They traveled for several hours and then stopped to eat. While the men were lighting fires aing snow for water, with lorek Byrnison watg Lee Scoresby roast seal meat close by, John Faa spoke to Lyra.
「Lyra, you see that instrument to read it?」 he said.
The moon itself had lohe light from the Aurora was brighter than moonlight, but it was instant. However, Lyras eyes were keen, and she fumbled inside her furs and tugged out the black velvet bag.
「Yes, I see all right,」 she said. 「But I know where most of the symbols are by now anyway. What shall I ask it, Lord Faa?」
「I want to know more about how theyre defending this place, Bolvangar,」 he said.
Without even having to think about it, she found her fingers moving the hands to point to the helmet, the griffin, and the crucible, a her mile into the right meanings like a plicated diagram in three dimensions. At ohe needle began to swing round, back, round and on further, like a bee dang its message to the hive. She watched it calmly, tent not to know at first but to know that a meaning was ing, and then it began to clear. She let it dan until it was certain.
「Its just like the witchs daemon said, Lord Faa. Theres a pany of Tartars guarding the station, and they got wires all round it. They dont really expect to be attacked, thats what the symbol reader says. But Lord Faa...」
「What, child?」
「Its a telling me something else. In the valley theres a village by a lake where the folk are troubled by a ghost.」
John Faa shook his head impatiently, and said, 「That dont matter now. Theres bound to be spirits of all kinds among these forests. Tell me again about them Tartars. How many, for instance? What are they armed with?」
Lyra dutifully asked, aed the answer:
「Theres sixty men with rifles, and they got a couple of larger guns, sort of ons. They got fire throwers too. And... Their daemons are all wolves, thats what it says.」
That caused a stir among the yptians, those whod campaigned before.
「The Sibirsk regiments have wolf daemons,」 said one.
John Faa said, 「I never met fiercer. We shall have to fight like tigers. And sult the bear; hes a shrewd warrior, that one.」
Lyra was impatient, and said, 「But Lord Faa, this ghost—I think its the ghost of one of the kids!」
「Well, even if it is, Lyra, I dont know what anyone could do about it. Sixty Sibirsk riflemen, and fire throwers...Mr. Scoresby, step over here if you would, for a moment.」
While the aeronaut came to the sledge, Lyra slipped away and spoke to the bear.
「lorek, have you traveled this way before?」
「Once,」 he said in that deep flat voice.
「Theres a village near, ent there?」
「Over the ridge,」 he said, looking up through the sparse trees.
「Is it far?」
「For you or for me?」
「For me,」 she said.
「Too far. Not at all far for me.」
「How long would it take you to get there, then?」 「I could be there and back three times by moonrise.」 「Because, lorek, listen: I got this symbol reader that tells me things, you see, and its told me that theres something important I got to do over in that village, and Lord Faa wo me go there. He just wants to get on quick, and 1 know thats important too. But unless I go and find out what it is, we might not know what the Gobblers are really doing.」
The bear said nothing. He was sitting up like a human, his great paws folded in his lap, his dark eyes looking