“No， Reepicheep，” said the King very firmly， “you are notto attempt a single combat with it. And unless you promise to obey me in this matter I‘ll have you tied up. We must just keep close watch and， as soon as it is light， go down to the beach and give it battle. I will lead. King Edmund will be on my right and the Lord Drinian on my left. There are no other arrangements to be made. It will be light in a couple of hours. In an hour’s time let a meal be served out and what is left of the wine. And let everything be done silently.”
“Perhaps it will go away，” said Lucy.
“It‘ll be worse if it does，” said Edmund， “because then we shan’t know where it is. If there‘s a wasp in the room I like to be able to see it.”
The rest of the night wa dreadful， and when the meal came， though they knew they ought to eat， many found that they had very poor appetites. And endless hours seemed to pass before the darkness thinned and birds began chirping here and there and the world got colder and wetter than it had been all night and Caspian said， “Now for it， friends.”
