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

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．