CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD（第3/3页）

At last the roof was so low that Puddleglum and the Prince knocked their heads against it. The party dismounted and led the horses. The road was uneven here and one had to pick one’s steps with some care. That was how Jill noticed the growing darkness. There was no doubt about it now. The faces of the others looked strange and ghastly in the green glow. Then all at once（she couldn’t help it）Jill gave a little scream. One light，the next one ahead，went out altogether. The one behind them did the same. Then they were in absolute darkness.

“Courage，friends,”came Prince Rilian’s voice. “Whether we live or die Aslan will be our good lord.”

“That’s right，Sir,”said Puddleglum’s voice. “And you must always remember there’s one good thing about being trapped down here：it’ll save funeral expenses.”

Jill held her tongue. （If you don’t want other people to know how frightened you are，this is always a wise thing to do；it’s your voice that gives you away.）

“We might as well go on as stand here,”said Eustace；and when she heard the tremble in his voice，Jill knew how wise she’d been not to trust her own.

Puddleglum and Eustace went first with their arms stretched out in front of them，for fear of blundering into anything；Jill and the Prince followed，leading the horses.

“I say,”came Eustace’s voice much later，“are my eyes going queer or is there a patch of light up there ？”

Before anyone could answer him，Puddleglum called out： “Stop. I’m up against a dead end. And it’s earth，not rock. What were you saying，Scrubb ？”

“By the Lion,”said the Prince，“Eustace is right. There is a sort of—”

“But it’s not daylight,”said Jill. “It’s only a cold blue sort of light.”

“Better than nothing，though,”said Eustace. “Can we get up to it ？”

“It’s not right overhead,”said Puddleglum. “It’s above us， but it’s in this wall that I’ve run into. How would it be，Pole，if you got on my shoulders and saw whether you could get up to it ？”