CHAPTER FOUR A PARLIAMENT OF OWLS

IT is a very funny thing that the sleepier you are，the longer you take about getting to bed；especially if you are lucky enough to have a fire in your room. Jill felt she couldn’t even start undressing unless she sat down in front of the fire for a bit first. And once she had sat down，she didn’t want to get up again. She had already said to herself about five times，“I must go to bed”，when she was startled by a tap on the window.

She got up，pulled the curtain，and at first saw nothing but darkness. Then she jumped and started backwards，for something very large had dashed itself against the window，giving a sharp tap on the glass as. it did so. A very unpleasant idea came into her head—“Suppose they have giant moths in this country ！ Ugh ！”But then the thing came back，and this time she was almost sure she saw a beak，and that the beak had made that tapping noise. “It’s some huge bird,”thought Jill. “Could it be an eagle ？”She didn’t very much want a visit even from an eagle，but she opened

the window and looked out. Instantly，with a great whirring noise，the creature alighted on the window-sill and stood there filling up the whole window，so that Jill had to step back to make room for it. It was the Owl.

“Hush，hush ！ Tu-whoo，tu-whoo,”said the Owl. “Don’t make a noise. Now，are you two really in earnest about what you’ve got to do ？”

“About the lost Prince，you mean ？”said Jill. “Yes，we’ve got to be.”For now she remembered the Lion’s voice and face， which she had nearly forgotten during the feasting and story-telling in the hall.

“Good ！”said the Owl. “Then there’s no time to waste. You must get away from here at once. I’ll go and wake the other human. Then I’ll come back for you. You’d better change those court clothes and put on something you can travel in. I’ll be back in two twos. Tu-whoo ！”And without waiting for an answer，he was gone.

If Jill had been more used to adventures，she might have doubted the Owl’s word，but this never occurred to her：and in the exciting idea of a midnight escape she forgot her sleepiness. She changed back into sweater and shorts—there was a guide’s knife on the belt of the shorts which might come in useful—and added a few of the things that had been left in the room for her by the girl with the willowy hair. She chose a short cloak that came down to her knees and had a hood（“just the thing，if it rains,”she thought）， a few handkerchiefs and a comb. Then she sat down and waited.

She was getting sleepy again when the Owl returned.

“Now we’re ready,”it said.

“You’d better lead the way,”said Jill. “I don’t know all these passages yet.”

“Tu-whoo ！”said the Owl. “We’re not going through the castle. That would never do. You must ride on me. We shall fly.”

“Oh ！ ”said Jill，and stood with her mouth open，not much liking the idea. “Shan’t I be too heavy for you ？”

“Tu-whoo，tu-whoo ！ Don’t you be a fool. I’ve already carried the other one. Now. But we’ll put out that lamp first.”

As soon as the lamp was out，the bit of the night which you saw through the window looked less dark—no longer black，but grey. The Owl stood on the window-sill with his back to the room and raised his wings. Jill had to climb on to his short fat body and get her knees under the wings and grip tight. The feathers felt beautifully warm and soft but there was nothing to hold on by. “I wonder how Scrubb liked his ride ！”thought Jill. And just as she was thinking this，with a horrid plunge they had left the window-sill，and the wings were making a flurry round her ears，and the night air，rather cool and damp，was flying in her face.

It was much lighter than she expected，and though the sky was overcast，one patch of watery silver showed where the moon was hiding above the clouds. The fields beneath her looked grey，and the trees black. There was a certain amount of wind—a hushing， ruffling sort of wind which meant that rain was coming soon.