The door had been wrenched off its hinges and broken to bits. Inside， the cave was dark and cold and had the damp feel and smell of a place that had not been lived in for several days. Snow had drifted in from the doorway and was heaped on the floor， mixed with something black， which turned out to be the charred sticks and ashes from the fire. Someone had apparently flung it about the room and then stamped it out. The crockery lay smashed on the floor and the picture of the Faun’s father had been slashed into shreds with a knife.
“This is a pretty good wash.out，” said Edmund； “not muchgood coming here.”
“What is this？” said Peter， stooping down. He had just noticed a piece of paper which had been nailed through the carpet to the floor.
“Is there anything written on it？” asked Susan.
“Yes， I think there is，” answered Peter， “but I can‘t read it in this light. Let’s get out into the open air.”
They all went out in the daylight and crowded round Peter as he read out the following words：
