So she went in search of her hedgehog . The hedgehog was engaged in a fight with another hedgehog , which seemed to Alice an excellent opportunity for croqueting one of them with the other : the only difficulty was , that her flamingo was gone across to the other side of the garden , where Alice could see it trying in a helpless sort of way to fly up into a tree . By the time she had caught the flamingo and brought it back , the fight was over , and both the hedgehogs were out of sight : ` but it does n't matter much , ' thought Alice , ` as all the arches are gone from this side of the ground . ' So she tucked it away under her arm , that it might not escape again , and went back for a little more conversation with her friend . When she got back to the Cheshire Cat , she was surprised to find quite a large crowd collected round it : there was a dispute going on between the executioner , the King , and the Queen , who were all talking at once , while all the rest were quite silent , and looked very uncomfortable . The moment Alice appeared , she was appealed to by all three to settle the question , and they repeated their arguments to her , though , as they all spoke at once , she found it very hard indeed to make out exactly what they said . The executioner 's argument was , that you could n't cut off a head unless there was a body to cut it off from : that he had never had to do such a thing before , and he was n't going to begin at HIS time of life . The King 's argument was , that anything that had a head could be beheaded , and that you were n't to talk nonsense . The Queen 's argument was , that if something was n't done about it in less than no time she 'd have everybody executed , all round . -LRB- It was this last remark that had made the whole party look so grave and anxious . -RRB- Alice could think of nothing else to say but ` It belongs to the Duchess : you 'd better ask HER about it . ' ` She 's in prison , ' the Queen said to the executioner : ` fetch her here . ' And the executioner went off like an arrow . The Cat 's head began fading away the moment he was gone , and , by the time he had come back with the Duchess , it had entirely disappeared ; so the King and the executioner ran wildly up and down looking for it , while the rest of the party went back to the game . CHAPTER IX . The Mock Turtle 's Story ` You ca n't think how glad I am to see you again , you dear old thing ! ' said the Duchess , as she tucked her arm affectionately into Alice 's , and they walked off together . Alice was very glad to find her in such a pleasant temper , and thought to herself that perhaps it was only the pepper that had made her so savage when they met in the kitchen . ` When I 'M a Duchess , ' she said to herself , -LRB- not in a very hopeful tone though -RRB- , ' I wo n't have any pepper in my kitchen AT ALL . Soup does very well without -- Maybe it 's always pepper that makes people hot-tempered , ' she went on , very much pleased at having found out a new kind of rule , ` and vinegar that makes them sour -- and camomile that makes them bitter -- and -- and barley-sugar and such things that make children sweet-tempered .
I only wish people knew that : then they would n't be so stingy about it , you know -- ' She had quite forgotten the Duchess XXXXX this time , and was a little startled when she heard her voice close to her ear .
as by for from in like of so to unless