“I—Ileftittoolate,”saidSusan,inanembarrassedvoice。“Iwassoafraiditmightbe,youknow—oneofourkialkingbear。”Shehatedkillingthings。
“That'sthetroubleofit,”saidTrumpkiofthebeastshavegoneenemyandgonedumb,buttherearestillsomeoftheotherki。Youneverknow,andyoudaren'twaittosee。”
“PooroldBruin,”saidSusan。“Youdon'tthinkhe>
“heDwarf。“IsawthefadIheardthesnarl。HeoleGirlforhisbreakfast。Andtalki,Ididn'twantteyourMajestieswhenyousaidyouhopedKingwouldgiveyouagoodo'sprecioussdthere'sgoodeatiwouldbeashametoleavethecarcasswithouttakingabit,anditwon'tdelayusmorethanhalfanhour。Idaresayyoutwoys,Ishouldsay—knowhowtoskinabear?”
&'sgoandsitdownafairwayoff,”saidSusantoLuowwhatahorridmessybusiwillbe。”Lucyshudderedaheyhadsatdownshesaid:“Suchahorribleideahasyhead,Su。”
“What'sthat?”
“Wouldn'titbedreadfulifsomeday,inourownworld,athome,menstartedgoingwildiheanimalshere,andstilllookedlikemen,sothatyou'dneverknohich?”
“We'vegotenoughtobotherabouthereandnowinNarnia,”saidthepracti,“withoutimaginingthi。”
&heyrejoiheboysandtheDwarf,asmuchastheythoughttheycouldcarryofthebestmeathadbeeneatisofillone'spocketswith,buttheyfoldeditupinfreshleavesaofit。Theyerieoknowthattheywouldfeelquitedifferentlyaboutthesesquashyapartheyhadwalkedloobereallyhungry。
ain(stoppingtowashthreepairsofhandsthathefirststreamtheypassed)untilthesuhebirdsbegantosing,ahaedwerebuzzinginthebra。Thestiffnessfromyesterdayantowearoff。Everybody'sspiritsrose。Thesungrewwarmeraheirhelmetsoffahem。
“Isuppright?”saidEdmundaboutanhourlater。
“Idon'tseehowwegaslongaswedon'tbeartoomuchtotheleft,”saidPeter。“Ifwebeartoomuchtht,thepeniswastingalittletimebystrikiRivertoosoonandnotgofftheer。”
Andagairudgedonwithhethudoftheirfeetandthejiheirshirts。
“Where'sthisballyRushgotto?”saidEdmundagooddeallater。
&houghtwe'dhavestruoeter。“Butthere'snothingtodobutkeepohkheDwarfwaslookinganxiouslyatthem,buthesaidnothing。
Andstilltheytrudgedonandtheirmailshirtsbegantofeelveryhotandheavy。
“Whatoh?”saidPetersuddenly。
Theyhade,withoutseeingit,almosttotheedgeofasmallprewhichtheylookeddownintewithariveratthebottom。Onthefarsidetheuchhigher。hepartyexd(arumpkin)wasarockclimber。
“I'msorry,”saidPeter。“It'smyfaultfthisway。We'relost。I'vehisplamylifebefore。”
TheDwarfgavealowwhistlebetweeh。
“Oh,dolet'sgobadgotheotherway,”saidSusan。“Iknewallalongwe'dgetlostinthesewoods。”
“Susan!”saidLucy,reproachfully,“don'terlikethat。It'ssorotten,andhe'sdoingallhe。”
“Anddon'tyousnapatSulikethat,either,”saidEdmund。“Ithinkshe'squiteright。”
“Tubsandtortoiseshells!”exclaimedTrumpkin。“Ifwe'vegotlosting,whatcehaveweoffindingourwaybadifweobacktotheIslandandbeginallain—evensupposingweightaswellgivethewholethingup。Mirazwillhavefihbefetthereatthatrate。”
“Youthiogoon?”saidLucy。
“I'mheHighKingislost,”saidTrumpkin。“What'stohihisriverbeingtheRush?”
&heRushisnotinage,”saidPeter,keepihsomedifficulty。
“YourMajestysaysis,”repliedtheDwarf,“butoughtn'tyoutosaywas?Youkhistryhumaybeathousand—yearsago。Mayn'tithaveged?Alahavepulledoffhalfthesideofthathill,leavingbarerodthereareyourprecipidthege。ThentheRushmightgooscourseyearafteryeartillyougetthelittleprecipicesthisside。hthavebeehquake,。”
&houghtofthat,”saidPeter。
“Andanyway,”uedTrumpkihisis'sflhlynorthandsoitmustfalliRiveranyway。Ithihingthatmighthavebeenit,onmywaydown。Soifwegodowht,we'llhittheGreatRiver。Perhapsnotsohighaswe'dhoped,butatleastwe'llbehanifyou'dy>
“Trumpkin,you'reabrick,”saidPeter。“eohissidee。”