Theroomwassoquietthatyouigoftheclodyet,asshenowfound,itwasnotabsolutelyquieteither。Therewasafaint—avery,veryfaint—hummingsound。IfHoovershadbeehosedaysPollywouldhavethoughtitwasthesoundofaHworkedalongwayoff—severalroomsawayandseveralfloorsbelow。Butitwasahanthat,amoremusie:onlysofaintthatyoucouldhardlyhearit。
“It'sallright;there'snoonehere,”saidPollyoverhershory。Sheeakingaboveawhispernow。AndDigorycameout,blinkingandlookiy—asindeedPolly
“Thisisnogood,”hesaid。“It'syhouseatall。We'dbetterbunkbeforeanyonees。”
“Whatdoyouthinkthoseare?”saidPolly,pointingatthecs。'
“Oheon,”saidDigory。“Thesooner—”
Heneverfihewasgoingtosayforatthatmomehihehigh-backedfrontofthefiremovedsuddenlyandthereroseupoutofit—likeapantomimedemoningupoutofatrapdoorthealarmingformofUheywereyhouseatall;theywereinDigory'shouseandintheforbiddenstudy!Bothsaid“O-o-oh”aerriblemistake。Theyfelttheyoughttohaveknownallalongthattheyhadn'tgonenearlyfarenough。
Uallahin。Hehadalong-shavehasharply-poiremelybrighteyesaousledmopofgrayhair。
Digorywasquitespeechless,forUndrewlookedathousandtimesmthanhehadeverlookedbefore。Pollywasnhteshesoonwas。FortheveryfirstthingUndrealkacrosstothedooroftheroom,shutit,andturheloheturnedrouhewithhisbrighteyes,andsmiled,showingallhisteeth。
“There!”hesaid。“Nowmyfoolofasister'tgetatyou!”
Itwasdreadfullyuhingagrown-upwouldbeexpectedtodo。Polly'sheartouth,andsheandDigorystartedbagtowardthelittledoortheyhadeinby。Uooqui。Hegotbehindthemandshutthatdoortooandstoodinfrontofit。Thenherubbedhishandsandmadehisknucklescrack。Hehadveryloifullywhite,fingers。
“Iamdelightedtoseeyou,”hesaid。“Twoarejust>
“Please,Mr。Ketterley,”saidPolly。“It'snearlymydiimeandI'vegottogohome。Willyouletusout,please?”
“Notjustyet,”saidUhisistoogoodanopportunitytomiss。Iwawo。Yousee,I'minthemiddleofagreatexperiment。I'vetrieditonaguinea-pigaowork。Butthenaguinea-pig'ttellyouanything。Andyou'texplaintoithowtoeback。”
“Lookhere,Undrew,”saidDigory,“itreallyisdihey'llbelookingforusi。Youmustletusout。”
“Must?”saidUndrew。
DigoryandPollyglaoheydarednotsayanything,butthegla“Isn'tthisdreadful?”ahumourhim。”
“Ifyouletusgoforourdinnernoolly,“weebackafterdinner。”
“Ah,buthowdoIknowthatyouwould?”saidUhagsmile。Theogehismind。
“Well,well,”hesaid,“ifyoureallymustgo,Isupposeyoumust。I'texpecttwoyoungsterslikeyoutofinditmutalkingtoanoldbufferlikeme。”Hesighedaon。“You'venoideahowlonelyIsometimesam。ButoyourdiImustgiveyouapresentbefo。It'shatIseealittlegirlinmydingyoldstudy;especially,ifImaysayso,suchaveryattragladyasyourself。”
Pollybegantothinotreallybemadafterall。
“Wouldn'tyoulikearing,mydear?”saidUoPolly。
“Doyoumeahoseyellreenones?”saidPolly。“Howlovely!”
“Notagreenone,”saidUndrew。“I'mafraidI'tgivethegreenonesaway。ButI'dbedelightedtogiveyouanyoftheyellowohmylove。eandtryoneon。”
Pollyhadhtahattheoldgentlemanwasnotmad;aairaractiveaboutths。Shemovedovertothetray。
“Why!Ideclare,”shesaid。“Thathummislouderhere。It'salmostasiftheringsweremakingit。”
“Whatafunnyfancy,mydear,”saidUhalaugh。Itsouurallaugh,butDigoryhadseeagreedy,lookonhisface。
“Polly!Don'tbeafool!”heshouted。“Don'ttouchthem。”
Itwastoolate。Exactlyashespoke,Polly'shaotoues。Aely,withoutaflashoranoiseofanysort,thereolly。DigoryandhisUnclewerealoheroom。