“Welleitherhe’smad，”
saidDigory，“orthere’ssomeothermystery．HehasastudyonthetopfloorandAuntLettysaysImustnevergoupthere．Well，thatlooksfishytobeginwith．Andthenthere’sanotherthing．Wheneverhetriestosayanythingtomeatmealtimes-henevereventriestotalktoher-shealwaysshutshimup．Shesays，‘Don’tworrytheboy，Andrew‘or’I’msureDigorydoesn’twanttohearaboutthat‘orelse’Now，Digory，wouldn’tyouliketogooutandplayinthegarden？”
“Whatsortofthingsdoeshetrytosay？”
“Idon’tknow．Henevergetsfarenough．Butthere’smorethanthat．Onenight-itwaslastnightinfact-asIwasgoingpastthefootoftheattic-stairsonmywaytobed（andIdon’tmuchcareforgoingpastthemeither）I’msureIheardayell．”
“Perhapshekeepsamadwifeshutupthere．”
“Yes，I’vethoughtofthat．
“Orperhapshe’sacoiner．”
“Orhemighthavebeenapirate，likethemanatthebeginningofTreasureIsland，andbealwayshidingfromhisoldshipmates．”
“Howexciting！”
saidPolly，“Ineverknewyourhousewassointeresting．”
“Youmaythinkitinteresting，”
saidDigory．“Butyouwouldn’tlikeitifyouhadtosleepthere．HowwouldyouliketolieawakelisteningforUncleAndrew’ssteptocomecreepingalongthepassagetoyourroom？Andhehassuchawfuleyes．”
ThatwashowPollyandDigorygottoknowoneanother：andasitwasjustthebeginningofthesummerholidaysandneitherofthemwasgoingtotheseathatyear，theymetnearlyeveryday．
Theiradventuresbeganchieflybecauseitwasoneofthewettestandcoldestsummerstherehadbeenforyears．Thatdrovethemtodoindoorthings：youmightsay，indoorexploration．Itiswonderfulhowmuchexploringyoucandowithastumpofcandleinabighouse，orinarowofhouses．Pollyhaddiscoveredlongagothatifyouopenedacertainlittledoorinthebox-roomatticofherhouseyouwouldfindthecisternandadarkplacebehinditwhichyoucouldgetintobyalittlecarefulclimbing．Thedarkplacewaslikealongtunnelwithbrickwallononesideandslopingroofontheother．Intherooftherewerelittlechunksoflightbetweentheslates．Therewasnofloorinthistunnel：youhadtostepfromraftertorafter，andbetweenthemtherewasonlyplaster．Ifyousteppedonthisyouwouldfindyourselffallingthroughtheceilingoftheroombelow．Pollyhadusedthebitofthetunneljustbesidethecisternasasmugglers’cave．Shehadbroughtupbitsofoldpackingcasesandtheseatsofbrokenkitchenchairs，andthingsofthatsort，andspreadthemacrossfromraftertoraftersoastomakeabitoffloor．Hereshekeptacash-boxcontainingvarioustreasures，andastoryshewaswritingandusuallyafewapples．Shehadoftendrunkaquietbottleofginger-beerinthere：theoldbottlesmadeitlookmorelikeasmugglers’cave．
Digoryquitelikedthecave（shewouldn’tlethimseethestory）buthewasmoreinterestedinexploring．
“Lookhere，”
hesaid．“Howlongdoesthistunnelgoonfor？Imean，doesitstopwhereyourhouseends？”
“No，”
saidPolly．“Thewallsdon’tgoouttotheroof．Itgoeson．Idon’tknowhowfar．”
“Thenwecouldgetthelengthofthewholerowofhouses．”
“Sowecould，”
saidPolly，“Andoh，Isay！”
“What？”
“Wecouldgetintotheotherhouses．”
“Yes，andgettakenupforburglars！
Nothanks．”
“Don’tbesojollyclever．Iwasthinkingofthehousebeyondyours．”
“Whataboutit？”
“Why，it’stheemptyone．Daddysaysit’salwaysbeenemptyeversincewecamehere．”
“Isupposeweoughttohavealookatitthen，”
saidDigory．Hewasagooddealmoreexcitedthanyou’dhavethoughtfromthewayhespoke．Forofcoursehewasthinking，justasyouwouldhavebeen，ofallthereasonswhythehousemighthavebeenemptysolong．SowasPolly．Neitherofthemsaidtheword“haunted”
．Andbothfeltthatoncethethinghadbeensuggested，itwouldbefeeblenottodoit．
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