatementwasquitestrictlytrue;buttheyweresurethatPuddleglumthoughtitwastrue>
“Allright。Gay'stheword，”saidSow，ifwelygetsomeohisdoor。Whilewe&#aboutandbeinggay，we'vegottofindoutallweaboutthiscastle。”
Luckily，atthatverymomentthedooropehegialedinsaying，“Now，mypoppets。LiketoeaheKingasettingoutoing?Suchaprettysight!”
¬imeinrushingoutpastherandgdowaircasetheycameto。Thenoiseofhoundsandhiantvoicesguidedthem，sothatiestheyreachedtheciantswereallonfoot，fortherearenogiapartoftheworld，as'hunti;likebeaglihehoundswerealsoofnormalsize。WhenJillsawthattherewerenohorsesshewasatfirstdreadfullydisappointed，forshefeltsurethatthegreatfatQueenwoafterhoundsonfoot;anditwouldohaveheraboutthehouseallday。ButtheheQueeninakindoflittersupportedontheshouldersofsixyounggiants。Thesillyoldcreatureingreenandhadahornatherside。
&hirtygiants，ingtheKing，wereassembled，readyforthesport，alltalkingandlaughingfittodeafenyou:anddownbelow，nearerJill'slevel，therewerewaggingtails，andbarking，andloose，slobberymouthsandnosesofdogsthrustintoyourhand。Puddleglumwasjustbeginningtostrikewhathethoughtagayaitude（whichmighthavespifithadbeennotiJillputotractivelychildishsmile，rushedacrosstotheQueen'slitteraheQueen。
“Oh，please!Yoingaway，areyou?Youwilleback?”
“Yes，mydear，”saidtheQueen。“I'llbebaight。”
“Oh，good。Howlovely!”saidJill。“Andwemayetothefeasttht，mayn'twe?We&#ingfht!Andwedolovebeinghere。Andwhileyou'reout，wemayruhewholedseeeverything，mayn'twe?Dosayyes。”
TheQueendidsayyes，butthelaughterofallthecourtiersnearlydrownedhervoice。