“Keep off，” said Digory， backing away from him. “Keep clear of him， Polly. Come over here beside me. Now I warn you， Uncle Andrew， don‘t come one step nearer， we’ll just vanish.”
“Do what you‘re told this minute， sir，” said Uncle Andrew. “You’re an extremely disobedient， ill.behaved little boy.”
“No fear，” said Digory. “We want to stay and see what happens. I thought you wanted to know about other worlds. Don‘t you like it now you’re here？”
“Like it！” exclaimed Uncle Andrew. “Just look at the state I‘m in. And it was my best coat and waistcoat， too.” He certainly was a dreadful sight by now： for of course， the more dressed up you were to begin with， the worse you look after you’ve crawled out of a smashed hansom.cab and fallen into a muddy brook. “I‘m not saying，” he added， “that this is not a most interesting place. If I were a younger man， now.perhaps I could get some lively young fellow to come here first. One of those big.game hunters. Something might be made of this country. The climate is delightful. I never felt such air. I believe it would have done me good if.if circumstances had been more favourable. If only we’d had a gun.”
“Guns be blowed，” said the Cabby. “I think I‘ll go and see if I can give Strawberry a rub down. That horse ’as more sense than some ‘umans as I could mention.” He walked back to Strawberry and began making the hissing noises that grooms make.
“Do you still think that Lion could be killed by a gun？” asked Digory. “He didn’t mind the iron bar much.”
“With all her faults，” said Uncle Andrew， “that‘s a plucky gel， my boy. It was a spirited thing to do.” He rubbed his hands and cracked his knuckles， as if he were once more forgetting how the Witch frightened him whenever she was really there.
“It was a wicked thing to do，” said Polly. “What harm had he done her？”
“Hullo！ What’s that？” said Digory. He had darted forward to examine something only a few yards away. “I say， Polly，” he called back. “Do come and look.”
Uncle Andrew came with her； not because he wanted to see but because he wanted to keep close to the children.there might be a chance of stealing their rings. But when he saw what Digory was looking at， even he began to take an interest. It was a perfect little model of a lamp.post， about three feet high but lengthening， and thickening in proportion， as they watched it； in fact growing just as the trees had grown.
“It‘s alive too.I mean， it’s lit，” said Digory. And so it was； though of course the brightness of the sun made the little flame in the lantern hard to see unless your shadow fell on it.
“Remarkable， most remarkable，” muttered Uncle Andrew. “Even I never dreamt of Magic like this. We‘re in a world where everything， even a lamp.post， comes to life and grows. Now I wonder what sort of seed a lamp.post grows from？”
“Don’t you see？” said Digory. “This is where the bar fell.the bar she tore off the lamp.post at home. It sank into the ground and now it‘s coming up as a young lamp.post.” （But not so very young now； it was as tall as Digory while he said this.）
“That’s it！ Stupendous， stupendous，” said Uncle Andrew， rubbing his hands harder than ever. “Ho， ho！ They laughed at my Magic. That fool of a sister of mine thinks I‘m a lunatic. I wonder what they’ll say now？ I have discovered a world where everything is bursting with life and growth. Columbus， now， they talk about Columbus. But what was America to this？ The commercial possibilities of this country are unbounded. Bring a few old bits of scrap iron here， bury ‘em， and up they come as brand new railway engines， battleships， anything you please. They’ll cost nothing， and I can sell ‘em at full prices in England. I shall be a millionaire. And then the climate！ I feel years younger already. I can run it as a health resort. A good sanatorium here might be worth twenty thousand a year. Of course I shall have to let a few people into the secret. The first thing is to get that brute shot.”
“You’re just like the Witch，” said Polly. “All you think of is killing things.”
“And then as regards oneself，” Uncle Andrew continued in a happy dream. “there‘s no knowing how long I might live if I settled here. And that’s a big consideration when a fellow has turned sixty. I shouldn‘t be surprised if I never grew a day older in this country！ Stupendous！ The land of youth！”
“Oh！” cried Digory. “The land of youth！ Do you think it really is？” For of course he remembered what Aunt Letty had said to the lady who brought the grapes， and that sweet hope rushed back upon him. “Uncle Andrew，” he said， “do you think there’s anything here that would cure Mother？”
“What are you talking about？” said Uncle Andrew. “This isn‘t a chemist’s shop. But as I was saying.”
“You don‘t care twopence about her，” said Digory savagely. “I
thought you might； after all， she’s your sister as well as my Mother. Well， no matter. I‘m jolly well going to ask the Lion himself if he can help me.” And he turned and walked briskly away. Polly waited for a moment and then went after him.
“Here！ Stop！ Come back！ The boy’s gone mad，” said Uncle Andrew. He followed the children at a cautious distance behind； for he didn‘t want to get too far away from the green rings or too near the Lion.
In a few minutes Digory came to the edge of the wood and there he stopped. The Lion was singing still. But now the song had once more changed. It was more like what we should call a tune， but it was also far wilder. It made you want to run and jump and climb. It made you want to shout. It made you want to rush at other people and either hug them or fight them. It made Digory hot and red in the face. It had some effect on Uncle Andrew， for Digory could hear him saying， “A spirited gel， sir. It’s a pity about her temper， but a dem fine woman all the same， a dem fine woman.” But what the song did to the two humans was nothing compared with what it was doing to the country.
