After swimming to the shore, Alice and a group of wet animals gathered together. Everyone was cold and wanted to get dry. They discussed how to do this. The Mouse suggested telling a dry story, but it didn’t help much.
Then, the Dodo bird had an idea. “Let’s have a race to get dry!” it said. They all agreed. The race had no rules—they just ran in any direction they liked. After running for a while, they became dry.
When the race ended, they wondered who had won. The Dodo decided that everyone was a winner. “We all deserve prizes,” it said. Alice searched her pockets and found a box of candies. She gave one to each of them. The animals said Alice should have a prize too. The Dodo took her thimble and gave it back to her as a prize.
Next, the Mouse began to tell a story about why it hated cats and dogs. But Alice wasn’t paying full attention. She confused the Mouse’s “tale” (story) with “tail” (the part of its body). The Mouse felt insulted and walked away angrily.
Trying to be friendly, Alice mentioned her cat, Dinah. This scared the other animals because they were afraid of cats. One by one, they all left. Soon, Alice was alone again. Feeling sad and lonely, she began to cry. Then she heard footsteps and looked up, hoping someone was coming back.