CHAPTER TWELVE STRAWBERRY’S ADVENTURE（第3/3页）

“Yes，and surely it’s about time for supper ？”said Digory．

So Fledge came lower and lower．As they came down nearer to the earth and among the hills，the air grew warmer and after travelling so many hours with nothing to listen to but the beat of Fledge’s wings，it was nice to hear the homely and earthy noises again-the chatter of the river on its stony bed and the creaking of trees in the light wind．A warm，good smell of sun-baked earth and grass and flowers came up to them．At last Fledge alighted． Digory rolled off and helped Polly to dismount．Both were glad to stretch their stiff legs．

The valley in which they had come down was in the heart of the mountains；snowy heights，one of them looking rose—red in the reflections of the sunset，towered above them．

“I am hungry，”said Digory．

“Well，tuck in，”said Fledge，taking a big mouthful of grass． Then he raised his head，still chewing and with bits of grass sticking out on each side of his mouth like whiskers，and said，“Come on，you two．Don’t be shy．There’s plenty for us all．”

“But we can’t eat grass，”said Digory．

“H’m，h’m，”said Fledge，speaking with his mouth full． “Well-h’m-don’t know quite what you’ll do then．Very good grass too．”

Polly and Digory stared at one another in dismay．

“Well，I do think someone might have arranged about our meals，”said Digory．

“I’m sure Aslan would have，if you’d asked him，”said Fledge．

“Wouldn’t he know without being asked ？”said Polly．

“I’ve no doubt he would，”said the Horse（still with his mouth full）．“But I’ve a sort of idea he likes to be asked．”

“But what on earth are we to do ？”asked Digory．

“I’m sure I don’t know，”said Fledge．“Unless you try the grass．You might like it better than you think．”

“Oh，don’t be silly，”said Polly，stamping her foot．“Of course humans can’t eat grass，any more than you could eat a mutton chop．”

“For goodness’ sake don’t talk about chops and things，”said Digory．“It only makes it worse．”

Digory said that Polly had better take herself home by ring and get something to eat there；he couldn’t himself because he had promised to go straight on his message for Aslan，and，if once he showed up again at home，anything might happen to prevent his getting back．But Polly said she wouldn’t leave him，and Digory said it was jolly decent of her．

“I say，”said Polly，“I’ve still got the remains of that bag of toffee in my jacket．It’ll be better than nothing．”

“A lot better，”said Digory，“But be careful to get your hand into your pocket without touching your ring．”

This was a difficult and delicate job but they managed it in the end．The little paper bag was very squashy and sticky when they finally got it out，so that it was more a question of tearing the bag off the toffees than of getting the toffees out of the bag．Some grown-ups（you know how fussy they can be about that sort of thing）would rather have gone without supper altogether than eaten those toffees．There were nine of them all told．It was Digory who had the bright idea of eating four each and planting the ninth；for， as he said，“if the bar off the lamp-post turned into a little light-tree，why shouldn’t this turn into a toffee-tree ？”So they dibbled a small hole in the turf and buried the piece of toffee．Then they ate the other pieces，making them last as long as they could．It was a poor meal，even with all the paper they couldn’t help eating as well．

When Fledge had quite finished his own excellent supper he lay down．The children came and sat one on each side of him leaning against his warm body，and when he had spread a wing over each they were really quite snug．As the bright young stars of that new world came out they talked over everything：how Digory had hoped to get something for his Mother and how，instead of that，he had been sent on this message．And they repeated to one another all the signs by which they would know the places they were looking for-the blue lake and the hill with a garden on top of it．The talk was just beginning to slow down as they got sleepy， when suddenly Polly sat up wide awake and said“Hush ！”

Everyone listened as hard as they could．

“Perhaps it was only the wind in the trees，”said Digory presently．

“I’m not so sure，”said Fledge．“Anyway-wait ！ There it goes again．By Aslan，it is something．”

The horse scrambled to its feet with a great noise and a great upheaval；the children were already on theirs．Fledge trotted to and fro，sniffing and whinnying．The children tip toed this way and that，looking behind every bush and tree．They kept on thinking they saw things，and there was one time when Polly was perfectly certain she had seen a tall，dark figure gliding quickly away in a westerly direction．But they caught nothing and in the end Fledge lay down again and the children re-snuggled（if that is the right word）under his wings．They went to sleep at once． Fledge stayed awake much longer moving his ears to and fro in the darkness and sometimes giving a little shiver with his skin as if a fly had lighted on him：but in the end he too slept．