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 some one 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 seem to have any rules in particular; at
least, if there are, nobody attends to them--and you've no idea how
confusing it is all the things being alive; for instance, there's the
arch I've got to go through next walking about at the other end of the
ground--and I should have croqueted the Queen's hedgehog just now, only
it ran away when it saw mine coming!"

[Illustration]

"How do you like the Queen?" said the Cat in a low voice.

"Not at all," said Alice: "she's so extremely----" Just then she noticed
that the Queen was close behind her listening: so she went on,
"----likely to win, that it's hardly worth while finishing the game."

The Queen smiled and passed on.

"Who _are_ you talking to?" said the King, coming up to Alice, and
looking at the Cat's head with great curiosity.

"It's a friend of mine-