The Mouse began a very dry history lesson, but no one seemed to become any drier.
After a while the Dodo stood up and declared that the best thing to get them dry would be a Caucus-race.
Alice asked what that was, but the Dodo said the best way to explain it was to do it.
First it marked out a race-course in a sort of circle.
There was no clear starting place, and everyone began running when they liked.
They stopped when they liked, too, so it was not easy to know when the race was over.
At last the Dodo suddenly called out that the race was finished, and they all crowded around it, asking who had won.
The Dodo sat for a long time with one finger pressed upon its forehead.