"But when you come to the place where you started, what do you do then?" Al-ice dared to ask. "I'm tired of this," yawned the March Hare. "I vote you tell us a tale." "_I_ fear I don't know one," said Al-ice. "I want a clean cup," spoke up the Hat-ter. He moved on as he spoke, and the Dor-mouse moved in-to his place; the March Hare moved in-to the Dor-mouse's place and Al-ice, none too well pleased, took the place of the March Hare. The Hat-ter was the on-ly one to get an-y good from the change; and Al-ice was a good deal worse off, as the March Hare had up-set the milk-jug in-to his plate. "Now, for your sto-ry," the March Hare said to Al-ice. "I'm sure I don't know,"--Alice be-gan, "I--I don't think--" "Then you shouldn't talk," said the Hat-ter. [Illustration] This was more than Al-ice could stand; so she got up and walked off, and though she looked back once or twice and half hoped they would call af-ter her, they didn't seem to know that she was gone. The last time she saw them, they were trying to put the poor Dor-mouse head first in-to the tea-pot. "Well, I'll not go there a-gain," said Al-ice as she picked her way through the wood. "It's the dull-est tea-par-ty I was ev-er at in all my life." As Al-ice said this, she saw that one of the trees had a door that led right in-to it. "That's strange!" she thought; "but I haven't seen a thing to-day that isn't strange. I think I may as well go in at once." And in she went. Once more she found her-self in a long hall, and close to the lit-tle glass stand. She took up the lit-tle key and un-locked the door that led to the gar-den. Then she set to work to eat some of the mush-room which she still had with her. When she was a-bout a foot high, she went through the door and walked down the lit-tle hall; _then_--she found herself, at last, in the love-ly garden, where she had seen the bright blooms and the cool foun-tains. CHAPTER VIII. THE QUEEN'S CRO-QUET GROUND. A large rose tree stood near the gar-den gate. The blooms on it were white, but three men who seemed to be in great haste were paint-ing them red. Al-ice thought this a strange thing to do, so she went near-er to watch them. Just as she came up to them, she heard one of them say, "Look out now, Five! Don't splash paint on me like that!" "I couldn't help it," said Five, "Six knocked my arm." On which Six looked up and said, "That's right, Five! Don't fail to lay the blame on some one else." "You needn't talk," said Five. "I heard the Queen say your head must come off." "What for?" asked the one who spoke first. "What is that to you, Two?" said Six. "It is much to him and I'll tell him," said Five. "He brought the cook tu-lip roots for on-ions." Six flung down the brush and said, "Well, of all the wrong things--" Just then his eyes chanced to fall on Al-ice, who stood and watched them, and he checked him-self at once; Five and Two looked round al-so, and all of them bowed low.