“Nowtheramhasstarted。IfIcouldhearaswellassee,whatawouldmake!Strokeafterstroke:aanditforever。Butwait!SomethingupbyStormnesshasscaredthebirds。Theyoutinmasses。Andwaitagain。。。I'tseeyet。。。ah!NowI。Thewhe,upo,isblaen。Ifonlythewindwouldcatchthatstandarda。They'reeheyare。Aha!I'veseenthebannernow。Narnia,Narnia!It'stheredlion。They'reinfullcareerdownthehillnow。IseeKihere'sawomanbehindamongthearchers。Oh!—”
“Whatisit?”askedHwihlessly。
“AllhisCatsaredashingoutfromtheleftoftheline。”
“Cats?”saidAravis。
&s,leopardsandsuch,”saidtheHermitimpatiently。“Isee,Isee。TheCatsareingroundiatthehorsesofthedismountedmen。Agoodstroke。Theenehorsesaremadwithterroralready。sareinamoRabadashhasreformedhislineandhasahuhesaddle。TheytomeettheNarnians。There'sonlyahundredyardsbetweewolinesnow。Onlyfifty。IseeKingEdmund,IseetheLordPeridawomereintheNartheKioletthemienyards—theliheGiantshtaredoione'sdown。。。shhtheeye,Isuppose。Theter'sallinamuddle。Iseemoreoherearethetwoboysagain。Lionalive!oneisPriheother,likehimastwopeas。It'syourlittleShasta。isfightinglikeaman。He'skilledaene。I'seeabitoftheow。RabadashandEdmundalmostmetthen,butthepresshasseparatedthem—”
“WhataboutShasta?”saidAravis。
“Ohthefool!”groa。“Poor,bravelittlefool。Heknowsnothingaboutthiswork。He'smakiallofhisshield。Hiswholeside'sexposed。Hehasn'tthefaiodowithhissword。Oh,he'sremembereditnow。He'swavingitwildlyabout。。。hisownpony'sheadoff,andhewilliifhe's'sbeeofhishandnow。It'smeremurdersendingatothebattle;he'tlivefiveminutes。Duckyoufool—oh,he'sdown。”
“Killed?”askedthreevoicesbreathlessly。
“HowItell?”saidtheHermit。“TheCatshavedoheirwork。Alltheriderlesshorsesaredeadoresow:heeheCatsareturningbaaiheyontherams-men。Theramisdown。Oh,good!good!Thegatesareopeningfromtheihere'sgoiie。Thefirstthreeareout。It'sKihemiddle:thebrothersDarandDarrinonea。BehiranandSharahhisbrother。Therearetey—hirtyofthemoutbynow。Theenlineisbeingforcedba。KingEdmundisdealirokes。He'sjustslashed'sheadoff。Lotsofehrowndowntheirarmsandarerunnihosethatremainarehardpressed。TheGiantsareht—theleft—
Kiheirrear。Theeleknotnow,fightingbacktoback。YourTarkaan'sdown,Bree。LuneandAzrhtinghandtohand;theKinglookslikewinning—theKiupwell—theKinghaswon。Azrooh'sdown。KingEdmund'sdown—no,he'supagain:he'satitwithRabadash。Theyhtieofthecastle。Severaleneshavesurrendered。DarrinhaskilledIlgamuth。I'tseewhat'shappeoRabadash。Ithinkhe'sdead,leaningagailewall,butIdon'tknow。ChlamashandKingEdmuillfightileisovereverywhereelse。Chlamashhassurrehebattleisover。Theeerlydefeated。”
&afelloffhishavehimselfupforlost。Buthorses,evenireadonhumanbeingsverymuchlessthanyouwouldsuppose。AfteraveryhorribletenminutesorsoShastarealizedsuddenlythattherewerenolongeraampingaboutieneighbourhoodandthattheherewerestillagoodmanynoisesgoingon)wasofabattle。Hesatupahim。Eveleashekles,seethattheArdersandNarnianshadwon。Theonlylivingeneshecouldseewereprisolegateswerewideopen,andKingLuneandKingEdmundwereshakinghandsacrossthebatteringram。Fromthecircleoflordsandwarriorsarouherearoseasouhlessaobviouslycheerfulversation。Andtheallunitedaoagreatrhter。
Shasta。pickedhimselfup,feelingunonlystiff,andrantowardthesouhejokewas。Averycurioussightmethiseyes。TheunfortunateRabadashappearedtobesuspehecastlewalls。Hisfeet,whichwereabouttwrwildly。His-shirtwassomehowhitchedupsothatitwashhtuhearmsandcamehalfwayoverhisfafacthelookedjustasamanlooksifyoucattheveryactofgettingintoastiffshirtthatisalittletoosmallforhim。Asfarasadeoutafterward(andyoumaybesurethestorywaswelltalkedoverformanyaday)enedwassomethihis。EarlyileoshadmadeaampatRabadashwithhisspikedboot:unsuccessfulbecauseitdidn'tcrushRabadash,hattheGianthadinotquiteuselessbeeofthespikestorethemail,justasyhttearanordinaryshirt。SoRabadash,bythetimeheenteredEdmue,hadaholeinthebackofhishauberk。AndwhenEdmundpressedhimbaearerahewall,hejumpeduponamountingblodstdownblowsonEdmundfromabove。Butthen,findingthatthispositihimabovetheheadsofeveryoneelse,madehimamarkforeveryarrowfromtheNarnianbows,hedepdownagaiolookandsound—nodoubtforamomenthedidlookandsrandandverydreadfulashejumped,g,“TheboltofTashfallsfromabove。”Buthehadtojumpsidewaysbecausethefrontofhimlefthimnolandidiredthewayyoucouldwish,thetearinthebackofhishauberkahookinthewall。(Agesagothishookhadhadaringinitfhorsesto。)Andtherehefoundhimself,likeapieceofwashinghunguptodry,witheveryonelaughingathim。
&medown,Edmund,”howledRabadash。“Letmedownandfightmelikeakingandaman;orifyreatacowardtodothat,killmeatonce。”
&ainly,”beganKingEdmund,butKierrupted。
“ByyourMajesty'sgoodleave,”saidKioEdmund。“Notso。”ThenturningtoRabadashhesaid,“Yhness,ifyouhadgiventhatgeaweekago,I'llatherewasnooneinKingEdmund'sdominion,fromtheHighKingdowTalkingMouse,whowouldhaverefusedit。ButbyattagourcastleofAnvardintimeofpeacewithoutdefia,youhaveprovedyourselfnoknight,butatraitor,aobewhippedbythehangmanthantobesufferedtocrossswordsersonofhonour。Takehimdown,bindhim,andcarryhimwithintillourpleasureisfurtherknown。”
StronghandswrenchedRabadash'sswordfromhimandhewascarriedawayile,shoutiening,g,andeveng。FhhecouldhavefacedtorturehemaderidiTashbaaneveryonehadalwaystakenhimseriously。
AtthatmomentuptoShasta,seizedhishandandstarteddragginghimtLune。“Hereheis,Father,hereheis,”cried。
“Aye,a,atlast,”saidtheKinginaverygruffvoidbastbeele,trarytoyourobedieobreakafather'sheart!Atyearodtoyourbreechwerefitterthanaswordinyourfist,ha!”Buteveryone,ing,couldseethattheKingroudofhim。
“Chidehimnomore,Sire,ifitpleaseyou,”saidLordDarrin。“HisHighnesswouldnotbeyoursoiyours。ItwouldgrieveyourMajestymoreifhehadtobereprovedfortheoppositefault。”
“Well,well,”grumbledtheKing。“We'llpassitoverforthistime。Andnow—”
WhatextsurprisedShastaasmuythingthathadeverhappeohiminhislife。Hefoundhimselfsuddenlyembrabear-likehugbyKingLuneahcheeks。Thehimdownagainandsaid,“Staher,boys,ahecourtseeyou。Holdupyourheads。lemen,lookoh。Hasanymananydoubts?”
AndstillShastaotuaaredathimandatorwhatalltheg