" A likely story indeed!" said the Pigeon, in a tone of the deepest contempt. " I've seen a good many little girls in my time, but never one with such a neck as that! No, no! You're a serpent; and there's no use denying it. I suppose you'll be telling me next that you never tasted an egg!" " I have tasted eggs, certainly," said Alice, who was a very truthful child; " but little girls eat eggs quite as much as serpents do, you know." " I don't believe it," said the Pigeon; " but if they do, then they're a kind of serpent: that's all I can say. "