mouth
in the shape of a trumpet, and stooping so as to get close to the King's
ear. Alice was sorry for this, as she wanted to hear the news too.
However, instead of whispering, he simply shouted at the top of his
voice 'They're at it again!'

'Do you call THAT a whisper?' cried the poor King, jumping up and
shaking himself. 'If you do such a thing again, I'll have you buttered!
It went through and through my head like an earthquake!'

'It would have to be a very tiny earthquake!' thought Alice. 'Who are at
it again?' she ventured to ask.

'Why the Lion and the Unicorn, of course,' said the King.

'Fighting for the crown?'

'Yes, to be sure,' said the King: 'and the best of the joke is, that
it's MY crown all the while! Let's run and see them.' And they trotted
off, Alice repeating to herself, as she ran, the words of the old
song:--

'The Lion and the Unicorn were fighting for the crown:
The Lion beat the Unicorn all round the town.
Some gave them white bread, some gave them brown;
Some gave them plum-cake and drummed them out of town.'

'Does--the one--that wins--get the crown?' she asked, as well as she
could, for the run was putting her quite out of breath.

'Dear me, no!' said the King. 'What an idea!'

'Would you--be good enough,' Alice panted out, after running a little
further, 'to stop a minute--just to get--one's breath again?'

'I'm GOOD enough,' the King said, 'only I'm not strong enough. You see,
a minute goes by so fearfully quick. You might as well try to stop a
Bandersnatch!'

Alice had no more breath for talking, so they trotted on in silence,
till they came in sight of a great crowd, in the middle of which the
Lion and Unicorn were fighting. They were in such a cloud of dust, that
at first Alice could not make out which was which: but she soon managed
to distinguish the Unicorn by his horn.

They placed themselves close to where Hatta, the other messenger, was
standing watching the fight, with a cup of tea in one hand and a piece
of bread-and-butter in the other.

'He's only just out of prison, and he hadn't finished his tea when
he was sent in,' Haigha whispered to Alice: 'and they only give them
oyster-shells in there--so you see he's very hungry and thirsty. How
are you, dear child?' he went on, putting his arm affectionately round
Hatta's neck.

Hatta looked round and nodded, and went on with his bread and butter.

'Were you happy in prison, dear child?' said Ha