4. A Strange Race.
Alice, the animals and the birds stood on the shore. They were very wet.
“How are we going to get dry?" asked Alice.
“The best way to get dry," said the Dodo, “is to run a race."
It made a circle on the ground and the animals all started to run around the circle. They ran for half an hour, and when they stopped, they were dry.
“But who is the winner?” asked Alice.
The Dodo thought for a long time, and then it said, “EVERYONE is the winner! EVERYONE must have a prize!"
“But who is going to give the prizes?” asked the mouse.
“SHE is!" said the Dodo, and he pointed to Alice.
“Prizes! Prizes!" shouted the animats.
Alice looked in her pockets and found* a box of sweets. There was one sweet each, so they sat down and ate them.
Alice looked around at all the animals.
"I miss my cat," she said.
“You've got a CAT?" said the mouse.
"Oh yes," said Alice. "Her name is Dinah. She’s very clever. She catches birds and mice, and - Oh! What did I say?”
The animals were very upset. The mouse ran away, and some of the birds flew* into the air.
"It's time to go!” the others said. “Goodbye!”
Alice was alone again. She felt* very sad.
“Nobody here likes me," she said, and started crying again.