"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 gold-fish 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 so.

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, 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: "_Un_important, your Majesty means, of course," he said in
a very respectful tone, but frowning and making faces at him as he
spoke.

"_Un_important, of course, I meant," the King hastily said, and went on
himself in an undertone,"important--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, called out "Silence!" and read out from his book, "Rule
Forty-two. _All persons more than a mile high 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.

"W