“On foot？” said the gentleman， raising his eyebrows a little.
“Horses.with the Hermit， “ said Shasta.
“Question him no more； Darrin，” said King Lune. “I seetruth in his face. We must ride for it， gentlemen. A spare horse there， for the boy. You can ride fast， friend？”
For answer Shasta put his foot in the stirrup of the horse which had been led towards him and a moment later he was in the saddle. He had done it a hundred times with Bree in the last few weeks， and his mounting was very different now from what it had been on that first night when Bree had said that he climbed up a horse as if he were climbing a haystack.
He was pleased to hear the Lord Darrin say to the King， “The boy has a true horseman‘s seat， sire. I’ll warrant there‘s noble blood in him.”
“His blood， aye， there’s the point，” said the King. And he stared hard at Shasta again with that curious expression， almost a hungry expression， in his steady， grey eyes.