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Page 25
"'I suppose the rain and so forth wears them away in time,' I said
vaguely.
"'I suppose it does,' said the beetle politely; 'will you walk in?'
"I don't know why I was not so overpoweringly astonished as you would
imagine. I think I was a good deal absorbed in considering the size of
the hole, and the very foolish wish that seized me to do what I had
often longed to do in childhood, and creep in. I _had_ so much
regard for propriety as to see that there was no one to witness the
escapade. Then I tucked my skirts round me, put my spectacles into my
pocket for fear they should get broken, and in I went.
"I must say one thing. A wood is charming enough (no one appreciates it
more than myself), but, if you have never been there, you have no idea
how much nicer it is inside than on the surface. Oh, the mosses--the
gorgeous mosses! The fretted lichens! The fungi like flowers for
beauty, and the flowers like nothing you have ever seen!
"Where the beetle went to I don't know. I could stand up now quite
well, and I wandered on till dusk in unwearied admiration. I was among
some large beeches as it grew dark, and was beginning to wonder how I
should find my way (not that I had lost it, having none to lose), when
suddenly lights burst from every tree, and the whole place was
illuminated. The nearest approach to this scene that I ever witnessed
above ground was in a wood near the Hague in Holland. There, what look
like tiny glass tumblers holding floating wicks, are fastened to the
trunks of the fine old trees, at intervals of sufficient distance to
make the light and shade mysterious, and to give effect to the full
blaze when you reach the spot where hanging chains of lamps illuminate
the 'Pavilion' and the open space where the band plays, and where the
townsfolk assemble by hundreds to drink coffee and enjoy the music. I
was the more reminded of the Dutch 'bosch' because, after wandering
some time among the lighted trees, I heard distant sounds of music, and
came at last upon a glade lit up in a similar manner, except that the
whole effect was incomparably more brilliant.
"As I stood for a moment doubting whether I should proceed, and a good
deal puzzled about the whole affair, I caught sight of a large spider
crouched up in a corner with his stomach on the ground and his knees
above his head, as some spiders do sit, and looking at me, as I
fancied, through a pair of spectacles. (About the spectacles I do not
feel sure. It may have been two of his bent legs in apparent connection
with his prominent eyes.) I thought of the beetle, and said civilly,
'Can you tell me, sir, if this is Fairyland?' The spider took off his
spectacles (or untucked his legs), and took a sideways run out of his
corner.
"'Well,' he said, 'it's a Province. The fact is, it's the Land of Lost
Toys. You haven't such a thing as a fly anywhere about you, have you?'
"'No,' I said, 'I'm sorry to say I have not.' This was not strictly
true, for I was not at all sorry; but I wished to be civil to the old
gentleman, for he projected his eyes at me with such an intense (I had
almost said greedy) gaze, that I felt quite frightened.
"'How did you pass the sentries?' he inquired.
"'I never saw any,' I answered.
"'You couldn't have seen anything if you didn't see them,' he said;
'but perhaps you don't know. They're the glow-worms. Six to each tree,
so they light the road, and challenge the passers-by. Why didn't they
challenge you?'
"'I don't know,' I began, 'unless the beetle--'
"'I don't like beetles,' interrupted the spider, stretching each leg in
turn by sticking it up above him, 'all shell, and no flavour. You never
tried walking on anything of that sort, did you?' and he pointed with
one leg to a long thread that fastened a web above his head.
"'Certainly not,' said I.
"'I'm afraid it wouldn't bear you,' he observed slowly.
"'I'm quite sure it wouldn't,' I hastened to reply. I wouldn't try for
worlds. It would spoil your pretty work in a moment. Good-evening.'
"And I hurried forward. Once I looked back, but the spider was not
following me. He was in his hole again, on his stomach, with his knees
above his head, and looking (apparently through his spectacles) down
the road up which I came.
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