Part 2, Chapter 12 Summary

John Faa asks Lyra to consult the alethiometer, and determine exactly how the Bolvangar is being defended. Lyra does this, and finds that there is a company of Tartars guarding the station, which is surrounded by wire. The company does not expect to get attacked. She is distracted for a moment, and the alethiometer tells her that there is a ghost in a village near the Bolvangar. John Faa persists in knowing more about the Bolvangar, and Lyra discovers that there are sixty men with rifles, some large guns, some cannons, and fire throwers. The Tartars, she says, all have wolf daemons. Sibirirsk regiments, which are the fiercest regiments known to any of the men, have wolf daemons. Lyra asks Lord Faa if she can go to the neighboring village, because the ghost may be that of one of the missing...