CHAPTER ELEVEN THE PACE QUICKENS（第3/4页）

Poggin the Dwarf and the children opened their mouths to cheer but that cheer never came. Suddenly the air was full of the sound of twanging bow-strings and hissing arrows. It was the Dwarfs who were shooting and-for a moment Jill could hardly believe her eyes-they were shooting the Horses. Dwarfs are deadly archers. Horse after Horse rolled over. Not one of those noble Beasts ever reached the King．

“Little Swine，”shrieked Eustace，dancing in his rage.“Dirty， filthy，treacherous little brutes.”Even Jewel said，“Shall I run after those Dwarfs，Sire，and spit ten of them on my horn at each plunge ？ ”But Tirian with his face as stern as stone，said，“Stand fast，Jewel. If you must weep，sweetheart (this was to Jill)，turn your face aside and see you wet not your bow-string. And peace， Eustace. Do not scold，like a kitchen-girl. No warrior scolds. Courteous words or else hard knocks are his only language.”

But the Dwarfs jeered back at Eustace.“That was a surprise for you，little boy，eh ？ Thought we were on your side，did you ？ No fear. We don’t want any Talking Horses. We don’t want you to win any more than the other gang. You can’t take us in. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.”

Rishda Tarkaan was still talking to his men，doubtless making arrangements for the next attack and probably wishing he had sent his whole force into the first. The drum boomed on. Then，to their horror，Tirian and his friends heard，far fainter as if from a long way off，an answering drum. Another body of Calormenes had heard Rishda’s signal and were coming to support him. You would not have known from Tirian’s face that he had now given up all hope．

“Listen，”he whispered in a matter-of-fact voice，“we must attack now，before yonder miscreants are strengthened by their friends.”

“Bethink you，Sire，”said Poggin，“that here we have the good wooden wall of the stable at our backs. If we advance，shall we not be encircled and get sword-points between our shoulders ？”

“I would say as you do，Dwarf，”said Tirian.“Were it not their very plan to force us into the stable ？ The further we are from its deadly door，the better.”

“The King is right，”said Farsight.“Away from this accursed stable，and whatever goblin lives inside it，at all costs.”

“Yes，do let’s，”said Eustace.“I’m coming to hate the very sight of it.”

“Good，”said Tirian.“Now look yonder to our left. You see a great rock that gleams white like marble in the firelight. First we will fall upon those Calormenes. You，maiden，shall move out on our left and shoot as fast as ever you may into their ranks： and you，Eagle，fly at their faces from the right. Meanwhile we others will be charging them. When we are so close，Jill，that you can no longer shoot at them for fear of striking us，go back to the white rock and wait. You others，keep your ears wide even in the fighting. We must put them to flight in a few minutes or else not at all，for we are fewer than they. As soon as I call Back，then rush to join Jill at the white rock，where we shall have protection behind us and can breathe awhile. Now，be off，Jill.”

Feeling terribly alone，Jill ran out about twenty feet，put her right leg back and her left leg forward，and set an arrow to her string. She wished her hands were not shaking so.“‘That’s a rotten shot!”she said as her first arrow sped towards the enemy and flew over their heads. But she had another on the string next moment： she knew that speed was what mattered. She saw something big and black darting into the faces of the Calormenes.’that was Farsight. First one man，and then another，dropped his sword and put up both his hands to defend his eyes. Then one of her own arrows hit a man，and another hit a Narnian wolf，who had，it seemed， joined the enemy. But she had been shooting only for a few seconds when she had to stop. With a flash of swords and of the Boar’s tusks and Jewel’s horn，and with deep baying from the dogs， Tirian and his party were rushing on their enemies，like men in a hundred yards’ race. Jill was astonished to see how unprepared the Calormenes seemed to be. She did not realize that this was the result of her work and the Eagle’s. Very few troops can keep on looking steadily to the front if they are getting arrows in their faces from one side and being pecked by an eagle on the other．