They went in， drew the door very softly behind them， and found themselves in pitch darkness. Aravis could hear by Lasaraleen‘s breathing that she was terrified.
“Tash preserve us！” whispered Lasaraleen. “What shallwe do if he comes in here. Can we hide？”
There was a soft carpet under their feet. They groped forward into the room and blundered onto a sofa.
“Let’s lie down behind it，” whimpered Lasaraleen. “Oh， I do wish we hadn‘t come.”
There was just room between the sofa and the curtained wall and the two girls got down. Lasaraleen managed to get the better position and was completely covered. The upper part of Aravis’s face stuck out beyond the sofa， so that if anyone came into that room with a light and happened to look in exactly the right place they would see her. But of course， because she was wearing a veil， what they saw would not at once look like a forehead and a pair of eyes. Aravis shoved desperately to try to make Lasaraleen give her a little more room. But Lasaraleen， now quite selfish in her panic， fought back and pinched her feet. They gave it up and lay still， panting a little. Their own breath semed dreadfully noisy， but there was no other noise.
