it 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," said 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.

"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 hard 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."

"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 cou