CHAPTER SIX THE BEGINNING OF UNCLE ANDREW’S TROUBLES（第2/4页）

Then Jadis spoke；not very loud，but there was something in her voice that made the whole room quiver．

“Where is the Magician who has called me into this world ？”

“Ah-ah-Madam，”gasped Uncle Andrew，“I am most honoured-highly gratified-a most unexpected，pleasure-if only I had had the opportunity of making any preparations-I-I-”

“Where is the Magician，Fool ？ ”said Jadis．

“I-I am，Madam．I hope you will excuse any-er—．liberty these naughty children may have taken．I assure you，there was no intention-”

“You ？”said the Queen in a still more terrible voice．Then， in one stride，she crossed the room，seized a great handful of Uncle Andrew’s grey hair and pulled his head back so that his face looked up into hers．Then she studied his face just as she had studied Digory’s face in the palace of Charn．He blinked and licked his lips nervously all the time．At last she let him go：so suddenly that he reeled back against the wall．

“I see，”she said scornfully，“you are a Magician-of a sort． Stand up，dog，and don’t sprawl there as if you were speaking to your equals．How do you come to know Magic ？ You are not of royal blood，I’ll swear．”

“Well-ah-not perhaps in the strict sense，”stammered Uncle Andrew．“Not exactly royal，Ma’am．The Ketterleys are， however，a very old family．An old Dorsetshire family，Ma’am．”

“Peace，”said the Witch．“I see what you are．You are a little，peddling Magician who works by rules and books．There is no real Magic in your blood and heart．Your kind was made an end of in my world a thousand years ago．But here I shall allow you to be my servant．”

“I should be most happy-delighted to be of any service-a p-pleasure，I assure you．”

“Peace ！ You talk far too much．Listen to your first task． I see we are in a large city．Procure for me at once a chariot or a flying carpet or a well-trained dragon，or whatever is usual for royal and noble persons in your land．Then bring me to places where I can get clothes and jewels and slaves fit for my rank． Tomorrow I will begin the conquest of the world．”

“I-I-I’ll go and order a cab at once，”gasped Uncle Andrew．

“Stop，”said the Witch，just as he reached the door．“Do not dream of treachery．My eyes can see through walls and into the minds of men．They will be on you wherever you go．At the first sign of disobedience I will lay such spells on you that anything you sit down on will feel like red hot iron and whenever you lie in a bed there will be invisible blocks of ice at your feet．Now go．”

The old man went out，looking like a dog with its tail between its legs．

The children were now afraid that Jadis would have something to say to them about what had happened in the wood．As it turned out，however，she never mentioned it either then or afterwards． I think（and Digory thinks too）that her mind was of a sort which cannot remember that quiet place at all，and however often you took her there and however long you left her there，she would still know nothing about it．Now that she was left alone with the children，she took no notice of either of them．And that was like her too．In Charn she had taken no notice of Pony（till the very end）because Digory was the one she wanted to make use of． Now that she had Uncle Andrew，she took no notice of Digory．I expect most witches are like that．They are not interested in things or people unless they can use them；they are terribly practical． So there was silence in the room for a minute or two．But you could tell by the way Jadis tapped her foot on the floor that she was growing impatient．

Presently she said，as if to herself，“What is the old fool doing ？ I should have brought a whip．”She stalked out of the room in pursuit of Uncle Andrew without one glance at the children．

“Whew ！”said Polly，letting out a long breath of relief．“And now I must get home．It’s frightfully late．I shall catch it．”

“Well do，do come back as soon as you can，”said Digory．“This is simply ghastly，having her here．We must make some sort of plan．”

“That’s up to your Uncle now，”said Polly．“It was he who started all this messing about with Magic．”

“All the same，you will come back，won’t you ？ Hang it all，you can’t leave me alone in a scrape like this．”

“I shall go home by the tunnel，”said Polly rather coldly． “That’ll be the quickest way．And if you want me to come back， hadn’t you better say you’re sorry ？”

“Sorry ？”exclaimed Digory．“Well now，if that isn’t just like a girl ！ What have I done ？”

“Oh nothing of course，”said Polly sarcastically．“Only nearly screwed my wrist off in that room with all the waxworks，like a cowardly bully．Only struck the bell with the hammer，like a silly idiot．Only turned back in the wood so that she had time to catch hold of you before we jumped into our own pool．That’s all．”