CHAPTER SEVEN MAINLY ABOUT DWARFS

THE two Calormene soldiers at the head of the column，seeing what they took for a Tarkaan or great lord with two armed pages， came to a halt and raised their spears in salute．

“O My Master，”said one of them，“we lead these manikins to Calormen to work in the mines of The Tisroc，may-he-live-forever.”

“By the great god Tash，they are very obedient，”said Tirian. Then suddenly he turned to the Dwarfs themselves. About one in six of them carried a torch and by that flickering light he could see their bearded faces all looking at him with grim and dogged expressions.“Has The Tisroc fought a great battle，Dwarfs，and conquered your land ？”he asked，“that thus you go patiently to die in the salt-pits of Pugrahan ？”

The two soldiers glared at him in surprise but the Dwarfs all answered，“Aslan’s orders，Aslan’s orders. He’s sold us. What can we do against him ？”

“Tisroc indeed!”added one and spat.“I’d like to see him try it!”

“Silence，dogs!”said the chief soldier．

“Look!”said Tirian，pulling Puzzle forward into the light.“It has all been a lie. Aslan has not come to Narnia at all. You have been cheated by the Ape. This is the thing he brought out of the stable to show you. Look at it.”

What the Dwarfs saw，now that they could see it close，was certainly enough to make them wonder how they had ever been taken in. The lion-skin had got pretty untidy already during Puzzle’s imprisonment in the stable and it had been knocked crooked during his journey through the dark wood. Most of it was in a big lump on one shoulder. The head，besides being pushed sideways，had somehow got very far back so that anyone could now see his silly， gentle，donkeyish face gazing out of it. Some grass stuck out of one corner of his mouth，for he’d been doing a little quiet nibbling as they brought him along. And he was muttering，“It wasn’t my fault，I’m not clever. I never said I was.”

For one second all the Dwarfs were staring at Puzzle with wide open mouths and then one of the soldiers said sharply，“Are you mad，My Master ？ What are you doing to the slaves ？”and the other said，“And who are you ？”Neither of their spears was at the salute now-both were down and ready for action．

“Give the password，”said the chief soldier．

“This is my password，”said the King as he drew his sword.“The light is dawning，the lie broken. Now guard thee， miscreant，for I am Tirian of Narnia.”

He flew upon the chief soldier like lightning. Eustace，who had drawn his sword when he saw the King draw his，rushed at the other one：his face was deadly pale，but I wouldn’t blame him for that. And he had the luck that beginners sometimes do have. He forgot all that Tirian had tried to teach him that afternoon， slashed wildly (indeed I’m not sure his eyes weren’t shut) and suddenly found，to his own great surprise，that the Calormene lay dead at his feet. And though that was a great relief，it was，at the moment，rather frightening. The King’s fight lasted a second or two longer：then he too had killed his man and shouted to Eustace，“‘Ware the other two.”

But the Dwarfs had settled the two remaining Calormenes. There was no enemy left．

“Well struck，Eustace!”cried Tirian，clapping him on the back.“Now，Dwarfs，you are free. Tomorrow I will lead you to free all Narnia. Three cheers for Aslan!”

But the result which followed was simply wretched. There was a feeble attempt from a few Dwarfs (about five) which died away all at once：from several others there were sulky growls. Many said nothing at all．

“Don’t they understand ？”said Jill impatiently.“What’s wrong with all you Dwarfs ？ Don’t you hear what the King says ？It’s all over. The Ape isn’t going to rule Narnia any longer. Everyone can go back to ordinary life. You can have fun again. Aren’t you glad ？”

After a pause of nearly a minute a not-very-nice-looking Dwarf with hair and beard as black as soot said：“And who might you be，Missie ？”

“I’m Jill，”she said.“The same Jill who rescued King Rilian from the enchantment-and this is Eustace who did it too-and we’ve come back from another world after hundreds of years. Aslan sent us.”

The Dwarfs all looked at one another with grins; sneering grins，not merry ones．

“Well，”said the Black Dwarf (whose name was Griffle)，“I don’t know how all you chaps feel，but I feel I’ve heard as much about Aslan as I want to for the rest of my life.”

“That’s right，that’s right，”growled the other Dwarfs.“It’s all a plant，all a blooming plant.”

“What do you mean ？”said Tirian. He had not been pale when he was fighting but he was pale now. He had thought this was going to be a beautiful moment，but it was turning out more like a bad dream．

“You must think we’re blooming soft in the head，that you must，”said Griffle.“We’ve been taken in once and now you expect us to be taken in again the next minute. We’ve no more use for stories about Aslan，see! Look at him! An old moke with long ears!”