The unhappy Hatter saw this, and dropped his bread-and-butter. ‘I’m a poor man, Your Majesty,’ he said again.
‘You’re a very poor speaker,’ said the King. He turned to the White Rabbit. ‘Call the next witness,’ he said.
The next witness was the Duchess’s cook, who spoke very angrily and said that she would not give any evidence. The King looked worried and told the White Rabbit to call another witness. Alice watched while the White Rabbit looked at the names on his piece of paper. Then, to her great surprise, he called out loudly, ‘Alice!’
‘Here!’ cried Alice, jumping to her feet.
‘What do you know about these tarts?’ said the King.
‘Nothing,’ said Alice.
The Queen was looking hard at Alice. Now, she said, ‘All people a mile high must leave the room.’
‘I’m not a mile high,’ said Alice, ‘And I won’t leave the room. I want to hear the evidence.’
‘There is no more evidence,’ said the King very quickly, ‘and now the jury will –‘
‘Your Majesty!’ said the White Rabbit, jumping up in a great hurry. ‘We’ve just found this letter. There’s not name on it, but I think the Knave wrote it.’
