TEXT: Chapter 6 - Polynesia and the King

THE SIXTH CHAPTER

POLYNESIA AND THE KING

WHEN they had gone a little way through
the thick forest they came to a wide, clear
space; and they saw the King's palace which
was made of mud.

This was where the King lived with his
Queen, Ermintrude, and their son, Prince
Bumpo.  The Prince was away fishing for salmon
in the river.  But the King and Queen
were sitting under an umbrella before the palace
door.  And Queen Ermintrude was asleep.

When the Doctor had come up to the palace
the King asked him his business; and the Doctor
told him why he had come to Africa.

"You may not travel through my lands," said
the King.  "Many years ago a white man came
to these shores; and I was very kind to him.
But after he had dug holes in the ground to get
the gold, and killed all the elephants to get their
ivory tusks, he went away secretly in his ship--
without so much as saying `Thank you.' Never
again shall a white man travel through the lands
of Jolliginki."  

Then the King turned to some of the black
men who were standing near and said, "Take
away this medicine-man--with all his animals,
and lock them up in my strongest prison."  

So six of the black men led the Doctor and
all his pets away and shut them up in a stone
dungeon.  The dungeon had only one little window,
high up in the wall, with bars in it; and
the door was strong and thick.

Then they all grew very sad; and Gub-Gub,
the pig, began to cry.  But Chee-Chee said he
would spank him if he didn't stop that horrible
noise; and he kept quiet.

"Are we all here?" asked the Doctor, after
he had got used to the dim light.

"Yes, I think so," said the duck and started
to count them.

"Where's Polynesia?" asked the crocodile.
"She isn't here."  

"Are you sure?" said the Doctor.  "Look again.
Polynesia!  Polynesia!  Where are you?"

"I suppose she escaped," grumbled the crocodile.
"Well, that's just like her!--Sneaked off into
the jungle as soon as her friends got into trouble."  

"I'm not that kind of a bird," said the parrot,
climbing out of the pocket in the tail of the
Doctor's coat.  "You see, I'm small enough to
get through the bars of that window; and I was
afraid they would put me in a cage instead.
So while the King was busy talking, I hid in
the Doctor's pocket--and here I am!  That's
what you call a `ruse,'" she said, smoothing
down her feathers with her beak.

"Good Gracious!" cried the Doctor.
"You're lucky I didn't sit on you."  

"Now listen," said Polynesia, "to-night, as
soon as it gets dark, I am going to creep through
the bars of that window and fly over to the
palace.  And then--you'll see--I'll soon find
a way to make the King let us all out of prison."  

"Oh, what can YOU do?" said Gub-Gub,
turning up his nose and beginning to cry again.
"You're only a bird!"

"Quite true," said the parrot.  "But do not
forget that although I am only a bird, I CAN TALK
LIKE A MAN--and I know these people."  

So that night, when the moon was shining
through the palm-trees and all the King's men
were asleep, the parrot slipped out through the
bars of the prison and flew across to the palace.
The pantry window had been broken by a tennis
ball the week before; and Polynesia popped
in through the hole in the glass.

She heard Prince Bumpo snoring in his bed-
room at the back of the palace.  Then she tip-
toed up the stairs till she came to the King's
bedroom.  She opened the door gently and
peeped in.

The Queen was away at a dance that night
at her cousin's; but the King was in bed fast
asleep.

Polynesia crept in, very softly, and got under
the bed.

Then she coughed--just the way Doctor
Dolittle used to cough.  Polynesia could mimic
any one.

The King opened his eyes and said sleepily:
"Is that you, Ermintrude?" (He thought it
was the Queen come back from the dance.)

Then the parrot coughed again--loud, like a
man.  And the King sat up, wide awake, and
said, "Who's that?"

"I am Doctor Dolittle," said the parrot--just
the way the Doctor would have said it.

"What are you doing in my bedroom?" cried
the King.  "How dare you get out of prison!
Where are you?--I don't see you."  

But the parrot just laughed--a long, deep
jolly laugh, like the Doctor's.

"Stop laughing and come here at once, so I
can see you," said the King.

"Foolish King!" answered Polynesia.  "Have
you forgotten that you are talking to John
Dolittle, M.D.--the most wonderful man on earth?
Of course you cannot see me.  I have made myself
invisible.  There is nothing I cannot do.
Now listen: I have come here to-night to warn
you.  If you don't let me and my animals travel
through your kingdom, I will make you and all
your people sick like the monkeys.  For I can
make people well: and I can make people ill--
just by raising my little finger.  Send your
soldiers at once to open the dungeon door, or you
shall have mumps before the morning sun has
risen on the hills of Jolliginki."  

Then the King began to tremble and was
very much afraid.

"Doctor," he cried, "it shall be as you say.
Do not raise your little finger, please!"  And he
jumped out of bed and ran to tell the soldiers
to open the prison door.

As soon as he was gone, Polynesia crept
downstairs and left the palace by the pantry window.

But the Queen, who was just letting herself
in at the backdoor with a latch-key, saw the par-
rot getting out through the broken glass.  And
when the King came back to bed she told him
what she had seen.

Then the King understood that he had been
tricked, and he was dreadfully angry.  He hurried
back to the prison at once

But he was too late.  The door stood open.
The dungeon was empty.  The Doctor and all
his animals were gone.