Chapter 3 Summary

Having climbed out of the lake of tears, the animals are all dripping wet, with fur and feathers sticking close to their bodies. Irritable and cold, they want first to get dry again. After a short argument between Alice and the Lory, the mouse decides to take charge, and to dry everyone out by telling them all a story that he claims is the "driest thing I know." His story turns out to be a long-winded history of William the Conqueror's ascension to the crown, a story that is often interrupted by the impatient animals. When Alice admits she is getting no drier, the Dodo requests, in a pompous speech, that the meeting adjourn in favor of more strenuous measures. The animals have trouble with his pretentious vocabulary, especially the Eaglet, who asks him to speak English. When the Dodo suggests a caucus-race...