It was entirely and
unmistakably earnest.
Just the same, Mrs. Browning's warning that "colours seen by
candlelight do not look the same by day" is not truly applicable to
these Village shrines. Even under the searching beams of a slanting,
summer afternoon sun, they are adorable. Go and see if you don't
believe this.
Then take the "Mad Hatter's." The entrance alone is a monument to the
make-believe capabilities of the Village. Scrawled on the stone wall
beside the steps that lead down to the little basement tea room, is an
inscription in chalk. It looks like anything but English. But if you
held a looking-glass up to it you would find that it is "Down the
Rabbit Hole" written backward! Now, if you know your "Alice" as well
as you should, you will recall delightedly her dash after the White
Rabbit which brought her to Wonderland, and, incidentally, to the Mad
Tea Party.
You go in to the little room where Villagers are drinking tea, and the
proprietress approaches to take your order. She is a good-looking
young woman dressed in a bizarre red and blue effect, not unlike one
of the Queens, but she prefers to be known as the "Dormouse"--not,
however, that she shows the slightest tendency to fall asleep.
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