As soon as he got free, he began to roll over and over,
in every possible manner, rotatory and cylindrical, all at once, until
he reached the wood. The courtiers followed, holding their sides, so
that the Queen was left sitting upon her throne in solitary state.
When they reached the wood, the goblin, whose name was Toadstool, was
nowhere to be seen. While they were looking for him, out popped his
head from the mole-heap again, with the words,--
"So, your majesty."
"You have taken your own time to answer," said the Queen, laughing.
"And my own way too, eh! your majesty?" rejoined Toadstool, grinning.
"No doubt. Well, you may try."
And the goblin, making as much of a bow as he could with only half his
neck above ground, disappeared under it.
CHAPTER II.
No mortal, or fairy either, can tell where Fairyland begins and where
it ends. But somewhere on the borders of Fairyland there was a nice
country village, in which lived some nice country people.
Alice was the daughter of the squire, a pretty, good-natured girl, whom
her friends called fairy-like, and others called silly.
One rosy summer evening, when the wall opposite her window was flaked
all over with rosiness, she threw herself down on her bed, and lay
gazing at the wall. The rose-colour sank through her eyes and dyed her
brain, and she began to feel as if she were reading a story-book. She
thought she was looking at a western sea, with the waves all red with
sunset.
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