Digoryquitelikedthecave（shewouldn'tlethimseethestory）buthewasmoreiedinexpl。
“Lookhere，”hesaid。“Howlounnelgoonfor?Imeaopwhereyourhouseends?”
“No，”saidPolly。“Thewallsdon'tgoouttoeson。Idon'tkno>
“Thenwecouldgetthelengthofthewholerowofhouses。”
“Sowecould，”saidPolly，“Andoh，Isay!”
“>
“Wecouldgetiherhouses。”
“Yes，aakenupflars!Nothanks。”
“Don'tbesojollyclever。Iwasthinkingofthehousebeyondyours。”
“Whataboutit?”
“Why，it'stheemptyone。Daddysaysit'salwaysbeeysincewecamehere。”
“Isupposeweoughttohavealookatitthen，”saidDigory。Hewasagooddealmoreexyou'dhavethoughtfromtheoke。Forofcoursehewasthinking，justasyouwouldhavebeen，ofallthereasonswhythehousemighthavebeeysolong。Soolly。hemsaidtheword“haunted“。Aohied，itwouldbefeeblenottodoit。
“Shallwegoandtryitnow?”saidDigory。
“Allright，”saidPolly。
“Don'tifyou'drathernot，”saidDigory。
“I'mgameifyouare，”saidshe。
“Howe'reihousebutoheydecidedtheywouldhavetogooutintothebox-roomandwalkacrossittakingstepsasloepsfromohewouldgivethemanideaofhowmaoaroom。ThentheywouldallowaboutfourmoreforthepassagebetweeiPolly'shouse，ahesamehemaid'sbed-roomasforthebox-room。Thatwouldgivethemthelengthofthehouse。WhentheyhaddodistaheywouldbeattheendofDigory'shouse;anydoortheycametoafterthatwouldletthemintoanattiptyhouse。
“ButIdo'sreallyemptyatall，”saidDigory。
“Whatdoyouexpect?”
&someoherei，onlyinginandoutatnight，withadarklantern。robablydiscofdesperatealsaareward。It'sallrottosayahousewouldbeemptyallthoseyearsuherewassomemystery。”
“Daddythoughtitmustbethedrains，”saidPolly。
“Pooh!Growhinkingexplanations，”saidDigory。NowthattheyweretalkingbydaylightiisteadofbydlelightintheSmugglers'Caveitseemedmuchlesslikelythattheemptyhousewouldbehaunted。
&heyhadmeasuredtheattictheyhadtogetapen。Theybothgotdiffereatfirst，aheyagreedIamitright。Theywereinahurrytostartoion。
&n'tmakeasound，”saidPollyastheyagaihe。Becauseitortantotheytookadleeach（Pollyhadagoodstoreoftheminhercave）。
Itwasverydarkanddustyanddraughtyaeppedfromraftertorafterwithoutawordextheywhisperedtooher，“We'reoppositeyourattiustbehalfwaythroughourhouse“。Ahemstumbledandthedlesdidn'tgoout，andatlasttheycamewheretheycouldseealittledoorinthebritheirright。Therewasnoboltorhahissideofit，ofcourse，forthedoorhadbeeingin，;buttherewasacatch（asthereoftenisontheinsideofacupboarddoor）whichtheyfeltsuretheywouldbeabletoturn。
“ShallI?”saidDigory。
“I'mgameifyouare，”saidPolly，justasshehadsaidbefore。Bothfeltthatitwasbeingveryserious，butherwoulddrawback。Digorypushedrouedifficultly。Thedopenandthesuddendaylightmadethemblihagreatshock，theysawthattheywerelooking，notiitoafurnishedroom。Butitseemedemptyenough。Itwasdeadsilent。Polly&#otthebetterofher。Sheblewoutherdsteppedoutirangeroom，makihanamouse。
Ited，ofcourse，likeanattic，butfurnishedasasittiofthewallswaslihshelvesaoftheshelveswasfullofbooks。Afirewasburnie（yourememberthatitwasaverycoldwetsummerthatyear）andinfrontofthefire-placewithitsbawasahigh-backedarmchair。BetweenthedPolly，andfillingmostofthemiddleoftheroom，wasabigtablepiledwithallsortsofthingsprintedbooks，andbooksofthesortyouwritein，andinkbottlesandpensandsealing-waxandamicroscope。Butwhatshewasabrightredwoodentraywithanumbersonit。Theywereinpairs—ayellowoneaogether，thenalittlespadthenanotheryellowohergreeheywerehans，andnoonecouldhelpnotigthembecausetheyweresht。Theywerethemostbeautifulshihingsyoue。IfPollyhadbeeleyoungershewouldhaveutoh。