out stopping herself before she found herself falling down what seemed
to be a very deep well.

Either the well was very deep or she fell very slowly, for she had
plenty of time as she went down to look about her, and to wonder what
was going to happen next.

"Well," thought Alice to herself, "after such a fall as this, I shall
think nothing of tumbling downstairs."

Down, down, down. Would the fall _never_ come to an end? "I wonder if I
shall fall right _through_ the earth? How funny it'll seem to come out
among the people that walk with their heads downwards! The Antipathies,
I think" (she was rather glad there was no one listening this time, as
it didn't sound at all the right word).

Down, down, down. Then suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap
of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.

Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment.
She looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another long
passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it.
There was not a moment to be lost. Away went Alice like the wind, and
was just in time to hear him say, as he turned a corner, "Oh, my ears
and whiskers, how late it is getting!" She was close behind him when she
turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen. She found
herself in a long narrow hall, which was lit up by lamps hanging from
the roof.

In the hall she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid
glass. There was nothing on it but a tiny golden key, and Alice's first
idea was that this might belong to one of the doors of the hall; but,
alas! either the locks were too large, or the key was too small, for, at
any rate, it would not open any of them. However, on the second time
round, she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, and
behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high. She tried the
little golden key in the lock, and, to her great delight, it fitted.

Alice opened the door, and found that it led into a small passage, not
much larger than a rat-hole. She knelt down and looked along the passage
into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of
that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and
those cool fountains, but she could not even get her head through the
doorway.

There seemed to be no use in waiting near the little door, so she went
back to the table, half hoping she might find another key