“Nowtheramhasstarted。IfIcouldhearaswellassee，whatawouldmake!Strokeafterstroke:aanditforever。Butwait!SomethingupbyStormnesshasscaredthebirds。They&#outinmasses。Andwaitagain。。。I'tseeyet。。。ah!NowI。Thewhe，upo，isblaen。Ifonlythewindwouldcatchthatstandarda。They'reeheyare。Aha!I'veseenthebannernow。Narnia，Narnia!It'stheredlion。They'reinfullcareerdownthehillnow。IseeKihere'sawomanbehindamongthearchers。Oh!—”
“Whatisit?”askedHwihlessly。
“AllhisCatsaredashingoutfromtheleftoftheline。”
“Cats?”saidAravis。
&s，leopardsandsuch，”saidtheHermitimpatiently。“Isee，Isee。TheCatsareingroundiatthehorsesofthedismountedmen。Agoodstroke。Theenehorsesaremadwithterroralready。sareinamoRabadashhasreformedhislineandhasahuhesaddle。They&#tomeettheNarnians。There'sonlyahundredyardsbetweewolinesnow。Onlyfifty。IseeKingEdmund，IseetheLordPeridawomereintheNartheKioletthemienyards—theliheGiantshtaredoione'sdown。。。shhtheeye，Isuppose。Theter'sallinamuddle。Iseemoreoherearethetwoboysagain。Lionalive!oneisPriheother，likehimastwopeas。It'syourlittleShasta。isfightinglikeaman。He'skilledaene。I'seeabitoftheow。RabadashandEdmundalmostmetthen，butthepresshasseparatedthem—”
“WhataboutShasta?”saidAravis。
“Ohthefool!”groa。“Poor，bravelittlefool。Heknowsnothingaboutthiswork。He'smakiallofhisshield。Hiswholeside'sexposed。Hehasn'tthefaiodowithhissword。Oh，he'sremembereditnow。He'swavingitwildlyabout。。。hisownpony'sheadoff，andhewilliifhe's'sbeeofhishandnow。It'smeremurdersendingatothebattle;he'tlivefiveminutes。Duckyoufool—oh，he'sdown。”
“Killed?”askedthreevoicesbreathlessly。
“HowItell?”saidtheHermit。“TheCatshavedoheirwork。Alltheriderlesshorsesaredeadoresow:heeheCatsareturningbaaihey&#ontherams-men。Theramisdown。Oh，good!good!Thegatesareopeningfromtheihere'sgoiie。Thefirstthreeareout。It'sKihemiddle:thebrothersDarandDarrinonea。BehiranandSharahhisbrother。Therearetey—hirtyofthemoutbynow。Theenlineisbeingforcedba。KingEdmundisdealirokes。He'sjustslashed'sheadoff。Lotsofehrowndowntheirarmsandarerunnihosethatremainarehardpressed。TheGiantsareht—theleft—
Kiheirrear。Theeleknotnow，fightingbacktoback。YourTarkaan'sdown，Bree。LuneandAzrhtinghandtohand;theKinglookslikewinning—theKiupwell—theKinghaswon。Azrooh'sdown。KingEdmund'sdown—no，he'supagain:he'satitwithRabadash。They&#htieofthecastle。Severaleneshavesurrendered。DarrinhaskilledIlgamuth。I'tseewhat'shappeoRabadash。Ithinkhe'sdead，leaningagailewall，butIdon'tknow。ChlamashandKingEdmuillfightileisovereverywhereelse。Chlamashhassurrehebattleisover。Theeerlydefeated。”
&afelloffhishavehimselfupforlost。Buthorses，evenireadonhumanbeingsverymuchlessthanyouwouldsuppose。AfteraveryhorribletenminutesorsoShastarealizedsuddenlythattherewerenolongeraampingaboutieneighbourhoodandthattheherewerestillagoodmanynoisesgoingon）wasofabattle。Hesatupahim。Eveleashekles，seethattheArdersandNarnianshadwon。Theonlylivingeneshecouldseewereprisolegateswerewideopen，andKingLuneandKingEdmundwereshakinghandsacrossthebatteringram。Fromthecircleoflordsandwarriorsarouherearoseasouhlessaobviouslycheerfulversation。Andtheallunitedaoagreatrhter。
Shasta。pickedhimselfup，feelingunonlystiff，andrantowardthesouhejokewas。Averycurioussightmethiseyes。TheunfortunateRabadashappearedtobesuspehecastlewalls。Hisfeet，whichwereabouttwrwildly。His-shirtwassomehowhitchedupsothatitwashhtuhearmsandcamehalfwayoverhisfafacthelookedjustasamanlooksifyoucattheveryactofgettingintoastiffshirtthatisalittletoosmallforhim。Asfarasadeoutafterward（andyoumaybesurethestorywaswelltalkedoverformanyaday）enedwassomethihis。EarlyileoshadmadeaampatRabadashwithhisspikedboot:unsuccessfulbecauseitdidn'tcrushRabadash，hattheGianthadinotquiteuselessbeeofthespikestorethemail，justasyhttearanordinaryshirt。SoRabadash，bythetimeheenteredEdmue，hadaholeinthebackofhishauberk。AndwhenEdmundpressedhimbaearerahewall，hejumpeduponamountingblodstdownblowsonEdmundfromabove。Butthen，findingthatthispositihimabovetheheadsofeveryoneelse，madehimamarkforeveryarrowfromtheNarnianbows，hedepdownagaiolookandsound—nodoubtforamomenthedidlookandsrandandverydreadfulashejumped，g，“TheboltofTashfallsfromabove。”Buthehadtojumpsidewaysbecausethefrontofhimlefthimnolandidiredthewayyoucouldwish，thetearinthebackofhishauberkahookinthewall。（Agesagothishookhadhadaringinitfhorsesto。）Andtherehefoundhimself，likeapieceofwashinghunguptodry，witheveryonelaughingathim。
&medown，Edmund，”howledRabadash。“Letmedownandfightmelikeakingandaman;orifyreatacowardtodothat，killmeatonce。”
&ainly，”beganKingEdmund，butKierrupted。
“ByyourMajesty'sgoodleave，”saidKioEdmund。“Notso。”ThenturningtoRabadashhesaid，“Yhness，ifyouhadgiventhatgeaweekago，I'llatherewasnooneinKingEdmund'sdominion，fromtheHighKingdowTalkingMouse，whowouldhaverefusedit。ButbyattagourcastleofAnvardintimeofpeacewithoutdefia，youhaveprovedyourselfnoknight，butatraitor，aobewhippedbythehangmanthantobesufferedtocrossswordsersonofhonour。Takehimdown，bindhim，andcarryhimwithintillourpleasureisfurtherknown。”
StronghandswrenchedRabadash'sswordfromhimandhewascarriedawayile，shoutiening，g，andeveng。Fhhecouldhavefacedtorturehe&#maderidiTashbaaneveryonehadalwaystakenhimseriously。
AtthatmomentuptoShasta，seizedhishandandstarteddragginghimtLune。“Hereheis，Father，hereheis，”cried。
“Aye，a，atlast，”saidtheKinginaverygruffvoidbastbeele，trarytoyourobedieobreakafather'sheart!Atyearodtoyourbreechwerefitterthanaswordinyourfist，ha!”Buteveryone，ing，couldseethattheKingroudofhim。
“Chidehimnomore，Sire，ifitpleaseyou，”saidLordDarrin。“HisHighnesswouldnotbeyoursoiyours。ItwouldgrieveyourMajestymoreifhehadtobereprovedfortheoppositefault。”
“Well，well，”grumbledtheKing。“We'llpassitoverforthistime。Andnow—”
WhatextsurprisedShastaasmuythingthathadeverhappeohiminhislife。Hefoundhimselfsuddenlyembrabear-likehugbyKingLuneahcheeks。Thehimdownagainandsaid，“Staher，boys，ahecourtseeyou。Holdupyourheads。lemen，lookoh。Hasanymananydoubts?”
AndstillShastaotuaaredathimandatorwhatalltheg