`No, they're not,' said the White Rabbit, `and that's the
queerest thing about it.' (The jury all looked puzzled.)
`He must have imitated somebody else's hand,' said the King.
(The jury all brightened up again.)
`Please your Majesty,' said the Knave, `I didn't write it, and
they can't prove I did: there's no name signed at the end.'
`If you didn't sign it,' said the King, `that only makes the
matter worse. You MUST have meant some mischief, or else you'd
have signed your name like an honest man.'
There was a general clapping of hands at this: it was the
first really clever thing the King had said that day.
`That PROVES his guilt,' said the Queen.
`It proves nothing of the sort!' said Alice. `Why, you don't
even know what they're about!'
`Read them,' said the King.
The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. `Where shall I begin,
please your Majesty?' he asked.
`Begin at the beginning,' the King said gravely, `and go on
till you come to the end: then stop.'
These were the verses the White Rabbit read:--
`They told me you had been to her,
And mentioned me to him:
She gave me a good character,
But said I could not swim.
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