&washalf-wayinLucysaid,“Idon'tbelievethestatueisgoldatall。It'so。Yourspearlooksjustthesamecolor。”
“What?”askedseveralvoiundhadsuddehespear。
“I'tholdit,”gaspedEdmund,“itseemedsoheavy。”
“Aisoomnoian,“andLucyisright。Itlooksjustthesamecolorasthestatue。”
ButEdmund,earedtobehaviroublewithhisboots—atleasthewasbendingdownandlookiraighteondshoutedoutinthesharpvoicewhichpeoplehardlyeverdisobey:“Getback!Bathewater。Allofyou。Atonce!!”
Theyalldidahim。
“Look,”saidEdmund,“lookatthetoesofmyboots。”
“Theylookabityellow,”begaace。
“Theyold,solidgold,”iedEdmund。“Lookatthem。Feelthem。Theleather'spulledawayfromitalready。Andthey'reasheavyaslead。”
“ByAslan!”said。“Youdon'tmeantosay—?”
“Yes,Ido,”saidEdmund。“Thatwaterturnsthingsintogold。Itturhespearintogold,that'swhyitgotsoheavy。Anditwasjustlappingagai'sagoodthingIwasn'tbarefoot)anditturoe-togold。Andthatpoorfellowoom—well,yousee。”
“Soitisn'tastatueatall,”saidLualowvoice。
“hingisplainnow。Hewashereonahotday。Heuopofthecliff—eresittiheshaverottedawayorbeentakenbybirdstolih;thearmor'sstillthere。Thenhedivedand—”
“Don't,”saidLucy。“Whatahorriblething。”
“Andwhatanarrowshavewe'vehad,”saidEdmund。
“Narrowindeed,”saidReepiyone'sfinger,anyone'sfoot,anyone'swhisker,oraail,mighthaveslippedia。”
“Allthesame,”said,“wemayaswelltestit。”Hestoopeddownandwrenchedupasprayofheather。Theiously,hekhepoolain。Itwasheatherthathedipped;whathedreerfectmodelofheathermadeold,heavyandsoftaslead。
“TheKingwhoowhisisland,”saidslowly,andhisfaceflushedashespoke,“wouldsooofalltheKingsoftheworld。IclaimthislandforeverasaNarshallbecalledGoldwaterIsland。AndIbindallofyoutoseustknowofthis。NotevenDrinian—onpaih,doyouhear?”
“Whoareyoutalkingto?”saidEdmund。“I'mofyours。Ifanythingit'stheotherwayround。IamohefourasnsofNarniaandyouareuotheHighKingmybrother。”
“Soithasetothat,KingEdmund,hasit?”said,layinghishandonhissword-hilt。
“Oh,stopit,bothofyou,”saidLucy。“That'stheworstofdoinganythingwithboys。You'reallsuchswaggering,bullyingidiots—oooh!—”Hervoicedieda。Andeveryoshehadseen。
Acrossthegrayhillsideabovethem—gray,fortheheatherwasinbloom—withouthoutlookingatthem,andshiningasifhewereinbrightsunlightthoughthesunhadinfa,passedwithslowpacethehugestlionthathumaneyeshaveeverseen。IndesgtheseLucysaidafterward,“Hewasthesizeofa,”thoughataimesheonlysaid,“Thesizeofacart-horse。”Butitwashatmattered。Nobodydaredtoaskwhatitwas。Theyk>
Andnobodyeversaent。Theylookedatoherlikepeoplewakingfromsleep。
“etalkingabout?”said。“HaveIbeenmakingratheranassofmyself?”
“Sire,”saidReepicheep,“thisisaplacewithait。LetusgetbaboardatondifImighthavethehonourofnamingthisisland,IshouldcallitDeath>
“Thatstrikesmeasaverygoodname,Reep,”said,“thoughnowthatIetothinkofit,Idon'tknowwhy。ButtheweatherseemstobesettlingandIdaresayDrinianwouldliketobeoff。Whatalotweshallhavetotellhim。”
Butimuchtotellforthememoryofthelasthourhadallbeefused。
&iesallseemedabitbewittheycameaboard,”saidDriniantoRhinehourslaterwhereaderwasondersailaerIslandalreadybelowthehorizohiheminthatplalythingIcouldgetclearwasthattheythinkthey'vefoundthebodyofoheselordswefor。”
“Youdon'tsayso,,”answeredRhi'sthree。Onlyfourmore。AtthisratewemightbehomesooheNewYear。Andagoodthingtoo。Mybaccyabitlow。Goodnight,Sir。”