Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland(page 6)

’Of course not,’ said the Mock Turtle: ‘why, if a fish
came to me, and told me he was going a journey, I should
say ‘With what porpoise?‘‘
’Don’t you mean ‘purpose’?’ said Alice.
’I mean what I say,’ the Mock Turtle replied in an
offended tone. And the Gryphon added ‘Come, let’s hear
some of your adventures.’
’I could tell you my adventures—beginning from this
morning,’ said Alice a little timidly: ‘but it’s no use going
back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.’
’Explain all that,’ said the Mock Turtle.
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’No, no! The adventures first,’ said the Gryphon in an
impatient tone: ‘explanations take such a dreadful time.’
So Alice began telling them her adventures from the
time when she first saw the White Rabbit. She was a little
nervous about it just at first, the two creatures got so close
to her, one on each side, and opened their eyes and
mouths so very wide, but she gained courage as she went
on. Her listeners were perfectly quiet till she got to the
part about her repeating ’You are old, Father William,’ to
the Caterpillar, and the words all coming different, and
then the Mock Turtle drew a long breath, and said ‘That’s
very curious.’
’It’s all about as curious as it can be,’ said the Gryphon.
’It all came different!’ the Mock Turtle repeated
thoughtfully. ‘I should like to hear her try and repeat
something now. Tell her to begin.’ He looked at the
Gryphon as if he thought it had some kind of authority
over Alice.
’Stand up and repeat ‘‘Tis the voice of the sluggard,‘‘ said
the Gryphon.
’How the creatures order one about, and make one
repeat lessons!’ thought Alice; ‘I might as well be at school
at once.’ However, she got up, and began to repeat it, but
her head was so full of the Lobster Quadrille, that she
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hardly knew what she was saying, and the words came
very queer indeed:—
’’Tis the voice of the Lobster; I heard him declare,
‘You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair.’ As
a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose Trims his belt
and his buttons, and turns out his toes.’
[later editions continued as follows When the sands are
all dry, he is gay as a lark, And will talk in contemptuous
tones of the Shark, But, when the tide rises and sharks are
around, His voice has a timid and tremulous sound.]
’That’s different from what I used to say when I was a
child,’ said the Gryphon.
’Well, I never heard it before,’ said the Mock Turtle;
‘but it sounds uncommon nonsense.’
Alice said nothing; she had sat down with her face in
her hands, wondering if anything would ever happen in a
natural way again.
’I should like to have it explained,’ said the Mock
Turtle.
’She can’t explain it,’ said the Gryphon hastily. ‘Go on
with the next verse.’
’But about his toes?’ the Mock Turtle persisted. ‘How
could he turn them out with his nose, you know?’
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’It’s the first position in dancing.’ Alice said; but was
dreadfully puzzled by the whole thing, and longed to
change the subject.
’Go on with the next verse,’ the Gryphon repeated
impatiently: ‘it begins ‘I passed by his garden.‘‘
Alice did not dare to disobey, though she felt sure it
would all come wrong, and she went on in a trembling
voice:—
’I passed by his garden, and marked, with one eye, How the
Owl and the Panther were sharing a pie—’
[later editions continued as follows: The
Panther took pie-crust, and gravy, and meat, While the Owl had
the dish as its share of the treat. When the pie was all finished,
the Owl, as a boon, Was kindly permitted to pocket the spoon:
While the Panther received knife and fork with a growl, And
concluded the banquet—]
’What IS the use of repeating all that stuff,’ the Mock
Turtle interrupted, ‘if you don’t explain it as you go on?
It’s by far the most confusing thing I ever heard!’
’Yes, I think you’d better leave off,’ said the Gryphon:
and Alice was only too glad to do so.
’Shall we try another figure of the Lobster Quadrille?’
the Gryphon went on. ‘Or would you like the Mock
Turtle to sing you a song?’
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’Oh, a song, please, if the Mock Turtle would be so
kind,’ Alice replied, so eagerly that the Gryphon said, in a
rather offended tone, ‘Hm! No accounting for tastes! Sing
her ‘Turtle Soup,’ will you, old fellow?’
The Mock Turtle sighed deeply, and began, in a voice
sometimes choked with sobs, to sing this:—
’Beautiful Soup, so rich and green, Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop? Soup of the evening,
beautiful Soup! Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! Beau—
ootiful Soo—oop! Beau—ootiful Soo—oop! Soo—oop of the
e—e—evening, Beautiful, beautiful Soup!
’Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish, Game, or any other
dish? Who would not give all else for two pennyworth only of
beautiful Soup? Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup? Beau—
ootiful Soo—oop! Beau—ootiful Soo—oop! Soo—oop of the
e—e—evening, Beautiful, beauti—FUL SOUP!’
’Chorus again!’ cried the Gryphon, and the Mock
Turtle had just begun to repeat it, when a cry of ‘The
trial’s beginning!’ was heard in the distance.
’Come on!’ cried the Gryphon, and, taking Alice by
the hand, it hurried off, without waiting for the end of the
song.
’What trial is it?’ Alice panted as she ran; but the
Gryphon only answered ‘Come on!’ and ran the faster,
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while more and more faintly came, carried on the breeze
that followed them, the melancholy words:—
’Soo—oop of the e—e—evening, Beautiful, beautiful Soup!’
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CHAPTER XI: Who Stole the Tarts?
The King and Queen of Hearts were seated on their
throne when they arrived, with a great crowd assembled
about them—all sorts of little birds and beasts, as well as
the whole pack of cards: the Knave was standing before
them, in chains, with a soldier on each side to guard him;
and near the King was the White Rabbit, with a trumpet
in one hand, and a scroll of parchment in the other. In the
very middle of the court was a table, with a large dish of
tarts upon it: they looked so good, that it made Alice quite
hungry to look at them—’I wish they’d get the trial done,’
she thought, ‘and hand round the refreshments!’ But there
seemed to be no chance of this, so she began looking at
everything about her, to pass away the time.
Alice had never been in a court of justice before, but
she had read about them in books, and she was quite
pleased to find that she knew the name of nearly
everything there. ‘That’s the judge,’ she said to herself,
‘because of his great wig.’
The judge, by the way, was the King; and as he wore
his crown over the wig, (look at the frontispiece if you
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want to see how he did it,) he did not look at all
comfortable, and it was certainly not becoming.
’And that’s the jury-box,’ thought Alice, ‘and those
twelve creatures,’ (she was obliged to say ‘creatures,’ you
see, because some of them were animals, and some were
birds,) ‘I suppose they are the jurors.’ She said this last
word two or three times over to herself, being rather
proud of it: for she thought, and rightly too, that very few
little girls of her age knew the meaning of it at all.
However, ‘jury-men’ would have done just as well.
The twelve jurors were all writing very busily on slates.
‘What are they doing?’ Alice whispered to the Gryphon.
‘They can’t have anything to put down yet, before the
trial’s begun.’
’They’re putting down their names,’ the Gryphon
whispered in reply, ‘for fear they should forget them
before the end of the trial.’
’Stupid things!’ Alice began in a loud, indignant voice,
but she stopped hastily, for the White Rabbit cried out,
‘Silence in the court!’ and the King put on his spectacles
and looked anxiously round, to make out who was
talking.
Alice could see, as well as if she were looking over their
shoulders, that all the jurors were writing down ‘stupid
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things!’ on their slates, and she could even make out that
one of them didn’t know how to spell ‘stupid,’ and that he
had to ask his neighbour to tell him. ‘A nice muddle their
slates’ll be in before the trial’s over!’ thought Alice.
One of the jurors had a pencil that squeaked. This of
course, Alice could not stand, and she went round the
court and got behind him, and very soon found an
opportunity of taking it away. She did it so quickly that
the poor little juror (it was Bill, the Lizard) could not
make out at all what had become of it; so, after hunting all
about for it, he was obliged to write with one finger for
the rest of the day; and this was of very little use, as it left
no mark on the slate.
’Herald, read the accusation!’ said the King.
On this the White Rabbit blew three blasts on the
trumpet, and then unrolled the parchment scroll, and read
as follows:—
’The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, All on a summer
day: The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts, And took them
quite away!’
’Consider your verdict,’ the King said to the jury.
’Not yet, not yet!’ the Rabbit hastily interrupted.
‘There’s a great deal to come before that!’
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’Call the first witness,’ said the King; and the White
Rabbit blew three blasts on the trumpet, and called out,
‘First witness!’
The first witness was the Hatter. He came in with a
teacup in one hand and a piece of bread-and-butter in the
other. ‘I beg pardon, your Majesty,’ he began, ‘for
bringing these in: but I hadn’t quite finished my tea when
I was sent for.’
’You ought to have finished,’ said the King. ‘When did
you begin?’
The Hatter looked at the March Hare, who had
followed him into the court, arm-in-arm with the
Dormouse. ‘Fourteenth of March, I think it was,’ he said.
’Fifteenth,’ said the March Hare.
’Sixteenth,’ added the Dormouse.
’Write that down,’ the King said to the jury, and the
jury eagerly wrote down all three dates on their slates, and
then added them up, and reduced the answer to shillings
and pence.
’Take off your hat,’ the King said to the Hatter.
’It isn’t mine,’ said the Hatter.
’Stolen!’ the King exclaimed, turning to the jury, who
instantly made a memorandum of the fact.
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’I keep them to sell,’ the Hatter added as an
explanation; ‘I’ve none of my own. I’m a hatter.’
Here the Queen put on her spectacles, and began
staring at the Hatter, who turned pale and fidgeted.
’Give your evidence,’ said the King; ‘and don’t be
nervous, or I’ll have you executed on the spot.’
This did not seem to encourage the witness at all: he
kept shifting from one foot to the other, looking uneasily
at the Queen, and in his confusion he bit a large piece out
of his teacup instead of the bread-and-butter.
Just at this moment Alice felt a very curious sensation,
which puzzled her a good deal until she made out what it
was: she was beginning to grow larger again, and she
thought at first she would get up and leave the court; but
on second thoughts she decided to remain where she was
as long as there was room for her.
’I wish you wouldn’t squeeze so.’ said the Dormouse,
who was sitting next to her. ‘I can hardly breathe.’
’I can’t help it,’ said Alice very meekly: ‘I’m growing.’
’You’ve no right to grow here,’ said the Dormouse.
’Don’t talk nonsense,’ said Alice more boldly: ‘you
know you’re growing too.’
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’Yes, but I grow at a reasonable pace,’ said the
Dormouse: ‘not in that ridiculous fashion.’ And he got up
very sulkily and crossed over to the other side of the court.
All this time the Queen had never left off staring at the
Hatter, and, just as the Dormouse crossed the court, she
said to one of the officers of the court, ‘Bring me the list
of the singers in the last concert!’ on which the wretched
Hatter trembled so, that he shook both his shoes off.
’Give your evidence,’ the King repeated angrily, ‘or I’ll
have you executed, whether you’re nervous or not.’
’I’m a poor man, your Majesty,’ the Hatter began, in a
trembling voice, ‘—and I hadn’t begun my tea—not
above a week or so—and what with the bread-and-butter
getting so thin—and the twinkling of the tea—’
’The twinkling of the what?’ said the King.
’It began with the tea,’ the Hatter replied.
’Of course twinkling begins with a T!’ said the King
sharply. ‘Do you take me for a dunce? Go on!’
’I’m a poor man,’ the Hatter went on, ‘and most things
twinkled after that—only the March Hare said—’
’I didn’t!’ the March Hare interrupted in a great hurry.
’You did!’ said the Hatter.
’I deny it!’ said the March Hare.
’He denies it,’ said the King: ‘leave out that part.’
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’Well, at any rate, the Dormouse said—’ the Hatter
went on, looking anxiously round to see if he would deny
it too: but the Dormouse denied nothing, being fast
asleep.
’After that,’ continued the Hatter, ‘I cut some more
bread- and-butter—’
’But what did the Dormouse say?’ one of the jury
asked.
’That I can’t remember,’ said the Hatter.
’You must remember,’ remarked the King, ‘or I’ll have
you executed.’
The miserable Hatter dropped his teacup and breadand-
butter, and went down on one knee. ‘I’m a poor
man, your Majesty,’ he began.
’You’re a very poor speaker,’ said the King.
Here one of the guinea-pigs cheered, and was
immediately suppressed by the officers of the court. (As
that is rather a hard word, I will just explain to you how it
was done. They had a large canvas bag, which tied up at
the mouth with strings: into this they slipped the guineapig,
head first, and then sat upon it.)
’I’m glad I’ve seen that done,’ thought Alice. ‘I’ve so
often read in the newspapers, at the end of trials, ‘There
was some attempts at applause, which was immediately
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suppressed by the officers of the court,’ and I never
understood what it meant till now.’
’If that’s all you know about it, you may stand down,’
continued the King.
’I can’t go no lower,’ said the Hatter: ‘I’m on the floor,
as it is.’
’Then you may sit down,’ the King replied.
Here the other guinea-pig cheered, and was suppressed.
’Come, that finished the guinea-pigs!’ thought Alice.
‘Now we shall get on better.’
’I’d rather finish my tea,’ said the Hatter, with an
anxious look at the Queen, who was reading the list of
singers.
’You may go,’ said the King, and the Hatter hurriedly
left the court, without even waiting to put his shoes on.
’—and just take his head off outside,’ the Queen added
to one of the officers: but the Hatter was out of sight
before the officer could get to the door.
’Call the next witness!’ said the King.
The next witness was the Duchess’s cook. She carried
the pepper-box in her hand, and Alice guessed who it was,
even before she got into the court, by the way the people
near the door began sneezing all at once.
’Give your evidence,’ said the King.
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’Shan’t,’ said the cook.
The King looked anxiously at the White Rabbit, who
said in a low voice, ‘Your Majesty must cross-examine
THIS witness.’
’Well, if I must, I must,’ the King said, with a
melancholy air, and, after folding his arms and frowning at
the cook till his eyes were nearly out of sight, he said in a
deep voice, ‘What are tarts made of?’
’Pepper, mostly,’ said the cook.
’Treacle,’ said a sleepy voice behind her.
’Collar that Dormouse,’ the Queen shrieked out.
‘Behead that Dormouse! Turn that Dormouse out of
court! Suppress him! Pinch him! Off with his whiskers!’
For some minutes the whole court was in confusion,
getting the Dormouse turned out, and, by the time they
had settled down again, the cook had disappeared.
’Never mind!’ said the King, with an air of great relief.
‘Call the next witness.’ And he added in an undertone to
the Queen, ‘Really, my dear, you must cross-examine the
next witness. It quite makes my forehead ache!’
Alice watched the White Rabbit as he fumbled over
the list, feeling very curious to see what the next witness
would be like, ‘—for they haven’t got much evidence yet,’
she said to herself. Imagine her surprise, when the White
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Rabbit read out, at the top of his shrill little voice, the
name ‘Alice!’
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CHAPTER XII: Alice’s Evidence
’Here!’ cried Alice, quite forgetting in the flurry of the
moment how large she had grown in the last few minutes,
and she jumped up in such a hurry that she tipped over
the jury-box with the edge of her skirt, upsetting all the
jurymen on to the heads of the crowd below, and there
they lay sprawling about, reminding her very much of a
globe of goldfish she had accidentally upset the week
before.
’Oh, I beg your pardon!’ she exclaimed in a tone of
great dismay, and began picking them up again as quickly
as she could, for the accident of the goldfish kept running
in her head, and she had a vague sort of idea that they
must be collected at once and put back into the jury-box,
or they would die.
’The trial cannot proceed,’ said the King in a very
grave voice, ‘until all the jurymen are back in their proper
places— all,’ he repeated with great emphasis, looking
hard at Alice as he said do.
Alice looked at the jury-box, and saw that, in her haste,
she had put the Lizard in head downwards, and the poor
little thing was waving its tail about in a melancholy way,
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being quite unable to move. She soon got it out again, and
put it right; ‘not that it signifies much,’ she said to herself;
‘I should think it would be quite as much use in the trial
one way up as the other.’
As soon as the jury had a little recovered from the
shock of being upset, and their slates and pencils had been
found and handed back to them, they set to work very
diligently to write out a history of the accident, all except
the Lizard, who seemed too much overcome to do
anything but sit with its mouth open, gazing up into the
roof of the court.
’What do you know about this business?’ the King said
to Alice.
’Nothing,’ said Alice.
’Nothing whatever?’ persisted the King.
’Nothing whatever,’ said Alice.
’That’s very important,’ the King said, turning to the
jury. They were just beginning to write this down on
their slates, when the White Rabbit interrupted:
‘Unimportant, your Majesty means, of course,’ he said in a
very respectful tone, but frowning and making faces at
him as he spoke.
’Unimportant, of course, I meant,’ the King hastily said,
and went on to himself in an undertone, ‘important—
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unimportant— unimportant—important—’ as if he were
trying which word sounded best.
Some of the jury wrote it down ‘important,’ and some
‘unimportant.’ Alice could see this, as she was near enough
to look over their slates; ‘but it doesn’t matter a bit,’ she
thought to herself.
At this moment the King, who had been for some time
busily writing in his note-book, cackled out ‘Silence!’ and
read out from his book, ‘Rule Forty-two. All persons more
than a mile hight to leave the court.’
Everybody looked at Alice.
’I’m not a mile high,’ said Alice.
’You are,’ said the King.
’Nearly two miles high,’ added the Queen.
’Well, I shan’t go, at any rate,’ said Alice: ‘besides,
that’s not a regular rule: you invented it just now.’
’It’s the oldest rule in the book,’ said the King.
’Then it ought to be Number One,’ said Alice.
The King turned pale, and shut his note-book hastily.
‘Consider your verdict,’ he said to the jury, in a low,
trembling voice.
’There’s more evidence to come yet, please your
Majesty,’ said the White Rabbit, jumping up in a great
hurry; ‘this paper has just been picked up.’
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’What’s in it?’ said the Queen.
’I haven’t opened it yet,’ said the White Rabbit, ‘but it
seems to be a letter, written by the prisoner to—to
somebody.’
’It must have been that,’ said the King, ‘unless it was
written to nobody, which isn’t usual, you know.’
’Who is it directed to?’ said one of the jurymen.
’It isn’t directed at all,’ said the White Rabbit; ‘in fact,
there’s nothing written on the outside.’ He unfolded the
paper as he spoke, and added ‘It isn’t a letter, after all: it’s a
set of verses.’
’Are they in the prisoner’s handwriting?’ asked another
of they jurymen.
’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.’
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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.
He sent them word I had not gone (We know it to be true): If
she should push the matter on, What would become of you?
I gave her one, they gave him two, You gave us three or more;
They all returned from him to you, Though they were mine
before.
If I or she should chance to be Involved in this affair, He trusts
to you to set them free, Exactly as we were.
My notion was that you had been (Before she had this fit) An
obstacle that came between Him, and ourselves, and it.
Don’t let him know she liked them best, For this must ever be
A secret, kept from all the rest, Between yourself and me.’
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’That’s the most important piece of evidence we’ve
heard yet,’ said the King, rubbing his hands; ‘so now let
the jury—’
’If any one of them can explain it,’ said Alice, (she had
grown so large in the last few minutes that she wasn’t a bit
afraid of interrupting him,) ‘I’ll give him sixpence. I don’t
believe there’s an atom of meaning in it.’
The jury all wrote down on their slates, ‘She doesn’t
believe there’s an atom of meaning in it,’ but none of
them attempted to explain the paper.
’If there’s no meaning in it,’ said the King, ‘that saves a
world of trouble, you know, as we needn’t try to find any.
And yet I don’t know,’ he went on, spreading out the
verses on his knee, and looking at them with one eye; ‘I
seem to see some meaning in them, after all. ‘-said I could
not swim—’ you can’t swim, can you?’ he added, turning
to the Knave.
The Knave shook his head sadly. ‘Do I look like it?’ he
said. (Which he certainly did not, being made entirely of
cardboard.)
’All right, so far,’ said the King, and he went on
muttering over the verses to himself: ‘"We know it to be
true—’ that’s the jury, of course— ‘I gave her one, they gave
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him two—’ why, that must be what he did with the tarts,
you know—’
’But, it goes on ‘they all returned from him to you,‘‘ said
Alice.
’Why, there they are!’ said the King triumphantly,
pointing to the tarts on the table. ‘Nothing can be clearer
than that. Then again—‘before she had this fit--’ you never
had fits, my dear, I think?’ he said to the Queen.
’Never!’ said the Queen furiously, throwing an
inkstand at the Lizard as she spoke. (The unfortunate little
Bill had left off writing on his slate with one finger, as he
found it made no mark; but he now hastily began again,
using the ink, that was trickling down his face, as long as it
lasted.)
’Then the words don’t fit you,’ said the King, looking
round the court with a smile. There was a dead silence.
’It’s a pun!’ the King added in an offended tone, and
everybody laughed, ‘Let the jury consider their verdict,’
the King said, for about the twentieth time that day.
’No, no!’ said the Queen. ‘Sentence first—verdict
afterwards.’
’Stuff and nonsense!’ said Alice loudly. ‘The idea of
having the sentence first!’
’Hold your tongue!’ said the Queen, turning purple.
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’I won’t!’ said Alice.
’Off with her head!’ the Queen shouted at the top of
her voice. Nobody moved.
’Who cares for you?’ said Alice, (she had grown to her
full size by this time.) ‘You’re nothing but a pack of cards!’
At this the whole pack rose up into the air, and came
flying down upon her: she gave a little scream, half of
fright and half of anger, and tried to beat them off, and
found herself lying on the bank, with her head in the lap
of her sister, who was gently brushing away some dead
leaves that had fluttered down from the trees upon her
face.
’Wake up, Alice dear!’ said her sister; ‘Why, what a
long sleep you’ve had!’
’Oh, I’ve had such a curious dream!’ said Alice, and she
told her sister, as well as she could remember them, all
these strange Adventures of hers that you have just been
reading about; and when she had finished, her sister kissed
her, and said, ‘It was a curious dream, dear, certainly: but
now run in to your tea; it’s getting late.’ So Alice got up
and ran off, thinking while she ran, as well she might,
what a wonderful dream it had been.
But her sister sat still just as she left her, leaning her
head on her hand, watching the setting sun, and thinking
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of little Alice and all her wonderful Adventures, till she
too began dreaming after a fashion, and this was her
dream:—
First, she dreamed of little Alice herself, and once again
the tiny hands were clasped upon her knee, and the bright
eager eyes were looking up into hers—she could hear the
very tones of her voice, and see that queer little toss of her
head to keep back the wandering hair that would always
get into her eyes—and still as she listened, or seemed to
listen, the whole place around her became alive the
strange creatures of her little sister’s dream.
The long grass rustled at her feet as the White Rabbit
hurried by—the frightened Mouse splashed his way
through the neighbouring pool—she could hear the rattle
of the teacups as the March Hare and his friends shared
their never-ending meal, and the shrill voice of the Queen
ordering off her unfortunate guests to execution—once
more the pig-baby was sneezing on the Duchess’s knee,
while plates and dishes crashed around it—once more the
shriek of the Gryphon, the squeaking of the Lizard’s slatepencil,
and the choking of the suppressed guinea-pigs,
filled the air, mixed up with the distant sobs of the
miserable Mock Turtle.
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So she sat on, with closed eyes, and half believed herself
in Wonderland, though she knew she had but to open
them again, and all would change to dull reality—the grass
would be only rustling in the wind, and the pool rippling
to the waving of the reeds—the rattling teacups would
change to tinkling sheep- bells, and the Queen’s shrill cries
to the voice of the shepherd boy—and the sneeze of the
baby, the shriek of the Gryphon, and all thy other queer
noises, would change (she knew) to the confused clamour
of the busy farm-yard—while the lowing of the cattle in
the distance would take the place of the Mock Turtle’s
heavy sobs.
Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister
of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown
woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper
years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and
how she would gather about her other little children, and
make THEIR eyes bright and eager with many a strange
tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long
ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows,
and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering
her own child-life, and the happy summer days.