 only say, »I'm older than you, and must know better.«
And this Alice would not allow, without knowing how old it was, and as the Lory
positively refused to tell its age, there was no more to be said.
    At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of some authority among them,
called out »Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'll soon make you dry
enough!« They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse in the
middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt sure she would
catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon.
    »Ahem!« said the Mouse with an important air. »Are you all ready? This is
the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! William the
Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the
English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation
and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria -«
    »Ugh!« said the Lory, with a shiver.
    »I beg your pardon!« said the Mouse, frowning, but very politely. »Did you
speak?«
    »Not I!« said the Lory, hastily.
    »I thought you did,« said the Mouse. »I proceed. Edwin and Morcar, the earls
of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him; and even Stigand, the patriotic
archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable -«
    »Found what?« said the Duck.
    »Found it,« the Mouse replied rather crossly: »of course you know what it
means.«
    »I know what it means well enough, when I find a thing,« said the Duck:
»it's generally a frog, or a worm. The question is, what did the archbishop
find?«
    The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on, »- found it
advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the crown.
William's conduct at first was moderate. But the insolence of his Normans - How
are you getting on now, my dear?« it continued, turning to Alice as it spoke.
    »As wet as ever,« said Alice in a melancholy tone: »it doesn't seem to dry
me at all.«
    »In that case,« said the Dodo solemnly, rising to its feet, »I move
