CHAPTER THREE
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THE DWARFTHE worst of sleeping out of doors is that you wake up so dreadfully early. And when you wake you have to get up because the ground is so hard that you are unfortable.
And it makes matters worse if there is nothing but apples for breakfast and you have had nothing but apples for supper the night before. When Lucy had said - truly enough that it was a glorious m, there did not seem to be anything else o be said. Edmund said what everyone was feeling, "Weve simply got to get off this island.”
When they had drunk from the well and splashed their faces they all went dowream again to the shore and stared at the el which divided them from the mainland.
"Well have to swim," said Edmund.
"It would be all right for Su," said Peter (Susan had won prizes for swimming at school).
"But I dont know about the rest of us." By "the rest of us" he really meant Edmund who could do two lengths at the school baths, and Lucy, who could hardly swim at all.
"Anyway," said Susan, "there may be currents. Father says its never wise to bathe in a place you dont know.”
"But, Peter," said Lucy, "look here. I know I t swim for nuts at home - in England, I mean. But couldnt we all swim long ago - if it was long ago - when we were Kings and Queens in Narnia? We could ride then too, and do all sorts of things. Dont you think -?”
"Ah, but we were sort of grown-up then," said Peter.
"We reigned for years .and years and learo do things. Arent we just back at our pres again now?”
"Oh!" said Edmund in a voice which made everyoop talking and listen to him.
"Ive just seen it all," he said.
"Seen what?" asked Peter.
"Why, the whole thing," said Edmund. "You know what we were puzzling about las<bdo></bdo>t night, that it was only a year ago since we left Narnia but everything looks as if no one had lived in Cair Paravel for hundreds of years? Well, dont you see? You know that, however long we seemed to have lived in Narnia, whe back through the wardrobe it seemed to have taken no time at all?”
"Go on," said Susan. "I think Im beginning to uand.”
"And that means," tinued Edmund, "that, once youre out of Narnia, you have no idea how Narnian time is going. Why shouldnt hundreds of years have gone past in Narnia while only one year has passed for us in England?”
"By Jove, Ed," said Peter. "I believe youve got it. In that se really was hundreds of years ago that we lived in Cair Paravel. And now were ing back to Narnia just as if we were Crusaders lo-Saxons or A Britons or someone ing back to modern England?”
"How excited theyll be to see us -" began Lucy, but at the same moment everyone else said, "Hush!" or "Look!" For now something was happening.
There was a wooded point on the mainland a little to their right, and they all felt sure that just beyond that point must be the mouth of the river. And now, round that point there came into sight a boat. When it had cleared the point, it turned and began ing along the el towards them. There were two people on board, one rowing, the other sitting iern and holding a buhat twitched and moved as if it were alive. Both these people seemed to be soldiers. They had steel caps on their heads and light shirts of -mail. Their faces were bearded and hard. The children drew back from the beato the wood and watched without moving a finger.
"Thisll do," said the soldier ierhe boat had e about opposite to them.
"What about tying a stoo his feet, Corporal?" said the other, resting on his oars.
"Garn!" growled the other. "We dohat, and we havent brought one. Hell drown sure enough without a stone, as long as weve tied the cords right." With these words he rose and lifted his bundle. Peter now saw that it was really alive and was in fact a Dwarf, bound hand and foot but struggling as hard as he could. moment he heard a twang just beside his ear, and all at ohe soldier threw up his arms, dropping the Dwarf into the bottom of the boat, and fell over into the water. He floundered away to the far bank aer khat Susans arrow had stru his helmet. He turned and saw that she was very pale but was already fitting a sed arrow to the string. But it was never used.
As soon as he saw his panion fall, the other soldier, with a loud cry, jumped out of the boat on the far side, and lie also flouhrough the water (which arently just in his depth) and disappeared into the woods of the mainland.
"Quick! Before she drifts!" shouted Peter. He and Susan, fully dressed as they were, plunged in, and before the water to their shoulders their hands were on the side of the boat. In a few seds they had hauled her to the bank and lifted the Dwarf out, and Edmund was busily engaged in cutting his bonds with the pocket knife. (Peters sword would have been sharper, but a sword is very inve for this sort of work because you t hold it anywhere lower than the hilt.) When at last the Dwarf was free, he sat up, rubbed his arms and legs, and exclaimed: "Well, whatever they say, you dont feel like ghosts.”
Like most Dwarfs he was very stocky and deep-chested. He would have been about three feet high if he had been standing up, and an immense beard and whiskers of coarse red hair left little of his face to be seen except a beak-like nose and twinkling black eyes.
"Anyway," he tinued, "ghosts or not, youve saved my life and Im extremely obliged to you.”
"But why should we be ghosts?" asked Lucy.
"Ive been told all my life," said the Dwarf, "that these woods along the shore were as full of ghosts as they were of trees. Thats what the story is. And thats why, when they want to get rid of ahey usually bring him down here (like they<u>..</u> were doing with me)
and say theyll leave him to the ghosts. But I always wondered if they didnt really drown em or cut their throats. I never quite believed in the ghosts. But those two cowards youve just shot believed all right. They were more frightened of takio my death than I was of going!”
"Oh," said Susan. "So thats why they both ran away.”
"Eh? Whats that?" said the Dwarf.
"They got away," said Edmund. "To the mainland.”
"I wasnt shooting to kill, you know," said Susan. She would not have liked ao think she could miss at such a she.
"Hm," said the Dwarf. "Thats not so good. That may mean trouble later on. Uhey hold their tongues for their own sake.”
"What were they going to drown you for?" asked Peter.
"Oh, Im a dangerous criminal, I am," said the Dwarf cheerfully. "But thats a long story.
Meantime, I was w if perhaps you were going to ask me to breakfast? Youve no idea what an appetite it gives one, being executed." "Theres only apples," said Lucy dolefully.
"Better than nothing, but not so good as fresh fish," said the Dwarf. "It looks as if Ill have to ask you to breakfast instead. I saw some fishing tackle in that boat. And anyway, we must take her round to the other side of the island. We dont want anyone from the mainland ing down and seeing her.”
"I ought to have thought of that myself," said Peter.
The four children and the Dwarf went down to the waters edge, pushed off the boat with some difficulty, and scrambled aboard. The Dwarf at oook charge. The oars were of course too big for him to use, so Peter rowed and the Dwarf steered them north along the el and presently eastward round the tip of the island. From here the children could see right up the river, and all the bays and headlands of the coast beyond it. They thought they could reize bits of it, but the woods, which had grown up siheir time, made everything look very different.
When they had e round into open sea on the east of the island, the Dwarf took to fishing. They had an excellent catch of pavenders, a beautiful rainbow- coloured fish which they all remembered eating in Cair Paravel in the old days. When they had caught enough they ran the boat up into a little creek and moored her to a tree. The Dwarf, who was a most capable person (and, ihough os bad Dwarfs, I never heard of a Dwarf who was a fool), cut the fish open, ed them, and said: "Now, what we wa is some firewood.”
"Weve got some up at the castle," said Edmund.
The Dwarf gave a low whistle. "Beards aeads!" he said. "So there really is a castle, after all?”
"Its only a ruin," said Lucy.
The Dwarf stared round at all four of them with a very curious expression on his face.
"And who oh - ?" he began, but then broke off and said, "No matter. Breakfast first.
But ohing before we go on. you lay your hand on your hearts and tell me Im really alive? Are you sure I wasnt drowned and were not all ghosts together?”
When they had all reassured him, the question was how to carry the fish. They had nothing t them on and no basket. They had to use Edmunds hat in the end because no one else had a hat. He would have made much more fuss about this if he had not by now been so ravenously hungry.
At first the Dwarf did not seem very fortable in the castle. He kept looking round and sniffing and saying, "Hm. Looks a bit spooky after all. Smells like ghosts, too." But he cheered up when it came to lighting the fire and showing them how to roast the fresh pavenders in the embers. Eating hot fish with no forks, and one pocket kween five people, is a messy business and there were several burnt fingers before the meal was ended; but, as it was now nine oclod they had been up since five, nobody mihe burns so much as you might have expected. When everyone had finished off with a drink from the well and an apple or so, the Droduced a pipe about the size of his own arm, filled it, lit it, blew a great cloud rant smoke, and said, "Now.”
"You tell us your story first," said Peter. "And theell you ours.”
"Well," said the Dwarf, "as youve saved my life it is only fair you should have your own way. But I hardly know where to begin. First of all Im a messenger of King Caspians.”
"Whos he?" asked four voices all at once.
"Caspiaenth, King of Narnia, and long may he reign!" answered the Dwarf. "That is to say, he ought to be King of Narnia and we hope he will be. At present he is only King of us Old Narnians - “
"What do you mean by old Narnians, please?" asked Lucy.
"Why, thats us," said the Dwarf. "Were a kind of rebellion, I suppose.”
"I see," said Peter. "And Caspian is the chief Old Narnian.”
"Well, in a manner of speaking," said the Dwarf, scratg his head. "But hes really a New Narnian himself, a Telmarine, if you follow me.”
"I dont," said Edmund.
"Its worse than the Wars of the Roses," said Lucy.
"Oh dear," said the Dwarf. "Im doing this very badly. Look here: I think Ill have to ght back to the begin<mark></mark>ning and tell you hoian grew up in his uncles court and how he es to be on our side at all. But itll be a long story.”
"All the better," said Lucy. "We love stories.”
So the Dwarf settled down and told his tale. I shall not give it to you in his words, putting in all the childrens questions and interruptions, because it would take too long and be fusing, and, even so, it would leave out some points that the children only heard later.
But the gist of the story, as they k in the end, was as follows.
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