He has just got up to say to Alice “Your hair wants cutting!” That was a rude thing to say, _wasn’t_ it? And do you think her hair _does_ want cutting? _I_ think it’s a very pretty length----just the right length. XI. THE QUEEN’S GARDEN. This is a little bit of the beautiful garden I told you about. You see Alice had managed at last to get quite small, so that she could go through the little door. I suppose she was about as tall as a mouse, if it stood on its hind-legs: so of course this was a _very_ tiny rose-tree: and these are _very_ tiny gardeners. [Illustration] What funny little men they are! But _are_ they men, do you think? I think they must be live cards, with just a head, and arms, and legs, so as to _look_ like little men. And what _are_ they doing with that red paint, I wonder? Well, you see, this is what they told Alice The Queen of Hearts wanted to have a _red_ rose-tree just in that corner: and these poor little gardeners had made a great mistake, and had put in a _white_ one instead: and they were so frightened about it, because the Queen was _sure_ to be angry, and then she would order all their heads to be cut off! She was a dreadfully savage Queen, and that was the way she always did, when she was angry with people. “Off with their heads!” They didn’t _really_ cut their heads off, you know: because nobody ever obeyed her: but that was what she always _said_. _Now_ ca’n’t you guess what the poor little gardeners are trying to do? They’re trying to paint the roses _red_, and they’re in a great hurry to get it done before the Queen comes. And then _perhaps_ the Queen won’t find out it was a _white_ rose-tree to begin with: and then _perhaps_ the little men won’t get their heads cut off! You see there were _five_ large white roses on the tree----such a job to get them all painted red! But they’ve got three and a half done, now, and if only they wouldn’t stop to talk----work away, little men, _do_ work away! Or the Queen will be coming before it’s done! And if she finds any _white_ roses on the tree, do you know what will happen? It will be “Off with their heads!” Oh, work away, my little men! Hurry, hurry! [Illustration] _The Queen has come!_ And _isn’t_ she angry? Oh, my poor little Alice! XII. THE LOBSTER-QUADRILLE. Did you ever play at Croquet? There are large wooden balls, painted with different colours, that you have to roll about; and arches of wire, that you have to send them through; and great wooden mallets, with long handles, to knock the balls about with. Now look at the picture, and you’ll see that _Alice_ has just been playing a Game of Croquet. “But she _couldn’t_ play, with that great red what’s-its-name in her arms! Why, how could she hold the mallet?” [Illustration]