TWO NARROW ESCAPES EVERYONE was cheerful as the Dawn Treader sailed fron Island. They had fair winds as soon as they were out of the bay and came early m to the unknown land whie of them had seen when flying over the mountains while Eustace was still a dragon. It was a low green island inhabited by nothing but rabbits and a few goats, but from the ruins of stos, and from blaed places where fires had been, they judged that it had been peopled not long before. There were also some bones and broken ons.
"Pirates work," said Caspian.
"Or the dragons," said Edmund.
The only other thing they found there was a little skin boat, or coracle, on the sands. It was made of hide stretched over a wicker framework. It was a tiny boat, barely four feet long, and the paddle which still lay in it was in proportion. They thought that either it had been made for a child or else that the people of that try had been Dwarfs.
Reepicheep decided to keep it, as it was just the right size for him; so it was taken on board. They called that land Burnt Island, and sailed away before noon.
For some five days they ran before a south-south-east wind, out of sight of all lands and seeiher fish null. Then they had a day when it rained hard till the afternoon.
Eustace lost two games of chess to Reepicheep and began to get like his old and
disagreeable self again, and Edmund said he wished they could have goo America with Susan. Then Lucy looked out of the stern windows and said: "Hello! I do believe its stopping. And whats that?」
They all tumbled up to the poop at this and found that the rain had stopped and that Drinian, who was on watch, was also staring hard at something astern. Or rather, at several things. They looked a little like smooth rounded rocks, a whole line of them with intervals of about forty feet iween.
"But they t be rocks," Drinian was saying, "because they werent there five minutes ago.」
"And ones just disappeared," said Lucy.
"Yes, and theres another one ing up," said Edmund.
"And nearer," said Eustace.
"Hang it!" said Caspian. "The whole thing is moving this way.」
"And moving a great deal quicker than we sail, Sire," said Drinian. "Itll be up with us in a minute.」
They all held their breath, for it is not at all o be pursued by an unknown somethiher on land or sea. But what it turned out to be was far worse than anyone had suspected. Suddenly, only about the length of a cricket pitch from their port side, an appalling head reared itself out of the sea. It was all greens and vermilions with purple blotches - except where shell fish g to it - and shaped rather like a horses, though without ears. It had enormous eyes, eyes made for staring through the dark depths of the o, and a gaping mouth filled with double rows of sharp fish-like teeth. It came up on what they first took to be a huge neck, but as more and more of it emerged everyone khat this was not its neck but its body and that at last they were seeing what so many people have foolishly wao see - the great Sea Serpent. The folds of its gigantic tail could be seen far away, rising at intervals from the surface. And now its head was t up higher than the mast.
Every man rushed to his on, but there was nothing to be dohe monster was out of reach. "Shoot! Shoot!" cried the Master Bowman, and several obeyed, but the arrows glanced off the Sea Serpents hide as if it w