Hours and hours emed to go by in this dead calm, and they hardly noticed that they were getting colder and colder.But at last Luoticed two other things.One was that the sky on the east side of the hill was a little less dark than it had been an ho.The other was some tiny movement going on in the grass at her feet.At first she took no i in this.What did it matter?Nothing mattered now！But at last she saw that whatever-it-was had begun to move up the upright stones of the Stoable.And now whatever-they-were were moving about on Aslan’s body.She peered clor.They were little grey things.
“Ugh！”said Susan from the other side of the Table.“How beastly！There are horrid little mice crawling over him.Go away, you little beasts.”And she raid her hand thten them away.
“Wait！”said Lucy, who had been looking at them more cloly still.“ you e what they’re doing?”
Both girls bent down and stared.
“I do believe—”said Susan.“But how queer！They’re nibbling away at the cords！”
“That’s what I thought,”said Lucy.“I think they’re friendly mice.Poor little things-they don’t realize he’s dead.They think it’ll do some good untying him.”
It was quite definitely lighter by now.Each of the girls noticed for the first time the white face of the other.They could e the miibbling away; dozens and dozens, even hundreds, of little field mid at last, one by ohe ropes were all ghrough.
The sky in the east was whitish by now and the stars were getting fainter—all except one very big one low down on the eastern horizon.They felt colder than they had been all night.The mice crept away again.
The girls cleared away the remains of the gnawed ropes.Aslan looked more like himlf without them.Every moment his dead face looked nobler, as the light grew and they could e it better.
In the wood behind them a bird gave a chug sound.It had been so still for hours and hours that it startled them.Then another bird answered it.Soon there were birds singing all over the place.
It was quite definitely early m now, not late night.
“I’m so cold,”said Lucy.