Digoryquitelikedthecave(shewouldn'tlethimseethestory)buthewasmoreiedinexpl。
“Lookhere,”hesaid。“Howlounnelgoonfor?Imeaopwhereyourhouseends?”
“No,”saidPolly。“Thewallsdon'tgoouttoeson。Idon'tkno>
“Thenwecouldgetthelengthofthewholerowofhouses。”
“Sowecould,”saidPolly,“Andoh,Isay!”
“>
“Wecouldgetiherhouses。”
“Yes,aakenupflars!Nothanks。”
“Don'tbesojollyclever。Iwasthinkingofthehousebeyondyours。”
“Whataboutit?”
“Why,it'stheemptyone。Daddysaysit'salwaysbeeysincewecamehere。”
“Isupposeweoughttohavealookatitthen,”saidDigory。Hewasagooddealmoreexyou'dhavethoughtfromtheoke。Forofcoursehewasthinking,justasyouwouldhavebeen,ofallthereasonswhythehousemighthavebeeysolong。Soolly。hemsaidtheword“haunted“。Aohied,itwouldbefeeblenottodoit。
“Shallwegoandtryitnow?”saidDigory。
“Allright,”saidPolly。
“Don'tifyou'drathernot,”saidDigory。
“I'mgameifyouare,”saidshe。
“Howe'reihousebutoheydecidedtheywouldhavetogooutintothebox-roomandwalkacrossittakingstepsasloepsfromohewouldgivethemanideaofhowmaoaroom。ThentheywouldallowaboutfourmoreforthepassagebetweeiPolly'shouse,ahesamehemaid'sbed-roomasforthebox-room。Thatwouldgivethemthelengthofthehouse。WhentheyhaddodistaheywouldbeattheendofDigory'shouse;anydoortheycametoafterthatwouldletthemintoanattiptyhouse。
“ButIdo'sreallyemptyatall,”saidDigory。
“Whatdoyouexpect?”
&someoherei,onlyinginandoutatnight,withadarklantern。robablydiscofdesperatealsaareward。It'sallrottosayahousewouldbeemptyallthoseyearsuherewassomemystery。”
“Daddythoughtitmustbethedrains,”saidPolly。
“Pooh!Growhinkingexplanations,”saidDigory。NowthattheyweretalkingbydaylightiisteadofbydlelightintheSmugglers'Caveitseemedmuchlesslikelythattheemptyhousewouldbehaunted。
&heyhadmeasuredtheattictheyhadtogetapen。Theybothgotdiffereatfirst,aheyagreedIamitright。Theywereinahurrytostartoion。
&n'tmakeasound,”saidPollyastheyagaihe。Becauseitortantotheytookadleeach(Pollyhadagoodstoreoftheminhercave)。
Itwasverydarkanddustyanddraughtyaeppedfromraftertorafterwithoutawordextheywhisperedtooher,“We'reoppositeyourattiustbehalfwaythroughourhouse“。Ahemstumbledandthedlesdidn'tgoout,andatlasttheycamewheretheycouldseealittledoorinthebritheirright。Therewasnoboltorhahissideofit,ofcourse,forthedoorhadbeeingin,;buttherewasacatch(asthereoftenisontheinsideofacupboarddoor)whichtheyfeltsuretheywouldbeabletoturn。
“ShallI?”saidDigory。
“I'mgameifyouare,”saidPolly,justasshehadsaidbefore。Bothfeltthatitwasbeingveryserious,butherwoulddrawback。Digorypushedrouedifficultly。Thedopenandthesuddendaylightmadethemblihagreatshock,theysawthattheywerelooking,notiitoafurnishedroom。Butitseemedemptyenough。Itwasdeadsilent。Pollyotthebetterofher。Sheblewoutherdsteppedoutirangeroom,makihanamouse。
Ited,ofcourse,likeanattic,butfurnishedasasittiofthewallswaslihshelvesaoftheshelveswasfullofbooks。Afirewasburnie(yourememberthatitwasaverycoldwetsummerthatyear)andinfrontofthefire-placewithitsbawasahigh-backedarmchair。BetweenthedPolly,andfillingmostofthemiddleoftheroom,wasabigtablepiledwithallsortsofthingsprintedbooks,andbooksofthesortyouwritein,andinkbottlesandpensandsealing-waxandamicroscope。Butwhatshewasabrightredwoodentraywithanumbersonit。Theywereinpairs—ayellowoneaogether,thenalittlespadthenanotheryellowohergreeheywerehans,andnoonecouldhelpnotigthembecausetheyweresht。Theywerethemostbeautifulshihingsyoue。IfPollyhadbeeleyoungershewouldhaveutoh。