Part III Chapter 9 Doctor Dolittle's Garden by Hugh Lofting
SMOKE ON THE MOON
The night following that on which we had finally determined that the Moon Bells could move of their own accord I came into the Doctor's study about nine o'clock. At first I thought there was no one in the room and was about to go out to the kitchen. But presently I heard Polynesia whisper:
"Is that you, Tommy?"
And then I made out Chee-Chee's form also squatting on the floor by the window.
I must confess that by this time I was getting sort of prepared for anything. I had even told my parents that I might leave any day on a voyage for parts unknown. The Doctor had become so—so secretive. Try as hard as I might to keep track of what was going on, I still had an uncomfortable feeling that John Dolittle was making discoveries and plans which he was telling to no one—at least not to me. That feeling had disturbed me a great deal.
"Yes, Polynesia," said I. "This is Tommy. What's going on here?"
"Oh," said she, and I knew at once from the tone of her voice that she was on her guard, "the Doctor is just taking a few observations through his new telescope."
I realized right away that the Doctor was doing nothing of that kind. He was looking through his new telescope, it was true—an instrument which it had cost him just mints of money to buy. He had even kept its purchase a secret from Dab-Dab who always scolded him whenever he laid out large sums on scientific instruments. But I saw at once that he wasn't taking observations.
"What are you doing, Doctor?" I asked, coming up to where he handled the telescope in the dark.
"Oh, well, Stubbins," said he, "I'm—er—I'm trying to see if they're signalling."
"What do you mean—they?—signalling?" I asked.
"Well, you see," said he, "I thought that if they sent down this moth with some sort of a message to me—which I really believe they did—that maybe they, those folk in the Moon—I have no idea yet what sort of creatures they are of course—would possibly give out some sort of signal to get in touch with him and see how his expedition was getting on.... There! Did you see that? I'll swear I saw a puff—a sort of puff of smoke coming out from the Moon's left side. You look in, Stubbins. Maybe I'm dreaming again!"
I looked into the telescope. But I must confess I could see little beyond the ordinary map of the Moon. This I was already somewhat familiar with. The Doctor had several pamphlets issued by various astronomical observatories that gave details and maps of that side of the Moon which was the only one we earthly people had ever seen. He and I had during the last few days studied these with a good deal of interest and attention. The Doctor himself was very familiar, I knew, with everything that had been learned and published on Moon geography up to that time. He seemed disappointed when I told him I could see nothing unusual in the Moon's appearance to-night.
"Strange—very strange!" he muttered. "I could have sworn I saw something—like a cloud, suddenly appearing and then fading away like smoke, on the left side.—But there! This is all new. So much of it is guess work as yet. And I'm always afraid that I'm being carried away by my own ideas and hopes."
I must confess that for my part I felt he had on this occasion been misled, until I happened to meet Too-Too later in the evening, coming off duty from his post on top of the roof. He and Polynesia still took it in turns religiously to watch for intruders visiting the Doctor's premises who might hear of the moth's presence in his garden and carry the news abroad before the Doctor wished it known.
The little owl whispered that he would like to see me alone a minute. I took him on to my shoulder and proceeded upstairs to my room. There, with his usual accurate behaviour in the complete darkness, he found the matches for me, carried them to the candle and rattled them till I found my way to him.
"Shut the door, Tommy," said he mysteriously as soon as I had struck a light, "and take a look outside to make sure no one has followed us."
This I did.
"Well," said I, coming back to where he stood blinking beside the lighted candle, "what is it, Too-Too? Has anyone heard about the moth being here?"
"No," said he. "So far, I think I can say with absolute certainty the moth's presence here is a secret. Though I have serious fears about that gossip Gub-Gub. If he tells any other pigs, you can be sure we'll have all the porkers in the neighbourhood nosing round to see what's going on. But as yet I fancy he hasn't had a chance. That's not the point. What I wanted to see you about was this: Did you happen to look at the Moon at all this evening?"
"Yes," I said, "I looked at it through the Doctor's new telescope. Why?"
"Did you see anything—er—unusual?" he asked.
"No," I said, "I did not. The Doctor asked me the same question. He was sure he had seen something out of the ordinary."
"Ah!" grunted Too-Too. "There you are. I thought so."
"Why, what happened?" I asked.
"Well, you know," said he, "we owls are pretty familiar with the Moon. Her phases are, I suppose, more important to us than to almost any animal family. The light, you understand, for hunting and travelling by night is very important. Well, to-night happened to be the full moon—exactly full at ten o'clock. I was looking up at it thinking how bright it would be in the woods for hunting—too bright in fact—when suddenly I saw a small cloud puff out from the left side, like smoke it was. It didn't last more than a couple of seconds and then it was gone. But—well, I'm sure it was done deliberately."
"How do you mean?" said I.—"By some one in the Moon itself?"
"Well, of course," replied the owl. "I know it most likely sounds crazy to you. But after all, there's no use you and I pretending to one another that we haven't guessed where this moth comes from, is there? We don't have to let the world in on this secret. But—well, after all we know, don't we? If he hasn't come from the Moon, where else could he have come from? And what's he doing here, hanging around in very uncomfortable circumstances? He has come for some purpose, hasn't he?"