“Yes，do let’s,”said Jill. “Can you help us to find Prince Rilian ？”

The Marsh-wiggle sucked in his cheeks till they were hollower than you would have thought possible. “Well，I don’t know that you’d call it help,”he said. “I don’t know that anyone can exactly help. It stands to reason we’re not likely to get very far on a journey to the North，not at this time of the year，with the winter coming on soon and all. And an early winter too，by the look of things. But you mustn’t let that make you down-hearted. Very likely， what with enemies，and mountains，and rivers to cross，and losing our way，and next to nothing to eat，and sore feet，we’ll hardly notice the weather. And if we don’t get far enough to do any good，we may get far enough not to get back in a hurry.”

Both children noticed that he said“we”，not“you”，and both exclaimed at the same moment. “Are you coming with us ？”

“Oh yes，I’m coming of course. Might as well，you see. I don’t suppose we shall ever see the King back in Narnia，now that he’s once set off for foreign parts；and he had a nasty cough when he left. Then there’s Trumpkin. He’s failing fast. And you’ll find there’ll have been a bad harvest after this terrible dry summer. And I shouldn’t wonder if some enemy attacked us. Mark my words.”

“And how shall we start ？”said Scrubb.

“Well,”said the Marsh-wiggle very slowly，“all the others who ever went looking for Prince Rilian started from that same fountain where Lord Drinian saw the lady. They went north， mostly. And as none of them ever came back，we can’t exactly say how they got on.”

“We’ve got to start by finding a ruined city of giants,”said Jill. “Aslan said so.”

“Got to start by finding it，have we ？”answered Puddleglum. “Not allowed to start by looking for it，I suppose ？”

“That’s what I meant，of course,”said Jill. “And then，when we’ve found it—”

“Yes，when ！ ”said Puddleglum very drily.

“Doesn’t anyone know where it is ？”asked Scrubb.

“I don’t know about Anyone,”said Puddleglum. “And I won’t say I haven’t heard of that Ruined City. You wouldn’t start from the fountain，though. You’d have to go across Ettinsmoor. That’s where the Ruined City is，if it’s anywhere. But I’ve been as far in that direction as most people and I never got to any ruins，so I won’t deceive you.”

“Where’s Ettinsmoor ？”said Scrubb.

“Look over there northward,”said Puddleglum，pointing with his pipe. “See those hills and bits of cliff ？ That’s the beginning of Ettinsmoor. But there’s a river between it and us；the river Shribble. No bridges，of course.”

“I suppose we can ford it，though,”said Scrubb.

“Well，it has been forded,”admitted the Marsh-wiggle.

“Perhaps we shall meet people on Ettinsmoor who can tell us the way,”said Jill.

“You’re right about meeting people,”said Puddleglum.

“What sort of people live there ？”she asked.

“It’s not for me to say they aren’t all right in their own way,”answered Puddleglum. “If you like their way.”

“Yes，but what are they ？”pressed Jill. “There are so many queer creatures in this country. I mean，are they animals，or birds，or dwarfs，or what ？”

The Marsh-wiggle gave a long whistle. “Phew ！”he said. “Don’t you know ？ I thought the owls had told you. They’re giants.”

Jill winced. She had never liked giants even in books，and she had once met one in a nightmare. Then she saw Scrubb’s face， which had turned rather green，and thought to herself，“I bet he’s in a worse funk than I am.”That made her feel braver.

“The King told me long ago,”said Scrubb—“that time when I was with him at sea—that he’d jolly well beaten those giants in war and made them pay him tribute.”

“That’s true enough,”said Puddleglum. “They’re at peace with us all right. As long as we stay on our own side of the Shribble， they won’t do us any harm. Over on their side，on the Moor—Still，there’s always a chance. If we don’t get near any of them， and if none of them forget themselves，and if we’re not seen，it’s just possible we might get a long way.”

“Look here ！”said Scrubb，suddenly losing his temper，as people so easily do when they have been frightened. “I don’t believe the whole thing can be half as bad as you’re making out；any more than the beds in the wigwam were hard or the wood was wet. I don’t think Aslan would ever have sent us if there was so little chance as all that.”

He quite expected the Marsh-wiggle to give him an angry reply，but he only said，“That’s the spirit，Scrubb. That’s the way to talk. Put a good face on it. But we all need to be very careful about our tempers，seeing all the hard times we shall have to go through together. Won’t do to quarrel，you know. At any rate，don’t begin it too soon. I know these expeditions usually end that way：knifing one another，I shouldn’t wonder，before all’s done. But the longer we can keep off it—”

“Well，if you feel it’s so hopeless,”interrupted Scrubb，“I think you’d better stay behind. Pole and I can go on alone，can’t we，Pole ？”

“Shut up and don’t be an ass，Scrubb,”said Jill hastily， terrified lest the Marsh-wiggle should take him at his word.

“Don’t you lose heart，Pole,”said Puddleglum. “I’m coming，sure and certain. I’m not going to lose an opportunity like this. It will do me good. They all say-I mean，the other wiggles all say—that I’m too flighty；don’t take life seriously enough. If they’ve said it once，they’ve said it a thousand times. ‘Puddleglum，’ they’ve said，‘you’re altogether too full of bobance and bounce and high spirits. You’ve got to learn that life isn’t all fricasseed frogs and eel pie. You want something to sober you down a bit. We’re only saying it for your own good， Puddleglum. ‘That’s what they say. Now a job like this-a journey up north just as winter’s beginning，looking for a Prince that probably isn’t there，by way of a ruined city that no one has ever seen—will be just the thing. If that doesn’t steady a chap， I don’t know what will.”And he rubbed his big frog-like hands together as if he were talking of going to a party or a pantomime. “And now,”he added，“let’s see how those eels are getting on.”

When the meal came it was delicious and the children had two large helpings each. At first the Marsh-wiggle wouldn’t believe that they really liked it，and when they had eaten so much that he had to believe them，he fell back on saying that it would probably disagree with them horribly. “What’s food for wiggles may be poison for humans，I shouldn’t wonder,”he said. After the meal they had tea，in tins（as you’ve seen men having it who are working on the road），and Puddleglum had a good many sips out of a square black bottle. He offered the children some of it，but they thought it very nasty.

The rest of the day was spent in preparations for an early start tomorrow morning. Puddleglum，being far the biggest， said he would carry three blankets，with a large bit of bacon rolled up inside them. Jill was to carry the remains of the eels，some biscuit，and the tinder-box. Scrubb was to carry both his own cloak and Jill’s when they didn’t want to wear them. Scrubb （who had learned some shooting when he sailed to the East under Caspian）had Puddleglum’s secondbest bow，and Puddleglum had his best one；though he said that what with winds，and damp bowstrings，and bad light，and cold fingers，it was a hundred to one against either of them hitting anything. He and Scrubb both had swords—Scrubb had brought the one which had been left out for him in his room at Cair Paravel，but Jill had to be content with her knife. There would have been a quarrel about this，but as soon as they started sparring the wiggle rubbed his hands and said，“Ah， there you are. I thought as much. That’s what usually happens on adventures.”This made them both shut up.

All three went to bed early in the wigwam. This time the children really had a rather bad night. That was because Puddleglum，after saying，“You’d better try for some sleep，you two；not that I suppose any of us will close an eye tonight,”instantly went off into such a loud，continuous snore that，when Jill at last got to sleep，she dreamed all night about road-drills and waterfalls and being in express trains in tunnels.