After a while the noise seemed gradually to die away, till all wasdead silence, and Alice lifted up her head in some alarm. There was no oneto be seen, and her first thought was that she must have been dreamingabout the Lion and the Unicorn and those still lying at her feet, on whichshe had tried to cut the plum- cake, `So I wasn't dreaming, after all,' shesaid to herself, `unless--unless we're all part of the same dream. Only Ido hope it's MY dream, and not the Red King's! I don't like belonging toanother person's dream,' she went on in a rather complaining tone: `I've agreat mind to go and wake him, and see what happens!'

　　At this moment her thoughts were interrupted by a loud shouting of`Ahoy! Ahoy! Check!' and a Knight dressed in crimson armour camegalloping down upon her, brandishing a great club. Just as he reachedher, the horse stopped suddenly: `You're my prisoner!' the Knight cried,as he tumbled off his horse.

　　Startled as she was, Alice was more frightened for him than forherself at the moment, and watched him with some anxiety as he mountedagain. As soon as he was comfortably in the saddle, he began once more`You're my--' but here another voice broke in `Ahoy! Ahoy! Check!'

　　and Alice looked round in some surprise for the new enemy.

　　This time it was a White Knight. He drew up at Alice's side, andtumbled off his horse just as the Red Knight had done: then he got onagain, and the two Knights sat and looked at each other for some timewithout speaking. Alice looked from one to the other in somebewilderment.

　　`She's MY prisoner, you know!' the Red Knight said at last.

　　`Yes, but then _I_ came and rescued her!' the White Knight replied.

　　`Well, we must fight for her, then,' said the Red Knight, as he tookup his helmet (which hung from the saddle, and was something the shapeof a horse's head), and put it on.

　　`You will observe the Rules of Battle, of course?' the White Knightremarked, putting on his helmet too.

　　`I always do,' said the Red Knight, and they began banging away ateach other with such fury that Alice got behind a tree to be out of the wayof the blows.

　　`I wonder, now, what the Rules of Battle are,' she said to herself, asshe watched the fight, timidly peeping out from her hiding-place: `oneRule seems to be, that if one Knight hits the other, he knocks him off hishorse, and if he misses, he tumbles off himself--and another Rule seems tobe that they hold their clubs with their arms, as if they were Punch andJudy--What a noise they make when they tumble! Just like a whole setof fire- irons falling into the fender! And how quiet the horses are! Theylet them get on and off them just as if they were tables!'

　　Another Rule of Battle, that Alice had not noticed, seemed to be thatthey always fell on their heads, and the battle ended with their both fallingoff in this way, side by side: when they got up again, they shook hands,and then the Red Knight mounted and galloped off.

　　`It was a glorious victory, wasn't it?' said the White Knight, as hecame up panting.

　　`I don't know,' Alice said doubtfully. `I don't want to be anybody'sprisoner. I want to be a Queen.'

　　`So you will, when you've crossed the next brook,' said the WhiteKnight. `I'll see you safe to the end of the wood--and then I must goback, you know. That's the end of my move.'

　　`Thank you very much,' said Alice. `May I help you off with yourhelmet?' It was evidently more than he could manage by himself;however, she managed to shake him out of it at last.

　　`Now one can breathe more easily,' said the Knight, putting back hisshaggy hair with both hands, and turning his gentle face and large mildeyes to Alice. She thought she had never seen such a strange-lookingsoldier in all her life.

　　He was dressed in tin armour, which seemed to fit him very badly,and he had a queer-shaped little deal box fastened across his shoulder,upside-down, and with the lid hanging open. Alice looked at it with greatcuriosity.

　　`I see you're admiring my little box.' the Knight said in a friendly tone. `It's my own invention--to keep clothes and sandwiches in. Yousee I carry it upside-down, so that the rain can't get in.'

　　`But the things can get OUT,' Alice gently remarked. `Do youknow the lid's open?'

　　`I didn't know it,' the Knight said, a shade of vexation passing overhis face. `Then all the things much have fallen out! And the box is nouse without them.' He unfastened it as he spoke, and was just going tothrow it into the bushes, when a sudden thought seemed to strike him, andhe hung it carefully on a tree. `Can you guess why I did that?' he said toAlice.

　　Alice shook her head.

　　`In hopes some bees may make a nest in it--then I should get thehoney.'

　　`But you've got a bee-hive--or something like one--fastened to thesaddle,' said Alice.

　　`Yes, it's a very good bee-hive,' the Knight said in a discontentedtone, `one of the best kind. But not a single bee has come near it yet.

　　And the other thing is a mouse-trap. I suppose the mice keep the beesout--or the bees keep the mice out, I don't know which.'

　　`I was wondering what the mouse-trap was for,' said Alice. `It isn'tvery likely there would be any mice on the horse's back.'

　　`Not very likely, perhaps,' said the Knight: `but if they DO come, Idon't choose to have them running all about.'

　　`You see,' he went on after a pause, `it's as well to be provided forEVERYTHING. That's the reason the horse has all those anklets roundhis feet.'

　　`But what are they for?' Alice asked in a tone of great curiosity.

　　`To guard against the bites of sharks,' the Knight replied. `It's aninvention of my own. And now help me on. I'll go with you to the endof the wood--What's the dish for?'

　　`It's meant for plum-cake,' said Alice.

　　`We'd better take it with us,' the Knight said. `It'll come in handy ifwe find any plum-cake. Help me to get it into this bag.'

　　This took a very long time to manage, though Alice held the bag open very carefully, because the Knight was so VERY awkward in puttingin the dish: the first two or three times that he tried he fell in himselfinstead. `It's rather a tight fit, you see,' he said, as they got it in a last;`There are so many candlesticks in the bag.' And he hung it to the saddle,which was already loaded with bunches of carrots, and fire-irons, andmany other things.

　　`I hope you've got your hair well fastened on?' he continued, as theyset off.

　　`Only in the usual way,' Alice said, smiling.

　　`That's hardly enough,' he said, anxiously. `You see the wind is soVERY strong here. It's as strong as soup.'

　　`Have you invented a plan for keeping the hair from being blownoff?' Alice enquired.

　　`Not yet,' said the Knight. `But I've got a plan for keeping it fromFALLING off.'

　　`I should like to hear it, very much.'

　　`First you take an upright stick,' said the Knight. `Then you makeyour hair creep up it, like a fruit-tree. Now the reason hair falls off isbecause it hangs DOWN--things never fall UPWARDS, you know. It's aplan of my own invention. You may try it if you like.'

　　It didn't sound a comfortable plan, Alice thought, and for a fewminutes she walked on in silence, puzzling over the idea, and every nowand then stopping to help the poor Knight, who certainly was NOT a goodrider.

　　Whenever the horse stopped (which it did very often), he fell off infront; and whenever it went on again (which it generally did rathersuddenly), he fell off behind. Otherwise he kept on pretty well, exceptthat he had a habit of now and then falling off sideways; and as hegenerally did this on the side on which Alice was walking, she soon foundthat it was the best plan not to walk QUITE close to the horse.

　　`I'm afraid you've not had much practice in riding,' she ventured tosay, as she was helping him up from his fifth tumble.

　　The Knight looked very much surprised, and a little offended at theremark. `What makes you say that?' he asked, as he scrambled back into the saddle, keeping hold of Alice's hair with one hand, to save himselffrom falling over on the other side.

　　`Because people don't fall off quite so often, when they've had muchpractice.'

　　`I've had plenty of practice,' the Knight said very gravely: `plenty ofpractice!'

　　Alice could think of nothing better to say than `Indeed?' but she saidit as heartily as she could. They went on a little way in silence after this,the Knight with his eyes shut, muttering to himself, and Alice watchinganxiously for the next tumble.

　　`The great art of riding,' the Knight suddenly began in a loud voice,waving his right arm as he spoke, `is to keep--' Here the sentence ended assuddenly as it had begun, as the Knight fell heavily on the top of his headexactly in the path where Alice was walking. She was quite frightenedthis time, and said in an anxious tone, as she picked him up, `I hope nobones are broken?'

　　`None to speak of,' the Knight said, as if he didn't mind breakingtwo or three of them. `The great art of riding, as I was saying, is--to keepyour balance properly. Like this, you know--'

　　He let go the bridle, and stretched out both his arms to show Alicewhat he meant, and this time he fell flat on his back, right under thehorse's feet.

　　`Plenty of practice!' he went on repeating, all the time that Alice wasgetting him on his feet again. `Plenty of practice!'

　　`It's too ridiculous!' cried Alice, losing all her patience this time.

　　`You ought to have a wooden horse on wheels, that you ought!'

　　`Does that kind go smoothly?' the Knight asked in a tone of greatinterest, clasping his arms round the horse's neck as he spoke, just in timeto save himself from tumbling off again.

　　`Much more smoothly than a live horse,' Alice said, with a littlescream of laughter, in spite of all she could do to prevent it.

　　`I'll get one,' the Knight said thoughtfully to himself. `One or two-several.'

　　There was a short silence after this, and then the Knight went on again. `I'm a great hand at inventing things. Now, I daresay younoticed, that last time you picked me up, that I was looking ratherthoughtful?'

　　`You WERE a little grave,' said Alice. `Well, just then I wasinventing a new way of getting over a gate--would you like to hear it?'

　　`Very much indeed,' Alice said politely.

　　`I'll tell you how I came to think of it,' said the Knight. `You see, Isaid to myself, "The only difficulty is with the feet: the HEAD is highenough already." Now, first I put my head on the top of the gate--then Istand on my head--then the feet are high enough, you see--then I'm ov............