“Oh， what is the good？” said Susan. “And as Edmundsaid.”
“I’m not saying it now，” Edmund interrupted. “I still don‘t understand， but we can settle that later. I suppose you’re coming down， Peter？”
“We must，” said Peter. “Cheer up， Susan. It‘s no good behaving like kids now that we are back in Narnia.
You’re a Queen here. And anyway no one could go to sleep with a mystery like this on their minds.”
They tried to use long sticks as torches but this was not a success. If you held them with the lighted end up they went out， and if you held them the other way they scorched your hand and the smoke got in your eyes. In the end they had to use Edmund‘s electric torch； luckily it had been a birthday present less than a week ago and the battery was almost new. He went first， with the light. Then came Lucy， then Susan， and Peter brought up the rear.
“I’ve come to the top of the steps，” said Edmund.
“Count them，” said Peter.
“One.two.three，” said Edmund， as he went cautiously down， and so up to sixteen. “And this is the bottom，” he shouted back.