Alice and the Gryphon rushed into the courtroom. A large crowd had gathered—birds, animals, and the whole pack of cards. The King and Queen of Hearts were seated on their thrones.
The Knave of Hearts stood in front of his parents. He was in chains with two soldiers guarding him.
"It must be the Knave's trial," Alice said to the Gryphon as they sat down. "Oh, look! There's the White Rabbit."
The White Rabbit seemed to be a court official. Holding a trumpet in one hand, he clutched a scroll of paper in the other.
Alice noticed a dish of tarts on a table. "Those tarts are making me hungry," she said to the Gryphon. "I wish this trial was over, so we could eat them."
"That won't happen for quite a while," the Gryphon replied.
Alice looked around the room. Although she'd never been in a courtroom before, she'd read about trials.
"The King is wearing a long wig, so he's the judge," she said to herself. "And over there is the jury box, and those 12 creatures are the jurors."
The jurors were busy writing on slates.
"What are they doing?" Alice whispered to the Gryphon. "The trial hasn't started, so there's nothing for them to write down."
"They're writing their names. They don't want to forget their names before the end of the trial."
"What?" Alice said in a loud voice. "Stupid creatures!"
She stopped talking because the White Rabbit cried, "Silence in the court!"
The King put on his glasses and looked around to see who was still talking. Alice stayed quiet. From her seat, she could see the jurors writing, "Stupid creatures!"
"Their slates will be full before the trial starts," Alice thought.
"White Rabbit, tell us what the prisoner is accused of," the King said.
The White Rabbit blew three blasts on his trumpet. Then he unrolled his scroll and began to read:
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!
"What is your verdict?" the King asked the jury.
"Not yet!" the White Rabbit said. "We need to hear from the witnesses."
"Call the first witness," the King said.
The White Rabbit blew three more blasts on his trumpet. "First witness!" he called.
The first witness was the Hatter. He arrived with a teacup in one hand. He held bread and butter in the other.
"I beg your pardon for bringing these, Your Majesty," he said. "But I hadn't quite finished my tea when I was sent for."
"You should have finished your tea," the King said. "When did you begin drinking it?"
The Hatter looked at the March Hare and the Dormouse, who had followed him in.
"I think it was March 14th," the Hatter said.
"Fifteenth," the March Hare corrected him.
"Sixteenth," the Dormouse said.
"Write that down," the King said to the jury.
The creatures in the jury box eagerly wrote down all three dates. Then they added them together and divided by five. Meanwhile the Queen put on her glasses. She stared at the Hatter, who turned pale.
"Tell your story, and don't be nervous," the King said to the Hatter. "Or I'll have your head cut off."
This didn't help the Hatter. He nervously took a bite from his teacup instead of his bread.
Just then Alice felt a strange sensation. "What's going on?" she thought. But then she realized what was happening. "I'm growing again, and I haven't even eaten a bite of those tarts!"