 Part 3 Chapter 7-9 of the Voyages of Dr. Newlittle by Hugh Locting. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 7 The Doctor's Wager Next morning we were awakened by a great racket. There was a procession coming down the street, a number of men in very gay clothes followed by a large crowd of admiring ladies and cheering children. I asked the doctor who they were. They are the bullfighters. He said, There is to be a bullfight tomorrow. What is a bullfight? I asked. To my great surprise, the doctor got red in the face with anger. It reminded me of the time he had spoken of the lions and tigers in his private zoo. A bullfight is a stupid, cruel, disgusting business, said he. These Spanish people are most lovable and hospitable folk. How they can enjoy these rigid bullfights is a thing I could never understand. Then the doctor went on to explain to me how a bull was first made very angry by teasing and then allowed to run into a circus where men came out with red cloaks, waved them at him, and ran away. Next the bull was allowed to tire himself out by tossing and killing a lot of poor, old broken down horses who couldn't defend themselves. And when the bull was thoroughly out of breath and worried by this, a man came out with a sword and killed the bull. Every Sunday, said the doctor, in almost every big town in Spain, there are six bulls killed like that and as many horses. But aren't the men ever killed by the bull? I asked. Unfortunately, very seldom, said he, a bull is not nearly as dangerous as he looks, even when he's angry. If you're only quick on your feet and don't lose your head, these bullfighters are very clever and nimble, and the people, especially the Spanish ladies, think no end of them. A famous bullfighter, or matador as they call them, is a more important man in Spain than a king. Here comes another crowd of them round the corner, look, see the girls throwing kisses to them? Ridiculous business. At that moment our friend, the bedmaker, came out to see the procession go past and while he was wishing us good morning and inquiring how we had slept, a friend of his walked up and joined us. The bedmaker introduced his friend to us as Don Enrique Cadenas. Don Enrique, when he heard where we were from, spoke to us in English. He appeared to be a well-educated, gentlemanly sort of person. And you go to see the bullfight tomorrow, jazz? He asked the doctor pleasantly. Certainly not, said John Doonlittle firmly. I don't like bullfights, cruel, cowardly shows. Don Enrique nearly exploded. I never saw a man get so excited. He told the doctor that he didn't know what he was talking about. He said bullfighting was a noble sport and that the matadors were the bravest men in the world. Oh rubbish, said the doctor. You never give the poor bull a chance. It is only when he is all tired and dazed that your precious matadors dare to try and kill him. I thought the Spaniard was going to strike the doctor he got so angry. While he was still spluttering to find words, the bedmaker came between them and took the doctor aside. He explained to John Doonlittle in a whisperer that this Don Enrique Cadenas was a very important person that he it was who supplied the bulls, a special strong black kind, from his own farm for all the bullfights in Copa Blancas. He was a very rich man, the bedmaker said, a most important personage. He mustn't be allowed to take offense on any account. I watched the doctor's face as the bedmaker finished and saw a flash of boys' mischief come into his eyes as though an idea had struck him. He turned to the angry Spaniard. Don Enrique, he said, you tell me your bullfighters are very brave men and skillful. It seems I have offended you by saying that bullfighting is a poor sport. What is the name of the best matador you have for tomorrow's show? Pepito de Milaga, said Don Enrique, one of the greatest names, one of the bravest men in all Spain. Very well, said the doctor. I have a proposal to make to you. I have never fought a bull in my life. Now supposing I were to go into the ring tomorrow with Pepito de Milaga and any other matadors you choose. And if I can do more tricks with a bull than they can, would you promise to do something for me? Don Enrique threw back his head and laughed. Man, he said. You must be mad. You were dechealed at once. One has to be trained for years to become a proper bullfighter. Supposing I were willing to take the risk of that. You were not afraid, I take it, to accept my offer. The Spaniard frowned. Afraid? He cried. Sir, if you can beat Pepito de Milaga in the bullring, I promise you anything it is possible for me to grant. Very good. Said the doctor. Now, I understand that you are quite a powerful man in these islands. If you wish to stop all bullfighting here after tomorrow, you could do it, couldn't you? Yes. Said Don Enrique proudly. I could. Well, that is what I ask of you if I win my wager. Said Jardin de La Rue. If I can do more with angry bulls than can Pepito de Milaga, you were to promise me that there shall never be another bullfight in the cap of Blancas so long as you are alive to stop it. Is it a bargain? The Spaniard held out his hand. It is a bargain, he said. I promise. But I must warn you that you are merely throwing your life away, which will certainly be keeled. However, that is no more than you deserve for saying that bullfighting is an unworthy sport. I will meet you here tomorrow morning, if you should wish to arrange any particulars. Good day, sir. As the Spaniard turned and walked into the shop with the bedmaker, Polynesia, who had been listening as usual, flew up onto my shoulder and whispered in my ear. I have a plan. Get hold of Bumpart and come someplace where the doctor can't hear us. I want to talk to you. I nudged Bumpo's elbow and we crossed the street and pretended to look into a jeweler's window. While the doctor sat down upon his bed to lace up his boots, the only part of his clothing he had taken off for the night. Listen, said Polynesia. I've been breaking my head, trying to think up some way we can get money to buy those stores with. And at last I've got it. The money? Said Bumpo. You know, stupid, the idea to make money with. Listen, the doctor is simply bound to win this game tomorrow, sure as you're alive. Now all we have to do is to make a side bet with these Spaniards. They're great on gambling. And the trek's done. What's a side bet? I asked. Oh, I know what that is. Said Bumpo proudly. We used to have lots of them at Oxford when the board racing was on. I go to Don and Rike and say, I bet you £100 the doctor wins. Then, if he does win, Don and Rike pays me £100. And if he doesn't, I had to pay Don and Rike. That's the idea. Said Polynesia. Only, don't say £100. Say, £2,500 per setters. Now come and find old Don Rikitiki and try to look rich. So we cross the street again and slipped into the bedmaker shop while the doctor was still busy with his boots. Don and Rike. Said Bumpo. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the crown prince of Jolengingi. Would you care to have a small bet with me on tomorrow's bullfight? Don and Rike bowed. Why, certainly. He said. I shall be delighted. But I must warn you that you are bound to lose. How much? Oh, a mere truffle. Said Bumpo. Just for the fun of the thing, you know. What do you say to 3,000 per setters? I agree. Said the Spaniard bowing once more. I will meet you after the bullfight tomorrow. So that's all right. Said Polynesia as we came out to join the doctor. I feel as though quite a load had been taken off my mind. Chapter 8 The Great Bullfight The next day was a great day in Monteverde. All the streets were hung with flags and everywhere gaily dressed crowds were to be seen flocking towards the bullring as the big circus was called where the fights took place. The news of the doctor's challenge had gone round the town and it seemed had caused much amusement to the islanders. The very idea of a mere foreigner daring to match himself against the great Pettito de Malacca. Serve him right if he got killed. The doctor had borrowed a bullfighter suit from Dona Enrique and very gay and wonderful he looked in it. Though Bumpo and I had hard work getting the waistcoat to close in front and even the buttons kept bursting off it in all directions. When we set out from the harbor to walk to the bullring crowds of small boys ran after us making fun of the doctor's fatness calling out Juan Aguapoco el Greco Matador which is Spanish for John Doolittle the fat bullfighter. As soon as we arrived the doctor said he would like to take a look at the bulls before the fight began and we were at once led to the bullpen where behind a high railing six enormous black bulls were tramping around wildly and a few hurried words and signs the doctor told the bulls what he was going to do and gave them careful instructions for their part of the show. The poor creatures were tremendously glad when they heard that there was a chance of bullfighting being stopped and they promised to do exactly as they were told. Of course the man who took us in there didn't understand what we were doing. He merely thought the fat Englishman was crazy when he saw the doctor making signs and talking in ox tongue. From there the doctor went to the Matador's dressing rooms while Bumpu and I with Paul and Asia made our way into the bullring and took our seats in the great open-air theater. It was a very gay sight. Thousands of ladies and gentlemen were there all dressed in their smartest clothes and everybody seemed very happy and cheerful. Right at the beginning Dona Enrique got up and explained to the people that the first item on the program was to be a match between the English doctor and Pepito de Malaga. He told them what he had promised if the doctor should win. But the people did not seem to think there was much chance of that. A roar of laughter went up at the very mention of such a thing. When Pepito came into the ring everybody cheered, the ladies blew kisses and the men clapped and waved their hats. Presently a large door on the other side of the ring was rolled back and in galloped one of the bulls. Then the door was closed again. At once the Matador became very much on the alert. He waved his red cloak and the bull rushed at him. Pepito stepped nimbly aside and the people cheered again. The game was repeated several times. But I noticed that whenever Pepito got into a tight place and seemed to be in real danger from the bull, an assistant of his who always hung around somewhere near drew the bull's attention upon himself by waving another red cloak. Then the bull would chase the assistant and Pepito was left in safety. Most often as soon as he had drawn the bull off the assistant ran for the high fence and vaulted out of the ring to save himself. They evidently had it all arranged, these Matadors, and it didn't seem to me that they were in any very great danger from the poor clumsy bull so long as they didn't slip and fall. After about ten minutes of this kind of thing the small door into the Matador's dressing room opened and the doctor strolled into the ring. As soon as his fat figure dressed in sky blue velvet appeared the crowd rocked in their seats with laughter. One Hagapoku, as they had called him, walked out into the center of the ring and bowed ceremoniously to the ladies in the boxes. Then he bowed to the bull. Then he bowed to Pepito. While he was bowing to Pepito's assistant the bull started to rush at him from behind. Look out! Look out! The bull! You will be killed! He yelled the crowd, but the doctor calmly finished his bow. Then turning round he folded his arms, fixed the unrushing bull with his eye, and frowned a terrible frown. Presently a curious thing happened. The bull's speed got slower and slower. It almost looked as though he were afraid of that frown. Soon he stopped altogether. The doctor shook his finger at him. He began to tremble, at last tucking his tail between his legs. The bull turned round and ran away. The crowd cast. The doctor ran after him. Round and round the ring they went, both of them puffing and blowing like grampuses. Excited whispers began to break out among the people. This was something new in bullfighting. To have the bull running away from the man, instead of the man away from the bull, at last in the tenth lap with a final burst of speed, one Hagapoku, the English matador cut the poor bull by the tail. Then leading the now timid creature into the middle of the ring, the doctor made him do all manner of tricks, standing on the hind legs, standing on the front legs, dancing, hopping, rolling over. He finished up by making the bull kneel down, then he got onto his back and did hand springs and other acrobatics on the beast's horns. Pepito and his assistant had their noses sadly out of joint. The crowd had forgotten them entirely. They were standing together by the fence not far from where I sat, muttering to one another and slowly growing green with jealousy. Finally, the doctor turned towards Don Enrique's seat and bowing said in a loud voice, This bull is no good any more. He's terrified and out of breath. Take him away, please. Does the Caballero wish for a fresh bull? Asked Don Enrique. Oh, said the doctor. I want five fresh bulls, and I would like them all in the ring at once, please. At this a quiet horror burst from the people. They had been used to seeing Matadors escaping from one bull at a time. But five? That must mean certain death. Pepito sprang forward and called to Don Enrique not to allow it, saying it was against all the rules of bullfighting. Ha! Oh, it needs you chuckled into my ear. It's like the doctor's navigation. He breaks all the rules, but he gets there. If they'll only let him, he'll give them the best show for their money they ever saw. A great argument began. Half the people seemed to be on Pepito's side, and half on the doctor's side. At last the doctor turned to Pepito and made another very grand bow which versed the last button off his waistcoat. Well, of course, if the Caballero is afraid. He began with a bland smile. Afraid! Screamed Pepito. I am afraid of nothing on earth. I am the greatest Matador in Spain. With this right hand I have killed nine hundred and fifty-seven bulls. All right then, said the doctor. Let us see if you can kill five more. Let the bulls in. He's shouted. Pepito de Malaga is not afraid. A dreadful silence hung over the great theatre as the heavy door into the bullpen was rolled back. Then with a roar, the five bulls bounded into the ring. Look fierce. I heard the doctor call for them in cattle language. Don't scatter. Keep close. Get ready for a rush. Take Pepito, the one in purple, first. But for heaven's sake, don't kill him. Just chase him out of the ring. Now then. All together. Go for him. The bulls put down their heads, and all in line like a squadron of cavalry charged across the ring straight for poor Pepito. For one moment the Spaniard tried his hardest to look brave, but the sight of five pairs of horns coming at him at full gallop was too much. He turned white to the lips, ran for the fence, vaulted it, and disappeared. Now the other one. The doctor hissed. Within two seconds the gallant assistant was nowhere to be seen. Juan Hagapoco, the fat matador, was left alone in the ring with five rampaging bulls. The rest of the show was really worth seeing. First all five bulls went raging round the ring, butting at the fence with their horns, pawing up the sand, hunting for something to kill. Then each one in turn would pretend to catch sight of the doctor for the first time, and giving a bellow of rage would lower his wicked-looking horns and shoot like an arrow across the ring, as though he meant to toss him to the sky. It was really frightfully exciting, and even I, who knew it was all arranged beforehand, held my breath in terror for the doctor's life when I saw how near they came to sticking him. But just at the last moment when the horn's points were two inches from the sky blue waistcoat, the doctor would spring nimbly to one side, and the great brutes would go thundering harmoniously by, missing him by no more than a hair. Then all five of them went for him together, completely surrounding him, slashing at him with their horns, and bellowing with fury. How he escaped alive I don't know. For several minutes his round figure could hardly be seen at all in that scrimmage of tossing heads, stamping hooves, and waving tails. It was, as Polynesia had prophesied, the greatest bullfight ever seen. One woman in the crowd got quite hysterical, and screamed up for Don Enrique. Stop the peace to brave a man to be killed. This is the most wonderful matter to earn the world. Let him live. Stop the fight. But presently the doctor was seen to break loose from the mob of animals that surrounded him. Then, catching each of them by the horns one after another, he would give their heads a sudden twist and throw them flat on the sand. The great fells acted their parts extremely well. I have never seen trained animals in a circus do better. They lay their panting on the ground where the doctor threw them, as if they were exhausted and completely beaten. Then with a final bow to the ladies, John Doolittle took a cigar from his pocket, lit it, and strolled out of the ring. Chapter 9. We depart in a hurry. As soon as the door closed behind the doctor, the most tremendous noise I have ever heard broke loose. Some of the men appeared to be angry, friends of pepitos, I suppose, but the ladies called and called to have the doctor come back into the ring. When at length he did so, the women seemed to go entirely mad over him. They blew kisses to him. They called him a darling. Then they started taking off their flowers, their rings, their necklaces, their brooches, and threw them down at his feet. You never saw anything like it, a perfect shower of jewelry and roses. But the doctor just smiled up at them, bowed once more, and backed out. Chapter 10. Now, Bumpo. Said Polynesia. This is where you go down and gather up all those trinkets and we'll sell them. That's what the big matadors do. Leave the jewellery on the ground and their assistants collect it for them. We might as well lay in a good supply of money while we've got the chance. You never know when you may need it when you're travelling with the doctor. Never mind the roses, you can leave them. But don't leave any rings. And when you're finished, go and get your 3,000 per setters out of Don Rickey-ticky. Tommy and I will meet you outside, and we'll pour on the gurgles at that juice shop opposite the bed makers. Run along. And not a word to the doctor, remember. Outside the ball-ring we found the crowds still in a great state of excitement. Violent arguments were going on everywhere. Bumpo joined us with his pockets bulging in all directions, and we made our way slowly through the dense crowd to the side of the building where the matadors' dressing-room was. The doctor was waiting at the door for us. Good work, doctor. Said Polynesia, flying on to his shoulder. Great work, but listen. I smell danger. I think you had better get back to the ship now as quick and as quietly as you can. Put your overcoat on over that giddy suit. I don't like the looks of this crowd. More than half of them are furious because you've won. Don Rickey-ticky must now stop the bullfighting, and you know how they love it. What I'm afraid of is that some of these matadors who are just mad with jealousy may start some dirty work. I think this would be a good time for us to get away. I dance that you'll write, Polynesia. Said the doctor. You usually are. The crowd does seem to be a bit restless. I'll slip down to the ship alone, so I shan't be so noticeable, and I'll wait for you there. You come by some different way, but don't be long about it. Hurry! As soon as the doctor had departed, Bumple sought out Don Rickey and said, Unruble sir, you owe me three thousand per setters. Without a word, but looking cross-eyed with annoyance, Don Rickey paid his bet. We next set out to buy the provisions, and on the way we hired a cab and took it along with us. Not very far away we found a big grocer's shop, which seemed to sell everything to eat. We went in and bought up the finest lot of food you ever saw in your life. As a matter of fact, Polynesia had been right about the danger we were in. The news of our victory must have spread like lightning through the whole town, whereas we came out of the shop and loaded the cab up with our stores, we saw various little lots of angry men hunting round the streets, waving sticks and shouting, The Englishmen were those accursed Englishmen who stopped the bullfighting. Hang them to a lap post. Throw them in the sea. The Englishmen. We want the Englishmen. After that we didn't waste any time, you may be sure. Bumple grabbed the Spanish cab driver and explained to him in signs that if he didn't drive down to the harbour as fast as he knew how, and keep his mouth shut the whole way, he would choke the life out of him. Then we jumped into the cab on top of the food, slammed the door, pulled down the blinds, and away we went. We won't get a chance to pawn the jewellery now, said Polynesia as we bumped over the cobbly streets. But never mind, it may come in handy later on. And anyway, we've got 2,500%ers left out of the bet. Don't give the cabbie more than two percenters fifty, Bumple, that's the right fare, I know. Well, we reached the harbour all right, and we were mighty glad to find that the doctor had sent Gigi back with the rowboat to wait for us at the landing wall. Unfortunately, while we were in the middle of loading, the supplies from the cabin to the boat, the angry mob arrived upon the wharf and made a rush for us. Bumple snatched up a big beam of wood that lay near, and swung it round and round his head, letting out dreadful African battle yells the while. This kept the crowd off, while Gigi and I hustled the last of the stores into the boat and clambered in ourselves. Bumple threw his beam of wood into the thick of the spaniards and leapt in after us. Then we pushed off and rode like mad before the curlew. The mob upon the wall, howled with rage, shook their fists and hurled stones and all manner of things after us. Poor old Bumple got hit on the head with a bottle, but as he had a very strong head, it only raised a small bump while the bottle smashed into a thousand pieces. When we reached the ship's side, the doctor had the anchor drawn up and the sail set and everything in readiness to get away. Looking back, we saw boats coming out from the harbor wall after us, filled with angry shouting men, so we didn't bother to unload our rowboat, but just tied it on the ship's stern with a rope and jumped on board. It only took a moment more to swing the curlew round into the wind, and soon we were speeding out of the harbor on our way to Brazil. Ha! Sigh Polynesia, as we all flocked down on the deck to take a rest and get our breath. That wasn't a bad adventure. Quite reminds me of my old seafaring days when I sailed with the smugglers. Golly, that was the life. Never mind your head, Bumple. It'll be all right when the doctor puts a little anchor on it. Think what we got out of the scrap. A boatload of shipstores, pockets full of jewellery, and thousands of facetters. Not bad, you know. Not bad. End of Part Three Part Four, Chapters One to Two, are the voyages of Dr. Doolittle by Hugh Lofty. This LibriVox recording is in the public debate. Chapter One, Shellfish Languages Again Miranda, the purple bird of paradise, had prophesied rightly when she had foretold a good spell of weather. For three weeks the good ship Colonel plowed her way through smiling seas before a steady, powerful wind. I suppose most real sailors would have found this part of the voyage dull. But not I. As we got further south and further west, the face of the sea seemed different every day. And all the little things of a voyage which an old hand would have hardly bothered to notice were matters of great interest for my eager eyes. We did not pass many ships. When we did see one, the doctor would get out his telescope and we would all take a look at it. Sometimes he would signal to it, asking for news, by hauling up the little colored flags upon the mast, and the ship would signal back to us in the same way. The meaning of all the signals was printed in a book which the doctor kept in the cabin. He told me it was the language of the sea, and that all ships could understand it, whether they be English, Dutch, or French. Our greatest happening during those first weeks was passing an iceberg. When the sun shone on it, it burst into a hundred colors, sparkling like a jeweled pylos in a fairy story. Through the telescope we saw a mother polar bear with a cub sitting on it, watching us. The doctor recognized her as one of the bears who had spoken to him when he was discovering the North Pole. So he sailed the ship up close and offered to take her and her baby on to the crew if she wished it. But she only shook her head, thanking him. She said it would be far too hot for the cub on the deck of our ship, with no ice to keep his feet cool. It had been indeed a very hot day, but the nearness of that great mountain of ice made us all turn up our coat collars and shiver with the cold. During those quiet, peaceful days I improved my reading and writing a great deal with the doctor's help. I got on so well that he let me keep the ships long. This is a big book kept on every ship, a kind of diary in which the number of miles run, the direction of your course, and everything else that happens is written down. The doctor too, in what spare time he had, was nearly always writing in his notebooks. I used to peep into these sometimes now that I could read, but I found it hard to work to make out the doctor's handwriting. Many of these notebooks seemed to be about sea things. There were six thick ones filled with notes and sketches of different seaweeds, and there were others on seabirds, others on sea worms, others on seashells. They were all someday to be rewritten, printed and bound, like regular books. One afternoon we saw floating around this great quantities of stuff that looked like dead grass. The doctor told me it was Gulfweed. A little further on it became so thick that it covered all the water as far as the eye could reach. It made the curlew look as though she were moving across a meadow instead of sailing the Atlantic. Crawling about upon this weed many crabs were to be seen, and the sight of them reminded the doctor of his dream of learning the language of the shellfish. He fished several of these crabs up with a net and put them in his listening tank to see if he could understand them. Among the crabs he also caught a strange looking chubby little fish which he told me was called a silver fidget. After he had listened to the crabs for a while with no success, he put the fidget back into the tank and began to listen to that. I had to leave him at this moment and go and attend to some duties on the deck. But presently I heard him below shouting for me to come down again. Stubbins! He cried as soon as he saw me. A most extraordinary thing, quite unbelievable. I'm not sure whether I'm dreaming. Can't believe my own senses. Aye, aye, aye. Why, doctor? I said. What is it? What's the matter? The fidget. He whispered, pointing with a trembling finger, to the listening tank in which the little round fish was still swimming quietly. He talks English. And, and, and he whistles tunes. English tunes. Talks English. I cried. Whistles. Why, it's impossible. It's a fact. Said the doctor, white in the face with excitement. It's only a few words scattered, with no particular sense to them all mixed up with his own language, which I can't make out yet, but they're English words. Unless there's something very wrong with my hearing and the tune he whistles. It's as plain as anything. Always the same tune. Now you listen and tell me what you make of it. Tell me everything you hear. Don't miss a word. I went to the glass tank upon the table, while the doctor grabbed a notebook and a pencil. Undoing my collar, I stood upon the empty packing case he had been using for a stand, and put my right ear down under the water. For some moments I detected nothing at all. Except with my dry ear, the heavy breathing of the doctor as he waited, all stiff and anxious for me to say something. At last, from within the water, sounding like a child singing miles and miles away, I heard an unbelievably thin small voice. Ah, I said. What is it? Asked the doctor and the horse, trembling whisper. What does he say? I can't quite make it out. I said. It's mostly in some strange fish language. Oh, but wait a minute. Yes, now I get it. No smoking. My, here's a queer one. Popcorn and picture postcards here. This way out. Don't spit. What funny things to say, doctor. Oh, but wait. Now he's whistling the tune. What tune is it? Gasp the doctor. John Peel. Ah ha. Cried the doctor. That's what I made it out to be. And he wrote furiously in his notebook. I went on listening. This is most extraordinary. The doctor kept muttering to himself as his pencil went wiggling over the page. Most extraordinary. But frightfully thrilling. I wonder where he. Here's some more. I cried. Some more English. The big tank needs cleaning. That's all. Now he's talking fish talk again. The big tank. The doctor murmured frowning in a puzzle kind of way. I wonder where on earth he learned. Then he bounded up out of his chair. I have it. He yelled. This fish has escaped from an aquarium. Why of course. Look at the kind of things he has learned. Picture postcards. They always sell them in aquariums. Don't spit. No smoking. This way out. The things the attendants say. And then my here's a queer one. That's the kind of thing that people exclaim when they look into the tanks. It all fits. There's no doubt about it. Stubbins we have here a fish who has escaped from captivity. And it's quite possible not certain by any means but quite possible that I may now through him be able to establish communication with the shellfish. This is a great piece of luck. Chapter 2 The Fidgett Story Well now that he was started once more upon his old hobby of the shellfish languages there was no stopping the doctor. He worked right through the night. A little after midnight I fell asleep in a chair. About two in the morning Bumple fell asleep at the wheel and for five hours the curlew was allowed to drift where she liked. But still John Doolittle worked on trying his hardest to understand the fidgett's language struggling to make the fidgett understand him. When I woke up it was broad daylight again. The doctor was still standing at the listening tank looking as tired as an owl and dreadfully wet. But on his face there was a proud and happy smile. Stubbins He said as soon as he saw me stir. I've done it. I've got the key to the fidgett's language. It's a frightfully difficult language quite different from anything I ever heard. The only thing it reminds me of slightly is ancient Hebrew. It isn't shellfish but it's a big step towards it. Now the next thing I want you to take a pencil and a fresh notebook and write down everything I say. The fidgett has promised to tell me the story of his life. I will translate it into English and you put it down in the book. Are you ready? Once more the doctor lowered his ear beneath the level of the water and as he began to speak I started to write and this is the story that the fidgett told us. Thirteen months in our aquarium. I was born in the Pacific Ocean close to the coast of Chile. I was one of a family of two thousand five hundred and ten. Soon after our mother and father left us we youngsters got scattered. The family was broken up by a herd of whales who chased us. I and my sister, Clipper, she was my favourite sister had a very narrow escape for our lives. As a rule whales are not very hard to get away from if you are good at dodging. If you've only got a quick swerve. But this one that came after Clipper and myself was a very mean whale. Every time he lost us under a stone or something he'd come back and hunt and hunt till he rooted us out into the open again. I never saw such a nasty, persevering brute. Well we shook him at last though not before he had worried us for hundreds of miles northward up to the west coast of South America. But luck was against us that day. While we were resting and trying to get our breath another family of fidgets came rushing by shouting come on swim for your lives the dogfish are coming. Now dogfish are particularly fond of fidgets. We are you might say their favourite food and for that reason we always keep away from deep muddy waters. What's more dogfish are not easy to escape from. They are terribly fast and clever hunters so up we had to jump and on again. After we had gone a few more hundred miles we looked back and saw that the dogfish were gaining on us so we turned into a harbour. It happened to be one on the west coast of the United States. Here we guessed and hoped the dogfish would not be likely to follow us. As it happened they didn't even see us turn in but dashed on northward and we never saw them again. I hope they froze to death in the Arctic seas. But as I said luck was against us that day. While I and my sister were cruising gently round the ships anchored in the harbour looking for orange peels a great delicacy with us. Swoop bang we were caught in a net. We struggled for all we were worth but it was no use. The net was small meshed and strongly made kicking and flipping we were hauled up the side of the ship and dumped down on the deck high and dry in a blazing noonday sun. Here a couple of old men in whiskers and spectacles leaned over us making strange sounds. Some coddling got caught in the net the same time as we were. These the old men threw back into the sea but us they seemed to think very precious. They put us carefully into a large jar and after they had taken us on shore they went to a big house and changed us from the jar into glass boxes full of water. This house was on the edge of the harbour and a small stream of sea water was made to flow through the glass tank so we could breathe properly. Of course we had never lived inside glass walls before and at first we kept on trying to swim through them and got our noses awfully sore bumping the glass at full speed. Then followed weeks and weeks of wary idleness. They treated us well so far as they knew how. The old fellows in spectacles came and looked at us proudly twice a day and saw that we had the proper food to eat the right amount of light and that the water was not too hot or too cold. But oh the dullness of that life it seemed like we were a kind of show. At a certain hour every morning the big doors of the house were thrown open and everybody in the city who had nothing special to do came in and looked at us. There were other tanks filled with different kinds of fishes all around the walls of the big room and the crowds would go from tank to tank looking in at us through the glass with their mouths open like half-witted flounders. We got so sick of it that we used to open our mouths back at them and this they seemed to think highly comical. One day my sister said to me Thank you brother that these strange creatures who have captured us can talk. Surely said I have you not noticed that some talk with the lips only some with the whole face and yet others discourse with their hands when they come quite close to the glass you can hear them. Listen at that moment a female larger than the rest pressed her nose up against the glass pointed at me and said to her young behind her Oh look here's a queer one and then we noticed that they nearly always said this when they looked in and for a long time we thought that such was the whole extent of the language this being a people of but few ideas to help pass away the weary hours we learnt it by heart Oh look here's a queer one but we never got to know what it meant other phrases however we did get the meaning of and we even learned to read a little in man talk many big signs there were set up upon the walls and when we saw that the keepers stopped the people from spitting and smoking pointed to the signs angrily and read them out loud we knew that these writing signified no smoking and don't spit then in the evenings after the crowd had gone the same aged male with one leg of wood swept up the peanut shells with a broom every night and while he was doing so he always whistled the same tune to himself this melody we rather liked and we learned that too by heart thinking it was part of the language thus a whole year went by in this dismal place some days new fishes were brought in to the other tanks and other days old fishes were taken out at first we had hoped we would only be kept here for a while and that after we had been looked at sufficiently we would be returned to freedom and the sea but as month after month went by and we were left undisturbed our hearts grew heavy within our prison walls of glass and we spoke to one another less and less one day when the crowd was thickest in the big room a woman with a red face fainted from the heat I watched through the glass and saw that the rest of the people got highly excited though to me it did not seem to be a matter of very great importance they threw cold water on her and carried her out into the open air this made me think mightily and presently a great idea burst upon me sister I said turning to poor clipper who was sulking at the bottom of our prison trying to hide behind the stone from the stupid gaze of the children who thronged about our tank supposing that we pretend we were sick do you think they would take us also from this stuffy house brother she said warily that they might do so but most likely they would throw us onto a rubbish heap where we would die in the hot sun but said I why should they go abroad to seek a rubbish heap when the harbour is so close while we were being watered I saw men throwing their rubbish into the water if they would only throw us also there you could quickly reach the sea the sea murmured poor clipper with a faraway look in her eyes she had fine eyes had my sister clipper how like a dream it sounds the sea her brother will we ever swim in it again thank you every night as I lie awake on the floor of this evil smelling dungeon I hear its hearty voice ringing in my ears how I have longed for it just to feel it once again the nice big wholesome homeliness of it all to jump just to jump from the crest of an Atlantic wave laughing in the trade winds spin drift down into the blue green swirling trough to chase the shrimps on a summer evening when the sky is red and the lights all pink within the foam to lie on the top in the doldrums noonday calm and warm your tummy in the tropic sun to wander hand in hand once more through the giant seaweed forests of the Indian Ocean seeking the delicious eggs of the pop pop to play hide and seek among the castles the coral towns with their pearl and jasper windows spangling the floor of the Spanish main to picnic in the anemone meadows dim blue and lilac gray that lie in the lowlands beyond the south sea garden to throw somersaults on the springy sponge beds of the Mexican Gulf to poke about among the dead ships and see what wonders and adventures lie inside and then on winter nights when the northeaster whips the water into throth to swoop down and down to get away from the cold down to where the water's warm and dark down and still down till we spy the twinkle of the fire eels far below where our friends and cousins sit chatting around the council water chatting brother over the news and gossip of the sea and then she broke down completely sniffling stop it I said you make me homesick look here let's pretend we're sick or better still let's pretend we're dead and see what happens if they throw us into a rubbish heap and we fry in the sun we'll not be much worse off than we are here in this smelly prison what do you say will you risk it I will she said and gladly so next morning two fidgets were found by the keeper floating on the top of the water in their tank stiff and dead we gave a mighty good imitation of dead fish although I say it myself the keeper ran and got the old gentleman with spectacles and whiskers they threw up their hands in horror when they saw us lifting us carefully out of the water they laid us on wet cloths that was the hardest part of all if you're a fish and get taken out of the water you have to keep opening and shutting your mouth to breathe at all and even that you can't keep up for long and all this time we had to stay stiff as sticks and breathe silently through half closed lips well the old fellows poked us and felt us and pinched us till I thought they'd never be done then when their backs were turned a moment a wretched cat got up on the table and nearly ate us luckily the old man turned around in time and shoot her away you may be sure though that we took a couple of good gulls of air while they weren't looking and that was the only thing that saved us from choking I wanted a whisper to Clipper to be brave and stick it out but I couldn't even do that because as you know most kinds of fish talk cannot be heard not even a shout unless you're under water then just as we were about to give it up and let on that we were alive one of the old men shook his head sadly lifted us up and carried us out of the building now for it I thought to myself well soon know our fate liberty or the garbage can outside to our unspeakable horror he made straight for a large ash barrel which stood against the wall on the other side of the yard most happily for us however while he was crossing this yard a very dirty man with a wagon and horses drove up and took the ash barrel away I suppose it was his property then the old man looked around for some other place to throw us he seemed about to cast us upon the ground but he evidently thought that this would make the yard untidy and he desisted the suspense was terrible he moved outside the yard gate and my heart sank once more as I saw that he now intended to throw us in the gutter of the roadway but fortune was indeed with us that day a large man in blue clothes and silver buttons stopped him in the nick of time evidently from the way the large man lectured and waved a short thick stick it was against the rules of the town to throw dead fish in the streets at last to our inotterable joy the old man turned and moved off with us towards the harbour he walked so slowly muttering to himself all the way and watching the man in blue out of the corner of his eye that I wanted to bite his finger to make him hurry up both Clipper and I were actually at our last gasp finally he reached the seawall and giving us one last sad look he dropped us into the waters of the harbour never had we realised anything like a thrill of that moment as we felt the salt wetness close over our heads with one flick of our tails we came to life again the old man was so surprised that he fell right into the water almost on top of us from this he was rescued by a sailor with a boat hook and last we saw of him the man in blue was dragging him away by the coat collar lecturing him again apparently it was also against the rules of the town to throw dead fish into the harbour but we what time or thought had we for his troubles we were free enlightening leaps in curving spurts and crazy zigzags whooping shrieking with delight to be sped for home and the open sea that is all of my story and I will now as I promised last night try to answer any questions you may ask about the sea on condition that I am set at liberty as soon as you have done is there any part of the sea deeper than that known as the Nero Deep I mean the one near the island of Guam why certainly there's one much deeper than that near the mouth of the amazon river but it's small and hard to find we call it the deep hole and there's another in the Antarctic sea can you talk any shellfish language yourself no not a word we regular fishers don't have anything to do with a shellfish we consider them a low class but when you're near them can you hear the sound they make talking I mean without necessarily understanding what they say only with the very largest ones shellfish have such weak small voices it is almost impossible for any but their own kind to hear them but with the bigger ones it is different they make a sad booming noise rather like an iron pipe being knocked with a stone only not nearly so loud of course I am most anxious to get down to the bottom of the sea to study many things the weedland animals as you no doubt know are unable to breathe underwater have you any ideas that might help me I think that for both your difficulties the best thing for you to do would be to try and get hold of the great glass sea snail who or what is the great glass sea snail he is an enormous saltwater snail one of the Winkle family but as large as a big house he talks quite loudly when he speaks but this is not often he can go to any part of the ocean at all depths because he doesn't have to be afraid of any creature in the sea his shell is made of transparent mother-of-pearl so that you can see through it but it's thick and strong when he is out of his shell and he carries it empty on his back there is room in it for a wagon and a pair of horses he has been seen carry his food in it when traveling I feel that that is just the creature I have been looking for he could take me and my assistant inside his shell and we could explore the deepest depths in safety do you think you could get him for me that no I would willingly if I could but he is hardly ever seen by ordinary fish he lives at the bottom of the deep hole and seldom comes out and into the deep hole the lower waters of which are muddy fishes such as we are afraid to go dear me that's a terrible disappointment are there many of this kind of snail in the sea oh no he is the only one in existence since his second wife died long long ago he is the last of the giant shellfish he belongs to past ages when the whales were land animals and all that they say he is over 70 000 years old good gracious what wonderful things he could tell me I do wish I could meet him were there any more questions you wish to ask me this water in your tank is getting quite warm and sickly I'd like to be put back into the sea as soon as you can spare me just one more thing when Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic in 1492 he threw overboard two copies of his diary sealed up in barrels one of them was never found it must have sunk I would like to get it for my library do you happen to know where it is yes I do that too is in the deep hole when the barrel sag the currents drifted at northwards down what we call the orinico slope till it finally disappeared into the deep hole if it was any other part of the sea I'd try and get it for you but not there well that is all I think I hate to put you back into the sea because I know that as soon as I do I'll think of a hundred other questions I wanted to ask you but I must keep my promise would you care for anything before you go it seems a cold day some cracker crumbs or something no I won't stop all I want just at present is fresh seawater I cannot thank you enough for all the information you have given me you have been very helpful and patient pray do not mention it it has been a real pleasure to be of assistance to the great john do little you are as of course you know already quite famous among the better class of fishes goodbye and good luck to you to your ship and to all your plans the doctor carried the listening tank to a porthole opened it and emptied the tank into the sea goodbye he murmured as a faint splash reached us from without I dropped my pencil on the table and leaned back with a sigh my fingers were so stiff with writer's cramp that I felt as though I should never be able to open my hand again but I at least had had a night's sleep as for the poor doctor he was so weary that he had hardly put the tank back upon the table and dropped into a chair when his eyes closed and he began to snore in the passage outside Polynesia scratched angrily at the door I rose and let her in a nice state of affairs she stormed what sort of a ship is this there's that colored man upstairs asleep under the wheel the doctor asleep down here and you making pot hooks in a copy book with a pencil expect the ship to steer herself to brazil we're just drifting around the sea like an empty bottle and a week behind time as it is what's happened to you all she was so angry that her voice rose to a screen but it would have taken more than that to wake the doctor I put the notebook carefully in a drawer and went on deck to take the wheel into part four chapter two part four chapters three to five of the voyages of Dr. Dunlif by Hugh Lofty this LibriVox recording is in the public domain chapter three bad weather as soon as I had the curlers one round upon her course again I noticed something peculiar we were not going as fast as we had been our favorable wind had almost entirely disappeared this at first we did not worry about thinking that at any moment it might spring up again but the whole day went by then two days then a week 10 days and the wind grew no stronger the curler just dawdled along at the speed of a toddling babe I now saw the doctor was becoming uneasy he kept getting out his sextant an instrument which tells you which part of the ocean you are in and making calculations he was forever looking at his maps and measuring distances on the the far edge of the sea all around us he examined with his telescope a hundred times a day but doctor I said when I found him one afternoon mumbling to himself about the misty appearance of the sky it wouldn't matter so much would it if we did take a little longer over the trip we've got plenty to eat on board now and the purple bird of paradise will know that we've been delayed by something that we couldn't help yes I suppose so he said thoughtfully but I hate to keep her waiting at this season of the year she generally goes to the Peruvian mountains for her health and besides the good weather she prophesied is likely to end any day now and delay us still further if we could only keep moving at even a fair speed I wouldn't mind it's this hanging around almost dead still that gets me restless ah here comes a wind not very strong but maybe it'll grow a gentle breeze from the northeast came singing through the ropes and we smiled up hopefully at the crew loose leaning masts we've only got another hundred and fifty miles to make to sight the coast of brazil said the doctor if that wind would just stay with us steady for a full day we'd see land but suddenly the wind changed swung to the east then back to the northeast then to the north it came in fitful Gus as though it hadn't made up its mind which way to blow and I was kept busy at the wheel swinging the crew loose this way and that to keep the right side of it presently we heard Polynesia who was in the rigging keeping a lookout for land or passing ships screech down to us bad weather coming that jumpy wind is an ugly sign and look over there in the east see that black line low down if that isn't a storm I'm a landlubber the gales around here are fierce and when they do blow tear your canvas out like paper you take the wheel doctor it'll need a strong arm if it's a real storm I'll go wake bumpo and chi chi this looks bad to me we'd best get all the sail down right away till we see how strong she's going to blow indeed the whole sky was now beginning to take on a very threatening look the black line to the eastward grew blacker as it came nearer and nearer aloe rumbly whispery noise went moaning over the sea the water which had been so blue and smiling turned to a ruffled ugly gray and across the darkening sky shreds of clouds swept like tattered witches flying from the storm I must confess I was frightened you see I had only so far seen the sea and friendly moons sometimes quiet and lazy sometimes laughing vigorous and reckless sometimes brooding and poetic when moonbeams turned her ripples into silver threads and dreaming snowy night clouds piled up fairy castles in the sky but as yet I had not known or even guessed at the terrible strength of the sea's wild anger when that storm finally struck us we leaned right over flatly on our side as though some invisible giant had slapped the poor cruloo on the cheek after that things happened so thick and so fast that what with the wind that stopped your breath the driving blinding water the deafening noise and the rest I haven't a very clear idea of how our shipwreck came about I remember seeing the sails which we were now trying to roll up upon the deck torn out of our hands by the wind and go overboard like a penny balloon very nearly carrying chi chi with them and I have a dim recollection of Polynesia screeching somewhere for one of us to go downstairs and close the portholes in spite of our mass being bare of sail we were now scutting along to the southward at a great pace but every once in a while huge great black waves would arise from under the ship's side like nightmare monsters swell and climb then crash down upon us pressing us into the sea and the poor cruloo would come to a standstill half underwater like a gasping drowning pig while I was clambering along towards the wheel to see the doctor clinging like a leech with hands and legs to the rails lest I be blown overboard one of these tremendous seas tore loose my hold filled my throat with water and swept me like a cork the full length of the deck my head struck a door with an awful bang and then I fainted chapter four wrecked when I awoke I was very hazy in my head the sky was blue and the sea was calm at first I thought that I must have fallen asleep in the sun on the deck of the curlew and thinking that I would be late for my turn at the wheel I tried to rise to my feet I found I couldn't my arms are tied to something behind me with a piece of rope by twisting my neck around I found this to be a mast broken off short then I realized that I wasn't sitting on a ship at all I was only sitting on a piece of one I began to feel uncomfortably scared screwing up my eyes I searched the rim of the sea north east south and west no land no ships nothing was in sight I was alone in the ocean at last little by little my bruised head began to remember what had happened first the coming of the storm the sails going overboard then the big wave which had banged me against the door but what had become of the doctor the others what day was this tomorrow or the day after and why was I sitting on only part of the ship working my hand into my pocket I found my pin knife and cut the rope that tied me this reminded me of a shipwreck story which Joe had once told me of a captain who had tied his son to a mast in order that he shouldn't be washed overboard by the gale so of course it must have been the doctor who had done the same to me but where was he the awful thought came to me that the doctor and the rest of them must be drowned since there was no other wreckage to be seen upon the waters I got to my feet and stared around the sea again nothing nothing but water and sky presently a long way off I saw the small dark shape of a bird skimming low down over the swell then it came quite close I saw that it was a stormy petrol I tried to talk to it to see if it could give me news but unluckily I hadn't learned much seabird language and I couldn't even attract its attention much less make it understand what I wanted twice it circled round my raft lazily with hardly a flip of the wing and I could not help wondering in spite of the distress I was in where it had spent last night how it or any other living thing had weathered such a smashing storm it made me realize the great difference between different creatures and that size and strength are not everything to this petrol a frail little thing of feathers much smaller and weaker than I the sea could do anything she liked it seemed and his only answer was a lazy saucy flip of the wing he was the one who should be called the able seaman for come raging gale come sun let come this wilderness of water was his home after swooping over the sea around me just looking for food I suppose he went off in the direction from which he had come and I was alone once more I found I was somewhat hungry and a little thirsty too I began to think of all sorts of miserable thoughts the way one does when he is lonesome and has missed breakfast what was going to become of me now the doctor and the rest were drowned I would starve to death or die of thirst then the sun went behind some clouds and I felt cold how many hundreds or thousands of miles was I from any land what if another storm should come and smash up even this poor wrapped on which I stood I went on like this for a while a growing gloomier and gloomier when suddenly I thought of Polynesia you're always safe with the doctor she had said he gets there remember that I'm sure I wouldn't have minded so much if he had been here with me it was this being all alone that made me want to week and yet the petrol was alone what a baby I was I told myself to be scared to the verge of tears just by loneliness I was quite safe where I was before the present anyhow John do little wouldn't get scared by a little thing like this he only got excited when he made a discovery found a new bug or something and if what Polynesia said was true he couldn't be drowned and things would come out all right in the end somehow I threw out my chest buttoned up my collar and began walking up and down the short raft to keep warm I would be like John do I wouldn't cry and I wouldn't get excited how long I paced back and forth I don't know but it was a long time for I had nothing else to do at last I got tired and laid down to rest and in spite of all my troubles I soon fell fast asleep this time when I woke up stars were staring down at me out of a cloudless sky the sea was still calm and my strange craft was rocking gently under me on an easy swell all my fine courage left me as I gazed up into the big silent night and felt the pains of hunger and thirst set to work in my stomach harder than ever are you awake set a high silvery voice at my elbow I sprang up as though someone had stuck a pin in me and there perched at the very end of my raft for beautiful tail glowing dimly in the starlight sat Miranda the purple bird in paradise never have I been so glad to see anyone in my life I almost fell into the water as I leapt to hug her I didn't want to wake you said she I guessed you must be tired after all you've been through don't squash the life out of me boy I'm not a stuffed duck you know oh Miranda you dear old thing said I I'm so glad to see you tell me where is the doctor is he alive of course he's alive and it's my firm belief he always will be he's over there about 40 miles to the westward what's he doing there he's sitting on the other half of the curlew shaving himself or he was when I left him well thank heaven he's alive said hi and bumble and the animals are they all right yes they're with him your ship broke in half in the storm the doctor had tied you down when he found you stunned and the part you were on got separated and floated away oh golly it was a storm one has to be a galore and albatross to stand that sort of weather I had been watching for the doctor for three weeks from a cliff top but last night I had to take refuge in a cave to keep my tail feathers from blowing out as soon as I found the doctor he sent me off with some purposes to help us in our search there had been quite a gathering of seabirds waiting to greet the doctor but the rough weather sort of broke up the arrangements that had been made to welcome him properly it was the petrol that first gave us the tip where you were well but how can I get to the doctor Miranda I haven't any oars get to him why you're going to him now look behind you I turned around the moon was just rising on the sea's edge and I now saw that my raft was moving through the water but so gently that I had not noticed it before what's moving us I asked the porpoises said Miranda I went to the back of the raft and looked down into the water and just below the surface I could see the dim forms of four big porpoises their sleek skins glinting in the moonlight pushing at the raft with their noses their old friends of the doctors said Miranda they'd do anything for John Doolittle we should see his party soon now we're pretty near the place I left them yes there they are see that dark shape no more to the right of where you're looking can't you make out the figure of the black man standing against the sky now Chi Chi spies us he's waving don't you see them I didn't for my eyes were not as sharp as Miranda's but presently from somewhere in the murky dusk I heard Bumpo singing his african comic songs with the full force of his enormous voice and in a little by peering and peering in the direction of the sound I at last made out a dim mass of tattered splintered wreckage all that remained of the poor curlew floating low down upon the water a hello came through the night and I answered it we kept it up calling to one another back and forth across the calm night sea and a few minutes later the two halves of our brave little ruined ship bumped gently together again now that I was nearer and the moon was higher I could see more plainly their half of the ship was much bigger than mine it lay partly upon its side and most of them were perched upon the top munching ships biscuit the close down to the edge of the water using the seas calm surface for a mirror and a piece of broken bottle for a razor john do little was shaving his face by the light of the moon chapter five land they all gave me a great clambered off my half of the ship on to theirs bump oh brought me a wonderful drink of fresh water which he drew from a barrel and chi chi and Polynesia stood about me feeding me ships biscuit but it was the sight of dr. do little's smiling face just knowing that I was with him once again that cheered me more than anything else as I watched him carefully wipe his glass razor and put it away for future use I could not help comparing him in my mind with the stormy petrol indeed the vast strange knowledge which he had gained from his speech and friendship with animals that brought him the power to do things which no other human being would dare to try like the petrol he could apparently play with the sea and all her boots it was no wonder that many of the ignorant savage peoples among whom he passed in his voyages made statues of him showing him as half a fish half a bird and half a man and ridiculous though it was I could quite understand what Miranda met when she said she firmly believed he could never die just to be with him gave you a wonderful feeling of comfort and safety except for his appearance his clothes were crumpled and damp and his battered high hat was stained with salt water the storm which had so terrified me had disturbed him no more than getting stuck in the mud bank in puddleby river politely thanking Miranda for getting me so quickly he asked her if she would now go ahead of us and show us the way to spider monkey island next he gave orders to the porpoises to leave my old piece of the ship and push the bigger half wherever the bird of paradise should lead us how much he had lost in the wreck besides his razor I did not know everything most likely together with all the money he had saved up to buy the ship with and still he was piling as though he wanted for nothing in the world the only things he had saved as far as I could see beyond the barrel of water and bag of biscuit were his precious notebooks these I saw when he stood up he had strapped around his waist with yards and yards of twine he was as old Matthew mug used to say a great man he was unbelievable and now for three days we continued our journey slowly but steadily south the only inconvenience we suffered from was the cold this seemed to increase as we went forward the doctor said that the island disturbed from its usual path by the great gale had evidently drifted further south than it had ever been before on the third night poor Miranda came back to us nearly frozen she told the doctor that in the morning we would find the island quite close to us though we couldn't see it now as it was a misty dark night she said that she must hurry back at once to a warmer climate and that she would visit the doctor in puddlebee next august as usual don't forget Miranda said John do little if you should hear anything of what happened to Long Arrow to get word to me the bird of paradise assured him she would and after the doctor had thanked her again and again for all that she had done for us she wished us good luck and disappeared into the night we were all awake early in the morning long before it was light waiting for our first glimpse of the country we had come so far to see and as the rising sun turned the eastern sky to gray of course it was old Polynesia who first shouted that she could see palm trees and mountaintops with the growing light it became plain to all of us a long island with high rocky mountains in the middle and so near to us that you could almost throw your hat upon the shore the porpoises gave us one last push and our strange looking craft bumped gently on a low beach then thanking our lucky stars for a chance to stretch our cramped legs we all bundled off to the land the first land even though it was floating land that we had trodden for six weeks what a thrill i felt as i realized that spider monkey island the little spot in the atlas which my pencil had touched lay at last beneath my feet when the light increased still further we noticed that the palms and grasses of the island seemed withered and almost dead the doctor said that it must be on account of the cold that the island was now suffering from in its new climate these trees and grasses he told us were the kind that belonged to warm tropical weather the porpoises asked if we wanted them any further and the doctor said he didn't think so not for the present nor the raft either he added for it was already beginning to vault the pieces and could not float much longer as we were preparing to go inland and explore the island we suddenly noticed a whole band of red Indians watching us with great curiosity from among the trees the doctor went forward to talk to them but he could not make them understand he tried by signs to show them that he had come on a friendly visit the Indians didn't seem to like us however they had bows and arrows and long hunting spears with stone points in their hands and they made signs back to the doctor to tell him that if he came a step nearer they would kill us all they evidently wanted us to leave the island at once it was a very uncomfortable situation at last the doctor made them understand that he only wanted to see the island all over and that then he would go away though how he meant to do it with no boat to sail in was more than I could imagine while they were talking among themselves another Indian arrived apparently with a message that they were wanted in some other part of the island because presently shaking their spears in Liatus they went off with the newcomer what this courteous pagans said oh did you ever see such inhospitability never even asked us if we had had breakfast to benighted bowners shush they're going off to their village said Polynesia I bet there's a village on the other side of those mountains if you take my advice doctor you'll get away from this beach while their backs are turned let's go up into the higher land for the present someplace where they won't know where we are they may grow friendlier when they see we mean no harm they have honest open faces and look like a decent crowd to me they're just ignorant probably never saw white folks before so feeling a little bit discouraged by our first reception we moved off towards the mountains in the center of the island into part four chapter five part four chapter six and seven are the voyages of Dr. Doolittle by Hugh Lofty this LibriVox recording is in the public domain chapter six the gibris we found the woods at the feet of the hills thick and tangly and somewhat hard to get through on Polynesia's advice we kept away from all paths and trails feeling it the best to avoid meeting any Indians for the present but she and Chichi were good guides and splendid jungle hunters and the two of them set to work at once looking for food for us in a very short space of time they had found quite a number of different fruits and nuts which made excellent eating though none of us knew the names of any of them we discovered a nice clean stream of good water which came down for the mountains so we were supplied with something to drink as well we followed the stream up towards the heights and presently we came to parts where the woods were thinner and the ground rocky and steep here we could get glimpses of wonderful views all over the island with the blue sea beyond while we were admiring one of these the doctor suddenly said a jibizri don't you hear it we listened and heard somewhere in the air about us an extraordinary musical hum like a bee but not just one note this hum rose and fell up and down almost like someone's singing no other insect but the jibizri beetle hums like that said the doctor i wonder where he is quite near by the sound flying among the trees probably oh if i only had my butterfly net why didn't i think to strap that around my waist too confound the storm i may miss the chance of a lifetime now of getting the rarest beetle in the world oh look there he goes a huge beetle easily three inches long i should say suddenly flew by our noses the doctor got frightful excited he took off his hat to use as a net swooped at the beetle and cut it he nearly fell down a precipice on the rocks below in his wild hurry but that didn't bother him in the least he knelt down tortling up on the ground with the jibizri safe under his hat from his pocket he brought out a glass topped box and into this he very skillfully made the beetle walk from under the rim of the hat then he rose up happy as a child to examine his new treasure through the glass lid it certainly was a most beautiful insect it was pale blue underneath but his back was glossy black with huge red spots on it there isn't an entomologist in the whole world who wouldn't give all he has to be in my shoes today said the doctor hello this jibizri's got something on his leg doesn't look like mud i wonder what it is he took the beetle carefully out of the box and held it by its back in his fingers where it waved its six legs slowly in the air we all crowded about him purring at it rolled around the middle section of its right four leg was something that looked like a thin dried leaf was bound on very neatly with strong spider web it was marvelous to see how john doodled with his fat heavy fingers undid that cobweb cord and unrolled the lead pole without tearing it or hurting the precious beetle the jibizri he put back into the box he then spread the leaf out flat and examined it you can imagine our surprise when we found that the inside of the leaf was covered with signs and pictures drawn so tiny that you almost needed a magnifying glass to tell what they were some of the signs we couldn't make out at all but nearly all of the pictures were quite plain figures of men and mountains mostly the hole was done in a curious sort of brown ink for several moments there was a dead silence while we all stared at the leaf fascinated and mystified i think this is written in blood said the doctor at last it turns that color when it's dry somebody pricked his finger to make these pictures it's an old dodge when you're short of ink but highly unsanitary what an extraordinary thing to find tied to a beetle's leg i wish i could talk beetle language and find out where the jibizri got it from but what is it i asked rows of little pictures and signs what do you make of it doctor it's a letter he said a picture letter all these little things put together mean a message but why give a message to a beetle to carry and to a jibizri the rarest beetle in the world what an extraordinary thing then he fell to muttering over the pictures i wonder what it means men walking up a mountain men walking into a hole in the mountain a mountain falling down it's a good drawing that men pointing to their open mouths bars prison bars perhaps men praying men lying down they look as though they might be sick and last of all just a mountain a peculiar shaped mountain all of a sudden the doctor looked up sharply at me a wonderful smile of delighted understanding spread over his face long arrow he cried don't you see stubborn's why of course only a naturalist would think of doing a thing like this giving his letter to a beetle not to a common beetle but to the rarest of all one that other naturalists would try to catch well well long arrow a picture letter from long arrow for pictures are the only writing that he knows yes but who is the letter to i asked it's to me very likely miranda had told him i know years ago that someday i meant to come here but if not for me then it's for anyone who caught the beetle and read it it's a letter to the world well but what does it say it doesn't seem to me that it's much good to you now you've got it yes it is because look i can read it now first picture men walking up a mountain that's long arrow and his party men going into a hole in a mountain they enter a cave looking for medicine plants or mosses a mountain falling down some hanging rocks must have slipped and trapped them imprisoned them in the cave and this was the only living creature that could carry a message for them to the outside world a beetle who could borrow his way into the open air of course it was only a slim chance that the beetle would be ever caught and the letter read but it was a chance and when men are in great danger they grab at any straw of hope all right now look at the next picture men pointing to their open mouths they are hungry men praying begging anyone who finds this letter to come to their assistance men lying down they are sick or starving this letter stubborn is their last cry for help he's praying to his feet as he ended snatched out a notebook and put the letter between the leaves his hands were trembling with haste and agitation come on he cried up the mountain all of you there's not a moment to lose bump oh bring the water and nuts with you heaven only knows how long they've been pining underground let's hope and pray we're not too late but where are you going to look i asked maranda said the island was a hundred miles long and the mountain seemed to run all the way down the center of it didn't you see the last picture he said grabbing up his hat from the ground and crammed it on his head it was an oddly shaped mountain looked like a hawk's head well there's where he is if he's still alive first thing for us to do is to get up on a high peak and look around the island for a mountain shaped like a hawk's head just to think of it there's a chance of my meeting long arrow the son of golden arrow after all come on hurry to delay may mean death to the greatest naturalist ever born chapter seven hawk's head mountain we all agreed afterwards that none of us had ever worked so hard in our lives before as we did that day for my part i know i was often on the point of dropping exhausted with fatigue but i just kept on going like a machine determined that whatever happened i would not be the first to give up when we had scrambled to the top of a high peak almost instantly we saw the strange mountain pictured in the letter and shape it was the perfect image of a hawk's head and was as far as we could see the second highest summit in the island although we were all out of breath from our climb the doctor didn't let us rest a second as soon as he had cited it with one look at the sun for direction down he dashed again breaking through thickets splashing over brooks taking all the shortcuts for a fat man he was certainly the swiftest cross-country runner i ever saw we floundered after him as fast as we could when i say we i mean bumple and myself for the animals jip chi chi in Polynesia were a long way ahead even beyond the doctor and joined the hunt like a paper chase at length we arrived at the foot of the mountain we were making for and we found its sides very steep now we will separate and search for caves this spot where we now are will be our meeting place if anyone finds anything like a cave or a hole where the earth and rocks have fallen in he must shout and hello to the rest of us if we find nothing we will all gather here in about an hour's time everybody understand said the doctor then we all went off our different ways each of us you may be sure was anxious to be the one to make a discovery and never was a mountain search so thoroughly but alas nothing could we find that looked in the least like a fallen in cave there were plenty of places where rocks had tumbled down to the foot of the slopes but none of these appeared as though caves or passages could possibly lie behind them one by one tired and disappointed we straggled back to the meeting place the doctor seemed gloomy and impatient but by no means inclined to give up jip he said couldn't you smell anything like an indian anywhere no said jip i sniffed it every crack on the mountainside but i am afraid my nose will be of no use to you here doctor the trouble is the whole air is so saturated with the smell of spider monkeys that it drowns out every other scent and besides it's too cold and dry for good smelling it is certainly that said the doctor and getting colder all the time i'm afraid the island is still drifting to the southward let's hope it stops before long or we won't be able to get even nuts and fruit to eat everything in the island will perish chichi what luck did you have numb doctor i climbed to every peak and pinnacle i could see i searched every hollow and cliff but not one place could i find where men might be hidden and polinesia as the doctor did you see nothing that might put us on the right track not a thing doctor but i have a plan oh good great little fall of hope renewed what is it let's hear it you still have that beetle with you she asked the biz biz or whatever it is you call a wretched insect yes said the doctor producing the glass top box from his pocket here it is all right now listen said she if what you have supposed is true that is that long arrow has been trapped inside the mountain by falling rock he probably found that beetle inside the cave perhaps many other different beetles too eh he wouldn't have been likely to take the biz biz in with him would he he was hunting plants you say not beetles isn't that right yes said the doctor that's probably so very well it is fair to suppose then that the beetle's home or his hole is in that place the part of the mountain where long arrow and his party were imprisoned isn't it quite quite all right then the thing to do is to let the beetle go and watch him and sooner or later he'll return to his home in long arrows cave and there we will follow him or at all events she added smoothing down her wing feathers with a very superior air we will follow him till the miserable bug starts nosing under the earth but at least he will show us what part of the mountain long arrow is hidden in but he may fly if i let him out said the doctor then we shall just lose him and be no better off than we were before let him fly snorted Polynesia scornfully a parrot can wing it as fast as a biz biz i fancy if he takes to the air i'll guarantee not to let the little devil out of my sight and if he just crawls along the ground you can follow him yourself splendid cry the doctor Polynesia you have a great brain i'll set him to work at once and see what happens again we all clustered around the doctor as he carefully lifted off the glass lid and let the big beetle climb out upon his finger ladybug ladybug fly away home crooned bumple your house is on fire and you're chill i'll be quiet snapped Polynesia crossy stop insulting him don't you suppose he has wits enough to go home without your telling him i thought bachanzi might be ever for lander in this position said bumple humbly it could be that he is tired of his home and needs to be encouraged shall i sing him home sweet home ding you no then he'd never go back your voice needs a rest don't sing to him just watch him oh and doctor why not tie another message to the creature's leg telling long arrow that we're doing our best to reach him and that he mustn't give up hope i will said the doctor and in a minute he had pulled a dry leaf from a bush nearby and was covering it with little pictures in pencil that last neatly fixed up with his new mailbag mr. gibre's we crawled off the doctor's finger to the ground and looked about him he stretched his legs polished his nose with his front feet and then moved off leisurely to the westward we had expected him to walk up the mountain instead he walked around it do you know how long it takes a beetle to walk round a mountain well i assure you it takes an unbelievably long time as the hours dragged by we hoped and hoped that he would get up and fly the rest and let Polynesia carry on the work of following him but he never opened his wings once i had not realized before how hard it was for a human being to walk slowly enough to keep up with a beetle it was the most tedious thing i have ever gone through and as we dawdled along behind watching him like hawks lest we lose him under a leaf or something we all got so cross and ill-tempered we were ready to bite one another's heads off and when he stopped to look at the scenery or polish his nose some more i could hear Polynesia behind me letting out the most dreadful seafaring swear words you ever heard after he had led us the whole way around the mountain he brought us to the exact spot where we started from and there he came to a dead stop well said bumple to Polynesia what do you think of the beetle sands now you see he doesn't know enough to go home i'll be still you hot and hot snapped Polynesia wouldn't you want to stretch your legs for exercise if you'd been shut up in a box all day probably his home is near here and that's why he's come back but why i asked did he go the whole way around the mountain first then the three of us got into a violent argument but in the middle of it all the doctor suddenly called out look look we turned and found that he was pointing to the gibberish who is now walking up the mountain at a much faster and more business like gait well said bumple sitting down werely if he is going to walk over the mountain and back for more exercise i'll wait for him here gg and Polynesia can follow him indeed it would have taken a monkey or a bird to climb the place which the beetle was now walking up it was a smooth flat part of the mountain side steep as a wall but presently when the gibberish was no more than ten feet above our heads we all cried out together for even while we watched him he had disappeared into the face of the rock like a raindrop soaking into sand he's gone cried Polynesia there must be a hole up there and then at winkling she had fluttered up the rock and was clinging to the face of it with her claws yes she shouted down we've run him to earth at last his hole is right here behind a patch of lichen big enough to get two fingers in ah great the doctor this great slab of rock then must have slid down from the summit and shut off the mouth of the cave like a door poor fellows what a dreadful time they must have spent in there oh if we only had some picks and shovels now picks and shovels wouldn't do much good said Polynesia look at the size of the slab a hundred feet high and as many broad you would need an army for a week to make any impression on it i wonder how thick it is said the doctor and he picked up a big stone and banded with all his might against the face of the rock it made a hollow booming sound like a giant drum we all stood still listening while the echo of it died slowly away and then a cold shiver ran down my spine four from within the mountain back came three answering knocks boom boom boom wide eyed we looked at one another as though the earth itself had spoken and the solemn little silence that followed was broken by the doctor thank heaven he said in a hushed reverend voice some of them at least are alive in the part four