` Let me alone ! ' ` Serpent , I say again ! ' repeated the Pigeon , but in a more subdued tone , and added with a kind of sob , ` I 've tried every way , and nothing seems to suit them ! ' ' I have n't the least idea what you 're talking about , ' said Alice . ` I 've tried the roots of trees , and I 've tried banks , and I 've tried hedges , ' the Pigeon went on , without attending to her ; ` but those serpents ! There 's no pleasing them ! ' Alice was more and more puzzled , but she thought there was no use in saying anything more till the Pigeon had finished . ` As if it was n't trouble enough hatching the eggs , ' said the Pigeon ; ` but I must be on the look-out for serpents night and day ! Why , I have n't had a wink of sleep these three weeks ! ' ` I 'm very sorry you 've been annoyed , ' said Alice , who was beginning to see its meaning . ` And just as I 'd taken the highest tree in the wood , ' continued the Pigeon , raising its voice to a shriek , ` and just as I was thinking I should be free of them at last , they must needs come wriggling down from the sky ! Ugh , Serpent ! ' ` But I 'm NOT a serpent , I tell you ! ' said Alice . ` I 'm a -- I 'm a -- ' ` Well ! WHAT are you ? ' said the Pigeon . ' I can see you 're trying to invent something ! ' ` I -- I 'm a little girl , ' said Alice , rather doubtfully , as she remembered the number of changes she had gone through that day . ' A likely story indeed ! '
said the Pigeon XXXXX a tone of the deepest contempt .
as at from in of on through till to with