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

“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．

“Oh well done. Well done!”shouted Jill. The King’s party were cutting their way right into the enemy. The Unicorn was tossing men as you’d toss hay on a fork. Even Eustace seemed to Jill (who after all didn’t know very much about swordsmanship) to be fighting brilliantly. The Dogs were at the Calormenes’ throats. It was going to work! It was victory at last-With a horrible，cold shock Jill noticed a strange thing. Though Calormenes were falling at each Narnian sword-stroke，they never seemed to get any fewer. In fact，there were actually more of them now than when the fight began. There were more every second. They were running up from every side. They were new Calormenes. These new ones had spears. There was such a crowd of them that she could hardly see her own friends. Then she heard Tirian’s voice crying：

“Back! To the rock!”

The enemy had been reinforced. The drum had done its work．