` Come on ! ' cried the Gryphon , and , taking Alice by the hand , it hurried off , without waiting for the end of the song . ` What trial is it ? ' Alice panted as she ran ; but the Gryphon only answered ` Come on ! ' and ran the faster , while more and more faintly came , carried on the breeze that followed them , the melancholy words : -- ` Soo -- oop of the e -- e -- evening , Beautiful , beautiful Soup ! ' CHAPTER XI . Who Stole the Tarts ? The King and Queen of Hearts were seated on their throne when they arrived , with a great crowd assembled about them -- all sorts of little birds and beasts , as well as the whole pack of cards : the Knave was standing before them , in chains , with a soldier on each side to guard him ; and near the King was the White Rabbit , with a trumpet in one hand , and a scroll of parchment in the other . In the very middle of the court was a table , with a large dish of tarts upon it : they looked so good , that it made Alice quite hungry to look at them -- ' I wish they 'd get the trial done , ' she thought , ` and hand round the refreshments ! ' But there seemed to be no chance of this , so she began looking at everything about her , to pass away the time . Alice had never been in a court of justice before , but she had read about them in books , and she was quite pleased to find that she knew the name of nearly everything there . ` That 's the judge , ' she said to herself , ` because of his great wig . ' The judge , by the way , was the King ; and as he wore his crown over the wig , -LRB- look at the frontispiece if you want to see how he did it , -RRB- he did not look at all comfortable , and it was certainly not becoming . ` And that 's the jury-box , ' thought Alice , ` and those twelve creatures , ' -LRB- she was obliged to say ` creatures , ' you see , because some of them were animals , and some were birds , -RRB- ' I suppose they are the jurors . ' She said this last word two or three times over to herself , being rather proud of it : for she thought , and rightly too , that very few little girls of her age knew the meaning of it at all . However , ` jury-men ' would have done just as well . The twelve jurors were all writing very busily on slates . ` What are they doing ? ' Alice whispered to the Gryphon . ` They ca n't have anything to put down yet , before the trial 's begun . '
` They 're putting down their names , ' the Gryphon whispered in reply , ` for fear they should forget them XXXXX the end of the trial . '
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