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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/501-0.txt b/501-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca7f2bc --- /dev/null +++ b/501-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3438 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 501 *** + + + + +_THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE_ + +[Illustration: “A little town called Puddleby-on-the-Marsh”] + + + + + THE + _Story of_ + DOCTOR DOLITTLE + + _BEING THE + HISTORY OF HIS PECULIAR LIFE + AT HOME AND ASTONISHING ADVENTURES + IN FOREIGN PARTS. NEVER BEFORE PRINTED._ + + _TOLD BY HUGH LOFTING_ _ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR_ + + [Illustration] + + _Published by FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY at 443 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK._ + + _A.D. 1920_ + + WITH AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TENTH PRINTING + + BY HUGH WALPOLE + + + + + _Copyright, 1920, by_ + FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY + + _All rights reserved, including that of translation + into foreign languages_ + + First Printing, Aug. 24, 1920 + Second Printing, Dec. 17, 1920 + Third Printing, April 16, 1921 + Fourth Printing, July 7, 1921 + Fifth Printing, Sept. 1, 1921 + Sixth Printing, Oct. 26, 1921 + Seventh Printing, Dec. 5, 1921 + Eighth Printing, April 3, 1922 + Ninth Printing, Aug. 18, 1922 + Tenth Printing, Nov. 28, 1922 + Eleventh Printing, April 2, 1923 + + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + + + + + TO + ALL CHILDREN + + CHILDREN IN YEARS AND CHILDREN IN HEART + I DEDICATE THIS STORY + + + + +_INTRODUCTION TO THE TENTH PRINTING_ + + +THERE are some of us now reaching middle age who discover themselves +to be lamenting the past in one respect if in none other, that there +are no books written now for children comparable with those of thirty +years ago. I say written _for_ children because the new psychological +business of writing _about_ them as though they were small pills or +hatched in some especially scientific method is extremely popular +to-day. Writing for children rather than about them is very difficult +as everybody who has tried it knows. It can only be done, I am +convinced, by somebody having a great deal of the child in his own +outlook and sensibilities. Such was the author of “The Little Duke” and +“The Dove in the Eagle’s Nest,” such the author of “A Flatiron for a +Farthing,” and “The Story of a Short Life.” Such, above all, the author +of “Alice in Wonderland.” Grownups imagine that they can do the trick +by adopting baby language and talking down to their very critical +audience. There never was a greater mistake. The imagination of the +author must be a child’s imagination and yet maturely consistent, +so that the White Queen in “Alice,” for instance, is seen just as a +child would see her, but she continues always herself through all her +distressing adventures. The supreme touch of the white rabbit pulling +on his white gloves as he hastens is again absolutely the child’s +vision, but the white rabbit as guide and introducer of Alice’s +adventures belongs to mature grown insight. + +Geniuses are rare and, without being at all an undue praiser of times +past, one can say without hesitation that until the appearance of +Hugh Lofting, the successor of Miss Yonge, Mrs. Ewing, Mrs. Gatty and +Lewis Carroll had not appeared. I remember the delight with which some +six months ago I picked up the first “Dolittle” book in the Hampshire +bookshop at Smith College in Northampton. One of Mr. Lofting’s pictures +was quite enough for me. The picture that I lighted upon when I first +opened the book was the one of the monkeys making a chain with their +arms across the gulf. Then I looked further and discovered Bumpo +reading fairy stories to himself. And then looked again and there was a +picture of John Dolittle’s house. + +But pictures are not enough although most authors draw so badly that if +one of them happens to have the genius for line that Mr. Lofting shows +there must be, one feels, something in his writing as well. There is. +You cannot read the first paragraph of the book, which begins in the +right way “Once upon a time” without knowing that Mr. Lofting believes +in his story quite as much as he expects you to. That is the first +essential for a story teller. Then you discover as you read on that he +has the right eye for the right detail. What child-inquiring mind could +resist this intriguing sentence to be found on the second page of the +book: + + “Besides the gold-fish in the pond at the bottom of his + garden, he had rabbits in the pantry, white mice in his + piano, a squirrel in the linen closet and a hedgehog in + the cellar.” + +And then when you read a little further you will discover that the +Doctor is not merely a peg on whom to hang exciting and various +adventures but that he is himself a man of original and lively +character. He is a very kindly, generous man, and anyone who has ever +written stories will know that it is much more difficult to make +kindly, generous characters interesting than unkindly and mean ones. +But Dolittle is interesting. It is not only that he is quaint but that +he is wise and knows what he is about. The reader, however young, +who meets him gets very soon a sense that if he were in trouble, not +necessarily medical, he would go to Dolittle and ask his advice about +it. Dolittle seems to extend his hand from the page and grasp that of +his reader, and I can see him going down the centuries a kind of Pied +Piper with thousands of children at his heels. But not only is he a +darling and alive and credible but his creator has also managed to +invest everybody else in the book with the same kind of life. + +Now this business of giving life to animals, making them talk and +behave like human beings, is an extremely difficult one. Lewis Carroll +absolutely conquered the difficulties, but I am not sure that anyone +after him until Hugh Lofting has really managed the trick; even in +such a masterpiece as “The Wind in the Willows” we are not quite +convinced. John Dolittle’s friends are convincing because their creator +never forces them to desert their own characteristics. Polynesia, for +instance, is natural from first to last. She really does care about the +Doctor but she cares as a bird would care, having always some place to +which she is going when her business with her friends is over. And when +Mr. Lofting invents fantastic animals he gives them a kind of credible +possibility which is extraordinarily convincing. It will be impossible +for anyone who has read this book not to believe in the existence of +the pushmi-pullyu, who would be credible enough even were there no +drawing of it, but the picture on page 153 settles the matter of his +truth once and for all. + +In fact this book is a work of genius and, as always with works of +genius, it is difficult to analyze the elements that have gone to +make it. There is poetry here and fantasy and humor, a little pathos +but, above all, a number of creations in whose existence everybody +must believe whether they be children of four or old men of ninety or +prosperous bankers of forty-five. I don’t know how Mr. Lofting has done +it; I don’t suppose that he knows himself. There it is—the first real +children’s classic since “Alice.” + + HUGH WALPOLE. + + + + +_CONTENTS_ + + + INTRODUCTION vii + CHAPTER PAGE + I PUDDLEBY 1 + II ANIMAL LANGUAGE 7 + III MORE MONEY TROUBLES 19 + IV A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA 29 + V THE GREAT JOURNEY 37 + VI POLYNESIA AND THE KING 47 + VII THE BRIDGE OF APES 55 + VIII THE LEADER OF THE LIONS 67 + IX THE MONKEYS’ COUNCIL 75 + X THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL 81 + XI THE BLACK PRINCE 91 + XII MEDICINE AND MAGIC 99 + XIII RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS 111 + XIV THE RATS’ WARNING 117 + XV THE BARBARY DRAGON 125 + XVI TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER 133 + XVII THE OCEAN GOSSIPS 141 + XVIII SMELLS 149 + XIX THE ROCK 159 + XX THE FISHERMAN’S TOWN 167 + XXI HOME AGAIN 174 + + + + +_ILLUSTRATIONS_ + + + “A little town called Puddleby-on-the-Marsh” _Frontispiece_ + PAGE + “And she never came to see him any more” 3 + “He could see as well as ever” 14 + “They came at once to his house on the edge of the town” 15 + “They used to sit in chairs on the lawn” 19 + “‘All right,’ said the Doctor, ‘go and get married’” 23 + “One evening when the Doctor was asleep in his chair” 24 + “‘I felt sure there was twopence left’” 31 + “And the voyage began” 35 + “‘We must have run into Africa’” 41 + “‘I got into it because I did not want to be drowned’” 44 + “And Queen Ermintrude was asleep” 48 + “‘Who’s that?’” 52 + “Cheering and waving leaves and swinging out of the branches + to greet him” 61 + “John Dolittle was the last to cross” 65 + “He made all the monkeys who were still well come and be + vaccinated” 68 + “‘_ME, the King of Beasts_, to wait on a lot of dirty + monkeys?’” 70 + “Then the Grand Gorilla got up” 76 + “‘Lord save us!’ cried the duck. ‘How does it make up its + mind?’” 85 + “He began reading the fairy-stories to himself” 96 + “Crying bitterly and waving till the ship was out of sight” 109 + “‘They are surely the pirates of Barbary’” 114 + “‘And you have heard that rats always leave a sinking ship?’” 119 + “‘Look here, Ben Ali—’” 127 + “‘Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there’s someone in there!’” 136 + “‘You stupid piece of warm bacon!’” 153 + “‘Doctor!’ he cried. ‘I’ve got it!’” 160 + “And she kissed the Doctor many times” 170 + “The Doctor sat in a chair in front” 176 + “He began running round the garden like a crazy thing” 178 + + + + +_THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE_ + + + + +THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE + + + + +_THE FIRST CHAPTER_ + +PUDDLEBY + + +ONCE upon a time, many years ago—when our grandfathers were little +children—there was a doctor; and his name was Dolittle—John Dolittle, +M.D. “M.D.” means that he was a proper doctor and knew a whole lot. + +He lived in a little town called, Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. All the folks, +young and old, knew him well by sight. And whenever he walked down the +street in his high hat everyone would say, “There goes the Doctor!—He’s +a clever man.” And the dogs and the children would all run up and +follow behind him; and even the crows that lived in the church-tower +would caw and nod their heads. + +The house he lived in, on the edge of the town, was quite small; +but his garden was very large and had a wide lawn and stone seats +and weeping-willows hanging over. His sister, Sarah Dolittle, was +housekeeper for him; but the Doctor looked after the garden himself. + +He was very fond of animals and kept many kinds of pets. Besides the +gold-fish in the pond at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in +the pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen closet +and a hedgehog in the cellar. He had a cow with a calf too, and an old +lame horse—twenty-five years of age—and chickens, and pigeons, and two +lambs, and many other animals. But his favorite pets were Dab-Dab the +duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the baby pig, Polynesia the parrot, and the +owl Too-Too. + +[Illustration: “And she never came to see him any more”] + +His sister used to grumble about all these animals and said they made +the house untidy. And one day when an old lady with rheumatism came to +see the Doctor, she sat on the hedgehog who was sleeping on the sofa +and never came to see him any more, but drove every Saturday all +the way to Oxenthorpe, another town ten miles off, to see a different +doctor. + +Then his sister, Sarah Dolittle, came to him and said, + +“John, how can you expect sick people to come and see you when you +keep all these animals in the house? It’s a fine doctor would have +his parlor full of hedgehogs and mice! That’s the fourth personage +these animals have driven away. Squire Jenkins and the Parson say they +wouldn’t come near your house again—no matter how sick they are. We +are getting poorer every day. If you go on like this, none of the best +people will have you for a doctor.” + +“But I like the animals better than the ‘best people’,” said the Doctor. + +“You are ridiculous,” said his sister, and walked out of the room. + +So, as time went on, the Doctor got more and more animals; and the +people who came to see him got less and less. Till at last he had +no one left—except the Cat’s-meat-Man, who didn’t mind any kind of +animals. But the Cat’s-meat-Man wasn’t very rich and he only got sick +once a year—at Christmas-time, when he used to give the Doctor sixpence +for a bottle of medicine. + +Sixpence a year wasn’t enough to live on—even in those days, long ago; +and if the Doctor hadn’t had some money saved up in his money-box, no +one knows what would have happened. + +And he kept on getting still more pets; and of course it cost a lot to +feed them. And the money he had saved up grew littler and littler. + +Then he sold his piano, and let the mice live in a bureau-drawer. But +the money he got for that too began to go, so he sold the brown suit he +wore on Sundays and went on becoming poorer and poorer. + +And now, when he walked down the street in his high hat, people would +say to one another, “There goes John Dolittle, M.D.! There was a time +when he was the best known doctor in the West Country—Look at him +now—He hasn’t any money and his stockings are full of holes!” + +But the dogs and the cats and the children still ran up and followed +him through the town—the same as they had done when he was rich. + + + + +_THE SECOND CHAPTER_ + +ANIMAL LANGUAGE + + +IT happened one day that the Doctor was sitting in his kitchen talking +with the Cat’s-meat-Man who had come to see him with a stomach-ache. + +“Why don’t you give up being a people’s doctor, and be an +animal-doctor?” asked the Cat’s-meat-Man. + +The parrot, Polynesia, was sitting in the window looking out at the +rain and singing a sailor-song to herself. She stopped singing and +started to listen. + +“You see, Doctor,” the Cat’s-meat-Man went on, “you know all about +animals—much more than what these here vets do. That book you +wrote—about cats, why, it’s wonderful! I can’t read or write myself—or +maybe _I’d_ write some books. But my wife, Theodosia, she’s a scholar, +she is. And she read your book to me. Well, it’s wonderful—that’s all +can be said—wonderful. You might have been a cat yourself. You know +the way they think. And listen: you can make a lot of money doctoring +animals. Do you know that? You see, I’d send all the old women who had +sick cats or dogs to you. And if they didn’t get sick fast enough, I +could put something in the meat I sell ’em to make ’em sick, see?” + +“Oh, no,” said the Doctor quickly. “You mustn’t do that. That wouldn’t +be right.” + +“Oh, I didn’t mean real sick,” answered the Cat’s-meat-Man. “Just a +little something to make them droopy-like was what I had reference to. +But as you say, maybe it ain’t quite fair on the animals. But they’ll +get sick anyway, because the old women always give ’em too much to eat. +And look, all the farmers round about who had lame horses and weak +lambs—they’d come. Be an animal-doctor.” + +When the Cat’s-meat-Man had gone the parrot flew off the window on to +the Doctor’s table and said, + +“That man’s got sense. That’s what you ought to do. Be an +animal-doctor. Give the silly people up—if they haven’t brains enough +to see you’re the best doctor in the world. Take care of animals +instead—_they_’ll soon find it out. Be an animal-doctor.” + +“Oh, there are plenty of animal-doctors,” said John Dolittle, putting +the flower-pots outside on the window-sill to get the rain. + +“Yes, there _are_ plenty,” said Polynesia. “But none of them are any +good at all. Now listen, Doctor, and I’ll tell you something. Did you +know that animals can talk?” + +“I knew that parrots can talk,” said the Doctor. + +“Oh, we parrots can talk in two languages—people’s language and +bird-language,” said Polynesia proudly. “If I say, ‘Polly wants a +cracker,’ you understand me. But hear this: _Ka-ka oi-ee, fee-fee?_” + +“Good Gracious!” cried the Doctor. “What does that mean?” + +“That means, ‘Is the porridge hot yet?’—in bird-language.” + +“My! You don’t say so!” said the Doctor. “You never talked that way to +me before.” + +“What would have been the good?” said Polynesia, dusting some +cracker-crumbs off her left wing. “You wouldn’t have understood me if I +had.” + +“Tell me some more,” said the Doctor, all excited; and he rushed +over to the dresser-drawer and came back with the butcher’s book and +a pencil. “Now don’t go too fast—and I’ll write it down. This is +interesting—very interesting—something quite new. Give me the Birds’ +A.B.C. first—slowly now.” + +So that was the way the Doctor came to know that animals had a language +of their own and could talk to one another. And all that afternoon, +while it was raining, Polynesia sat on the kitchen table giving him +bird words to put down in the book. + +At tea-time, when the dog, Jip, came in, the parrot said to the Doctor, +“See, _he_’s talking to you.” + +“Looks to me as though he were scratching his ear,” said the Doctor. + +“But animals don’t always speak with their mouths,” said the parrot in +a high voice, raising her eyebrows. “They talk with their ears, with +their feet, with their tails—with everything. Sometimes they don’t +_want_ to make a noise. Do you see now the way he’s twitching up one +side of his nose?” + +“What’s that mean?” asked the Doctor. + +“That means, ‘Can’t you see that it has stopped raining?’” Polynesia +answered. “He is asking you a question. Dogs nearly always use their +noses for asking questions.” + +After a while, with the parrot’s help, the Doctor got to learn the +language of the animals so well that he could talk to them himself +and understand everything they said. Then he gave up being a people’s +doctor altogether. + +As soon as the Cat’s-meat-Man had told every one that John Dolittle was +going to become an animal-doctor, old ladies began to bring him their +pet pugs and poodles who had eaten too much cake; and farmers came many +miles to show him sick cows and sheep. + +One day a plow-horse was brought to him; and the poor thing was +terribly glad to find a man who could talk in horse-language. + +“You know, Doctor,” said the horse, “that vet over the hill knows +nothing at all. He has been treating me six weeks now—for spavins. What +I need is _spectacles_. I am going blind in one eye. There’s no reason +why horses shouldn’t wear glasses, the same as people. But that stupid +man over the hill never even looked at my eyes. He kept on giving me +big pills. I tried to tell him; but he couldn’t understand a word of +horse-language. What I need is spectacles.” + +“Of course—of course,” said the Doctor. “I’ll get you some at once.” + +“I would like a pair like yours,” said the horse—“only green. They’ll +keep the sun out of my eyes while I’m plowing the Fifty-Acre Field.” + +“Certainly,” said the Doctor. “Green ones you shall have.” + +“You know, the trouble is, Sir,” said the plow-horse as the Doctor +opened the front door to let him out—“the trouble is that _anybody_ +thinks he can doctor animals—just because the animals don’t complain. +As a matter of fact it takes a much cleverer man to be a really good +animal-doctor than it does to be a good people’s doctor. My farmer’s +boy thinks he knows all about horses. I wish you could see him—his face +is so fat he looks as though he had no eyes—and he has got as much +brain as a potato-bug. He tried to put a mustard-plaster on me last +week.” + +“Where did he put it?” asked the Doctor. + +“Oh, he didn’t put it anywhere—on me,” said the horse. “He only tried +to. I kicked him into the duck-pond.” + +“Well, well!” said the Doctor. + +“I’m a pretty quiet creature as a rule,” said the horse—“very patient +with people—don’t make much fuss. But it was bad enough to have that +vet giving me the wrong medicine. And when that red-faced booby started +to monkey with me, I just couldn’t bear it any more.” + +“Did you hurt the boy much?” asked the Doctor. + +“Oh, no,” said the horse. “I kicked him in the right place. The vet’s +looking after him now. When will my glasses be ready?” + +“I’ll have them for you next week,” said the Doctor. “Come in again +Tuesday—Good morning!” + +[Illustration: “He could see as well as ever”] + +Then John Dolittle got a fine, big pair of green spectacles; and the +plow-horse stopped going blind in one eye and could see as well as ever. + +And soon it became a common sight to see farm-animals wearing glasses +in the country round Puddleby; and a blind horse was a thing unknown. + +And so it was with all the other animals that were brought to him. As +soon as they found that he could talk their language, they told him +where the pain was and how they felt, and of course it was easy for him +to cure them. + +[Illustration: “They came at once to his house on the edge of the town”] + +Now all these animals went back and told their brothers and friends +that there was a doctor in the little house with the big garden who +really _was_ a doctor. And whenever any creatures got sick—not only +horses and cows and dogs—but all the little things of the fields, like +harvest-mice and water-voles, badgers and bats, they came at once to +his house on the edge of the town, so that his big garden was nearly +always crowded with animals trying to get in to see him. + +There were so many that came that he had to have special doors made for +the different kinds. He wrote “HORSES” over the front door, “COWS” over +the side door, and “SHEEP” on the kitchen door. Each kind of animal +had a separate door—even the mice had a tiny tunnel made for them into +the cellar, where they waited patiently in rows for the Doctor to come +round to them. + +And so, in a few years’ time, every living thing for miles and miles +got to know about John Dolittle, M.D. And the birds who flew to other +countries in the winter told the animals in foreign lands of the +wonderful doctor of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, who could understand their +talk and help them in their troubles. In this way he became famous +among the animals—all over the world—better known even than he had +been among the folks of the West Country. And he was happy and liked +his life very much. + +One afternoon when the Doctor was busy writing in a book, Polynesia +sat in the window—as she nearly always did—looking out at the leaves +blowing about in the garden. Presently she laughed aloud. + +“What is it, Polynesia?” asked the Doctor, looking up from his book. + +“I was just thinking,” said the parrot; and she went on looking at the +leaves. + +“What were you thinking?” + +“I was thinking about people,” said Polynesia. “People make me sick. +They think they’re so wonderful. The world has been going on now for +thousands of years, hasn’t it? And the only thing in animal-language +that _people_ have learned to understand is that when a dog wags his +tail he means ‘I’m glad!’—It’s funny, isn’t it? You are the very first +man to talk like us. Oh, sometimes people annoy me dreadfully—such +airs they put on—talking about ‘the dumb animals.’ _Dumb!_—Huh! Why I +knew a macaw once who could say ‘Good morning!’ in seven different +ways without once opening his mouth. He could talk every language—and +Greek. An old professor with a gray beard bought him. But he didn’t +stay. He said the old man didn’t talk Greek right, and he couldn’t +stand listening to him teach the language wrong. I often wonder what’s +become of him. That bird knew more geography than people will ever +know.—_People_, Golly! I suppose if people ever learn to fly—like any +common hedge-sparrow—we shall never hear the end of it!” + +“You’re a wise old bird,” said the Doctor. “How old are you really? I +know that parrots and elephants sometimes live to be very, very old.” + +“I can never be quite sure of my age,” said Polynesia. “It’s either a +hundred and eighty-three or a hundred and eighty-two. But I know that +when I first came here from Africa, King Charles was still hiding in +the oak-tree—because I saw him. He looked scared to death.” + + + + +_THE THIRD CHAPTER_ + +MORE MONEY TROUBLES + + +AND soon now the Doctor began to make money again; and his sister, +Sarah, bought a new dress and was happy. + +Some of the animals who came to see him were so sick that they had +to stay at the Doctor’s house for a week. And when they were getting +better they used to sit in chairs on the lawn. + +[Illustration: “They used to sit in chairs on the lawn”] + +And often even after they got well, they did not want to go away—they +liked the Doctor and his house so much. And he never had the heart to +refuse them when they asked if they could stay with him. So in this way +he went on getting more and more pets. + +Once when he was sitting on his garden wall, smoking a pipe in the +evening, an Italian organ-grinder came round with a monkey on a string. +The Doctor saw at once that the monkey’s collar was too tight and +that he was dirty and unhappy. So he took the monkey away from the +Italian, gave the man a shilling and told him to go. The organ-grinder +got awfully angry and said that he wanted to keep the monkey. But the +Doctor told him that if he didn’t go away he would punch him on the +nose. John Dolittle was a strong man, though he wasn’t very tall. So +the Italian went away saying rude things and the monkey stayed with +Doctor Dolittle and had a good home. The other animals in the house +called him “Chee-Chee”—which is a common word in monkey-language, +meaning “ginger.” + +And another time, when the circus came to Puddleby, the crocodile +who had a bad toothache escaped at night and came into the Doctor’s +garden. The Doctor talked to him in crocodile-language and took him +into the house and made his tooth better. But when the crocodile +saw what a nice house it was—with all the different places for the +different kinds of animals—he too wanted to live with the Doctor. He +asked couldn’t he sleep in the fish-pond at the bottom of the garden, +if he promised not to eat the fish. When the circus-men came to take +him back he got so wild and savage that he frightened them away. But to +every one in the house he was always as gentle as a kitten. + +But now the old ladies grew afraid to send their lap-dogs to Doctor +Dolittle because of the crocodile; and the farmers wouldn’t believe +that he would not eat the lambs and sick calves they brought to be +cured. So the Doctor went to the crocodile and told him he must go back +to his circus. But he wept such big tears, and begged so hard to be +allowed to stay, that the Doctor hadn’t the heart to turn him out. + +So then the Doctor’s sister came to him and said, + +“John, you must send that creature away. Now the farmers and the +old ladies are afraid to send their animals to you—just as we were +beginning to be well off again. Now we shall be ruined entirely. This +is the last straw. I will no longer be housekeeper for you if you don’t +send away that alligator.” + +“It isn’t an alligator,” said the Doctor—“it’s a crocodile.” + +“I don’t care what you call it,” said his sister. “It’s a nasty thing +to find under the bed. I won’t have it in the house.” + +“But he has promised me,” the Doctor answered, “that he will not bite +any one. He doesn’t like the circus; and I haven’t the money to send +him back to Africa where he comes from. He minds his own business and +on the whole is very well behaved. Don’t be so fussy.” + +“I tell you I _will not_ have him around,” said Sarah. “He eats the +linoleum. If you don’t send him away this minute I’ll—I’ll go and get +married!” + +“All right,” said the Doctor, “go and get married. It can’t be +helped.” And he took down his hat and went out into the garden. + +So Sarah Dolittle packed up her things and went off; and the Doctor was +left all alone with his animal family. + +[Illustration: “‘All right,’ said the Doctor, ‘go and get married’”] + +And very soon he was poorer than he had ever been before. With all +these mouths to fill, and the house to look after, and no one to do the +mending, and no money coming in to pay the butcher’s bill, things began +to look very difficult. But the Doctor didn’t worry at all. + +“Money is a nuisance,” he used to say. “We’d all be much better off if +it had never been invented. What does money matter, so long as we are +happy?” + +[Illustration: “One evening when the Doctor was asleep in his chair”] + +But soon the animals themselves began to get worried. And one evening +when the Doctor was asleep in his chair before the kitchen-fire they +began talking it over among themselves in whispers. And the owl, +Too-Too, who was good at arithmetic, figured it out that there was only +money enough left to last another week—if they each had one meal a day +and no more. + +Then the parrot said, “I think we all ought to do the housework +ourselves. At least we can do that much. After all, it is for our sakes +that the old man finds himself so lonely and so poor.” + +So it was agreed that the monkey, Chee-Chee, was to do the cooking and +mending; the dog was to sweep the floors; the duck was to dust and make +the beds; the owl, Too-Too, was to keep the accounts, and the pig was +to do the gardening. They made Polynesia, the parrot, housekeeper and +laundress, because she was the oldest. + +Of course at first they all found their new jobs very hard to do—all +except Chee-Chee, who had hands, and could do things like a man. But +they soon got used to it; and they used to think it great fun to watch +Jip, the dog, sweeping his tail over the floor with a rag tied onto it +for a broom. After a little they got to do the work so well that the +Doctor said that he had never had his house kept so tidy or so clean +before. + +In this way things went along all right for a while; but without money +they found it very hard. + +Then the animals made a vegetable and flower stall outside the +garden-gate and sold radishes and roses to the people that passed by +along the road. + +But still they didn’t seem to make enough money to pay all the +bills—and still the Doctor wouldn’t worry. When the parrot came to him +and told him that the fishmonger wouldn’t give them any more fish, he +said, + +“Never mind. So long as the hens lay eggs and the cow gives milk we can +have omelettes and junket. And there are plenty of vegetables left in +the garden. The Winter is still a long way off. Don’t fuss. That was +the trouble with Sarah—she would fuss. I wonder how Sarah’s getting +on—an excellent woman—in some ways—Well, well!” + +But the snow came earlier than usual that year; and although the old +lame horse hauled in plenty of wood from the forest outside the town, +so they could have a big fire in the kitchen, most of the vegetables in +the garden were gone, and the rest were covered with snow; and many of +the animals were really hungry. + + + + +_THE FOURTH CHAPTER_ + +A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA + + +THAT Winter was a very cold one. And one night in December, when they +were all sitting round the warm fire in the kitchen, and the Doctor +was reading aloud to them out of books he had written himself in +animal-language, the owl, Too-Too, suddenly said, + +“Sh! What’s that noise outside?” + +They all listened; and presently they heard the sound of some one +running. Then the door flew open and the monkey, Chee-Chee, ran in, +badly out of breath. + +“Doctor!” he cried, “I’ve just had a message from a cousin of mine in +Africa. There is a terrible sickness among the monkeys out there. They +are all catching it—and they are dying in hundreds. They have heard of +you, and beg you to come to Africa to stop the sickness.” + +“Who brought the message?” asked the Doctor, taking off his spectacles +and laying down his book. + +“A swallow,” said Chee-Chee. “She is outside on the rain-butt.” + +“Bring her in by the fire,” said the Doctor. “She must be perished with +the cold. The swallows flew South six weeks ago!” + +So the swallow was brought in, all huddled and shivering; and although +she was a little afraid at first, she soon got warmed up and sat on the +edge of the mantelpiece and began to talk. + +When she had finished the Doctor said, + +“I would gladly go to Africa—especially in this bitter weather. But +I’m afraid we haven’t money enough to buy the tickets. Get me the +money-box, Chee-Chee.” + +So the monkey climbed up and got it off the top shelf of the dresser. + +There was nothing in it—not one single penny! + +“I felt sure there was twopence left,” said the Doctor. + +“There _was_” said the owl. “But you spent it on a rattle for that +badger’s baby when he was teething.” + +“Did I?” said the Doctor—“dear me, dear me! What a nuisance money is, +to be sure! Well, never mind. Perhaps if I go down to the seaside I +shall be able to borrow a boat that will take us to Africa. I knew a +seaman once who brought his baby to me with measles. Maybe he’ll lend +us his boat—the baby got well.” + +[Illustration: “‘I felt sure there was twopence left’”] + +So early the next morning the Doctor went down to the sea-shore. And +when he came back he told the animals it was all right—the sailor was +going to lend them the boat. + +Then the crocodile and the monkey and the parrot were very glad and +began to sing, because they were going back to Africa, their real home. +And the Doctor said, + +“I shall only be able to take you three—with Jip the dog, Dab-Dab the +duck, Gub-Gub the pig and the owl, Too-Too. The rest of the animals, +like the dormice and the water-voles and the bats, they will have to +go back and live in the fields where they were born till we come home +again. But as most of them sleep through the Winter, they won’t mind +that—and besides, it wouldn’t be good for them to go to Africa.” + +So then the parrot, who had been on long sea-voyages before, began +telling the Doctor all the things he would have to take with him on the +ship. + +“You must have plenty of pilot-bread,” she said—“‘hard tack’ they call +it. And you must have beef in cans—and an anchor.” + +“I expect the ship will have its own anchor,” said the Doctor. + +“Well, make sure,” said Polynesia. “Because it’s very important. You +can’t stop if you haven’t got an anchor. And you’ll need a bell.” + +“What’s that for?” asked the Doctor. + +“To tell the time by,” said the parrot. “You go and ring it every +half-hour and then you know what time it is. And bring a whole lot of +rope—it always comes in handy on voyages.” + +Then they began to wonder where they were going to get the money from +to buy all the things they needed. + +“Oh, bother it! Money again,” cried the Doctor. “Goodness! I shall be +glad to get to Africa where we don’t have to have any! I’ll go and ask +the grocer if he will wait for his money till I get back—No, I’ll send +the sailor to ask him.” + +So the sailor went to see the grocer. And presently he came back with +all the things they wanted. + +Then the animals packed up; and after they had turned off the water so +the pipes wouldn’t freeze, and put up the shutters, they closed the +house and gave the key to the old horse who lived in the stable. And +when they had seen that there was plenty of hay in the loft to last the +horse through the Winter, they carried all their luggage down to the +seashore and got on to the boat. + +The Cat’s-meat-Man was there to see them off; and he brought a large +suet-pudding as a present for the Doctor because, he said he had been +told, you couldn’t get suet-puddings in foreign parts. + +As soon as they were on the ship, Gub-Gub, the pig, asked where the +beds were, for it was four o’clock in the afternoon and he wanted his +nap. So Polynesia took him downstairs into the inside of the ship and +showed him the beds, set all on top of one another like book-shelves +against a wall. + +“Why, that isn’t a bed!” cried Gub-Gub. “That’s a shelf!” + +“Beds are always like that on ships,” said the parrot. “It isn’t a +shelf. Climb up into it and go to sleep. That’s what you call ‘a bunk.’” + +[Illustration: “And the voyage began”] + +“I don’t think I’ll go to bed yet,” said Gub-Gub. “I’m too excited. I +want to go upstairs again and see them start.” + +“Well, this is your first trip,” said Polynesia. “You will get used to +the life after a while.” And she went back up the stairs of the ship, +humming this song to herself, + + I’ve seen the Black Sea and the Red Sea; + I rounded the Isle of Wight; + I discovered the Yellow River, + And the Orange too—by night. + Now Greenland drops behind again, + And I sail the ocean Blue. + I’m tired of all these colors, Jane, + So I’m coming back to you. + +They were just going to start on their journey, when the Doctor said he +would have to go back and ask the sailor the way to Africa. + +But the swallow said she had been to that country many times and would +show them how to get there. + +So the Doctor told Chee-Chee to pull up the anchor and the voyage +began. + + + + +_THE FIFTH CHAPTER_ + +THE GREAT JOURNEY + + +NOW for six whole weeks they went sailing on and on, over the rolling +sea, following the swallow who flew before the ship to show them the +way. At night she carried a tiny lantern, so they should not miss her +in the dark; and the people on the other ships that passed said that +the light must be a shooting star. + +As they sailed further and further into the South, it got warmer and +warmer. Polynesia, Chee-Chee and the crocodile enjoyed the hot sun no +end. They ran about laughing and looking over the side of the ship to +see if they could see Africa yet. + +But the pig and the dog and the owl, Too-Too, could do nothing in such +weather, but sat at the end of the ship in the shade of a big barrel, +with their tongues hanging out, drinking lemonade. + +Dab-Dab, the duck, used to keep herself cool by jumping into the sea +and swimming behind the ship. And every once in a while, when the top +of her head got too hot, she would dive under the ship and come up +on the other side. In this way, too, she used to catch herrings on +Tuesdays and Fridays—when everybody on the boat ate fish to make the +beef last longer. + +When they got near to the Equator they saw some flying-fishes coming +towards them. And the fishes asked the parrot if this was Doctor +Dolittle’s ship. When she told them it was, they said they were glad, +because the monkeys in Africa were getting worried that he would never +come. Polynesia asked them how many miles they had yet to go; and the +flying-fishes said it was only fifty-five miles now to the coast of +Africa. + +And another time a whole school of porpoises came dancing through the +waves; and they too asked Polynesia if this was the ship of the famous +doctor. And when they heard that it was, they asked the parrot if the +Doctor wanted anything for his journey. + +And Polynesia said, “Yes. We have run short of onions.” + +“There is an island not far from here,” said the porpoises, “where the +wild onions grow tall and strong. Keep straight on—we will get some and +catch up to you.” + +So the porpoises dashed away through the sea. And very soon the parrot +saw them again, coming up behind, dragging the onions through the waves +in big nets made of seaweed. + +The next evening, as the sun was going down, the Doctor said, + +“Get me the telescope, Chee-Chee. Our journey is nearly ended. Very +soon we should be able to see the shores of Africa.” + +And about half an hour later, sure enough, they thought they could see +something in front that might be land. But it began to get darker and +darker and they couldn’t be sure. + +Then a great storm came up, with thunder and lightning. The wind +howled; the rain came down in torrents; and the waves got so high they +splashed right over the boat. + +Presently there was a big BANG! The ship stopped and rolled over on its +side. + +“What’s happened?” asked the Doctor, coming up from downstairs. + +“I’m not sure,” said the parrot; “but I think we’re ship-wrecked. Tell +the duck to get out and see.” + +So Dab-Dab dived right down under the waves. And when she came up she +said they had struck a rock; there was a big hole in the bottom of the +ship; the water was coming in; and they were sinking fast. + +“We must have run into Africa,” said the Doctor. “Dear me, dear +me!—Well—we must all swim to land.” + +But Chee-Chee and Gub-Gub did not know how to swim. + +“Get the rope!” said Polynesia. “I told you it would come in handy. +Where’s that duck? Come here, Dab-Dab. Take this end of the rope, fly +to the shore and tie it on to a palm-tree; and we’ll hold the other +end on the ship here. Then those that can’t swim must climb along the +rope till they reach the land. That’s what you call a ‘life-line.’” + +[Illustration: “‘We must have run into Africa’”] + +So they all got safely to the shore—some swimming, some flying; and +those that climbed along the rope brought the Doctor’s trunk and +hand-bag with them. + +But the ship was no good any more—with the big hole in the bottom; and +presently the rough sea beat it to pieces on the rocks and the timbers +floated away. + +Then they all took shelter in a nice dry cave they found, high up in +the cliffs, till the storm was over. + +When the sun came out next morning they went down to the sandy beach to +dry themselves. + +“Dear old Africa!” sighed Polynesia. “It’s good to get back. Just +think—it’ll be a hundred and sixty-nine years to-morrow since I was +here! And it hasn’t changed a bit!—Same old palm-trees; same old red +earth; same old black ants! There’s no place like home!” + +And the others noticed she had tears in her eyes—she was so pleased to +see her country once again. + +Then the Doctor missed his high hat; for it had been blown into the sea +during the storm. So Dab-Dab went out to look for it. And presently she +saw it, a long way off, floating on the water like a toy-boat. + +When she flew down to get it, she found one of the white mice, very +frightened, sitting inside it. + +“What are you doing here?” asked the duck. “You were told to stay +behind in Puddleby.” + +“I didn’t want to be left behind,” said the mouse. “I wanted to see +what Africa was like—I have relatives there. So I hid in the baggage +and was brought on to the ship with the hard-tack. When the ship sank +I was terribly frightened—because I cannot swim far. I swam as long as +I could, but I soon got all exhausted and thought I was going to sink. +And then, just at that moment, the old man’s hat came floating by; and +I got into it because I did not want to be drowned.” + +So the duck took up the hat with the mouse in it and brought it to the +Doctor on the shore. And they all gathered round to have a look. + +“That’s what you call a ‘stowaway,’” said the parrot. + +Presently, when they were looking for a place in the trunk where the +white mouse could travel comfortably, the monkey, Chee-Chee, suddenly +said, + +“Sh! I hear footsteps in the jungle!” + +They all stopped talking and listened. And soon a black man came down +out of the woods and asked them what they were doing there. + +[Illustration: “‘I got into it because I did not want to be drowned’”] + +“My name is John Dolittle—M.D.,” said the Doctor. “I have been asked to +come to Africa to cure the monkeys who are sick.” + +“You must all come before the King,” said the black man. + +“What king?” asked the Doctor, who didn’t want to waste any time. + +“The King of the Jolliginki,” the man answered. “All these lands belong +to him; and all strangers must be brought before him. Follow me.” + +So they gathered up their baggage and went off, following the man +through the jungle. + + + + +_THE SIXTH CHAPTER_ + +POLYNESIA AND THE KING + + +WHEN they had gone a little way through the thick forest, they came to +a wide, clear space; and they saw the King’s palace which was made of +mud. + +This was where the King lived with his Queen, Ermintrude, and their +son, Prince Bumpo. The Prince was away fishing for salmon in the river. +But the King and Queen were sitting under an umbrella before the palace +door. And Queen Ermintrude was asleep. + +When the Doctor had come up to the palace the King asked him his +business; and the Doctor told him why he had come to Africa. + +“You may not travel through my lands,” said the King. “Many years ago a +white man came to these shores; and I was very kind to him. But after +he had dug holes in the ground to get the gold, and killed all the +elephants to get their ivory tusks, he went away secretly in his ship— +without so much as saying ‘Thank you.’ Never again shall a white man +travel through the lands of Jolliginki.” + +[Illustration: “And Queen Ermintrude was asleep”] + +Then the King turned to some of the black men who were standing near +and said, “Take away this medicine-man—with all his animals, and lock +them up in my strongest prison.” + +So six of the black men led the Doctor and all his pets away and shut +them up in a stone dungeon. The dungeon had only one little window, +high up in the wall, with bars in it; and the door was strong and thick. + +Then they all grew very sad; and Gub-Gub, the pig, began to cry. But +Chee-Chee said he would spank him if he didn’t stop that horrible +noise; and he kept quiet. + +“Are we all here?” asked the Doctor, after he had got used to the dim +light. + +“Yes, I think so,” said the duck and started to count them. + +“Where’s Polynesia?” asked the crocodile. “She isn’t here.” + +“Are you sure?” said the Doctor. “Look again. Polynesia! Polynesia! +Where are you?” + +“I suppose she escaped,” grumbled the crocodile. “Well, that’s just +like her!—Sneaked off into the jungle as soon as her friends got into +trouble.” + +“I’m not that kind of a bird,” said the parrot, climbing out of the +pocket in the tail of the Doctor’s coat. “You see, I’m small enough +to get through the bars of that window; and I was afraid they would +put me in a cage instead. So while the King was busy talking, I hid in +the Doctor’s pocket—and here I am! That’s what you call a ‘ruse,’” she +said, smoothing down her feathers with her beak. + +“Good Gracious!” cried the Doctor. “You’re lucky I didn’t sit on you.” + +“Now listen,” said Polynesia, “to-night, as soon as it gets dark, I +am going to creep through the bars of that window and fly over to the +palace. And then—you’ll see—I’ll soon find a way to make the King let +us all out of prison.” + +“Oh, what can _you_ do?” said Gub-Gub, turning up his nose and +beginning to cry again. “You’re only a bird!” + +“Quite true,” said the parrot. “But do not forget that although I am +only a bird, _I can talk like a man_—and I know these darkies.” + +So that night, when the moon was shining through the palm-trees and +all the King’s men were asleep, the parrot slipped out through the +bars of the prison and flew across to the palace. The pantry window had +been broken by a tennis ball the week before; and Polynesia popped in +through the hole in the glass. + +She heard Prince Bumpo snoring in his bedroom at the back of the +palace. Then she tip-toed up the stairs till she came to the King’s +bedroom. She opened the door gently and peeped in. + +The Queen was away at a dance that night at her cousin’s; but the King +was in bed fast asleep. + +Polynesia crept in, very softly, and got under the bed. + +Then she coughed—just the way Doctor Dolittle used to cough. Polynesia +could mimic any one. + +The King opened his eyes and said sleepily: “Is that you, Ermintrude?” +(He thought it was the Queen come back from the dance.) + +Then the parrot coughed again—loud, like a man. And the King sat up, +wide awake, and said, “Who’s that?” + +“I am Doctor Dolittle,” said the parrot—just the way the Doctor would +have said it. + +“What are you doing in my bedroom?” cried the King. “How dare you get +out of prison! Where are you?—I don’t see you.” + +[Illustration: “‘Who’s that?’”] + +But the parrot just laughed—a long, deep, jolly laugh, like the +Doctor’s. + +“Stop laughing and come here at once, so I can see you,” said the King. + +“Foolish King!” answered Polynesia. “Have you forgotten that you +are talking to John Dolittle, M.D.—the most wonderful man on earth? +Of course you cannot see me. I have made myself invisible. There is +nothing I cannot do. Now listen: I have come here to-night to warn +you. If you don’t let me and my animals travel through your kingdom, +I will make you and all your people sick like the monkeys. For I can +make people well: and I can make people ill—just by raising my little +finger. Send your soldiers at once to open the dungeon door, or you +shall have mumps before the morning sun has risen on the hills of +Jolliginki.” + +Then the King began to tremble and was very much afraid. + +“Doctor,” he cried, “it shall be as you say. Do not raise your little +finger, please!” And he jumped out of bed and ran to tell the soldiers +to open the prison door. + +As soon as he was gone, Polynesia crept downstairs and left the palace +by the pantry window. + +But the Queen, who was just letting herself in at the backdoor with a +latch-key, saw the parrot getting out through the broken glass. And +when the King came back to bed she told him what she had seen. + +Then the King understood that he had been tricked, and he was +dreadfully angry. He hurried back to the prison at once. + +But he was too late. The door stood open. The dungeon was empty. The +Doctor and all his animals were gone. + + + + +_THE SEVENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE BRIDGE OF APES + + +QUEEN ERMINTRUDE had never in her life seen her husband so terrible as +he got that night. He gnashed his teeth with rage. He called everybody +a fool. He threw his tooth-brush at the palace cat. He rushed round in +his night-shirt and woke up all his army and sent them into the jungle +to catch the Doctor. Then he made all his servants go too—his cooks and +his gardeners and his barber and Prince Bumpo’s tutor—even the Queen, +who was tired from dancing in a pair of tight shoes, was packed off to +help the soldiers in their search. + +All this time the Doctor and his animals were running through the +forest towards the Land of the Monkeys as fast as they could go. + +Gub-Gub, with his short legs, soon got tired; and the Doctor had to +carry him—which made it pretty hard when they had the trunk and the +hand-bag with them as well. + +The King of the Jolliginki thought it would be easy for his army to +find them, because the Doctor was in a strange land and would not know +his way. But he was wrong; because the monkey, Chee-Chee, knew all the +paths through the jungle—better even than the King’s men did. And he +led the Doctor and his pets to the very thickest part of the forest—a +place where no man had ever been before—and hid them all in a big +hollow tree between high rocks. + +“We had better wait here,” said Chee-Chee, “till the soldiers have gone +back to bed. Then we can go on into the Land of the Monkeys.” + +So there they stayed the whole night through. + +They often heard the King’s men searching and talking in the jungle +round about. But they were quite safe, for no one knew of that +hiding-place but Chee-Chee—not even the other monkeys. + +At last, when daylight began to come through the thick leaves overhead, +they heard Queen Ermintrude saying in a very tired voice that it was +no use looking any more—that they might as well go back and get some +sleep. + +As soon as the soldiers had all gone home, Chee-Chee brought the Doctor +and his animals out of the hiding-place and they set off for the Land +of the Monkeys. + +It was a long, long way; and they often got very tired—especially +Gub-Gub. But when he cried they gave him milk out of the cocoanuts, +which he was very fond of. + +They always had plenty to eat and drink; because Chee-Chee and +Polynesia knew all the different kinds of fruits and vegetables that +grow in the jungle, and where to find them—like dates and figs and +ground-nuts and ginger and yams. They used to make their lemonade out +of the juice of wild oranges, sweetened with honey which they got from +the bees’ nests in hollow trees. No matter what it was they asked for, +Chee-Chee and Polynesia always seemed to be able to get it for them—or +something like it. They even got the Doctor some tobacco one day, when +he had finished what he had brought with him and wanted to smoke. + +At night they slept in tents made of palm-leaves, on thick, soft beds +of dried grass. And after a while they got used to walking such a lot +and did not get so tired and enjoyed the life of travel very much. + +But they were always glad when the night came and they stopped for +their resting-time. Then the Doctor used to make a little fire of +sticks; and after they had had their supper, they would sit round it +in a ring, listening to Polynesia singing songs about the sea, or to +Chee-Chee telling stories of the jungle. + +And many of the tales that Chee-Chee told were very interesting. +Because although the monkeys had no history-books of their own before +Doctor Dolittle came to write them for them, they remember everything +that happens by telling stories to their children. And Chee-Chee spoke +of many things his grandmother had told him—tales of long, long, +long ago, before Noah and the Flood,—of the days when men dressed in +bear-skins and lived in holes in the rock and ate their mutton raw, +because they did not know what cooking was—having never seen a fire. +And he told them of the Great Mammoths and Lizards, as long as a train, +that wandered over the mountains in those times, nibbling from the +tree-tops. And often they got so interested listening, that when he +had finished they found their fire had gone right out; and they had to +scurry round to get more sticks and build a new one. + +Now when the King’s army had gone back and told the King that they +couldn’t find the Doctor, the King sent them out again and told them +they must stay in the jungle till they caught him. So all this time, +while the Doctor and his animals were going along towards the Land of +the Monkeys, thinking themselves quite safe, they were still being +followed by the King’s men. If Chee-Chee had known this, he would most +likely have hidden them again. But he didn’t know it. + +One day Chee-Chee climbed up a high rock and looked out over the +tree-tops. And when he came down he said they were now quite close to +the Land of the Monkeys and would soon be there. + +And that same evening, sure enough, they saw Chee-Chee’s cousin and a +lot of other monkeys, who had not yet got sick, sitting in the trees by +the edge of a swamp, looking and waiting for them. And when they saw +the famous doctor really come, these monkeys made a tremendous noise, +cheering and waving leaves and swinging out of the branches to greet +him. + +They wanted to carry his bag and his trunk and everything he had—and +one of the bigger ones even carried Gub-Gub who had got tired again. +Then two of them rushed on in front to tell the sick monkeys that the +great doctor had come at last. + +But the King’s men, who were still following, had heard the noise of +the monkeys cheering; and they at last knew where the Doctor was, and +hastened on to catch him. + +The big monkey carrying Gub-Gub was coming along behind slowly, and he +saw the Captain of the army sneaking through the trees. So he hurried +after the Doctor and told him to run. + +[Illustration: “Cheering and waving leaves and swinging out of the +branches to greet him”] + +Then they all ran harder than they had ever run in their lives; and +the King’s men, coming after them, began to run too; and the Captain +ran hardest of all. + +Then the Doctor tripped over his medicine-bag and fell down in the mud, +and the Captain thought he would surely catch him this time. + +But the Captain had very long ears—though his hair was very short. And +as he sprang forward to take hold of the Doctor, one of his ears caught +fast in a tree; and the rest of the army had to stop and help him. + +By this time the Doctor had picked himself up, and on they went again, +running and running. And Chee-Chee shouted, + +“It’s all right! We haven’t far to go now!” + +But before they could get into the Land of the Monkeys, they came to a +steep cliff with a river flowing below. This was the end of the Kingdom +of Jolliginki; and the Land of the Monkeys was on the other side—across +the river. + +And Jip, the dog, looked down over the edge of the steep, steep cliff +and said, + +“Golly! How are we ever going to get across?” + +“Oh, dear!” said Gub-Gub. “The King’s men are quite close now—Look at +them! I am afraid we are going to be taken back to prison again.” And +he began to weep. + +But the big monkey who was carrying the pig dropped him on the ground +and cried out to the other monkeys, + +“Boys—a bridge! Quick!—Make a bridge! We’ve only a minute to do it. +They’ve got the Captain loose, and he’s coming on like a deer. Get +lively! A bridge! A bridge!” + +The Doctor began to wonder what they were going to make a bridge out +of, and he gazed around to see if they had any boards hidden any place. + +But when he looked back at the cliff, there, hanging across the river, +was a bridge all ready for him—made of living monkeys! For while his +back was turned, the monkeys—quick as a flash—had made themselves into +a bridge, just by holding hands and feet. + +And the big one shouted to the Doctor, “Walk over! Walk over—all of +you—hurry!” + +Gub-Gub was a bit scared, walking on such a narrow bridge at that dizzy +height above the river. But he got over all right; and so did all of +them. + +John Dolittle was the last to cross. And just as he was getting to the +other side, the King’s men came rushing up to the edge of the cliff. + +Then they shook their fists and yelled with rage. For they saw they +were too late. The Doctor and all his animals were safe in the Land of +the Monkeys and the bridge was pulled across to the other side. + +Then Chee-Chee turned to the Doctor and said, + +“Many great explorers and gray-bearded naturalists have lain long weeks +hidden in the jungle waiting to see the monkeys do that trick. But we +never let a white man get a glimpse of it before. You are the first to +see the famous ‘Bridge of Apes.’” + +And the Doctor felt very pleased. + +[Illustration: “John Dolittle was the last to cross”] + + + + +_THE EIGHTH CHAPTER_ + +THE LEADER OF THE LIONS + + +JOHN DOLITTLE now became dreadfully, awfully busy. He found hundreds +and thousands of monkeys sick—gorillas, orang-outangs, chimpanzees, +dog-faced baboons, marmosettes, gray monkeys, red ones—all kinds. And +many had died. + +The first thing he did was to separate the sick ones from the well +ones. Then he got Chee-Chee and his cousin to build him a little house +of grass. The next thing: he made all the monkeys who were still well +come and be vaccinated. + +And for three days and three nights the monkeys kept coming from +the jungles and the valleys and the hills to the little house of +grass, where the Doctor sat all day and all night, vaccinating and +vaccinating. + +[Illustration: “He made all the monkeys who were still well come and be +vaccinated”] + +Then he had another house made—a big one, with a lot of beds in it; and +he put all the sick ones in this house. + +But so many were sick, there were not enough well ones to do the +nursing. So he sent messages to the other animals, like the lions and +the leopards and the antelopes, to come and help with the nursing. + +But the Leader of the Lions was a very proud creature. And when he came +to the Doctor’s big house full of beds he seemed angry and scornful. + +“Do you dare to ask me, Sir?” he said, glaring at the Doctor. “Do you +dare to ask me—_ME, the King of Beasts_, to wait on a lot of dirty +monkeys? Why, I wouldn’t even eat them between meals!” + +Although the lion looked very terrible, the Doctor tried hard not to +seem afraid of him. + +“I didn’t ask you to eat them,” he said quietly. “And besides, they’re +not dirty. They’ve all had a bath this morning. _Your_ coat looks +as though it needed brushing—badly. Now listen, and I’ll tell you +something: the day may come when the lions get sick. And if you don’t +help the other animals now, the lions may find themselves left all +alone when _they_ are in trouble. That often happens to proud people.” + +[Illustration: “‘_ME, the King of Beasts_, to wait on a lot of dirty +monkeys?’”] + +“The lions are never _in_ trouble—they only _make_ trouble,” said the +Leader, turning up his nose. And he stalked away into the jungle, +feeling he had been rather smart and clever. + +Then the leopards got proud too and said they wouldn’t help. And then +of course the antelopes—although they were too shy and timid to be +rude to the Doctor like the lion—_they_ pawed the ground, and smiled +foolishly, and said they had never been nurses before. + +And now the poor Doctor was worried frantic, wondering where he could +get help enough to take care of all these thousands of monkeys in bed. + +But the Leader of the Lions, when he got back to his den, saw his wife, +the Queen Lioness, come running out to meet him with her hair untidy. + +“One of the cubs won’t eat,” she said. “I don’t know _what_ to do with +him. He hasn’t taken a thing since last night.” + +And she began to cry and shake with nervousness—for she was a good +mother, even though she was a lioness. + +So the Leader went into his den and looked at his children—two very +cunning little cubs, lying on the floor. And one of them seemed quite +poorly. + +Then the lion told his wife, quite proudly, just what he had said to +the Doctor. And she got so angry she nearly drove him out of the den. + +“You never _did_ have a grain of sense!” she screamed. “All the animals +from here to the Indian Ocean are talking about this wonderful man, +and how he can cure any kind of sickness, and how kind he is—the only +man in the whole world who can talk the language of the animals! And +now, _now_—when we have a sick baby on our hands, you must go and +offend him! You great booby! Nobody but a fool is ever rude to a _good_ +doctor. You—,” and she started pulling her husband’s hair. + +“Go back to that white man at once,” she yelled, “and tell him you’re +sorry. And take all the other empty-headed lions with you—and those +stupid leopards and antelopes. Then do everything the Doctor tells you. +Work like niggers! And perhaps he will be kind enough to come and see +the cub later. Now be off!—_Hurry_, I tell you! You’re not fit to be a +father!” + +And she went into the den next door, where another mother-lion lived, +and told her all about it. + +So the Leader of the Lions went back to the Doctor and said, “I +happened to be passing this way and thought I’d look in. Got any help +yet?” + +“No,” said the Doctor. “I haven’t. And I’m dreadfully worried.” + +“Help’s pretty hard to get these days,” said the lion. “Animals don’t +seem to want to work any more. You can’t blame them—in a way.... Well, +seeing you’re in difficulties, I don’t mind doing what I can—just to +oblige you—so long as I don’t have to wash the creatures. And I have +told all the other hunting animals to come and do their share. The +leopards should be here any minute now.... Oh, and by the way, we’ve +got a sick cub at home. I don’t think there’s much the matter with +him myself. But the wife is anxious. If you are around that way this +evening, you might take a look at him, will you?” + +Then the Doctor was very happy; for all the lions and the leopards and +the antelopes and the giraffes and the zebras—all the animals of the +forests and the mountains and the plains—came to help him in his work. +There were so many of them that he had to send some away, and only kept +the cleverest. + +And now very soon the monkeys began to get better. At the end of a +week the big house full of beds were half empty. And at the end of the +second week the last monkey had got well. + +Then the Doctor’s work was done; and he was so tired he went to bed and +slept for three days without even turning over. + + + + +_THE NINTH CHAPTER_ + +THE MONKEYS’ COUNCIL + + +CHEE-CHEE stood outside the Doctor’s door, keeping everybody away till +he woke up. Then John Dolittle told the monkeys that he must now go +back to Puddleby. + +They were very surprised at this; for they had thought that he was +going to stay with them forever. And that night all the monkeys got +together in the jungle to talk it over. + +And the Chief Chimpanzee rose up and said, + +“Why is it the good man is going away? Is he not happy here with us?” + +But none of them could answer him. + +Then the Grand Gorilla got up and said, + +“I think we all should go to him and ask him to stay. Perhaps if +we make him a new house and a bigger bed, and promise him plenty +of monkey-servants to work for him and to make life pleasant for +him—perhaps then he will not wish to go.” + +Then Chee-Chee got up; and all the others whispered, “Sh! Look! +Chee-Chee, the great Traveler, is about to speak!” + +And Chee-Chee said to the other monkeys, + +“My friends, I am afraid it is useless to ask the Doctor to stay. He +owes money in Puddleby; and he says he must go back and pay it.” + +And the monkeys asked him, “What is _money_?” + +[Illustration: “Then the Grand Gorilla got up”] + +Then Chee-Chee told them that in the Land of the White Men you could +get nothing without money; you could _do_ nothing without money—that +it was almost impossible to _live_ without money. + +And some of them asked, “But can you not even eat and drink without +paying?” + +But Chee-Chee shook his head. And then he told them that even he, when +he was with the organ-grinder, had been made to ask the children for +money. + +And the Chief Chimpanzee turned to the Oldest Orang-outang and said, +“Cousin, surely these Men be strange creatures! Who would wish to live +in such a land? My gracious, how paltry!” + +Then Chee-Chee said, + +“When we were coming to you we had no boat to cross the sea in and +no money to buy food to eat on our journey. So a man lent us some +biscuits; and we said we would pay him when we came back. And we +borrowed a boat from a sailor; but it was broken on the rocks when we +reached the shores of Africa. Now the Doctor says he must go back and +get the sailor another boat—because the man was poor and his ship was +all he had.” + +And the monkeys were all silent for a while, sitting quite still upon +the ground and thinking hard. + +At last the Biggest Baboon got up and said, + +“I do not think we ought to let this good man leave our land till we +have given him a fine present to take with him, so that he may know we +are grateful for all that he has done for us.” + +And a little, tiny red monkey who was sitting up in a tree shouted down, + +“I think that too!” + +And then they all cried out, making a great noise, “Yes, yes. Let us +give him the finest present a White Man ever had!” + +Now they began to wonder and ask one another what would be the best +thing to give him. And one said, “Fifty bags of cocoanuts!” And +another—“A hundred bunches of bananas!—At least he shall not have to +buy his fruit in the Land Where You Pay to Eat!” + +But Chee-Chee told them that all these things would be too heavy to +carry so far and would go bad before half was eaten. + +“If you want to please him,” he said, “give him an animal. You may be +sure he will be kind to it. Give him some rare animal they have not got +in the menageries.” + +And the monkeys asked him, “What are _menageries_?” + +Then Chee-Chee explained to them that menageries were places in the +Land of the White Men, where animals were put in cages for people to +come and look at. And the monkeys were very shocked and said to one +another, + +“These Men are like thoughtless young ones—stupid and easily amused. +Sh! It is a prison he means.” + +So then they asked Chee-Chee what rare animal it could be that they +should give the Doctor—one the White Men had not seen before. And the +Major of the Marmosettes asked, + +“Have they an iguana over there?” + +But Chee-Chee said, “Yes, there is one in the London Zoo.” + +And another asked, “Have they an okapi?” + +But Chee-Chee said, “Yes. In Belgium, where my organ-grinder took me +five years ago, they had an okapi in a big city they call Antwerp.” + +And another asked, “Have they a pushmi-pullyu?” + +Then Chee-Chee said, “No. No White Man has ever seen a pushmi-pullyu. +Let us give him that.” + + + + +_THE TENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL + + +PUSHMI-PULLYUS are now extinct. That means, there aren’t any more. But +long ago, when Doctor Dolittle was alive, there were some of them still +left in the deepest jungles of Africa; and even then they were very, +very scarce. They had no tail, but a head at each end, and sharp horns +on each head. They were very shy and terribly hard to catch. The black +men get most of their animals by sneaking up behind them while they are +not looking. But you could not do this with the pushmi-pullyu—because, +no matter which way you came towards him, he was always facing you. +And besides, only one half of him slept at a time. The other head +was always awake—and watching. This was why they were never caught +and never seen in Zoos. Though many of the greatest huntsmen and +the cleverest menagerie-keepers spent years of their lives searching +through the jungles in all weathers for pushmi-pullyus, not a single +one had ever been caught. Even then, years ago, he was the only animal +in the world with two heads. + +Well, the monkeys set out hunting for this animal through the forest. +And after they had gone a good many miles, one of them found peculiar +footprints near the edge of a river; and they knew that a pushmi-pullyu +must be very near that spot. + +Then they went along the bank of the river a little way and they saw a +place where the grass was high and thick; and they guessed that he was +in there. + +So they all joined hands and made a great circle round the high grass. +The pushmi-pullyu heard them coming; and he tried hard to break through +the ring of monkeys. But he couldn’t do it. When he saw that it was no +use trying to escape, he sat down and waited to see what they wanted. + +They asked him if he would go with Doctor Dolittle and be put on show +in the Land of the White Men. + +But he shook both his heads hard and said, “Certainly not!” + +They explained to him that he would not be shut up in a menagerie but +would just be looked at. They told him that the Doctor was a very kind +man but hadn’t any money; and people would pay to see a two-headed +animal and the Doctor would get rich and could pay for the boat he had +borrowed to come to Africa in. + +But he answered, “No. You know how shy I am—I hate being stared at.” +And he almost began to cry. + +Then for three days they tried to persuade him. + +And at the end of the third day he said he would come with them and see +what kind of a man the Doctor was, first. + +So the monkeys traveled back with the pushmi-pullyu. And when they came +to where the Doctor’s little house of grass was, they knocked on the +door. + +The duck, who was packing the trunk, said, “Come in!” + +And Chee-Chee very proudly took the animal inside and showed him to the +Doctor. + +“What in the world is it?” asked John Dolittle, gazing at the strange +creature. + +“Lord save us!” cried the duck. “How does it make up its mind?” + +“It doesn’t look to me as though it had any,” said Jip, the dog. + +“This, Doctor,” said Chee-Chee, “is the pushmi-pullyu—the rarest animal +of the African jungles, the only two-headed beast in the world! Take +him home with you and your fortune’s made. People will pay any money to +see him.” + +“But I don’t want any money,” said the Doctor. + +“Yes, you do,” said Dab-Dab, the duck. “Don’t you remember how we had +to pinch and scrape to pay the butcher’s bill in Puddleby? And how are +you going to get the sailor the new boat you spoke of—unless we have +the money to buy it?” + +[Illustration: “‘Lord save us!’ cried the duck. ‘How does it make up +its mind?’”] + +“I was going to make him one,” said the Doctor. + +“Oh, do be sensible!” cried Dab-Dab. “Where would you get all the wood +and the nails to make one with?—And besides, what are we going to +live on? We shall be poorer than ever when we get back. Chee-Chee’s +perfectly right: take the funny-looking thing along, do!” + +“Well, perhaps there is something in what you say,” murmured the +Doctor. “It certainly would make a nice new kind of pet. But does the +er—what-do-you-call-it really want to go abroad?” + +“Yes, I’ll go,” said the pushmi-pullyu who saw at once, from the +Doctor’s face, that he was a man to be trusted. “You have been so kind +to the animals here—and the monkeys tell me that I am the only one who +will do. But you must promise me that if I do not like it in the Land +of the White Men you will send me back.” + +“Why, certainly—of course, of course,” said the Doctor. “Excuse me, +surely you are related to the Deer Family, are you not?” + +“Yes,” said the pushmi-pullyu—“to the Abyssinian Gazelles and the +Asiatic Chamois—on my mother’s side. My father’s great-grandfather was +the last of the Unicorns.” + +“Most interesting!” murmured the Doctor; and he took a book out of the +trunk which Dab-Dab was packing and began turning the pages. “Let us +see if Buffon says anything—” + +“I notice,” said the duck, “that you only talk with one of your mouths. +Can’t the other head talk as well?” + +“Oh, yes,” said the pushmi-pullyu. “But I keep the other mouth for +eating—mostly. In that way I can talk while I am eating without being +rude. Our people have always been very polite.” + +When the packing was finished and everything was ready to start, the +monkeys gave a grand party for the Doctor, and all the animals of the +jungle came. And they had pineapples and mangoes and honey and all +sorts of good things to eat and drink. + +After they had all finished eating, the Doctor got up and said, + +“My friends: I am not clever at speaking long words after dinner, like +some men; and I have just eaten many fruits and much honey. But I wish +to tell you that I am very sad at leaving your beautiful country. +Because I have things to do in the Land of the White Men, I must go. +After I have gone, remember never to let the flies settle on your food +before you eat it; and do not sleep on the ground when the rains are +coming. I—er—er—I hope you will all live happily ever after.” + +When the Doctor stopped speaking and sat down, all the monkeys clapped +their hands a long time and said to one another, “Let it be remembered +always among our people that he sat and ate with us, here, under the +trees. For surely he is the Greatest of Men!” + +And the Grand Gorilla, who had the strength of seven horses in his +hairy arms, rolled a great rock up to the head of the table and said, + +“This stone for all time shall mark the spot.” + +And even to this day, in the heart of the jungle, that stone still +is there. And monkey-mothers, passing through the forest with their +families, still point down at it from the branches and whisper to their +children, “Sh! There it is—look—where the Good White Man sat and ate +food with us in the Year of the Great Sickness!” + +Then, when the party was over, the Doctor and his pets started out to +go back to the seashore. And all the monkeys went with him as far as +the edge of their country, carrying his trunk and bags, to see him +off. + + + + +_THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE BLACK PRINCE + + +BY the edge of the river they stopped and said farewell. + +This took a long time, because all those thousands of monkeys wanted to +shake John Dolittle by the hand. + +Afterwards, when the Doctor and his pets were going on alone, Polynesia +said, + +“We must tread softly and talk low as we go through the land of the +Jolliginki. If the King should hear us, he will send his soldiers to +catch us again; for I am sure he is still very angry over the trick I +played on him.” + +“What I am wondering,” said the Doctor, “is where we are going to get +another boat to go home in.... Oh well, perhaps we’ll find one lying +about on the beach that nobody is using. ‘Never lift your foot till you +come to the stile.’” + +One day, while they were passing through a very thick part of the +forest, Chee-Chee went ahead of them to look for cocoanuts. And while +he was away, the Doctor and the rest of the animals, who did not know +the jungle-paths so well, got lost in the deep woods. They wandered +around and around but could not find their way down to the seashore. + +Chee-Chee, when he could not see them anywhere, was terribly upset. +He climbed high trees and looked out from the top branches to try and +see the Doctor’s high hat; he waved and shouted; he called to all the +animals by name. But it was no use. They seemed to have disappeared +altogether. + +Indeed they had lost their way very badly. They had strayed a long way +off the path, and the jungle was so thick with bushes and creepers +and vines that sometimes they could hardly move at all, and the +Doctor had to take out his pocket-knife and cut his way along. They +stumbled into wet, boggy places; they got all tangled up in thick +convolvulus-runners; they scratched themselves on thorns, and twice +they nearly lost the medicine-bag in the under-brush. There seemed no +end to their troubles; and nowhere could they come upon a path. + +At last, after blundering about like this for many days, getting their +clothes torn and their faces covered with mud, they walked right into +the King’s back-garden by mistake. The King’s men came running up at +once and caught them. + +But Polynesia flew into a tree in the garden, without anybody seeing +her, and hid herself. The Doctor and the rest were taken before the +King. + +“Ha, ha!” cried the King. “So you are caught again! This time you shall +not escape. Take them all back to prison and put double locks on the +door. This White Man shall scrub my kitchen-floor for the rest of his +life!” + +So the Doctor and his pets were led back to prison and locked up. And +the Doctor was told that in the morning he must begin scrubbing the +kitchen-floor. + +They were all very unhappy. + +“This is a great nuisance,” said the Doctor. “I really must get back +to Puddleby. That poor sailor will think I’ve stolen his ship if I +don’t get home soon.... I wonder if those hinges are loose.” + +But the door was very strong and firmly locked. There seemed no chance +of getting out. Then Gub-Gub began to cry again. + +All this time Polynesia was still sitting in the tree in the +palace-garden. She was saying nothing and blinking her eyes. + +This was always a very bad sign with Polynesia. Whenever she said +nothing and blinked her eyes, it meant that somebody had been making +trouble, and she was thinking out some way to put things right. People +who made trouble for Polynesia or her friends were nearly always sorry +for it afterwards. + +Presently she spied Chee-Chee swinging through the trees still looking +for the Doctor. When Chee-Chee saw her, he came into her tree and asked +her what had become of him. + +“The Doctor and all the animals have been caught by the King’s men and +locked up again,” whispered Polynesia. “We lost our way in the jungle +and blundered into the palace-garden by mistake.” + +“But couldn’t you guide them?” asked Chee-Chee; and he began to scold +the parrot for letting them get lost while he was away looking for the +cocoanuts. + +“It was all that stupid pig’s fault,” said Polynesia. “He would keep +running off the path hunting for ginger-roots. And I was kept so busy +catching him and bringing him back, that I turned to the left, instead +of the right, when we reached the swamp.—Sh!—Look! There’s Prince Bumpo +coming into the garden! He must not see us.—Don’t move, whatever you +do!” + +And there, sure enough, was Prince Bumpo, the King’s son, opening the +garden-gate. He carried a book of fairy-tales under his arm. He came +strolling down the gravel-walk, humming a sad song, till he reached +a stone seat right under the tree where the parrot and the monkey +were hiding. Then he lay down on the seat and began reading the +fairy-stories to himself. + +Chee-Chee and Polynesia watched him, keeping very quiet and still. + +[Illustration: “He began reading the fairy-stories to himself”] + +After a while the King’s son laid the book down and sighed a weary +sigh. + +“If I were only a _white_ prince!” said he, with a dreamy, far-away +look in his eyes. + +Then the parrot, talking in a small, high voice like a little girl, +said aloud, + +“Bumpo, some one might turn thee into a white prince perchance.” + +The King’s son started up off the seat and looked all around. + +“What is this I hear?” he cried. “Methought the sweet music of a +fairy’s silver voice rang from yonder bower! Strange!” + +“Worthy Prince,” said Polynesia, keeping very still so Bumpo couldn’t +see her, “thou sayest winged words of truth. For ’tis I, Tripsitinka, +the Queen of the Fairies, that speak to thee. I am hiding in a +rose-bud.” + +“Oh tell me, Fairy-Queen,” cried Bumpo, clasping his hands in joy, “who +is it can turn me white?” + +“In thy father’s prison,” said the parrot, “there lies a famous +wizard, John Dolittle by name. Many things he knows of medicine and +magic, and mighty deeds has he performed. Yet thy kingly father leaves +him languishing long and lingering hours. Go to him, brave Bumpo, +secretly, when the sun has set; and behold, thou shalt be made the +whitest prince that ever won fair lady! I have said enough. I must now +go back to Fairyland. Farewell!” + +“Farewell!” cried the Prince. “A thousand thanks, good Tripsitinka!” + +And he sat down on the seat again with a smile upon his face, waiting +for the sun to set. + + + + +_THE TWELFTH CHAPTER_ + +MEDICINE AND MAGIC + + +VERY, very quietly, making sure that no one should see her, Polynesia +then slipped out at the back of the tree and flew across to the prison. + +She found Gub-Gub poking his nose through the bars of the window, +trying to sniff the cooking-smells that came from the palace-kitchen. +She told the pig to bring the Doctor to the window because she wanted +to speak to him. So Gub-Gub went and woke the Doctor who was taking a +nap. + +“Listen,” whispered the parrot, when John Dolittle’s face appeared: +“Prince Bumpo is coming here to-night to see you. And you’ve got to +find some way to turn him white. But be sure to make him promise you +first that he will open the prison-door and find a ship for you to +cross the sea in.” + +“This is all very well,” said the Doctor. “But it isn’t so easy to turn +a black man white. You speak as though he were a dress to be re-dyed. +It’s not so simple. ‘Shall the leopard change his spots, or the +Ethiopian his skin,’ you know?” + +“I don’t know anything about that,” said Polynesia impatiently. “But +you _must_ turn this coon white. Think of a way—think hard. You’ve got +plenty of medicines left in the bag. He’ll do anything for you if you +change his color. It is your only chance to get out of prison.” + +“Well, I suppose it _might_ be possible,” said the Doctor. “Let me +see—,” and he went over to his medicine-bag, murmuring something about +“liberated chlorine on animal-pigment—perhaps zinc-ointment, as a +temporary measure, spread thick—” + +Well, that night Prince Bumpo came secretly to the Doctor in prison and +said to him, + +“White Man, I am an unhappy prince. Years ago I went in search of The +Sleeping Beauty, whom I had read of in a book. And having traveled +through the world many days, I at last found her and kissed the lady +very gently to awaken her—as the book said I should. ’Tis true indeed +that she awoke. But when she saw my face she cried out, ‘Oh, he’s +black!’ And she ran away and wouldn’t marry me—but went to sleep +again somewhere else. So I came back, full of sadness, to my father’s +kingdom. Now I hear that you are a wonderful magician and have many +powerful potions. So I come to you for help. If you will turn me white, +so that I may go back to The Sleeping Beauty, I will give you half my +kingdom and anything besides you ask.” + +“Prince Bumpo,” said the Doctor, looking thoughtfully at the bottles in +his medicine-bag, “supposing I made your hair a nice blonde color—would +not that do instead to make you happy?” + +“No,” said Bumpo. “Nothing else will satisfy me. I must be a white +prince.” + +“You know it is very hard to change the color of a prince,” said the +Doctor—“one of the hardest things a magician can do. You only want your +face white, do you not?” + +“Yes, that is all,” said Bumpo. “Because I shall wear shining armor and +gauntlets of steel, like the other white princes, and ride on a horse.” + +“Must your face be white all over?” asked the Doctor. + +“Yes, all over,” said Bumpo—“and I would like my eyes blue too, but I +suppose that would be very hard to do.” + +“Yes, it would,” said the Doctor quickly. “Well, I will do what I can +for you. You will have to be very patient though—you know with some +medicines you can never be very sure. I might have to try two or three +times. You have a strong skin—yes? Well that’s all right. Now come +over here by the light—Oh, but before I do anything, you must first go +down to the beach and get a ship ready, with food in it, to take me +across the sea. Do not speak a word of this to any one. And when I have +done as you ask, you must let me and all my animals out of prison. +Promise—by the crown of Jolliginki!” + +So the Prince promised and went away to get a ship ready at the +seashore. + +When he came back and said that it was done, the Doctor asked Dab-Dab +to bring a basin. Then he mixed a lot of medicines in the basin and +told Bumpo to dip his face in it. + +The Prince leaned down and put his face in—right up to the ears. + +He held it there a long time—so long that the Doctor seemed to get +dreadfully anxious and fidgety, standing first on one leg and then on +the other, looking at all the bottles he had used for the mixture, and +reading the labels on them again and again. A strong smell filled the +prison, like the smell of brown paper burning. + +At last the Prince lifted his face up out of the basin, breathing very +hard. And all the animals cried out in surprise. + +For the Prince’s face had turned as white as snow, and his eyes, which +had been mud-colored, were a manly gray! + +When John Dolittle lent him a little looking-glass to see himself in, +he sang for joy and began dancing around the prison. But the Doctor +asked him not to make so much noise about it; and when he had closed +his medicine-bag in a hurry he told him to open the prison-door. + +Bumpo begged that he might keep the looking-glass, as it was the only +one in the Kingdom of Jolliginki, and he wanted to look at himself all +day long. But the Doctor said he needed it to shave with. + +Then the Prince, taking a bunch of copper keys from his pocket, undid +the great double locks. And the Doctor with all his animals ran as fast +as they could down to the seashore; while Bumpo leaned against the wall +of the empty dungeon, smiling after them happily, his big face shining +like polished ivory in the light of the moon. + +When they came to the beach they saw Polynesia and Chee-Chee waiting +for them on the rocks near the ship. + +“I feel sorry about Bumpo,” said the Doctor. “I am afraid that +medicine I used will never last. Most likely he will be as black as +ever when he wakes up in the morning—that’s one reason why I didn’t +like to leave the mirror with him. But then again, he _might_ stay +white—I had never used that mixture before. To tell the truth, I was +surprised, myself, that it worked so well. But I had to do something, +didn’t I?—I couldn’t possibly scrub the King’s kitchen for the rest +of my life. It was such a dirty kitchen!—I could see it from the +prison-window.—Well, well!—Poor Bumpo!” + +“Oh, of course he will know we were just joking with him,” said the +parrot. + +“They had no business to lock us up,” said Dab-Dab, waggling her tail +angrily. “We never did them any harm. Serve him right, if he does turn +black again! I hope it’s a dark black.” + +“But _he_ didn’t have anything to do with it,” said the Doctor. “It was +the King, his father, who had us locked up—it wasn’t Bumpo’s fault.... +I wonder if I ought to go back and apologize—Oh, well—I’ll send him +some candy when I get to Puddleby. And who knows?—he may stay white +after all.” + +“The Sleeping Beauty would never have him, even if he did,” said +Dab-Dab. “He looked better the way he was, I thought. But he’d never be +anything but ugly, no matter what color he was made.” + +“Still, he had a good heart,” said the Doctor—“romantic, of course—but +a good heart. After all, ‘handsome is as handsome does.’” + +“I don’t believe the poor booby found The Sleeping Beauty at all,” +said Jip, the dog. “Most likely he kissed some farmer’s fat wife who +was taking a snooze under an apple-tree. Can’t blame her for getting +scared! I wonder who he’ll go and kiss this time. Silly business!” + +Then the pushmi-pullyu, the white mouse, Gub-Gub, Dab-Dab, Jip and +the owl, Too-Too, went on to the ship with the Doctor. But Chee-Chee, +Polynesia and the crocodile stayed behind, because Africa was their +proper home, the land where they were born. + +And when the Doctor stood upon the boat, he looked over the side +across the water. And then he remembered that they had no one with them +to guide them back to Puddleby. + +The wide, wide sea looked terribly big and lonesome in the moonlight; +and he began to wonder if they would lose their way when they passed +out of sight of land. + +But even while he was wondering, they heard a strange whispering noise, +high in the air, coming through the night. And the animals all stopped +saying Good-by and listened. + +The noise grew louder and bigger. It seemed to be coming nearer to +them—a sound like the Autumn wind blowing through the leaves of a +poplar-tree, or a great, great rain beating down upon a roof. + +And Jip, with his nose pointing and his tail quite straight, said, + +“Birds!—millions of them—flying fast—that’s it!” + +And then they all looked up. And there, streaming across the face of +the moon, like a huge swarm of tiny ants, they could see thousands and +thousands of little birds. Soon the whole sky seemed full of them, and +still more kept coming—more and more. There were so many that for a +little they covered the whole moon so it could not shine, and the sea +grew dark and black—like when a storm-cloud passes over the sun. + +And presently all these birds came down close, skimming over the water +and the land; and the night-sky was left clear above, and the moon +shone as before. Still never a call nor a cry nor a song they made—no +sound but this great rustling of feathers which grew greater now than +ever. When they began to settle on the sands, along the ropes of the +ship—anywhere and everywhere except the trees—the Doctor could see that +they had blue wings and white breasts and very short, feathered legs. +As soon as they had all found a place to sit, suddenly, there was no +noise left anywhere—all was quiet; all was still. + +And in the silent moonlight John Dolittle spoke: + +“I had no idea that we had been in Africa so long. It will be nearly +Summer when we get home. For these are the swallows going back. +Swallows, I thank you for waiting for us. It is very thoughtful of you. +Now we need not be afraid that we will lose our way upon the sea.... +Pull up the anchor and set the sail!” + +[Illustration: “Crying bitterly and waving till the ship was out of +sight”] + +When the ship moved out upon the water, those who stayed behind, +Chee-Chee, Polynesia and the crocodile, grew terribly sad. For never in +their lives had they known any one they liked so well as Doctor John +Dolittle of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. + +And after they had called Good-by to him again and again and again, +they still stood there upon the rocks, crying bitterly and waving till +the ship was out of sight. + + + + +_THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER_ + +RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS + + +SAILING homeward, the Doctor’s ship had to pass the coast of Barbary. +This coast is the seashore of the Great Desert. It is a wild, lonely +place—all sand and stones. And it was here that the Barbary pirates +lived. + +These pirates, a bad lot of men, used to wait for sailors to be +shipwrecked on their shores. And often, if they saw a boat passing, +they would come out in their fast sailing-ships and chase it. When they +caught a boat like this at sea, they would steal everything on it; and +after they had taken the people off they would sink the ship and sail +back to Barbary singing songs and feeling proud of the mischief they +had done. Then they used to make the people they had caught write home +to their friends for money. And if the friends sent no money, the +pirates often threw the people into the sea. + +Now one sunshiny day the Doctor and Dab-Dab were walking up and down on +the ship for exercise; a nice fresh wind was blowing the boat along, +and everybody was happy. Presently Dab-Dab saw the sail of another ship +a long way behind them on the edge of the sea. It was a red sail. + +“I don’t like the look of that sail,” said Dab-Dab. “I have a feeling +it isn’t a friendly ship. I am afraid there is more trouble coming to +us.” + +Jip, who was lying near taking a nap in the sun, began to growl and +talk in his sleep. + +“I smell roast beef cooking,” he mumbled—“underdone roast beef—with +brown gravy over it.” + +“Good gracious!” cried the Doctor. “What’s the matter with the dog? Is +he _smelling_ in his sleep—as well as talking?” + +“I suppose he is,” said Dab-Dab. “All dogs can smell in their sleep.” + +“But what is he smelling?” asked the Doctor. “There is no roast beef +cooking on our ship.” + +“No,” said Dab-Dab. “The roast beef must be on that other ship over +there.” + +“But that’s ten miles away,” said the Doctor. “He couldn’t smell that +far surely!” + +“Oh, yes, he could,” said Dab-Dab. “You ask him.” + +Then Jip, still fast asleep, began to growl again and his lip curled up +angrily, showing his clean, white teeth. + +“I smell bad men,” he growled—“the worst men I ever smelt. I smell +trouble. I smell a fight—six bad scoundrels fighting against one brave +man. I want to help him. Woof—oo—WOOF!” Then he barked, loud, and woke +himself up with a surprised look on his face. + +“See!” cried Dab-Dab. “That boat is nearer now. You can count its three +big sails—all red. Whoever it is, they are coming after us.... I wonder +who they are.” + +“They are bad sailors,” said Jip; “and their ship is very swift. They +are surely the pirates of Barbary.” + +“Well, we must put up more sails on our boat,” said the Doctor, “so we +can go faster and get away from them. Run downstairs, Jip, and fetch me +all the sails you see.” + +The dog hurried downstairs and dragged up every sail he could find. + +[Illustration: “‘They are surely the pirates of Barbary’”] + +But even when all these were put up on the masts to catch the wind, the +boat did not go nearly as fast as the pirates’—which kept coming on +behind, closer and closer. + +“This is a poor ship the Prince gave us,” said Gub-Gub, the pig—“the +slowest he could find, I should think. Might as well try to win a race +in a soup-tureen as hope to get away from them in this old barge. Look +how near they are now!—You can see the mustaches on the faces of the +men—six of them. What are we going to do?” + +Then the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to fly up and tell the swallows that +pirates were coming after them in a swift ship, and what should he do +about it. + +When the swallows heard this, they all came down on to the Doctor’s +ship; and they told him to unravel some pieces of long rope and make +them into a lot of thin strings as quickly as he could. Then the +ends of these strings were tied on to the front of the ship; and the +swallows took hold of the strings with their feet and flew off, pulling +the boat along. + +And although swallows are not very strong when only one or two are +by themselves, it is different when there are a great lot of them +together. And there, tied to the Doctor’s ship, were a thousand +strings; and two thousand swallows were pulling on each string—all +terribly swift fliers. + +And in a moment the Doctor found himself traveling so fast he had to +hold his hat on with both hands; for he felt as though the ship itself +were flying through waves that frothed and boiled with speed. + +And all the animals on the ship began to laugh and dance about in the +rushing air, for when they looked back at the pirates’ ship, they could +see that it was growing smaller now, instead of bigger. The red sails +were being left far, far behind. + + + + +_THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE RATS’ WARNING + + +DRAGGING a ship through the sea is hard work. And after two or three +hours the swallows began to get tired in the wings and short of breath. +Then they sent a message down to the Doctor to say that they would +have to take a rest soon; and that they would pull the boat over to an +island not far off, and hide it in a deep bay till they had got breath +enough to go on. + +And presently the Doctor saw the island they had spoken of. It had a +very beautiful, high, green mountain in the middle of it. + +When the ship had sailed safely into the bay where it could not be seen +from the open sea, the Doctor said he would get off on to the island to +look for water—because there was none left to drink on his ship. And +he told all the animals to get out too and romp on the grass to stretch +their legs. + +Now as they were getting off, the Doctor noticed that a whole lot of +rats were coming up from downstairs and leaving the ship as well. Jip +started to run after them, because chasing rats had always been his +favorite game. But the Doctor told him to stop. + +And one big black rat, who seemed to want to say something to the +Doctor, now crept forward timidly along the rail, watching the dog out +of the corner of his eye. And after he had coughed nervously two or +three times, and cleaned his whiskers and wiped his mouth, he said, + +“Ahem—er—you know of course that all ships have rats in them, Doctor, +do you not?” + +And the Doctor said, “Yes.” + +“And you have heard that rats always leave a sinking ship?” + +“Yes,” said the Doctor—“so I’ve been told.” + +“People,” said the rat, “always speak of it with a sneer—as though it +were something disgraceful. But you can’t blame us, can you? After +all, who _would_ stay on a sinking ship, if he could get off it?” + +[Illustration: “‘And you have heard that rats always leave a sinking +ship?’”] + +“It’s very natural,” said the Doctor—“very natural. I quite +understand.... Was there—Was there anything else you wished to say?” + +“Yes,” said the rat. “I’ve come to tell you that we are leaving this +one. But we wanted to warn you before we go. This is a bad ship you +have here. It isn’t safe. The sides aren’t strong enough. Its boards +are rotten. Before to-morrow night it will sink to the bottom of the +sea.” + +“But how do you know?” asked the Doctor. + +“We always know,” answered the rat. “The tips of our tails get that +tingly feeling—like when your foot’s asleep. This morning, at six +o’clock, while I was getting breakfast, my tail suddenly began to +tingle. At first I thought it was my rheumatism coming back. So I went +and asked my aunt how she felt—you remember her?—the long, piebald +rat, rather skinny, who came to see you in Puddleby last Spring with +jaundice? Well—and she said _her_ tail was tingling like everything! +Then we knew, for sure, that this boat was going to sink in less than +two days; and we all made up our minds to leave it as soon as we got +near enough to any land. It’s a bad ship, Doctor. Don’t sail in it any +more, or you’ll be surely drowned.... Good-by! We are now going to +look for a good place to live on this island.” + +“Good-by!” said the Doctor. “And thank you very much for coming to +tell me. Very considerate of you—very! Give my regards to your aunt. I +remember her perfectly.... Leave that rat alone, Jip! Come here! Lie +down!” + +So then the Doctor and all his animals went off, carrying pails and +saucepans, to look for water on the island, while the swallows took +their rest. + +“I wonder what is the name of this island,” said the Doctor, as he was +climbing up the mountainside. “It seems a pleasant place. What a lot of +birds there are!” + +“Why, these are the Canary Islands,” said Dab-Dab. “Don’t you hear the +canaries singing?” + +The Doctor stopped and listened. + +“Why, to be sure—of course!” he said. “How stupid of me! I wonder if +they can tell us where to find water.” + +And presently the canaries, who had heard all about Doctor Dolittle +from birds of passage, came and led him to a beautiful spring of cool, +clear water where the canaries used to take their bath; and they showed +him lovely meadows where the bird-seed grew and all the other sights of +their island. + +And the pushmi-pullyu was glad they had come; because he liked the +green grass so much better than the dried apples he had been eating on +the ship. And Gub-Gub squeaked for joy when he found a whole valley +full of wild sugar-cane. + +A little later, when they had all had plenty to eat and drink, and +were lying on their backs while the canaries sang for them, two of the +swallows came hurrying up, very flustered and excited. + +“Doctor!” they cried, “the pirates have come into the bay; and they’ve +all got on to your ship. They are downstairs looking for things to +steal. They have left their own ship with nobody on it. If you hurry +and come down to the shore, you can get on to their ship—which is very +fast—and escape. But you’ll have to hurry.” + +“That’s a good idea,” said the Doctor—“splendid!” + +And he called his animals together at once, said Good-by to the +canaries and ran down to the beach. + +When they reached the shore they saw the pirate-ship, with the three +red sails, standing in the water; and—just as the swallows had +said—there was nobody on it; all the pirates were downstairs in the +Doctor’s ship, looking for things to steal. + +So John Dolittle told his animals to walk very softly and they all +crept on to the pirate-ship. + + + + +_THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE BARBARY DRAGON + + +EVERYTHING would have gone all right if the pig had not caught a cold +in his head while eating the damp sugar-cane on the island. This is +what happened: + +After they had pulled up the anchor without a sound, and were moving +the ship very, very carefully out of the bay, Gub-Gub suddenly sneezed +so loud that the pirates on the other ship came rushing upstairs to see +what the noise was. + +As soon as they saw that the Doctor was escaping, they sailed the other +boat right across the entrance to the bay so that the Doctor could not +get out into the open sea. + +Then the leader of these bad men (who called himself “Ben Ali, The +Dragon”) shook his fist at the Doctor and shouted across the water, + +“Ha! Ha! You are caught, my fine friend! You were going to run off in +my ship, eh? But you are not a good enough sailor to beat Ben Ali, the +Barbary Dragon. I want that duck you’ve got—and the pig too. We’ll have +pork-chops and roast duck for supper to-night. And before I let you go +home, you must make your friends send me a trunk-full of gold.” + +Poor Gub-Gub began to weep; and Dab-Dab made ready to fly to save her +life. But the owl, Too-Too, whispered to the Doctor, + +“Keep him talking, Doctor. Be pleasant to him. Our old ship is bound +to sink soon—the rats said it would be at the bottom of the sea before +to-morrow-night—and the rats are never wrong. Be pleasant, till the +ship sinks under him. Keep him talking.” + +“What, until to-morrow night!” said the Doctor. “Well, I’ll do my +best.... Let me see—What shall I talk about?” + +“Oh, let them come on,” said Jip. “We can fight the dirty rascals. +There are only six of them. Let them come on. I’d love to tell that +collie next door, when we get home, that I had bitten a real pirate. +Let ’em come. We can fight them.” + +[Illustration: “‘Look here, Ben Ali—’”] + +“But they have pistols and swords,” said the Doctor. “No, that would +never do. I must talk to him.... Look here, Ben Ali—” + +But before the Doctor could say any more, the pirates began to sail the +ship nearer, laughing with glee, and saying one to another, “Who shall +be the first to catch the pig?” + +Poor Gub-Gub was dreadfully frightened; and the pushmi-pullyu began to +sharpen his horns for a fight by rubbing them on the mast of the ship; +while Jip kept springing into the air and barking and calling Ben Ali +bad names in dog-language. + +But presently something seemed to go wrong with the pirates; they +stopped laughing and cracking jokes; they looked puzzled; something was +making them uneasy. + +Then Ben Ali, staring down at his feet, suddenly bellowed out, + +“Thunder and Lightning!—Men, _the boat’s leaking_!” + +And then the other pirates peered over the side and they saw that the +boat was indeed getting lower and lower in the water. And one of them +said to Ben Ali, + +“But surely if this old boat were sinking we should see the rats +leaving it.” + +And Jip shouted across from the other ship, + +“You great duffers, there are no rats there to leave! They left two +hours ago! ‘Ha, ha,’ to you, ‘my fine friends!’” + +But of course the men did not understand him. + +Soon the front end of the ship began to go down and down, faster and +faster—till the boat looked almost as though it were standing on its +head; and the pirates had to cling to the rails and the masts and +the ropes and anything to keep from sliding off. Then the sea rushed +roaring in through all the windows and the doors. And at last the ship +plunged right down to the bottom of the sea, making a dreadful gurgling +sound; and the six bad men were left bobbing about in the deep water of +the bay. + +Some of them started to swim for the shores of the island; while others +came and tried to get on to the boat where the Doctor was. But Jip kept +snapping at their noses, so they were afraid to climb up the side of +the ship. + +Then suddenly they all cried out in great fear, + +“_The sharks!_ The sharks are coming! Let us get on to the ship before +they eat us! Help, help!—The sharks! The sharks!” + +And now the Doctor could see, all over the bay, the backs of big fishes +swimming swiftly through the water. + +And one great shark came near to the ship, and poking his nose out of +the water he said to the Doctor, + +“Are you John Dolittle, the famous animal-doctor?” + +“Yes,” said Doctor Dolittle. “That is my name.” + +“Well,” said the shark, “we know these pirates to be a bad +lot—especially Ben Ali. If they are annoying you, we will gladly eat +them up for you—and then you won’t be troubled any more.” + +“Thank you,” said the Doctor. “This is really most attentive. But I +don’t think it will be necessary to eat them. Don’t let any of them +reach the shore until I tell you—just keep them swimming about, will +you? And please make Ben Ali swim over here that I may talk to him.” + +So the shark went off and chased Ben Ali over to the Doctor. + +“Listen, Ben Ali,” said John Dolittle, leaning over the side. “You +have been a very bad man; and I understand that you have killed many +people. These good sharks here have just offered to eat you up for +me—and ’twould indeed be a good thing if the seas were rid of you. But +if you will promise to do as I tell you, I will let you go in safety.” + +“What must I do?” asked the pirate, looking down sideways at the big +shark who was smelling his leg under the water. + +“You must kill no more people,” said the Doctor; “you must stop +stealing; you must never sink another ship; you must give up being a +pirate altogether.” + +“But what shall I do then?” asked Ben Ali. “How shall I live?” + +“You and all your men must go on to this island and be +bird-seed-farmers,” the Doctor answered. “You must grow bird-seed for +the canaries.” + +The Barbary Dragon turned pale with anger, “_Grow bird-seed!_” he +groaned in disgust. “Can’t I be a sailor?” + +“No,” said the Doctor, “you cannot. You have been a sailor long +enough—and sent many stout ships and good men to the bottom of the +sea. For the rest of your life you must be a peaceful farmer. The shark +is waiting. Do not waste any more of his time. Make up your mind.” + +“Thunder and Lightning!” Ben Ali muttered—“_Bird-seed!_” Then he looked +down into the water again and saw the great fish smelling his other leg. + +“Very well,” he said sadly. “We’ll be farmers.” + +“And remember,” said the Doctor, “that if you do not keep your +promise—if you start killing and stealing again, I shall hear of it, +because the canaries will come and tell me. And be very sure that I +will find a way to punish you. For though I may not be able to sail a +ship as well as you, so long as the birds and the beasts and the fishes +are my friends, I do not have to be afraid of a pirate chief—even +though he call himself ‘The Dragon of Barbary.’ Now go and be a good +farmer and live in peace.” + +Then the Doctor turned to the big shark, and waving his hand he said, + +“All right. Let them swim safely to the land.” + + + + +_THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER_ + +TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER + + +HAVING thanked the sharks again for their kindness, the Doctor and his +pets set off once more on their journey home in the swift ship with the +three red sails. + +As they moved out into the open sea, the animals all went downstairs +to see what their new boat was like inside; while the Doctor leant on +the rail at the back of the ship with a pipe in his mouth, watching the +Canary Islands fade away in the blue dusk of the evening. + +While he was standing there, wondering how the monkeys were getting +on—and what his garden would look like when he got back to Puddleby, +Dab-Dab came tumbling up the stairs, all smiles and full of news. + +“Doctor!” she cried. “This ship of the pirates is simply +beautiful—absolutely. The beds downstairs are made of primrose +silk—with hundreds of big pillows and cushions; there are thick, soft +carpets on the floors; the dishes are made of silver; and there are all +sorts of good things to eat and drink—special things; the larder—well, +it’s just like a shop, that’s all. You never saw anything like it in +your life—Just think—they kept five different kinds of sardines, those +men! Come and look.... Oh, and we found a little room down there with +the door locked; and we are all crazy to get in and see what’s inside. +Jip says it must be where the pirates kept their treasure. But we can’t +open the door. Come down and see if you can let us in.” + +So the Doctor went downstairs and he saw that it was indeed a beautiful +ship. He found the animals gathered round a little door, all talking +at once, trying to guess what was inside. The Doctor turned the handle +but it wouldn’t open. Then they all started to hunt for the key. They +looked under the mat; they looked under all the carpets; they looked +in all the cupboards and drawers and lockers—in the big chests in the +ship’s dining-room; they looked everywhere. + +While they were doing this they discovered a lot of new and wonderful +things that the pirates must have stolen from other ships: Kashmir +shawls as thin as a cobweb, embroidered with flowers of gold; jars of +fine tobacco from Jamaica; carved ivory boxes full of Russian tea; an +old violin with a string broken and a picture on the back; a set of big +chess-men, carved out of coral and amber; a walking-stick which had +a sword inside it when you pulled the handle; six wine-glasses with +tourquoise and silver round the rims; and a lovely great sugar-bowl, +made of mother o’ pearl. But nowhere in the whole boat could they find +a key to fit that lock. + +So they all came back to the door, and Jip peered through the key-hole. +But something had been stood against the wall on the inside and he +could see nothing. + +While they were standing around, wondering what they should do, the +owl, Too-Too, suddenly said, + +“Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there’s some one in there!” + +They all kept still a moment. Then the Doctor said, + +[Illustration: “‘Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there’s some one in there!’”] + +“You must be mistaken, Too-Too. I don’t hear anything.” + +“I’m sure of it,” said the owl. “Sh!—There it is again—Don’t you hear +that?” + +“No, I do not,” said the Doctor. “What kind of a sound is it?” + +“I hear the noise of some one putting his hand in his pocket,” said the +owl. + +“But that makes hardly any sound at all,” said the Doctor. “You +couldn’t hear that out here.” + +“Pardon me, but I can,” said Too-Too. “I tell you there is some one +on the other side of that door putting his hand in his pocket. Almost +everything makes _some_ noise—if your ears are only sharp enough +to catch it. Bats can hear a mole walking in his tunnel under the +earth—and they think they’re good hearers. But we owls can tell you, +using only one ear, the color of a kitten from the way it winks in the +dark.” + +“Well, well!” said the Doctor. “You surprise me. That’s very +interesting.... Listen again and tell me what he’s doing now.” + +“I’m not sure yet,” said Too-Too, “if it’s a man at all. Maybe it’s a +woman. Lift me up and let me listen at the key-hole and I’ll soon tell +you.” + +So the Doctor lifted the owl up and held him close to the lock of the +door. + +After a moment Too-Too said, + +“Now he’s rubbing his face with his left hand. It is a small hand and +a small face. It _might_ be a woman—No. Now he pushes his hair back off +his forehead—It’s a man all right.” + +“Women sometimes do that,” said the Doctor. + +“True,” said the owl. “But when they do, their long hair makes quite +a different sound.... Sh! Make that fidgety pig keep still. Now all +hold your breath a moment so I can listen well. This is very difficult, +what I’m doing now—and the pesky door is so thick! Sh! Everybody quite +still—shut your eyes and don’t breathe.” + +Too-Too leaned down and listened again very hard and long. + +At last he looked up into the Doctor’s face and said, + +“The man in there is unhappy. He weeps. He has taken care not to +blubber or sniffle, lest we should find out that he is crying. But I +heard—quite distinctly—the sound of a tear falling on his sleeve.” + +“How do you know it wasn’t a drop of water falling off the ceiling on +him?” asked Gub-Gub. + +“Pshaw!—Such ignorance!” sniffed Too-Too. “A drop of water falling off +the ceiling would have made ten times as much noise!” + +“Well,” said the Doctor, “if the poor fellow’s unhappy, we’ve got to +get in and see what’s the matter with him. Find me an axe, and I’ll +chop the door down.” + + + + +_THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE OCEAN GOSSIPS + + +RIGHT away an axe was found. And the Doctor soon chopped a hole in the +door big enough to clamber through. + +At first he could see nothing at all, it was so dark inside. So he +struck a match. + +The room was quite small; no window; the ceiling, low. For furniture +there was only one little stool. All round the room big barrels stood +against the walls, fastened at the bottom so they wouldn’t tumble with +the rolling of the ship; and above the barrels, pewter jugs of all +sizes hung from wooden pegs. There was a strong, winey smell. And in +the middle of the floor sat a little boy, about eight years old, crying +bitterly. + +“I declare, it is the pirates’ rum-room!” said Jip in a whisper. + +“Yes. Very rum!” said Gub-Gub. “The smell makes me giddy.” + +The little boy seemed rather frightened to find a man standing there +before him and all those animals staring in through the hole in the +broken door. But as soon as he saw John Dolittle’s face by the light of +the match, he stopped crying and got up. + +“You aren’t one of the pirates, are you?” he asked. + +And when the Doctor threw back his head and laughed long and loud, the +little boy smiled too and came and took his hand. + +“You laugh like a friend,” he said—“not like a pirate. Could you tell +me where my uncle is?” + +“I am afraid I can’t,” said the Doctor. “When did you see him last?” + +“It was the day before yesterday,” said the boy. “I and my uncle were +out fishing in our little boat, when the pirates came and caught us. +They sunk our fishing-boat and brought us both on to this ship. They +told my uncle that they wanted him to be a pirate like them—for he was +clever at sailing a ship in all weathers. But he said he didn’t want to +be a pirate, because killing people and stealing was no work for a good +fisherman to do. Then the leader, Ben Ali, got very angry and gnashed +his teeth, and said they would throw my uncle into the sea if he didn’t +do as they said. They sent me downstairs; and I heard the noise of a +fight going on above. And when they let me come up again next day, my +uncle was nowhere to be seen. I asked the pirates where he was; but +they wouldn’t tell me. I am very much afraid they threw him into the +sea and drowned him.” + +And the little boy began to cry again. + +“Well now—wait a minute,” said the Doctor. “Don’t cry. Let’s go and +have tea in the dining-room, and we’ll talk it over. Maybe your uncle +is quite safe all the time. You don’t _know_ that he was drowned, do +you? And that’s something. Perhaps we can find him for you. First we’ll +go and have tea—with strawberry-jam; and then we will see what can be +done.” + +All the animals had been standing around listening with great +curiosity. And when they had gone into the ship’s dining-room and were +having tea, Dab-Dab came up behind the Doctor’s chair and whispered. + +“Ask the porpoises if the boy’s uncle was drowned—they’ll know.” + +“All right,” said the Doctor, taking a second piece of bread-and-jam. + +“What are those funny, clicking noises you are making with your +tongue?” asked the boy. + +“Oh, I just said a couple of words in duck-language,” the Doctor +answered. “This is Dab-Dab, one of my pets.” + +“I didn’t even know that ducks had a language,” said the boy. “Are all +these other animals your pets, too? What is that strange-looking thing +with two heads?” + +“Sh!” the Doctor whispered. “That is the pushmi-pullyu. Don’t let him +see we’re talking about him—he gets so dreadfully embarrassed.... Tell +me, how did you come to be locked up in that little room?” + +“The pirates shut me in there when they were going off to steal things +from another ship. When I heard some one chopping on the door, I +didn’t know who it could be. I was very glad to find it was you. Do you +think you will be able to find my uncle for me?” + +“Well, we are going to try very hard,” said the Doctor. “Now what was +your uncle like to look at?” + +“He had red hair,” the boy answered—“very red hair, and the picture of +an anchor tattooed on his arm. He was a strong man, a kind uncle and +the best sailor in the South Atlantic. His fishing-boat was called _The +Saucy Sally_—a cutter-rigged sloop.” + +“What’s ‘cutterigsloop’?” whispered Gub-Gub, turning to Jip. + +“Sh!—That’s the kind of a ship the man had,” said Jip. “Keep still, +can’t you?” + +“Oh,” said the pig, “is that all? I thought it was something to drink.” + +So the Doctor left the boy to play with the animals in the dining-room, +and went upstairs to look for passing porpoises. + +And soon a whole school came dancing and jumping through the water, on +their way to Brazil. + +When they saw the Doctor leaning on the rail of his ship, they came +over to see how he was getting on. + +And the Doctor asked them if they had seen anything of a man with red +hair and an anchor tattooed on his arm. + +“Do you mean the master of _The Saucy Sally_?” asked the porpoises. + +“Yes,” said the Doctor. “That’s the man. Has he been drowned?” + +“His fishing-sloop was sunk,” said the porpoises—“for we saw it lying +on the bottom of the sea. But there was nobody inside it, because we +went and looked.” + +“His little nephew is on the ship with me here,” said the Doctor. “And +he is terribly afraid that the pirates threw his uncle into the sea. +Would you be so good as to find out for me, for sure, whether he has +been drowned or not?” + +“Oh, he isn’t drowned,” said the porpoises. “If he were, we would be +sure to have heard of it from the deep-sea Decapods. We hear all the +salt-water news. The shell-fish call us ‘The Ocean Gossips.’ No—tell +the little boy we are sorry we do not know where his uncle is; but we +are quite certain he hasn’t been drowned in the sea.” + +So the Doctor ran downstairs with the news and told the nephew, who +clapped his hands with happiness. And the pushmi-pullyu took the little +boy on his back and gave him a ride round the dining-room table; while +all the other animals followed behind, beating the dish-covers with +spoons, pretending it was a parade. + + + + +_THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER_ + +SMELLS + + +“YOUR uncle must now be _found_,” said the Doctor—“that is the next +thing—now that we know he wasn’t thrown into the sea.” + +Then Dab-Dab came up to him again and whispered, + +“Ask the eagles to look for the man. No living creature can see better +than an eagle. When they are miles high in the air they can count the +ants crawling on the ground. Ask the eagles.” + +So the Doctor sent one of the swallows off to get some eagles. + +And in about an hour the little bird came back with six different kinds +of eagles: a Black Eagle, a Bald Eagle, a Fish Eagle, a Golden Eagle, +an Eagle-Vulture, and a White-tailed Sea Eagle. Twice as high as the +boy they were, each one of them. And they stood on the rail of the +ship, like round-shouldered soldiers all in a row, stern and still and +stiff; while their great, gleaming, black eyes shot darting glances +here and there and everywhere. + +Gub-Gub was scared of them and got behind a barrel. He said he felt as +though those terrible eyes were looking right inside of him to see what +he had stolen for lunch. + +And the Doctor said to the eagles, + +“A man has been lost—a fisherman with red hair and an anchor marked on +his arm. Would you be so kind as to see if you can find him for us? +This boy is the man’s nephew.” + +Eagles do not talk very much. And all they answered in their husky +voices was, + +“You may be sure that we will do our best—for John Dolittle.” + +Then they flew off—and Gub-Gub came out from behind his barrel to see +them go. Up and up and up they went—higher and higher and higher still. +Then, when the Doctor could only just see them, they parted company +and started going off all different ways—North, East, South and West, +looking like tiny grains of black sand creeping across the wide, blue +sky. + +“My gracious!” said Gub-Gub in a hushed voice. “What a height! I wonder +they don’t scorch their feathers—so near the sun!” + +They were gone a long time. And when they came back it was almost night. + +And the eagles said to the Doctor, + +“We have searched all the seas and all the countries and all the +islands and all the cities and all the villages in this half of the +world. But we have failed. In the main street of Gibraltar we saw +three red hairs lying on a wheelbarrow before a baker’s door. But they +were not the hairs of a man—they were the hairs out of a fur-coat. +Nowhere, on land or water, could we see any sign of this boy’s uncle. +And if _we_ could not see him, then he is not to be seen.... For John +Dolittle—we have done our best.” + +Then the six great birds flapped their big wings and flew back to their +homes in the mountains and the rocks. + +“Well,” said Dab-Dab, after they had gone, “what are we going to do +now? The boy’s uncle _must_ be found—there’s no two ways about that. +The lad isn’t old enough to be knocking around the world by himself. +Boys aren’t like ducklings—they have to be taken care of till they’re +quite old.... I wish Chee-Chee were here. He would soon find the man. +Good old Chee-Chee! I wonder how he’s getting on!” + +“If we only had Polynesia with us,” said the white mouse. “_She_ would +soon think of some way. Do you remember how she got us all out of +prison—the second time? My, but she was a clever one!” + +“I don’t think so much of those eagle-fellows,” said Jip. “They’re just +conceited. They may have very good eyesight and all that; but when you +ask them to find a man for you, they can’t do it—and they have the +cheek to come back and say that nobody else could do it. They’re just +conceited—like that collie in Puddleby. And I don’t think a whole lot +of those gossipy old porpoises either. All they could tell us was that +the man isn’t in the sea. We don’t want to know where he _isn’t_—we +want to know where he _is_.” + +“Oh, don’t talk so much,” said Gub-Gub. “It’s easy to talk; but it +isn’t so easy to find a man when you have got the whole world to hunt +him in. Maybe the fisherman’s hair has turned white, worrying about +the boy; and that was why the eagles didn’t find him. You don’t know +everything. You’re just talking. You are not doing anything to help. +You couldn’t find the boy’s uncle any more than the eagles could—you +couldn’t do as well.” + +[Illustration: “‘You stupid piece of warm bacon!’”] + +“Couldn’t I?” said the dog. “That’s all you know, you stupid piece of +warm bacon! I haven’t begun to try yet, have I? You wait and see!” + +Then Jip went to the Doctor and said, + +“Ask the boy if he has anything in his pockets that belonged to his +uncle, will you, please?” + +So the Doctor asked him. And the boy showed them a gold ring which he +wore on a piece of string around his neck because it was too big for +his finger. He said his uncle gave it to him when they saw the pirates +coming. + +Jip smelt the ring and said, + +“That’s no good. Ask him if he has anything else that belonged to his +uncle.” + +Then the boy took from his pocket a great, big red handkerchief and +said, “This was my uncle’s too.” + +As soon as the boy pulled it out, Jip shouted, + +“_Snuff_, by Jingo!—Black Rappee snuff. Don’t you smell it? His uncle +took snuff—Ask him, Doctor.” + +The Doctor questioned the boy again; and he said, “Yes. My uncle took a +lot of snuff.” + +“Fine!” said Jip. “The man’s as good as found. ’Twill be as easy as +stealing milk from a kitten. Tell the boy I’ll find his uncle for him +in less than a week. Let us go upstairs and see which way the wind is +blowing.” + +“But it is dark now,” said the Doctor. “You can’t find him in the dark!” + +“I don’t need any light to look for a man who smells of Black Rappee +snuff,” said Jip as he climbed the stairs. “If the man had a hard +smell, like string, now—or hot water, it would be different. But +_snuff_!—Tut, tut!” + +“Does hot water have a smell?” asked the Doctor. + +“Certainly it has,” said Jip. “Hot water smells quite different from +cold water. It is warm water—or ice—that has the really difficult +smell. Why, I once followed a man for ten miles on a dark night by the +smell of the hot water he had used to shave with—for the poor fellow +had no soap.... Now then, let us see which way the wind is blowing. +Wind is very important in long-distant smelling. It mustn’t be too +fierce a wind—and of course it must blow the right way. A nice, steady, +damp breeze is the best of all.... Ha!—This wind is from the North.” + +Then Jip went up to the front of the ship and smelt the wind; and he +started muttering to himself, + +“Tar; Spanish onions; kerosene oil; wet raincoats; crushed +laurel-leaves; rubber burning; lace-curtains being washed—No, my +mistake, lace-curtains hanging out to dry; and foxes—hundreds of +’em—cubs; and—” + +“Can you really smell all those different things in this one wind?” +asked the Doctor. + +“Why, of course!” said Jip. “And those are only a few of the easy +smells—the strong ones. Any mongrel could smell those with a cold in +the head. Wait now, and I’ll tell you some of the harder scents that +are coming on this wind—a few of the dainty ones.” + +Then the dog shut his eyes tight, poked his nose straight up in the air +and sniffed hard with his mouth half-open. + +For a long time he said nothing. He kept as still as a stone. He hardly +seemed to be breathing at all. When at last he began to speak, it +sounded almost as though he were singing, sadly, in a dream. + +“Bricks,” he whispered, very low—“old yellow bricks, crumbling with +age in a garden-wall; the sweet breath of young cows standing in a +mountain-stream; the lead roof of a dove-cote—or perhaps a granary—with +the mid-day sun on it; black kid gloves lying in a bureau-drawer of +walnut-wood; a dusty road with a horses’ drinking-trough beneath the +sycamores; little mushrooms bursting through the rotting leaves; +and—and—and—” + +“Any parsnips?” asked Gub-Gub. + +“No,” said Jip. “You always think of things to eat. No parsnips +whatever. And no snuff—plenty of pipes and cigarettes, and a few +cigars. But no snuff. We must wait till the wind changes to the South.” + +“Yes, it’s a poor wind, that,” said Gub-Gub. “I think you’re a fake, +Jip. Who ever heard of finding a man in the middle of the ocean just by +smell! I told you you couldn’t do it.” + +“Look here,” said Jip, getting really angry. “You’re going to get a +bite on the nose in a minute! You needn’t think that just because +the Doctor won’t let us give you what you deserve, that you can be as +cheeky as you like!” + +“Stop quarreling!” said the Doctor—“Stop it! Life’s too short. Tell me, +Jip, where do you think those smells are coming from?” + +“From Devon and Wales—most of them,” said Jip—“The wind is coming that +way.” + +“Well, well!” said the Doctor. “You know that’s really quite +remarkable—quite. I must make a note of that for my new book. I wonder +if you could train me to smell as well as that.... But no—perhaps I’m +better off the way I am. ‘Enough is as good as a feast,’ they say. +Let’s go down to supper. I’m quite hungry.” + +“So am I,” said Gub-Gub. + + + + +_THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE ROCK + + +UP they got, early next morning, out of the silken beds; and they saw +that the sun was shining brightly and that the wind was blowing from +the South. + +Jip smelt the South wind for half an hour. Then he came to the Doctor, +shaking his head. + +“I smell no snuff as yet,” he said. “We must wait till the wind changes +to the East.” + +But even when the East wind came, at three o’clock that afternoon, the +dog could not catch the smell of snuff. + +The little boy was terribly disappointed and began to cry again, saying +that no one seemed to be able to find his uncle for him. But all Jip +said to the Doctor was, + +“Tell him that when the wind changes to the West, I’ll find his uncle +even though he be in China—so long as he is still taking Black Rappee +snuff.” + +Three days they had to wait before the West wind came. This was on a +Friday morning, early—just as it was getting light. A fine rainy mist +lay on the sea like a thin fog. And the wind was soft and warm and wet. + +[Illustration: “‘Doctor!’ he cried. ‘I’ve got it!’”] + +As soon as Jip awoke he ran upstairs and poked his nose in the air. +Then he got most frightfully excited and rushed down again to wake the +Doctor up. + +“Doctor!” he cried. “I’ve got it! Doctor! Doctor! Wake up! Listen! +I’ve got it! The wind’s from the West and it smells of nothing but +snuff. Come upstairs and start the ship—quick!” + +So the Doctor tumbled out of bed and went to the rudder to steer the +ship. + +“Now I’ll go up to the front,” said Jip; “and you watch my +nose—whichever way I point it, you turn the ship the same way. The man +cannot be far off—with the smell as strong as this. And the wind’s all +lovely and wet. Now watch me!” + +So all that morning Jip stood in the front part of the ship, sniffing +the wind and pointing the way for the Doctor to steer; while all the +animals and the little boy stood round with their eyes wide open, +watching the dog in wonder. + +About lunch-time Jip asked Dab-Dab to tell the Doctor that he was +getting worried and wanted to speak to him. So Dab-Dab went and fetched +the Doctor from the other end of the ship and Jip said to him, + +“The boy’s uncle is starving. We must make the ship go as fast as we +can.” + +“How do you know he is starving?” asked the Doctor. + +“Because there is no other smell in the West wind but snuff,” said Jip. +“If the man were cooking or eating food of any kind, I would be bound +to smell it too. But he hasn’t even fresh water to drink. All he is +taking is snuff—in large pinches. We are getting nearer to him all the +time, because the smell grows stronger every minute. But make the ship +go as fast as you can, for I am certain that the man is starving.” + +“All right,” said the Doctor; and he sent Dab-Dab to ask the swallows +to pull the ship, the same as they had done when the pirates were +chasing them. + +So the stout little birds came down and once more harnessed themselves +to the ship. + +And now the boat went bounding through the waves at a terrible speed. +It went so fast that the fishes in the sea had to jump for their lives +to get out of the way and not be run over. + +And all the animals got tremendously excited; and they gave up looking +at Jip and turned to watch the sea in front, to spy out any land or +islands where the starving man might be. + +But hour after hour went by and still the ship went rushing on, over +the same flat, flat sea; and no land anywhere came in sight. + +And now the animals gave up chattering and sat around silent, anxious +and miserable. The little boy again grew sad. And on Jip’s face there +was a worried look. + +At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun was going down, the +owl, Too-Too, who was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly startled +them all by crying out at the top of his voice, + +“Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front of us—look—way out there +where the sky and the water meet. See the sun shine on it—like gold! Is +the smell coming from there?” + +And Jip called back, + +“Yes. That’s it. That is where the man is.—At last, at last!” + +And when they got nearer they could see that the rock was very large—as +large as a big field. No trees grew on it, no grass—nothing. The great +rock was as smooth and as bare as the back of a tortoise. + +Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round the rock. But nowhere on +it could a man be seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes and +looked as hard as they could; and John Dolittle got a telescope from +downstairs. + +But not one living thing could they spy—not even a gull, nor a +star-fish, nor a shred of sea-weed. + +They all stood still and listened, straining their ears for any sound. +But the only noise they heard was the gentle lapping of the little +waves against the sides of their ship. + +Then they all started calling, “Hulloa, there!—HULLOA!” till their +voices were hoarse. But only the echo came back from the rock. + +And the little boy burst into tears and said, + +“I am afraid I shall never see my uncle any more! What shall I tell +them when I get home!” + +But Jip called to the Doctor, + +“He must be there—he must—_he must_! The smell goes on no further. He +must be there, I tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock and let me +jump out on it.” + +So the Doctor brought the ship as close as he could and let down the +anchor. Then he and Jip got out of the ship on to the rock. + +Jip at once put his nose down close to the ground and began to run +all over the place. Up and down he went, back and forth—zig-zagging, +twisting, doubling and turning. And everywhere he went, the Doctor ran +behind him, close at his heels—till he was terribly out of breath. + +At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down. And when the Doctor came +running up to him, he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole in +the middle of the rock. + +“The boy’s uncle is down there,” said Jip quietly. “No wonder those +silly eagles couldn’t see him!—It takes a dog to find a man.” + +So the Doctor got down into the hole, which seemed to be a kind of +cave, or tunnel, running a long way under the ground. Then he struck +a match and started to make his way along the dark passage with Jip +following behind. + +The Doctor’s match soon went out; and he had to strike another and +another and another. + +At last the passage came to an end; and the Doctor found himself in a +kind of tiny room with walls of rock. + +And there, in the middle of the room, his head resting on his arms, lay +a man with very red hair—fast asleep! + +Jip went up and sniffed at something lying on the ground beside him. +The Doctor stooped and picked it up. It was an enormous snuff-box. And +it was full of Black Rappee! + + + + +_THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER_ + +THE FISHERMAN’S TOWN + + +GENTLY then—very gently, the Doctor woke the man up. + +But just at that moment the match went out again. And the man thought +it was Ben Ali coming back, and he began to punch the Doctor in the +dark. + +But when John Dolittle told him who it was, and that he had his little +nephew safe on his ship, the man was tremendously glad, and said he was +sorry he had fought the Doctor. He had not hurt him much though—because +it was too dark to punch properly. Then he gave the Doctor a pinch of +snuff. + +And the man told how the Barbary Dragon had put him on to this rock and +left him there, when he wouldn’t promise to become a pirate; and how he +used to sleep down in this hole because there was no house on the rock +to keep him warm. + +And then he said, + +“For four days I have had nothing to eat or drink. I have lived on +snuff.” + +“There you are!” said Jip. “What did I tell you?” + +So they struck some more matches and made their way out through the +passage into the daylight; and the Doctor hurried the man down to the +boat to get some soup. + +When the animals and the little boy saw the Doctor and Jip coming back +to the ship with a red-headed man, they began to cheer and yell and +dance about the boat. And the swallows up above started whistling at +the top of their voices—thousands and millions of them—to show that +they too were glad that the boy’s brave uncle had been found. The +noise they made was so great that sailors far out at sea thought that +a terrible storm was coming. “Hark to that gale howling in the East!” +they said. + +And Jip was awfully proud of himself—though he tried hard not to look +conceited. When Dab-Dab came to him and said, “Jip, I had no idea you +were so clever!” he just tossed his head and answered, + +“Oh, that’s nothing special. But it takes a dog to find a man, you +know. Birds are no good for a game like that.” + +Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman where his home was. And +when he had told him, the Doctor asked the swallows to guide the ship +there first. + +And when they had come to the land which the man had spoken of, they +saw a little fishing-town at the foot of a rocky mountain; and the man +pointed out the house where he lived. + +And while they were letting down the anchor, the little boy’s mother +(who was also the man’s sister) came running down to the shore to meet +them, laughing and crying at the same time. She had been sitting on a +hill for twenty days, watching the sea and waiting for them to return. + +And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that he giggled and blushed +like a school-girl. And she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away and +hid inside the ship. + +“It’s a silly business, this kissing,” he said. “I don’t hold by it. +Let her go and kiss Gub-Gub—if she _must_ kiss something.” + +[Illustration: “And she kissed the Doctor many times”] + +The fisherman and his sister didn’t want the Doctor to go away again +in a hurry. They begged him to spend a few days with them. So John +Dolittle and his animals had to stay at their house a whole Saturday +and Sunday and half of Monday. + +And all the little boys of the fishing-village went down to the beach +and pointed at the great ship anchored there, and said to one another +in whispers, + +“Look! That was a pirate-ship—Ben Ali’s—the most terrible pirate that +ever sailed the Seven Seas! That old gentleman with the high hat, +who’s staying up at Mrs. Trevelyan’s, _he_ took the ship away from The +Barbary Dragon—and made him into a farmer. Who’d have thought it of +him—him so gentle-like and all!... Look at the great red sails! Ain’t +she the wicked-looking ship—and fast?—My!” + +All those two days and a half that the Doctor stayed at the little +fishing-town the people kept asking him out to teas and luncheons and +dinners and parties; all the ladies sent him boxes of flowers and +candies; and the village-band played tunes under his window every night. + +At last the Doctor said, + +“Good people, I must go home now. You have really been most kind. I +shall always remember it. But I must go home—for I have things to do.” + +Then, just as the Doctor was about to leave, the Mayor of the town came +down the street and a lot of other people in grand clothes with him. +And the Mayor stopped before the house where the Doctor was living; and +everybody in the village gathered round to see what was going to happen. + +After six page-boys had blown on shining trumpets to make the people +stop talking, the Doctor came out on to the steps and the Mayor spoke. + +“Doctor John Dolittle,” said he: “It is a great pleasure for me to +present to the man who rid the seas of the Dragon of Barbary this +little token from the grateful people of our worthy Town.” + +And the Mayor took from his pocket a little tissue-paper packet, and +opening it, he handed to the Doctor a perfectly beautiful watch with +real diamonds in the back. + +Then the Mayor pulled out of his pocket a still larger parcel and said, + +“Where is the dog?” + +Then everybody started to hunt for Jip. And at last Dab-Dab found him +on the other side of the village in a stable-yard, where all the dogs +of the country-side were standing round him speechless with admiration +and respect. + +When Jip was brought to the Doctor’s side, the Mayor opened the larger +parcel; and inside was a dog-collar made of solid gold! And a great +murmur of wonder went up from the village-folk as the Mayor bent down +and fastened it round the dog’s neck with his own hands. + +For written on the collar in big letters were these words: “JIP—_The +Cleverest Dog in the World._” + +Then the whole crowd moved down to the beach to see them off. And after +the red-haired fisherman and his sister and the little boy had thanked +the Doctor and his dog over and over and over again, the great, swift +ship with the red sails was turned once more towards Puddleby and they +sailed out to sea, while the village-band played music on the shore. + + + + +_THE LAST CHAPTER_ + +HOME AGAIN + + +MARCH winds had come and gone; April’s showers were over; May’s buds +had opened into flower; and the June sun was shining on the pleasant +fields, when John Dolittle at last got back to his own country. + +But he did not yet go home to Puddleby. First he went traveling through +the land with the pushmi-pullyu in a gipsy-wagon, stopping at all the +country-fairs. And there, with the acrobats on one side of them and the +Punch-and-Judy show on the other, they would hang out a big sign which +read, “COME AND SEE THE MARVELOUS TWO-HEADED ANIMAL FROM THE JUNGLES OF +AFRICA. Admission SIXPENCE.” + +And the pushmi-pullyu would stay inside the wagon, while the other +animals would lie about underneath. The Doctor sat in a chair in front +taking the sixpences and smiling on the people as they went in; and +Dab-Dab was kept busy all the time scolding him because he would let +the children in for nothing when she wasn’t looking. + +And menagerie-keepers and circus-men came and asked the Doctor to sell +them the strange creature, saying they would pay a tremendous lot of +money for him. But the Doctor always shook his head and said, + +“No. The pushmi-pullyu shall never be shut up in a cage. He shall be +free always to come and go, like you and me.” + +Many curious sights and happenings they saw in this wandering life; but +they all seemed quite ordinary after the great things they had seen and +done in foreign lands. It was very interesting at first, being sort of +part of a circus; but after a few weeks they all got dreadfully tired +of it and the Doctor and all of them were longing to go home. + +[Illustration: “The Doctor sat in a chair in front”] + +But so many people came flocking to the little wagon and paid the +sixpence to go inside and see the pushmi-pullyu that very soon the +Doctor was able to give up being a showman. + +And one fine day, when the hollyhocks were in full bloom, he came back +to Puddleby a rich man, to live in the little house with the big garden. + +And the old lame horse in the stable was glad to see him; and so were +the swallows who had already built their nests under the eaves of his +roof and had young ones. And Dab-Dab was glad, too, to get back to the +house she knew so well—although there was a terrible lot of dusting to +be done, with cobwebs everywhere. + +And after Jip had gone and shown his golden collar to the conceited +collie next-door, he came back and began running round the garden +like a crazy thing, looking for the bones he had buried long ago, +and chasing the rats out of the tool-shed; while Gub-Gub dug up the +horseradish which had grown three feet high in the corner by the +garden-wall. + +[Illustration: “He began running round the garden like a crazy thing”] + +And the Doctor went and saw the sailor who had lent him the boat, and +he bought two new ships for him and a rubber-doll for his baby; and +he paid the grocer for the food he had lent him for the journey to +Africa. And he bought another piano and put the white mice back in +it—because they said the bureau-drawer was drafty. + +Even when the Doctor had filled the old money-box on the dresser-shelf, +he still had a lot of money left; and he had to get three more +money-boxes, just as big, to put the rest in. + +“Money,” he said, “is a terrible nuisance. But it’s nice not to have to +worry.” + +“Yes,” said Dab-Dab, who was toasting muffins for his tea, “it is +indeed!” + +And when the Winter came again, and the snow flew against the +kitchen-window, the Doctor and his animals would sit round the big, +warm fire after supper; and he would read aloud to them out of his +books. + +But far away in Africa, where the monkeys chattered in the palm-trees +before they went to bed under the big yellow moon, they would say to +one another, + +“I wonder what The Good Man’s doing now—over there, in the Land of the +White Men! Do you think he ever will come back?” + +And Polynesia would squeak out from the vines, + +“I think he will—I guess he will—I hope he will!” + +And then the crocodile would grunt up at them from the black mud of the +river, + +“I’m SURE he will—Go to sleep!” + +[Illustration: THE END] + + * * * * * + +Transcriber’s Notes: + +Page 79, period added at end of sentence (had not seen before.) + +Page 119, single closing quote added to caption about rats. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 501 *** diff --git a/501-h/501-h.htm b/501-h/501-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0de5bfb --- /dev/null +++ b/501-h/501-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5398 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Story of Doctor Dolittle | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + .faux { + font-size: 0.5em; /*this font size could be anything */ + visibility: hidden;} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1.25em; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + + + .maintitle {font-size: 200%; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} + .copyright {text-align: center; font-size: 70%; text-indent: 0;} + .hang1 {text-indent: -3em; margin-left: 3em;} + div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} + .sig {margin-right: 10%; text-align: right;} + + + img {border: 0;} + .tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; text-indent: 0;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%} +hr.full {width: 95%;} + + +/* Poetry */ +.poetry-container +{ + text-align: center; +} + +.poetry +{ + display: inline-block; + text-align: left; +} + +.poetry .stanza +{ + margin: 1em auto; +} + +.poetry .verse +{ + text-indent: -3em; + padding-left: 3em; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + text-indent: 0;} /* page numbers */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold; font-size: 90%; text-indent: 0;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/*Drop caps*/ + +.drop-cap { + text-indent: 0em; + text-align: justify; +} + +img.drop-cap +{ + float: left; + margin: 0 0.5em 0 0; +} +.drop-capi { + text-indent: 0em; text-align: justify; +} +.drop-capi:first-letter +{ + color: transparent; + visibility: hidden; + margin-left: -0.9em; +} + +@media handheld +{ + .chapter + { + page-break-before: always; + } + + h2.no-break + { + page-break-before: avoid; + padding-top: 0; + } + + .poetry + { + display: block; + margin-left: 1.5em; + } + + img.drop-cap + { + display: none; + } + + .drop-cap:first-letter + { + color: inherit; + visibility: visible; + margin-left: 0; + } + +} + + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 501 ***</div> + +<h1 class="faux">THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE</h1> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 501px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="501" height="800" alt="cover" /> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="maintitle"><i>THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE</i></div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a id="Frontispiece"></a> +<img src="images/i-002.jpg" width="600" height="318" alt="town" /> +<div class="caption">“A little town called Puddleby-on-the-Marsh”</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 464px;"> +<img src="images/title.jpg" width="464" height="797" alt="Title page" /> +</div> + +<div class="maintitle"> +THE<br /> +<i>Story of</i><br /> +DOCTOR DOLITTLE</div> +<div class="center"><br /> +<i>BEING THE<br /> +HISTORY OF HIS PECULIAR LIFE<br /> +AT HOME AND ASTONISHING ADVENTURES<br /> +IN FOREIGN PARTS. NEVER BEFORE PRINTED.</i><br /> +<br /> +<i>TOLD BY HUGH LOFTING</i> <i>ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR</i><br /> + +<br /> +<i>Published by FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY at 443 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK.</i><br /> +<br /> +<i>A.D. 1920</i><br /> +<br /> +WITH AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TENTH PRINTING<br /> +BY HUGH WALPOLE<br /> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class="copyright"> +<i>Copyright, 1920, by</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">Frederick A. Stokes Company</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>All rights reserved, including that of translation<br /> +into foreign languages</i><br /> +<br /> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Printing dates"> +<tr> +<td align="left">First Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Aug. </td> +<td align="right">24, 1920</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Second Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Dec. </td> +<td align="right">17, 1920</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Third Printing,</td> +<td align="left">April </td> +<td align="right">16, 1921</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Fourth Printing,</td> +<td align="left">July </td> +<td align="right">7, 1921</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Fifth Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Sept. </td> +<td align="right">1, 1921</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Sixth Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Oct. </td> +<td align="right">26, 1921</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Seventh Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Dec. </td> +<td align="right">5, 1921</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Eighth Printing,</td> +<td align="left">April </td> +<td align="right">3, 1922</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Ninth Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Aug. </td> +<td align="right">18, 1922</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Tenth Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Nov. </td> +<td align="right">28, 1922</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Eleventh Printing, </td> +<td align="left">April </td> +<td align="right">2, 1923</td> +</tr> +</table></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Printed in the United States of America</span><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class="center"> +TO<br /> +ALL CHILDREN<br /> +<br /> +<small>CHILDREN IN YEARS AND CHILDREN IN HEART<br /> +I DEDICATE THIS STORY</small><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a><br /><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>INTRODUCTION TO THE TENTH +PRINTING</i></h2> + + +<p>THERE are some of us now reaching +middle age who discover themselves to be lamenting +the past in one respect if in none other, +that there are no books written now for children +comparable with those of thirty years ago. I +say written <i>for</i> children because the new psychological +business of writing <i>about</i> them as though +they were small pills or hatched in some especially +scientific method is extremely popular to-day. +Writing for children rather than about +them is very difficult as everybody who has tried +it knows. It can only be done, I am convinced, +by somebody having a great deal of the child +in his own outlook and sensibilities. Such was +the author of “The Little Duke” and “The +Dove in the Eagle’s Nest,” such the author of +“A Flatiron for a Farthing,” and “The Story +of a Short Life.” Such, above all, the author of +“Alice in Wonderland.” Grownups imagine +that they can do the trick by adopting baby<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span> +language and talking down to their very critical +audience. There never was a greater mistake. +The imagination of the author must be a child’s +imagination and yet maturely consistent, so that +the White Queen in “Alice,” for instance, is +seen just as a child would see her, but she continues +always herself through all her distressing +adventures. The supreme touch of the white +rabbit pulling on his white gloves as he hastens +is again absolutely the child’s vision, but the +white rabbit as guide and introducer of Alice’s +adventures belongs to mature grown insight.</p> + +<p>Geniuses are rare and, without being at all +an undue praiser of times past, one can say without +hesitation that until the appearance of Hugh +Lofting, the successor of Miss Yonge, Mrs. +Ewing, Mrs. Gatty and Lewis Carroll had not +appeared. I remember the delight with which +some six months ago I picked up the first “Dolittle” +book in the Hampshire bookshop at +Smith College in Northampton. One of Mr. +Lofting’s pictures was quite enough for me. +The picture that I lighted upon when I first +opened the book was the one of the monkeys<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span> +making a chain with their arms across the gulf. +Then I looked further and discovered Bumpo +reading fairy stories to himself. And then +looked again and there was a picture of John +Dolittle’s house.</p> + +<p>But pictures are not enough although most +authors draw so badly that if one of them happens +to have the genius for line that Mr. Lofting +shows there must be, one feels, something in his +writing as well. There is. You cannot read the +first paragraph of the book, which begins in the +right way “Once upon a time” without knowing +that Mr. Lofting believes in his story quite +as much as he expects you to. That is the first +essential for a story teller. Then you discover +as you read on that he has the right eye for the +right detail. What child-inquiring mind could +resist this intriguing sentence to be found on the +second page of the book:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Besides the gold-fish in the pond at the bottom +of his garden, he had rabbits in the pantry, +white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen +closet and a hedgehog in the cellar.”</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span></p> + +<p>And then when you read a little further you +will discover that the Doctor is not merely a +peg on whom to hang exciting and various adventures +but that he is himself a man of original +and lively character. He is a very kindly, generous +man, and anyone who has ever written +stories will know that it is much more difficult +to make kindly, generous characters interesting +than unkindly and mean ones. But Dolittle is interesting. +It is not only that he is quaint but +that he is wise and knows what he is about. The +reader, however young, who meets him gets very +soon a sense that if he were in trouble, not necessarily +medical, he would go to Dolittle and ask +his advice about it. Dolittle seems to extend +his hand from the page and grasp that of his +reader, and I can see him going down the centuries +a kind of Pied Piper with thousands of +children at his heels. But not only is he a darling +and alive and credible but his creator has +also managed to invest everybody else in the +book with the same kind of life.</p> + +<p>Now this business of giving life to animals, +making them talk and behave like human<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span> +beings, is an extremely difficult one. Lewis Carroll +absolutely conquered the difficulties, but I +am not sure that anyone after him until Hugh +Lofting has really managed the trick; even in +such a masterpiece as “The Wind in the Willows” +we are not quite convinced. John Dolittle’s +friends are convincing because their creator +never forces them to desert their own characteristics. +Polynesia, for instance, is natural +from first to last. She really does care about +the Doctor but she cares as a bird would care, +having always some place to which she is going +when her business with her friends is over. And +when Mr. Lofting invents fantastic animals he +gives them a kind of credible possibility which +is extraordinarily convincing. It will be impossible +for anyone who has read this book not +to believe in the existence of the pushmi-pullyu, +who would be credible enough even were there +no drawing of it, but the picture on page 153 +settles the matter of his truth once and for all.</p> + +<p>In fact this book is a work of genius and, as +always with works of genius, it is difficult to +analyze the elements that have gone to make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span> +it. There is poetry here and fantasy and humor, +a little pathos but, above all, a number of creations +in whose existence everybody must believe +whether they be children of four or old men of +ninety or prosperous bankers of forty-five. I +don’t know how Mr. Lofting has done it; I +don’t suppose that he knows himself. There it +is—the first real children’s classic since “Alice.”</p> + +<div class="sig"> +<span class="smcap">Hugh Walpole.</span><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>CONTENTS</i></h2> + + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr> +<td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_vii">vii</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left" colspan="2"><small>CHAPTER</small></td> +<td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">I </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Puddleby</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">II </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Animal Language</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">III </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">More Money Troubles</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">IV </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Message from Africa</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">V </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Great Journey</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">VI </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Polynesia and the King</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">VII </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Bridge of Apes</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">VIII </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Leader of the Lions</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">IX </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Monkeys’ Council</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">X </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Rarest Animal of All</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XI </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Black Prince</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XII </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Medicine and Magic</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XIII </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Red Sails and Blue Wings</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XIV </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Rats’ Warning</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XV </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Barbary Dragon</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XVI </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Too-Too, the Listener</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XVII </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Ocean Gossips</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XVIII </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Smells</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XIX </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Rock</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XX </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Fisherman’s Town</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XXI </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Home Again</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td> +</tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a><br /><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[xv]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>ILLUSTRATIONS</i></h2> + + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations"> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“A little town called Puddleby-on-the-Marsh”</div></td> +<td align="right"><i><a href="#Frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1"> </div></td> +<td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“And she never came to see him any more”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“He could see as well as ever”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“They came at once to his house on the edge of the town”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“They used to sit in chairs on the lawn”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘All right,’ said the Doctor, ‘go and get married’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“One evening when the Doctor was asleep in his chair”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘I felt sure there was twopence left’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“And the voyage began”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘We must have run into Africa’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘I got into it because I did not want to be drowned’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“And Queen Ermintrude was asleep”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘Who’s that?’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“Cheering and waving leaves and swinging out of the branches to greet him”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“John Dolittle was the last to cross”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“He made all the monkeys who were still well come and be vaccinated”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘<i>ME, the King of Beasts</i>, to wait on a lot of dirty monkeys?’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“Then the Grand Gorilla got up”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</a></span>“‘Lord save us!’ cried the duck. ‘How does it make up its mind?’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“He began reading the fairy-stories to himself”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“Crying bitterly and waving till the ship was out of sight”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘They are surely the pirates of Barbary’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘And you have heard that rats always leave a sinking ship?’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘Look here, Ben Ali—’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there’s someone in there!’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘You stupid piece of warm bacon!’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘Doctor!’ he cried. ‘I’ve got it!’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“And she kissed the Doctor many times”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_170">170</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“The Doctor sat in a chair in front”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“He began running round the garden like a crazy thing”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[xvii]</a></span></p> + +<div class="maintitle"><i>THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE</i></div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class="maintitle">THE STORY OF<br /> +DOCTOR DOLITTLE</div> + + + + +<h2><i>THE FIRST CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>PUDDLEBY</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-019.jpg" width="123" height="140" alt="O" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">ONCE upon a time, many years ago—when +our grandfathers were +little children—there was a doctor; +and his name was Dolittle—John +Dolittle, M.D. “M.D.” +means that he was a proper doctor +and knew a whole lot.</p> + +<p>He lived in a little town called, Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. +All the folks, young and old, +knew him well by sight. And whenever he +walked down the street in his high hat everyone +would say, “There goes the Doctor!—He’s +a clever man.” And the dogs and the children +would all run up and follow behind him; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +even the crows that lived in the church-tower +would caw and nod their heads.</p> + +<p>The house he lived in, on the edge of the +town, was quite small; but his garden was very +large and had a wide lawn and stone seats and +weeping-willows hanging over. His sister, +Sarah Dolittle, was housekeeper for him; but +the Doctor looked after the garden himself.</p> + +<p>He was very fond of animals and kept many +kinds of pets. Besides the gold-fish in the pond +at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in +the pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel +in the linen closet and a hedgehog in the cellar. +He had a cow with a calf too, and an old lame +horse—twenty-five years of age—and chickens, +and pigeons, and two lambs, and many other +animals. But his favorite pets were Dab-Dab +the duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the baby pig, +Polynesia the parrot, and the owl Too-Too.</p> + +<p>His sister used to grumble about all these animals +and said they made the house untidy. +And one day when an old lady with rheumatism +came to see the Doctor, she sat on the hedgehog +who was sleeping on the sofa and never came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a><br /><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +to see him any more, but drove every Saturday +all the way to Oxenthorpe, another town ten +miles off, to see a different doctor.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-021.jpg" width="600" height="256" alt="woman leaving doctor's house" /> +<div class="caption">“And she never came to see him any more”</div> +</div> + +<p>Then his sister, Sarah Dolittle, came to him +and said,</p> + +<p>“John, how can you expect sick people to +come and see you when you keep all these animals +in the house? It’s a fine doctor would have +his parlor full of hedgehogs and mice! That’s +the fourth personage these animals have driven +away. Squire Jenkins and the Parson say they +wouldn’t come near your house again—no matter +how sick they are. We are getting poorer +every day. If you go on like this, none of the +best people will have you for a doctor.”</p> + +<p>“But I like the animals better than the ‘best +people’,” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“You are ridiculous,” said his sister, and +walked out of the room.</p> + +<p>So, as time went on, the Doctor got more and +more animals; and the people who came to see +him got less and less. Till at last he had no +one left—except the Cat’s-meat-Man, who didn’t +mind any kind of animals. But the Cat’s-meat-Man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +wasn’t very rich and he only got sick once +a year—at Christmas-time, when he used to give +the Doctor sixpence for a bottle of medicine.</p> + +<p>Sixpence a year wasn’t enough to live on—even +in those days, long ago; and if the Doctor +hadn’t had some money saved up in his money-box, +no one knows what would have happened.</p> + +<p>And he kept on getting still more pets; and of +course it cost a lot to feed them. And the money +he had saved up grew littler and littler.</p> + +<p>Then he sold his piano, and let the mice live +in a bureau-drawer. But the money he got for +that too began to go, so he sold the brown suit +he wore on Sundays and went on becoming +poorer and poorer.</p> + +<p>And now, when he walked down the street +in his high hat, people would say to one another, +“There goes John Dolittle, M.D.! There was a +time when he was the best known doctor in the +West Country—Look at him now—He hasn’t +any money and his stockings are full of holes!”</p> + +<p>But the dogs and the cats and the children +still ran up and followed him through the town—the +same as they had done when he was rich.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a><br /><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE SECOND CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>ANIMAL LANGUAGE</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-025.jpg" width="113" height="142" alt="I" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">IT happened one day that the Doctor +was sitting in his kitchen talking +with the Cat’s-meat-Man +who had come to see him with a +stomach-ache.</p> + +<p>“Why don’t you give up being +a people’s doctor, and be an animal-doctor?” +asked the Cat’s-meat-Man.</p> + +<p>The parrot, Polynesia, was sitting in the window +looking out at the rain and singing a sailor-song +to herself. She stopped singing and +started to listen.</p> + +<p>“You see, Doctor,” the Cat’s-meat-Man went +on, “you know all about animals—much more +than what these here vets do. That book you +wrote—about cats, why, it’s wonderful! I can’t +read or write myself—or maybe <i>I’d</i> write some +books. But my wife, Theodosia, she’s a scholar,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +she is. And she read your book to me. Well, +it’s wonderful—that’s all can be said—wonderful. +You might have been a cat yourself. You +know the way they think. And listen: you can +make a lot of money doctoring animals. Do +you know that? You see, I’d send all the old +women who had sick cats or dogs to you. And +if they didn’t get sick fast enough, I could put +something in the meat I sell ’em to make ’em +sick, see?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, no,” said the Doctor quickly. “You +mustn’t do that. That wouldn’t be right.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I didn’t mean real sick,” answered the +Cat’s-meat-Man. “Just a little something to +make them droopy-like was what I had reference +to. But as you say, maybe it ain’t quite +fair on the animals. But they’ll get sick anyway, +because the old women always give ’em too +much to eat. And look, all the farmers round +about who had lame horses and weak lambs—they’d +come. Be an animal-doctor.”</p> + +<p>When the Cat’s-meat-Man had gone the parrot +flew off the window on to the Doctor’s table +and said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + +<p>“That man’s got sense. That’s what you +ought to do. Be an animal-doctor. Give the +silly people up—if they haven’t brains enough +to see you’re the best doctor in the world. Take +care of animals instead—<i>they</i>’ll soon find it out. +Be an animal-doctor.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, there are plenty of animal-doctors,” said +John Dolittle, putting the flower-pots outside on +the window-sill to get the rain.</p> + +<p>“Yes, there <i>are</i> plenty,” said Polynesia. “But +none of them are any good at all. Now listen, +Doctor, and I’ll tell you something. Did you +know that animals can talk?”</p> + +<p>“I knew that parrots can talk,” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Oh, we parrots can talk in two languages—people’s +language and bird-language,” said +Polynesia proudly. “If I say, ‘Polly wants a +cracker,’ you understand me. But hear this: +<i>Ka-ka oi-ee, fee-fee?</i>”</p> + +<p>“Good Gracious!” cried the Doctor. “What +does that mean?”</p> + +<p>“That means, ‘Is the porridge hot yet?’—in +bird-language.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> + +<p>“My! You don’t say so!” said the Doctor. +“You never talked that way to me before.”</p> + +<p>“What would have been the good?” said +Polynesia, dusting some cracker-crumbs off her +left wing. “You wouldn’t have understood me +if I had.”</p> + +<p>“Tell me some more,” said the Doctor, all excited; +and he rushed over to the dresser-drawer +and came back with the butcher’s book and a +pencil. “Now don’t go too fast—and I’ll write +it down. This is interesting—very interesting—something +quite new. Give me the Birds’ +A.B.C. first—slowly now.”</p> + +<p>So that was the way the Doctor came to know +that animals had a language of their own and +could talk to one another. And all that afternoon, +while it was raining, Polynesia sat on the +kitchen table giving him bird words to put down +in the book.</p> + +<p>At tea-time, when the dog, Jip, came in, the +parrot said to the Doctor, “See, <i>he</i>’s talking to +you.”</p> + +<p>“Looks to me as though he were scratching his +ear,” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + +<p>“But animals don’t always speak with their +mouths,” said the parrot in a high voice, raising +her eyebrows. “They talk with their ears, +with their feet, with their tails—with everything. +Sometimes they don’t <i>want</i> to make a +noise. Do you see now the way he’s twitching +up one side of his nose?”</p> + +<p>“What’s that mean?” asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“That means, ‘Can’t you see that it has +stopped raining?’” Polynesia answered. “He +is asking you a question. Dogs nearly always +use their noses for asking questions.”</p> + +<p>After a while, with the parrot’s help, the +Doctor got to learn the language of the animals +so well that he could talk to them himself and +understand everything they said. Then he gave +up being a people’s doctor altogether.</p> + +<p>As soon as the Cat’s-meat-Man had told every +one that John Dolittle was going to become an +animal-doctor, old ladies began to bring him +their pet pugs and poodles who had eaten too +much cake; and farmers came many miles to +show him sick cows and sheep.</p> + +<p>One day a plow-horse was brought to him;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +and the poor thing was terribly glad to find a +man who could talk in horse-language.</p> + +<p>“You know, Doctor,” said the horse, “that +vet over the hill knows nothing at all. He has +been treating me six weeks now—for spavins. +What I need is <i>spectacles</i>. I am going blind in +one eye. There’s no reason why horses +shouldn’t wear glasses, the same as people. But +that stupid man over the hill never even looked +at my eyes. He kept on giving me big pills. +I tried to tell him; but he couldn’t understand +a word of horse-language. What I need is spectacles.”</p> + +<p>“Of course—of course,” said the Doctor. +“I’ll get you some at once.”</p> + +<p>“I would like a pair like yours,” said the +horse—“only green. They’ll keep the sun out +of my eyes while I’m plowing the Fifty-Acre +Field.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” said the Doctor. “Green ones +you shall have.”</p> + +<p>“You know, the trouble is, Sir,” said the +plow-horse as the Doctor opened the front door +to let him out—“the trouble is that <i>anybody</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +thinks he can doctor animals—just because the +animals don’t complain. As a matter of fact +it takes a much cleverer man to be a really good +animal-doctor than it does to be a good people’s +doctor. My farmer’s boy thinks he knows all +about horses. I wish you could see him—his +face is so fat he looks as though he had no eyes—and +he has got as much brain as a potato-bug. +He tried to put a mustard-plaster on me last +week.”</p> + +<p>“Where did he put it?” asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Oh, he didn’t put it anywhere—on me,” said +the horse. “He only tried to. I kicked him +into the duck-pond.”</p> + +<p>“Well, well!” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“I’m a pretty quiet creature as a rule,” said +the horse—“very patient with people—don’t +make much fuss. But it was bad enough to +have that vet giving me the wrong medicine. +And when that red-faced booby started to +monkey with me, I just couldn’t bear it any +more.”</p> + +<p>“Did you hurt the boy much?” asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Oh, no,” said the horse. “I kicked him in +the right place. The vet’s looking after him +now. When will my glasses be ready?”</p> + +<p>“I’ll have them for you next week,” said the +Doctor. “Come in again Tuesday—Good +morning!”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i-032.jpg" width="430" height="219" alt="doctor testing having horse with spectacles on read eye-chart" /> +<div class="caption">“He could see as well as ever”</div> +</div> + +<p>Then John Dolittle got a fine, big pair of +green spectacles; and the plow-horse stopped +going blind in one eye and could see as well as +ever.</p> + +<p>And soon it became a common sight to see +farm-animals wearing glasses in the country +round Puddleby; and a blind horse was a thing +unknown.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> + +<p>And so it was with all the other animals that +were brought to him. As soon as they found +that he could talk their language, they told him +where the pain was and how they felt, and of +course it was easy for him to cure them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/i-033.jpg" width="435" height="331" alt="house on what looks like a seawall" /> +<div class="caption">“They came at once to his house on the edge of the town”</div> +</div> + +<p>Now all these animals went back and told +their brothers and friends that there was a doctor +in the little house with the big garden who +really <i>was</i> a doctor. And whenever any creatures +got sick—not only horses and cows and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +dogs—but all the little things of the fields, like +harvest-mice and water-voles, badgers and bats, +they came at once to his house on the edge of the +town, so that his big garden was nearly always +crowded with animals trying to get in to see +him.</p> + +<p>There were so many that came that he had to +have special doors made for the different kinds. +He wrote “HORSES” over the front door, +“COWS” over the side door, and “SHEEP” on +the kitchen door. Each kind of animal had a +separate door—even the mice had a tiny tunnel +made for them into the cellar, where they +waited patiently in rows for the Doctor to come +round to them.</p> + +<p>And so, in a few years’ time, every living +thing for miles and miles got to know about +John Dolittle, M.D. And the birds who flew +to other countries in the winter told the animals +in foreign lands of the wonderful doctor +of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, who could understand +their talk and help them in their troubles. +In this way he became famous among the animals—all +over the world—better known even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +than he had been among the folks of the West +Country. And he was happy and liked his life +very much.</p> + +<p>One afternoon when the Doctor was busy +writing in a book, Polynesia sat in the window—as +she nearly always did—looking out at +the leaves blowing about in the garden. Presently +she laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>“What is it, Polynesia?” asked the Doctor, +looking up from his book.</p> + +<p>“I was just thinking,” said the parrot; and +she went on looking at the leaves.</p> + +<p>“What were you thinking?”</p> + +<p>“I was thinking about people,” said Polynesia. +“People make me sick. They think they’re so +wonderful. The world has been going on now +for thousands of years, hasn’t it? And the only +thing in animal-language that <i>people</i> have +learned to understand is that when a dog wags +his tail he means ‘I’m glad!’—It’s funny, isn’t +it? You are the very first man to talk like us. +Oh, sometimes people annoy me dreadfully—such +airs they put on—talking about ‘the dumb +animals.’ <i>Dumb!</i>—Huh! Why I knew a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +macaw once who could say ‘Good morning!’ in +seven different ways without once opening his +mouth. He could talk every language—and +Greek. An old professor with a gray beard +bought him. But he didn’t stay. He said the +old man didn’t talk Greek right, and he couldn’t +stand listening to him teach the language wrong. +I often wonder what’s become of him. That +bird knew more geography than people will ever +know.—<i>People</i>, Golly! I suppose if people +ever learn to fly—like any common hedge-sparrow—we +shall never hear the end of it!”</p> + +<p>“You’re a wise old bird,” said the Doctor. +“How old are you really? I know that parrots +and elephants sometimes live to be very, very +old.”</p> + +<p>“I can never be quite sure of my age,” said +Polynesia. “It’s either a hundred and eighty-three +or a hundred and eighty-two. But I +know that when I first came here from Africa, +King Charles was still hiding in the oak-tree—because +I saw him. He looked scared to +death.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE THIRD CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>MORE MONEY TROUBLES</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-037.jpg" width="204" height="146" alt="A" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">AND soon now the Doctor +began to make money +again; and his sister, +Sarah, bought a new +dress and was happy.</p> + +<p>Some of the animals +who came to see him were so sick that they had +to stay at the Doctor’s house for a week. And +when they were getting better they used to sit in +chairs on the lawn.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 378px;"> +<img src="images/i-037b.jpg" width="378" height="110" alt="Pig and goose in lawn chairs with the doctor" /> +<div class="caption">“They used to sit in chairs on the lawn”</div> +</div> + +<p>And often even after they got well, they did +not want to go away—they liked the Doctor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +and his house so much. And he never had the +heart to refuse them when they asked if they +could stay with him. So in this way he went +on getting more and more pets.</p> + +<p>Once when he was sitting on his garden wall, +smoking a pipe in the evening, an Italian organ-grinder +came round with a monkey on a string. +The Doctor saw at once that the monkey’s collar +was too tight and that he was dirty and unhappy. +So he took the monkey away from the +Italian, gave the man a shilling and told him +to go. The organ-grinder got awfully angry +and said that he wanted to keep the monkey. +But the Doctor told him that if he didn’t go +away he would punch him on the nose. John +Dolittle was a strong man, though he wasn’t +very tall. So the Italian went away saying rude +things and the monkey stayed with Doctor Dolittle +and had a good home. The other animals +in the house called him “Chee-Chee”—which +is a common word in monkey-language, +meaning “ginger.”</p> + +<p>And another time, when the circus came to +Puddleby, the crocodile who had a bad toothache<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +escaped at night and came into the Doctor’s +garden. The Doctor talked to him in +crocodile-language and took him into the house +and made his tooth better. But when the crocodile +saw what a nice house it was—with all the +different places for the different kinds of animals—he +too wanted to live with the Doctor. +He asked couldn’t he sleep in the fish-pond at +the bottom of the garden, if he promised not +to eat the fish. When the circus-men came to +take him back he got so wild and savage that +he frightened them away. But to every one in +the house he was always as gentle as a kitten.</p> + +<p>But now the old ladies grew afraid to send +their lap-dogs to Doctor Dolittle because of the +crocodile; and the farmers wouldn’t believe that +he would not eat the lambs and sick calves they +brought to be cured. So the Doctor went to +the crocodile and told him he must go back +to his circus. But he wept such big tears, and +begged so hard to be allowed to stay, that the +Doctor hadn’t the heart to turn him out.</p> + +<p>So then the Doctor’s sister came to him and +said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + +<p>“John, you must send that creature away. +Now the farmers and the old ladies are afraid +to send their animals to you—just as we were +beginning to be well off again. Now we shall +be ruined entirely. This is the last straw. I +will no longer be housekeeper for you if you +don’t send away that alligator.”</p> + +<p>“It isn’t an alligator,” said the Doctor—“it’s +a crocodile.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t care what you call it,” said his sister. +“It’s a nasty thing to find under the bed. I +won’t have it in the house.”</p> + +<p>“But he has promised me,” the Doctor answered, +“that he will not bite any one. He +doesn’t like the circus; and I haven’t the money +to send him back to Africa where he comes +from. He minds his own business and on the +whole is very well behaved. Don’t be so +fussy.”</p> + +<p>“I tell you I <i>will not</i> have him around,” said +Sarah. “He eats the linoleum. If you don’t +send him away this minute I’ll—I’ll go and get +married!”</p> + +<p>“All right,” said the Doctor, “go and get married.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +It can’t be helped.” And he took down +his hat and went out into the garden.</p> + +<p>So Sarah Dolittle packed up her things and +went off; and the Doctor was left all alone with +his animal family.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 436px;"> +<img src="images/i-041.jpg" width="436" height="287" alt="Doctor's sister dn doctor with alligator looking on" /> +<div class="caption">“‘All right,’ said the Doctor, ‘go and get married’”</div> +</div> + +<p>And very soon he was poorer than he had +ever been before. With all these mouths to fill, +and the house to look after, and no one to do +the mending, and no money coming in to pay +the butcher’s bill, things began to look very difficult. +But the Doctor didn’t worry at all.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Money is a nuisance,” he used to say. +“We’d all be much better off if it had never +been invented. What does money matter, so +long as we are happy?”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 441px;"> +<img src="images/i-042.jpg" width="441" height="431" alt="Doctor assleep in chair, cow behind him, cat on stairs" /> +<div class="caption">“One evening when the Doctor was asleep in his chair”</div> +</div> + +<p>But soon the animals themselves began to get +worried. And one evening when the Doctor +was asleep in his chair before the kitchen-fire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +they began talking it over among themselves in +whispers. And the owl, Too-Too, who was +good at arithmetic, figured it out that there was +only money enough left to last another week—if +they each had one meal a day and no more.</p> + +<p>Then the parrot said, “I think we all ought +to do the housework ourselves. At least we can +do that much. After all, it is for our sakes that +the old man finds himself so lonely and so +poor.”</p> + +<p>So it was agreed that the monkey, Chee-Chee, +was to do the cooking and mending; the dog +was to sweep the floors; the duck was to dust +and make the beds; the owl, Too-Too, was to +keep the accounts, and the pig was to do the +gardening. They made Polynesia, the parrot, +housekeeper and laundress, because she was the +oldest.</p> + +<p>Of course at first they all found their new +jobs very hard to do—all except Chee-Chee, who +had hands, and could do things like a man. But +they soon got used to it; and they used to think +it great fun to watch Jip, the dog, sweeping +his tail over the floor with a rag tied onto it for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +a broom. After a little they got to do the work +so well that the Doctor said that he had never +had his house kept so tidy or so clean before.</p> + +<p>In this way things went along all right for a +while; but without money they found it very +hard.</p> + +<p>Then the animals made a vegetable and flower +stall outside the garden-gate and sold radishes +and roses to the people that passed by along the +road.</p> + +<p>But still they didn’t seem to make enough +money to pay all the bills—and still the Doctor +wouldn’t worry. When the parrot came to +him and told him that the fishmonger wouldn’t +give them any more fish, he said,</p> + +<p>“Never mind. So long as the hens lay eggs +and the cow gives milk we can have omelettes +and junket. And there are plenty of vegetables +left in the garden. The Winter is still a long +way off. Don’t fuss. That was the trouble +with Sarah—she would fuss. I wonder how +Sarah’s getting on—an excellent woman—in +some ways—Well, well!”</p> + +<p>But the snow came earlier than usual that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +year; and although the old lame horse hauled +in plenty of wood from the forest outside the +town, so they could have a big fire in the kitchen, +most of the vegetables in the garden were gone, +and the rest were covered with snow; and many +of the animals were really hungry.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a><br /><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE FOURTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-047.jpg" width="141" height="152" alt="T" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">THAT Winter was a very cold +one. And one night in December, +when they were all sitting +round the warm fire in the +kitchen, and the Doctor was +reading aloud to them out of +books he had written himself in animal-language, +the owl, Too-Too, suddenly said,</p> + +<p>“Sh! What’s that noise outside?”</p> + +<p>They all listened; and presently they heard +the sound of some one running. Then the door +flew open and the monkey, Chee-Chee, ran in, +badly out of breath.</p> + +<p>“Doctor!” he cried, “I’ve just had a message +from a cousin of mine in Africa. There is a +terrible sickness among the monkeys out there. +They are all catching it—and they are dying +in hundreds. They have heard of you, and beg +you to come to Africa to stop the sickness.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Who brought the message?” asked the Doctor, +taking off his spectacles and laying down +his book.</p> + +<p>“A swallow,” said Chee-Chee. “She is outside +on the rain-butt.”</p> + +<p>“Bring her in by the fire,” said the Doctor. +“She must be perished with the cold. The swallows +flew South six weeks ago!”</p> + +<p>So the swallow was brought in, all huddled +and shivering; and although she was a little +afraid at first, she soon got warmed up and sat +on the edge of the mantelpiece and began to +talk.</p> + +<p>When she had finished the Doctor said,</p> + +<p>“I would gladly go to Africa—especially in +this bitter weather. But I’m afraid we haven’t +money enough to buy the tickets. Get me the +money-box, Chee-Chee.”</p> + +<p>So the monkey climbed up and got it off the +top shelf of the dresser.</p> + +<p>There was nothing in it—not one single +penny!</p> + +<p>“I felt sure there was twopence left,” said the +Doctor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> + +<p>“There <i>was</i>” said the owl. “But you spent +it on a rattle for that badger’s baby when he +was teething.”</p> + +<p>“Did I?” said the Doctor—“dear me, dear +me! What a nuisance money is, to be sure! +Well, never mind. Perhaps if I go down to +the seaside I shall be able to borrow a boat that +will take us to Africa. I knew a seaman once +who brought his baby to me with measles. +Maybe he’ll lend us his boat—the baby got +well.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 393px;"> +<img src="images/i-049.jpg" width="393" height="267" alt="dcctor looking into empty can" /> +<div class="caption">“‘I felt sure there was twopence left’”</div> +</div> + +<p>So early the next morning the Doctor went +down to the sea-shore. And when he came back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +he told the animals it was all right—the sailor +was going to lend them the boat.</p> + +<p>Then the crocodile and the monkey and the +parrot were very glad and began to sing, because +they were going back to Africa, their real +home. And the Doctor said,</p> + +<p>“I shall only be able to take you three—with +Jip the dog, Dab-Dab the duck, Gub-Gub the +pig and the owl, Too-Too. The rest of the animals, +like the dormice and the water-voles and +the bats, they will have to go back and live in +the fields where they were born till we come +home again. But as most of them sleep through +the Winter, they won’t mind that—and besides, +it wouldn’t be good for them to go to Africa.”</p> + +<p>So then the parrot, who had been on long sea-voyages +before, began telling the Doctor all the +things he would have to take with him on the +ship.</p> + +<p>“You must have plenty of pilot-bread,” she +said—“‘hard tack’ they call it. And you must +have beef in cans—and an anchor.”</p> + +<p>“I expect the ship will have its own anchor,” +said the Doctor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Well, make sure,” said Polynesia. “Because +it’s very important. You can’t stop if you +haven’t got an anchor. And you’ll need a +bell.”</p> + +<p>“What’s that for?” asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“To tell the time by,” said the parrot. “You +go and ring it every half-hour and then you +know what time it is. And bring a whole lot of +rope—it always comes in handy on voyages.”</p> + +<p>Then they began to wonder where they were +going to get the money from to buy all the +things they needed.</p> + +<p>“Oh, bother it! Money again,” cried the +Doctor. “Goodness! I shall be glad to get to +Africa where we don’t have to have any! I’ll +go and ask the grocer if he will wait for his +money till I get back—No, I’ll send the sailor +to ask him.”</p> + +<p>So the sailor went to see the grocer. And +presently he came back with all the things they +wanted.</p> + +<p>Then the animals packed up; and after they +had turned off the water so the pipes wouldn’t +freeze, and put up the shutters, they closed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +house and gave the key to the old horse who +lived in the stable. And when they had seen +that there was plenty of hay in the loft to last +the horse through the Winter, they carried all +their luggage down to the seashore and got on +to the boat.</p> + +<p>The Cat’s-meat-Man was there to see them +off; and he brought a large suet-pudding as a +present for the Doctor because, he said he had +been told, you couldn’t get suet-puddings in foreign +parts.</p> + +<p>As soon as they were on the ship, Gub-Gub, +the pig, asked where the beds were, for it was +four o’clock in the afternoon and he wanted +his nap. So Polynesia took him downstairs into +the inside of the ship and showed him the beds, +set all on top of one another like book-shelves +against a wall.</p> + +<p>“Why, that isn’t a bed!” cried Gub-Gub. +“That’s a shelf!”</p> + +<p>“Beds are always like that on ships,” said the +parrot. “It isn’t a shelf. Climb up into it and +go to sleep. That’s what you call ‘a bunk.’”</p> + +<p>“I don’t think I’ll go to bed yet,” said Gub-Gub.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a><br /><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +“I’m too excited. I want to go upstairs +again and see them start.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-053.jpg" width="600" height="380" alt="ship in harbor" /> +<div class="caption">“And the voyage began”</div> +</div> + +<p>“Well, this is your first trip,” said Polynesia. +“You will get used to the life after a while.” +And she went back up the stairs of the ship, +humming this song to herself,</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> +<div class="verse">I’ve seen the Black Sea and the Red Sea;</div> +<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">I rounded the Isle of Wight;</span></div> +<div class="verse">I discovered the Yellow River,</div> +<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the Orange too—by night.</span></div> +<div class="verse">Now Greenland drops behind again,</div> +<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And I sail the ocean Blue.</span></div> +<div class="verse">I’m tired of all these colors, Jane,</div> +<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">So I’m coming back to you.</span></div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>They were just going to start on their journey, +when the Doctor said he would have to go back +and ask the sailor the way to Africa.</p> + +<p>But the swallow said she had been to that +country many times and would show them how +to get there.</p> + +<p>So the Doctor told Chee-Chee to pull up the +anchor and the voyage began.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE FIFTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE GREAT JOURNEY</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-055.jpg" width="177" height="148" alt="N" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">NOW for six whole weeks they +went sailing on and on, over +the rolling sea, following the +swallow who flew before the +ship to show them the way. +At night she carried a tiny +lantern, so they should not miss her in the dark; +and the people on the other ships that passed +said that the light must be a shooting star.</p> + +<p>As they sailed further and further into the +South, it got warmer and warmer. Polynesia, +Chee-Chee and the crocodile enjoyed the hot +sun no end. They ran about laughing and looking +over the side of the ship to see if they could +see Africa yet.</p> + +<p>But the pig and the dog and the owl, Too-Too, +could do nothing in such weather, but +sat at the end of the ship in the shade of a big<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +barrel, with their tongues hanging out, drinking +lemonade.</p> + +<p>Dab-Dab, the duck, used to keep herself cool +by jumping into the sea and swimming behind +the ship. And every once in a while, when +the top of her head got too hot, she would dive +under the ship and come up on the other side. +In this way, too, she used to catch herrings on +Tuesdays and Fridays—when everybody on the +boat ate fish to make the beef last longer.</p> + +<p>When they got near to the Equator they saw +some flying-fishes coming towards them. And +the fishes asked the parrot if this was Doctor +Dolittle’s ship. When she told them it was, they +said they were glad, because the monkeys in +Africa were getting worried that he would never +come. Polynesia asked them how many miles +they had yet to go; and the flying-fishes said +it was only fifty-five miles now to the coast of +Africa.</p> + +<p>And another time a whole school of porpoises +came dancing through the waves; and they too +asked Polynesia if this was the ship of the famous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +doctor. And when they heard that it was, +they asked the parrot if the Doctor wanted anything +for his journey.</p> + +<p>And Polynesia said, “Yes. We have run +short of onions.”</p> + +<p>“There is an island not far from here,” said +the porpoises, “where the wild onions grow tall +and strong. Keep straight on—we will get +some and catch up to you.”</p> + +<p>So the porpoises dashed away through the +sea. And very soon the parrot saw them again, +coming up behind, dragging the onions through +the waves in big nets made of seaweed.</p> + +<p>The next evening, as the sun was going down, +the Doctor said,</p> + +<p>“Get me the telescope, Chee-Chee. Our +journey is nearly ended. Very soon we should +be able to see the shores of Africa.”</p> + +<p>And about half an hour later, sure enough, +they thought they could see something in front +that might be land. But it began to get darker +and darker and they couldn’t be sure.</p> + +<p>Then a great storm came up, with thunder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +and lightning. The wind howled; the rain +came down in torrents; and the waves got so +high they splashed right over the boat.</p> + +<p>Presently there was a big BANG! The ship +stopped and rolled over on its side.</p> + +<p>“What’s happened?” asked the Doctor, coming +up from downstairs.</p> + +<p>“I’m not sure,” said the parrot; “but I think +we’re ship-wrecked. Tell the duck to get out +and see.”</p> + +<p>So Dab-Dab dived right down under the +waves. And when she came up she said they +had struck a rock; there was a big hole in the +bottom of the ship; the water was coming in; +and they were sinking fast.</p> + +<p>“We must have run into Africa,” said the +Doctor. “Dear me, dear me!—Well—we must +all swim to land.”</p> + +<p>But Chee-Chee and Gub-Gub did not know +how to swim.</p> + +<p>“Get the rope!” said Polynesia. “I told you +it would come in handy. Where’s that duck? +Come here, Dab-Dab. Take this end of the +rope, fly to the shore and tie it on to a palm-tree;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +and we’ll hold the other end on the ship +here. Then those that can’t swim must climb +along the rope till they reach the land. That’s +what you call a ‘life-line.’”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 428px;"> +<img src="images/i-059.jpg" width="428" height="343" alt="ship wrecked on rocks" /> +<div class="caption">“‘We must have run into Africa’”</div> +</div> + +<p>So they all got safely to the shore—some swimming, +some flying; and those that climbed along +the rope brought the Doctor’s trunk and hand-bag +with them.</p> + +<p>But the ship was no good any more—with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +big hole in the bottom; and presently the rough +sea beat it to pieces on the rocks and the timbers +floated away.</p> + +<p>Then they all took shelter in a nice dry cave +they found, high up in the cliffs, till the storm +was over.</p> + +<p>When the sun came out next morning they +went down to the sandy beach to dry themselves.</p> + +<p>“Dear old Africa!” sighed Polynesia. “It’s +good to get back. Just think—it’ll be a hundred +and sixty-nine years to-morrow since I was +here! And it hasn’t changed a bit!—Same old +palm-trees; same old red earth; same old black +ants! There’s no place like home!”</p> + +<p>And the others noticed she had tears in her +eyes—she was so pleased to see her country once +again.</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor missed his high hat; for it +had been blown into the sea during the storm. +So Dab-Dab went out to look for it. And presently +she saw it, a long way off, floating on the +water like a toy-boat.</p> + +<p>When she flew down to get it, she found one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +of the white mice, very frightened, sitting inside +it.</p> + +<p>“What are you doing here?” asked the duck. +“You were told to stay behind in Puddleby.”</p> + +<p>“I didn’t want to be left behind,” said the +mouse. “I wanted to see what Africa was like—I +have relatives there. So I hid in the baggage +and was brought on to the ship with the +hard-tack. When the ship sank I was terribly +frightened—because I cannot swim far. I +swam as long as I could, but I soon got all exhausted +and thought I was going to sink. And +then, just at that moment, the old man’s hat came +floating by; and I got into it because I did not +want to be drowned.”</p> + +<p>So the duck took up the hat with the mouse in +it and brought it to the Doctor on the shore. +And they all gathered round to have a look.</p> + +<p>“That’s what you call a ‘stowaway,’” said the +parrot.</p> + +<p>Presently, when they were looking for a place +in the trunk where the white mouse could travel +comfortably, the monkey, Chee-Chee, suddenly +said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Sh! I hear footsteps in the jungle!”</p> + +<p>They all stopped talking and listened. And +soon a black man came down out of the woods +and asked them what they were doing there.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i-062.jpg" width="430" height="407" alt="duck looking at mouse in hat" /> +<div class="caption">“‘I got into it because I did not want to be drowned’”</div> +</div> + +<p>“My name is John Dolittle—M.D.,” said the +Doctor. “I have been asked to come to Africa +to cure the monkeys who are sick.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> + +<p>“You must all come before the King,” said the +black man.</p> + +<p>“What king?” asked the Doctor, who didn’t +want to waste any time.</p> + +<p>“The King of the Jolliginki,” the man answered. +“All these lands belong to him; and all +strangers must be brought before him. Follow +me.”</p> + +<p>So they gathered up their baggage and went +off, following the man through the jungle.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a><br /><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE SIXTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>POLYNESIA AND THE KING</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-065.jpg" width="293" height="142" alt="W" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">WHEN they had +gone a little +way through +the thick forest, +they came +to a wide, clear +space; and they saw the King’s palace which was +made of mud.</p> + +<p>This was where the King lived with his +Queen, Ermintrude, and their son, Prince +Bumpo. The Prince was away fishing for salmon +in the river. But the King and Queen +were sitting under an umbrella before the palace +door. And Queen Ermintrude was asleep.</p> + +<p>When the Doctor had come up to the palace +the King asked him his business; and the Doctor +told him why he had come to Africa.</p> + +<p>“You may not travel through my lands,” said +the King. “Many years ago a white man came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +to these shores; and I was very kind to him. +But after he had dug holes in the ground to get +the gold, and killed all the elephants to get their +ivory tusks, he went away secretly in his ship— +without so much as saying ‘Thank you.’ Never +again shall a white man travel through the lands +of Jolliginki.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 312px;"> +<img src="images/i-066.jpg" width="312" height="366" alt="King and queen sitting under an umbrella" /> +<div class="caption">“And Queen Ermintrude was asleep”</div> +</div> + +<p>Then the King turned to some of the black +men who were standing near and said, “Take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +away this medicine-man—with all his animals, +and lock them up in my strongest prison.”</p> + +<p>So six of the black men led the Doctor and +all his pets away and shut them up in a stone +dungeon. The dungeon had only one little window, +high up in the wall, with bars in it; and +the door was strong and thick.</p> + +<p>Then they all grew very sad; and Gub-Gub, +the pig, began to cry. But Chee-Chee said he +would spank him if he didn’t stop that horrible +noise; and he kept quiet.</p> + +<p>“Are we all here?” asked the Doctor, after +he had got used to the dim light.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I think so,” said the duck and started +to count them.</p> + +<p>“Where’s Polynesia?” asked the crocodile. +“She isn’t here.”</p> + +<p>“Are you sure?” said the Doctor. “Look +again. Polynesia! Polynesia! Where are +you?”</p> + +<p>“I suppose she escaped,” grumbled the crocodile. +“Well, that’s just like her!—Sneaked off +into the jungle as soon as her friends got into +trouble.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + +<p>“I’m not that kind of a bird,” said the parrot, +climbing out of the pocket in the tail of the +Doctor’s coat. “You see, I’m small enough to +get through the bars of that window; and I was +afraid they would put me in a cage instead. +So while the King was busy talking, I hid in +the Doctor’s pocket—and here I am! That’s +what you call a ‘ruse,’” she said, smoothing +down her feathers with her beak.</p> + +<p>“Good Gracious!” cried the Doctor. +“You’re lucky I didn’t sit on you.”</p> + +<p>“Now listen,” said Polynesia, “to-night, as +soon as it gets dark, I am going to creep through +the bars of that window and fly over to the +palace. And then—you’ll see—I’ll soon find +a way to make the King let us all out of prison.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, what can <i>you</i> do?” said Gub-Gub, turning +up his nose and beginning to cry again. +“You’re only a bird!”</p> + +<p>“Quite true,” said the parrot. “But do not +forget that although I am only a bird, <i>I can talk +like a man</i>—and I know these darkies.”</p> + +<p>So that night, when the moon was shining +through the palm-trees and all the King’s men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +were asleep, the parrot slipped out through the +bars of the prison and flew across to the palace. +The pantry window had been broken by a tennis +ball the week before; and Polynesia popped +in through the hole in the glass.</p> + +<p>She heard Prince Bumpo snoring in his bedroom +at the back of the palace. Then she tip-toed +up the stairs till she came to the King’s +bedroom. She opened the door gently and +peeped in.</p> + +<p>The Queen was away at a dance that night +at her cousin’s; but the King was in bed fast +asleep.</p> + +<p>Polynesia crept in, very softly, and got under +the bed.</p> + +<p>Then she coughed—just the way Doctor Dolittle +used to cough. Polynesia could mimic +any one.</p> + +<p>The King opened his eyes and said sleepily: +“Is that you, Ermintrude?” (He thought it +was the Queen come back from the dance.)</p> + +<p>Then the parrot coughed again—loud, like a +man. And the King sat up, wide awake, and +said, “Who’s that?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> + +<p>“I am Doctor Dolittle,” said the parrot—just +the way the Doctor would have said it.</p> + +<p>“What are you doing in my bedroom?” cried +the King. “How dare you get out of prison! +Where are you?—I don’t see you.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 322px;"> +<img src="images/i-070.jpg" width="322" height="364" alt="King in bed" /> +<div class="caption">“‘Who’s that?’”</div> +</div> + +<p>But the parrot just laughed—a long, deep, +jolly laugh, like the Doctor’s.</p> + +<p>“Stop laughing and come here at once, so I +can see you,” said the King.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Foolish King!” answered Polynesia. “Have +you forgotten that you are talking to John Dolittle, +M.D.—the most wonderful man on earth? +Of course you cannot see me. I have made myself +invisible. There is nothing I cannot do. +Now listen: I have come here to-night to warn +you. If you don’t let me and my animals travel +through your kingdom, I will make you and all +your people sick like the monkeys. For I can +make people well: and I can make people ill—just +by raising my little finger. Send your soldiers +at once to open the dungeon door, or you +shall have mumps before the morning sun has +risen on the hills of Jolliginki.”</p> + +<p>Then the King began to tremble and was very +much afraid.</p> + +<p>“Doctor,” he cried, “it shall be as you say. +Do not raise your little finger, please!” And he +jumped out of bed and ran to tell the soldiers +to open the prison door.</p> + +<p>As soon as he was gone, Polynesia crept downstairs +and left the palace by the pantry window.</p> + +<p>But the Queen, who was just letting herself +in at the backdoor with a latch-key, saw the parrot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +getting out through the broken glass. And +when the King came back to bed she told him +what she had seen.</p> + +<p>Then the King understood that he had been +tricked, and he was dreadfully angry. He hurried +back to the prison at once.</p> + +<p>But he was too late. The door stood open. +The dungeon was empty. The Doctor and all +his animals were gone.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE SEVENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE BRIDGE OF APES</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-073.jpg" width="149" height="190" alt="Q" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">QUEEN ERMINTRUDE had +never in her life seen her husband +so terrible as he got that +night. He gnashed his teeth +with rage. He called everybody +a fool. He threw his +tooth-brush at the palace cat. He rushed round +in his night-shirt and woke up all his army and +sent them into the jungle to catch the Doctor. +Then he made all his servants go too—his cooks +and his gardeners and his barber and Prince +Bumpo’s tutor—even the Queen, who was tired +from dancing in a pair of tight shoes, was packed +off to help the soldiers in their search.</p> + +<p>All this time the Doctor and his animals were +running through the forest towards the Land of +the Monkeys as fast as they could go.</p> + +<p>Gub-Gub, with his short legs, soon got tired; +and the Doctor had to carry him—which made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +it pretty hard when they had the trunk and the +hand-bag with them as well.</p> + +<p>The King of the Jolliginki thought it would +be easy for his army to find them, because the +Doctor was in a strange land and would not +know his way. But he was wrong; because the +monkey, Chee-Chee, knew all the paths through +the jungle—better even than the King’s men did. +And he led the Doctor and his pets to the very +thickest part of the forest—a place where no +man had ever been before—and hid them all in +a big hollow tree between high rocks.</p> + +<p>“We had better wait here,” said Chee-Chee, +“till the soldiers have gone back to bed. Then +we can go on into the Land of the Monkeys.”</p> + +<p>So there they stayed the whole night through.</p> + +<p>They often heard the King’s men searching +and talking in the jungle round about. But +they were quite safe, for no one knew of that +hiding-place but Chee-Chee—not even the other +monkeys.</p> + +<p>At last, when daylight began to come through +the thick leaves overhead, they heard Queen +Ermintrude saying in a very tired voice that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +was no use looking any more—that they might +as well go back and get some sleep.</p> + +<p>As soon as the soldiers had all gone home, +Chee-Chee brought the Doctor and his animals +out of the hiding-place and they set off for the +Land of the Monkeys.</p> + +<p>It was a long, long way; and they often got +very tired—especially Gub-Gub. But when he +cried they gave him milk out of the cocoanuts, +which he was very fond of.</p> + +<p>They always had plenty to eat and drink; because +Chee-Chee and Polynesia knew all the +different kinds of fruits and vegetables that grow +in the jungle, and where to find them—like +dates and figs and ground-nuts and ginger and +yams. They used to make their lemonade out of +the juice of wild oranges, sweetened with honey +which they got from the bees’ nests in hollow +trees. No matter what it was they asked +for, Chee-Chee and Polynesia always seemed to +be able to get it for them—or something like it. +They even got the Doctor some tobacco one day, +when he had finished what he had brought with +him and wanted to smoke.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> + +<p>At night they slept in tents made of palm-leaves, +on thick, soft beds of dried grass. And +after a while they got used to walking such a lot +and did not get so tired and enjoyed the life of +travel very much.</p> + +<p>But they were always glad when the night +came and they stopped for their resting-time. +Then the Doctor used to make a little fire of +sticks; and after they had had their supper, they +would sit round it in a ring, listening to Polynesia +singing songs about the sea, or to Chee-Chee +telling stories of the jungle.</p> + +<p>And many of the tales that Chee-Chee told +were very interesting. Because although the +monkeys had no history-books of their own before +Doctor Dolittle came to write them for +them, they remember everything that happens by +telling stories to their children. And Chee-Chee +spoke of many things his grandmother had told +him—tales of long, long, long ago, before Noah +and the Flood,—of the days when men dressed +in bear-skins and lived in holes in the rock and +ate their mutton raw, because they did not know +what cooking was—having never seen a fire.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +And he told them of the Great Mammoths and +Lizards, as long as a train, that wandered over +the mountains in those times, nibbling from the +tree-tops. And often they got so interested +listening, that when he had finished they found +their fire had gone right out; and they had to +scurry round to get more sticks and build a new +one.</p> + +<p>Now when the King’s army had gone back +and told the King that they couldn’t find the +Doctor, the King sent them out again and told +them they must stay in the jungle till they caught +him. So all this time, while the Doctor and his +animals were going along towards the Land of +the Monkeys, thinking themselves quite safe, +they were still being followed by the King’s men. +If Chee-Chee had known this, he would most +likely have hidden them again. But he didn’t +know it.</p> + +<p>One day Chee-Chee climbed up a high rock +and looked out over the tree-tops. And when +he came down he said they were now quite close +to the Land of the Monkeys and would soon +be there.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p> + +<p>And that same evening, sure enough, they saw +Chee-Chee’s cousin and a lot of other monkeys, +who had not yet got sick, sitting in the trees by +the edge of a swamp, looking and waiting for +them. And when they saw the famous doctor +really come, these monkeys made a tremendous +noise, cheering and waving leaves and swinging +out of the branches to greet him.</p> + +<p>They wanted to carry his bag and his trunk +and everything he had—and one of the bigger +ones even carried Gub-Gub who had got tired +again. Then two of them rushed on in front to +tell the sick monkeys that the great doctor had +come at last.</p> + +<p>But the King’s men, who were still following, +had heard the noise of the monkeys cheering; +and they at last knew where the Doctor was, +and hastened on to catch him.</p> + +<p>The big monkey carrying Gub-Gub was coming +along behind slowly, and he saw the Captain +of the army sneaking through the trees. +So he hurried after the Doctor and told him to +run.</p> + +<p>Then they all ran harder than they had ever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a><br /><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +run in their lives; and the King’s men, coming +after them, began to run too; and the Captain +ran hardest of all.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-079.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt="Monkeys in jungle, doctor in distance" /> +<div class="caption">“Cheering and waving leaves and swinging out of the branches to greet him”</div> +</div> + +<p>Then the Doctor tripped over his medicine-bag +and fell down in the mud, and the Captain +thought he would surely catch him this time.</p> + +<p>But the Captain had very long ears—though +his hair was very short. And as he sprang forward +to take hold of the Doctor, one of his ears +caught fast in a tree; and the rest of the army +had to stop and help him.</p> + +<p>By this time the Doctor had picked himself +up, and on they went again, running and running. +And Chee-Chee shouted,</p> + +<p>“It’s all right! We haven’t far to go now!”</p> + +<p>But before they could get into the Land of +the Monkeys, they came to a steep cliff with a +river flowing below. This was the end of the +Kingdom of Jolliginki; and the Land of the +Monkeys was on the other side—across the +river.</p> + +<p>And Jip, the dog, looked down over the edge +of the steep, steep cliff and said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Golly! How are we ever going to get +across?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, dear!” said Gub-Gub. “The King’s +men are quite close now—Look at them! I am +afraid we are going to be taken back to prison +again.” And he began to weep.</p> + +<p>But the big monkey who was carrying the +pig dropped him on the ground and cried out +to the other monkeys,</p> + +<p>“Boys—a bridge! Quick!—Make a bridge! +We’ve only a minute to do it. They’ve got the +Captain loose, and he’s coming on like a deer. +Get lively! A bridge! A bridge!”</p> + +<p>The Doctor began to wonder what they were +going to make a bridge out of, and he gazed +around to see if they had any boards hidden any +place.</p> + +<p>But when he looked back at the cliff, there, +hanging across the river, was a bridge all ready +for him—made of living monkeys! For while +his back was turned, the monkeys—quick as a +flash—had made themselves into a bridge, just +by holding hands and feet.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> + +<p>And the big one shouted to the Doctor, “Walk +over! Walk over—all of you—hurry!”</p> + +<p>Gub-Gub was a bit scared, walking on such +a narrow bridge at that dizzy height above the +river. But he got over all right; and so did all +of them.</p> + +<p>John Dolittle was the last to cross. And just +as he was getting to the other side, the King’s +men came rushing up to the edge of the cliff.</p> + +<p>Then they shook their fists and yelled with +rage. For they saw they were too late. The +Doctor and all his animals were safe in the Land +of the Monkeys and the bridge was pulled across +to the other side.</p> + +<p>Then Chee-Chee turned to the Doctor and +said,</p> + +<p>“Many great explorers and gray-bearded +naturalists have lain long weeks hidden in the +jungle waiting to see the monkeys do that trick. +But we never let a white man get a glimpse of it +before. You are the first to see the famous +‘Bridge of Apes.’”</p> + +<p>And the Doctor felt very pleased.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/i-083.jpg" width="550" height="369" alt="doctor and Gub-Gub going over monkey bridge" /> +<div class="caption">“John Dolittle was the last to cross”</div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a><br /><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE EIGHTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE LEADER OF THE LIONS</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-085.jpg" width="100" height="135" alt="J" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">JOHN DOLITTLE now became +dreadfully, awfully busy. He +found hundreds and thousands of +monkeys sick—gorillas, orang-outangs, +chimpanzees, dog-faced baboons, +marmosettes, gray monkeys, +red ones—all kinds. And many had died.</p> + +<p>The first thing he did was to separate the +sick ones from the well ones. Then he got +Chee-Chee and his cousin to build him a little +house of grass. The next thing: he made all +the monkeys who were still well come and be +vaccinated.</p> + +<p>And for three days and three nights the +monkeys kept coming from the jungles and the +valleys and the hills to the little house of grass, +where the Doctor sat all day and all night, vaccinating +and vaccinating.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-086.jpg" width="600" height="360" alt="hundreds of monkeys lined up at door of hut" /> +<div class="caption">“He made all the monkeys who were still well come and be vaccinated”</div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then he had another house made—a big one, +with a lot of beds in it; and he put all the sick +ones in this house.</p> + +<p>But so many were sick, there were not enough +well ones to do the nursing. So he sent messages +to the other animals, like the lions and the +leopards and the antelopes, to come and help +with the nursing.</p> + +<p>But the Leader of the Lions was a very proud +creature. And when he came to the Doctor’s +big house full of beds he seemed angry and +scornful.</p> + +<p>“Do you dare to ask me, Sir?” he said, glaring +at the Doctor. “Do you dare to ask me—<i>ME, +the King of Beasts</i>, to wait on a lot of dirty +monkeys? Why, I wouldn’t even eat them between +meals!”</p> + +<p>Although the lion looked very terrible, the +Doctor tried hard not to seem afraid of him.</p> + +<p>“I didn’t ask you to eat them,” he said quietly. +“And besides, they’re not dirty. They’ve all +had a bath this morning. <i>Your</i> coat looks as +though it needed brushing—badly. Now +listen, and I’ll tell you something: the day may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +come when the lions get sick. And if you don’t +help the other animals now, the lions may find +themselves left all alone when <i>they</i> are in +trouble. That often happens to proud people.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 378px;"> +<img src="images/i-088.jpg" width="378" height="285" alt="Doctor and lion talking" /> +<div class="caption">“‘<i>ME, the King of Beasts</i>, to wait on a lot of dirty +monkeys?’”</div> +</div> + +<p>“The lions are never <i>in</i> trouble—they only +<i>make</i> trouble,” said the Leader, turning up his +nose. And he stalked away into the jungle, feeling +he had been rather smart and clever.</p> + +<p>Then the leopards got proud too and said +they wouldn’t help. And then of course the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +antelopes—although they were too shy and timid +to be rude to the Doctor like the lion—<i>they</i> +pawed the ground, and smiled foolishly, and said +they had never been nurses before.</p> + +<p>And now the poor Doctor was worried frantic, +wondering where he could get help enough +to take care of all these thousands of monkeys +in bed.</p> + +<p>But the Leader of the Lions, when he got +back to his den, saw his wife, the Queen Lioness, +come running out to meet him with her hair untidy.</p> + +<p>“One of the cubs won’t eat,” she said. “I +don’t know <i>what</i> to do with him. He hasn’t +taken a thing since last night.”</p> + +<p>And she began to cry and shake with nervousness—for +she was a good mother, even though +she was a lioness.</p> + +<p>So the Leader went into his den and looked +at his children—two very cunning little cubs, lying +on the floor. And one of them seemed quite +poorly.</p> + +<p>Then the lion told his wife, quite proudly, just +what he had said to the Doctor. And she got<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +so angry she nearly drove him out of the den.</p> + +<p>“You never <i>did</i> have a grain of sense!” she +screamed. “All the animals from here to the +Indian Ocean are talking about this wonderful +man, and how he can cure any kind of sickness, +and how kind he is—the only man in the whole +world who can talk the language of the animals! +And now, <i>now</i>—when we have a sick baby on +our hands, you must go and offend him! You +great booby! Nobody but a fool is ever rude +to a <i>good</i> doctor. You—,” and she started pulling +her husband’s hair.</p> + +<p>“Go back to that white man at once,” she +yelled, “and tell him you’re sorry. And take +all the other empty-headed lions with you—and +those stupid leopards and antelopes. Then +do everything the Doctor tells you. Work like +niggers! And perhaps he will be kind enough +to come and see the cub later. Now be off!—<i>Hurry</i>, +I tell you! You’re not fit to be a +father!”</p> + +<p>And she went into the den next door, where +another mother-lion lived, and told her all about +it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> + +<p>So the Leader of the Lions went back to the +Doctor and said, “I happened to be passing this +way and thought I’d look in. Got any help +yet?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said the Doctor. “I haven’t. And +I’m dreadfully worried.”</p> + +<p>“Help’s pretty hard to get these days,” said +the lion. “Animals don’t seem to want to work +any more. You can’t blame them—in a way.... +Well, seeing you’re in difficulties, I don’t +mind doing what I can—just to oblige you—so +long as I don’t have to wash the creatures. +And I have told all the other hunting animals +to come and do their share. The leopards +should be here any minute now.... Oh, and +by the way, we’ve got a sick cub at home. I +don’t think there’s much the matter with him +myself. But the wife is anxious. If you are +around that way this evening, you might take +a look at him, will you?”</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor was very happy; for all the +lions and the leopards and the antelopes and +the giraffes and the zebras—all the animals of +the forests and the mountains and the plains—came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +to help him in his work. There were +so many of them that he had to send some away, +and only kept the cleverest.</p> + +<p>And now very soon the monkeys began to +get better. At the end of a week the big house +full of beds were half empty. And at the end +of the second week the last monkey had got +well.</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor’s work was done; and he was +so tired he went to bed and slept for three days +without even turning over.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE NINTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE MONKEYS’ COUNCIL</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-093.jpg" width="128" height="137" alt="C" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">CHEE-CHEE stood outside the +Doctor’s door, keeping everybody +away till he woke up. +Then John Dolittle told the +monkeys that he must now go +back to Puddleby.</p> + +<p>They were very surprised at this; for they +had thought that he was going to stay with them +forever. And that night all the monkeys got +together in the jungle to talk it over.</p> + +<p>And the Chief Chimpanzee rose up and said,</p> + +<p>“Why is it the good man is going away? Is +he not happy here with us?”</p> + +<p>But none of them could answer him.</p> + +<p>Then the Grand Gorilla got up and said,</p> + +<p>“I think we all should go to him and ask him +to stay. Perhaps if we make him a new house +and a bigger bed, and promise him plenty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +of monkey-servants to work for him and to +make life pleasant for him—perhaps then he +will not wish to go.”</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 205px;"> +<img src="images/i-094.jpg" width="205" height="444" alt="goriila among many monkeys" /> +<div class="caption">“Then the Grand Gorilla +got up”</div> +</div> +<p>Then Chee-Chee got +up; and all the others +whispered, “Sh! Look! +Chee-Chee, the great +Traveler, is about to +speak!”</p> + +<p>And Chee-Chee said +to the other monkeys,</p> + +<p>“My friends, I am +afraid it is useless to ask +the Doctor to stay. He +owes money in Puddleby; +and he says he must +go back and pay it.”</p> + +<p>And the monkeys +asked him, “What is +<i>money</i>?”</p> + +<p>Then Chee-Chee told +them that in the Land +of the White Men you could get nothing without +money; you could <i>do</i> nothing without money—that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +it was almost impossible to <i>live</i> without +money.</p> + +<p>And some of them asked, “But can you not +even eat and drink without paying?”</p> + +<p>But Chee-Chee shook his head. And then he +told them that even he, when he was with the +organ-grinder, had been made to ask the children +for money.</p> + +<p>And the Chief Chimpanzee turned to the +Oldest Orang-outang and said, “Cousin, surely +these Men be strange creatures! Who would +wish to live in such a land? My gracious, how +paltry!”</p> + +<p>Then Chee-Chee said,</p> + +<p>“When we were coming to you we had no +boat to cross the sea in and no money to buy +food to eat on our journey. So a man lent us +some biscuits; and we said we would pay him +when we came back. And we borrowed a boat +from a sailor; but it was broken on the rocks +when we reached the shores of Africa. Now +the Doctor says he must go back and get the +sailor another boat—because the man was poor +and his ship was all he had.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> + +<p>And the monkeys were all silent for a while, +sitting quite still upon the ground and thinking +hard.</p> + +<p>At last the Biggest Baboon got up and said,</p> + +<p>“I do not think we ought to let this good man +leave our land till we have given him a fine +present to take with him, so that he may know +we are grateful for all that he has done for +us.”</p> + +<p>And a little, tiny red monkey who was sitting +up in a tree shouted down,</p> + +<p>“I think that too!”</p> + +<p>And then they all cried out, making a great +noise, “Yes, yes. Let us give him the finest +present a White Man ever had!”</p> + +<p>Now they began to wonder and ask one another +what would be the best thing to give him. +And one said, “Fifty bags of cocoanuts!” And +another—“A hundred bunches of bananas!—At +least he shall not have to buy his fruit in the +Land Where You Pay to Eat!”</p> + +<p>But Chee-Chee told them that all these +things would be too heavy to carry so far and +would go bad before half was eaten.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<p>“If you want to please him,” he said, “give +him an animal. You may be sure he will be +kind to it. Give him some rare animal they +have not got in the menageries.”</p> + +<p>And the monkeys asked him, “What are +<i>menageries</i>?”</p> + +<p>Then Chee-Chee explained to them that +menageries were places in the Land of the +White Men, where animals were put in cages +for people to come and look at. And the +monkeys were very shocked and said to one +another,</p> + +<p>“These Men are like thoughtless young ones—stupid +and easily amused. Sh! It is a prison +he means.”</p> + +<p>So then they asked Chee-Chee what rare animal +it could be that they should give the Doctor—one +the White Men had not seen before. +And the Major of the Marmosettes asked,</p> + +<p>“Have they an iguana over there?”</p> + +<p>But Chee-Chee said, “Yes, there is one in the +London Zoo.”</p> + +<p>And another asked, “Have they an okapi?”</p> + +<p>But Chee-Chee said, “Yes. In Belgium<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>, +where my organ-grinder took me five years ago, +they had an okapi in a big city they call Antwerp.”</p> + +<p>And another asked, “Have they a pushmi-pullyu?”</p> + +<p>Then Chee-Chee said, “No. No White +Man has ever seen a pushmi-pullyu. Let us +give him that.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE TENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-099.jpg" width="115" height="185" alt="P" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">PUSHMI-PULLYUS are now +extinct. That means, there +aren’t any more. But long ago, +when Doctor Dolittle was alive, +there were some of them still left +in the deepest jungles of Africa; +and even then they were very, very +scarce. They had no tail, but a head at each end, +and sharp horns on each head. They were very +shy and terribly hard to catch. The black men +get most of their animals by sneaking up behind +them while they are not looking. But you could +not do this with the pushmi-pullyu—because, no +matter which way you came towards him, he +was always facing you. And besides, only one +half of him slept at a time. The other head +was always awake—and watching. This was +why they were never caught and never seen in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +Zoos. Though many of the greatest huntsmen +and the cleverest menagerie-keepers spent +years of their lives searching through the +jungles in all weathers for pushmi-pullyus, not a +single one had ever been caught. Even then, +years ago, he was the only animal in the world +with two heads.</p> + +<p>Well, the monkeys set out hunting for this +animal through the forest. And after they had +gone a good many miles, one of them found +peculiar footprints near the edge of a river; +and they knew that a pushmi-pullyu must be +very near that spot.</p> + +<p>Then they went along the bank of the river +a little way and they saw a place where the +grass was high and thick; and they guessed that +he was in there.</p> + +<p>So they all joined hands and made a great +circle round the high grass. The pushmi-pullyu +heard them coming; and he tried hard +to break through the ring of monkeys. But he +couldn’t do it. When he saw that it was no +use trying to escape, he sat down and waited to +see what they wanted.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> + +<p>They asked him if he would go with Doctor +Dolittle and be put on show in the Land of the +White Men.</p> + +<p>But he shook both his heads hard and said, +“Certainly not!”</p> + +<p>They explained to him that he would not be +shut up in a menagerie but would just be looked +at. They told him that the Doctor was a very +kind man but hadn’t any money; and people +would pay to see a two-headed animal and the +Doctor would get rich and could pay for the boat +he had borrowed to come to Africa in.</p> + +<p>But he answered, “No. You know how shy +I am—I hate being stared at.” And he almost +began to cry.</p> + +<p>Then for three days they tried to persuade +him.</p> + +<p>And at the end of the third day he said he +would come with them and see what kind of a +man the Doctor was, first.</p> + +<p>So the monkeys traveled back with the +pushmi-pullyu. And when they came to where +the Doctor’s little house of grass was, they +knocked on the door.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> + +<p>The duck, who was packing the trunk, said, +“Come in!”</p> + +<p>And Chee-Chee very proudly took the animal +inside and showed him to the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“What in the world is it?” asked John Dolittle, +gazing at the strange creature.</p> + +<p>“Lord save us!” cried the duck. “How does +it make up its mind?”</p> + +<p>“It doesn’t look to me as though it had any,” +said Jip, the dog.</p> + +<p>“This, Doctor,” said Chee-Chee, “is the +pushmi-pullyu—the rarest animal of the African +jungles, the only two-headed beast in the +world! Take him home with you and your +fortune’s made. People will pay any money to +see him.”</p> + +<p>“But I don’t want any money,” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Yes, you do,” said Dab-Dab, the duck. +“Don’t you remember how we had to pinch +and scrape to pay the butcher’s bill in Puddleby? +And how are you going to get the +sailor the new boat you spoke of—unless we have +the money to buy it?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-103.jpg" width="600" height="345" alt="gcoup looking at the Pushmi-Pullyu" /> +<div class="caption">“‘Lord save us!’ cried the duck. ‘How does it make up its mind?’”</div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p> + +<p>“I was going to make him one,” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Oh, do be sensible!” cried Dab-Dab. +“Where would you get all the wood and the +nails to make one with?—And besides, what are +we going to live on? We shall be poorer than +ever when we get back. Chee-Chee’s perfectly +right: take the funny-looking thing along, do!”</p> + +<p>“Well, perhaps there is something in what +you say,” murmured the Doctor. “It certainly +would make a nice new kind of pet. But does +the er—what-do-you-call-it really want to go +abroad?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I’ll go,” said the pushmi-pullyu who +saw at once, from the Doctor’s face, that he was +a man to be trusted. “You have been so kind +to the animals here—and the monkeys tell me +that I am the only one who will do. But you +must promise me that if I do not like it in the +Land of the White Men you will send me +back.”</p> + +<p>“Why, certainly—of course, of course,” said +the Doctor. “Excuse me, surely you are related +to the Deer Family, are you not?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the pushmi-pullyu—“to the +Abyssinian Gazelles and the Asiatic Chamois—on +my mother’s side. My father’s great-grandfather +was the last of the Unicorns.”</p> + +<p>“Most interesting!” murmured the Doctor; +and he took a book out of the trunk which Dab-Dab +was packing and began turning the pages. +“Let us see if Buffon says anything—”</p> + +<p>“I notice,” said the duck, “that you only talk +with one of your mouths. Can’t the other head +talk as well?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes,” said the pushmi-pullyu. “But I +keep the other mouth for eating—mostly. In +that way I can talk while I am eating without +being rude. Our people have always been very +polite.”</p> + +<p>When the packing was finished and everything +was ready to start, the monkeys gave a +grand party for the Doctor, and all the animals +of the jungle came. And they had pineapples +and mangoes and honey and all sorts of good +things to eat and drink.</p> + +<p>After they had all finished eating, the Doctor +got up and said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> + +<p>“My friends: I am not clever at speaking +long words after dinner, like some men; and I +have just eaten many fruits and much honey. +But I wish to tell you that I am very sad at +leaving your beautiful country. Because I have +things to do in the Land of the White Men, I +must go. After I have gone, remember never +to let the flies settle on your food before you +eat it; and do not sleep on the ground when the +rains are coming. I—er—er—I hope you will +all live happily ever after.”</p> + +<p>When the Doctor stopped speaking and sat +down, all the monkeys clapped their hands a +long time and said to one another, “Let it be +remembered always among our people that he +sat and ate with us, here, under the trees. For +surely he is the Greatest of Men!”</p> + +<p>And the Grand Gorilla, who had the strength +of seven horses in his hairy arms, rolled a great +rock up to the head of the table and said,</p> + +<p>“This stone for all time shall mark the spot.”</p> + +<p>And even to this day, in the heart of the jungle, +that stone still is there. And monkey-mothers, +passing through the forest with their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +families, still point down at it from the branches +and whisper to their children, “Sh! There it +is—look—where the Good White Man sat and +ate food with us in the Year of the Great Sickness!”</p> + +<p>Then, when the party was over, the Doctor +and his pets started out to go back to the seashore. +And all the monkeys went with him as +far as the edge of their country, carrying his +trunk and bags, to see him off.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a><br /><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE BLACK PRINCE</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-109.jpg" width="131" height="155" alt="B" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">BY the edge of the river they +stopped and said farewell.</p> + +<p>This took a long time, because +all those thousands of monkeys +wanted to shake John Dolittle by +the hand.</p> + +<p>Afterwards, when the Doctor and his pets +were going on alone, Polynesia said,</p> + +<p>“We must tread softly and talk low as we +go through the land of the Jolliginki. If the +King should hear us, he will send his soldiers +to catch us again; for I am sure he is still very +angry over the trick I played on him.”</p> + +<p>“What I am wondering,” said the Doctor, +“is where we are going to get another boat to +go home in.... Oh well, perhaps we’ll find +one lying about on the beach that nobody is +using. ‘Never lift your foot till you come to +the stile.’”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> + +<p>One day, while they were passing through +a very thick part of the forest, Chee-Chee went +ahead of them to look for cocoanuts. And +while he was away, the Doctor and the rest of +the animals, who did not know the jungle-paths +so well, got lost in the deep woods. They wandered +around and around but could not find +their way down to the seashore.</p> + +<p>Chee-Chee, when he could not see them anywhere, +was terribly upset. He climbed high +trees and looked out from the top branches to +try and see the Doctor’s high hat; he waved and +shouted; he called to all the animals by name. +But it was no use. They seemed to have disappeared +altogether.</p> + +<p>Indeed they had lost their way very badly. +They had strayed a long way off the path, and +the jungle was so thick with bushes and creepers +and vines that sometimes they could hardly +move at all, and the Doctor had to take out +his pocket-knife and cut his way along. They +stumbled into wet, boggy places; they got all +tangled up in thick convolvulus-runners; they +scratched themselves on thorns, and twice they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +nearly lost the medicine-bag in the under-brush. +There seemed no end to their troubles; and +nowhere could they come upon a path.</p> + +<p>At last, after blundering about like this for +many days, getting their clothes torn and their +faces covered with mud, they walked right into +the King’s back-garden by mistake. The King’s +men came running up at once and caught them.</p> + +<p>But Polynesia flew into a tree in the garden, +without anybody seeing her, and hid herself. +The Doctor and the rest were taken before the +King.</p> + +<p>“Ha, ha!” cried the King. “So you are +caught again! This time you shall not escape. +Take them all back to prison and put double +locks on the door. This White Man shall +scrub my kitchen-floor for the rest of his +life!”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor and his pets were led back to +prison and locked up. And the Doctor was told +that in the morning he must begin scrubbing the +kitchen-floor.</p> + +<p>They were all very unhappy.</p> + +<p>“This is a great nuisance,” said the Doctor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +“I really must get back to Puddleby. That +poor sailor will think I’ve stolen his ship if I +don’t get home soon.... I wonder if those +hinges are loose.”</p> + +<p>But the door was very strong and firmly +locked. There seemed no chance of getting out. +Then Gub-Gub began to cry again.</p> + +<p>All this time Polynesia was still sitting in the +tree in the palace-garden. She was saying nothing +and blinking her eyes.</p> + +<p>This was always a very bad sign with Polynesia. +Whenever she said nothing and blinked +her eyes, it meant that somebody had been making +trouble, and she was thinking out some way +to put things right. People who made trouble +for Polynesia or her friends were nearly always +sorry for it afterwards.</p> + +<p>Presently she spied Chee-Chee swinging +through the trees still looking for the Doctor. +When Chee-Chee saw her, he came into her +tree and asked her what had become of him.</p> + +<p>“The Doctor and all the animals have been +caught by the King’s men and locked up again,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +whispered Polynesia. “We lost our way in the +jungle and blundered into the palace-garden by +mistake.”</p> + +<p>“But couldn’t you guide them?” asked Chee-Chee; +and he began to scold the parrot for letting +them get lost while he was away looking +for the cocoanuts.</p> + +<p>“It was all that stupid pig’s fault,” said +Polynesia. “He would keep running off the +path hunting for ginger-roots. And I was kept +so busy catching him and bringing him back, +that I turned to the left, instead of the right, +when we reached the swamp.—Sh!—Look! +There’s Prince Bumpo coming into the garden! +He must not see us.—Don’t move, whatever you +do!”</p> + +<p>And there, sure enough, was Prince Bumpo, +the King’s son, opening the garden-gate. He +carried a book of fairy-tales under his arm. He +came strolling down the gravel-walk, humming +a sad song, till he reached a stone seat right under +the tree where the parrot and the monkey +were hiding. Then he lay down on the seat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +and began reading the fairy-stories to himself.</p> + +<p>Chee-Chee and Polynesia watched him, +keeping very quiet and still.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 431px;"> +<img src="images/i-114.jpg" width="431" height="487" alt="King lying down reading" /> +<div class="caption">“He began reading the fairy-stories to himself”</div> +</div> + +<p>After a while the King’s son laid the book +down and sighed a weary sigh.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> + +<p>“If I were only a <i>white</i> prince!” said he, with +a dreamy, far-away look in his eyes.</p> + +<p>Then the parrot, talking in a small, high voice +like a little girl, said aloud,</p> + +<p>“Bumpo, some one might turn thee into a +white prince perchance.”</p> + +<p>The King’s son started up off the seat and +looked all around.</p> + +<p>“What is this I hear?” he cried. “Methought +the sweet music of a fairy’s silver voice rang +from yonder bower! Strange!”</p> + +<p>“Worthy Prince,” said Polynesia, keeping +very still so Bumpo couldn’t see her, “thou sayest +winged words of truth. For ’tis I, Tripsitinka, +the Queen of the Fairies, that speak to +thee. I am hiding in a rose-bud.”</p> + +<p>“Oh tell me, Fairy-Queen,” cried Bumpo, +clasping his hands in joy, “who is it can turn +me white?”</p> + +<p>“In thy father’s prison,” said the parrot, “there +lies a famous wizard, John Dolittle by name. +Many things he knows of medicine and magic, +and mighty deeds has he performed. Yet thy +kingly father leaves him languishing long and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +lingering hours. Go to him, brave Bumpo, +secretly, when the sun has set; and behold, thou +shalt be made the whitest prince that ever won +fair lady! I have said enough. I must now go +back to Fairyland. Farewell!”</p> + +<p>“Farewell!” cried the Prince. “A thousand +thanks, good Tripsitinka!”</p> + +<p>And he sat down on the seat again with a smile +upon his face, waiting for the sun to set.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE TWELFTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>MEDICINE AND MAGIC</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-117.jpg" width="175" height="140" alt="V" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">VERY, very quietly, making +sure that no one should see +her, Polynesia then slipped +out at the back of the tree +and flew across to the +prison.</p> + +<p>She found Gub-Gub poking his nose through +the bars of the window, trying to sniff the +cooking-smells that came from the palace-kitchen. +She told the pig to bring the Doctor +to the window because she wanted to speak to +him. So Gub-Gub went and woke the Doctor +who was taking a nap.</p> + +<p>“Listen,” whispered the parrot, when John +Dolittle’s face appeared: “Prince Bumpo is +coming here to-night to see you. And you’ve +got to find some way to turn him white. But +be sure to make him promise you first that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +will open the prison-door and find a ship for +you to cross the sea in.”</p> + +<p>“This is all very well,” said the Doctor. +“But it isn’t so easy to turn a black man white. +You speak as though he were a dress to be re-dyed. +It’s not so simple. ‘Shall the leopard +change his spots, or the Ethiopian his skin,’ you +know?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know anything about that,” said +Polynesia impatiently. “But you <i>must</i> turn this +coon white. Think of a way—think hard. +You’ve got plenty of medicines left in the bag. +He’ll do anything for you if you change his +color. It is your only chance to get out of +prison.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I suppose it <i>might</i> be possible,” said +the Doctor. “Let me see—,” and he went over +to his medicine-bag, murmuring something +about “liberated chlorine on animal-pigment—perhaps +zinc-ointment, as a temporary measure, +spread thick—”</p> + +<p>Well, that night Prince Bumpo came secretly +to the Doctor in prison and said to him,</p> + +<p>“White Man, I am an unhappy prince.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +Years ago I went in search of The Sleeping +Beauty, whom I had read of in a book. And +having traveled through the world many days, +I at last found her and kissed the lady very +gently to awaken her—as the book said I should. +’Tis true indeed that she awoke. But when +she saw my face she cried out, ‘Oh, he’s black!’ +And she ran away and wouldn’t marry me—but +went to sleep again somewhere else. So I came +back, full of sadness, to my father’s kingdom. +Now I hear that you are a wonderful magician +and have many powerful potions. So I come to +you for help. If you will turn me white, so +that I may go back to The Sleeping Beauty, I +will give you half my kingdom and anything besides +you ask.”</p> + +<p>“Prince Bumpo,” said the Doctor, looking +thoughtfully at the bottles in his medicine-bag, +“supposing I made your hair a nice blonde +color—would not that do instead to make you +happy?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Bumpo. “Nothing else will satisfy +me. I must be a white prince.”</p> + +<p>“You know it is very hard to change the color<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +of a prince,” said the Doctor—“one of the hardest +things a magician can do. You only want +your face white, do you not?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, that is all,” said Bumpo. “Because I +shall wear shining armor and gauntlets of steel, +like the other white princes, and ride on a +horse.”</p> + +<p>“Must your face be white all over?” asked +the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Yes, all over,” said Bumpo—“and I would +like my eyes blue too, but I suppose that would +be very hard to do.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, it would,” said the Doctor quickly. +“Well, I will do what I can for you. You will +have to be very patient though—you know with +some medicines you can never be very sure. I +might have to try two or three times. You have +a strong skin—yes? Well that’s all right. +Now come over here by the light—Oh, but before +I do anything, you must first go down to +the beach and get a ship ready, with food in it, +to take me across the sea. Do not speak a word +of this to any one. And when I have done as +you ask, you must let me and all my animals<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +out of prison. Promise—by the crown of Jolliginki!”</p> + +<p>So the Prince promised and went away to get +a ship ready at the seashore.</p> + +<p>When he came back and said that it was done, +the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to bring a basin. +Then he mixed a lot of medicines in the basin +and told Bumpo to dip his face in it.</p> + +<p>The Prince leaned down and put his face in—right +up to the ears.</p> + +<p>He held it there a long time—so long that +the Doctor seemed to get dreadfully anxious +and fidgety, standing first on one leg and then +on the other, looking at all the bottles he had +used for the mixture, and reading the labels on +them again and again. A strong smell filled +the prison, like the smell of brown paper burning.</p> + +<p>At last the Prince lifted his face up out of the +basin, breathing very hard. And all the animals +cried out in surprise.</p> + +<p>For the Prince’s face had turned as white as +snow, and his eyes, which had been mud-colored, +were a manly gray!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> + +<p>When John Dolittle lent him a little looking-glass +to see himself in, he sang for joy and began +dancing around the prison. But the Doctor +asked him not to make so much noise about +it; and when he had closed his medicine-bag +in a hurry he told him to open the prison-door.</p> + +<p>Bumpo begged that he might keep the looking-glass, +as it was the only one in the Kingdom +of Jolliginki, and he wanted to look at himself +all day long. But the Doctor said he needed +it to shave with.</p> + +<p>Then the Prince, taking a bunch of copper +keys from his pocket, undid the great double +locks. And the Doctor with all his animals ran +as fast as they could down to the seashore; while +Bumpo leaned against the wall of the empty +dungeon, smiling after them happily, his big +face shining like polished ivory in the light of +the moon.</p> + +<p>When they came to the beach they saw Polynesia +and Chee-Chee waiting for them on the +rocks near the ship.</p> + +<p>“I feel sorry about Bumpo,” said the Doctor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +“I am afraid that medicine I used will never +last. Most likely he will be as black as ever +when he wakes up in the morning—that’s one +reason why I didn’t like to leave the mirror with +him. But then again, he <i>might</i> stay white—I +had never used that mixture before. To tell the +truth, I was surprised, myself, that it worked +so well. But I had to do something, didn’t I?—I +couldn’t possibly scrub the King’s kitchen +for the rest of my life. It was such a dirty +kitchen!—I could see it from the prison-window.—Well, +well!—Poor Bumpo!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, of course he will know we were just +joking with him,” said the parrot.</p> + +<p>“They had no business to lock us up,” said +Dab-Dab, waggling her tail angrily. “We +never did them any harm. Serve him right, if +he does turn black again! I hope it’s a dark +black.”</p> + +<p>“But <i>he</i> didn’t have anything to do with it,” +said the Doctor. “It was the King, his father, +who had us locked up—it wasn’t Bumpo’s fault.... +I wonder if I ought to go back and apologize—Oh, +well—I’ll send him some candy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +when I get to Puddleby. And who knows?—he +may stay white after all.”</p> + +<p>“The Sleeping Beauty would never have him, +even if he did,” said Dab-Dab. “He looked better +the way he was, I thought. But he’d never +be anything but ugly, no matter what color he +was made.”</p> + +<p>“Still, he had a good heart,” said the Doctor—“romantic, +of course—but a good heart. After +all, ‘handsome is as handsome does.’”</p> + +<p>“I don’t believe the poor booby found The +Sleeping Beauty at all,” said Jip, the dog. +“Most likely he kissed some farmer’s fat wife +who was taking a snooze under an apple-tree. +Can’t blame her for getting scared! I wonder +who he’ll go and kiss this time. Silly business!”</p> + +<p>Then the pushmi-pullyu, the white mouse, +Gub-Gub, Dab-Dab, Jip and the owl, Too-Too, +went on to the ship with the Doctor. But Chee-Chee, +Polynesia and the crocodile stayed behind, +because Africa was their proper home, the land +where they were born.</p> + +<p>And when the Doctor stood upon the boat, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +looked over the side across the water. And then +he remembered that they had no one with them +to guide them back to Puddleby.</p> + +<p>The wide, wide sea looked terribly big and +lonesome in the moonlight; and he began to +wonder if they would lose their way when they +passed out of sight of land.</p> + +<p>But even while he was wondering, they heard +a strange whispering noise, high in the air, +coming through the night. And the animals all +stopped saying Good-by and listened.</p> + +<p>The noise grew louder and bigger. It seemed +to be coming nearer to them—a sound like the +Autumn wind blowing through the leaves of a +poplar-tree, or a great, great rain beating down +upon a roof.</p> + +<p>And Jip, with his nose pointing and his tail +quite straight, said,</p> + +<p>“Birds!—millions of them—flying fast—that’s +it!”</p> + +<p>And then they all looked up. And there, +streaming across the face of the moon, like a +huge swarm of tiny ants, they could see thousands +and thousands of little birds. Soon the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +whole sky seemed full of them, and still more +kept coming—more and more. There were so +many that for a little they covered the whole +moon so it could not shine, and the sea grew +dark and black—like when a storm-cloud passes +over the sun.</p> + +<p>And presently all these birds came down close, +skimming over the water and the land; and the +night-sky was left clear above, and the moon +shone as before. Still never a call nor a cry +nor a song they made—no sound but this great +rustling of feathers which grew greater now +than ever. When they began to settle on the +sands, along the ropes of the ship—anywhere +and everywhere except the trees—the Doctor +could see that they had blue wings and white +breasts and very short, feathered legs. As soon +as they had all found a place to sit, suddenly, +there was no noise left anywhere—all was quiet; +all was still.</p> + +<p>And in the silent moonlight John Dolittle +spoke:</p> + +<p>“I had no idea that we had been in Africa +so long. It will be nearly Summer when we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +get home. For these are the swallows going +back. Swallows, I thank you for waiting for +us. It is very thoughtful of you. Now we need +not be afraid that we will lose our way upon the +sea.... Pull up the anchor and set the sail!”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/i-127.jpg" width="435" height="267" alt="ship leaving in the night" /> +<div class="caption">“Crying bitterly and waving till the ship was out of sight”</div> +</div> + +<p>When the ship moved out upon the water, +those who stayed behind, Chee-Chee, Polynesia +and the crocodile, grew terribly sad. For never +in their lives had they known any one they liked +so well as Doctor John Dolittle of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> + +<p>And after they had called Good-by to him +again and again and again, they still stood there +upon the rocks, crying bitterly and waving till +the ship was out of sight.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-129.jpg" width="112" height="163" alt="S" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">SAILING homeward, the Doctor’s +ship had to pass the coast +of Barbary. This coast is the +seashore of the Great Desert. It +is a wild, lonely place—all sand +and stones. And it was here that +the Barbary pirates lived.</p> + +<p>These pirates, a bad lot of men, used to wait +for sailors to be shipwrecked on their shores. +And often, if they saw a boat passing, they would +come out in their fast sailing-ships and chase it. +When they caught a boat like this at sea, they +would steal everything on it; and after they had +taken the people off they would sink the ship +and sail back to Barbary singing songs and feeling +proud of the mischief they had done. Then +they used to make the people they had caught +write home to their friends for money. And if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +the friends sent no money, the pirates often threw +the people into the sea.</p> + +<p>Now one sunshiny day the Doctor and Dab-Dab +were walking up and down on the ship +for exercise; a nice fresh wind was blowing the +boat along, and everybody was happy. Presently +Dab-Dab saw the sail of another ship a +long way behind them on the edge of the sea. +It was a red sail.</p> + +<p>“I don’t like the look of that sail,” said Dab-Dab. +“I have a feeling it isn’t a friendly ship. +I am afraid there is more trouble coming to +us.”</p> + +<p>Jip, who was lying near taking a nap in the +sun, began to growl and talk in his sleep.</p> + +<p>“I smell roast beef cooking,” he mumbled—“underdone +roast beef—with brown gravy over +it.”</p> + +<p>“Good gracious!” cried the Doctor. “What’s +the matter with the dog? Is he <i>smelling</i> in his +sleep—as well as talking?”</p> + +<p>“I suppose he is,” said Dab-Dab. “All dogs +can smell in their sleep.”</p> + +<p>“But what is he smelling?” asked the Doctor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +“There is no roast beef cooking on our ship.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Dab-Dab. “The roast beef must +be on that other ship over there.”</p> + +<p>“But that’s ten miles away,” said the Doctor. +“He couldn’t smell that far surely!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes, he could,” said Dab-Dab. “You +ask him.”</p> + +<p>Then Jip, still fast asleep, began to growl +again and his lip curled up angrily, showing +his clean, white teeth.</p> + +<p>“I smell bad men,” he growled—“the worst +men I ever smelt. I smell trouble. I smell a +fight—six bad scoundrels fighting against one +brave man. I want to help him. Woof—oo—WOOF!” +Then he barked, loud, and woke +himself up with a surprised look on his face.</p> + +<p>“See!” cried Dab-Dab. “That boat is nearer +now. You can count its three big sails—all red. +Whoever it is, they are coming after us.... I +wonder who they are.”</p> + +<p>“They are bad sailors,” said Jip; “and their +ship is very swift. They are surely the pirates +of Barbary.”</p> + +<p>“Well, we must put up more sails on our boat,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +said the Doctor, “so we can go faster and get +away from them. Run downstairs, Jip, and +fetch me all the sails you see.”</p> + +<p>The dog hurried downstairs and dragged up +every sail he could find.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 391px;"> +<img src="images/i-132.jpg" width="391" height="312" alt="Docor sees pirates in distance" /> +<div class="caption">“‘They are surely the pirates of Barbary’”</div> +</div> + +<p>But even when all these were put up on the +masts to catch the wind, the boat did not go +nearly as fast as the pirates’—which kept coming +on behind, closer and closer.</p> + +<p>“This is a poor ship the Prince gave us,” said +Gub-Gub, the pig—“the slowest he could find, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> +should think. Might as well try to win a race +in a soup-tureen as hope to get away from them +in this old barge. Look how near they are now!—You +can see the mustaches on the faces of the +men—six of them. What are we going to do?”</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to fly up and +tell the swallows that pirates were coming after +them in a swift ship, and what should he do +about it.</p> + +<p>When the swallows heard this, they all came +down on to the Doctor’s ship; and they told him +to unravel some pieces of long rope and make +them into a lot of thin strings as quickly as he +could. Then the ends of these strings were tied +on to the front of the ship; and the swallows +took hold of the strings with their feet and flew +off, pulling the boat along.</p> + +<p>And although swallows are not very strong +when only one or two are by themselves, it is +different when there are a great lot of them together. +And there, tied to the Doctor’s ship, +were a thousand strings; and two thousand swallows +were pulling on each string—all terribly +swift fliers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> + +<p>And in a moment the Doctor found himself +traveling so fast he had to hold his hat on with +both hands; for he felt as though the ship itself +were flying through waves that frothed and +boiled with speed.</p> + +<p>And all the animals on the ship began to +laugh and dance about in the rushing air, for +when they looked back at the pirates’ ship, they +could see that it was growing smaller now, instead +of bigger. The red sails were being left +far, far behind.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE RATS’ WARNING</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-135.jpg" width="142" height="137" alt="D" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">DRAGGING a ship through the +sea is hard work. And after +two or three hours the swallows +began to get tired in the +wings and short of breath. +Then they sent a message +down to the Doctor to say that they would have +to take a rest soon; and that they would pull the +boat over to an island not far off, and hide it in +a deep bay till they had got breath enough to +go on.</p> + +<p>And presently the Doctor saw the island they +had spoken of. It had a very beautiful, high, +green mountain in the middle of it.</p> + +<p>When the ship had sailed safely into the bay +where it could not be seen from the open sea, +the Doctor said he would get off on to the island +to look for water—because there was none left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +to drink on his ship. And he told all the animals +to get out too and romp on the grass to +stretch their legs.</p> + +<p>Now as they were getting off, the Doctor noticed +that a whole lot of rats were coming up +from downstairs and leaving the ship as well. +Jip started to run after them, because chasing +rats had always been his favorite game. But +the Doctor told him to stop.</p> + +<p>And one big black rat, who seemed to want +to say something to the Doctor, now crept forward +timidly along the rail, watching the dog +out of the corner of his eye. And after he had +coughed nervously two or three times, and +cleaned his whiskers and wiped his mouth, he +said,</p> + +<p>“Ahem—er—you know of course that all ships +have rats in them, Doctor, do you not?”</p> + +<p>And the Doctor said, “Yes.”</p> + +<p>“And you have heard that rats always leave +a sinking ship?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the Doctor—“so I’ve been told.”</p> + +<p>“People,” said the rat, “always speak of it +with a sneer—as though it were something disgraceful.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +But you can’t blame us, can you? +After all, who <i>would</i> stay on a sinking ship, if +he could get off it?”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/i-137.jpg" width="435" height="418" alt="rats talking to doctor" /> +<div class="caption">“‘And you have heard that rats always leave a sinking +ship?’”</div> +</div> + +<p>“It’s very natural,” said the Doctor—“very +natural. I quite understand.... Was there—Was +there anything else you wished to say?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the rat. “I’ve come to tell you +that we are leaving this one. But we wanted to +warn you before we go. This is a bad ship you +have here. It isn’t safe. The sides aren’t +strong enough. Its boards are rotten. Before +to-morrow night it will sink to the bottom of the +sea.”</p> + +<p>“But how do you know?” asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“We always know,” answered the rat. “The +tips of our tails get that tingly feeling—like +when your foot’s asleep. This morning, at six +o’clock, while I was getting breakfast, my tail +suddenly began to tingle. At first I thought +it was my rheumatism coming back. So I went +and asked my aunt how she felt—you remember +her?—the long, piebald rat, rather skinny, who +came to see you in Puddleby last Spring with +jaundice? Well—and she said <i>her</i> tail was +tingling like everything! Then we knew, for +sure, that this boat was going to sink in less than +two days; and we all made up our minds to +leave it as soon as we got near enough to any +land. It’s a bad ship, Doctor. Don’t sail in +it any more, or you’ll be surely drowned....<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +Good-by! We are now going to look for a good +place to live on this island.”</p> + +<p>“Good-by!” said the Doctor. “And thank +you very much for coming to tell me. Very +considerate of you—very! Give my regards to +your aunt. I remember her perfectly.... +Leave that rat alone, Jip! Come here! Lie +down!”</p> + +<p>So then the Doctor and all his animals went +off, carrying pails and saucepans, to look for +water on the island, while the swallows took +their rest.</p> + +<p>“I wonder what is the name of this island,” +said the Doctor, as he was climbing up the +mountainside. “It seems a pleasant place. +What a lot of birds there are!”</p> + +<p>“Why, these are the Canary Islands,” said +Dab-Dab. “Don’t you hear the canaries singing?”</p> + +<p>The Doctor stopped and listened.</p> + +<p>“Why, to be sure—of course!” he said. +“How stupid of me! I wonder if they can tell +us where to find water.”</p> + +<p>And presently the canaries, who had heard all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +about Doctor Dolittle from birds of passage, +came and led him to a beautiful spring of cool, +clear water where the canaries used to take their +bath; and they showed him lovely meadows +where the bird-seed grew and all the other +sights of their island.</p> + +<p>And the pushmi-pullyu was glad they had +come; because he liked the green grass so much +better than the dried apples he had been eating +on the ship. And Gub-Gub squeaked for joy +when he found a whole valley full of wild sugar-cane.</p> + +<p>A little later, when they had all had plenty +to eat and drink, and were lying on their backs +while the canaries sang for them, two of the +swallows came hurrying up, very flustered and +excited.</p> + +<p>“Doctor!” they cried, “the pirates have come +into the bay; and they’ve all got on to your ship. +They are downstairs looking for things to steal. +They have left their own ship with nobody on +it. If you hurry and come down to the shore, +you can get on to their ship—which is very fast—and +escape. But you’ll have to hurry.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> + +<p>“That’s a good idea,” said the Doctor—“splendid!”</p> + +<p>And he called his animals together at once, +said Good-by to the canaries and ran down to the +beach.</p> + +<p>When they reached the shore they saw the +pirate-ship, with the three red sails, standing in +the water; and—just as the swallows had said—there +was nobody on it; all the pirates were +downstairs in the Doctor’s ship, looking for +things to steal.</p> + +<p>So John Dolittle told his animals to walk very +softly and they all crept on to the pirate-ship.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a><br /><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE BARBARY DRAGON</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-143.jpg" width="135" height="138" alt="E" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">EVERYTHING would have gone +all right if the pig had not caught +a cold in his head while eating +the damp sugar-cane on the +island. This is what happened:</p> + +<p>After they had pulled up the +anchor without a sound, and were moving the +ship very, very carefully out of the bay, Gub-Gub +suddenly sneezed so loud that the pirates +on the other ship came rushing upstairs to see +what the noise was.</p> + +<p>As soon as they saw that the Doctor was escaping, +they sailed the other boat right across +the entrance to the bay so that the Doctor could +not get out into the open sea.</p> + +<p>Then the leader of these bad men (who called +himself “Ben Ali, The Dragon”) shook his fist +at the Doctor and shouted across the water,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Ha! Ha! You are caught, my fine friend! +You were going to run off in my ship, eh? But +you are not a good enough sailor to beat Ben +Ali, the Barbary Dragon. I want that duck +you’ve got—and the pig too. We’ll have pork-chops +and roast duck for supper to-night. And +before I let you go home, you must make your +friends send me a trunk-full of gold.”</p> + +<p>Poor Gub-Gub began to weep; and Dab-Dab +made ready to fly to save her life. But the owl, +Too-Too, whispered to the Doctor,</p> + +<p>“Keep him talking, Doctor. Be pleasant to +him. Our old ship is bound to sink soon—the +rats said it would be at the bottom of the sea before +to-morrow-night—and the rats are never +wrong. Be pleasant, till the ship sinks under +him. Keep him talking.”</p> + +<p>“What, until to-morrow night!” said the Doctor. +“Well, I’ll do my best.... Let me see—What +shall I talk about?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, let them come on,” said Jip. “We can +fight the dirty rascals. There are only six of +them. Let them come on. I’d love to tell that +collie next door, when we get home, that I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +bitten a real pirate. Let ’em come. We can +fight them.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 427px;"> +<img src="images/i-145.jpg" width="427" height="357" alt="Doctor looking at approching pirate ship" /> +<div class="caption">“‘Look here, Ben Ali—’”</div> +</div> + +<p>“But they have pistols and swords,” said the +Doctor. “No, that would never do. I must +talk to him.... Look here, Ben Ali—”</p> + +<p>But before the Doctor could say any more, +the pirates began to sail the ship nearer, laughing +with glee, and saying one to another, “Who +shall be the first to catch the pig?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> + +<p>Poor Gub-Gub was dreadfully frightened; +and the pushmi-pullyu began to sharpen his +horns for a fight by rubbing them on the mast +of the ship; while Jip kept springing into the +air and barking and calling Ben Ali bad names +in dog-language.</p> + +<p>But presently something seemed to go wrong +with the pirates; they stopped laughing and +cracking jokes; they looked puzzled; something +was making them uneasy.</p> + +<p>Then Ben Ali, staring down at his feet, suddenly +bellowed out,</p> + +<p>“Thunder and Lightning!—Men, <i>the boat’s +leaking</i>!”</p> + +<p>And then the other pirates peered over the +side and they saw that the boat was indeed getting +lower and lower in the water. And one +of them said to Ben Ali,</p> + +<p>“But surely if this old boat were sinking we +should see the rats leaving it.”</p> + +<p>And Jip shouted across from the other ship,</p> + +<p>“You great duffers, there are no rats there +to leave! They left two hours ago! ‘Ha, ha,’ +to you, ‘my fine friends!’”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> + +<p>But of course the men did not understand him.</p> + +<p>Soon the front end of the ship began to go +down and down, faster and faster—till the boat +looked almost as though it were standing on its +head; and the pirates had to cling to the rails +and the masts and the ropes and anything to +keep from sliding off. Then the sea rushed +roaring in through all the windows and the +doors. And at last the ship plunged right down +to the bottom of the sea, making a dreadful +gurgling sound; and the six bad men were left +bobbing about in the deep water of the bay.</p> + +<p>Some of them started to swim for the shores +of the island; while others came and tried to get +on to the boat where the Doctor was. But Jip +kept snapping at their noses, so they were afraid +to climb up the side of the ship.</p> + +<p>Then suddenly they all cried out in great fear,</p> + +<p>“<i>The sharks!</i> The sharks are coming! Let +us get on to the ship before they eat us! Help, +help!—The sharks! The sharks!”</p> + +<p>And now the Doctor could see, all over the +bay, the backs of big fishes swimming swiftly +through the water.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> + +<p>And one great shark came near to the ship, +and poking his nose out of the water he said to +the Doctor,</p> + +<p>“Are you John Dolittle, the famous animal-doctor?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Doctor Dolittle. “That is my +name.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the shark, “we know these pirates +to be a bad lot—especially Ben Ali. If they +are annoying you, we will gladly eat them up for +you—and then you won’t be troubled any +more.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” said the Doctor. “This is +really most attentive. But I don’t think it will +be necessary to eat them. Don’t let any of them +reach the shore until I tell you—just keep them +swimming about, will you? And please make +Ben Ali swim over here that I may talk to +him.”</p> + +<p>So the shark went off and chased Ben Ali over +to the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Listen, Ben Ali,” said John Dolittle, leaning +over the side. “You have been a very bad +man; and I understand that you have killed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +many people. These good sharks here have just +offered to eat you up for me—and ’twould indeed +be a good thing if the seas were rid of you. +But if you will promise to do as I tell you, I +will let you go in safety.”</p> + +<p>“What must I do?” asked the pirate, looking +down sideways at the big shark who was smelling +his leg under the water.</p> + +<p>“You must kill no more people,” said the +Doctor; “you must stop stealing; you must never +sink another ship; you must give up being a +pirate altogether.”</p> + +<p>“But what shall I do then?” asked Ben Ali. +“How shall I live?”</p> + +<p>“You and all your men must go on to this +island and be bird-seed-farmers,” the Doctor answered. +“You must grow bird-seed for the +canaries.”</p> + +<p>The Barbary Dragon turned pale with anger, +“<i>Grow bird-seed!</i>” he groaned in disgust. +“Can’t I be a sailor?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said the Doctor, “you cannot. You +have been a sailor long enough—and sent many +stout ships and good men to the bottom of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +sea. For the rest of your life you must be a +peaceful farmer. The shark is waiting. Do +not waste any more of his time. Make up your +mind.”</p> + +<p>“Thunder and Lightning!” Ben Ali muttered—“<i>Bird-seed!</i>” +Then he looked down into the +water again and saw the great fish smelling his +other leg.</p> + +<p>“Very well,” he said sadly. “We’ll be farmers.”</p> + +<p>“And remember,” said the Doctor, “that if +you do not keep your promise—if you start +killing and stealing again, I shall hear of it, +because the canaries will come and tell me. +And be very sure that I will find a way to punish +you. For though I may not be able to sail +a ship as well as you, so long as the birds and +the beasts and the fishes are my friends, I do not +have to be afraid of a pirate chief—even though +he call himself ‘The Dragon of Barbary.’ Now +go and be a good farmer and live in peace.”</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor turned to the big shark, and +waving his hand he said,</p> + +<p>“All right. Let them swim safely to the land.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-151.jpg" width="147" height="139" alt="H" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">HAVING thanked the sharks +again for their kindness, the +Doctor and his pets set off +once more on their journey +home in the swift ship with +the three red sails.</p> + +<p>As they moved out into the open sea, the animals +all went downstairs to see what their new +boat was like inside; while the Doctor leant on +the rail at the back of the ship with a pipe in his +mouth, watching the Canary Islands fade away +in the blue dusk of the evening.</p> + +<p>While he was standing there, wondering how +the monkeys were getting on—and what his +garden would look like when he got back to +Puddleby, Dab-Dab came tumbling up the +stairs, all smiles and full of news.</p> + +<p>“Doctor!” she cried. “This ship of the pirates<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +is simply beautiful—absolutely. The beds +downstairs are made of primrose silk—with +hundreds of big pillows and cushions; there are +thick, soft carpets on the floors; the dishes are +made of silver; and there are all sorts of good +things to eat and drink—special things; the +larder—well, it’s just like a shop, that’s all. +You never saw anything like it in your life—Just +think—they kept five different kinds of +sardines, those men! Come and look.... Oh, +and we found a little room down there with the +door locked; and we are all crazy to get in and +see what’s inside. Jip says it must be where the +pirates kept their treasure. But we can’t open +the door. Come down and see if you can let +us in.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor went downstairs and he saw that +it was indeed a beautiful ship. He found the +animals gathered round a little door, all talking +at once, trying to guess what was inside. The +Doctor turned the handle but it wouldn’t open. +Then they all started to hunt for the key. They +looked under the mat; they looked under all the +carpets; they looked in all the cupboards and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +drawers and lockers—in the big chests in the +ship’s dining-room; they looked everywhere.</p> + +<p>While they were doing this they discovered +a lot of new and wonderful things that the pirates +must have stolen from other ships: Kashmir +shawls as thin as a cobweb, embroidered +with flowers of gold; jars of fine tobacco from +Jamaica; carved ivory boxes full of Russian +tea; an old violin with a string broken and a +picture on the back; a set of big chess-men, +carved out of coral and amber; a walking-stick +which had a sword inside it when you pulled +the handle; six wine-glasses with tourquoise and +silver round the rims; and a lovely great sugar-bowl, +made of mother o’ pearl. But nowhere +in the whole boat could they find a key to fit +that lock.</p> + +<p>So they all came back to the door, and Jip +peered through the key-hole. But something +had been stood against the wall on the inside +and he could see nothing.</p> + +<p>While they were standing around, wondering +what they should do, the owl, Too-Too, suddenly +said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there’s some one +in there!”</p> + +<p>They all kept still a moment. Then the Doctor +said,</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 431px;"> +<img src="images/i-154.jpg" width="431" height="292" alt="Animals listening at door" /> +<div class="caption">“‘Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there’s some one in there!’”</div> +</div> + +<p>“You must be mistaken, Too-Too. I don’t +hear anything.”</p> + +<p>“I’m sure of it,” said the owl. “Sh!—There +it is again—Don’t you hear that?”</p> + +<p>“No, I do not,” said the Doctor. “What +kind of a sound is it?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> + +<p>“I hear the noise of some one putting his hand +in his pocket,” said the owl.</p> + +<p>“But that makes hardly any sound at all,” said +the Doctor. “You couldn’t hear that out here.”</p> + +<p>“Pardon me, but I can,” said Too-Too. “I +tell you there is some one on the other side of +that door putting his hand in his pocket. Almost +everything makes <i>some</i> noise—if your ears +are only sharp enough to catch it. Bats can hear +a mole walking in his tunnel under the earth—and +they think they’re good hearers. But we +owls can tell you, using only one ear, the color +of a kitten from the way it winks in the dark.”</p> + +<p>“Well, well!” said the Doctor. “You surprise +me. That’s very interesting.... Listen +again and tell me what he’s doing now.”</p> + +<p>“I’m not sure yet,” said Too-Too, “if it’s a +man at all. Maybe it’s a woman. Lift me up +and let me listen at the key-hole and I’ll soon +tell you.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor lifted the owl up and held him +close to the lock of the door.</p> + +<p>After a moment Too-Too said,</p> + +<p>“Now he’s rubbing his face with his left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +hand. It is a small hand and a small face. It +<i>might</i> be a woman—No. Now he pushes his +hair back off his forehead—It’s a man all +right.”</p> + +<p>“Women sometimes do that,” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“True,” said the owl. “But when they do, +their long hair makes quite a different sound.... +Sh! Make that fidgety pig keep still. +Now all hold your breath a moment so I can +listen well. This is very difficult, what I’m doing +now—and the pesky door is so thick! Sh! +Everybody quite still—shut your eyes and don’t +breathe.”</p> + +<p>Too-Too leaned down and listened again very +hard and long.</p> + +<p>At last he looked up into the Doctor’s face and +said,</p> + +<p>“The man in there is unhappy. He weeps. +He has taken care not to blubber or sniffle, lest +we should find out that he is crying. But I +heard—quite distinctly—the sound of a tear falling +on his sleeve.”</p> + +<p>“How do you know it wasn’t a drop of water<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> +falling off the ceiling on him?” asked Gub-Gub.</p> + +<p>“Pshaw!—Such ignorance!” sniffed Too-Too. +“A drop of water falling off the ceiling would +have made ten times as much noise!”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the Doctor, “if the poor fellow’s +unhappy, we’ve got to get in and see what’s the +matter with him. Find me an axe, and I’ll chop +the door down.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a><br /><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE OCEAN GOSSIPS</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-159.jpg" width="115" height="136" alt="R" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">RIGHT away an axe was found. +And the Doctor soon chopped a +hole in the door big enough to +clamber through.</p> + +<p>At first he could see nothing +at all, it was so dark inside. So +he struck a match.</p> + +<p>The room was quite small; no window; the +ceiling, low. For furniture there was only one +little stool. All round the room big barrels +stood against the walls, fastened at the bottom +so they wouldn’t tumble with the rolling of the +ship; and above the barrels, pewter jugs of all +sizes hung from wooden pegs. There was a +strong, winey smell. And in the middle of the +floor sat a little boy, about eight years old, crying +bitterly.</p> + +<p>“I declare, it is the pirates’ rum-room!” said +Jip in a whisper.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Yes. Very rum!” said Gub-Gub. “The +smell makes me giddy.”</p> + +<p>The little boy seemed rather frightened to +find a man standing there before him and all +those animals staring in through the hole in the +broken door. But as soon as he saw John Dolittle’s +face by the light of the match, he stopped +crying and got up.</p> + +<p>“You aren’t one of the pirates, are you?” he +asked.</p> + +<p>And when the Doctor threw back his head +and laughed long and loud, the little boy smiled +too and came and took his hand.</p> + +<p>“You laugh like a friend,” he said—“not like +a pirate. Could you tell me where my uncle +is?”</p> + +<p>“I am afraid I can’t,” said the Doctor. +“When did you see him last?”</p> + +<p>“It was the day before yesterday,” said the +boy. “I and my uncle were out fishing in our +little boat, when the pirates came and caught +us. They sunk our fishing-boat and brought us +both on to this ship. They told my uncle that +they wanted him to be a pirate like them—for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +he was clever at sailing a ship in all weathers. +But he said he didn’t want to be a pirate, because +killing people and stealing was no work +for a good fisherman to do. Then the leader, +Ben Ali, got very angry and gnashed his teeth, +and said they would throw my uncle into the +sea if he didn’t do as they said. They sent me +downstairs; and I heard the noise of a fight going +on above. And when they let me come up +again next day, my uncle was nowhere to be +seen. I asked the pirates where he was; but +they wouldn’t tell me. I am very much afraid +they threw him into the sea and drowned him.”</p> + +<p>And the little boy began to cry again.</p> + +<p>“Well now—wait a minute,” said the Doctor. +“Don’t cry. Let’s go and have tea in the dining-room, +and we’ll talk it over. Maybe your +uncle is quite safe all the time. You don’t <i>know</i> +that he was drowned, do you? And that’s something. +Perhaps we can find him for you. First +we’ll go and have tea—with strawberry-jam; +and then we will see what can be done.”</p> + +<p>All the animals had been standing around +listening with great curiosity. And when they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +had gone into the ship’s dining-room and were +having tea, Dab-Dab came up behind the Doctor’s +chair and whispered.</p> + +<p>“Ask the porpoises if the boy’s uncle was +drowned—they’ll know.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” said the Doctor, taking a second +piece of bread-and-jam.</p> + +<p>“What are those funny, clicking noises you +are making with your tongue?” asked the boy.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I just said a couple of words in duck-language,” +the Doctor answered. “This is +Dab-Dab, one of my pets.”</p> + +<p>“I didn’t even know that ducks had a language,” +said the boy. “Are all these other animals +your pets, too? What is that strange-looking +thing with two heads?”</p> + +<p>“Sh!” the Doctor whispered. “That is the +pushmi-pullyu. Don’t let him see we’re talking +about him—he gets so dreadfully embarrassed.... +Tell me, how did you come to be +locked up in that little room?”</p> + +<p>“The pirates shut me in there when they were +going off to steal things from another ship. +When I heard some one chopping on the door,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +I didn’t know who it could be. I was very +glad to find it was you. Do you think you will +be able to find my uncle for me?”</p> + +<p>“Well, we are going to try very hard,” said +the Doctor. “Now what was your uncle like to +look at?”</p> + +<p>“He had red hair,” the boy answered—“very +red hair, and the picture of an anchor tattooed +on his arm. He was a strong man, a kind uncle +and the best sailor in the South Atlantic. His +fishing-boat was called <i>The Saucy Sally</i>—a +cutter-rigged sloop.”</p> + +<p>“What’s ‘cutterigsloop’?” whispered Gub-Gub, +turning to Jip.</p> + +<p>“Sh!—That’s the kind of a ship the man had,” +said Jip. “Keep still, can’t you?”</p> + +<p>“Oh,” said the pig, “is that all? I thought +it was something to drink.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor left the boy to play with the +animals in the dining-room, and went upstairs +to look for passing porpoises.</p> + +<p>And soon a whole school came dancing and +jumping through the water, on their way to +Brazil.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> + +<p>When they saw the Doctor leaning on the +rail of his ship, they came over to see how he +was getting on.</p> + +<p>And the Doctor asked them if they had seen +anything of a man with red hair and an anchor +tattooed on his arm.</p> + +<p>“Do you mean the master of <i>The Saucy +Sally</i>?” asked the porpoises.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the Doctor. “That’s the man. +Has he been drowned?”</p> + +<p>“His fishing-sloop was sunk,” said the porpoises—“for +we saw it lying on the bottom of +the sea. But there was nobody inside it, because +we went and looked.”</p> + +<p>“His little nephew is on the ship with me +here,” said the Doctor. “And he is terribly +afraid that the pirates threw his uncle into the +sea. Would you be so good as to find out for +me, for sure, whether he has been drowned or +not?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, he isn’t drowned,” said the porpoises. +“If he were, we would be sure to have heard of +it from the deep-sea Decapods. We hear all the +salt-water news. The shell-fish call us ‘The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +Ocean Gossips.’ No—tell the little boy we are +sorry we do not know where his uncle is; but +we are quite certain he hasn’t been drowned in +the sea.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor ran downstairs with the news +and told the nephew, who clapped his hands with +happiness. And the pushmi-pullyu took the little +boy on his back and gave him a ride round +the dining-room table; while all the other animals +followed behind, beating the dish-covers +with spoons, pretending it was a parade.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a><br /><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>SMELLS</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-167.jpg" width="139" height="153" alt="Y" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">“YOUR uncle must now be <i>found</i>,” +said the Doctor—“that is the +next thing—now that we know +he wasn’t thrown into the sea.”</p> + +<p>Then Dab-Dab came up to +him again and whispered,</p> + +<p>“Ask the eagles to look for the man. No living +creature can see better than an eagle. When +they are miles high in the air they can count +the ants crawling on the ground. Ask the +eagles.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor sent one of the swallows off +to get some eagles.</p> + +<p>And in about an hour the little bird came +back with six different kinds of eagles: a Black +Eagle, a Bald Eagle, a Fish Eagle, a Golden +Eagle, an Eagle-Vulture, and a White-tailed +Sea Eagle. Twice as high as the boy they were,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +each one of them. And they stood on the rail +of the ship, like round-shouldered soldiers all +in a row, stern and still and stiff; while their +great, gleaming, black eyes shot darting glances +here and there and everywhere.</p> + +<p>Gub-Gub was scared of them and got behind +a barrel. He said he felt as though those +terrible eyes were looking right inside of him +to see what he had stolen for lunch.</p> + +<p>And the Doctor said to the eagles,</p> + +<p>“A man has been lost—a fisherman with red +hair and an anchor marked on his arm. Would +you be so kind as to see if you can find him for +us? This boy is the man’s nephew.”</p> + +<p>Eagles do not talk very much. And all they +answered in their husky voices was,</p> + +<p>“You may be sure that we will do our best—for +John Dolittle.”</p> + +<p>Then they flew off—and Gub-Gub came out +from behind his barrel to see them go. Up and +up and up they went—higher and higher and +higher still. Then, when the Doctor could only +just see them, they parted company and started +going off all different ways—North, East, South<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +and West, looking like tiny grains of black sand +creeping across the wide, blue sky.</p> + +<p>“My gracious!” said Gub-Gub in a hushed +voice. “What a height! I wonder they don’t +scorch their feathers—so near the sun!”</p> + +<p>They were gone a long time. And when they +came back it was almost night.</p> + +<p>And the eagles said to the Doctor,</p> + +<p>“We have searched all the seas and all the +countries and all the islands and all the cities +and all the villages in this half of the world. +But we have failed. In the main street of Gibraltar +we saw three red hairs lying on a wheelbarrow +before a baker’s door. But they were +not the hairs of a man—they were the hairs out +of a fur-coat. Nowhere, on land or water, could +we see any sign of this boy’s uncle. And if <i>we</i> +could not see him, then he is not to be seen.... +For John Dolittle—we have done our best.”</p> + +<p>Then the six great birds flapped their big +wings and flew back to their homes in the mountains +and the rocks.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Dab-Dab, after they had gone, +“what are we going to do now? The boy’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +uncle <i>must</i> be found—there’s no two ways about +that. The lad isn’t old enough to be knocking +around the world by himself. Boys aren’t like +ducklings—they have to be taken care of till +they’re quite old.... I wish Chee-Chee were +here. He would soon find the man. Good old +Chee-Chee! I wonder how he’s getting on!”</p> + +<p>“If we only had Polynesia with us,” said the +white mouse. “<i>She</i> would soon think of some +way. Do you remember how she got us all +out of prison—the second time? My, but she +was a clever one!”</p> + +<p>“I don’t think so much of those eagle-fellows,” +said Jip. “They’re just conceited. They may +have very good eyesight and all that; but when +you ask them to find a man for you, they can’t +do it—and they have the cheek to come back +and say that nobody else could do it. They’re +just conceited—like that collie in Puddleby. +And I don’t think a whole lot of those gossipy +old porpoises either. All they could tell us was +that the man isn’t in the sea. We don’t want +to know where he <i>isn’t</i>—we want to know where +he <i>is</i>.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Oh, don’t talk so much,” said Gub-Gub. +“It’s easy to talk; but it isn’t so easy to find a +man when you have got the whole world to hunt +him in. Maybe the fisherman’s hair has turned +white, worrying about the boy; and that was +why the eagles didn’t find him. You don’t +know everything. You’re just talking. You +are not doing anything to help. You couldn’t +find the boy’s uncle any more than the eagles +could—you couldn’t do as well.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 379px;"> +<img src="images/i-171.jpg" width="379" height="277" alt="animals on deck" /> +<div class="caption">“‘You stupid piece of warm bacon!’”</div> +</div> + +<p>“Couldn’t I?” said the dog. “That’s all you +know, you stupid piece of warm bacon! I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +haven’t begun to try yet, have I? You wait and +see!”</p> + +<p>Then Jip went to the Doctor and said,</p> + +<p>“Ask the boy if he has anything in his pockets +that belonged to his uncle, will you, please?”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor asked him. And the boy +showed them a gold ring which he wore on a +piece of string around his neck because it was +too big for his finger. He said his uncle gave +it to him when they saw the pirates coming.</p> + +<p>Jip smelt the ring and said,</p> + +<p>“That’s no good. Ask him if he has anything +else that belonged to his uncle.”</p> + +<p>Then the boy took from his pocket a great, +big red handkerchief and said, “This was my +uncle’s too.”</p> + +<p>As soon as the boy pulled it out, Jip shouted,</p> + +<p>“<i>Snuff</i>, by Jingo!—Black Rappee snuff. +Don’t you smell it? His uncle took snuff—Ask +him, Doctor.”</p> + +<p>The Doctor questioned the boy again; +and he said, “Yes. My uncle took a lot of +snuff.”</p> + +<p>“Fine!” said Jip. “The man’s as good as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +found. ’Twill be as easy as stealing milk from +a kitten. Tell the boy I’ll find his uncle for +him in less than a week. Let us go upstairs +and see which way the wind is blowing.”</p> + +<p>“But it is dark now,” said the Doctor. “You +can’t find him in the dark!”</p> + +<p>“I don’t need any light to look for a man who +smells of Black Rappee snuff,” said Jip as he +climbed the stairs. “If the man had a hard +smell, like string, now—or hot water, it would +be different. But <i>snuff</i>!—Tut, tut!”</p> + +<p>“Does hot water have a smell?” asked the +Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Certainly it has,” said Jip. “Hot water +smells quite different from cold water. It is +warm water—or ice—that has the really difficult +smell. Why, I once followed a man for +ten miles on a dark night by the smell of the +hot water he had used to shave with—for the +poor fellow had no soap.... Now then, let +us see which way the wind is blowing. Wind is +very important in long-distant smelling. It +mustn’t be too fierce a wind—and of course it +must blow the right way. A nice, steady, damp<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +breeze is the best of all.... Ha!—This wind +is from the North.”</p> + +<p>Then Jip went up to the front of the ship +and smelt the wind; and he started muttering +to himself,</p> + +<p>“Tar; Spanish onions; kerosene oil; wet raincoats; +crushed laurel-leaves; rubber burning; +lace-curtains being washed—No, my mistake, +lace-curtains hanging out to dry; and foxes—hundreds +of ’em—cubs; and—”</p> + +<p>“Can you really smell all those different +things in this one wind?” asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Why, of course!” said Jip. “And those are +only a few of the easy smells—the strong ones. +Any mongrel could smell those with a cold in +the head. Wait now, and I’ll tell you some of +the harder scents that are coming on this wind—a +few of the dainty ones.”</p> + +<p>Then the dog shut his eyes tight, poked his +nose straight up in the air and sniffed hard with +his mouth half-open.</p> + +<p>For a long time he said nothing. He kept as +still as a stone. He hardly seemed to be breathing +at all. When at last he began to speak, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +sounded almost as though he were singing, sadly, +in a dream.</p> + +<p>“Bricks,” he whispered, very low—“old yellow +bricks, crumbling with age in a garden-wall; +the sweet breath of young cows standing +in a mountain-stream; the lead roof of a dove-cote—or +perhaps a granary—with the mid-day +sun on it; black kid gloves lying in a bureau-drawer +of walnut-wood; a dusty road with a +horses’ drinking-trough beneath the sycamores; +little mushrooms bursting through the rotting +leaves; and—and—and—”</p> + +<p>“Any parsnips?” asked Gub-Gub.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Jip. “You always think of things +to eat. No parsnips whatever. And no snuff—plenty +of pipes and cigarettes, and a few cigars. +But no snuff. We must wait till the wind +changes to the South.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, it’s a poor wind, that,” said Gub-Gub. +“I think you’re a fake, Jip. Who ever heard of +finding a man in the middle of the ocean just by +smell! I told you you couldn’t do it.”</p> + +<p>“Look here,” said Jip, getting really angry. +“You’re going to get a bite on the nose in a minute!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +You needn’t think that just because the +Doctor won’t let us give you what you deserve, +that you can be as cheeky as you like!”</p> + +<p>“Stop quarreling!” said the Doctor—“Stop it! +Life’s too short. Tell me, Jip, where do you +think those smells are coming from?”</p> + +<p>“From Devon and Wales—most of them,” said +Jip—“The wind is coming that way.”</p> + +<p>“Well, well!” said the Doctor. “You know +that’s really quite remarkable—quite. I must +make a note of that for my new book. I wonder +if you could train me to smell as well as +that.... But no—perhaps I’m better off the +way I am. ‘Enough is as good as a feast,’ they +say. Let’s go down to supper. I’m quite hungry.”</p> + +<p>“So am I,” said Gub-Gub.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE ROCK</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-177.jpg" width="140" height="138" alt="U" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">UP they got, early next morning, +out of the silken beds; and they +saw that the sun was shining +brightly and that the wind was +blowing from the South.</p> + +<p>Jip smelt the South wind for +half an hour. Then he came to the Doctor, +shaking his head.</p> + +<p>“I smell no snuff as yet,” he said. “We must +wait till the wind changes to the East.”</p> + +<p>But even when the East wind came, at three +o’clock that afternoon, the dog could not catch +the smell of snuff.</p> + +<p>The little boy was terribly disappointed and +began to cry again, saying that no one seemed +to be able to find his uncle for him. But all Jip +said to the Doctor was,</p> + +<p>“Tell him that when the wind changes to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +the West, I’ll find his uncle even though he be +in China—so long as he is still taking Black +Rappee snuff.”</p> + +<p>Three days they had to wait before the West +wind came. This was on a Friday morning, +early—just as it was getting light. A fine rainy +mist lay on the sea like a thin fog. And the +wind was soft and warm and wet.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 341px;"> +<img src="images/i-178.jpg" width="341" height="227" alt="Jip waking up the doctor" /> +<div class="caption">“‘Doctor!’ he cried. ‘I’ve got it!’”</div> +</div> + +<p>As soon as Jip awoke he ran upstairs and +poked his nose in the air. Then he got most +frightfully excited and rushed down again to +wake the Doctor up.</p> + +<p>“Doctor!” he cried. “I’ve got it! Doctor!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> +Doctor! Wake up! Listen! I’ve got it! +The wind’s from the West and it smells of nothing +but snuff. Come upstairs and start the ship—quick!”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor tumbled out of bed and went +to the rudder to steer the ship.</p> + +<p>“Now I’ll go up to the front,” said Jip; “and +you watch my nose—whichever way I point it, +you turn the ship the same way. The man cannot +be far off—with the smell as strong as this. +And the wind’s all lovely and wet. Now watch +me!”</p> + +<p>So all that morning Jip stood in the front +part of the ship, sniffing the wind and pointing +the way for the Doctor to steer; while all the +animals and the little boy stood round with their +eyes wide open, watching the dog in wonder.</p> + +<p>About lunch-time Jip asked Dab-Dab to tell +the Doctor that he was getting worried and +wanted to speak to him. So Dab-Dab went and +fetched the Doctor from the other end of the +ship and Jip said to him,</p> + +<p>“The boy’s uncle is starving. We must make +the ship go as fast as we can.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> + +<p>“How do you know he is starving?” asked the +Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Because there is no other smell in the West +wind but snuff,” said Jip. “If the man were +cooking or eating food of any kind, I would +be bound to smell it too. But he hasn’t even +fresh water to drink. All he is taking is snuff—in +large pinches. We are getting nearer to +him all the time, because the smell grows +stronger every minute. But make the ship go +as fast as you can, for I am certain that the +man is starving.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” said the Doctor; and he sent Dab-Dab +to ask the swallows to pull the ship, the +same as they had done when the pirates were +chasing them.</p> + +<p>So the stout little birds came down and +once more harnessed themselves to the ship.</p> + +<p>And now the boat went bounding through the +waves at a terrible speed. It went so fast that +the fishes in the sea had to jump for their lives +to get out of the way and not be run over.</p> + +<p>And all the animals got tremendously excited; +and they gave up looking at Jip and turned to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +watch the sea in front, to spy out any land or +islands where the starving man might be.</p> + +<p>But hour after hour went by and still the ship +went rushing on, over the same flat, flat sea; and +no land anywhere came in sight.</p> + +<p>And now the animals gave up chattering and +sat around silent, anxious and miserable. The +little boy again grew sad. And on Jip’s face +there was a worried look.</p> + +<p>At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun +was going down, the owl, Too-Too, who +was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly +startled them all by crying out at the top of his +voice,</p> + +<p>“Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front +of us—look—way out there where the sky and +the water meet. See the sun shine on it—like +gold! Is the smell coming from there?”</p> + +<p>And Jip called back,</p> + +<p>“Yes. That’s it. That is where the man is.—At +last, at last!”</p> + +<p>And when they got nearer they could see that +the rock was very large—as large as a big field. +No trees grew on it, no grass—nothing. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +great rock was as smooth and as bare as the back +of a tortoise.</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round +the rock. But nowhere on it could a man be +seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes +and looked as hard as they could; and John +Dolittle got a telescope from downstairs.</p> + +<p>But not one living thing could they spy—not +even a gull, nor a star-fish, nor a shred of +sea-weed.</p> + +<p>They all stood still and listened, straining +their ears for any sound. But the only noise +they heard was the gentle lapping of the little +waves against the sides of their ship.</p> + +<p>Then they all started calling, “Hulloa, there!—HULLOA!” +till their voices were hoarse. +But only the echo came back from the rock.</p> + +<p>And the little boy burst into tears and said,</p> + +<p>“I am afraid I shall never see my uncle any +more! What shall I tell them when I get +home!”</p> + +<p>But Jip called to the Doctor,</p> + +<p>“He must be there—he must—<i>he must</i>! The +smell goes on no further. He must be there, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock and +let me jump out on it.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor brought the ship as close as +he could and let down the anchor. Then he +and Jip got out of the ship on to the rock.</p> + +<p>Jip at once put his nose down close to the +ground and began to run all over the place. Up +and down he went, back and forth—zig-zagging, +twisting, doubling and turning. And +everywhere he went, the Doctor ran behind him, +close at his heels—till he was terribly out of +breath.</p> + +<p>At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down. +And when the Doctor came running up to him, +he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole in +the middle of the rock.</p> + +<p>“The boy’s uncle is down there,” said Jip +quietly. “No wonder those silly eagles couldn’t +see him!—It takes a dog to find a man.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor got down into the hole, which +seemed to be a kind of cave, or tunnel, running +a long way under the ground. Then he struck +a match and started to make his way along the +dark passage with Jip following behind.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Doctor’s match soon went out; and he +had to strike another and another and another.</p> + +<p>At last the passage came to an end; and the +Doctor found himself in a kind of tiny room +with walls of rock.</p> + +<p>And there, in the middle of the room, his head +resting on his arms, lay a man with very red +hair—fast asleep!</p> + +<p>Jip went up and sniffed at something lying +on the ground beside him. The Doctor stooped +and picked it up. It was an enormous snuff-box. +And it was full of Black Rappee!</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE FISHERMAN’S TOWN</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-185.jpg" width="144" height="143" alt="G" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">GENTLY then—very gently, the +Doctor woke the man up.</p> + +<p>But just at that moment the +match went out again. And +the man thought it was Ben Ali +coming back, and he began to +punch the Doctor in the dark.</p> + +<p>But when John Dolittle told him who it was, +and that he had his little nephew safe on his +ship, the man was tremendously glad, and said +he was sorry he had fought the Doctor. He had +not hurt him much though—because it was too +dark to punch properly. Then he gave the +Doctor a pinch of snuff.</p> + +<p>And the man told how the Barbary Dragon +had put him on to this rock and left him there, +when he wouldn’t promise to become a pirate; +and how he used to sleep down in this hole because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +there was no house on the rock to keep +him warm.</p> + +<p>And then he said,</p> + +<p>“For four days I have had nothing to eat or +drink. I have lived on snuff.”</p> + +<p>“There you are!” said Jip. “What did I tell +you?”</p> + +<p>So they struck some more matches and made +their way out through the passage into the daylight; +and the Doctor hurried the man down to +the boat to get some soup.</p> + +<p>When the animals and the little boy saw the +Doctor and Jip coming back to the ship with +a red-headed man, they began to cheer and yell +and dance about the boat. And the swallows +up above started whistling at the top of their +voices—thousands and millions of them—to +show that they too were glad that the boy’s brave +uncle had been found. The noise they made +was so great that sailors far out at sea thought +that a terrible storm was coming. “Hark to +that gale howling in the East!” they said.</p> + +<p>And Jip was awfully proud of himself—though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> +he tried hard not to look conceited. +When Dab-Dab came to him and said, “Jip, I +had no idea you were so clever!” he just tossed +his head and answered,</p> + +<p>“Oh, that’s nothing special. But it takes a +dog to find a man, you know. Birds are no good +for a game like that.”</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman +where his home was. And when he had +told him, the Doctor asked the swallows to guide +the ship there first.</p> + +<p>And when they had come to the land which +the man had spoken of, they saw a little fishing-town +at the foot of a rocky mountain; and the +man pointed out the house where he lived.</p> + +<p>And while they were letting down the anchor, +the little boy’s mother (who was also the man’s +sister) came running down to the shore to meet +them, laughing and crying at the same time. +She had been sitting on a hill for twenty days, +watching the sea and waiting for them to return.</p> + +<p>And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +he giggled and blushed like a school-girl. And +she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away and +hid inside the ship.</p> + +<p>“It’s a silly business, this kissing,” he said. +“I don’t hold by it. Let her go and kiss Gub-Gub—if +she <i>must</i> kiss something.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 382px;"> +<img src="images/i-188.jpg" width="382" height="225" alt="boys mother running to kiss doctor" /> +<div class="caption">“And she kissed the Doctor many times”</div> +</div> + +<p>The fisherman and his sister didn’t want the +Doctor to go away again in a hurry. They +begged him to spend a few days with them. So +John Dolittle and his animals had to stay at +their house a whole Saturday and Sunday and +half of Monday.</p> + +<p>And all the little boys of the fishing-village +went down to the beach and pointed at the great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> +ship anchored there, and said to one another in +whispers,</p> + +<p>“Look! That was a pirate-ship—Ben Ali’s—the +most terrible pirate that ever sailed the +Seven Seas! That old gentleman with the high +hat, who’s staying up at Mrs. Trevelyan’s, <i>he</i> +took the ship away from The Barbary Dragon—and +made him into a farmer. Who’d have +thought it of him—him so gentle-like and all!... +Look at the great red sails! Ain’t she the +wicked-looking ship—and fast?—My!”</p> + +<p>All those two days and a half that the Doctor +stayed at the little fishing-town the people kept +asking him out to teas and luncheons and dinners +and parties; all the ladies sent him boxes +of flowers and candies; and the village-band +played tunes under his window every night.</p> + +<p>At last the Doctor said,</p> + +<p>“Good people, I must go home now. You +have really been most kind. I shall always remember +it. But I must go home—for I have +things to do.”</p> + +<p>Then, just as the Doctor was about to leave, +the Mayor of the town came down the street<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +and a lot of other people in grand clothes with +him. And the Mayor stopped before the house +where the Doctor was living; and everybody in +the village gathered round to see what was going +to happen.</p> + +<p>After six page-boys had blown on shining +trumpets to make the people stop talking, the +Doctor came out on to the steps and the Mayor +spoke.</p> + +<p>“Doctor John Dolittle,” said he: “It is a +great pleasure for me to present to the man who +rid the seas of the Dragon of Barbary this little +token from the grateful people of our worthy +Town.”</p> + +<p>And the Mayor took from his pocket a little +tissue-paper packet, and opening it, he handed +to the Doctor a perfectly beautiful watch with +real diamonds in the back.</p> + +<p>Then the Mayor pulled out of his pocket a +still larger parcel and said,</p> + +<p>“Where is the dog?”</p> + +<p>Then everybody started to hunt for Jip. And +at last Dab-Dab found him on the other side +of the village in a stable-yard, where all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +dogs of the country-side were standing round +him speechless with admiration and respect.</p> + +<p>When Jip was brought to the Doctor’s side, +the Mayor opened the larger parcel; and inside +was a dog-collar made of solid gold! And a +great murmur of wonder went up from the village-folk +as the Mayor bent down and fastened +it round the dog’s neck with his own hands.</p> + +<p>For written on the collar in big letters were +these words: “JIP—<i>The Cleverest Dog in the +World.</i>”</p> + +<p>Then the whole crowd moved down to the +beach to see them off. And after the red-haired +fisherman and his sister and the little boy had +thanked the Doctor and his dog over and over +and over again, the great, swift ship with the +red sails was turned once more towards Puddleby +and they sailed out to sea, while the village-band +played music on the shore.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE LAST CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>HOME AGAIN</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-192.jpg" width="160" height="138" alt="M" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">MARCH winds had come and +gone; April’s showers were +over; May’s buds had opened +into flower; and the June sun +was shining on the pleasant +fields, when John Dolittle at +last got back to his own country.</p> + +<p>But he did not yet go home to Puddleby. +First he went traveling through the land with +the pushmi-pullyu in a gipsy-wagon, stopping at +all the country-fairs. And there, with the acrobats +on one side of them and the Punch-and-Judy +show on the other, they would hang out a +big sign which read, “<span class="smcap">Come and See the +Marvelous Two-Headed Animal from the +Jungles of Africa.</span> Admission <span class="smcap">Sixpence</span>.”</p> + +<p>And the pushmi-pullyu would stay inside the +wagon, while the other animals would lie about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +underneath. The Doctor sat in a chair in front +taking the sixpences and smiling on the people +as they went in; and Dab-Dab was kept busy +all the time scolding him because he would let +the children in for nothing when she wasn’t +looking.</p> + +<p>And menagerie-keepers and circus-men came +and asked the Doctor to sell them the strange +creature, saying they would pay a tremendous +lot of money for him. But the Doctor always +shook his head and said,</p> + +<p>“No. The pushmi-pullyu shall never be shut +up in a cage. He shall be free always to come +and go, like you and me.”</p> + +<p>Many curious sights and happenings they saw +in this wandering life; but they all seemed quite +ordinary after the great things they had seen +and done in foreign lands. It was very interesting +at first, being sort of part of a circus; +but after a few weeks they all got dreadfully +tired of it and the Doctor and all of them were +longing to go home.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 446px;"> +<img src="images/i-194.jpg" width="446" height="543" alt="the menagerie" /> +<div class="caption">“The Doctor sat in a chair in front”</div> +</div> + +<p>But so many people came flocking to the little +wagon and paid the sixpence to go inside and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a><br /><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> +see the pushmi-pullyu that very soon the Doctor +was able to give up being a showman.</p> + +<p>And one fine day, when the hollyhocks were +in full bloom, he came back to Puddleby a rich +man, to live in the little house with the big +garden.</p> + +<p>And the old lame horse in the stable was glad +to see him; and so were the swallows who had +already built their nests under the eaves of his +roof and had young ones. And Dab-Dab was +glad, too, to get back to the house she knew so +well—although there was a terrible lot of dusting +to be done, with cobwebs everywhere.</p> + +<p>And after Jip had gone and shown his golden +collar to the conceited collie next-door, he came +back and began running round the garden like +a crazy thing, looking for the bones he had +buried long ago, and chasing the rats out of the +tool-shed; while Gub-Gub dug up the horseradish +which had grown three feet high in the +corner by the garden-wall.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-196.jpg" width="600" height="342" alt="Jip running around garden" /> +<div class="caption">“He began running round the garden like a crazy thing”</div> +</div> + +<p>And the Doctor went and saw the sailor who +had lent him the boat, and he bought two new +ships for him and a rubber-doll for his baby;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a><br /><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +and he paid the grocer for the food he had lent +him for the journey to Africa. And he bought +another piano and put the white mice back in +it—because they said the bureau-drawer was +drafty.</p> + +<p>Even when the Doctor had filled the old +money-box on the dresser-shelf, he still had a +lot of money left; and he had to get three more +money-boxes, just as big, to put the rest in.</p> + +<p>“Money,” he said, “is a terrible nuisance. +But it’s nice not to have to worry.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Dab-Dab, who was toasting muffins +for his tea, “it is indeed!”</p> + +<p>And when the Winter came again, and the +snow flew against the kitchen-window, the Doctor +and his animals would sit round the big, +warm fire after supper; and he would read aloud +to them out of his books.</p> + +<p>But far away in Africa, where the monkeys +chattered in the palm-trees before they went to +bed under the big yellow moon, they would say +to one another,</p> + +<p>“I wonder what The Good Man’s doing now—over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +there, in the Land of the White Men! +Do you think he ever will come back?”</p> + +<p>And Polynesia would squeak out from the +vines,</p> + +<p>“I think he will—I guess he will—I hope he +will!”</p> + +<p>And then the crocodile would grunt up at +them from the black mud of the river,</p> + +<p>“I’m SURE he will—Go to sleep!”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 441px;"> +<img src="images/i-198.jpg" width="441" height="351" alt="Bench with words THE END; doctor asleep on bench" /> +</div> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<div class="tnote"><div class="center"><b>Transcriber’s Notes:</b></div> + +<p>Page 79, period added at end of sentence (had not seen before.)</p> + +<p>Page 119, single closing quote added to caption about rats.</p> +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 501 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/501-h/images/cover.jpg b/501-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b50d600 --- /dev/null +++ b/501-h/images/cover.jpg diff 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d13e7a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #501 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/501) diff --git a/old/20080913-501-h.htm b/old/20080913-501-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0817a06 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/20080913-501-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5387 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: The Story of Doctor Dolittle + +Author: Hugh Lofting + +Posting Date: September 13, 2008 [EBook #501] +Release Date: April, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> + THE<BR> + Story of<BR> + DOCTOR DOLITTLE<BR> +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> + by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> + Hugh Lofting +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> + BEING THE<BR> + HISTORY OF HIS PECULIAR LIFE<BR> + AT HOME AND ASTONISHING ADVENTURES<BR> + IN FOREIGN PARTS NEVER BEFORE PRINTED.<BR> +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> + TO<BR> + ALL CHILDREN<BR> + CHILDREN IN YEARS AND CHILDREN IN HEART<BR> + I DEDICATE THIS STORY<BR> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap00"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTRODUCTION +</H3> + +<P> +There are some of us now reaching middle age who discover themselves to +be lamenting the past in one respect if in none other, that there are +no books written now for children comparable with those of thirty years +ago. I say written FOR children because the new psychological business +of writing ABOUT them as though they were small pills or hatched in +some especially scientific method is extremely popular today. Writing +for children rather than about them is very difficult as everybody who +has tried it knows. It can only be done, I am convinced, by somebody +having a great deal of the child in his own outlook and sensibilities. +Such was the author of "The Little Duke" and "The Dove in the Eagle's +Nest," such the author of "A Flatiron for a Farthing," and "The Story +of a Short Life." Such, above all, the author of "Alice in Wonderland." +Grownups imagine that they can do the trick by adopting baby language +and talking down to their very critical audience. There never was a +greater mistake. The imagination of the author must be a child's +imagination and yet maturely consistent, so that the White Queen in +"Alice," for instance, is seen just as a child would see her, but she +continues always herself through all her distressing adventures. The +supreme touch of the white rabbit pulling on his white gloves as he +hastens is again absolutely the child's vision, but the white rabbit as +guide and introducer of Alice's adventures belongs to mature grown +insight. +</P> + +<P> +Geniuses are rare and, without being at all an undue praiser of times +past, one can say without hesitation that until the appearance of Hugh +Lofting, the successor of Miss Yonge, Mrs. Ewing, Mrs. Gatty and Lewis +Carroll had not appeared. I remember the delight with which some six +months ago I picked up the first "Dolittle" book in the Hampshire +bookshop at Smith College in Northampton. One of Mr. Lofting's +pictures was quite enough for me. The picture that I lighted upon when +I first opened the book was the one of the monkeys making a chain with +their arms across the gulf. Then I looked further and discovered Bumpo +reading fairy stories to himself. And then looked again and there was +a picture of John Dolittle's house. +</P> + +<P> +But pictures are not enough although most authors draw so badly that if +one of them happens to have the genius for line that Mr. Lofting shows +there must be, one feels, something in his writing as well. There is. +You cannot read the first paragraph of the book, which begins in the +right way "Once upon a time" without knowing that Mr. Lofting believes +in his story quite as much as he expects you to. That is the first +essential for a story teller. Then you discover as you read on that he +has the right eye for the right detail. What child-inquiring mind +could resist this intriguing sentence to be found on the second page of +the book: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Besides the gold-fish in the pond at the bottom of his garden, he had +rabbits in the pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen +closet and a hedgehog in the cellar." +</P> + +<P> +And then when you read a little further you will discover that the +Doctor is not merely a peg on whom to hang exciting and various +adventures but that he is himself a man of original and lively +character. He is a very kindly, generous man, and anyone who has ever +written stories will know that it is much more difficult to make +kindly, generous characters interesting than unkindly and mean ones. +But Dolittle is interesting. It is not only that he is quaint but that +he is wise and knows what he is about. The reader, however young, who +meets him gets very soon a sense that if he were in trouble, not +necessarily medical, he would go to Dolittle and ask his advice about +it. Dolittle seems to extend his hand from the page and grasp that of +his reader, and I can see him going down the centuries a kind of Pied +Piper with thousands of children at his heels. But not only is he a +darling and alive and credible but his creator has also managed to +invest everybody else in the book with the same kind of life. +</P> + +<P> +Now this business of giving life to animals, making them talk and +behave like human beings, is an extremely difficult one. Lewis Carroll +absolutely conquered the difficulties, but I am not sure that anyone +after him until Hugh Lofting has really managed the trick; even in such +a masterpiece as "The Wind in the Willows" we are not quite convinced. +John Dolittle's friends are convincing because their creator never +forces them to desert their own characteristics. Polynesia, for +instance, is natural from first to last. She really does care about +the Doctor but she cares as a bird would care, having always some place +to which she is going when her business with her friends is over. And +when Mr. Lofting invents fantastic animals he gives them a kind of +credible possibility which is extraordinarily convincing. It will be +impossible for anyone who has read this book not to believe in the +existence of the pushmi-pullyu, who would be credible enough even were +there no drawing of it, but the picture on page 145 settles the matter +of his truth once and for all. +</P> + +<P> +In fact this book is a work of genius and, as always with works of +genius, it is difficult to analyze the elements that have gone to make +it. There is poetry here and fantasy and humor, a little pathos but, +above all, a number of creations in whose existence everybody must +believe whether they be children of four or old men of ninety or +prosperous bankers of forty-five. I don't know how Mr. Lofting has +done it; I don't suppose that he knows himself. There it is—the first +real children's classic since "Alice." HUGH WALPOLE. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap00">INTRODUCTION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">PUDDLEBY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">ANIMAL LANGUAGE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">MORE MONEY TROUBLES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">THE GREAT JOURNEY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">POLYNESIA AND THE KING</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">THE BRIDGE OF APES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE LEADER OF THE LIONS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">THE MONKEYS' COUNCIL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">THE BLACK PRINCE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">MEDICINE AND MAGIC</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">THE RATS' WARNING</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">THE BARBARY DRAGON</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE OCEAN GOSSIPS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">SMELLS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">THE ROCK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">THE FISHERMAN'S TOWN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">HOME AGAIN</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FIRST CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PUDDLEBY +</H3> + +<P> +ONCE upon a time, many years ago when our grandfathers were little +children—there was a doctor; and his name was Dolittle—John Dolittle, +M.D. "M.D." means that he was a proper doctor and knew a whole lot. +</P> + +<P> +He lived in a little town called, Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. All the folks, +young and old, knew him well by sight. And whenever he walked down the +street in his high hat everyone would say, "There goes the +Doctor!—He's a clever man." And the dogs and the children would all +run up and follow behind him; and even the crows that lived in the +church-tower would caw and nod their heads. +</P> + +<P> +The house he lived in, on the edge of the town, was quite small; but +his garden was very large and had a wide lawn and stone seats and +weeping-willows hanging over. His sister, Sarah Dolittle, was +housekeeper for him; but the Doctor looked after the garden himself. +</P> + +<P> +He was very fond of animals and kept many kinds of pets. Besides the +gold-fish in the pond at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in +the pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen closet and +a hedgehog in the cellar. He had a cow with a calf too, and an old lame +horse-twenty-five years of age—and chickens, and pigeons, and two +lambs, and many other animals. But his favorite pets were Dab-Dab the +duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the baby pig, Polynesia the parrot, and the +owl Too-Too. +</P> + +<P> +His sister used to grumble about all these animals and said they made +the house untidy. And one day when an old lady with rheumatism came to +see the Doctor, she sat on the hedgehog who was sleeping on the sofa +and never came to see him any more, but drove every Saturday all the +way to Oxenthorpe, another town ten miles off, to see a different +doctor. +</P> + +<P> +Then his sister, Sarah Dolittle, came to him and said, +</P> + +<P> +"John, how can you expect sick people to come and see you when you keep +all these animals in the house? It's a fine doctor would have his +parlor full of hedgehogs and mice! That's the fourth personage these +animals have driven away. Squire Jenkins and the Parson say they +wouldn't come near your house again—no matter how sick they are. We +are getting poorer every day. If you go on like this, none of the best +people will have you for a doctor." +</P> + +<P> +"But I like the animals better than the 'best people'," said the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"You are ridiculous," said his sister, and walked out of the room. +</P> + +<P> +So, as time went on, the Doctor got more and more animals; and the +people who came to see him got less and less. Till at last he had no +one left—except the Cat's-meat-Man, who didn't mind any kind of +animals. But the Cat's-meat Man wasn't very rich and he only got sick +once a year—at Christmas-time, when he used to give the Doctor +sixpence for a bottle of medicine. +</P> + +<P> +Sixpence a year wasn't enough to live on—even in those days, long ago; +and if the Doctor hadn't had some money saved up in his money-box, no +one knows what would have happened. +</P> + +<P> +And he kept on getting still more pets; and of course it cost a lot to +feed them. And the money he had saved up grew littler and littler. +</P> + +<P> +Then he sold his piano, and let the mice live in a bureau-drawer. But +the money he got for that too began to go, so he sold the brown suit he +wore on Sundays and went on becoming poorer and poorer. +</P> + +<P> +And now, when he walked down the street in his high hat, people would +say to one another, "There goes John Dolittle, M.D.! There was a time +when he was the best known doctor in the West Country—Look at him +now—He hasn't any money and his stockings are full of holes!" +</P> + +<P> +But the dogs and the cats and the children still ran up and followed +him through the town—the same as they had done when he was rich. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SECOND CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ANIMAL LANGUAGE +</H3> + +<P> +IT happened one day that the Doctor was sitting in his kitchen talking +with the Cat's-meat-Man who had come to see him with a stomach-ache. +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you give up being a people's doctor, and be an +animal-doctor?" asked the Cat's-meat-Man. +</P> + +<P> +The parrot, Polynesia, was sitting in the window looking out at the +rain and singing a sailor-song to herself. She stopped singing and +started to listen. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, Doctor," the Cat's-meat-Man went on, "you know all about +animals—much more than what these here vets do. That book you +wrote—about cats, why, it's wonderful! I can't read or write +myself—or maybe <I>I</I>'D write some books. But my wife, Theodosia, she's +a scholar, she is. And she read your book to me. Well, it's +wonderful—that's all can be said—wonderful. You might have been a cat +yourself. You know the way they think. And listen: you can make a lot +of money doctoring animals. Do you know that? You see, I'd send all +the old women who had sick cats or dogs to you. And if they didn't get +sick fast enough, I could put something in the meat I sell 'em to make +'em sick, see?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no," said the Doctor quickly. "You mustn't do that. That +wouldn't be right." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I didn't mean real sick," answered the Cat's-meat-Man. "Just a +little something to make them droopy-like was what I had reference to. +But as you say, maybe it ain't quite fair on the animals. But they'll +get sick anyway, because the old women always give 'em too much to eat. +And look, all the farmers 'round about who had lame horses and weak +lambs—they'd come. Be an animal-doctor." +</P> + +<P> +When the Cat's-meat-Man had gone the parrot flew off the window on to +the Doctor's table and said, +</P> + +<P> +"That man's got sense. That's what you ought to do. Be an +animal-doctor. Give the silly people up—if they haven't brains enough +to see you're the best doctor in the world. Take care of animals +instead—THEY'll soon find it out. Be an animal-doctor." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, there are plenty of animal-doctors," said John Dolittle, putting +the flower-pots outside on the window-sill to get the rain. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, there ARE plenty," said Polynesia. "But none of them are any +good at all. Now listen, Doctor, and I'll tell you something. Did you +know that animals can talk?" +</P> + +<P> +"I knew that parrots can talk," said the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we parrots can talk in two languages—people's language and +bird-language," said Polynesia proudly. "If I say, 'Polly wants a +cracker,' you understand me. But hear this: Ka-ka oi-ee, fee-fee?" +</P> + +<P> +"Good Gracious!" cried the Doctor. "What does that mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"That means, 'Is the porridge hot yet?'—in bird-language." +</P> + +<P> +"My! You don't say so!" said the Doctor. "You never talked that way to +me before." +</P> + +<P> +"What would have been the good?" said Polynesia, dusting some +cracker-crumbs off her left wing. "You wouldn't have understood me if +I had." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me some more," said the Doctor, all excited; and he rushed over +to the dresser-drawer and came back with the butcher's book and a +pencil. "Now don't go too fast—and I'll write it down. This is +interesting—very interesting—something quite new. Give me the Birds' +A.B.C. first—slowly now." +</P> + +<P> +So that was the way the Doctor came to know that animals had a language +of their own and could talk to one another. And all that afternoon, +while it was raining, Polynesia sat on the kitchen table giving him +bird words to put down in the book. +</P> + +<P> +At tea-time, when the dog, Jip, came in, the parrot said to the Doctor, +"See, HE'S talking to you." +</P> + +<P> +"Looks to me as though he were scratching his ear," said the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"But animals don't always speak with their mouths," said the parrot in +a high voice, raising her eyebrows. "They talk with their ears, with +their feet, with their tails—with everything. Sometimes they don't +WANT to make a noise. Do you see now the way he's twitching up one +side of his nose?" +</P> + +<P> +"What's that mean?" asked the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"That means, 'Can't you see that it has stopped raining?'" Polynesia +answered. "He is asking you a question. Dogs nearly always use their +noses for asking questions." +</P> + +<P> +After a while, with the parrot's help, the Doctor got to learn the +language of the animals so well that he could talk to them himself and +understand everything they said. Then he gave up being a people's +doctor altogether. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as the Cat's-meat-Man had told every one that John Dolittle was +going to become an animal-doctor, old ladies began to bring him their +pet pugs and poodles who had eaten too much cake; and farmers came many +miles to show him sick cows and sheep. +</P> + +<P> +One day a plow-horse was brought to him; and the poor thing was +terribly glad to find a man who could talk in horse-language. +</P> + +<P> +"You know, Doctor," said the horse, "that vet over the hill knows +nothing at all. He has been treating me six weeks now—for spavins. +What I need is SPECTACLES. I am going blind in one eye. There's no +reason why horses shouldn't wear glasses, the same as people. But that +stupid man over the hill never even looked at my eyes. He kept on +giving me big pills. I tried to tell him; but he couldn't understand a +word of horse-language. What I need is spectacles." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course—of course," said the Doctor. "I'll get you some at once." +</P> + +<P> +"I would like a pair like yours," said the horse—"only green. They'll +keep the sun out of my eyes while I'm plowing the Fifty-Acre Field." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," said the Doctor. "Green ones you shall have." +</P> + +<P> +"You know, the trouble is, Sir," said the plow-horse as the Doctor +opened the front door to let him out—"the trouble is that ANYBODY +thinks he can doctor animals—just because the animals don't complain. +As a matter of fact it takes a much cleverer man to be a really good +animal-doctor than it does to be a good people's doctor. My farmer's +boy thinks he knows all about horses. I wish you could see him—his +face is so fat he looks as though he had no eyes—and he has got as +much brain as a potato-bug. He tried to put a mustard-plaster on me +last week." +</P> + +<P> +"Where did he put it?" asked the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he didn't put it anywhere—on me," said the horse. "He only tried +to. I kicked him into the duck-pond." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well!" said the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm a pretty quiet creature as a rule," said the horse—"very patient +with people—don't make much fuss. But it was bad enough to have that +vet giving me the wrong medicine. And when that red-faced booby started +to monkey with me, I just couldn't bear it any more." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you hurt the boy much?" asked the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no," said the horse. "I kicked him in the right place. The vet's +looking after him now. When will my glasses be ready?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll have them for you next week," said the Doctor. "Come in again +Tuesday—Good morning!" +</P> + +<P> +Then John Dolittle got a fine, big pair of green spectacles; and the +plow-horse stopped going blind in one eye and could see as well as ever. +</P> + +<P> +And soon it became a common sight to see farm-animals wearing glasses +in the country round Puddleby; and a blind horse was a thing unknown. +</P> + +<P> +And so it was with all the other animals that were brought to him. As +soon as they found that he could talk their language, they told him +where the pain was and how they felt, and of course it was easy for him +to cure them. +</P> + +<P> +Now all these animals went back and told their brothers and friends +that there was a doctor in the little house with the big garden who +really WAS a doctor. And whenever any creatures got sick—not only +horses and cows and dogs—but all the little things of the fields, like +harvest-mice and water-voles, badgers and bats, they came at once to +his house on the edge of the town, so that his big garden was nearly +always crowded with animals trying to get in to see him. +</P> + +<P> +There were so many that came that he had to have special doors made for +the different kinds. He wrote "HORSES" over the front door, "COWS" over +the side door, and "SHEEP" on the kitchen door. Each kind of animal +had a separate door—even the mice had a tiny tunnel made for them into +the cellar, where they waited patiently in rows for the Doctor to come +round to them. +</P> + +<P> +And so, in a few years' time, every living thing for miles and miles +got to know about John Dolittle, M.D. And the birds who flew to other +countries in the winter told the animals in foreign lands of the +wonderful doctor of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, who could understand their +talk and help them in their troubles. In this way he became famous +among the animals—all over the world—better known even than he had +been among the folks of the West Country. And he was happy and liked +his life very much. +</P> + +<P> +One afternoon when the Doctor was busy writing in a book, Polynesia sat +in the window—as she nearly always did—looking out at the leaves +blowing about in the garden. Presently she laughed aloud. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, Polynesia?" asked the Doctor, looking up from his book. +</P> + +<P> +"I was just thinking," said the parrot; and she went on looking at the +leaves. +</P> + +<P> +"What were you thinking?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was thinking about people," said Polynesia. "People make me sick. +They think they're so wonderful. The world has been going on now for +thousands of years, hasn't it? And the only thing in animal-language +that PEOPLE have learned to understand is that when a dog wags his tail +he means 'I'm glad!'—It's funny, isn't it? You are the very first man +to talk like us. Oh, sometimes people annoy me dreadfully—such airs +they put on—talking about 'the dumb animals.' DUMB!—Huh! Why I knew +a macaw once who could say 'Good morning!' in seven different ways +without once opening his mouth. He could talk every language—and +Greek. An old professor with a gray beard bought him. But he didn't +stay. He said the old man didn't talk Greek right, and he couldn't +stand listening to him teach the language wrong. I often wonder what's +become of him. That bird knew more geography than people will ever +know.—PEOPLE, Golly! I suppose if people ever learn to fly—like any +common hedge-sparrow—we shall never hear the end of it!" +</P> + +<P> +"You're a wise old bird," said the Doctor. "How old are you really? I +know that parrots and elephants sometimes live to be very, very old." +</P> + +<P> +"I can never be quite sure of my age," said Polynesia. "It's either a +hundred and eighty-three or a hundred and eighty-two. But I know that +when I first came here from Africa, King Charles was still hiding in +the oak-tree—because I saw him. He looked scared to death." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE THIRD CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MORE MONEY TROUBLES +</H3> + +<P> +AND soon now the Doctor began to make money again; and his sister, +Sarah, bought a new dress and was happy. Some of the animals who came +to see him were so sick that they had to stay at the Doctor's house for +a week. And when they were getting better they used to sit in chairs +on the lawn. +</P> + +<P> +And often even after they got well, they did not want to go away—they +liked the Doctor and his house so much. And he never had the heart to +refuse them when they asked if they could stay with him. So in this +way he went on getting more and more pets. +</P> + +<P> +Once when he was sitting on his garden wall, smoking a pipe in the +evening, an Italian organ-grinder came round with a monkey on a string. +The Doctor saw at once that the monkey's collar was too tight and that +he was dirty and unhappy. So he took the monkey away from the Italian, +gave the man a shilling and told him to go. The organ-grinder got +awfully angry and said that he wanted to keep the monkey. But the +Doctor told him that if he didn't go away he would punch him on the +nose. John Dolittle was a strong man, though he wasn't very tall. So +the Italian went away saying rude things and the monkey stayed with +Doctor Dolittle and had a good home. The other animals in the house +called him "Chee-Chee"—which is a common word in monkey-language, +meaning "ginger." +</P> + +<P> +And another time, when the circus came to Puddleby, the crocodile who +had a bad tooth-ache escaped at night and came into the Doctor's +garden. The Doctor talked to him in crocodile-language and took him +into the house and made his tooth better. But when the crocodile saw +what a nice house it was—with all the different places for the +different kinds of animals—he too wanted to live with the Doctor. He +asked couldn't he sleep in the fish-pond at the bottom of the garden, +if he promised not to eat the fish. When the circus-men came to take +him back he got so wild and savage that he frightened them away. But +to every one in the house he was always as gentle as a kitten. +</P> + +<P> +But now the old ladies grew afraid to send their lap-dogs to Doctor +Dolittle because of the crocodile; and the farmers wouldn't believe +that he would not eat the lambs and sick calves they brought to be +cured. So the Doctor went to the crocodile and told him he must go +back to his circus. But he wept such big tears, and begged so hard to +be allowed to stay, that the Doctor hadn't the heart to turn him out. +</P> + +<P> +So then the Doctor's sister came to him and said, "John, you must send +that creature away. Now the farmers and the old ladies are afraid to +send their animals to you—just as we were beginning to be well off +again. Now we shall be ruined entirely. This is the last straw. I +will no longer be housekeeper for you if you don't send away that +alligator." +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't an alligator," said the Doctor—"it's a crocodile." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care what you call it," said his sister. "It's a nasty thing +to find under the bed. I won't have it in the house." +</P> + +<P> +"But he has promised me," the Doctor answered, "that he will not bite +any one. He doesn't like the circus; and I haven't the money to send +him back to Africa where he comes from. He minds his own business and +on the whole is very well behaved. Don't be so fussy." +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you I WILL NOT have him around," said Sarah. "He eats the +linoleum. If you don't send him away this minute I'll—I'll go and get +married!" +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said the Doctor, "go and get married. It can't be +helped." And he took down his hat and went out into the garden. +</P> + +<P> +So Sarah Dolittle packed up her things and went off; and the Doctor was +left all alone with his animal family. +</P> + +<P> +And very soon he was poorer than he had ever been before. With all +these mouths to fill, and the house to look after, and no one to do the +mending, and no money coming in to pay the butcher's bill, things began +to look very difficult. But the Doctor didn't worry at all. +</P> + +<P> +"Money is a nuisance," he used to say. "We'd all be much better off if +it had never been invented. What does money matter, so long as we are +happy?" +</P> + +<P> +But soon the animals themselves began to get worried. And one evening +when the Doctor was asleep in his chair before the kitchen-fire they +began talking it over among themselves in whispers. And the owl, +Too-Too, who was good at arithmetic, figured it out that there was only +money enough left to last another week—if they each had one meal a day +and no more. +</P> + +<P> +Then the parrot said, "I think we all ought to do the housework +ourselves. At least we can do that much. After all, it is for our +sakes that the old man finds himself so lonely and so poor." +</P> + +<P> +So it was agreed that the monkey, Chee-Chee, was to do the cooking and +mending; the dog was to sweep the floors; the duck was to dust and make +the beds; the owl, Too-Too, was to keep the accounts, and the pig was +to do the gardening. They made Polynesia, the parrot, housekeeper and +laundress, because she was the oldest. +</P> + +<P> +Of course at first they all found their new jobs very hard to do—all +except Chee-Chee, who had hands, and could do things like a man. But +they soon got used to it; and they used to think it great fun to watch +Jip, the dog, sweeping his tail over the floor with a rag tied onto it +for a broom. After a little they got to do the work so well that the +Doctor said that he had never had his house kept so tidy or so clean +before. +</P> + +<P> +In this way things went along all right for a while; but without money +they found it very hard. +</P> + +<P> +Then the animals made a vegetable and flower stall outside the +garden-gate and sold radishes and roses to the people that passed by +along the road. +</P> + +<P> +But still they didn't seem to make enough money to pay all the +bills—and still the Doctor wouldn't worry. When the parrot came to +him and told him that the fishmonger wouldn't give them any more fish, +he said, +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind. So long as the hens lay eggs and the cow gives milk we +can have omelettes and junket. And there are plenty of vegetables left +in the garden. The Winter is still a long way off. Don't fuss. That +was the trouble with Sarah—she would fuss. I wonder how Sarah's +getting on—an excellent woman—in some ways—Well, well!" +</P> + +<P> +But the snow came earlier than usual that year; and although the old +lame horse hauled in plenty of wood from the forest outside the town, +so they could have a big fire in the kitchen, most of the vegetables in +the garden were gone, and the rest were covered with snow; and many of +the animals were really hungry. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FOURTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA +</H3> + +<P> +THAT Winter was a very cold one. And one night in December, when they +were all sitting round the warm fire in the kitchen, and the Doctor was +reading aloud to them out of books he had written himself in +animal-language, the owl, Too-Too, suddenly said, "Sh! What's that +noise outside?" +</P> + +<P> +They all listened; and presently they heard the sound of some one +running. Then the door flew open and the monkey, Chee-Chee, ran in, +badly out of breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Doctor!" he cried, "I've just had a message from a cousin of mine in +Africa. There is a terrible sickness among the monkeys out there. They +are all catching it—and they are dying in hundreds. They have heard +of you, and beg you to come to Africa to stop the sickness." +</P> + +<P> +"Who brought the message?" asked the Doctor, taking off his spectacles +and laying down his book. +</P> + +<P> +"A swallow," said Chee-Chee. "She is outside on the rain-butt." +</P> + +<P> +"Bring her in by the fire," said the Doctor. "She must be perished with +the cold. The swallows flew South six weeks ago!" +</P> + +<P> +So the swallow was brought in, all huddled and shivering; and although +she was a little afraid at first, she soon got warmed up and sat on the +edge of the mantelpiece and began to talk. +</P> + +<P> +When she had finished the Doctor said, +</P> + +<P> +"I would gladly go to Africa—especially in this bitter weather. But +I'm afraid we haven't money enough to buy the tickets. Get me the +money-box, Chee-Chee." +</P> + +<P> +So the monkey climbed up and got it off the top shelf of the dresser. +</P> + +<P> +There was nothing in it—not one single penny! +</P> + +<P> +"I felt sure there was twopence left," said the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"There WAS," said the owl. "But you spent it on a rattle for that +badger's baby when he was teething." +</P> + +<P> +"Did I?" said the Doctor—"dear me, dear me! What a nuisance money is, +to be sure! Well, never mind. Perhaps if I go down to the seaside I +shall be able to borrow a boat that will take us to Africa. I knew a +seaman once who brought his baby to me with measles. Maybe he'll lend +us his boat—the baby got well." +</P> + +<P> +So early the next morning the Doctor went down to the seashore. And +when he came back he told the animals it was all right—the sailor was +going to lend them the boat. +</P> + +<P> +Then the crocodile and the monkey and the parrot were very glad and +began to sing, because they were going back to Africa, their real home. +And the Doctor said, +</P> + +<P> +"I shall only be able to take you three—with Jip the dog, Dab-Dab the +duck, Gub-Gub the pig and the owl, Too-Too. The rest of the animals, +like the dormice and the water-voles and the bats, they will have to go +back and live in the fields where they were born till we come home +again. But as most of them sleep through the Winter, they won't mind +that—and besides, it wouldn't be good for them to go to Africa." +</P> + +<P> +So then the parrot, who had been on long sea-voyages before, began +telling the Doctor all the things he would have to take with him on the +ship. +</P> + +<P> +"You must have plenty of pilot-bread," she said—"'hard tack' they call +it. And you must have beef in cans—and an anchor." +</P> + +<P> +"I expect the ship will have its own anchor," said the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, make sure," said Polynesia. "Because it's very important. You +can't stop if you haven't got an anchor. And you'll need a bell." +</P> + +<P> +"What's that for?" asked the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"To tell the time by," said the parrot. "You go and ring it every +half-hour and then you know what time it is. And bring a whole lot of +rope—it always comes in handy on voyages." +</P> + +<P> +Then they began to wonder where they were going to get the money from +to buy all the things they needed. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, bother it! Money again," cried the Doctor. "Goodness! I shall +be glad to get to Africa where we don't have to have any! I'll go and +ask the grocer if he will wait for his money till I get back—No, I'll +send the sailor to ask him." +</P> + +<P> +So the sailor went to see the grocer. And presently he came back with +all the things they wanted. +</P> + +<P> +Then the animals packed up; and after they had turned off the water so +the pipes wouldn't freeze, and put up the shutters, they closed the +house and gave the key to the old horse who lived in the stable. And +when they had seen that there was plenty of hay in the loft to last the +horse through the Winter, they carried all their luggage down to the +seashore and got on to the boat. +</P> + +<P> +The Cat's-meat-Man was there to see them off; and he brought a large +suet-pudding as a present for the Doctor because, he said he had been +told, you couldn't get suet-puddings in foreign parts. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as they were on the ship, Gub-Gub, the pig, asked where the +beds were, for it was four o'clock in the afternoon and he wanted his +nap. So Polynesia took him downstairs into the inside of the ship and +showed him the beds, set all on top of one another like book-shelves +against a wall. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, that isn't a bed!" cried Gub-Gub. "That's a shelf!" +</P> + +<P> +"Beds are always like that on ships," said the parrot. "It isn't a +shelf. Climb up into it and go to sleep. That's what you call 'a +bunk.'" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think I'll go to bed yet," said Gub-Gub. "I'm too excited. I +want to go upstairs again and see them start." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, this is your first trip," said Polynesia. "You will get used to +the life after a while." And she went back up the stairs of the ship, +humming this song to herself, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + I've seen the Black Sea and the Red Sea;<BR> + I rounded the Isle of Wight;<BR> + I discovered the Yellow River,<BR> + And the Orange too by night.<BR> + Now Greenland drops behind again,<BR> + And I sail the ocean Blue.<BR> + I'm tired of all these colors, Jane,<BR> + So I'm coming back to you.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +They were just going to start on their journey, when the Doctor said he +would have to go back and ask the sailor the way to Africa. +</P> + +<P> +But the swallow said she had been to that country many times and would +show them how to get there. +</P> + +<P> +So the Doctor told Chee-Chee to pull up the anchor and the voyage began. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FIFTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE GREAT JOURNEY +</H3> + +<P> +NOW for six whole weeks they went sailing on and on, over the rolling +sea, following the swallow who flew before the ship to show them the +way. At night she carried a tiny lantern, so they should not miss her +in the dark; and the people on the other ships that passed said that +the light must be a shooting star. +</P> + +<P> +As they sailed further and further into the South, it got warmer and +warmer. Polynesia, Chee-Chee and the crocodile enjoyed the hot sun no +end. They ran about laughing and looking over the side of the ship to +see if they could see Africa yet. +</P> + +<P> +But the pig and the dog and the owl, Too-Too, could do nothing in such +weather, but sat at the end of the ship in the shade of a big barrel, +with their tongues hanging out, drinking lemonade. +</P> + +<P> +Dab-Dab, the duck, used to keep herself cool by jumping into the sea +and swimming behind the ship. And every once in a while, when the top +of her head got too hot, she would dive under the ship and come up on +the other side. In this way, too, she used to catch herrings on +Tuesdays and Fridays—when everybody on the boat ate fish to make the +beef last longer. +</P> + +<P> +When they got near to the Equator they saw some flying-fishes coming +towards them. And the fishes asked the parrot if this was Doctor +Dolittle's ship. When she told them it was, they said they were glad, +because the monkeys in Africa were getting worried that he would never +come. Polynesia asked them how many miles they had yet to go; and the +flying-fishes said it was only fifty-five miles now to the coast of +Africa. +</P> + +<P> +And another time a whole school of porpoises came dancing through the +waves; and they too asked Polynesia if this was the ship of the famous +doctor. And when they heard that it was, they asked the parrot if the +Doctor wanted anything for his journey. +</P> + +<P> +And Polynesia said, "Yes. We have run short of onions." +</P> + +<P> +"There is an island not far from here," said the porpoises, "where the +wild onions grow tall and strong. Keep straight on—we will get some +and catch up to you." +</P> + +<P> +So the porpoises dashed away through the sea. And very soon the parrot +saw them again, coming up behind, dragging the onions through the waves +in big nets made of seaweed. +</P> + +<P> +The next evening, as the sun was going down the Doctor said, +</P> + +<P> +"Get me the telescope, Chee-Chee. Our journey is nearly ended. Very +soon we should be able to see the shores of Africa." +</P> + +<P> +And about half an hour later, sure enough, they thought they could see +something in front that might be land. But it began to get darker and +darker and they couldn't be sure. Then a great storm came up, with +thunder and lightning. The wind howled; the rain came down in +torrents; and the waves got so high they splashed right over the boat. +</P> + +<P> +Presently there was a big BANG! The ship stopped and rolled over on +its side. +</P> + +<P> +"What's happened?" asked the Doctor, coming up from downstairs. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not sure," said the parrot; "but I think we're ship-wrecked. Tell +the duck to get out and see." +</P> + +<P> +So Dab-Dab dived right down under the waves. And when she came up she +said they had struck a rock; there was a big hole in the bottom of the +ship; the water was coming in; and they were sinking fast. +</P> + +<P> +"We must have run into Africa," said the Doctor. "Dear me, dear +me!—Well—we must all swim to land." +</P> + +<P> +But Chee-Chee and Gub-Gub did not know how to swim. +</P> + +<P> +"Get the rope!" said Polynesia. "I told you it would come in handy. +Where's that duck? Come here, Dab-Dab. Take this end of the rope, fly +to the shore and tie it on to a palm-tree; and we'll hold the other end +on the ship here. Then those that can't swim must climb along the rope +till they reach the land. That's what you call a 'life-line.'" +</P> + +<P> +So they all got safely to the shore—some swimming, some flying; and +those that climbed along the rope brought the Doctor's trunk and +handbag with them. +</P> + +<P> +But the ship was no good any more—with the big hole in the bottom; and +presently the rough sea beat it to pieces on the rocks and the timbers +floated away. +</P> + +<P> +Then they all took shelter in a nice dry cave they found, high up in +the cliffs, till the storm was over. +</P> + +<P> +When the sun came out next morning they went down to the sandy beach to +dry themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"Dear old Africa!" sighed Polynesia. "It's good to get back. Just +think—it'll be a hundred and sixty-nine years to-morrow since I was +here! And it hasn't changed a bit! Same old palm-trees; same old red +earth; same old black ants! There's no place like home!" +</P> + +<P> +And the others noticed she had tears in her eyes—she was so pleased to +see her country once again. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Doctor missed his high hat; for it had been blown into the sea +during the storm. So Dab-Dab went out to look for it. And presently +she saw it, a long way off, floating on the water like a toy-boat. +</P> + +<P> +When she flew down to get it, she found one of the white mice, very +frightened, sitting inside it. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you doing here?" asked the duck. "You were told to stay +behind in Puddleby." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't want to be left behind," said the mouse. "I wanted to see +what Africa was like—I have relatives there. So I hid in the baggage +and was brought on to the ship with the hard-tack. When the ship sank +I was terribly frightened—because I cannot swim far. I swam as long +as I could, but I soon got all exhausted and thought I was going to +sink. And then, just at that moment, the old man's hat came floating +by; and I got into it because I did not want to be drowned." +</P> + +<P> +So the duck took up the hat with the mouse in it and brought it to the +Doctor on the shore. And they all gathered round to have a look. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what you call a 'stowaway,'" said the parrot. +</P> + +<P> +Presently, when they were looking for a place in the trunk where the +white mouse could travel comfortably, the monkey, Chee-Chee, suddenly +said, +</P> + +<P> +"Sh! I hear footsteps in the jungle!" +</P> + +<P> +They all stopped talking and listened. And soon a black man came down +out of the woods and asked them what they were doing there. +</P> + +<P> +"My name is John Dolittle—M. D.," said the Doctor. "I have been asked +to come to Africa to cure the monkeys who are sick." +</P> + +<P> +"You must all come before the King," said the black man. +</P> + +<P> +"What king?" asked the Doctor, who didn't want to waste any time. +</P> + +<P> +"The King of the Jolliginki," the man answered. "All these lands +belong to him; and all strangers must be brought before him. Follow +me." +</P> + +<P> +So they gathered up their baggage and went off, following the man +through the jungle. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SIXTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +POLYNESIA AND THE KING +</H3> + +<P> +WHEN they had gone a little way through the thick forest they came to a +wide, clear space; and they saw the King's palace which was made of mud. +</P> + +<P> +This was where the King lived with his Queen, Ermintrude, and their +son, Prince Bumpo. The Prince was away fishing for salmon in the +river. But the King and Queen were sitting under an umbrella before +the palace door. And Queen Ermintrude was asleep. +</P> + +<P> +When the Doctor had come up to the palace the King asked him his +business; and the Doctor told him why he had come to Africa. +</P> + +<P> +"You may not travel through my lands," said the King. "Many years ago +a white man came to these shores; and I was very kind to him. But after +he had dug holes in the ground to get the gold, and killed all the +elephants to get their ivory tusks, he went away secretly in his +ship—without so much as saying 'Thank you.' Never again shall a white +man travel through the lands of Jolliginki." +</P> + +<P> +Then the King turned to some of the black men who were standing near +and said, "Take away this medicine-man—with all his animals, and lock +them up in my strongest prison." +</P> + +<P> +So six of the black men led the Doctor and all his pets away and shut +them up in a stone dungeon. The dungeon had only one little window, +high up in the wall, with bars in it; and the door was strong and thick. +</P> + +<P> +Then they all grew very sad; and Gub-Gub, the pig, began to cry. But +Chee-Chee said he would spank him if he didn't stop that horrible +noise; and he kept quiet. +</P> + +<P> +"Are we all here?" asked the Doctor, after he had got used to the dim +light. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I think so," said the duck and started to count them. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's Polynesia?" asked the crocodile. "She isn't here." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure?" said the Doctor. "Look again. Polynesia! Polynesia! +Where are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose she escaped," grumbled the crocodile. "Well, that's just +like her!—Sneaked off into the jungle as soon as her friends got into +trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not that kind of a bird," said the parrot, climbing out of the +pocket in the tail of the Doctor's coat. "You see, I'm small enough to +get through the bars of that window; and I was afraid they would put me +in a cage instead. So while the King was busy talking, I hid in the +Doctor's pocket—and here I am! That's what you call a 'ruse,'" she +said, smoothing down her feathers with her beak. +</P> + +<P> +"Good Gracious!" cried the Doctor. "You're lucky I didn't sit on you." +</P> + +<P> +"Now listen," said Polynesia, "to-night, as soon as it gets dark, I am +going to creep through the bars of that window and fly over to the +palace. And then—you'll see—I'll soon find a way to make the King +let us all out of prison." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, what can YOU do?" said Gub-Gub, turning up his nose and beginning +to cry again. "You're only a bird!" +</P> + +<P> +"Quite true," said the parrot. "But do not forget that although I am +only a bird, I CAN TALK LIKE A MAN—and I know these people." +</P> + +<P> +So that night, when the moon was shining through the palm-trees and all +the King's men were asleep, the parrot slipped out through the bars of +the prison and flew across to the palace. The pantry window had been +broken by a tennis ball the week before; and Polynesia popped in +through the hole in the glass. +</P> + +<P> +She heard Prince Bumpo snoring in his bed-room at the back of the +palace. Then she tip-toed up the stairs till she came to the King's +bedroom. She opened the door gently and peeped in. +</P> + +<P> +The Queen was away at a dance that night at her cousin's; but the King +was in bed fast asleep. +</P> + +<P> +Polynesia crept in, very softly, and got under the bed. +</P> + +<P> +Then she coughed—just the way Doctor Dolittle used to cough. +Polynesia could mimic any one. +</P> + +<P> +The King opened his eyes and said sleepily: "Is that you, Ermintrude?" +(He thought it was the Queen come back from the dance.) +</P> + +<P> +Then the parrot coughed again—loud, like a man. And the King sat up, +wide awake, and said, "Who's that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am Doctor Dolittle," said the parrot—just the way the Doctor would +have said it. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you doing in my bedroom?" cried the King. "How dare you get +out of prison! Where are you?—I don't see you." +</P> + +<P> +But the parrot just laughed—a long, deep jolly laugh, like the +Doctor's. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop laughing and come here at once, so I can see you," said the King. +</P> + +<P> +"Foolish King!" answered Polynesia. "Have you forgotten that you are +talking to John Dolittle, M.D.—the most wonderful man on earth? Of +course you cannot see me. I have made myself invisible. There is +nothing I cannot do. Now listen: I have come here to-night to warn you. +If you don't let me and my animals travel through your kingdom, I will +make you and all your people sick like the monkeys. For I can make +people well: and I can make people ill—just by raising my little +finger. Send your soldiers at once to open the dungeon door, or you +shall have mumps before the morning sun has risen on the hills of +Jolliginki." +</P> + +<P> +Then the King began to tremble and was very much afraid. +</P> + +<P> +"Doctor," he cried, "it shall be as you say. Do not raise your little +finger, please!" And he jumped out of bed and ran to tell the soldiers +to open the prison door. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as he was gone, Polynesia crept downstairs and left the palace +by the pantry window. +</P> + +<P> +But the Queen, who was just letting herself in at the backdoor with a +latch-key, saw the parrot getting out through the broken glass. And +when the King came back to bed she told him what she had seen. +</P> + +<P> +Then the King understood that he had been tricked, and he was +dreadfully angry. He hurried back to the prison at once +</P> + +<P> +But he was too late. The door stood open. The dungeon was empty. The +Doctor and all his animals were gone. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SEVENTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BRIDGE OF APES +</H3> + +<P> +QUEEN ERMINTRUDE had never in her life seen her husband so terrible as +he got that night. He gnashed his teeth with rage. He called +everybody a fool. He threw his tooth-brush at the palace cat. He +rushed round in his night-shirt and woke up all his army and sent them +into the jungle to catch the Doctor. Then he made all his servants go +too—his cooks and his gardeners and his barber and Prince Bumpo's +tutor—even the Queen, who was tired from dancing in a pair of tight +shoes, was packed off to help the soldiers in their search. +</P> + +<P> +All this time the Doctor and his animals were running through the +forest towards the Land of the Monkeys as fast as they could go. +</P> + +<P> +Gub-Gub, with his short legs, soon got tired; and the Doctor had to +carry him—which made it pretty hard when they had the trunk and the +hand-bag with them as well. +</P> + +<P> +The King of the Jolliginki thought it would be easy for his army to +find them, because the Doctor was in a strange land and would not know +his way. But he was wrong; because the monkey, Chee-Chee, knew all the +paths through the jungle—better even than the King's men did. And he +led the Doctor and his pets to the very thickest part of the forest—a +place where no man had ever been before—and hid them all in a big +hollow tree between high rocks. +</P> + +<P> +"We had better wait here," said Chee-Chee, "till the soldiers have gone +back to bed. Then we can go on into the Land of the Monkeys." +</P> + +<P> +So there they stayed the whole night through. +</P> + +<P> +They often heard the King's men searching and talking in the jungle +round about. But they were quite safe, for no one knew of that +hiding-place but Chee-Chee—not even the other monkeys. +</P> + +<P> +At last, when daylight began to come through the thick leaves overhead, +they heard Queen Ermintrude saying in a very tired voice that it was no +use looking any more—that they might as well go back and get some +sleep. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as the soldiers had all gone home, Chee-Chee brought the Doctor +and his animals out of the hiding-place and they set off for the Land +of the Monkeys. +</P> + +<P> +It was a long, long way; and they often got very tired—especially +Gub-Gub. But when he cried they gave him milk out of the cocoanuts +which he was very fond of. +</P> + +<P> +They always had plenty to eat and drink; because Chee-Chee and +Polynesia knew all the different kinds of fruits and vegetables that +grow in the jungle, and where to find them—like dates and figs and +ground-nuts and ginger and yams. They used to make their lemonade out +of the juice of wild oranges, sweetened with honey which they got from +the bees' nests in hollow trees. No matter what it was they asked for, +Chee-Chee and Polynesia always seemed to be able to get it for them—or +something like it. They even got the Doctor some tobacco one day, when +he had finished what he had brought with him and wanted to smoke. +</P> + +<P> +At night they slept in tents made of palm-leaves, on thick, soft beds +of dried grass. And after a while they got used to walking such a lot +and did not get so tired and enjoyed the life of travel very much. +</P> + +<P> +But they were always glad when the night came and they stopped for +their resting-time. Then the Doctor used to make a little fire of +sticks; and after they had had their supper, they would sit round it in +a ring, listening to Polynesia singing songs about the sea, or to +Chee-Chee telling stories of the jungle. +</P> + +<P> +And many of the tales that Chee-Chee told were very interesting. +Because although the monkeys had no history-books of their own before +Doctor Dolittle came to write them for them, they remember everything +that happens by telling stories to their children. And Chee-Chee spoke +of many things his grandmother had told him—tales of long, long, long +ago, before Noah and the Flood—of the days when men dressed in +bear-skins and lived in holes in the rock and ate their mutton raw, +because they did not know what cooking was—having never seen a fire. +And he told them of the Great Mammoths and Lizards, as long as a train, +that wandered over the mountains in those times, nibbling from the +tree-tops. And often they got so interested listening, that when he +had finished they found their fire had gone right out; and they had to +scurry round to get more sticks and build a new one. +</P> + +<P> +Now when the King's army had gone back and told the King that they +couldn't find the Doctor, the King sent them out again and told them +they must stay in the jungle till they caught him. So all this time, +while the Doctor and his animals were going along towards the Land of +the Monkeys, thinking themselves quite safe, they were still being +followed by the King's men. If Chee-Chee had known this, he would most +likely have hidden them again. But he didn't know it. +</P> + +<P> +One day Chee-Chee climbed up a high rock and looked out over the +tree-tops. And when he came down he said they were now quite close to +the Land of the Monkeys and would soon be there. +</P> + +<P> +And that same evening, sure enough, they saw Chee-Chee's cousin and a +lot of other monkeys, who had not yet got sick, sitting in the trees by +the edge of a swamp, looking and waiting for them. And when they saw +the famous doctor really come, these monkeys made a tremendous noise, +cheering and waving leaves and swinging out of the branches to greet +him. +</P> + +<P> +They wanted to carry his bag and his trunk and everything he had—and +one of the bigger ones even carried Gub-Gub who had got tired again. +Then two of them rushed on in front to tell the sick monkeys that the +great doctor had come at last. +</P> + +<P> +But the King's men, who were still following, had heard the noise of +the monkeys cheering; and they at last knew where the Doctor was, and +hastened on to catch him. +</P> + +<P> +The big monkey carrying Gub-Gub was coming along behind slowly, and he +saw the Captain of the army sneaking through the trees. So he hurried +after the Doctor and told him to run. +</P> + +<P> +Then they all ran harder than they had ever run in their lives; and the +King's men, coming after them, began to run too; and the Captain ran +hardest of all. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Doctor tripped over his medicine-bag and fell down in the mud, +and the Captain thought he would surely catch him this time. +</P> + +<P> +But the Captain had very long ears—though his hair was very short. +And as he sprang forward to take hold of the Doctor, one of his ears +caught fast in a tree; and the rest of the army had to stop and help +him. +</P> + +<P> +By this time the Doctor had picked himself up, and on they went again, +running and running. And Chee-Chee shouted, +</P> + +<P> +"It's all right! We haven't far to go now!" +</P> + +<P> +But before they could get into the Land of the Monkeys, they came to a +steep cliff with a river flowing below. This was the end of the +Kingdom of Jolliginki; and the Land of the Monkeys was on the other +side—across the river. +</P> + +<P> +And Jip, the dog, looked down over the edge of the steep, steep cliff +and said, +</P> + +<P> +"Golly! How are we ever going to get across?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, dear!" said Gub-Gub. "The King's men are quite close now—Look at +them! I am afraid we are going to be taken back to prison again." +And he began to weep. +</P> + +<P> +But the big monkey who was carrying the pig dropped him on the ground +and cried out to the other monkeys. +</P> + +<P> +"Boys—a bridge! Quick!—Make a bridge! We've only a minute to do it. +They've got the Captain loose, and he's coming on like a deer. Get +lively! A bridge! A bridge!" +</P> + +<P> +The Doctor began to wonder what they were going to make a bridge out +of, and he gazed around to see if they had any boards hidden any place. +</P> + +<P> +But when he looked back at the cliff, there, hanging across the river, +was a bridge all ready for him—made of living monkeys! For while his +back was turned, the monkeys—quick as a flash—had made themselves +into a bridge, just by holding hands and feet. +</P> + +<P> +And the big one shouted to the Doctor, "Walk over! Walk over—all of +you—hurry!" +</P> + +<P> +Gub-Gub was a bit scared, walking on such a narrow bridge at that dizzy +height above the river. But he got over all right; and so did all of +them. +</P> + +<P> +John Dolittle was the last to cross. And just as he was getting to the +other side, the King's men came rushing up to the edge of the cliff. +</P> + +<P> +Then they shook their fists and yelled with rage. For they saw they +were too late. The Doctor and all his animals were safe in the Land of +the Monkeys and the bridge was pulled across to the other side. +</P> + +<P> +Then Chee-Chee turned to the Doctor and said, +</P> + +<P> +"Many great explorers and gray-bearded naturalists have lain long weeks +hidden in the jungle waiting to see the monkeys do that trick. But we +never let a white man get a glimpse of it before. You are the first to +see the famous 'Bridge of Apes.'" +</P> + +<P> +And the Doctor felt very pleased. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EIGHTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LEADER OF THE LIONS +</H3> + +<P> +JOHN DOLITTLE now became dreadfully, awfully busy. He found hundreds +and thousands of monkeys sick—gorillas, orangoutangs, chimpanzees, +dog-faced baboons, marmosettes, gray monkeys, red ones—all kinds. And +many had died. +</P> + +<P> +The first thing he did was to separate the sick ones from the well +ones. Then he got Chee-Chee and his cousin to build him a little house +of grass. The next thing: he made all the monkeys who were still well +come and be vaccinated. +</P> + +<P> +And for three days and three nights the monkeys kept coming from the +jungles and the valleys and the hills to the little house of grass, +where the Doctor sat all day and all night, vaccinating and vaccinating. +</P> + +<P> +Then he had another house made—a big one, with a lot of beds in it; +and he put all the sick ones in this house. +</P> + +<P> +But so many were sick, there were not enough well ones to do the +nursing. So he sent messages to the other animals, like the lions and +the leopards and the antelopes, to come and help with the nursing. +</P> + +<P> +But the Leader of the Lions was a very proud creature. And when he +came to the Doctor's big house full of beds he seemed angry and +scornful. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you dare to ask me, Sir?" he said, glaring at the Doctor. "Do you +dare to ask me—ME, THE KING OF BEASTS, to wait on a lot of dirty +monkeys? Why, I wouldn't even eat them between meals!" +</P> + +<P> +Although the lion looked very terrible, the Doctor tried hard not to +seem afraid of him. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't ask you to eat them," he said quietly. "And besides, they're +not dirty. They've all had a bath this morning. YOUR coat looks as +though it needed brushing—badly. Now listen, and I'll tell you +something: the day may come when the lions get sick. And if you don't +help the other animals now, the lions may find themselves left all +alone when THEY are in trouble. That often happens to proud people." +</P> + +<P> +"The lions are never IN trouble—they only MAKE trouble," said the +Leader, turning up his nose. And he stalked away into the jungle, +feeling he had been rather smart and clever. +</P> + +<P> +Then the leopards got proud too and said they wouldn't help. And then +of course the antelopes—although they were too shy and timid to be +rude to the Doctor like the lion—THEY pawed the ground, and smiled +foolishly, and said they had never been nurses before. +</P> + +<P> +And now the poor Doctor was worried frantic, wondering where he could +get help enough to take care of all these thousands of monkeys in bed. +</P> + +<P> +But the Leader of the Lions, when he got back to his den, saw his wife, +the Queen Lioness, come running out to meet him with her hair untidy. +</P> + +<P> +"One of the cubs won't eat," she said. "I don't know WHAT to do with +him. He hasn't taken a thing since last night." +</P> + +<P> +And she began to cry and shake with nervousness—for she was a good +mother, even though she was a lioness. +</P> + +<P> +So the Leader went into his den and looked at his children—two very +cunning little cubs, lying on the floor. And one of them seemed quite +poorly. +</P> + +<P> +Then the lion told his wife, quite proudly, just what he had said to +the Doctor. And she got so angry she nearly drove him out of the den. +"You never DID have a grain of sense!" she screamed. "All the animals +from here to the Indian Ocean are talking about this wonderful man, and +how he can cure any kind of sickness, and how kind he is—the only man +in the whole world who can talk the language of the animals! And now, +NOW—when we have a sick baby on our hands, you must go and offend him! +You great booby! Nobody but a fool is ever rude to a GOOD doctor. +You—," and she started pulling her husband's hair. +</P> + +<P> +"Go back to that white man at once," she yelled, "and tell him you're +sorry. And take all the other empty-headed lions with you—and those +stupid leopards and antelopes. Then do everything the Doctor tells +you. Work hard! And perhaps he will be kind enough to come and see +the cub later. Now be off!— HURRY, I tell you! You're not fit to be +a father!" +</P> + +<P> +And she went into the den next door, where another mother-lion lived, +and told her all about it. +</P> + +<P> +So the Leader of the Lions went back to the Doctor and said, "I +happened to be passing this way and thought I'd look in. Got any help +yet?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the Doctor. "I haven't. And I'm dreadfully worried." +</P> + +<P> +"Help's pretty hard to get these days," said the lion. "Animals don't +seem to want to work any more. You can't blame them—in a way.... +Well, seeing you're in difficulties, I don't mind doing what I +can—just to oblige you—so long as I don't have to wash the creatures. +And I have told all the other hunting animals to come and do their +share. The leopards should be here any minute now.... Oh, and by the +way, we've got a sick cub at home. I don't think there's much the +matter with him myself. But the wife is anxious. If you are around +that way this evening, you might take a look at him, will you?" +</P> + +<P> +Then the Doctor was very happy; for all the lions and the leopards and +the antelopes and the giraffes and the zebras—all the animals of the +forests and the mountains and the plains—came to help him in his work. +There were so many of them that he had to send some away, and only kept +the cleverest. +</P> + +<P> +And now very soon the monkeys began to get better. At the end of a +week the big house full of beds was half empty. And at the end of the +second week the last monkey had got well. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Doctor's work was done; and he was so tired he went to bed and +slept for three days without even turning over. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE NINTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MONKEYS' COUNCIL +</H3> + +<P> +CHEE-CHEE stood outside the Doctor's door, keeping everybody away till +he woke up. Then John Dolittle told the monkeys that he must now go +back to Puddleby. +</P> + +<P> +They were very surprised at this; for they had thought that he was +going to stay with them forever. And that night all the monkeys got +together in the jungle to talk it over. +</P> + +<P> +And the Chief Chimpanzee rose up and said, +</P> + +<P> +"Why is it the good man is going away? Is he not happy here with us?" +</P> + +<P> +But none of them could answer him. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Grand Gorilla got up and said, +</P> + +<P> +"I think we all should go to him and ask him to stay. Perhaps if we +make him a new house and a bigger bed, and promise him plenty of +monkey-servants to work for him and to make life pleasant for +him—perhaps then he will not wish to go." +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +Then Chee-Chee got up; and all the others whispered, "Sh! Look! +Chee-Chee, the great Traveler, is about to speak!" +</P> + +<P> +And Chee-Chee said to the other monkeys, +</P> + +<P> +"My friends, I am afraid it is useless to ask the Doctor to stay. He +owes money in Puddleby; and he says he must go back and pay it." +</P> + +<P> +And the monkeys asked him, "What is MONEY?" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Then Chee-Chee told them that in the Land of the White Men you could +get nothing without money; you could DO nothing without money—that it +was almost impossible to LIVE without money. +</P> + +<P> +And some of them asked, "But can you not even eat and drink without +paying?" +</P> + +<P> +But Chee-Chee shook his head. And then he told them that even he, when +he was with the organ-grinder, had been made to ask the children for +money. +</P> + +<P> +And the Chief Chimpanzee turned to the Oldest Orangoutang and said, +"Cousin, surely these Men be strange creatures! Who would wish to live +in such a land? My gracious, how paltry!" +</P> + +<P> +Then Chee-Chee said, +</P> + +<P> +"When we were coming to you we had no boat to cross the sea in and no +money to buy food to eat on our journey. So a man lent us some +biscuits; and we said we would pay him when we came back. And we +borrowed a boat from a sailor; but it was broken on the rocks when we +reached the shores of Africa. Now the Doctor says he must go back and +get the sailor another boat—because the man was poor and his ship was +all he had." +</P> + +<P> +And the monkeys were all silent for a while, sitting quite still upon +the ground and thinking hard. +</P> + +<P> +At last the Biggest Baboon got up and said, +</P> + +<P> +"I do not think we ought to let this good man leave our land till we +have given him a fine present to take with him, so that he may know we +are grateful for all that he has done for us." +</P> + +<P> +And a little, tiny red monkey who was sitting up in a tree shouted down, +</P> + +<P> +"I think that too!" +</P> + +<P> +And then they all cried out, making a great noise, "Yes, yes. Let us +give him the finest present a White Man ever had!" +</P> + +<P> +Now they began to wonder and ask one another what would be the best +thing to give him. And one said, "Fifty bags of cocoanuts!" And +another—"A hundred bunches of bananas!— At least he shall not have +to buy his fruit in the Land Where You Pay to Eat!" +</P> + +<P> +But Chee-Chee told them that all these things would be too heavy to +carry so far and would go bad before half was eaten. +</P> + +<P> +"If you want to please him," he said, "give him an animal. You may be +sure he will be kind to it. Give him some rare animal they have not +got in the menageries." +</P> + +<P> +And the monkeys asked him, "What are MENAGERIES?" +</P> + +<P> +Then Chee-Chee explained to them that menageries were places in the +Land of the White Men, where animals were put in cages for people to +come and look at. And the monkeys were very shocked and said to one +another, +</P> + +<P> +"These Men are like thoughtless young ones—stupid and easily amused. +Sh! It is a prison he means." +</P> + +<P> +So then they asked Chee-Chee what rare animal it could be that they +should give the Doctor—one the White Men had not seen before. And the +Major of the Marmosettes asked, +</P> + +<P> +"Have they an iguana over there?" +</P> + +<P> +But Chee-Chee said, "Yes, there is one in the London Zoo." +</P> + +<P> +And another asked, "Have they an okapi?" +</P> + +<P> +But Chee-Chee said, "Yes. In Belgium, where my organ-grinder took me +five years ago, they had an okapi in a big city they call Antwerp." +</P> + +<P> +And another asked, "Have they a pushmi-pullyu?" +</P> + +<P> +Then Chee-Chee said, "No. No White Man has ever seen a pushmi-pullyu. +Let us give him that." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TENTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL +</H3> + +<P> +PUSHMI-PULLYUS are now extinct. That means, there aren't any more. +But long ago, when Doctor Dolittle was alive, there were some of them +still left in the deepest jungles of Africa; and even then they were +very, very scarce. They had no tail, but a head at each end, and sharp +horns on each head. They were very shy and terribly hard to catch. +The black men get most of their animals by sneaking up behind them +while they are not looking. But you could not do this with the +pushmi-pullyu—because, no matter which way you came towards him, he +was always facing you. And besides, only one half of him slept at a +time. The other head was always awake—and watching. This was why +they were never caught and never seen in Zoos. Though many of the +greatest huntsmen and the cleverest menagerie-keepers spent years of +their lives searching through the jungles in all weathers for +pushmi-pullyus, not a single one had ever been caught. Even then, +years ago, he was the only animal in the world with two heads. +</P> + +<P> +Well, the monkeys set out hunting for this animal through the forest. +And after they had gone a good many miles, one of them found peculiar +footprints near the edge of a river; and they knew that a pushmi-pullyu +must be very near that spot. +</P> + +<P> +Then they went along the bank of the river a little way and they saw a +place where the grass was high and thick; and they guessed that he was +in there. +</P> + +<P> +So they all joined hands and made a great circle round the high grass. +The pushmi-pullyu heard them coming; and he tried hard to break through +the ring of monkeys. But he couldn't do it. When he saw that it was +no use trying to escape, he sat down and waited to see what they wanted. +</P> + +<P> +They asked him if he would go with Doctor Dolittle and be put on show +in the Land of the White Men. +</P> + +<P> +But he shook both his heads hard and said, "Certainly not!" +</P> + +<P> +They explained to him that he would not be shut up in a menagerie but +would just be looked at. They told him that the Doctor was a very kind +man but hadn't any money; and people would pay to see a two-headed +animal and the Doctor would get rich and could pay for the boat he had +borrowed to come to Africa in. +</P> + +<P> +But he answered, "No. You know how shy I am—I hate being stared at." +And he almost began to cry. +</P> + +<P> +Then for three days they tried to persuade him. +</P> + +<P> +And at the end of the third day he said he would come with them and see +what kind of a man the Doctor was, first. +</P> + +<P> +So the monkeys traveled back with the pushmi-pullyu. And when they +came to where the Doctor's little house of grass was, they knocked on +the door. +</P> + +<P> +The duck, who was packing the trunk, said, "Come in!" +</P> + +<P> +And Chee-Chee very proudly took the animal inside and showed him to the +Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"What in the world is it?" asked John Dolittle, gazing at the strange +creature. +</P> + +<P> +"Lord save us!" cried the duck. "How does it make up its mind?" +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't look to me as though it had any," said Jip, the dog. +</P> + +<P> +"This, Doctor," said Chee-Chee, "is the pushmi-pullyu—the rarest +animal of the African jungles, the only two-headed beast in the world! +Take him home with you and your fortune's made. People will pay any +money to see him." +</P> + +<P> +"But I don't want any money," said the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you do," said Dab-Dab, the duck. "Don't you remember how we had +to pinch and scrape to pay the butcher's bill in Puddleby? And how are +you going to get the sailor the new boat you spoke of—unless we have +the money to buy it?" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"I was going to make him one," said the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, do be sensible!" cried Dab-Dab. "Where would you get all the wood +and the nails to make one with?—And besides, what are we going to live +on? We shall be poorer than ever when we get back. Chee-Chee's +perfectly right: take the funny-looking thing along, do!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, perhaps there is something in what you say," murmured the +Doctor. "It certainly would make a nice new kind of pet. But does the +er—what-do-you-call-it really want to go abroad?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I'll go," said the pushmi-pullyu who saw at once, from the +Doctor's face, that he was a man to be trusted. "You have been so kind +to the animals here—and the monkeys tell me that I am the only one who +will do. But you must promise me that if I do not like it in the Land +of the White Men you will send me back." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, certainly—of course, of course," said the Doctor. "Excuse me, +surely you are related to the Deer Family, are you not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said the pushmi-pullyu—"to the Abyssinian Gazelles and the +Asiatic Chamois—on my mother's side. My father's great-grandfather +was the last of the Unicorns." +</P> + +<P> +"Most interesting!" murmured the Doctor; and he took a book out of the +trunk which Dab-Dab was packing and began turning the pages. "Let us +see if Buffon says anything—" +</P> + +<P> +"I notice," said the duck, "that you only talk with one of your mouths. +Can't the other head talk as well?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," said the pushmi-pullyu. "But I keep the other mouth for +eating—mostly. In that way I can talk while I am eating without being +rude. Our people have always been very polite." +</P> + +<P> +When the packing was finished and everything was ready to start, the +monkeys gave a grand party for the Doctor, and all the animals of the +jungle came. And they had pineapples and mangoes and honey and all +sorts of good things to eat and drink. +</P> + +<P> +After they had all finished eating, the Doctor got up and said, +</P> + +<P> +"My friends: I am not clever at speaking long words after dinner, like +some men; and I have just eaten many fruits and much honey. But I wish +to tell you that I am very sad at leaving your beautiful country. +Because I have things to do in the Land of the White Men, I must go. +After I have gone, remember never to let the flies settle on your food +before you eat it; and do not sleep on the ground when the rains are +coming. I—er—er—I hope you will all live happily ever after." +</P> + +<P> +When the Doctor stopped speaking and sat down, all the monkeys clapped +their hands a long time and said to one another, "Let it be remembered +always among our people that he sat and ate with us, here, under the +trees. For surely he is the Greatest of Men!" +</P> + +<P> +And the Grand Gorilla, who had the strength of seven horses in his +hairy arms, rolled a great rock up to the head of the table and said, +</P> + +<P> +"This stone for all time shall mark the spot." +</P> + +<P> +And even to this day, in the heart of the Jungle, that stone still is +there. And monkey-mothers, passing through the forest with their +families, still point down at it from the branches and whisper to their +children, "Sh! There it is—look—where the Good White Man sat and ate +food with us in the Year of the Great Sickness!" +</P> + +<P> +Then, when the party was over, the Doctor and his pets started out to +go back to the seashore. And all the monkeys went with him as far as +the edge of their country, carrying his trunk and bags, to see him off. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BLACK PRINCE +</H3> + +<P> +BY the edge of the river they stopped and said farewell. +</P> + +<P> +This took a long time, because all those thousands of monkeys wanted to +shake John Dolittle by the hand. +</P> + +<P> +Afterwards, when the Doctor and his pets were going on alone, Polynesia +said, +</P> + +<P> +"We must tread softly and talk low as we go through the land of the +Jolliginki. If the King should hear us, he will send his soldiers to +catch us again; for I am sure he is still very angry over the trick I +played on him." +</P> + +<P> +"What I am wondering," said the Doctor, "is where we are going to get +another boat to go home in.... Oh well, perhaps we'll find one lying +about on the beach that nobody is using. 'Never lift your foot till +you come to the stile.'" +</P> + +<P> +One day, while they were passing through a very thick part of the +forest, Chee-Chee went ahead of them to look for cocoanuts. And while +he was away, the Doctor and the rest of the animals, who did not know +the jungle-paths so well, got lost in the deep woods. They wandered +around and around but could not find their way down to the seashore. +</P> + +<P> +Chee-Chee, when he could not see them anywhere, was terribly upset. He +climbed high trees and looked out from the top branches to try and see +the Doctor's high hat; he waved and shouted; he called to all the +animals by name. But it was no use. They seemed to have disappeared +altogether. +</P> + +<P> +Indeed they had lost their way very badly. They had strayed a long way +off the path, and the jungle was so thick with bushes and creepers and +vines that sometimes they could hardly move at all, and the Doctor had +to take out his pocket-knife and cut his way along. They stumbled into +wet, boggy places; they got all tangled up in thick +convolvulus-runners; they scratched themselves on thorns, and twice +they nearly lost the medicine-bag in the under-brush. There seemed no +end to their troubles; and nowhere could they come upon a path. +</P> + +<P> +At last, after blundering about like this for many days, getting their +clothes torn and their faces covered with mud, they walked right into +the King's back-garden by mistake. The King's men came running up at +once and caught them. +</P> + +<P> +But Polynesia flew into a tree in the garden, without anybody seeing +her, and hid herself. The Doctor and the rest were taken before the +King. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha, ha!" cried the King. "So you are caught again! This time you +shall not escape. Take them all back to prison and put double locks on +the door. This White Man shall scrub my kitchen-floor for the rest of +his life!" +</P> + +<P> +So the Doctor and his pets were led back to prison and locked up. And +the Doctor was told that in the morning he must begin scrubbing the +kitchen-floor. +</P> + +<P> +They were all very unhappy. +</P> + +<P> +"This is a great nuisance," said the Doctor. "I really must get back to +Puddleby. That poor sailor will think I've stolen his ship if I don't +get home soon.... I wonder if those hinges are loose." +</P> + +<P> +But the door was very strong and firmly locked. There seemed no chance +of getting out. Then Gub-Gub began to cry again. +</P> + +<P> +All this time Polynesia was still sitting in the tree in the +palace-garden. She was saying nothing and blinking her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +This was always a very bad sign with Polynesia. Whenever she said +nothing and blinked her eyes, it meant that somebody had been making +trouble, and she was thinking out some way to put things right. People +who made trouble for Polynesia or her friends were nearly always sorry +for it afterwards. +</P> + +<P> +Presently she spied Chee-Chee swinging through the trees still looking +for the Doctor. When Chee-Chee saw her, he came into her tree and asked +her what had become of him. +</P> + +<P> +"The Doctor and all the animals have been caught by the King's men and +locked up again," whispered Polynesia. "We lost our way in the jungle +and blundered into the palace-garden by mistake." +</P> + +<P> +"But couldn't you guide them?" asked Chee-Chee; and he began to scold +the parrot for letting them get lost while he was away looking for the +cocoanuts. +</P> + +<P> +"It was all that stupid pig's fault," said Polynesia. "He would keep +running off the path hunting for ginger-roots. And I was kept so busy +catching him and bringing him back, that I turned to the left, instead +of the right, when we reached the swamp.—Sh!—Look! There's Prince +Bumpo coming into the garden! He must not see us.—Don't move, whatever +you do!" +</P> + +<P> +And there, sure enough, was Prince Bumpo, the King's son, opening the +garden-gate. He carried a book of fairy-tales under his arm. He came +strolling down the gravel-walk, humming a sad song, till he reached a +stone seat right under the tree where the parrot and the monkey were +hiding. Then he lay down on the seat and began reading the +fairy-stories to himself. +</P> + +<P> +Chee-Chee and Polynesia watched him, keeping very quiet and still. +</P> + +<P> +After a while the King's son laid the book down and sighed a weary sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"If I were only a WHITE prince!" said he, with a dreamy, far-away look +in his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Then the parrot, talking in a small, high voice like a little girl, +said aloud, +</P> + +<P> +"Bumpo, some one might turn thee into a white prince perchance." +</P> + +<P> +The King's son started up off the seat and looked all around. +</P> + +<P> +"What is this I hear?" he cried. "Methought the sweet music of a +fairy's silver voice rang from yonder bower! Strange!" +</P> + +<P> +"Worthy Prince," said Polynesia, keeping very still so Bumpo couldn't +see her, "thou sayest winged words of truth. For 'tis I, Tripsitinka, +the Queen of the Fairies, that speak to thee. I am hiding in a +rose-bud." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh tell me, Fairy-Queen," cried Bumpo, clasping his hands in joy, "who +is it can turn me white?" +</P> + +<P> +"In thy father's prison," said the parrot, "there lies a famous wizard, +John Dolittle by name. Many things he knows of medicine and magic, and +mighty deeds has he performed. Yet thy kingly father leaves him +languishing long and lingering hours. Go to him, brave Bumpo, +secretly, when the sun has set; and behold, thou shalt be made the +whitest prince that ever won fair lady! I have said enough. I must +now go back to Fairyland. Farewell!" +</P> + +<P> +"Farewell!" cried the Prince. "A thousand thanks, good Tripsitinka!" +</P> + +<P> +And he sat down on the seat again with a smile upon his face, waiting +for the sun to set. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TWELFTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MEDICINE AND MAGIC +</H3> + +<P> +VERY, very quietly, making sure that no one should see her, Polynesia +then slipped out at the back of the tree and flew across to the prison. +</P> + +<P> +She found Gub-Gub poking his nose through the bars of the window, +trying to sniff the cooking-smells that came from the palace-kitchen. +She told the pig to bring the Doctor to the window because she wanted +to speak to him. So Gub-Gub went and woke the Doctor who was taking a +nap. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen," whispered the parrot, when John Dolittle's face appeared: +"Prince Bumpo is coming here to-night to see you. And you've got to +find some way to turn him white. But be sure to make him promise you +first that he will open the prison-door and find a ship for you to +cross the sea in." +</P> + +<P> +"This is all very well," said the Doctor. "But it isn't so easy to turn +a black man white. You speak as though he were a dress to be re-dyed. +It's not so simple. 'Shall the leopard change his spots, or the +Ethiopian his skin,' you know?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know anything about that," said Polynesia impatiently. "But +you MUST turn this man white. Think of a way—think hard. You've got +plenty of medicines left in the bag. He'll do anything for you if you +change his color. It is your only chance to get out of prison." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I suppose it MIGHT be possible," said the Doctor. "Let me +see—," and he went over to his medicine-bag, murmuring something about +"liberated chlorine on animal-pigment—perhaps zinc-ointment, as a +temporary measure, spread thick—" +</P> + +<P> +Well, that night Prince Bumpo came secretly to the Doctor in prison and +said to him, +</P> + +<P> +"White Man, I am an unhappy prince. Years ago I went in search of The +Sleeping Beauty, whom I had read of in a book. And having traveled +through the world many days, I at last found her and kissed the lady +very gently to awaken her—as the book said I should. 'Tis true indeed +that she awoke. But when she saw my face she cried out, 'Oh, he's +black!' And she ran away and wouldn't marry me—but went to sleep again +somewhere else. So I came back, full of sadness, to my father's +kingdom. Now I hear that you are a wonderful magician and have many +powerful potions. So I come to you for help. If you will turn me +white, so that I may go back to The Sleeping Beauty, I will give you +half my kingdom and anything besides you ask." +</P> + +<P> +"Prince Bumpo," said the Doctor, looking thoughtfully at the bottles in +his medicine-bag, "supposing I made your hair a nice blonde +color—would not that do instead to make you happy?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Bumpo. "Nothing else will satisfy me. I must be a white +prince." +</P> + +<P> +"You know it is very hard to change the color of a prince," said the +Doctor—"one of the hardest things a magician can do. You only want +your face white, do you not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that is all," said Bumpo. "Because I shall wear shining armor +and gauntlets of steel, like the other white princes, and ride on a +horse." +</P> + +<P> +"Must your face be white all over?" asked the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, all over," said Bumpo—"and I would like my eyes blue too, but I +suppose that would be very hard to do." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it would," said the Doctor quickly. "Well, I will do what I can +for you. You will have to be very patient though—you know with some +medicines you can never be very sure. I might have to try two or three +times. You have a strong skin—yes? Well that's all right. Now come +over here by the light—Oh, but before I do anything, you must first go +down to the beach and get a ship ready, with food in it, to take me +across the sea. Do not speak a word of this to any one. And when I +have done as you ask, you must let me and all my animals out of prison. +Promise—by the crown of Jolliginki!" +</P> + +<P> +So the Prince promised and went away to get a ship ready at the +seashore. +</P> + +<P> +When he came back and said that it was done, the Doctor asked Dab-Dab +to bring a basin. Then he mixed a lot of medicines in the basin and +told Bumpo to dip his face in it. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince leaned down and put his face in—right up to the ears. +</P> + +<P> +He held it there a long time—so long that the Doctor seemed to get +dreadfully anxious and fidgety, standing first on one leg and then on +the other, looking at all the bottles he had used for the mixture, and +reading the labels on them again and again. A strong smell filled the +prison, like the smell of brown paper burning. +</P> + +<P> +At last the Prince lifted his face up out of the basin, breathing very +hard. And all the animals cried out in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +For the Prince's face had turned as white as snow, and his eyes, which +had been mud-colored, were a manly gray! +</P> + +<P> +When John Dolittle lent him a little looking-glass to see himself in, +he sang for joy and began dancing around the prison. But the Doctor +asked him not to make so much noise about it; and when he had closed +his medicine-bag in a hurry he told him to open the prison-door. +</P> + +<P> +Bumpo begged that he might keep the looking-glass, as it was the only +one in the Kingdom of Jolliginki, and he wanted to look at himself all +day long. But the Doctor said he needed it to shave with. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Prince, taking a bunch of copper keys from his pocket, undid +the great double locks. And the Doctor with all his animals ran as +fast as they could down to the seashore; while Bumpo leaned against the +wall of the empty dungeon, smiling after them happily, his big face +shining like polished ivory in the light of the moon. +</P> + +<P> +When they came to the beach they saw Polynesia and Chee-Chee waiting +for them on the rocks near the ship. +</P> + +<P> +"I feel sorry about Bumpo," said the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid that medicine I used will never last. Most likely he will +be as black as ever when he wakes up in the morning—that's one reason +why I didn't like to leave the mirror with him. But then again, he +MIGHT stay white—I had never used that mixture before. To tell the +truth, I was surprised, myself, that it worked so well. But I had to +do something, didn't I?—I couldn't possibly scrub the King's kitchen +for the rest of my life. It was such a dirty kitchen!—I could see it +from the prison-window.—Well, well!—Poor Bumpo!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, of course he will know we were just joking with him," said the +parrot. +</P> + +<P> +"They had no business to lock us up," said Dab-Dab, waggling her tail +angrily. "We never did them any harm. Serve him right, if he does turn +black again! I hope it's a dark black." +</P> + +<P> +"But HE didn't have anything to do with it," said the Doctor. "It was +the King, his father, who had us locked up—it wasn't Bumpo's fault.... +I wonder if I ought to go back and apologize—Oh, well—I'll send him +some candy when I get to Puddleby. And who knows?—he may stay white +after all." +</P> + +<P> +"The Sleeping Beauty would never have him, even if he did," said +Dab-Dab. "He looked better the way he was, I thought. But he'd never +be anything but ugly, no matter what color he was made." +</P> + +<P> +"Still, he had a good heart," said the Doctor—"romantic, of +course—but a good heart. After all, 'handsome is as handsome does.'" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe the poor booby found The Sleeping Beauty at all," said +Jip, the dog. "Most likely he kissed some farmer's fat wife who was +taking a snooze under an apple-tree. Can't blame her for getting +scared! I wonder who he'll go and kiss this time. Silly business!" +</P> + +<P> +Then the pushmi-pullyu, the white mouse, Gub-Gub, Dab-Dab, Jip and the +owl, Too-Too, went on to the ship with the Doctor. But Chee-Chee, +Polynesia and the crocodile stayed behind, because Africa was their +proper home, the land where they were born. +</P> + +<P> +And when the Doctor stood upon the boat, he looked over the side across +the water. And then he remembered that they had no one with them to +guide them back to Puddleby. +</P> + +<P> +The wide, wide sea looked terribly big and lonesome in the moonlight; +and he began to wonder if they would lose their way when they passed +out of sight of land. +</P> + +<P> +But even while he was wondering, they heard a strange whispering noise, +high in the air, coming through the night. And the animals all stopped +saying Good-by and listened. +</P> + +<P> +The noise grew louder and bigger. It seemed to be coming nearer to +them—a sound like the Autumn wind blowing through the leaves of a +poplar-tree, or a great, great rain beating down upon a roof. +</P> + +<P> +And Jip, with his nose pointing and his tail quite straight, said, +</P> + +<P> +"Birds!—millions of them—flying fast—that's it!" +</P> + +<P> +And then they all looked up. And there, streaming across the face of +the moon, like a huge swarm of tiny ants, they could see thousands and +thousands of little birds. Soon the whole sky seemed full of them, and +still more kept coming—more and more. There were so many that for a +little they covered the whole moon so it could not shine, and the sea +grew dark and black—like when a storm-cloud passes over the sun. +</P> + +<P> +And presently all these birds came down close, skimming over the water +and the land; and the night-sky was left clear above, and the moon +shone as before. Still never a call nor a cry nor a song they made—no +sound but this great rustling of feathers which grew greater now than +ever. When they began to settle on the sands, along the ropes of the +ship—anywhere and everywhere except the trees—the Doctor could see +that they had blue wings and white breasts and very short, feathered +legs. As soon as they had all found a place to sit, suddenly, there +was no noise left anywhere—all was quiet; all was still. +</P> + +<P> +And in the silent moonlight John Dolittle spoke: +</P> + +<P> +"I had no idea that we had been in Africa so long. It will be nearly +Summer when we get home. For these are the swallows going back. +Swallows, I thank you for waiting for us. It is very thoughtful of +you. Now we need not be afraid that we will lose our way upon the +sea.... Pull up the anchor and set the sail!" +</P> + +<P> +When the ship moved out upon the water, those who stayed behind, +Chee-Chee, Polynesia and the crocodile, grew terribly sad. For never +in their lives had they known any one they liked so well as Doctor John +Dolittle of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. +</P> + +<P> +And after they had called Good-by to him again and again and again, +they still stood there upon the rocks, crying bitterly and waving till +the ship was out of sight. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS +</H3> + +<P> +SAILING homeward, the Doctor's ship had to pass the coast of Barbary. +This coast is the seashore of the Great Desert. It is a wild, lonely +place—all sand and stones. And it was here that the Barbary pirates +lived. +</P> + +<P> +These pirates, a bad lot of men, used to wait for sailors to be +shipwrecked on their shores. And often, if they saw a boat passing, +they would come out in their fast sailing-ships and chase it. When they +caught a boat like this at sea, they would steal everything on it; and +after they had taken the people off they would sink the ship and sail +back to Barbary singing songs and feeling proud of the mischief they +had done. Then they used to make the people they had caught write home +to their friends for money. And if the friends sent no money, the +pirates often threw the people into the sea. +</P> + +<P> +Now one sunshiny day the Doctor and Dab-Dab were walking up and down on +the ship for exercise; a nice fresh wind was blowing the boat along, +and everybody was happy. Presently Dab-Dab saw the sail of another +ship a long way behind them on the edge of the sea. It was a red sail. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't like the look of that sail," said Dab-Dab. "I have a feeling +it isn't a friendly ship. I am afraid there is more trouble coming to +us." +</P> + +<P> +Jip, who was lying near taking a nap in the sun, began to growl and +talk in his sleep. +</P> + +<P> +"I smell roast beef cooking," he mumbled—"underdone roast beef—with +brown gravy over it." +</P> + +<P> +"Good gracious!" cried the Doctor. "What's the matter with the dog? +Is he SMELLING in his sleep—as well as talking?" +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose he is," said Dab-Dab. "All dogs can smell in their sleep." +</P> + +<P> +"But what is he smelling?" asked the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no roast beef cooking on our ship." "No," said Dab-Dab. "The +roast beef must be on that other ship over there." +</P> + +<P> +"But that's ten miles away," said the Doctor. "He couldn't smell that +far surely!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, he could," said Dab-Dab. "You ask him." +</P> + +<P> +Then Jip, still fast asleep, began to growl again and his lip curled up +angrily, showing his clean, white teeth. +</P> + +<P> +"I smell bad men," he growled—"the worst men I ever smelt. I smell +trouble. I smell a fight—six bad scoundrels fighting against one +brave man. I want to help him. Woof—oo—WOOF!" Then he barked, loud, +and woke himself up with a surprised look on his face. +</P> + +<P> +"See!" cried Dab-Dab. "That boat is nearer now. You can count its +three big sails—all red. Whoever it is, they are coming after us.... I +wonder who they are." +</P> + +<P> +"They are bad sailors," said Jip; "and their ship is very swift. They +are surely the pirates of Barbary." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we must put up more sails on our boat," said the Doctor, "so we +can go faster and get away from them. Run downstairs, Jip, and fetch +me all the sails you see." +</P> + +<P> +The dog hurried downstairs and dragged up every sail he could find. +</P> + +<P> +But even when all these were put up on the masts to catch the wind, the +boat did not go nearly as fast as the pirates'—which kept coming on +behind, closer and closer. +</P> + +<P> +"This is a poor ship the Prince gave us," said Gub-Gub, the pig—"the +slowest he could find, I should think. Might as well try to win a race +in a soup-tureen as hope to get away from them in this old barge. Look +how near they are now!— You can see the mustaches on the faces of the +men—six of them. What are we going to do?" +</P> + +<P> +Then the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to fly up and tell the swallows that +pirates were coming after them in a swift ship, and what should he do +about it. +</P> + +<P> +When the swallows heard this, they all came down on to the Doctor's +ship; and they told him to unravel some pieces of long rope and make +them into a lot of thin strings as quickly as he could. Then the ends +of these strings were tied on to the front of the ship; and the +swallows took hold of the strings with their feet and flew off, pulling +the boat along. +</P> + +<P> +And although swallows are not very strong when only one or two are by +themselves, it is different when there are a great lot of them +together. And there, tied to the Doctor's ship, were a thousand +strings; and two thousand swallows were pulling on each string—all +terribly swift fliers. +</P> + +<P> +And in a moment the Doctor found himself traveling so fast he had to +hold his hat on with both hands; for he felt as though the ship itself +were flying through waves that frothed and boiled with speed. +</P> + +<P> +And all the animals on the ship began to laugh and dance about in the +rushing air, for when they looked back at the pirates' ship, they could +see that it was growing smaller now, instead of bigger. The red sails +were being left far, far behind. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RATS' WARNING +</H3> + +<P> +DRAGGING a ship through the sea is hard work. And after two or three +hours the swallows began to get tired in the wings and short of breath. +Then they sent a message down to the Doctor to say that they would have +to take a rest soon; and that they would pull the boat over to an +island not far off, and hide it in a deep bay till they had got breath +enough to go on. +</P> + +<P> +And presently the Doctor saw the island they had spoken of. It had a +very beautiful, high, green mountain in the middle of it. +</P> + +<P> +When the ship had sailed safely into the bay where it could not be seen +from the open sea, the Doctor said he would get off on to the island to +look for water—because there was none left to drink on his ship. And +he told all the animals to get out too and romp on the grass to stretch +their legs. +</P> + +<P> +Now as they were getting off, the Doctor noticed that a whole lot of +rats were coming up from downstairs and leaving the ship as well. Jip +started to run after them, because chasing rats had always been his +favorite game. But the Doctor told him to stop. +</P> + +<P> +And one big black rat, who seemed to want to say something to the +Doctor, now crept forward timidly along the rail, watching the dog out +of the corner of his eye. And after he had coughed nervously two or +three times, and cleaned his whiskers and wiped his mouth, he said, +</P> + +<P> +"Ahem—er—you know of course that all ships have rats in them, Doctor, +do you not?" +</P> + +<P> +And the Doctor said, "Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"And you have heard that rats always leave a sinking ship?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said the Doctor—"so I've been told." +</P> + +<P> +"People," said the rat, "always speak of it with a sneer—as though it +were something disgraceful. But you can't blame us, can you? After +all, who WOULD stay on a sinking ship, if he could get off it?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's very natural," said the Doctor—"very natural. I quite +understand.... Was there— Was there anything else you wished to say?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said the rat. "I've come to tell you that we are leaving this +one. But we wanted to warn you before we go. This is a bad ship you +have here. It isn't safe. The sides aren't strong enough. Its boards +are rotten. Before to-morrow night it will sink to the bottom of the +sea." +</P> + +<P> +"But how do you know?" asked the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"We always know," answered the rat. "The tips of our tails get that +tingly feeling—like when your foot's asleep. This morning, at six +o'clock, while I was getting breakfast, my tail suddenly began to +tingle. At first I thought it was my rheumatism coming back. So I +went and asked my aunt how she felt—you remember her?—the long, +piebald rat, rather skinny, who came to see you in Puddleby last Spring +with jaundice? Well—and she said HER tail was tingling like +everything! Then we knew, for sure, that this boat was going to sink +in less than two days; and we all made up our minds to leave it as soon +as we got near enough to any land. It's a bad ship, Doctor. Don't +sail in it any more, or you'll be surely drowned.... Good-by! We are +now going to look for a good place to live on this island." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-by!" said the Doctor. "And thank you very much for coming to +tell me. Very considerate of you—very! Give my regards to your aunt. +I remember her perfectly.... Leave that rat alone, Jip! Come here! +Lie down!" +</P> + +<P> +So then the Doctor and all his animals went off, carrying pails and +saucepans, to look for water on the island, while the swallows took +their rest. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder what is the name of this island," said the Doctor, as he was +climbing up the mountainside. "It seems a pleasant place. What a lot +of birds there are!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, these are the Canary Islands," said Dab-Dab. "Don't you hear the +canaries singing?" +</P> + +<P> +The Doctor stopped and listened. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, to be sure—of course!" he said. "How stupid of me! I wonder if +they can tell us where to find water." +</P> + +<P> +And presently the canaries, who had heard all about Doctor Dolittle +from birds of passage, came and led him to a beautiful spring of cool, +clear water where the canaries used to take their bath; and they showed +him lovely meadows where the bird-seed grew and all the other sights of +their island. +</P> + +<P> +And the pushmi-pullyu was glad they had come; because he liked the +green grass so much better than the dried apples he had been eating on +the ship. And Gub-Gub squeaked for joy when he found a whole valley +full of wild sugarcane. +</P> + +<P> +A little later, when they had all had plenty to eat and drink, and were +lying on their backs while the canaries sang for them, two of the +swallows came hurrying up, very flustered and excited. +</P> + +<P> +"Doctor!" they cried, "the pirates have come into the bay; and they've +all got on to your ship. They are downstairs looking for things to +steal. They have left their own ship with nobody on it. If you hurry +and come down to the shore, you can get on to their ship—which is very +fast—and escape. But you'll have to hurry." +</P> + +<P> +"That's a good idea," said the Doctor—"splendid!" +</P> + +<P> +And he called his animals together at once, said Good-by to the +canaries and ran down to the beach. +</P> + +<P> +When they reached the shore they saw the pirate-ship, with the three +red sails, standing in the water; and—just as the swallows had +said—there was nobody on it; all the pirates were downstairs in the +Doctor's ship, looking for things to steal. +</P> + +<P> +So John Dolittle told his animals to walk very softly and they all +crept on to the pirate-ship. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BARBARY DRAGON +</H3> + +<P> +EVERYTHING would have gone all right if the pig had not caught a cold +in his head while eating the damp sugar-cane on the island. This is +what happened: +</P> + +<P> +After they had pulled up the anchor without a sound, and were moving +the ship very, very carefully out of the bay, Gub-Gub suddenly sneezed +so loud that the pirates on the other ship came rushing upstairs to see +what the noise was. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as they saw that the Doctor was escaping, they sailed the other +boat right across the entrance to the bay so that the Doctor could not +get out into the open sea. +</P> + +<P> +Then the leader of these bad men (who called himself "Ben Ali, The +Dragon") shook his fist at the Doctor and shouted across the water, +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! Ha! You are caught, my fine friend! You were going to run off in +my ship, eh? But you are not a good enough sailor to beat Ben Ali, the +Barbary Dragon. I want that duck you've got—and the pig too. We'll +have pork-chops and roast duck for supper to-night. And before I let +you go home, you must make your friends send me a trunk-full of gold." +</P> + +<P> +Poor Gub-Gub began to weep; and Dab-Dab made ready to fly to save her +life. But the owl, Too-Too, whispered to the Doctor, +</P> + +<P> +"Keep him talking, Doctor. Be pleasant to him. Our old ship is bound +to sink soon—the rats said it would be at the bottom of the sea before +to-morrow night—and the rats are never wrong. Be pleasant, till the +ship sinks under him. Keep him talking." +</P> + +<P> +"What, until to-morrow night!" said the Doctor. "Well, I'll do my +best.... Let me see— What shall I talk about?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, let them come on," said Jip. "We can fight the dirty rascals. +There are only six of them. Let them come on. I'd love to tell that +collie next door, when we get home, that I had bitten a real pirate. +Let 'em come. We can fight them." +</P> + +<P> +"But they have pistols and swords," said the Doctor. "No, that would +never do. I must talk to him.... Look here, Ben Ali—" +</P> + +<P> +But before the Doctor could say any more, the pirates began to sail the +ship nearer, laughing with glee, and saying one to another, "Who shall +be the first to catch the pig?" +</P> + +<P> +Poor Gub-Gub was dreadfully frightened; and the pushmi-pullyu began to +sharpen his horns for a fight by rubbing them on the mast of the ship; +while Jip kept springing into the air and barking and calling Ben Ali +bad names in dog-language. +</P> + +<P> +But presently something seemed to go wrong with the pirates; they +stopped laughing and cracking jokes; they looked puzzled; something was +making them uneasy. +</P> + +<P> +Then Ben Ali, staring down at his feet, suddenly bellowed out, +</P> + +<P> +"Thunder and Lightning!—Men, THE BOAT'S LEAKING!" +</P> + +<P> +And then the other pirates peered over the side and they saw that the +boat was indeed getting lower and lower in the water. And one of them +said to Ben Ali, +</P> + +<P> +"But surely if this old boat were sinking we should see the rats +leaving it." +</P> + +<P> +And Jip shouted across from the other ship, +</P> + +<P> +"You great duffers, there are no rats there to leave! They left two +hours ago! 'Ha, ha,' to you, 'my fine friends!'" +</P> + +<P> +But of course the men did not understand him. Soon the front end of the +ship began to go down and down, faster and faster—till the boat looked +almost as though it were standing on its head; and the pirates had to +cling to the rails and the masts and the ropes and anything to keep +from sliding off. Then the sea rushed roaring in and through all the +windows and the doors. And at last the ship plunged right down to the +bottom of the sea, making a dreadful gurgling sound; and the six bad +men were left bobbing about in the deep water of the bay. +</P> + +<P> +Some of them started to swim for the shores of the island; while others +came and tried to get on to the boat where the Doctor was. But Jip +kept snapping at their noses, so they were afraid to climb up the side +of the ship. +</P> + +<P> +Then suddenly they all cried out in great fear, +</P> + +<P> +"THE SHARKS! The sharks are coming! Let us get on to the ship before +they eat us! Help, help!—The sharks! The sharks!" +</P> + +<P> +And now the Doctor could see, all over the bay, the backs of big fishes +swimming swiftly through the water. +</P> + +<P> +And one great shark came near to the ship, and poking his nose out of +the water he said to the Doctor, +</P> + +<P> +"Are you John Dolittle, the famous animal-doctor?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Doctor Dolittle. "That is my name." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said the shark, "we know these pirates to be a bad +lot—especially Ben Ali. If they are annoying you, we will gladly eat +them up for you—and then you won't be troubled any more." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," said the Doctor. "This is really most attentive. But I +don't think it will be necessary to eat them. Don't let any of them +reach the shore until I tell you—just keep them swimming about, will +you? And please make Ben Ali swim over here that I may talk to him." +</P> + +<P> +So the shark went off and chased Ben Ali over to the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, Ben Ali," said John Dolittle, leaning over the side. "You +have been a very bad man; and I understand that you have killed many +people. These good sharks here have just offered to eat you up for +me—and 'twould indeed be a good thing if the seas were rid of you. But +if you will promise to do as I tell you, I well let you go in safety." +</P> + +<P> +"What must I do?" asked the pirate, looking down sideways at the big +shark who was smelling his leg under the water. +</P> + +<P> +"You must kill no more people," said the Doctor; "you must stop +stealing; you must never sink another ship; you must give up being a +pirate altogether." +</P> + +<P> +"But what shall I do then?" asked Ben Ali. "How shall I live?" +</P> + +<P> +"You and all your men must go on to this island and be +bird-seed-farmers," the Doctor answered. "You must grow bird-seed for +the canaries." +</P> + +<P> +The Barbary Dragon turned pale with anger. "GROW BIRD-SEED!" he groaned +in disgust. "Can't I be a sailor?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the Doctor, "you cannot. You have been a sailor long +enough—and sent many stout ships and good men to the bottom of the +sea. For the rest of your life you must be la peaceful farmer. The +shark is waiting. Do not waste any more of his time. Make up your +mind." +</P> + +<P> +"Thunder and Lightning!" Ben Ali muttered—"BIRD-SEED!" Then he looked +down into the water again and saw the great fish smelling his other leg. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," he said sadly. "We'll be farmers." +</P> + +<P> +"And remember," said the Doctor, "that if you do not keep your +promise—if you start killing and stealing again, I shall hear of it, +because the canaries will come and tell me. And be very sure that I +will find a way to punish you. For though I may not be able to sail a +ship as well as you, so long as the birds and the beasts and the fishes +are my friends, I do not have to be afraid of a pirate chief—even +though he call himself 'The Dragon of Barbary.' Now go and be a good +farmer and live in peace." +</P> + +<P> +Then the Doctor turned to the big shark, and waving his hand he said, +</P> + +<P> +"All right. Let them swim safely to the land." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER +</H3> + +<P> +HAVING thanked the sharks again for their kindness, the Doctor and his +pets set off once more on their journey home in the swift ship with the +three red sails. +</P> + +<P> +As they moved out into the open sea, the animals all went downstairs to +see what their new boat was like inside; while the Doctor leant on the +rail at the back of the ship with a pipe in his mouth, watching the +Canary Islands fade away in the blue dusk of the evening. +</P> + +<P> +While he was standing there, wondering how the monkeys were getting +on—and what his garden would look like when he got back to Puddleby, +Dab-Dab came tumbling up the stairs, all smiles and full of news. +</P> + +<P> +"Doctor!" she cried. "This ship of the pirates is simply +beautiful—absolutely. The beds downstairs are made of primrose +silk—with hundreds of big pillows and cushions; there are thick, soft +carpets on the floors; the dishes are made of silver; and there are all +sorts of good things to eat and drink—special things; the +larder—well, it's just like a shop, that's all. You never saw anything +like it in your life— Just think—they kept five different kinds of +sardines, those men! Come and look.... Oh, and we found a little room +down there with the door locked; and we are all crazy to get in and see +what's inside. Jip says it must be where the pirates kept their +treasure. But we can't open the door. Come down and see if you can +let us in." +</P> + +<P> +So the Doctor went downstairs and he saw that it was indeed a beautiful +ship. He found the animals gathered round a little door, all talking +at once, trying to guess what was inside. The Doctor turned the handle +but it wouldn't open. Then they all started to hunt for the key. They +looked under the mat; they looked under all the carpets; they looked in +all the cupboards and drawers and lockers—in the big chests in the +ship's dining-room; they looked everywhere. +</P> + +<P> +While they were doing this they discovered a lot of new and wonderful +things that the pirates must have stolen from other ships: Kashmir +shawls as thin as a cobweb, embroidered with flowers of gold; jars of +fine tobacco from Jamaica; carved ivory boxes full of Russian tea; an +old violin with a string broken and a picture on the back; a set of big +chess-men, carved out of coral and amber; a walking-stick which had a +sword inside it when you pulled the handle; six wine-glasses with +turquoise and silver round the rims; and a lovely great sugar-bowl, +made of mother o' pearl. But nowhere in the whole boat could they find +a key to fit that lock. +</P> + +<P> +So they all came back to the door, and Jip peered through the key-hole. +But something had been stood against the wall on the inside and he +could see nothing. +</P> + +<P> +While they were standing around, wondering what they should do, the +owl, Too-Too, suddenly said, +</P> + +<P> +"Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there's some one in there!" +</P> + +<P> +They all kept still a moment. Then the Doctor said, +</P> + +<P> +"You must be mistaken, Too-Too. I don't hear anything." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure of it," said the owl. "Sh!—There it is again—Don't you +hear that?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I do not," said the Doctor. "What kind of a sound is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I hear the noise of some one putting his hand in his pocket," said the +owl. +</P> + +<P> +"But that makes hardly any sound at all," said the Doctor. "You +couldn't hear that out here." +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon me, but I can," said Too-Too. "I tell you there is some one on +the other side of that door putting his hand in his pocket. Almost +everything makes SOME noise—if your ears are only sharp enough to +catch it. Bats can hear a mole walking in his tunnel under the +earth—and they think they're good hearers. But we owls can tell you, +using only one ear, the color of a kitten from the way it winks in the +dark." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well!" said the Doctor. "You surprise me. That's very +interesting.... Listen again and tell me what he's doing now." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not sure yet," said Too-Too, "if it's a man at all. Maybe it's a +woman. Lift me up and let me listen at the key-hole and I'll soon tell +you." +</P> + +<P> +So the Doctor lifted the owl up and held him close to the lock of the +door. +</P> + +<P> +After a moment Too-Too said, +</P> + +<P> +"Now he's rubbing his face with his left hand. It is a small hand and +a small face. It MIGHT be a woman—No. Now he pushes his hair back off +his forehead—It's a man all right." +</P> + +<P> +"Women sometimes do that," said the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"True," said the owl. "But when they do, their long hair makes quite a +different sound.... Sh! Make that fidgety pig keep still. Now all hold +your breath a moment so I can listen well. This is very difficult, +what I'm doing now—and the pesky door is so thick! Sh! Everybody +quite still—shut your eyes and don't breathe." +</P> + +<P> +Too-Too leaned down and listened again very hard and long. +</P> + +<P> +At last he looked up into the Doctor's face and said, +</P> + +<P> +"The man in there is unhappy. He weeps. He has taken care not to +blubber or sniffle, lest we should find out that he is crying. But I +heard—quite distinctly—the sound of a tear falling on his sleeve." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know it wasn't a drop of water falling off the ceiling on +him?" asked Gub-Gub. "Pshaw!—Such ignorance!" sniffed Too-Too. "A drop +of water falling off the ceiling would have made ten times as much +noise!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said the Doctor, "if the poor fellow's unhappy, we've got to +get in and see what's the matter with him. Find me an axe, and I'll +chop the door down." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE OCEAN GOSSIPS +</H3> + +<P> +RIGHT away an axe was found. And the Doctor soon chopped a hole in the +door big enough to clamber through. +</P> + +<P> +At first he could see nothing at all, it was so dark inside. So he +struck a match. +</P> + +<P> +The room was quite small; no window; the ceiling, low. For furniture +there was only one little stool. All round the room big barrels stood +against the walls, fastened at the bottom so they wouldn't tumble with +the rolling of the ship; and above the barrels, pewter jugs of all +sizes hung from wooden pegs. There was a strong, winey smell. And in +the middle of the floor sat a little boy, about eight years old, crying +bitterly. +</P> + +<P> +"I declare, it is the pirates' rum-room!" said Jip in a whisper. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Very rum!" said Gub-Gub. "The smell makes me giddy." +</P> + +<P> +The little boy seemed rather frightened to find a man standing there +before him and all those animals staring in through the hole in the +broken door. But as soon as he saw John Dolittle's face by the light +of the match, he stopped crying and got up. +</P> + +<P> +"You aren't one of the pirates, are you?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +And when the Doctor threw back his head and laughed long and loud, the +little boy smiled too and came and took his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"You laugh like a friend," he said—"not like a pirate. Could you tell +me where my uncle is?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid I can't," said the Doctor. "When did you see him last?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was the day before yesterday," said the boy. "I and my uncle were +out fishing in our little boat, when the pirates came and caught us. +They sunk our fishing-boat and brought us both on to this ship. They +told my uncle that they wanted him to be a pirate like them—for he was +clever at sailing a ship in all weathers. But he said he didn't want to +be a pirate, because killing people and stealing was no work for a good +fisherman to do. Then the leader, Ben Ali, got very angry and gnashed +his teeth, and said they would throw my uncle into the sea if he didn't +do as they said. They sent me downstairs; and I heard the noise of a +fight going on above. And when they let me come up again next day, my +uncle was nowhere to be seen. I asked the pirates where he was; but +they wouldn't tell me. I am very much afraid they threw him into the +sea and drowned him." +</P> + +<P> +And the little boy began to cry again. +</P> + +<P> +"Well now—wait a minute," said the Doctor. "Don't cry. Let's go and +have tea in the dining-room, and we'll talk it over. Maybe your uncle +is quite safe all the time. You don't KNOW that he was drowned, do +you? And that's something. Perhaps we can find him for you. First +we'll go and have tea—with strawberry-jam; and then we will see what +can be done." +</P> + +<P> +All the animals had been standing around listening with great +curiosity. And when they had gone into the ship's dining-room and were +having tea, Dab-Dab came up behind the Doctor's chair and whispered. +</P> + +<P> +"Ask the porpoises if the boy's uncle was drowned—they'll know." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said the Doctor, taking a second piece of bread-and-jam. +</P> + +<P> +"What are those funny, clicking noises you are making with your +tongue?" asked the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I just said a couple of words in duck-language," the Doctor +answered. "This is Dab-Dab, one of my pets." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't even know that ducks had a language," said the boy. "Are all +these other animals your pets, too? What is that strange-looking thing +with two heads?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sh!" the Doctor whispered. "That is the pushmi-pullyu. Don't let him +see we're talking about him—he gets so dreadfully embarrassed.... Tell +me, how did you come to be locked up in that little room?" +</P> + +<P> +"The pirates shut me in there when they were going off to steal things +from another ship. When I heard some one chopping on the door, I didn't +know who it could be. I was very glad to find it was you. Do you +think you will be able to find my uncle for me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we are going to try very hard," said the Doctor. "Now what was +your uncle like to look at?" +</P> + +<P> +"He had red hair," the boy answered—"very red hair, and the picture of +an anchor tattooed on his arm. He was a strong man, a kind uncle and +the best sailor in the South Atlantic. His fishing-boat was called The +Saucy Sally—a cutter-rigged sloop." +</P> + +<P> +"What's 'cutterigsloop'?" whispered Gub-Gub, turning to Jip. +</P> + +<P> +"Sh!—That's the kind of a ship the man had," said Jip. "Keep still, +can't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," said the pig, "is that all? I thought it was something to drink." +</P> + +<P> +So the Doctor left the boy to play with the animals in the dining-room, +and went upstairs to look for passing porpoises. +</P> + +<P> +And soon a whole school came dancing and jumping through the water, on +their way to Brazil. +</P> + +<P> +When they saw the Doctor leaning on the rail of his ship, they came +over to see how he was getting on. +</P> + +<P> +And the Doctor asked them if they had seen anything of a man with red +hair and an anchor tattooed on his arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean the master of The Saucy Sally?" asked the porpoises. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said the Doctor. "That's the man. Has he been drowned?" +</P> + +<P> +"His fishing-sloop was sunk," said the porpoises—"for we saw it lying +on the bottom of the sea. But there was nobody inside it, because we +went and looked." +</P> + +<P> +"His little nephew is on the ship with me here," said the Doctor. "And +he is terribly afraid that the pirates threw his uncle into the sea. +Would you be so good as to find out for me, for sure, whether he has +been drowned or not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he isn't drowned," said the porpoises. "If he were, we would be +sure to have heard of it from the deep-sea Decapods. We hear all the +salt-water news. The shell-fish call us 'The Ocean Gossips.' No—tell +the little boy we are sorry we do not know where his uncle is; but we +are quite certain he hasn't been drowned in the sea." +</P> + +<P> +So the Doctor ran downstairs with the news and told the nephew, who +clapped his hands with happiness. And the pushmi-pullyu took the +little boy on his back and gave him a ride round the dining-room table; +while all the other animals followed behind, beating the dish-covers +with spoons, pretending it was a parade. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SMELLS +</H3> + +<P> +"YOUR uncle must now be FOUND," said the Doctor—"that is the next +thing—now that we know he wasn't thrown into the sea." +</P> + +<P> +Then Dab-Dab came up to him again and whispered, +</P> + +<P> +"Ask the eagles to look for the man. No living creature can see better +than an eagle. When they are miles high in the air they can count the +ants crawling on the ground. Ask the eagles." +</P> + +<P> +So the Doctor sent one of the swallows off to get some eagles. +</P> + +<P> +And in about an hour the little bird came back with six different kinds +of eagles: a Black Eagle, a Bald Eagle, a Fish Eagle, a Golden Eagle, +an Eagle-Vulture, and a White-tailed Sea Eagle. Twice as high as the +boy they were, each one of them. And they stood on the rail of the +ship, like round-shouldered soldiers all in a row, stern and still and +stiff; while their great, gleaming, black eyes shot darting glances +here and there and everywhere. +</P> + +<P> +Gub-Gub was scared of them and got behind a barrel. He said he felt as +though those terrible eyes were looking right inside of him to see what +he had stolen for lunch. +</P> + +<P> +And the Doctor said to the eagles, +</P> + +<P> +"A man has been lost—a fisherman with red hair and an anchor marked on +his arm. Would you be so kind as to see if you can find him for us? +This boy is the man's nephew." +</P> + +<P> +Eagles do not talk very much. And all they answered in their husky +voices was, +</P> + +<P> +"You may be sure that we will do our best—for John Dolittle." +</P> + +<P> +Then they flew off—and Gub-Gub came out from behind his barrel to see +them go. Up and up and up they went—higher and higher and higher +still. Then, when the Doctor could only just see them, they parted +company and started going off all different ways—North, East, South +and West, looking like tiny grains of black sand creeping across the +wide, blue sky. +</P> + +<P> +"My gracious!" said Gub-Gub in a hushed voice. "What a height! I +wonder they don't scorch their feathers—so near the sun!" +</P> + +<P> +They were gone a long time. And when they came back it was almost +night. +</P> + +<P> +And the eagles said to the Doctor, +</P> + +<P> +"We have searched all the seas and all the countries and all the +islands and all the cities and all the villages in this half of the +world. But we have failed. In the main street of Gibraltar we saw +three red hairs lying on a wheel-barrow before a baker's door. But +they were not the hairs of a man—they were the hairs out of a +fur-coat. Nowhere, on land or water, could we see any sign of this +boy's uncle. And if WE could not see him, then he is not to be +seen.... For John Dolittle—we have done our best." +</P> + +<P> +Then the six great birds flapped their big wings and flew back to their +homes in the mountains and the rocks. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Dab-Dab, after they had gone, "what are we going to do +now? The boy's uncle MUST be found—there's no two ways about that. +The lad isn't old enough to be knocking around the world by himself. +Boys aren't like ducklings—they have to be taken care of till they're +quite old.... I wish Chee-Chee were here. He would soon find the man. +Good old Chee-Chee! I wonder how he's getting on!" +</P> + +<P> +"If we only had Polynesia with us," said the white mouse. "SHE would +soon think of some way. Do you remember how she got us all out of +prison—the second time? My, but she was a clever one!" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think so much of those eagle-fellows," said Jip. "They're +just conceited. They may have very good eyesight and all that; but +when you ask them to find a man for you, they can't do it—and they +have the cheek to come back and say that nobody else could do it. +They're just conceited—like that collie in Puddleby. And I don't +think a whole lot of those gossipy old porpoises either. All they +could tell us was that the man isn't in the sea. We don't want to know +where he ISN'T—we want to know where he IS." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, don't talk so much," said Gub-Gub. "It's easy to talk; but it +isn't so easy to find a man when you have got the whole world to hunt +him in. Maybe the fisherman's hair has turned white, worrying about +the boy; and that was why the eagles didn't find him. You don't know +everything. You're just talking. You are not doing anything to help. +You couldn't find the boy's uncle any more than the eagles could—you +couldn't do as well." +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't I?" said the dog. "That's all you know, you stupid piece of +warm bacon! I haven't begun to try yet, have I? You wait and see!" +</P> + +<P> +Then Jip went to the Doctor and said, +</P> + +<P> +"Ask the boy if he has anything in his pockets that belonged to his +uncle, will you, please?" +</P> + +<P> +So the Doctor asked him. And the boy showed them a gold ring which he +wore on a piece of string around his neck because it was too big for +his finger. He said his uncle gave it to him when they saw the pirates +coming. +</P> + +<P> +Jip smelt the ring and said, +</P> + +<P> +"That's no good. Ask him if he has anything else that belonged to his +uncle." +</P> + +<P> +Then the boy took from his pocket a great, big red handkerchief and +said, "This was my uncle's too." +</P> + +<P> +As soon as the boy pulled it out, Jip shouted, +</P> + +<P> +"SNUFF, by Jingo!—Black Rappee snuff. Don't you smell it? His uncle +took snuff— Ask him, Doctor." +</P> + +<P> +The Doctor questioned the boy again; and he said, "Yes. My uncle took +a lot of snuff." +</P> + +<P> +"Fine!" said Jip. "The man's as good as found. 'Twill be as easy as +stealing milk from a kitten. Tell the boy I'll find his uncle for him +in less than a week. Let us go upstairs and see which way the wind is +blowing." +</P> + +<P> +"But it is dark now," said the Doctor. "You can't find him in the +dark!" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't need any light to look for a man who smells of Black Rappee +snuff," said Jip as he climbed the stairs. "If the man had a hard +smell, like string, now—or hot water, it would be different. But +SNUFF!—Tut, tut!" +</P> + +<P> +"Does hot water have a smell?" asked the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly it has," said Jip. "Hot water smells quite different from +cold water. It is warm water—or ice—that has the really difficult +smell. Why, I once followed a man for ten miles on a dark night by the +smell of the hot water he had used to shave with—for the poor fellow +had no soap.... Now then, let us see which way the wind is blowing. +Wind is very important in long-distance smelling. It mustn't be too +fierce a wind—and of course it must blow the right way. A nice, +steady, damp breeze is the best of all.... Ha!—This wind is from the +North." +</P> + +<P> +Then Jip went up to the front of the ship and smelt the wind; and he +started muttering to himself, +</P> + +<P> +"Tar; Spanish onions; kerosene oil; wet raincoats; crushed +laurel-leaves; rubber burning; lace-curtains being washed—No, my +mistake, lace-curtains hanging out to dry; and foxes—hundreds of +'em—cubs; and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Can you really smell all those different things in this one wind?" +asked the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, of course!" said Jip. "And those are only a few of the easy +smells—the strong ones. Any mongrel could smell those with a cold in +the head. Wait now, and I'll tell you some of the harder scents that +are coming on this wind—a few of the dainty ones." +</P> + +<P> +Then the dog shut his eyes tight, poked his nose straight up in the air +and sniffed hard with his mouth half-open. +</P> + +<P> +For a long time he said nothing. He kept as still as a stone. He +hardly seemed to be breathing at all. When at last he began to speak, +it sounded almost as though he were singing, sadly, in a dream. +</P> + +<P> +"Bricks," he whispered, very low—"old yellow bricks, crumbling with +age in a garden-wall; the sweet breath of young cows standing in a +mountain-stream; the lead roof of a dove-cote—or perhaps a +granary—with the mid-day sun on it; black kid gloves lying in a +bureau-drawer of walnut-wood; a dusty road with a horses' +drinking-trough beneath the sycamores; little mushrooms bursting +through the rotting leaves; and—and—and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Any parsnips?" asked Gub-Gub. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Jip. "You always think of things to eat. No parsnips +whatever. And no snuff—plenty of pipes and cigarettes, and a few +cigars. But no snuff. We must wait till the wind changes to the South." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it's a poor wind, that," said Gub-Gub. "I think you're a fake, +Jip. Who ever heard of finding a man in the middle of the ocean just +by smell! I told you you couldn't do it." +</P> + +<P> +"Look here," said Jip, getting really angry. "You're going to get a +bite on the nose in a minute! You needn't think that just because the +Doctor won't let us give you what you deserve, that you can be as +cheeky as you like!" +</P> + +<P> +"Stop quarreling!" said the Doctor—"Stop it! Life's too short. Tell +me, Jip, where do you think those smells are coming from?" +</P> + +<P> +"From Devon and Wales—most of them," said Jip—"The wind is coming +that way." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well!" said the Doctor. "You know that's really quite +remarkable—quite. I must make a note of that for my new book. I +wonder if you could train me to smell as well as that.... But +no—perhaps I'm better off the way I am. 'Enough is as good as a +feast,' they say. Let's go down to supper. I'm quite hungry." +</P> + +<P> +"So am I," said Gub-Gub. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ROCK +</H3> + +<P> +UP they got, early next morning, out of the silken beds; and they saw +that the sun was shining brightly and that the wind was blowing from +the South. +</P> + +<P> +Jip smelt the South wind for half an hour. Then he came to the Doctor, +shaking his head. +</P> + +<P> +"I smell no snuff as yet," he said. "We must wait till the wind +changes to the East." +</P> + +<P> +But even when the East wind came, at three o'clock that afternoon, the +dog could not catch the smell of snuff. +</P> + +<P> +The little boy was terribly disappointed and began to cry again, saying +that no one seemed to be able to find his uncle for him. But all Jip +said to the Doctor was, +</P> + +<P> +"Tell him that when the wind changes to the West, I'll find his uncle +even though he be in China—so long as he is still taking Black Rappee +snuff." +</P> + +<P> +Three days they had to wait before the West wind came. This was on a +Friday morning, early—just as it was getting light. A fine rainy mist +lay on the sea like a thin fog. And the wind was soft and warm and wet. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as Jip awoke he ran upstairs and poked his nose in the air. +Then he got most frightfully excited and rushed down again to wake the +Doctor up. +</P> + +<P> +"Doctor!" he cried. "I've got it! Doctor! Doctor! Wake up! Listen! +I've got it! The wind's from the West and it smells of nothing but +snuff. Come upstairs and start the ship—quick!" +</P> + +<P> +So the Doctor tumbled out of bed and went to the rudder to steer the +ship. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I'll go up to the front," said Jip; "and you watch my +nose—whichever way I point it, you turn the ship the same way. The +man cannot be far off—with the smell as strong as this. And the +wind's all lovely and wet. Now watch me!" +</P> + +<P> +So all that morning Jip stood in the front part of the ship, sniffing +the wind and pointing the way for the Doctor to steer; while all the +animals and the little boy stood round with their eyes wide open, +watching the dog in wonder. +</P> + +<P> +About lunch-time Jip asked Dab-Dab to tell the Doctor that he was +getting worried and wanted to speak to him. So Dab-Dab went and +fetched the Doctor from the other end of the ship and Jip said to him, +</P> + +<P> +"The boy's uncle is starving. We must make the ship go as fast as we +can." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know he is starving?" asked the Doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Because there is no other smell in the West wind but snuff," said Jip. +"If the man were cooking or eating food of any kind, I would be bound +to smell it too. But he hasn't even fresh water to drink. All he is +taking is snuff—in large pinches. We are getting nearer to him all +the time, because the smell grows stronger every minute. But make the +ship go as fast as you can, for I am certain that the man is starving." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said the Doctor; and he sent Dab-Dab to ask the swallows +to pull the ship, the same as they had done when the pirates were +chasing them. +</P> + +<P> +So the stout little birds came down and once more harnessed themselves +to the ship. +</P> + +<P> +And now the boat went bounding through the waves at a terrible speed. +It went so fast that the fishes in the sea had to jump for their lives +to get out of the way and not be run over. +</P> + +<P> +And all the animals got tremendously excited; and they gave up looking +at Jip and turned to watch the sea in front, to spy out any land or +islands where the starving man might be. +</P> + +<P> +But hour after hour went by and still the ship went rushing on, over +the same flat, flat sea; and no land anywhere came in sight. +</P> + +<P> +And now the animals gave up chattering and sat around silent, anxious +and miserable. The little boy again grew sad. And on Jip's face there +was a worried look. +</P> + +<P> +At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun was going down, the +owl, Too-Too, who was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly startled +them all by crying out at the top of his voice, +</P> + +<P> +"Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front of us—look—way out +there where the sky and the water meet. See the sun shine on it—like +gold! Is the smell coming from there?" +</P> + +<P> +And Jip called back, +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. That's it. That is where the man is.— At last, at last!" +</P> + +<P> +And when they got nearer they could see that the rock was very +large—as large as a big field. No trees grew on it, no grass—nothing. +The great rock was as smooth and as bare as the back of a tortoise. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round the rock. But nowhere on +it could a man be seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes and +looked as hard as they could; and John Dolittle got a telescope from +downstairs. +</P> + +<P> +But not one living thing could they spy—not even a gull, nor a +star-fish, nor a shred of sea-weed. +</P> + +<P> +They all stood still and listened, straining their ears for any sound. +But the only noise they heard was the gentle lapping of the little +waves against the sides of their ship. +</P> + +<P> +Then they all started calling, "Hulloa, there!—HULLOA!" till their +voices were hoarse. But only the echo came back from the rock. +</P> + +<P> +And the little boy burst into tears and said, +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid I shall never see my uncle any more! What shall I tell +them when I get home!" +</P> + +<P> +But Jip called to the Doctor, +</P> + +<P> +"He must be there—he must—HE MUST! The smell goes on no further. He +must be there, I tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock and let me +jump out on it." +</P> + +<P> +So the Doctor brought the ship as close as he could and let down the +anchor. Then he and Jip got out of the ship on to the rock. +</P> + +<P> +Jip at once put his nose down close to the ground and began to run all +over the place. Up and down he went, back and forth—zig-zagging, +twisting, doubling and turning. And everywhere he went, the Doctor ran +behind him, close at his heels—till he was terribly out of breath. +</P> + +<P> +At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down. And when the Doctor came +running up to him, he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole in +the middle of the rock. +</P> + +<P> +"The boy's uncle is down there," said Jip quietly. "No wonder those +silly eagles couldn't see him!—It takes a dog to find a man." +</P> + +<P> +So the Doctor got down into the hole, which seemed to be a kind of +cave, or tunnel, running a long way under the ground. Then he struck a +match and started to make his way along the dark passage with Jip +following behind. +</P> + +<P> +The Doctor's match soon went out; and he had to strike another and +another and another. +</P> + +<P> +At last the passage came to an end; and the Doctor found himself in a +kind of tiny room with walls of rock. +</P> + +<P> +And there, in the middle of the room, his head resting on his arms, lay +a man with very red hair—fast asleep! +</P> + +<P> +Jip went up and sniffed at something lying on the ground beside him. +The Doctor stooped and picked it up. It was an enormous snuff-box. And +it was full of Black Rappee! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FISHERMAN'S TOWN +</H3> + +<P> +GENTLY then—very gently, the Doctor woke the man up. +</P> + +<P> +But just at that moment the match went out again. And the man thought +it was Ben Ali coming back, and he began to punch the Doctor in the +dark. +</P> + +<P> +But when John Dolittle told him who it was, and that he had his little +nephew safe on his ship, the man was tremendously glad, and said he was +sorry he had fought the Doctor. He had not hurt him much +though—because it was too dark to punch properly. Then he gave the +Doctor a pinch of snuff. +</P> + +<P> +And the man told how the Barbary Dragon had put him on to this rock and +left him there, when he wouldn't promise to become a pirate; and how he +used to sleep down in this hole because there was no house on the rock +to keep him warm. +</P> + +<P> +And then he said, +</P> + +<P> +"For four days I have had nothing to eat or drink. I have lived on +snuff." +</P> + +<P> +"There you are!" said Jip. "What did I tell you?" +</P> + +<P> +So they struck some more matches and made their way out through the +passage into the daylight; and the Doctor hurried the man down to the +boat to get some soup. +</P> + +<P> +When the animals and the little boy saw the Doctor and Jip coming back +to the ship with a red-headed man, they began to cheer and yell and +dance about the boat. And the swallows up above started whistling at +the top of their voices—thousands and millions of them—to show that +they too were glad that the boy's brave uncle had been found. The +noise they made was so great that sailors far out at sea thought that a +terrible storm was coming. "Hark to that gale howling in the East!" +they said. +</P> + +<P> +And Jip was awfully proud of himself—though he tried hard not to look +conceited. When Dab-Dab came to him and said, "Jip, I had no idea you +were so clever!" he just tossed his head and answered, +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's nothing special. But it takes a dog to find a man, you +know. Birds are no good for a game like that." +</P> + +<P> +Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman where his home was. And +when he had told him, the Doctor asked the swallows to guide the ship +there first. +</P> + +<P> +And when they had come to the land which the man had spoken of, they +saw a little fishing-town at the foot of a rocky mountain; and the man +pointed out the house where he lived. +</P> + +<P> +And while they were letting down the anchor, the little boy's mother +(who was also the man's sister) came running down to the shore to meet +them, laughing and crying at the same time. She had been sitting on a +hill for twenty days, watching the sea and waiting for them to return. +</P> + +<P> +And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that he giggled and blushed +like a school-girl. And she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away and +hid inside the ship. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a silly business, this kissing," he said. "I don't hold by it. +Let her go and kiss Gub-Gub—if she MUST kiss something." +</P> + +<P> +The fisherman and his sister didn't want the Doctor to go away again in +a hurry. They begged him to spend a few days with them. So John +Dolittle and his animals had to stay at their house a whole Saturday +and Sunday and half of Monday. +</P> + +<P> +And all the little boys of the fishing-village went down to the beach +and pointed at the great ship anchored there, and said to one another +in whispers, +</P> + +<P> +"Look! That was a pirate-ship—Ben Ali's—the most terrible pirate +that ever sailed the Seven Seas! That old gentleman with the high hat, +who's staying up at Mrs. Trevelyan's, HE took the ship away from The +Barbary Dragon—and made him into a farmer. Who'd have thought it of +him—him so gentle—like and all!... Look at the great red sails! +Ain't she the wicked-looking ship—and fast?—My!" +</P> + +<P> +All those two days and a half that the Doctor stayed at the little +fishing-town the people kept asking him out to teas and luncheons and +dinners and parties; all the ladies sent him boxes of flowers and +candies; and the village-band played tunes under his window every night. +</P> + +<P> +At last the Doctor said, +</P> + +<P> +"Good people, I must go home now. You have really been most kind. I +shall always remember it. But I must go home—for I have things to do." +</P> + +<P> +Then, just as the Doctor was about to leave, the Mayor of the town came +down the street and a lot of other people in grand clothes with him. +And the Mayor stopped before the house where the Doctor was living; and +everybody in the village gathered round to see what was going to happen. +</P> + +<P> +After six page-boys had blown on shining trumpets to make the people +stop talking, the Doctor came out on to the steps and the Mayor spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Doctor John Dolittle," said he: "It is a great pleasure for me to +present to the man who rid the seas of the Dragon of Barbary this +little token from the grateful people of our worthy Town." +</P> + +<P> +And the Mayor took from his pocket a little tissue-paper packet, and +opening it, he handed to the Doctor a perfectly beautiful watch with +real diamonds in the back. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Mayor pulled out of his pocket a still larger parcel and said, +</P> + +<P> +"Where is the dog?" +</P> + +<P> +Then everybody started to hunt for Jip. And at last Dab-Dab found him +on the other side of the village in a stable-yard, where all the dogs +of the country-side were standing round him speechless with admiration +and respect. +</P> + +<P> +When Jip was brought to the Doctor's side, the Mayor opened the larger +parcel; and inside was a dog-collar made of solid gold! And a great +murmur of wonder went up from the village-folk as the Mayor bent down +and fastened it round the dog's neck with his own hands. +</P> + +<P> +For written on the collar in big letters were these words: "JIP-THE +CLEVEREST DOG IN THE WORLD." +</P> + +<P> +Then the whole crowd moved down to the beach to see them off. And +after the red-haired fisherman and his sister and the little boy had +thanked the Doctor and his dog over and over and over again, the great, +swift ship with the red sails was turned once more towards Puddleby and +they sailed out to sea, while the village-band played music on the +shore. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LAST CHAPTER +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOME AGAIN +</H3> + +<P> +MARCH winds had come and gone; April's showers were over; May's buds +had opened into flower; and the June sun was shining on the pleasant +fields, when John Dolittle at last got back to his own country. +</P> + +<P> +But he did not yet go home to Puddleby. First he went traveling through +the land with the pushmi-pullyu in a gipsy-wagon, stopping at all the +country-fairs. And there, with the acrobats on one side of them and +the Punch-and-Judy show on the other, they would hang out a big sign +which read, "COME AND SEE THE MARVELOUS TWO-HEADED ANIMAL FROM THE +JUNGLES OF AFRICA. Admission SIXPENCE." +</P> + +<P> +And the pushmi-pullyu would stay inside the wagon, while the other +animals would lie about underneath. The Doctor sat in a chair in front +taking the sixpences and smiling on the people as they went in; and +Dab-Dab was kept busy all the time scolding him because he would let +the children in for nothing when she wasn't looking. +</P> + +<P> +And menagerie-keepers and circus-men came and asked the Doctor to sell +them the strange creature, saying they would pay a tremendous lot of +money for him. But the Doctor always shook his head and said. +</P> + +<P> +"No. The pushmi-pullyu shall never be shut up in a cage. He shall be +free always to come and go, like you and me." +</P> + +<P> +Many curious sights and happenings they saw in this wandering life; but +they all seemed quite ordinary after the great things they had seen and +done in foreign lands. It was very interesting at first, being sort of +part of a circus; but after a few weeks they all got dreadfully tired +of it and the Doctor and all of them were longing to go home. +</P> + +<P> +But so many people came flocking to the little wagon and paid the +sixpence to go inside and see the pushmi-pullyu that very soon the +Doctor was able to give up being a showman. +</P> + +<P> +And one fine day, when the hollyhocks were in full bloom, he came back +to Puddleby a rich man, to live in the little house with the big garden. +</P> + +<P> +And the old lame horse in the stable was glad to see him; and so were +the swallows who had already built their nests under the eaves of his +roof and had young ones. And Dab-Dab was glad, too, to get back to the +house she knew so well—although there was a terrible lot of dusting to +be done, with cobwebs everywhere. +</P> + +<P> +And after Jip had gone and shown his golden collar to the conceited +collie next-door, he came back and began running round the garden like +a crazy thing, looking for the bones he had buried long ago, and +chasing the rats out of the tool-shed; while Gub-Gub dug up the +horseradish which had grown three feet high in the corner by the +garden-wall. +</P> + +<P> +And the Doctor went and saw the sailor who had lent him the boat, and +he bought two new ships for him and a rubber-doll for his baby; and he +paid the grocer for the food he had lent him for the journey to Africa. +And he bought another piano and put the white mice back in it—because +they said the bureau-drawer was drafty. +</P> + +<P> +Even when the Doctor had filled the old money-box on the dresser-shelf, +he still had a lot of money left; and he had to get three more +money-boxes, just as big, to put the rest in. +</P> + +<P> +"Money," he said, "is a terrible nuisance. But it's nice not to have to +worry." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Dab-Dab, who was toasting muffins for his tea, "it is +indeed!" +</P> + +<P> +And when the Winter came again, and the snow flew against the +kitchen-window, the Doctor and his animals would sit round the big, +warm fire after supper; and he would read aloud to them out of his +books. +</P> + +<P> +But far away in Africa, where the monkeys chattered in the palm-trees +before they went to bed under the big yellow moon, they would say to +one another, +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder what The Good Man's doing now—over there, in the Land of the +White Men! Do you think he ever will come back?" +</P> + +<P> +And Polynesia would squeak out from the vines, +</P> + +<P> +"I think he will—I guess he will—I hope he will!" +</P> + +<P> +And then the crocodile would grunt up at them from the black mud of the +river, +</P> + +<P> +"I'm SURE he will—Go to sleep!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE *** + +***** This file should be named 501-h.htm or 501-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/501/ + +Produced by Charles Keller. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.net + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</BODY> + +</HTML> + + diff --git a/old/20080913-501-h.zip b/old/20080913-501-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..abcc096 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/20080913-501-h.zip diff --git a/old/20080913-501.txt b/old/20080913-501.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c400c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/20080913-501.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3628 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: The Story of Doctor Dolittle + +Author: Hugh Lofting + +Posting Date: September 13, 2008 [EBook #501] +Release Date: April, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + THE + Story of + DOCTOR DOLITTLE + + + by + + Hugh Lofting + + + BEING THE + HISTORY OF HIS PECULIAR LIFE + AT HOME AND ASTONISHING ADVENTURES + IN FOREIGN PARTS NEVER BEFORE PRINTED. + + + TO + ALL CHILDREN + CHILDREN IN YEARS AND CHILDREN IN HEART + I DEDICATE THIS STORY + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +There are some of us now reaching middle age who discover themselves to +be lamenting the past in one respect if in none other, that there are +no books written now for children comparable with those of thirty years +ago. I say written FOR children because the new psychological business +of writing ABOUT them as though they were small pills or hatched in +some especially scientific method is extremely popular today. Writing +for children rather than about them is very difficult as everybody who +has tried it knows. It can only be done, I am convinced, by somebody +having a great deal of the child in his own outlook and sensibilities. +Such was the author of "The Little Duke" and "The Dove in the Eagle's +Nest," such the author of "A Flatiron for a Farthing," and "The Story +of a Short Life." Such, above all, the author of "Alice in Wonderland." +Grownups imagine that they can do the trick by adopting baby language +and talking down to their very critical audience. There never was a +greater mistake. The imagination of the author must be a child's +imagination and yet maturely consistent, so that the White Queen in +"Alice," for instance, is seen just as a child would see her, but she +continues always herself through all her distressing adventures. The +supreme touch of the white rabbit pulling on his white gloves as he +hastens is again absolutely the child's vision, but the white rabbit as +guide and introducer of Alice's adventures belongs to mature grown +insight. + +Geniuses are rare and, without being at all an undue praiser of times +past, one can say without hesitation that until the appearance of Hugh +Lofting, the successor of Miss Yonge, Mrs. Ewing, Mrs. Gatty and Lewis +Carroll had not appeared. I remember the delight with which some six +months ago I picked up the first "Dolittle" book in the Hampshire +bookshop at Smith College in Northampton. One of Mr. Lofting's +pictures was quite enough for me. The picture that I lighted upon when +I first opened the book was the one of the monkeys making a chain with +their arms across the gulf. Then I looked further and discovered Bumpo +reading fairy stories to himself. And then looked again and there was +a picture of John Dolittle's house. + +But pictures are not enough although most authors draw so badly that if +one of them happens to have the genius for line that Mr. Lofting shows +there must be, one feels, something in his writing as well. There is. +You cannot read the first paragraph of the book, which begins in the +right way "Once upon a time" without knowing that Mr. Lofting believes +in his story quite as much as he expects you to. That is the first +essential for a story teller. Then you discover as you read on that he +has the right eye for the right detail. What child-inquiring mind +could resist this intriguing sentence to be found on the second page of +the book: + + +"Besides the gold-fish in the pond at the bottom of his garden, he had +rabbits in the pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen +closet and a hedgehog in the cellar." + +And then when you read a little further you will discover that the +Doctor is not merely a peg on whom to hang exciting and various +adventures but that he is himself a man of original and lively +character. He is a very kindly, generous man, and anyone who has ever +written stories will know that it is much more difficult to make +kindly, generous characters interesting than unkindly and mean ones. +But Dolittle is interesting. It is not only that he is quaint but that +he is wise and knows what he is about. The reader, however young, who +meets him gets very soon a sense that if he were in trouble, not +necessarily medical, he would go to Dolittle and ask his advice about +it. Dolittle seems to extend his hand from the page and grasp that of +his reader, and I can see him going down the centuries a kind of Pied +Piper with thousands of children at his heels. But not only is he a +darling and alive and credible but his creator has also managed to +invest everybody else in the book with the same kind of life. + +Now this business of giving life to animals, making them talk and +behave like human beings, is an extremely difficult one. Lewis Carroll +absolutely conquered the difficulties, but I am not sure that anyone +after him until Hugh Lofting has really managed the trick; even in such +a masterpiece as "The Wind in the Willows" we are not quite convinced. +John Dolittle's friends are convincing because their creator never +forces them to desert their own characteristics. Polynesia, for +instance, is natural from first to last. She really does care about +the Doctor but she cares as a bird would care, having always some place +to which she is going when her business with her friends is over. And +when Mr. Lofting invents fantastic animals he gives them a kind of +credible possibility which is extraordinarily convincing. It will be +impossible for anyone who has read this book not to believe in the +existence of the pushmi-pullyu, who would be credible enough even were +there no drawing of it, but the picture on page 145 settles the matter +of his truth once and for all. + +In fact this book is a work of genius and, as always with works of +genius, it is difficult to analyze the elements that have gone to make +it. There is poetry here and fantasy and humor, a little pathos but, +above all, a number of creations in whose existence everybody must +believe whether they be children of four or old men of ninety or +prosperous bankers of forty-five. I don't know how Mr. Lofting has +done it; I don't suppose that he knows himself. There it is--the first +real children's classic since "Alice." HUGH WALPOLE. + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION + + I PUDDLEBY + II ANIMAL LANGUAGE + III MORE MONEY TROUBLES + IV A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA + V THE GREAT JOURNEY + VI POLYNESIA AND THE KING + VII THE BRIDGE OF APES + VIII THE LEADER OF THE LIONS + IX THE MONKEYS COUNCIL + X THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL + XI THE BLACK PRINCE + XII MEDICINE AND MAGIC + XIII RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS + XIV THE RATS WARNING + XV THE BARBARY DRAGON + XVI TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER + XVII THE OCEAN GOSSIPS + XVIII SMELLS + XIX THE ROCK + XX THE FISHERMAN'S TOWN + XXI HOME AGAIN + + + + +THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE + + + +THE FIRST CHAPTER + +PUDDLEBY + +ONCE upon a time, many years ago when our grandfathers were little +children--there was a doctor; and his name was Dolittle--John Dolittle, +M.D. "M.D." means that he was a proper doctor and knew a whole lot. + +He lived in a little town called, Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. All the folks, +young and old, knew him well by sight. And whenever he walked down the +street in his high hat everyone would say, "There goes the +Doctor!--He's a clever man." And the dogs and the children would all +run up and follow behind him; and even the crows that lived in the +church-tower would caw and nod their heads. + +The house he lived in, on the edge of the town, was quite small; but +his garden was very large and had a wide lawn and stone seats and +weeping-willows hanging over. His sister, Sarah Dolittle, was +housekeeper for him; but the Doctor looked after the garden himself. + +He was very fond of animals and kept many kinds of pets. Besides the +gold-fish in the pond at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in +the pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen closet and +a hedgehog in the cellar. He had a cow with a calf too, and an old lame +horse-twenty-five years of age--and chickens, and pigeons, and two +lambs, and many other animals. But his favorite pets were Dab-Dab the +duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the baby pig, Polynesia the parrot, and the +owl Too-Too. + +His sister used to grumble about all these animals and said they made +the house untidy. And one day when an old lady with rheumatism came to +see the Doctor, she sat on the hedgehog who was sleeping on the sofa +and never came to see him any more, but drove every Saturday all the +way to Oxenthorpe, another town ten miles off, to see a different +doctor. + +Then his sister, Sarah Dolittle, came to him and said, + +"John, how can you expect sick people to come and see you when you keep +all these animals in the house? It's a fine doctor would have his +parlor full of hedgehogs and mice! That's the fourth personage these +animals have driven away. Squire Jenkins and the Parson say they +wouldn't come near your house again--no matter how sick they are. We +are getting poorer every day. If you go on like this, none of the best +people will have you for a doctor." + +"But I like the animals better than the 'best people'," said the Doctor. + +"You are ridiculous," said his sister, and walked out of the room. + +So, as time went on, the Doctor got more and more animals; and the +people who came to see him got less and less. Till at last he had no +one left--except the Cat's-meat-Man, who didn't mind any kind of +animals. But the Cat's-meat Man wasn't very rich and he only got sick +once a year--at Christmas-time, when he used to give the Doctor +sixpence for a bottle of medicine. + +Sixpence a year wasn't enough to live on--even in those days, long ago; +and if the Doctor hadn't had some money saved up in his money-box, no +one knows what would have happened. + +And he kept on getting still more pets; and of course it cost a lot to +feed them. And the money he had saved up grew littler and littler. + +Then he sold his piano, and let the mice live in a bureau-drawer. But +the money he got for that too began to go, so he sold the brown suit he +wore on Sundays and went on becoming poorer and poorer. + +And now, when he walked down the street in his high hat, people would +say to one another, "There goes John Dolittle, M.D.! There was a time +when he was the best known doctor in the West Country--Look at him +now--He hasn't any money and his stockings are full of holes!" + +But the dogs and the cats and the children still ran up and followed +him through the town--the same as they had done when he was rich. + + + +THE SECOND CHAPTER + +ANIMAL LANGUAGE + +IT happened one day that the Doctor was sitting in his kitchen talking +with the Cat's-meat-Man who had come to see him with a stomach-ache. + +"Why don't you give up being a people's doctor, and be an +animal-doctor?" asked the Cat's-meat-Man. + +The parrot, Polynesia, was sitting in the window looking out at the +rain and singing a sailor-song to herself. She stopped singing and +started to listen. + +"You see, Doctor," the Cat's-meat-Man went on, "you know all about +animals--much more than what these here vets do. That book you +wrote--about cats, why, it's wonderful! I can't read or write +myself--or maybe _I_'D write some books. But my wife, Theodosia, she's +a scholar, she is. And she read your book to me. Well, it's +wonderful--that's all can be said--wonderful. You might have been a cat +yourself. You know the way they think. And listen: you can make a lot +of money doctoring animals. Do you know that? You see, I'd send all +the old women who had sick cats or dogs to you. And if they didn't get +sick fast enough, I could put something in the meat I sell 'em to make +'em sick, see?" + +"Oh, no," said the Doctor quickly. "You mustn't do that. That +wouldn't be right." + +"Oh, I didn't mean real sick," answered the Cat's-meat-Man. "Just a +little something to make them droopy-like was what I had reference to. +But as you say, maybe it ain't quite fair on the animals. But they'll +get sick anyway, because the old women always give 'em too much to eat. +And look, all the farmers 'round about who had lame horses and weak +lambs--they'd come. Be an animal-doctor." + +When the Cat's-meat-Man had gone the parrot flew off the window on to +the Doctor's table and said, + +"That man's got sense. That's what you ought to do. Be an +animal-doctor. Give the silly people up--if they haven't brains enough +to see you're the best doctor in the world. Take care of animals +instead--THEY'll soon find it out. Be an animal-doctor." + +"Oh, there are plenty of animal-doctors," said John Dolittle, putting +the flower-pots outside on the window-sill to get the rain. + +"Yes, there ARE plenty," said Polynesia. "But none of them are any +good at all. Now listen, Doctor, and I'll tell you something. Did you +know that animals can talk?" + +"I knew that parrots can talk," said the Doctor. + +"Oh, we parrots can talk in two languages--people's language and +bird-language," said Polynesia proudly. "If I say, 'Polly wants a +cracker,' you understand me. But hear this: Ka-ka oi-ee, fee-fee?" + +"Good Gracious!" cried the Doctor. "What does that mean?" + +"That means, 'Is the porridge hot yet?'--in bird-language." + +"My! You don't say so!" said the Doctor. "You never talked that way to +me before." + +"What would have been the good?" said Polynesia, dusting some +cracker-crumbs off her left wing. "You wouldn't have understood me if +I had." + +"Tell me some more," said the Doctor, all excited; and he rushed over +to the dresser-drawer and came back with the butcher's book and a +pencil. "Now don't go too fast--and I'll write it down. This is +interesting--very interesting--something quite new. Give me the Birds' +A.B.C. first--slowly now." + +So that was the way the Doctor came to know that animals had a language +of their own and could talk to one another. And all that afternoon, +while it was raining, Polynesia sat on the kitchen table giving him +bird words to put down in the book. + +At tea-time, when the dog, Jip, came in, the parrot said to the Doctor, +"See, HE'S talking to you." + +"Looks to me as though he were scratching his ear," said the Doctor. + +"But animals don't always speak with their mouths," said the parrot in +a high voice, raising her eyebrows. "They talk with their ears, with +their feet, with their tails--with everything. Sometimes they don't +WANT to make a noise. Do you see now the way he's twitching up one +side of his nose?" + +"What's that mean?" asked the Doctor. + +"That means, 'Can't you see that it has stopped raining?'" Polynesia +answered. "He is asking you a question. Dogs nearly always use their +noses for asking questions." + +After a while, with the parrot's help, the Doctor got to learn the +language of the animals so well that he could talk to them himself and +understand everything they said. Then he gave up being a people's +doctor altogether. + +As soon as the Cat's-meat-Man had told every one that John Dolittle was +going to become an animal-doctor, old ladies began to bring him their +pet pugs and poodles who had eaten too much cake; and farmers came many +miles to show him sick cows and sheep. + +One day a plow-horse was brought to him; and the poor thing was +terribly glad to find a man who could talk in horse-language. + +"You know, Doctor," said the horse, "that vet over the hill knows +nothing at all. He has been treating me six weeks now--for spavins. +What I need is SPECTACLES. I am going blind in one eye. There's no +reason why horses shouldn't wear glasses, the same as people. But that +stupid man over the hill never even looked at my eyes. He kept on +giving me big pills. I tried to tell him; but he couldn't understand a +word of horse-language. What I need is spectacles." + +"Of course--of course," said the Doctor. "I'll get you some at once." + +"I would like a pair like yours," said the horse--"only green. They'll +keep the sun out of my eyes while I'm plowing the Fifty-Acre Field." + +"Certainly," said the Doctor. "Green ones you shall have." + +"You know, the trouble is, Sir," said the plow-horse as the Doctor +opened the front door to let him out--"the trouble is that ANYBODY +thinks he can doctor animals--just because the animals don't complain. +As a matter of fact it takes a much cleverer man to be a really good +animal-doctor than it does to be a good people's doctor. My farmer's +boy thinks he knows all about horses. I wish you could see him--his +face is so fat he looks as though he had no eyes--and he has got as +much brain as a potato-bug. He tried to put a mustard-plaster on me +last week." + +"Where did he put it?" asked the Doctor. + +"Oh, he didn't put it anywhere--on me," said the horse. "He only tried +to. I kicked him into the duck-pond." + +"Well, well!" said the Doctor. + +"I'm a pretty quiet creature as a rule," said the horse--"very patient +with people--don't make much fuss. But it was bad enough to have that +vet giving me the wrong medicine. And when that red-faced booby started +to monkey with me, I just couldn't bear it any more." + +"Did you hurt the boy much?" asked the Doctor. + +"Oh, no," said the horse. "I kicked him in the right place. The vet's +looking after him now. When will my glasses be ready?" + +"I'll have them for you next week," said the Doctor. "Come in again +Tuesday--Good morning!" + +Then John Dolittle got a fine, big pair of green spectacles; and the +plow-horse stopped going blind in one eye and could see as well as ever. + +And soon it became a common sight to see farm-animals wearing glasses +in the country round Puddleby; and a blind horse was a thing unknown. + +And so it was with all the other animals that were brought to him. As +soon as they found that he could talk their language, they told him +where the pain was and how they felt, and of course it was easy for him +to cure them. + +Now all these animals went back and told their brothers and friends +that there was a doctor in the little house with the big garden who +really WAS a doctor. And whenever any creatures got sick--not only +horses and cows and dogs--but all the little things of the fields, like +harvest-mice and water-voles, badgers and bats, they came at once to +his house on the edge of the town, so that his big garden was nearly +always crowded with animals trying to get in to see him. + +There were so many that came that he had to have special doors made for +the different kinds. He wrote "HORSES" over the front door, "COWS" over +the side door, and "SHEEP" on the kitchen door. Each kind of animal +had a separate door--even the mice had a tiny tunnel made for them into +the cellar, where they waited patiently in rows for the Doctor to come +round to them. + +And so, in a few years' time, every living thing for miles and miles +got to know about John Dolittle, M.D. And the birds who flew to other +countries in the winter told the animals in foreign lands of the +wonderful doctor of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, who could understand their +talk and help them in their troubles. In this way he became famous +among the animals--all over the world--better known even than he had +been among the folks of the West Country. And he was happy and liked +his life very much. + +One afternoon when the Doctor was busy writing in a book, Polynesia sat +in the window--as she nearly always did--looking out at the leaves +blowing about in the garden. Presently she laughed aloud. + +"What is it, Polynesia?" asked the Doctor, looking up from his book. + +"I was just thinking," said the parrot; and she went on looking at the +leaves. + +"What were you thinking?" + +"I was thinking about people," said Polynesia. "People make me sick. +They think they're so wonderful. The world has been going on now for +thousands of years, hasn't it? And the only thing in animal-language +that PEOPLE have learned to understand is that when a dog wags his tail +he means 'I'm glad!'--It's funny, isn't it? You are the very first man +to talk like us. Oh, sometimes people annoy me dreadfully--such airs +they put on--talking about 'the dumb animals.' DUMB!--Huh! Why I knew +a macaw once who could say 'Good morning!' in seven different ways +without once opening his mouth. He could talk every language--and +Greek. An old professor with a gray beard bought him. But he didn't +stay. He said the old man didn't talk Greek right, and he couldn't +stand listening to him teach the language wrong. I often wonder what's +become of him. That bird knew more geography than people will ever +know.--PEOPLE, Golly! I suppose if people ever learn to fly--like any +common hedge-sparrow--we shall never hear the end of it!" + +"You're a wise old bird," said the Doctor. "How old are you really? I +know that parrots and elephants sometimes live to be very, very old." + +"I can never be quite sure of my age," said Polynesia. "It's either a +hundred and eighty-three or a hundred and eighty-two. But I know that +when I first came here from Africa, King Charles was still hiding in +the oak-tree--because I saw him. He looked scared to death." + + + +THE THIRD CHAPTER + +MORE MONEY TROUBLES + +AND soon now the Doctor began to make money again; and his sister, +Sarah, bought a new dress and was happy. Some of the animals who came +to see him were so sick that they had to stay at the Doctor's house for +a week. And when they were getting better they used to sit in chairs +on the lawn. + +And often even after they got well, they did not want to go away--they +liked the Doctor and his house so much. And he never had the heart to +refuse them when they asked if they could stay with him. So in this +way he went on getting more and more pets. + +Once when he was sitting on his garden wall, smoking a pipe in the +evening, an Italian organ-grinder came round with a monkey on a string. +The Doctor saw at once that the monkey's collar was too tight and that +he was dirty and unhappy. So he took the monkey away from the Italian, +gave the man a shilling and told him to go. The organ-grinder got +awfully angry and said that he wanted to keep the monkey. But the +Doctor told him that if he didn't go away he would punch him on the +nose. John Dolittle was a strong man, though he wasn't very tall. So +the Italian went away saying rude things and the monkey stayed with +Doctor Dolittle and had a good home. The other animals in the house +called him "Chee-Chee"--which is a common word in monkey-language, +meaning "ginger." + +And another time, when the circus came to Puddleby, the crocodile who +had a bad tooth-ache escaped at night and came into the Doctor's +garden. The Doctor talked to him in crocodile-language and took him +into the house and made his tooth better. But when the crocodile saw +what a nice house it was--with all the different places for the +different kinds of animals--he too wanted to live with the Doctor. He +asked couldn't he sleep in the fish-pond at the bottom of the garden, +if he promised not to eat the fish. When the circus-men came to take +him back he got so wild and savage that he frightened them away. But +to every one in the house he was always as gentle as a kitten. + +But now the old ladies grew afraid to send their lap-dogs to Doctor +Dolittle because of the crocodile; and the farmers wouldn't believe +that he would not eat the lambs and sick calves they brought to be +cured. So the Doctor went to the crocodile and told him he must go +back to his circus. But he wept such big tears, and begged so hard to +be allowed to stay, that the Doctor hadn't the heart to turn him out. + +So then the Doctor's sister came to him and said, "John, you must send +that creature away. Now the farmers and the old ladies are afraid to +send their animals to you--just as we were beginning to be well off +again. Now we shall be ruined entirely. This is the last straw. I +will no longer be housekeeper for you if you don't send away that +alligator." + +"It isn't an alligator," said the Doctor--"it's a crocodile." + +"I don't care what you call it," said his sister. "It's a nasty thing +to find under the bed. I won't have it in the house." + +"But he has promised me," the Doctor answered, "that he will not bite +any one. He doesn't like the circus; and I haven't the money to send +him back to Africa where he comes from. He minds his own business and +on the whole is very well behaved. Don't be so fussy." + +"I tell you I WILL NOT have him around," said Sarah. "He eats the +linoleum. If you don't send him away this minute I'll--I'll go and get +married!" + +"All right," said the Doctor, "go and get married. It can't be +helped." And he took down his hat and went out into the garden. + +So Sarah Dolittle packed up her things and went off; and the Doctor was +left all alone with his animal family. + +And very soon he was poorer than he had ever been before. With all +these mouths to fill, and the house to look after, and no one to do the +mending, and no money coming in to pay the butcher's bill, things began +to look very difficult. But the Doctor didn't worry at all. + +"Money is a nuisance," he used to say. "We'd all be much better off if +it had never been invented. What does money matter, so long as we are +happy?" + +But soon the animals themselves began to get worried. And one evening +when the Doctor was asleep in his chair before the kitchen-fire they +began talking it over among themselves in whispers. And the owl, +Too-Too, who was good at arithmetic, figured it out that there was only +money enough left to last another week--if they each had one meal a day +and no more. + +Then the parrot said, "I think we all ought to do the housework +ourselves. At least we can do that much. After all, it is for our +sakes that the old man finds himself so lonely and so poor." + +So it was agreed that the monkey, Chee-Chee, was to do the cooking and +mending; the dog was to sweep the floors; the duck was to dust and make +the beds; the owl, Too-Too, was to keep the accounts, and the pig was +to do the gardening. They made Polynesia, the parrot, housekeeper and +laundress, because she was the oldest. + +Of course at first they all found their new jobs very hard to do--all +except Chee-Chee, who had hands, and could do things like a man. But +they soon got used to it; and they used to think it great fun to watch +Jip, the dog, sweeping his tail over the floor with a rag tied onto it +for a broom. After a little they got to do the work so well that the +Doctor said that he had never had his house kept so tidy or so clean +before. + +In this way things went along all right for a while; but without money +they found it very hard. + +Then the animals made a vegetable and flower stall outside the +garden-gate and sold radishes and roses to the people that passed by +along the road. + +But still they didn't seem to make enough money to pay all the +bills--and still the Doctor wouldn't worry. When the parrot came to +him and told him that the fishmonger wouldn't give them any more fish, +he said, + +"Never mind. So long as the hens lay eggs and the cow gives milk we +can have omelettes and junket. And there are plenty of vegetables left +in the garden. The Winter is still a long way off. Don't fuss. That +was the trouble with Sarah--she would fuss. I wonder how Sarah's +getting on--an excellent woman--in some ways--Well, well!" + +But the snow came earlier than usual that year; and although the old +lame horse hauled in plenty of wood from the forest outside the town, +so they could have a big fire in the kitchen, most of the vegetables in +the garden were gone, and the rest were covered with snow; and many of +the animals were really hungry. + + + +THE FOURTH CHAPTER + +A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA + +THAT Winter was a very cold one. And one night in December, when they +were all sitting round the warm fire in the kitchen, and the Doctor was +reading aloud to them out of books he had written himself in +animal-language, the owl, Too-Too, suddenly said, "Sh! What's that +noise outside?" + +They all listened; and presently they heard the sound of some one +running. Then the door flew open and the monkey, Chee-Chee, ran in, +badly out of breath. + +"Doctor!" he cried, "I've just had a message from a cousin of mine in +Africa. There is a terrible sickness among the monkeys out there. They +are all catching it--and they are dying in hundreds. They have heard +of you, and beg you to come to Africa to stop the sickness." + +"Who brought the message?" asked the Doctor, taking off his spectacles +and laying down his book. + +"A swallow," said Chee-Chee. "She is outside on the rain-butt." + +"Bring her in by the fire," said the Doctor. "She must be perished with +the cold. The swallows flew South six weeks ago!" + +So the swallow was brought in, all huddled and shivering; and although +she was a little afraid at first, she soon got warmed up and sat on the +edge of the mantelpiece and began to talk. + +When she had finished the Doctor said, + +"I would gladly go to Africa--especially in this bitter weather. But +I'm afraid we haven't money enough to buy the tickets. Get me the +money-box, Chee-Chee." + +So the monkey climbed up and got it off the top shelf of the dresser. + +There was nothing in it--not one single penny! + +"I felt sure there was twopence left," said the Doctor. + +"There WAS," said the owl. "But you spent it on a rattle for that +badger's baby when he was teething." + +"Did I?" said the Doctor--"dear me, dear me! What a nuisance money is, +to be sure! Well, never mind. Perhaps if I go down to the seaside I +shall be able to borrow a boat that will take us to Africa. I knew a +seaman once who brought his baby to me with measles. Maybe he'll lend +us his boat--the baby got well." + +So early the next morning the Doctor went down to the seashore. And +when he came back he told the animals it was all right--the sailor was +going to lend them the boat. + +Then the crocodile and the monkey and the parrot were very glad and +began to sing, because they were going back to Africa, their real home. +And the Doctor said, + +"I shall only be able to take you three--with Jip the dog, Dab-Dab the +duck, Gub-Gub the pig and the owl, Too-Too. The rest of the animals, +like the dormice and the water-voles and the bats, they will have to go +back and live in the fields where they were born till we come home +again. But as most of them sleep through the Winter, they won't mind +that--and besides, it wouldn't be good for them to go to Africa." + +So then the parrot, who had been on long sea-voyages before, began +telling the Doctor all the things he would have to take with him on the +ship. + +"You must have plenty of pilot-bread," she said--"'hard tack' they call +it. And you must have beef in cans--and an anchor." + +"I expect the ship will have its own anchor," said the Doctor. + +"Well, make sure," said Polynesia. "Because it's very important. You +can't stop if you haven't got an anchor. And you'll need a bell." + +"What's that for?" asked the Doctor. + +"To tell the time by," said the parrot. "You go and ring it every +half-hour and then you know what time it is. And bring a whole lot of +rope--it always comes in handy on voyages." + +Then they began to wonder where they were going to get the money from +to buy all the things they needed. + +"Oh, bother it! Money again," cried the Doctor. "Goodness! I shall +be glad to get to Africa where we don't have to have any! I'll go and +ask the grocer if he will wait for his money till I get back--No, I'll +send the sailor to ask him." + +So the sailor went to see the grocer. And presently he came back with +all the things they wanted. + +Then the animals packed up; and after they had turned off the water so +the pipes wouldn't freeze, and put up the shutters, they closed the +house and gave the key to the old horse who lived in the stable. And +when they had seen that there was plenty of hay in the loft to last the +horse through the Winter, they carried all their luggage down to the +seashore and got on to the boat. + +The Cat's-meat-Man was there to see them off; and he brought a large +suet-pudding as a present for the Doctor because, he said he had been +told, you couldn't get suet-puddings in foreign parts. + +As soon as they were on the ship, Gub-Gub, the pig, asked where the +beds were, for it was four o'clock in the afternoon and he wanted his +nap. So Polynesia took him downstairs into the inside of the ship and +showed him the beds, set all on top of one another like book-shelves +against a wall. + +"Why, that isn't a bed!" cried Gub-Gub. "That's a shelf!" + +"Beds are always like that on ships," said the parrot. "It isn't a +shelf. Climb up into it and go to sleep. That's what you call 'a +bunk.'" + +"I don't think I'll go to bed yet," said Gub-Gub. "I'm too excited. I +want to go upstairs again and see them start." + +"Well, this is your first trip," said Polynesia. "You will get used to +the life after a while." And she went back up the stairs of the ship, +humming this song to herself, + + I've seen the Black Sea and the Red Sea; + I rounded the Isle of Wight; + I discovered the Yellow River, + And the Orange too by night. + Now Greenland drops behind again, + And I sail the ocean Blue. + I'm tired of all these colors, Jane, + So I'm coming back to you. + + +They were just going to start on their journey, when the Doctor said he +would have to go back and ask the sailor the way to Africa. + +But the swallow said she had been to that country many times and would +show them how to get there. + +So the Doctor told Chee-Chee to pull up the anchor and the voyage began. + + + +THE FIFTH CHAPTER + +THE GREAT JOURNEY + +NOW for six whole weeks they went sailing on and on, over the rolling +sea, following the swallow who flew before the ship to show them the +way. At night she carried a tiny lantern, so they should not miss her +in the dark; and the people on the other ships that passed said that +the light must be a shooting star. + +As they sailed further and further into the South, it got warmer and +warmer. Polynesia, Chee-Chee and the crocodile enjoyed the hot sun no +end. They ran about laughing and looking over the side of the ship to +see if they could see Africa yet. + +But the pig and the dog and the owl, Too-Too, could do nothing in such +weather, but sat at the end of the ship in the shade of a big barrel, +with their tongues hanging out, drinking lemonade. + +Dab-Dab, the duck, used to keep herself cool by jumping into the sea +and swimming behind the ship. And every once in a while, when the top +of her head got too hot, she would dive under the ship and come up on +the other side. In this way, too, she used to catch herrings on +Tuesdays and Fridays--when everybody on the boat ate fish to make the +beef last longer. + +When they got near to the Equator they saw some flying-fishes coming +towards them. And the fishes asked the parrot if this was Doctor +Dolittle's ship. When she told them it was, they said they were glad, +because the monkeys in Africa were getting worried that he would never +come. Polynesia asked them how many miles they had yet to go; and the +flying-fishes said it was only fifty-five miles now to the coast of +Africa. + +And another time a whole school of porpoises came dancing through the +waves; and they too asked Polynesia if this was the ship of the famous +doctor. And when they heard that it was, they asked the parrot if the +Doctor wanted anything for his journey. + +And Polynesia said, "Yes. We have run short of onions." + +"There is an island not far from here," said the porpoises, "where the +wild onions grow tall and strong. Keep straight on--we will get some +and catch up to you." + +So the porpoises dashed away through the sea. And very soon the parrot +saw them again, coming up behind, dragging the onions through the waves +in big nets made of seaweed. + +The next evening, as the sun was going down the Doctor said, + +"Get me the telescope, Chee-Chee. Our journey is nearly ended. Very +soon we should be able to see the shores of Africa." + +And about half an hour later, sure enough, they thought they could see +something in front that might be land. But it began to get darker and +darker and they couldn't be sure. Then a great storm came up, with +thunder and lightning. The wind howled; the rain came down in +torrents; and the waves got so high they splashed right over the boat. + +Presently there was a big BANG! The ship stopped and rolled over on +its side. + +"What's happened?" asked the Doctor, coming up from downstairs. + +"I'm not sure," said the parrot; "but I think we're ship-wrecked. Tell +the duck to get out and see." + +So Dab-Dab dived right down under the waves. And when she came up she +said they had struck a rock; there was a big hole in the bottom of the +ship; the water was coming in; and they were sinking fast. + +"We must have run into Africa," said the Doctor. "Dear me, dear +me!--Well--we must all swim to land." + +But Chee-Chee and Gub-Gub did not know how to swim. + +"Get the rope!" said Polynesia. "I told you it would come in handy. +Where's that duck? Come here, Dab-Dab. Take this end of the rope, fly +to the shore and tie it on to a palm-tree; and we'll hold the other end +on the ship here. Then those that can't swim must climb along the rope +till they reach the land. That's what you call a 'life-line.'" + +So they all got safely to the shore--some swimming, some flying; and +those that climbed along the rope brought the Doctor's trunk and +handbag with them. + +But the ship was no good any more--with the big hole in the bottom; and +presently the rough sea beat it to pieces on the rocks and the timbers +floated away. + +Then they all took shelter in a nice dry cave they found, high up in +the cliffs, till the storm was over. + +When the sun came out next morning they went down to the sandy beach to +dry themselves. + +"Dear old Africa!" sighed Polynesia. "It's good to get back. Just +think--it'll be a hundred and sixty-nine years to-morrow since I was +here! And it hasn't changed a bit! Same old palm-trees; same old red +earth; same old black ants! There's no place like home!" + +And the others noticed she had tears in her eyes--she was so pleased to +see her country once again. + +Then the Doctor missed his high hat; for it had been blown into the sea +during the storm. So Dab-Dab went out to look for it. And presently +she saw it, a long way off, floating on the water like a toy-boat. + +When she flew down to get it, she found one of the white mice, very +frightened, sitting inside it. + +"What are you doing here?" asked the duck. "You were told to stay +behind in Puddleby." + +"I didn't want to be left behind," said the mouse. "I wanted to see +what Africa was like--I have relatives there. So I hid in the baggage +and was brought on to the ship with the hard-tack. When the ship sank +I was terribly frightened--because I cannot swim far. I swam as long +as I could, but I soon got all exhausted and thought I was going to +sink. And then, just at that moment, the old man's hat came floating +by; and I got into it because I did not want to be drowned." + +So the duck took up the hat with the mouse in it and brought it to the +Doctor on the shore. And they all gathered round to have a look. + +"That's what you call a 'stowaway,'" said the parrot. + +Presently, when they were looking for a place in the trunk where the +white mouse could travel comfortably, the monkey, Chee-Chee, suddenly +said, + +"Sh! I hear footsteps in the jungle!" + +They all stopped talking and listened. And soon a black man came down +out of the woods and asked them what they were doing there. + +"My name is John Dolittle--M. D.," said the Doctor. "I have been asked +to come to Africa to cure the monkeys who are sick." + +"You must all come before the King," said the black man. + +"What king?" asked the Doctor, who didn't want to waste any time. + +"The King of the Jolliginki," the man answered. "All these lands +belong to him; and all strangers must be brought before him. Follow +me." + +So they gathered up their baggage and went off, following the man +through the jungle. + + + +THE SIXTH CHAPTER + +POLYNESIA AND THE KING + +WHEN they had gone a little way through the thick forest they came to a +wide, clear space; and they saw the King's palace which was made of mud. + +This was where the King lived with his Queen, Ermintrude, and their +son, Prince Bumpo. The Prince was away fishing for salmon in the +river. But the King and Queen were sitting under an umbrella before +the palace door. And Queen Ermintrude was asleep. + +When the Doctor had come up to the palace the King asked him his +business; and the Doctor told him why he had come to Africa. + +"You may not travel through my lands," said the King. "Many years ago +a white man came to these shores; and I was very kind to him. But after +he had dug holes in the ground to get the gold, and killed all the +elephants to get their ivory tusks, he went away secretly in his +ship--without so much as saying 'Thank you.' Never again shall a white +man travel through the lands of Jolliginki." + +Then the King turned to some of the black men who were standing near +and said, "Take away this medicine-man--with all his animals, and lock +them up in my strongest prison." + +So six of the black men led the Doctor and all his pets away and shut +them up in a stone dungeon. The dungeon had only one little window, +high up in the wall, with bars in it; and the door was strong and thick. + +Then they all grew very sad; and Gub-Gub, the pig, began to cry. But +Chee-Chee said he would spank him if he didn't stop that horrible +noise; and he kept quiet. + +"Are we all here?" asked the Doctor, after he had got used to the dim +light. + +"Yes, I think so," said the duck and started to count them. + +"Where's Polynesia?" asked the crocodile. "She isn't here." + +"Are you sure?" said the Doctor. "Look again. Polynesia! Polynesia! +Where are you?" + +"I suppose she escaped," grumbled the crocodile. "Well, that's just +like her!--Sneaked off into the jungle as soon as her friends got into +trouble." + +"I'm not that kind of a bird," said the parrot, climbing out of the +pocket in the tail of the Doctor's coat. "You see, I'm small enough to +get through the bars of that window; and I was afraid they would put me +in a cage instead. So while the King was busy talking, I hid in the +Doctor's pocket--and here I am! That's what you call a 'ruse,'" she +said, smoothing down her feathers with her beak. + +"Good Gracious!" cried the Doctor. "You're lucky I didn't sit on you." + +"Now listen," said Polynesia, "to-night, as soon as it gets dark, I am +going to creep through the bars of that window and fly over to the +palace. And then--you'll see--I'll soon find a way to make the King +let us all out of prison." + +"Oh, what can YOU do?" said Gub-Gub, turning up his nose and beginning +to cry again. "You're only a bird!" + +"Quite true," said the parrot. "But do not forget that although I am +only a bird, I CAN TALK LIKE A MAN--and I know these people." + +So that night, when the moon was shining through the palm-trees and all +the King's men were asleep, the parrot slipped out through the bars of +the prison and flew across to the palace. The pantry window had been +broken by a tennis ball the week before; and Polynesia popped in +through the hole in the glass. + +She heard Prince Bumpo snoring in his bed-room at the back of the +palace. Then she tip-toed up the stairs till she came to the King's +bedroom. She opened the door gently and peeped in. + +The Queen was away at a dance that night at her cousin's; but the King +was in bed fast asleep. + +Polynesia crept in, very softly, and got under the bed. + +Then she coughed--just the way Doctor Dolittle used to cough. +Polynesia could mimic any one. + +The King opened his eyes and said sleepily: "Is that you, Ermintrude?" +(He thought it was the Queen come back from the dance.) + +Then the parrot coughed again--loud, like a man. And the King sat up, +wide awake, and said, "Who's that?" + +"I am Doctor Dolittle," said the parrot--just the way the Doctor would +have said it. + +"What are you doing in my bedroom?" cried the King. "How dare you get +out of prison! Where are you?--I don't see you." + +But the parrot just laughed--a long, deep jolly laugh, like the +Doctor's. + +"Stop laughing and come here at once, so I can see you," said the King. + +"Foolish King!" answered Polynesia. "Have you forgotten that you are +talking to John Dolittle, M.D.--the most wonderful man on earth? Of +course you cannot see me. I have made myself invisible. There is +nothing I cannot do. Now listen: I have come here to-night to warn you. +If you don't let me and my animals travel through your kingdom, I will +make you and all your people sick like the monkeys. For I can make +people well: and I can make people ill--just by raising my little +finger. Send your soldiers at once to open the dungeon door, or you +shall have mumps before the morning sun has risen on the hills of +Jolliginki." + +Then the King began to tremble and was very much afraid. + +"Doctor," he cried, "it shall be as you say. Do not raise your little +finger, please!" And he jumped out of bed and ran to tell the soldiers +to open the prison door. + +As soon as he was gone, Polynesia crept downstairs and left the palace +by the pantry window. + +But the Queen, who was just letting herself in at the backdoor with a +latch-key, saw the parrot getting out through the broken glass. And +when the King came back to bed she told him what she had seen. + +Then the King understood that he had been tricked, and he was +dreadfully angry. He hurried back to the prison at once + +But he was too late. The door stood open. The dungeon was empty. The +Doctor and all his animals were gone. + + + +THE SEVENTH CHAPTER + +THE BRIDGE OF APES + +QUEEN ERMINTRUDE had never in her life seen her husband so terrible as +he got that night. He gnashed his teeth with rage. He called +everybody a fool. He threw his tooth-brush at the palace cat. He +rushed round in his night-shirt and woke up all his army and sent them +into the jungle to catch the Doctor. Then he made all his servants go +too--his cooks and his gardeners and his barber and Prince Bumpo's +tutor--even the Queen, who was tired from dancing in a pair of tight +shoes, was packed off to help the soldiers in their search. + +All this time the Doctor and his animals were running through the +forest towards the Land of the Monkeys as fast as they could go. + +Gub-Gub, with his short legs, soon got tired; and the Doctor had to +carry him--which made it pretty hard when they had the trunk and the +hand-bag with them as well. + +The King of the Jolliginki thought it would be easy for his army to +find them, because the Doctor was in a strange land and would not know +his way. But he was wrong; because the monkey, Chee-Chee, knew all the +paths through the jungle--better even than the King's men did. And he +led the Doctor and his pets to the very thickest part of the forest--a +place where no man had ever been before--and hid them all in a big +hollow tree between high rocks. + +"We had better wait here," said Chee-Chee, "till the soldiers have gone +back to bed. Then we can go on into the Land of the Monkeys." + +So there they stayed the whole night through. + +They often heard the King's men searching and talking in the jungle +round about. But they were quite safe, for no one knew of that +hiding-place but Chee-Chee--not even the other monkeys. + +At last, when daylight began to come through the thick leaves overhead, +they heard Queen Ermintrude saying in a very tired voice that it was no +use looking any more--that they might as well go back and get some +sleep. + +As soon as the soldiers had all gone home, Chee-Chee brought the Doctor +and his animals out of the hiding-place and they set off for the Land +of the Monkeys. + +It was a long, long way; and they often got very tired--especially +Gub-Gub. But when he cried they gave him milk out of the cocoanuts +which he was very fond of. + +They always had plenty to eat and drink; because Chee-Chee and +Polynesia knew all the different kinds of fruits and vegetables that +grow in the jungle, and where to find them--like dates and figs and +ground-nuts and ginger and yams. They used to make their lemonade out +of the juice of wild oranges, sweetened with honey which they got from +the bees' nests in hollow trees. No matter what it was they asked for, +Chee-Chee and Polynesia always seemed to be able to get it for them--or +something like it. They even got the Doctor some tobacco one day, when +he had finished what he had brought with him and wanted to smoke. + +At night they slept in tents made of palm-leaves, on thick, soft beds +of dried grass. And after a while they got used to walking such a lot +and did not get so tired and enjoyed the life of travel very much. + +But they were always glad when the night came and they stopped for +their resting-time. Then the Doctor used to make a little fire of +sticks; and after they had had their supper, they would sit round it in +a ring, listening to Polynesia singing songs about the sea, or to +Chee-Chee telling stories of the jungle. + +And many of the tales that Chee-Chee told were very interesting. +Because although the monkeys had no history-books of their own before +Doctor Dolittle came to write them for them, they remember everything +that happens by telling stories to their children. And Chee-Chee spoke +of many things his grandmother had told him--tales of long, long, long +ago, before Noah and the Flood--of the days when men dressed in +bear-skins and lived in holes in the rock and ate their mutton raw, +because they did not know what cooking was--having never seen a fire. +And he told them of the Great Mammoths and Lizards, as long as a train, +that wandered over the mountains in those times, nibbling from the +tree-tops. And often they got so interested listening, that when he +had finished they found their fire had gone right out; and they had to +scurry round to get more sticks and build a new one. + +Now when the King's army had gone back and told the King that they +couldn't find the Doctor, the King sent them out again and told them +they must stay in the jungle till they caught him. So all this time, +while the Doctor and his animals were going along towards the Land of +the Monkeys, thinking themselves quite safe, they were still being +followed by the King's men. If Chee-Chee had known this, he would most +likely have hidden them again. But he didn't know it. + +One day Chee-Chee climbed up a high rock and looked out over the +tree-tops. And when he came down he said they were now quite close to +the Land of the Monkeys and would soon be there. + +And that same evening, sure enough, they saw Chee-Chee's cousin and a +lot of other monkeys, who had not yet got sick, sitting in the trees by +the edge of a swamp, looking and waiting for them. And when they saw +the famous doctor really come, these monkeys made a tremendous noise, +cheering and waving leaves and swinging out of the branches to greet +him. + +They wanted to carry his bag and his trunk and everything he had--and +one of the bigger ones even carried Gub-Gub who had got tired again. +Then two of them rushed on in front to tell the sick monkeys that the +great doctor had come at last. + +But the King's men, who were still following, had heard the noise of +the monkeys cheering; and they at last knew where the Doctor was, and +hastened on to catch him. + +The big monkey carrying Gub-Gub was coming along behind slowly, and he +saw the Captain of the army sneaking through the trees. So he hurried +after the Doctor and told him to run. + +Then they all ran harder than they had ever run in their lives; and the +King's men, coming after them, began to run too; and the Captain ran +hardest of all. + +Then the Doctor tripped over his medicine-bag and fell down in the mud, +and the Captain thought he would surely catch him this time. + +But the Captain had very long ears--though his hair was very short. +And as he sprang forward to take hold of the Doctor, one of his ears +caught fast in a tree; and the rest of the army had to stop and help +him. + +By this time the Doctor had picked himself up, and on they went again, +running and running. And Chee-Chee shouted, + +"It's all right! We haven't far to go now!" + +But before they could get into the Land of the Monkeys, they came to a +steep cliff with a river flowing below. This was the end of the +Kingdom of Jolliginki; and the Land of the Monkeys was on the other +side--across the river. + +And Jip, the dog, looked down over the edge of the steep, steep cliff +and said, + +"Golly! How are we ever going to get across?" + +"Oh, dear!" said Gub-Gub. "The King's men are quite close now--Look at +them! I am afraid we are going to be taken back to prison again." +And he began to weep. + +But the big monkey who was carrying the pig dropped him on the ground +and cried out to the other monkeys. + +"Boys--a bridge! Quick!--Make a bridge! We've only a minute to do it. +They've got the Captain loose, and he's coming on like a deer. Get +lively! A bridge! A bridge!" + +The Doctor began to wonder what they were going to make a bridge out +of, and he gazed around to see if they had any boards hidden any place. + +But when he looked back at the cliff, there, hanging across the river, +was a bridge all ready for him--made of living monkeys! For while his +back was turned, the monkeys--quick as a flash--had made themselves +into a bridge, just by holding hands and feet. + +And the big one shouted to the Doctor, "Walk over! Walk over--all of +you--hurry!" + +Gub-Gub was a bit scared, walking on such a narrow bridge at that dizzy +height above the river. But he got over all right; and so did all of +them. + +John Dolittle was the last to cross. And just as he was getting to the +other side, the King's men came rushing up to the edge of the cliff. + +Then they shook their fists and yelled with rage. For they saw they +were too late. The Doctor and all his animals were safe in the Land of +the Monkeys and the bridge was pulled across to the other side. + +Then Chee-Chee turned to the Doctor and said, + +"Many great explorers and gray-bearded naturalists have lain long weeks +hidden in the jungle waiting to see the monkeys do that trick. But we +never let a white man get a glimpse of it before. You are the first to +see the famous 'Bridge of Apes.'" + +And the Doctor felt very pleased. + + + +THE EIGHTH CHAPTER + +THE LEADER OF THE LIONS + +JOHN DOLITTLE now became dreadfully, awfully busy. He found hundreds +and thousands of monkeys sick--gorillas, orangoutangs, chimpanzees, +dog-faced baboons, marmosettes, gray monkeys, red ones--all kinds. And +many had died. + +The first thing he did was to separate the sick ones from the well +ones. Then he got Chee-Chee and his cousin to build him a little house +of grass. The next thing: he made all the monkeys who were still well +come and be vaccinated. + +And for three days and three nights the monkeys kept coming from the +jungles and the valleys and the hills to the little house of grass, +where the Doctor sat all day and all night, vaccinating and vaccinating. + +Then he had another house made--a big one, with a lot of beds in it; +and he put all the sick ones in this house. + +But so many were sick, there were not enough well ones to do the +nursing. So he sent messages to the other animals, like the lions and +the leopards and the antelopes, to come and help with the nursing. + +But the Leader of the Lions was a very proud creature. And when he +came to the Doctor's big house full of beds he seemed angry and +scornful. + +"Do you dare to ask me, Sir?" he said, glaring at the Doctor. "Do you +dare to ask me--ME, THE KING OF BEASTS, to wait on a lot of dirty +monkeys? Why, I wouldn't even eat them between meals!" + +Although the lion looked very terrible, the Doctor tried hard not to +seem afraid of him. + +"I didn't ask you to eat them," he said quietly. "And besides, they're +not dirty. They've all had a bath this morning. YOUR coat looks as +though it needed brushing--badly. Now listen, and I'll tell you +something: the day may come when the lions get sick. And if you don't +help the other animals now, the lions may find themselves left all +alone when THEY are in trouble. That often happens to proud people." + +"The lions are never IN trouble--they only MAKE trouble," said the +Leader, turning up his nose. And he stalked away into the jungle, +feeling he had been rather smart and clever. + +Then the leopards got proud too and said they wouldn't help. And then +of course the antelopes--although they were too shy and timid to be +rude to the Doctor like the lion--THEY pawed the ground, and smiled +foolishly, and said they had never been nurses before. + +And now the poor Doctor was worried frantic, wondering where he could +get help enough to take care of all these thousands of monkeys in bed. + +But the Leader of the Lions, when he got back to his den, saw his wife, +the Queen Lioness, come running out to meet him with her hair untidy. + +"One of the cubs won't eat," she said. "I don't know WHAT to do with +him. He hasn't taken a thing since last night." + +And she began to cry and shake with nervousness--for she was a good +mother, even though she was a lioness. + +So the Leader went into his den and looked at his children--two very +cunning little cubs, lying on the floor. And one of them seemed quite +poorly. + +Then the lion told his wife, quite proudly, just what he had said to +the Doctor. And she got so angry she nearly drove him out of the den. +"You never DID have a grain of sense!" she screamed. "All the animals +from here to the Indian Ocean are talking about this wonderful man, and +how he can cure any kind of sickness, and how kind he is--the only man +in the whole world who can talk the language of the animals! And now, +NOW--when we have a sick baby on our hands, you must go and offend him! +You great booby! Nobody but a fool is ever rude to a GOOD doctor. +You--," and she started pulling her husband's hair. + +"Go back to that white man at once," she yelled, "and tell him you're +sorry. And take all the other empty-headed lions with you--and those +stupid leopards and antelopes. Then do everything the Doctor tells +you. Work hard! And perhaps he will be kind enough to come and see +the cub later. Now be off!-- HURRY, I tell you! You're not fit to be +a father!" + +And she went into the den next door, where another mother-lion lived, +and told her all about it. + +So the Leader of the Lions went back to the Doctor and said, "I +happened to be passing this way and thought I'd look in. Got any help +yet?" + +"No," said the Doctor. "I haven't. And I'm dreadfully worried." + +"Help's pretty hard to get these days," said the lion. "Animals don't +seem to want to work any more. You can't blame them--in a way.... +Well, seeing you're in difficulties, I don't mind doing what I +can--just to oblige you--so long as I don't have to wash the creatures. +And I have told all the other hunting animals to come and do their +share. The leopards should be here any minute now.... Oh, and by the +way, we've got a sick cub at home. I don't think there's much the +matter with him myself. But the wife is anxious. If you are around +that way this evening, you might take a look at him, will you?" + +Then the Doctor was very happy; for all the lions and the leopards and +the antelopes and the giraffes and the zebras--all the animals of the +forests and the mountains and the plains--came to help him in his work. +There were so many of them that he had to send some away, and only kept +the cleverest. + +And now very soon the monkeys began to get better. At the end of a +week the big house full of beds was half empty. And at the end of the +second week the last monkey had got well. + +Then the Doctor's work was done; and he was so tired he went to bed and +slept for three days without even turning over. + + + +THE NINTH CHAPTER + +THE MONKEYS' COUNCIL + +CHEE-CHEE stood outside the Doctor's door, keeping everybody away till +he woke up. Then John Dolittle told the monkeys that he must now go +back to Puddleby. + +They were very surprised at this; for they had thought that he was +going to stay with them forever. And that night all the monkeys got +together in the jungle to talk it over. + +And the Chief Chimpanzee rose up and said, + +"Why is it the good man is going away? Is he not happy here with us?" + +But none of them could answer him. + +Then the Grand Gorilla got up and said, + +"I think we all should go to him and ask him to stay. Perhaps if we +make him a new house and a bigger bed, and promise him plenty of +monkey-servants to work for him and to make life pleasant for +him--perhaps then he will not wish to go." + + +Then Chee-Chee got up; and all the others whispered, "Sh! Look! +Chee-Chee, the great Traveler, is about to speak!" + +And Chee-Chee said to the other monkeys, + +"My friends, I am afraid it is useless to ask the Doctor to stay. He +owes money in Puddleby; and he says he must go back and pay it." + +And the monkeys asked him, "What is MONEY?" + + +Then Chee-Chee told them that in the Land of the White Men you could +get nothing without money; you could DO nothing without money--that it +was almost impossible to LIVE without money. + +And some of them asked, "But can you not even eat and drink without +paying?" + +But Chee-Chee shook his head. And then he told them that even he, when +he was with the organ-grinder, had been made to ask the children for +money. + +And the Chief Chimpanzee turned to the Oldest Orangoutang and said, +"Cousin, surely these Men be strange creatures! Who would wish to live +in such a land? My gracious, how paltry!" + +Then Chee-Chee said, + +"When we were coming to you we had no boat to cross the sea in and no +money to buy food to eat on our journey. So a man lent us some +biscuits; and we said we would pay him when we came back. And we +borrowed a boat from a sailor; but it was broken on the rocks when we +reached the shores of Africa. Now the Doctor says he must go back and +get the sailor another boat--because the man was poor and his ship was +all he had." + +And the monkeys were all silent for a while, sitting quite still upon +the ground and thinking hard. + +At last the Biggest Baboon got up and said, + +"I do not think we ought to let this good man leave our land till we +have given him a fine present to take with him, so that he may know we +are grateful for all that he has done for us." + +And a little, tiny red monkey who was sitting up in a tree shouted down, + +"I think that too!" + +And then they all cried out, making a great noise, "Yes, yes. Let us +give him the finest present a White Man ever had!" + +Now they began to wonder and ask one another what would be the best +thing to give him. And one said, "Fifty bags of cocoanuts!" And +another--"A hundred bunches of bananas!-- At least he shall not have +to buy his fruit in the Land Where You Pay to Eat!" + +But Chee-Chee told them that all these things would be too heavy to +carry so far and would go bad before half was eaten. + +"If you want to please him," he said, "give him an animal. You may be +sure he will be kind to it. Give him some rare animal they have not +got in the menageries." + +And the monkeys asked him, "What are MENAGERIES?" + +Then Chee-Chee explained to them that menageries were places in the +Land of the White Men, where animals were put in cages for people to +come and look at. And the monkeys were very shocked and said to one +another, + +"These Men are like thoughtless young ones--stupid and easily amused. +Sh! It is a prison he means." + +So then they asked Chee-Chee what rare animal it could be that they +should give the Doctor--one the White Men had not seen before. And the +Major of the Marmosettes asked, + +"Have they an iguana over there?" + +But Chee-Chee said, "Yes, there is one in the London Zoo." + +And another asked, "Have they an okapi?" + +But Chee-Chee said, "Yes. In Belgium, where my organ-grinder took me +five years ago, they had an okapi in a big city they call Antwerp." + +And another asked, "Have they a pushmi-pullyu?" + +Then Chee-Chee said, "No. No White Man has ever seen a pushmi-pullyu. +Let us give him that." + + + +THE TENTH CHAPTER + +THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL + +PUSHMI-PULLYUS are now extinct. That means, there aren't any more. +But long ago, when Doctor Dolittle was alive, there were some of them +still left in the deepest jungles of Africa; and even then they were +very, very scarce. They had no tail, but a head at each end, and sharp +horns on each head. They were very shy and terribly hard to catch. +The black men get most of their animals by sneaking up behind them +while they are not looking. But you could not do this with the +pushmi-pullyu--because, no matter which way you came towards him, he +was always facing you. And besides, only one half of him slept at a +time. The other head was always awake--and watching. This was why +they were never caught and never seen in Zoos. Though many of the +greatest huntsmen and the cleverest menagerie-keepers spent years of +their lives searching through the jungles in all weathers for +pushmi-pullyus, not a single one had ever been caught. Even then, +years ago, he was the only animal in the world with two heads. + +Well, the monkeys set out hunting for this animal through the forest. +And after they had gone a good many miles, one of them found peculiar +footprints near the edge of a river; and they knew that a pushmi-pullyu +must be very near that spot. + +Then they went along the bank of the river a little way and they saw a +place where the grass was high and thick; and they guessed that he was +in there. + +So they all joined hands and made a great circle round the high grass. +The pushmi-pullyu heard them coming; and he tried hard to break through +the ring of monkeys. But he couldn't do it. When he saw that it was +no use trying to escape, he sat down and waited to see what they wanted. + +They asked him if he would go with Doctor Dolittle and be put on show +in the Land of the White Men. + +But he shook both his heads hard and said, "Certainly not!" + +They explained to him that he would not be shut up in a menagerie but +would just be looked at. They told him that the Doctor was a very kind +man but hadn't any money; and people would pay to see a two-headed +animal and the Doctor would get rich and could pay for the boat he had +borrowed to come to Africa in. + +But he answered, "No. You know how shy I am--I hate being stared at." +And he almost began to cry. + +Then for three days they tried to persuade him. + +And at the end of the third day he said he would come with them and see +what kind of a man the Doctor was, first. + +So the monkeys traveled back with the pushmi-pullyu. And when they +came to where the Doctor's little house of grass was, they knocked on +the door. + +The duck, who was packing the trunk, said, "Come in!" + +And Chee-Chee very proudly took the animal inside and showed him to the +Doctor. + +"What in the world is it?" asked John Dolittle, gazing at the strange +creature. + +"Lord save us!" cried the duck. "How does it make up its mind?" + +"It doesn't look to me as though it had any," said Jip, the dog. + +"This, Doctor," said Chee-Chee, "is the pushmi-pullyu--the rarest +animal of the African jungles, the only two-headed beast in the world! +Take him home with you and your fortune's made. People will pay any +money to see him." + +"But I don't want any money," said the Doctor. + +"Yes, you do," said Dab-Dab, the duck. "Don't you remember how we had +to pinch and scrape to pay the butcher's bill in Puddleby? And how are +you going to get the sailor the new boat you spoke of--unless we have +the money to buy it?" + + +"I was going to make him one," said the Doctor. + +"Oh, do be sensible!" cried Dab-Dab. "Where would you get all the wood +and the nails to make one with?--And besides, what are we going to live +on? We shall be poorer than ever when we get back. Chee-Chee's +perfectly right: take the funny-looking thing along, do!" + +"Well, perhaps there is something in what you say," murmured the +Doctor. "It certainly would make a nice new kind of pet. But does the +er--what-do-you-call-it really want to go abroad?" + +"Yes, I'll go," said the pushmi-pullyu who saw at once, from the +Doctor's face, that he was a man to be trusted. "You have been so kind +to the animals here--and the monkeys tell me that I am the only one who +will do. But you must promise me that if I do not like it in the Land +of the White Men you will send me back." + +"Why, certainly--of course, of course," said the Doctor. "Excuse me, +surely you are related to the Deer Family, are you not?" + +"Yes," said the pushmi-pullyu--"to the Abyssinian Gazelles and the +Asiatic Chamois--on my mother's side. My father's great-grandfather +was the last of the Unicorns." + +"Most interesting!" murmured the Doctor; and he took a book out of the +trunk which Dab-Dab was packing and began turning the pages. "Let us +see if Buffon says anything--" + +"I notice," said the duck, "that you only talk with one of your mouths. +Can't the other head talk as well?" + +"Oh, yes," said the pushmi-pullyu. "But I keep the other mouth for +eating--mostly. In that way I can talk while I am eating without being +rude. Our people have always been very polite." + +When the packing was finished and everything was ready to start, the +monkeys gave a grand party for the Doctor, and all the animals of the +jungle came. And they had pineapples and mangoes and honey and all +sorts of good things to eat and drink. + +After they had all finished eating, the Doctor got up and said, + +"My friends: I am not clever at speaking long words after dinner, like +some men; and I have just eaten many fruits and much honey. But I wish +to tell you that I am very sad at leaving your beautiful country. +Because I have things to do in the Land of the White Men, I must go. +After I have gone, remember never to let the flies settle on your food +before you eat it; and do not sleep on the ground when the rains are +coming. I--er--er--I hope you will all live happily ever after." + +When the Doctor stopped speaking and sat down, all the monkeys clapped +their hands a long time and said to one another, "Let it be remembered +always among our people that he sat and ate with us, here, under the +trees. For surely he is the Greatest of Men!" + +And the Grand Gorilla, who had the strength of seven horses in his +hairy arms, rolled a great rock up to the head of the table and said, + +"This stone for all time shall mark the spot." + +And even to this day, in the heart of the Jungle, that stone still is +there. And monkey-mothers, passing through the forest with their +families, still point down at it from the branches and whisper to their +children, "Sh! There it is--look--where the Good White Man sat and ate +food with us in the Year of the Great Sickness!" + +Then, when the party was over, the Doctor and his pets started out to +go back to the seashore. And all the monkeys went with him as far as +the edge of their country, carrying his trunk and bags, to see him off. + + + +THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER + +THE BLACK PRINCE + +BY the edge of the river they stopped and said farewell. + +This took a long time, because all those thousands of monkeys wanted to +shake John Dolittle by the hand. + +Afterwards, when the Doctor and his pets were going on alone, Polynesia +said, + +"We must tread softly and talk low as we go through the land of the +Jolliginki. If the King should hear us, he will send his soldiers to +catch us again; for I am sure he is still very angry over the trick I +played on him." + +"What I am wondering," said the Doctor, "is where we are going to get +another boat to go home in.... Oh well, perhaps we'll find one lying +about on the beach that nobody is using. 'Never lift your foot till +you come to the stile.'" + +One day, while they were passing through a very thick part of the +forest, Chee-Chee went ahead of them to look for cocoanuts. And while +he was away, the Doctor and the rest of the animals, who did not know +the jungle-paths so well, got lost in the deep woods. They wandered +around and around but could not find their way down to the seashore. + +Chee-Chee, when he could not see them anywhere, was terribly upset. He +climbed high trees and looked out from the top branches to try and see +the Doctor's high hat; he waved and shouted; he called to all the +animals by name. But it was no use. They seemed to have disappeared +altogether. + +Indeed they had lost their way very badly. They had strayed a long way +off the path, and the jungle was so thick with bushes and creepers and +vines that sometimes they could hardly move at all, and the Doctor had +to take out his pocket-knife and cut his way along. They stumbled into +wet, boggy places; they got all tangled up in thick +convolvulus-runners; they scratched themselves on thorns, and twice +they nearly lost the medicine-bag in the under-brush. There seemed no +end to their troubles; and nowhere could they come upon a path. + +At last, after blundering about like this for many days, getting their +clothes torn and their faces covered with mud, they walked right into +the King's back-garden by mistake. The King's men came running up at +once and caught them. + +But Polynesia flew into a tree in the garden, without anybody seeing +her, and hid herself. The Doctor and the rest were taken before the +King. + +"Ha, ha!" cried the King. "So you are caught again! This time you +shall not escape. Take them all back to prison and put double locks on +the door. This White Man shall scrub my kitchen-floor for the rest of +his life!" + +So the Doctor and his pets were led back to prison and locked up. And +the Doctor was told that in the morning he must begin scrubbing the +kitchen-floor. + +They were all very unhappy. + +"This is a great nuisance," said the Doctor. "I really must get back to +Puddleby. That poor sailor will think I've stolen his ship if I don't +get home soon.... I wonder if those hinges are loose." + +But the door was very strong and firmly locked. There seemed no chance +of getting out. Then Gub-Gub began to cry again. + +All this time Polynesia was still sitting in the tree in the +palace-garden. She was saying nothing and blinking her eyes. + +This was always a very bad sign with Polynesia. Whenever she said +nothing and blinked her eyes, it meant that somebody had been making +trouble, and she was thinking out some way to put things right. People +who made trouble for Polynesia or her friends were nearly always sorry +for it afterwards. + +Presently she spied Chee-Chee swinging through the trees still looking +for the Doctor. When Chee-Chee saw her, he came into her tree and asked +her what had become of him. + +"The Doctor and all the animals have been caught by the King's men and +locked up again," whispered Polynesia. "We lost our way in the jungle +and blundered into the palace-garden by mistake." + +"But couldn't you guide them?" asked Chee-Chee; and he began to scold +the parrot for letting them get lost while he was away looking for the +cocoanuts. + +"It was all that stupid pig's fault," said Polynesia. "He would keep +running off the path hunting for ginger-roots. And I was kept so busy +catching him and bringing him back, that I turned to the left, instead +of the right, when we reached the swamp.--Sh!--Look! There's Prince +Bumpo coming into the garden! He must not see us.--Don't move, whatever +you do!" + +And there, sure enough, was Prince Bumpo, the King's son, opening the +garden-gate. He carried a book of fairy-tales under his arm. He came +strolling down the gravel-walk, humming a sad song, till he reached a +stone seat right under the tree where the parrot and the monkey were +hiding. Then he lay down on the seat and began reading the +fairy-stories to himself. + +Chee-Chee and Polynesia watched him, keeping very quiet and still. + +After a while the King's son laid the book down and sighed a weary sigh. + +"If I were only a WHITE prince!" said he, with a dreamy, far-away look +in his eyes. + +Then the parrot, talking in a small, high voice like a little girl, +said aloud, + +"Bumpo, some one might turn thee into a white prince perchance." + +The King's son started up off the seat and looked all around. + +"What is this I hear?" he cried. "Methought the sweet music of a +fairy's silver voice rang from yonder bower! Strange!" + +"Worthy Prince," said Polynesia, keeping very still so Bumpo couldn't +see her, "thou sayest winged words of truth. For 'tis I, Tripsitinka, +the Queen of the Fairies, that speak to thee. I am hiding in a +rose-bud." + +"Oh tell me, Fairy-Queen," cried Bumpo, clasping his hands in joy, "who +is it can turn me white?" + +"In thy father's prison," said the parrot, "there lies a famous wizard, +John Dolittle by name. Many things he knows of medicine and magic, and +mighty deeds has he performed. Yet thy kingly father leaves him +languishing long and lingering hours. Go to him, brave Bumpo, +secretly, when the sun has set; and behold, thou shalt be made the +whitest prince that ever won fair lady! I have said enough. I must +now go back to Fairyland. Farewell!" + +"Farewell!" cried the Prince. "A thousand thanks, good Tripsitinka!" + +And he sat down on the seat again with a smile upon his face, waiting +for the sun to set. + + + +THE TWELFTH CHAPTER + +MEDICINE AND MAGIC + +VERY, very quietly, making sure that no one should see her, Polynesia +then slipped out at the back of the tree and flew across to the prison. + +She found Gub-Gub poking his nose through the bars of the window, +trying to sniff the cooking-smells that came from the palace-kitchen. +She told the pig to bring the Doctor to the window because she wanted +to speak to him. So Gub-Gub went and woke the Doctor who was taking a +nap. + +"Listen," whispered the parrot, when John Dolittle's face appeared: +"Prince Bumpo is coming here to-night to see you. And you've got to +find some way to turn him white. But be sure to make him promise you +first that he will open the prison-door and find a ship for you to +cross the sea in." + +"This is all very well," said the Doctor. "But it isn't so easy to turn +a black man white. You speak as though he were a dress to be re-dyed. +It's not so simple. 'Shall the leopard change his spots, or the +Ethiopian his skin,' you know?" + +"I don't know anything about that," said Polynesia impatiently. "But +you MUST turn this man white. Think of a way--think hard. You've got +plenty of medicines left in the bag. He'll do anything for you if you +change his color. It is your only chance to get out of prison." + +"Well, I suppose it MIGHT be possible," said the Doctor. "Let me +see--," and he went over to his medicine-bag, murmuring something about +"liberated chlorine on animal-pigment--perhaps zinc-ointment, as a +temporary measure, spread thick--" + +Well, that night Prince Bumpo came secretly to the Doctor in prison and +said to him, + +"White Man, I am an unhappy prince. Years ago I went in search of The +Sleeping Beauty, whom I had read of in a book. And having traveled +through the world many days, I at last found her and kissed the lady +very gently to awaken her--as the book said I should. 'Tis true indeed +that she awoke. But when she saw my face she cried out, 'Oh, he's +black!' And she ran away and wouldn't marry me--but went to sleep again +somewhere else. So I came back, full of sadness, to my father's +kingdom. Now I hear that you are a wonderful magician and have many +powerful potions. So I come to you for help. If you will turn me +white, so that I may go back to The Sleeping Beauty, I will give you +half my kingdom and anything besides you ask." + +"Prince Bumpo," said the Doctor, looking thoughtfully at the bottles in +his medicine-bag, "supposing I made your hair a nice blonde +color--would not that do instead to make you happy?" + +"No," said Bumpo. "Nothing else will satisfy me. I must be a white +prince." + +"You know it is very hard to change the color of a prince," said the +Doctor--"one of the hardest things a magician can do. You only want +your face white, do you not?" + +"Yes, that is all," said Bumpo. "Because I shall wear shining armor +and gauntlets of steel, like the other white princes, and ride on a +horse." + +"Must your face be white all over?" asked the Doctor. + +"Yes, all over," said Bumpo--"and I would like my eyes blue too, but I +suppose that would be very hard to do." + +"Yes, it would," said the Doctor quickly. "Well, I will do what I can +for you. You will have to be very patient though--you know with some +medicines you can never be very sure. I might have to try two or three +times. You have a strong skin--yes? Well that's all right. Now come +over here by the light--Oh, but before I do anything, you must first go +down to the beach and get a ship ready, with food in it, to take me +across the sea. Do not speak a word of this to any one. And when I +have done as you ask, you must let me and all my animals out of prison. +Promise--by the crown of Jolliginki!" + +So the Prince promised and went away to get a ship ready at the +seashore. + +When he came back and said that it was done, the Doctor asked Dab-Dab +to bring a basin. Then he mixed a lot of medicines in the basin and +told Bumpo to dip his face in it. + +The Prince leaned down and put his face in--right up to the ears. + +He held it there a long time--so long that the Doctor seemed to get +dreadfully anxious and fidgety, standing first on one leg and then on +the other, looking at all the bottles he had used for the mixture, and +reading the labels on them again and again. A strong smell filled the +prison, like the smell of brown paper burning. + +At last the Prince lifted his face up out of the basin, breathing very +hard. And all the animals cried out in surprise. + +For the Prince's face had turned as white as snow, and his eyes, which +had been mud-colored, were a manly gray! + +When John Dolittle lent him a little looking-glass to see himself in, +he sang for joy and began dancing around the prison. But the Doctor +asked him not to make so much noise about it; and when he had closed +his medicine-bag in a hurry he told him to open the prison-door. + +Bumpo begged that he might keep the looking-glass, as it was the only +one in the Kingdom of Jolliginki, and he wanted to look at himself all +day long. But the Doctor said he needed it to shave with. + +Then the Prince, taking a bunch of copper keys from his pocket, undid +the great double locks. And the Doctor with all his animals ran as +fast as they could down to the seashore; while Bumpo leaned against the +wall of the empty dungeon, smiling after them happily, his big face +shining like polished ivory in the light of the moon. + +When they came to the beach they saw Polynesia and Chee-Chee waiting +for them on the rocks near the ship. + +"I feel sorry about Bumpo," said the Doctor. + +"I am afraid that medicine I used will never last. Most likely he will +be as black as ever when he wakes up in the morning--that's one reason +why I didn't like to leave the mirror with him. But then again, he +MIGHT stay white--I had never used that mixture before. To tell the +truth, I was surprised, myself, that it worked so well. But I had to +do something, didn't I?--I couldn't possibly scrub the King's kitchen +for the rest of my life. It was such a dirty kitchen!--I could see it +from the prison-window.--Well, well!--Poor Bumpo!" + +"Oh, of course he will know we were just joking with him," said the +parrot. + +"They had no business to lock us up," said Dab-Dab, waggling her tail +angrily. "We never did them any harm. Serve him right, if he does turn +black again! I hope it's a dark black." + +"But HE didn't have anything to do with it," said the Doctor. "It was +the King, his father, who had us locked up--it wasn't Bumpo's fault.... +I wonder if I ought to go back and apologize--Oh, well--I'll send him +some candy when I get to Puddleby. And who knows?--he may stay white +after all." + +"The Sleeping Beauty would never have him, even if he did," said +Dab-Dab. "He looked better the way he was, I thought. But he'd never +be anything but ugly, no matter what color he was made." + +"Still, he had a good heart," said the Doctor--"romantic, of +course--but a good heart. After all, 'handsome is as handsome does.'" + +"I don't believe the poor booby found The Sleeping Beauty at all," said +Jip, the dog. "Most likely he kissed some farmer's fat wife who was +taking a snooze under an apple-tree. Can't blame her for getting +scared! I wonder who he'll go and kiss this time. Silly business!" + +Then the pushmi-pullyu, the white mouse, Gub-Gub, Dab-Dab, Jip and the +owl, Too-Too, went on to the ship with the Doctor. But Chee-Chee, +Polynesia and the crocodile stayed behind, because Africa was their +proper home, the land where they were born. + +And when the Doctor stood upon the boat, he looked over the side across +the water. And then he remembered that they had no one with them to +guide them back to Puddleby. + +The wide, wide sea looked terribly big and lonesome in the moonlight; +and he began to wonder if they would lose their way when they passed +out of sight of land. + +But even while he was wondering, they heard a strange whispering noise, +high in the air, coming through the night. And the animals all stopped +saying Good-by and listened. + +The noise grew louder and bigger. It seemed to be coming nearer to +them--a sound like the Autumn wind blowing through the leaves of a +poplar-tree, or a great, great rain beating down upon a roof. + +And Jip, with his nose pointing and his tail quite straight, said, + +"Birds!--millions of them--flying fast--that's it!" + +And then they all looked up. And there, streaming across the face of +the moon, like a huge swarm of tiny ants, they could see thousands and +thousands of little birds. Soon the whole sky seemed full of them, and +still more kept coming--more and more. There were so many that for a +little they covered the whole moon so it could not shine, and the sea +grew dark and black--like when a storm-cloud passes over the sun. + +And presently all these birds came down close, skimming over the water +and the land; and the night-sky was left clear above, and the moon +shone as before. Still never a call nor a cry nor a song they made--no +sound but this great rustling of feathers which grew greater now than +ever. When they began to settle on the sands, along the ropes of the +ship--anywhere and everywhere except the trees--the Doctor could see +that they had blue wings and white breasts and very short, feathered +legs. As soon as they had all found a place to sit, suddenly, there +was no noise left anywhere--all was quiet; all was still. + +And in the silent moonlight John Dolittle spoke: + +"I had no idea that we had been in Africa so long. It will be nearly +Summer when we get home. For these are the swallows going back. +Swallows, I thank you for waiting for us. It is very thoughtful of +you. Now we need not be afraid that we will lose our way upon the +sea.... Pull up the anchor and set the sail!" + +When the ship moved out upon the water, those who stayed behind, +Chee-Chee, Polynesia and the crocodile, grew terribly sad. For never +in their lives had they known any one they liked so well as Doctor John +Dolittle of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. + +And after they had called Good-by to him again and again and again, +they still stood there upon the rocks, crying bitterly and waving till +the ship was out of sight. + + + +THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER + +RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS + +SAILING homeward, the Doctor's ship had to pass the coast of Barbary. +This coast is the seashore of the Great Desert. It is a wild, lonely +place--all sand and stones. And it was here that the Barbary pirates +lived. + +These pirates, a bad lot of men, used to wait for sailors to be +shipwrecked on their shores. And often, if they saw a boat passing, +they would come out in their fast sailing-ships and chase it. When they +caught a boat like this at sea, they would steal everything on it; and +after they had taken the people off they would sink the ship and sail +back to Barbary singing songs and feeling proud of the mischief they +had done. Then they used to make the people they had caught write home +to their friends for money. And if the friends sent no money, the +pirates often threw the people into the sea. + +Now one sunshiny day the Doctor and Dab-Dab were walking up and down on +the ship for exercise; a nice fresh wind was blowing the boat along, +and everybody was happy. Presently Dab-Dab saw the sail of another +ship a long way behind them on the edge of the sea. It was a red sail. + +"I don't like the look of that sail," said Dab-Dab. "I have a feeling +it isn't a friendly ship. I am afraid there is more trouble coming to +us." + +Jip, who was lying near taking a nap in the sun, began to growl and +talk in his sleep. + +"I smell roast beef cooking," he mumbled--"underdone roast beef--with +brown gravy over it." + +"Good gracious!" cried the Doctor. "What's the matter with the dog? +Is he SMELLING in his sleep--as well as talking?" + +"I suppose he is," said Dab-Dab. "All dogs can smell in their sleep." + +"But what is he smelling?" asked the Doctor. + +"There is no roast beef cooking on our ship." "No," said Dab-Dab. "The +roast beef must be on that other ship over there." + +"But that's ten miles away," said the Doctor. "He couldn't smell that +far surely!" + +"Oh, yes, he could," said Dab-Dab. "You ask him." + +Then Jip, still fast asleep, began to growl again and his lip curled up +angrily, showing his clean, white teeth. + +"I smell bad men," he growled--"the worst men I ever smelt. I smell +trouble. I smell a fight--six bad scoundrels fighting against one +brave man. I want to help him. Woof--oo--WOOF!" Then he barked, loud, +and woke himself up with a surprised look on his face. + +"See!" cried Dab-Dab. "That boat is nearer now. You can count its +three big sails--all red. Whoever it is, they are coming after us.... I +wonder who they are." + +"They are bad sailors," said Jip; "and their ship is very swift. They +are surely the pirates of Barbary." + +"Well, we must put up more sails on our boat," said the Doctor, "so we +can go faster and get away from them. Run downstairs, Jip, and fetch +me all the sails you see." + +The dog hurried downstairs and dragged up every sail he could find. + +But even when all these were put up on the masts to catch the wind, the +boat did not go nearly as fast as the pirates'--which kept coming on +behind, closer and closer. + +"This is a poor ship the Prince gave us," said Gub-Gub, the pig--"the +slowest he could find, I should think. Might as well try to win a race +in a soup-tureen as hope to get away from them in this old barge. Look +how near they are now!-- You can see the mustaches on the faces of the +men--six of them. What are we going to do?" + +Then the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to fly up and tell the swallows that +pirates were coming after them in a swift ship, and what should he do +about it. + +When the swallows heard this, they all came down on to the Doctor's +ship; and they told him to unravel some pieces of long rope and make +them into a lot of thin strings as quickly as he could. Then the ends +of these strings were tied on to the front of the ship; and the +swallows took hold of the strings with their feet and flew off, pulling +the boat along. + +And although swallows are not very strong when only one or two are by +themselves, it is different when there are a great lot of them +together. And there, tied to the Doctor's ship, were a thousand +strings; and two thousand swallows were pulling on each string--all +terribly swift fliers. + +And in a moment the Doctor found himself traveling so fast he had to +hold his hat on with both hands; for he felt as though the ship itself +were flying through waves that frothed and boiled with speed. + +And all the animals on the ship began to laugh and dance about in the +rushing air, for when they looked back at the pirates' ship, they could +see that it was growing smaller now, instead of bigger. The red sails +were being left far, far behind. + + + +THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER + +THE RATS' WARNING + +DRAGGING a ship through the sea is hard work. And after two or three +hours the swallows began to get tired in the wings and short of breath. +Then they sent a message down to the Doctor to say that they would have +to take a rest soon; and that they would pull the boat over to an +island not far off, and hide it in a deep bay till they had got breath +enough to go on. + +And presently the Doctor saw the island they had spoken of. It had a +very beautiful, high, green mountain in the middle of it. + +When the ship had sailed safely into the bay where it could not be seen +from the open sea, the Doctor said he would get off on to the island to +look for water--because there was none left to drink on his ship. And +he told all the animals to get out too and romp on the grass to stretch +their legs. + +Now as they were getting off, the Doctor noticed that a whole lot of +rats were coming up from downstairs and leaving the ship as well. Jip +started to run after them, because chasing rats had always been his +favorite game. But the Doctor told him to stop. + +And one big black rat, who seemed to want to say something to the +Doctor, now crept forward timidly along the rail, watching the dog out +of the corner of his eye. And after he had coughed nervously two or +three times, and cleaned his whiskers and wiped his mouth, he said, + +"Ahem--er--you know of course that all ships have rats in them, Doctor, +do you not?" + +And the Doctor said, "Yes." + +"And you have heard that rats always leave a sinking ship?" + +"Yes," said the Doctor--"so I've been told." + +"People," said the rat, "always speak of it with a sneer--as though it +were something disgraceful. But you can't blame us, can you? After +all, who WOULD stay on a sinking ship, if he could get off it?" + +"It's very natural," said the Doctor--"very natural. I quite +understand.... Was there-- Was there anything else you wished to say?" + +"Yes," said the rat. "I've come to tell you that we are leaving this +one. But we wanted to warn you before we go. This is a bad ship you +have here. It isn't safe. The sides aren't strong enough. Its boards +are rotten. Before to-morrow night it will sink to the bottom of the +sea." + +"But how do you know?" asked the Doctor. + +"We always know," answered the rat. "The tips of our tails get that +tingly feeling--like when your foot's asleep. This morning, at six +o'clock, while I was getting breakfast, my tail suddenly began to +tingle. At first I thought it was my rheumatism coming back. So I +went and asked my aunt how she felt--you remember her?--the long, +piebald rat, rather skinny, who came to see you in Puddleby last Spring +with jaundice? Well--and she said HER tail was tingling like +everything! Then we knew, for sure, that this boat was going to sink +in less than two days; and we all made up our minds to leave it as soon +as we got near enough to any land. It's a bad ship, Doctor. Don't +sail in it any more, or you'll be surely drowned.... Good-by! We are +now going to look for a good place to live on this island." + +"Good-by!" said the Doctor. "And thank you very much for coming to +tell me. Very considerate of you--very! Give my regards to your aunt. +I remember her perfectly.... Leave that rat alone, Jip! Come here! +Lie down!" + +So then the Doctor and all his animals went off, carrying pails and +saucepans, to look for water on the island, while the swallows took +their rest. + +"I wonder what is the name of this island," said the Doctor, as he was +climbing up the mountainside. "It seems a pleasant place. What a lot +of birds there are!" + +"Why, these are the Canary Islands," said Dab-Dab. "Don't you hear the +canaries singing?" + +The Doctor stopped and listened. + +"Why, to be sure--of course!" he said. "How stupid of me! I wonder if +they can tell us where to find water." + +And presently the canaries, who had heard all about Doctor Dolittle +from birds of passage, came and led him to a beautiful spring of cool, +clear water where the canaries used to take their bath; and they showed +him lovely meadows where the bird-seed grew and all the other sights of +their island. + +And the pushmi-pullyu was glad they had come; because he liked the +green grass so much better than the dried apples he had been eating on +the ship. And Gub-Gub squeaked for joy when he found a whole valley +full of wild sugarcane. + +A little later, when they had all had plenty to eat and drink, and were +lying on their backs while the canaries sang for them, two of the +swallows came hurrying up, very flustered and excited. + +"Doctor!" they cried, "the pirates have come into the bay; and they've +all got on to your ship. They are downstairs looking for things to +steal. They have left their own ship with nobody on it. If you hurry +and come down to the shore, you can get on to their ship--which is very +fast--and escape. But you'll have to hurry." + +"That's a good idea," said the Doctor--"splendid!" + +And he called his animals together at once, said Good-by to the +canaries and ran down to the beach. + +When they reached the shore they saw the pirate-ship, with the three +red sails, standing in the water; and--just as the swallows had +said--there was nobody on it; all the pirates were downstairs in the +Doctor's ship, looking for things to steal. + +So John Dolittle told his animals to walk very softly and they all +crept on to the pirate-ship. + + + +THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER + +THE BARBARY DRAGON + +EVERYTHING would have gone all right if the pig had not caught a cold +in his head while eating the damp sugar-cane on the island. This is +what happened: + +After they had pulled up the anchor without a sound, and were moving +the ship very, very carefully out of the bay, Gub-Gub suddenly sneezed +so loud that the pirates on the other ship came rushing upstairs to see +what the noise was. + +As soon as they saw that the Doctor was escaping, they sailed the other +boat right across the entrance to the bay so that the Doctor could not +get out into the open sea. + +Then the leader of these bad men (who called himself "Ben Ali, The +Dragon") shook his fist at the Doctor and shouted across the water, + +"Ha! Ha! You are caught, my fine friend! You were going to run off in +my ship, eh? But you are not a good enough sailor to beat Ben Ali, the +Barbary Dragon. I want that duck you've got--and the pig too. We'll +have pork-chops and roast duck for supper to-night. And before I let +you go home, you must make your friends send me a trunk-full of gold." + +Poor Gub-Gub began to weep; and Dab-Dab made ready to fly to save her +life. But the owl, Too-Too, whispered to the Doctor, + +"Keep him talking, Doctor. Be pleasant to him. Our old ship is bound +to sink soon--the rats said it would be at the bottom of the sea before +to-morrow night--and the rats are never wrong. Be pleasant, till the +ship sinks under him. Keep him talking." + +"What, until to-morrow night!" said the Doctor. "Well, I'll do my +best.... Let me see-- What shall I talk about?" + +"Oh, let them come on," said Jip. "We can fight the dirty rascals. +There are only six of them. Let them come on. I'd love to tell that +collie next door, when we get home, that I had bitten a real pirate. +Let 'em come. We can fight them." + +"But they have pistols and swords," said the Doctor. "No, that would +never do. I must talk to him.... Look here, Ben Ali--" + +But before the Doctor could say any more, the pirates began to sail the +ship nearer, laughing with glee, and saying one to another, "Who shall +be the first to catch the pig?" + +Poor Gub-Gub was dreadfully frightened; and the pushmi-pullyu began to +sharpen his horns for a fight by rubbing them on the mast of the ship; +while Jip kept springing into the air and barking and calling Ben Ali +bad names in dog-language. + +But presently something seemed to go wrong with the pirates; they +stopped laughing and cracking jokes; they looked puzzled; something was +making them uneasy. + +Then Ben Ali, staring down at his feet, suddenly bellowed out, + +"Thunder and Lightning!--Men, THE BOAT'S LEAKING!" + +And then the other pirates peered over the side and they saw that the +boat was indeed getting lower and lower in the water. And one of them +said to Ben Ali, + +"But surely if this old boat were sinking we should see the rats +leaving it." + +And Jip shouted across from the other ship, + +"You great duffers, there are no rats there to leave! They left two +hours ago! 'Ha, ha,' to you, 'my fine friends!'" + +But of course the men did not understand him. Soon the front end of the +ship began to go down and down, faster and faster--till the boat looked +almost as though it were standing on its head; and the pirates had to +cling to the rails and the masts and the ropes and anything to keep +from sliding off. Then the sea rushed roaring in and through all the +windows and the doors. And at last the ship plunged right down to the +bottom of the sea, making a dreadful gurgling sound; and the six bad +men were left bobbing about in the deep water of the bay. + +Some of them started to swim for the shores of the island; while others +came and tried to get on to the boat where the Doctor was. But Jip +kept snapping at their noses, so they were afraid to climb up the side +of the ship. + +Then suddenly they all cried out in great fear, + +"THE SHARKS! The sharks are coming! Let us get on to the ship before +they eat us! Help, help!--The sharks! The sharks!" + +And now the Doctor could see, all over the bay, the backs of big fishes +swimming swiftly through the water. + +And one great shark came near to the ship, and poking his nose out of +the water he said to the Doctor, + +"Are you John Dolittle, the famous animal-doctor?" + +"Yes," said Doctor Dolittle. "That is my name." + +"Well," said the shark, "we know these pirates to be a bad +lot--especially Ben Ali. If they are annoying you, we will gladly eat +them up for you--and then you won't be troubled any more." + +"Thank you," said the Doctor. "This is really most attentive. But I +don't think it will be necessary to eat them. Don't let any of them +reach the shore until I tell you--just keep them swimming about, will +you? And please make Ben Ali swim over here that I may talk to him." + +So the shark went off and chased Ben Ali over to the Doctor. + +"Listen, Ben Ali," said John Dolittle, leaning over the side. "You +have been a very bad man; and I understand that you have killed many +people. These good sharks here have just offered to eat you up for +me--and 'twould indeed be a good thing if the seas were rid of you. But +if you will promise to do as I tell you, I well let you go in safety." + +"What must I do?" asked the pirate, looking down sideways at the big +shark who was smelling his leg under the water. + +"You must kill no more people," said the Doctor; "you must stop +stealing; you must never sink another ship; you must give up being a +pirate altogether." + +"But what shall I do then?" asked Ben Ali. "How shall I live?" + +"You and all your men must go on to this island and be +bird-seed-farmers," the Doctor answered. "You must grow bird-seed for +the canaries." + +The Barbary Dragon turned pale with anger. "GROW BIRD-SEED!" he groaned +in disgust. "Can't I be a sailor?" + +"No," said the Doctor, "you cannot. You have been a sailor long +enough--and sent many stout ships and good men to the bottom of the +sea. For the rest of your life you must be la peaceful farmer. The +shark is waiting. Do not waste any more of his time. Make up your +mind." + +"Thunder and Lightning!" Ben Ali muttered--"BIRD-SEED!" Then he looked +down into the water again and saw the great fish smelling his other leg. + +"Very well," he said sadly. "We'll be farmers." + +"And remember," said the Doctor, "that if you do not keep your +promise--if you start killing and stealing again, I shall hear of it, +because the canaries will come and tell me. And be very sure that I +will find a way to punish you. For though I may not be able to sail a +ship as well as you, so long as the birds and the beasts and the fishes +are my friends, I do not have to be afraid of a pirate chief--even +though he call himself 'The Dragon of Barbary.' Now go and be a good +farmer and live in peace." + +Then the Doctor turned to the big shark, and waving his hand he said, + +"All right. Let them swim safely to the land." + + + +THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER + +TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER + +HAVING thanked the sharks again for their kindness, the Doctor and his +pets set off once more on their journey home in the swift ship with the +three red sails. + +As they moved out into the open sea, the animals all went downstairs to +see what their new boat was like inside; while the Doctor leant on the +rail at the back of the ship with a pipe in his mouth, watching the +Canary Islands fade away in the blue dusk of the evening. + +While he was standing there, wondering how the monkeys were getting +on--and what his garden would look like when he got back to Puddleby, +Dab-Dab came tumbling up the stairs, all smiles and full of news. + +"Doctor!" she cried. "This ship of the pirates is simply +beautiful--absolutely. The beds downstairs are made of primrose +silk--with hundreds of big pillows and cushions; there are thick, soft +carpets on the floors; the dishes are made of silver; and there are all +sorts of good things to eat and drink--special things; the +larder--well, it's just like a shop, that's all. You never saw anything +like it in your life-- Just think--they kept five different kinds of +sardines, those men! Come and look.... Oh, and we found a little room +down there with the door locked; and we are all crazy to get in and see +what's inside. Jip says it must be where the pirates kept their +treasure. But we can't open the door. Come down and see if you can +let us in." + +So the Doctor went downstairs and he saw that it was indeed a beautiful +ship. He found the animals gathered round a little door, all talking +at once, trying to guess what was inside. The Doctor turned the handle +but it wouldn't open. Then they all started to hunt for the key. They +looked under the mat; they looked under all the carpets; they looked in +all the cupboards and drawers and lockers--in the big chests in the +ship's dining-room; they looked everywhere. + +While they were doing this they discovered a lot of new and wonderful +things that the pirates must have stolen from other ships: Kashmir +shawls as thin as a cobweb, embroidered with flowers of gold; jars of +fine tobacco from Jamaica; carved ivory boxes full of Russian tea; an +old violin with a string broken and a picture on the back; a set of big +chess-men, carved out of coral and amber; a walking-stick which had a +sword inside it when you pulled the handle; six wine-glasses with +turquoise and silver round the rims; and a lovely great sugar-bowl, +made of mother o' pearl. But nowhere in the whole boat could they find +a key to fit that lock. + +So they all came back to the door, and Jip peered through the key-hole. +But something had been stood against the wall on the inside and he +could see nothing. + +While they were standing around, wondering what they should do, the +owl, Too-Too, suddenly said, + +"Sh!--Listen!--I do believe there's some one in there!" + +They all kept still a moment. Then the Doctor said, + +"You must be mistaken, Too-Too. I don't hear anything." + +"I'm sure of it," said the owl. "Sh!--There it is again--Don't you +hear that?" + +"No, I do not," said the Doctor. "What kind of a sound is it?" + +"I hear the noise of some one putting his hand in his pocket," said the +owl. + +"But that makes hardly any sound at all," said the Doctor. "You +couldn't hear that out here." + +"Pardon me, but I can," said Too-Too. "I tell you there is some one on +the other side of that door putting his hand in his pocket. Almost +everything makes SOME noise--if your ears are only sharp enough to +catch it. Bats can hear a mole walking in his tunnel under the +earth--and they think they're good hearers. But we owls can tell you, +using only one ear, the color of a kitten from the way it winks in the +dark." + +"Well, well!" said the Doctor. "You surprise me. That's very +interesting.... Listen again and tell me what he's doing now." + +"I'm not sure yet," said Too-Too, "if it's a man at all. Maybe it's a +woman. Lift me up and let me listen at the key-hole and I'll soon tell +you." + +So the Doctor lifted the owl up and held him close to the lock of the +door. + +After a moment Too-Too said, + +"Now he's rubbing his face with his left hand. It is a small hand and +a small face. It MIGHT be a woman--No. Now he pushes his hair back off +his forehead--It's a man all right." + +"Women sometimes do that," said the Doctor. + +"True," said the owl. "But when they do, their long hair makes quite a +different sound.... Sh! Make that fidgety pig keep still. Now all hold +your breath a moment so I can listen well. This is very difficult, +what I'm doing now--and the pesky door is so thick! Sh! Everybody +quite still--shut your eyes and don't breathe." + +Too-Too leaned down and listened again very hard and long. + +At last he looked up into the Doctor's face and said, + +"The man in there is unhappy. He weeps. He has taken care not to +blubber or sniffle, lest we should find out that he is crying. But I +heard--quite distinctly--the sound of a tear falling on his sleeve." + +"How do you know it wasn't a drop of water falling off the ceiling on +him?" asked Gub-Gub. "Pshaw!--Such ignorance!" sniffed Too-Too. "A drop +of water falling off the ceiling would have made ten times as much +noise!" + +"Well," said the Doctor, "if the poor fellow's unhappy, we've got to +get in and see what's the matter with him. Find me an axe, and I'll +chop the door down." + + + + +THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER + +THE OCEAN GOSSIPS + +RIGHT away an axe was found. And the Doctor soon chopped a hole in the +door big enough to clamber through. + +At first he could see nothing at all, it was so dark inside. So he +struck a match. + +The room was quite small; no window; the ceiling, low. For furniture +there was only one little stool. All round the room big barrels stood +against the walls, fastened at the bottom so they wouldn't tumble with +the rolling of the ship; and above the barrels, pewter jugs of all +sizes hung from wooden pegs. There was a strong, winey smell. And in +the middle of the floor sat a little boy, about eight years old, crying +bitterly. + +"I declare, it is the pirates' rum-room!" said Jip in a whisper. + +"Yes. Very rum!" said Gub-Gub. "The smell makes me giddy." + +The little boy seemed rather frightened to find a man standing there +before him and all those animals staring in through the hole in the +broken door. But as soon as he saw John Dolittle's face by the light +of the match, he stopped crying and got up. + +"You aren't one of the pirates, are you?" he asked. + +And when the Doctor threw back his head and laughed long and loud, the +little boy smiled too and came and took his hand. + +"You laugh like a friend," he said--"not like a pirate. Could you tell +me where my uncle is?" + +"I am afraid I can't," said the Doctor. "When did you see him last?" + +"It was the day before yesterday," said the boy. "I and my uncle were +out fishing in our little boat, when the pirates came and caught us. +They sunk our fishing-boat and brought us both on to this ship. They +told my uncle that they wanted him to be a pirate like them--for he was +clever at sailing a ship in all weathers. But he said he didn't want to +be a pirate, because killing people and stealing was no work for a good +fisherman to do. Then the leader, Ben Ali, got very angry and gnashed +his teeth, and said they would throw my uncle into the sea if he didn't +do as they said. They sent me downstairs; and I heard the noise of a +fight going on above. And when they let me come up again next day, my +uncle was nowhere to be seen. I asked the pirates where he was; but +they wouldn't tell me. I am very much afraid they threw him into the +sea and drowned him." + +And the little boy began to cry again. + +"Well now--wait a minute," said the Doctor. "Don't cry. Let's go and +have tea in the dining-room, and we'll talk it over. Maybe your uncle +is quite safe all the time. You don't KNOW that he was drowned, do +you? And that's something. Perhaps we can find him for you. First +we'll go and have tea--with strawberry-jam; and then we will see what +can be done." + +All the animals had been standing around listening with great +curiosity. And when they had gone into the ship's dining-room and were +having tea, Dab-Dab came up behind the Doctor's chair and whispered. + +"Ask the porpoises if the boy's uncle was drowned--they'll know." + +"All right," said the Doctor, taking a second piece of bread-and-jam. + +"What are those funny, clicking noises you are making with your +tongue?" asked the boy. + +"Oh, I just said a couple of words in duck-language," the Doctor +answered. "This is Dab-Dab, one of my pets." + +"I didn't even know that ducks had a language," said the boy. "Are all +these other animals your pets, too? What is that strange-looking thing +with two heads?" + +"Sh!" the Doctor whispered. "That is the pushmi-pullyu. Don't let him +see we're talking about him--he gets so dreadfully embarrassed.... Tell +me, how did you come to be locked up in that little room?" + +"The pirates shut me in there when they were going off to steal things +from another ship. When I heard some one chopping on the door, I didn't +know who it could be. I was very glad to find it was you. Do you +think you will be able to find my uncle for me?" + +"Well, we are going to try very hard," said the Doctor. "Now what was +your uncle like to look at?" + +"He had red hair," the boy answered--"very red hair, and the picture of +an anchor tattooed on his arm. He was a strong man, a kind uncle and +the best sailor in the South Atlantic. His fishing-boat was called The +Saucy Sally--a cutter-rigged sloop." + +"What's 'cutterigsloop'?" whispered Gub-Gub, turning to Jip. + +"Sh!--That's the kind of a ship the man had," said Jip. "Keep still, +can't you?" + +"Oh," said the pig, "is that all? I thought it was something to drink." + +So the Doctor left the boy to play with the animals in the dining-room, +and went upstairs to look for passing porpoises. + +And soon a whole school came dancing and jumping through the water, on +their way to Brazil. + +When they saw the Doctor leaning on the rail of his ship, they came +over to see how he was getting on. + +And the Doctor asked them if they had seen anything of a man with red +hair and an anchor tattooed on his arm. + +"Do you mean the master of The Saucy Sally?" asked the porpoises. + +"Yes," said the Doctor. "That's the man. Has he been drowned?" + +"His fishing-sloop was sunk," said the porpoises--"for we saw it lying +on the bottom of the sea. But there was nobody inside it, because we +went and looked." + +"His little nephew is on the ship with me here," said the Doctor. "And +he is terribly afraid that the pirates threw his uncle into the sea. +Would you be so good as to find out for me, for sure, whether he has +been drowned or not?" + +"Oh, he isn't drowned," said the porpoises. "If he were, we would be +sure to have heard of it from the deep-sea Decapods. We hear all the +salt-water news. The shell-fish call us 'The Ocean Gossips.' No--tell +the little boy we are sorry we do not know where his uncle is; but we +are quite certain he hasn't been drowned in the sea." + +So the Doctor ran downstairs with the news and told the nephew, who +clapped his hands with happiness. And the pushmi-pullyu took the +little boy on his back and gave him a ride round the dining-room table; +while all the other animals followed behind, beating the dish-covers +with spoons, pretending it was a parade. + + + +THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER + +SMELLS + +"YOUR uncle must now be FOUND," said the Doctor--"that is the next +thing--now that we know he wasn't thrown into the sea." + +Then Dab-Dab came up to him again and whispered, + +"Ask the eagles to look for the man. No living creature can see better +than an eagle. When they are miles high in the air they can count the +ants crawling on the ground. Ask the eagles." + +So the Doctor sent one of the swallows off to get some eagles. + +And in about an hour the little bird came back with six different kinds +of eagles: a Black Eagle, a Bald Eagle, a Fish Eagle, a Golden Eagle, +an Eagle-Vulture, and a White-tailed Sea Eagle. Twice as high as the +boy they were, each one of them. And they stood on the rail of the +ship, like round-shouldered soldiers all in a row, stern and still and +stiff; while their great, gleaming, black eyes shot darting glances +here and there and everywhere. + +Gub-Gub was scared of them and got behind a barrel. He said he felt as +though those terrible eyes were looking right inside of him to see what +he had stolen for lunch. + +And the Doctor said to the eagles, + +"A man has been lost--a fisherman with red hair and an anchor marked on +his arm. Would you be so kind as to see if you can find him for us? +This boy is the man's nephew." + +Eagles do not talk very much. And all they answered in their husky +voices was, + +"You may be sure that we will do our best--for John Dolittle." + +Then they flew off--and Gub-Gub came out from behind his barrel to see +them go. Up and up and up they went--higher and higher and higher +still. Then, when the Doctor could only just see them, they parted +company and started going off all different ways--North, East, South +and West, looking like tiny grains of black sand creeping across the +wide, blue sky. + +"My gracious!" said Gub-Gub in a hushed voice. "What a height! I +wonder they don't scorch their feathers--so near the sun!" + +They were gone a long time. And when they came back it was almost +night. + +And the eagles said to the Doctor, + +"We have searched all the seas and all the countries and all the +islands and all the cities and all the villages in this half of the +world. But we have failed. In the main street of Gibraltar we saw +three red hairs lying on a wheel-barrow before a baker's door. But +they were not the hairs of a man--they were the hairs out of a +fur-coat. Nowhere, on land or water, could we see any sign of this +boy's uncle. And if WE could not see him, then he is not to be +seen.... For John Dolittle--we have done our best." + +Then the six great birds flapped their big wings and flew back to their +homes in the mountains and the rocks. + +"Well," said Dab-Dab, after they had gone, "what are we going to do +now? The boy's uncle MUST be found--there's no two ways about that. +The lad isn't old enough to be knocking around the world by himself. +Boys aren't like ducklings--they have to be taken care of till they're +quite old.... I wish Chee-Chee were here. He would soon find the man. +Good old Chee-Chee! I wonder how he's getting on!" + +"If we only had Polynesia with us," said the white mouse. "SHE would +soon think of some way. Do you remember how she got us all out of +prison--the second time? My, but she was a clever one!" + +"I don't think so much of those eagle-fellows," said Jip. "They're +just conceited. They may have very good eyesight and all that; but +when you ask them to find a man for you, they can't do it--and they +have the cheek to come back and say that nobody else could do it. +They're just conceited--like that collie in Puddleby. And I don't +think a whole lot of those gossipy old porpoises either. All they +could tell us was that the man isn't in the sea. We don't want to know +where he ISN'T--we want to know where he IS." + +"Oh, don't talk so much," said Gub-Gub. "It's easy to talk; but it +isn't so easy to find a man when you have got the whole world to hunt +him in. Maybe the fisherman's hair has turned white, worrying about +the boy; and that was why the eagles didn't find him. You don't know +everything. You're just talking. You are not doing anything to help. +You couldn't find the boy's uncle any more than the eagles could--you +couldn't do as well." + +"Couldn't I?" said the dog. "That's all you know, you stupid piece of +warm bacon! I haven't begun to try yet, have I? You wait and see!" + +Then Jip went to the Doctor and said, + +"Ask the boy if he has anything in his pockets that belonged to his +uncle, will you, please?" + +So the Doctor asked him. And the boy showed them a gold ring which he +wore on a piece of string around his neck because it was too big for +his finger. He said his uncle gave it to him when they saw the pirates +coming. + +Jip smelt the ring and said, + +"That's no good. Ask him if he has anything else that belonged to his +uncle." + +Then the boy took from his pocket a great, big red handkerchief and +said, "This was my uncle's too." + +As soon as the boy pulled it out, Jip shouted, + +"SNUFF, by Jingo!--Black Rappee snuff. Don't you smell it? His uncle +took snuff-- Ask him, Doctor." + +The Doctor questioned the boy again; and he said, "Yes. My uncle took +a lot of snuff." + +"Fine!" said Jip. "The man's as good as found. 'Twill be as easy as +stealing milk from a kitten. Tell the boy I'll find his uncle for him +in less than a week. Let us go upstairs and see which way the wind is +blowing." + +"But it is dark now," said the Doctor. "You can't find him in the +dark!" + +"I don't need any light to look for a man who smells of Black Rappee +snuff," said Jip as he climbed the stairs. "If the man had a hard +smell, like string, now--or hot water, it would be different. But +SNUFF!--Tut, tut!" + +"Does hot water have a smell?" asked the Doctor. + +"Certainly it has," said Jip. "Hot water smells quite different from +cold water. It is warm water--or ice--that has the really difficult +smell. Why, I once followed a man for ten miles on a dark night by the +smell of the hot water he had used to shave with--for the poor fellow +had no soap.... Now then, let us see which way the wind is blowing. +Wind is very important in long-distance smelling. It mustn't be too +fierce a wind--and of course it must blow the right way. A nice, +steady, damp breeze is the best of all.... Ha!--This wind is from the +North." + +Then Jip went up to the front of the ship and smelt the wind; and he +started muttering to himself, + +"Tar; Spanish onions; kerosene oil; wet raincoats; crushed +laurel-leaves; rubber burning; lace-curtains being washed--No, my +mistake, lace-curtains hanging out to dry; and foxes--hundreds of +'em--cubs; and--" + +"Can you really smell all those different things in this one wind?" +asked the Doctor. + +"Why, of course!" said Jip. "And those are only a few of the easy +smells--the strong ones. Any mongrel could smell those with a cold in +the head. Wait now, and I'll tell you some of the harder scents that +are coming on this wind--a few of the dainty ones." + +Then the dog shut his eyes tight, poked his nose straight up in the air +and sniffed hard with his mouth half-open. + +For a long time he said nothing. He kept as still as a stone. He +hardly seemed to be breathing at all. When at last he began to speak, +it sounded almost as though he were singing, sadly, in a dream. + +"Bricks," he whispered, very low--"old yellow bricks, crumbling with +age in a garden-wall; the sweet breath of young cows standing in a +mountain-stream; the lead roof of a dove-cote--or perhaps a +granary--with the mid-day sun on it; black kid gloves lying in a +bureau-drawer of walnut-wood; a dusty road with a horses' +drinking-trough beneath the sycamores; little mushrooms bursting +through the rotting leaves; and--and--and--" + +"Any parsnips?" asked Gub-Gub. + +"No," said Jip. "You always think of things to eat. No parsnips +whatever. And no snuff--plenty of pipes and cigarettes, and a few +cigars. But no snuff. We must wait till the wind changes to the South." + +"Yes, it's a poor wind, that," said Gub-Gub. "I think you're a fake, +Jip. Who ever heard of finding a man in the middle of the ocean just +by smell! I told you you couldn't do it." + +"Look here," said Jip, getting really angry. "You're going to get a +bite on the nose in a minute! You needn't think that just because the +Doctor won't let us give you what you deserve, that you can be as +cheeky as you like!" + +"Stop quarreling!" said the Doctor--"Stop it! Life's too short. Tell +me, Jip, where do you think those smells are coming from?" + +"From Devon and Wales--most of them," said Jip--"The wind is coming +that way." + +"Well, well!" said the Doctor. "You know that's really quite +remarkable--quite. I must make a note of that for my new book. I +wonder if you could train me to smell as well as that.... But +no--perhaps I'm better off the way I am. 'Enough is as good as a +feast,' they say. Let's go down to supper. I'm quite hungry." + +"So am I," said Gub-Gub. + + + +THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER + +THE ROCK + +UP they got, early next morning, out of the silken beds; and they saw +that the sun was shining brightly and that the wind was blowing from +the South. + +Jip smelt the South wind for half an hour. Then he came to the Doctor, +shaking his head. + +"I smell no snuff as yet," he said. "We must wait till the wind +changes to the East." + +But even when the East wind came, at three o'clock that afternoon, the +dog could not catch the smell of snuff. + +The little boy was terribly disappointed and began to cry again, saying +that no one seemed to be able to find his uncle for him. But all Jip +said to the Doctor was, + +"Tell him that when the wind changes to the West, I'll find his uncle +even though he be in China--so long as he is still taking Black Rappee +snuff." + +Three days they had to wait before the West wind came. This was on a +Friday morning, early--just as it was getting light. A fine rainy mist +lay on the sea like a thin fog. And the wind was soft and warm and wet. + +As soon as Jip awoke he ran upstairs and poked his nose in the air. +Then he got most frightfully excited and rushed down again to wake the +Doctor up. + +"Doctor!" he cried. "I've got it! Doctor! Doctor! Wake up! Listen! +I've got it! The wind's from the West and it smells of nothing but +snuff. Come upstairs and start the ship--quick!" + +So the Doctor tumbled out of bed and went to the rudder to steer the +ship. + +"Now I'll go up to the front," said Jip; "and you watch my +nose--whichever way I point it, you turn the ship the same way. The +man cannot be far off--with the smell as strong as this. And the +wind's all lovely and wet. Now watch me!" + +So all that morning Jip stood in the front part of the ship, sniffing +the wind and pointing the way for the Doctor to steer; while all the +animals and the little boy stood round with their eyes wide open, +watching the dog in wonder. + +About lunch-time Jip asked Dab-Dab to tell the Doctor that he was +getting worried and wanted to speak to him. So Dab-Dab went and +fetched the Doctor from the other end of the ship and Jip said to him, + +"The boy's uncle is starving. We must make the ship go as fast as we +can." + +"How do you know he is starving?" asked the Doctor. + +"Because there is no other smell in the West wind but snuff," said Jip. +"If the man were cooking or eating food of any kind, I would be bound +to smell it too. But he hasn't even fresh water to drink. All he is +taking is snuff--in large pinches. We are getting nearer to him all +the time, because the smell grows stronger every minute. But make the +ship go as fast as you can, for I am certain that the man is starving." + +"All right," said the Doctor; and he sent Dab-Dab to ask the swallows +to pull the ship, the same as they had done when the pirates were +chasing them. + +So the stout little birds came down and once more harnessed themselves +to the ship. + +And now the boat went bounding through the waves at a terrible speed. +It went so fast that the fishes in the sea had to jump for their lives +to get out of the way and not be run over. + +And all the animals got tremendously excited; and they gave up looking +at Jip and turned to watch the sea in front, to spy out any land or +islands where the starving man might be. + +But hour after hour went by and still the ship went rushing on, over +the same flat, flat sea; and no land anywhere came in sight. + +And now the animals gave up chattering and sat around silent, anxious +and miserable. The little boy again grew sad. And on Jip's face there +was a worried look. + +At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun was going down, the +owl, Too-Too, who was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly startled +them all by crying out at the top of his voice, + +"Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front of us--look--way out +there where the sky and the water meet. See the sun shine on it--like +gold! Is the smell coming from there?" + +And Jip called back, + +"Yes. That's it. That is where the man is.-- At last, at last!" + +And when they got nearer they could see that the rock was very +large--as large as a big field. No trees grew on it, no grass--nothing. +The great rock was as smooth and as bare as the back of a tortoise. + +Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round the rock. But nowhere on +it could a man be seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes and +looked as hard as they could; and John Dolittle got a telescope from +downstairs. + +But not one living thing could they spy--not even a gull, nor a +star-fish, nor a shred of sea-weed. + +They all stood still and listened, straining their ears for any sound. +But the only noise they heard was the gentle lapping of the little +waves against the sides of their ship. + +Then they all started calling, "Hulloa, there!--HULLOA!" till their +voices were hoarse. But only the echo came back from the rock. + +And the little boy burst into tears and said, + +"I am afraid I shall never see my uncle any more! What shall I tell +them when I get home!" + +But Jip called to the Doctor, + +"He must be there--he must--HE MUST! The smell goes on no further. He +must be there, I tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock and let me +jump out on it." + +So the Doctor brought the ship as close as he could and let down the +anchor. Then he and Jip got out of the ship on to the rock. + +Jip at once put his nose down close to the ground and began to run all +over the place. Up and down he went, back and forth--zig-zagging, +twisting, doubling and turning. And everywhere he went, the Doctor ran +behind him, close at his heels--till he was terribly out of breath. + +At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down. And when the Doctor came +running up to him, he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole in +the middle of the rock. + +"The boy's uncle is down there," said Jip quietly. "No wonder those +silly eagles couldn't see him!--It takes a dog to find a man." + +So the Doctor got down into the hole, which seemed to be a kind of +cave, or tunnel, running a long way under the ground. Then he struck a +match and started to make his way along the dark passage with Jip +following behind. + +The Doctor's match soon went out; and he had to strike another and +another and another. + +At last the passage came to an end; and the Doctor found himself in a +kind of tiny room with walls of rock. + +And there, in the middle of the room, his head resting on his arms, lay +a man with very red hair--fast asleep! + +Jip went up and sniffed at something lying on the ground beside him. +The Doctor stooped and picked it up. It was an enormous snuff-box. And +it was full of Black Rappee! + + + + +THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER + +THE FISHERMAN'S TOWN + +GENTLY then--very gently, the Doctor woke the man up. + +But just at that moment the match went out again. And the man thought +it was Ben Ali coming back, and he began to punch the Doctor in the +dark. + +But when John Dolittle told him who it was, and that he had his little +nephew safe on his ship, the man was tremendously glad, and said he was +sorry he had fought the Doctor. He had not hurt him much +though--because it was too dark to punch properly. Then he gave the +Doctor a pinch of snuff. + +And the man told how the Barbary Dragon had put him on to this rock and +left him there, when he wouldn't promise to become a pirate; and how he +used to sleep down in this hole because there was no house on the rock +to keep him warm. + +And then he said, + +"For four days I have had nothing to eat or drink. I have lived on +snuff." + +"There you are!" said Jip. "What did I tell you?" + +So they struck some more matches and made their way out through the +passage into the daylight; and the Doctor hurried the man down to the +boat to get some soup. + +When the animals and the little boy saw the Doctor and Jip coming back +to the ship with a red-headed man, they began to cheer and yell and +dance about the boat. And the swallows up above started whistling at +the top of their voices--thousands and millions of them--to show that +they too were glad that the boy's brave uncle had been found. The +noise they made was so great that sailors far out at sea thought that a +terrible storm was coming. "Hark to that gale howling in the East!" +they said. + +And Jip was awfully proud of himself--though he tried hard not to look +conceited. When Dab-Dab came to him and said, "Jip, I had no idea you +were so clever!" he just tossed his head and answered, + +"Oh, that's nothing special. But it takes a dog to find a man, you +know. Birds are no good for a game like that." + +Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman where his home was. And +when he had told him, the Doctor asked the swallows to guide the ship +there first. + +And when they had come to the land which the man had spoken of, they +saw a little fishing-town at the foot of a rocky mountain; and the man +pointed out the house where he lived. + +And while they were letting down the anchor, the little boy's mother +(who was also the man's sister) came running down to the shore to meet +them, laughing and crying at the same time. She had been sitting on a +hill for twenty days, watching the sea and waiting for them to return. + +And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that he giggled and blushed +like a school-girl. And she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away and +hid inside the ship. + +"It's a silly business, this kissing," he said. "I don't hold by it. +Let her go and kiss Gub-Gub--if she MUST kiss something." + +The fisherman and his sister didn't want the Doctor to go away again in +a hurry. They begged him to spend a few days with them. So John +Dolittle and his animals had to stay at their house a whole Saturday +and Sunday and half of Monday. + +And all the little boys of the fishing-village went down to the beach +and pointed at the great ship anchored there, and said to one another +in whispers, + +"Look! That was a pirate-ship--Ben Ali's--the most terrible pirate +that ever sailed the Seven Seas! That old gentleman with the high hat, +who's staying up at Mrs. Trevelyan's, HE took the ship away from The +Barbary Dragon--and made him into a farmer. Who'd have thought it of +him--him so gentle--like and all!... Look at the great red sails! +Ain't she the wicked-looking ship--and fast?--My!" + +All those two days and a half that the Doctor stayed at the little +fishing-town the people kept asking him out to teas and luncheons and +dinners and parties; all the ladies sent him boxes of flowers and +candies; and the village-band played tunes under his window every night. + +At last the Doctor said, + +"Good people, I must go home now. You have really been most kind. I +shall always remember it. But I must go home--for I have things to do." + +Then, just as the Doctor was about to leave, the Mayor of the town came +down the street and a lot of other people in grand clothes with him. +And the Mayor stopped before the house where the Doctor was living; and +everybody in the village gathered round to see what was going to happen. + +After six page-boys had blown on shining trumpets to make the people +stop talking, the Doctor came out on to the steps and the Mayor spoke. + +"Doctor John Dolittle," said he: "It is a great pleasure for me to +present to the man who rid the seas of the Dragon of Barbary this +little token from the grateful people of our worthy Town." + +And the Mayor took from his pocket a little tissue-paper packet, and +opening it, he handed to the Doctor a perfectly beautiful watch with +real diamonds in the back. + +Then the Mayor pulled out of his pocket a still larger parcel and said, + +"Where is the dog?" + +Then everybody started to hunt for Jip. And at last Dab-Dab found him +on the other side of the village in a stable-yard, where all the dogs +of the country-side were standing round him speechless with admiration +and respect. + +When Jip was brought to the Doctor's side, the Mayor opened the larger +parcel; and inside was a dog-collar made of solid gold! And a great +murmur of wonder went up from the village-folk as the Mayor bent down +and fastened it round the dog's neck with his own hands. + +For written on the collar in big letters were these words: "JIP-THE +CLEVEREST DOG IN THE WORLD." + +Then the whole crowd moved down to the beach to see them off. And +after the red-haired fisherman and his sister and the little boy had +thanked the Doctor and his dog over and over and over again, the great, +swift ship with the red sails was turned once more towards Puddleby and +they sailed out to sea, while the village-band played music on the +shore. + + + +THE LAST CHAPTER + +HOME AGAIN + +MARCH winds had come and gone; April's showers were over; May's buds +had opened into flower; and the June sun was shining on the pleasant +fields, when John Dolittle at last got back to his own country. + +But he did not yet go home to Puddleby. First he went traveling through +the land with the pushmi-pullyu in a gipsy-wagon, stopping at all the +country-fairs. And there, with the acrobats on one side of them and +the Punch-and-Judy show on the other, they would hang out a big sign +which read, "COME AND SEE THE MARVELOUS TWO-HEADED ANIMAL FROM THE +JUNGLES OF AFRICA. Admission SIXPENCE." + +And the pushmi-pullyu would stay inside the wagon, while the other +animals would lie about underneath. The Doctor sat in a chair in front +taking the sixpences and smiling on the people as they went in; and +Dab-Dab was kept busy all the time scolding him because he would let +the children in for nothing when she wasn't looking. + +And menagerie-keepers and circus-men came and asked the Doctor to sell +them the strange creature, saying they would pay a tremendous lot of +money for him. But the Doctor always shook his head and said. + +"No. The pushmi-pullyu shall never be shut up in a cage. He shall be +free always to come and go, like you and me." + +Many curious sights and happenings they saw in this wandering life; but +they all seemed quite ordinary after the great things they had seen and +done in foreign lands. It was very interesting at first, being sort of +part of a circus; but after a few weeks they all got dreadfully tired +of it and the Doctor and all of them were longing to go home. + +But so many people came flocking to the little wagon and paid the +sixpence to go inside and see the pushmi-pullyu that very soon the +Doctor was able to give up being a showman. + +And one fine day, when the hollyhocks were in full bloom, he came back +to Puddleby a rich man, to live in the little house with the big garden. + +And the old lame horse in the stable was glad to see him; and so were +the swallows who had already built their nests under the eaves of his +roof and had young ones. And Dab-Dab was glad, too, to get back to the +house she knew so well--although there was a terrible lot of dusting to +be done, with cobwebs everywhere. + +And after Jip had gone and shown his golden collar to the conceited +collie next-door, he came back and began running round the garden like +a crazy thing, looking for the bones he had buried long ago, and +chasing the rats out of the tool-shed; while Gub-Gub dug up the +horseradish which had grown three feet high in the corner by the +garden-wall. + +And the Doctor went and saw the sailor who had lent him the boat, and +he bought two new ships for him and a rubber-doll for his baby; and he +paid the grocer for the food he had lent him for the journey to Africa. +And he bought another piano and put the white mice back in it--because +they said the bureau-drawer was drafty. + +Even when the Doctor had filled the old money-box on the dresser-shelf, +he still had a lot of money left; and he had to get three more +money-boxes, just as big, to put the rest in. + +"Money," he said, "is a terrible nuisance. But it's nice not to have to +worry." + +"Yes," said Dab-Dab, who was toasting muffins for his tea, "it is +indeed!" + +And when the Winter came again, and the snow flew against the +kitchen-window, the Doctor and his animals would sit round the big, +warm fire after supper; and he would read aloud to them out of his +books. + +But far away in Africa, where the monkeys chattered in the palm-trees +before they went to bed under the big yellow moon, they would say to +one another, + +"I wonder what The Good Man's doing now--over there, in the Land of the +White Men! Do you think he ever will come back?" + +And Polynesia would squeak out from the vines, + +"I think he will--I guess he will--I hope he will!" + +And then the crocodile would grunt up at them from the black mud of the +river, + +"I'm SURE he will--Go to sleep!" + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE *** + +***** This file should be named 501.txt or 501.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/501/ + +Produced by Charles Keller. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned by Charles Keller for Tina with +OmniPage Professional OCR software +donated by Caere Corporation, 1-800-535-7226. +Contact Mike Lough <Mikel@caere.com> + + + +THE +Story of +DOCTOR DOLITTLE +BEING THE +HISTORY OF HIS PECULIAR LIFE +AT HOME AND ASTONISHING ADVENTURES +IN FOREIGN PARTS NEVER BEFORE PRINTED. + +TO +ALL CHILDREN +CHILDREN IN YEARS AND CHILDREN IN HEART +I DEDICATE THIS STORY + + + + + +There are some of us now reaching +middle age who discover themselves to be +lamenting the past in one respect if in none other, +that there are no books written now for children +comparable with those of thirty years ago. I +say written FOR children because the new +psychological business of writing ABOUT them as though +they were small pills or hatched in some +especially scientific method is extremely popular +today. Writing for children rather than about +them is very difficult as everybody who has tried +it knows. It can only be done, I am convinced, +by somebody having a great deal of the child +in his own outlook and sensibilities. Such was +the author of "The Little Duke" and "The +Dove in the Eagle's Nest," such the author of +"A Flatiron for a Farthing," and "The Story +of a Short Life." Such, above all, the author of +"Alice in Wonderland." Grownups imagine +that they can do the trick by adopting baby +language and talking down to their very critical +audience. There never was a greater mistake. +The imagination of the author must be a child's +imagination and yet maturely consistent, so that +the White Queen in "Alice," for instance, is +seen just as a child would see her, but she +continues always herself through all her distressing +adventures. The supreme touch of the white +rabbit pulling on his white gloves as he hastens +is again absolutely the child's vision, but the +white rabbit as guide and introducer of Alice's +adventures belongs to mature grown insight. + +Geniuses are rare and, without being at all +an undue praiser of times past, one can say without +hesitation that until the appearance of Hugh +Lofting, the successor of Miss Yonge, Mrs. +Ewing, Mrs. Gatty and Lewis Carroll had not +appeared. I remember the delight with which +some six months ago I picked up the first +"Dolittle" book in the Hampshire bookshop at +Smith College in Northampton. One of Mr. +Lofting's pictures was quite enough for me. +The picture that I lighted upon when I first +opened the book was the one of the monkeys +making a chain with their arms across the gulf. +Then I looked further and discovered Bumpo +reading fairy stories to himself. And then +looked again and there was a picture of John +Dolittle's house. + +But pictures are not enough although most +authors draw so badly that if one of them happens +to have the genius for line that Mr. Lofting +shows there must be, one feels, something in his +writing as well. There is. You cannot read the +first paragraph of the book, which begins in the +right way "Once upon a time" without knowing +that Mr. Lofting believes in his story quite +as much as he expects you to. That is the first +essential for a story teller. Then you discover +as you read on that he has the right eye for the +right detail. What child-inquiring mind could +resist this intriguing sentence to be found on the +second page of the book: + + +"Besides the gold-fish in the pond at the bottom +of his garden, he had rabbits in the pantry, +white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen +closet and a hedgehog in the cellar." + +And then when you read a little further you +will discover that the Doctor is not merely a +peg on whom to hang exciting and various +adventures but that he is himself a man of original +and lively character. He is a very kindly, +generous man, and anyone who has ever written +stories will know that it is much more difficult +to make kindly, generous characters interesting +than unkindly and mean ones. But Dolittle is +interesting. It is not only that he is quaint but +that he is wise and knows what he is about. The +reader, however young, who meets him gets very +soon a sense that if he were in trouble, not +necessarily medical, he would go to Dolittle and ask +his advice about it. Dolittle seems to extend +his hand from the page and grasp that of his +reader, and I can see him going down the +centuries a kind of Pied Piper with thousands of +children at his heels. But not only is he a +darling and alive and credible but his creator has +also managed to invest everybody else in the +book with the same kind of life. + +Now this business of giving life to animals, +making them talk and behave like human +beings, is an extremely difficult one. Lewis Carroll +absolutely conquered the difficulties, but I +am not sure that anyone after him until Hugh +Lofting has really managed the trick; even in +such a masterpiece as "The Wind in the Willows" +we are not quite convinced. John Dolittle's +friends are convincing because their creator +never forces them to desert their own +characteristics. Polynesia, for instance, is natural +from first to last. She really does care about +the Doctor but she cares as a bird would care, +having always some place to which she is going +when her business with her friends is over. And +when Mr. Lofting invents fantastic animals he +gives them a kind of credible possibility which +is extraordinarily convincing. It will be +impossible for anyone who has read this book not +to believe in the existence of the pushmi-pullyu, +who would be credible enough even were there +no drawing of it, but the picture on page 145 +settles the matter of his truth once and for all. + +In fact this book is a work of genius and, as +always with works of genius, it is difficult to +analyze the elements that have gone to make +it. There is poetry here and fantasy and humor, +a little pathos but, above all, a number of +creations in whose existence everybody must believe +whether they be children of four or old men of +ninety or prosperous bankers of forty-five. I +don't know how Mr. Lofting has done it; I +don't suppose that he knows himself. There it +is--the first real children's classic since "Alice." +HUGH WALPOLE. + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION + +I PUDDLEBY +II ANIMAL LANGUAGE +III MORE MONEY TROUBLES +IV A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA +V THE GREAT JOURNEY +VI POLYNESIA AND THE KING +VII THE BRIDGE OF APES +VIII THE LEADER OF THE LIONS +IX THE MONKEYS COUNCIL +X THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL +XI THE BLACK PRINCE +XII MEDICINE AND MAGIC +XIII RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS +XIV THE RATS WARNING +XV THE BARBARY DRAGON +XVI TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER +XVII THE OCEAN GOSSIPS +XVIII SMELLS +XIX THE ROCK +XX THE FISHERMAN'S TOWN +XXI HOME AGAIN + + + + +THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE + + + +THE STORY OF +DOCTOR DOLITTLE + +THE FIRST CHAPTER + +PUDDLEBY + +ONCE upon a time, many years ago when our grandfathers were +little children--there was a doctor; and his name was Dolittle-- +John Dolittle, M.D. "M.D." means that he was a proper doctor +and knew a whole lot. + +He lived in a little town called, Puddleby- +on-the-Marsh. All the folks, young and old, +knew him well by sight. And whenever he +walked down the street in his high hat everyone +would say, "There goes the Doctor!--He's +a clever man." And the dogs and the children +would all run up and follow behind him; and +even the crows that lived in the church-tower +would caw and nod their heads. + +The house he lived in, on the edge of the +town, was quite small; but his garden was very +large and had a wide lawn and stone seats and +weeping-willows hanging over. His sister, +Sarah Dolittle, was housekeeper for him; but +the Doctor looked after the garden himself. + +He was very fond of animals and kept many +kinds of pets. Besides the gold-fish in the pond +at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in +the pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel +in the linen closet and a hedgehog in the cellar. +He had a cow with a calf too, and an old lame +horse-twenty-five years of age--and chickens, +and pigeons, and two lambs, and many other +animals. But his favorite pets were Dab-Dab +the duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the baby pig, +Polynesia the parrot, and the owl Too-Too. + +His sister used to grumble about all these +animals and said they made the house untidy. +And one day when an old lady with rheumatism +came to see the Doctor, she sat on the hedgehog +who was sleeping on the sofa and never came +to see him any more, but drove every Saturday +all the way to Oxenthorpe, another town ten +miles off, to see a different doctor. + +Then his sister, Sarah Dolittle, came to him +and said, + +"John, how can you expect sick people to +come and see you when you keep all these animals +in the house? It's a fine doctor would have +his parlor full of hedgehogs and mice! That's +the fourth personage these animals have driven +away. Squire Jenkins and the Parson say they +wouldn't come near your house again--no matter +how sick they are. We are getting poorer +every day. If you go on like this, none of the +best people will have you for a doctor." + +"But I like the animals better than the `best +people'," said the Doctor. + +"You are ridiculous," said his sister, and +walked out of the room. + +So, as time went on, the Doctor got more and +more animals; and the people who came to see +him got less and less. Till at last he had no one +left--except the Cat's-meat-Man, who didn't +mind any kind of animals. But the Cat's-meat +Man wasn't very rich and he only got sick once +a year--at Christmas-time, when he used to give +the Doctor sixpence for a bottle of medicine. + +Sixpence a year wasn't enough to live on-- +even in those days, long ago; and if the Doctor +hadn't had some money saved up in his money- +box, no one knows what would have happened. + +And he kept on getting still more pets; and of +course it cost a lot to feed them. And the money +he had saved up grew littler and littler. + +Then he sold his piano, and let the mice live +in a bureau-drawer. But the money he got for +that too began to go, so he sold the brown suit +he wore on Sundays and went on becoming +poorer and poorer. + +And now, when he walked down the street +in his high hat, people would say to one another, +"There goes John Dolittle, M.D.! There was a +time when he was the best known doctor in the +West Country--Look at him now--He hasn't +any money and his stockings are full of holes!" + +But the dogs and the cats and the children +still ran up and followed him through the town +--the same as they had done when he was rich. + + + +THE SECOND CHAPTER + +ANIMAL LANGUAGE + +IT happened one day that the Doctor was sitting in his kitchen talking +with the Cat's-meat-Man who had come to see him with a stomach-ache. + +"Why don't you give up being a people's doctor, and be an animal-doctor?" +asked the Cat's-meat-Man. + +The parrot, Polynesia, was sitting in the window +looking out at the rain and singing a sailor-song to herself. +She stopped singing and started to listen. + +"You see, Doctor," the Cat's-meat-Man went +on, "you know all about animals--much more +than what these here vets do. That book you +wrote--about cats, why, it's wonderful! I can't +read or write myself--or maybe _I_'D write some +books. But my wife, Theodosia, she's a scholar, +she is. And she read your book to me. Well, +it's wonderful--that's all can be said--wonderful. +You might have been a cat yourself. You +know the way they think. And listen: you can +make a lot of money doctoring animals. Do +you know that? You see, I'd send all the old +women who had sick cats or dogs to you. And +if they didn't get sick fast enough, I could put +something in the meat I sell 'em to make 'em +sick, see?" + +"Oh, no," said the Doctor quickly. "You +mustn't do that. That wouldn't be right." + +"Oh, I didn't mean real sick," answered the +Cat's-meat-Man. "Just a little something to +make them droopy-like was what I had reference +to. But as you say, maybe it ain't quite +fair on the animals. But they'll get sick +anyway, because the old women always give 'em too +much to eat. And look, all the farmers 'round +about who had lame horses and weak lambs-- +they'd come. Be an animal-doctor." + +When the Cat's-meat-Man had gone the +parrot flew off the window on to the Doctor's table +and said, + +"That man's got sense. That's what you +ought to do. Be an animal-doctor. Give the +silly people up--if they haven't brains enough +to see you're the best doctor in the world. Take +care of animals instead--THEY'll soon find it out. +Be an animal-doctor." + +"Oh, there are plenty of animal-doctors," said +John Dolittle, putting the flower-pots outside on +the window-sill to get the rain. + +"Yes, there ARE plenty," said Polynesia. "But +none of them are any good at all. Now listen, +Doctor, and I'll tell you something. Did you +know that animals can talk?" + +"I knew that parrots can talk," said the Doctor. + +"Oh, we parrots can talk in two languages-- +people's language and bird-language," said +Polynesia proudly. "If I say, `Polly wants a +cracker,' you understand me. But hear this: +Ka-ka oi-ee, fee-fee?" + +"Good Gracious!" cried the Doctor. "What +does that mean?" + +"That means, `Is the porridge hot yet?'--in +bird-language." + +"My! You don't say so!" said the Doctor. +"You never talked that way to me before." + +"What would have been the good?" said +Polynesia, dusting some cracker-crumbs off her +left wing. "You wouldn't have understood me +if I had." + +"Tell me some more," said the Doctor, all +excited; and he rushed over to the dresser-drawer +and came back with the butcher's book and a +pencil. "Now don't go too fast--and I'll write +it down. This is interesting--very interesting +--something quite new. Give me the Birds' +A.B.C. first--slowly now." + +So that was the way the Doctor came to know +that animals had a language of their own and +could talk to one another. And all that afternoon, +while it was raining, Polynesia sat on the +kitchen table giving him bird words to put down +in the book. + +At tea-time, when the dog, Jip, came in, the +parrot said to the Doctor, "See, HE'S talking to +you." + +"Looks to me as though he were scratching +his ear," said the Doctor. + +"But animals don't always speak with their +mouths," said the parrot in a high voice, raising +her eyebrows. "They talk with their ears, +with their feet, with their tails--with everything. +Sometimes they don't WANT to make a +noise. Do you see now the way he's twitching +up one side of his nose?" + +"What's that mean?" asked the Doctor. + +"That means, `Can't you see that it has +stopped raining?'" Polynesia answered. "He +is asking you a question. Dogs nearly always +use their noses for asking questions." + +After a while, with the parrot's help, the +Doctor got to learn the language of the animals +so well that he could talk to them himself and +understand everything they said. Then he gave +up being a people's doctor altogether. + +As soon as the Cat's-meat-Man had told every +one that John Dolittle was going to become an +animal-doctor, old ladies began to bring him +their pet pugs and poodles who had eaten too +much cake; and farmers came many miles to +show him sick cows and sheep. + +One day a plow-horse was brought to him; +and the poor thing was terribly glad to find a +man who could talk in horse-language. + +"You know, Doctor," said the horse, "that +vet over the hill knows nothing at all. He has +been treating me six weeks now--for spavins. +What I need is SPECTACLES. I am going blind +in one eye. There's no reason why horses +shouldn't wear glasses, the same as people. But +that stupid man over the hill never even looked +at my eyes. He kept on giving me big pills. +I tried to tell him; but he couldn't understand +a word of horse-language. What I need is +spectacles." + +"Of course--of course," said the Doctor. +"I'll get you some at once." + +"I would like a pair like yours," said the +horse--"only green. They'll keep the sun out +of my eyes while I'm plowing the Fifty-Acre +Field." + +"Certainly," said the Doctor. "Green ones +you shall have." + +"You know, the trouble is, Sir," said the +plow-horse as the Doctor opened the front door +to let him out--"the trouble is that ANYBODY +thinks he can doctor animals--just because the +animals don't complain. As a matter of fact +it takes a much cleverer man to be a really good +animal-doctor than it does to be a good people's +doctor. My farmer's boy thinks he knows all +about horses. I wish you could see him--his +face is so fat he looks as though he had no eyes +--and he has got as much brain as a potato-bug. +He tried to put a mustard-plaster on me last +week." + +"Where did he put it?" asked the Doctor. + +"Oh, he didn't put it anywhere--on me," said +the horse. "He only tried to. I kicked him +into the duck-pond." + +"Well, well!" said the Doctor. + +"I'm a pretty quiet creature as a rule," said +the horse--"very patient with people--don't +make much fuss. But it was bad enough to +have that vet giving me the wrong medicine. +And when that red-faced booby started to +monkey with me, I just couldn't bear it any +more." + +"Did you hurt the boy much?" asked the Doctor. + +"Oh, no," said the horse. "I kicked him in +the right place. The vet's looking after him +now. When will my glasses be ready?" + +"I'll have them for you next week," said +the Doctor. "Come in again Tuesday--Good +morning!" + +Then John Dolittle got a fine, big pair of +green spectacles; and the plow-horse stopped +going blind in one eye and could see as well as +ever. + +And soon it became a common sight to see +farm-animals wearing glasses in the country +round Puddleby; and a blind horse was a thing +unknown. + +And so it was with all the other animals that +were brought to him. As soon as they found +that he could talk their language, they told him +where the pain was and how they felt, and of +course it was easy for him to cure them. + +Now all these animals went back and told +their brothers and friends that there was a doctor +in the little house with the big garden who +really WAS a doctor. And whenever any creatures +got sick--not only horses and cows and +dogs--but all the little things of the fields, like +harvest-mice and water-voles, badgers and bats, +they came at once to his house on the edge of the +town, so that his big garden was nearly always +crowded with animals trying to get in to see him. + +There were so many that came that he had to +have special doors made for the different kinds. +He wrote "HORSES" over the front door, +"COWS" over the side door, and "SHEEP" on +the kitchen door. Each kind of animal had a +separate door--even the mice had a tiny tunnel +made for them into the cellar, where they +waited patiently in rows for the Doctor to come +round to them. + +And so, in a few years' time, every living +thing for miles and miles got to know about +John Dolittle, M.D. And the birds who flew +to other countries in the winter told the animals +in foreign lands of the wonderful doctor +of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, who could understand +their talk and help them in their troubles. +In this way he became famous among the animals-- +all over the world--better known even +than he had been among the folks of the West +Country. And he was happy and liked his life +very much. + +One afternoon when the Doctor was busy +writing in a book, Polynesia sat in the window-- +as she nearly always did--looking out at +the leaves blowing about in the garden. +Presently she laughed aloud. + +"What is it, Polynesia?" asked the Doctor, +looking up from his book. + +"I was just thinking," said the parrot; and +she went on looking at the leaves. + +"What were you thinking?" + +"I was thinking about people," said Polynesia. +"People make me sick. They think they're so +wonderful. The world has been going on now +for thousands of years, hasn't it? And the only +thing in animal-language that PEOPLE have +learned to understand is that when a dog wags +his tail he means `I'm glad!'--It's funny, isn't +it? You are the very first man to talk like us. +Oh, sometimes people annoy me dreadfully-- +such airs they put on--talking about `the dumb +animals.' DUMB!--Huh! Why I knew a +macaw once who could say `Good morning!' in +seven different ways without once opening his +mouth. He could talk every language--and +Greek. An old professor with a gray beard +bought him. But he didn't stay. He said the +old man didn't talk Greek right, and he couldn't +stand listening to him teach the language wrong. +I often wonder what's become of him. That +bird knew more geography than people will ever +know.--PEOPLE, Golly! I suppose if people +ever learn to fly--like any common hedge- +sparrow--we shall never hear the end of it!" + +"You're a wise old bird," said the Doctor. +"How old are you really? I know that parrots +and elephants sometimes live to be very, very old." + +"I can never be quite sure of my age," said +Polynesia. "It's either a hundred and eighty- +three or a hundred and eighty-two. But I +know that when I first came here from Africa, +King Charles was still hiding in the oak-tree-- +because I saw him. He looked scared to death." + + + +THE THIRD CHAPTER + +MORE MONEY TROUBLES + +AND soon now the Doctor began to make money +again; and his sister, Sarah, bought a new +dress and was happy. Some of the animals +who came to see him were so sick that they had +to stay at the Doctor's house for a week. And +when they were getting better they used to sit in +chairs on the lawn. + +And often even after they got well, they did +not want to go away--they liked the Doctor +and his house so much. And he never had the +heart to refuse them when they asked if they +could stay with him. So in this way he went +on getting more and more pets. + +Once when he was sitting on his garden wall, +smoking a pipe in the evening, an Italian organ- +grinder came round with a monkey on a string. +The Doctor saw at once that the monkey's collar +was too tight and that he was dirty and +unhappy. So he took the monkey away from the +Italian, gave the man a shilling and told him +to go. The organ-grinder got awfully angry +and said that he wanted to keep the monkey. +But the Doctor told him that if he didn't go +away he would punch him on the nose. John +Dolittle was a strong man, though he wasn't +very tall. So the Italian went away saying rude +things and the monkey stayed with Doctor +Dolittle and had a good home. The other +animals in the house called him "Chee-Chee"-- +which is a common word in monkey-language, +meaning "ginger." + +And another time, when the circus came to +Puddleby, the crocodile who had a bad tooth- +ache escaped at night and came into the Doctor's +garden. The Doctor talked to him in +crocodile-language and took him into the house +and made his tooth better. But when the crocodile +saw what a nice house it was--with all the +different places for the different kinds of +animals--he too wanted to live with the Doctor. +He asked couldn't he sleep in the fish-pond at +the bottom of the garden, if he promised not +to eat the fish. When the circus-men came to +take him back he got so wild and savage that +he frightened them away. But to every one in +the house he was always as gentle as a kitten. + +But now the old ladies grew afraid to send +their lap-dogs to Doctor Dolittle because of the +crocodile; and the farmers wouldn't believe that +he would not eat the lambs and sick calves they +brought to be cured. So the Doctor went to +the crocodile and told him he must go back +to his circus. But he wept such big tears, and +begged so hard to be allowed to stay, that the +Doctor hadn't the heart to turn him out. + +So then the Doctor's sister came to him and said, +"John, you must send that creature away. +Now the farmers and the old ladies are afraid +to send their animals to you--just as we were +beginning to be well off again. Now we shall +be ruined entirely. This is the last straw. I +will no longer be housekeeper for you if you +don't send away that alligator." + +"It isn't an alligator," said the Doctor--"it's +a crocodile." + +"I don't care what you call it," said his sister. +"It's a nasty thing to find under the bed. I +won't have it in the house." + +"But he has promised me," the Doctor +answered, "that he will not bite any one. He +doesn't like the circus; and I haven't the money +to send him back to Africa where he comes +from. He minds his own business and on the +whole is very well behaved. Don't be so fussy." + +"I tell you I WILL NOT have him around," said +Sarah. "He eats the linoleum. If you don't send +him away this minute I'll--I'll go and get married!" + +"All right," said the Doctor, "go and get +married. It can't be helped." And he took +down his hat and went out into the garden. + +So Sarah Dolittle packed up her things and +went off; and the Doctor was left all alone with +his animal family. + +And very soon he was poorer than he had +ever been before. With all these mouths to fill, +and the house to look after, and no one to do +the mending, and no money coming in to pay +the butcher's bill, things began to look very +difficult. But the Doctor didn't worry at all. + +"Money is a nuisance," he used to say. +"We'd all be much better off if it had never +been invented. What does money matter, so +long as we are happy?" + +But soon the animals themselves began to get +worried. And one evening when the Doctor +was asleep in his chair before the kitchen-fire +they began talking it over among themselves in +whispers. And the owl, Too-Too, who was +good at arithmetic, figured it out that there was +only money enough left to last another week-- +if they each had one meal a day and no more. + +Then the parrot said, "I think we all ought +to do the housework ourselves. At least we can +do that much. After all, it is for our sakes that +the old man finds himself so lonely and so poor." + +So it was agreed that the monkey, Chee-Chee, +was to do the cooking and mending; the dog +was to sweep the floors; the duck was to dust +and make the beds; the owl, Too-Too, was to +keep the accounts, and the pig was to do the +gardening. They made Polynesia, the parrot, +housekeeper and laundress, because she was the oldest. + +Of course at first they all found their new +jobs very hard to do--all except Chee-Chee, who +had hands, and could do things like a man. But +they soon got used to it; and they used to think +it great fun to watch Jip, the dog, sweeping +his tail over the floor with a rag tied onto it for +a broom. After a little they got to do the work +so well that the Doctor said that he had never +had his house kept so tidy or so clean before. + +In this way things went along all right for a +while; but without money they found it very hard. + +Then the animals made a vegetable and flower +stall outside the garden-gate and sold radishes +and roses to the people that passed by along the road. + +But still they didn't seem to make enough +money to pay all the bills--and still the Doctor +wouldn't worry. When the parrot came to +him and told him that the fishmonger wouldn't +give them any more fish, he said, + +"Never mind. So long as the hens lay eggs +and the cow gives milk we can have omelettes +and junket. And there are plenty of vegetables +left in the garden. The Winter is still a long +way off. Don't fuss. That was the trouble +with Sarah--she would fuss. I wonder how +Sarah's getting on--an excellent woman--in +some ways--Well, well!" + +But the snow came earlier than usual that +year; and although the old lame horse hauled +in plenty of wood from the forest outside the +town, so they could have a big fire in the kitchen, +most of the vegetables in the garden were gone, +and the rest were covered with snow; and many +of the animals were really hungry. + + + +THE FOURTH CHAPTER + +A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA + +THAT Winter was a very cold one. And one night in December, +when they were all sitting round the warm fire in the +kitchen, and the Doctor was reading aloud to them out of +books he had written himself in animal-language, the owl, +Too-Too, suddenly said, "Sh! What's that noise outside?" + +They all listened; and presently they heard +the sound of some one running. Then the door +flew open and the monkey, Chee-Chee, ran in, +badly out of breath. + +"Doctor!" he cried, "I've just had a message +from a cousin of mine in Africa. There is a +terrible sickness among the monkeys out there. +They are all catching it--and they are dying +in hundreds. They have heard of you, and beg +you to come to Africa to stop the sickness." + +"Who brought the message?" asked the Doctor, +taking off his spectacles and laying down +his book. + +"A swallow," said Chee-Chee. "She is +outside on the rain-butt." + +"Bring her in by the fire," said the Doctor. +"She must be perished with the cold. The swallows +flew South six weeks ago!" + +So the swallow was brought in, all huddled +and shivering; and although she was a little +afraid at first, she soon got warmed up and sat +on the edge of the mantelpiece and began to talk. + +When she had finished the Doctor said, + +"I would gladly go to Africa--especially in +this bitter weather. But I'm afraid we haven't +money enough to buy the tickets. Get me the +money-box, Chee-Chee." + +So the monkey climbed up and got it off the +top shelf of the dresser. + +There was nothing in it--not one single penny! + +"I felt sure there was twopence left," said the Doctor. + +"There WAS," said the owl. "But you spent +it on a rattle for that badger's baby when he +was teething." + +"Did I?" said the Doctor--"dear me, dear +me! What a nuisance money is, to be sure! +Well, never mind. Perhaps if I go down to +the seaside I shall be able to borrow a boat that +will take us to Africa. I knew a seaman once +who brought his baby to me with measles. +Maybe he'll lend us his boat--the baby got well." + +So early the next morning the Doctor went +down to the seashore. And when he came back +he told the animals it was all right--the sailor +was going to lend them the boat. + +Then the crocodile and the monkey and the +parrot were very glad and began to sing, +because they were going back to Africa, their real +home. And the Doctor said, + +"I shall only be able to take you three--with +Jip the dog, Dab-Dab the duck, Gub-Gub the +pig and the owl, Too-Too. The rest of the animals, +like the dormice and the water-voles and +the bats, they will have to go back and live in +the fields where they were born till we come +home again. But as most of them sleep through +the Winter, they won't mind that--and besides, +it wouldn't be good for them to go to Africa." + +So then the parrot, who had been on long sea- +voyages before, began telling the Doctor all the +things he would have to take with him on the ship. + +"You must have plenty of pilot-bread," she +said--"`hard tack' they call it. And you must +have beef in cans--and an anchor." + +"I expect the ship will have its own anchor," +said the Doctor. + +"Well, make sure," said Polynesia. "Because +it's very important. You can't stop if you +haven't got an anchor. And you'll need a bell." + +"What's that for?" asked the Doctor. + +"To tell the time by," said the parrot. "You +go and ring it every half-hour and then you +know what time it is. And bring a whole lot of +rope--it always comes in handy on voyages." + +Then they began to wonder where they were +going to get the money from to buy all the +things they needed. + +"Oh, bother it! Money again," cried the +Doctor. "Goodness! I shall be glad to get to +Africa where we don't have to have any! I'll +go and ask the grocer if he will wait for his +money till I get back--No, I'll send the sailor +to ask him." + +So the sailor went to see the grocer. And presently +he came back with all the things they wanted. + +Then the animals packed up; and after they +had turned off the water so the pipes wouldn't +freeze, and put up the shutters, they closed the +house and gave the key to the old horse who +lived in the stable. And when they had seen +that there was plenty of hay in the loft to last +the horse through the Winter, they carried all +their luggage down to the seashore and got on +to the boat. + +The Cat's-meat-Man was there to see them +off; and he brought a large suet-pudding as a +present for the Doctor because, he said he had +been told, you couldn't get suet-puddings in +foreign parts. + +As soon as they were on the ship, Gub-Gub, +the pig, asked where the beds were, for it was +four o'clock in the afternoon and he wanted +his nap. So Polynesia took him downstairs into +the inside of the ship and showed him the beds, +set all on top of one another like book-shelves +against a wall. + +"Why, that isn't a bed!" cried Gub-Gub. +"That's a shelf!" + +"Beds are always like that on ships," said the +parrot. "It isn't a shelf. Climb up into it and +go to sleep. That's what you call `a bunk.'" + +"I don't think I'll go to bed yet," said Gub- +Gub. "I'm too excited. I want to go upstairs +again and see them start." + +"Well, this is your first trip," said Polynesia. +"You will get used to the life after a while." +And she went back up the stairs of the ship, +humming this song to herself, + + +I've seen the Black Sea and the Red Sea; + I rounded the Isle of Wight; +I discovered the Yellow River, + And the Orange too by night. +Now Greenland drops behind again, + And I sail the ocean Blue. +I'm tired of all these colors, Jane, + So I'm coming back to you. + + +They were just going to start on their journey, +when the Doctor said he would have to go back +and ask the sailor the way to Africa. + +But the swallow said she had been to that +country many times and would show them how +to get there. + +So the Doctor told Chee-Chee to pull up the +anchor and the voyage began. + + + +THE FIFTH CHAPTER + +THE GREAT JOURNEY + +NOW for six whole weeks they went sailing on and on, over +the rolling sea, following the swallow who flew before the +ship to show them the way. At night she carried a tiny +lantern, so they should not miss her in the dark; +and the people on the other ships that passed +said that the light must be a shooting star. + +As they sailed further and further into the +South, it got warmer and warmer. Polynesia, +Chee-Chee and the crocodile enjoyed the hot +sun no end. They ran about laughing and looking +over the side of the ship to see if they could +see Africa yet. + +But the pig and the dog and the owl, Too- +Too, could do nothing in such weather, but +sat at the end of the ship in the shade of a big +barrel, with their tongues hanging out, drinking +lemonade. + +Dab-Dab, the duck, used to keep herself cool +by jumping into the sea and swimming behind +the ship. And every once in a while, when +the top of her head got too hot, she would dive +under the ship and come up on the other side. +In this way, too, she used to catch herrings on +Tuesdays and Fridays--when everybody on the +boat ate fish to make the beef last longer. + +When they got near to the Equator they saw +some flying-fishes coming towards them. And +the fishes asked the parrot if this was Doctor +Dolittle's ship. When she told them it was, they +said they were glad, because the monkeys in +Africa were getting worried that he would never +come. Polynesia asked them how many miles +they had yet to go; and the flying-fishes said +it was only fifty-five miles now to the coast of +Africa. + +And another time a whole school of porpoises +came dancing through the waves; and they too +asked Polynesia if this was the ship of the fa- +mous doctor. And when they heard that it was, +they asked the parrot if the Doctor wanted +anything for his journey. + +And Polynesia said, "Yes. We have run +short of onions." + +"There is an island not far from here," said +the porpoises, "where the wild onions grow tall +and strong. Keep straight on--we will get +some and catch up to you." + +So the porpoises dashed away through the +sea. And very soon the parrot saw them again, +coming up behind, dragging the onions through +the waves in big nets made of seaweed. + +The next evening, as the sun was going down +the Doctor said, + +"Get me the telescope, Chee-Chee. Our +journey is nearly ended. Very soon we should +be able to see the shores of Africa." + +And about half an hour later, sure enough, +they thought they could see something in front +that might be land. But it began to get darker +and darker and they couldn't be sure. +Then a great storm came up, with thunder +and lightning. The wind howled; the rain +came down in torrents; and the waves got so +high they splashed right over the boat. + +Presently there was a big BANG! The ship +stopped and rolled over on its side. + +"What's happened?" asked the Doctor, +coming up from downstairs. + +"I'm not sure," said the parrot; "but I think +we're ship-wrecked. Tell the duck to get out +and see." + +So Dab-Dab dived right down under the +waves. And when she came up she said they +had struck a rock; there was a big hole in the +bottom of the ship; the water was coming in; +and they were sinking fast. + +"We must have run into Africa," said the +Doctor. "Dear me, dear me!--Well--we must +all swim to land." + +But Chee-Chee and Gub-Gub did not know +how to swim. + +"Get the rope!" said Polynesia. "I told you +it would come in handy. Where's that duck? +Come here, Dab-Dab. Take this end of the +rope, fly to the shore and tie it on to a palm- +tree; and we'll hold the other end on the ship +here. Then those that can't swim must climb +along the rope till they reach the land. That's +what you call a `life-line.'" + +So they all got safely to the shore--some +swimming, some flying; and those that climbed +along the rope brought the Doctor's trunk and +handbag with them. + +But the ship was no good any more--with the +big hole in the bottom; and presently the rough +sea beat it to pieces on the rocks and the timbers +floated away. + +Then they all took shelter in a nice dry cave +they found, high up in the cliffs, till the storm +was over. + +When the sun came out next morning they +went down to the sandy beach to dry themselves. + +"Dear old Africa!" sighed Polynesia. "It's +good to get back. Just think--it'll be a +hundred and sixty-nine years to-morrow since I was +here! And it hasn't changed a bit! Same old +palm-trees; same old red earth; same old black +ants! There's no place like home!" + +And the others noticed she had tears in her eyes-- +she was so pleased to see her country once again. + +Then the Doctor missed his high hat; for it +had been blown into the sea during the storm. +So Dab-Dab went out to look for it. And presently +she saw it, a long way off, floating on the +water like a toy-boat. + +When she flew down to get it, she found one +of the white mice, very frightened, sitting +inside it. + +"What are you doing here?" asked the duck. +"You were told to stay behind in Puddleby." + +"I didn't want to be left behind," said the +mouse. "I wanted to see what Africa was like +--I have relatives there. So I hid in the baggage +and was brought on to the ship with the +hard-tack. When the ship sank I was terribly +frightened--because I cannot swim far. I +swam as long as I could, but I soon got all +exhausted and thought I was going to sink. And +then, just at that moment, the old man's hat came +floating by; and I got into it because I did not +want to be drowned." + +So the duck took up the hat with the mouse in +it and brought it to the Doctor on the shore. +And they all gathered round to have a look. + +"That's what you call a `stowaway,'" said the parrot. + +Presently, when they were looking for a place +in the trunk where the white mouse could travel +comfortably, the monkey, Chee-Chee, suddenly said, + +"Sh! I hear footsteps in the jungle!" + +They all stopped talking and listened. And +soon a black man came down out of the woods +and asked them what they were doing there. + +"My name is John Dolittle--M. D.," said the +Doctor. "I have been asked to come to Africa +to cure the monkeys who are sick." + +"You must all come before the King," said +the black man. + +"What king?" asked the Doctor, who didn't +want to waste any time. + +"The King of the Jolliginki," the man +answered. "All these lands belong to him; and all +strangers must be brought before him. Follow me." + +So they gathered up their baggage and went +off, following the man through the jungle. + + + +THE SIXTH CHAPTER + +POLYNESIA AND THE KING + +WHEN they had gone a little way through +the thick forest they came to a wide, clear +space; and they saw the King's palace which +was made of mud. + +This was where the King lived with his +Queen, Ermintrude, and their son, Prince +Bumpo. The Prince was away fishing for salmon +in the river. But the King and Queen +were sitting under an umbrella before the palace +door. And Queen Ermintrude was asleep. + +When the Doctor had come up to the palace +the King asked him his business; and the Doctor +told him why he had come to Africa. + +"You may not travel through my lands," said +the King. "Many years ago a white man came +to these shores; and I was very kind to him. +But after he had dug holes in the ground to get +the gold, and killed all the elephants to get their +ivory tusks, he went away secretly in his ship-- +without so much as saying `Thank you.' Never +again shall a white man travel through the lands +of Jolliginki." + +Then the King turned to some of the black +men who were standing near and said, "Take +away this medicine-man--with all his animals, +and lock them up in my strongest prison." + +So six of the black men led the Doctor and +all his pets away and shut them up in a stone +dungeon. The dungeon had only one little window, +high up in the wall, with bars in it; and +the door was strong and thick. + +Then they all grew very sad; and Gub-Gub, +the pig, began to cry. But Chee-Chee said he +would spank him if he didn't stop that horrible +noise; and he kept quiet. + +"Are we all here?" asked the Doctor, after +he had got used to the dim light. + +"Yes, I think so," said the duck and started +to count them. + +"Where's Polynesia?" asked the crocodile. +"She isn't here." + +"Are you sure?" said the Doctor. "Look again. +Polynesia! Polynesia! Where are you?" + +"I suppose she escaped," grumbled the crocodile. +"Well, that's just like her!--Sneaked off into +the jungle as soon as her friends got into trouble." + +"I'm not that kind of a bird," said the parrot, +climbing out of the pocket in the tail of the +Doctor's coat. "You see, I'm small enough to +get through the bars of that window; and I was +afraid they would put me in a cage instead. +So while the King was busy talking, I hid in +the Doctor's pocket--and here I am! That's +what you call a `ruse,'" she said, smoothing +down her feathers with her beak. + +"Good Gracious!" cried the Doctor. +"You're lucky I didn't sit on you." + +"Now listen," said Polynesia, "to-night, as +soon as it gets dark, I am going to creep through +the bars of that window and fly over to the +palace. And then--you'll see--I'll soon find +a way to make the King let us all out of prison." + +"Oh, what can YOU do?" said Gub-Gub, +turning up his nose and beginning to cry again. +"You're only a bird!" + +"Quite true," said the parrot. "But do not +forget that although I am only a bird, I CAN TALK +LIKE A MAN--and I know these people." + +So that night, when the moon was shining +through the palm-trees and all the King's men +were asleep, the parrot slipped out through the +bars of the prison and flew across to the palace. +The pantry window had been broken by a tennis +ball the week before; and Polynesia popped +in through the hole in the glass. + +She heard Prince Bumpo snoring in his bed- +room at the back of the palace. Then she tip- +toed up the stairs till she came to the King's +bedroom. She opened the door gently and +peeped in. + +The Queen was away at a dance that night +at her cousin's; but the King was in bed fast +asleep. + +Polynesia crept in, very softly, and got under +the bed. + +Then she coughed--just the way Doctor +Dolittle used to cough. Polynesia could mimic +any one. + +The King opened his eyes and said sleepily: +"Is that you, Ermintrude?" (He thought it +was the Queen come back from the dance.) + +Then the parrot coughed again--loud, like a +man. And the King sat up, wide awake, and +said, "Who's that?" + +"I am Doctor Dolittle," said the parrot--just +the way the Doctor would have said it. + +"What are you doing in my bedroom?" cried +the King. "How dare you get out of prison! +Where are you?--I don't see you." + +But the parrot just laughed--a long, deep +jolly laugh, like the Doctor's. + +"Stop laughing and come here at once, so I +can see you," said the King. + +"Foolish King!" answered Polynesia. "Have +you forgotten that you are talking to John +Dolittle, M.D.--the most wonderful man on earth? +Of course you cannot see me. I have made myself +invisible. There is nothing I cannot do. +Now listen: I have come here to-night to warn +you. If you don't let me and my animals travel +through your kingdom, I will make you and all +your people sick like the monkeys. For I can +make people well: and I can make people ill-- +just by raising my little finger. Send your +soldiers at once to open the dungeon door, or you +shall have mumps before the morning sun has +risen on the hills of Jolliginki." + +Then the King began to tremble and was +very much afraid. + +"Doctor," he cried, "it shall be as you say. +Do not raise your little finger, please!" And he +jumped out of bed and ran to tell the soldiers +to open the prison door. + +As soon as he was gone, Polynesia crept +downstairs and left the palace by the pantry window. + +But the Queen, who was just letting herself +in at the backdoor with a latch-key, saw the par- +rot getting out through the broken glass. And +when the King came back to bed she told him +what she had seen. + +Then the King understood that he had been +tricked, and he was dreadfully angry. He hurried +back to the prison at once + +But he was too late. The door stood open. +The dungeon was empty. The Doctor and all +his animals were gone. + + + +THE SEVENTH CHAPTER + +THE BRIDGE OF APES + +QUEEN ERMINTRUDE had never in her life seen her husband +so terrible as he got that night. He gnashed his teeth +with rage. He called everybody a fool. He threw his +tooth-brush at the palace cat. He rushed round +in his night-shirt and woke up all his army and +sent them into the jungle to catch the Doctor. +Then he made all his servants go too--his cooks +and his gardeners and his barber and Prince +Bumpo's tutor--even the Queen, who was tired +from dancing in a pair of tight shoes, was packed +off to help the soldiers in their search. + +All this time the Doctor and his animals were +running through the forest towards the Land of +the Monkeys as fast as they could go. + +Gub-Gub, with his short legs, soon got tired; +and the Doctor had to carry him--which made +it pretty hard when they had the trunk and the +hand-bag with them as well. + +The King of the Jolliginki thought it would +be easy for his army to find them, because the +Doctor was in a strange land and would not +know his way. But he was wrong; because the +monkey, Chee-Chee, knew all the paths through +the jungle--better even than the King's men +did. And he led the Doctor and his pets to the +very thickest part of the forest--a place where +no man had ever been before--and hid them all +in a big hollow tree between high rocks. + +"We had better wait here," said Chee-Chee, +"till the soldiers have gone back to bed. Then +we can go on into the Land of the Monkeys." + +So there they stayed the whole night through. + +They often heard the King's men searching +and talking in the jungle round about. But +they were quite safe, for no one knew of that +hiding-place but Chee-Chee--not even the +other monkeys. + +At last, when daylight began to come through +the thick leaves overhead, they heard Queen +Ermintrude saying in a very tired voice that it +was no use looking any more--that they might +as well go back and get some sleep. + +As soon as the soldiers had all gone home, +Chee-Chee brought the Doctor and his animals +out of the hiding-place and they set off for the +Land of the Monkeys. + +It was a long, long way; and they often got +very tired--especially Gub-Gub. But when he +cried they gave him milk out of the cocoanuts +which he was very fond of. + +They always had plenty to eat and drink; +because Chee-Chee and Polynesia knew all the +different kinds of fruits and vegetables that grow +in the jungle, and where to find them--like +dates and figs and ground-nuts and ginger and +yams. They used to make their lemonade out of +the juice of wild oranges, sweetened with honey +which they got from the bees' nests in hollow +trees. No matter what it was they asked for, +Chee-Chee and Polynesia always seemed to be +able to get it for them--or something like it. +They even got the Doctor some tobacco one day, +when he had finished what he had brought with +him and wanted to smoke. + +At night they slept in tents made of palm- +leaves, on thick, soft beds of dried grass. And +after a while they got used to walking such a lot +and did not get so tired and enjoyed the life of +travel very much. + +But they were always glad when the night +came and they stopped for their resting-time. +Then the Doctor used to make a little fire of +sticks; and after they had had their supper, they +would sit round it in a ring, listening to +Polynesia singing songs about the sea, or to Chee- +Chee telling stories of the jungle. + +And many of the tales that Chee-Chee told +were very interesting. Because although the +monkeys had no history-books of their own +before Doctor Dolittle came to write them for +them, they remember everything that happens by +telling stories to their children. And Chee-Chee +spoke of many things his grandmother had told +him--tales of long, long, long ago, before Noah +and the Flood--of the days when men dressed +in bear-skins and lived in holes in the rock and +ate their mutton raw, because they did not know +what cooking was--having never seen a fire. +And he told them of the Great Mammoths and +Lizards, as long as a train, that wandered over +the mountains in those times, nibbling from the +tree-tops. And often they got so interested +listening, that when he had finished they found +their fire had gone right out; and they had to +scurry round to get more sticks and build a new +one. + +Now when the King's army had gone back +and told the King that they couldn't find the +Doctor, the King sent them out again and told +them they must stay in the jungle till they caught +him. So all this time, while the Doctor and his +animals were going along towards the Land of +the Monkeys, thinking themselves quite safe, +they were still being followed by the King's men. +If Chee-Chee had known this, he would most +likely have hidden them again. But he didn't +know it. + +One day Chee-Chee climbed up a high rock +and looked out over the tree-tops. And when +he came down he said they were now quite close +to the Land of the Monkeys and would soon +be there. + +And that same evening, sure enough, they saw +Chee-Chee's cousin and a lot of other monkeys, +who had not yet got sick, sitting in the trees by +the edge of a swamp, looking and waiting for +them. And when they saw the famous doctor +really come, these monkeys made a tremendous +noise, cheering and waving leaves and swinging +out of the branches to greet him. + +They wanted to carry his bag and his trunk +and everything he had--and one of the bigger +ones even carried Gub-Gub who had got tired +again. Then two of them rushed on in front to +tell the sick monkeys that the great doctor had +come at last. + +But the King's men, who were still following, +had heard the noise of the monkeys cheering; +and they at last knew where the Doctor was, +and hastened on to catch him. + +The big monkey carrying Gub-Gub was coming +along behind slowly, and he saw the Captain +of the army sneaking through the trees. +So he hurried after the Doctor and told him to +run. + +Then they all ran harder than they had ever +run in their lives; and the King's men, coming +after them, began to run too; and the Captain +ran hardest of all. + +Then the Doctor tripped over his medicine- +bag and fell down in the mud, and the Captain +thought he would surely catch him this time. + +But the Captain had very long ears--though +his hair was very short. And as he sprang forward +to take hold of the Doctor, one of his ears +caught fast in a tree; and the rest of the army +had to stop and help him. + +By this time the Doctor had picked himself +up, and on they went again, running and running. +And Chee-Chee shouted, + +"It's all right! We haven't far to go now!" + +But before they could get into the Land of +the Monkeys, they came to a steep cliff with a +river flowing below. This was the end of the +Kingdom of Jolliginki; and the Land of the +Monkeys was on the other side--across the +river. + +And Jip, the dog, looked down over the edge +of the steep, steep cliff and said, + +"Golly! How are we ever going to get across?" + +"Oh, dear!" said Gub-Gub. "The King's +men are quite close now--Look at them! I am +afraid we are going to be taken back to prison +again." And he began to weep. + +But the big monkey who was carrying the +pig dropped him on the ground and cried out +to the other monkeys. + +"Boys--a bridge! Quick!--Make a bridge! +We've only a minute to do it. They've got the +Captain loose, and he's coming on like a deer. +Get lively! A bridge! A bridge!" + +The Doctor began to wonder what they were going +to make a bridge out of, and he gazed around +to see if they had any boards hidden any place. + +But when he looked back at the cliff, there, +hanging across the river, was a bridge all ready +for him--made of living monkeys! For while +his back was turned, the monkeys--quick as a +flash--had made themselves into a bridge, just +by holding hands and feet. + +And the big one shouted to the Doctor, "Walk +over! Walk over--all of you--hurry!" + +Gub-Gub was a bit scared, walking on such +a narrow bridge at that dizzy height above the +river. But he got over all right; and so did all +of them. + +John Dolittle was the last to cross. And just +as he was getting to the other side, the King's +men came rushing up to the edge of the cliff. + +Then they shook their fists and yelled with +rage. For they saw they were too late. The +Doctor and all his animals were safe in the Land +of the Monkeys and the bridge was pulled across +to the other side. + +Then Chee-Chee turned to the Doctor and +said, + +"Many great explorers and gray-bearded +naturalists have lain long weeks hidden in the +jungle waiting to see the monkeys do that trick. +But we never let a white man get a glimpse of it +before. You are the first to see the famous +`Bridge of Apes.'" + +And the Doctor felt very pleased. + + + +THE EIGHTH CHAPTER + +THE LEADER OF THE LIONS + +JOHN DOLITTLE now became dreadfully, awfully busy. +He found hundreds and thousands of monkeys sick--gorillas, +orangoutangs, chimpanzees, dog-faced baboons, marmosettes, +gray monkeys, red ones--all kinds. And many had died. + +The first thing he did was to separate the +sick ones from the well ones. Then he got +Chee-Chee and his cousin to build him a little +house of grass. The next thing: he made all +the monkeys who were still well come and be +vaccinated. + +And for three days and three nights the +monkeys kept coming from the jungles and the +valleys and the hills to the little house of grass, +where the Doctor sat all day and all night, +vaccinating and vaccinating. + +Then he had another house made--a big one, +with a lot of beds in it; and he put all the sick +ones in this house. + +But so many were sick, there were not enough +well ones to do the nursing. So he sent +messages to the other animals, like the lions and the +leopards and the antelopes, to come and help +with the nursing. + +But the Leader of the Lions was a very proud +creature. And when he came to the Doctor's +big house full of beds he seemed angry and +scornful. + +"Do you dare to ask me, Sir?" he said, glaring +at the Doctor. "Do you dare to ask me--ME, +THE KING OF BEASTS, to wait on a lot of dirty +monkeys? Why, I wouldn't even eat them +between meals!" + +Although the lion looked very terrible, the +Doctor tried hard not to seem afraid of him. + +"I didn't ask you to eat them," he said quietly. +"And besides, they're not dirty. They've all +had a bath this morning. YOUR coat looks as +though it needed brushing--badly. Now +listen, and I'll tell you something: the day may +come when the lions get sick. And if you don't +help the other animals now, the lions may +find themselves left all alone when THEY are +in trouble. That often happens to proud people." + +"The lions are never IN trouble--they only +MAKE trouble," said the Leader, turning up his +nose. And he stalked away into the jungle, feeling +he had been rather smart and clever. + +Then the leopards got proud too and said +they wouldn't help. And then of course the +antelopes--although they were too shy and timid +to be rude to the Doctor like the lion--THEY +pawed the ground, and smiled foolishly, and said +they had never been nurses before. + +And now the poor Doctor was worried frantic, +wondering where he could get help enough +to take care of all these thousands of monkeys +in bed. + +But the Leader of the Lions, when he got +back to his den, saw his wife, the Queen Lioness, +come running out to meet him with her hair +untidy. + +"One of the cubs won't eat," she said. "I +don't know WHAT to do with him. He hasn't +taken a thing since last night." + +And she began to cry and shake with nervousness-- +for she was a good mother, even though +she was a lioness. + +So the Leader went into his den and looked +at his children--two very cunning little cubs, +lying on the floor. And one of them seemed +quite poorly. + +Then the lion told his wife, quite proudly, +just what he had said to the Doctor. And she got +so angry she nearly drove him out of the den. +"You never DID have a grain of sense!" she +screamed. "All the animals from here to the +Indian Ocean are talking about this wonderful +man, and how he can cure any kind of sickness, +and how kind he is--the only man in the whole +world who can talk the language of the animals! +And now, NOW--when we have a sick baby on +our hands, you must go and offend him! You +great booby! Nobody but a fool is ever rude +to a GOOD doctor. You--," and she started pulling +her husband's hair. + +"Go back to that white man at once," she +yelled, "and tell him you're sorry. And take +all the other empty-headed lions with you-- +and those stupid leopards and antelopes. Then +do everything the Doctor tells you. Work +hard! And perhaps he will be kind enough +to come and see the cub later. Now be off!-- +HURRY, I tell you! You're not fit to be a father!" + +And she went into the den next door, where another +mother-lion lived, and told her all about it. + +So the Leader of the Lions went back to the +Doctor and said, "I happened to be passing this +way and thought I'd look in. Got any help yet?" + +"No," said the Doctor. "I haven't. +And I'm dreadfully worried." + +"Help's pretty hard to get these days," said +the lion. "Animals don't seem to want to work +any more. You can't blame them--in a way. +...Well, seeing you're in difficulties, I don't +mind doing what I can--just to oblige you-- +so long as I don't have to wash the creatures. +And I have told all the other hunting animals +to come and do their share. The leopards +should be here any minute now.... Oh, and +by the way, we've got a sick cub at home. I +don't think there's much the matter with him +myself. But the wife is anxious. If you are +around that way this evening, you might take +a look at him, will you?" + +Then the Doctor was very happy; for all the +lions and the leopards and the antelopes and +the giraffes and the zebras--all the animals of +the forests and the mountains and the plains +--came to help him in his work. There were +so many of them that he had to send some away, +and only kept the cleverest. + +And now very soon the monkeys began to +get better. At the end of a week the big house +full of beds was half empty. And at the end +of the second week the last monkey had got well. + +Then the Doctor's work was done; and he +was so tired he went to bed and slept for three +days without even turning over. + + + +THE NINTH CHAPTER + +THE MONKEYS' COUNCIL + +CHEE-CHEE stood outside the Doctor's door, keeping everybody +away till he woke up. Then John Dolittle told the +monkeys that he must now go back to Puddleby. + +They were very surprised at this; for they +had thought that he was going to stay with them +forever. And that night all the monkeys got +together in the jungle to talk it over. + +And the Chief Chimpanzee rose up and said, + +"Why is it the good man is going away? Is +he not happy here with us?" + +But none of them could answer him. + +Then the Grand Gorilla got up and said, + +"I think we all should go to him and ask him +to stay. Perhaps if we make him a new house +and a bigger bed, and promise him plenty of +monkey-servants to work for him and to make +life pleasant for him--perhaps then he will +not wish to go." + + +Then Chee-Chee got up; and all the others +whispered, "Sh! Look! Chee-Chee, the great +Traveler, is about to speak!" + +And Chee-Chee said to the other monkeys, + +"My friends, I am afraid it is useless to ask +the Doctor to stay. He owes money in Puddleby; +and he says he must go back and pay it." + +And the monkeys asked him, "What is MONEY?" + + +Then Chee-Chee told them that in the Land of the +White Men you could get nothing without money; +you could DO nothing without money--that it was +almost impossible to LIVE without money. + +And some of them asked, "But can you not +even eat and drink without paying?" + +But Chee-Chee shook his head. And then he +told them that even he, when he was with the +organ-grinder, had been made to ask the +children for money. + +And the Chief Chimpanzee turned to the Oldest +Orangoutang and said, "Cousin, surely these Men +be strange creatures! Who would wish to live +in such a land? My gracious, how paltry!" + +Then Chee-Chee said, + +"When we were coming to you we had no +boat to cross the sea in and no money to buy +food to eat on our journey. So a man lent us +some biscuits; and we said we would pay him +when we came back. And we borrowed a boat +from a sailor; but it was broken on the rocks +when we reached the shores of Africa. Now +the Doctor says he must go back and get the +sailor another boat--because the man was poor +and his ship was all he had." + +And the monkeys were all silent for a while, +sitting quite still upon the ground and thinking +hard. + +At last the Biggest Baboon got up and said, + +"I do not think we ought to let this good man +leave our land till we have given him a fine +present to take with him, so that he may know +we are grateful for all that he has done for us." + +And a little, tiny red monkey who was +sitting up in a tree shouted down, + +"I think that too!" + +And then they all cried out, making a great +noise, "Yes, yes. Let us give him the finest +present a White Man ever had!" + +Now they began to wonder and ask one another +what would be the best thing to give him. +And one said, "Fifty bags of cocoanuts!" +And another--"A hundred bunches of bananas!-- +At least he shall not have to buy his fruit in the +Land Where You Pay to Eat!" + +But Chee-Chee told them that all these +things would be too heavy to carry so far and +would go bad before half was eaten. + +"If you want to please him," he said, "give +him an animal. You may be sure he will be +kind to it. Give him some rare animal they +have not got in the menageries." + +And the monkeys asked him, "What are +MENAGERIES?" + +Then Chee-Chee explained to them that +menageries were places in the Land of the +White Men, where animals were put in cages +for people to come and look at. And the +monkeys were very shocked and said to one +another, + +"These Men are like thoughtless young ones--stupid +and easily amused. Sh! It is a prison he means." + +So then they asked Chee-Chee what rare +animal it could be that they should give the +Doctor--one the White Men had not seen before. +And the Major of the Marmosettes asked, + +"Have they an iguana over there?" + +But Chee-Chee said, "Yes, there is one in the +London Zoo." + +And another asked, "Have they an okapi?" + +But Chee-Chee said, "Yes. In Belgium, +where my organ-grinder took me five years ago, +they had an okapi in a big city they call Antwerp." + +And another asked, "Have they a pushmi-pullyu?" + +Then Chee-Chee said, "No. No White Man +has ever seen a pushmi-pullyu. Let us +give him that." + + + +THE TENTH CHAPTER + +THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL + +PUSHMI-PULLYUS are now extinct. That means, there aren't +any more. But long ago, when Doctor Dolittle was alive, +there were some of them still left in the deepest jungles +of Africa; and even then they were very, very scarce. +They had no tail, *but a head at each end, +and sharp horns on each head. They were very +shy and terribly hard to catch. The black men +get most of their animals by sneaking up behind +them while they are not looking. But you could +not do this with the pushmi-pullyu--because, +no matter which way you came towards him, he +was always facing you. And besides, only one +half of him slept at a time. The other head +was always awake--and watching. This was +why they were never caught and never seen in +Zoos. Though many of the greatest huntsmen +and the cleverest menagerie-keepers spent years +of their lives searching through the jungles +in all weathers for pushmi-pullyus, not a single +one had ever been caught. Even then, years +ago, he was the only animal in the world with +two heads. + +Well, the monkeys set out hunting for this +animal through the forest. And after they had +gone a good many miles, one of them found +peculiar footprints near the edge of a river; +and they knew that a pushmi-pullyu must be +very near that spot. + +Then they went along the bank of the river +a little way and they saw a place where the +grass was high and thick; and they guessed that +he was in there. + +So they all joined hands and made a great +circle round the high grass. The pushmi- +pullyu heard them coming; and he tried hard +to break through the ring of monkeys. But he +couldn't do it. When he saw that it was no +use trying to escape, he sat down and waited to +see what they wanted. + +They asked him if he would go with Doctor Dolittle +and be put on show in the Land of the White Men. + +But he shook both his heads hard and said, +"Certainly not!" + +They explained to him that he would not be +shut up in a menagerie but would just be looked +at. They told him that the Doctor was a very +kind man but hadn't any money; and people +would pay to see a two-headed animal and the +Doctor would get rich and could pay for the +boat he had borrowed to come to Africa in. + +But he answered, "No. You know how shy +I am--I hate being stared at." And he almost +began to cry. + +Then for three days they tried to persuade +him. + +And at the end of the third day he said he +would come with them and see what kind of a +man the Doctor was, first. + +So the monkeys traveled back with the +pushmi-pullyu. And when they came to where +the Doctor's little house of grass was, they +knocked on the door. + +The duck, who was packing the trunk, said, +"Come in!" + +And Chee-Chee very proudly took the animal +inside and showed him to the Doctor. + +"What in the world is it?" asked John +Dolittle, gazing at the strange creature. + +"Lord save us!" cried the duck. "How does +it make up its mind?" + +"It doesn't look to me as though it had any," +said Jip, the dog. + +"This, Doctor," said Chee-Chee, "is the +pushmi-pullyu--the rarest animal of the African +jungles, the only two-headed beast in the +world! Take him home with you and your +fortune's made. People will pay any money to +see him." + +"But I don't want any money," said the Doctor. + +"Yes, you do," said Dab-Dab, the duck. +"Don't you remember how we had to pinch +and scrape to pay the butcher's bill in +Puddleby? And how are you going to get the +sailor the new boat you spoke of--unless we +have the money to buy it?" + + +"I was going to make him one," said the Doctor. + +"Oh, do be sensible!" cried Dab-Dab. +"Where would you get all the wood and the +nails to make one with?--And besides, what are +we going to live on? We shall be poorer than +ever when we get back. Chee-Chee's perfectly +right: take the funny-looking thing along, do!" + +"Well, perhaps there is something in what you say," +murmured the Doctor. "It certainly would make +a nice new kind of pet. But does the er-- +what-do-you-call-it really want to go abroad?" + +"Yes, I'll go," said the pushmi-pullyu who +saw at once, from the Doctor's face, that he was +a man to be trusted. "You have been so kind +to the animals here--and the monkeys tell me +that I am the only one who will do. But you +must promise me that if I do not like it in the +Land of the White Men you will send me +back." + +"Why, certainly--of course, of course," said +the Doctor. "Excuse me, surely you are +related to the Deer Family, are you not?" + +"Yes," said the pushmi-pullyu--"to the +Abyssinian Gazelles and the Asiatic Chamois +--on my mother's side. My father's great- +grandfather was the last of the Unicorns." + +"Most interesting!" murmured the Doctor; +and he took a book out of the trunk which Dab- +Dab was packing and began turning the pages. +"Let us see if Buffon says anything--" + +"I notice," said the duck, "that you only talk +with one of your mouths. Can't the other head +talk as well?" + +"Oh, yes," said the pushmi-pullyu. "But I +keep the other mouth for eating--mostly. In +that way I can talk while I am eating without +being rude. Our people have always been very +polite." + +When the packing was finished and everything +was ready to start, the monkeys gave a +grand party for the Doctor, and all the animals +of the jungle came. And they had pineapples +and mangoes and honey and all sorts of good +things to eat and drink. + +After they had all finished eating, the Doctor +got up and said, + +"My friends: I am not clever at speaking +long words after dinner, like some men; and I +have just eaten many fruits and much honey. +But I wish to tell you that I am very sad at +leaving your beautiful country. Because I have +things to do in the Land of the White Men, I +must go. After I have gone, remember never +to let the flies settle on your food before you +eat it; and do not sleep on the ground when the +rains are coming. I--er--er--I hope you will +all live happily ever after." + +When the Doctor stopped speaking and sat +down, all the monkeys clapped their hands a +long time and said to one another, "Let it be +remembered always among our people that he +sat and ate with us, here, under the trees. +For surely he is the Greatest of Men!" + +And the Grand Gorilla, who had the strength +of seven horses in his hairy arms, rolled a great +rock up to the head of the table and said, + +"This stone for all time shall mark the spot." + +And even to this day, in the heart of the +Jungle, that stone still is there. And monkey- +mothers, passing through the forest with their +families, still point down at it from the branches +and whisper to their children, "Sh! There it is-- +look--where the Good White Man sat and ate food +with us in the Year of the Great Sickness!" + +Then, when the party was over, the Doctor +and his pets started out to go back to the seashore. +And all the monkeys went with him as +far as the edge of their country, carrying his +trunk and bags, to see him off. + + + +THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER + +THE BLACK PRINCE + +BY the edge of the river they stopped and said farewell. + +This took a long time, because all those thousands +of monkeys wanted to shake John Dolittle by the hand. + +Afterwards, when the Doctor and his pets +were going on alone, Polynesia said, + +"We must tread softly and talk low as we +go through the land of the Jolliginki. If the +King should hear us, he will send his soldiers +to catch us again; for I am sure he is still very +angry over the trick I played on him." + +"What I am wondering," said the Doctor, +"is where we are going to get another boat to +go home in.... Oh well, perhaps we'll find +one lying about on the beach that nobody is +using. `Never lift your foot till you come to +the stile.'" + +One day, while they were passing through +a very thick part of the forest, Chee-Chee went +ahead of them to look for cocoanuts. And +while he was away, the Doctor and the rest of +the animals, who did not know the jungle-paths +so well, got lost in the deep woods. They wandered +around and around but could not find +their way down to the seashore. + +Chee-Chee, when he could not see them +anywhere, was terribly upset. He climbed high +trees and looked out from the top branches to +try and see the Doctor's high hat; he waved and +shouted; he called to all the animals by name. +But it was no use. They seemed to have +disappeared altogether. + +Indeed they had lost their way very badly. +They had strayed a long way off the path, and +the jungle was so thick with bushes and +creepers and vines that sometimes they could hardly +move at all, and the Doctor had to take out +his pocket-knife and cut his way along. They +stumbled into wet, boggy places; they got all +tangled up in thick convolvulus-runners; they +scratched themselves on thorns, and twice they +nearly lost the medicine-bag in the under-brush. +There seemed no end to their troubles; and +nowhere could they come upon a path. + +At last, after blundering about like this for +many days, getting their clothes torn and their +faces covered with mud, they walked right into +the King's back-garden by mistake. The King's +men came running up at once and caught them. + +But Polynesia flew into a tree in the garden, +without anybody seeing her, and hid herself. +The Doctor and the rest were taken before the King. + +"Ha, ha!" cried the King. "So you are +caught again! This time you shall not escape. +Take them all back to prison and put double +locks on the door. This White Man shall scrub +my kitchen-floor for the rest of his life!" + +So the Doctor and his pets were led back to +prison and locked up. And the Doctor was told +that in the morning he must begin scrubbing the +kitchen-floor. + +They were all very unhappy. + +"This is a great nuisance," said the Doctor. +"I really must get back to Puddleby. That +poor sailor will think I've stolen his ship if I +don't get home soon.... I wonder if those +hinges are loose." + +But the door was very strong and firmly +locked. There seemed no chance of getting out. +Then Gub-Gub began to cry again. + +All this time Polynesia was still sitting in the +tree in the palace-garden. She was saying nothing +and blinking her eyes. + +This was always a very bad sign with +Polynesia. Whenever she said nothing and blinked +her eyes, it meant that somebody had been making +trouble, and she was thinking out some way +to put things right. People who made trouble +for Polynesia or her friends were nearly always +sorry for it afterwards. + +Presently she spied Chee-Chee swinging +through the trees still looking for the Doctor. +When Chee-Chee saw her, he came into her +tree and asked her what had become of him. + +"The Doctor and all the animals have been +caught by the King's men and locked up again," +whispered Polynesia. "We lost our way in the +jungle and blundered into the palace-garden by +mistake." + +"But couldn't you guide them?" asked Chee- +Chee; and he began to scold the parrot for +letting them get lost while he was away looking +for the cocoanuts. + +"It was all that stupid pig's fault," said +Polynesia. "He would keep running off the +path hunting for ginger-roots. And I was kept +so busy catching him and bringing him back, +that I turned to the left, instead of the right, +when we reached the swamp.--Sh!--Look! +There's Prince Bumpo coming into the garden! +He must not see us.--Don't move, whatever you do!" + +And there, sure enough, was Prince Bumpo, +the King's son, opening the garden-gate. He +carried a book of fairy-tales under his arm. He +came strolling down the gravel-walk, humming +a sad song, till he reached a stone seat right +under the tree where the parrot and the monkey +were hiding. Then he lay down on the seat +and began reading the fairy-stories to himself. + +Chee-Chee and Polynesia watched him, +keeping very quiet and still. + +After a while the King's son laid the book +down and sighed a weary sigh. + +"If I were only a WHITE prince!" said he, with +a dreamy, far-away look in his eyes. + +Then the parrot, talking in a small, high +voice like a little girl, said aloud, + +"Bumpo, some one might turn thee into a +white prince perchance." + +The King's son started up off the seat and +looked all around. + +"What is this I hear?" he cried. "Methought +the sweet music of a fairy's silver voice rang +from yonder bower! Strange!" + +"Worthy Prince," said Polynesia, keeping +very still so Bumpo couldn't see her, "thou sayest +winged words of truth. For 'tis I, Tripsitinka, +the Queen of the Fairies, that speak to +thee. I am hiding in a rose-bud." + +"Oh tell me, Fairy-Queen," cried Bumpo, +clasping his hands in joy, "who is it can turn +me white?" + +"In thy father's prison," said the parrot, +"there lies a famous wizard, John Dolittle by +name. Many things he knows of medicine and +magic, and mighty deeds has he performed. +Yet thy kingly father leaves him languishing +long and lingering hours. Go to him, brave +Bumpo, secretly, when the sun has set; and +behold, thou shalt be made the whitest prince that +ever won fair lady! I have said enough. I +must now go back to Fairyland. Farewell!" + +"Farewell!" cried the Prince. "A thousand thanks, +good Tripsitinka!" + +And he sat down on the seat again with a +smile upon his face, waiting for the sun to set. + + + +THE TWELFTH CHAPTER + +MEDICINE AND MAGIC + +VERY, very quietly, making sure that no one should see +her, Polynesia then slipped out at the back of the tree +and flew across to the prison. + +She found Gub-Gub poking his nose through +the bars of the window, trying to sniff the +cooking-smells that came from the palace- +kitchen. She told the pig to bring the Doctor +to the window because she wanted to speak to +him. So Gub-Gub went and woke the Doctor +who was taking a nap. + +"Listen," whispered the parrot, when John +Dolittle's face appeared: "Prince Bumpo is +coming here to-night to see you. And you've +got to find some way to turn him white. But +be sure to make him promise you first that he +will open the prison-door and find a ship for +you to cross the sea in." + +"This is all very well," said the Doctor. +"But it isn't so easy to turn a black man white. +You speak as though he were a dress to be re- +dyed. It's not so simple. `Shall the leopard +change his spots, or the Ethiopian his skin,' you +know?" + +"I don't know anything about that," said +Polynesia impatiently. "But you MUST turn this +man white. Think of a way--think hard. +You've got plenty of medicines left in the bag. +He'll do anything for you if you change his +color. It is your only chance to get out of +prison." + +"Well, I suppose it MIGHT be possible," said +the Doctor. "Let me see--," and he went over +to his medicine-bag, murmuring something +about "liberated chlorine on animal-pigment-- +perhaps zinc-ointment, as a temporary measure, +spread thick--" + +Well, that night Prince Bumpo came secretly +to the Doctor in prison and said to him, + +"White Man, I am an unhappy prince. +Years ago I went in search of The Sleeping +Beauty, whom I had read of in a book. And +having traveled through the world many days, +I at last found her and kissed the lady very +gently to awaken her--as the book said I should. +'Tis true indeed that she awoke. But when +she saw my face she cried out, `Oh, he's black!' +And she ran away and wouldn't marry me--but +went to sleep again somewhere else. So I came +back, full of sadness, to my father's kingdom. +Now I hear that you are a wonderful magician +and have many powerful potions. So I come to +you for help. If you will turn me white, so +that I may go back to The Sleeping Beauty, I +will give you half my kingdom and anything +besides you ask." + +"Prince Bumpo," said the Doctor, looking +thoughtfully at the bottles in his medicine-bag, +"supposing I made your hair a nice blonde +color--would not that do instead to make you +happy?" + +"No," said Bumpo. "Nothing else will +satisfy me. I must be a white prince." + +"You know it is very hard to change the color +of a prince," said the Doctor--"one of the hardest +things a magician can do. You only want +your face white, do you not?" + +"Yes, that is all," said Bumpo. "Because I +shall wear shining armor and gauntlets of steel, +like the other white princes, and ride on a +horse." + +"Must your face be white all over?" asked the Doctor. + +"Yes, all over," said Bumpo--"and I would +like my eyes blue too, but I suppose that would +be very hard to do." + +"Yes, it would," said the Doctor quickly. +"Well, I will do what I can for you. You will +have to be very patient though--you know with +some medicines you can never be very sure. I +might have to try two or three times. You have +a strong skin--yes? Well that's all right. +Now come over here by the light--Oh, but before +I do anything, you must first go down to +the beach and get a ship ready, with food in it, +to take me across the sea. Do not speak a word +of this to any one. And when I have done as +you ask, you must let me and all my animals +out of prison. Promise--by the crown of Jolliginki!" + +So the Prince promised and went away to get +a ship ready at the seashore. + +When he came back and said that it was done, +the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to bring a basin. +Then he mixed a lot of medicines in the basin +and told Bumpo to dip his face in it. + +The Prince leaned down and put his face in +--right up to the ears. + +He held it there a long time--so long that +the Doctor seemed to get dreadfully anxious +and fidgety, standing first on one leg and then +on the other, looking at all the bottles he had +used for the mixture, and reading the labels on +them again and again. A strong smell filled +the prison, like the smell of brown paper +burning. + +At last the Prince lifted his face up out of the +basin, breathing very hard. And all the animals +cried out in surprise. + +For the Prince's face had turned as white as +snow, and his eyes, which had been mud-colored, +were a manly gray! + +When John Dolittle lent him a little looking- +glass to see himself in, he sang for joy and +began dancing around the prison. But the +Doctor asked him not to make so much noise +about it; and when he had closed his medicine-bag +in a hurry he told him to open the prison-door. + +Bumpo begged that he might keep the looking- +glass, as it was the only one in the Kingdom +of Jolliginki, and he wanted to look at himself +all day long. But the Doctor said he needed +it to shave with. + +Then the Prince, taking a bunch of copper +keys from his pocket, undid the great double +locks. And the Doctor with all his animals ran +as fast as they could down to the seashore; while +Bumpo leaned against the wall of the empty +dungeon, smiling after them happily, his big +face shining like polished ivory in the light of +the moon. + +When they came to the beach they saw +Polynesia and Chee-Chee waiting for them on the +rocks near the ship. + +"I feel sorry about Bumpo," said the Doctor. + +"I am afraid that medicine I used will never +last. Most likely he will be as black as ever +when he wakes up in the morning--that's one +reason why I didn't like to leave the mirror with +him. But then again, he MIGHT stay white--I +had never used that mixture before. To tell the +truth, I was surprised, myself, that it worked +so well. But I had to do something, didn't I? +--I couldn't possibly scrub the King's kitchen +for the rest of my life. It was such a dirty +kitchen!--I could see it from the prison- +window.--Well, well!--Poor Bumpo!" + +"Oh, of course he will know we were just +joking with him," said the parrot. + +"They had no business to lock us up," said Dab-Dab, +waggling her tail angrily. "We never did them any harm. +Serve him right, if he does turn black again! I hope it's +a dark black." + +"But HE didn't have anything to do with it," +said the Doctor. "It was the King, his father, +who had us locked up--it wasn't Bumpo's fault. +...I wonder if I ought to go back and apologize-- +Oh, well--I'll send him some candy +when I get to Puddleby. And who knows?-- +he may stay white after all." + +"The Sleeping Beauty would never have him, +even if he did," said Dab-Dab. "He looked +better the way he was, I thought. But he'd +never be anything but ugly, no matter what +color he was made." + +"Still, he had a good heart," said the Doctor +--"romantic, of course--but a good heart. +After all, `handsome is as handsome does.'" + +"I don't believe the poor booby found The +Sleeping Beauty at all," said Jip, the dog. +"Most likely he kissed some farmer's fat wife +who was taking a snooze under an apple-tree. +Can't blame her for getting scared! I wonder +who he'll go and kiss this time. Silly business!" + +Then the pushmi-pullyu, the white mouse, +Gub-Gub, Dab-Dab, Jip and the owl, Too-Too, +went on to the ship with the Doctor. But Chee- +Chee, Polynesia and the crocodile stayed behind, +because Africa was their proper home, the land +where they were born. + +And when the Doctor stood upon the boat, he +looked over the side across the water. And then +he remembered that they had no one with them +to guide them back to Puddleby. + +The wide, wide sea looked terribly big and +lonesome in the moonlight; and he began to +wonder if they would lose their way when they +passed out of sight of land. + +But even while he was wondering, they heard +a strange whispering noise, high in the air, +coming through the night. And the animals all +stopped saying Good-by and listened. + +The noise grew louder and bigger. It seemed +to be coming nearer to them--a sound like the +Autumn wind blowing through the leaves of a +poplar-tree, or a great, great rain beating down +upon a roof. + +And Jip, with his nose pointing and his tail +quite straight, said, + +"Birds!--millions of them--flying fast--that's it!" + +And then they all looked up. And there, +streaming across the face of the moon, like a +huge swarm of tiny ants, they could see thousands +and thousands of little birds. Soon the +whole sky seemed full of them, and still more +kept coming--more and more. There were so +many that for a little they covered the whole +moon so it could not shine, and the sea grew +dark and black--like when a storm-cloud passes +over the sun. + +And presently all these birds came down close, +skimming over the water and the land; and the +night-sky was left clear above, and the moon +shone as before. Still never a call nor a cry +nor a song they made--no sound but this great +rustling of feathers which grew greater now +than ever. When they began to settle on the +sands, along the ropes of the ship--anywhere +and everywhere except the trees--the Doctor +could see that they had blue wings and white +breasts and very short, feathered legs. As soon +as they had all found a place to sit, suddenly, +there was no noise left anywhere--all was quiet; +all was still. + +And in the silent moonlight John Dolittle +spoke: + +"I had no idea that we had been in Africa +so long. It will be nearly Summer when we +get home. For these are the swallows going +back. Swallows, I thank you for waiting for +us. It is very thoughtful of you. Now we need +not be afraid that we will lose our way upon the +sea.... Pull up the anchor and set the sail!" + +When the ship moved out upon the water, +those who stayed behind, Chee-Chee, Polynesia +and the crocodile, grew terribly sad. For never +in their lives had they known any one they liked +so well as Doctor John Dolittle of Puddleby-on- +the-Marsh. + +And after they had called Good-by to him +again and again and again, they still stood there +upon the rocks, crying bitterly and waving till +the ship was out of sight. + + + +THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER + +RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS + +SAILING homeward, the Doctor's ship had to pass the coast +of Barbary. This coast is the seashore of the Great Desert. +It is a wild, lonely place--all sand and stones. And it was +here that the Barbary pirates lived. + +These pirates, a bad lot of men, used to wait +for sailors to be shipwrecked on their shores. +And often, if they saw a boat passing, they would +come out in their fast sailing-ships and chase it. +When they caught a boat like this at sea, they +would steal everything on it; and after they had +taken the people off they would sink the ship +and sail back to Barbary singing songs and feeling +proud of the mischief they had done. Then +they used to make the people they had caught +write home to their friends for money. And if +the friends sent no money, the pirates often +threw the people into the sea. + +Now one sunshiny day the Doctor and Dab- +Dab were walking up and down on the ship +for exercise; a nice fresh wind was blowing the +boat along, and everybody was happy. Presently +Dab-Dab saw the sail of another ship a +long way behind them on the edge of the sea. +It was a red sail. + +"I don't like the look of that sail," said Dab- +Dab. "I have a feeling it isn't a friendly ship. +I am afraid there is more trouble coming to us." + +Jip, who was lying near taking a nap in the +sun, began to growl and talk in his sleep. + +"I smell roast beef cooking," he mumbled-- +"underdone roast beef--with brown gravy over it." + +"Good gracious!" cried the Doctor. "What's +the matter with the dog? Is he SMELLING in his +sleep--as well as talking?" + +"I suppose he is," said Dab-Dab. "All dogs +can smell in their sleep." + +"But what is he smelling?" asked the Doctor. + +"There is no roast beef cooking on our ship." +"No," said Dab-Dab. "The roast beef must +be on that other ship over there." + +"But that's ten miles away," said the Doctor. +"He couldn't smell that far surely!" + +"Oh, yes, he could," said Dab-Dab. "You ask him." + +Then Jip, still fast asleep, began to growl +again and his lip curled up angrily, showing +his clean, white teeth. + +"I smell bad men," he growled--"the worst +men I ever smelt. I smell trouble. I smell a +fight--six bad scoundrels fighting against one +brave man. I want to help him. Woof--oo--WOOF!" +Then he barked, loud, and woke himself up with +a surprised look on his face. + +"See!" cried Dab-Dab. "That boat is nearer now. +You can count its three big sails--all red. +Whoever it is, they are coming after us.... +I wonder who they are." + +"They are bad sailors," said Jip; "and their +ship is very swift. They are surely the pirates +of Barbary." + +"Well, we must put up more sails on our +boat," said the Doctor, "so we can go faster and +get away from them. Run downstairs, Jip, and +fetch me all the sails you see." + +The dog hurried downstairs and dragged up +every sail he could find. + +But even when all these were put up on the +masts to catch the wind, the boat did not go +nearly as fast as the pirates'--which kept coming +on behind, closer and closer. + +"This is a poor ship the Prince gave us," said +Gub-Gub, the pig--"the slowest he could find, +I should think. Might as well try to win a race +in a soup-tureen as hope to get away from them +in this old barge. Look how near they are now! +--You can see the mustaches on the faces of the +men--six of them. What are we going to do?" + +Then the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to fly up and +tell the swallows that pirates were coming after +them in a swift ship, and what should he do +about it. + +When the swallows heard this, they all came +down on to the Doctor's ship; and they told him +to unravel some pieces of long rope and make +them into a lot of thin strings as quickly as he +could. Then the ends of these strings were tied +on to the front of the ship; and the swallows +took hold of the strings with their feet and flew +off, pulling the boat along. + +And although swallows are not very strong +when only one or two are by themselves, it is +different when there are a great lot of them +together. And there, tied to the Doctor's ship, +were a thousand strings; and two thousand +swallows were pulling on each string--all terribly +swift fliers. + +And in a moment the Doctor found himself +traveling so fast he had to hold his hat on with +both hands; for he felt as though the ship itself +were flying through waves that frothed and +boiled with speed. + +And all the animals on the ship began to +laugh and dance about in the rushing air, for +when they looked back at the pirates' ship, they +could see that it was growing smaller now, +instead of bigger. The red sails were being left +far, far behind. + + + +THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER + +THE RATS' WARNING + +DRAGGING a ship through the sea is hard work. And after +two or three hours the swallows began to get tired in the +wings and short of breath. Then they sent a message +down to the Doctor to say that they would have +to take a rest soon; and that they would pull the +boat over to an island not far off, and hide it in +a deep bay till they had got breath enough to go on. + +And presently the Doctor saw the island they +had spoken of. It had a very beautiful, high, +green mountain in the middle of it. + +When the ship had sailed safely into the bay +where it could not be seen from the open sea, +the Doctor said he would get off on to the island +to look for water--because there was none left +to drink on his ship. And he told all the animals +to get out too and romp on the grass to +stretch their legs. + +Now as they were getting off, the Doctor +noticed that a whole lot of rats were coming up +from downstairs and leaving the ship as well. +Jip started to run after them, because chasing +rats had always been his favorite game. But +the Doctor told him to stop. + +And one big black rat, who seemed to want +to say something to the Doctor, now crept forward +timidly along the rail, watching the dog +out of the corner of his eye. And after he had +coughed nervously two or three times, and +cleaned his whiskers and wiped his mouth, he +said, + +"Ahem--er--you know of course that all +ships have rats in them, Doctor, do you not?" + +And the Doctor said, "Yes." + +"And you have heard that rats always leave +a sinking ship?" + +"Yes," said the Doctor--"so I've been told." + +"People," said the rat, "always speak of it +with a sneer--as though it were something dis- +graceful. But you can't blame us, can you? +After all, who WOULD stay on a sinking ship, if +he could get off it?" + +"It's very natural," said the Doctor--"very +natural. I quite understand.... Was there-- +Was there anything else you wished to say?" + +"Yes," said the rat. "I've come to tell you +that we are leaving this one. But we wanted to +warn you before we go. This is a bad ship +you have here. It isn't safe. The sides aren't +strong enough. Its boards are rotten. Before +to-morrow night it will sink to the bottom of +the sea." + +"But how do you know?" asked the Doctor. + +"We always know," answered the rat. "The +tips of our tails get that tingly feeling--like +when your foot's asleep. This morning, at six +o'clock, while I was getting breakfast, my tail +suddenly began to tingle. At first I thought it +was my rheumatism coming back. So I went +and asked my aunt how she felt--you remember +her?--the long, piebald rat, rather skinny, who +came to see you in Puddleby last Spring with +jaundice? Well--and she said HER tail was +tingling like everything! Then we knew, for +sure, that this boat was going to sink in less than +two days; and we all made up our minds to +leave it as soon as we got near enough to any +land. It's a bad ship, Doctor. Don't sail in +it any more, or you'll be surely drowned.... +Good-by! We are now going to look for a good +place to live on this island." + +"Good-by!" said the Doctor. "And thank +you very much for coming to tell me. Very +considerate of you--very! Give my regards to +your aunt. I remember her perfectly.... +Leave that rat alone, Jip! Come here! Lie down!" + +So then the Doctor and all his animals went +off, carrying pails and saucepans, to look for +water on the island, while the swallows took +their rest. + +"I wonder what is the name of this island," +said the Doctor, as he was climbing up the +mountainside. "It seems a pleasant place. +What a lot of birds there are!" + +"Why, these are the Canary Islands," said +Dab-Dab. "Don't you hear the canaries singing?" + +The Doctor stopped and listened. + +"Why, to be sure--of course!" he said. +"How stupid of me! I wonder if they can tell +us where to find water." + +And presently the canaries, who had heard all +about Doctor Dolittle from birds of passage, +came and led him to a beautiful spring of cool, +clear water where the canaries used to take their +bath; and they showed him lovely meadows +where the bird-seed grew and all the other +sights of their island. + +And the pushmi-pullyu was glad they had +come; because he liked the green grass so much +better than the dried apples he had been eating +on the ship. And Gub-Gub squeaked for joy +when he found a whole valley full of wild +sugarcane. + +A little later, when they had all had plenty +to eat and drink, and were lying on their backs +while the canaries sang for them, two of the swallows +came hurrying up, very flustered and excited. + +"Doctor!" they cried, "the pirates have come +into the bay; and they've all got on to your ship. +They are downstairs looking for things to steal. +They have left their own ship with nobody on +it. If you hurry and come down to the shore, +you can get on to their ship--which is very fast +--and escape. But you'll have to hurry." + +"That's a good idea," said the Doctor--"splendid!" + +And he called his animals together at once, +said Good-by to the canaries and ran down to the beach. + +When they reached the shore they saw the +pirate-ship, with the three red sails, standing in +the water; and--just as the swallows had said +--there was nobody on it; all the pirates were +downstairs in the Doctor's ship, looking for +things to steal. + +So John Dolittle told his animals to walk very +softly and they all crept on to the pirate-ship. + + + +THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER + +THE BARBARY DRAGON + +EVERYTHING would have gone all right if the pig had not caught +a cold in his head while eating the damp sugar-cane on the +island. This is what happened: + +After they had pulled up the anchor without a sound, +and were moving the ship very, very carefully out of the bay, +Gub-Gub suddenly sneezed so loud that the pirates +on the other ship came rushing upstairs to see +what the noise was. + +As soon as they saw that the Doctor was +escaping, they sailed the other boat right across +the entrance to the bay so that the Doctor could +not get out into the open sea. + +Then the leader of these bad men (who called +himself "Ben Ali, The Dragon") shook his fist +at the Doctor and shouted across the water, + +"Ha! Ha! You are caught, my fine friend! +You were going to run off in my ship, eh? But +you are not a good enough sailor to beat Ben +Ali, the Barbary Dragon. I want that duck +you've got--and the pig too. We'll have pork- +chops and roast duck for supper to-night. And +before I let you go home, you must make your +friends send me a trunk-full of gold." + +Poor Gub-Gub began to weep; and Dab-Dab +made ready to fly to save her life. But the owl, +Too-Too, whispered to the Doctor, + +"Keep him talking, Doctor. Be pleasant to +him. Our old ship is bound to sink soon--the +rats said it would be at the bottom of the sea +before to-morrow night--and the rats are never +wrong. Be pleasant, till the ship sinks under +him. Keep him talking." + +"What, until to-morrow night!" said the Doctor. +"Well, I'll do my best.... Let me see-- +What shall I talk about?" + +"Oh, let them come on," said Jip. "We can +fight the dirty rascals. There are only six of +them. Let them come on. I'd love to tell that +collie next door, when we get home, that I had bitten +a real pirate. Let 'em come. We can fight them." + +"But they have pistols and swords," said the +Doctor. "No, that would never do. I must +talk to him.... Look here, Ben Ali--" + +But before the Doctor could say any more, +the pirates began to sail the ship nearer, laughing +with glee, and saying one to another, "Who +shall be the first to catch the pig?" + +Poor Gub-Gub was dreadfully frightened; +and the pushmi-pullyu began to sharpen his +horns for a fight by rubbing them on the mast +of the ship; while Jip kept springing into the +air and barking and calling Ben Ali bad names +in dog-language. + +But presently something seemed to go wrong +with the pirates; they stopped laughing and +cracking jokes; they looked puzzled; something +was making them uneasy. + +Then Ben Ali, staring down at his feet, +suddenly bellowed out, + +"Thunder and Lightning!--Men, THE BOAT'S LEAKING!" + +And then the other pirates peered over the +side and they saw that the boat was indeed getting +lower and lower in the water. And one +of them said to Ben Ali, + +"But surely if this old boat were sinking we +should see the rats leaving it." + +And Jip shouted across from the other ship, + +"You great duffers, there are no rats there +to leave! They left two hours ago! `Ha, ha,' +to you, `my fine friends!'" + +But of course the men did not understand him. +Soon the front end of the ship began to go +down and down, faster and faster--till the boat +looked almost as though it were standing on its +head; and the pirates had to cling to the rails +and the masts and the ropes and anything to +keep from sliding off. Then the sea rushed +roaring in and through all the windows and the +doors. And at last the ship plunged right down +to the bottom of the sea, making a dreadful +gurgling sound; and the six bad men were left +bobbing about in the deep water of the bay. + +Some of them started to swim for the shores +of the island; while others came and tried to get +on to the boat where the Doctor was. But Jip +kept snapping at their noses, so they were afraid +to climb up the side of the ship. + +Then suddenly they all cried out in great fear, + +"THE SHARKS! The sharks are coming! Let us +get on to the ship before they eat us! Help, +help!--The sharks! The sharks!" + +And now the Doctor could see, all over the +bay, the backs of big fishes swimming swiftly +through the water. + +And one great shark came near to the ship, +and poking his nose out of the water he said to +the Doctor, + +"Are you John Dolittle, the famous animal- doctor?" + +"Yes," said Doctor Dolittle. "That is my +name." + +"Well," said the shark, "we know these +pirates to be a bad lot--especially Ben Ali. If they +are annoying you, we will gladly eat them up +for you--and then you won't be troubled any +more." + +"Thank you," said the Doctor. "This is +really most attentive. But I don't think it will +be necessary to eat them. Don't let any of them +reach the shore until I tell you--just keep them +swimming about, will you? And please make +Ben Ali swim over here that I may talk to +him." + +So the shark went off and chased Ben Ali over +to the Doctor. + +"Listen, Ben Ali," said John Dolittle, +leaning over the side. "You have been a very bad +man; and I understand that you have killed +many people. These good sharks here have just +offered to eat you up for me--and 'twould +indeed be a good thing if the seas were rid of you. +But if you will promise to do as I tell you, I +well let you go in safety." + +"What must I do?" asked the pirate, looking +down sideways at the big shark who was smelling +his leg under the water. + +"You must kill no more people," said the +Doctor; "you must stop stealing; you must +never sink another ship; you must give up being +a pirate altogether." + +"But what shall I do then?" asked Ben Ali. +"How shall I live?" + +"You and all your men must go on to this +island and be bird-seed-farmers," the Doctor +answered. "You must grow bird-seed for the +canaries." + +The Barbary Dragon turned pale with anger. +"GROW BIRD-SEED!" he groaned in disgust. +"Can't I be a sailor?" + +"No," said the Doctor, "you cannot. You +have been a sailor long enough--and sent many +stout ships and good men to the bottom of the +sea. For the rest of your life you must be la +peaceful farmer. The shark is waiting. Do +not waste any more of his time. Make up your +mind." + +"Thunder and Lightning!" Ben Ali +muttered--"BIRD-SEED!" Then he looked down +into the water again and saw the great fish +smelling his other leg. + +"Very well," he said sadly. "We'll be +farmers." + +"And remember," said the Doctor, "that if +you do not keep your promise--if you start +killing and stealing again, I shall hear of it, +because the canaries will come and tell me. +And be very sure that I will find a way to punish +you. For though I may not be able to sail +a ship as well as you, so long as the birds and +the beasts and the fishes are my friends, I do not +have to be afraid of a pirate chief--even though +he call himself `The Dragon of Barbary.' Now +go and be a good farmer and live in peace." + +Then the Doctor turned to the big shark, and +waving his hand he said, + +"All right. Let them swim safely to the land." + + + +THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER + +TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER + +HAVING thanked the sharks again for their kindness, +the Doctor and his pets set off once more on their +journey home in the swift ship with the three red sails. + +As they moved out into the open sea, the +animals all went downstairs to see what their new +boat was like inside; while the Doctor leant on +the rail at the back of the ship with a pipe in his +mouth, watching the Canary Islands fade away +in the blue dusk of the evening. + +While he was standing there, wondering how +the monkeys were getting on--and what his +garden would look like when he got back to +Puddleby, Dab-Dab came tumbling up the +stairs, all smiles and full of news. + +"Doctor!" she cried. "This ship of the pi- +rates is simply beautiful--absolutely. The beds +downstairs are made of primrose silk--with +hundreds of big pillows and cushions; there are +thick, soft carpets on the floors; the dishes are +made of silver; and there are all sorts of good +things to eat and drink--special things; the +larder--well, it's just like a shop, that's all. +You never saw anything like it in your life-- +Just think--they kept five different kinds of +sardines, those men! Come and look.... Oh, +and we found a little room down there with the +door locked; and we are all crazy to get in and +see what's inside. Jip says it must be where the +pirates kept their treasure. But we can't open +the door. Come down and see if you can let +us in." + +So the Doctor went downstairs and he saw +that it was indeed a beautiful ship. He found +the animals gathered round a little door, all +talking at once, trying to guess what was inside. +The Doctor turned the handle but it wouldn't +open. Then they all started to hunt for the key. +They looked under the mat; they looked under +all the carpets; they looked in all the cupboards +and drawers and lockers--in the big chests in the +ship's dining-room; they looked everywhere. + +While they were doing this they discovered +a lot of new and wonderful things that the +pirates must have stolen from other ships: Kashmir +shawls as thin as a cobweb, embroidered +with flowers of gold; jars of fine tobacco from +Jamaica; carved ivory boxes full of Russian +tea; an old violin with a string broken and a +picture on the back; a set of big chess-men, +carved out of coral and amber; a walking-stick +which had a sword inside it when you pulled +the handle; six wine-glasses with turquoise +and silver round the rims; and a lovely great +sugar-bowl, made of mother o' pearl. But +nowhere in the whole boat could they find a key to +fit that lock. + +So they all came back to the door, and Jip +peered through the key-hole. But something +had been stood against the wall on the inside +and he could see nothing. + +While they were standing around, wondering +what they should do, the owl, Too-Too, +suddenly said, + +"Sh!--Listen!--I do believe there's some +one in there!" + +They all kept still a moment. Then the +Doctor said, + +"You must be mistaken, Too-Too. I don't +hear anything." + +"I'm sure of it," said the owl. "Sh!--There +it is again--Don't you hear that?" + +"No, I do not," said the Doctor. "What +kind of a sound is it?" + +"I hear the noise of some one putting his +hand in his pocket," said the owl. + +"But that makes hardly any sound at all," said +the Doctor. "You couldn't hear that out here." + +"Pardon me, but I can," said Too-Too. "I +tell you there is some one on the other side of +that door putting his hand in his pocket. Almost +everything makes SOME noise--if your ears +are only sharp enough to catch it. Bats can hear +a mole walking in his tunnel under the earth +--and they think they're good hearers. But we +owls can tell you, using only one ear, the color +of a kitten from the way it winks in the dark." + +"Well, well!" said the Doctor. "You +surprise me. That's very interesting.... Listen +again and tell me what he's doing now." + +"I'm not sure yet," said Too-Too, "if it's a +man at all. Maybe it's a woman. Lift me up +and let me listen at the key-hole and I'll soon +tell you." + +So the Doctor lifted the owl up and held him +close to the lock of the door. + +After a moment Too-Too said, + +"Now he's rubbing his face with his left +hand. It is a small hand and a small face. +It MIGHT be a woman--No. Now he pushes his +hair back off his forehead--It's a man all right." + +"Women sometimes do that," said the Doctor. + +"True," said the owl. "But when they do, +their long hair makes quite a different sound. +... Sh! Make that fidgety pig keep still. +Now all hold your breath a moment so I can +listen well. This is very difficult, what I'm +doing now--and the pesky door is so thick! Sh! +Everybody quite still--shut your eyes and don't breathe." + +Too-Too leaned down and listened again +very hard and long. + +At last he looked up into the Doctor's face +and said, + +"The man in there is unhappy. He weeps. +He has taken care not to blubber or sniffle, lest +we should find out that he is crying. But I +heard--quite distinctly--the sound of a tear +falling on his sleeve." + +"How do you know it wasn't a drop of water +falling off the ceiling on him?" asked Gub-Gub. +"Pshaw!--Such ignorance!" sniffed Too- +Too. "A drop of water falling off the ceiling +would have made ten times as much noise!" + +"Well," said the Doctor, "if the poor +fellow's unhappy, we've got to get in and see +what's the matter with him. Find me an axe, +and I'll chop the door down." + + + + +THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER + +THE OCEAN GOSSIPS + +RIGHT away an axe was found. And the Doctor soon chopped a +hole in the door big enough to clamber through. + +At first he could see nothing at all, it was so dark inside. +So he struck a match. + +The room was quite small; no window; the +ceiling, low. For furniture there was only one +little stool. All round the room big barrels +stood against the walls, fastened at the bottom +so they wouldn't tumble with the rolling of the +ship; and above the barrels, pewter jugs of all +sizes hung from wooden pegs. There was a +strong, winey smell. And in the middle of the +floor sat a little boy, about eight years old, +crying bitterly. + +"I declare, it is the pirates' rum-room!" +said Jip in a whisper. + +"Yes. Very rum!" said Gub-Gub. +"The smell makes me giddy." + +The little boy seemed rather frightened to +find a man standing there before him and all +those animals staring in through the hole in the +broken door. But as soon as he saw John +Dolittle's face by the light of the match, he stopped +crying and got up. + +"You aren't one of the pirates, are you?" he asked. + +And when the Doctor threw back his head +and laughed long and loud, the little boy smiled +too and came and took his hand. + +"You laugh like a friend," he said--"not +like a pirate. Could you tell me where my +uncle is?" + +"I am afraid I can't," said the Doctor. +"When did you see him last?" + +"It was the day before yesterday," said the +boy. "I and my uncle were out fishing in our +little boat, when the pirates came and caught +us. They sunk our fishing-boat and brought us +both on to this ship. They told my uncle that +they wanted him to be a pirate like them--for +he was clever at sailing a ship in all weathers. +But he said he didn't want to be a pirate, +because killing people and stealing was no work +for a good fisherman to do. Then the leader, +Ben Ali, got very angry and gnashed his teeth, +and said they would throw my uncle into the +sea if he didn't do as they said. They sent me +downstairs; and I heard the noise of a fight +going on above. And when they let me come up +again next day, my uncle was nowhere to be +seen. I asked the pirates where he was; but +they wouldn't tell me. I am very much afraid +they threw him into the sea and drowned him." + +And the little boy began to cry again. + +"Well now--wait a minute," said the Doctor. +"Don't cry. Let's go and have tea in the dining- +room, and we'll talk it over. Maybe your +uncle is quite safe all the time. You don't KNOW +that he was drowned, do you? And that's +something. Perhaps we can find him for you. First +we'll go and have tea--with strawberry-jam; +and then we will see what can be done." + +All the animals had been standing around +listening with great curiosity. And when they +had gone into the ship's dining-room and were +having tea, Dab-Dab came up behind the +Doctor's chair and whispered. + +"Ask the porpoises if the boy's uncle was +drowned--they'll know." + +"All right," said the Doctor, taking a second +piece of bread-and-jam. + +"What are those funny, clicking noises you +are making with your tongue?" asked the boy. + +"Oh, I just said a couple of words in duck- +language," the Doctor answered. "This is +Dab-Dab, one of my pets." + +"I didn't even know that ducks had a +language," said the boy. "Are all these other +animals your pets, too? What is that strange- +looking thing with two heads?" + +"Sh!" the Doctor whispered. "That is the +pushmi-pullyu. Don't let him see we're talking +about him--he gets so dreadfully embarrassed.... +Tell me, how did you come to be +locked up in that little room?" + +"The pirates shut me in there when they +were going off to steal things from another ship. +When I heard some one chopping on the door, +I didn't know who it could be. I was very +glad to find it was you. Do you think you will +be able to find my uncle for me?" + +"Well, we are going to try very hard," said +the Doctor. "Now what was your uncle like to +look at?" + +"He had red hair," the boy answered--"very +red hair, and the picture of an anchor tattooed +on his arm. He was a strong man, a kind uncle +and the best sailor in the South Atlantic. His +fishing-boat was called The Saucy Sally--a +cutter-rigged sloop." + +"What's `cutterigsloop'?" whispered Gub- +Gub, turning to Jip. + +"Sh!--That's the kind of a ship the man had," +said Jip. "Keep still, can't you?" + +"Oh," said the pig, "is that all? I thought +it was something to drink." + +So the Doctor left the boy to play with the +animals in the dining-room, and went upstairs +to look for passing porpoises. + +And soon a whole school came dancing and +jumping through the water, on their way to +Brazil. + +When they saw the Doctor leaning on the +rail of his ship, they came over to see how he +was getting on. + +And the Doctor asked them if they had seen +anything of a man with red hair and an anchor +tattooed on his arm. + +"Do you mean the master of The Saucy Sally?" +asked the porpoises. + +"Yes," said the Doctor. "That's the man. +Has he been drowned?" + +"His fishing-sloop was sunk," said the +porpoises--"for we saw it lying on the bottom of +the sea. But there was nobody inside it, because +we went and looked." + +"His little nephew is on the ship with me +here," said the Doctor. "And he is terribly +afraid that the pirates threw his uncle into the +sea. Would you be so good as to find out for +me, for sure, whether he has been drowned or +not?" + +"Oh, he isn't drowned," said the porpoises. +"If he were, we would be sure to have heard of +it from the deep-sea Decapods. We hear all +the salt-water news. The shell-fish call us `The +Ocean Gossips.' No--tell the little boy we are +sorry we do not know where his uncle is; but +we are quite certain he hasn't been drowned in +the sea." + +So the Doctor ran downstairs with the news +and told the nephew, who clapped his hands +with happiness. And the pushmi-pullyu took the +little boy on his back and gave him a ride round +the dining-room table; while all the other animals +followed behind, beating the dish-covers +with spoons, pretending it was a parade. + + + +THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER + +SMELLS + +YOUR uncle must now be FOUND," said the Doctor--"that is the +next thing--now that we know he wasn't thrown into the sea." + +Then Dab-Dab came up to him again and whispered, + +"Ask the eagles to look for the man. No living +creature can see better than an eagle. When they +are miles high in the air they can count the ants +crawling on the ground. Ask the eagles." + +So the Doctor sent one of the swallows off +to get some eagles. + +And in about an hour the little bird came +back with six different kinds of eagles: a Black +Eagle, a Bald Eagle, a Fish Eagle, a Golden +Eagle, an Eagle-Vulture, and a White-tailed +Sea Eagle. Twice as high as the boy they were, +each one of them. And they stood on the rail +of the ship, like round-shouldered soldiers all +in a row, stern and still and stiff; while their +great, gleaming, black eyes shot darting glances +here and there and everywhere. + +Gub-Gub was scared of them and got +behind a barrel. He said he felt as though those +terrible eyes were looking right inside of him +to see what he had stolen for lunch. + +And the Doctor said to the eagles, + +"A man has been lost--a fisherman with red +hair and an anchor marked on his arm. Would +you be so kind as to see if you can find him for +us? This boy is the man's nephew." + +Eagles do not talk very much. And all they +answered in their husky voices was, + +"You may be sure that we will do our best +--for John Dolittle." + +Then they flew off--and Gub-Gub came out +from behind his barrel to see them go. Up and +up and up they went--higher and higher and +higher still. Then, when the Doctor could only +just see them, they parted company and started +going off all different ways--North, East, +South and West, looking like tiny grains of +black sand creeping across the wide, blue sky. + +"My gracious!" said Gub-Gub in a hushed +voice. "What a height! I wonder they don't +scorch their feathers--so near the sun!" + +They were gone a long time. And when +they came back it was almost night. + +And the eagles said to the Doctor, + +"We have searched all the seas and all the +countries and all the islands and all the cities +and all the villages in this half of the world. +But we have failed. In the main street of +Gibraltar we saw three red hairs lying on a wheel- +barrow before a baker's door. But they were +not the hairs of a man--they were the hairs out +of a fur-coat. Nowhere, on land or water, could +we see any sign of this boy's uncle. And if WE +could not see him, then he is not to be seen.... +For John Dolittle--we have done our best." + +Then the six great birds flapped their big +wings and flew back to their homes in the +mountains and the rocks. + +"Well," said Dab-Dab, after they had gone, +"what are we going to do now? The boy's +uncle MUST be found--there's no two ways about +that. The lad isn't old enough to be knocking +around the world by himself. Boys aren't like +ducklings--they have to be taken care of till +they're quite old.... I wish Chee-Chee were +here. He would soon find the man. Good old +Chee-Chee! I wonder how he's getting on!" + +"If we only had Polynesia with us," said the +white mouse. "SHE would soon think of some +way. Do you remember how she got us all +out of prison--the second time? My, but she +was a clever one!" + +"I don't think so much of those eagle- +fellows,"said Jip. "They're just conceited. They +may have very good eyesight and all that; but +when you ask them to find a man for you, they +can't do it--and they have the cheek to come +back and say that nobody else could do it. +They're just conceited--like that collie in +Puddleby. And I don't think a whole lot of those +gossipy old porpoises either. All they could tell +us was that the man isn't in the sea. We don't +want to know where he ISN'T--we want to know +where he IS." + +"Oh, don't talk so much," said Gub-Gub. +"It's easy to talk; but it isn't so easy to find a +man when you have got the whole world to hunt +him in. Maybe the fisherman's hair has turned +white, worrying about the boy; and that was +why the eagles didn't find him. You don't +know everything. You're just talking. You +are not doing anything to help. You couldn't +find the boy's uncle any more than the eagles +could--you couldn't do as well." + +"Couldn't I?" said the dog. "That's all you +know, you stupid piece of warm bacon! I haven't +begun to try yet, have I? You wait and see!" + +Then Jip went to the Doctor and said, + +"Ask the boy if he has anything in his pockets +that belonged to his uncle, will you, please?" + +So the Doctor asked him. And the boy +showed them a gold ring which he wore on a +piece of string around his neck because it was +too big for his finger. He said his uncle gave +it to him when they saw the pirates coming. + +Jip smelt the ring and said, + +"That's no good. Ask him if he has +anything else that belonged to his uncle." + +Then the boy took from his pocket a great, +big red handkerchief and said, "This was my +uncle's too." + +As soon as the boy pulled it out, Jip shouted, + +"SNUFF, by Jingo!--Black Rappee snuff. +Don't you smell it? His uncle took snuff-- +Ask him, Doctor." + +The Doctor questioned the boy again; +and he said, "Yes. My uncle took a lot of +snuff." + +"Fine!" said Jip. "The man's as good as +found. 'Twill be as easy as stealing milk from +a kitten. Tell the boy I'll find his uncle for +him in less than a week. Let us go upstairs +and see which way the wind is blowing." + +"But it is dark now," said the Doctor. "You +can't find him in the dark!" + +"I don't need any light to look for a man who +smells of Black Rappee snuff," said Jip as he +climbed the stairs. "If the man had a hard +smell, like string, now--or hot water, it would +be different. But SNUFF!--Tut, tut!" + +"Does hot water have a smell?" asked the Doctor. + +"Certainly it has," said Jip. "Hot water +smells quite different from cold water. It is +warm water--or ice--that has the really difficult +smell. Why, I once followed a man for +ten miles on a dark night by the smell of the +hot water he had used to shave with--for the +poor fellow had no soap.... Now then, let +us see which way the wind is blowing. Wind is +very important in long-distance smelling. It +mustn't be too fierce a wind--and of course it +must blow the right way. A nice, steady, damp +breeze is the best of all.... Ha!--This wind +is from the North." + +Then Jip went up to the front of the ship +and smelt the wind; and he started muttering +to himself, + +"Tar; Spanish onions; kerosene oil; wet +raincoats; crushed laurel-leaves; rubber burning; +lace-curtains being washed--No, my mistake, +lace-curtains hanging out to dry; and foxes-- +hundreds of 'em--cubs; and--" + +"Can you really smell all those different +things in this one wind?" asked the Doctor. + +"Why, of course!" said Jip. "And those are +only a few of the easy smells--the strong ones. +Any mongrel could smell those with a cold in +the head. Wait now, and I'll tell you some of +the harder scents that are coming on this wind +--a few of the dainty ones." + +Then the dog shut his eyes tight, poked his +nose straight up in the air and sniffed hard with +his mouth half-open. + +For a long time he said nothing. He kept as +still as a stone. He hardly seemed to be breathing +at all. When at last he began to speak, it +sounded almost as though he were singing, sadly, +in a dream. + +"Bricks," he whispered, very low--"old +yellow bricks, crumbling with age in a garden- +wall; the sweet breath of young cows standing +in a mountain-stream; the lead roof of a dove- +cote--or perhaps a granary--with the mid-day +sun on it; black kid gloves lying in a bureau- +drawer of walnut-wood; a dusty road with a +horses' drinking-trough beneath the sycamores; +little mushrooms bursting through the rotting +leaves; and--and--and--" + +"Any parsnips?" asked Gub-Gub. + +"No," said Jip. "You always think of things +to eat. No parsnips whatever. And no snuff-- +plenty of pipes and cigarettes, and a few cigars. +But no snuff. We must wait till the wind +changes to the South." + +"Yes, it's a poor wind, that," said Gub-Gub. +"I think you're a fake, Jip. Who ever heard of +finding a man in the middle of the ocean just by +smell! I told you you couldn't do it." + +"Look here," said Jip, getting really angry. +"You're going to get a bite on the nose in a min- +ute! You needn't think that just because the +Doctor won't let us give you what you deserve, +that you can be as cheeky as you like!" + +"Stop quarreling!" said the Doctor--"Stop +it! Life's too short. Tell me, Jip, where do +you think those smells are coming from?" + +"From Devon and Wales--most of them," +said Jip--"The wind is coming that way." + +"Well, well!" said the Doctor. "You know +that's really quite remarkable--quite. I must +make a note of that for my new book. I wonder +if you could train me to smell as well as that.... +But no--perhaps I'm better off the way I am. +`Enough is as good as a feast,' they say. +Let's go down to supper. I'm quite hungry." + +"So am I," said Gub-Gub. + + + +THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER + +THE ROCK + +UP they got, early next morning, out of the silken beds; +and they saw that the sun was shining brightly and that +the wind was blowing from the South. + +Jip smelt the South wind for half an hour. Then he came +to the Doctor, shaking his head. + +"I smell no snuff as yet," he said. "We must wait +till the wind changes to the East." + +But even when the East wind came, at three o'clock +that afternoon, the dog could not catch the smell of snuff. + +The little boy was terribly disappointed and +began to cry again, saying that no one seemed +to be able to find his uncle for him. But all Jip +said to the Doctor was, + +"Tell him that when the wind changes to +the West, I'll find his uncle even though he be +in China--so long as he is still taking Black +Rappee snuff." + +Three days they had to wait before the West +wind came. This was on a Friday morning, +early--just as it was getting light. A fine rainy +mist lay on the sea like a thin fog. And the +wind was soft and warm and wet. + +As soon as Jip awoke he ran upstairs and +poked his nose in the air. Then he got most +frightfully excited and rushed down again to +wake the Doctor up. + +"Doctor!" he cried. "I've got it! Doctor! +Doctor! Wake up! Listen! I've got it! +The wind's from the West and it smells of nothing +but snuff. Come upstairs and start the ship--quick!" + +So the Doctor tumbled out of bed and went +to the rudder to steer the ship. + +"Now I'll go up to the front," said Jip; "and +you watch my nose--whichever way I point it, +you turn the ship the same way. The man cannot +be far off--with the smell as strong as +this. And the wind's all lovely and wet. Now +watch me!" + +So all that morning Jip stood in the front +part of the ship, sniffing the wind and pointing +the way for the Doctor to steer; while all the +animals and the little boy stood round with their +eyes wide open, watching the dog in wonder. + +About lunch-time Jip asked Dab-Dab to tell +the Doctor that he was getting worried and +wanted to speak to him. So Dab-Dab went and +fetched the Doctor from the other end of the +ship and Jip said to him, + +"The boy's uncle is starving. We must make +the ship go as fast as we can." + +"How do you know he is starving?" asked the Doctor. + +"Because there is no other smell in the West +wind but snuff," said Jip. "If the man were +cooking or eating food of any kind, I would +be bound to smell it too. But he hasn't even +fresh water to drink. All he is taking is snuff +--in large pinches. We are getting nearer to +him all the time, because the smell grows +stronger every minute. But make the ship go +as fast as you can, for I am certain that the +man is starving." + +"All right," said the Doctor; and he sent +Dab-Dab to ask the swallows to pull the ship, +the same as they had done when the pirates were +chasing them. + +So the stout little birds came down and once +more harnessed themselves to the ship. + +And now the boat went bounding through the +waves at a terrible speed. It went so fast that +the fishes in the sea had to jump for their lives +to get out of the way and not be run over. + +And all the animals got tremendously excited; +and they gave up looking at Jip and turned to +watch the sea in front, to spy out any land or +islands where the starving man might be. + +But hour after hour went by and still the ship +went rushing on, over the same flat, flat sea; and +no land anywhere came in sight. + +And now the animals gave up chattering and +sat around silent, anxious and miserable. The +little boy again grew sad. And on Jip's face +there was a worried look. + +At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun +was going down, the owl, Too-Too, who +was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly +startled them all by crying out at the top of his +voice, + +"Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front +of us--look--way out there where the sky and +the water meet. See the sun shine on it--like +gold! Is the smell coming from there?" + +And Jip called back, + +"Yes. That's it. That is where the man is. +--At last, at last!" + +And when they got nearer they could see that +the rock was very large--as large as a big field. +No trees grew on it, no grass--nothing. The +great rock was as smooth and as bare as the back +of a tortoise. + +Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round +the rock. But nowhere on it could a man be +seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes +and looked as hard as they could; and John +Dolittle got a telescope from downstairs. + +But not one living thing could they spy-- +not even a gull, nor a star-fish, nor a shred of +sea-weed. + +They all stood still and listened, straining +their ears for any sound. But the only noise +they heard was the gentle lapping of the little +waves against the sides of their ship. + +Then they all started calling, "Hulloa, there! +--HULLOA!" till their voices were hoarse. +But only the echo came back from the rock. + +And the little boy burst into tears and said, + +"I am afraid I shall never see my uncle any +more! What shall I tell them when I get home!" + +But Jip called to the Doctor, + +"He must be there--he must--HE MUST! +The smell goes on no further. He must be +there, I tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock +and let me jump out on it." + +So the Doctor brought the ship as close as +he could and let down the anchor. Then he +and Jip got out of the ship on to the rock. + +Jip at once put his nose down close to the +ground and began to run all over the place. Up +and down he went, back and forth--zig-zagging, +twisting, doubling and turning. And +everywhere he went, the Doctor ran behind him, +close at his heels--till he was terribly out of +breath. + +At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down. +And when the Doctor came running up to him, +he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole in +the middle of the rock. + +"The boy's uncle is down there," said Jip +quietly. "No wonder those silly eagles couldn't +see him!--It takes a dog to find a man." + +So the Doctor got down into the hole, which +seemed to be a kind of cave, or tunnel, running +a long way under the ground. Then he struck +a match and started to make his way along the +dark passage with Jip following behind. + +The Doctor's match soon went out; and he +had to strike another and another and another. + +At last the passage came to an end; and the +Doctor found himself in a kind of tiny room +with walls of rock. + +And there, in the middle of the room, his +head resting on his arms, lay a man with very +red hair--fast asleep! + +Jip went up and sniffed at something lying +on the ground beside him. The Doctor stooped +and picked it up. It was an enormous snuff- +box. And it was full of Black Rappee! + + + + +THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER + +THE FISHERMAN'S TOWN + +GENTLY then--very gently, the Doctor woke the man up. + +But just at that moment the match went out again. +And the man thought it was Ben Ali coming back, +and he began to punch the Doctor in the dark. + +But when John Dolittle told him who it was, +and that he had his little nephew safe on his +ship, the man was tremendously glad, and said +he was sorry he had fought the Doctor. He +had not hurt him much though--because it was +too dark to punch properly. Then he gave the +Doctor a pinch of snuff. + +And the man told how the Barbary Dragon +had put him on to this rock and left him there, +when he wouldn't promise to become a pirate; +and how he used to sleep down in this hole +because there was no house on the rock to keep +him warm. + +And then he said, + +"For four days I have had nothing to eat or +drink. I have lived on snuff." + +"There you are!" said Jip. "What did I tell you?" + +So they struck some more matches and made +their way out through the passage into the daylight; +and the Doctor hurried the man down to +the boat to get some soup. + +When the animals and the little boy saw the +Doctor and Jip coming back to the ship with +a red-headed man, they began to cheer and yell +and dance about the boat. And the swallows +up above started whistling at the top of their +voices--thousands and millions of them--to +show that they too were glad that the boy's brave +uncle had been found. The noise they made +was so great that sailors far out at sea thought +that a terrible storm was coming. "Hark to +that gale howling in the East!" they said. + +And Jip was awfully proud of himself-- +though he tried hard not to look conceited. +When Dab-Dab came to him and said, "Jip, I +had no idea you were so clever!" he just tossed +his head and answered, + +"Oh, that's nothing special. But it takes a +dog to find a man, you know. Birds are no good +for a game like that." + +Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman +where his home was. And when he had +told him, the Doctor asked the swallows to guide +the ship there first. + +And when they had come to the land which +the man had spoken of, they saw a little fishing- +town at the foot of a rocky mountain; and the +man pointed out the house where he lived. + +And while they were letting down the anchor, +the little boy's mother (who was also the man's +sister) came running down to the shore to meet +them, laughing and crying at the same time. +She had been sitting on a hill for twenty days, +watching the sea and waiting for them to +return. + +And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that +he giggled and blushed like a school-girl. And +she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away and +hid inside the ship. + +"It's a silly business, this kissing," he said. +"I don't hold by it. Let her go and kiss Gub- +Gub--if she MUST kiss something." + +The fisherman and his sister didn't want the +Doctor to go away again in a hurry. They +begged him to spend a few days with them. So +John Dolittle and his animals had to stay at +their house a whole Saturday and Sunday and +half of Monday. + +And all the little boys of the fishing-village +went down to the beach and pointed at the great +ship anchored there, and said to one another in +whispers, + +"Look! That was a pirate-ship--Ben Ali's +--the most terrible pirate that ever sailed the +Seven Seas! That old gentleman with the high +hat, who's staying up at Mrs. Trevelyan's, HE +took the ship away from The Barbary Dragon +--and made him into a farmer. Who'd have +thought it of him--him so gentle--like and all! +... Look at the great red sails! Ain't she the +wicked-looking ship--and fast?--My!" + +All those two days and a half that the Doctor +stayed at the little fishing-town the people kept +asking him out to teas and luncheons and dinners +and parties; all the ladies sent him boxes +of flowers and candies; and the village-band +played tunes under his window every night. + +At last the Doctor said, + +"Good people, I must go home now. You +have really been most kind. I shall always +remember it. But I must go home--for I have +things to do." + +Then, just as the Doctor was about to leave, +the Mayor of the town came down the street +and a lot of other people in grand clothes with +him. And the Mayor stopped before the house +where the Doctor was living; and everybody in +the village gathered round to see what was going +to happen. + +After six page-boys had blown on shining +trumpets to make the people stop talking, the +Doctor came out on to the steps and the Mayor +spoke. + +"Doctor John Dolittle," said he: "It is a +great pleasure for me to present to the man who +rid the seas of the Dragon of Barbary this little +token from the grateful people of our worthy +Town." + +And the Mayor took from his pocket a little +tissue-paper packet, and opening it, he handed +to the Doctor a perfectly beautiful watch with +real diamonds in the back. + +Then the Mayor pulled out of his pocket a +still larger parcel and said, + +"Where is the dog?" + +Then everybody started to hunt for Jip. And +at last Dab-Dab found him on the other side +of the village in a stable-yard, where all the +dogs of the country-side were standing round +him speechless with admiration and respect. + +When Jip was brought to the Doctor's side, +the Mayor opened the larger parcel; and inside +was a dog-collar made of solid gold! And a +great murmur of wonder went up from the village- +folk as the Mayor bent down and fastened +it round the dog's neck with his own hands. + +For written on the collar in big letters were +these words: "JIP-THE CLEVEREST DOG IN THE WORLD." + +Then the whole crowd moved down to the +beach to see them off. And after the red-haired +fisherman and his sister and the little boy had +thanked the Doctor and his dog over and over +and over again, the great, swift ship with the +red sails was turned once more towards Puddleby +and they sailed out to sea, while the village- +band played music on the shore. + + + +THE LAST CHAPTER + +HOME AGAIN + +MARCH winds had come and gone; April's showers were +over; May's buds had opened into flower; and the June sun +was shining on the pleasant fields, when John Dolittle at +last got back to his own country. + +But he did not yet go home to Puddleby. +First he went traveling through the land with +the pushmi-pullyu in a gipsy-wagon, stopping at +all the country-fairs. And there, with the acrobats +on one side of them and the Punch-and- +Judy show on the other, they would hang out +a big sign which read, "COME AND SEE THE +MARVELOUS TWO-HEADED ANIMAL FROM THE +JUNGLES OF AFRICA. Admission SIXPENCE." + +And the pushmi-pullyu would stay inside the +wagon, while the other animals would lie about +underneath. The Doctor sat in a chair in front +taking the sixpences and smiling on the people +as they went in; and Dab-Dab was kept busy +all the time scolding him because he would +let the children in for nothing when she wasn't +looking. + +And menagerie-keepers and circus-men came +and asked the Doctor to sell them the strange +creature, saying they would pay a tremendous +lot of money for him. But the Doctor always +shook his head and said. + +"No. The pushmi-pullyu shall never be shut +up in a cage. He shall be free always to come +and go, like you and me." + +Many curious sights and happenings they saw +in this wandering life; but they all seemed quite +ordinary after the great things they had seen +and done in foreign lands. It was very interesting +at first, being sort of part of a circus; +but after a few weeks they all got dreadfully +tired of it and the Doctor and all of them were +longing to go home. + +But so many people came flocking to the +little wagon and paid the sixpence to go inside and +see the pushmi-pullyu that very soon the Doctor +was able to give up being a showman. + +And one fine day, when the hollyhocks were +in full bloom, he came back to Puddleby a rich +man, to live in the little house with the big +garden. + +And the old lame horse in the stable was glad +to see him; and so were the swallows who had +already built their nests under the eaves of his +roof and had young ones. And Dab-Dab was +glad, too, to get back to the house she knew so +well--although there was a terrible lot of dusting +to be done, with cobwebs everywhere. + +And after Jip had gone and shown his golden +collar to the conceited collie next-door, he came +back and began running round the garden like +a crazy thing, looking for the bones he had +buried long ago, and chasing the rats out of the +tool-shed; while Gub-Gub dug up the horseradish +which had grown three feet high in the +corner by the garden-wall. + +And the Doctor went and saw the sailor who +had lent him the boat, and he bought two new +ships for him and a rubber-doll for his baby; +and he paid the grocer for the food he had lent +him for the journey to Africa. And he bought +another piano and put the white mice back in +it--because they said the bureau-drawer was +drafty. + +Even when the Doctor had filled the old +money-box on the dresser-shelf, he still had a +lot of money left; and he had to get three more +money-boxes, just as big, to put the rest in. + +"Money," he said, "is a terrible nuisance. +But it's nice not to have to worry." + +"Yes," said Dab-Dab, who was toasting +muffins for his tea, "it is indeed!" + +And when the Winter came again, and the +snow flew against the kitchen-window, the Doctor +and his animals would sit round the big, +warm fire after supper; and he would read aloud +to them out of his books. + +But far away in Africa, where the monkeys +chattered in the palm-trees before they went to +bed under the big yellow moon, they would say +to one another, + +"I wonder what The Good Man's doing now +--over there, in the Land of the White Men! +Do you think he ever will come back?" + +And Polynesia would squeak out from the vines, + +"I think he will--I guess he will--I hope he will!" + +And then the crocodile would grunt up at +them from the black mud of the river, + +"I'm SURE he will--Go to sleep!" + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Doctor Dolittle + diff --git a/old/dolit10.zip b/old/dolit10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b509af --- /dev/null +++ b/old/dolit10.zip diff --git a/old/old-2024-08-19/501-0.txt b/old/old-2024-08-19/501-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..902d6f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old-2024-08-19/501-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3842 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Story of Doctor Dolittle + Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and + Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts. Never before + Printed. + +Author: Hugh Lofting + +Release Date: May 19, 2016 [EBook #501] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE *** + + + + +Produced by Emmy, MWS and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + +_THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE_ + +[Illustration: “A little town called Puddleby-on-the-Marsh”] + + + + + THE + _Story of_ + DOCTOR DOLITTLE + + _BEING THE + HISTORY OF HIS PECULIAR LIFE + AT HOME AND ASTONISHING ADVENTURES + IN FOREIGN PARTS. NEVER BEFORE PRINTED._ + + _TOLD BY HUGH LOFTING_ _ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR_ + + [Illustration] + + _Published by FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY at 443 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK._ + + _A.D. 1920_ + + WITH AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TENTH PRINTING + + BY HUGH WALPOLE + + + + + _Copyright, 1920, by_ + FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY + + _All rights reserved, including that of translation + into foreign languages_ + + First Printing, Aug. 24, 1920 + Second Printing, Dec. 17, 1920 + Third Printing, April 16, 1921 + Fourth Printing, July 7, 1921 + Fifth Printing, Sept. 1, 1921 + Sixth Printing, Oct. 26, 1921 + Seventh Printing, Dec. 5, 1921 + Eighth Printing, April 3, 1922 + Ninth Printing, Aug. 18, 1922 + Tenth Printing, Nov. 28, 1922 + Eleventh Printing, April 2, 1923 + + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + + + + + TO + ALL CHILDREN + + CHILDREN IN YEARS AND CHILDREN IN HEART + I DEDICATE THIS STORY + + + + +_INTRODUCTION TO THE TENTH PRINTING_ + + +THERE are some of us now reaching middle age who discover themselves +to be lamenting the past in one respect if in none other, that there +are no books written now for children comparable with those of thirty +years ago. I say written _for_ children because the new psychological +business of writing _about_ them as though they were small pills or +hatched in some especially scientific method is extremely popular +to-day. Writing for children rather than about them is very difficult +as everybody who has tried it knows. It can only be done, I am +convinced, by somebody having a great deal of the child in his own +outlook and sensibilities. Such was the author of “The Little Duke” and +“The Dove in the Eagle’s Nest,” such the author of “A Flatiron for a +Farthing,” and “The Story of a Short Life.” Such, above all, the author +of “Alice in Wonderland.” Grownups imagine that they can do the trick +by adopting baby language and talking down to their very critical +audience. There never was a greater mistake. The imagination of the +author must be a child’s imagination and yet maturely consistent, +so that the White Queen in “Alice,” for instance, is seen just as a +child would see her, but she continues always herself through all her +distressing adventures. The supreme touch of the white rabbit pulling +on his white gloves as he hastens is again absolutely the child’s +vision, but the white rabbit as guide and introducer of Alice’s +adventures belongs to mature grown insight. + +Geniuses are rare and, without being at all an undue praiser of times +past, one can say without hesitation that until the appearance of +Hugh Lofting, the successor of Miss Yonge, Mrs. Ewing, Mrs. Gatty and +Lewis Carroll had not appeared. I remember the delight with which some +six months ago I picked up the first “Dolittle” book in the Hampshire +bookshop at Smith College in Northampton. One of Mr. Lofting’s pictures +was quite enough for me. The picture that I lighted upon when I first +opened the book was the one of the monkeys making a chain with their +arms across the gulf. Then I looked further and discovered Bumpo +reading fairy stories to himself. And then looked again and there was a +picture of John Dolittle’s house. + +But pictures are not enough although most authors draw so badly that if +one of them happens to have the genius for line that Mr. Lofting shows +there must be, one feels, something in his writing as well. There is. +You cannot read the first paragraph of the book, which begins in the +right way “Once upon a time” without knowing that Mr. Lofting believes +in his story quite as much as he expects you to. That is the first +essential for a story teller. Then you discover as you read on that he +has the right eye for the right detail. What child-inquiring mind could +resist this intriguing sentence to be found on the second page of the +book: + + “Besides the gold-fish in the pond at the bottom of his + garden, he had rabbits in the pantry, white mice in his + piano, a squirrel in the linen closet and a hedgehog in + the cellar.” + +And then when you read a little further you will discover that the +Doctor is not merely a peg on whom to hang exciting and various +adventures but that he is himself a man of original and lively +character. He is a very kindly, generous man, and anyone who has ever +written stories will know that it is much more difficult to make +kindly, generous characters interesting than unkindly and mean ones. +But Dolittle is interesting. It is not only that he is quaint but that +he is wise and knows what he is about. The reader, however young, +who meets him gets very soon a sense that if he were in trouble, not +necessarily medical, he would go to Dolittle and ask his advice about +it. Dolittle seems to extend his hand from the page and grasp that of +his reader, and I can see him going down the centuries a kind of Pied +Piper with thousands of children at his heels. But not only is he a +darling and alive and credible but his creator has also managed to +invest everybody else in the book with the same kind of life. + +Now this business of giving life to animals, making them talk and +behave like human beings, is an extremely difficult one. Lewis Carroll +absolutely conquered the difficulties, but I am not sure that anyone +after him until Hugh Lofting has really managed the trick; even in +such a masterpiece as “The Wind in the Willows” we are not quite +convinced. John Dolittle’s friends are convincing because their creator +never forces them to desert their own characteristics. Polynesia, for +instance, is natural from first to last. She really does care about the +Doctor but she cares as a bird would care, having always some place to +which she is going when her business with her friends is over. And when +Mr. Lofting invents fantastic animals he gives them a kind of credible +possibility which is extraordinarily convincing. It will be impossible +for anyone who has read this book not to believe in the existence of +the pushmi-pullyu, who would be credible enough even were there no +drawing of it, but the picture on page 153 settles the matter of his +truth once and for all. + +In fact this book is a work of genius and, as always with works of +genius, it is difficult to analyze the elements that have gone to +make it. There is poetry here and fantasy and humor, a little pathos +but, above all, a number of creations in whose existence everybody +must believe whether they be children of four or old men of ninety or +prosperous bankers of forty-five. I don’t know how Mr. Lofting has done +it; I don’t suppose that he knows himself. There it is—the first real +children’s classic since “Alice.” + + HUGH WALPOLE. + + + + +_CONTENTS_ + + + INTRODUCTION vii + CHAPTER PAGE + I PUDDLEBY 1 + II ANIMAL LANGUAGE 7 + III MORE MONEY TROUBLES 19 + IV A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA 29 + V THE GREAT JOURNEY 37 + VI POLYNESIA AND THE KING 47 + VII THE BRIDGE OF APES 55 + VIII THE LEADER OF THE LIONS 67 + IX THE MONKEYS’ COUNCIL 75 + X THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL 81 + XI THE BLACK PRINCE 91 + XII MEDICINE AND MAGIC 99 + XIII RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS 111 + XIV THE RATS’ WARNING 117 + XV THE BARBARY DRAGON 125 + XVI TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER 133 + XVII THE OCEAN GOSSIPS 141 + XVIII SMELLS 149 + XIX THE ROCK 159 + XX THE FISHERMAN’S TOWN 167 + XXI HOME AGAIN 174 + + + + +_ILLUSTRATIONS_ + + + “A little town called Puddleby-on-the-Marsh” _Frontispiece_ + PAGE + “And she never came to see him any more” 3 + “He could see as well as ever” 14 + “They came at once to his house on the edge of the town” 15 + “They used to sit in chairs on the lawn” 19 + “‘All right,’ said the Doctor, ‘go and get married’” 23 + “One evening when the Doctor was asleep in his chair” 24 + “‘I felt sure there was twopence left’” 31 + “And the voyage began” 35 + “‘We must have run into Africa’” 41 + “‘I got into it because I did not want to be drowned’” 44 + “And Queen Ermintrude was asleep” 48 + “‘Who’s that?’” 52 + “Cheering and waving leaves and swinging out of the branches + to greet him” 61 + “John Dolittle was the last to cross” 65 + “He made all the monkeys who were still well come and be + vaccinated” 68 + “‘_ME, the King of Beasts_, to wait on a lot of dirty + monkeys?’” 70 + “Then the Grand Gorilla got up” 76 + “‘Lord save us!’ cried the duck. ‘How does it make up its + mind?’” 85 + “He began reading the fairy-stories to himself” 96 + “Crying bitterly and waving till the ship was out of sight” 109 + “‘They are surely the pirates of Barbary’” 114 + “‘And you have heard that rats always leave a sinking ship?’” 119 + “‘Look here, Ben Ali—’” 127 + “‘Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there’s someone in there!’” 136 + “‘You stupid piece of warm bacon!’” 153 + “‘Doctor!’ he cried. ‘I’ve got it!’” 160 + “And she kissed the Doctor many times” 170 + “The Doctor sat in a chair in front” 176 + “He began running round the garden like a crazy thing” 178 + + + + +_THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE_ + + + + +THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE + + + + +_THE FIRST CHAPTER_ + +PUDDLEBY + + +ONCE upon a time, many years ago—when our grandfathers were little +children—there was a doctor; and his name was Dolittle—John Dolittle, +M.D. “M.D.” means that he was a proper doctor and knew a whole lot. + +He lived in a little town called, Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. All the folks, +young and old, knew him well by sight. And whenever he walked down the +street in his high hat everyone would say, “There goes the Doctor!—He’s +a clever man.” And the dogs and the children would all run up and +follow behind him; and even the crows that lived in the church-tower +would caw and nod their heads. + +The house he lived in, on the edge of the town, was quite small; +but his garden was very large and had a wide lawn and stone seats +and weeping-willows hanging over. His sister, Sarah Dolittle, was +housekeeper for him; but the Doctor looked after the garden himself. + +He was very fond of animals and kept many kinds of pets. Besides the +gold-fish in the pond at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in +the pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen closet +and a hedgehog in the cellar. He had a cow with a calf too, and an old +lame horse—twenty-five years of age—and chickens, and pigeons, and two +lambs, and many other animals. But his favorite pets were Dab-Dab the +duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the baby pig, Polynesia the parrot, and the +owl Too-Too. + +[Illustration: “And she never came to see him any more”] + +His sister used to grumble about all these animals and said they made +the house untidy. And one day when an old lady with rheumatism came to +see the Doctor, she sat on the hedgehog who was sleeping on the sofa +and never came to see him any more, but drove every Saturday all +the way to Oxenthorpe, another town ten miles off, to see a different +doctor. + +Then his sister, Sarah Dolittle, came to him and said, + +“John, how can you expect sick people to come and see you when you +keep all these animals in the house? It’s a fine doctor would have +his parlor full of hedgehogs and mice! That’s the fourth personage +these animals have driven away. Squire Jenkins and the Parson say they +wouldn’t come near your house again—no matter how sick they are. We +are getting poorer every day. If you go on like this, none of the best +people will have you for a doctor.” + +“But I like the animals better than the ‘best people’,” said the Doctor. + +“You are ridiculous,” said his sister, and walked out of the room. + +So, as time went on, the Doctor got more and more animals; and the +people who came to see him got less and less. Till at last he had +no one left—except the Cat’s-meat-Man, who didn’t mind any kind of +animals. But the Cat’s-meat-Man wasn’t very rich and he only got sick +once a year—at Christmas-time, when he used to give the Doctor sixpence +for a bottle of medicine. + +Sixpence a year wasn’t enough to live on—even in those days, long ago; +and if the Doctor hadn’t had some money saved up in his money-box, no +one knows what would have happened. + +And he kept on getting still more pets; and of course it cost a lot to +feed them. And the money he had saved up grew littler and littler. + +Then he sold his piano, and let the mice live in a bureau-drawer. But +the money he got for that too began to go, so he sold the brown suit he +wore on Sundays and went on becoming poorer and poorer. + +And now, when he walked down the street in his high hat, people would +say to one another, “There goes John Dolittle, M.D.! There was a time +when he was the best known doctor in the West Country—Look at him +now—He hasn’t any money and his stockings are full of holes!” + +But the dogs and the cats and the children still ran up and followed +him through the town—the same as they had done when he was rich. + + + + +_THE SECOND CHAPTER_ + +ANIMAL LANGUAGE + + +IT happened one day that the Doctor was sitting in his kitchen talking +with the Cat’s-meat-Man who had come to see him with a stomach-ache. + +“Why don’t you give up being a people’s doctor, and be an +animal-doctor?” asked the Cat’s-meat-Man. + +The parrot, Polynesia, was sitting in the window looking out at the +rain and singing a sailor-song to herself. She stopped singing and +started to listen. + +“You see, Doctor,” the Cat’s-meat-Man went on, “you know all about +animals—much more than what these here vets do. That book you +wrote—about cats, why, it’s wonderful! I can’t read or write myself—or +maybe _I’d_ write some books. But my wife, Theodosia, she’s a scholar, +she is. And she read your book to me. Well, it’s wonderful—that’s all +can be said—wonderful. You might have been a cat yourself. You know +the way they think. And listen: you can make a lot of money doctoring +animals. Do you know that? You see, I’d send all the old women who had +sick cats or dogs to you. And if they didn’t get sick fast enough, I +could put something in the meat I sell ’em to make ’em sick, see?” + +“Oh, no,” said the Doctor quickly. “You mustn’t do that. That wouldn’t +be right.” + +“Oh, I didn’t mean real sick,” answered the Cat’s-meat-Man. “Just a +little something to make them droopy-like was what I had reference to. +But as you say, maybe it ain’t quite fair on the animals. But they’ll +get sick anyway, because the old women always give ’em too much to eat. +And look, all the farmers round about who had lame horses and weak +lambs—they’d come. Be an animal-doctor.” + +When the Cat’s-meat-Man had gone the parrot flew off the window on to +the Doctor’s table and said, + +“That man’s got sense. That’s what you ought to do. Be an +animal-doctor. Give the silly people up—if they haven’t brains enough +to see you’re the best doctor in the world. Take care of animals +instead—_they_’ll soon find it out. Be an animal-doctor.” + +“Oh, there are plenty of animal-doctors,” said John Dolittle, putting +the flower-pots outside on the window-sill to get the rain. + +“Yes, there _are_ plenty,” said Polynesia. “But none of them are any +good at all. Now listen, Doctor, and I’ll tell you something. Did you +know that animals can talk?” + +“I knew that parrots can talk,” said the Doctor. + +“Oh, we parrots can talk in two languages—people’s language and +bird-language,” said Polynesia proudly. “If I say, ‘Polly wants a +cracker,’ you understand me. But hear this: _Ka-ka oi-ee, fee-fee?_” + +“Good Gracious!” cried the Doctor. “What does that mean?” + +“That means, ‘Is the porridge hot yet?’—in bird-language.” + +“My! You don’t say so!” said the Doctor. “You never talked that way to +me before.” + +“What would have been the good?” said Polynesia, dusting some +cracker-crumbs off her left wing. “You wouldn’t have understood me if I +had.” + +“Tell me some more,” said the Doctor, all excited; and he rushed +over to the dresser-drawer and came back with the butcher’s book and +a pencil. “Now don’t go too fast—and I’ll write it down. This is +interesting—very interesting—something quite new. Give me the Birds’ +A.B.C. first—slowly now.” + +So that was the way the Doctor came to know that animals had a language +of their own and could talk to one another. And all that afternoon, +while it was raining, Polynesia sat on the kitchen table giving him +bird words to put down in the book. + +At tea-time, when the dog, Jip, came in, the parrot said to the Doctor, +“See, _he_’s talking to you.” + +“Looks to me as though he were scratching his ear,” said the Doctor. + +“But animals don’t always speak with their mouths,” said the parrot in +a high voice, raising her eyebrows. “They talk with their ears, with +their feet, with their tails—with everything. Sometimes they don’t +_want_ to make a noise. Do you see now the way he’s twitching up one +side of his nose?” + +“What’s that mean?” asked the Doctor. + +“That means, ‘Can’t you see that it has stopped raining?’” Polynesia +answered. “He is asking you a question. Dogs nearly always use their +noses for asking questions.” + +After a while, with the parrot’s help, the Doctor got to learn the +language of the animals so well that he could talk to them himself +and understand everything they said. Then he gave up being a people’s +doctor altogether. + +As soon as the Cat’s-meat-Man had told every one that John Dolittle was +going to become an animal-doctor, old ladies began to bring him their +pet pugs and poodles who had eaten too much cake; and farmers came many +miles to show him sick cows and sheep. + +One day a plow-horse was brought to him; and the poor thing was +terribly glad to find a man who could talk in horse-language. + +“You know, Doctor,” said the horse, “that vet over the hill knows +nothing at all. He has been treating me six weeks now—for spavins. What +I need is _spectacles_. I am going blind in one eye. There’s no reason +why horses shouldn’t wear glasses, the same as people. But that stupid +man over the hill never even looked at my eyes. He kept on giving me +big pills. I tried to tell him; but he couldn’t understand a word of +horse-language. What I need is spectacles.” + +“Of course—of course,” said the Doctor. “I’ll get you some at once.” + +“I would like a pair like yours,” said the horse—“only green. They’ll +keep the sun out of my eyes while I’m plowing the Fifty-Acre Field.” + +“Certainly,” said the Doctor. “Green ones you shall have.” + +“You know, the trouble is, Sir,” said the plow-horse as the Doctor +opened the front door to let him out—“the trouble is that _anybody_ +thinks he can doctor animals—just because the animals don’t complain. +As a matter of fact it takes a much cleverer man to be a really good +animal-doctor than it does to be a good people’s doctor. My farmer’s +boy thinks he knows all about horses. I wish you could see him—his face +is so fat he looks as though he had no eyes—and he has got as much +brain as a potato-bug. He tried to put a mustard-plaster on me last +week.” + +“Where did he put it?” asked the Doctor. + +“Oh, he didn’t put it anywhere—on me,” said the horse. “He only tried +to. I kicked him into the duck-pond.” + +“Well, well!” said the Doctor. + +“I’m a pretty quiet creature as a rule,” said the horse—“very patient +with people—don’t make much fuss. But it was bad enough to have that +vet giving me the wrong medicine. And when that red-faced booby started +to monkey with me, I just couldn’t bear it any more.” + +“Did you hurt the boy much?” asked the Doctor. + +“Oh, no,” said the horse. “I kicked him in the right place. The vet’s +looking after him now. When will my glasses be ready?” + +“I’ll have them for you next week,” said the Doctor. “Come in again +Tuesday—Good morning!” + +[Illustration: “He could see as well as ever”] + +Then John Dolittle got a fine, big pair of green spectacles; and the +plow-horse stopped going blind in one eye and could see as well as ever. + +And soon it became a common sight to see farm-animals wearing glasses +in the country round Puddleby; and a blind horse was a thing unknown. + +And so it was with all the other animals that were brought to him. As +soon as they found that he could talk their language, they told him +where the pain was and how they felt, and of course it was easy for him +to cure them. + +[Illustration: “They came at once to his house on the edge of the town”] + +Now all these animals went back and told their brothers and friends +that there was a doctor in the little house with the big garden who +really _was_ a doctor. And whenever any creatures got sick—not only +horses and cows and dogs—but all the little things of the fields, like +harvest-mice and water-voles, badgers and bats, they came at once to +his house on the edge of the town, so that his big garden was nearly +always crowded with animals trying to get in to see him. + +There were so many that came that he had to have special doors made for +the different kinds. He wrote “HORSES” over the front door, “COWS” over +the side door, and “SHEEP” on the kitchen door. Each kind of animal +had a separate door—even the mice had a tiny tunnel made for them into +the cellar, where they waited patiently in rows for the Doctor to come +round to them. + +And so, in a few years’ time, every living thing for miles and miles +got to know about John Dolittle, M.D. And the birds who flew to other +countries in the winter told the animals in foreign lands of the +wonderful doctor of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, who could understand their +talk and help them in their troubles. In this way he became famous +among the animals—all over the world—better known even than he had +been among the folks of the West Country, And he was happy and liked +his life very much. + +One afternoon when the Doctor was busy writing in a book, Polynesia +sat in the window—as she nearly always did—looking out at the leaves +blowing about in the garden. Presently she laughed aloud. + +“What is it, Polynesia?” asked the Doctor, looking up from his book. + +“I was just thinking,” said the parrot; and she went on looking at the +leaves. + +“What were you thinking?” + +“I was thinking about people,” said Polynesia. “People make me sick. +They think they’re so wonderful. The world has been going on now for +thousands of years, hasn’t it? And the only thing in animal-language +that _people_ have learned to understand is that when a dog wags his +tail he means ‘I’m glad!’—It’s funny, isn’t it? You are the very first +man to talk like us. Oh, sometimes people annoy me dreadfully—such +airs they put on—talking about ‘the dumb animals.’ _Dumb!_—Huh! Why I +knew a macaw once who could say ‘Good morning!’ in seven different +ways without once opening his mouth. He could talk every language—and +Greek. An old professor with a gray beard bought him. But he didn’t +stay. He said the old man didn’t talk Greek right, and he couldn’t +stand listening to him teach the language wrong. I often wonder what’s +become of him. That bird knew more geography than people will ever +know.—_People_, Golly! I suppose if people ever learn to fly—like any +common hedge-sparrow—we shall never hear the end of it!” + +“You’re a wise old bird,” said the Doctor. “How old are you really? I +know that parrots and elephants sometimes live to be very, very old.” + +“I can never be quite sure of my age,” said Polynesia. “It’s either a +hundred and eighty-three or a hundred and eighty-two. But I know that +when I first came here from Africa, King Charles was still hiding in +the oak-tree—because I saw him. He looked scared to death.” + + + + +_THE THIRD CHAPTER_ + +MORE MONEY TROUBLES + + +AND soon now the Doctor began to make money again; and his sister, +Sarah, bought a new dress and was happy. + +Some of the animals who came to see him were so sick that they had +to stay at the Doctor’s house for a week. And when they were getting +better they used to sit in chairs on the lawn. + +[Illustration: “They used to sit in chairs on the lawn”] + +And often even after they got well, they did not want to go away—they +liked the Doctor and his house so much. And he never had the heart to +refuse them when they asked if they could stay with him. So in this way +he went on getting more and more pets. + +Once when he was sitting on his garden wall, smoking a pipe in the +evening, an Italian organ-grinder came round with a monkey on a string. +The Doctor saw at once that the monkey’s collar was too tight and +that he was dirty and unhappy. So he took the monkey away from the +Italian, gave the man a shilling and told him to go. The organ-grinder +got awfully angry and said that he wanted to keep the monkey. But the +Doctor told him that if he didn’t go away he would punch him on the +nose. John Dolittle was a strong man, though he wasn’t very tall. So +the Italian went away saying rude things and the monkey stayed with +Doctor Dolittle and had a good home. The other animals in the house +called him “Chee-Chee”—which is a common word in monkey-language, +meaning “ginger.” + +And another time, when the circus came to Puddleby, the crocodile +who had a bad toothache escaped at night and came into the Doctor’s +garden. The Doctor talked to him in crocodile-language and took him +into the house and made his tooth better. But when the crocodile +saw what a nice house it was—with all the different places for the +different kinds of animals—he too wanted to live with the Doctor. He +asked couldn’t he sleep in the fish-pond at the bottom of the garden, +if he promised not to eat the fish. When the circus-men came to take +him back he got so wild and savage that he frightened them away. But to +every one in the house he was always as gentle as a kitten. + +But now the old ladies grew afraid to send their lap-dogs to Doctor +Dolittle because of the crocodile; and the farmers wouldn’t believe +that he would not eat the lambs and sick calves they brought to be +cured. So the Doctor went to the crocodile and told him he must go back +to his circus. But he wept such big tears, and begged so hard to be +allowed to stay, that the Doctor hadn’t the heart to turn him out. + +So then the Doctor’s sister came to him and said, + +“John, you must send that creature away. Now the farmers and the +old ladies are afraid to send their animals to you—just as we were +beginning to be well off again. Now we shall be ruined entirely. This +is the last straw. I will no longer be housekeeper for you if you don’t +send away that alligator.” + +“It isn’t an alligator,” said the Doctor—“it’s a crocodile.” + +“I don’t care what you call it,” said his sister. “It’s a nasty thing +to find under the bed. I won’t have it in the house.” + +“But he has promised me,” the Doctor answered, “that he will not bite +any one. He doesn’t like the circus; and I haven’t the money to send +him back to Africa where he comes from. He minds his own business and +on the whole is very well behaved. Don’t be so fussy.” + +“I tell you I _will not_ have him around,” said Sarah. “He eats the +linoleum. If you don’t send him away this minute I’ll—I’ll go and get +married!” + +“All right,” said the Doctor, “go and get married. It can’t be +helped.” And he took down his hat and went out into the garden. + +So Sarah Dolittle packed up her things and went off; and the Doctor was +left all alone with his animal family. + +[Illustration: “‘All right,’ said the Doctor, ‘go and get married’”] + +And very soon he was poorer than he had ever been before. With all +these mouths to fill, and the house to look after, and no one to do the +mending, and no money coming in to pay the butcher’s bill, things began +to look very difficult. But the Doctor didn’t worry at all. + +“Money is a nuisance,” he used to say. “We’d all be much better off if +it had never been invented. What does money matter, so long as we are +happy?” + +[Illustration: “One evening when the Doctor was asleep in his chair”] + +But soon the animals themselves began to get worried. And one evening +when the Doctor was asleep in his chair before the kitchen-fire they +began talking it over among themselves in whispers. And the owl, +Too-Too, who was good at arithmetic, figured it out that there was only +money enough left to last another week—if they each had one meal a day +and no more. + +Then the parrot said, “I think we all ought to do the housework +ourselves. At least we can do that much. After all, it is for our sakes +that the old man finds himself so lonely and so poor.” + +So it was agreed that the monkey, Chee-Chee, was to do the cooking and +mending; the dog was to sweep the floors; the duck was to dust and make +the beds; the owl, Too-Too, was to keep the accounts, and the pig was +to do the gardening. They made Polynesia, the parrot, housekeeper and +laundress, because she was the oldest. + +Of course at first they all found their new jobs very hard to do—all +except Chee-Chee, who had hands, and could do things like a man. But +they soon got used to it; and they used to think it great fun to watch +Jip, the dog, sweeping his tail over the floor with a rag tied onto it +for a broom. After a little they got to do the work so well that the +Doctor said that he had never had his house kept so tidy or so clean +before. + +In this way things went along all right for a while; but without money +they found it very hard. + +Then the animals made a vegetable and flower stall outside the +garden-gate and sold radishes and roses to the people that passed by +along the road. + +But still they didn’t seem to make enough money to pay all the +bills—and still the Doctor wouldn’t worry. When the parrot came to him +and told him that the fishmonger wouldn’t give them any more fish, he +said, + +“Never mind. So long as the hens lay eggs and the cow gives milk we can +have omelettes and junket. And there are plenty of vegetables left in +the garden. The Winter is still a long way off. Don’t fuss. That was +the trouble with Sarah—she would fuss. I wonder how Sarah’s getting +on—an excellent woman—in some ways—Well, well!” + +But the snow came earlier than usual that year; and although the old +lame horse hauled in plenty of wood from the forest outside the town, +so they could have a big fire in the kitchen, most of the vegetables in +the garden were gone, and the rest were covered with snow; and many of +the animals were really hungry. + + + + +_THE FOURTH CHAPTER_ + +A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA + + +THAT Winter was a very cold one. And one night in December, when they +were all sitting round the warm fire in the kitchen, and the Doctor +was reading aloud to them out of books he had written himself in +animal-language, the owl, Too-Too, suddenly said, + +“Sh! What’s that noise outside?” + +They all listened; and presently they heard the sound of some one +running. Then the door flew open and the monkey, Chee-Chee, ran in, +badly out of breath. + +“Doctor!” he cried, “I’ve just had a message from a cousin of mine in +Africa. There is a terrible sickness among the monkeys out there. They +are all catching it—and they are dying in hundreds. They have heard of +you, and beg you to come to Africa to stop the sickness.” + +“Who brought the message?” asked the Doctor, taking off his spectacles +and laying down his book. + +“A swallow,” said Chee-Chee. “She is outside on the rain-butt.” + +“Bring her in by the fire,” said the Doctor. “She must be perished with +the cold. The swallows flew South six weeks ago!” + +So the swallow was brought in, all huddled and shivering; and although +she was a little afraid at first, she soon got warmed up and sat on the +edge of the mantelpiece and began to talk. + +When she had finished the Doctor said, + +“I would gladly go to Africa—especially in this bitter weather. But +I’m afraid we haven’t money enough to buy the tickets. Get me the +money-box, Chee-Chee.” + +So the monkey climbed up and got it off the top shelf of the dresser. + +There was nothing in it—not one single penny! + +“I felt sure there was twopence left,” said the Doctor. + +“There _was_” said the owl. “But you spent it on a rattle for that +badger’s baby when he was teething.” + +“Did I?” said the Doctor—“dear me, dear me! What a nuisance money is, +to be sure! Well, never mind. Perhaps if I go down to the seaside I +shall be able to borrow a boat that will take us to Africa. I knew a +seaman once who brought his baby to me with measles. Maybe he’ll lend +us his boat—the baby got well.” + +[Illustration: “‘I felt sure there was twopence left’”] + +So early the next morning the Doctor went down to the sea-shore. And +when he came back he told the animals it was all right—the sailor was +going to lend them the boat. + +Then the crocodile and the monkey and the parrot were very glad and +began to sing, because they were going back to Africa, their real home. +And the Doctor said, + +“I shall only be able to take you three—with Jip the dog, Dab-Dab the +duck, Gub-Gub the pig and the owl, Too-Too. The rest of the animals, +like the dormice and the water-voles and the bats, they will have to +go back and live in the fields where they were born till we come home +again. But as most of them sleep through the Winter, they won’t mind +that—and besides, it wouldn’t be good for them to go to Africa.” + +So then the parrot, who had been on long sea-voyages before, began +telling the Doctor all the things he would have to take with him on the +ship. + +“You must have plenty of pilot-bread,” she said—“‘hard tack’ they call +it. And you must have beef in cans—and an anchor.” + +“I expect the ship will have its own anchor,” said the Doctor. + +“Well, make sure,” said Polynesia. “Because it’s very important. You +can’t stop if you haven’t got an anchor. And you’ll need a bell.” + +“What’s that for?” asked the Doctor. + +“To tell the time by,” said the parrot. “You go and ring it every +half-hour and then you know what time it is. And bring a whole lot of +rope—it always comes in handy on voyages.” + +Then they began to wonder where they were going to get the money from +to buy all the things they needed. + +“Oh, bother it! Money again,” cried the Doctor. “Goodness! I shall be +glad to get to Africa where we don’t have to have any! I’ll go and ask +the grocer if he will wait for his money till I get back—No, I’ll send +the sailor to ask him.” + +So the sailor went to see the grocer. And presently he came back with +all the things they wanted. + +Then the animals packed up; and after they had turned off the water so +the pipes wouldn’t freeze, and put up the shutters, they closed the +house and gave the key to the old horse who lived in the stable. And +when they had seen that there was plenty of hay in the loft to last the +horse through the Winter, they carried all their luggage down to the +seashore and got on to the boat. + +The Cat’s-meat-Man was there to see them off; and he brought a large +suet-pudding as a present for the Doctor because, he said he had been +told, you couldn’t get suet-puddings in foreign parts. + +As soon as they were on the ship, Gub-Gub, the pig, asked where the +beds were, for it was four o’clock in the afternoon and he wanted his +nap. So Polynesia took him downstairs into the inside of the ship and +showed him the beds, set all on top of one another like book-shelves +against a wall. + +“Why, that isn’t a bed!” cried Gub-Gub. “That’s a shelf!” + +“Beds are always like that on ships,” said the parrot. “It isn’t a +shelf. Climb up into it and go to sleep. That’s what you call ‘a bunk.’” + +[Illustration: “And the voyage began”] + +“I don’t think I’ll go to bed yet,” said Gub-Gub. “I’m too excited. I +want to go upstairs again and see them start.” + +“Well, this is your first trip,” said Polynesia. “You will get used to +the life after a while.” And she went back up the stairs of the ship, +humming this song to herself, + + I’ve seen the Black Sea and the Red Sea; + I rounded the Isle of Wight; + I discovered the Yellow River, + And the Orange too—by night. + Now Greenland drops behind again, + And I sail the ocean Blue. + I’m tired of all these colors, Jane, + So I’m coming back to you. + +They were just going to start on their journey, when the Doctor said he +would have to go back and ask the sailor the way to Africa. + +But the swallow said she had been to that country many times and would +show them how to get there. + +So the Doctor told Chee-Chee to pull up the anchor and the voyage +began. + + + + +_THE FIFTH CHAPTER_ + +THE GREAT JOURNEY + + +NOW for six whole weeks they went sailing on and on, over the rolling +sea, following the swallow who flew before the ship to show them the +way. At night she carried a tiny lantern, so they should not miss her +in the dark; and the people on the other ships that passed said that +the light must be a shooting star. + +As they sailed further and further into the South, it got warmer and +warmer. Polynesia, Chee-Chee and the crocodile enjoyed the hot sun no +end. They ran about laughing and looking over the side of the ship to +see if they could see Africa yet. + +But the pig and the dog and the owl, Too-Too, could do nothing in such +weather, but sat at the end of the ship in the shade of a big barrel, +with their tongues hanging out, drinking lemonade. + +Dab-Dab, the duck, used to keep herself cool by jumping into the sea +and swimming behind the ship. And every once in a while, when the top +of her head got too hot, she would dive under the ship and come up +on the other side. In this way, too, she used to catch herrings on +Tuesdays and Fridays—when everybody on the boat ate fish to make the +beef last longer. + +When they got near to the Equator they saw some flying-fishes coming +towards them. And the fishes asked the parrot if this was Doctor +Dolittle’s ship. When she told them it was, they said they were glad, +because the monkeys in Africa were getting worried that he would never +come. Polynesia asked them how many miles they had yet to go; and the +flying-fishes said it was only fifty-five miles now to the coast of +Africa. + +And another time a whole school of porpoises came dancing through the +waves; and they too asked Polynesia if this was the ship of the famous +doctor. And when they heard that it was, they asked the parrot if the +Doctor wanted anything for his journey. + +And Polynesia said, “Yes. We have run short of onions.” + +“There is an island not far from here,” said the porpoises, “where the +wild onions grow tall and strong. Keep straight on—we will get some and +catch up to you.” + +So the porpoises dashed away through the sea. And very soon the parrot +saw them again, coming up behind, dragging the onions through the waves +in big nets made of seaweed. + +The next evening, as the sun was going down, the Doctor said, + +“Get me the telescope, Chee-Chee. Our journey is nearly ended. Very +soon we should be able to see the shores of Africa.” + +And about half an hour later, sure enough, they thought they could see +something in front that might be land. But it began to get darker and +darker and they couldn’t be sure. + +Then a great storm came up, with thunder and lightning. The wind +howled; the rain came down in torrents; and the waves got so high they +splashed right over the boat. + +Presently there was a big BANG! The ship stopped and rolled over on its +side. + +“What’s happened?” asked the Doctor, coming up from downstairs. + +“I’m not sure,” said the parrot; “but I think we’re ship-wrecked. Tell +the duck to get out and see.” + +So Dab-Dab dived right down under the waves. And when she came up she +said they had struck a rock; there was a big hole in the bottom of the +ship; the water was coming in; and they were sinking fast. + +“We must have run into Africa,” said the Doctor. “Dear me, dear +me!—Well—we must all swim to land.” + +But Chee-Chee and Gub-Gub did not know how to swim. + +“Get the rope!” said Polynesia. “I told you it would come in handy. +Where’s that duck? Come here, Dab-Dab. Take this end of the rope, fly +to the shore and tie it on to a palm-tree; and we’ll hold the other +end on the ship here. Then those that can’t swim must climb along the +rope till they reach the land. That’s what you call a ‘life-line.’” + +[Illustration: “‘We must have run into Africa’”] + +So they all got safely to the shore—some swimming, some flying; and +those that climbed along the rope brought the Doctor’s trunk and +hand-bag with them. + +But the ship was no good any more—with the big hole in the bottom; and +presently the rough sea beat it to pieces on the rocks and the timbers +floated away. + +Then they all took shelter in a nice dry cave they found, high up in +the cliffs, till the storm was over. + +When the sun came out next morning they went down to the sandy beach to +dry themselves. + +“Dear old Africa!” sighed Polynesia. “It’s good to get back. Just +think—it’ll be a hundred and sixty-nine years to-morrow since I was +here! And it hasn’t changed a bit!—Same old palm-trees; same old red +earth; same old black ants! There’s no place like home!” + +And the others noticed she had tears in her eyes—she was so pleased to +see her country once again. + +Then the Doctor missed his high hat; for it had been blown into the sea +during the storm. So Dab-Dab went out to look for it. And presently she +saw it, a long way off, floating on the water like a toy-boat. + +When she flew down to get it, she found one of the white mice, very +frightened, sitting inside it. + +“What are you doing here?” asked the duck. “You were told to stay +behind in Puddleby.” + +“I didn’t want to be left behind,” said the mouse. “I wanted to see +what Africa was like—I have relatives there. So I hid in the baggage +and was brought on to the ship with the hard-tack. When the ship sank +I was terribly frightened—because I cannot swim far. I swam as long as +I could, but I soon got all exhausted and thought I was going to sink. +And then, just at that moment, the old man’s hat came floating by; and +I got into it because I did not want to be drowned.” + +So the duck took up the hat with the mouse in it and brought it to the +Doctor on the shore. And they all gathered round to have a look. + +“That’s what you call a ‘stowaway,’” said the parrot. + +Presently, when they were looking for a place in the trunk where the +white mouse could travel comfortably, the monkey, Chee-Chee, suddenly +said, + +“Sh! I hear footsteps in the jungle!” + +They all stopped talking and listened. And soon a black man came down +out of the woods and asked them what they were doing there. + +[Illustration: “‘I got into it because I did not want to be drowned’”] + +“My name is John Dolittle—M.D.,” said the Doctor. “I have been asked to +come to Africa to cure the monkeys who are sick.” + +“You must all come before the King,” said the black man. + +“What king?” asked the Doctor, who didn’t want to waste any time. + +“The King of the Jolliginki,” the man answered. “All these lands belong +to him; and all strangers must be brought before him. Follow me.” + +So they gathered up their baggage and went off, following the man +through the jungle. + + + + +_THE SIXTH CHAPTER_ + +POLYNESIA AND THE KING + + +WHEN they had gone a little way through the thick forest, they came to +a wide, clear space; and they saw the King’s palace which was made of +mud. + +This was where the King lived with his Queen, Ermintrude, and their +son, Prince Bumpo. The Prince was away fishing for salmon in the river. +But the King and Queen were sitting under an umbrella before the palace +door. And Queen Ermintrude was asleep. + +When the Doctor had come up to the palace the King asked him his +business; and the Doctor told him why he had come to Africa. + +“You may not travel through my lands,” said the King. “Many years ago a +white man came to these shores; and I was very kind to him. But after +he had dug holes in the ground to get the gold, and killed all the +elephants to get their ivory tusks, he went away secretly in his ship— +without so much as saying ‘Thank you.’ Never again shall a white man +travel through the lands of Jolliginki.” + +[Illustration: “And Queen Ermintrude was asleep”] + +Then the King turned to some of the black men who were standing near +and said, “Take away this medicine-man—with all his animals, and lock +them up in my strongest prison.” + +So six of the black men led the Doctor and all his pets away and shut +them up in a stone dungeon. The dungeon had only one little window, +high up in the wall, with bars in it; and the door was strong and thick. + +Then they all grew very sad; and Gub-Gub, the pig, began to cry. But +Chee-Chee said he would spank him if he didn’t stop that horrible +noise; and he kept quiet. + +“Are we all here?” asked the Doctor, after he had got used to the dim +light. + +“Yes, I think so,” said the duck and started to count them. + +“Where’s Polynesia?” asked the crocodile. “She isn’t here.” + +“Are you sure?” said the Doctor. “Look again. Polynesia! Polynesia! +Where are you?” + +“I suppose she escaped,” grumbled the crocodile. “Well, that’s just +like her!—Sneaked off into the jungle as soon as her friends got into +trouble.” + +“I’m not that kind of a bird,” said the parrot, climbing out of the +pocket in the tail of the Doctor’s coat. “You see, I’m small enough +to get through the bars of that window; and I was afraid they would +put me in a cage instead. So while the King was busy talking, I hid in +the Doctor’s pocket—and here I am! That’s what you call a ‘ruse,’” she +said, smoothing down her feathers with her beak. + +“Good Gracious!” cried the Doctor. “You’re lucky I didn’t sit on you.” + +“Now listen,” said Polynesia, “to-night, as soon as it gets dark, I +am going to creep through the bars of that window and fly over to the +palace. And then—you’ll see—I’ll soon find a way to make the King let +us all out of prison.” + +“Oh, what can _you_ do?” said Gub-Gub, turning up his nose and +beginning to cry again. “You’re only a bird!” + +“Quite true,” said the parrot. “But do not forget that although I am +only a bird, _I can talk like a man_—and I know these darkies.” + +So that night, when the moon was shining through the palm-trees and +all the King’s men were asleep, the parrot slipped out through the +bars of the prison and flew across to the palace. The pantry window had +been broken by a tennis ball the week before; and Polynesia popped in +through the hole in the glass. + +She heard Prince Bumpo snoring in his bedroom at the back of the +palace. Then she tip-toed up the stairs till she came to the King’s +bedroom. She opened the door gently and peeped in. + +The Queen was away at a dance that night at her cousin’s; but the King +was in bed fast asleep. + +Polynesia crept in, very softly, and got under the bed. + +Then she coughed—just the way Doctor Dolittle used to cough. Polynesia +could mimic any one. + +The King opened his eyes and said sleepily: “Is that you, Ermintrude?” +(He thought it was the Queen come back from the dance.) + +Then the parrot coughed again—loud, like a man. And the King sat up, +wide awake, and said, “Who’s that?” + +“I am Doctor Dolittle,” said the parrot—just the way the Doctor would +have said it. + +“What are you doing in my bedroom?” cried the King. “How dare you get +out of prison! Where are you?—I don’t see you.” + +[Illustration: “‘Who’s that?’”] + +But the parrot just laughed—a long, deep* jolly laugh, like the +Doctor’s. + +“Stop laughing and come here at once, so I can see you,” said the King. + +“Foolish King!” answered Polynesia. “Have you forgotten that you +are talking to John Dolittle, M.D.—the most wonderful man on earth? +Of course you cannot see me. I have made myself invisible. There is +nothing I cannot do. Now listen: I have come here to-night to warn +you. If you don’t let me and my animals travel through your kingdom, +I will make you and all your people sick like the monkeys. For I can +make people well: and I can make people ill—just by raising my little +finger. Send your soldiers at once to open the dungeon door, or you +shall have mumps before the morning sun has risen on the hills of +Jolliginki.” + +Then the King began to tremble and was very much afraid. + +“Doctor,” he cried, “it shall be as you say. Do not raise your little +finger, please!” And he jumped out of bed and ran to tell the soldiers +to open the prison door. + +As soon as he was gone, Polynesia crept downstairs and left the palace +by the pantry window. + +But the Queen, who was just letting herself in at the backdoor with a +latch-key, saw the parrot getting out through the broken glass. And +when the King came back to bed she told him what she had seen. + +Then the King understood that he had been tricked, and he was +dreadfully angry. He hurried back to the prison at once. + +But he was too late. The door stood open. The dungeon was empty. The +Doctor and all his animals were gone. + + + + +_THE SEVENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE BRIDGE OF APES + + +QUEEN ERMINTRUDE had never in her life seen her husband so terrible as +he got that night. He gnashed his teeth with rage. He called everybody +a fool. He threw his tooth-brush at the palace cat. He rushed round in +his night-shirt and woke up all his army and sent them into the jungle +to catch the Doctor. Then he made all his servants go too—his cooks and +his gardeners and his barber and Prince Bumpo’s tutor—even the Queen, +who was tired from dancing in a pair of tight shoes, was packed off to +help the soldiers in their search. + +All this time the Doctor and his animals were running through the +forest towards the Land of the Monkeys as fast as they could go. + +Gub-Gub, with his short legs, soon got tired; and the Doctor had to +carry him—which made it pretty hard when they had the trunk and the +hand-bag with them as well. + +The King of the Jolliginki thought it would be easy for his army to +find them, because the Doctor was in a strange land and would not know +his way. But he was wrong; because the monkey, Chee-Chee, knew all the +paths through the jungle—better even than the King’s men did. And he +led the Doctor and his pets to the very thickest part of the forest—a +place where no man had ever been before—and hid them all in a big +hollow tree between high rocks. + +“We had better wait here,” said Chee-Chee, “till the soldiers have gone +back to bed. Then we can go on into the Land of the Monkeys.” + +So there they stayed the whole night through. + +They often heard the King’s men searching and talking in the jungle +round about. But they were quite safe, for no one knew of that +hiding-place but Chee-Chee—not even the other monkeys. + +At last, when daylight began to come through the thick leaves overhead, +they heard Queen Ermintrude saying in a very tired voice that it was +no use looking any more—that they might as well go back and get some +sleep. + +As soon as the soldiers had all gone home, Chee-Chee brought the Doctor +and his animals out of the hiding-place and they set off for the Land +of the Monkeys. + +It was a long, long way; and they often got very tired—especially +Gub-Gub. But when he cried they gave him milk out of the cocoanuts, +which he was very fond of. + +They always had plenty to eat and drink; because Chee-Chee and +Polynesia knew all the different kinds of fruits and vegetables that +grow in the jungle, and where to find them—like dates and figs and +ground-nuts and ginger and yams. They used to make their lemonade out +of the juice of wild oranges, sweetened with honey which they got from +the bees’ nests in hollow trees. No matter what it was they asked for, +Chee-Chee and Polynesia always seemed to be able to get it for them—or +something like it. They even got the Doctor some tobacco one day, when +he had finished what he had brought with him and wanted to smoke. + +At night they slept in tents made of palm-leaves, on thick, soft beds +of dried grass. And after a while they got used to walking such a lot +and did not get so tired and enjoyed the life of travel very much. + +But they were always glad when the night came and they stopped for +their resting-time. Then the Doctor used to make a little fire of +sticks; and after they had had their supper, they would sit round it +in a ring, listening to Polynesia singing songs about the sea, or to +Chee-Chee telling stories of the jungle. + +And many of the tales that Chee-Chee told were very interesting. +Because although the monkeys had no history-books of their own before +Doctor Dolittle came to write them for them, they remember everything +that happens by telling stories to their children. And Chee-Chee spoke +of many things his grandmother had told him—tales of long, long, +long ago, before Noah and the Flood,—of the days when men dressed in +bear-skins and lived in holes in the rock and ate their mutton raw, +because they did not know what cooking was—having never seen a fire. +And he told them of the Great Mammoths and Lizards, as long as a train, +that wandered over the mountains in those times, nibbling from the +tree-tops. And often they got so interested listening, that when he +had finished they found their fire had gone right out; and they had to +scurry round to get more sticks and build a new one. + +Now when the King’s army had gone back and told the King that they +couldn’t find the Doctor, the King sent them out again and told them +they must stay in the jungle till they caught him. So all this time, +while the Doctor and his animals were going along towards the Land of +the Monkeys, thinking themselves quite safe, they were still being +followed by the King’s men. If Chee-Chee had known this, he would most +likely have hidden them again. But he didn’t know it. + +One day Chee-Chee climbed up a high rock and looked out over the +tree-tops. And when he came down he said they were now quite close to +the Land of the Monkeys and would soon be there. + +And that same evening, sure enough, they saw Chee-Chee’s cousin and a +lot of other monkeys, who had not yet got sick, sitting in the trees by +the edge of a swamp, looking and waiting for them. And when they saw +the famous doctor really come, these monkeys made a tremendous noise, +cheering and waving leaves and swinging out of the branches to greet +him. + +They wanted to carry his bag and his trunk and everything he had—and +one of the bigger ones even carried Gub-Gub who had got tired again. +Then two of them rushed on in front to tell the sick monkeys that the +great doctor had come at last. + +But the King’s men, who were still following, had heard the noise of +the monkeys cheering; and they at last knew where the Doctor was, and +hastened on to catch him. + +The big monkey carrying Gub-Gub was coming along behind slowly, and he +saw the Captain of the army sneaking through the trees. So he hurried +after the Doctor and told him to run. + +[Illustration: “Cheering and waving leaves and swinging out of the +branches to greet him”] + +Then they all ran harder than they had ever run in their lives; and +the King’s men, coming after them, began to run too; and the Captain +ran hardest of all. + +Then the Doctor tripped over his medicine-bag and fell down in the mud, +and the Captain thought he would surely catch him this time. + +But the Captain had very long ears—though his hair was very short. And +as he sprang forward to take hold of the Doctor, one of his ears caught +fast in a tree; and the rest of the army had to stop and help him. + +By this time the Doctor had picked himself up, and on they went again, +running and running. And Chee-Chee shouted, + +“It’s all right! We haven’t far to go now!” + +But before they could get into the Land of the Monkeys, they came to a +steep cliff with a river flowing below. This was the end of the Kingdom +of Jolliginki; and the Land of the Monkeys was on the other side—across +the river. + +And Jip, the dog, looked down over the edge of the steep, steep cliff +and said, + +“Golly! How are we ever going to get across?” + +“Oh, dear!” said Gub-Gub. “The King’s men are quite close now—Look at +them! I am afraid we are going to be taken back to prison again.” And +he began to weep. + +But the big monkey who was carrying the pig dropped him on the ground +and cried out to the other monkeys, + +“Boys—a bridge! Quick!—Make a bridge! We’ve only a minute to do it. +They’ve got the Captain loose, and he’s coming on like a deer. Get +lively! A bridge! A bridge!” + +The Doctor began to wonder what they were going to make a bridge out +of, and he gazed around to see if they had any boards hidden any place. + +But when he looked back at the cliff, there, hanging across the river, +was a bridge all ready for him—made of living monkeys! For while his +back was turned, the monkeys—quick as a flash—had made themselves into +a bridge, just by holding hands and feet. + +And the big one shouted to the Doctor, “Walk over! Walk over—all of +you—hurry!” + +Gub-Gub was a bit scared, walking on such a narrow bridge at that dizzy +height above the river. But he got over all right; and so did all of +them. + +John Dolittle was the last to cross. And just as he was getting to the +other side, the King’s men came rushing up to the edge of the cliff. + +Then they shook their fists and yelled with rage. For they saw they +were too late. The Doctor and all his animals were safe in the Land of +the Monkeys and the bridge was pulled across to the other side. + +Then Chee-Chee turned to the Doctor and said, + +“Many great explorers and gray-bearded naturalists have lain long weeks +hidden in the jungle waiting to see the monkeys do that trick. But we +never let a white man get a glimpse of it before. You are the first to +see the famous ‘Bridge of Apes.’” + +And the Doctor felt very pleased. + +[Illustration: “John Dolittle was the last to cross”] + + + + +_THE EIGHTH CHAPTER_ + +THE LEADER OF THE LIONS + + +JOHN DOLITTLE now became dreadfully, awfully busy. He found hundreds +and thousands of monkeys sick—gorillas, orang-outangs, chimpanzees, +dog-faced baboons, marmosettes, gray monkeys, red ones—all kinds. And +many had died. + +The first thing he did was to separate the sick ones from the well +ones. Then he got Chee-Chee and his cousin to build him a little house +of grass. The next thing: he made all the monkeys who were still well +come and be vaccinated. + +And for three days and three nights the monkeys kept coming from +the jungles and the valleys and the hills to the little house of +grass, where the Doctor sat all day and all night, vaccinating and +vaccinating. + +[Illustration: “He made all the monkeys who were still well come and be +vaccinated”] + +Then he had another house made—a big one, with a lot of beds in it; and +he put all the sick ones in this house. + +But so many were sick, there were not enough well ones to do the +nursing. So he sent messages to the other animals, like the lions and +the leopards and the antelopes, to come and help with the nursing. + +But the Leader of the Lions was a very proud creature. And when he came +to the Doctor’s big house full of beds he seemed angry and scornful. + +“Do you dare to ask me, Sir?” he said, glaring at the Doctor. “Do you +dare to ask me—_ME, the King of Beasts_, to wait on a lot of dirty +monkeys? Why, I wouldn’t even eat them between meals!” + +Although the lion looked very terrible, the Doctor tried hard not to +seem afraid of him. + +“I didn’t ask you to eat them,” he said quietly. “And besides, they’re +not dirty. They’ve all had a bath this morning. _Your_ coat looks +as though it needed brushing—badly. Now listen, and I’ll tell you +something: the day may come when the lions get sick. And if you don’t +help the other animals now, the lions may find themselves left all +alone when _they_ are in trouble. That often happens to proud people.” + +[Illustration: “‘_ME, the King of Beasts_, to wait on a lot of dirty +monkeys?’”] + +“The lions are never _in_ trouble—they only _make_ trouble,” said the +Leader, turning up his nose. And he stalked away into the jungle, +feeling he had been rather smart and clever. + +Then the leopards got proud too and said they wouldn’t help. And then +of course the antelopes—although they were too shy and timid to be +rude to the Doctor like the lion—_they_ pawed the ground, and smiled +foolishly, and said they had never been nurses before. + +And now the poor Doctor was worried frantic, wondering where he could +get help enough to take care of all these thousands of monkeys in bed. + +But the Leader of the Lions, when he got back to his den, saw his wife, +the Queen Lioness, come running out to meet him with her hair untidy. + +“One of the cubs won’t eat,” she said. “I don’t know _what_ to do with +him. He hasn’t taken a thing since last night.” + +And she began to cry and shake with nervousness—for she was a good +mother, even though she was a lioness. + +So the Leader went into his den and looked at his children—two very +cunning little cubs, lying on the floor. And one of them seemed quite +poorly. + +Then the lion told his wife, quite proudly, just what he had said to +the Doctor. And she got so angry she nearly drove him out of the den. + +“You never _did_ have a grain of sense!” she screamed. “All the animals +from here to the Indian Ocean are talking about this wonderful man, +and how he can cure any kind of sickness, and how kind he is—the only +man in the whole world who can talk the language of the animals! And +now, _now_—when we have a sick baby on our hands, you must go and +offend him! You great booby! Nobody but a fool is ever rude to a _good_ +doctor. You—,” and she started pulling her husband’s hair. + +“Go back to that white man at once,” she yelled, “and tell him you’re +sorry. And take all the other empty-headed lions with you—and those +stupid leopards and antelopes. Then do everything the Doctor tells you. +Work like niggers! And perhaps he will be kind enough to come and see +the cub later. Now be off!—_Hurry_, I tell you! You’re not fit to be a +father!” + +And she went into the den next door, where another mother-lion lived, +and told her all about it. + +So the Leader of the Lions went back to the Doctor and said, “I +happened to be passing this way and thought I’d look in. Got any help +yet?” + +“No,” said the Doctor. “I haven’t. And I’m dreadfully worried.” + +“Help’s pretty hard to get these days,” said the lion. “Animals don’t +seem to want to work any more. You can’t blame them—in a way.... Well, +seeing you’re in difficulties, I don’t mind doing what I can—just to +oblige you—so long as I don’t have to wash the creatures. And I have +told all the other hunting animals to come and do their share. The +leopards should be here any minute now.... Oh, and by the way, we’ve +got a sick cub at home. I don’t think there’s much the matter with +him myself. But the wife is anxious. If you are around that way this +evening, you might take a look at him, will you?” + +Then the Doctor was very happy; for all the lions and the leopards and +the antelopes and the giraffes and the zebras—all the animals of the +forests and the mountains and the plains—came to help him in his work. +There were so many of them that he had to send some away, and only kept +the cleverest. + +And now very soon the monkeys began to get better. At the end of a +week the big house full of beds were half empty. And at the end of the +second week the last monkey had got well. + +Then the Doctor’s work was done; and he was so tired he went to bed and +slept for three days without even turning over. + + + + +_THE NINTH CHAPTER_ + +THE MONKEYS’ COUNCIL + + +CHEE-CHEE stood outside the Doctor’s door, keeping everybody away till +he woke up. Then John Dolittle told the monkeys that he must now go +back to Puddleby. + +They were very surprised at this; for they had thought that he was +going to stay with them forever. And that night all the monkeys got +together in the jungle to talk it over. + +And the Chief Chimpanzee rose up and said, + +“Why is it the good man is going away? Is he not happy here with us?” + +But none of them could answer him. + +Then the Grand Gorilla got up and said, + +“I think we all should go to him and ask him to stay. Perhaps if +we make him a new house and a bigger bed, and promise him plenty +of monkey-servants to work for him and to make life pleasant for +him—perhaps then he will not wish to go.” + +Then Chee-Chee got up; and all the others whispered, “Sh! Look! +Chee-Chee, the great Traveler, is about to speak!” + +And Chee-Chee said to the other monkeys, + +“My friends, I am afraid it is useless to ask the Doctor to stay. He +owes money in Puddleby; and he says he must go back and pay it.” + +And the monkeys asked him, “What is _money_?” + +[Illustration: “Then the Grand Gorilla got up”] + +Then Chee-Chee told them that in the Land of the White Men you could +get nothing without money; you could _do_ nothing without money—that +it was almost impossible to _live_ without money. + +And some of them asked, “But can you not even eat and drink without +paying?” + +But Chee-Chee shook his head. And then he told them that even he, when +he was with the organ-grinder, had been made to ask the children for +money. + +And the Chief Chimpanzee turned to the Oldest Orang-outang and said, +“Cousin, surely these Men be strange creatures! Who would wish to live +in such a land? My gracious, how paltry!” + +Then Chee-Chee said, + +“When we were coming to you we had no boat to cross the sea in and +no money to buy food to eat on our journey. So a man lent us some +biscuits; and we said we would pay him when we came back. And we +borrowed a boat from a sailor; but it was broken on the rocks when we +reached the shores of Africa. Now the Doctor says he must go back and +get the sailor another boat—because the man was poor and his ship was +all he had.” + +And the monkeys were all silent for a while, sitting quite still upon +the ground and thinking hard. + +At last the Biggest Baboon got up and said, + +“I do not think we ought to let this good man leave our land till we +have given him a fine present to take with him, so that he may know we +are grateful for all that he has done for us.” + +And a little, tiny red monkey who was sitting up in a tree shouted down, + +“I think that too!” + +And then they all cried out, making a great noise, “Yes, yes. Let us +give him the finest present a White Man ever had!” + +Now they began to wonder and ask one another what would be the best +thing to give him. And one said, “Fifty bags of cocoanuts!” And +another—“A hundred bunches of bananas!—At least he shall not have to +buy his fruit in the Land Where You Pay to Eat!” + +But Chee-Chee told them that all these things would be too heavy to +carry so far and would go bad before half was eaten. + +“If you want to please him,” he said, “give him an animal. You may be +sure he will be kind to it. Give him some rare animal they have not got +in the menageries.” + +And the monkeys asked him, “What are _menageries_?” + +Then Chee-Chee explained to them that menageries were places in the +Land of the White Men, where animals were put in cages for people to +come and look at. And the monkeys were very shocked and said to one +another, + +“These Men are like thoughtless young ones—stupid and easily amused. +Sh! It is a prison he means.” + +So then they asked Chee-Chee what rare animal it could be that they +should give the Doctor—one the White Men had not seen before. And the +Major of the Marmosettes asked, + +“Have they an iguana over there?” + +But Chee-Chee said, “Yes, there is one in the London Zoo.” + +And another asked, “Have they an okapi?” + +But Chee-Chee said, “Yes. In Belgium, where my organ-grinder took me +five years ago, they had an okapi in a big city they call Antwerp.” + +And another asked, “Have they a pushmi-pullyu?” + +Then Chee-Chee said, “No. No White Man has ever seen a pushmi-pullyu. +Let us give him that.” + + + + +_THE TENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL + + +PUSHMI-PULLYUS are now extinct. That means, there aren’t any more. But +long ago, when Doctor Dolittle was alive, there were some of them still +left in the deepest jungles of Africa; and even then they were very, +very scarce. They had no tail, but a head at each end, and sharp horns +on each head. They were very shy and terribly hard to catch. The black +men get most of their animals by sneaking up behind them while they are +not looking. But you could not do this with the pushmi-pullyu—because, +no matter which way you came towards him, he was always facing you. +And besides, only one half of him slept at a time. The other head +was always awake—and watching. This was why they were never caught +and never seen in Zoos. Though many of the greatest huntsmen and +the cleverest menagerie-keepers spent years of their lives searching +through the jungles in all weathers for pushmi-pullyus, not a single +one had ever been caught. Even then, years ago, he was the only animal +in the world with two heads. + +Well, the monkeys set out hunting for this animal through the forest. +And after they had gone a good many miles, one of them found peculiar +footprints near the edge of a river; and they knew that a pushmi-pullyu +must be very near that spot. + +Then they went along the bank of the river a little way and they saw a +place where the grass was high and thick; and they guessed that he was +in there. + +So they all joined hands and made a great circle round the high grass. +The pushmi-pullyu heard them coming; and he tried hard to break through +the ring of monkeys. But he couldn’t do it. When he saw that it was no +use trying to escape, he sat down and waited to see what they wanted. + +They asked him if he would go with Doctor Dolittle and be put on show +in the Land of the White Men. + +But he shook both his heads hard and said, “Certainly not!” + +They explained to him that he would not be shut up in a menagerie but +would just be looked at. They told him that the Doctor was a very kind +man but hadn’t any money; and people would pay to see a two-headed +animal and the Doctor would get rich and could pay for the boat he had +borrowed to come to Africa in. + +But he answered, “No. You know how shy I am—I hate being stared at.” +And he almost began to cry. + +Then for three days they tried to persuade him. + +And at the end of the third day he said he would come with them and see +what kind of a man the Doctor was, first. + +So the monkeys traveled back with the pushmi-pullyu. And when they came +to where the Doctor’s little house of grass was, they knocked on the +door. + +The duck, who was packing the trunk, said, “Come in!” + +And Chee-Chee very proudly took the animal inside and showed him to the +Doctor. + +“What in the world is it?” asked John Dolittle, gazing at the strange +creature. + +“Lord save us!” cried the duck. “How does it make up its mind?” + +“It doesn’t look to me as though it had any,” said Jip, the dog. + +“This, Doctor,” said Chee-Chee, “is the pushmi-pullyu—the rarest animal +of the African jungles, the only two-headed beast in the world! Take +him home with you and your fortune’s made. People will pay any money to +see him.” + +“But I don’t want any money,” said the Doctor. + +“Yes, you do,” said Dab-Dab, the duck. “Don’t you remember how we had +to pinch and scrape to pay the butcher’s bill in Puddleby? And how are +you going to get the sailor the new boat you spoke of—unless we have +the money to buy it?” + +[Illustration: “‘Lord save us!’ cried the duck. ‘How does it make up +its mind?’”] + +“I was going to make him one,” said the Doctor. + +“Oh, do be sensible!” cried Dab-Dab. “Where would you get all the wood +and the nails to make one with?—And besides, what are we going to +live on? We shall be poorer than ever when we get back. Chee-Chee’s +perfectly right: take the funny-looking thing along, do!” + +“Well, perhaps there is something in what you say,” murmured the +Doctor. “It certainly would make a nice new kind of pet. But does the +er—what-do-you-call-it really want to go abroad?” + +“Yes, I’ll go,” said the pushmi-pullyu who saw at once, from the +Doctor’s face, that he was a man to be trusted. “You have been so kind +to the animals here—and the monkeys tell me that I am the only one who +will do. But you must promise me that if I do not like it in the Land +of the White Men you will send me back.” + +“Why, certainly—of course, of course,” said the Doctor. “Excuse me, +surely you are related to the Deer Family, are you not?” + +“Yes,” said the pushmi-pullyu—“to the Abyssinian Gazelles and the +Asiatic Chamois—on my mother’s side. My father’s great-grandfather was +the last of the Unicorns.” + +“Most interesting!” murmured the Doctor; and he took a book out of the +trunk which Dab-Dab was packing and began turning the pages. “Let us +see if Buffon says anything—” + +“I notice,” said the duck, “that you only talk with one of your mouths. +Can’t the other head talk as well?” + +“Oh, yes,” said the pushmi-pullyu. “But I keep the other mouth for +eating—mostly. In that way I can talk while I am eating without being +rude. Our people have always been very polite.” + +When the packing was finished and everything was ready to start, the +monkeys gave a grand party for the Doctor, and all the animals of the +jungle came. And they had pineapples and mangoes and honey and all +sorts of good things to eat and drink. + +After they had all finished eating, the Doctor got up and said, + +“My friends: I am not clever at speaking long words after dinner, like +some men; and I have just eaten many fruits and much honey. But I wish +to tell you that I am very sad at leaving your beautiful country. +Because I have things to do in the Land of the White Men, I must go. +After I have gone, remember never to let the flies settle on your food +before you eat it; and do not sleep on the ground when the rains are +coming. I—er—er—I hope you will all live happily ever after.” + +When the Doctor stopped speaking and sat down, all the monkeys clapped +their hands a long time and said to one another, “Let it be remembered +always among our people that he sat and ate with us, here, under the +trees. For surely he is the Greatest of Men!” + +And the Grand Gorilla, who had the strength of seven horses in his +hairy arms, rolled a great rock up to the head of the table and said, + +“This stone for all time shall mark the spot.” + +And even to this day, in the heart of the jungle, that stone still +is there. And monkey-mothers, passing through the forest with their +families, still point down at it from the branches and whisper to their +children, “Sh! There it is—look—where the Good White Man sat and ate +food with us in the Year of the Great Sickness!” + +Then, when the party was over, the Doctor and his pets started out to +go back to the seashore. And all the monkeys went with him as far as +the edge of their country, carrying his trunk and bags, to see him +off. + + + + +_THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE BLACK PRINCE + + +BY the edge of the river they stopped and said farewell. + +This took a long time, because all those thousands of monkeys wanted to +shake John Dolittle by the hand. + +Afterwards, when the Doctor and his pets were going on alone, Polynesia +said, + +“We must tread softly and talk low as we go through the land of the +Jolliginki. If the King should hear us, he will send his soldiers to +catch us again; for I am sure he is still very angry over the trick I +played on him.” + +“What I am wondering,” said the Doctor, “is where we are going to get +another boat to go home in.... Oh well, perhaps we’ll find one lying +about on the beach that nobody is using. ‘Never lift your foot till you +come to the stile.’” + +One day, while they were passing through a very thick part of the +forest, Chee-Chee went ahead of them to look for cocoanuts. And while +he was away, the Doctor and the rest of the animals, who did not know +the jungle-paths so well, got lost in the deep woods. They wandered +around and around but could not find their way down to the seashore. + +Chee-Chee, when he could not see them anywhere, was terribly upset. +He climbed high trees and looked out from the top branches to try and +see the Doctor’s high hat; he waved and shouted; he called to all the +animals by name. But it was no use. They seemed to have disappeared +altogether. + +Indeed they had lost their way very badly. They had strayed a long way +off the path, and the jungle was so thick with bushes and creepers +and vines that sometimes they could hardly move at all, and the +Doctor had to take out his pocket-knife and cut his way along. They +stumbled into wet, boggy places; they got all tangled up in thick +convolvulus-runners; they scratched themselves on thorns, and twice +they nearly lost the medicine-bag in the under-brush. There seemed no +end to their troubles; and nowhere could they come upon a path. + +At last, after blundering about like this for many days, getting their +clothes torn and their faces covered with mud, they walked right into +the King’s back-garden by mistake. The King’s men came running up at +once and caught them. + +But Polynesia flew into a tree in the garden, without anybody seeing +her, and hid herself. The Doctor and the rest were taken before the +King. + +“Ha, ha!” cried the King. “So you are caught again! This time you shall +not escape. Take them all back to prison and put double locks on the +door. This White Man shall scrub my kitchen-floor for the rest of his +life!” + +So the Doctor and his pets were led back to prison and locked up. And +the Doctor was told that in the morning he must begin scrubbing the +kitchen-floor. + +They were all very unhappy. + +“This is a great nuisance,” said the Doctor. “I really must get back +to Puddleby. That poor sailor will think I’ve stolen his ship if I +don’t get home soon.... I wonder if those hinges are loose.” + +But the door was very strong and firmly locked. There seemed no chance +of getting out. Then Gub-Gub began to cry again. + +All this time Polynesia was still sitting in the tree in the +palace-garden. She was saying nothing and blinking her eyes. + +This was always a very bad sign with Polynesia. Whenever she said +nothing and blinked her eyes, it meant that somebody had been making +trouble, and she was thinking out some way to put things right. People +who made trouble for Polynesia or her friends were nearly always sorry +for it afterwards. + +Presently she spied Chee-Chee swinging through the trees still looking +for the Doctor. When Chee-Chee saw her, he came into her tree and asked +her what had become of him. + +“The Doctor and all the animals have been caught by the King’s men and +locked up again,” whispered Polynesia. “We lost our way in the jungle +and blundered into the palace-garden by mistake.” + +“But couldn’t you guide them?” asked Chee-Chee; and he began to scold +the parrot for letting them get lost while he was away looking for the +cocoanuts. + +“It was all that stupid pig’s fault,” said Polynesia. “He would keep +running off the path hunting for ginger-roots. And I was kept so busy +catching him and bringing him back, that I turned to the left, instead +of the right, when we reached the swamp.—Sh!—Look! There’s Prince Bumpo +coming into the garden! He must not see us.—Don’t move, whatever you +do!” + +And there, sure enough, was Prince Bumpo, the King’s son, opening the +garden-gate. He carried a book of fairy-tales under his arm. He came +strolling down the gravel-walk, humming a sad song, till he reached +a stone seat right under the tree where the parrot and the monkey +were hiding. Then he lay down on the seat and began reading the +fairy-stories to himself. + +Chee-Chee and Polynesia watched him, keeping very quiet and still. + +[Illustration: “He began reading the fairy-stories to himself”] + +After a while the King’s son laid the book down and sighed a weary +sigh. + +“If I were only a _white_ prince!” said he, with a dreamy, far-away +look in his eyes. + +Then the parrot, talking in a small, high voice like a little girl, +said aloud, + +“Bumpo, some one might turn thee into a white prince perchance.” + +The King’s son started up off the seat and looked all around. + +“What is this I hear?” he cried. “Methought the sweet music of a +fairy’s silver voice rang from yonder bower! Strange!” + +“Worthy Prince,” said Polynesia, keeping very still so Bumpo couldn’t +see her, “thou sayest winged words of truth. For ’tis I, Tripsitinka, +the Queen of the Fairies, that speak to thee. I am hiding in a +rose-bud.” + +“Oh tell me, Fairy-Queen,” cried Bumpo, clasping his hands in joy, “who +is it can turn me white?” + +“In thy father’s prison,” said the parrot, “there lies a famous +wizard, John Dolittle by name. Many things he knows of medicine and +magic, and mighty deeds has he performed. Yet thy kingly father leaves +him languishing long and lingering hours. Go to him, brave Bumpo, +secretly, when the sun has set; and behold, thou shalt be made the +whitest prince that ever won fair lady! I have said enough. I must now +go back to Fairyland. Farewell!” + +“Farewell!” cried the Prince. “A thousand thanks, good Tripsitinka!” + +And he sat down on the seat again with a smile upon his face, waiting +for the sun to set. + + + + +_THE TWELFTH CHAPTER_ + +MEDICINE AND MAGIC + + +VERY, very quietly, making sure that no one should see her, Polynesia +then slipped out at the back of the tree and flew across to the prison. + +She found Gub-Gub poking his nose through the bars of the window, +trying to sniff the cooking-smells that came from the palace-kitchen. +She told the pig to bring the Doctor to the window because she wanted +to speak to him. So Gub-Gub went and woke the Doctor who was taking a +nap. + +“Listen,” whispered the parrot, when John Dolittle’s face appeared: +“Prince Bumpo is coming here to-night to see you. And you’ve got to +find some way to turn him white. But be sure to make him promise you +first that he will open the prison-door and find a ship for you to +cross the sea in.” + +“This is all very well,” said the Doctor. “But it isn’t so easy to turn +a black man white. You speak as though he were a dress to be re-dyed. +It’s not so simple. ‘Shall the leopard change his spots, or the +Ethiopian his skin,’ you know?” + +“I don’t know anything about that,” said Polynesia impatiently. “But +you _must_ turn this coon white. Think of a way—think hard. You’ve got +plenty of medicines left in the bag. He’ll do anything for you if you +change his color. It is your only chance to get out of prison.” + +“Well, I suppose it _might_ be possible,” said the Doctor. “Let me +see—,” and he went over to his medicine-bag, murmuring something about +“liberated chlorine on animal-pigment—perhaps zinc-ointment, as a +temporary measure, spread thick—” + +Well, that night Prince Bumpo came secretly to the Doctor in prison and +said to him, + +“White Man, I am an unhappy prince. Years ago I went in search of The +Sleeping Beauty, whom I had read of in a book. And having traveled +through the world many days, I at last found her and kissed the lady +very gently to awaken her—as the book said I should. ’Tis true indeed +that she awoke. But when she saw my face she cried out, ‘Oh, he’s +black!’ And she ran away and wouldn’t marry me—but went to sleep +again somewhere else. So I came back, full of sadness, to my father’s +kingdom. Now I hear that you are a wonderful magician and have many +powerful potions. So I come to you for help. If you will turn me white, +so that I may go back to The Sleeping Beauty, I will give you half my +kingdom and anything besides you ask.” + +“Prince Bumpo,” said the Doctor, looking thoughtfully at the bottles in +his medicine-bag, “supposing I made your hair a nice blonde color—would +not that do instead to make you happy?” + +“No,” said Bumpo. “Nothing else will satisfy me. I must be a white +prince.” + +“You know it is very hard to change the color of a prince,” said the +Doctor—“one of the hardest things a magician can do. You only want your +face white, do you not?” + +“Yes, that is all,” said Bumpo. “Because I shall wear shining armor and +gauntlets of steel, like the other white princes, and ride on a horse.” + +“Must your face be white all over?” asked the Doctor. + +“Yes, all over,” said Bumpo—“and I would like my eyes blue too, but I +suppose that would be very hard to do.” + +“Yes, it would,” said the Doctor quickly. “Well, I will do what I can +for you. You will have to be very patient though—you know with some +medicines you can never be very sure. I might have to try two or three +times. You have a strong skin—yes? Well that’s all right. Now come +over here by the light—Oh, but before I do anything, you must first go +down to the beach and get a ship ready, with food in it, to take me +across the sea. Do not speak a word of this to any one. And when I have +done as you ask, you must let me and all my animals out of prison. +Promise—by the crown of Jolliginki!” + +So the Prince promised and went away to get a ship ready at the +seashore. + +When he came back and said that it was done, the Doctor asked Dab-Dab +to bring a basin. Then he mixed a lot of medicines in the basin and +told Bumpo to dip his face in it. + +The Prince leaned down and put his face in—right up to the ears. + +He held it there a long time—so long that the Doctor seemed to get +dreadfully anxious and fidgety, standing first on one leg and then on +the other, looking at all the bottles he had used for the mixture, and +reading the labels on them again and again. A strong smell filled the +prison, like the smell of brown paper burning. + +At last the Prince lifted his face up out of the basin, breathing very +hard. And all the animals cried out in surprise. + +For the Prince’s face had turned as white as snow, and his eyes, which +had been mud-colored, were a manly gray! + +When John Dolittle lent him a little looking-glass to see himself in, +he sang for joy and began dancing around the prison. But the Doctor +asked him not to make so much noise about it; and when he had closed +his medicine-bag in a hurry he told him to open the prison-door. + +Bumpo begged that he might keep the looking-glass, as it was the only +one in the Kingdom of Jolliginki, and he wanted to look at himself all +day long. But the Doctor said he needed it to shave with. + +Then the Prince, taking a bunch of copper keys from his pocket, undid +the great double locks. And the Doctor with all his animals ran as fast +as they could down to the seashore; while Bumpo leaned against the wall +of the empty dungeon, smiling after them happily, his big face shining +like polished ivory in the light of the moon. + +When they came to the beach they saw Polynesia and Chee-Chee waiting +for them on the rocks near the ship. + +“I feel sorry about Bumpo,” said the Doctor. “I am afraid that +medicine I used will never last. Most likely he will be as black as +ever when he wakes up in the morning—that’s one reason why I didn’t +like to leave the mirror with him. But then again, he _might_ stay +white—I had never used that mixture before. To tell the truth, I was +surprised, myself, that it worked so well. But I had to do something, +didn’t I?—I couldn’t possibly scrub the King’s kitchen for the rest +of my life. It was such a dirty kitchen!—I could see it from the +prison-window.—Well, well!—Poor Bumpo!” + +“Oh, of course he will know we were just joking with him,” said the +parrot. + +“They had no business to lock us up,” said Dab-Dab, waggling her tail +angrily. “We never did them any harm. Serve him right, if he does turn +black again! I hope it’s a dark black.” + +“But _he_ didn’t have anything to do with it,” said the Doctor. “It was +the King, his father, who had us locked up—it wasn’t Bumpo’s fault.... +I wonder if I ought to go back and apologize—Oh, well—I’ll send him +some candy when I get to Puddleby. And who knows?—he may stay white +after all.” + +“The Sleeping Beauty would never have him, even if he did,” said +Dab-Dab. “He looked better the way he was, I thought. But he’d never be +anything but ugly, no matter what color he was made.” + +“Still, he had a good heart,” said the Doctor—“romantic, of course—but +a good heart. After all, ‘handsome is as handsome does.’” + +“I don’t believe the poor booby found The Sleeping Beauty at all,” +said Jip, the dog. “Most likely he kissed some farmer’s fat wife who +was taking a snooze under an apple-tree. Can’t blame her for getting +scared! I wonder who he’ll go and kiss this time. Silly business!” + +Then the pushmi-pullyu, the white mouse, Gub-Gub, Dab-Dab, Jip and +the owl, Too-Too, went on to the ship with the Doctor. But Chee-Chee, +Polynesia and the crocodile stayed behind, because Africa was their +proper home, the land where they were born. + +And when the Doctor stood upon the boat, he looked over the side +across the water. And then he remembered that they had no one with them +to guide them back to Puddleby. + +The wide, wide sea looked terribly big and lonesome in the moonlight; +and he began to wonder if they would lose their way when they passed +out of sight of land. + +But even while he was wondering, they heard a strange whispering noise, +high in the air, coming through the night. And the animals all stopped +saying Good-by and listened. + +The noise grew louder and bigger. It seemed to be coming nearer to +them—a sound like the Autumn wind blowing through the leaves of a +poplar-tree, or a great, great rain beating down upon a roof. + +And Jip, with his nose pointing and his tail quite straight, said, + +“Birds!—millions of them—flying fast—that’s it!” + +And then they all looked up. And there, streaming across the face of +the moon, like a huge swarm of tiny ants, they could see thousands and +thousands of little birds. Soon the whole sky seemed full of them, and +still more kept coming—more and more. There were so many that for a +little they covered the whole moon so it could not shine, and the sea +grew dark and black—like when a storm-cloud passes over the sun. + +And presently all these birds came down close, skimming over the water +and the land; and the night-sky was left clear above, and the moon +shone as before. Still never a call nor a cry nor a song they made—no +sound but this great rustling of feathers which grew greater now than +ever. When they began to settle on the sands, along the ropes of the +ship—anywhere and everywhere except the trees—the Doctor could see that +they had blue wings and white breasts and very short, feathered legs. +As soon as they had all found a place to sit, suddenly, there was no +noise left anywhere—all was quiet; all was still. + +And in the silent moonlight John Dolittle spoke: + +“I had no idea that we had been in Africa so long. It will be nearly +Summer when we get home. For these are the swallows going back. +Swallows, I thank you for waiting for us. It is very thoughtful of you. +Now we need not be afraid that we will lose our way upon the sea.... +Pull up the anchor and set the sail!” + +[Illustration: “Crying bitterly and waving till the ship was out of +sight”] + +When the ship moved out upon the water, those who stayed behind, +Chee-Chee, Polynesia and the crocodile, grew terribly sad. For never in +their lives had they known any one they liked so well as Doctor John +Dolittle of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. + +And after they had called Good-by to him again and again and again, +they still stood there upon the rocks, crying bitterly and waving till +the ship was out of sight. + + + + +_THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER_ + +RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS + + +SAILING homeward, the Doctor’s ship had to pass the coast of Barbary. +This coast is the seashore of the Great Desert. It is a wild, lonely +place—all sand and stones. And it was here that the Barbary pirates +lived. + +These pirates, a bad lot of men, used to wait for sailors to be +shipwrecked on their shores. And often, if they saw a boat passing, +they would come out in their fast sailing-ships and chase it. When they +caught a boat like this at sea, they would steal everything on it; and +after they had taken the people off they would sink the ship and sail +back to Barbary singing songs and feeling proud of the mischief they +had done. Then they used to make the people they had caught write home +to their friends for money. And if the friends sent no money, the +pirates often threw the people into the sea. + +Now one sunshiny day the Doctor and Dab-Dab were walking up and down on +the ship for exercise; a nice fresh wind was blowing the boat along, +and everybody was happy. Presently Dab-Dab saw the sail of another ship +a long way behind them on the edge of the sea. It was a red sail. + +“I don’t like the look of that sail,” said Dab-Dab. “I have a feeling +it isn’t a friendly ship. I am afraid there is more trouble coming to +us.” + +Jip, who was lying near taking a nap in the sun, began to growl and +talk in his sleep. + +“I smell roast beef cooking,” he mumbled—“underdone roast beef—with +brown gravy over it.” + +“Good gracious!” cried the Doctor. “What’s the matter with the dog? Is +he _smelling_ in his sleep—as well as talking?” + +“I suppose he is,” said Dab-Dab. “All dogs can smell in their sleep.” + +“But what is he smelling?” asked the Doctor. “There is no roast beef +cooking on our ship.” + +“No,” said Dab-Dab. “The roast beef must be on that other ship over +there.” + +“But that’s ten miles away,” said the Doctor. “He couldn’t smell that +far surely!” + +“Oh, yes, he could,” said Dab-Dab. “You ask him.” + +Then Jip, still fast asleep, began to growl again and his lip curled up +angrily, showing his clean, white teeth. + +“I smell bad men,” he growled—“the worst men I ever smelt. I smell +trouble. I smell a fight—six bad scoundrels fighting against one brave +man. I want to help him. Woof—oo—WOOF!” Then he barked, loud, and woke +himself up with a surprised look on his face. + +“See!” cried Dab-Dab. “That boat is nearer now. You can count its three +big sails—all red. Whoever it is, they are coming after us.... I wonder +who they are.” + +“They are bad sailors,” said Jip; “and their ship is very swift. They +are surely the pirates of Barbary.” + +“Well, we must put up more sails on our boat,” said the Doctor, “so we +can go faster and get away from them. Run downstairs, Jip, and fetch me +all the sails you see.” + +The dog hurried downstairs and dragged up every sail he could find. + +[Illustration: “‘They are surely the pirates of Barbary’”] + +But even when all these were put up on the masts to catch the wind, the +boat did not go nearly as fast as the pirates’—which kept coming on +behind, closer and closer. + +“This is a poor ship the Prince gave us,” said Gub-Gub, the pig—“the +slowest he could find, I should think. Might as well try to win a race +in a soup-tureen as hope to get away from them in this old barge. Look +how near they are now!—You can see the mustaches on the faces of the +men—six of them. What are we going to do?” + +Then the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to fly up and tell the swallows that +pirates were coming after them in a swift ship, and what should he do +about it. + +When the swallows heard this, they all came down on to the Doctor’s +ship; and they told him to unravel some pieces of long rope and make +them into a lot of thin strings as quickly as he could. Then the +ends of these strings were tied on to the front of the ship; and the +swallows took hold of the strings with their feet and flew off, pulling +the boat along. + +And although swallows are not very strong when only one or two are +by themselves, it is different when there are a great lot of them +together. And there, tied to the Doctor’s ship, were a thousand +strings; and two thousand swallows were pulling on each string—all +terribly swift fliers. + +And in a moment the Doctor found himself traveling so fast he had to +hold his hat on with both hands; for he felt as though the ship itself +were flying through waves that frothed and boiled with speed. + +And all the animals on the ship began to laugh and dance about in the +rushing air, for when they looked back at the pirates’ ship, they could +see that it was growing smaller now, instead of bigger. The red sails +were being left far, far behind. + + + + +_THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE RATS’ WARNING + + +DRAGGING a ship through the sea is hard work. And after two or three +hours the swallows began to get tired in the wings and short of breath. +Then they sent a message down to the Doctor to say that they would +have to take a rest soon; and that they would pull the boat over to an +island not far off, and hide it in a deep bay till they had got breath +enough to go on. + +And presently the Doctor saw the island they had spoken of. It had a +very beautiful, high, green mountain in the middle of it. + +When the ship had sailed safely into the bay where it could not be seen +from the open sea, the Doctor said he would get off on to the island to +look for water—because there was none left to drink on his ship. And +he told all the animals to get out too and romp on the grass to stretch +their legs. + +Now as they were getting off, the Doctor noticed that a whole lot of +rats were coming up from downstairs and leaving the ship as well. Jip +started to run after them, because chasing rats had always been his +favorite game. But the Doctor told him to stop. + +And one big black rat, who seemed to want to say something to the +Doctor, now crept forward timidly along the rail, watching the dog out +of the corner of his eye. And after he had coughed nervously two or +three times, and cleaned his whiskers and wiped his mouth, he said, + +“Ahem—er—you know of course that all ships have rats in them, Doctor, +do you not?” + +And the Doctor said, “Yes.” + +“And you have heard that rats always leave a sinking ship?” + +“Yes,” said the Doctor—“so I’ve been told.” + +“People,” said the rat, “always speak of it with a sneer—as though it +were something disgraceful. But you can’t blame us, can you? After +all, who _would_ stay on a sinking ship, if he could get off it?” + +[Illustration: “‘And you have heard that rats always leave a sinking +ship?’”] + +“It’s very natural,” said the Doctor—“very natural. I quite +understand.... Was there—Was there anything else you wished to say?” + +“Yes,” said the rat. “I’ve come to tell you that we are leaving this +one. But we wanted to warn you before we go. This is a bad ship you +have here. It isn’t safe. The sides aren’t strong enough. Its boards +are rotten. Before to-morrow night it will sink to the bottom of the +sea.” + +“But how do you know?” asked the Doctor. + +“We always know,” answered the rat. “The tips of our tails get that +tingly feeling—like when your foot’s asleep. This morning, at six +o’clock, while I was getting breakfast, my tail suddenly began to +tingle. At first I thought it was my rheumatism coming back. So I went +and asked my aunt how she felt—you remember her?—the long, piebald +rat, rather skinny, who came to see you in Puddleby last Spring with +jaundice? Well—and she said _her_ tail was tingling like everything! +Then we knew, for sure, that this boat was going to sink in less than +two days; and we all made up our minds to leave it as soon as we got +near enough to any land. It’s a bad ship, Doctor. Don’t sail in it any +more, or you’ll be surely drowned.... Good-by! We are now going to +look for a good place to live on this island.” + +“Good-by!” said the Doctor. “And thank you very much for coming to +tell me. Very considerate of you—very! Give my regards to your aunt. I +remember her perfectly.... Leave that rat alone, Jip! Come here! Lie +down!” + +So then the Doctor and all his animals went off, carrying pails and +saucepans, to look for water on the island, while the swallows took +their rest. + +“I wonder what is the name of this island,” said the Doctor, as he was +climbing up the mountainside. “It seems a pleasant place. What a lot of +birds there are!” + +“Why, these are the Canary Islands,” said Dab-Dab. “Don’t you hear the +canaries singing?” + +The Doctor stopped and listened. + +“Why, to be sure—of course!” he said. “How stupid of me! I wonder if +they can tell us where to find water.” + +And presently the canaries, who had heard all about Doctor Dolittle +from birds of passage, came and led him to a beautiful spring of cool, +clear water where the canaries used to take their bath; and they showed +him lovely meadows where the bird-seed grew and all the other sights of +their island. + +And the pushmi-pullyu was glad they had come; because he liked the +green grass so much better than the dried apples he had been eating on +the ship. And Gub-Gub squeaked for joy when he found a whole valley +full of wild sugar-cane. + +A little later, when they had all had plenty to eat and drink, and +were lying on their backs while the canaries sang for them, two of the +swallows came hurrying up, very flustered and excited. + +“Doctor!” they cried, “the pirates have come into the bay; and they’ve +all got on to your ship. They are downstairs looking for things to +steal. They have left their own ship with nobody on it. If you hurry +and come down to the shore, you can get on to their ship—which is very +fast—and escape. But you’ll have to hurry.” + +“That’s a good idea,” said the Doctor—“splendid!” + +And he called his animals together at once, said Good-by to the +canaries and ran down to the beach. + +When they reached the shore they saw the pirate-ship, with the three +red sails, standing in the water; and—just as the swallows had +said—there was nobody on it; all the pirates were downstairs in the +Doctor’s ship, looking for things to steal. + +So John Dolittle told his animals to walk very softly and they all +crept on to the pirate-ship. + + + + +_THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE BARBARY DRAGON + + +EVERYTHING would have gone all right if the pig had not caught a cold +in his head while eating the damp sugar-cane on the island. This is +what happened: + +After they had pulled up the anchor without a sound, and were moving +the ship very, very carefully out of the bay, Gub-Gub suddenly sneezed +so loud that the pirates on the other ship came rushing upstairs to see +what the noise was. + +As soon as they saw that the Doctor was escaping, they sailed the other +boat right across the entrance to the bay so that the Doctor could not +get out into the open sea. + +Then the leader of these bad men (who called himself “Ben Ali, The +Dragon”) shook his fist at the Doctor and shouted across the water, + +“Ha! Ha! You are caught, my fine friend! You were going to run off in +my ship, eh? But you are not a good enough sailor to beat Ben Ali, the +Barbary Dragon. I want that duck you’ve got—and the pig too. We’ll have +pork-chops and roast duck for supper to-night. And before I let you go +home, you must make your friends send me a trunk-full of gold.” + +Poor Gub-Gub began to weep; and Dab-Dab made ready to fly to save her +life. But the owl, Too-Too, whispered to the Doctor, + +“Keep him talking, Doctor. Be pleasant to him. Our old ship is bound +to sink soon—the rats said it would be at the bottom of the sea before +to-morrow-night—and the rats are never wrong. Be pleasant, till the +ship sinks under him. Keep him talking.” + +“What, until to-morrow night!” said the Doctor. “Well, I’ll do my +best.... Let me see—What shall I talk about?” + +“Oh, let them come on,” said Jip. “We can fight the dirty rascals. +There are only six of them. Let them come on. I’d love to tell that +collie next door, when we get home, that I had bitten a real pirate. +Let ’em come. We can fight them.” + +[Illustration: “‘Look here, Ben Ali—’”] + +“But they have pistols and swords,” said the Doctor. “No, that would +never do. I must talk to him.... Look here, Ben Ali—” + +But before the Doctor could say any more, the pirates began to sail the +ship nearer, laughing with glee, and saying one to another, “Who shall +be the first to catch the pig?” + +Poor Gub-Gub was dreadfully frightened; and the pushmi-pullyu began to +sharpen his horns for a fight by rubbing them on the mast of the ship; +while Jip kept springing into the air and barking and calling Ben Ali +bad names in dog-language. + +But presently something seemed to go wrong with the pirates; they +stopped laughing and cracking jokes; they looked puzzled; something was +making them uneasy. + +Then Ben Ali, staring down at his feet, suddenly bellowed out, + +“Thunder and Lightning!—Men, _the boat’s leaking_!” + +And then the other pirates peered over the side and they saw that the +boat was indeed getting lower and lower in the water. And one of them +said to Ben Ali, + +“But surely if this old boat were sinking we should see the rats +leaving it.” + +And Jip shouted across from the other ship, + +“You great duffers, there are no rats there to leave! They left two +hours ago! ‘Ha, ha,’ to you, ‘my fine friends!’” + +But of course the men did not understand him. + +Soon the front end of the ship began to go down and down, faster and +faster—till the boat looked almost as though it were standing on its +head; and the pirates had to cling to the rails and the masts and +the ropes and anything to keep from sliding off. Then the sea rushed +roaring in through all the windows and the doors. And at last the ship +plunged right down to the bottom of the sea, making a dreadful gurgling +sound; and the six bad men were left bobbing about in the deep water of +the bay. + +Some of them started to swim for the shores of the island; while others +came and tried to get on to the boat where the Doctor was. But Jip kept +snapping at their noses, so they were afraid to climb up the side of +the ship. + +Then suddenly they all cried out in great fear, + +“_The sharks!_ The sharks are coming! Let us get on to the ship before +they eat us! Help, help!—The sharks! The sharks!” + +And now the Doctor could see, all over the bay, the backs of big fishes +swimming swiftly through the water. + +And one great shark came near to the ship, and poking his nose out of +the water he said to the Doctor, + +“Are you John Dolittle, the famous animal-doctor?” + +“Yes,” said Doctor Dolittle. “That is my name.” + +“Well,” said the shark, “we know these pirates to be a bad +lot—especially Ben Ali. If they are annoying you, we will gladly eat +them up for you—and then you won’t be troubled any more.” + +“Thank you,” said the Doctor. “This is really most attentive. But I +don’t think it will be necessary to eat them. Don’t let any of them +reach the shore until I tell you—just keep them swimming about, will +you? And please make Ben Ali swim over here that I may talk to him.” + +So the shark went off and chased Ben Ali over to the Doctor. + +“Listen, Ben Ali,” said John Dolittle, leaning over the side. “You +have been a very bad man; and I understand that you have killed many +people. These good sharks here have just offered to eat you up for +me—and ’twould indeed be a good thing if the seas were rid of you. But +if you will promise to do as I tell you, I will let you go in safety.” + +“What must I do?” asked the pirate, looking down sideways at the big +shark who was smelling his leg under the water. + +“You must kill no more people,” said the Doctor; “you must stop +stealing; you must never sink another ship; you must give up being a +pirate altogether.” + +“But what shall I do then?” asked Ben Ali. “How shall I live?” + +“You and all your men must go on to this island and be +bird-seed-farmers,” the Doctor answered. “You must grow bird-seed for +the canaries.” + +The Barbary Dragon turned pale with anger, “_Grow bird-seed!_” he +groaned in disgust. “Can’t I be a sailor?” + +“No,” said the Doctor, “you cannot. You have been a sailor long +enough—and sent many stout ships and good men to the bottom of the +sea. For the rest of your life you must be a peaceful farmer. The shark +is waiting. Do not waste any more of his time. Make up your mind.” + +“Thunder and Lightning!” Ben Ali muttered—“_Bird-seed!_” Then he looked +down into the water again and saw the great fish smelling his other leg. + +“Very well,” he said sadly. “We’ll be farmers.” + +“And remember,” said the Doctor, “that if you do not keep your +promise—if you start killing and stealing again, I shall hear of it, +because the canaries will come and tell me. And be very sure that I +will find a way to punish you. For though I may not be able to sail a +ship as well as you, so long as the birds and the beasts and the fishes +are my friends, I do not have to be afraid of a pirate chief—even +though he call himself ‘The Dragon of Barbary.’ Now go and be a good +farmer and live in peace.” + +Then the Doctor turned to the big shark, and waving his hand he said, + +“All right. Let them swim safely to the land.” + + + + +_THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER_ + +TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER + + +HAVING thanked the sharks again for their kindness, the Doctor and his +pets set off once more on their journey home in the swift ship with the +three red sails. + +As they moved out into the open sea, the animals all went downstairs +to see what their new boat was like inside; while the Doctor leant on +the rail at the back of the ship with a pipe in his mouth, watching the +Canary Islands fade away in the blue dusk of the evening. + +While he was standing there, wondering how the monkeys were getting +on—and what his garden would look like when he got back to Puddleby, +Dab-Dab came tumbling up the stairs, all smiles and full of news. + +“Doctor!” she cried. “This ship of the pirates is simply +beautiful—absolutely. The beds downstairs are made of primrose +silk—with hundreds of big pillows and cushions; there are thick, soft +carpets on the floors; the dishes are made of silver; and there are all +sorts of good things to eat and drink—special things; the larder—well, +it’s just like a shop, that’s all. You never saw anything like it in +your life—Just think—they kept five different kinds of sardines, those +men! Come and look.... Oh, and we found a little room down there with +the door locked; and we are all crazy to get in and see what’s inside. +Jip says it must be where the pirates kept their treasure. But we can’t +open the door. Come down and see if you can let us in.” + +So the Doctor went downstairs and he saw that it was indeed a beautiful +ship. He found the animals gathered round a little door, all talking +at once, trying to guess what was inside. The Doctor turned the handle +but it wouldn’t open. Then they all started to hunt for the key. They +looked under the mat; they looked under all the carpets; they looked +in all the cupboards and drawers and lockers—in the big chests in the +ship’s dining-room; they looked everywhere. + +While they were doing this they discovered a lot of new and wonderful +things that the pirates must have stolen from other ships: Kashmir +shawls as thin as a cobweb, embroidered with flowers of gold; jars of +fine tobacco from Jamaica; carved ivory boxes full of Russian tea; an +old violin with a string broken and a picture on the back; a set of big +chess-men, carved out of coral and amber; a walking-stick which had +a sword inside it when you pulled the handle; six wine-glasses with +tourquoise and silver round the rims; and a lovely great sugar-bowl, +made of mother o’ pearl. But nowhere in the whole boat could they find +a key to fit that lock. + +So they all came back to the door, and Jip peered through the key-hole. +But something had been stood against the wall on the inside and he +could see nothing. + +While they were standing around, wondering what they should do, the +owl, Too-Too, suddenly said, + +“Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there’s some one in there!” + +They all kept still a moment. Then the Doctor said, + +[Illustration: “‘Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there’s some one in there!’”] + +“You must be mistaken, Too-Too. I don’t hear anything.” + +“I’m sure of it,” said the owl. “Sh!—There it is again—Don’t you hear +that?” + +“No, I do not,” said the Doctor. “What kind of a sound is it?” + +“I hear the noise of some one putting his hand in his pocket,” said the +owl. + +“But that makes hardly any sound at all,” said the Doctor. “You +couldn’t hear that out here.” + +“Pardon me, but I can,” said Too-Too. “I tell you there is some one +on the other side of that door putting his hand in his pocket. Almost +everything makes _some_ noise—if your ears are only sharp enough +to catch it. Bats can hear a mole walking in his tunnel under the +earth—and they think they’re good hearers. But we owls can tell you, +using only one ear, the color of a kitten from the way it winks in the +dark.” + +“Well, well!” said the Doctor. “You surprise me. That’s very +interesting.... Listen again and tell me what he’s doing now.” + +“I’m not sure yet,” said Too-Too, “if it’s a man at all. Maybe it’s a +woman. Lift me up and let me listen at the key-hole and I’ll soon tell +you.” + +So the Doctor lifted the owl up and held him close to the lock of the +door. + +After a moment Too-Too said, + +“Now he’s rubbing his face with his left hand. It is a small hand and +a small face. It _might_ be a woman—No. Now he pushes his hair back off +his forehead—It’s a man all right.” + +“Women sometimes do that,” said the Doctor. + +“True,” said the owl. “But when they do, their long hair makes quite +a different sound.... Sh! Make that fidgety pig keep still. Now all +hold your breath a moment so I can listen well. This is very difficult, +what I’m doing now—and the pesky door is so thick! Sh! Everybody quite +still—shut your eyes and don’t breathe.” + +Too-Too leaned down and listened again very hard and long. + +At last he looked up into the Doctor’s face and said, + +“The man in there is unhappy. He weeps. He has taken care not to +blubber or sniffle, lest we should find out that he is crying. But I +heard—quite distinctly—the sound of a tear falling on his sleeve.” + +“How do you know it wasn’t a drop of water falling off the ceiling on +him?” asked Gub-Gub. + +“Pshaw!—Such ignorance!” sniffed Too-Too. “A drop of water falling off +the ceiling would have made ten times as much noise!” + +“Well,” said the Doctor, “if the poor fellow’s unhappy, we’ve got to +get in and see what’s the matter with him. Find me an axe, and I’ll +chop the door down.” + + + + +_THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE OCEAN GOSSIPS + + +RIGHT away an axe was found. And the Doctor soon chopped a hole in the +door big enough to clamber through. + +At first he could see nothing at all, it was so dark inside. So he +struck a match. + +The room was quite small; no window; the ceiling, low. For furniture +there was only one little stool. All round the room big barrels stood +against the walls, fastened at the bottom so they wouldn’t tumble with +the rolling of the ship; and above the barrels, pewter jugs of all +sizes hung from wooden pegs. There was a strong, winey smell. And in +the middle of the floor sat a little boy, about eight years old, crying +bitterly. + +“I declare, it is the pirates’ rum-room!” said Jip in a whisper. + +“Yes. Very rum!” said Gub-Gub. “The smell makes me giddy.” + +The little boy seemed rather frightened to find a man standing there +before him and all those animals staring in through the hole in the +broken door. But as soon as he saw John Dolittle’s face by the light of +the match, he stopped crying and got up. + +“You aren’t one of the pirates, are you?” he asked. + +And when the Doctor threw back his head and laughed long and loud, the +little boy smiled too and came and took his hand. + +“You laugh like a friend,” he said—“not like a pirate. Could you tell +me where my uncle is?” + +“I am afraid I can’t,” said the Doctor. “When did you see him last?” + +“It was the day before yesterday,” said the boy. “I and my uncle were +out fishing in our little boat, when the pirates came and caught us. +They sunk our fishing-boat and brought us both on to this ship. They +told my uncle that they wanted him to be a pirate like them—for he was +clever at sailing a ship in all weathers. But he said he didn’t want to +be a pirate, because killing people and stealing was no work for a good +fisherman to do. Then the leader, Ben Ali, got very angry and gnashed +his teeth, and said they would throw my uncle into the sea if he didn’t +do as they said. They sent me downstairs; and I heard the noise of a +fight going on above. And when they let me come up again next day, my +uncle was nowhere to be seen. I asked the pirates where he was; but +they wouldn’t tell me. I am very much afraid they threw him into the +sea and drowned him.” + +And the little boy began to cry again. + +“Well now—wait a minute,” said the Doctor. “Don’t cry. Let’s go and +have tea in the dining-room, and we’ll talk it over. Maybe your uncle +is quite safe all the time. You don’t _know_ that he was drowned, do +you? And that’s something. Perhaps we can find him for you. First we’ll +go and have tea—with strawberry-jam; and then we will see what can be +done.” + +All the animals had been standing around listening with great +curiosity. And when they had gone into the ship’s dining-room and were +having tea, Dab-Dab came up behind the Doctor’s chair and whispered. + +“Ask the porpoises if the boy’s uncle was drowned—they’ll know.” + +“All right,” said the Doctor, taking a second piece of bread-and-jam. + +“What are those funny, clicking noises you are making with your +tongue?” asked the boy. + +“Oh, I just said a couple of words in duck-language,” the Doctor +answered. “This is Dab-Dab, one of my pets.” + +“I didn’t even know that ducks had a language,” said the boy. “Are all +these other animals your pets, too? What is that strange-looking thing +with two heads?” + +“Sh!” the Doctor whispered. “That is the pushmi-pullyu. Don’t let him +see we’re talking about him—he gets so dreadfully embarrassed.... Tell +me, how did you come to be locked up in that little room?” + +“The pirates shut me in there when they were going off to steal things +from another ship. When I heard some one chopping on the door, I +didn’t know who it could be. I was very glad to find it was you. Do you +think you will be able to find my uncle for me?” + +“Well, we are going to try very hard,” said the Doctor. “Now what was +your uncle like to look at?” + +“He had red hair,” the boy answered—“very red hair, and the picture of +an anchor tattooed on his arm. He was a strong man, a kind uncle and +the best sailor in the South Atlantic. His fishing-boat was called _The +Saucy Sally_—a cutter-rigged sloop.” + +“What’s ‘cutterigsloop’?” whispered Gub-Gub, turning to Jip. + +“Sh!—That’s the kind of a ship the man had,” said Jip. “Keep still, +can’t you?” + +“Oh,” said the pig, “is that all? I thought it was something to drink.” + +So the Doctor left the boy to play with the animals in the dining-room, +and went upstairs to look for passing porpoises. + +And soon a whole school came dancing and jumping through the water, on +their way to Brazil. + +When they saw the Doctor leaning on the rail of his ship, they came +over to see how he was getting on. + +And the Doctor asked them if they had seen anything of a man with red +hair and an anchor tattooed on his arm. + +“Do you mean the master of _The Saucy Sally_?” asked the porpoises. + +“Yes,” said the Doctor. “That’s the man. Has he been drowned?” + +“His fishing-sloop was sunk,” said the porpoises—“for we saw it lying +on the bottom of the sea. But there was nobody inside it, because we +went and looked.” + +“His little nephew is on the ship with me here,” said the Doctor. “And +he is terribly afraid that the pirates threw his uncle into the sea. +Would you be so good as to find out for me, for sure, whether he has +been drowned or not?” + +“Oh, he isn’t drowned,” said the porpoises. “If he were, we would be +sure to have heard of it from the deep-sea Decapods. We hear all the +salt-water news. The shell-fish call us ‘The Ocean Gossips.’ No—tell +the little boy we are sorry we do not know where his uncle is; but we +are quite certain he hasn’t been drowned in the sea.” + +So the Doctor ran downstairs with the news and told the nephew, who +clapped his hands with happiness. And the pushmi-pullyu took the little +boy on his back and gave him a ride round the dining-room table; while +all the other animals followed behind, beating the dish-covers with +spoons, pretending it was a parade. + + + + +_THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER_ + +SMELLS + + +“YOUR uncle must now be _found_,” said the Doctor—“that is the next +thing—now that we know he wasn’t thrown into the sea.” + +Then Dab-Dab came up to him again and whispered, + +“Ask the eagles to look for the man. No living creature can see better +than an eagle. When they are miles high in the air they can count the +ants crawling on the ground. Ask the eagles.” + +So the Doctor sent one of the swallows off to get some eagles. + +And in about an hour the little bird came back with six different kinds +of eagles: a Black Eagle, a Bald Eagle, a Fish Eagle, a Golden Eagle, +an Eagle-Vulture, and a White-tailed Sea Eagle. Twice as high as the +boy they were, each one of them. And they stood on the rail of the +ship, like round-shouldered soldiers all in a row, stern and still and +stiff; while their great, gleaming, black eyes shot darting glances +here and there and everywhere. + +Gub-Gub was scared of them and got behind a barrel. He said he felt as +though those terrible eyes were looking right inside of him to see what +he had stolen for lunch. + +And the Doctor said to the eagles, + +“A man has been lost—a fisherman with red hair and an anchor marked on +his arm. Would you be so kind as to see if you can find him for us? +This boy is the man’s nephew.” + +Eagles do not talk very much. And all they answered in their husky +voices was, + +“You may be sure that we will do our best—for John Dolittle.” + +Then they flew off—and Gub-Gub came out from behind his barrel to see +them go. Up and up and up they went—higher and higher and higher still. +Then, when the Doctor could only just see them, they parted company +and started going off all different ways—North, East, South and West, +looking like tiny grains of black sand creeping across the wide, blue +sky. + +“My gracious!” said Gub-Gub in a hushed voice. “What a height! I wonder +they don’t scorch their feathers—so near the sun!” + +They were gone a long time. And when they came back it was almost night. + +And the eagles said to the Doctor, + +“We have searched all the seas and all the countries and all the +islands and all the cities and all the villages in this half of the +world. But we have failed. In the main street of Gibraltar we saw +three red hairs lying on a wheelbarrow before a baker’s door. But they +were not the hairs of a man—they were the hairs out of a fur-coat. +Nowhere, on land or water, could we see any sign of this boy’s uncle. +And if _we_ could not see him, then he is not to be seen.... For John +Dolittle—we have done our best.” + +Then the six great birds flapped their big wings and flew back to their +homes in the mountains and the rocks. + +“Well,” said Dab-Dab, after they had gone, “what are we going to do +now? The boy’s uncle _must_ be found—there’s no two ways about that. +The lad isn’t old enough to be knocking around the world by himself. +Boys aren’t like ducklings—they have to be taken care of till they’re +quite old.... I wish Chee-Chee were here. He would soon find the man. +Good old Chee-Chee! I wonder how he’s getting on!” + +“If we only had Polynesia with us,” said the white mouse. “_She_ would +soon think of some way. Do you remember how she got us all out of +prison—the second time? My, but she was a clever one!” + +“I don’t think so much of those eagle-fellows,” said Jip. “They’re just +conceited. They may have very good eyesight and all that; but when you +ask them to find a man for you, they can’t do it—and they have the +cheek to come back and say that nobody else could do it. They’re just +conceited—like that collie in Puddleby. And I don’t think a whole lot +of those gossipy old porpoises either. All they could tell us was that +the man isn’t in the sea. We don’t want to know where he _isn’t_—we +want to know where he _is_.” + +“Oh, don’t talk so much,” said Gub-Gub. “It’s easy to talk; but it +isn’t so easy to find a man when you have got the whole world to hunt +him in. Maybe the fisherman’s hair has turned white, worrying about +the boy; and that was why the eagles didn’t find him. You don’t know +everything. You’re just talking. You are not doing anything to help. +You couldn’t find the boy’s uncle any more than the eagles could—you +couldn’t do as well.” + +[Illustration: “‘You stupid piece of warm bacon!’”] + +“Couldn’t I?” said the dog. “That’s all you know, you stupid piece of +warm bacon! I haven’t begun to try yet, have I? You wait and see!” + +Then Jip went to the Doctor and said, + +“Ask the boy if he has anything in his pockets that belonged to his +uncle, will you, please?” + +So the Doctor asked him. And the boy showed them a gold ring which he +wore on a piece of string around his neck because it was too big for +his finger. He said his uncle gave it to him when they saw the pirates +coming. + +Jip smelt the ring and said, + +“That’s no good. Ask him if he has anything else that belonged to his +uncle.” + +Then the boy took from his pocket a great, big red handkerchief and +said, “This was my uncle’s too.” + +As soon as the boy pulled it out, Jip shouted, + +“_Snuff_, by Jingo!—Black Rappee snuff. Don’t you smell it? His uncle +took snuff—Ask him, Doctor.” + +The Doctor questioned the boy again; and he said, “Yes. My uncle took a +lot of snuff.” + +“Fine!” said Jip. “The man’s as good as found. ’Twill be as easy as +stealing milk from a kitten. Tell the boy I’ll find his uncle for him +in less than a week. Let us go upstairs and see which way the wind is +blowing.” + +“But it is dark now,” said the Doctor. “You can’t find him in the dark!” + +“I don’t need any light to look for a man who smells of Black Rappee +snuff,” said Jip as he climbed the stairs. “If the man had a hard +smell, like string, now—or hot water, it would be different. But +_snuff_!—Tut, tut!” + +“Does hot water have a smell?” asked the Doctor. + +“Certainly it has,” said Jip. “Hot water smells quite different from +cold water. It is warm water—or ice—that has the really difficult +smell. Why, I once followed a man for ten miles on a dark night by the +smell of the hot water he had used to shave with—for the poor fellow +had no soap.... Now then, let us see which way the wind is blowing. +Wind is very important in long-distant smelling. It mustn’t be too +fierce a wind—and of course it must blow the right way. A nice, steady, +damp breeze is the best of all.... Ha!—This wind is from the North.” + +Then Jip went up to the front of the ship and smelt the wind; and he +started muttering to himself, + +“Tar; Spanish onions; kerosene oil; wet raincoats; crushed +laurel-leaves; rubber burning; lace-curtains being washed—No, my +mistake, lace-curtains hanging out to dry; and foxes—hundreds of +’em—cubs; and—” + +“Can you really smell all those different things in this one wind?” +asked the Doctor. + +“Why, of course!” said Jip. “And those are only a few of the easy +smells—the strong ones. Any mongrel could smell those with a cold in +the head. Wait now, and I’ll tell you some of the harder scents that +are coming on this wind—a few of the dainty ones.” + +Then the dog shut his eyes tight, poked his nose straight up in the air +and sniffed hard with his mouth half-open. + +For a long time he said nothing. He kept as still as a stone. He hardly +seemed to be breathing at all. When at last he began to speak, it +sounded almost as though he were singing, sadly, in a dream. + +“Bricks,” he whispered, very low—“old yellow bricks, crumbling with +age in a garden-wall; the sweet breath of young cows standing in a +mountain-stream; the lead roof of a dove-cote—or perhaps a granary—with +the mid-day sun on it; black kid gloves lying in a bureau-drawer of +walnut-wood; a dusty road with a horses’ drinking-trough beneath the +sycamores; little mushrooms bursting through the rotting leaves; +and—and—and—” + +“Any parsnips?” asked Gub-Gub. + +“No,” said Jip. “You always think of things to eat. No parsnips +whatever. And no snuff—plenty of pipes and cigarettes, and a few +cigars. But no snuff. We must wait till the wind changes to the South.” + +“Yes, it’s a poor wind, that,” said Gub-Gub. “I think you’re a fake, +Jip. Who ever heard of finding a man in the middle of the ocean just by +smell! I told you you couldn’t do it.” + +“Look here,” said Jip, getting really angry. “You’re going to get a +bite on the nose in a minute! You needn’t think that just because +the Doctor won’t let us give you what you deserve, that you can be as +cheeky as you like!” + +“Stop quarreling!” said the Doctor—“Stop it! Life’s too short. Tell me, +Jip, where do you think those smells are coming from?” + +“From Devon and Wales—most of them,” said Jip—“The wind is coming that +way.” + +“Well, well!” said the Doctor. “You know that’s really quite +remarkable—quite. I must make a note of that for my new book. I wonder +if you could train me to smell as well as that.... But no—perhaps I’m +better off the way I am. ‘Enough is as good as a feast,’ they say. +Let’s go down to supper. I’m quite hungry.” + +“So am I,” said Gub-Gub. + + + + +_THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER_ + +THE ROCK + + +UP they got, early next morning, out of the silken beds; and they saw +that the sun was shining brightly and that the wind was blowing from +the South. + +Jip smelt the South wind for half an hour. Then he came to the Doctor, +shaking his head. + +“I smell no snuff as yet,” he said. “We must wait till the wind changes +to the East.” + +But even when the East wind came, at three o’clock that afternoon, the +dog could not catch the smell of snuff. + +The little boy was terribly disappointed and began to cry again, saying +that no one seemed to be able to find his uncle for him. But all Jip +said to the Doctor was, + +“Tell him that when the wind changes to the West, I’ll find his uncle +even though he be in China—so long as he is still taking Black Rappee +snuff.” + +Three days they had to wait before the West wind came. This was on a +Friday morning, early—just as it was getting light. A fine rainy mist +lay on the sea like a thin fog. And the wind was soft and warm and wet. + +[Illustration: “‘Doctor!’ he cried. ‘I’ve got it!’”] + +As soon as Jip awoke he ran upstairs and poked his nose in the air. +Then he got most frightfully excited and rushed down again to wake the +Doctor up. + +“Doctor!” he cried. “I’ve got it! Doctor! Doctor! Wake up! Listen! +I’ve got it! The wind’s from the West and it smells of nothing but +snuff. Come upstairs and start the ship—quick!” + +So the Doctor tumbled out of bed and went to the rudder to steer the +ship. + +“Now I’ll go up to the front,” said Jip; “and you watch my +nose—whichever way I point it, you turn the ship the same way. The man +cannot be far off—with the smell as strong as this. And the wind’s all +lovely and wet. Now watch me!” + +So all that morning Jip stood in the front part of the ship, sniffing +the wind and pointing the way for the Doctor to steer; while all the +animals and the little boy stood round with their eyes wide open, +watching the dog in wonder. + +About lunch-time Jip asked Dab-Dab to tell the Doctor that he was +getting worried and wanted to speak to him. So Dab-Dab went and fetched +the Doctor from the other end of the ship and Jip said to him, + +“The boy’s uncle is starving. We must make the ship go as fast as we +can.” + +“How do you know he is starving?” asked the Doctor. + +“Because there is no other smell in the West wind but snuff,” said Jip. +“If the man were cooking or eating food of any kind, I would be bound +to smell it too. But he hasn’t even fresh water to drink. All he is +taking is snuff—in large pinches. We are getting nearer to him all the +time, because the smell grows stronger every minute. But make the ship +go as fast as you can, for I am certain that the man is starving.” + +“All right,” said the Doctor; and he sent Dab-Dab to ask the swallows +to pull the ship, the same as they had done when the pirates were +chasing them. + +So the stout little birds came down and once more harnessed themselves +to the ship. + +And now the boat went bounding through the waves at a terrible speed. +It went so fast that the fishes in the sea had to jump for their lives +to get out of the way and not be run over. + +And all the animals got tremendously excited; and they gave up looking +at Jip and turned to watch the sea in front, to spy out any land or +islands where the starving man might be. + +But hour after hour went by and still the ship went rushing on, over +the same flat, flat sea; and no land anywhere came in sight. + +And now the animals gave up chattering and sat around silent, anxious +and miserable. The little boy again grew sad. And on Jip’s face there +was a worried look. + +At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun was going down, the +owl, Too-Too, who was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly startled +them all by crying out at the top of his voice, + +“Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front of us—look—way out there +where the sky and the water meet. See the sun shine on it—like gold! Is +the smell coming from there?” + +And Jip called back, + +“Yes. That’s it. That is where the man is.—At last, at last!” + +And when they got nearer they could see that the rock was very large—as +large as a big field. No trees grew on it, no grass—nothing. The great +rock was as smooth and as bare as the back of a tortoise. + +Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round the rock. But nowhere on +it could a man be seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes and +looked as hard as they could; and John Dolittle got a telescope from +downstairs. + +But not one living thing could they spy—not even a gull, nor a +star-fish, nor a shred of sea-weed. + +They all stood still and listened, straining their ears for any sound. +But the only noise they heard was the gentle lapping of the little +waves against the sides of their ship. + +Then they all started calling, “Hulloa, there!—HULLOA!” till their +voices were hoarse. But only the echo came back from the rock. + +And the little boy burst into tears and said, + +“I am afraid I shall never see my uncle any more! What shall I tell +them when I get home!” + +But Jip called to the Doctor, + +“He must be there—he must—_he must_! The smell goes on no further. He +must be there, I tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock and let me +jump out on it.” + +So the Doctor brought the ship as close as he could and let down the +anchor. Then he and Jip got out of the ship on to the rock. + +Jip at once put his nose down close to the ground and began to run +all over the place. Up and down he went, back and forth—zig-zagging, +twisting, doubling and turning. And everywhere he went, the Doctor ran +behind him, close at his heels—till he was terribly out of breath. + +At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down. And when the Doctor came +running up to him, he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole in +the middle of the rock. + +“The boy’s uncle is down there,” said Jip quietly. “No wonder those +silly eagles couldn’t see him!—It takes a dog to find a man.” + +So the Doctor got down into the hole, which seemed to be a kind of +cave, or tunnel, running a long way under the ground. Then he struck +a match and started to make his way along the dark passage with Jip +following behind. + +The Doctor’s match soon went out; and he had to strike another and +another and another. + +At last the passage came to an end; and the Doctor found himself in a +kind of tiny room with walls of rock. + +And there, in the middle of the room, his head resting on his arms, lay +a man with very red hair—fast asleep! + +Jip went up and sniffed at something lying on the ground beside him. +The Doctor stooped and picked it up. It was an enormous snuff-box. And +it was full of Black Rappee! + + + + +_THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER_ + +THE FISHERMAN’S TOWN + + +GENTLY then—very gently, the Doctor woke the man up. + +But just at that moment the match went out again. And the man thought +it was Ben Ali coming back, and he began to punch the Doctor in the +dark. + +But when John Dolittle told him who it was, and that he had his little +nephew safe on his ship, the man was tremendously glad, and said he was +sorry he had fought the Doctor. He had not hurt him much though—because +it was too dark to punch properly. Then he gave the Doctor a pinch of +snuff. + +And the man told how the Barbary Dragon had put him on to this rock and +left him there, when he wouldn’t promise to become a pirate; and how he +used to sleep down in this hole because there was no house on the rock +to keep him warm. + +And then he said, + +“For four days I have had nothing to eat or drink. I have lived on +snuff.” + +“There you are!” said Jip. “What did I tell you?” + +So they struck some more matches and made their way out through the +passage into the daylight; and the Doctor hurried the man down to the +boat to get some soup. + +When the animals and the little boy saw the Doctor and Jip coming back +to the ship with a red-headed man, they began to cheer and yell and +dance about the boat. And the swallows up above started whistling at +the top of their voices—thousands and millions of them—to show that +they too were glad that the boy’s brave uncle had been found. The +noise they made was so great that sailors far out at sea thought that +a terrible storm was coming. “Hark to that gale howling in the East!” +they said. + +And Jip was awfully proud of himself—though he tried hard not to look +conceited. When Dab-Dab came to him and said, “Jip, I had no idea you +were so clever!” he just tossed his head and answered, + +“Oh, that’s nothing special. But it takes a dog to find a man, you +know. Birds are no good for a game like that.” + +Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman where his home was. And +when he had told him, the Doctor asked the swallows to guide the ship +there first. + +And when they had come to the land which the man had spoken of, they +saw a little fishing-town at the foot of a rocky mountain; and the man +pointed out the house where he lived. + +And while they were letting down the anchor, the little boy’s mother +(who was also the man’s sister) came running down to the shore to meet +them, laughing and crying at the same time. She had been sitting on a +hill for twenty days, watching the sea and waiting for them to return. + +And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that he giggled and blushed +like a school-girl. And she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away and +hid inside the ship. + +“It’s a silly business, this kissing,” he said. “I don’t hold by it. +Let her go and kiss Gub-Gub—if she _must_ kiss something.” + +[Illustration: “And she kissed the Doctor many times”] + +The fisherman and his sister didn’t want the Doctor to go away again +in a hurry. They begged him to spend a few days with them. So John +Dolittle and his animals had to stay at their house a whole Saturday +and Sunday and half of Monday. + +And all the little boys of the fishing-village went down to the beach +and pointed at the great ship anchored there, and said to one another +in whispers, + +“Look! That was a pirate-ship—Ben Ali’s—the most terrible pirate that +ever sailed the Seven Seas! That old gentleman with the high hat, +who’s staying up at Mrs. Trevelyan’s, _he_ took the ship away from The +Barbary Dragon—and made him into a farmer. Who’d have thought it of +him—him so gentle-like and all!... Look at the great red sails! Ain’t +she the wicked-looking ship—and fast?—My!” + +All those two days and a half that the Doctor stayed at the little +fishing-town the people kept asking him out to teas and luncheons and +dinners and parties; all the ladies sent him boxes of flowers and +candies; and the village-band played tunes under his window every night. + +At last the Doctor said, + +“Good people, I must go home now. You have really been most kind. I +shall always remember it. But I must go home—for I have things to do.” + +Then, just as the Doctor was about to leave, the Mayor of the town came +down the street and a lot of other people in grand clothes with him. +And the Mayor stopped before the house where the Doctor was living; and +everybody in the village gathered round to see what was going to happen. + +After six page-boys had blown on shining trumpets to make the people +stop talking, the Doctor came out on to the steps and the Mayor spoke. + +“Doctor John Dolittle,” said he: “It is a great pleasure for me to +present to the man who rid the seas of the Dragon of Barbary this +little token from the grateful people of our worthy Town.” + +And the Mayor took from his pocket a little tissue-paper packet, and +opening it, he handed to the Doctor a perfectly beautiful watch with +real diamonds in the back. + +Then the Mayor pulled out of his pocket a still larger parcel and said, + +“Where is the dog?” + +Then everybody started to hunt for Jip. And at last Dab-Dab found him +on the other side of the village in a stable-yard, where all the dogs +of the country-side were standing round him speechless with admiration +and respect. + +When Jip was brought to the Doctor’s side, the Mayor opened the larger +parcel; and inside was a dog-collar made of solid gold! And a great +murmur of wonder went up from the village-folk as the Mayor bent down +and fastened it round the dog’s neck with his own hands. + +For written on the collar in big letters were these words: “JIP—_The +Cleverest Dog in the World._” + +Then the whole crowd moved down to the beach to see them off. And after +the red-haired fisherman and his sister and the little boy had thanked +the Doctor and his dog over and over and over again, the great, swift +ship with the red sails was turned once more towards Puddleby and they +sailed out to sea, while the village-band played music on the shore. + + + + +_THE LAST CHAPTER_ + +HOME AGAIN + + +MARCH winds had come and gone; April’s showers were over; May’s buds +had opened into flower; and the June sun was shining on the pleasant +fields, when John Dolittle at last got back to his own country. + +But he did not yet go home to Puddleby. First he went traveling through +the land with the pushmi-pullyu in a gipsy-wagon, stopping at all the +country-fairs. And there, with the acrobats on one side of them and the +Punch-and-Judy show on the other, they would hang out a big sign which +read, “COME AND SEE THE MARVELOUS TWO-HEADED ANIMAL FROM THE JUNGLES OF +AFRICA. Admission SIXPENCE.” + +And the pushmi-pullyu would stay inside the wagon, while the other +animals would lie about underneath. The Doctor sat in a chair in front +taking the sixpences and smiling on the people as they went in; and +Dab-Dab was kept busy all the time scolding him because he would let +the children in for nothing when she wasn’t looking. + +And menagerie-keepers and circus-men came and asked the Doctor to sell +them the strange creature, saying they would pay a tremendous lot of +money for him. But the Doctor always shook his head and said, + +“No. The pushmi-pullyu shall never be shut up in a cage. He shall be +free always to come and go, like you and me.” + +Many curious sights and happenings they saw in this wandering life; but +they all seemed quite ordinary after the great things they had seen and +done in foreign lands. It was very interesting at first, being sort of +part of a circus; but after a few weeks they all got dreadfully tired +of it and the Doctor and all of them were longing to go home. + +[Illustration: “The Doctor sat in a chair in front”] + +But so many people came flocking to the little wagon and paid the +sixpence to go inside and see the pushmi-pullyu that very soon the +Doctor was able to give up being a showman. + +And one fine day, when the hollyhocks were in full bloom, he came back +to Puddleby a rich man, to live in the little house with the big garden. + +And the old lame horse in the stable was glad to see him; and so were +the swallows who had already built their nests under the eaves of his +roof and had young ones. And Dab-Dab was glad, too, to get back to the +house she knew so well—although there was a terrible lot of dusting to +be done, with cobwebs everywhere. + +And after Jip had gone and shown his golden collar to the conceited +collie next-door, he came back and began running round the garden +like a crazy thing, looking for the bones he had buried long ago, +and chasing the rats out of the tool-shed; while Gub-Gub dug up the +horseradish which had grown three feet high in the corner by the +garden-wall. + +[Illustration: “He began running round the garden like a crazy thing”] + +And the Doctor went and saw the sailor who had lent him the boat, and +he bought two new ships for him and a rubber-doll for his baby; and +he paid the grocer for the food he had lent him for the journey to +Africa. And he bought another piano and put the white mice back in +it—because they said the bureau-drawer was drafty. + +Even when the Doctor had filled the old money-box on the dresser-shelf, +he still had a lot of money left; and he had to get three more +money-boxes, just as big, to put the rest in. + +“Money,” he said, “is a terrible nuisance. But it’s nice not to have to +worry.” + +“Yes,” said Dab-Dab, who was toasting muffins for his tea, “it is +indeed!” + +And when the Winter came again, and the snow flew against the +kitchen-window, the Doctor and his animals would sit round the big, +warm fire after supper; and he would read aloud to them out of his +books. + +But far away in Africa, where the monkeys chattered in the palm-trees +before they went to bed under the big yellow moon, they would say to +one another, + +“I wonder what The Good Man’s doing now—over there, in the Land of the +White Men! Do you think he ever will come back?” + +And Polynesia would squeak out from the vines, + +“I think he will—I guess he will—I hope he will!” + +And then the crocodile would grunt up at them from the black mud of the +river, + +“I’m SURE he will—Go to sleep!” + +[Illustration: THE END] + + * * * * * + +Transcriber’s Notes: + +Page 79, period added at end of sentence (had not seen before.) + +Page 119, single closing quote added to caption about rats. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE *** + +***** This file should be named 501-0.txt or 501-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/501/ + +Produced by Emmy, MWS and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Story of Doctor Dolittle + Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and + Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts. Never before + Printed. + +Author: Hugh Lofting + +Release Date: May 19, 2016 [EBook #501] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE *** + + + + +Produced by Emmy, MWS and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1 class="faux">THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE</h1> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 501px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="501" height="800" alt="cover" /> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="maintitle"><i>THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE</i></div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a id="Frontispiece"></a> +<img src="images/i-002.jpg" width="600" height="318" alt="town" /> +<div class="caption">“A little town called Puddleby-on-the-Marsh”</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 464px;"> +<img src="images/title.jpg" width="464" height="797" alt="Title page" /> +</div> + +<div class="maintitle"> +THE<br /> +<i>Story of</i><br /> +DOCTOR DOLITTLE</div> +<div class="center"><br /> +<i>BEING THE<br /> +HISTORY OF HIS PECULIAR LIFE<br /> +AT HOME AND ASTONISHING ADVENTURES<br /> +IN FOREIGN PARTS. NEVER BEFORE PRINTED.</i><br /> +<br /> +<i>TOLD BY HUGH LOFTING</i> <i>ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR</i><br /> + +<br /> +<i>Published by FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY at 443 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK.</i><br /> +<br /> +<i>A.D. 1920</i><br /> +<br /> +WITH AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TENTH PRINTING<br /> +BY HUGH WALPOLE<br /> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class="copyright"> +<i>Copyright, 1920, by</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">Frederick A. Stokes Company</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>All rights reserved, including that of translation<br /> +into foreign languages</i><br /> +<br /> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Printing dates"> +<tr> +<td align="left">First Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Aug. </td> +<td align="right">24, 1920</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Second Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Dec. </td> +<td align="right">17, 1920</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Third Printing,</td> +<td align="left">April </td> +<td align="right">16, 1921</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Fourth Printing,</td> +<td align="left">July </td> +<td align="right">7, 1921</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Fifth Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Sept. </td> +<td align="right">1, 1921</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Sixth Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Oct. </td> +<td align="right">26, 1921</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Seventh Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Dec. </td> +<td align="right">5, 1921</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Eighth Printing,</td> +<td align="left">April </td> +<td align="right">3, 1922</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Ninth Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Aug. </td> +<td align="right">18, 1922</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Tenth Printing,</td> +<td align="left">Nov. </td> +<td align="right">28, 1922</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Eleventh Printing, </td> +<td align="left">April </td> +<td align="right">2, 1923</td> +</tr> +</table></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Printed in the United States of America</span><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class="center"> +TO<br /> +ALL CHILDREN<br /> +<br /> +<small>CHILDREN IN YEARS AND CHILDREN IN HEART<br /> +I DEDICATE THIS STORY</small><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a><br /><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>INTRODUCTION TO THE TENTH +PRINTING</i></h2> + + +<p>THERE are some of us now reaching +middle age who discover themselves to be lamenting +the past in one respect if in none other, +that there are no books written now for children +comparable with those of thirty years ago. I +say written <i>for</i> children because the new psychological +business of writing <i>about</i> them as though +they were small pills or hatched in some especially +scientific method is extremely popular to-day. +Writing for children rather than about +them is very difficult as everybody who has tried +it knows. It can only be done, I am convinced, +by somebody having a great deal of the child +in his own outlook and sensibilities. Such was +the author of “The Little Duke” and “The +Dove in the Eagle’s Nest,” such the author of +“A Flatiron for a Farthing,” and “The Story +of a Short Life.” Such, above all, the author of +“Alice in Wonderland.” Grownups imagine +that they can do the trick by adopting baby<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span> +language and talking down to their very critical +audience. There never was a greater mistake. +The imagination of the author must be a child’s +imagination and yet maturely consistent, so that +the White Queen in “Alice,” for instance, is +seen just as a child would see her, but she continues +always herself through all her distressing +adventures. The supreme touch of the white +rabbit pulling on his white gloves as he hastens +is again absolutely the child’s vision, but the +white rabbit as guide and introducer of Alice’s +adventures belongs to mature grown insight.</p> + +<p>Geniuses are rare and, without being at all +an undue praiser of times past, one can say without +hesitation that until the appearance of Hugh +Lofting, the successor of Miss Yonge, Mrs. +Ewing, Mrs. Gatty and Lewis Carroll had not +appeared. I remember the delight with which +some six months ago I picked up the first “Dolittle” +book in the Hampshire bookshop at +Smith College in Northampton. One of Mr. +Lofting’s pictures was quite enough for me. +The picture that I lighted upon when I first +opened the book was the one of the monkeys<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span> +making a chain with their arms across the gulf. +Then I looked further and discovered Bumpo +reading fairy stories to himself. And then +looked again and there was a picture of John +Dolittle’s house.</p> + +<p>But pictures are not enough although most +authors draw so badly that if one of them happens +to have the genius for line that Mr. Lofting +shows there must be, one feels, something in his +writing as well. There is. You cannot read the +first paragraph of the book, which begins in the +right way “Once upon a time” without knowing +that Mr. Lofting believes in his story quite +as much as he expects you to. That is the first +essential for a story teller. Then you discover +as you read on that he has the right eye for the +right detail. What child-inquiring mind could +resist this intriguing sentence to be found on the +second page of the book:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Besides the gold-fish in the pond at the bottom +of his garden, he had rabbits in the pantry, +white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen +closet and a hedgehog in the cellar.”</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span></p> + +<p>And then when you read a little further you +will discover that the Doctor is not merely a +peg on whom to hang exciting and various adventures +but that he is himself a man of original +and lively character. He is a very kindly, generous +man, and anyone who has ever written +stories will know that it is much more difficult +to make kindly, generous characters interesting +than unkindly and mean ones. But Dolittle is interesting. +It is not only that he is quaint but +that he is wise and knows what he is about. The +reader, however young, who meets him gets very +soon a sense that if he were in trouble, not necessarily +medical, he would go to Dolittle and ask +his advice about it. Dolittle seems to extend +his hand from the page and grasp that of his +reader, and I can see him going down the centuries +a kind of Pied Piper with thousands of +children at his heels. But not only is he a darling +and alive and credible but his creator has +also managed to invest everybody else in the +book with the same kind of life.</p> + +<p>Now this business of giving life to animals, +making them talk and behave like human<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span> +beings, is an extremely difficult one. Lewis Carroll +absolutely conquered the difficulties, but I +am not sure that anyone after him until Hugh +Lofting has really managed the trick; even in +such a masterpiece as “The Wind in the Willows” +we are not quite convinced. John Dolittle’s +friends are convincing because their creator +never forces them to desert their own characteristics. +Polynesia, for instance, is natural +from first to last. She really does care about +the Doctor but she cares as a bird would care, +having always some place to which she is going +when her business with her friends is over. And +when Mr. Lofting invents fantastic animals he +gives them a kind of credible possibility which +is extraordinarily convincing. It will be impossible +for anyone who has read this book not +to believe in the existence of the pushmi-pullyu, +who would be credible enough even were there +no drawing of it, but the picture on page 153 +settles the matter of his truth once and for all.</p> + +<p>In fact this book is a work of genius and, as +always with works of genius, it is difficult to +analyze the elements that have gone to make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span> +it. There is poetry here and fantasy and humor, +a little pathos but, above all, a number of creations +in whose existence everybody must believe +whether they be children of four or old men of +ninety or prosperous bankers of forty-five. I +don’t know how Mr. Lofting has done it; I +don’t suppose that he knows himself. There it +is—the first real children’s classic since “Alice.”</p> + +<div class="sig"> +<span class="smcap">Hugh Walpole.</span><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>CONTENTS</i></h2> + + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr> +<td align="left" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_vii">vii</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left" colspan="2"><small>CHAPTER</small></td> +<td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">I </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Puddleby</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">II </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Animal Language</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">III </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">More Money Troubles</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">IV </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Message from Africa</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">V </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Great Journey</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">VI </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Polynesia and the King</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">VII </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Bridge of Apes</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">VIII </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Leader of the Lions</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">IX </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Monkeys’ Council</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">X </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Rarest Animal of All</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XI </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Black Prince</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XII </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Medicine and Magic</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XIII </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Red Sails and Blue Wings</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XIV </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Rats’ Warning</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XV </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Barbary Dragon</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XVI </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Too-Too, the Listener</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XVII </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Ocean Gossips</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XVIII </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Smells</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XIX </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Rock</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XX </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Fisherman’s Town</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="right">XXI </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Home Again</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td> +</tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a><br /><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[xv]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>ILLUSTRATIONS</i></h2> + + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations"> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“A little town called Puddleby-on-the-Marsh”</div></td> +<td align="right"><i><a href="#Frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1"> </div></td> +<td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“And she never came to see him any more”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“He could see as well as ever”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“They came at once to his house on the edge of the town”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“They used to sit in chairs on the lawn”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘All right,’ said the Doctor, ‘go and get married’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“One evening when the Doctor was asleep in his chair”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘I felt sure there was twopence left’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“And the voyage began”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘We must have run into Africa’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘I got into it because I did not want to be drowned’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“And Queen Ermintrude was asleep”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘Who’s that?’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“Cheering and waving leaves and swinging out of the branches to greet him”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“John Dolittle was the last to cross”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“He made all the monkeys who were still well come and be vaccinated”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘<i>ME, the King of Beasts</i>, to wait on a lot of dirty monkeys?’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“Then the Grand Gorilla got up”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</a></span>“‘Lord save us!’ cried the duck. ‘How does it make up its mind?’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“He began reading the fairy-stories to himself”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“Crying bitterly and waving till the ship was out of sight”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘They are surely the pirates of Barbary’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘And you have heard that rats always leave a sinking ship?’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘Look here, Ben Ali—’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there’s someone in there!’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘You stupid piece of warm bacon!’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“‘Doctor!’ he cried. ‘I’ve got it!’”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“And she kissed the Doctor many times”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_170">170</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“The Doctor sat in a chair in front”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><div class="hang1">“He began running round the garden like a crazy thing”</div></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[xvii]</a></span></p> + +<div class="maintitle"><i>THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE</i></div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class="maintitle">THE STORY OF<br /> +DOCTOR DOLITTLE</div> + + + + +<h2><i>THE FIRST CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>PUDDLEBY</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-019.jpg" width="123" height="140" alt="O" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">ONCE upon a time, many years ago—when +our grandfathers were +little children—there was a doctor; +and his name was Dolittle—John +Dolittle, M.D. “M.D.” +means that he was a proper doctor +and knew a whole lot.</p> + +<p>He lived in a little town called, Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. +All the folks, young and old, +knew him well by sight. And whenever he +walked down the street in his high hat everyone +would say, “There goes the Doctor!—He’s +a clever man.” And the dogs and the children +would all run up and follow behind him; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +even the crows that lived in the church-tower +would caw and nod their heads.</p> + +<p>The house he lived in, on the edge of the +town, was quite small; but his garden was very +large and had a wide lawn and stone seats and +weeping-willows hanging over. His sister, +Sarah Dolittle, was housekeeper for him; but +the Doctor looked after the garden himself.</p> + +<p>He was very fond of animals and kept many +kinds of pets. Besides the gold-fish in the pond +at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in +the pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel +in the linen closet and a hedgehog in the cellar. +He had a cow with a calf too, and an old lame +horse—twenty-five years of age—and chickens, +and pigeons, and two lambs, and many other +animals. But his favorite pets were Dab-Dab +the duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the baby pig, +Polynesia the parrot, and the owl Too-Too.</p> + +<p>His sister used to grumble about all these animals +and said they made the house untidy. +And one day when an old lady with rheumatism +came to see the Doctor, she sat on the hedgehog +who was sleeping on the sofa and never came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a><br /><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +to see him any more, but drove every Saturday +all the way to Oxenthorpe, another town ten +miles off, to see a different doctor.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-021.jpg" width="600" height="256" alt="woman leaving doctor's house" /> +<div class="caption">“And she never came to see him any more”</div> +</div> + +<p>Then his sister, Sarah Dolittle, came to him +and said,</p> + +<p>“John, how can you expect sick people to +come and see you when you keep all these animals +in the house? It’s a fine doctor would have +his parlor full of hedgehogs and mice! That’s +the fourth personage these animals have driven +away. Squire Jenkins and the Parson say they +wouldn’t come near your house again—no matter +how sick they are. We are getting poorer +every day. If you go on like this, none of the +best people will have you for a doctor.”</p> + +<p>“But I like the animals better than the ‘best +people’,” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“You are ridiculous,” said his sister, and +walked out of the room.</p> + +<p>So, as time went on, the Doctor got more and +more animals; and the people who came to see +him got less and less. Till at last he had no +one left—except the Cat’s-meat-Man, who didn’t +mind any kind of animals. But the Cat’s-meat-Man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +wasn’t very rich and he only got sick once +a year—at Christmas-time, when he used to give +the Doctor sixpence for a bottle of medicine.</p> + +<p>Sixpence a year wasn’t enough to live on—even +in those days, long ago; and if the Doctor +hadn’t had some money saved up in his money-box, +no one knows what would have happened.</p> + +<p>And he kept on getting still more pets; and of +course it cost a lot to feed them. And the money +he had saved up grew littler and littler.</p> + +<p>Then he sold his piano, and let the mice live +in a bureau-drawer. But the money he got for +that too began to go, so he sold the brown suit +he wore on Sundays and went on becoming +poorer and poorer.</p> + +<p>And now, when he walked down the street +in his high hat, people would say to one another, +“There goes John Dolittle, M.D.! There was a +time when he was the best known doctor in the +West Country—Look at him now—He hasn’t +any money and his stockings are full of holes!”</p> + +<p>But the dogs and the cats and the children +still ran up and followed him through the town—the +same as they had done when he was rich.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a><br /><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE SECOND CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>ANIMAL LANGUAGE</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-025.jpg" width="113" height="142" alt="I" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">IT happened one day that the Doctor +was sitting in his kitchen talking +with the Cat’s-meat-Man +who had come to see him with a +stomach-ache.</p> + +<p>“Why don’t you give up being +a people’s doctor, and be an animal-doctor?” +asked the Cat’s-meat-Man.</p> + +<p>The parrot, Polynesia, was sitting in the window +looking out at the rain and singing a sailor-song +to herself. She stopped singing and +started to listen.</p> + +<p>“You see, Doctor,” the Cat’s-meat-Man went +on, “you know all about animals—much more +than what these here vets do. That book you +wrote—about cats, why, it’s wonderful! I can’t +read or write myself—or maybe <i>I’d</i> write some +books. But my wife, Theodosia, she’s a scholar,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +she is. And she read your book to me. Well, +it’s wonderful—that’s all can be said—wonderful. +You might have been a cat yourself. You +know the way they think. And listen: you can +make a lot of money doctoring animals. Do +you know that? You see, I’d send all the old +women who had sick cats or dogs to you. And +if they didn’t get sick fast enough, I could put +something in the meat I sell ’em to make ’em +sick, see?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, no,” said the Doctor quickly. “You +mustn’t do that. That wouldn’t be right.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I didn’t mean real sick,” answered the +Cat’s-meat-Man. “Just a little something to +make them droopy-like was what I had reference +to. But as you say, maybe it ain’t quite +fair on the animals. But they’ll get sick anyway, +because the old women always give ’em too +much to eat. And look, all the farmers round +about who had lame horses and weak lambs—they’d +come. Be an animal-doctor.”</p> + +<p>When the Cat’s-meat-Man had gone the parrot +flew off the window on to the Doctor’s table +and said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + +<p>“That man’s got sense. That’s what you +ought to do. Be an animal-doctor. Give the +silly people up—if they haven’t brains enough +to see you’re the best doctor in the world. Take +care of animals instead—<i>they</i>’ll soon find it out. +Be an animal-doctor.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, there are plenty of animal-doctors,” said +John Dolittle, putting the flower-pots outside on +the window-sill to get the rain.</p> + +<p>“Yes, there <i>are</i> plenty,” said Polynesia. “But +none of them are any good at all. Now listen, +Doctor, and I’ll tell you something. Did you +know that animals can talk?”</p> + +<p>“I knew that parrots can talk,” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Oh, we parrots can talk in two languages—people’s +language and bird-language,” said +Polynesia proudly. “If I say, ‘Polly wants a +cracker,’ you understand me. But hear this: +<i>Ka-ka oi-ee, fee-fee?</i>”</p> + +<p>“Good Gracious!” cried the Doctor. “What +does that mean?”</p> + +<p>“That means, ‘Is the porridge hot yet?’—in +bird-language.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> + +<p>“My! You don’t say so!” said the Doctor. +“You never talked that way to me before.”</p> + +<p>“What would have been the good?” said +Polynesia, dusting some cracker-crumbs off her +left wing. “You wouldn’t have understood me +if I had.”</p> + +<p>“Tell me some more,” said the Doctor, all excited; +and he rushed over to the dresser-drawer +and came back with the butcher’s book and a +pencil. “Now don’t go too fast—and I’ll write +it down. This is interesting—very interesting—something +quite new. Give me the Birds’ +A.B.C. first—slowly now.”</p> + +<p>So that was the way the Doctor came to know +that animals had a language of their own and +could talk to one another. And all that afternoon, +while it was raining, Polynesia sat on the +kitchen table giving him bird words to put down +in the book.</p> + +<p>At tea-time, when the dog, Jip, came in, the +parrot said to the Doctor, “See, <i>he</i>’s talking to +you.”</p> + +<p>“Looks to me as though he were scratching his +ear,” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + +<p>“But animals don’t always speak with their +mouths,” said the parrot in a high voice, raising +her eyebrows. “They talk with their ears, +with their feet, with their tails—with everything. +Sometimes they don’t <i>want</i> to make a +noise. Do you see now the way he’s twitching +up one side of his nose?”</p> + +<p>“What’s that mean?” asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“That means, ‘Can’t you see that it has +stopped raining?’” Polynesia answered. “He +is asking you a question. Dogs nearly always +use their noses for asking questions.”</p> + +<p>After a while, with the parrot’s help, the +Doctor got to learn the language of the animals +so well that he could talk to them himself and +understand everything they said. Then he gave +up being a people’s doctor altogether.</p> + +<p>As soon as the Cat’s-meat-Man had told every +one that John Dolittle was going to become an +animal-doctor, old ladies began to bring him +their pet pugs and poodles who had eaten too +much cake; and farmers came many miles to +show him sick cows and sheep.</p> + +<p>One day a plow-horse was brought to him;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +and the poor thing was terribly glad to find a +man who could talk in horse-language.</p> + +<p>“You know, Doctor,” said the horse, “that +vet over the hill knows nothing at all. He has +been treating me six weeks now—for spavins. +What I need is <i>spectacles</i>. I am going blind in +one eye. There’s no reason why horses +shouldn’t wear glasses, the same as people. But +that stupid man over the hill never even looked +at my eyes. He kept on giving me big pills. +I tried to tell him; but he couldn’t understand +a word of horse-language. What I need is spectacles.”</p> + +<p>“Of course—of course,” said the Doctor. +“I’ll get you some at once.”</p> + +<p>“I would like a pair like yours,” said the +horse—“only green. They’ll keep the sun out +of my eyes while I’m plowing the Fifty-Acre +Field.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” said the Doctor. “Green ones +you shall have.”</p> + +<p>“You know, the trouble is, Sir,” said the +plow-horse as the Doctor opened the front door +to let him out—“the trouble is that <i>anybody</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +thinks he can doctor animals—just because the +animals don’t complain. As a matter of fact +it takes a much cleverer man to be a really good +animal-doctor than it does to be a good people’s +doctor. My farmer’s boy thinks he knows all +about horses. I wish you could see him—his +face is so fat he looks as though he had no eyes—and +he has got as much brain as a potato-bug. +He tried to put a mustard-plaster on me last +week.”</p> + +<p>“Where did he put it?” asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Oh, he didn’t put it anywhere—on me,” said +the horse. “He only tried to. I kicked him +into the duck-pond.”</p> + +<p>“Well, well!” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“I’m a pretty quiet creature as a rule,” said +the horse—“very patient with people—don’t +make much fuss. But it was bad enough to +have that vet giving me the wrong medicine. +And when that red-faced booby started to +monkey with me, I just couldn’t bear it any +more.”</p> + +<p>“Did you hurt the boy much?” asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Oh, no,” said the horse. “I kicked him in +the right place. The vet’s looking after him +now. When will my glasses be ready?”</p> + +<p>“I’ll have them for you next week,” said the +Doctor. “Come in again Tuesday—Good +morning!”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i-032.jpg" width="430" height="219" alt="doctor testing having horse with spectacles on read eye-chart" /> +<div class="caption">“He could see as well as ever”</div> +</div> + +<p>Then John Dolittle got a fine, big pair of +green spectacles; and the plow-horse stopped +going blind in one eye and could see as well as +ever.</p> + +<p>And soon it became a common sight to see +farm-animals wearing glasses in the country +round Puddleby; and a blind horse was a thing +unknown.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> + +<p>And so it was with all the other animals that +were brought to him. As soon as they found +that he could talk their language, they told him +where the pain was and how they felt, and of +course it was easy for him to cure them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/i-033.jpg" width="435" height="331" alt="house on what looks like a seawall" /> +<div class="caption">“They came at once to his house on the edge of the town”</div> +</div> + +<p>Now all these animals went back and told +their brothers and friends that there was a doctor +in the little house with the big garden who +really <i>was</i> a doctor. And whenever any creatures +got sick—not only horses and cows and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +dogs—but all the little things of the fields, like +harvest-mice and water-voles, badgers and bats, +they came at once to his house on the edge of the +town, so that his big garden was nearly always +crowded with animals trying to get in to see +him.</p> + +<p>There were so many that came that he had to +have special doors made for the different kinds. +He wrote “HORSES” over the front door, +“COWS” over the side door, and “SHEEP” on +the kitchen door. Each kind of animal had a +separate door—even the mice had a tiny tunnel +made for them into the cellar, where they +waited patiently in rows for the Doctor to come +round to them.</p> + +<p>And so, in a few years’ time, every living +thing for miles and miles got to know about +John Dolittle, M.D. And the birds who flew +to other countries in the winter told the animals +in foreign lands of the wonderful doctor +of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, who could understand +their talk and help them in their troubles. +In this way he became famous among the animals—all +over the world—better known even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +than he had been among the folks of the West +Country, And he was happy and liked his life +very much.</p> + +<p>One afternoon when the Doctor was busy +writing in a book, Polynesia sat in the window—as +she nearly always did—looking out at +the leaves blowing about in the garden. Presently +she laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>“What is it, Polynesia?” asked the Doctor, +looking up from his book.</p> + +<p>“I was just thinking,” said the parrot; and +she went on looking at the leaves.</p> + +<p>“What were you thinking?”</p> + +<p>“I was thinking about people,” said Polynesia. +“People make me sick. They think they’re so +wonderful. The world has been going on now +for thousands of years, hasn’t it? And the only +thing in animal-language that <i>people</i> have +learned to understand is that when a dog wags +his tail he means ‘I’m glad!’—It’s funny, isn’t +it? You are the very first man to talk like us. +Oh, sometimes people annoy me dreadfully—such +airs they put on—talking about ‘the dumb +animals.’ <i>Dumb!</i>—Huh! Why I knew a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +macaw once who could say ‘Good morning!’ in +seven different ways without once opening his +mouth. He could talk every language—and +Greek. An old professor with a gray beard +bought him. But he didn’t stay. He said the +old man didn’t talk Greek right, and he couldn’t +stand listening to him teach the language wrong. +I often wonder what’s become of him. That +bird knew more geography than people will ever +know.—<i>People</i>, Golly! I suppose if people +ever learn to fly—like any common hedge-sparrow—we +shall never hear the end of it!”</p> + +<p>“You’re a wise old bird,” said the Doctor. +“How old are you really? I know that parrots +and elephants sometimes live to be very, very +old.”</p> + +<p>“I can never be quite sure of my age,” said +Polynesia. “It’s either a hundred and eighty-three +or a hundred and eighty-two. But I +know that when I first came here from Africa, +King Charles was still hiding in the oak-tree—because +I saw him. He looked scared to +death.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE THIRD CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>MORE MONEY TROUBLES</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-037.jpg" width="204" height="146" alt="A" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">AND soon now the Doctor +began to make money +again; and his sister, +Sarah, bought a new +dress and was happy.</p> + +<p>Some of the animals +who came to see him were so sick that they had +to stay at the Doctor’s house for a week. And +when they were getting better they used to sit in +chairs on the lawn.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 378px;"> +<img src="images/i-037b.jpg" width="378" height="110" alt="Pig and goose in lawn chairs with the doctor" /> +<div class="caption">“They used to sit in chairs on the lawn”</div> +</div> + +<p>And often even after they got well, they did +not want to go away—they liked the Doctor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +and his house so much. And he never had the +heart to refuse them when they asked if they +could stay with him. So in this way he went +on getting more and more pets.</p> + +<p>Once when he was sitting on his garden wall, +smoking a pipe in the evening, an Italian organ-grinder +came round with a monkey on a string. +The Doctor saw at once that the monkey’s collar +was too tight and that he was dirty and unhappy. +So he took the monkey away from the +Italian, gave the man a shilling and told him +to go. The organ-grinder got awfully angry +and said that he wanted to keep the monkey. +But the Doctor told him that if he didn’t go +away he would punch him on the nose. John +Dolittle was a strong man, though he wasn’t +very tall. So the Italian went away saying rude +things and the monkey stayed with Doctor Dolittle +and had a good home. The other animals +in the house called him “Chee-Chee”—which +is a common word in monkey-language, +meaning “ginger.”</p> + +<p>And another time, when the circus came to +Puddleby, the crocodile who had a bad toothache<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +escaped at night and came into the Doctor’s +garden. The Doctor talked to him in +crocodile-language and took him into the house +and made his tooth better. But when the crocodile +saw what a nice house it was—with all the +different places for the different kinds of animals—he +too wanted to live with the Doctor. +He asked couldn’t he sleep in the fish-pond at +the bottom of the garden, if he promised not +to eat the fish. When the circus-men came to +take him back he got so wild and savage that +he frightened them away. But to every one in +the house he was always as gentle as a kitten.</p> + +<p>But now the old ladies grew afraid to send +their lap-dogs to Doctor Dolittle because of the +crocodile; and the farmers wouldn’t believe that +he would not eat the lambs and sick calves they +brought to be cured. So the Doctor went to +the crocodile and told him he must go back +to his circus. But he wept such big tears, and +begged so hard to be allowed to stay, that the +Doctor hadn’t the heart to turn him out.</p> + +<p>So then the Doctor’s sister came to him and +said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + +<p>“John, you must send that creature away. +Now the farmers and the old ladies are afraid +to send their animals to you—just as we were +beginning to be well off again. Now we shall +be ruined entirely. This is the last straw. I +will no longer be housekeeper for you if you +don’t send away that alligator.”</p> + +<p>“It isn’t an alligator,” said the Doctor—“it’s +a crocodile.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t care what you call it,” said his sister. +“It’s a nasty thing to find under the bed. I +won’t have it in the house.”</p> + +<p>“But he has promised me,” the Doctor answered, +“that he will not bite any one. He +doesn’t like the circus; and I haven’t the money +to send him back to Africa where he comes +from. He minds his own business and on the +whole is very well behaved. Don’t be so +fussy.”</p> + +<p>“I tell you I <i>will not</i> have him around,” said +Sarah. “He eats the linoleum. If you don’t +send him away this minute I’ll—I’ll go and get +married!”</p> + +<p>“All right,” said the Doctor, “go and get married.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +It can’t be helped.” And he took down +his hat and went out into the garden.</p> + +<p>So Sarah Dolittle packed up her things and +went off; and the Doctor was left all alone with +his animal family.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 436px;"> +<img src="images/i-041.jpg" width="436" height="287" alt="Doctor's sister dn doctor with alligator looking on" /> +<div class="caption">“‘All right,’ said the Doctor, ‘go and get married’”</div> +</div> + +<p>And very soon he was poorer than he had +ever been before. With all these mouths to fill, +and the house to look after, and no one to do +the mending, and no money coming in to pay +the butcher’s bill, things began to look very difficult. +But the Doctor didn’t worry at all.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Money is a nuisance,” he used to say. +“We’d all be much better off if it had never +been invented. What does money matter, so +long as we are happy?”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 441px;"> +<img src="images/i-042.jpg" width="441" height="431" alt="Doctor assleep in chair, cow behind him, cat on stairs" /> +<div class="caption">“One evening when the Doctor was asleep in his chair”</div> +</div> + +<p>But soon the animals themselves began to get +worried. And one evening when the Doctor +was asleep in his chair before the kitchen-fire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +they began talking it over among themselves in +whispers. And the owl, Too-Too, who was +good at arithmetic, figured it out that there was +only money enough left to last another week—if +they each had one meal a day and no more.</p> + +<p>Then the parrot said, “I think we all ought +to do the housework ourselves. At least we can +do that much. After all, it is for our sakes that +the old man finds himself so lonely and so +poor.”</p> + +<p>So it was agreed that the monkey, Chee-Chee, +was to do the cooking and mending; the dog +was to sweep the floors; the duck was to dust +and make the beds; the owl, Too-Too, was to +keep the accounts, and the pig was to do the +gardening. They made Polynesia, the parrot, +housekeeper and laundress, because she was the +oldest.</p> + +<p>Of course at first they all found their new +jobs very hard to do—all except Chee-Chee, who +had hands, and could do things like a man. But +they soon got used to it; and they used to think +it great fun to watch Jip, the dog, sweeping +his tail over the floor with a rag tied onto it for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +a broom. After a little they got to do the work +so well that the Doctor said that he had never +had his house kept so tidy or so clean before.</p> + +<p>In this way things went along all right for a +while; but without money they found it very +hard.</p> + +<p>Then the animals made a vegetable and flower +stall outside the garden-gate and sold radishes +and roses to the people that passed by along the +road.</p> + +<p>But still they didn’t seem to make enough +money to pay all the bills—and still the Doctor +wouldn’t worry. When the parrot came to +him and told him that the fishmonger wouldn’t +give them any more fish, he said,</p> + +<p>“Never mind. So long as the hens lay eggs +and the cow gives milk we can have omelettes +and junket. And there are plenty of vegetables +left in the garden. The Winter is still a long +way off. Don’t fuss. That was the trouble +with Sarah—she would fuss. I wonder how +Sarah’s getting on—an excellent woman—in +some ways—Well, well!”</p> + +<p>But the snow came earlier than usual that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +year; and although the old lame horse hauled +in plenty of wood from the forest outside the +town, so they could have a big fire in the kitchen, +most of the vegetables in the garden were gone, +and the rest were covered with snow; and many +of the animals were really hungry.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a><br /><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE FOURTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>A MESSAGE FROM AFRICA</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-047.jpg" width="141" height="152" alt="T" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">THAT Winter was a very cold +one. And one night in December, +when they were all sitting +round the warm fire in the +kitchen, and the Doctor was +reading aloud to them out of +books he had written himself in animal-language, +the owl, Too-Too, suddenly said,</p> + +<p>“Sh! What’s that noise outside?”</p> + +<p>They all listened; and presently they heard +the sound of some one running. Then the door +flew open and the monkey, Chee-Chee, ran in, +badly out of breath.</p> + +<p>“Doctor!” he cried, “I’ve just had a message +from a cousin of mine in Africa. There is a +terrible sickness among the monkeys out there. +They are all catching it—and they are dying +in hundreds. They have heard of you, and beg +you to come to Africa to stop the sickness.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Who brought the message?” asked the Doctor, +taking off his spectacles and laying down +his book.</p> + +<p>“A swallow,” said Chee-Chee. “She is outside +on the rain-butt.”</p> + +<p>“Bring her in by the fire,” said the Doctor. +“She must be perished with the cold. The swallows +flew South six weeks ago!”</p> + +<p>So the swallow was brought in, all huddled +and shivering; and although she was a little +afraid at first, she soon got warmed up and sat +on the edge of the mantelpiece and began to +talk.</p> + +<p>When she had finished the Doctor said,</p> + +<p>“I would gladly go to Africa—especially in +this bitter weather. But I’m afraid we haven’t +money enough to buy the tickets. Get me the +money-box, Chee-Chee.”</p> + +<p>So the monkey climbed up and got it off the +top shelf of the dresser.</p> + +<p>There was nothing in it—not one single +penny!</p> + +<p>“I felt sure there was twopence left,” said the +Doctor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> + +<p>“There <i>was</i>” said the owl. “But you spent +it on a rattle for that badger’s baby when he +was teething.”</p> + +<p>“Did I?” said the Doctor—“dear me, dear +me! What a nuisance money is, to be sure! +Well, never mind. Perhaps if I go down to +the seaside I shall be able to borrow a boat that +will take us to Africa. I knew a seaman once +who brought his baby to me with measles. +Maybe he’ll lend us his boat—the baby got +well.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 393px;"> +<img src="images/i-049.jpg" width="393" height="267" alt="dcctor looking into empty can" /> +<div class="caption">“‘I felt sure there was twopence left’”</div> +</div> + +<p>So early the next morning the Doctor went +down to the sea-shore. And when he came back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +he told the animals it was all right—the sailor +was going to lend them the boat.</p> + +<p>Then the crocodile and the monkey and the +parrot were very glad and began to sing, because +they were going back to Africa, their real +home. And the Doctor said,</p> + +<p>“I shall only be able to take you three—with +Jip the dog, Dab-Dab the duck, Gub-Gub the +pig and the owl, Too-Too. The rest of the animals, +like the dormice and the water-voles and +the bats, they will have to go back and live in +the fields where they were born till we come +home again. But as most of them sleep through +the Winter, they won’t mind that—and besides, +it wouldn’t be good for them to go to Africa.”</p> + +<p>So then the parrot, who had been on long sea-voyages +before, began telling the Doctor all the +things he would have to take with him on the +ship.</p> + +<p>“You must have plenty of pilot-bread,” she +said—“‘hard tack’ they call it. And you must +have beef in cans—and an anchor.”</p> + +<p>“I expect the ship will have its own anchor,” +said the Doctor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Well, make sure,” said Polynesia. “Because +it’s very important. You can’t stop if you +haven’t got an anchor. And you’ll need a +bell.”</p> + +<p>“What’s that for?” asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“To tell the time by,” said the parrot. “You +go and ring it every half-hour and then you +know what time it is. And bring a whole lot of +rope—it always comes in handy on voyages.”</p> + +<p>Then they began to wonder where they were +going to get the money from to buy all the +things they needed.</p> + +<p>“Oh, bother it! Money again,” cried the +Doctor. “Goodness! I shall be glad to get to +Africa where we don’t have to have any! I’ll +go and ask the grocer if he will wait for his +money till I get back—No, I’ll send the sailor +to ask him.”</p> + +<p>So the sailor went to see the grocer. And +presently he came back with all the things they +wanted.</p> + +<p>Then the animals packed up; and after they +had turned off the water so the pipes wouldn’t +freeze, and put up the shutters, they closed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +house and gave the key to the old horse who +lived in the stable. And when they had seen +that there was plenty of hay in the loft to last +the horse through the Winter, they carried all +their luggage down to the seashore and got on +to the boat.</p> + +<p>The Cat’s-meat-Man was there to see them +off; and he brought a large suet-pudding as a +present for the Doctor because, he said he had +been told, you couldn’t get suet-puddings in foreign +parts.</p> + +<p>As soon as they were on the ship, Gub-Gub, +the pig, asked where the beds were, for it was +four o’clock in the afternoon and he wanted +his nap. So Polynesia took him downstairs into +the inside of the ship and showed him the beds, +set all on top of one another like book-shelves +against a wall.</p> + +<p>“Why, that isn’t a bed!” cried Gub-Gub. +“That’s a shelf!”</p> + +<p>“Beds are always like that on ships,” said the +parrot. “It isn’t a shelf. Climb up into it and +go to sleep. That’s what you call ‘a bunk.’”</p> + +<p>“I don’t think I’ll go to bed yet,” said Gub-Gub.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a><br /><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +“I’m too excited. I want to go upstairs +again and see them start.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-053.jpg" width="600" height="380" alt="ship in harbor" /> +<div class="caption">“And the voyage began”</div> +</div> + +<p>“Well, this is your first trip,” said Polynesia. +“You will get used to the life after a while.” +And she went back up the stairs of the ship, +humming this song to herself,</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> +<div class="verse">I’ve seen the Black Sea and the Red Sea;</div> +<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">I rounded the Isle of Wight;</span></div> +<div class="verse">I discovered the Yellow River,</div> +<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the Orange too—by night.</span></div> +<div class="verse">Now Greenland drops behind again,</div> +<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And I sail the ocean Blue.</span></div> +<div class="verse">I’m tired of all these colors, Jane,</div> +<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">So I’m coming back to you.</span></div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>They were just going to start on their journey, +when the Doctor said he would have to go back +and ask the sailor the way to Africa.</p> + +<p>But the swallow said she had been to that +country many times and would show them how +to get there.</p> + +<p>So the Doctor told Chee-Chee to pull up the +anchor and the voyage began.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE FIFTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE GREAT JOURNEY</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-055.jpg" width="177" height="148" alt="N" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">NOW for six whole weeks they +went sailing on and on, over +the rolling sea, following the +swallow who flew before the +ship to show them the way. +At night she carried a tiny +lantern, so they should not miss her in the dark; +and the people on the other ships that passed +said that the light must be a shooting star.</p> + +<p>As they sailed further and further into the +South, it got warmer and warmer. Polynesia, +Chee-Chee and the crocodile enjoyed the hot +sun no end. They ran about laughing and looking +over the side of the ship to see if they could +see Africa yet.</p> + +<p>But the pig and the dog and the owl, Too-Too, +could do nothing in such weather, but +sat at the end of the ship in the shade of a big<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +barrel, with their tongues hanging out, drinking +lemonade.</p> + +<p>Dab-Dab, the duck, used to keep herself cool +by jumping into the sea and swimming behind +the ship. And every once in a while, when +the top of her head got too hot, she would dive +under the ship and come up on the other side. +In this way, too, she used to catch herrings on +Tuesdays and Fridays—when everybody on the +boat ate fish to make the beef last longer.</p> + +<p>When they got near to the Equator they saw +some flying-fishes coming towards them. And +the fishes asked the parrot if this was Doctor +Dolittle’s ship. When she told them it was, they +said they were glad, because the monkeys in +Africa were getting worried that he would never +come. Polynesia asked them how many miles +they had yet to go; and the flying-fishes said +it was only fifty-five miles now to the coast of +Africa.</p> + +<p>And another time a whole school of porpoises +came dancing through the waves; and they too +asked Polynesia if this was the ship of the famous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +doctor. And when they heard that it was, +they asked the parrot if the Doctor wanted anything +for his journey.</p> + +<p>And Polynesia said, “Yes. We have run +short of onions.”</p> + +<p>“There is an island not far from here,” said +the porpoises, “where the wild onions grow tall +and strong. Keep straight on—we will get +some and catch up to you.”</p> + +<p>So the porpoises dashed away through the +sea. And very soon the parrot saw them again, +coming up behind, dragging the onions through +the waves in big nets made of seaweed.</p> + +<p>The next evening, as the sun was going down, +the Doctor said,</p> + +<p>“Get me the telescope, Chee-Chee. Our +journey is nearly ended. Very soon we should +be able to see the shores of Africa.”</p> + +<p>And about half an hour later, sure enough, +they thought they could see something in front +that might be land. But it began to get darker +and darker and they couldn’t be sure.</p> + +<p>Then a great storm came up, with thunder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +and lightning. The wind howled; the rain +came down in torrents; and the waves got so +high they splashed right over the boat.</p> + +<p>Presently there was a big BANG! The ship +stopped and rolled over on its side.</p> + +<p>“What’s happened?” asked the Doctor, coming +up from downstairs.</p> + +<p>“I’m not sure,” said the parrot; “but I think +we’re ship-wrecked. Tell the duck to get out +and see.”</p> + +<p>So Dab-Dab dived right down under the +waves. And when she came up she said they +had struck a rock; there was a big hole in the +bottom of the ship; the water was coming in; +and they were sinking fast.</p> + +<p>“We must have run into Africa,” said the +Doctor. “Dear me, dear me!—Well—we must +all swim to land.”</p> + +<p>But Chee-Chee and Gub-Gub did not know +how to swim.</p> + +<p>“Get the rope!” said Polynesia. “I told you +it would come in handy. Where’s that duck? +Come here, Dab-Dab. Take this end of the +rope, fly to the shore and tie it on to a palm-tree;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +and we’ll hold the other end on the ship +here. Then those that can’t swim must climb +along the rope till they reach the land. That’s +what you call a ‘life-line.’”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 428px;"> +<img src="images/i-059.jpg" width="428" height="343" alt="ship wrecked on rocks" /> +<div class="caption">“‘We must have run into Africa’”</div> +</div> + +<p>So they all got safely to the shore—some swimming, +some flying; and those that climbed along +the rope brought the Doctor’s trunk and hand-bag +with them.</p> + +<p>But the ship was no good any more—with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +big hole in the bottom; and presently the rough +sea beat it to pieces on the rocks and the timbers +floated away.</p> + +<p>Then they all took shelter in a nice dry cave +they found, high up in the cliffs, till the storm +was over.</p> + +<p>When the sun came out next morning they +went down to the sandy beach to dry themselves.</p> + +<p>“Dear old Africa!” sighed Polynesia. “It’s +good to get back. Just think—it’ll be a hundred +and sixty-nine years to-morrow since I was +here! And it hasn’t changed a bit!—Same old +palm-trees; same old red earth; same old black +ants! There’s no place like home!”</p> + +<p>And the others noticed she had tears in her +eyes—she was so pleased to see her country once +again.</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor missed his high hat; for it +had been blown into the sea during the storm. +So Dab-Dab went out to look for it. And presently +she saw it, a long way off, floating on the +water like a toy-boat.</p> + +<p>When she flew down to get it, she found one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +of the white mice, very frightened, sitting inside +it.</p> + +<p>“What are you doing here?” asked the duck. +“You were told to stay behind in Puddleby.”</p> + +<p>“I didn’t want to be left behind,” said the +mouse. “I wanted to see what Africa was like—I +have relatives there. So I hid in the baggage +and was brought on to the ship with the +hard-tack. When the ship sank I was terribly +frightened—because I cannot swim far. I +swam as long as I could, but I soon got all exhausted +and thought I was going to sink. And +then, just at that moment, the old man’s hat came +floating by; and I got into it because I did not +want to be drowned.”</p> + +<p>So the duck took up the hat with the mouse in +it and brought it to the Doctor on the shore. +And they all gathered round to have a look.</p> + +<p>“That’s what you call a ‘stowaway,’” said the +parrot.</p> + +<p>Presently, when they were looking for a place +in the trunk where the white mouse could travel +comfortably, the monkey, Chee-Chee, suddenly +said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Sh! I hear footsteps in the jungle!”</p> + +<p>They all stopped talking and listened. And +soon a black man came down out of the woods +and asked them what they were doing there.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i-062.jpg" width="430" height="407" alt="duck looking at mouse in hat" /> +<div class="caption">“‘I got into it because I did not want to be drowned’”</div> +</div> + +<p>“My name is John Dolittle—M.D.,” said the +Doctor. “I have been asked to come to Africa +to cure the monkeys who are sick.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> + +<p>“You must all come before the King,” said the +black man.</p> + +<p>“What king?” asked the Doctor, who didn’t +want to waste any time.</p> + +<p>“The King of the Jolliginki,” the man answered. +“All these lands belong to him; and all +strangers must be brought before him. Follow +me.”</p> + +<p>So they gathered up their baggage and went +off, following the man through the jungle.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a><br /><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE SIXTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>POLYNESIA AND THE KING</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-065.jpg" width="293" height="142" alt="W" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">WHEN they had +gone a little +way through +the thick forest, +they came +to a wide, clear +space; and they saw the King’s palace which was +made of mud.</p> + +<p>This was where the King lived with his +Queen, Ermintrude, and their son, Prince +Bumpo. The Prince was away fishing for salmon +in the river. But the King and Queen +were sitting under an umbrella before the palace +door. And Queen Ermintrude was asleep.</p> + +<p>When the Doctor had come up to the palace +the King asked him his business; and the Doctor +told him why he had come to Africa.</p> + +<p>“You may not travel through my lands,” said +the King. “Many years ago a white man came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +to these shores; and I was very kind to him. +But after he had dug holes in the ground to get +the gold, and killed all the elephants to get their +ivory tusks, he went away secretly in his ship— +without so much as saying ‘Thank you.’ Never +again shall a white man travel through the lands +of Jolliginki.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 312px;"> +<img src="images/i-066.jpg" width="312" height="366" alt="King and queen sitting under an umbrella" /> +<div class="caption">“And Queen Ermintrude was asleep”</div> +</div> + +<p>Then the King turned to some of the black +men who were standing near and said, “Take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +away this medicine-man—with all his animals, +and lock them up in my strongest prison.”</p> + +<p>So six of the black men led the Doctor and +all his pets away and shut them up in a stone +dungeon. The dungeon had only one little window, +high up in the wall, with bars in it; and +the door was strong and thick.</p> + +<p>Then they all grew very sad; and Gub-Gub, +the pig, began to cry. But Chee-Chee said he +would spank him if he didn’t stop that horrible +noise; and he kept quiet.</p> + +<p>“Are we all here?” asked the Doctor, after +he had got used to the dim light.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I think so,” said the duck and started +to count them.</p> + +<p>“Where’s Polynesia?” asked the crocodile. +“She isn’t here.”</p> + +<p>“Are you sure?” said the Doctor. “Look +again. Polynesia! Polynesia! Where are +you?”</p> + +<p>“I suppose she escaped,” grumbled the crocodile. +“Well, that’s just like her!—Sneaked off +into the jungle as soon as her friends got into +trouble.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + +<p>“I’m not that kind of a bird,” said the parrot, +climbing out of the pocket in the tail of the +Doctor’s coat. “You see, I’m small enough to +get through the bars of that window; and I was +afraid they would put me in a cage instead. +So while the King was busy talking, I hid in +the Doctor’s pocket—and here I am! That’s +what you call a ‘ruse,’” she said, smoothing +down her feathers with her beak.</p> + +<p>“Good Gracious!” cried the Doctor. +“You’re lucky I didn’t sit on you.”</p> + +<p>“Now listen,” said Polynesia, “to-night, as +soon as it gets dark, I am going to creep through +the bars of that window and fly over to the +palace. And then—you’ll see—I’ll soon find +a way to make the King let us all out of prison.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, what can <i>you</i> do?” said Gub-Gub, turning +up his nose and beginning to cry again. +“You’re only a bird!”</p> + +<p>“Quite true,” said the parrot. “But do not +forget that although I am only a bird, <i>I can talk +like a man</i>—and I know these darkies.”</p> + +<p>So that night, when the moon was shining +through the palm-trees and all the King’s men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +were asleep, the parrot slipped out through the +bars of the prison and flew across to the palace. +The pantry window had been broken by a tennis +ball the week before; and Polynesia popped +in through the hole in the glass.</p> + +<p>She heard Prince Bumpo snoring in his bedroom +at the back of the palace. Then she tip-toed +up the stairs till she came to the King’s +bedroom. She opened the door gently and +peeped in.</p> + +<p>The Queen was away at a dance that night +at her cousin’s; but the King was in bed fast +asleep.</p> + +<p>Polynesia crept in, very softly, and got under +the bed.</p> + +<p>Then she coughed—just the way Doctor Dolittle +used to cough. Polynesia could mimic +any one.</p> + +<p>The King opened his eyes and said sleepily: +“Is that you, Ermintrude?” (He thought it +was the Queen come back from the dance.)</p> + +<p>Then the parrot coughed again—loud, like a +man. And the King sat up, wide awake, and +said, “Who’s that?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> + +<p>“I am Doctor Dolittle,” said the parrot—just +the way the Doctor would have said it.</p> + +<p>“What are you doing in my bedroom?” cried +the King. “How dare you get out of prison! +Where are you?—I don’t see you.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 322px;"> +<img src="images/i-070.jpg" width="322" height="364" alt="King in bed" /> +<div class="caption">“‘Who’s that?’”</div> +</div> + +<p>But the parrot just laughed—a long, deep* +jolly laugh, like the Doctor’s.</p> + +<p>“Stop laughing and come here at once, so I +can see you,” said the King.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Foolish King!” answered Polynesia. “Have +you forgotten that you are talking to John Dolittle, +M.D.—the most wonderful man on earth? +Of course you cannot see me. I have made myself +invisible. There is nothing I cannot do. +Now listen: I have come here to-night to warn +you. If you don’t let me and my animals travel +through your kingdom, I will make you and all +your people sick like the monkeys. For I can +make people well: and I can make people ill—just +by raising my little finger. Send your soldiers +at once to open the dungeon door, or you +shall have mumps before the morning sun has +risen on the hills of Jolliginki.”</p> + +<p>Then the King began to tremble and was very +much afraid.</p> + +<p>“Doctor,” he cried, “it shall be as you say. +Do not raise your little finger, please!” And he +jumped out of bed and ran to tell the soldiers +to open the prison door.</p> + +<p>As soon as he was gone, Polynesia crept downstairs +and left the palace by the pantry window.</p> + +<p>But the Queen, who was just letting herself +in at the backdoor with a latch-key, saw the parrot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +getting out through the broken glass. And +when the King came back to bed she told him +what she had seen.</p> + +<p>Then the King understood that he had been +tricked, and he was dreadfully angry. He hurried +back to the prison at once.</p> + +<p>But he was too late. The door stood open. +The dungeon was empty. The Doctor and all +his animals were gone.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE SEVENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE BRIDGE OF APES</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-073.jpg" width="149" height="190" alt="Q" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">QUEEN ERMINTRUDE had +never in her life seen her husband +so terrible as he got that +night. He gnashed his teeth +with rage. He called everybody +a fool. He threw his +tooth-brush at the palace cat. He rushed round +in his night-shirt and woke up all his army and +sent them into the jungle to catch the Doctor. +Then he made all his servants go too—his cooks +and his gardeners and his barber and Prince +Bumpo’s tutor—even the Queen, who was tired +from dancing in a pair of tight shoes, was packed +off to help the soldiers in their search.</p> + +<p>All this time the Doctor and his animals were +running through the forest towards the Land of +the Monkeys as fast as they could go.</p> + +<p>Gub-Gub, with his short legs, soon got tired; +and the Doctor had to carry him—which made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +it pretty hard when they had the trunk and the +hand-bag with them as well.</p> + +<p>The King of the Jolliginki thought it would +be easy for his army to find them, because the +Doctor was in a strange land and would not +know his way. But he was wrong; because the +monkey, Chee-Chee, knew all the paths through +the jungle—better even than the King’s men did. +And he led the Doctor and his pets to the very +thickest part of the forest—a place where no +man had ever been before—and hid them all in +a big hollow tree between high rocks.</p> + +<p>“We had better wait here,” said Chee-Chee, +“till the soldiers have gone back to bed. Then +we can go on into the Land of the Monkeys.”</p> + +<p>So there they stayed the whole night through.</p> + +<p>They often heard the King’s men searching +and talking in the jungle round about. But +they were quite safe, for no one knew of that +hiding-place but Chee-Chee—not even the other +monkeys.</p> + +<p>At last, when daylight began to come through +the thick leaves overhead, they heard Queen +Ermintrude saying in a very tired voice that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +was no use looking any more—that they might +as well go back and get some sleep.</p> + +<p>As soon as the soldiers had all gone home, +Chee-Chee brought the Doctor and his animals +out of the hiding-place and they set off for the +Land of the Monkeys.</p> + +<p>It was a long, long way; and they often got +very tired—especially Gub-Gub. But when he +cried they gave him milk out of the cocoanuts, +which he was very fond of.</p> + +<p>They always had plenty to eat and drink; because +Chee-Chee and Polynesia knew all the +different kinds of fruits and vegetables that grow +in the jungle, and where to find them—like +dates and figs and ground-nuts and ginger and +yams. They used to make their lemonade out of +the juice of wild oranges, sweetened with honey +which they got from the bees’ nests in hollow +trees. No matter what it was they asked +for, Chee-Chee and Polynesia always seemed to +be able to get it for them—or something like it. +They even got the Doctor some tobacco one day, +when he had finished what he had brought with +him and wanted to smoke.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> + +<p>At night they slept in tents made of palm-leaves, +on thick, soft beds of dried grass. And +after a while they got used to walking such a lot +and did not get so tired and enjoyed the life of +travel very much.</p> + +<p>But they were always glad when the night +came and they stopped for their resting-time. +Then the Doctor used to make a little fire of +sticks; and after they had had their supper, they +would sit round it in a ring, listening to Polynesia +singing songs about the sea, or to Chee-Chee +telling stories of the jungle.</p> + +<p>And many of the tales that Chee-Chee told +were very interesting. Because although the +monkeys had no history-books of their own before +Doctor Dolittle came to write them for +them, they remember everything that happens by +telling stories to their children. And Chee-Chee +spoke of many things his grandmother had told +him—tales of long, long, long ago, before Noah +and the Flood,—of the days when men dressed +in bear-skins and lived in holes in the rock and +ate their mutton raw, because they did not know +what cooking was—having never seen a fire.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +And he told them of the Great Mammoths and +Lizards, as long as a train, that wandered over +the mountains in those times, nibbling from the +tree-tops. And often they got so interested +listening, that when he had finished they found +their fire had gone right out; and they had to +scurry round to get more sticks and build a new +one.</p> + +<p>Now when the King’s army had gone back +and told the King that they couldn’t find the +Doctor, the King sent them out again and told +them they must stay in the jungle till they caught +him. So all this time, while the Doctor and his +animals were going along towards the Land of +the Monkeys, thinking themselves quite safe, +they were still being followed by the King’s men. +If Chee-Chee had known this, he would most +likely have hidden them again. But he didn’t +know it.</p> + +<p>One day Chee-Chee climbed up a high rock +and looked out over the tree-tops. And when +he came down he said they were now quite close +to the Land of the Monkeys and would soon +be there.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p> + +<p>And that same evening, sure enough, they saw +Chee-Chee’s cousin and a lot of other monkeys, +who had not yet got sick, sitting in the trees by +the edge of a swamp, looking and waiting for +them. And when they saw the famous doctor +really come, these monkeys made a tremendous +noise, cheering and waving leaves and swinging +out of the branches to greet him.</p> + +<p>They wanted to carry his bag and his trunk +and everything he had—and one of the bigger +ones even carried Gub-Gub who had got tired +again. Then two of them rushed on in front to +tell the sick monkeys that the great doctor had +come at last.</p> + +<p>But the King’s men, who were still following, +had heard the noise of the monkeys cheering; +and they at last knew where the Doctor was, +and hastened on to catch him.</p> + +<p>The big monkey carrying Gub-Gub was coming +along behind slowly, and he saw the Captain +of the army sneaking through the trees. +So he hurried after the Doctor and told him to +run.</p> + +<p>Then they all ran harder than they had ever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a><br /><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +run in their lives; and the King’s men, coming +after them, began to run too; and the Captain +ran hardest of all.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-079.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt="Monkeys in jungle, doctor in distance" /> +<div class="caption">“Cheering and waving leaves and swinging out of the branches to greet him”</div> +</div> + +<p>Then the Doctor tripped over his medicine-bag +and fell down in the mud, and the Captain +thought he would surely catch him this time.</p> + +<p>But the Captain had very long ears—though +his hair was very short. And as he sprang forward +to take hold of the Doctor, one of his ears +caught fast in a tree; and the rest of the army +had to stop and help him.</p> + +<p>By this time the Doctor had picked himself +up, and on they went again, running and running. +And Chee-Chee shouted,</p> + +<p>“It’s all right! We haven’t far to go now!”</p> + +<p>But before they could get into the Land of +the Monkeys, they came to a steep cliff with a +river flowing below. This was the end of the +Kingdom of Jolliginki; and the Land of the +Monkeys was on the other side—across the +river.</p> + +<p>And Jip, the dog, looked down over the edge +of the steep, steep cliff and said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Golly! How are we ever going to get +across?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, dear!” said Gub-Gub. “The King’s +men are quite close now—Look at them! I am +afraid we are going to be taken back to prison +again.” And he began to weep.</p> + +<p>But the big monkey who was carrying the +pig dropped him on the ground and cried out +to the other monkeys,</p> + +<p>“Boys—a bridge! Quick!—Make a bridge! +We’ve only a minute to do it. They’ve got the +Captain loose, and he’s coming on like a deer. +Get lively! A bridge! A bridge!”</p> + +<p>The Doctor began to wonder what they were +going to make a bridge out of, and he gazed +around to see if they had any boards hidden any +place.</p> + +<p>But when he looked back at the cliff, there, +hanging across the river, was a bridge all ready +for him—made of living monkeys! For while +his back was turned, the monkeys—quick as a +flash—had made themselves into a bridge, just +by holding hands and feet.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> + +<p>And the big one shouted to the Doctor, “Walk +over! Walk over—all of you—hurry!”</p> + +<p>Gub-Gub was a bit scared, walking on such +a narrow bridge at that dizzy height above the +river. But he got over all right; and so did all +of them.</p> + +<p>John Dolittle was the last to cross. And just +as he was getting to the other side, the King’s +men came rushing up to the edge of the cliff.</p> + +<p>Then they shook their fists and yelled with +rage. For they saw they were too late. The +Doctor and all his animals were safe in the Land +of the Monkeys and the bridge was pulled across +to the other side.</p> + +<p>Then Chee-Chee turned to the Doctor and +said,</p> + +<p>“Many great explorers and gray-bearded +naturalists have lain long weeks hidden in the +jungle waiting to see the monkeys do that trick. +But we never let a white man get a glimpse of it +before. You are the first to see the famous +‘Bridge of Apes.’”</p> + +<p>And the Doctor felt very pleased.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/i-083.jpg" width="550" height="369" alt="doctor and Gub-Gub going over monkey bridge" /> +<div class="caption">“John Dolittle was the last to cross”</div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a><br /><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE EIGHTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE LEADER OF THE LIONS</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-085.jpg" width="100" height="135" alt="J" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">JOHN DOLITTLE now became +dreadfully, awfully busy. He +found hundreds and thousands of +monkeys sick—gorillas, orang-outangs, +chimpanzees, dog-faced baboons, +marmosettes, gray monkeys, +red ones—all kinds. And many had died.</p> + +<p>The first thing he did was to separate the +sick ones from the well ones. Then he got +Chee-Chee and his cousin to build him a little +house of grass. The next thing: he made all +the monkeys who were still well come and be +vaccinated.</p> + +<p>And for three days and three nights the +monkeys kept coming from the jungles and the +valleys and the hills to the little house of grass, +where the Doctor sat all day and all night, vaccinating +and vaccinating.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-086.jpg" width="600" height="360" alt="hundreds of monkeys lined up at door of hut" /> +<div class="caption">“He made all the monkeys who were still well come and be vaccinated”</div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then he had another house made—a big one, +with a lot of beds in it; and he put all the sick +ones in this house.</p> + +<p>But so many were sick, there were not enough +well ones to do the nursing. So he sent messages +to the other animals, like the lions and the +leopards and the antelopes, to come and help +with the nursing.</p> + +<p>But the Leader of the Lions was a very proud +creature. And when he came to the Doctor’s +big house full of beds he seemed angry and +scornful.</p> + +<p>“Do you dare to ask me, Sir?” he said, glaring +at the Doctor. “Do you dare to ask me—<i>ME, +the King of Beasts</i>, to wait on a lot of dirty +monkeys? Why, I wouldn’t even eat them between +meals!”</p> + +<p>Although the lion looked very terrible, the +Doctor tried hard not to seem afraid of him.</p> + +<p>“I didn’t ask you to eat them,” he said quietly. +“And besides, they’re not dirty. They’ve all +had a bath this morning. <i>Your</i> coat looks as +though it needed brushing—badly. Now +listen, and I’ll tell you something: the day may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +come when the lions get sick. And if you don’t +help the other animals now, the lions may find +themselves left all alone when <i>they</i> are in +trouble. That often happens to proud people.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 378px;"> +<img src="images/i-088.jpg" width="378" height="285" alt="Doctor and lion talking" /> +<div class="caption">“‘<i>ME, the King of Beasts</i>, to wait on a lot of dirty +monkeys?’”</div> +</div> + +<p>“The lions are never <i>in</i> trouble—they only +<i>make</i> trouble,” said the Leader, turning up his +nose. And he stalked away into the jungle, feeling +he had been rather smart and clever.</p> + +<p>Then the leopards got proud too and said +they wouldn’t help. And then of course the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +antelopes—although they were too shy and timid +to be rude to the Doctor like the lion—<i>they</i> +pawed the ground, and smiled foolishly, and said +they had never been nurses before.</p> + +<p>And now the poor Doctor was worried frantic, +wondering where he could get help enough +to take care of all these thousands of monkeys +in bed.</p> + +<p>But the Leader of the Lions, when he got +back to his den, saw his wife, the Queen Lioness, +come running out to meet him with her hair untidy.</p> + +<p>“One of the cubs won’t eat,” she said. “I +don’t know <i>what</i> to do with him. He hasn’t +taken a thing since last night.”</p> + +<p>And she began to cry and shake with nervousness—for +she was a good mother, even though +she was a lioness.</p> + +<p>So the Leader went into his den and looked +at his children—two very cunning little cubs, lying +on the floor. And one of them seemed quite +poorly.</p> + +<p>Then the lion told his wife, quite proudly, just +what he had said to the Doctor. And she got<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +so angry she nearly drove him out of the den.</p> + +<p>“You never <i>did</i> have a grain of sense!” she +screamed. “All the animals from here to the +Indian Ocean are talking about this wonderful +man, and how he can cure any kind of sickness, +and how kind he is—the only man in the whole +world who can talk the language of the animals! +And now, <i>now</i>—when we have a sick baby on +our hands, you must go and offend him! You +great booby! Nobody but a fool is ever rude +to a <i>good</i> doctor. You—,” and she started pulling +her husband’s hair.</p> + +<p>“Go back to that white man at once,” she +yelled, “and tell him you’re sorry. And take +all the other empty-headed lions with you—and +those stupid leopards and antelopes. Then +do everything the Doctor tells you. Work like +niggers! And perhaps he will be kind enough +to come and see the cub later. Now be off!—<i>Hurry</i>, +I tell you! You’re not fit to be a +father!”</p> + +<p>And she went into the den next door, where +another mother-lion lived, and told her all about +it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> + +<p>So the Leader of the Lions went back to the +Doctor and said, “I happened to be passing this +way and thought I’d look in. Got any help +yet?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said the Doctor. “I haven’t. And +I’m dreadfully worried.”</p> + +<p>“Help’s pretty hard to get these days,” said +the lion. “Animals don’t seem to want to work +any more. You can’t blame them—in a way.... +Well, seeing you’re in difficulties, I don’t +mind doing what I can—just to oblige you—so +long as I don’t have to wash the creatures. +And I have told all the other hunting animals +to come and do their share. The leopards +should be here any minute now.... Oh, and +by the way, we’ve got a sick cub at home. I +don’t think there’s much the matter with him +myself. But the wife is anxious. If you are +around that way this evening, you might take +a look at him, will you?”</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor was very happy; for all the +lions and the leopards and the antelopes and +the giraffes and the zebras—all the animals of +the forests and the mountains and the plains—came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +to help him in his work. There were +so many of them that he had to send some away, +and only kept the cleverest.</p> + +<p>And now very soon the monkeys began to +get better. At the end of a week the big house +full of beds were half empty. And at the end +of the second week the last monkey had got +well.</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor’s work was done; and he was +so tired he went to bed and slept for three days +without even turning over.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE NINTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE MONKEYS’ COUNCIL</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-093.jpg" width="128" height="137" alt="C" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">CHEE-CHEE stood outside the +Doctor’s door, keeping everybody +away till he woke up. +Then John Dolittle told the +monkeys that he must now go +back to Puddleby.</p> + +<p>They were very surprised at this; for they +had thought that he was going to stay with them +forever. And that night all the monkeys got +together in the jungle to talk it over.</p> + +<p>And the Chief Chimpanzee rose up and said,</p> + +<p>“Why is it the good man is going away? Is +he not happy here with us?”</p> + +<p>But none of them could answer him.</p> + +<p>Then the Grand Gorilla got up and said,</p> + +<p>“I think we all should go to him and ask him +to stay. Perhaps if we make him a new house +and a bigger bed, and promise him plenty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +of monkey-servants to work for him and to +make life pleasant for him—perhaps then he +will not wish to go.”</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 205px;"> +<img src="images/i-094.jpg" width="205" height="444" alt="goriila among many monkeys" /> +<div class="caption">“Then the Grand Gorilla +got up”</div> +</div> +<p>Then Chee-Chee got +up; and all the others +whispered, “Sh! Look! +Chee-Chee, the great +Traveler, is about to +speak!”</p> + +<p>And Chee-Chee said +to the other monkeys,</p> + +<p>“My friends, I am +afraid it is useless to ask +the Doctor to stay. He +owes money in Puddleby; +and he says he must +go back and pay it.”</p> + +<p>And the monkeys +asked him, “What is +<i>money</i>?”</p> + +<p>Then Chee-Chee told +them that in the Land +of the White Men you could get nothing without +money; you could <i>do</i> nothing without money—that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +it was almost impossible to <i>live</i> without +money.</p> + +<p>And some of them asked, “But can you not +even eat and drink without paying?”</p> + +<p>But Chee-Chee shook his head. And then he +told them that even he, when he was with the +organ-grinder, had been made to ask the children +for money.</p> + +<p>And the Chief Chimpanzee turned to the +Oldest Orang-outang and said, “Cousin, surely +these Men be strange creatures! Who would +wish to live in such a land? My gracious, how +paltry!”</p> + +<p>Then Chee-Chee said,</p> + +<p>“When we were coming to you we had no +boat to cross the sea in and no money to buy +food to eat on our journey. So a man lent us +some biscuits; and we said we would pay him +when we came back. And we borrowed a boat +from a sailor; but it was broken on the rocks +when we reached the shores of Africa. Now +the Doctor says he must go back and get the +sailor another boat—because the man was poor +and his ship was all he had.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> + +<p>And the monkeys were all silent for a while, +sitting quite still upon the ground and thinking +hard.</p> + +<p>At last the Biggest Baboon got up and said,</p> + +<p>“I do not think we ought to let this good man +leave our land till we have given him a fine +present to take with him, so that he may know +we are grateful for all that he has done for +us.”</p> + +<p>And a little, tiny red monkey who was sitting +up in a tree shouted down,</p> + +<p>“I think that too!”</p> + +<p>And then they all cried out, making a great +noise, “Yes, yes. Let us give him the finest +present a White Man ever had!”</p> + +<p>Now they began to wonder and ask one another +what would be the best thing to give him. +And one said, “Fifty bags of cocoanuts!” And +another—“A hundred bunches of bananas!—At +least he shall not have to buy his fruit in the +Land Where You Pay to Eat!”</p> + +<p>But Chee-Chee told them that all these +things would be too heavy to carry so far and +would go bad before half was eaten.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<p>“If you want to please him,” he said, “give +him an animal. You may be sure he will be +kind to it. Give him some rare animal they +have not got in the menageries.”</p> + +<p>And the monkeys asked him, “What are +<i>menageries</i>?”</p> + +<p>Then Chee-Chee explained to them that +menageries were places in the Land of the +White Men, where animals were put in cages +for people to come and look at. And the +monkeys were very shocked and said to one +another,</p> + +<p>“These Men are like thoughtless young ones—stupid +and easily amused. Sh! It is a prison +he means.”</p> + +<p>So then they asked Chee-Chee what rare animal +it could be that they should give the Doctor—one +the White Men had not seen before. +And the Major of the Marmosettes asked,</p> + +<p>“Have they an iguana over there?”</p> + +<p>But Chee-Chee said, “Yes, there is one in the +London Zoo.”</p> + +<p>And another asked, “Have they an okapi?”</p> + +<p>But Chee-Chee said, “Yes. In Belgium<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>, +where my organ-grinder took me five years ago, +they had an okapi in a big city they call Antwerp.”</p> + +<p>And another asked, “Have they a pushmi-pullyu?”</p> + +<p>Then Chee-Chee said, “No. No White +Man has ever seen a pushmi-pullyu. Let us +give him that.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE TENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE RAREST ANIMAL OF ALL</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-099.jpg" width="115" height="185" alt="P" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">PUSHMI-PULLYUS are now +extinct. That means, there +aren’t any more. But long ago, +when Doctor Dolittle was alive, +there were some of them still left +in the deepest jungles of Africa; +and even then they were very, very +scarce. They had no tail, but a head at each end, +and sharp horns on each head. They were very +shy and terribly hard to catch. The black men +get most of their animals by sneaking up behind +them while they are not looking. But you could +not do this with the pushmi-pullyu—because, no +matter which way you came towards him, he +was always facing you. And besides, only one +half of him slept at a time. The other head +was always awake—and watching. This was +why they were never caught and never seen in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +Zoos. Though many of the greatest huntsmen +and the cleverest menagerie-keepers spent +years of their lives searching through the +jungles in all weathers for pushmi-pullyus, not a +single one had ever been caught. Even then, +years ago, he was the only animal in the world +with two heads.</p> + +<p>Well, the monkeys set out hunting for this +animal through the forest. And after they had +gone a good many miles, one of them found +peculiar footprints near the edge of a river; +and they knew that a pushmi-pullyu must be +very near that spot.</p> + +<p>Then they went along the bank of the river +a little way and they saw a place where the +grass was high and thick; and they guessed that +he was in there.</p> + +<p>So they all joined hands and made a great +circle round the high grass. The pushmi-pullyu +heard them coming; and he tried hard +to break through the ring of monkeys. But he +couldn’t do it. When he saw that it was no +use trying to escape, he sat down and waited to +see what they wanted.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> + +<p>They asked him if he would go with Doctor +Dolittle and be put on show in the Land of the +White Men.</p> + +<p>But he shook both his heads hard and said, +“Certainly not!”</p> + +<p>They explained to him that he would not be +shut up in a menagerie but would just be looked +at. They told him that the Doctor was a very +kind man but hadn’t any money; and people +would pay to see a two-headed animal and the +Doctor would get rich and could pay for the boat +he had borrowed to come to Africa in.</p> + +<p>But he answered, “No. You know how shy +I am—I hate being stared at.” And he almost +began to cry.</p> + +<p>Then for three days they tried to persuade +him.</p> + +<p>And at the end of the third day he said he +would come with them and see what kind of a +man the Doctor was, first.</p> + +<p>So the monkeys traveled back with the +pushmi-pullyu. And when they came to where +the Doctor’s little house of grass was, they +knocked on the door.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> + +<p>The duck, who was packing the trunk, said, +“Come in!”</p> + +<p>And Chee-Chee very proudly took the animal +inside and showed him to the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“What in the world is it?” asked John Dolittle, +gazing at the strange creature.</p> + +<p>“Lord save us!” cried the duck. “How does +it make up its mind?”</p> + +<p>“It doesn’t look to me as though it had any,” +said Jip, the dog.</p> + +<p>“This, Doctor,” said Chee-Chee, “is the +pushmi-pullyu—the rarest animal of the African +jungles, the only two-headed beast in the +world! Take him home with you and your +fortune’s made. People will pay any money to +see him.”</p> + +<p>“But I don’t want any money,” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Yes, you do,” said Dab-Dab, the duck. +“Don’t you remember how we had to pinch +and scrape to pay the butcher’s bill in Puddleby? +And how are you going to get the +sailor the new boat you spoke of—unless we have +the money to buy it?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-103.jpg" width="600" height="345" alt="gcoup looking at the Pushmi-Pullyu" /> +<div class="caption">“‘Lord save us!’ cried the duck. ‘How does it make up its mind?’”</div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p> + +<p>“I was going to make him one,” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Oh, do be sensible!” cried Dab-Dab. +“Where would you get all the wood and the +nails to make one with?—And besides, what are +we going to live on? We shall be poorer than +ever when we get back. Chee-Chee’s perfectly +right: take the funny-looking thing along, do!”</p> + +<p>“Well, perhaps there is something in what +you say,” murmured the Doctor. “It certainly +would make a nice new kind of pet. But does +the er—what-do-you-call-it really want to go +abroad?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I’ll go,” said the pushmi-pullyu who +saw at once, from the Doctor’s face, that he was +a man to be trusted. “You have been so kind +to the animals here—and the monkeys tell me +that I am the only one who will do. But you +must promise me that if I do not like it in the +Land of the White Men you will send me +back.”</p> + +<p>“Why, certainly—of course, of course,” said +the Doctor. “Excuse me, surely you are related +to the Deer Family, are you not?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the pushmi-pullyu—“to the +Abyssinian Gazelles and the Asiatic Chamois—on +my mother’s side. My father’s great-grandfather +was the last of the Unicorns.”</p> + +<p>“Most interesting!” murmured the Doctor; +and he took a book out of the trunk which Dab-Dab +was packing and began turning the pages. +“Let us see if Buffon says anything—”</p> + +<p>“I notice,” said the duck, “that you only talk +with one of your mouths. Can’t the other head +talk as well?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes,” said the pushmi-pullyu. “But I +keep the other mouth for eating—mostly. In +that way I can talk while I am eating without +being rude. Our people have always been very +polite.”</p> + +<p>When the packing was finished and everything +was ready to start, the monkeys gave a +grand party for the Doctor, and all the animals +of the jungle came. And they had pineapples +and mangoes and honey and all sorts of good +things to eat and drink.</p> + +<p>After they had all finished eating, the Doctor +got up and said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> + +<p>“My friends: I am not clever at speaking +long words after dinner, like some men; and I +have just eaten many fruits and much honey. +But I wish to tell you that I am very sad at +leaving your beautiful country. Because I have +things to do in the Land of the White Men, I +must go. After I have gone, remember never +to let the flies settle on your food before you +eat it; and do not sleep on the ground when the +rains are coming. I—er—er—I hope you will +all live happily ever after.”</p> + +<p>When the Doctor stopped speaking and sat +down, all the monkeys clapped their hands a +long time and said to one another, “Let it be +remembered always among our people that he +sat and ate with us, here, under the trees. For +surely he is the Greatest of Men!”</p> + +<p>And the Grand Gorilla, who had the strength +of seven horses in his hairy arms, rolled a great +rock up to the head of the table and said,</p> + +<p>“This stone for all time shall mark the spot.”</p> + +<p>And even to this day, in the heart of the jungle, +that stone still is there. And monkey-mothers, +passing through the forest with their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +families, still point down at it from the branches +and whisper to their children, “Sh! There it +is—look—where the Good White Man sat and +ate food with us in the Year of the Great Sickness!”</p> + +<p>Then, when the party was over, the Doctor +and his pets started out to go back to the seashore. +And all the monkeys went with him as +far as the edge of their country, carrying his +trunk and bags, to see him off.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a><br /><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE BLACK PRINCE</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-109.jpg" width="131" height="155" alt="B" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">BY the edge of the river they +stopped and said farewell.</p> + +<p>This took a long time, because +all those thousands of monkeys +wanted to shake John Dolittle by +the hand.</p> + +<p>Afterwards, when the Doctor and his pets +were going on alone, Polynesia said,</p> + +<p>“We must tread softly and talk low as we +go through the land of the Jolliginki. If the +King should hear us, he will send his soldiers +to catch us again; for I am sure he is still very +angry over the trick I played on him.”</p> + +<p>“What I am wondering,” said the Doctor, +“is where we are going to get another boat to +go home in.... Oh well, perhaps we’ll find +one lying about on the beach that nobody is +using. ‘Never lift your foot till you come to +the stile.’”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> + +<p>One day, while they were passing through +a very thick part of the forest, Chee-Chee went +ahead of them to look for cocoanuts. And +while he was away, the Doctor and the rest of +the animals, who did not know the jungle-paths +so well, got lost in the deep woods. They wandered +around and around but could not find +their way down to the seashore.</p> + +<p>Chee-Chee, when he could not see them anywhere, +was terribly upset. He climbed high +trees and looked out from the top branches to +try and see the Doctor’s high hat; he waved and +shouted; he called to all the animals by name. +But it was no use. They seemed to have disappeared +altogether.</p> + +<p>Indeed they had lost their way very badly. +They had strayed a long way off the path, and +the jungle was so thick with bushes and creepers +and vines that sometimes they could hardly +move at all, and the Doctor had to take out +his pocket-knife and cut his way along. They +stumbled into wet, boggy places; they got all +tangled up in thick convolvulus-runners; they +scratched themselves on thorns, and twice they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +nearly lost the medicine-bag in the under-brush. +There seemed no end to their troubles; and +nowhere could they come upon a path.</p> + +<p>At last, after blundering about like this for +many days, getting their clothes torn and their +faces covered with mud, they walked right into +the King’s back-garden by mistake. The King’s +men came running up at once and caught them.</p> + +<p>But Polynesia flew into a tree in the garden, +without anybody seeing her, and hid herself. +The Doctor and the rest were taken before the +King.</p> + +<p>“Ha, ha!” cried the King. “So you are +caught again! This time you shall not escape. +Take them all back to prison and put double +locks on the door. This White Man shall +scrub my kitchen-floor for the rest of his +life!”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor and his pets were led back to +prison and locked up. And the Doctor was told +that in the morning he must begin scrubbing the +kitchen-floor.</p> + +<p>They were all very unhappy.</p> + +<p>“This is a great nuisance,” said the Doctor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +“I really must get back to Puddleby. That +poor sailor will think I’ve stolen his ship if I +don’t get home soon.... I wonder if those +hinges are loose.”</p> + +<p>But the door was very strong and firmly +locked. There seemed no chance of getting out. +Then Gub-Gub began to cry again.</p> + +<p>All this time Polynesia was still sitting in the +tree in the palace-garden. She was saying nothing +and blinking her eyes.</p> + +<p>This was always a very bad sign with Polynesia. +Whenever she said nothing and blinked +her eyes, it meant that somebody had been making +trouble, and she was thinking out some way +to put things right. People who made trouble +for Polynesia or her friends were nearly always +sorry for it afterwards.</p> + +<p>Presently she spied Chee-Chee swinging +through the trees still looking for the Doctor. +When Chee-Chee saw her, he came into her +tree and asked her what had become of him.</p> + +<p>“The Doctor and all the animals have been +caught by the King’s men and locked up again,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +whispered Polynesia. “We lost our way in the +jungle and blundered into the palace-garden by +mistake.”</p> + +<p>“But couldn’t you guide them?” asked Chee-Chee; +and he began to scold the parrot for letting +them get lost while he was away looking +for the cocoanuts.</p> + +<p>“It was all that stupid pig’s fault,” said +Polynesia. “He would keep running off the +path hunting for ginger-roots. And I was kept +so busy catching him and bringing him back, +that I turned to the left, instead of the right, +when we reached the swamp.—Sh!—Look! +There’s Prince Bumpo coming into the garden! +He must not see us.—Don’t move, whatever you +do!”</p> + +<p>And there, sure enough, was Prince Bumpo, +the King’s son, opening the garden-gate. He +carried a book of fairy-tales under his arm. He +came strolling down the gravel-walk, humming +a sad song, till he reached a stone seat right under +the tree where the parrot and the monkey +were hiding. Then he lay down on the seat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +and began reading the fairy-stories to himself.</p> + +<p>Chee-Chee and Polynesia watched him, +keeping very quiet and still.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 431px;"> +<img src="images/i-114.jpg" width="431" height="487" alt="King lying down reading" /> +<div class="caption">“He began reading the fairy-stories to himself”</div> +</div> + +<p>After a while the King’s son laid the book +down and sighed a weary sigh.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> + +<p>“If I were only a <i>white</i> prince!” said he, with +a dreamy, far-away look in his eyes.</p> + +<p>Then the parrot, talking in a small, high voice +like a little girl, said aloud,</p> + +<p>“Bumpo, some one might turn thee into a +white prince perchance.”</p> + +<p>The King’s son started up off the seat and +looked all around.</p> + +<p>“What is this I hear?” he cried. “Methought +the sweet music of a fairy’s silver voice rang +from yonder bower! Strange!”</p> + +<p>“Worthy Prince,” said Polynesia, keeping +very still so Bumpo couldn’t see her, “thou sayest +winged words of truth. For ’tis I, Tripsitinka, +the Queen of the Fairies, that speak to +thee. I am hiding in a rose-bud.”</p> + +<p>“Oh tell me, Fairy-Queen,” cried Bumpo, +clasping his hands in joy, “who is it can turn +me white?”</p> + +<p>“In thy father’s prison,” said the parrot, “there +lies a famous wizard, John Dolittle by name. +Many things he knows of medicine and magic, +and mighty deeds has he performed. Yet thy +kingly father leaves him languishing long and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +lingering hours. Go to him, brave Bumpo, +secretly, when the sun has set; and behold, thou +shalt be made the whitest prince that ever won +fair lady! I have said enough. I must now go +back to Fairyland. Farewell!”</p> + +<p>“Farewell!” cried the Prince. “A thousand +thanks, good Tripsitinka!”</p> + +<p>And he sat down on the seat again with a smile +upon his face, waiting for the sun to set.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE TWELFTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>MEDICINE AND MAGIC</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-117.jpg" width="175" height="140" alt="V" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">VERY, very quietly, making +sure that no one should see +her, Polynesia then slipped +out at the back of the tree +and flew across to the +prison.</p> + +<p>She found Gub-Gub poking his nose through +the bars of the window, trying to sniff the +cooking-smells that came from the palace-kitchen. +She told the pig to bring the Doctor +to the window because she wanted to speak to +him. So Gub-Gub went and woke the Doctor +who was taking a nap.</p> + +<p>“Listen,” whispered the parrot, when John +Dolittle’s face appeared: “Prince Bumpo is +coming here to-night to see you. And you’ve +got to find some way to turn him white. But +be sure to make him promise you first that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +will open the prison-door and find a ship for +you to cross the sea in.”</p> + +<p>“This is all very well,” said the Doctor. +“But it isn’t so easy to turn a black man white. +You speak as though he were a dress to be re-dyed. +It’s not so simple. ‘Shall the leopard +change his spots, or the Ethiopian his skin,’ you +know?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know anything about that,” said +Polynesia impatiently. “But you <i>must</i> turn this +coon white. Think of a way—think hard. +You’ve got plenty of medicines left in the bag. +He’ll do anything for you if you change his +color. It is your only chance to get out of +prison.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I suppose it <i>might</i> be possible,” said +the Doctor. “Let me see—,” and he went over +to his medicine-bag, murmuring something +about “liberated chlorine on animal-pigment—perhaps +zinc-ointment, as a temporary measure, +spread thick—”</p> + +<p>Well, that night Prince Bumpo came secretly +to the Doctor in prison and said to him,</p> + +<p>“White Man, I am an unhappy prince.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +Years ago I went in search of The Sleeping +Beauty, whom I had read of in a book. And +having traveled through the world many days, +I at last found her and kissed the lady very +gently to awaken her—as the book said I should. +’Tis true indeed that she awoke. But when +she saw my face she cried out, ‘Oh, he’s black!’ +And she ran away and wouldn’t marry me—but +went to sleep again somewhere else. So I came +back, full of sadness, to my father’s kingdom. +Now I hear that you are a wonderful magician +and have many powerful potions. So I come to +you for help. If you will turn me white, so +that I may go back to The Sleeping Beauty, I +will give you half my kingdom and anything besides +you ask.”</p> + +<p>“Prince Bumpo,” said the Doctor, looking +thoughtfully at the bottles in his medicine-bag, +“supposing I made your hair a nice blonde +color—would not that do instead to make you +happy?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Bumpo. “Nothing else will satisfy +me. I must be a white prince.”</p> + +<p>“You know it is very hard to change the color<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +of a prince,” said the Doctor—“one of the hardest +things a magician can do. You only want +your face white, do you not?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, that is all,” said Bumpo. “Because I +shall wear shining armor and gauntlets of steel, +like the other white princes, and ride on a +horse.”</p> + +<p>“Must your face be white all over?” asked +the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Yes, all over,” said Bumpo—“and I would +like my eyes blue too, but I suppose that would +be very hard to do.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, it would,” said the Doctor quickly. +“Well, I will do what I can for you. You will +have to be very patient though—you know with +some medicines you can never be very sure. I +might have to try two or three times. You have +a strong skin—yes? Well that’s all right. +Now come over here by the light—Oh, but before +I do anything, you must first go down to +the beach and get a ship ready, with food in it, +to take me across the sea. Do not speak a word +of this to any one. And when I have done as +you ask, you must let me and all my animals<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +out of prison. Promise—by the crown of Jolliginki!”</p> + +<p>So the Prince promised and went away to get +a ship ready at the seashore.</p> + +<p>When he came back and said that it was done, +the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to bring a basin. +Then he mixed a lot of medicines in the basin +and told Bumpo to dip his face in it.</p> + +<p>The Prince leaned down and put his face in—right +up to the ears.</p> + +<p>He held it there a long time—so long that +the Doctor seemed to get dreadfully anxious +and fidgety, standing first on one leg and then +on the other, looking at all the bottles he had +used for the mixture, and reading the labels on +them again and again. A strong smell filled +the prison, like the smell of brown paper burning.</p> + +<p>At last the Prince lifted his face up out of the +basin, breathing very hard. And all the animals +cried out in surprise.</p> + +<p>For the Prince’s face had turned as white as +snow, and his eyes, which had been mud-colored, +were a manly gray!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> + +<p>When John Dolittle lent him a little looking-glass +to see himself in, he sang for joy and began +dancing around the prison. But the Doctor +asked him not to make so much noise about +it; and when he had closed his medicine-bag +in a hurry he told him to open the prison-door.</p> + +<p>Bumpo begged that he might keep the looking-glass, +as it was the only one in the Kingdom +of Jolliginki, and he wanted to look at himself +all day long. But the Doctor said he needed +it to shave with.</p> + +<p>Then the Prince, taking a bunch of copper +keys from his pocket, undid the great double +locks. And the Doctor with all his animals ran +as fast as they could down to the seashore; while +Bumpo leaned against the wall of the empty +dungeon, smiling after them happily, his big +face shining like polished ivory in the light of +the moon.</p> + +<p>When they came to the beach they saw Polynesia +and Chee-Chee waiting for them on the +rocks near the ship.</p> + +<p>“I feel sorry about Bumpo,” said the Doctor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +“I am afraid that medicine I used will never +last. Most likely he will be as black as ever +when he wakes up in the morning—that’s one +reason why I didn’t like to leave the mirror with +him. But then again, he <i>might</i> stay white—I +had never used that mixture before. To tell the +truth, I was surprised, myself, that it worked +so well. But I had to do something, didn’t I?—I +couldn’t possibly scrub the King’s kitchen +for the rest of my life. It was such a dirty +kitchen!—I could see it from the prison-window.—Well, +well!—Poor Bumpo!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, of course he will know we were just +joking with him,” said the parrot.</p> + +<p>“They had no business to lock us up,” said +Dab-Dab, waggling her tail angrily. “We +never did them any harm. Serve him right, if +he does turn black again! I hope it’s a dark +black.”</p> + +<p>“But <i>he</i> didn’t have anything to do with it,” +said the Doctor. “It was the King, his father, +who had us locked up—it wasn’t Bumpo’s fault.... +I wonder if I ought to go back and apologize—Oh, +well—I’ll send him some candy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +when I get to Puddleby. And who knows?—he +may stay white after all.”</p> + +<p>“The Sleeping Beauty would never have him, +even if he did,” said Dab-Dab. “He looked better +the way he was, I thought. But he’d never +be anything but ugly, no matter what color he +was made.”</p> + +<p>“Still, he had a good heart,” said the Doctor—“romantic, +of course—but a good heart. After +all, ‘handsome is as handsome does.’”</p> + +<p>“I don’t believe the poor booby found The +Sleeping Beauty at all,” said Jip, the dog. +“Most likely he kissed some farmer’s fat wife +who was taking a snooze under an apple-tree. +Can’t blame her for getting scared! I wonder +who he’ll go and kiss this time. Silly business!”</p> + +<p>Then the pushmi-pullyu, the white mouse, +Gub-Gub, Dab-Dab, Jip and the owl, Too-Too, +went on to the ship with the Doctor. But Chee-Chee, +Polynesia and the crocodile stayed behind, +because Africa was their proper home, the land +where they were born.</p> + +<p>And when the Doctor stood upon the boat, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +looked over the side across the water. And then +he remembered that they had no one with them +to guide them back to Puddleby.</p> + +<p>The wide, wide sea looked terribly big and +lonesome in the moonlight; and he began to +wonder if they would lose their way when they +passed out of sight of land.</p> + +<p>But even while he was wondering, they heard +a strange whispering noise, high in the air, +coming through the night. And the animals all +stopped saying Good-by and listened.</p> + +<p>The noise grew louder and bigger. It seemed +to be coming nearer to them—a sound like the +Autumn wind blowing through the leaves of a +poplar-tree, or a great, great rain beating down +upon a roof.</p> + +<p>And Jip, with his nose pointing and his tail +quite straight, said,</p> + +<p>“Birds!—millions of them—flying fast—that’s +it!”</p> + +<p>And then they all looked up. And there, +streaming across the face of the moon, like a +huge swarm of tiny ants, they could see thousands +and thousands of little birds. Soon the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +whole sky seemed full of them, and still more +kept coming—more and more. There were so +many that for a little they covered the whole +moon so it could not shine, and the sea grew +dark and black—like when a storm-cloud passes +over the sun.</p> + +<p>And presently all these birds came down close, +skimming over the water and the land; and the +night-sky was left clear above, and the moon +shone as before. Still never a call nor a cry +nor a song they made—no sound but this great +rustling of feathers which grew greater now +than ever. When they began to settle on the +sands, along the ropes of the ship—anywhere +and everywhere except the trees—the Doctor +could see that they had blue wings and white +breasts and very short, feathered legs. As soon +as they had all found a place to sit, suddenly, +there was no noise left anywhere—all was quiet; +all was still.</p> + +<p>And in the silent moonlight John Dolittle +spoke:</p> + +<p>“I had no idea that we had been in Africa +so long. It will be nearly Summer when we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +get home. For these are the swallows going +back. Swallows, I thank you for waiting for +us. It is very thoughtful of you. Now we need +not be afraid that we will lose our way upon the +sea.... Pull up the anchor and set the sail!”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/i-127.jpg" width="435" height="267" alt="ship leaving in the night" /> +<div class="caption">“Crying bitterly and waving till the ship was out of sight”</div> +</div> + +<p>When the ship moved out upon the water, +those who stayed behind, Chee-Chee, Polynesia +and the crocodile, grew terribly sad. For never +in their lives had they known any one they liked +so well as Doctor John Dolittle of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> + +<p>And after they had called Good-by to him +again and again and again, they still stood there +upon the rocks, crying bitterly and waving till +the ship was out of sight.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-129.jpg" width="112" height="163" alt="S" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">SAILING homeward, the Doctor’s +ship had to pass the coast +of Barbary. This coast is the +seashore of the Great Desert. It +is a wild, lonely place—all sand +and stones. And it was here that +the Barbary pirates lived.</p> + +<p>These pirates, a bad lot of men, used to wait +for sailors to be shipwrecked on their shores. +And often, if they saw a boat passing, they would +come out in their fast sailing-ships and chase it. +When they caught a boat like this at sea, they +would steal everything on it; and after they had +taken the people off they would sink the ship +and sail back to Barbary singing songs and feeling +proud of the mischief they had done. Then +they used to make the people they had caught +write home to their friends for money. And if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +the friends sent no money, the pirates often threw +the people into the sea.</p> + +<p>Now one sunshiny day the Doctor and Dab-Dab +were walking up and down on the ship +for exercise; a nice fresh wind was blowing the +boat along, and everybody was happy. Presently +Dab-Dab saw the sail of another ship a +long way behind them on the edge of the sea. +It was a red sail.</p> + +<p>“I don’t like the look of that sail,” said Dab-Dab. +“I have a feeling it isn’t a friendly ship. +I am afraid there is more trouble coming to +us.”</p> + +<p>Jip, who was lying near taking a nap in the +sun, began to growl and talk in his sleep.</p> + +<p>“I smell roast beef cooking,” he mumbled—“underdone +roast beef—with brown gravy over +it.”</p> + +<p>“Good gracious!” cried the Doctor. “What’s +the matter with the dog? Is he <i>smelling</i> in his +sleep—as well as talking?”</p> + +<p>“I suppose he is,” said Dab-Dab. “All dogs +can smell in their sleep.”</p> + +<p>“But what is he smelling?” asked the Doctor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +“There is no roast beef cooking on our ship.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Dab-Dab. “The roast beef must +be on that other ship over there.”</p> + +<p>“But that’s ten miles away,” said the Doctor. +“He couldn’t smell that far surely!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes, he could,” said Dab-Dab. “You +ask him.”</p> + +<p>Then Jip, still fast asleep, began to growl +again and his lip curled up angrily, showing +his clean, white teeth.</p> + +<p>“I smell bad men,” he growled—“the worst +men I ever smelt. I smell trouble. I smell a +fight—six bad scoundrels fighting against one +brave man. I want to help him. Woof—oo—WOOF!” +Then he barked, loud, and woke +himself up with a surprised look on his face.</p> + +<p>“See!” cried Dab-Dab. “That boat is nearer +now. You can count its three big sails—all red. +Whoever it is, they are coming after us.... I +wonder who they are.”</p> + +<p>“They are bad sailors,” said Jip; “and their +ship is very swift. They are surely the pirates +of Barbary.”</p> + +<p>“Well, we must put up more sails on our boat,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +said the Doctor, “so we can go faster and get +away from them. Run downstairs, Jip, and +fetch me all the sails you see.”</p> + +<p>The dog hurried downstairs and dragged up +every sail he could find.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 391px;"> +<img src="images/i-132.jpg" width="391" height="312" alt="Docor sees pirates in distance" /> +<div class="caption">“‘They are surely the pirates of Barbary’”</div> +</div> + +<p>But even when all these were put up on the +masts to catch the wind, the boat did not go +nearly as fast as the pirates’—which kept coming +on behind, closer and closer.</p> + +<p>“This is a poor ship the Prince gave us,” said +Gub-Gub, the pig—“the slowest he could find, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> +should think. Might as well try to win a race +in a soup-tureen as hope to get away from them +in this old barge. Look how near they are now!—You +can see the mustaches on the faces of the +men—six of them. What are we going to do?”</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to fly up and +tell the swallows that pirates were coming after +them in a swift ship, and what should he do +about it.</p> + +<p>When the swallows heard this, they all came +down on to the Doctor’s ship; and they told him +to unravel some pieces of long rope and make +them into a lot of thin strings as quickly as he +could. Then the ends of these strings were tied +on to the front of the ship; and the swallows +took hold of the strings with their feet and flew +off, pulling the boat along.</p> + +<p>And although swallows are not very strong +when only one or two are by themselves, it is +different when there are a great lot of them together. +And there, tied to the Doctor’s ship, +were a thousand strings; and two thousand swallows +were pulling on each string—all terribly +swift fliers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> + +<p>And in a moment the Doctor found himself +traveling so fast he had to hold his hat on with +both hands; for he felt as though the ship itself +were flying through waves that frothed and +boiled with speed.</p> + +<p>And all the animals on the ship began to +laugh and dance about in the rushing air, for +when they looked back at the pirates’ ship, they +could see that it was growing smaller now, instead +of bigger. The red sails were being left +far, far behind.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE RATS’ WARNING</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-135.jpg" width="142" height="137" alt="D" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">DRAGGING a ship through the +sea is hard work. And after +two or three hours the swallows +began to get tired in the +wings and short of breath. +Then they sent a message +down to the Doctor to say that they would have +to take a rest soon; and that they would pull the +boat over to an island not far off, and hide it in +a deep bay till they had got breath enough to +go on.</p> + +<p>And presently the Doctor saw the island they +had spoken of. It had a very beautiful, high, +green mountain in the middle of it.</p> + +<p>When the ship had sailed safely into the bay +where it could not be seen from the open sea, +the Doctor said he would get off on to the island +to look for water—because there was none left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +to drink on his ship. And he told all the animals +to get out too and romp on the grass to +stretch their legs.</p> + +<p>Now as they were getting off, the Doctor noticed +that a whole lot of rats were coming up +from downstairs and leaving the ship as well. +Jip started to run after them, because chasing +rats had always been his favorite game. But +the Doctor told him to stop.</p> + +<p>And one big black rat, who seemed to want +to say something to the Doctor, now crept forward +timidly along the rail, watching the dog +out of the corner of his eye. And after he had +coughed nervously two or three times, and +cleaned his whiskers and wiped his mouth, he +said,</p> + +<p>“Ahem—er—you know of course that all ships +have rats in them, Doctor, do you not?”</p> + +<p>And the Doctor said, “Yes.”</p> + +<p>“And you have heard that rats always leave +a sinking ship?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the Doctor—“so I’ve been told.”</p> + +<p>“People,” said the rat, “always speak of it +with a sneer—as though it were something disgraceful.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +But you can’t blame us, can you? +After all, who <i>would</i> stay on a sinking ship, if +he could get off it?”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/i-137.jpg" width="435" height="418" alt="rats talking to doctor" /> +<div class="caption">“‘And you have heard that rats always leave a sinking +ship?’”</div> +</div> + +<p>“It’s very natural,” said the Doctor—“very +natural. I quite understand.... Was there—Was +there anything else you wished to say?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the rat. “I’ve come to tell you +that we are leaving this one. But we wanted to +warn you before we go. This is a bad ship you +have here. It isn’t safe. The sides aren’t +strong enough. Its boards are rotten. Before +to-morrow night it will sink to the bottom of the +sea.”</p> + +<p>“But how do you know?” asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“We always know,” answered the rat. “The +tips of our tails get that tingly feeling—like +when your foot’s asleep. This morning, at six +o’clock, while I was getting breakfast, my tail +suddenly began to tingle. At first I thought +it was my rheumatism coming back. So I went +and asked my aunt how she felt—you remember +her?—the long, piebald rat, rather skinny, who +came to see you in Puddleby last Spring with +jaundice? Well—and she said <i>her</i> tail was +tingling like everything! Then we knew, for +sure, that this boat was going to sink in less than +two days; and we all made up our minds to +leave it as soon as we got near enough to any +land. It’s a bad ship, Doctor. Don’t sail in +it any more, or you’ll be surely drowned....<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +Good-by! We are now going to look for a good +place to live on this island.”</p> + +<p>“Good-by!” said the Doctor. “And thank +you very much for coming to tell me. Very +considerate of you—very! Give my regards to +your aunt. I remember her perfectly.... +Leave that rat alone, Jip! Come here! Lie +down!”</p> + +<p>So then the Doctor and all his animals went +off, carrying pails and saucepans, to look for +water on the island, while the swallows took +their rest.</p> + +<p>“I wonder what is the name of this island,” +said the Doctor, as he was climbing up the +mountainside. “It seems a pleasant place. +What a lot of birds there are!”</p> + +<p>“Why, these are the Canary Islands,” said +Dab-Dab. “Don’t you hear the canaries singing?”</p> + +<p>The Doctor stopped and listened.</p> + +<p>“Why, to be sure—of course!” he said. +“How stupid of me! I wonder if they can tell +us where to find water.”</p> + +<p>And presently the canaries, who had heard all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +about Doctor Dolittle from birds of passage, +came and led him to a beautiful spring of cool, +clear water where the canaries used to take their +bath; and they showed him lovely meadows +where the bird-seed grew and all the other +sights of their island.</p> + +<p>And the pushmi-pullyu was glad they had +come; because he liked the green grass so much +better than the dried apples he had been eating +on the ship. And Gub-Gub squeaked for joy +when he found a whole valley full of wild sugar-cane.</p> + +<p>A little later, when they had all had plenty +to eat and drink, and were lying on their backs +while the canaries sang for them, two of the +swallows came hurrying up, very flustered and +excited.</p> + +<p>“Doctor!” they cried, “the pirates have come +into the bay; and they’ve all got on to your ship. +They are downstairs looking for things to steal. +They have left their own ship with nobody on +it. If you hurry and come down to the shore, +you can get on to their ship—which is very fast—and +escape. But you’ll have to hurry.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> + +<p>“That’s a good idea,” said the Doctor—“splendid!”</p> + +<p>And he called his animals together at once, +said Good-by to the canaries and ran down to the +beach.</p> + +<p>When they reached the shore they saw the +pirate-ship, with the three red sails, standing in +the water; and—just as the swallows had said—there +was nobody on it; all the pirates were +downstairs in the Doctor’s ship, looking for +things to steal.</p> + +<p>So John Dolittle told his animals to walk very +softly and they all crept on to the pirate-ship.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a><br /><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE BARBARY DRAGON</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-143.jpg" width="135" height="138" alt="E" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">EVERYTHING would have gone +all right if the pig had not caught +a cold in his head while eating +the damp sugar-cane on the +island. This is what happened:</p> + +<p>After they had pulled up the +anchor without a sound, and were moving the +ship very, very carefully out of the bay, Gub-Gub +suddenly sneezed so loud that the pirates +on the other ship came rushing upstairs to see +what the noise was.</p> + +<p>As soon as they saw that the Doctor was escaping, +they sailed the other boat right across +the entrance to the bay so that the Doctor could +not get out into the open sea.</p> + +<p>Then the leader of these bad men (who called +himself “Ben Ali, The Dragon”) shook his fist +at the Doctor and shouted across the water,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Ha! Ha! You are caught, my fine friend! +You were going to run off in my ship, eh? But +you are not a good enough sailor to beat Ben +Ali, the Barbary Dragon. I want that duck +you’ve got—and the pig too. We’ll have pork-chops +and roast duck for supper to-night. And +before I let you go home, you must make your +friends send me a trunk-full of gold.”</p> + +<p>Poor Gub-Gub began to weep; and Dab-Dab +made ready to fly to save her life. But the owl, +Too-Too, whispered to the Doctor,</p> + +<p>“Keep him talking, Doctor. Be pleasant to +him. Our old ship is bound to sink soon—the +rats said it would be at the bottom of the sea before +to-morrow-night—and the rats are never +wrong. Be pleasant, till the ship sinks under +him. Keep him talking.”</p> + +<p>“What, until to-morrow night!” said the Doctor. +“Well, I’ll do my best.... Let me see—What +shall I talk about?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, let them come on,” said Jip. “We can +fight the dirty rascals. There are only six of +them. Let them come on. I’d love to tell that +collie next door, when we get home, that I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +bitten a real pirate. Let ’em come. We can +fight them.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 427px;"> +<img src="images/i-145.jpg" width="427" height="357" alt="Doctor looking at approching pirate ship" /> +<div class="caption">“‘Look here, Ben Ali—’”</div> +</div> + +<p>“But they have pistols and swords,” said the +Doctor. “No, that would never do. I must +talk to him.... Look here, Ben Ali—”</p> + +<p>But before the Doctor could say any more, +the pirates began to sail the ship nearer, laughing +with glee, and saying one to another, “Who +shall be the first to catch the pig?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> + +<p>Poor Gub-Gub was dreadfully frightened; +and the pushmi-pullyu began to sharpen his +horns for a fight by rubbing them on the mast +of the ship; while Jip kept springing into the +air and barking and calling Ben Ali bad names +in dog-language.</p> + +<p>But presently something seemed to go wrong +with the pirates; they stopped laughing and +cracking jokes; they looked puzzled; something +was making them uneasy.</p> + +<p>Then Ben Ali, staring down at his feet, suddenly +bellowed out,</p> + +<p>“Thunder and Lightning!—Men, <i>the boat’s +leaking</i>!”</p> + +<p>And then the other pirates peered over the +side and they saw that the boat was indeed getting +lower and lower in the water. And one +of them said to Ben Ali,</p> + +<p>“But surely if this old boat were sinking we +should see the rats leaving it.”</p> + +<p>And Jip shouted across from the other ship,</p> + +<p>“You great duffers, there are no rats there +to leave! They left two hours ago! ‘Ha, ha,’ +to you, ‘my fine friends!’”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> + +<p>But of course the men did not understand him.</p> + +<p>Soon the front end of the ship began to go +down and down, faster and faster—till the boat +looked almost as though it were standing on its +head; and the pirates had to cling to the rails +and the masts and the ropes and anything to +keep from sliding off. Then the sea rushed +roaring in through all the windows and the +doors. And at last the ship plunged right down +to the bottom of the sea, making a dreadful +gurgling sound; and the six bad men were left +bobbing about in the deep water of the bay.</p> + +<p>Some of them started to swim for the shores +of the island; while others came and tried to get +on to the boat where the Doctor was. But Jip +kept snapping at their noses, so they were afraid +to climb up the side of the ship.</p> + +<p>Then suddenly they all cried out in great fear,</p> + +<p>“<i>The sharks!</i> The sharks are coming! Let +us get on to the ship before they eat us! Help, +help!—The sharks! The sharks!”</p> + +<p>And now the Doctor could see, all over the +bay, the backs of big fishes swimming swiftly +through the water.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> + +<p>And one great shark came near to the ship, +and poking his nose out of the water he said to +the Doctor,</p> + +<p>“Are you John Dolittle, the famous animal-doctor?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Doctor Dolittle. “That is my +name.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the shark, “we know these pirates +to be a bad lot—especially Ben Ali. If they +are annoying you, we will gladly eat them up for +you—and then you won’t be troubled any +more.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” said the Doctor. “This is +really most attentive. But I don’t think it will +be necessary to eat them. Don’t let any of them +reach the shore until I tell you—just keep them +swimming about, will you? And please make +Ben Ali swim over here that I may talk to +him.”</p> + +<p>So the shark went off and chased Ben Ali over +to the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Listen, Ben Ali,” said John Dolittle, leaning +over the side. “You have been a very bad +man; and I understand that you have killed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +many people. These good sharks here have just +offered to eat you up for me—and ’twould indeed +be a good thing if the seas were rid of you. +But if you will promise to do as I tell you, I +will let you go in safety.”</p> + +<p>“What must I do?” asked the pirate, looking +down sideways at the big shark who was smelling +his leg under the water.</p> + +<p>“You must kill no more people,” said the +Doctor; “you must stop stealing; you must never +sink another ship; you must give up being a +pirate altogether.”</p> + +<p>“But what shall I do then?” asked Ben Ali. +“How shall I live?”</p> + +<p>“You and all your men must go on to this +island and be bird-seed-farmers,” the Doctor answered. +“You must grow bird-seed for the +canaries.”</p> + +<p>The Barbary Dragon turned pale with anger, +“<i>Grow bird-seed!</i>” he groaned in disgust. +“Can’t I be a sailor?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said the Doctor, “you cannot. You +have been a sailor long enough—and sent many +stout ships and good men to the bottom of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +sea. For the rest of your life you must be a +peaceful farmer. The shark is waiting. Do +not waste any more of his time. Make up your +mind.”</p> + +<p>“Thunder and Lightning!” Ben Ali muttered—“<i>Bird-seed!</i>” +Then he looked down into the +water again and saw the great fish smelling his +other leg.</p> + +<p>“Very well,” he said sadly. “We’ll be farmers.”</p> + +<p>“And remember,” said the Doctor, “that if +you do not keep your promise—if you start +killing and stealing again, I shall hear of it, +because the canaries will come and tell me. +And be very sure that I will find a way to punish +you. For though I may not be able to sail +a ship as well as you, so long as the birds and +the beasts and the fishes are my friends, I do not +have to be afraid of a pirate chief—even though +he call himself ‘The Dragon of Barbary.’ Now +go and be a good farmer and live in peace.”</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor turned to the big shark, and +waving his hand he said,</p> + +<p>“All right. Let them swim safely to the land.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>TOO-TOO, THE LISTENER</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-151.jpg" width="147" height="139" alt="H" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">HAVING thanked the sharks +again for their kindness, the +Doctor and his pets set off +once more on their journey +home in the swift ship with +the three red sails.</p> + +<p>As they moved out into the open sea, the animals +all went downstairs to see what their new +boat was like inside; while the Doctor leant on +the rail at the back of the ship with a pipe in his +mouth, watching the Canary Islands fade away +in the blue dusk of the evening.</p> + +<p>While he was standing there, wondering how +the monkeys were getting on—and what his +garden would look like when he got back to +Puddleby, Dab-Dab came tumbling up the +stairs, all smiles and full of news.</p> + +<p>“Doctor!” she cried. “This ship of the pirates<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +is simply beautiful—absolutely. The beds +downstairs are made of primrose silk—with +hundreds of big pillows and cushions; there are +thick, soft carpets on the floors; the dishes are +made of silver; and there are all sorts of good +things to eat and drink—special things; the +larder—well, it’s just like a shop, that’s all. +You never saw anything like it in your life—Just +think—they kept five different kinds of +sardines, those men! Come and look.... Oh, +and we found a little room down there with the +door locked; and we are all crazy to get in and +see what’s inside. Jip says it must be where the +pirates kept their treasure. But we can’t open +the door. Come down and see if you can let +us in.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor went downstairs and he saw that +it was indeed a beautiful ship. He found the +animals gathered round a little door, all talking +at once, trying to guess what was inside. The +Doctor turned the handle but it wouldn’t open. +Then they all started to hunt for the key. They +looked under the mat; they looked under all the +carpets; they looked in all the cupboards and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +drawers and lockers—in the big chests in the +ship’s dining-room; they looked everywhere.</p> + +<p>While they were doing this they discovered +a lot of new and wonderful things that the pirates +must have stolen from other ships: Kashmir +shawls as thin as a cobweb, embroidered +with flowers of gold; jars of fine tobacco from +Jamaica; carved ivory boxes full of Russian +tea; an old violin with a string broken and a +picture on the back; a set of big chess-men, +carved out of coral and amber; a walking-stick +which had a sword inside it when you pulled +the handle; six wine-glasses with tourquoise and +silver round the rims; and a lovely great sugar-bowl, +made of mother o’ pearl. But nowhere +in the whole boat could they find a key to fit +that lock.</p> + +<p>So they all came back to the door, and Jip +peered through the key-hole. But something +had been stood against the wall on the inside +and he could see nothing.</p> + +<p>While they were standing around, wondering +what they should do, the owl, Too-Too, suddenly +said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there’s some one +in there!”</p> + +<p>They all kept still a moment. Then the Doctor +said,</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 431px;"> +<img src="images/i-154.jpg" width="431" height="292" alt="Animals listening at door" /> +<div class="caption">“‘Sh!—Listen!—I do believe there’s some one in there!’”</div> +</div> + +<p>“You must be mistaken, Too-Too. I don’t +hear anything.”</p> + +<p>“I’m sure of it,” said the owl. “Sh!—There +it is again—Don’t you hear that?”</p> + +<p>“No, I do not,” said the Doctor. “What +kind of a sound is it?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> + +<p>“I hear the noise of some one putting his hand +in his pocket,” said the owl.</p> + +<p>“But that makes hardly any sound at all,” said +the Doctor. “You couldn’t hear that out here.”</p> + +<p>“Pardon me, but I can,” said Too-Too. “I +tell you there is some one on the other side of +that door putting his hand in his pocket. Almost +everything makes <i>some</i> noise—if your ears +are only sharp enough to catch it. Bats can hear +a mole walking in his tunnel under the earth—and +they think they’re good hearers. But we +owls can tell you, using only one ear, the color +of a kitten from the way it winks in the dark.”</p> + +<p>“Well, well!” said the Doctor. “You surprise +me. That’s very interesting.... Listen +again and tell me what he’s doing now.”</p> + +<p>“I’m not sure yet,” said Too-Too, “if it’s a +man at all. Maybe it’s a woman. Lift me up +and let me listen at the key-hole and I’ll soon +tell you.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor lifted the owl up and held him +close to the lock of the door.</p> + +<p>After a moment Too-Too said,</p> + +<p>“Now he’s rubbing his face with his left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +hand. It is a small hand and a small face. It +<i>might</i> be a woman—No. Now he pushes his +hair back off his forehead—It’s a man all +right.”</p> + +<p>“Women sometimes do that,” said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“True,” said the owl. “But when they do, +their long hair makes quite a different sound.... +Sh! Make that fidgety pig keep still. +Now all hold your breath a moment so I can +listen well. This is very difficult, what I’m doing +now—and the pesky door is so thick! Sh! +Everybody quite still—shut your eyes and don’t +breathe.”</p> + +<p>Too-Too leaned down and listened again very +hard and long.</p> + +<p>At last he looked up into the Doctor’s face and +said,</p> + +<p>“The man in there is unhappy. He weeps. +He has taken care not to blubber or sniffle, lest +we should find out that he is crying. But I +heard—quite distinctly—the sound of a tear falling +on his sleeve.”</p> + +<p>“How do you know it wasn’t a drop of water<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> +falling off the ceiling on him?” asked Gub-Gub.</p> + +<p>“Pshaw!—Such ignorance!” sniffed Too-Too. +“A drop of water falling off the ceiling would +have made ten times as much noise!”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the Doctor, “if the poor fellow’s +unhappy, we’ve got to get in and see what’s the +matter with him. Find me an axe, and I’ll chop +the door down.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a><br /><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE OCEAN GOSSIPS</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-159.jpg" width="115" height="136" alt="R" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">RIGHT away an axe was found. +And the Doctor soon chopped a +hole in the door big enough to +clamber through.</p> + +<p>At first he could see nothing +at all, it was so dark inside. So +he struck a match.</p> + +<p>The room was quite small; no window; the +ceiling, low. For furniture there was only one +little stool. All round the room big barrels +stood against the walls, fastened at the bottom +so they wouldn’t tumble with the rolling of the +ship; and above the barrels, pewter jugs of all +sizes hung from wooden pegs. There was a +strong, winey smell. And in the middle of the +floor sat a little boy, about eight years old, crying +bitterly.</p> + +<p>“I declare, it is the pirates’ rum-room!” said +Jip in a whisper.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Yes. Very rum!” said Gub-Gub. “The +smell makes me giddy.”</p> + +<p>The little boy seemed rather frightened to +find a man standing there before him and all +those animals staring in through the hole in the +broken door. But as soon as he saw John Dolittle’s +face by the light of the match, he stopped +crying and got up.</p> + +<p>“You aren’t one of the pirates, are you?” he +asked.</p> + +<p>And when the Doctor threw back his head +and laughed long and loud, the little boy smiled +too and came and took his hand.</p> + +<p>“You laugh like a friend,” he said—“not like +a pirate. Could you tell me where my uncle +is?”</p> + +<p>“I am afraid I can’t,” said the Doctor. +“When did you see him last?”</p> + +<p>“It was the day before yesterday,” said the +boy. “I and my uncle were out fishing in our +little boat, when the pirates came and caught +us. They sunk our fishing-boat and brought us +both on to this ship. They told my uncle that +they wanted him to be a pirate like them—for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +he was clever at sailing a ship in all weathers. +But he said he didn’t want to be a pirate, because +killing people and stealing was no work +for a good fisherman to do. Then the leader, +Ben Ali, got very angry and gnashed his teeth, +and said they would throw my uncle into the +sea if he didn’t do as they said. They sent me +downstairs; and I heard the noise of a fight going +on above. And when they let me come up +again next day, my uncle was nowhere to be +seen. I asked the pirates where he was; but +they wouldn’t tell me. I am very much afraid +they threw him into the sea and drowned him.”</p> + +<p>And the little boy began to cry again.</p> + +<p>“Well now—wait a minute,” said the Doctor. +“Don’t cry. Let’s go and have tea in the dining-room, +and we’ll talk it over. Maybe your +uncle is quite safe all the time. You don’t <i>know</i> +that he was drowned, do you? And that’s something. +Perhaps we can find him for you. First +we’ll go and have tea—with strawberry-jam; +and then we will see what can be done.”</p> + +<p>All the animals had been standing around +listening with great curiosity. And when they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +had gone into the ship’s dining-room and were +having tea, Dab-Dab came up behind the Doctor’s +chair and whispered.</p> + +<p>“Ask the porpoises if the boy’s uncle was +drowned—they’ll know.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” said the Doctor, taking a second +piece of bread-and-jam.</p> + +<p>“What are those funny, clicking noises you +are making with your tongue?” asked the boy.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I just said a couple of words in duck-language,” +the Doctor answered. “This is +Dab-Dab, one of my pets.”</p> + +<p>“I didn’t even know that ducks had a language,” +said the boy. “Are all these other animals +your pets, too? What is that strange-looking +thing with two heads?”</p> + +<p>“Sh!” the Doctor whispered. “That is the +pushmi-pullyu. Don’t let him see we’re talking +about him—he gets so dreadfully embarrassed.... +Tell me, how did you come to be +locked up in that little room?”</p> + +<p>“The pirates shut me in there when they were +going off to steal things from another ship. +When I heard some one chopping on the door,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +I didn’t know who it could be. I was very +glad to find it was you. Do you think you will +be able to find my uncle for me?”</p> + +<p>“Well, we are going to try very hard,” said +the Doctor. “Now what was your uncle like to +look at?”</p> + +<p>“He had red hair,” the boy answered—“very +red hair, and the picture of an anchor tattooed +on his arm. He was a strong man, a kind uncle +and the best sailor in the South Atlantic. His +fishing-boat was called <i>The Saucy Sally</i>—a +cutter-rigged sloop.”</p> + +<p>“What’s ‘cutterigsloop’?” whispered Gub-Gub, +turning to Jip.</p> + +<p>“Sh!—That’s the kind of a ship the man had,” +said Jip. “Keep still, can’t you?”</p> + +<p>“Oh,” said the pig, “is that all? I thought +it was something to drink.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor left the boy to play with the +animals in the dining-room, and went upstairs +to look for passing porpoises.</p> + +<p>And soon a whole school came dancing and +jumping through the water, on their way to +Brazil.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> + +<p>When they saw the Doctor leaning on the +rail of his ship, they came over to see how he +was getting on.</p> + +<p>And the Doctor asked them if they had seen +anything of a man with red hair and an anchor +tattooed on his arm.</p> + +<p>“Do you mean the master of <i>The Saucy +Sally</i>?” asked the porpoises.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the Doctor. “That’s the man. +Has he been drowned?”</p> + +<p>“His fishing-sloop was sunk,” said the porpoises—“for +we saw it lying on the bottom of +the sea. But there was nobody inside it, because +we went and looked.”</p> + +<p>“His little nephew is on the ship with me +here,” said the Doctor. “And he is terribly +afraid that the pirates threw his uncle into the +sea. Would you be so good as to find out for +me, for sure, whether he has been drowned or +not?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, he isn’t drowned,” said the porpoises. +“If he were, we would be sure to have heard of +it from the deep-sea Decapods. We hear all the +salt-water news. The shell-fish call us ‘The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +Ocean Gossips.’ No—tell the little boy we are +sorry we do not know where his uncle is; but +we are quite certain he hasn’t been drowned in +the sea.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor ran downstairs with the news +and told the nephew, who clapped his hands with +happiness. And the pushmi-pullyu took the little +boy on his back and gave him a ride round +the dining-room table; while all the other animals +followed behind, beating the dish-covers +with spoons, pretending it was a parade.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a><br /><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>SMELLS</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-167.jpg" width="139" height="153" alt="Y" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">“YOUR uncle must now be <i>found</i>,” +said the Doctor—“that is the +next thing—now that we know +he wasn’t thrown into the sea.”</p> + +<p>Then Dab-Dab came up to +him again and whispered,</p> + +<p>“Ask the eagles to look for the man. No living +creature can see better than an eagle. When +they are miles high in the air they can count +the ants crawling on the ground. Ask the +eagles.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor sent one of the swallows off +to get some eagles.</p> + +<p>And in about an hour the little bird came +back with six different kinds of eagles: a Black +Eagle, a Bald Eagle, a Fish Eagle, a Golden +Eagle, an Eagle-Vulture, and a White-tailed +Sea Eagle. Twice as high as the boy they were,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +each one of them. And they stood on the rail +of the ship, like round-shouldered soldiers all +in a row, stern and still and stiff; while their +great, gleaming, black eyes shot darting glances +here and there and everywhere.</p> + +<p>Gub-Gub was scared of them and got behind +a barrel. He said he felt as though those +terrible eyes were looking right inside of him +to see what he had stolen for lunch.</p> + +<p>And the Doctor said to the eagles,</p> + +<p>“A man has been lost—a fisherman with red +hair and an anchor marked on his arm. Would +you be so kind as to see if you can find him for +us? This boy is the man’s nephew.”</p> + +<p>Eagles do not talk very much. And all they +answered in their husky voices was,</p> + +<p>“You may be sure that we will do our best—for +John Dolittle.”</p> + +<p>Then they flew off—and Gub-Gub came out +from behind his barrel to see them go. Up and +up and up they went—higher and higher and +higher still. Then, when the Doctor could only +just see them, they parted company and started +going off all different ways—North, East, South<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +and West, looking like tiny grains of black sand +creeping across the wide, blue sky.</p> + +<p>“My gracious!” said Gub-Gub in a hushed +voice. “What a height! I wonder they don’t +scorch their feathers—so near the sun!”</p> + +<p>They were gone a long time. And when they +came back it was almost night.</p> + +<p>And the eagles said to the Doctor,</p> + +<p>“We have searched all the seas and all the +countries and all the islands and all the cities +and all the villages in this half of the world. +But we have failed. In the main street of Gibraltar +we saw three red hairs lying on a wheelbarrow +before a baker’s door. But they were +not the hairs of a man—they were the hairs out +of a fur-coat. Nowhere, on land or water, could +we see any sign of this boy’s uncle. And if <i>we</i> +could not see him, then he is not to be seen.... +For John Dolittle—we have done our best.”</p> + +<p>Then the six great birds flapped their big +wings and flew back to their homes in the mountains +and the rocks.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Dab-Dab, after they had gone, +“what are we going to do now? The boy’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +uncle <i>must</i> be found—there’s no two ways about +that. The lad isn’t old enough to be knocking +around the world by himself. Boys aren’t like +ducklings—they have to be taken care of till +they’re quite old.... I wish Chee-Chee were +here. He would soon find the man. Good old +Chee-Chee! I wonder how he’s getting on!”</p> + +<p>“If we only had Polynesia with us,” said the +white mouse. “<i>She</i> would soon think of some +way. Do you remember how she got us all +out of prison—the second time? My, but she +was a clever one!”</p> + +<p>“I don’t think so much of those eagle-fellows,” +said Jip. “They’re just conceited. They may +have very good eyesight and all that; but when +you ask them to find a man for you, they can’t +do it—and they have the cheek to come back +and say that nobody else could do it. They’re +just conceited—like that collie in Puddleby. +And I don’t think a whole lot of those gossipy +old porpoises either. All they could tell us was +that the man isn’t in the sea. We don’t want +to know where he <i>isn’t</i>—we want to know where +he <i>is</i>.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Oh, don’t talk so much,” said Gub-Gub. +“It’s easy to talk; but it isn’t so easy to find a +man when you have got the whole world to hunt +him in. Maybe the fisherman’s hair has turned +white, worrying about the boy; and that was +why the eagles didn’t find him. You don’t +know everything. You’re just talking. You +are not doing anything to help. You couldn’t +find the boy’s uncle any more than the eagles +could—you couldn’t do as well.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 379px;"> +<img src="images/i-171.jpg" width="379" height="277" alt="animals on deck" /> +<div class="caption">“‘You stupid piece of warm bacon!’”</div> +</div> + +<p>“Couldn’t I?” said the dog. “That’s all you +know, you stupid piece of warm bacon! I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +haven’t begun to try yet, have I? You wait and +see!”</p> + +<p>Then Jip went to the Doctor and said,</p> + +<p>“Ask the boy if he has anything in his pockets +that belonged to his uncle, will you, please?”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor asked him. And the boy +showed them a gold ring which he wore on a +piece of string around his neck because it was +too big for his finger. He said his uncle gave +it to him when they saw the pirates coming.</p> + +<p>Jip smelt the ring and said,</p> + +<p>“That’s no good. Ask him if he has anything +else that belonged to his uncle.”</p> + +<p>Then the boy took from his pocket a great, +big red handkerchief and said, “This was my +uncle’s too.”</p> + +<p>As soon as the boy pulled it out, Jip shouted,</p> + +<p>“<i>Snuff</i>, by Jingo!—Black Rappee snuff. +Don’t you smell it? His uncle took snuff—Ask +him, Doctor.”</p> + +<p>The Doctor questioned the boy again; +and he said, “Yes. My uncle took a lot of +snuff.”</p> + +<p>“Fine!” said Jip. “The man’s as good as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +found. ’Twill be as easy as stealing milk from +a kitten. Tell the boy I’ll find his uncle for +him in less than a week. Let us go upstairs +and see which way the wind is blowing.”</p> + +<p>“But it is dark now,” said the Doctor. “You +can’t find him in the dark!”</p> + +<p>“I don’t need any light to look for a man who +smells of Black Rappee snuff,” said Jip as he +climbed the stairs. “If the man had a hard +smell, like string, now—or hot water, it would +be different. But <i>snuff</i>!—Tut, tut!”</p> + +<p>“Does hot water have a smell?” asked the +Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Certainly it has,” said Jip. “Hot water +smells quite different from cold water. It is +warm water—or ice—that has the really difficult +smell. Why, I once followed a man for +ten miles on a dark night by the smell of the +hot water he had used to shave with—for the +poor fellow had no soap.... Now then, let +us see which way the wind is blowing. Wind is +very important in long-distant smelling. It +mustn’t be too fierce a wind—and of course it +must blow the right way. A nice, steady, damp<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +breeze is the best of all.... Ha!—This wind +is from the North.”</p> + +<p>Then Jip went up to the front of the ship +and smelt the wind; and he started muttering +to himself,</p> + +<p>“Tar; Spanish onions; kerosene oil; wet raincoats; +crushed laurel-leaves; rubber burning; +lace-curtains being washed—No, my mistake, +lace-curtains hanging out to dry; and foxes—hundreds +of ’em—cubs; and—”</p> + +<p>“Can you really smell all those different +things in this one wind?” asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Why, of course!” said Jip. “And those are +only a few of the easy smells—the strong ones. +Any mongrel could smell those with a cold in +the head. Wait now, and I’ll tell you some of +the harder scents that are coming on this wind—a +few of the dainty ones.”</p> + +<p>Then the dog shut his eyes tight, poked his +nose straight up in the air and sniffed hard with +his mouth half-open.</p> + +<p>For a long time he said nothing. He kept as +still as a stone. He hardly seemed to be breathing +at all. When at last he began to speak, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +sounded almost as though he were singing, sadly, +in a dream.</p> + +<p>“Bricks,” he whispered, very low—“old yellow +bricks, crumbling with age in a garden-wall; +the sweet breath of young cows standing +in a mountain-stream; the lead roof of a dove-cote—or +perhaps a granary—with the mid-day +sun on it; black kid gloves lying in a bureau-drawer +of walnut-wood; a dusty road with a +horses’ drinking-trough beneath the sycamores; +little mushrooms bursting through the rotting +leaves; and—and—and—”</p> + +<p>“Any parsnips?” asked Gub-Gub.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Jip. “You always think of things +to eat. No parsnips whatever. And no snuff—plenty +of pipes and cigarettes, and a few cigars. +But no snuff. We must wait till the wind +changes to the South.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, it’s a poor wind, that,” said Gub-Gub. +“I think you’re a fake, Jip. Who ever heard of +finding a man in the middle of the ocean just by +smell! I told you you couldn’t do it.”</p> + +<p>“Look here,” said Jip, getting really angry. +“You’re going to get a bite on the nose in a minute!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +You needn’t think that just because the +Doctor won’t let us give you what you deserve, +that you can be as cheeky as you like!”</p> + +<p>“Stop quarreling!” said the Doctor—“Stop it! +Life’s too short. Tell me, Jip, where do you +think those smells are coming from?”</p> + +<p>“From Devon and Wales—most of them,” said +Jip—“The wind is coming that way.”</p> + +<p>“Well, well!” said the Doctor. “You know +that’s really quite remarkable—quite. I must +make a note of that for my new book. I wonder +if you could train me to smell as well as +that.... But no—perhaps I’m better off the +way I am. ‘Enough is as good as a feast,’ they +say. Let’s go down to supper. I’m quite hungry.”</p> + +<p>“So am I,” said Gub-Gub.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE ROCK</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-177.jpg" width="140" height="138" alt="U" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">UP they got, early next morning, +out of the silken beds; and they +saw that the sun was shining +brightly and that the wind was +blowing from the South.</p> + +<p>Jip smelt the South wind for +half an hour. Then he came to the Doctor, +shaking his head.</p> + +<p>“I smell no snuff as yet,” he said. “We must +wait till the wind changes to the East.”</p> + +<p>But even when the East wind came, at three +o’clock that afternoon, the dog could not catch +the smell of snuff.</p> + +<p>The little boy was terribly disappointed and +began to cry again, saying that no one seemed +to be able to find his uncle for him. But all Jip +said to the Doctor was,</p> + +<p>“Tell him that when the wind changes to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +the West, I’ll find his uncle even though he be +in China—so long as he is still taking Black +Rappee snuff.”</p> + +<p>Three days they had to wait before the West +wind came. This was on a Friday morning, +early—just as it was getting light. A fine rainy +mist lay on the sea like a thin fog. And the +wind was soft and warm and wet.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 341px;"> +<img src="images/i-178.jpg" width="341" height="227" alt="Jip waking up the doctor" /> +<div class="caption">“‘Doctor!’ he cried. ‘I’ve got it!’”</div> +</div> + +<p>As soon as Jip awoke he ran upstairs and +poked his nose in the air. Then he got most +frightfully excited and rushed down again to +wake the Doctor up.</p> + +<p>“Doctor!” he cried. “I’ve got it! Doctor!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> +Doctor! Wake up! Listen! I’ve got it! +The wind’s from the West and it smells of nothing +but snuff. Come upstairs and start the ship—quick!”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor tumbled out of bed and went +to the rudder to steer the ship.</p> + +<p>“Now I’ll go up to the front,” said Jip; “and +you watch my nose—whichever way I point it, +you turn the ship the same way. The man cannot +be far off—with the smell as strong as this. +And the wind’s all lovely and wet. Now watch +me!”</p> + +<p>So all that morning Jip stood in the front +part of the ship, sniffing the wind and pointing +the way for the Doctor to steer; while all the +animals and the little boy stood round with their +eyes wide open, watching the dog in wonder.</p> + +<p>About lunch-time Jip asked Dab-Dab to tell +the Doctor that he was getting worried and +wanted to speak to him. So Dab-Dab went and +fetched the Doctor from the other end of the +ship and Jip said to him,</p> + +<p>“The boy’s uncle is starving. We must make +the ship go as fast as we can.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> + +<p>“How do you know he is starving?” asked the +Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Because there is no other smell in the West +wind but snuff,” said Jip. “If the man were +cooking or eating food of any kind, I would +be bound to smell it too. But he hasn’t even +fresh water to drink. All he is taking is snuff—in +large pinches. We are getting nearer to +him all the time, because the smell grows +stronger every minute. But make the ship go +as fast as you can, for I am certain that the +man is starving.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” said the Doctor; and he sent Dab-Dab +to ask the swallows to pull the ship, the +same as they had done when the pirates were +chasing them.</p> + +<p>So the stout little birds came down and +once more harnessed themselves to the ship.</p> + +<p>And now the boat went bounding through the +waves at a terrible speed. It went so fast that +the fishes in the sea had to jump for their lives +to get out of the way and not be run over.</p> + +<p>And all the animals got tremendously excited; +and they gave up looking at Jip and turned to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +watch the sea in front, to spy out any land or +islands where the starving man might be.</p> + +<p>But hour after hour went by and still the ship +went rushing on, over the same flat, flat sea; and +no land anywhere came in sight.</p> + +<p>And now the animals gave up chattering and +sat around silent, anxious and miserable. The +little boy again grew sad. And on Jip’s face +there was a worried look.</p> + +<p>At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun +was going down, the owl, Too-Too, who +was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly +startled them all by crying out at the top of his +voice,</p> + +<p>“Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front +of us—look—way out there where the sky and +the water meet. See the sun shine on it—like +gold! Is the smell coming from there?”</p> + +<p>And Jip called back,</p> + +<p>“Yes. That’s it. That is where the man is.—At +last, at last!”</p> + +<p>And when they got nearer they could see that +the rock was very large—as large as a big field. +No trees grew on it, no grass—nothing. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +great rock was as smooth and as bare as the back +of a tortoise.</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round +the rock. But nowhere on it could a man be +seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes +and looked as hard as they could; and John +Dolittle got a telescope from downstairs.</p> + +<p>But not one living thing could they spy—not +even a gull, nor a star-fish, nor a shred of +sea-weed.</p> + +<p>They all stood still and listened, straining +their ears for any sound. But the only noise +they heard was the gentle lapping of the little +waves against the sides of their ship.</p> + +<p>Then they all started calling, “Hulloa, there!—HULLOA!” +till their voices were hoarse. +But only the echo came back from the rock.</p> + +<p>And the little boy burst into tears and said,</p> + +<p>“I am afraid I shall never see my uncle any +more! What shall I tell them when I get +home!”</p> + +<p>But Jip called to the Doctor,</p> + +<p>“He must be there—he must—<i>he must</i>! The +smell goes on no further. He must be there, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock and +let me jump out on it.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor brought the ship as close as +he could and let down the anchor. Then he +and Jip got out of the ship on to the rock.</p> + +<p>Jip at once put his nose down close to the +ground and began to run all over the place. Up +and down he went, back and forth—zig-zagging, +twisting, doubling and turning. And +everywhere he went, the Doctor ran behind him, +close at his heels—till he was terribly out of +breath.</p> + +<p>At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down. +And when the Doctor came running up to him, +he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole in +the middle of the rock.</p> + +<p>“The boy’s uncle is down there,” said Jip +quietly. “No wonder those silly eagles couldn’t +see him!—It takes a dog to find a man.”</p> + +<p>So the Doctor got down into the hole, which +seemed to be a kind of cave, or tunnel, running +a long way under the ground. Then he struck +a match and started to make his way along the +dark passage with Jip following behind.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Doctor’s match soon went out; and he +had to strike another and another and another.</p> + +<p>At last the passage came to an end; and the +Doctor found himself in a kind of tiny room +with walls of rock.</p> + +<p>And there, in the middle of the room, his head +resting on his arms, lay a man with very red +hair—fast asleep!</p> + +<p>Jip went up and sniffed at something lying +on the ground beside him. The Doctor stooped +and picked it up. It was an enormous snuff-box. +And it was full of Black Rappee!</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>THE FISHERMAN’S TOWN</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-185.jpg" width="144" height="143" alt="G" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">GENTLY then—very gently, the +Doctor woke the man up.</p> + +<p>But just at that moment the +match went out again. And +the man thought it was Ben Ali +coming back, and he began to +punch the Doctor in the dark.</p> + +<p>But when John Dolittle told him who it was, +and that he had his little nephew safe on his +ship, the man was tremendously glad, and said +he was sorry he had fought the Doctor. He had +not hurt him much though—because it was too +dark to punch properly. Then he gave the +Doctor a pinch of snuff.</p> + +<p>And the man told how the Barbary Dragon +had put him on to this rock and left him there, +when he wouldn’t promise to become a pirate; +and how he used to sleep down in this hole because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +there was no house on the rock to keep +him warm.</p> + +<p>And then he said,</p> + +<p>“For four days I have had nothing to eat or +drink. I have lived on snuff.”</p> + +<p>“There you are!” said Jip. “What did I tell +you?”</p> + +<p>So they struck some more matches and made +their way out through the passage into the daylight; +and the Doctor hurried the man down to +the boat to get some soup.</p> + +<p>When the animals and the little boy saw the +Doctor and Jip coming back to the ship with +a red-headed man, they began to cheer and yell +and dance about the boat. And the swallows +up above started whistling at the top of their +voices—thousands and millions of them—to +show that they too were glad that the boy’s brave +uncle had been found. The noise they made +was so great that sailors far out at sea thought +that a terrible storm was coming. “Hark to +that gale howling in the East!” they said.</p> + +<p>And Jip was awfully proud of himself—though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> +he tried hard not to look conceited. +When Dab-Dab came to him and said, “Jip, I +had no idea you were so clever!” he just tossed +his head and answered,</p> + +<p>“Oh, that’s nothing special. But it takes a +dog to find a man, you know. Birds are no good +for a game like that.”</p> + +<p>Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman +where his home was. And when he had +told him, the Doctor asked the swallows to guide +the ship there first.</p> + +<p>And when they had come to the land which +the man had spoken of, they saw a little fishing-town +at the foot of a rocky mountain; and the +man pointed out the house where he lived.</p> + +<p>And while they were letting down the anchor, +the little boy’s mother (who was also the man’s +sister) came running down to the shore to meet +them, laughing and crying at the same time. +She had been sitting on a hill for twenty days, +watching the sea and waiting for them to return.</p> + +<p>And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +he giggled and blushed like a school-girl. And +she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away and +hid inside the ship.</p> + +<p>“It’s a silly business, this kissing,” he said. +“I don’t hold by it. Let her go and kiss Gub-Gub—if +she <i>must</i> kiss something.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 382px;"> +<img src="images/i-188.jpg" width="382" height="225" alt="boys mother running to kiss doctor" /> +<div class="caption">“And she kissed the Doctor many times”</div> +</div> + +<p>The fisherman and his sister didn’t want the +Doctor to go away again in a hurry. They +begged him to spend a few days with them. So +John Dolittle and his animals had to stay at +their house a whole Saturday and Sunday and +half of Monday.</p> + +<p>And all the little boys of the fishing-village +went down to the beach and pointed at the great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> +ship anchored there, and said to one another in +whispers,</p> + +<p>“Look! That was a pirate-ship—Ben Ali’s—the +most terrible pirate that ever sailed the +Seven Seas! That old gentleman with the high +hat, who’s staying up at Mrs. Trevelyan’s, <i>he</i> +took the ship away from The Barbary Dragon—and +made him into a farmer. Who’d have +thought it of him—him so gentle-like and all!... +Look at the great red sails! Ain’t she the +wicked-looking ship—and fast?—My!”</p> + +<p>All those two days and a half that the Doctor +stayed at the little fishing-town the people kept +asking him out to teas and luncheons and dinners +and parties; all the ladies sent him boxes +of flowers and candies; and the village-band +played tunes under his window every night.</p> + +<p>At last the Doctor said,</p> + +<p>“Good people, I must go home now. You +have really been most kind. I shall always remember +it. But I must go home—for I have +things to do.”</p> + +<p>Then, just as the Doctor was about to leave, +the Mayor of the town came down the street<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +and a lot of other people in grand clothes with +him. And the Mayor stopped before the house +where the Doctor was living; and everybody in +the village gathered round to see what was going +to happen.</p> + +<p>After six page-boys had blown on shining +trumpets to make the people stop talking, the +Doctor came out on to the steps and the Mayor +spoke.</p> + +<p>“Doctor John Dolittle,” said he: “It is a +great pleasure for me to present to the man who +rid the seas of the Dragon of Barbary this little +token from the grateful people of our worthy +Town.”</p> + +<p>And the Mayor took from his pocket a little +tissue-paper packet, and opening it, he handed +to the Doctor a perfectly beautiful watch with +real diamonds in the back.</p> + +<p>Then the Mayor pulled out of his pocket a +still larger parcel and said,</p> + +<p>“Where is the dog?”</p> + +<p>Then everybody started to hunt for Jip. And +at last Dab-Dab found him on the other side +of the village in a stable-yard, where all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +dogs of the country-side were standing round +him speechless with admiration and respect.</p> + +<p>When Jip was brought to the Doctor’s side, +the Mayor opened the larger parcel; and inside +was a dog-collar made of solid gold! And a +great murmur of wonder went up from the village-folk +as the Mayor bent down and fastened +it round the dog’s neck with his own hands.</p> + +<p>For written on the collar in big letters were +these words: “JIP—<i>The Cleverest Dog in the +World.</i>”</p> + +<p>Then the whole crowd moved down to the +beach to see them off. And after the red-haired +fisherman and his sister and the little boy had +thanked the Doctor and his dog over and over +and over again, the great, swift ship with the +red sails was turned once more towards Puddleby +and they sailed out to sea, while the village-band +played music on the shore.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="chapter"></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><i>THE LAST CHAPTER</i><br /> + +<small>HOME AGAIN</small></h2> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/i-192.jpg" width="160" height="138" alt="M" /> +</div> + +<p class="drop-capi">MARCH winds had come and +gone; April’s showers were +over; May’s buds had opened +into flower; and the June sun +was shining on the pleasant +fields, when John Dolittle at +last got back to his own country.</p> + +<p>But he did not yet go home to Puddleby. +First he went traveling through the land with +the pushmi-pullyu in a gipsy-wagon, stopping at +all the country-fairs. And there, with the acrobats +on one side of them and the Punch-and-Judy +show on the other, they would hang out a +big sign which read, “<span class="smcap">Come and See the +Marvelous Two-Headed Animal from the +Jungles of Africa.</span> Admission <span class="smcap">Sixpence</span>.”</p> + +<p>And the pushmi-pullyu would stay inside the +wagon, while the other animals would lie about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +underneath. The Doctor sat in a chair in front +taking the sixpences and smiling on the people +as they went in; and Dab-Dab was kept busy +all the time scolding him because he would let +the children in for nothing when she wasn’t +looking.</p> + +<p>And menagerie-keepers and circus-men came +and asked the Doctor to sell them the strange +creature, saying they would pay a tremendous +lot of money for him. But the Doctor always +shook his head and said,</p> + +<p>“No. The pushmi-pullyu shall never be shut +up in a cage. He shall be free always to come +and go, like you and me.”</p> + +<p>Many curious sights and happenings they saw +in this wandering life; but they all seemed quite +ordinary after the great things they had seen +and done in foreign lands. It was very interesting +at first, being sort of part of a circus; +but after a few weeks they all got dreadfully +tired of it and the Doctor and all of them were +longing to go home.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 446px;"> +<img src="images/i-194.jpg" width="446" height="543" alt="the menagerie" /> +<div class="caption">“The Doctor sat in a chair in front”</div> +</div> + +<p>But so many people came flocking to the little +wagon and paid the sixpence to go inside and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a><br /><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> +see the pushmi-pullyu that very soon the Doctor +was able to give up being a showman.</p> + +<p>And one fine day, when the hollyhocks were +in full bloom, he came back to Puddleby a rich +man, to live in the little house with the big +garden.</p> + +<p>And the old lame horse in the stable was glad +to see him; and so were the swallows who had +already built their nests under the eaves of his +roof and had young ones. And Dab-Dab was +glad, too, to get back to the house she knew so +well—although there was a terrible lot of dusting +to be done, with cobwebs everywhere.</p> + +<p>And after Jip had gone and shown his golden +collar to the conceited collie next-door, he came +back and began running round the garden like +a crazy thing, looking for the bones he had +buried long ago, and chasing the rats out of the +tool-shed; while Gub-Gub dug up the horseradish +which had grown three feet high in the +corner by the garden-wall.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i-196.jpg" width="600" height="342" alt="Jip running around garden" /> +<div class="caption">“He began running round the garden like a crazy thing”</div> +</div> + +<p>And the Doctor went and saw the sailor who +had lent him the boat, and he bought two new +ships for him and a rubber-doll for his baby;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a><br /><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +and he paid the grocer for the food he had lent +him for the journey to Africa. And he bought +another piano and put the white mice back in +it—because they said the bureau-drawer was +drafty.</p> + +<p>Even when the Doctor had filled the old +money-box on the dresser-shelf, he still had a +lot of money left; and he had to get three more +money-boxes, just as big, to put the rest in.</p> + +<p>“Money,” he said, “is a terrible nuisance. +But it’s nice not to have to worry.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Dab-Dab, who was toasting muffins +for his tea, “it is indeed!”</p> + +<p>And when the Winter came again, and the +snow flew against the kitchen-window, the Doctor +and his animals would sit round the big, +warm fire after supper; and he would read aloud +to them out of his books.</p> + +<p>But far away in Africa, where the monkeys +chattered in the palm-trees before they went to +bed under the big yellow moon, they would say +to one another,</p> + +<p>“I wonder what The Good Man’s doing now—over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +there, in the Land of the White Men! +Do you think he ever will come back?”</p> + +<p>And Polynesia would squeak out from the +vines,</p> + +<p>“I think he will—I guess he will—I hope he +will!”</p> + +<p>And then the crocodile would grunt up at +them from the black mud of the river,</p> + +<p>“I’m SURE he will—Go to sleep!”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 441px;"> +<img src="images/i-198.jpg" width="441" height="351" alt="Bench with words THE END; doctor asleep on bench" /> +</div> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<div class="tnote"><div class="center"><b>Transcriber’s Notes:</b></div> + +<p>Page 79, period added at end of sentence (had not seen before.)</p> + +<p>Page 119, single closing quote added to caption about rats.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE *** + +***** This file should be named 501-h.htm or 501-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/501/ + +Produced by Emmy, MWS and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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