Miss Muffet closed her eyes
Miss Muffet closed her eyes, and had already begun to dream of curds and whey, when all at once she was awakened and found herself in a most wonderful palace. The walls and floors were made of the sheerest, filmiest spider's-web, woven into a thousand delicate patterns. A soft light shone through the tapestries, and the dewdrops on the roof sparkled like diamonds. The music that floated in through the open windows was not so much a sound as a part of the atmosphere. She was not sure whether she heard it or only breathed it in. Everything was so shimmering and so dainty that Miss Muffet might have thought that she was dreaming had it not been for the spider, who looked so comical in his dress-suit that she laughed outright. The moment she laughed, Miss Muffet knew that everything was real.
She could catch glimpses of travelers
Tom Sawyer trying to "hitch on" behind
For a minute she did not dare to trust herself on the floor, but when she took a step she had the most delightful experience of walking on air. She went to one of the great windows. If the palace had been wonderful, how much more wonderful was the view from it. Far as the eye could reach were the shining paths of spider's-web, each one leading over hill and dale to the palace door. Now the paths were on the ground, now with bridges from grass blade to grass blade, sometimes from tree to tree; and far off she could see them spanning deep valleys among the hills. By and by she could catch glimpses of travelers on the road, some in coaches, some on foot, some on horseback, coming by twos and dozens and scores.