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diff --git a/30017-0.txt b/30017-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6394f34 --- /dev/null +++ b/30017-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1019 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30017 *** + + Transcriber's Note: + + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the + U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. + + + MY FATHER'S DRAGON + + + + STORY BY + + RUTH STILES GANNETT + + + + ILLUSTRATIONS BY + + RUTH CHRISMAN GANNETT + + + + + + RANDOM HOUSE . NEW YORK + + + + + + COPYRIGHT 1948 BY RANDOM HOUSE, INC. + + * * * * * + + + + +For My + +FATHER + + * * * * * + + + + +CONTENTS + + + 1. My Father Meets the Cat 9 + + 2. My Father Runs Away 15 + + 3. My Father Finds the Island 22 + + 4. My Father Finds the River 31 + + 5. My Father Meets Some Tigers 39 + + 6. My Father Meets A Rhinoceros 48 + + 7. My Father Meets A Lion 56 + + 8. My Father Meets A Gorilla 63 + + 9. My Father Makes A Bridge 73 + + 10. My Father Finds the Dragon 79 + + * * * * * + + + + +_Chapter One_ + +MY FATHER MEETS THE CAT + + +One cold rainy day when my father was a little boy, he met an old +alley cat on his street. The cat was very drippy and uncomfortable so +my father said, "Wouldn't you like to come home with me?" + +This surprised the cat--she had never before met anyone who cared +about old alley cats--but she said, "I'd be very much obliged if I +could sit by a warm furnace, and perhaps have a saucer of milk." + +"We have a very nice furnace to sit by," said my father, "and I'm sure +my mother has an extra saucer of milk." + +[Illustration] + +My father and the cat became good friends but my father's mother was +very upset about the cat. She hated cats, particularly ugly old alley +cats. "Elmer Elevator," she said to my father, "if you think I'm going +to give that cat a saucer of milk, you're very wrong. Once you start +feeding stray alley cats you might as well expect to feed every stray +in town, and I am _not_ going to do it!" + +This made my father very sad, and he apologized to the cat because his +mother had been so rude. He told the cat to stay anyway, and that +somehow he would bring her a saucer of milk each day. My father fed +the cat for three weeks, but one day his mother found the cat's saucer +in the cellar and she was extremely angry. She whipped my father and +threw the cat out the door, but later on my father sneaked out and +found the cat. Together they went for a walk in the park and tried to +think of nice things to talk about. My father said, "When I grow up +I'm going to have an airplane. Wouldn't it be wonderful to fly just +anywhere you might think of!" + +"Would you like to fly very, very much?" asked the cat. + +"I certainly would. I'd do anything if I could fly." + +[Illustration] + +"Well," said the cat, "If you'd really like to fly that much, I think +I know of a sort of a way you might get to fly while you're still a +little boy." + +"You mean you know where I could get an airplane?" + +"Well, not exactly an airplane, but something even better. As you can +see, I'm an old cat now, but in my younger days I was quite a +traveler. My traveling days are over but last spring I took just one +more trip and sailed to the Island of Tangerina, stopping at the port +of Cranberry. Well, it just so happened that I missed the boat, and +while waiting for the next I thought I'd look around a bit. I was +particularly interested in a place called Wild Island, which we had +passed on our way to Tangerina. Wild Island and Tangerina are joined +together by a long string of rocks, but people never go to Wild Island +because it's mostly jungle and inhabited by very wild animals. So, I +decided to go across the rocks and explore it for myself. It certainly +is an interesting place, but I saw something there that made me want +to weep." + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +_Chapter Two_ + +MY FATHER RUNS AWAY + + +"Wild Island is practically cut in two by a very wide and muddy +river," continued the cat. "This river begins near one end of the +island and flows into the ocean at the other. Now the animals there +are very lazy, and they used to hate having to go all the way around +the beginning of this river to get to the other side of the island. +It made visiting inconvenient and mail deliveries slow, particularly +during the Christmas rush. Crocodiles could have carried passengers +and mail across the river, but crocodiles are very moody, and not the +least bit dependable, and are always looking for something to eat. +They don't care if the animals have to walk around the river, so +that's just what the animals did for many years." + +"But what does all this have to do with airplanes?" asked my father, +who thought the cat was taking an awfully long time to explain. + +"Be patient, Elmer," said the cat, and she went on with the story. +"One day about four months before I arrived on Wild Island a baby +dragon fell from a low-flying cloud onto the bank of the river. He was +too young to fly very well, and besides, he had bruised one wing quite +badly, so he couldn't get back to his cloud. The animals found him +soon afterwards and everybody said, 'Why, this is just exactly what +we've needed all these years!' They tied a big rope around his neck +and waited for the wing to get well. This was going to end all their +crossing-the-river troubles." + +[Illustration] + +"I've never seen a dragon," said my father. "Did you see him? How big +is he?" + +"Oh, yes, indeed I saw the dragon. In fact, we became great friends," +said the cat. "I used to hide in the bushes and talk to him when +nobody was around. He's not a very big dragon, about the size of a +large black bear, although I imagine he's grown quite a bit since I +left. He's got a long tail and yellow and blue stripes. His horn and +eyes and the bottoms of his feet are bright red, and he has +gold-colored wings." + +"Oh, how wonderful!" said my father. "What did the animals do with him +when his wing got well?" + +"They started training him to carry passengers, and even though he is +just a baby dragon, they work him all day and all night too sometimes. +They make him carry loads that are much too heavy, and if he +complains, they twist his wings and beat him. He's always tied to a +stake on a rope just long enough to go across the river. His only +friends are the crocodiles, who say 'Hello' to him once a week if they +don't forget. Really, he's the most miserable animal I've ever come +across. When I left I promised I'd try to help him someday, although I +couldn't see how. The rope around his neck is about the biggest, +toughest rope you can imagine, with so many knots it would take days +to untie them all. + +"Anyway, when you were talking about airplanes, you gave me a good +idea. Now, I'm quite sure that if you were able to rescue the dragon, +which wouldn't be the least bit easy, he'd let you ride him most +anywhere, provided you were nice to him, of course. How about trying +it?" + +"Oh, I'd love to," said my father, and he was so angry at his mother +for being rude to the cat that he didn't feel the least bit sad about +running away from home for a while. + +That very afternoon my father and the cat went down to the docks to +see about ships going to the Island of Tangerina. They found out that +a ship would be sailing the next week, so right away they started +planning for the rescue of the dragon. The cat was a great help in +suggesting things for my father to take with him, and she told him +everything she knew about Wild Island. Of course, she was too old to +go along. + +Everything had to be kept very secret, so when they found or bought +anything to take on the trip they hid it behind a rock in the park. +The night before my father sailed he borrowed his father's knapsack +and he and the cat packed everything very carefully. He took chewing +gum, two dozen pink lollipops, a package of rubber bands, black rubber +boots, a compass, a tooth brush and a tube of tooth paste, six +magnifying glasses, a very sharp jackknife, a comb and a hairbrush, +seven hair ribbons of different colors, an empty grain bag with a +label saying "Cranberry," some clean clothes, and enough food to last +my father while he was on the ship. He couldn't live on mice, so he +took twenty-five peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and six apples, +because that's all the apples he could find in the pantry. + +When everything was packed my father and the cat went down to the +docks to the ship. A night watchman was on duty, so while the cat made +loud queer noises to distract his attention, my father ran over the +gang-plank onto the ship. He went down into the hold and hid among +some bags of wheat. The ship sailed early the next morning. + +[Illustration] + + + + +_Chapter Three_ + +MY FATHER FINDS THE ISLAND + + +My father hid in the hold for six days and nights. Twice he was nearly +caught when the ship stopped to take on more cargo. But at last he +heard a sailor say that the next port would be Cranberry and that +they'd be unloading the wheat there. My father knew that the sailors +would send him home if they caught him, so he looked in his knapsack +and took out a rubber band and the empty grain bag with the label +saying "Cranberry." At the last moment my father got inside the bag, +knapsack and all, folded the top of the bag inside, and put the rubber +band around the top. He didn't look just exactly like the other bags +but it was the best he could do. + +[Illustration] + +Soon the sailors came to unload. They lowered a big net into the hold +and began moving the bags of wheat. Suddenly one sailor yelled, "Great +Scott! This is the queerest bag of wheat I've ever seen! It's all +lumpy-like, but the label says it's to go to Cranberry." + +The other sailors looked at the bag too, and my father, who was in the +bag, of course, tried even harder to look like a bag of wheat. Then +another sailor felt the bag and he just happened to get hold of my +father's elbow. "I know what this is," he said. "This is a bag of +dried corn on the cob," and he dumped my father into the big net along +with the bags of wheat. + +This all happened in the late afternoon, so late that the merchant in +Cranberry who had ordered the wheat didn't count his bags until the +next morning. (He was a very punctual man, and never late for dinner.) +The sailors told the captain, and the captain wrote down on a piece of +paper, that they had delivered one hundred and sixty bags of wheat and +one bag of dried corn on the cob. They left the piece of paper for +the merchant and sailed away that evening. + +My father heard later that the merchant spent the whole next day +counting and recounting the bags and feeling each one trying to find +the bag of dried corn on the cob. He never found it because as soon as +it was dark my father climbed out of the bag, folded it up and put it +back in his knapsack. He walked along the shore to a nice sandy place +and lay down to sleep. + +[Illustration] + +My father was very hungry when he woke up the next morning. Just as he +was looking to see if he had anything left to eat, something hit him +on the head. It was a tangerine. He had been sleeping right under a +tree full of big, fat tangerines. And then he remembered that this was +the Island of Tangerina. Tangerine trees grew wild everywhere. My +father picked as many as he had room for, which was thirty-one, and +started off to find Wild Island. + +He walked and walked and walked along the shore, looking for the rocks +that joined the two islands. He walked all day, and once when he met a +fisherman and asked him about Wild Island, the fisherman began to +shake and couldn't talk for a long while. It scared him that much, +just thinking about it. Finally he said, "Many people have tried to +explore Wild Island, but not one has come back alive. We think they +were eaten by the wild animals." This didn't bother my father. He kept +walking and slept on the beach again that night. + +It was beautifully clear the next day, and way down the shore my +father could see a long line of rocks leading out into the ocean, and +way, way out at the end he could just see a tiny patch of green. He +quickly ate seven tangerines and started down the beach. + +It was almost dark when he came to the rocks, but there, way out in +the ocean, was the patch of green. He sat down and rested a while, +remembering that the cat had said, "If you can, go out to the island +at night, because then the wild animals won't see you coming along the +rocks and you can hide when you get there." So my father picked seven +more tangerines, put on his black rubber boots, and waited for dark. + +It was a very black night and my father could hardly see the rocks +ahead of him. Sometimes they were quite high and sometimes the waves +almost covered them, and they were slippery and hard to walk on. +Sometimes the rocks were far apart and my father had to get a running +start and leap from one to the next. + +After a while he began to hear a rumbling noise. It grew louder and +louder as he got nearer to the island. At last it seemed as if he was +right on top of the noise, and he was. He had jumped from a rock onto +the back of a small whale who was fast asleep and cuddled up between +two rocks. The whale was snoring and making more noise than a steam +shovel, so it never heard my father say, "Oh, I didn't know that was +you!" And it never knew my father had jumped on its back by mistake. + +[Illustration] + +For seven hours my father climbed and slipped and leapt from rock to +rock, but while it was still dark he finally reached the very last +rock and stepped off onto Wild Island. + +[Illustration] + + + + +_Chapter Four_ + +MY FATHER FINDS THE RIVER + + +The jungle began just beyond a narrow strip of beach; thick, dark, +damp, scary jungle. My father hardly knew where to go, so he crawled +under a wahoo bush to think, and ate eight tangerines. The first thing +to do, he decided, was to find the river, because the dragon was tied +somewhere along its bank. Then he thought, "If the river flows into +the ocean, I ought to be able to find it quite easily if I just walk +along the beach far enough." So my father walked until the sun rose +and he was quite far from the Ocean Rocks. It was dangerous to stay +near them because they might be guarded in the daytime. He found a +clump of tall grass and sat down. Then he took off his rubber boots +and ate three more tangerines. He could have eaten twelve but he +hadn't seen any tangerines on this island and he could not risk +running out of something to eat. + +My father slept all that day and only woke up late in the afternoon +when he heard a funny little voice saying, "Queer, queer, what a dear +little dock! I mean, dear, dear, what a queer little rock!" My father +saw a tiny paw rubbing itself on his knapsack. He lay very still and +the mouse, for it _was_ a mouse, hurried away muttering to itself, "I +must smell tumduddy. I mean, I must tell somebody." + +[Illustration] + +My father waited a few minutes and then started down the beach because +it was almost dark now, and he was afraid the mouse really would tell +somebody. He walked all night and two scary things happened. First, he +just had to sneeze, so he did, and somebody close by said, "Is that +you, Monkey?" My father said, "Yes." Then the voice said, "You must +have something on your back, Monkey," and my father said "Yes," +because he did. He had his knapsack on his back. "What do you have on +your back, Monkey?" asked the voice. + +My father didn't know what to say because what would a monkey have on +its back, and how would it sound telling someone about it if it did +have something? Just then another voice said, "I bet you're taking +your sick grandmother to the doctor's." My father said "Yes" and +hurried on. Quite by accident he found out later that he had been +talking to a pair of tortoises. + +[Illustration] + +The second thing that happened was that he nearly walked right between +two wild boars who were talking in low solemn whispers. When he +first saw the dark shapes he thought they were boulders. Just in time +he heard one of them say, "There are three signs of a recent invasion. +First, fresh tangerine peels were found under the wahoo bush near the +Ocean Rocks. Second, a mouse reported an extraordinary rock some +distance from the Ocean Rocks which upon further investigation simply +wasn't there. However, more fresh tangerine peels were found in the +same spot, which is the third sign of invasion. Since tangerines do +not grow on our island, somebody must have brought them across the +Ocean Rocks from the other island, which may, or may not, have +something to do with the appearance and/or disappearance of the +extraordinary rock reported by the mouse." + +After a long silence the other boar said, "You know, I think we're +taking all this too seriously. Those peels probably floated over here +all by themselves, and you know how unreliable mice are. Besides, if +there had been an invasion, _I_ would have seen it!" + +"Perhaps you're right," said the first boar. "Shall we retire?" +Whereupon they both trundled back into the jungle. + +Well, that taught my father a lesson, and after that he saved all his +tangerine peels. He walked all night and toward morning came to the +river. Then his troubles really began. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +_Chapter Five_ + +MY FATHER MEETS SOME TIGERS + + +The river was very wide and muddy, and the jungle was very gloomy and +dense. The trees grew close to each other, and what room there was +between them was taken up by great high ferns with sticky leaves. My +father hated to leave the beach, but he decided to start along the +river bank where at least the jungle wasn't quite so thick. He ate +three tangerines, making sure to keep all the peels this time, and put +on his rubber boots. + +My father tried to follow the river bank but it was very swampy, and +as he went farther the swamp became deeper. When it was almost as deep +as his boot tops he got stuck in the oozy, mucky mud. My father tugged +and tugged, and nearly pulled his boots right off, but at last he +managed to wade to a drier place. Here the jungle was so thick that he +could hardly see where the river was. He unpacked his compass and +figured out the direction he should walk in order to stay near the +river. But he didn't know that the river made a very sharp curve away +from him just a little way beyond, and so as he walked straight ahead +he was getting farther and farther away from the river. + +It was very hard to walk in the jungle. The sticky leaves of the ferns +caught at my father's hair, and he kept tripping over roots and rotten +logs. Sometimes the trees were clumped so closely together that he +couldn't squeeze between them and had to walk a long way around. + +He began to hear whispery noises, but he couldn't see any animals +anywhere. The deeper into the jungle he went the surer he was that +something was following him, and then he thought he heard whispery +noises on both sides of him as well as behind. He tried to run, but +he tripped over more roots, and the noises only came nearer. Once or +twice he thought he heard something laughing at him. + +At last he came out into a clearing and ran right into the middle of +it so that he could see anything that might try to attack him. Was he +surprised when he looked and saw fourteen green eyes coming out of the +jungle all around the clearing, and when the green eyes turned into +seven tigers! The tigers walked around him in a big circle, looking +hungrier all the time, and then they sat down and began to talk. + +"I suppose you thought we didn't know you were trespassing in our +jungle!" + +[Illustration] + +Then the next tiger spoke. "I suppose you're going to say you didn't +know it was our jungle!" + +"Did you know that not one explorer has ever left this island alive?" +said the third tiger. + +My father thought of the cat and knew this wasn't true. But of course +he had too much sense to say so. One doesn't contradict a hungry +tiger. + +The tigers went on talking in turn. "You're our first little boy, you +know. I'm curious to know if you're especially tender." + +[Illustration] + +"Maybe you think we have regular meal-times, but we don't. We just eat +whenever we're feeling hungry," said the fifth tiger. + +"And we're very hungry right now. In fact, I can hardly wait," said +the sixth. + +"I _can't_ wait!" said the seventh tiger. + +[Illustration] + +And then all the tigers said together in a loud roar, "Let's begin +right now!" and they moved in closer. + +My father looked at those seven hungry tigers, and then he had an +idea. He quickly opened his knapsack and took out the chewing gum. The +cat had told him that tigers were especially fond of chewing gum, +which was very scarce on the island. So he threw them each a piece but +they only growled, "As fond as we are of chewing gum, we're sure we'd +like you even better!" and they moved so close that he could feel them +breathing on his face. + +"But this is very special chewing gum," said my father. "If you keep +on chewing it long enough it will turn green, and then if you plant +it, it will grow more chewing gum, and the sooner you start chewing +the sooner you'll have more." + +The tigers said, "Why, you don't say! Isn't that fine!" And as each +one wanted to be the first to plant the chewing gum, they all +unwrapped their pieces and began chewing as hard as they could. Every +once in a while one tiger would look into another's mouth and say, +"Nope, it's not done yet," until finally they were all so busy looking +into each other's mouths to make sure that no one was getting ahead +that they forgot all about my father. + + + + +_Chapter Six_ + +MY FATHER MEETS A RHINOCEROS + + +My father soon found a trail leading away from the clearing. All sorts +of animals might be using it too, but he decided to follow the trail +no matter what he met because it might lead to the dragon. He kept a +sharp lookout in front and behind and went on. + +Just as he was feeling quite safe, he came around a curve right behind +the two wild boars. One of them was saying to the other, "Did you know +that the tortoises thought they saw Monkey carrying his sick +grandmother to the doctor's last night? But Monkey's grandmother died +a week ago, so they must have seen something else. I wonder what it +was." + +"I told you that there was an invasion afoot," said the other boar, +"and I intend to find out what it is. I simply can't stand invasions." + +"Nee meither," said a tiny little voice. "I mean, me neither," and my +father knew that the mouse was there, too. + +"Well," said the first boar, "you search the trail up this way to the +dragon. I'll go back down the other way through the big clearing, and +we'll send Mouse to watch the Ocean Rocks in case the invasion should +decide to go away before we find it." + +[Illustration] + +My father hid behind a mahogany tree just in time, and the first boar +walked right past him. My father waited for the other boar to get a +head start on him, but he didn't wait very long because he knew that +when the first boar saw the tigers chewing gum in the clearing, he'd +be even more suspicious. + +Soon the trail crossed a little brook and my father, who by this time +was very thirsty, stopped to get a drink of water. He still had on his +rubber boots, so he waded into a little pool of water and was stooping +down when something quite sharp picked him up by the seat of the pants +and shook him very hard. + +"Don't you know that's my private weeping pool?" said a deep angry +voice. + +My father couldn't see who was talking because he was hanging in the +air right over the pool, but he said, "Oh, no, I'm so sorry. I didn't +know that everybody had a private weeping pool." + +[Illustration] + +"Everybody doesn't!" said the angry voice, "but I do because I have +such a big thing to weep about, and I drown everybody I find using my +weeping pool." With that the animal tossed my father up and down over +the water. + +"What--is it--that--you--weep about--so much?" asked my father, trying +to get his breath, and he thought over all the things he had in his +pack. + +"Oh, I have many things to weep about, but the biggest thing is the +color of my tusk." My father squirmed every which way trying to see +the tusk, but it was through the seat of his pants where he couldn't +possibly see it. "When I was a young rhinoceros, my tusk was pearly +white," said the animal (and then my father knew that he was hanging +by the seat of his pants from a rhinoceros' tusk!), "but it has turned +a nasty yellow-gray in my old age, and I find it very ugly. You see, +everything else about me is ugly, but when I had a beautiful tusk I +didn't worry so much about the rest. Now that my tusk is ugly too, I +can't sleep nights just thinking about how completely ugly I am, and I +weep all the time. But why should I be telling you these things? I +caught you using my pool and now I'm going to drown you." + +"Oh, wait a minute, Rhinoceros," said my father. "I have some things +that will make your tusk all white and beautiful again. Just let me +down and I'll give them to you." + +The rhinoceros said, "You do? I can hardly believe it! Why, I'm so +excited!" He put my father down and danced around in a circle while my +father got out the tube of tooth paste and the toothbrush. + +"Now," said my father, "just move your tusk a little nearer, please, +and I'll show you how to begin." My father wet the brush in the pool, +squeezed on a dab of tooth paste, and scrubbed very hard in one tiny +spot. Then he told the rhinoceros to wash it off, and when the pool +was calm again, he told the rhinoceros to look in the water and see +how white the little spot was. It was hard to see in the dim light of +the jungle, but sure enough, the spot shone pearly white, just like +new. The rhinoceros was so pleased that he grabbed the toothbrush and +began scrubbing violently, forgetting all about my father. + +Just then my father heard hoofsteps and he jumped behind the +rhinoceros. It was the boar coming back from the big clearing where +the tigers were chewing gum. The boar looked at the rhinoceros, and at +the toothbrush, and at the tube of tooth paste, and then he scratched +his ear on a tree. "Tell me, Rhinoceros," he said, "where did you get +that fine tube of tooth paste and that toothbrush?" + +"Too busy!" said the rhinoceros, and he went on brushing as hard as he +could. + +The boar sniffed angrily and trotted down the trail toward the dragon, +muttering to himself, "Very suspicious--tigers too busy chewing gum, +Rhinoceros too busy brushing his tusk--must get hold of that +invasion. Don't like it one bit, not one bit! It's upsetting everybody +terribly--wonder what it's doing here, anyway." + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +_Chapter Seven_ + +MY FATHER MEETS A LION + + +My father waved goodbye to the rhinoceros, who was much too busy to +notice, got a drink farther down the brook, and waded back to the +trail. He hadn't gone very far when he heard an angry animal roaring, +"Ding blast it! I told you not to go blackberrying yesterday. Won't +you ever learn? What will your mother say!" + +My father crept along and peered into a small clearing just ahead. A +lion was prancing about clawing at his mane, which was all snarled and +full of blackberry twigs. The more he clawed the worse it became and +the madder he grew and the more he yelled at himself, because it was +himself he was yelling at all the time. + +My father could see that the trail went through the clearing, so he +decided to crawl around the edge in the underbrush and not disturb the +lion. + +He crawled and crawled, and the yelling grew louder and louder. Just +as he was about to reach the trail on the other side the yelling +suddenly stopped. My father looked around and saw the lion glaring at +him. The lion charged and skidded to a stop a few inches away. + +[Illustration] + +"Who are you?" the lion yelled at my father. + +"My name is Elmer Elevator." + +"Where do you think you're going?" + +"I'm going home," said my father. + +"That's what you think!" said the lion. "Ordinarily I'd save you for +afternoon tea, but I happen to be upset enough and hungry enough to +eat you right now." And he picked up my father in his front paws to +feel how fat he was. + +My father said, "Oh, please, Lion, before you eat me, tell me why you +are so particularly upset today." + +"It's my mane," said the lion, as he was figuring how many bites a +little boy would make. "You see what a dreadful mess it is, and I +don't seem to be able to do anything about it. My mother is coming +over on the dragon this afternoon, and if she sees me this way I'm +afraid she'll stop my allowance. She can't stand messy manes! But I'm +going to eat you now, so it won't make any difference to you." + +"Oh, wait a minute," said my father, "and I'll give you just the +things you need to make your mane all tidy and beautiful. I have them +here in my pack." + +"You do?" said the lion. "Well, give them to me, and perhaps I'll save +you for afternoon tea after all," and he put my father down on the +ground. + +My father opened the pack and took out the comb and the brush and the +seven hair ribbons of different colors. "Look," he said, "I'll show +you what to do on your forelock, where you can watch me. First you +brush a while, and then you comb, and then you brush again until all +the twigs and snarls are gone. Then you divide it up in three and +braid it like this and tie a ribbon around the end." + +As my father was doing this, the lion watched very carefully and began +to look much happier. When my father tied on the ribbon he was all +smiles. "Oh, that's wonderful, really wonderful!" said the lion. "Let +me have the comb and brush and see if I can do it." So my father gave +him the comb and brush and the lion began busily grooming his mane. As +a matter of fact, he was so busy that he didn't even know when my +father left. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +_Chapter Eight_ + +MY FATHER MEETS A GORILLA + + +My father was very hungry so he sat down under a baby banyan tree on +the side of the trail and ate four tangerines. He wanted to eat eight +or ten, but he had only thirteen left and it might be a long time +before he could get more. He packed away all the peels and was about +to get up when he heard the familiar voices of the boars. + +"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen them with my own eyes, +but wait and see for yourself. All the tigers are sitting around +chewing gum to beat the band. Old Rhinoceros is so busy brushing his +tusk that he doesn't even look around to see who's going by, and +they're all so busy they won't even talk to me!" + +[Illustration] + +"Horsefeathers!" said the other boar, now very close to my father. +"They'll talk to me! I'm going to get to the bottom of this if it's +the last thing I do!" + +The voices passed my father and went around a curve, and he hurried on +because he knew how much more upset the boars would be when they saw +the lion's mane tied up in hair ribbons. + +[Illustration] + +Before long my father came to a crossroads and he stopped to read the +signs. Straight ahead an arrow pointed to the Beginning of the River; +to the left, the Ocean Rocks; and to the right, to the Dragon Ferry. +My father was reading all these signs when he heard pawsteps and +ducked behind the signpost. A beautiful lioness paraded past and +turned down toward the clearings. Although she could have seen my +father if she had bothered to glance at the post, she was much too +occupied looking dignified to see anything but the tip of her own +nose. It was the lion's mother, of course, and that, thought my +father, must mean that the dragon was on this side of the river. He +hurried on but it was farther away than he had judged. He finally came +to the river bank in the late afternoon and looked all around, but +there was no dragon anywhere in sight. He must have gone back to the +other side. + +My father sat down under a palm tree and was trying to have a good +idea when something big and black and hairy jumped out of the tree and +landed with a loud crash at his feet. + +"Well?" said a huge voice. + +"Well what?" said my father, for which he was very sorry when he +looked up and discovered he was talking to an enormous and very fierce +gorilla. + +"Well, explain yourself," said the gorilla. "I'll give you till ten to +tell me your name, business, your age and what's in that pack," and +he began counting to ten as fast as he could. + +[Illustration] + +My father didn't even have time to say "Elmer Elevator, explorer" +before the gorilla interrupted, "Too slow! I'll twist your arms the +way I twist that dragon's wings, and then we'll see if you can't hurry +up a bit." He grabbed my father's arms, one in each fist, and was just +about to twist them when he suddenly let go and began scratching his +chest with both hands. + +"Blast those fleas!" he raged. "They won't give you a moment's peace, +and the worst of it is that you can't even get a good look at them. +Rosie! Rhoda! Rachel! Ruthie! Ruby! Roberta! Come here and get rid of +this flea on my chest. It's driving me crazy!" + +Six little monkeys tumbled out of the palm tree, dashed to the +gorilla, and began combing the hair on his chest. + +"Well," said the gorilla, "it's still there!" + +"We're looking, we're looking," said the six little monkeys, "but +they're awfully hard to see, you know." + +[Illustration] + +"I know," said the gorilla, "but hurry. I've got work to do," and he +winked at my father. + +"Oh, Gorilla," said my father, "in my knapsack I have six magnifying +glasses. They'd be just the thing for hunting fleas." My father +unpacked them and gave one to Rosie, one to Rhoda, one to Rachel, one +to Ruthie, one to Ruby, and one to Roberta. + +[Illustration] + +"Why, they're miraculous!" said the six little monkeys. "It's easy to +see the fleas now, only there are hundreds of them!" And they went on +hunting frantically. + +A moment later many more monkeys appeared out of a near-by clump of +mangroves and began crowding around to get a look at the fleas through +the magnifying glasses. They completely surrounded the gorilla, and he +could not see my father nor did he remember to twist his arms. + +[Illustration] + + + + +_Chapter Nine_ + +MY FATHER MAKES A BRIDGE + + +My father walked back and forth along the bank trying to think of some +way to cross the river. He found a high flagpole with a rope going +over to the other side. The rope went through a loop at the top of the +pole and then down the pole and around a large crank. A sign on the +crank said: + +TO SUMMON DRAGON, YANK THE CRANK +REPORT DISORDERLY CONDUCT +TO GORILLA + +From what the cat had told my father, he knew that the other end of +the rope was tied around the dragon's neck, and he felt sorrier than +ever for the poor dragon. If he were on this side, the gorilla would +twist his wings until it hurt so much that he'd have to fly to the +other side. If he were on the other side, the gorilla would crank the +rope until the dragon would either choke to death or fly back to this +side. What a life for a baby dragon! + +My father knew that if he called to the dragon to come across the +river, the gorilla would surely hear him, so he thought about climbing +the pole and going across on the rope. The pole was very high, and +even if he could get to the top without being seen he'd have to go all +the way across hand over hand. The river was very muddy, and all sorts +of unfriendly things might live in it, but my father could think of no +other way to get across. He was about to start up the pole when, +despite all the noise the monkeys were making, he heard a loud splash +behind him. He looked all around in the water but it was dusk now, and +he couldn't see anything there. + +"It's me, Crocodile," said a voice to the left. "The water's lovely, +and I have such a craving for something sweet. Won't you come in for a +swim?" + +[Illustration] + +A pale moon came out from behind the clouds and my father could see +where the voice was coming from. The crocodile's head was just peeping +out of the water. + +"Oh, no thank you," said my father. "I never swim after sundown, but I +do have something sweet to offer you. Perhaps you'd like a lollipop, +and perhaps you have friends who would like lollipops, too?" + +"Lollipops!" said the crocodile. "Why, that is a treat! How about it, +boys?" + +A whole chorus of voices shouted, "Hurrah! Lollipops!" and my father +counted as many as seventeen crocodiles with their heads just peeping +out of the water. + +"That's fine," said my father as he got out the two dozen pink +lollipops and the rubber bands. "I'll stick one here in the bank. +Lollipops last longer if you keep them out of the water, you know. +Now, one of you can have this one." + +The crocodile who had first spoken swam up and tasted it. "Delicious, +mighty delicious!" he said. + +"Now if you don't mind," said my father, "I'll just walk along your +back and fasten another lollipop to the tip of your tail with a +rubber band. You don't mind, do you?" + +[Illustration] + +"Oh no, not in the least," said the crocodile. + +"Can you get your tail out of the water just a bit?" asked my father. + +"Yes, of course," said the crocodile, and he lifted up his tail. Then +my father ran along his back and fastened another lollipop with a +rubber band. + +"Who's next?" said my father, and a second crocodile swam up and began +sucking on that lollipop. + +"Now, you gentlemen can save a lot of time if you just line up across +the river," said my father, "and I'll be along to give you each a +lollipop." + +So the crocodiles lined up right across the river with their tails in +the air, waiting for my father to fasten on the rest of the lollipops. +The tail of the seventeenth crocodile just reached the other bank. + + + + +_Chapter Ten_ + +MY FATHER FINDS THE DRAGON + + +When my father was crossing the back of the fifteenth crocodile with +two more lollipops to go, the noise of the monkeys suddenly stopped, +and he could hear a much bigger noise getting louder every second. +Then he could hear seven furious tigers and one raging rhinoceros and +two seething lions and one ranting gorilla along with countless +screeching monkeys, led by two extremely irate wild boars, all +yelling, "It's a trick! It's a trick! There's an invasion and it must +be after our dragon. Kill it! Kill it!" The whole crowd stampeded down +to the bank. + +As my father was fixing the seventeenth lollipop for the last +crocodile he heard a wild boar scream, "Look, it came this way! It's +over there now, see! The crocodiles made a bridge for it," and just as +my father leapt onto the other bank one of the wild boars jumped onto +the back of the first crocodile. My father didn't have a moment to +spare. + +[Illustration] + +By now the dragon realized that my father was coming to rescue him. He +ran out of the bushes and jumped up and down yelling. "Here I am! I'm +right here! Can you see me? Hurry, the boar is coming over on the +crocodiles, too. They're all coming over! Oh, please hurry, hurry!" +The noise was simply terrific. + +My father ran up to the dragon, and took out his very sharp jackknife. +"Steady, old boy, steady. We'll make it. Just stand still," he told +the dragon as he began to saw through the big rope. + +By this time both boars, all seven tigers, the two lions, the +rhinoceros, and the gorilla, along with the countless screeching +monkeys, were all on their way across the crocodiles and there was +still a lot of rope to cut through. + +"Oh, hurry," the dragon kept saying, and my father again told him to +stand still. + +"If I don't think I can make it," said my father, "we'll fly over to +the other side of the river and I can finish cutting the rope there." + +[Illustration] + +Suddenly the screaming grew louder and madder and my father thought +the animals must have crossed the river. He looked around, and saw +something which surprised and delighted him. Partly because he had +finished his lollipop, and partly because, as I told you before, +crocodiles are very moody and not the least bit dependable and are +always looking for something to eat, the first crocodile had turned +away from the bank and started swimming down the river. The second +crocodile hadn't finished yet, so he followed right after the first, +still sucking his lollipop. All the rest did the same thing, one right +after the other, until they were all swimming away in a line. The two +wild boars, the seven tigers, the rhinoceros, the two lions, the +gorilla, along with the countless screeching monkeys, were all riding +down the middle of the river on the train of crocodiles sucking pink +lollipops, and all yelling and screaming and getting their feet wet. + +[Illustration] + +My father and the dragon laughed themselves weak because it was such a +silly sight. As soon as they had recovered, my father finished cutting +the rope and the dragon raced around in circles and tried to turn a +somersault. He was the most excited baby dragon that ever lived. My +father was in a hurry to fly away, and when the dragon finally calmed +down a bit my father climbed up onto his back. + +"All aboard!" said the dragon. "Where shall we go?" + +"We'll spend the night on the beach, and tomorrow we'll start on the +long journey home. So, it's off to the shores of Tangerina!" shouted +my father as the dragon soared above the dark jungle and the muddy +river and all the animals bellowing at them and all the crocodiles +licking pink lollipops and grinning wide grins. After all, what did +the crocodiles care about a way to cross the river, and what a fine +feast they were carrying on their backs! + +As my father and the dragon passed over the Ocean Rocks they heard a +tiny excited voice scream, "Bum cack! Bum cack! We dreed our nagon! I +mean, we need our dragon!" + +But my father and the dragon knew that nothing in the world would ever +make them go back to Wild Island. + +THE END + +[Illustration] + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's My Father's Dragon, by Ruth Stiles Gannett + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30017 *** |