So saying, he entered the tunnel. The rock echoed: he was gone.

Colin and Susan stared at the wall, They were very near to tears, and Fenodyree, weighed down with his own troubles, felt pity for them in their despondency.

“Do not think him curt or cruel, he said gently. He has suffered a defeat that would have crushed a lesser man. He is going now to prepare himself to face death. and worse than death, for the stone’s sake; and I and others shall stand by him, though I think we are for the dark. He has said farewell because he knows there may be no more meetings for him this side of Ragnarok.”

“But it was all our fault!” said Colin desperately. “We must help him!”

“You will help him best by keeping out of danger, as he said; and that means staying well away from us and all we do.”

“Is that really the best way?” said Susan.

“It is.”

“Then I suppose well have to do it. But it will be very hard.”

“Is his task easier?” said Fenodyree.

They walked along a path that curved round the hillside, gradually rising till it ran along the crest of the Edge.

“You will be safe now,” said Fenodyree, “but if you should have need of me, tell the owls in farmer Mossock’s barn: they understand your speech, and will come to me, but remember that they are guardians for the night and fly like drunken elves by day.”

“Do you mean to say all those owls were sent by you?” said Colin.

“Ay, my people have ever been masters of bird lore. We treat them as brothers, and they help us where they can. Two nights since they brought word that evil things were closing on you. A bird that seemed no true bird (and scarce made off with its life) brought to the farm a strange presence that filled them with dread, though they could not see its form. I can guess now that it was the hooded one—and here is Castle Rock, from which we can see his lair.”