chater even what haened at the frnt dr (第3/6页)

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So while Digory was staring out of the dining-room window， Polly was lying in bed，and both were thinking how terribly slowly the time could go．I think，myself，I would rather have been in Polly’s position．She had only to wait for the end of her two hours： but every few minutes Digory would hear a cab or a baker’s van or a butcher’s boy coming round the corner and think“Here she comes”， and then find it wasn’t．And in between these false alarms，for what seemed hours and hours，the clock ticked on and one big fly-high up and far out of reach—buzzed against the window．It was one of those houses that get very quiet and dull in the afternoon and always seem to smell of mutton．

During his long watching and waiting one small thing happened which I shall have to mention because something important came of it later on．A lady called with some grapes for Digory’s Mother； and as the dining-room door was open，Digory couldn’t help overhearing Aunt Letty and the lady as they talked in the hall．

“What lovely grapes ！”came Aunt Letty’s voice．“I’m sure if anything could do her good these would．But poor，dear little Mabel ！ I’ m afraid it would need fruit from the land of youth to help her now．Nothing in this world will do much．”Then they both lowered their voices and said a lot more that he could not hear．

If he had heard that bit about the land of youth a few days ago he would have thought Aunt Letty was just talking without meaning anything in particular，the way grown-ups do，and it wouldn’t have interested him．He almost thought so now．But suddenly it flashed upon his mind that he now knew（even if Aunt Letty didn’t）that there really were other worlds and that he himself had been in one of them．At that rate there might be a real Land of Youth somewhere．There might be almost anything． There might be fruit in some other world that would really cure his mother ！ And oh，oh-Well，you know how it feels if you begin hoping for something that you want desperately badly；you almost fight against the hope because it is too good to be true；you’ve

been disappointed so often before．That was how Digory felt．But it was no good trying to throttle this hope．It might—really，really， it just might be true．So many odd things had happened already． And he had the magic rings．There must be worlds you could get to through every pool in the wood．He could hunt through them all． And then—Mother well again．Everything right again．He forgot all about watching for the Witch．His hand was already going into the pocket where he kept the yellow ring，when all at once he herd a sound of galloping．

“Hullo ！ What’s that ？”thought Digory．“Fire-engine ？ I wonder what house is on fire．Great Scott，it’s coming here． Why，it’s Her．”

I needn’t tell you who he meant by Her．

First came the hansom．There was no one in the driver’s seat．On the roof-not sitting，but standing on the roof—swaying with superb balance as it came at full speed round the corner with one wheel in the air-was Jadis the Queen of Queens and the Terror of Charn．Her teeth were bared，her eyes shone like fire， and her long hair streamed out behind her like a comet’s tail． She was flogging the horse without mercy．Its nostrils were wide and red and its sides were spotted with foam．It galloped madly up to the front door，missing the lamp-post by an inch，and then reared up on its hind legs．The hansom crashed into the lamp-post and shattered into several pieces．The Witch，with a magnificent jump，had sprung clear just in time and landed on the horse’s back． She settled herself astride and leaned forward，whispering things in its ear．They must have been things meant not to quiet it but to madden it．It was on its hind legs again in a moment，and its neigh was like a scream；it was all hoofs and teeth and eyes and tossing mane．Only a splendid rider could have stayed on its back．

Before Digory had recovered his breath a good many other things began to happen．A second hansom dashed up close behind the first：out of it there jumped a fat man in a frock-coat and a policeman．Then came a third hansom with two more policemen in it．After it，came about twenty people（mostly errand boys） on bicycles，all ringing their bells and letting out cheers and cat-calls．Last of all came a crowd of people on foot：all very hot with running，but obviously enjoying themselves．Windows shot up in all the houses of that street and a housemaid or a butler appeared at every front door．They wanted to see the fun．