Alice stood outside the house, unsure what to do next. Suddenly a footman in uniform ran out of the woods. The footman had a face like a fish. He knocked on the door, which was answered by another footman. This one had a round face and eyes like a frog. Alice noticed that both wore curly powdered wigs.
"I wonder what's going to happen." Alice crept closer so she could listen.
The Fish Footman was holding a letter almost as big as himself. He handed it to the Frog Footman. "From the Queen," the Fish Footman said. "An invitation for the Duchess to play croquet."
"This must be the Duchess' house," Alice said to herself. "I wonder if she's the Duchess that the White Rabbit was talking about."
The two footmen bowed low, tangling their curls together. Alice laughed so hard that she ran into the woods so they wouldn't hear her. When she peeped out again, the Fish Footman was gone. The Frog Footman was sitting on the ground, staring at the sky.
Alice went to the door of the house and knocked quietly.
"There's no point in knocking," the Frog Footman said. "First, I'm out here with you, so I can't open the door. Second, they're making so much noise inside, no one can hear you."
Alice put her ear on the door to listen. The Frog Footman was right. There was a constant howling and sneezing. Every once in a while came a great crash.
"That sounds like dishes breaking!" Alice said to the Frog Footman. "But how will I get inside?"
The Frog Footman had no idea. "I'm going to sit out here all day," he said.
Just then the door opened, and a plate flew outside. It almost hit the Frog Footman before smashing against a tree. He continued to sit as if nothing had happened.
"Or maybe I'll sit here until tomorrow," he said quietly.
Alice decided to open the door herself. The door led right into the kitchen, which was full of smoke. The Duchess sat on a stool, feeding a baby. The Cook was leaning over the fire, stirring a pot of soup. Alice began to sneeze.
"There's too much pepper in that soup!" she cried.
The baby took turns sneezing and howling. The Duchess sneezed once in a while, but the Cook didn't sneeze at all. A cat was lying on the hearth and grinning from ear to ear. It didn't sneeze either.
"I've never seen a cat grin like that," Alice said.
"Then you haven't been paying attention," the Duchess said. "All cats know how to grin, but this Cheshire Cat is especially good at it. Pig!"
The Duchess said this last word so loudly that Alice jumped. Then she realized the Duchess was speaking to the baby. The baby had tiny eyes and a nose like a snout.
Before Alice could say a word, the Cook started throwing things.
"Watch what you're doing!" Alice said. "You're going to hurt the baby!"
The Duchess tossed the baby to Alice. "Here, you can feed the baby if you like. I must get ready to play croquet with the Queen."
And with that, the Duchess hurried from the room. Alice tried to hold onto the wiggling baby while the Cheshire Cat simply grinned.