“Yes,Reep,Iknowwehave,”said。“Butifitisaquestionofre-gthethreeislands,I'dprefertoebackwitharatherlargerarmy。”
Bythistimetheywerequitecloseters,oneofwhom—abigblack-hairedfellow—shoutedout,“Agtoyou。”
“Andagtoyou,”said。“IstherestillaGovernoroftheLoneIslands?”
“Tobesurethereis,”saidtheman,“Gumpas。HisSuffiarrowhaven。Butyou'llstayanddrinkwithus。”
thahoughheothersmuchlikedthelookoftheirnewadallofthemsatdown。Buthardlyhadtheyraisedtheircupstotheirlipswhentheblack-hairedmaohispanionsand,asquickaslightning,allthefivevisitorsfoundthemselvesedinstrongarms。Therewasamomentlebutalltheadvantageswereononeside,andsooneveryonewasdisarmedandhadtheirhandstiedbehindtheirbacksexceptReepicheep,writhinginhiscaptripandbitingfuriously。
&hthatbeast,Tacks,”saidtheLeader。“Don'tdamagehim。He'llfetchthebestpriceofthelot,Ishouldn'twonder。”
“Cooltroon!”squeakedReepicheep。“Givememyswordandfreemypawsifyoudare。”
“histledtheslavemert(forthatiswhathewas)。“Ittalk!WellIneverdid。BlowedifItakelessthantwohusforhim。”Thee,whichistheis,isworthaboutathirdofapound。
“Sothat'swhatyouare,”said。“Akidnapperandslaver。Ihopeyou'reproudofit。”
“No,now,”saidtheslaver。“Don'tyoustartanyjaw。Theeasieryoutakeit,thepleasanterallround,see?Idon'tdothisforfun。I'vegotmylivingtomakesameasanyoneelse。”
“Wherewillyoutakeus?”askedLugthewordsoutwithsomedifficulty。
&oNarrowhaven,”saidtheslaver。“Formarketdaytomorrow。”
“IsthereaBritishsulthere?”askedEustace。
“Isthereawhich?”saidtheman。
Butloacewastiredtoexplain,theslaversimplysaid,“Well,I'vehadenoughofthisjabber。TheMouseisafairtreatbutthisoalkthehindlegoffadonkey。Off>
&hefourhumanprisoogether,sedmadetomartotheshore。Reepicheepwascarried。Hehadstoppedbitingoofhavinghismouthtiedup,buthehadagreatdealtosay,andLucyreallywonderedhowanymaohavethethingssaidtohimwhichweresaidtotheslavedealerbytheMouse。Buttheslavedealer,farfromobjelysaid“Goon”wheneverReepicheeppausedforbreath,oallyadding,“It'sasgoodasaplay,”or,“Blimey,you'thelpalmostthinkingitknowswhatit'ssaying!”or“WasitoneofyouwhattraihissoinfuriatedReepicheepthatihehiofsayingallatonearlysuffocatedhimandhebet。
&heygotdowhatlookedtowardDoorntheyfoundalittlevillageandalong-boatonthebead,lyingalittlefurthergledlookingship。
“Now,youngsters,”saidtheslavedealer,“let'shavenofussandthenyou'llhavenothingtocryabout。Allaboard。”
Atthatmomentafine-lookingbeardedmaofohehouses(aninn,Ithink)andsaid:“Well,Pug。Moreofyourusual>
Theslaver,whoseobePug,bowedverylow,andsaidinawheedlingkindofvoice,“Yes,pleaseyourLordship。”
“Howmuchdoyouwantforthatboy?”askedtheother,pointingto。
“Ah,”saidPug,“IknewyourLordshipwouldpithebest。NodegyourLordshipwithae。Thatboy,now,I'vetakenafanyself。Gotkindoffondofhim,Ihave。I'mthatteedIdidtohavetakenupthisjob。Still,toaerlikeyourLordship—”
“Tellmeyourprice,,”saidtheLordsternly。“DoyouthinkIwanttolistentmaroleofyourfilthytrade?”
“Threehus,myLordtoyourhonourableLordship,buttoanyoneelse—”
“I'llgiveyouahundredandfifty。”
“Ohplease,please,”brokeinLu'tseparateus,whateveryoudo。Youdon'tknow—”Buttheoppedforshesaiandidn'tevennowwanttobeknown。
“Ahundredandfifty,then,”saidtheLord。“Asforyou,littlemaiden,IamsorryIotbuyyouall。Unropemyboy,Pug。Andlook—treattheseotherswellwhiletheyareinyourhandsorit'llbetheworseforyou。”
“ug。“NowwhoeverheardofagentlemaninmywayofbusireatedhisstockbetterthanwhatIdo?Well?Why,Itreat'emlikemyown。”
“That'slikelyenoughtobetrue,”saidtherimly。