Reepicheep alone had， of course， no more chance of oing this than of lifting up a cathedral， but he had nearly illed himself with trying before others shoved him aside. ery soon the whole ship‘s company except Lucy and theMouse （who was fainting） was in two long lines along the two bulwarks， each man’s chest to the back of the man in front， so that the weight of the whole line was in the last man， pushing for their lives. For a few sickening seconds （which seemed like hours） nothing appeared to happen. Joints cracked， sweat dropped， breath came in grunts and gasps. Then they felt that the ship was moving. They saw that the snake.loop was further from the mast than it had been. But they also saw that it was smaller. And now the real danger was at hand. Could they get it over the poop， or was it already too tight？ Yes. It would just fit. It was resting on the poop rails. A dozen or more sprang up on the poop. This was far better. The Sea Serpent‘s body was so low now that they could make a line across the poop and push side by side. Hope rose high till everyone remembered the high carved stern， the dragon tail， of the Dawn Treader. It would be quite impossible to get the brute over that.
