A large rose-tree stood near the entrance

of the garden: the roses growing on it were

white, but there were three gardeners at

it, busily painting them red.

Alice thought this a very curious thing,

and she went nearer to watch them, and just

as she came up to them she heard one of

them say, 'Look out now, Five!

Don't go splashing paint over me like

that!'

'I couldn't help it,' said Five, in a sulky

tone; 'Seven jogged my elbow.'

On which Seven looked up and said, 'That's

right, Five!

Always lay the blame on others!'

'YOU'D better not talk!' said Five.

'I heard the Queen say only yesterday you

deserved to be beheaded!'

'What for?' said the one who had spoken

first.

'That's none of YOUR business, Two!' said

Seven.

'Yes, it IS his business!' said Five, 'and

I'll tell him--it was for bringing the cook

tulip-roots instead of onions.'

Seven flung down his brush, and had just

begun 'Well, of all the unjust things--'

when his eye chanced to fall upon Alice, as

she stood watching them, and he checked

himself suddenly: the others looked round

also, and all of them bowed low.

'Would you tell me,' said Alice, a little

timidly, 'why you are painting those

roses?'

Five and Seven said nothing, but looked at

Two.

Two began in a low voice, 'Why the fact is,

you see, Miss, this here ought to have been

a RED rose-tree, and we put a white one in

by mistake; and if the Queen was to find it

out, we should all have our heads cut off,

you know.

So you see, Miss, we're doing our best,

afore she comes, to--' At this moment Five,

who had been anxiously looking across the

garden, called out 'The Queen!

The Queen!' and the three gardeners

instantly threw themselves flat upon their

faces.

There was a sound of many footsteps, and

Alice looked round, eager to see the Queen.

First came ten soldiers carrying clubs;

these were all shaped like the three

gardeners, oblong and flat, with their

hands and feet at the corners: next the ten

courtiers; these were ornamented all over

with diamonds, and walked two and two, as

the soldiers did.

After these came the royal children; there

were ten of them, and the little dears came

jumping merrily along hand in hand, in

couples: they were all ornamented with

hearts.

Next came the guests, mostly Kings and

Queens, and among them Alice recognised the

White Rabbit: it was talking in a hurried

nervous manner, smiling at everything that

was said, and went by without noticing her.

Then followed the Knave of Hearts, carrying

the King's crown on a crimson velvet

cushion; and, last of all this grand

procession, came THE KING AND QUEEN OF

HEARTS.

Alice was rather doubtful whether she ought

not to lie down on her face like the three

gardeners, but she could not remember ever

having heard of such a rule at processions;

'and besides, what would be the use of a

procession,' thought she, 'if people had

all to lie down upon their faces, so that

they couldn't see it?'

So she stood still where she was, and

waited.

When the procession came opposite to Alice,

they all stopped and looked at her, and the

Queen said severely 'Who is this?'

She said it to the Knave of Hearts, who

only bowed and smiled in reply.

'Idiot!' said the Queen, tossing her head

impatiently; and, turning to Alice, she

went on, 'What's your name, child?'

'My name is Alice, so please your Majesty,'

said Alice very politely; but she added, to

herself, 'Why, they're only a pack of

cards, after all.

I needn't be afraid of them!'

'And who are THESE?' said the Queen,

pointing to the three gardeners who were

lying round the rosetree; for, you see, as

they were lying on their faces, and the

pattern on their backs was the same as the

rest of the pack, she could not tell

whether they were gardeners, or soldiers,

or courtiers, or three of her own children.

'How should I know?' said Alice, surprised

at her own courage.

'It's no business of MINE.'

The Queen turned crimson with fury, and,

after glaring at her for a moment like a

wild beast, screamed 'Off with her head!

Off--'

'Nonsense!' said Alice, very loudly and

decidedly, and the Queen was silent.

The King laid his hand upon her arm, and

timidly said 'Consider, my dear: she is

only a child!'

The Queen turned angrily away from him, and

said to the Knave 'Turn them over!'

The Knave did so, very carefully, with one

foot.

'Get up!' said the Queen, in a shrill, loud

voice, and the three gardeners instantly

jumped up, and began bowing to the King,

the Queen, the royal children, and

everybody else.

'Leave off that!' screamed the Queen.

'You make me giddy.'

And then, turning to the rose-tree, she

went on, 'What HAVE you been doing here?'

'May it please your Majesty,' said Two, in

a very humble tone, going down on one knee

as he spoke, 'we were trying--'

'I see!' said the Queen, who had meanwhile

been examining the roses.

'Off with their heads!' and the procession

moved on, three of the soldiers remaining

behind to execute the unfortunate

gardeners, who ran to Alice for protection.

'You shan't be beheaded!' said Alice, and

she put them into a large flower-pot that

stood near.

The three soldiers wandered about for a

minute or two, looking for them, and then

quietly marched off after the others.

'Are their heads off?' shouted the Queen.

'Their heads are gone, if it please your

Majesty!' the soldiers shouted in reply.

'That's right!' shouted the Queen.

'Can you play croquet?'

The soldiers were silent, and looked at

Alice, as the question was evidently meant

for her.

'Yes!' shouted Alice.

'Come on, then!' roared the Queen, and

Alice joined the procession, wondering very

much what would happen next.

'It's--it's a very fine day!' said a timid

voice at her side.

She was walking by the White Rabbit, who

was peeping anxiously into her face.

'Very,' said Alice: '--where's the

Duchess?'

'Hush!

Hush!' said the Rabbit in a low, hurried

tone.

He looked anxiously over his shoulder as he

spoke, and then raised himself upon tiptoe,

put his mouth close to her ear, and

whispered 'She's under sentence of

execution.'

'What for?' said Alice.

'Did you say "What a pity!"

?' the Rabbit asked.

'No, I didn't,' said Alice: 'I don't think

it's at all a pity.

I said "What for?"'

'She boxed the Queen's ears--' the Rabbit

began.

Alice gave a little scream of laughter.

'Oh, hush!' the Rabbit whispered in a

frightened tone.

'The Queen will hear you!

You see, she came rather late, and the

Queen said--'

'Get to your places!' shouted the Queen in

a voice of thunder, and people began

running about in all directions, tumbling

up against each other; however, they got

settled down in a minute or two, and the

game began.

Alice thought she had never seen such a

curious croquet-ground in her life; it was

all ridges and furrows; the balls were live

hedgehogs, the mallets live flamingoes, and

the soldiers had to double themselves up

and to stand on their hands and feet, to

make the arches.

The chief difficulty Alice found at first

was in managing her flamingo: she succeeded

in getting its body tucked away,

comfortably enough, under her arm, with its

legs hanging down, but generally, just as

she had got its neck nicely straightened

out, and was going to give the hedgehog a

blow with its head, it WOULD twist itself

round and look up in her face, with such a

puzzled expression that she could not help

bursting out laughing: and when she had got

its head down, and was going to begin

again, it was very provoking to find that

the hedgehog had unrolled itself, and was

in the act of crawling away: besides all

this, there was generally a ridge or furrow

in the way wherever she wanted to send the

hedgehog to, and, as the doubled-up

soldiers were always getting up and walking

off to other parts of the ground, Alice

soon came to the conclusion that it was a

very difficult game indeed.

The players all played at once without

waiting for turns, quarrelling all the

while, and fighting for the hedgehogs; and

in a very short time the Queen was in a

furious passion, and went stamping about,

and shouting 'Off with his head!' or 'Off

with her head!' about once in a minute.

Alice began to feel very uneasy: to be

sure, she had not as yet had any dispute

with the Queen, but she knew that it might

happen any minute, 'and then,' thought she,

'what would become of me?

They're dreadfully fond of beheading people

here; the great wonder is, that there's any

one left alive!'

She was looking about for some way of

escape, and wondering whether she could get

away without being seen, when she noticed a

curious appearance in the air: it puzzled

her very much at first, but, after watching

it a minute or two, she made it out to be a

grin, and she said to herself 'It's the

Cheshire Cat: now I shall have somebody to

talk to.'

'How are you getting on?' said the Cat, as

soon as there was mouth enough for it to

speak with.

Alice waited till the eyes appeared, and

then nodded.

'It's no use speaking to it,' she thought,

'till its ears have come, or at least one

of them.'

In another minute the whole head appeared,

and then Alice put down her flamingo, and

began an account of the game, feeling very

glad she had someone to listen to her.

The Cat seemed to think that there was

enough of it now in sight, and no more of

it appeared.

'I don't think they play at all fairly,'

Alice began, in rather a complaining tone,

'and they all quarrel so dreadfully one

can't hear oneself speak--and they don't