“Well， then，” said the Faun， “how would it be if your majesties bade the Prince to a great banquet to be held on board our own galleon， the Spendour Hyaline， tomorrow night？ And let the message be worded as graciously as the Queen can contrive without pledging her honour： so as to give the Prince a hope that she is weakening.”
“This is very good counsel， sire，” croaked the Raven.
“And then，” continued Tumnus excitedly， “everyone will expect us to be going down to the ship all day， making preparations for our guests. And let some of us go to the bazaars and spend every minim we have at the fruiterers and the sweetmeat sellers and the wine merchants， just as we would if we were really giving a feast. And let us order magicians and jugglers and dancing girls and flute players， all to be on board tomorrow night.”
“I see， I see，” said King Edmund， rubbing his hands.
“And then，” said Tumnus， “we‘ll all be on board tonight. And as soon as it is quite dark-”
“Up sails and out oars-！” said the King.
“And so to sea，” cried Tumnus， leaping up and beginning to dance. “And our nose Northward，” said the first Dwarf.
“Running for home！ Hurrah for Narnia and the North！” said the other.
“And the Prince waking next morning and finding his birds flown！” said Peridan， clapping his hands.
“Oh Master Tumnus， dear Master Tumnus，” said the Queen， catching his hands and swinging with him as he danced. “You have saved us all.”
“The Prince will chase us，” said another lord， whose name Shasta had not heard.
“That’s the least of my fears，” said Edmund. “I have seen all the shipping in the river and there‘s no tall ship of war nor swift galley there. I wish he may chase us！ For the Splendour Hyaline could sink anything he has to send after her-if we were overtaken at all.”
“Sire，” said the Raven. “You shall hear no better plot than the Faun’sthough we sat in council for seven days. And now， as we birds say， nests before eggs. Which is as much as to say， let us all take our food and then at once be about our business.”
Everyone arose at this and the doors were opened and the lords and the creatures stood aside for the King and Queen to go out first. Shasta wondered what he ought to do， but Mr Tumnus said， “Lie there， your Highness， and I will bring you up a little feast to yourself in a few moments. There is no need for you to move until we are all ready to embark.” Shasta laid his head down again on the pillows and soon he was alone in the room.
“This is perfectly dreadful，” thought Shasta. It never came into his head to tell these Narnians the whole truth and ask for their help. Having been brought up by a hard， close-fisted man like Arsheesh， he had a fixed habit of never telling grown-ups anything if he could help it： he thought they would always spoil or stop whatever you were trying to do. And he thought that even if the Narnian King might be friendly to the two horses， because they were Talking Beasts of Narnia， he would hate Aravis， because she was a Calormene， and either sell her for a slave or send her back to her father. As for himself， “I simply daren‘t tell them I’m not Prince Corin now，” thought Shasta. “I‘ve heard all their plans. If they knew I wasn’t one of themselves， they‘d never let me out of this house alive. They’d be afraid I‘d betray themto the Tisroc. They’d kill me. And if the real Corin turns up， it‘ll all come out， and they will！” He had， you see， no idea of how noble and free-born people behave.
“What am I to do？ What am I to do？” he kept saying to himself.
“What-hullo， here comes that goaty little creature again.”
The Faun trotted in， half dancing， with a tray in its hands which was nearly as large as itself. This he set on an inlaid table beside Shasta’s sofa， and sat down himself on the carpeted floor with his goaty legs crossed.
“Now， princeling，” he said. “Make a good dinner. It will be your last meal in Tashbaan.”
It was a fine meal after the Calormene fashion. I don‘t know whether you would have liked it or not， but Shasta did. There were lobsters， and salad， and snipe stuffed with almonds and truffles， and a complicated dish made of chicken-livers and rice and raisins and nuts， and there were cool melons and gooseberry fools and mulberry fools， and every kind of nice thing that can be made with ice. There was also a little flagon of the sort of wine that is called “white” though it is really yellow.
While Shasta was eating， the good little Faun， who thought he was still dazed with sunstroke， kept talking to him about the fine times he would have when they all got home； about his good old father King Lune of Archenland and the little castle where he lived on the southern slopes of the pass. “And don’t forget，” said Mr Tumnus， “that you are promised your first suit of armour and your first war-horse on your next birthday. And then your Highness will begin to learnhow to tilt and joust. And in a few years， if all goes well， King Peter has promised your royal father that he himself will make you Knight at Cair Paravel. And in the meantime there will be plenty of comings and goings between Narnia and Archenland across the neck of the mountains. And of course you remember you have promised to come for a whole week to stay with me for the Summer Festival， and there‘ll be bonfires and all-night dances of Fauns and Dryads in the heart ofthe woods and， who knows？ -we might see Aslan himself！”
When the meal was over the Faun told Shasta to stay quietly where he was. “And it wouldn’t do you any harm to have a little sleep，”
he added. “I‘ll call you in plenty of time to get on board. And then， Home. Narnia and the North！”