Chapter IX
Waxing and Waning
In which Alice makes a strange discovery
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Once through the main door Alice could see a large room, off to one side, with a pair of crossed swords above the doorway.
The room was filled with a great many people and the curious thing, Alice noticed from a distance, was that they were all standing very still, and the room was very quiet.
‘I wonder what can be going on in there?’ she thought to herself.
So, she tiptoed cautiously towards the entrance, and peered through the doorway.
‘How strange,’ she thought, as she looked into the room. ‘They must be waiting for someone important to arrive, and they certainly look as if they are all on their very best behaviour!’
After a while, Alice grew tired of waiting and she plucked up the courage to go in.
None of the people in the room took the slightest bit of notice as she entered.
‘They must be concentrating very hard,’ she thought, ‘or maybe they are waiting for me to be properly introduced to them, before they talk to me?’ for Alice knew that it was important to be introduced properly, before beginning a conversation with a stranger.
‘Just imagine,’ she thought, ‘if there was no one here who could introduce me. Why, then I would have to stand here without being able to talk to anyone, at all. How awkward that would be!
‘But then,’ she continued, ‘none of the people in the room are talking to each other as it is, so maybe no one has been properly introduced to anyone else.’
This seemed like a silly idea to Alice, so she looked around for someone who she could talk to.
‘That footman over there should be able to help me,’ she thought, spying a servant standing rigidly to attention, near the doorway.
‘Excuse me,’ she said, approaching the figure. ‘Can you tell me who is hosting this soiree?
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(‘That is a grand word,’ thought Alice, who had heard it used before, ‘and I am sure that this is a grand occasion, because all the people are dressed so elegantly that it must be very special gathering.’ Indeed, for a moment, Alice thought that it might be a fancy dress party, as there were so many different costumes on display. ‘I am sure that he is dressed as a medieval knight,’ she thought, as she looked around the room, ‘and that one over there must be an Oriental of some description.’)
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To Alice’s great surprise the footman said nothing, but stared straight ahead with unwavering determination.
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Alice cleared her throat and tried again, but the figure continued to ignore her.
‘Well,’ said Alice, in as loud a voice as she dared (which wasn’t very loud at all), ‘that servant is very rude, and I shall talk to his master about him!’
So, she moved further into the room, squeezing her way carefully between the upright figures, as she went.
‘I do apologise …’ Alice started to say, but all the people ignored her passage (although ...
