She quite lost sight of the Duch-ess by her side, and was star-tled when she heard her voice close to her ear. "You have some-thing on your mind, my dear, and that makes you for-get to talk. I can't tell you just now what the mor-al of that is, but I shall think of it in a bit." "Are you sure it has one?" asked Al-ice. "Tut, tut, child!" said the Duch-ess; "all things have a mor-al if you can but find it." And she squeezed up close to Al-ice's side as she spoke. Al-ice did not much like to have the Duch-ess keep so close, but she didn't like to be rude, so she bore it as well as she could. "The game is not so bad now," Al-ice said, think-ing she ought to fill in the time with talk of some kind. "'Tis so," said the Duch-ess, "and the mor-al of that is--'Oh, 'tis love, 'tis love, that makes the world go round!'" "Some one said, it's done by each one mind-ing his own work," said Al-ice. "Ah! well, it means much the same thing," said the Duch-ess, then add-ed, "and the mor-al of that is--'Take care of the sense and the sounds will take care of themselves.'" [Illustration] "How she likes to find mor-als in things," said Al-ice. "Why don't you talk more and not think so long?" asked the Duch-ess. "I've a right to think," said Al-ice in a sharp tone, for she was tired and vexed. "Just as much right," said the Duch-ess, "as pigs have to fly; and the mor--" But here the voice of the Duch-ess died out in the midst of her pet word, "mor-al," and Al-ice felt the arm that was linked in hers shake as if with fright. Al-ice looked up and there stood the Queen in front of them with her arms fold-ed, and a dark frown up-on her face. "A fine day, your ma-jes-ty!" the Duch-ess be-gan in a weak voice. "Now, I warn you in time," shout-ed the Queen, with a stamp on the ground as she spoke; "ei-ther you or your head must be off, and that in a-bout half no time! Take your choice!" The Duch-ess took her choice and was gone in a mo-ment. "Let's go on with the game," the Queen said to Al-ice; and Al-ice was in too great a fright to speak, but went with her, back to the cro-quet ground. The guests had all sat down in the shade to rest while the Queen was a-way, but as soon as they saw her they rushed back to the game; while the Queen said if they were not in their pla-ces at once, it would cost them their lives. All the time the game went on the Queen kept shout-ing, "Off with his head!" or "Off with her head!" so that by the end of half an hour there was no one left on the grounds but the King, the Queen, and Al-ice. Then the Queen left off, quite out of breath, and said to Al-ice, "Have you seen the Mock Tur-tle yet?" "No," said Al-ice, "I don't know what a Mock-tur-tle is." "It is a thing Mock Tur-tle Soup is made from," the Queen said. "I've nev-er seen or heard of one," Alice said. "Come on then, and he shall tell you his sto-ry," said the Queen.