arn it."

"How man-y hours a day did you do les-sons?" asked Al-ice.

"Ten hours the first day," said the Mock Tur-tle; "nine the next and so
on."

"What a strange plan!" said Al-ice.

"That's why they're called les-sons," said the Gry-phon: "they les-sen
from day to day."

This was such a new thing to Al-ice that she sat still a good while and
didn't speak. "Then there would be a day when you would have no school,"
she said.

"Of course there would," said the Mock Tur-tle.

"What did you do then?" asked Al-ice.

"I'm tired of this," said the Gry-phon: "tell her now of the games we
played."

CHAPTER X.

THE LOB-STER DANCE.

The Mock Tur-tle sighed, looked at Al-ice and tried to speak, but for a
min-ute or two sobs choked his voice. "Same as if he had a bone in his
throat," said the Gry-phon, and set to work to shake him and punch him
in the back. At last the Mock Tur-tle found his voice and with tears
run-ning down his cheeks, he went on:

[Illustration]

"You may not have lived much in the sea"--("I have-n't," said Al-ice)
"so you can not know what a fine thing a Lob-ster Dance is!"

"No," said Al-ice. "What sort of a dance is it?"

"Why," said the Gry-phon, "you first form in a line on the sea-shore--"

"Two lines!" cried the Mock Tur-tle. "Seals, tur-tles, and so on; then
when you've cleared all the small fish out of the way--"

"That takes some time," put in the Gry-phon.

"You move to the front twice--"

"Each with a lob-ster by his side!" cried the Gry-phon.

"Of course," the Mock Tur-tle said: "move to the front twice--"

"Change and come back in same way," said the Gry-phon.

"Then, you know," the Mock Tur-tle went on, "you throw the--"

"The lob-sters!" shout-ed the Gry-phon, with a bound in-to the air.

"As far out to sea as you can--"

"Swim out for them," screamed the Gry-phon.

"Turn heels o-ver head in the sea!" cried the Mock Tur-tle.

"Change a-gain!" yelled the Gry-phon at the top of his voice.

"Then back to land, and--that's all the first part," said the Mock
Tur-tle.

Both the Gry-phon and the Mock Tur-tle had jumped a-bout like mad things
all this time. Now they sat down quite sad and still, and looked at
Al-ice.

"It must be a pret-ty dance," said Al-ice.

"Would you like to see some of it?" asked the Mock Tur-tle.

"Oh, yes," she said.

"Come, let's try the first part!" said the Mock Tur-tle to the Gry-phon.
"We can do it without lob-sters, you k