CHAPTER TWO ON BOARD THE DAWN TREADER
“AH，there you are，Lucy，”said Caspian．“We were just waiting for you．This is my captain，the Lord Drinian．”
A dark-haired man went down on one knee and kissed her hand．The only others present were Reepicheep and Edmund．
“Where is Eustace ？”asked Lucy．
“In bed，”said Edmund，“and I don’t think we can do anything for him．It only makes him worse if you try to be nice to him．”
“Meanwhile，”said Caspian，“we want to talk．”
“By Jove，we do，”said Edmund．“And first，about time． It’s a year ago by our time since we left you just before your coronation．How long has it been in Narnia ？”
“Exactly three years，”said Caspian．
“All going well ？”asked Edmund．
“You don’t suppose I’d have left my kingdom and put to sea unless all was well，”answered the King．“It couldn’t be better．There’s no trouble at all now between Telmarines，Dwarfs，Talking Beasts，Fauns and the rest．And we gave those troublesome giants on the frontier such a good beating last summer that they pay us tribute now．And I had an excellent person to leave as Regent while I’m away—Trumpkin，the Dwarf．You remember him ？”
“Dear Trumpkin，”said Lucy，“of course I do．You couldn’t have made a better choice．”
“Loyal as a badger ，M a’am，and valiant as — as a Mouse，”said Drinian．He had been going to say“as a lion”but had noticed Reepicheep’s eyes fixed on him．
“And where are we heading for ？”asked Edmund．
“Well，”said Caspian，“that’s rather a long story．Perhaps you remember that when I was a child my usurping uncle Miraz got rid of seven friends of my father’s(who might have taken my part) by sending them off to explore the unknown Eastern Seas beyond the Lone Islands．”
“Yes，”said Lucy，“and none of them ever came back．”
“Right．Well，on my coronation day，with Aslan’s approval，I swore an oath that，if once I established peace in Narnia，I would sail east myself for a year and a day to find my father’s friends or to learn of their deaths and avenge them if I could．These were their names：the Lord Revilian，the Lord Bern，the Lord Argoz，the Lord Mavramorn，the Lord Octesian，the Lord Restimar，and—oh，that other one who’s so hard to remember．”
“The Lord Rhoop，Sire，”said Drinian．
“Rhoop，Rhoop，of course，”said Caspian．“That is my main intention．But Reepicheep here has an even higher hope．”Everyone’s eyes turned to the Mouse．
“As high as my spirit，”it said．“Though perhaps as small as my stature．Why should we not come to the very eastern end of the world ？ And what might we find there ？ I expect to find Aslan’s own country．It is always from the east，across the sea，that the great Lion comes to us．”
“I say，that is an idea，”said Edmund in an awed voice．
“But do you think，”said Lucy，“Aslan’s country would be that sort of country—I mean，the sort you could ever sail to ？”
“I do not know，Madam，”said Reepicheep．“But there is this. When I was in my cradle a wood woman，a Dryad，spoke this verse over me：
“Where sky and water meet，Where the waves grow sweet，Doubt not，Reepicheep，To find all you seek，There is the utter East．”
“I do not know what it means．But the spell of it has been on me all my life．”
After a short silence Lucy asked，“And where are we now， Caspian ？”
“The Captain can tell you better than I，”said Caspian，so Drinian got out his chart and spread it on the table．
“That’s our position，”he said，laying his finger on it．“Or was at noon today．We had a fair wind from Cair Paravel and stood a little north for Galma，which we made on the next day．We were in port for a week，for the Duke of Galma made a great tournament for His Majesty and there he unhorsed many knights—”