a serious question, my dear, and you should NOT go on licking your
paw like that -- as if Dinah hadn't washed you this morning!  You
see, Kitty, it MUST have been either me or the Red King.  He was part
of my dream, of course -- but then I was part of his dream, too!  WAS
it the Red King, Kitty.  You were his wife, my dear, so you ought to
know -- Oh, Kitty, DO help to settle it!  I'm sure your paw can
wait!'  But the provoking kitten only began on the other paw, and
pretended it hadn't heard the question.

  Which do YOU think it was?

                               ---

                    A boat beneath a sunny sky,
                    Lingering onward dreamily
                    In an evening of July --

                    Children three that nestle near,
                    Eager eye and willing ear,
                    Pleased a simple tale to hear --

                    Long had paled that sunny sky:
                    Echoes fade and memories die.
                    Autumn frosts have slain July.

                    Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
                    Alice moving under skies
                    Never seen by waking eyes.

                    Children yet, the tale to hear,
                    Eager eye and willing ear,
                    Lovingly shall nestle near.

                    In a Wonderland they lie,
                    Dreaming as the days go by,
                    Dreaming as the summers die:

                    Ever drifting down the stream --
                    Lingering in the golden gleam --
                    Life, what is it but a dream?

                             THE END
.