&meaogobatoallthatthickwood?”saidSusan。
“Notabitofit,”saidPeter。“Iftherearestreamsthey'rebouothesea,andifwewalkalongthebeachwe'rebouhem。”
Theyallnowwadedbatfirstaooth,wetsahedry,crumblysandthatstie'stoes,aingontheirshoesandsodandLutedtoleavethembehindanddotheirexplwithbarefeet,butSusansaidthiswouldbeamadthingtodo。“Wemighthemagaiedout,“andweshallwantthemifwe'restillherewhenbeginstobecold。”
&heyweredressedagaialongtheshorewiththeseaohandandthewoodht。Exceptforanoalseagullitwasaveryquietplace。Thewoodwassothigledthattheycouldhardlyseeintoitatall;andnothingiabird,noteve。
Shellsandseaweedainyrock-pools,areallverywell,butyousoohemifyouarethirsty。The'sfeet,afterthethecoolwater,felthotandheavy。SusanandLucyhadraincoatstocarry。Edmundhadputdownhisthestatiobefi,aertookitinturnstocarryPeter'sgreatcoat。
&heshaht。Aboutquarterofanhourlater,aftertheyhadcrewhioutintoapoint,itmadequiteasharpturn。Theirbaowtothepartoftheseawhichhadmetthemwhecameoutofthewood,andnow,lookiheycouldseeacrossthewateranothershore,thicklywoodedliketheoheywereexpl。
“Iwohatanislandordowejoinontoitpresently?”saidLucy。
“Don'tknoeterandtheyallploddedoninsilence。
&hattheywerewalkingondrewneareraheoppositeshore,andastheydeaontorytheexpectedtofindtheplacewherethetwojoiinthistheyoiosomerockswhichtheyhadtodfromthetoptheycouldseeafairwayaheadand—“Oh,bother!”saidEdmund,“it'snogood。Weshan'tbeabletogettothoseotherwoodsatall。We'reonanisland!”
Itwastrue。Atthispointtheelbetweeheoppositecoastwasonlyaboutthirtyorfortyyardswide;buttheyowseethatthislace。Afterthat,theirowrouagainandtheycouldseeopeandthemainland。Itwasobviousthattheyhadalreadyorethanhalf-wayroundtheisland。
“Look!”saidLuly。“What'sthat?”Shepoioalong,silvery,shatlayacrossthebeach。
“Astream!Astream!”shoutedtheothers,aheywere,theylosteringdownthertothefreshwater。Theykhestreamwouldbebettertodrinkfartherup,awayfromthebeach,sotheywehespotwhereitcameoutofthewood。Thetreeswereasthickasever,butthestreamhadmadeitselfadeepcoursebetweenhighmossybankssothatbystoopingyoucouldfollowitupinasortoftuheydroppedontheirkhefirstbrown,dimplypoolanddrankanddrank,aheirfathewater,andtheheirarmsinuptotheelbow。
“Now,”saidEdmund,“whataboutthosesandwiches?”
“Oh,hadn'twebetterhavethem?”saidSusan。“Wemayhemfarworselateron。”
“Idowish,”saidLuowthatwe'renotthirsty,wecouldgoonfeelingasnot-hungryaserethirsty。”
“Butwhataboutthosesandwiches?”repeatedEdmund。“There'snogoodsaviheygobad。You'vegottorememberit'sagooddealhotterherethaninEnglandandwe'vebeengthemaboutisforhours。”Sotheygotoutthetwopaddividedthemintofourportions,andnobodyhadquiteenough,butitwasagreatdealbetterthannothialkedabouttheirplameal。Lutedtogobacktotheseaandcatchshrimps,uedoutthattheyhads。Edmundsaidtheymustgathergulls'eggsfromtherocks,butwheothinkofittheyemberhavingseenanygulls'eggsandwouldn'tbeabletoiftheyfouhoughttohimselfthatuheyhadsomestrokeoflucktheywouldsoooeateggsraw,buthedidn'tseeanypointinsayingthisoutloud。Susansaidititytheyhadeatenthesandwichessosooempersverylostatthisstage。FinallyEdmundsaid:“Lookhere。There'soobedoexplorethewood。Hermitsandkahatalwaysmaolivesomehowifthey'reiheyfindrootsahings。”
“Whatsortofroots?”askedSusan。
“Ialwaysthoughtitmeantrootsoftrees,”saidLucy。
“eon,”saidPeter,“Edisright。Arytodosomething。Andit'llbebetterthangoingoutintotheglareandthesunagain。”
Sotheyallgotupaofollowthestream。Itwasveryhardwork。Theyhadtostoopunderbrandclimboverbraheybluhroughgreatmassesofstufflikerhododendronsaheirdgottheirfeetwetiream;andstilltherewasallexoiseofthestreamaheyweremakiheywerebeginiredofitwheicedadeliell,andthenaflashhtchabovethematthetophtbank。
“Isay!”exclaimedLucy。“Idobelievethat'saree。”
Itahesteepbaheirwaythroughsomebrambles,andfouandingroundawasheavywithlargeyellowish-goldenapplesasfirmandjuicyasyoucouldwishtosee。
“Andthisisree,”saidEdmundwithhismouthfullofapple。“Lookthere—andthere。”
“Why,therearedozensofthem,”saidSusan,throwingawaythecoreofherfirstappleandpighersed。“Thismusthavebeenan,loheplatwildandthewoodgrewup。”
&hiswasonhabitedisland,”saidPeter。
“Andwhat'sthat?”saidLutingahead。
“ByJove,it'saeter。“Anoldstone>
&heirwaybetweentheladeheyreachedthewall。Itwasveryold,andbrokendowhmossandingonit,butitwashigherthanallbutthetallesttrees。Aheycamequiteclosetoittheyfouarchwhicehavehadagateinitbutwasnowalmostfilledupwiththelargestofalltheappletrees。Theyhadtobreaksomeofthebrapast,aheyhaddoheyallblihedaylightbecamesuddenlymuchbrighter。Theyfoundthemselvesinawideopehwallsallroundit。Iherewerenotrees,onlylevelgrassanddaisies,andivy,andgraywalls。Itwasabright,secret,quietpladrathersad;andallfoursteppedoutintothemiddleofit,gladtobeablethtentheirbadmovetheirlimbsfreely。