said the Pigeon in a sulky tone , as it settled down again into its nest . Alice crouched down among the trees as well as she could , for her neck kept getting entangled among the branches , and every now and then she had to stop and untwist it . After a while she remembered that she still held the pieces of mushroom in her hands , and she set to work very carefully , nibbling first at one and then at the other , and growing sometimes taller and sometimes shorter , until she had succeeded in bringing herself down to her usual height . It was so long since she had been anything near the right size , that it felt quite strange at first ; but she got used to it in a few minutes , and began talking to herself , as usual . ` Come , there 's half my plan done now ! How puzzling all these changes are ! I 'm never sure what I 'm going to be , from one minute to another ! However , I 've got back to my right size : the next thing is , to get into that beautiful garden -- how IS that to be done , I wonder ? ' As she said this , she came suddenly upon an open place , with a little house in it about four feet high . ` Whoever lives there , ' thought Alice , ` it 'll never do to come upon them THIS size : why , I should frighten them out of their wits ! ' So she began nibbling at the righthand bit again , and did not venture to go near the house till she had brought herself down to nine inches high . CHAPTER VI . Pig and Pepper For a minute or two she stood looking at the house , and wondering what to do next , when suddenly a footman in livery came running out of the wood -- -LRB- she considered him to be a footman because he was in livery : otherwise , judging by his face only , she would have called him a fish -RRB- -- and rapped loudly at the door with his knuckles . It was opened by another footman in livery , with a round face , and large eyes like a frog ; and both footmen , Alice noticed , had powdered hair that curled all over their heads . She felt very curious to know what it was all about , and crept a little way out of the wood to listen . The Fish-Footman began by producing from under his arm a great letter , nearly as large as himself , and this he handed over to the other , saying , in a solemn tone , ` For the Duchess . An invitation from the Queen to play croquet . ' The Frog-Footman repeated , in the same solemn tone , only changing the order of the words a little , ` From the Queen . An invitation for the Duchess to play croquet . ' Then they both bowed low , and their curls got entangled together .
Alice laughed so much at this , XXXXX she had to run back into the wood for fear of their hearing her ; and when she next peeped out the Fish-Footman was gone , and the other was sitting on the ground near the door , staring stupidly up into the sky .
As From So about among for in over that to