35

“Off with their heads!” bellowed a
familiar voice from somewhere near-
by.

“Oh, dear, oh, dear,” cried the
Dormouse, waking up with a start.
“She’s looking for me again. I must
go,’ and he scuttled out of the door
at the end of the stall.

“News!” shouted the Printer’s
Devil, as he ran after the Dormouse.
“Come along.”

“The Queen of Hearts is no news
to me,” thought Alice, as she followed
the Dormouse into the next box-stall
of the barn. There, sure enough, was
the Queen, standing at the top of a
long table, on which lay a row of
heads—President Park’s and Dean
Manning’s prominent among them—
cut off at her orders from the bodies
of newspaper columns that now
sprawled helpless and headless under
her great hand. The Knave of Hearts
trembled before her. “Off they’ll
come, every one of them,” she shouted,
snapping a large pair of shears under
the Knave’s nose, “and yours will be
the next one, if you can’t bring me
something better than these.”

“Give us your evidence,” the Queen
shrieked, turning on the Duchess’
Cook, who was stirring the paste-pot
at the other end of the table.

“Shan’t!” said the Cook, and lifted
the paste-pot menacingly.

“She was to have covered it,” said
the King, frowning at the Cook till
his black hair bristled behind his ears.

“My notion was that you had been
(Before she had this fit)

An obstacle that came between
Him, and ourselves, and it,”



31

muttered a sleepy voice from under
the table.

“Talking in his sleep again,” said
the King severely.

“Collar that Dormouse,”’ the Queen
shrieked out. “Suppress him! Pinch
him! Off with his whiskers!” But
the Dormouse fled, and the Printer’s
Devil only fished a piece of paper
from under the table. “That proves
his guilt,” said the Queen, when she
saw it.

“Might be an important piece of
evidence,” suggested the Knave.

“Never!” said the Queen furiously.
“Off with his head!” But before any-
one could move, the Knave had fol-
lowed the Dormouse. Meanwhile the
Cook had seized the paper. “We'll
put it in—well peppered,” she said
grimly.

“Our customers said there was too
much pepper in the last,’ the King
cut in quickly.

“Tl abdicate if they don’t like it!”
shouted the Queen. “Off with their
heads!” and she brandished the shears
so fiercely that the King trembled and
the Cook stopped stirring the paste-
pot.

“My dear,” the King began gently,
but he was interrupted by the loud
ringing of a bell.

“Ye gods! my Geology notes
cried Alice, as she fled off to the Lib.,
of course arriving just after the doors
had been locked for the night.

ie