THE two Calormene soldiers at the head of the column, seeing what they took for a Tarkaan or great lord with two armed pages, came to a halt and raised their spears in salute.
“O My Master, ” said one of them, “we lead these manikins to Calormen to work in the mines of The Tisroc, may-he-live-forever.”
“By the great god Tash, they are very obedient, ” said Tirian. Then suddenly he turned to the Dwarfs themselves. About one in six of them carried a torch and by that flickering light he could see their bearded faces all looking at him with grim and dogged expressions. “Has The Tisroc fought a great battle, Dwarfs, and conquered your land? ” he asked, “that thus you go patiently to die in the salt-pits of Pugrahan? ”
The two soldiers glared at him in surprise but the Dwarfs all answered, “Aslan's orders, Aslan's orders. He's sold us. What can we do against him? ”
“Tisroc indeed! ” added one and spat. “I'd like to see him try it! ”
“Silence, dogs! ” said the chief soldier.
“Look! ” said Tirian, pulling Puzzle forward into the light. “It has all been a lie. Aslan has not come to Narnia at all. You have been cheated by the Ape. This is the thing he brought out of the stable to show you. Look at it.”
What the Dwarfs saw, now that they could see it close, was certainly enough to make them wonder how they had ever been taken in. The lion-skin had got pretty untidy already during Puzzle's imprisonment in the stable and it had been knocked crooked during his journey through the dark wood. Most of it was in a big lump on one shoulder. The head, besides being pushed sideways, had somehow got very far back so that anyone could now see his silly, gentle, donkeyish face gazing out of it. Some grass stuck out of one corner of his mouth, for he'd been doing a little quiet nibbling as they brought him along. And he was muttering, “It wasn't my fault, I'm not clever. I never said I was.”