“Ifonlyweknew! ” saidGlimfeather.“Yousee, therehasbeenarumourlatelythatAslanhimselfhasbeenseenintheislands—inTerebinthia, , 'reallafraidthat, ifhedoesn'tmeetAslaninTerebinthia, he'llgooneast, toSevenIslesandLoneIslands—, butweallknowhehasneverforgottenthatvoyagetotheworld'send.I'msureinhisheartofheartshewantstogothereagain.”
“Thenthere'snogoodwaitingforhimtocomeback? ” saidJill.
“No, nogood, ” saidtheOwl.“Oh, whatato-do! Ifonlyyoutwohadknownandspokentohimatonce! He'dhavearrangedeverything—probablygivenyouanarmytogowithyouinsearchofthePrince.”
JillkeptquietatthisandhopedScrubbwouldbesportingenoughnottotellalltheowlswhythishadn', , heonlymutteredunderhisbreath, “Well, itwasn'tmyfault, ”beforesayingoutloud:
“''' parliament, asyoucallit, isallfairandaboveboardandmeansnomischief, whydoesithavetobesojollysecret—meetinginaruinindeadofnight, andallthat? ”
“Tu-whoo! Tu-whoo! ” hootedseveralowls.“Whereshouldwemeet? Whenwouldanyonemeetexceptatnight? ”
“Yousee, ” explainedGlimfeather, “, inbroadblazingsunlight (ugh! ) , asaresult, atnightthey'resoblindandstupidthatyoucan', onourown, whenwewanttotalkaboutthings.”
“Isee, ” saidScrubb.“Wellnow, let'.” Thenanoldowl, notGlimfeather, relatedthestory.
