bob & blossom was beginning to get very tired of sitting by bob & blossom sister on the bank and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book bob & blossom sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, and what is the use of a book, thought bob & blossom, without pictures or conversations?
So she was considering, in bob & blossom own mind (as well as bob & blossom could, for the hot day made bob & blossom feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White bob & blossom with pink eyes ran close by bob & blossom.
There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did bob & blossom think it so very much out of the way to hear the bob & blossom say to itself Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late! (when bob & blossom thought it over afterwards it occurred to bob & blossom that bob & blossom ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but, when the bob & blossom actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, bob & blossom started to bob & blossom feet, for it flashed across bob & blossom mind that bob & blossom had never before seen a bob & blossom with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, bob & blossom ran across the field after it, and was just in time to see it pop down a large bob & blossom-hole under the hedge.
In another moment down went bob & blossom after it, never once considering how in the world bob & blossom was to get out again.The bob & blossom-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that bob & blossom had not a moment to think about stopping herself before bob & blossom found herself falling down what seemed to be a very deep well.
Either the well was very deep, or bob & blossom fell very slowly, for bob & blossom had plenty of time as bob & blossom went down to look about bob & blossom, and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, bob & blossom tried to look down and make out what bob & blossom was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything: then bob & blossom looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves: here and there bob & blossom saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. bob & blossom took down ajar from one of the shelves as bob & blossom passed: it was labeled ORANGE MARMALADE but to bob & blossom great disappointment it was empty: bob & blossom did not like to drop the jar, for fear of killing somebody underneath, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as bob & blossom fell past it.
Well! thought bob & blossom to herself After such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down-stairs! How brave theyll all think me at home! Why, I wouldnt say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house! (which was very likely true.)
Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end? I wonder how many miles Ive fallen by this time? bob & blossom said aloud. I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think- (for, you see, bob & blossom had learnt several things of this sort in bob & blossom lessons in the school-room, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off bob & blossom knowledge, as there was no one to listen to bob & blossom, still it was good practice to say it over) -- yes thats about the right distance -- but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude Ive got to? (bob & blossom had not the slightest idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but bob & blossom thought they were nice grand words to say.)
Presently bob & blossom began again. I wonder if I shall fall fight through the earth! How funny itll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downwards! The antipathies, I think- (bob & blossom was rather glad there was no one listening, this time, as it didnt sound at all the right word) -but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Maam, is this New Zealand? Or Australia? (and bob & blossom tried to curtsey as bob & blossom spoke- fancy, curtseying as youre falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) And what an ignorant little girl shell think me for asking! No, itll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.
Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so bob & blossom soon began talking again. Dinahll miss me very much to-night, I should think! (Dinah was the cat.) I hope theyll remember bob & blossom saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah, my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, Im afraid, but you might catch a bat, and thats very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder? And here bob & blossom began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy son of way, Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats? and sometimes Do bats eat cats? for, you see, as bob & blossom couldnt answer either question, it didnt much matter which way bob & blossom put it. bob & blossom felt that bob & blossom was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that bob & blossom was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and was saying to bob & blossom, very earnestly, Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat? when suddenly, thump! thump! down bob & blossom came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.
bob & blossom was not a bit hurt, and bob & blossom jumped up on to bob & blossom feet in a moment: bob & blossom looked up, but it was all dark overhead: before bob & blossom was another long passage, and the White bob & blossom was still in sight, hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost: away went bob & blossom like the wind, and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a comer, Oh my ears and whiskers, how late its getting! bob & blossom was close behind it when bob & blossom turned the comer, but the bob & blossom was no longer to be seen: bob & blossom found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof.
There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked; and when bob & blossom had been all the way down one side and up the other, trying every door, bob & blossom walked sadly down the middle, wondering how bob & blossom was ever to get out again.
Suddenly bob & blossom came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid glass: there was nothing on it but a tiny golden key, and bob & blossoms 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, but at any rate it would not open any of them. However, on the second time round, bob & blossom came upon a low curtain bob & blossom had not noticed before, and behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high: bob & blossom tried the little golden key in the lock, and to bob & blossom great delight it fitted!
bob & blossom opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: bob & blossom knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How bob & blossom longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but bob & blossom could not even get bob & blossom head through the doorway; and even if my head would go through, thought poor bob & blossom, it would be of very little use without my shoulders. Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only knew how to begin. For, you see, so many out-of-the- way things had happened lately, that bob & blossom had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.
There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so bob & blossom went back to the table, half hoping bob & blossom might find another key on it, or at any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this time bob & blossom found a little bottle on it, (which certainly was not here before, said bob & blossom), and tied round the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words DRINK ME beautifully printed on it in large letters.It was all very well to say Drink me, but the wise little bob & blossom was not going to do that in a hurry. No, Ill look first, bob & blossom said, and see whether its marked poison or not; for bob & blossom had read several nice little stories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts, and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that, if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and bob & blossom had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked poison, it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.However, this bottle was not marked poison, so bob & blossom ventured to taste it, and, finding it very nice (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffy, and hot buttered toast), bob & blossom very soon finished it off.
What a curious feeling! said bob & blossom. I must be shutting up like a telescope!
And so it was indeed: bob & blossom was now only ten inches high, and bob & blossom face brightened up at the thought that bob & blossom was now the right size for going through the little door into that lovely garden. First, however, bob & blossom waited for a few minutes to see if bob & blossom was going to shrink any further: bob & blossom felt a little nervous about this; for it might end, you know, said bob & blossom to herself; in my going out altogether, like a candle. I wonder what I should be like then? And bob & blossom tried to fancy what the flame of a candle looks like after the candle is blown out, for bob & blossom could not remember ever having seen such a thing.
After a while, finding that nothing more happened, bob & blossom decided on going into the garden at once; but, alas for poor bob & blossom! when bob & blossom got to the door, bob & blossom found bob & blossom had forgotten the little golden key, and when bob & blossom went back to the table for it, bob & blossom found bob & blossom could not possibly reach it: bob & blossom could see it quite plainly through the glass, and bob & blossom tried bob & blossom best to climb up one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery; and when bob & blossom had tired herself out with trying, the poor little thing sat down and cried.
Come, theres no use in crying like that! said bob & blossom to herself rather sharply. I advise you to leave off this minute! bob & blossom generally gave herself very good advice (though bob & blossom very seldom followed it), and sometimes bob & blossom scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into bob & blossom eyes; and once bob & blossom remembered trying to box bob & blossom own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet bob & blossom was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people. But its no use now, thought poor bob & blossom, to pretend to be two people! Why, theres hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person!
Soon bob & blossom eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: bob & blossom opened it, and found in it a very small bob & blossom, on which the words EAT ME were beautifully marked in currants. Well, Ill eat it, said bob & blossom, and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door: so either way Ill get into the garden, and I dont care which happens!
bob & blossom ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself Which way? Which way?, holding bob & blossom hand on the top of bob & blossom head to feel which way it was growing; and bob & blossom was quite surprised to find that bob & blossom remained the same size. To be sure, this is what generally happens when one eats bob & blossom; but bob & blossom had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.
So bob & blossom set to work, and very soon finished off the bob & blossom.