"
The first to come was the Hat-ter. He came in with a tea cup in one hand
and a piece of bread and but-ter in the oth-er.
"I beg par-don, your ma-jes-ty," he said, "but I had to bring these in,
as I was not quite through with my tea when I was sent for."
"You ought to have been through," said the King. "When did you be-gin?"
The Hat-ter looked at the March Hare, who had just come in-to court,
arm in arm with the Dor-mouse. "Fourth of March, I think it was," he
said.
"Fifth," said the March Hare.
"Sixth," add-ed the Dor-mouse.
"Write that down," said the King to the ju-ry, and they wrote down all
three dates on their slates, and then added them up and changed the sum
to shil-lings and pence.
"Take off your hat," the King said to the Hat-ter.
"It isn't mine," said the Hat-ter.
"Stole it!" cried the King, as he turned to the jury, who at once wrote
it down.
"I keep them to sell," the Hat-ter added. "I've none of my own. I'm a
hat-ter."
Here the Queen put on her eye-glass-es and stared hard at the Hat-ter,
who turned pale with fright.
"Tell what you know of this case," said the King; "and don't be
nerv-ous, or I'll have your head off on the spot."
This did not seem to calm him at all, he shift-ed from one foot to the
other and looked at the Queen, and in his fright he bit a large piece
out of his tea-cup in place of the bread and but-ter.
Just then Al-ice felt a strange thrill, the cause of which she could not
make out till she saw she had be-gun to grow a-gain.
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