Tirian bent his head to hear something that Jill was trying to whisper in his ear. “What do you think is really inside the Stable？” she said.
“Who knows？” said Tirian. “Two Calormenes with drawn swords， as likely as not， one on each side of the door.”
“You don‘t think，” said Jill， “it might be . . . you know . . . that horrid thing we saw？”
“Tash himself ？” whispered Tirian. “There’s no knowing. But courage， child： we are all between the paws of the true Aslan.”
Then a most surprising thing happened. Ginger the Cat said in a cool， clear voice， not at all as if he was excited， “I‘ll go in， if you like.”
Every creature turned and fixed its eyes on the Cat. “Mark their subtleties， Sire，” said Poggin to the King. “This cursed cat is in the plot， in the very centre of it. Whatever is in the stable will not hurt him， I’ll be bound. Then Ginger will come out again and say that he has seen some wonder.”
But Tirian had no time to answer him. The Ape was calling the Cat to come forward.
“Ho.ho！” said the Ape. “So you， a pert Puss， would look upon Him face to face. Come on， then！ I‘ll open the door for you. Don’t blame me if He scares the whiskers off your face. That‘s your affair.”
