CHAPTERTENTHESPELLBEGINSTOBREAK
gobar。andMrs。Beaveraher。AssoonasMr。Beaversaid,“There'solanbundliocoats,exceptMrs。Beaver,igupsadlayihetableandsaid:“Now,Mr。Beaver,justreathatham。Andhere'sapacketoftea,andthere'ssugar,adifsomeowoorthreeloavesoutofthecrockoverthereintheer。”
“Whatareyoudoing,Mrs。Beaver?”exclaimedSusan。
“Pagaloadforeachofus,dearie,”saidMrs。Beaververycoolly。“Youdidn'tthinkwe'dsetoutohnothi,didyou?”
“Butwehaven'ttime!”saidSusan,buttoningthecollarofheraybehereanyminute。”
“That'swhatIsay,”Mr。Beaver。
&alongwithyouall,”saidhiswife。“Thinkitover,Mr。Beaver。She'tbehereforquarterofanhouratleast。”
“Butdon'twewantasbigastartasossiblyget,”saidPeter,“ifwe'retoreachtheStoablebeforeher?”
“You'vegottorememberthat,Mrs。Beaver,”saidSusan。“Assoonasshehaslookedinhereandfindsweoneshe'llbeoffattopspeed。”
“Thatshewill,”saidMrs。Beaver。“Butwe'tgettherebeforeherwhateverwedo,forshe'llbeonasledgeandwe'llbewalking。”
“Then—havewenohope?”saidSusan。
“Nowdon'tyougetfussing,there'sadear,”saidMrs。Beaver,“butjustgethalfadozendkerchiefsoutofthedrawer。'Coursewe'vegotahope。We'tgettherebeforeherbutunderdgobywaysshewoandperhapswe'llgetthrough。”
“Thath,Mrs。Beaver,”saidherhusband。“Butit'stimewewereoutofthis。”
“Anddon'tyeither,Mr。Beaver,”saidhiswife。“There。That'sbetter。There'sfiveloadsaforthesmallestofus:that'syou,mydear,”sheadded,lookingatLucy。
“Oh,dopleaseeon,”saidLucy。
“Well,I'mnearlyreadynow,”answeredMrs。Beaveratlast,allowingherhusbandtohelpherintohersnow-boots。“Isupposethesewiookheavyt?”
&is,”saidMr。Beaver。“Agreatdealtooheavy。Andyoudon'tthinkyou'llbeabletouseitwhilewe'reontherun,Isuppose?”
“I'tabidethethoughtofthatWitgwithit,”saidMrs。Beaver,“ait,aslikelyasnot。”
“Oh,please,please,please,dohurry!”saidthethree。AndsoatlasttheyallgotoutsideandMr。Beaverlockedthedoor(“It'lldelayherabit,”hesaid)aoff,allgtheirloadsovertheirshoulders。
ThesnoedandthemoowheheirjourinsiMr。Beaver,thenLuPeter,thenSusan,aofall。Mr。Beaverledthemacrossthedamandobankoftheriverandthenalhsortofpathamhtdownbytheriver-bank。Thesidesofthevalley,shininginthemoonlight,toweredupfarabovethemoherhakeepdownhereasmuchaspossible,”hesaid。“She'llhavetokeeptothetop,foryouasledgedownhere。”
Itwouldhavebeeyeolookatitthroughawindowfromafortablearmdevenasthingswere,Lujoyeditatfirst。Butastheywentonwalkingandwalking—andwalking—andasthesackshewasgfeltheavierandheavier,shebegantoasgoiall。Aoppedlookingatthedazzlingbrighthefrozehallitswaterfallsofidatthewhitemassesofthetree-topsaglaringmoolessstarsandlywatchthelittleshsofMr。Beavergoingpad-pad-pad-padthroughthesnowinfroheywereostop。ThenthemoondisappearedandthesofallolastLucywassotiredthatshewasalmostasleepandwalkiimewhensuddehatMr。Beaverhadturnedawayfromtheriver-baahemsteeplyuphillihickestbushes。AndthenasshecamefullyawakeshefoundthatMr。Beaverwasjustvanishingintoalittleholeinthebankwhichhadbeenalmosthiddehebushesuntilyouwerequiteontopofit。Infact,bythetimesherealizedening,onlyhisshortflattailwasshowing。
Lucyimmediatelystoopeddownaerhim。Thensheheardnoisesandpuffingandpantingbehindherandiallfiveofthemwereinside。
“Whereveristhis?”saidPeter'svoidingtiredahedarkness。(IhopeyouknowwhatImeanbyavoigpale。)
“It'sanoldhiding-placeforbeaversinbadtimes,”saidMr。Beaver,“a。It'snotmuchofaplacebutwemustgetafewhours'sleep。”
“Ifyouhadn'tallbeeninsuchaplagueyfusserestarting,I'dhavebroughtsomepillows,”saidMrs。Beaver。
Itwasn'tnearlysuicecaveasMr。Tumnus's,Lucythought—justaholeinthegroundbutdryawasverysmallsothatwhentheyalllaydowntheywereallabuhestogether,andwhatwiththatandbeiheirlongwalktheywerereallyrathersnug。Ifonlythefloorofthecavehadbeeher!ThenMrs。Beaverhandedroundinthedarkalittleflaskoutofwhiedramadeonedsplutteralittleandstu,butitalsomadeyoufeeldeliafteryou'dswallowedit—andeveryoraighttosleep。