When the Queen's parade reached the croquet lawn, Alice heard a soft voice beside her.
"It's . . . it's a fine day," the White Rabbit said. He looked anxiously at Alice.
"Very fine indeed," Alice replied. "Where's the Duchess?"
"Be quiet!" the White Rabbit said quickly. He looked over his shoulder before whispering in Alice's ear. "The Duchess has been sentenced to death."
Alice looked surprised. "What did she do?"
"She slapped the Queen's face, and—" the White Rabbit began.
Alice laughed nervously.
"Oh, hush, before the Queen hears you!" the White Rabbit said, sounding frightened. "The Duchess arrived late, and—"
"Go to your places!" the Queen roared.
People began running in all directions, tripping over each other. However, they soon settled down, and the croquet game began.
"This is the strangest croquet game I've ever seen," Alice said. "The balls are live hedgehogs, and the mallets are flamingos. And what are those soldiers doing?"
The soldiers were bending over so their hands touched the ground.
"Oh, I see! They're the wickets!" Alice exclaimed. She picked up her flamingo.
But her flamingo wouldn't cooperate. Alice couldn't figure out how to hold it as a mallet. The bird kept looking at her with a puzzled expression, which only made Alice laugh. As for her hedgehog, it unrolled itself and began to walk away. The soldiers kept getting up to stretch. And the ground was too rough to play on.
"This is a hard way to play croquet," Alice said.
The players didn't take turns. Instead they all made their shots at once, which led to many arguments. Soon the Queen was stomping around, shouting, "Off with his head! Off with her head!"
Alice began to feel uneasy. "I hope I don't do anything to upset the Queen," she thought. "That could be dangerous."
Suddenly she saw something odd floating in the air—a grin.
The image grew clearer. "It's the Cheshire Cat!" Alice said happily. "Now I’ll have somebody to talk to."
"How are you doing?" the Cheshire Cat asked.
"There's no use replying until his ears show up," Alice said to herself. "He can't hear me yet."
In another minute the Cheshire Cat's whole head was visible. Alice put down her flamingo and began to describe the croquet game. Meanwhile the Cheshire Cat's body remained invisible.
"Nobody plays fairly," Alice complained. "And it's so difficult using live animals and soldiers."
"How do you like the Queen?" the Cheshire Cat asked quietly.
"I don't like her at all," Alice said. "She's so—" Just then Alice noticed the Queen listening nearby. She blushed. "I mean, the Queen is likely to win, so it's not worth finishing the game."
The Queen smiled and passed by. As Alice continued to talk, the King approached and stared at the Cheshire Cat's head.
"Who are you talking to?" the King asked Alice.
"This is a good friend of mine, the Cheshire Cat," she said. "Let me introduce you."
"I don't like the look of that cat at all. He must be removed at once." The King called out to the Queen. "My dear! Please have this cat removed!"
The Queen had only one way of dealing with problems, large or small. "Off with his head!" she cried.
The King went to fetch the Executioner.