but her companion only smiled pleasantly, and said, 'That's
easily managed. You can be the White Queen's Pawn, if you like,
as Lily's too young to play; and you're in the Second Square to
begin with: when you get to the Eighth Square you'll be a Queen
--' Just at this moment, somehow or other, they began to run.

Alice never could quite make out, in thinking it over
afterwards, how it was that they began: all she remembers is,
that they were running hand in hand, and the Queen went so fast
that it was all she could do to keep up with her: and still the
Queen kept crying 'Faster! Faster!' but Alice felt she COULD NOT
go faster, though she had not breath left to say so.

The most curious part of the thing was, that the trees and the
other things round them never changed their places at all:
however fast they went, they never seemed to pass anything. 'I
wonder if all the things move along with us?' thought poor
puzzled Alice. And the Queen seemed to guess her thoughts, for
she cried, 'Faster! Don't try to talk!'

Not that Alice had any idea of doing THAT. She felt as if she
would never be able to talk again, she was getting so much out of
breath: and still the Queen cried 'Faster! Faster!' and dragged
her along. 'Are we nearly there?' Alice managed to pant out at
last.

'Nearly there!' the Queen repeated. 'Why, we passed it ten
minutes ago! Faster!' And they ran on for a time in silence,
with the wind whistling in Alice's ears, and almost blowing her
hair off her head, she fancied.