said the Hat-ter.

No one spoke for some time, while Al-ice tried to think of all she knew
of rav-ens and desks, which wasn't much.

The Hat-ter was the first to speak. "What day of the month is it?" he
said, turn-ing to Al-ice. He had his watch in his hand, looked at it and
shook it now and then while he held it to his ear.

Al-ice thought a-while, and said, "The fourth."

"Two days wrong!" sighed the Hat-ter. "I told you but-ter wouldn't suit
this watch," he add-ed with a scowl as he looked at the March Hare.

"It was the best but-ter," the March Hare said.

"Yes, but some crumbs must have got in," the Hat-ter growled; "you
shouldn't have put it in with the bread-knife."

The March Hare took the watch and looked at it; then dipped it in-to his
cup of tea and looked at it a-gain; but all he could think to say was,
"it was the best but-ter, you know."

"Oh, what a fun-ny watch!" said Al-ice. "It tells the day of the month
and doesn't tell what o'clock it is!"

"Why should it?" growled the Hat-ter.

"Does your watch tell what year it is?"

"Of course not," said Al-ice, "but there's no need that it should, since
it stays the same year such a long time."

"Which is just the case with mine," said the Hat-ter; which seemed to
Al-ice to have no sense in it at all.

"I don't quite know what you mean," she said.

"The Dor-mouse has gone to sleep, once more," said the Hat-ter, and he
poured some hot tea on the tip of its nose.

The Dor-mouse shook its head, and said with its eyes still closed, "Of
course, of course; just what I want-ed to say my-self."

"Have you guessed the rid-dle yet?" the Hat-ter asked, turn-ing to
Al-ice.

"No, I give it up," she said. "What's the an-swer?"

"I do not know at all," said the Hat-ter.

"Nor I," said the March Hare.

Al-ice sighed. "I think you might do bet-ter with the time than to waste
it, by ask-ing rid-dles that have no an-swers."

"If you knew Time as well as I do, you wouldn't say 'waste _it_.' It's
_him_."

"I don't know what you mean," Al-ice said.

"Of course you don't!" said the Hat-ter with a toss of his head. "I dare
say you nev-er e-ven spoke to Time."

"May-be not," she said, "but I know I have to beat time when I learn to
sing."

"Oh! that's it," said the Hat-ter. "He won't stand beat-ing. Now if you
kept on good terms with him, he would do an-y-thing you liked with the
clock. Say it was nine o'clock, just time to go to school; you'd have
but to