“Onlydust，”saidUndrew。“Fine，drydust。Nothingmuchtolookat。Notmuchtoshowforalifetimeoftoil，youmightsay。Ah，butwhedust（Itookjollygoodottotoudthoughtthateverygrainhadoherworld—Idon'tmea，youknow;they'repartofourworldandyoucouldgettothemifyouweareallyOtherWorld—aureanotheruniverse—somewhereyouwouldneverreaifyoutravelledthroughthespaceofthisuniverseforeverandever—aworldthatcouldbereaagic—well!”HereUndrewrubbedhishandstillhisknucklescrackedlikefireworks。
“Ikon，“thatifonlyyoucouldgetitiform，thatdustwoulddrawyoubacktotheplaceithad。Butthedifficultywastogetitiform。Myearlierexperimentswereallfailures。Itriedthemonguinea-pigs。Someofthemonlydied。Someexplodedlikelittlebombs—”
“Itwasajtodo，”saidDigorywhohadoncehadaguinea-pigofhisown。
“Howyoudokeepgetti!”saidU'swhatthecreatureswerefor。I'dboughtthemmyself。Letmesee—wherewasI?Ahyes。AtlastIsumakiheyells。Butnowanewdifficultyarose。Irettysure，now，thatayellwouldsehattoutotheOtherPace。ButwhatwouldbethegoodofthatifI'tgetthembaewhattheyhadfoundthere?”
“Andwhataboutthem?”saidDigory。“Ahey'dbeinifthey'tgetback!”
“Youwillkeeponlookihingfrpointofview，”saidUhalookofimpatien'tyouuhatthethingisagreatexperiment?ThewholepointofsendiheOtherPlaceisthatIwanttofindoutwhatit'slike。”
“Wellwhydidn'tyougoyourselfthen?”
DigoryhadhardlyeverseenanyonesosurprisedandoffendedashisUhissimplequestion。“Me?Me?”heexclaimed。“Theboymustbemad!Amanatmytimeoflife，andih，torisktheshodthedangersofbeingfluoadifferentuniverse?Ihierousinmylife!Doyourealizewhaty?ThinkwhatAnotherWorldmeans—youmightmeetanythinganything。”
“AndIsupposeyou'vesentPollyintoitthen，”saidDigory。Hischeekswereflamingwithangernow。“AndallIsay，”headded，“evenifyouaremyUyou'vebehavedlikeacoward，sendingagirltoaplaceyou&#otoyourself。”
“Silence，sir!”saidUndrew，bringinghishanddowable。“Iwillolikethatbyalittle，dirty，schoolboy。Youdon'tuand。Iamthegreatschi，theadept，whoisdoi。Ofeedsubjectstodoiton。Blessmysoul，you'llbetelliIoughttohaveaskedtheguinea-pigs'permissiohem!wisdombereachedwithoutsacrifice。Buttheideaofmygoingmyselfisridiculous。It'slikeaskiofightasaonsoldier。SupposingIgotkilled，whatwouldbeylife'swork?”
“Oh，dostopjawing，”saidDigPollyback?”
“Iwasgoingtotellyou，whenyousorudelyiedme，”saidUIdidatlastfindoutawayofdoiurhegreenringsdra>
“ButPollyhasn'tg。”
“No”saidUhacruelsmile。
“Thenshe'tgetback，”shoutedDigory。“Andit'sexactlythesameasifyou'dmurderedher。
&back，”saidUndrew，“ifsomeoneelsewillgoafterher，wearingayellhimselfandtakingtws，himselfbaetherback。”
AndnorysainwhichhewasdhestaredatUndrew，sayingnothing，withhismouthwideopen。Hischeekshadgoneverypale。
“Ihope，”saidUlyinaveryhighandmightyvoice，justasifheerfeclewhohadgivenoneahaipandsomegoodadvice，“Ihope，Digory，yiventoshowiefeather。Ishouldbeverysorrytothinkthatanyoneofourfamilyhadnotenoughhonourandchivalrytogototheaidof—er—aladyindistress。”
“Ohshutup!”saidDigory。“Ifyouhadanyhonourandallthat，you'dbegoiIknowyouwon't。Allright。IseeI'vegottogo。Butyouareabeast。Isupposeyouplahing，sothatshe'dgowithoutknowingitandthenI'dhavetogoafterher。”
“Ofcourse，”saidUhhishatefulsmile。
“Verywell。I'llgo。Butthere'sohingIjollywellmeantosayfirst。Ididn'tbelieveinMagictilltoday。Iseenowit'sreal。Wellifitis，Isupposealltheoldfairytalesaremoreorlesstrue。Andyou'resimplyawicked，cruelmagiliketheoories。Well，I'veoryihatsortweren'tpaidoutintheend，ayouwillbe。Andserveyht。”
OfallthethingsDigoryhadsaidthiswasthefirstthatreallywenthome。Uedandtherecameoverhisfacealookofsuchhorrorthat，beastthoughhewas，youostfeelsorryforhim。Butasedlaterhesmootheditallawayandsaidwitharatherfh，“Well，well，Isupposethatisanaturalthingforachildthtupamongwomen，asyouhavebeen。Oldwives'tales，eh?Idon'tthinkyouneedworryaboutmydanger，Digory。Wouldn'titbebettertoworryaboutthedangerofyourlittlefriend?She'sbeeime。Ifthereareahere—well，ititytoarriveamomenttoolate。”
“Alotyoucare，”saidDigoryfiercely。“ButI'msickofthisjaw。WhathaveIgottodo?”
“Youreallymustlearntotrolthattemperofyours，myboy，”saidUndrewcoolly。“Otherwiseyou'llgrowuplikeyourAuy。ome。”
&up，putloves，aothetraythatedtherings。
“Theyonlywork，”hesaid，“ifthey'reactuallytougyourskin。Wearinggloves，Ipickthemup—likethis—andnothinghappens。Ifyoueinyourpoothingen:butofcourseyou'dhavetobeottoputyourhandinyourpodtouchitbyat。Themomentyoutouchayell，youvanishoutofthisworld。WheheOtherPlaceIexpect—ofcoursethishasn'tbee，butIexpect—thatthemomentyoutyouvanishoutofthatect—reappearinthis。Now。Itakethesetwogreensanddropthemintht-ha。Rememberverycarefullywhichpocketthegreensarein。GfreenandRf。R。yousee:whicharethefirsttwreen。Oneforyouahelittlegirl。Andnowyoupickupayellowoneforyourself。Ishouldputiter—ifIwereyou。There'llbelessceit。”
Digoryhadalmostpickeduptheyellwhenhesuddenlycheckedhimself。
“Lookhere，”hesaid。“WhataboutMother?Supposingsheasks>
“Theso，thesooneryou'llbeback，”saidUndrewcheerfully。
“Butyoudon'treallykherIgetback。”
Undrewshruggedhisshoulders，walkedacrosstothedoor，uhrewitopen，andsaid:“Ohvery'wellthen。Justasyouplease。GodownandhaveyourdihelittlegirltobeeatenbywildanimalsordrowarvedinOtherworldorlood，ifthat'srefer。It'salloome。Perhapsbeforeteatimeyou'dbetterdropinonMrs。Plummerahatshe'llneverseeherdaughteragain;becauseyouut。”
“Bygum，”saidDigory，“don'tIjustwishIwasbigenoughtopunchyourhead!”
&oneduphiscoat，tookadeepbreath，aherithehoughtafterwardtoo，thatheotdetlyhavedohingelse。