“Why do you not draw your own sword， poltroon？” cheeped the Mouse. “Draw and fight or I‘ll beat you black and blue with the flat.”
“I haven’t got one，” said Eustace. “I‘m a pacifist. I don’t elieve in fighting.”
“Do I understand，” said Reepicheep， with.drawing his word for a moment and speaking very sternly， “that you do ot intend to give me satisfaction？”
“I don‘t know what you mean，” said Eustace， nursing his and. “If you don’t know how to take a joke I shan‘t bother y head about you.”
“Then take that，” said Reepicheep， “and that.to teach ou manners.and the respect due to a knight.and a ouse.and a Mouse’s tail.” and at each word he gave ustace a blow with the side of his rapier， which was thin， ne dwarf.tempered steel and as supple and effective as a irch rod. Eustace （of course） was at a school where they idn‘t have corporal punishment， so the sensation was quite ew to him. That was why， in spite of having no sea.legs， it ook him less than a minute to get off that forecastle and over the whole length of the deck and burst in at the cabin oor.still hotly pursued by Reepicheep. Indeed it seemed o Eustace that the rapier as well as the pursuit was hot. It ight have been red.hot by the feel.
