"They were called before the king to receive their prize.""They were called before the king to receive their prize."
“Of course you have,” said Dick, who had purposely been holding back to give the other two a chance.
“Shall I get a prize?” whispered the little boy, anxiously.
“Perhaps,” answered Dick; “wait and see.”
Their little friend, the thin fish, had gone up to the King, and was talking very earnestly to him, and presently returning said that His Majesty had decided to give them all a prize.
“Oh, I wonder what it will be!” said Marjorie, excitedly. “Fancy, having a prize from a real King!”
“He’s only a fish,” said Dick.
“Hush, dear, you’ll hurt his feelings,” whispered Marjorie, warningly.
Just then the thin fish put on his top hat—he was the only one allowed to wear one in the King’s presence—and began a long speech. He spoke so very softly, though, that no one could hear a word that he said; but, at regular intervals, all the other fishes clapped their fins, and called out, “Hear, hear!” most enthusiastically.
“Whatever do you do that for?” inquired Dick, of one of them; “I’m sure you cannot hear a word of what he is saying.”
“Oh, no, we can’t,” admitted the fish, quitecandidly; “but it’s the proper thing to do, you know, it encourages him so.”
After the speech the children were called before the King to receive their prize.
His Majesty did not speak to them, but motioned majestically to a large branch of pink coral near the throne, and they were thus given to understand that it was intended for them as a prize.
Of course, they pretended to be highly gratified, though, in reality, they were greatly disappointed.
“Stupid old thing! it’s not a bit of use, even if we could carry it,” muttered Dick; and Fidge, too, was so cross that he nearly quarreled outright with a perky little fish who had been standing, hat in hand, near him, and who now came and sat down so close to him that his sharp scales scratched the little fellow’s bare legs.
A moment afterwards, however, they had all forgotten their ill-humor in their amusement at what was happening, for the King having withdrawn, the rest of the fishes each took a partner,and began whirling round and round in a frantic way in a mad kind of dance, to the strains of some weird music, provided by one or two of their number blowing through some long shells, whilst others used some smaller flat ones as castanets.
"Whirling round and round in a frantic way.""Whirling round and round in a frantic way."
“I suppose this is what is called a fish ball,” said Dick, laughing heartily at the strange antics which the fishes were cutting.
And just as Marjorie was about to reply a dark shadow passing overhead caused all of the children to look up.
A pair of large webbed feet were seen slowly paddling above them, and beyond them the outline of a bird’s body could be traced.
Marjorie seized Dick’s arm excitedly. “Look! look!” she exclaimed, hastily, “the Dodo!”
CHAPTER VIII.THE DODO AT LAST.
“I really believe it is the Dodo,” said Dick. “Only I’m not quite sure if his feetwerewebbed.”
“Oh, I don’t think they were,” declared Marjorie. “Now don’t you think,” she continued, excitedly, “that it would be best for us just to swim quietly up to him, and catch hold of his legs; you see, he couldn’t possibly get away then, and——”
“All right,” interrupted Dick. “Come on—steady now, so as not to alarm him.”
The feet above them were paddling leisurely along, and the children had no difficulty in quickly catching up to the bird, and, with a triumphant shout, Dick clutched hold of one leg, while Marjorie and Fidge hung on to the other.
There was immediately a great outcry from above the water.
“Help! Help! Fire! Police! Thieves!”cried a voice, and the feet began to kick so violently that the children had quite a difficulty to keep their hold.
"The Dodo tried to follow their example.""The Dodo tried to follow their example."
In response to the cries a number of other birds came flying to the rescue, and “splush,” “splash,” sounded on all sides as they settled down on the water.
“What is the matter?” cried several voices at once.
“Oh!” cried the bird which the children had captured, beating his wings about violently, and creating a terrible confusion, “a crab or something has caught hold of my legs, and I am being killed—help!—save me!—save me!”
A confused sound of voices followed, and presently one or two heads appeared below the water; they were hastily withdrawn, however, and with an alarmed cry of “Sharks!” the other birds all flew away, leaving their luckless companion to his fate.
The bird, when he found himself deserted by his friends, made more frantic efforts than ever to escape; and the beating of his wings upon the water caused the whole party to move slowly along.
“What are we to do now?” whispered Marjorie; “we can’t drag him underneath, or he’d be drowned, you know.”
“Oh, let’s hang on,” cried Dick, “perhaps he will drag us along till we come to land somewhere.I say,” he shouted, “are you the Dodo, or not?”
His voice could evidently not be heard above the water, for there was no reply from the bird, which continued making a terrific outcry, using every effort to get away from them.
Presently, just as Dick had suggested, some rocks came in sight, and the children could see that they were being gradually dragged towards the shore.
In a few minutes they had the satisfaction of being able to scramble out of the water, when they discovered, to their great dismay, that their captive was not the Dodo at all, but a great wild goose, who, when they hurriedly released his legs waddled awkwardly ashore, and gazed at them with reproachful eyes.
A little way inland the Dodo himself could be seen standing, surrounded by an excited group of birds, who, when they caught sight of the children emerging from the water, immediately took to flight, screaming in horrified tones—
“The Sharks! The Sharks! Here come the Sharks!”
The Dodo tried to follow their example, and for a moment it looked as though the children would lose him after all; but it soon became evident that the creature could not fly, for after wildly beating the air for awhile, with his little apologies for wings, the miserable bird fell squalling into the water, while his companions disappeared in the distance.
“Help! Help!” he screamed, as he struggled with the waves. “Don’t you see that I’m drowning? Oh! Oh! Help! Help!”
“Swim ashore,” cried the children.
“I can’t,” was the reply, in a faint voice. “I can’t swim. Oh!—oh! there go my poor, dear gloves.” This last as his wings, which he had been holding up out of the water, sank exhausted to his side.
Dick plunged in, and soon brought the bird to shore, where he stood for a moment or two, ruefully regarding his white kid gloves, which the salt water had completely ruined, while the bow of his necktie had slipped around to the back of his neck.
“A pretty figure I shall cut now at the Ichthyosaurus”At Home,” he grumbled. “It’s all your fault, too,” he declared, ungratefully disregarding the fact that Dick had just rescued him from a watery grave. “What do you want with me, anyhow?”
“Why, you see,” hastily explained Dick, “the Ambassador to the Little Panjandrum sent us in search of you, and if we don’t take you back in less than a week we’re to be—er—er—something with an awfully long name——”
“I know—Subtransexdistricated, that’s it, isn’t it?” said the Dodo. “They always threaten to do that to people. Ough! its perfectly horrible” he cried, shuddering.
“What’s it like?” asked the children, in an awe-stricken whisper.
“Why,” explained the Dodo, “you are mygrylaled in pslmsms till you saukle, and then you are taken out and gopheled on both sides for a fortnight. Ough! it’s dreadful to think about, and I wouldn’t dream of putting you to the risk of having it done to you. So I suppose I shall have to go back,” he added, with a sigh. “It’s jolly awkward, though! Oh, Ihatehim!” he said, stamping his claw violently.
“Who?” inquired the children.
“The Little Panjandrum,” was the reply. “Nasty, consequential little prig! And who is he, I should like to know? Panjandrums are not to be mentioned in the same breath as Dodos—we are a much more ancient family than they are, and, besides,weare extinct,” he said, proudly.
“Oh, yes, of course,” agreed Dick, who did not care to go into the Dodo private grievances, and who certainly did not care to run the risk of being “gopheled on both sides,” whatever that might mean; “but don’t you think we had better be going now?”
“How are we going to get back?” demanded the Dodo, abruptly. “I can’t swim and I can’t fly. You’ll have to carry me.”
“Good gracious!” exclaimed Marjorie, in dismay. “I’m sure we can’t do that! Why, you are as big as we are!”
“Well, I’m sure I don’t know what is to be done,” said the Dodo. “I won’t get into the water again forany one, so there.”
Just then, Fidge, who had been playing onthe shore, ran back with the news that the little thin fish wanted to speak to them.
“Oh! Sorry to trouble you,” he began, popping his head out of the water and raising his hat politely; “but His Majesty sent me to inquire how you were getting on. I see you have found him,” he added, pointing to the Dodo.
“Yes; but now we are in another fix,” cried the children; “we don’t know how to get the creature home.”
"The Dodo cut a strange figure.""The Dodo cut a strange figure."
“Who are you calling a creature?” said the Dodo, sulkily.
“Well, what else are you?” demanded Dick. “You’re an awful nuisance, anyhow, andIdon’tknow how we are going to get you away from this place, I’m sure.”
“There are the Dolphins,” suggested the little fish.
“Why, yes, of course,” cried Dick. “I had forgotten them. I suppose you can ride a Dolphin, can’t you?” he inquired of the Dodo.
“Don’t know. Never tried. Daresay I could,” answered the bird, sullenly.
The fish disappeared, and returned a few minutes later with the three Dolphins in tow.
Fidge was more than delighted to see the “horses,” as he called them, again, and lost no time in getting astride of one; the others followed more deliberately, Marjorie taking her seat beside Fidge on the same fish.
The Dodo cut a strange figure, and looked very nervous at first, as he clung to the slippery back of his strange steed.
He seemed to feel at ease after a time, however, and when the children had bade their kind little friend, the thin fish, “Good-by,” the party started off at a fine pace.
“By the bye, have you any idea where we aregoing to?” remarked the Dodo, after they had been rushing along for some time.
“Good gracious, no!” exclaimed Dick. “I thought you were directing us.”
“I haven’t the remotest idea where we are,” said the Dodo, coolly.
“Why, then, we’re lost!” cried Marjorie, in dismay.
“Mother told me,” said Fidge, solemnly, “that if I ever got lost, I was to ask a policeman to take me home.”
"At the entrance was a large walrus smoking.""At the entrance was a large walrus smoking."
“Yes, but I’m afraid there are no policemen about here,” laughed the others.
“What we had better do,” said Dick, “is topush on till we come to land somewhere, or a ship, and inquire the way back.”
This was thought to be the best plan to pursue, and the children hurried along till Marjorie noticed that both the air and the water were growing fresher every moment, and she was just beginning to wonder what they were going to do if it grew much colder, when Dick cried out, in quite a nautical style—
“Land on the larboard side!”
“Hooroy!” shouted the others, “now we shall find out where we are,” and they headed the Dolphins to where they could see a rough kind of landing-stage.
The country looked very bleak and bare, but a little hut was visible a short distance from the shore, and the children, having fastened up the Dolphins to one of the wooden piles, assisted the Dodo to alight, and made their way towards it.
At the entrance they saw a large Walrus with a pipe in his mouth, and on the ground beside him an Esquimaux dog, also smoking.
Dick and the others hurried forward, and bowed politely.
“Wie geths?” said the Walrus, taking the pipe from his mouth, and immediately putting it back again, while the little dog glanced at them inquisitively out of the corners of his eyes.
CHAPTER IX.AT THE NORTH POLE.
“What does he mean?” asked Marjorie, staring blankly at her brother.
“I don’t know,” confessed Dick. “I beg your pardon,” he went on, addressing the Walrus, “but I didn’t quite hear what you said.”
“Sprechen sie Deutsch?” inquired the Walrus, with an encouraging smile.
“I can’t tell what the chap is talking about,” said Dick, turning to the others in dismay.
“Dond”t you undershtandt German, eh?” said the Walrus. “Ach! dat vos verry bad,” and he shook his head reproachfully.
“I don’t know,” argued Dick. “I can’t see that it matters much. We are not likely to go there, you know.”
“Not?” said the Walrus, lifting his eyebrows. “Vell, dere vos some funny peoples in der vorld. Perhaps you dond”tvantto go dere?”
“Not much,” admitted Dick.
The Walrus shrugged his shoulders, and looked commiseratingly at the dog, who gave a sniff, and shrugged his shoulders too.
“What we want to know,” said Dick, in a businesslike way, “is, Where are we now, and how are we to get back to England?”
“Vell, you vas in Germany now,” said the Walrus.
“Germany!” exclaimed the children, in surprise. “Why, we’re quite near to England, then.”
“No,” said the Walrus, shaking his head.
“But we must be,” persisted Dick.
“No,” repeated the Walrus. “Dis is not der Germany you mean, but id is Germany all der same—most of der vorld is Germany.”
“What nonsense!” laughed Dick. “I’m sure it isn’t. Why, there’s heaps of places besides Germany. There’s—er—Africa, for instance——”
“Thadt’s Germany!” said the Walrus, nodding violently.
“Africa is?” cried Dick.
“Yah! das is so,” said the Walrus. “Africa, und China, und alle der blaces—dey is all Germany.”
“The chap is evidently a little wrong in the head,” explained Dick to the others in a whisper. “Never mind; don’t take any notice. Well, to come to the point,canyou direct us home again, that is the question?” he asked, aloud.
“No,” said the Walrus, shaking his head.
“Or to the Equator?” suggested the Dodo, smoothing out his gloves.
The Walrus stared for a moment, and then, pointing to the Dodo with the stem of his pipe, inquired, “Vat is dat ting?”
The Dodo drew himself up to his full height, and gave him a withering look. “How dare you?” he cried.
“Vell, vatisid, anyhow?” chuckled the Walrus. “I never saw somethings like id before, never!”
“Of course not,” said the Dodo, with dignity, “Our family have been extinct for some time.”
When the children got into the clumsy fur garments, they found them exceedingly comfortable.—Page 95. Dick, Marjorie and Fidge.When the children got into the clumsy fur garments, they found them exceedingly comfortable.—Page 95.Dick, Marjorie and Fidge.
“Vell, und vy didn’t you keep so?” asked the Walrus. “It vas der best ting vat you could do. Dere is no goot for such tings like you to be aboudt.”
“Come along,” said the Dodo, turning to the others; “let’s go. I was never so insulted in all my life.”
“Ach! don’t ged in a demper,” said the Walrus, complacently. “Dat is no goot also. Come, I show you der vay to der Equador—dat is Germany, too,” he added, in parenthesis. “Bud you must haf some glothes first to vare,” he cried, looking at the children’s scanty garments. “Id is so gold dere.”
“Cold at the Equator?” laughed Marjorie. “Why, I always thought that it was very hot.”
“Ach! dat is so,” said the Walrus. “But id is der gedding dere dat is so gold. Come, I gif you some oudtfids,” and he led the way into the little hut, which was hung all around with clumsy-looking fur garments, which, however, when they had got into them, the children found to be exceedingly comfortable.
Besides the clothes, there were all kinds of stores piled up around the inside of the hut,and a quantity of snowshoes of various shapes, and little sleds, like those which Dick remembered having seen in pictures of Polar expeditions.
When the children had been accommodated with some garments, the Walrus turned to the Dodo, and said, “Veil, now, I egspecdt dat you vant some glothes, too, dond”t id?”
“No, thank you,” said the Dodo, proudly, settling his necktie and folding his wings primly. “I have my gloves; they are quite sufficient.”
“Bud you haven’t any ting on your body,” said the Walrus. “You bedder haf some glothes, eh?” and he kindly brought forth some very large leather breeches, which the Dodo, after some hesitation, consented to put on.
Next the Walrus took down a rough, hairy coat, with mittens attached to the sleeves.
“Gom, put your arms in dis,” he said, “and trow avay dose gloves you got on.”
“What!” cried the Dodo, “take off my gloves? Never!”
And he wouldn’t either; but put his wings(such as he had) into the coat sleeves with the gloves still on the end of them.
"'What' cried the Dodo, 'take off my gloves? Never!'""'What' cried the Dodo, 'take off my gloves? Never!'"
“Now you musdt haf some stores,” said the Walrus, going to the cupboard, and bringing out some tins of sardines, some jam, and otherthings, which he carefully tied on to the sled.
“Now ve are ready to stardt,” he said, when these preparations were completed; and after harnessing the little dog to the sled the party made a move.
“I haven’t the least idea where we are going to,” said Dick, as they walked along; “have you?”
“Not the slightest,” said the Dodo. “I don’t suppose it matters much, though, as long as we get somewhere or another.”
The old Walrus was trudging along in front, leading Fidge (who seemed to have taken a violent fancy to him) by the hand; presently he stopped in front of a big round hole, and waited for the others to catch up to him.
“Here ve are,” he said, pointing to the enormous hole, which looked like the crater of an extinct volcano lined with ice.
“Whatever is that?” asked Marjorie, peering over the edge curiously.
“Der North Bole,” said the Walrus. “Id vas German, too,” he added, emphatically.
“The North Pole!” exclaimed the children. “Why, there isn’t any pole at all!”
“No,” said the Walrus, “das is so, id vas meldted all avay.”
"'Well, good-bye,' said Dick.""'Well, good-bye,' said Dick."
“Good gracious!” cried Dick.
“Yah! id vas mit der lightning struck, undmeldted all avay, und made a big hole in der ground all der vay trough der earth to der Equador. Id vas made in Germany, dat pole,” he added.
The children gazed with wondering eyes into the deep, dark hole, and Marjorie clung to Dick’s arm nervously. “How wonderful!” she exclaimed; “but I’m glad we’ve seen where it was, aren’t you, Dick?”
But Dick was thinking deeply.
“Are you sure it went right through to the Equator?” he asked of the Walrus.
“Yah!” said that worthy, “for sure.”
“Then if we slid through, we should come out at the other end?” said Dick.
“Yah! das is so,” said the Walrus, nodding violently.
“Well, then, I think we’ll do it,” said Dick, boldly.
“Oh, Dick!” cried Marjorie, in alarm.
“Well, why not?” said Dick, for, really, so many strange things had happened that nothing seemed impossible to him now. “It would be rather jolly to see what it’s like at the otherend, and it’s no use stopping here. Do you know your way from the Equator?” he added, turning to the Dodo.
“Yes,” said the bird, who was quite ready to start on the perilous voyage, and, grasping Fidge by the hand, he gave a loud whoop, and began to slide down the steep incline.
“Well, good-by,” cried Dick, hurriedly, shaking hands with the Walrus. “Thanks for all your kindness.” And, jumping on the sled behind Marjorie, he pushed off, and they shot over the edge after the others.
They just caught a glimpse of the little dog throwing up his arms in surprise, and as they disappeared into space they heard the old Walrus crying, in an anxious voice—
“Gom back! gom back! I forgot to tell you somedings.”
CHAPTER X.SOME NEW ACQUAINTANCES.
It was all very well for the Walrus to shout “Come back!” butthatwas a matter of utter impossibility, for down—and down—and down the children sped at a terrific rate, so quickly indeed that after a moment or two they must have lost their senses completely, for not one of them could remember anything about the marvelous journey through the center of the earth.
“It seemed,” Dick explained afterwards, “as though we were falling through a big black hole for hours and hours, and then, all of a sudden, it was light again, and we shot out into the air at the other end.”
The children were greatly relieved to find that they were not expected to walk on their heads, as they had vaguely feared might have been the case on the other side of the world. “But, of course,” Marjorie explained, “we arenot reallyquiteon the other side, or we should be at the South Pole, and that would be as cold as where we came from, wouldn’t it, Dick?”
“I suppose so,” answered Dick, looking about him. “Well, this place is hot enough, anyhow, whew!” and he unbuttoned the heavy fur coat which he had been glad enough to put on a short time before.
“We are probably somewhere near the Equator,” remarked the Dodo, pointing to the palms and other tropical plants to be seen on every side. “I’ve heard that this sort of thing grows there.”
“In that case we have only to find out where the sea is, and wait on the shore for a passing ship to come and take us back to England,” said Marjorie, who was as fond as her brother of reading books of adventure, and so knew exactly what to expect under the circumstances.
Fidge had divested himself of his snowshoes and heavy Arctic outfit, and was eagerly chasing some gaudy butterflies which were flitting about amongst the bright tropical flowers, and the others, feeling the heat very oppressive, wereglad to follow his example, and get rid of their cumbersome clothing. Marjorie made a neat little bundle of them, and hid them behind a big stone, and then, calling Fidge to them, the party set out to explore the surrounding country.
They had not gone far before they heard a voice crying out in a peremptory way—
“Now then! move on, there!”
The Dodo was highly indignant at being addressed in this unceremonious way, particularly as he once more displayed his white kid gloves and his bright necktie, and consequently, imagined that he presented a dignified and imposing appearance.
“Who’s that?” he cried, looking about him angrily.
“Now then, move on! Do you hear?” cried the voice again.
The children stared to the right and left, in front of them, and behind them, but no one was in sight.
“That’s very strange!” exclaimed Dick. “Whoever can it be?”
“Willyou move on, there?” shouted the voice, louder than ever, and, looking up into the trees, the children saw a huge green parrot, with a red tail, hanging down from one of the branches by one claw, while he shook the other at them menacingly.
“Bah! it’s only a parrot,” said the Dodo, in a contemptuous voice.
“What!” screamed the bird; “only a parrot, indeed. Who are you, I should like to know?”
“We’re tourists,” said the Dodo, importantly. “These—ahem—gentlemen, and this lady and myself, are on our way to visit the Ichthyosaurus, while you are merely a common or garden parrot, and not at all fit and proper person for us to be seen talking to. Come along,” he added to the others, grandly, and started to walk off with his beak in the air.
“Hoity, toity! Not so fast,” said the parrot. “I’ve no doubt you think yourself very grand with your kid gloves and your consequential airs; but allow me to inform you thatIam some one of consequence in these parts, too. Iam a police officer, and regulate the traffic, so move on, there, and don’t block the way.”
“Oh!” cried Marjorie, “if this—er—” (she was going to say “bird,” but thought perhaps the parrot might be offended, and she certainly couldn’t say “gentleman,” so she got out of it this way)—“if this is a police officer, perhaps he could be kind enough to direct us to where the steamboats start for England.”
“I daresay Icouldif I wanted to,” said the parrot, ungraciously, “but I don’t choose. Move on! You are stopping the traffic.”
“What nonsense! you ridiculous bird; there is not any traffic,” said Dick.
“Oh! isn’t there? A lotyouknow about it,” replied the parrot. “There’s a vehicle coming along this way now.”
The children turned around, and, sure enough, there was a something coming down the road, though what it was the children couldn’t determine till it came a little closer. They waited and waited, but it scarcely seemed to move at all, and, at last, Dick, whose curiosity was greatly aroused, proposed going to meet it.
“Let’s go and fetch the clothes the Walrus gave us first,” suggested Marjorie, wisely, and so they ran off to the rock behind which they had hidden them.
"The snowshoes seemed to puzzle them somewhat.""The snowshoes seemed to puzzle them somewhat."
To their great surprise, they found a party of apes and monkeys calmly trying the things on, and apparently enjoying themselves very much indeed. The snowshoes seemed to puzzle them considerably, however, and they were undecidedwhether to regard them as musical instruments or a novel form of headgear.
“Hi! Just you put those clothes down at once!” shouted Dick. “How dare you interfere with our things!”
“They’re not yours,” said one of the monkeys. “Findings keepings. We found them, and so they are ours.”
“Indeed they are not. Give them back at once!” demanded Dick.
“Shan’t!” screamed the monkeys, impudently, and, scampering up into the trees beyond the children’s reach, they made grimaces at them, and openly defied them. Indeed, one of them went so far as to climb up into a cocoanut palm and began pelting the children with the nuts.
Fortunately, none of them reached the mark, however, and the children, hastily gathered one or two of the cocoanuts, abandoned the clothes, which, really, were not of much value to them now, and fled.
This little incident had almost driven from their mind the recollection of the vehicle which they had seen in the high-road, but a rumblingsound, as they neared the place where they had last seen it, reminded them of the fact, and they hurried up to the spot from whence the sounds proceeded.
"'I shall get very angry in a minute,' said the Dodo.""'I shall get very angry in a minute,' said the Dodo."
To their great astonishment, they found a clumsy-looking cart, somewhat resembling the pictures which they had seen of the old Roman chariots, to the shafts of which a sleepy-looking sloth-bear was attached.
“Ha! ha! what a funny horse,” laughed Fidge. “It is a horse, isn’t it, Dick?”
“No,” said Dick; “I don’t think so.”
“Horse! no, indeed,” said the Dodo. “It’s a kind of camel.”
“I ain’t,” said the sloth-bear, with a yawn.
“You shouldn’t say ‘ain’t,’” said the Dodo, rebukingly. “What are you, then?”
There was no answer, the creature had gone to sleep.
“Wake up! wake up!” cried the Dodo, shaking him violently. “The idea of dropping off to sleep when any one is talking to you!”
“I thought you were going to preach,” explained the sloth-bear. “You began talking about something that I shouldn’t do or say, and I always go to sleep when people talk to me like that—it’s so stupid of them.”
“Where are you going to?” asked the Dodo.
“I don’t know,” was the reply. “Where are you?”
“We want to get to the place where the steamers start for England,” explained Marjorie.
“Jump in, then,” said the sloth-bear, jerking his head in the direction of the cart; and the children, highly delighted at the prospect of a ride, all scrambled in.
Dick took the reins, and Marjorie made herself comfortable beside him, while Fidge dangled his legs over the back of the “chariot,” the Dodo solemnly squatting down at his side, with his gloves carefully displayed, and his necktie properly adjusted.
“Now then,” said Dick, shaking the reins, “we are ready to start. Go on, please.”
There was no answer, and it transpired that the creature was asleep again.
“Good gracious!” said the Dodo, impatiently, “we shall never get anywhere at this rate. I say, do wake up,” he cried, going up to the sloth-bear and giving him a good shake.
“Oh! are you ready?” said that individual, waking up slowly. “Come on, then!” and he took two or three steps forward, and then stopped to rest, his eyes gradually closing, and his head beginning to sink.
“Come, come!” said the Dodo, getting in front of him, grasping the reins, and pulling with all his might. “I shall get very angry with you in a minute. It’s perfectly ridiculous going on in this way; however do you imaginewe are to get to our destination if you waste time in this manner?”
The answer was a loud snore from the sloth-bear, who had once more fallen into a deep sleep.
CHAPTER XI.THE SKIPPER OF THE ARGONAUT.
“Well, of all the stupid creatures,” said the Dodo, “I think that this is the most remarkable. Here, I say! Wake up, will you!” and he gave the reins another sharp pull.
The sloth-bear blinked his eyes, sleepily, and muttered, “What’s up?”
“Why, aren’t you going to make a start?” inquired the Dodo, angrily; “how do you suppose we shall ever get to our destination if you go on like this?”
The sloth-bear, after staring vacantly awhile slowly shook his head. “Speed not to exceed quarter of a mile an hour, them’s my orders,” he said, “and four times nine is—er—ninety-nine, so you’ll get there about next Thursday week. Y—ah—a—a—ow,” and he gave another tremendous yawn, as his head sank between his knees again.
“Good gracious! what’s to be done?” saidDick, getting down from the chariot. “It’s not the slightest use our trying to go anywhere in this thing.”
“What did he mean by saying four times nine were ninety-nine? They ain’t,” said Fidge, “”cos I know my ”four times,” and four nines are thirty-six.”
“Perhaps it was something to do with the number of miles we shall have to travel before we reach the place where the ships start from,” suggested Marjorie.
“Wake him up again, will you, please?” she said, turning to the Dodo. “Perhaps he will tell us.”
“All right,” said the Dodo, “I’ll wake him up. Here!” he cried, going up to the sloth-bear, and giving him a good shake. “Wake up! Wake up!”
The creature slowly lifted his head, and, staring reproachfully at the Dodo, began to cry. “Boo—hoo—hoo! Boo—hoo—hoo!” he sobbed. “It’s a shame, it is.”
“What’s the matter now, cry-baby?” asked the Dodo.
“Why can’t you let me alone?” whined the sloth-bear. “I’ve never done nothing to you, have I? Why can’t you let a poor beast sleep in peace?”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake let the lazy old thing go to sleep if it wants to,” said Dick, impatiently, while tender-hearted Marjorie went up to the creature and stroked and comforted it as best she could.
Her pity was wasted, however, for almost before the last words were out of its mouth the sloth-bear was snoring peacefully with a contented smirk on its face.
“Come on,” said Dick, “let’s try and find the way ourselves. Oh! I know,” he exclaimed; “of course, why we’ve forgotten all about the power we have of floating in the air; we’ll rise up above the trees, and then we shall soon see where the sea is.”
No sooner said than done. The children just expressed the wish, and, as the Little Panjandrum’s Ambassador had promised them, they found that they had the power of rising at will.
“Jolly, isn’t it?” said Dick, as they floatedupwards, leaving the Dodo gazing after them enviously.
“Like being in a b”loon,” chuckled Fidge, clutching at the leaves of a tree as he passed through them. Fidge never would pronounce balloon properly.
“Oh! look!” cried Marjorie, as they passed above the trees, “there’s the sea over there, and some houses, and people on the beach. I can see them quite distinctly. Oh, jolly, we can soon fly over there; come on.”
“What about the Dodo?” asked Dick.
“Oh, of course. I’d forgotten him. Let’s see, he can’t fly, can he?”
“Judging by the exhibition he made of himself when we first saw him, I should say not,” laughed Dick.
“Well, perhaps we could carry him between us,” suggested Marjorie, “he doesn’t lookveryheavy.”
“All right, let’s try,” said her brother, and, having made quite sure of the direction in which the sea lay, they slowly descended to the ground again.
“Find out what you wanted to?” asked the Dodo, who had taken off his gloves, and was blowing into them to take out the creases.
“Yes,” said Dick, “there are a few houses by the side of the sea about two miles to the left; do you think you could manage to fly as far as that?”
The Dodo smiled in a sickly sort of way. “I’m a little out of practise,” he faltered.
“Well, do you think that if we each took hold of one of your—ahem—wings, we could get along that way?”
“You wouldn’t crush my gloves?” asked the Dodo, anxiously.
“Oh, you could take them off, you know,” said Dick, “and put them in your p——” (he was going to say pocket, but suddenly remembered that the Dodo hadn’t one)—“in my pocket till we get there, if you like,” he added.
“What!” cried the Dodo, indignantly, “travel without my gloves! Never! It wouldn’t be respectable. I shouldn’t think of doing such a thing!”
“Oh, well, come, on then; let’s try this way,”said Dick, putting his arm under one of the Dodo’s wings, while Marjorie did the same to the other. “Now then—one—two—three.”
Slowly, very slowly, the children rose, for the Dodo was rather heavy after all, as he dangled down clumsily and uncomfortably between them.
I think they would have managed, however, but just as they had reached the lower branches of the trees, they heard a voice scream furiously—
“Now, then, what are you up to?”
In their agitation they let go of the Dodo, who, after making several frantic efforts to support himself, fell to the ground with a dull thud.
“What are you up to, I say?” said the voice again, and the children could see that the parrot, who had been so insolent to them before, was sitting on one of the branches near them.
“Pretty objects you are making of yourselves, I must say,” he remarked, sneeringly. “What do you think you are doing, I should like to know?”
“I don’t see what it has to do with you,” said Dick, crossly, while the Dodo, with his eyes shut and his head on one side, ran about rubbing his back with one pinion, and crying, “Oh! oh! oh!” for he had evidently hurt himself very much.
“You don’t, do you?” said the parrot. “Well, then, it has a great deal to do with me. Trying to fly, weren’t you? Well, you are not birds, and it isn’t allowed; do you hear? The idea of mere human creatures aping their betters in that way. Flying, indeed! Don’t you let me catch you at it again, or you will be sorry for it, I can tell you. Now move on, and walk on your feet in a sensible way, like rational human beings. Go along! What next, I wonder!”
He was evidently so very angry that the children thought it best not to provoke him further, so, leading the Dodo, who hobbled along painfully, they walked silently away in the direction of the sea, while the parrot watched them with a severe expression, screaming out—“Move on! move on!” every time they stopped.
“What a disagreeable bird,” whispered Marjorie, when they had gone some little distance.
“Wretch!” declared the Dodo, rubbing his back.
“For two pins I’d wring his neck,” muttered Dick, angrily.
“Much obliged, I’m sure,” said a mocking voice overhead, and there was that wretched parrot, looking down from one of the upper branches.
“Listeners never hear any good of themselves,” remarked the Dodo.
“Pooh!—as though I cared whatyouthought about me,” said the parrot. “Why, if I liked, I could—oh!” he cried, looking off to the left, “the Skipper,” and, spreading his wings, he flew rapidly away with every sign of alarm.
The children followed his glance, and saw coming towards them a very stout, very jolly-looking sailor, with a red, hearty face and a jovial smile. To their great surprise, they saw that he was using a skipping-rope, and skipping towards them, smiling good-naturedly.
“Thank goodness, here’s a man at last,” saidDick. “Now we shall be able to find out something as to where we are, and how we are to get home again.”
“Ship ahoy!” called out the sailor, when he first saw them.