CHAPTER TWELVE THE DARK ISLAND

AFTER this adventure they sailed on south and a little east for twelve days with a gentle wind，the skies being mostly clear and the air warm，and saw no bird or fish，except that once there were whales spouting a long way to starboard．Lucy and Reepicheep played a good deal of chess at this time．Then on the thirteenth day，Edmund，from the fighting top，sighted what looked like a great dark mountain rising out of the sea on their port bow．

They altered course and made for this land，mostly by oar， for the wind would not serve them to sail north-east．When evening fell they were still a long way from it and rowed all night． Next morning the weather was fair but a flat calm．The dark mass lay ahead，much nearer and larger，but still very dim，so that some thought it was still a long way off and others thought they were running into a mist．

About nine that morning，very suddenly，it was so close that they could see that it was not land at all，nor even，in an ordinary sense，a mist．It was a Darkness．It is rather hard to describe， but you will see what it was like if you imagine yourself looking into the mouth of a railway tunnel-a tunnel either so long or so twisty that you cannot see the light at the far end．And you know what it would be like．For a few feet you would see the rails and sleepers and gravel in broad daylight；then there would come a place where they were in twilight；and then，pretty suddenly， but of course without a sharp dividing line，they would vanish altogether into smooth，solid blackness．It was just so here． For a few feet in front of their bows they could see the swell of the bright greenish-blue water．Beyond that，they could see the water looking pale and grey as it would look late in the evening．But beyond that again，utter blackness as if they had come to the edge of moonless and starless night．

Caspian shouted to the boatswain to keep her back，and all except the rowers rushed forward and gazed from the bows．But there was nothing to be seen by gazing．Behind them was the sea and the sun，before them the Darkness．

“Do we go into this ？”asked Caspian at length．

“Not by my advice，”said Drinian．

“The Captain’s right，”said several sailors．

“I almost think he is，”said Edmund．

Lucy and Eustace didn’t speak but they felt very glad inside at the turn things seemed to be taking．But all at once the clear voice of Reepicheep broke in upon the silence．

“And why not？”he said．“Will someone explain to me why not．”

No one was anxious to explain，so Reepicheep continued：

“If I were addressing peasants or slaves，”he said，“I might suppose that this suggestion proceeded from cowardice．But I hope it will never be told in Narnia that a company of noble and royal persons in the flower of their age turned tail because they were afraid of the dark．”

“But what manner of use would it be ploughing through that blackness ？”asked Drinian．

“Use ？”replied Reepicheep．“Use，Captain ？ If by use you mean filling our bellies or our purses，I confess it will be no use at all．So far as I know we did not set sail to look for things useful but to seek honour and adventure．And here is as great an adventure as ever I heard of，and here，if we turn back，no tittle impeachment of all our honours．”

Several of the sailors said things under their breath that sounded like“Honour be blowed”，but Caspian said：

“Oh，bother you，Reepicheep．I almost wish we’d left you at home．All right ！ If you put it that way，I suppose we shall have to go on．Unless Lucy would rather not ？”

Lucy felt that she would very much rather not，but what she said out loud was，“I’m game．”

“Your Majesty will at least order lights ？”said Drinian．

“By all means，”said Caspian．“See to it，Captain．”

So the three lanterns，at the stern，and the prow and the masthead，were all lit，and Drinian ordered two torches amidships．Pale and feeble they looked in the sunshine．Then all the men except some who were left below at the oars were ordered on deck and fully armed and posted in their battle stations with swords drawn．Lucy and two archers were posted on the fighting top with bows bent and arrows on the string．Rynelf was in the bows with his line ready to take soundings．Reepicheep， Edmund，Eustace and Caspian，glittering in mail，were with him． Drinian took the tiller．