Instantly， as it seemed to Uncle Andrew， the Queen towered up to an even greater height. Fire flashed from her eyes： she flung out her arm with the same gesture and the same horrible.sounding words that had lately turned the palace.gates of Charn to dust. But nothing happened except that Aunt Letty， thinking that those horrible words were meant to be ordinary English， said：
“I thought as much. The woman is drunk. Drunk！ She can’t even speak clearly.”
It must have been a terrible moment for the Witch when she suddenly realized that her power of turning people into dust， which had been quite real in her ownworld， was not going to work in ours. But she did not lose her nerve even for a second. Without wasting a thought on her disappointment， she lunged forward， caught Aunt Letty round the neck and the knees， raised her high above her head as if she had been no heavier than a doll， and threw her across the room. While Aunt Letty was still hurtling through the air， the housemaid （who was having a beautifully exciting morning） put her head in at the door and said， “If you please， sir， the ‘ansom’s come.”
