CHAPTER SIX A GOOD NIGHT’S WORK（第2/4页）

“By the Mane!”he whispered to Eustace.“This girl is a wondrous wood-maid. If she had Dryad’s blood in her she could scarce do it better.”

“She’s so small，that’s what helps，”whispered Eustace. But Jill from in front said：“S-s-s-h，less noise.”

All round them the wood was very quiet. Indeed it was far too quiet. On an ordinary Narnia night there ought to have been noises-an occasional cheery“Goodnight”from a Hedgehog，the cry of an Owl overhead，perhaps a flute in the distance to tell of Fauns dancing，or some throbbing，hammering noises from Dwarfs underground. All that was silenced：gloom and fear reigned over Narnia．

After a time they began to go steeply uphill and the trees grew further apart. Tirian could dimly make out the wellknown hill-top and the stable. Jill was now going with more and more caution： she kept on making signs to the others with her hand to do the same. Then she stopped dead still and Tirian saw her gradually sink down into the grass and disappear without a sound. A moment later she rose again，put her mouth close to Tirian’s ear，and said in the lowest possible whisper，“Get down. Thee better.”She said thee for see not because she had a lisp but because she knew that the hissing letter S is the part of a whisper most likely to be overheard. Tirian at once lay down，almost as silently as Jill，but not quite， for he was heavier and older. And once they were down，he saw how from that position you could see the edge of the hill sharp against the star-strewn sky. Two black shapes rose against it： one was the stable，and the other，a few feet in front of it，was a Calormene sentry. He was keeping very ill watch：not walking or even standing but sitting with his spear over his shoulder and his chin on his chest.“Well done，”said Tirian to Jill. She had shown him exactly what he needed to know．

They got up and Tirian now took the lead. Very slowly，hardly daring to breathe，they made their way up to a little clump of trees which was not more than forty feet away from the sentinel．

“Wait here till I come again，”he whispered to the other two.“If I miscarry，fly.”Then he sauntered out boldly in full view of the enemy. The man started when he saw him and was just going to jump to his feet：he was afraid Tirian might be one of his own officers and that he would get into trouble for sitting down. But before he could get up Tirian had dropped on one knee beside him，saying：

“Art thou a warrior of the Tisroc’s，may he live for ever ？ It cheers my heart to meet thee among all these beasts and devils of Narnians. Give me thy hand，friend.”

Before he well knew what was happening the Calormene sentry found his right hand seized in a mighty grip. Next instant someone was kneeling on his legs and a dagger was pressed against his neck．

“One noise and thou art dead，”said Tirian in his ear.“Tell me where the Unicorn is and thou shalt live.”

“B-behind the stable，O My Master，”stammered the unfortunate man．

“Good. Rise up and lead me to him.”

As the man got up the point of the dagger never left his neck. It only travelled round (cold and rather ticklish) as Tirian got behind him and settled it at a convenient place under his ear. Trembling he went round to the back of the stable．

Though it was dark Tirian could see the white shape of Jewel at once．

“Hush!”he said.“No，do not neigh. Yes，Jewel，it is I. How have they tied thee ？”

“Hobbled by all four legs and tied with a bridle to a ring in the stable wall，”came Jewel’s voice．

“Stand here，sentry，with your back to the wall. So. Now， Jewel：set the point of your horn against this Calormene’s breast.”

“With a good will，Sire，”said Jewel．

“If he moves，rive him to the heart.”Then in a few seconds Tirian cut the ropes. With the remains of them he bound the sentry hand and foot. Finally he made him open his mouth，stuffed it full of grass and tied him up from scalp to chin so that he could make no noise，lowered the man into a sitting position and set him against the wall．