at,' the person said.

Three people there knew that voice, four counting Philip, six counting
the dogs. The dogs barked and growled, Mr. Noah said 'Drop it;' and Lucy
screamed, 'Oh no! oh no! it's that Pretenderette.' The parrot, with
great presence of mind, flew up into the air and attacked the ear of the
Pretenderette, for, as old books say, it was indeed that unprincipled
character who had broken from prison and once more stolen the
Hippogriff. But the Pretenderette was not to be caught twice by the same
parrot. She was ready for the bird this time, and as it touched her ear
she caught it in her motor veil which she must have loosened beforehand,
and thrust it into a wicker cage that hung ready from the saddle of the
Hippogriff who hovered on his wide white wings above the crowd of faces
upturned.

'Now we shall see her face,' Lucy thought, for she could not get rid of
the feeling that if she could only see the Pretenderette's face she
would recognise it. But the Pretenderette was too wily to look down
unveiled. She turned her face up, and she must have whispered the magic
word, for the Hippogriff rose in the air and began to fly away with
incredible swiftness across the sea.

'Oh, what shall I do?' cried Lucy, wringing her hands. You have often
heard of people wringing their hands. Lucy, I assure you, really did
wring hers. 'Oh! Mr. Noah, what will she do with him? Where will she
take him? What shall I do? How can I find him again?'

'I deeply regret, my dear child,' said Mr. Noah, 'that I find myself
quite unable to answer any single one of your questions.'

'But can't I go after him?' Lucy persisted.

'I am sorry to say,' said Mr. Noah, 'that we have no boats; the
Pretenderette has stolen our one and only Hippogriff, and none of our
camels can fly.'

'But what can I _do_?' Lucy stamped her foot in her agony of impatience.

'Nothing, my child,' Mr. Noah aggravatingly replied, 'except to go to
bed and get a good night's rest. To-morrow we will return to the city
and see what can be done. We must consult the oracle.'

'But can't we go _now_,' said Lucy, crying.

'No oracle is worth consulting till it's had its night's rest,' said Mr.
Noah. 'It is a three days' journey. If we started now--see it is already
dusk--we should arrive in the middle of the night. We will start early
in the morning.'

But early in the morning there was no starting from the castle of the
Dwellers by the Sea. There was indeed no on