IHEISLANDOFTHEVOICES
ANDnohichhadsolohebegantoblowfromthewestitselfandeverymwhenthesuheseathecurvedprowoftheDawhtaiddleofthesuthatthesunlerthanitlookedfromNarnia,butreed。Andtheysailedandsailedbefeeadybreezeaherfishnull—norshipalowagain,aheirheartsthatperhapstheymighthaveetoaseawhiforever。Butwhedayonwhichtheythoughttheycouldriskgtheireastwardvoyagedawshhtaheadbetweehesunrise,alowlandlyinglikeacloud。
Theymadeharbourinawidebayaboutthemiddleoftheafternoonawasaverydifferenttryfromaseeheyhadcrossedthesaheyfoundallsileyasifitwereanuninhabitedlahemtherewerelevellawnsinwhichthegrasswasassmoothandshortasitusedtobeinthegroundslishhardehetrees,ofwhichthereweremany,allstoodartfromoherewerenobrokenbranoleaveslyingeoimescooedbuttherewasnoothernoise。
&heycametoalht,sahwithnotaweedgrowingonitaherhand。Faroffattheotherendofthisaveheynowcaughtsightofahandgraya-lookiernoonsun。
AlmostassooeredthispathLuoticedthatshehadalittlestoneiunkhavebeenwiserforhertoasktheotherstowaitwhileshetookitout。Butshedidn't;shejustdroppedquietlybehindandsatdowntotakeoffhershoe。Herlacehadgotintoaknot。
Beforeshehaduheotherswereafairdistahetimeshehadgotthestoanduttingtheshoeonagainsheolohem。Butalmostatohiwasnotthedireofthehouse。
Whatshehearding。Itsoundedasifdozenswthegroundashardastheycouldwithgreatwoodes。Anditwasveryquiingnearer。Shewasalreadysittioatree,areewasnotonesheb,therewasreallynothingtodobuttositdeadstillandpressherselfagaireeandhopeshewouldn'tbeseen。
Thump,thump,thump。。。awasmustbeveryowforshecouldfeelthegroundshaking。Butshecouldseenothithething—smustbejustbehihehumpohrightinfrontofher。Shekwasoonlybythesoundbutbecauseshesawthesandscatterasifithadbeenstruckaheavyblow。Butshecouldseenothingthathadstruckit。ThehumpiogetherabouttweawayfromherandsuddeheheVoice。
Itwasreallyverydreadfulbecauseshecouldstillseenobodyatall。Thewholeofthatpark-liketrystilllookedasquietayasithadlookedwhelaheless,oawayfromher,avoicespoke。Andwhatitsaidwas:“Mates,now'source。”
Instantlyawholechorusofothervoicesreplied,“Hearhim。Hearhim。‘Now'source',hesaid。Welldone,Chief。Youneversaidatruerword。”
“WhatIsay,”uedthefirstvoice,“is,getdowntotheshorebetweeheirboat,aher'ssonlooktohisons。wheoputtosea。”
&'stheway,”shoutedalltheothervoiadeabetterplan,Chief。Keepitup,Chief。You'thaveabetterplanthanthat。”
&hen,mates,lively,”saidthefirstvoice。“Offwego。”
“Rightagain,Chief,”saidtheothers。“'thaveabetterorder。Justeregoingtosayourselves。Offwego。”
&hethumpingbeganagain—veryloudatfirstbutsoonfainteraillitdiedoutiionofthesea。
Luewtherewaspuzzlingastowhattheseiuresmightbe。Assoohumpingnoisehaddiedawayshegotupandranaloertheothersasquicklyasherlegswouldcarryher。Theymustatallcostsbe>
&hishadbeeheothershadreachedthehouse。Itwasalowbuilding—onlytwhmadeofabeautifulmellowstone,many-windoartiallycoveredwithivy。EverythingwassostillthatEustacesaid,“Ithinkit'sempty,”butsilentlypoiheokewhioneey。
Theyfoueassedthroughitiyard。Anditwasherethattheyhadtheirfirstindithattherewassomethingoddaboutthisisland。Inthemiddleofthecourtyardstoodapump,ahepumpabucket。Therewasnothingoddaboutthat。Butthepumphandlewasmovingupanddown,thoughthereseemedtobenoonemovingit。
“There'ssomemagicatworkhere,”said。
“Maery!”saidEustace。“Idobelievewe'veetoacivilizedtryatlast。”
AtthatmomentLudbreathless,rushediyardbehindthem。Inalowvoiceshetriedtomakethemuandwhatshehadoverheard。Aheyhadpartlyueveofthemdidnotlookveryhappy。
“Invisibleeered。“Andgusofffromtheboat。Thisisanuglyfurrowtoplough。”
“You'vesortofcreaturestheyare,Lu?”askedEdmund。
“HowI,Ed,whenI'tseethem?”
“Didtheysoundlikehumansfromtheirfootsteps?”
“Ididn'theara—ohisfrightfulthuddingandthumpi。”