“Pah！” snarled Nikabrik. “You badgers would have us wait till the sky falls and we can all catch larks. I tell you we can‘t wait. Food is running short； we lose more than we can afford at every encounter； our followers are slipping away.”
“And why？” asked Trufflehunter. “I’ll tell you why. Because it is noised among them that we have called on the Kings of old and the Kings of old have not answered. The last words Trumpkin spoke before he went （and went， most likely， tohis death） were， ‘If you must blow the Horn， do not let the army know why you blow it or what you hope from it.’ But that same evening everyone seemed to know.”
“You‘d better have shoved your grey snout in a hornets’ nest， Badger， than sug gest that I am the blab，” said Nikabrik. “Take it back， or.”
“Oh， stop it， both of you，” said King Caspian. “I want to know what it is that Nikabrik keeps on hinting we should do. But before that， I want to know who those two strangers are whom he has brought into our council and who stand there with their ears open and their mouths shut.”
