Why, my dear Child, that great red what’s-its-name (its _real_ name is “_a Flamingo_”) _is_ the mallet! In this Croquet-Game, the balls were live _Hedge-hogs_----you know a hedge-hog can roll itself up into a ball?----and the mallets were live _Flamingos_! So Alice is just resting from the Game, for a minute, to have a chat with that dear old thing, the Duchess: and of course she keeps her mallet under her arm, so as not to lose it. “But I don’t think she _was_ a dear old thing, one bit! To call her Baby a _Pig_, and to want to chop off Alice’s head!” Oh, that was only a joke, about chopping off Alice’s head: and as to the Baby----why, it _was_ a Pig, you know! And just look at her _smile_! Why, it’s wider than all Alice’s head: and yet you can only see half of it! Well, they’d only had a _very_ little chat, when the Queen came and took Alice away, to see the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle. _You don’t know what a Gryphon is?_ Well! Do you know _anything_? That’s the question. However, look at the picture. That creature with a red head, and red claws, and green scales, is the _Gryphon_. Now you know. And the other’s the _Mock Turtle_. It’s got a calf’s-head, because calf’s head is used to make _Mock Turtle Soup_. Now you know. “But what are they _doing_, going round and round Alice like that?” Why, I thought of _course_ you’d know _that_! They’re dancing _a Lobster-Quadrille_. [Illustration] And next time _you_ meet a Gryphon and a Mock Turtle, I daresay they’ll dance it for _you_, if you ask them prettily. Only don’t let them come _quite_ close, or they’ll be treading on your toes, as they did on poor Alice’s. XIII. WHO STOLE THE TARTS? Did you ever hear how the Queen of Hearts made some tarts? And can you tell me what became of them? “Why, of _course_ I can! Doesn’t the song tell all about it? _The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts: All on a summer day: The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts, And took them quite away!_” Well, yes, the _Song_ says so. But it would never do to punish the poor Knave, just because there was a _Song_ about him. They had to take him prisoner, and put chains on his wrists, and bring him before the King of Hearts, so that there might be a regular trial. Now, if you look at the big picture, at the beginning of this book, you’ll see what a grand thing a trial is, when the Judge is a King! The King is very grand, _isn’t_ he? But he doesn’t look very _happy_. I think that big crown, on the top of his wig, must be _very_ heavy and uncomfortable. But he had to wear them _both_, you see, so that people might know he was a Judge _and_ a King. And _doesn’t_ the Queen look cross? She can see the dish of tarts on the table, that she had taken such trouble to make. And she can see the bad Knave (do you see the chains hanging from his wrists?) that stole them away from her: so I don’t think it’s any wonder if she _does_ feel a _little_ cross.