He turned his face West and trotted toward the Tombs. He could not help looking out very hard for any sign of his friends, though the tting sun shone in his face so that he could e hardly anything. “And anyway,” he thought, “of cour they’ll be round on the far side of the farthest Tomb, not this side where anyone might e them from the city.”
There were about twelve Tombs, each with a low arched doorway that opened into absolute blaess. They were dotted about in no kind of order, so that it took a long time, going round this one and going round that one, before you could be sure that you had looked round every side of every tomb. This was what Shasta had to do. There was nobody there.
It was very quiet here out on the edge of the dert; and now the sun had really t.
Suddenly from somewhere behind him there came a terrible sound. Shasta’s heart gave a great jump and he had to bite his too keep himlf from screaming. moment he realized what it was： the horns of Tashbaan blowing for the closing of the gates. “Don’t be a silly little coward,” said Shasta to himlf. “Why, it’s only the same noi you heard this m.” But there is a great differeween a noi heard letting you in with your friends in the m, and a noi heard alo nightfall, shutting you out. And now that the gates were shut he khere was no ce of the others joining him that evening. “Either they’re shut up in Tashbaan for the night,” thought Shasta, “or el they’ve gone on without me. It’s just the sort of thing that Aravis would do. But Bree wouldn’t. Oh, he wouldn’t.—now, would he?”
In this idea about Aravis Shasta was once more quite wrong. She roud and could be hard enough but she was as true as steel and would never have derted a panion, whether she liked him or not.
Now that Shasta knew he would have to spend the night alo was getting darker every minute） he began to like the look of the place less and less. There was something very unfortable about tho great, silent shapes of stone. He had been trying his hardest for a long time not to think of ghouls： but he couldn’t keep it up any longer.
“Ow！ Ow！ Help！” he shouted suddenly, for at that very moment he felt something touch his leg. I don’t think anyone be blamed for shouting if something es up from behind and touches him; not in such a plad at such a time, when he is frightened already. Shasta at any rate was thteo run. Anything would be better than being chad round and round the burial places of the A Kings with something he dared not look at behind him. Instead, he did what was really the most nsible thing he could do. He looked round; and his heart almost burst with relief. What had touched him was only a cat. nsible thing he could do. He looked round; and his heart almost burst with relief. What had touched him was only a cat.