“I‘ve been told all my life，” said the Dwarf， “that these woods along the shore were as full of ghosts as they were of trees. That’s what the story is. And that‘s why， when they want to get rid of anyone， they usually bring him down here （like they were doing with me） and say they’ll leave him to the ghosts. But I always wondered if they didn‘t reallydrown ’em or cut their throats. I never quite believed in the ghosts. But those two cowards you‘ve just shot believed all right. They were more frightened of taking me to my death than I was of going！”
“Oh，” said Susan. “So that’s why they both ran away.”
“Eh？ What‘s that？” said the Dwarf.
“They got away，” said Edmund. “To the mainland.”
“I wasn’t shooting to kill， you know，” said Susan. She would not have liked anyone to think she could miss at such a short range.
“Hm，” said the Dwarf. “That‘s not so good. That may mean trouble later on. Unless they hold their tongues for their own sake.”
“What were they going to drown you for？” asked Peter.