CHAPTER NINE THE ISLAND OF THE VOICES

AND now the winds which had so long been from the north-west began to blow from the west itself and every morning when the sun rose out of the sea the curved prow of the Dawn Treader stood up right across the middle of the sun．Some thought that the sun looked larger than it looked from Narnia，but others disagreed．And they sailed and sailed before a gentle yet steady breeze and saw neither fish nor gull-nor ship nor shore．And stores began to get low again，and it crept into their hearts that perhaps they might have come to a sea which went on for ever．But when the very last day on which they thought they could risk continuing their eastward voyage dawned，it showed，right ahead between them and the sunrise，a low land lying like a cloud．

They made harbour in a wide bay about the middle of the afternoon and landed．It was a very different country from any they had yet seen．For when they had crossed the sandy beach they found all silent and empty as if it were an uninhabited land，

but before them there were level lawns in which the grass was as smooth and short as it used to be in the grounds of a great English house where ten gardeners were kept．The trees，of which there were many，all stood well apart from one another，and there were no broken branches and no leaves lying on the ground．Pigeons sometimes cooed but there was no other noise．

Presently they came to a long，straight，sanded path with not a weed growing on it and trees on either hand．Far off at the other end of this avenue they now caught sight of a house—very long and grey and quiet—looking in the afternoon sun．

Almost as soon as they entered this path Lucy noticed that she had a little stone in her shoe．In that unknown place it might have been wiser for her to ask the others to wait while she took it out． But she didn’t；she just dropped quietly behind and sat down to take off her shoe．Her lace had got into a knot．

Before she had undone the knot the others were a fair distance ahead．By the time she had got the stone out and was putting the shoe on again she could no longer hear them．But almost at once she heard something else．It was not coming from the direction of the house．

What she heard was a thumping．It sounded as if dozens of strong workmen were hitting the ground as hard as they could with great wooden mallets．And it was very quickly coming nearer． She was already sitting with her back to a tree，and as the tree was not one she could climb，there was really nothing to do but to sit dead still and press herself against the tree and hope she wouldn’t be seen．

Thump，thump，thump... and whatever it was must be very close now for she could feel the ground shaking．But she could see nothing．She thought the thing-or things must be just behind her．But then there came a thump on the path right in front of her． She knew it was on the path not only by the sound but because she saw the sand scatter as if it had been struck a heavy blow．But she could see nothing that had struck it．Then all the thumping noises drew together about twenty feet away from her and suddenly ceased． Then came the Voice．

It was really very dreadful because she could still see nobody at all．The whole of that park-like country still looked as quiet and empty as it had looked when they first landed．Nevertheless，only a few feet away from her，a voice spoke．And what it said was：

“Mates，now’s our chance．”

Instantly a whole chorus of other voices replied，“Hear him． Hear him．Now ‘s our chance’，he said．Well done，Chief． You never said a truer word．”

“What I say，”continued the first voice，“is，get down to the shore between them and their boat，and let every mother’s son look to his weapons．Catch’em when they try to put to sea．”

“Eh，that’s the way，”shouted all the other voices．“You never made a better plan，Chief．Keep it up，Chief．You couldn’t have a better plan than that．”

“Lively，then，mates，lively，”said the first voice．“Off we go.

“Right again，Chief，”said the others．“Couldn’t have a better

order．Just what we were going to say ourselves．Off we go．”

Immediately the thumping began again—very loud at first but soon fainter and fainter，till it died out in the direction of the sea．

Lucy knew there was no time to sit puzzling as to what these invisible creatures might be．As soon as the thumping noise had died away she got up and ran along the path after the others as quickly as her legs would carry her．They must at all costs be warned．

While this had been happening the others had reached the house．It was a low building-only two stories high made of a beautiful mellow stone，many-windowed，and partially covered with ivy．Everything was so still that Eustace said，“I think it’s empty，”but Caspian silently pointed to the column of smoke which rose from one chimney．