CHAPTERTENTHESPELLBEGINSTOBREAK
gobar。andMrs。Beaveraher。AssoonasMr。Beaversaid，“There'solanbundliocoats，exceptMrs。Beaver，igupsadlayihetableandsaid:“Now，Mr。Beaver，justreathatham。Andhere'sapacketoftea，andthere'ssugar，adifsomeowoorthreeloavesoutofthecrockoverthereintheer。”
“Whatareyoudoing，Mrs。Beaver?”exclaimedSusan。
“Pagaloadforeachofus，dearie，”saidMrs。Beaververycoolly。“Youdidn'tthinkwe'dsetoutohnothi，didyou?”
“Butwehaven'ttime!”saidSusan，buttoningthecollarofheraybehereanyminute。”
“That'swhatIsay，”Mr。Beaver。
&alongwithyouall，”saidhiswife。“Thinkitover，Mr。Beaver。She'tbehereforquarterofanhouratleast。”
“Butdon'twewantasbigastartasossiblyget，”saidPeter，“ifwe'retoreachtheStoablebeforeher?”
“You'vegottorememberthat，Mrs。Beaver，”saidSusan。“Assoonasshehaslookedinhereandfindswe&#oneshe'llbeoffattopspeed。”
“Thatshewill，”saidMrs。Beaver。“Butwe'tgettherebeforeherwhateverwedo，forshe'llbeonasledgeandwe'llbewalking。”
“Then—havewenohope?”saidSusan。
“Nowdon'tyougetfussing，there'sadear，”saidMrs。Beaver，“butjustgethalfadozendkerchiefsoutofthedrawer。'Coursewe'vegotahope。We'tgettherebeforeherbutunderdgobywaysshewoandperhapswe'llgetthrough。”
“That&#h，Mrs。Beaver，”saidherhusband。“Butit'stimewewereoutofthis。”
“Anddon'tyeither，Mr。Beaver，”saidhiswife。“There。That'sbetter。There'sfiveloadsaforthesmallestofus:that'syou，mydear，”sheadded，lookingatLucy。
“Oh，dopleaseeon，”saidLucy。
“Well，I'mnearlyreadynow，”answeredMrs。Beaveratlast，allowingherhusbandtohelpherintohersnow-boots。“Isupposethesewiookheavyt?”
&is，”saidMr。Beaver。“Agreatdealtooheavy。Andyoudon'tthinkyou'llbeabletouseitwhilewe'reontherun，Isuppose?”
“I'tabidethethoughtofthatWitgwithit，”saidMrs。Beaver，“ait，aslikelyasnot。”
“Oh，please，please，please，dohurry!”saidthethree。AndsoatlasttheyallgotoutsideandMr。Beaverlockedthedoor（“It'lldelayherabit，”hesaid）aoff，allgtheirloadsovertheirshoulders。
ThesnoedandthemoowheheirjourinsiMr。Beaver，thenLuPeter，thenSusan，aofall。Mr。Beaverledthemacrossthedamandobankoftheriverandthenalhsortofpathamhtdownbytheriver-bank。Thesidesofthevalley，shininginthemoonlight，toweredupfarabovethemoherhakeepdownhereasmuchaspossible，”hesaid。“She'llhavetokeeptothetop，foryou&#asledgedownhere。”
Itwouldhavebeeyeolookatitthroughawindowfromafortablearmdevenasthingswere，Lujoyeditatfirst。Butastheywentonwalkingandwalking—andwalking—andasthesackshewasgfeltheavierandheavier，shebegantoasgoiall。Aoppedlookingatthedazzlingbrighthefrozehallitswaterfallsofidatthewhitemassesofthetree-topsaglaringmoolessstarsandlywatchthelittleshsofMr。Beavergoingpad-pad-pad-padthroughthesnowinfroheywereostop。ThenthemoondisappearedandthesofallolastLucywassotiredthatshewasalmostasleepandwalkiimewhensuddehatMr。Beaverhadturnedawayfromtheriver-baahemsteeplyuphillihickestbushes。AndthenasshecamefullyawakeshefoundthatMr。Beaverwasjustvanishingintoalittleholeinthebankwhichhadbeenalmosthiddehebushesuntilyouwerequiteontopofit。Infact，bythetimesherealizedening，onlyhisshortflattailwasshowing。
Lucyimmediatelystoopeddownaerhim。Thensheheardnoisesandpuffingandpantingbehindherandiallfiveofthemwereinside。
“Whereveristhis?”saidPeter'svoidingtiredahedarkness。（IhopeyouknowwhatImeanbyavoigpale。）
“It'sanoldhiding-placeforbeaversinbadtimes，”saidMr。Beaver，“a。It'snotmuchofaplacebutwemustgetafewhours'sleep。”
“Ifyouhadn'tallbeeninsuchaplagueyfusserestarting，I'dhavebroughtsomepillows，”saidMrs。Beaver。
Itwasn'tnearlysuicecaveasMr。Tumnus's，Lucythought—justaholeinthegroundbutdryawasverysmallsothatwhentheyalllaydowntheywereallabuhestogether，andwhatwiththatandbeiheirlongwalktheywerereallyrathersnug。Ifonlythefloorofthecavehadbeeher!ThenMrs。Beaverhandedroundinthedarkalittleflaskoutofwhiedramadeonedsplutteralittleandstu，butitalsomadeyoufeeldeliafteryou'dswallowedit—andeveryoraighttosleep。