At length Alice too began to see a face dawning through the darkness.
It was Richard's face; but it was far handsomer than when she saw it
last. Her eyes had begun to give light too. And she said to
herself--"Can it be that I love the poor widow's son?--I suppose that
must be it," she answered herself, with a smile; for she was not
disgusted with herself at all. Richard saw the smile, and was glad. Her
paleness had gone, and a sweet rosiness had taken its place. And now
she saw Richard's path as he saw hers, and between the two sights they
got on well.
They were now walking on a path betwixt two deep waters, which never
moved, shining as black as ebony where the eyelight fell. But they saw
ere long that this path kept growing narrower and narrower. At last, to
Alice's dismay, the black waters met in front of them.
"What is to be done now, Richard?" she said.
When they fixed their eyes on the water before them, they saw that it
was swarming with lizards, and frogs, and black snakes, and all kinds
of strange and ugly creatures, especially some that had neither heads,
nor tails, nor legs, nor fins, nor feelers, being, in fact, only living
lumps. These kept jumping out and in, and sprawling upon the path.
Richard thought for a few moments before replying to Alice's question,
as, indeed, well he might. But he came to the conclusion that the path
could not have gone on for the sake of stopping there; and that it must
be a kind of finger that pointed on where it was not allowed to go
itself.
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