“I didn’t see or hear her go，” said Eustace. “But she could ave gone without my knowing. She can be as quiet as a cat； ou‘ve seen for yourself.”
At that moment a far off drumbeat was heard. Jewel oved his ears forward. “Dwarfs，” he said.
“And treacherous Dwarfs， enemies， as likely as not，” uttered Tirian.
“And here comes something on hoofs， much nearer，” said wel.
The two humans and the Unicorn stood dead still. There were ow so many different things to worry about that they didn’t now what to do. The noise of hoofs came steadily nearer. And then， quite close to them， a voice whispered： “Hallo！ re you all there？”
Thank heaven， it was Jill‘s.
“Where the devil have you been to？” said Eustace in a rious whisper， for he had been very frightened.
“In the stable，” gasped Jill， but it was the sort of gasp you ive when you’re struggling with suppressed laughter.
“Oh，” growled Eustace， “you think it funny， do you？ Well l I can say is.”
“Have you got Jewel， Sire？” asked Jill.
“Yes. Here he is. What is that beast with you？”
“That‘s him，” said Jill. “But let’s be off home before nyone wakes up.” And again there came little explosions of ughter.