The Story of Doctor Dolittle

by Hugh Lofting

  “Oh, don’t talk so much,” said Gub-Gub. “It’s easy to talk; but itisn’t so easy to find a man when you have got the whole world to hunthim in. Maybe the fisherman’s hair has turned white, worrying aboutthe boy; and that was why the eagles didn’t find him. You don’t knoweverything. You’re just talking. You are not doing anything to help.You couldn’t find the boy’s uncle any more than the eagles could—youcouldn’t do as well.”

  “‘You stupid piece of warm bacon!’”]

  “Couldn’t I?” said the dog. “That’s all you know, you stupid piece ofwarm bacon! I haven’t begun to try yet, have I? You wait and see!”

  Then Jip went to the Doctor and said,

  “Ask the boy if he has anything in his pockets that belonged to hisuncle, will you, please?”

  So the Doctor asked him. And the boy showed them a gold ring which hewore on a piece of string around his neck because it was too big forhis finger. He said his uncle gave it to him when they saw the piratescoming.

  Jip smelt the ring and said,

  “That’s no good. Ask him if he has anything else that belonged to hisuncle.”

  Then the boy took from his pocket a great, big red handkerchief andsaid, “This was my uncle’s too.”

  As soon as the boy pulled it out, Jip shouted,

  “_Snuff_, by Jingo!—Black Rappee snuff. Don’t you smell it? His uncletook snuff—Ask him, Doctor.”

  The Doctor questioned the boy again; and he said, “Yes. My uncle took alot of snuff.”

  “Fine!” said Jip. “The man’s as good as found. ’Twill be as easy asstealing milk from a kitten. Tell the boy I’ll find his uncle for himin less than a week. Let us go upstairs and see which way the wind isblowing.”

  “But it is dark now,” said the Doctor. “You can’t find him in the dark!”

  “I don’t need any light to look for a man who smells of Black Rappeesnuff,” said Jip as he climbed the stairs. “If the man had a hardsmell, like string, now—or hot water, it would be different. But_snuff_!—Tut, tut!”

  “Does hot water have a smell?” asked the Doctor.

  “Certainly it has,” said Jip. “Hot water smells quite different fromcold water. It is warm water—or ice—that has the really difficultsmell. Why, I once followed a man for ten miles on a dark night by thesmell of the hot water he had used to shave with—for the poor fellowhad no soap.... Now then, let us see which way the wind is blowing.Wind is very important in long-distant smelling. It mustn’t be toofierce a wind—and of course it must blow the right way. A nice, steady,damp breeze is the best of all.... Ha!—This wind is from the North.”

  Then Jip went up to the front of the ship and smelt the wind; and hestarted muttering to himself,

  “Tar; Spanish onions; kerosene oil; wet raincoats; crushedlaurel-leaves; rubber burning; lace-curtains being washed—No, mymistake, lace-curtains hanging out to dry; and foxes—hundreds of’em—cubs; and—”

  “Can you really smell all those different things in this one wind?”asked the Doctor.

  “Why, of course!” said Jip. “And those are only a few of the easysmells—the strong ones. Any mongrel could smell those with a cold inthe head. Wait now, and I’ll tell you some of the harder scents thatare coming on this wind—a few of the dainty ones.”

  Then the dog shut his eyes tight, poked his nose straight up in the airand sniffed hard with his mouth half-open.

  For a long time he said nothing. He kept as still as a stone. He hardlyseemed to be breathing at all. When at last he began to speak, itsounded almost as though he were singing, sadly, in a dream.

  “Bricks,” he whispered, very low—“old yellow bricks, crumbling withage in a garden-wall; the sweet breath of young cows standing in amountain-stream; the lead roof of a dove-cote—or perhaps a granary—withthe mid-day sun on it; black kid gloves lying in a bureau-drawer ofwalnut-wood; a dusty road with a horses’ drinking-trough beneath thesycamores; little mushrooms bursting through the rotting leaves;and—and—and—”

  “Any parsnips?” asked Gub-Gub.

  “No,” said Jip. “You always think of things to eat. No parsnipswhatever. And no snuff—plenty of pipes and cigarettes, and a fewcigars. But no snuff. We must wait till the wind changes to the South.”

  “Yes, it’s a poor wind, that,” said Gub-Gub. “I think you’re a fake,Jip. Who ever heard of finding a man in the middle of the ocean just bysmell! I told you you couldn’t do it.”

  “Look here,” said Jip, getting really angry. “You’re going to get abite on the nose in a minute! You needn’t think that just becausethe Doctor won’t let us give you what you deserve, that you can be ascheeky as you like!”

  “Stop quarreling!” said the Doctor—“Stop it! Life’s too short. Tell me,Jip, where do you think those smells are coming from?”

  “From Devon and Wales—most of them,” said Jip—“The wind is coming thatway.”

  “Well, well!” said the Doctor. “You know that’s really quiteremarkable—quite. I must make a note of that for my new book. I wonderif you could train me to smell as well as that.... But no—perhaps I’mbetter off the way I am. ‘Enough is as good as a feast,’ they say.Let’s go down to supper. I’m quite hungry.”

  “So am I,” said Gub-Gub.

  _THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER_

  THE ROCK

  UP they got, early next morning, out of the silken beds; and they sawthat the sun was shining brightly and that the wind was blowing fromthe South.

  Jip smelt the South wind for half an hour. Then he came to the Doctor,shaking his head.

  “I smell no snuff as yet,” he said. “We must wait till the wind changesto the East.”

  But even when the East wind came, at three o’clock that afternoon, thedog could not catch the smell of snuff.

  The little boy was terribly disappointed and began to cry again, sayingthat no one seemed to be able to find his uncle for him. But all Jipsaid to the Doctor was,

  “Tell him that when the wind changes to the West, I’ll find his uncleeven though he be in China—so long as he is still taking Black Rappeesnuff.”

  Three days they had to wait before the West wind came. This was on aFriday morning, early—just as it was getting light. A fine rainy mistlay on the sea like a thin fog. And the wind was soft and warm and wet.

  “‘Doctor!’ he cried. ‘I’ve got it!’”]

  As soon as Jip awoke he ran upstairs and poked his nose in the air.Then he got most frightfully excited and rushed down again to wake theDoctor up.

  “Doctor!” he cried. “I’ve got it! Doctor! Doctor! Wake up! Listen!I’ve got it! The wind’s from the West and it smells of nothing butsnuff. Come upstairs and start the ship—quick!”

  So the Doctor tumbled out of bed and went to the rudder to steer theship.

  “Now I’ll go up to the front,” said Jip; “and you watch mynose—whichever way I point it, you turn the ship the same way. The mancannot be far off—with the smell as strong as this. And the wind’s alllovely and wet. Now watch me!”

  So all that morning Jip stood in the front part of the ship, sniffingthe wind and pointing the way for the Doctor to steer; while all theanimals and the little boy stood round with their eyes wide open,watching the dog in wonder.

  About lunch-time Jip asked Dab-Dab to tell the Doctor that he wasgetting worried and wanted to speak to him. So Dab-Dab went and fetchedthe Doctor from the other end of the ship and Jip said to him,

  “The boy’s uncle is starving. We must make the ship go as fast as wecan.”

  “How do you know he is starving?” asked the Doctor.

  “Because there is no other smell in the West wind but snuff,” said Jip.“If the man were cooking or eating food of any kind, I would be boundto smell it too. But he hasn’t even fresh water to drink. All he istaking is snuff—in large pinches. We are getting nearer to him all thetime, because the smell grows stronger every minute. But make the shipgo as fast as you can, for I am certain that the man is starving.”

&n
bsp; “All right,” said the Doctor; and he sent Dab-Dab to ask the swallowsto pull the ship, the same as they had done when the pirates werechasing them.

  So the stout little birds came down and once more harnessed themselvesto the ship.

  And now the boat went bounding through the waves at a terrible speed.It went so fast that the fishes in the sea had to jump for their livesto get out of the way and not be run over.

  And all the animals got tremendously excited; and they gave up lookingat Jip and turned to watch the sea in front, to spy out any land orislands where the starving man might be.

  But hour after hour went by and still the ship went rushing on, overthe same flat, flat sea; and no land anywhere came in sight.

  And now the animals gave up chattering and sat around silent, anxiousand miserable. The little boy again grew sad. And on Jip’s face therewas a worried look.

  At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun was going down, theowl, Too-Too, who was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly startledthem all by crying out at the top of his voice,

  “Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front of us—look—way out therewhere the sky and the water meet. See the sun shine on it—like gold! Isthe smell coming from there?”

  And Jip called back,

  “Yes. That’s it. That is where the man is.—At last, at last!”

  And when they got nearer they could see that the rock was very large—aslarge as a big field. No trees grew on it, no grass—nothing. The greatrock was as smooth and as bare as the back of a tortoise.

  Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round the rock. But nowhere onit could a man be seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes andlooked as hard as they could; and John Dolittle got a telescope fromdownstairs.

  But not one living thing could they spy—not even a gull, nor astar-fish, nor a shred of sea-weed.

  They all stood still and listened, straining their ears for any sound.But the only noise they heard was the gentle lapping of the littlewaves against the sides of their ship.

  Then they all started calling, “Hulloa, there!—HULLOA!” till theirvoices were hoarse. But only the echo came back from the rock.

  And the little boy burst into tears and said,

  “I am afraid I shall never see my uncle any more! What shall I tellthem when I get home!”

  But Jip called to the Doctor,

  “He must be there—he must—_he must_! The smell goes on no further. Hemust be there, I tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock and let mejump out on it.”

  So the Doctor brought the ship as close as he could and let down theanchor. Then he and Jip got out of the ship on to the rock.

  Jip at once put his nose down close to the ground and began to runall over the place. Up and down he went, back and forth—zig-zagging,twisting, doubling and turning. And everywhere he went, the Doctor ranbehind him, close at his heels—till he was terribly out of breath.

  At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down. And when the Doctor camerunning up to him, he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole inthe middle of the rock.

  “The boy’s uncle is down there,” said Jip quietly. “No wonder thosesilly eagles couldn’t see him!—It takes a dog to find a man.”

  So the Doctor got down into the hole, which seemed to be a kind ofcave, or tunnel, running a long way under the ground. Then he strucka match and started to make his way along the dark passage with Jipfollowing behind.

  The Doctor’s match soon went out; and he had to strike another andanother and another.

  At last the passage came to an end; and the Doctor found himself in akind of tiny room with walls of rock.

  And there, in the middle of the room, his head resting on his arms, laya man with very red hair—fast asleep!

  Jip went up and sniffed at something lying on the ground beside him.The Doctor stooped and picked it up. It was an enormous snuff-box. Andit was full of Black Rappee!

  _THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER_

  THE FISHERMAN’S TOWN

  GENTLY then—very gently, the Doctor woke the man up.

  But just at that moment the match went out again. And the man thoughtit was Ben Ali coming back, and he began to punch the Doctor in thedark.

  But when John Dolittle told him who it was, and that he had his littlenephew safe on his ship, the man was tremendously glad, and said he wassorry he had fought the Doctor. He had not hurt him much though—becauseit was too dark to punch properly. Then he gave the Doctor a pinch ofsnuff.

  And the man told how the Barbary Dragon had put him on to this rock andleft him there, when he wouldn’t promise to become a pirate; and how heused to sleep down in this hole because there was no house on the rockto keep him warm.

  And then he said,

  “For four days I have had nothing to eat or drink. I have lived onsnuff.”

  “There you are!” said Jip. “What did I tell you?”

  So they struck some more matches and made their way out through thepassage into the daylight; and the Doctor hurried the man down to theboat to get some soup.

  When the animals and the little boy saw the Doctor and Jip coming backto the ship with a red-headed man, they began to cheer and yell anddance about the boat. And the swallows up above started whistling atthe top of their voices—thousands and millions of them—to show thatthey too were glad that the boy’s brave uncle had been found. Thenoise they made was so great that sailors far out at sea thought thata terrible storm was coming. “Hark to that gale howling in the East!”they said.

  And Jip was awfully proud of himself—though he tried hard not to lookconceited. When Dab-Dab came to him and said, “Jip, I had no idea youwere so clever!” he just tossed his head and answered,

  “Oh, that’s nothing special. But it takes a dog to find a man, youknow. Birds are no good for a game like that.”

  Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman where his home was. Andwhen he had told him, the Doctor asked the swallows to guide the shipthere first.

  And when they had come to the land which the man had spoken of, theysaw a little fishing-town at the foot of a rocky mountain; and the manpointed out the house where he lived.

  And while they were letting down the anchor, the little boy’s mother(who was also the man’s sister) came running down to the shore to meetthem, laughing and crying at the same time. She had been sitting on ahill for twenty days, watching the sea and waiting for them to return.

  And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that he giggled and blushedlike a school-girl. And she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away andhid inside the ship.

  “It’s a silly business, this kissing,” he said. “I don’t hold by it.Let her go and kiss Gub-Gub—if she _must_ kiss something.”

  “And she kissed the Doctor many times”]

  The fisherman and his sister didn’t want the Doctor to go away againin a hurry. They begged him to spend a few days with them. So JohnDolittle and his animals had to stay at their house a whole Saturdayand Sunday and half of Monday.

  And all the little boys of the fishing-village went down to the beachand pointed at the great ship anchored there, and said to one anotherin whispers,

  “Look! That was a pirate-ship—Ben Ali’s—the most terrible pirate thatever sailed the Seven Seas! That old gentleman with the high hat,who’s staying up at Mrs. Trevelyan’s, _he_ took the ship away from TheBarbary Dragon—and made him into a farmer. Who’d have thought it ofhim—him so gentle-like and all!... Look at the great red sails! Ain’tshe the wicked-looking ship—and fast?—My!”

  All those two days and a half that the Doctor stayed at the littlefishing-town the people kept asking him out to teas and luncheons anddinners and parties; all the ladies sent him boxes of flowers andcandies; and the village-band played tunes under his window every night.

  At last the Doctor said,

  “Good people, I must go home now. You have really been most kind. Ishall always remember it. But I must go home—for I have things to do.”

 
Then, just as the Doctor was about to leave, the Mayor of the town camedown the street and a lot of other people in grand clothes with him.And the Mayor stopped before the house where the Doctor was living; andeverybody in the village gathered round to see what was going to happen.

  After six page-boys had blown on shining trumpets to make the peoplestop talking, the Doctor came out on to the steps and the Mayor spoke.

  “Doctor John Dolittle,” said he: “It is a great pleasure for me topresent to the man who rid the seas of the Dragon of Barbary thislittle token from the grateful people of our worthy Town.”

  And the Mayor took from his pocket a little tissue-paper packet, andopening it, he handed to the Doctor a perfectly beautiful watch withreal diamonds in the back.

  Then the Mayor pulled out of his pocket a still larger parcel and said,

  “Where is the dog?”

  Then everybody started to hunt for Jip. And at last Dab-Dab found himon the other side of the village in a stable-yard, where all the dogsof the country-side were standing round him speechless with admirationand respect.

  When Jip was brought to the Doctor’s side, the Mayor opened the largerparcel; and inside was a dog-collar made of solid gold! And a greatmurmur of wonder went up from the village-folk as the Mayor bent downand fastened it round the dog’s neck with his own hands.