Tirian and his friends， still panting from their fight and hankful for a few minutes‘ rest， stood and looked on hile the Tarkaan led his men against the Dwarfs. It was a range scene by now. The fire had sunk lower： the light it ave was now less and of a darker red. As far as one could ee， the whole place of assembly was now empty except for he Dwarf and the Calormenes. In that light one couldn’t ake out much of what was happening. It sounded as if he Dwarfs were putting up a good fight. Tirian could hear riffle using dreadful language， and every now and then the arkaan calling， “Take all you can alive！ Take them alive！” Whatever that fight may have been like， it did not last ng. The noise of it died away. Then Jill saw the Tarkaan oming back to the stable： eleven men followed him， ragging eleven bound Dwarfs. （Whether the others had l been killed， or whether some of them had got away， was ever known.）“Throw them into the shrine of Tash，” said Rishda Tarkaan. And when the eleven Dwarfs， one after the other， had een flung or kicked into that dark doorway and the door ad been shut again， he bowed low to the Stable and said： “These also are for thy burnt offering， Lord Tash.”
