CHAPTER SEVEN
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THE HILL OF THE STRARENCHES THERE Is no denying it was a beast of a day. Overhead was a sunless sky, muffled in clouds that were heavy with snow; underfoot, a black frost; blowing over it, a wind that felt as if it would take your skin off. When they got down into the plain they found that this part of the a road was much more ruinous than any they had yet seen. They had to pick their way reat broken stonbbr></abbr>es aween boulders and across rubble: hard going for sore feet. And, however tired they got, it was far too cold for a halt.At about ten oclock the first tiny snow flakes came l down and settled on Jills arm. Ten minutes later they were falling quite thickly. Iy mihe ground was noticeably white. And by the end of half an hood steady snowstorm, which looked as if it meant to last all day, was driving in their faces so that they could hardly see.
In order to uand what followed, you must keep on remembering how little they could see. As they drew he low hill which separated them from the place where the lighted windopeared, they had no general view of it at all. It was a question of seeing the few paces ahead, and, even for that, you had to screw up your eyes.
Needless to say, they were not talking.
When they reached the foot of the hill they caught a glimpse of what might be rocks on each side - squarish rocks, if you looked at them carefully, but no one did. All were more ed with the ledge right in front of them which barred their way. It was about four feet high. The Marsh-wiggle, with his long legs, had no difficulty in jumping onto the top of it, ahen helped the others up. It was a nasty wet business for them, though not for him, because the snow now lay quite deep on the ledge. They then had a stiff climb - Jill fell once - up very rough ground for about a hundred yards, and came to a sed ledge. There were four of these ledges altogether, at quite irregular intervals.
As they struggled on to the fourth ledge, there was no mistaking the fact that they were now at the top of the flat hill. Up till now the slope had given them some shelter; here, they got the full fury of the wind. For the hill, oddly enough, was quite as flat on top as it had looked from a distance: a great level tableland which the storm tore across without
resistance. In most places the snow was still hardly lying at all, for the wi catg it up off the ground is and clouds, and hurling it in their faces. And round their feet little eddies of snow ran about as you sometimes see them doing over ice. And, indeed, in many places, the surface was almost as smooth as ice. But to make matters worse it was crossed and crisscrossed with curious banks or dykes, whietimes divided it up into squares and oblongs. All these of course had to be climbed; they varied from two to five feet i and were about a couple of yards thick. On the north side of each bank the snow already lay in deep drifts; and after each climb you came down into a drift and got wet.
Fighting her way forward with hood up and head down and numb hands inside her cloak, Jill had glimpses of other odd things on that horrible tableland - things on her right that looked vaguely like factory eys, and, on her left, a huge cliff, straighter than any cliff ought to be. But she wasnt at all ied and didnt give them a thought. The only things she thought about were her cold hands (a<bdi></bdi>nd nose and and ears) and hot baths and beds at Harfang.
Suddenly she skidded, slid about five feet, and found herself to her horror sliding down into a dark, narrow chasm which seemed that moment to have appeared in front of her.
Half a sed later she had reached the bottom. She appeared to be in a kind of trench roove, only about three feet wide. And though she was shaken by the fall, almost the first thing she noticed was the relief of being out of the wind; for the walls of the trench rose high above her. The hing she noticed was, naturally, the anxious faces of Scrubb and Puddleglum looking down at her from the edge.
"Are you hurt, Pole?" shouted Scrubb.
"Both legs broken, I shouldnt wonder," shouted Puddleglum.
Jill stood up and explaihat she was all right, but theyd have to help her out.
"What is it youve fallen into?" asked Scrubb.
"Its a kind of trench, or it might be a kind of sunken lane or something," said Jill. "It runs quite straight.”
"Yes, by Jove," said Scrubb. "And it runs due north! I wonder is it a sort of road? If it was, wed be out of this infernal wind down there. Is there a lot of snow at the bottom?”
"Hardly any. It all blows over the top, I suppose.”
"What happens farther on?”
"Half a sec. Ill go and see," said Jill. She got up and walked along the trench; but before she had gone far, it turned sharply to the right. She shouted this information back to the others.
"Whats round the er?" asked Scrubb.
Now it happehat Jill had the same feeling about twisty passages and dark places underground, or even nearly underground, that Scrubb had about the edges of cliffs. She had no iion of going round that er alone; especially when she heard Puddleglum bawling out from behind her: "Be careful, Pole. Its just the sort of place that might lead to a dragons cave. And in a giant try, there might be giah-worms iales.”
"I dont think it goes anywhere much," said Jill, ing hastily back.
"Im jolly well going to have a look," said Scrubb. "What do you mean by anywhere much, I should like to know?" So he sat down on the edge of the trench (everyone was too wet by now to bother about being a bit wetter) and then dropped in. He pushed past Jill and, though he didnt say anything, she felt sure that he knew she had fu. So she followed him close, but took care not to get in front of him.
It proved, however, a disappointing exploration. They went round the right -hand turn and straight on for a few paces. Here there was a choice of ways: straight on again, or sharp to the right. "Thats no good," said Scrubb, glang down the right-hand turn, "that would be taking us back - south." He went straight on, but once more, in a few steps, they found a sed turn to the right. But this time there was no choice of ways, for the trench they had been following here came to a dead end.
"No good," grunted Scrubb. Jill lost no time in turning and leading the way back. When they returo the place where Jill had first fallen in, the Marsh-wiggle with his long arms had no difficulty in pulling them out.
But it was dreadful to be out on top again. Down in those narrow slits of treheir ears had almost begun to thaw. They had been able to see clearly and breathe easily and hear each other speak without shouting. It was absolute misery to e back into the withering ess. And it did seem hard when Puddleglum chose that moment for saying: "Are you still sure of those signs, Pole? Whats the one we ought to be after, now?”
"Oh, e on! Bother the signs," said Pole. "Something about someone mentioning Aslans name, I think. But Im jolly well not going to give a recitation here.”
As you see, she had got the order wrong. That was because she had given up saying the signs over every night. She still really khem, if she troubled to think: but she was no longer so "pat" in her lesson as to be sure of reeling them off in the right order at a moments notid without thinking. Puddleglums question annoyed her because, deep down inside her, she was already annoyed with herself for not knowing the Lions lesson
quite so well as she felt she ought to have known it. This annoyance, added to the misery of being very cold and tired, made her say, "Bother the signs." She didnt perhaps quite mean it.
"Oh, that was , was it?" said Puddleglum. "Now I wonder, are yht? Got em mixed, I shouldnt wonder. It seems to me, this hill, this flat place were on, is worth stopping to have a look at. Have you noticed -”
"Oh Lor!" said Scrubb, "is this a time for stopping to admire the view? Foodness sake lets get on.”
"Oh, look, look, look," cried Jill and pointed. Everyourned, and everyone saw. Some way off to the north, and a good deal higher up thaableland on which they stood, a line of lights had appeared. This tim<u>?</u>e, even more obviously thahe travellers had seehe night before, they were windows: smaller windows that made ohink deliciously of bedrooms, and larger windows that made ohink of great halls with fires r on the hearth and hot soup or juicy sirloins smoking oable.
"Harfang!" exclaimed Scrubb.
"Thats all very well," said Puddleglum. "But what I was saying was -”
"Oh, shut up," said Jill crossly. "We havent a moment to lose. Dont you remember what the Lady said about their log up so early? We must get there in time, we must, we must. Well die if were shut out on a night like this.”
"Well, it isly a night, not yet," began Puddleglum; but the two children both said, "e on," and began stumbling forward on the slippery tableland as quickly as their legs would carry them. The Marsh-wiggle followed them: still talking, but now that they were f their way into the wind again, they could not have heard him even if they had wao. And they didnt want. They were thinking of baths and beds and hot drinks; and the idea of ing t too late and being shut out was almost unbearable.
In spite of their haste, it took them a long time to cross the flat top of that hill. And evehey had crossed it, there were still several ledges to climb down on the far side.
But at last they reached the bottom and could see what Harfang was like.
It stood on a high crag, and in spite of its many towers was more a huge house than a castle. Obviously, the Gentle Giants feared no attack. There were windows iside wall quite close to the ground - a thing no one would have in a serious fortress. There were even odd little doors here and there, so that it would be quite easy to get in and out of the castle without going through the courtyard. This raised the spirits of Jill and Scrubb. It made the whole plaore friendly and less forbidding.
At first the height and steepness of the crag frightehem, but presently they noticed that there was an easier on the left and that the road wound up towards it. It was a terrible climb, after the jourhey had already had, and Jill nearly gave up. Scrubb and Puddleglum had to help her for the last hundred yards.
But in the end they stood before the castle gate. The portcullis and the gate open.
However tired you are, it takes some o walk up to a giants front door. In spite of all his previous warnings against Harfang, it uddleglum who showed most ce.
"Steady paow," he said. "Dont lohtened, whatever you do. Weve dohe silliest thing in the world by ing at all: but now that we are here, wed best put a bold fa it.”
With these words he strode forward into the gateway, stood still uhe arch where the echo would help his voice, and called out as loud as he could.
"Ho! Puests who seek lodging.”
And while he was waiting for something to happeook off his hat and knocked off the heavy mass of snow which had gathered on its wide brim.
"I say," whispered Scrubb to Jill. "He may be a wet bla, but he has plenty of pluck - and cheek.”
A door opened, letting out a delicious glow of firelight, and the Porter appeared. Jill bit her lips for fear she should scream. He was not a perfectly enormous giant; that is to say, he was rather taller than an apple tree but nothing like so tall as a telegraph pole. He had bristly red hair, a leather jerkin with metal plates fastened all over it so as to make a kind of mail shirt, bare knees (very hairy indeed) and things like puttees on his legs. He stooped down and goggled at Puddleglum.
"And what sort of creature do you call yourself," he said.
Jill took her ce in both hands. "Please," she said, shouting up at the giant. "The Lady of the Green Kirtle salutes the King of the Gentle Giants, and has sent us two Southern children and this Marsh-wiggle (his names Puddleglum) to your Autum.
- If its quite ve, of course," she added.
"Oho!" said the Porter. "Thats quite a different story. e in, little people, e in.
Youd best e into the lodge while Im sending word to his Majesty." He looked at the children with curiosity. "Blue faces," he said. "I didnt know they. were that colour. Dont care about it myself. But I dare say you look quite o one another. Beetles fancy other beetles, they do say.”
"Our faces are only blue with cold," said Jill. "Were not this colour really.”
"Then e in a warm. e in, little shrimps," said the Porter. They followed him into the lodge. And though it was rather terrible to hear such a big door g shut behind them, they fot about it as soon as they saw the thing they had been longing for ever since supper time last night - afire. And such a fire! It looked as if four or five whole trees were blazing on it, and it was so hot they couldnt go within yards of it. But they all flopped down on the brick floor, as near as they could bear the heat, and heaved great sighs of relief.
"Now, youngster," said the Porter to aniant who had been sitting in the back of the room, staring at the visitors till it looked as if his eyes would start out of his head, "run across with this message to the House." And he repeated what Jill had said to him. The younger giant, after a final stare, and a great guffaw, left the room.
"Now, Froggy," said the Porter to Puddleglum, "you look as if you wanted some cheering up." He produced a black bottle very like Puddleglums own, but about twenty times larger. "Let me see, let me see," said the Porter. "I t give you a cup or youll drown yourself. Let me see. This salt-cellar will be just the thing. You mention it over at the House. The silver will keep oing over here, and its not my fault.”
The salt-cellar was not very like one of ours, being narrower and more upright, and made quite a good cup for Puddleglum, when the gia down on the floor beside him. The children expected Puddleglum to refuse it, distrusting the Gentle Giants as he did. But he muttered, "Its rather late to be thinking of precautions now that wer<dfn>９9ｌib?</dfn>e inside and the door shut behind us." Then he s the liquor. "Smells all right," he said. "But thats nothing to go by. Better make sure," and took a sip. "Tastes all right, too," he said. "But it might do that at the first sip. How does it go on?" He took a larger sip. "Ah!" he said.
"But is it the same all the way down?" and took another. "Therell be something nasty at the bottom, I shouldnt wonder," he said, and fihe drink. He licked his lips and remarked to the children, "Thisll be a test, you see. If I curl up, or burst, or turn into a lizard, or something, then youll know not to take anything they offer you." But the giant, who was too far up to hear the things Puddleglum had been saying under his breath, roared with laughter and said, "Why, Froggy, youre a man. See him put it away!”
"Not a man . . . Marsh-wiggle," replied Puddleglum in a somewhat indistinct voice. "N either: Marshwiggle.”
At that moment the door opened behind them and the younger giant came in saying, "Theyre to go to the throne-room at once.”
The children stood up but Puddleglum remained sitting and said, "Marsh- wiggle. Marsh-wiggle. Very respectable Marsh-wiggle. Respectowiggle.”
"Show them the w>.</a>ay, young un," said the giant Porter. "Youd better carry Froggy. Hes had a drop more thans good for him.”
"Nothing wrong with me," said Puddleglum. "Not a frog. Nothing frog with me. Im a respectabiggle.”
But the young giant caught him up by the waist and sigo the children to follow. In this undignified way they crossed the courtyard. Puddleglum, held in the giants fist, and vaguely kig the air, did certainly look very like a frog. But they had little time to notice this, for they sooered the great doorway of the main castle - both their hearts beating faster than usual - and, after pattering along several corridors at a trot to keep up with the giants paces, found themselves blinking in the light of an enormous room, where lamps glowed and a fire roared on the hearth and both were reflected from the gilding of roof and ice. Miants than they could t stood on their left and right, all in magnifit robes; and on two thro the far end, sat two huge shapes that appeared to be the King and Queen.
About twenty feet from the throhey stopped. Scrubb and Jill made an awkward attempt at a bow (girls are not taught how to curtsey at Experiment House) and the young giant carefully put Puddleglum down on the floor, where he collapsed into a sort of sitting position. With his long limbs he looked, to tell the truth, unonly like a large spider.
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