In The Cave Labyrinth

After her eyes had got used to the darkness, Alice saw the Pied Piper. He went through a long passage at the end of which a strange light flickered. His piping resounded gloomily and echoed from the walls. From time to time he turned around to see whether Alice was still following him.

While she ran after him, she suddenly noticed her feet getting wet. In the middle of the tunnel there was a rivulet. The tunnel, too, had changed. It was shaped like a long tube and the walls were of weathered stonework. It was damp and cold, and it smelled musty. On both sides of the tunnel many side passages branched off.

The Pied Piper turned into one of those side tunnels - Alice followed him. There were pitch torches hanging from the walls. At the seventh torch the Pied Piper turned again. This tunnel, too, was illuminated by torches. But it was wider than the last one, and the water was deeper here so that the splashing of her steps almost drowned the gloomy pipe tune.

After they had gone through several tunnels, they finally arrived at a particularly wide tunnel. There were many niches in the stonework that were lighted by torches. When she passed by, Alice saw strange creatures in the niches. In the first one there crouched some kind of rubber man with his limbs completely knotted up. In the second one stood a thick, bald headed fire-eater. In the third niche was an enormously tall man with a very small head. He wore a long red cloak which he opened when Alice passed by. Now, Alice could see that three dwarves had got on top of each other's shoulders. They laughed out loud, but doing so lost their balance and dropped into the water just behind Alice. In the fourth, fifth and sixth niche there stood witches next to huge piles of old books. When they saw Alice coming, they hurled Íthe books at her. Hardly had the books dropped into the water, they went up in bright flames. Frightened, Alice evaded the fire and hurried on. In the seventh niche at last stood a grey couple with dead,empty eyes. They felt for Alice with their bony fingers but they could not get hold on her.

Now the Pied Piper turned around the next corner. Alice followed him - and stood still, blinded by a glistening light. The pipe tune stopped - everything was quiet. One could only hear her heavy breathing. She covered her eyes with her hand, and felt her way forwards.