TEXT: Chapter 14 The rats´ warning

THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER

THE RATS' WARNING

DRAGGING a ship through the sea is hard work. And after
two or three hours the swallows began to get tired in the
wings and short of breath. Then they sent a message
down to the Doctor to say that they would have
to take a rest soon; and that they would pull the
boat over to an island not far off, and hide it in
a deep bay till they had got breath enough to go on.

And presently the Doctor saw the island they
had spoken of. It had a very beautiful, high,
green mountain in the middle of it.

When the ship had sailed safely into the bay
where it could not be seen from the open sea,
the Doctor said he would get off on to the island
to look for water--because there was none left
to drink on his ship. And he told all the animals
to get out too and romp on the grass to
stretch their legs.

Now as they were getting off, the Doctor
noticed that a whole lot of rats were coming up
from downstairs and leaving the ship as well.
Jip started to run after them, because chasing
rats had always been his favorite game. But
the Doctor told him to stop.

And one big black rat, who seemed to want
to say something to the Doctor, now crept forward
timidly along the rail, watching the dog
out of the corner of his eye. And after he had
coughed nervously two or three times, and
cleaned his whiskers and wiped his mouth, he
said,

"Ahem--er--you know of course that all
ships have rats in them, Doctor, do you not?"

And the Doctor said, "Yes."

"And you have heard that rats always leave
a sinking ship?"

"Yes," said the Doctor--"so I've been told."

"People," said the rat, "always speak of it
with a sneer--as though it were something dis-
graceful. But you can't blame us, can you?
After all, who WOULD stay on a sinking ship, if
he could get off it?"

"It's very natural," said the Doctor--"very
natural. I quite understand.... Was there--
Was there anything else you wished to say?"

"Yes," said the rat. "I've come to tell you
that we are leaving this one. But we wanted to
warn you before we go. This is a bad ship
you have here. It isn't safe. The sides aren't
strong enough. Its boards are rotten. Before
to-morrow night it will sink to the bottom of
the sea."

"But how do you know?" asked the Doctor.

"We always know," answered the rat. "The
tips of our tails get that tingly feeling--like
when your foot's asleep. This morning, at six
o'clock, while I was getting breakfast, my tail
suddenly began to tingle. At first I thought it
was my rheumatism coming back. So I went
and asked my aunt how she felt--you remember
her?--the long, piebald rat, rather skinny, who
came to see you in Puddleby last Spring with
jaundice? Well--and she said HER tail was
tingling like everything! Then we knew, for
sure, that this boat was going to sink in less than
two days; and we all made up our minds to
leave it as soon as we got near enough to any
land. It's a bad ship, Doctor. Don't sail in
it any more, or you'll be surely drowned....
Good-by! We are now going to look for a good
place to live on this island."

"Good-by!" said the Doctor. "And thank
you very much for coming to tell me. Very
considerate of you--very! Give my regards to
your aunt. I remember her perfectly....
Leave that rat alone, Jip! Come here! Lie down!"

So then the Doctor and all his animals went
off, carrying pails and saucepans, to look for
water on the island, while the swallows took
their rest.

"I wonder what is the name of this island,"
said the Doctor, as he was climbing up the
mountainside. "It seems a pleasant place.
What a lot of birds there are!"

"Why, these are the Canary Islands," said
Dab-Dab. "Don't you hear the canaries singing?"

The Doctor stopped and listened.

"Why, to be sure--of course!" he said.
"How stupid of me! I wonder if they can tell
us where to find water."

And presently the canaries, who had heard all
about Doctor Dolittle from birds of passage,
came and led him to a beautiful spring of cool,
clear water where the canaries used to take their
bath; and they showed him lovely meadows
where the bird-seed grew and all the other
sights of their island.

And the pushmi-pullyu was glad they had
come; because he liked the green grass so much
better than the dried apples he had been eating
on the ship. And Gub-Gub squeaked for joy
when he found a whole valley full of wild
sugarcane.

A little later, when they had all had plenty
to eat and drink, and were lying on their backs
while the canaries sang for them, two of the swallows
came hurrying up, very flustered and excited.

"Doctor!" they cried, "the pirates have come
into the bay; and they've all got on to your ship.
They are downstairs looking for things to steal.
They have left their own ship with nobody on
it. If you hurry and come down to the shore,
you can get on to their ship--which is very fast
--and escape. But you'll have to hurry."

"That's a good idea," said the Doctor--"splendid!"

And he called his animals together at once,
said Good-by to the canaries and ran down to the beach.

When they reached the shore they saw the
pirate-ship, with the three red sails, standing in
the water; and--just as the swallows had said
--there was nobody on it; all the pirates were
downstairs in the Doctor's ship, looking for
things to steal.

So John Dolittle told his animals to walk very
softly and they all crept on to the pirate-ship.