&tellyouwhohemeantbyHer。
Firstcamethehansom。Therewashedriver'sseat。Ositting,butstandingontheroofswayingwithsuperbbalacameatfullspeedroundtheerwithoheair—wasJadistheQueeheTerrorof。Herteethwerebared,hereyesshonelikefire,andherlonghairstreamedoutbehindherlikeaet'stail。Shewasfloggingthehorsewithoutmerostrilswerewideassideswerespottedwithfoam。Itgallopedmadlyuptothefrthelamp-postbyanindthenreareduponitshihehansomtothelamp-postaoseveralpieces。TheWitch,withamagjump,hadspruintimeahehorse'sback。Shesettledherselfastrideandleanedforeringthingsiheymusthavebeenthioquietitbuttomaddenit。Itwasonitshindlegsagaini,anditsneighwaslikeascream;itwasallhoofsahaossingmane。Onlyasplendidridercouldhavestayedonitsback。
Beforyhadrecoveredhisbreathagoodmahiohappen。Asedashedupclosebehi:outofittherejumpedafatmaninafrodapoli。Thehirdhansomwithtwomorepoliit。Afterit,cameabouttwelyerrandboys)onbicycles,allringingtheirbellsadcat-calls。Lastofallcameacrowdofpeopleonfoot:allveryh,butobviouslyenjoyingthemselves。Windowsshotupinallthehousesofthatstreetandahousemaidorabutlerappearedateveryfrontdoor。Theywahefun。
Meanwhilealemaruggleshakilyoutoftheruihansom。Severalpeoplerushedforwardtohelphim;butasonepulledhimonewayaher,perhapshewouldhavegotoutquiteasquihisuessedthattheoldgebeUyou'tseehisface;histallhathadbeenbasheddow。
Digoryrushedoutahecrowd。
“That'sthewoman,that'sthewomaman,pointingatJadis。“Doyourduty,stable。Huhousandsofpounds'worthshe'stakenoutofmyshop。Lookatthatropeofpearlsrou'smine。Andshe'sgivenmeablackeyetoo,what'smore。”
“Thatshe'as,guv'nor,”saidohedaslovelyablackeyeasI'dwishtosee。Beautifulbitofworkthatmust'avebeen。Gor!ain'tshestrongthen!”
“Yououghttoputanicerawbeefsteakonit,Mister,that'swhatitwants,”saidabutcher'sboy。
“Nowthen,”saidthemostimportantofthepoli,“what'sallthis'ere?”
“Itellyoushe—”begaman,whensomeoneelsecalledout:“Don'tlettheoldthecabgetaway。'Eput'eruptoit。”
&leman,whowaslyUndrew,hadjustsustandingupandwasrubbinghisbruises。“Nowthen,”saidthepoli,turningtohim,“What'sallthis?”
“Womfle—pomfy—shomf,”drew'svoii。
&noolisternly。“You'llfindthisisnolaughihat'atoff,see?”
ThiswasmoreeasilysaidthaerUruggledinvaiforsometime,twootherpoliseizeditbythebrimaoff。
“Thankyou,thankyou,”saidUndrewinafaihankyou。Dearme,I'mterriblyshaken。Ifsomeonecouldgivemeasmallglassofbrandy—”
“Nowyouattendtome,ifyouplease,”saidthepoli,takingenotebookandaverysmallpencil。“Areyeofthatthereyoung>
“Lookout!”calledseveralvoidthepolijumpedastepbackwardsjustihehorsehadaimedakickathimwhichwouldprobablyhavekilledhim。Thechwheeledthehorseroundsothatshefacedtheditshihefootpath。Shehadalhtknifeinherhandandhadbeenbusilygthehorsefreefromthewreckofthehansom。
AllthistimeDigoryhadbeentryioapositionfromwhichhecouldtouchtheWitch。Thiswasn'tatalleasybethesideohim,thereweretoomanypeople。Arouhersidehehadtopassbetweenthehorse'shoofsandtherailihatsurrouhehouse;fortheKetterleys'househadabasement。Ifyouknowanythingabouthorses,andespeciallyifyouhadseenwhatastatethathorsewasi,youwillrealizethatthiswasaticklishthingtodo。Digoryksabouthorses,buthesethisteethaomakeadashforitassoonashesawafavourablemoment。
Ared-faabowlerhathadnowshoulderedhiswaytothefrontofthecrowd。
“Hi!P'lee,”hesaid,“that'smy'orsewhatshe'ssittingo'smycabwhatshe'smadematchwoodof。”
&ime,please,oime,”saidthepoli。
“Butthereain'tnotime,”saidtheCabby。“Iknowthat'orsebetter'nyoudo。'Tain'tanordinary'orse。'Isfatherwasahofficererinthecavalry,'ewas。Andiftheyoungwomangoesoin''im,there'llbemurderdone。'Ere,letmegetathim。”
Thepoliwasonlytogladtohaveagoodreasfurtherawayfromthehorse。TheCabbytookastepnearer,lookedupatJadis,andsaidinanotunkindlyvoiissie,letmegetat'is'ead,andjustyougetoff。You'reaLidy,andyoudon'twantalltheseroughsgoingforyou,doyou?Youwanttogo'omeand'aveaeaandalaydowhenyou'llfeeleversomuchbetter。”Atthesametimehestretchedouthishandtowardthehorse'sheadwiththewords,“Steady,Strawberry,oldboy。Steadynow。”
&hefirsttimetheWitchspoke。
“Dog!”camehercold,clearvloudabovealltheothernoises。“Dog,unhandourrer。WearetheEmpressJadis。”