CHAPTER NINE IN THE WITCH’S HOUSE（第3/3頁）

“It’s all right，it’s all right，”he kept saying to himself；“it’s only a stone wolf．It can’t hurt me”，and he raised his leg to step over it．Instantly the huge creature rose，with all the hair bristling along its back，opened a great，red mouth and said in a growling voice：

“Who’s there ？ Who’s there ？ Stand still，stranger，and tell me who you are．”

“If you please，sir，”said Edmund，trembling so that he could hardly speak，“my name is Edmund，and I’m the Son of Adam that Her Majesty met in the wood the other day and I’ve come to bring her the news that my brother and sisters are now in Narnia-quite close，in the Beavers’ house．She-she wanted to see them．”

“I will tell Her Majesty，”said the Wolf．“Meanwhile，stand still on the threshold，as you value your life．”Then it vanished into the house．

Edmund stood and waited，his fingers aching with cold and his heart pounding in his chest，and presently the grey wolf， Maugrim，the Chief of the Witch’s Secret Police，came bounding back and said，“Come in ！ Come in ！ Fortunate favourite of the Queen-or else not so fortunate．”

And Edmund went in，taking great care not to tread on the Wolf’s paws．

He found himself in a long gloomy hall with many pillars， full，as the courtyard had been，of statues．The one nearest the door was a little faun with a very sad expression on its face，and Edmund couldn’t help wondering if this might be Lucy’s friend． The only light came from a single lamp and close beside this sat the White Witch．

“I’m come，your Majesty，”said Edmund，rushing eagerly forward.

“How dare you come alone ？”said the Witch in a terrible voice. “Did I not tell you to bring the others with you ？”

“Please，your Majesty，”said Edmund，“I’ve done the best I can．I’ve brought them quite close．They’re in the little house on top of the dam just up the riverwith Mr. and Mrs. Beaver．”

A slow cruel smile came over the Witch’s face．

“Is this all your news ？”she asked．

“No，your Majesty，”said Edmund，and proceeded to tell her all he had heard before leaving the Beavers’ house．

“What ！ Aslan ？”cried the Queen，“Aslan ！ Is this true ？ If I find you have lied to me-”

“Please，I’m only repeating what they said，”stammered Edmund．

But the Queen，who was no longer attending to him，clapped her hands．Instantly the same dwarf whom Edmund had seen with her before appeared．

“Make ready our sledge，”ordered the Witch，“and use the harness without bells．”