-LRB- The jury all brightened up again . -RRB- ` Please your Majesty , ' said the Knave , ' I did n't write it , and they ca n't prove I did : there 's no name signed at the end . ' ` If you did n't sign it , ' said the King , ` that only makes the matter worse . You MUST have meant some mischief , or else you 'd have signed your name like an honest man . ' There was a general clapping of hands at this : it was the first really clever thing the King had said that day . ` That PROVES his guilt , ' said the Queen . ` It proves nothing of the sort ! ' said Alice . ` Why , you do n't even know what they 're about ! ' ` Read them , ' said the King . The White Rabbit put on his spectacles . ` Where shall I begin , please your Majesty ? ' he asked . ` Begin at the beginning , ' the King said gravely , ` and go on till you come to the end : then stop . ' These were the verses the White Rabbit read : -- ` They told me you had been to her , And mentioned me to him : She gave me a good character , But said I could not swim . He sent them word I had not gone -LRB- We know it to be true -RRB- : If she should push the matter on , What would become of you ? I gave her one , they gave him two , You gave us three or more ; They all returned from him to you , Though they were mine before . If I or she should chance to be Involved in this affair , He trusts to you to set them free , Exactly as we were . My notion was that you had been -LRB- Before she had this fit -RRB- An obstacle that came between Him , and ourselves , and it . Do n't let him know she liked them best , For this must ever be A secret , kept from all the rest , Between yourself and me . '
` That 's the most important piece of evidence we 've heard yet , ' said the King , rubbing his hands ; ` so now let the jury -- ' ` If any one XXXXX them can explain it , ' said Alice , -LRB- she had grown so large in the last few minutes that she was n't a bit afraid of interrupting him , -RRB- ` I 'll give him sixpence .
For about as between from in like of on that