A very few steps brought her to the edge of the brook . ` The Eighth Square at last ! ' she cried as she bounded across , * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * and threw herself down to rest on a lawn as soft as moss , with little flower-beds dotted about it here and there . ` Oh , how glad I am to get here ! And what IS this on my head ? ' she exclaimed in a tone of dismay , as she put her hands up to something very heavy , and fitted tight all round her head . ` But how CAN it have got there without my knowing it ? ' she said to herself , as she lifted it off , and set it on her lap to make out what it could possibly be . It was a golden crown . CHAPTER IX . Queen Alice ` Well , this IS grand ! ' said Alice . ' I never expected I should be a Queen so soon -- and I 'll tell you what it is , your majesty , ' she went on in a severe tone -LRB- she was always rather fond of scolding herself -RRB- , ` it 'll never do for you to be lolling about on the grass like that ! Queens have to be dignified , you know ! ' So she got up and walked about -- rather stiffly just at first , as she was afraid that the crown might come off : but she comforted herself with the thought that there was nobody to see her , ` and if I really am a Queen , ' she said as she sat down again , ' I shall be able to manage it quite well in time . ' Everything was happening so oddly that she did n't feel a bit surprised at finding the Red Queen and the White Queen sitting close to her , one on each side : she would have liked very much to ask them how they came there , but she feared it would not be quite civil . However , there would be no harm , she thought , in asking if the game was over . ` Please , would you tell me -- ' she began , looking timidly at the Red Queen . ` Speak when you 're spoken to ! ' The Queen sharply interrupted her .
` But if everybody obeyed that rule , ' XXXXX Alice , who was always ready for a little argument , ` and if you only spoke when you were spoken to , and the other person always waited for YOU to begin , you see nobody would ever say anything , so that -- ' ` Ridiculous ! '
ask asking began bounded come comforted said see set sitting