Chapter 24 Doctor Dolittle in the Moon by Hugh Lofting
DOCTOR DOLITTLE OPENS HIS SURGERY ON THE MOON
Even the garrulous Polynesia was too tired to talk much more that night. For all of us it had been a long and steady session, that interview, tense with excitement. The Moon Man and his Council had barely departed before every one of us was dozing off without a change of clothes or a bite to eat. I am sure that nothing on Earth—or Moon—could have disturbed our slumbers.
The daylight was just beginning to show when we were awakened. I am not certain who was the first to arouse himself (probably John Dolittle), but I do know that I was the first to get up.
What a strange sight! In the dim light hundreds, perhaps thousands, of gigantic insects, all invalids, stood about our camp staring at the tiny human physician who had come so far to cure their ailments. Some of these creatures we had not so far seen and never even suspected their presence on the Moon: caterpillars as long as a village street with gout in a dozen feet; immense beetles suffering from an affliction of the eyes; grasshoppers as tall as a three-storey house with crude bandages on their gawky joints; enormous birds with a wing held painfully in an odd position. The Doctor's home had become once more a clinic; and all the halt and lame of Moon Society had gathered at his door.
The great man, when I finally roused him, swallowed two or three gulps of melon, washed them down with a draft of honey and water, took off his coat and set to work.
Of course the poor little black bag, which had done such yeoman service for many years in many lands, was not equal to a demand like this. The first thing to run out was the supply of bandages. Chee-Chee and I tore up blankets and shirts to make more. Then the embrocation became exhausted; next the iodine and the rest of the antiseptics. But in his botanical studies of the trees and plants of this world the Doctor had observed and experimented with several things which he had found helpful in rheumatic conditions and other medical uses. Chee-Chee and Polynesia were despatched at once to find the herbs and roots and leaves that he wanted.
For hours and hours he worked like a slave. It seemed as though the end of the line of patients would never be reached. But finally he did get the last of them fixed up and despatched. It was only then he realized that the Moon Man had let all the other sufferers come forward ahead of himself. Dusk was coming on. The Doctor peered round the great space about our camp. It was empty, save for a giant figure that squatted silent, motionless and alone, by the forest's edge.
"My goodness!" muttered the Doctor. "I had entirely forgotten him. And he never uttered a word. Well, no one can say he is selfish. That, I fancy, is why he rules here. I must see what is the matter with him at once."
John Dolittle hurried across the open space and questioned the giant. An enormous left leg was stretched out for his examination. Like a fly, the Doctor travelled rapidly up and down it, pinching and squeezing and testing here and there.
"More gout," he said at last with definite decision. "A bad enough case too. Now listen, Otho Bludge."
Then he lectured his big friend for a long time. Mostly it seemed about diet, but there was a great deal concerning anatomy, exercise, dropsy, and starch in it too.
At the end of it the Moon Man seemed quite a little impressed, much happier in his mind and a great deal more lively and hopeful. Finally, after thanking the Doctor at great length, he departed, while the ground shook again beneath his limping tread.
Once more we were all fagged out and desperately sleepy.
"Well," said the Doctor as he arranged his one remaining blanket on his bed, "I think that's about all we can do. To-morrow—or maybe the next day—we will, if all goes well, start back for Puddleby."
"Sh!" whispered Polynesia. "There's some one listening. I'm sure—over there behind those trees."
"Oh, pshaw!" said the Doctor. "No one could hear us at that range."
"Don't forget how sound travels on the Moon," warned the parrot.
"But my goodness!" said the Doctor. "They know we've got to go some time. We can't stay here for ever. Didn't I tell the President himself I had jobs to attend to on the Earth? If I felt they needed me badly enough I wouldn't mind staying quite a while yet. But there's Stubbins here. He came away without even telling his parents where he was going or how long it might be before he returned. I don't know what Jacob Stubbins may be thinking, or his good wife. Probably worried to death. I—"
"Sh!—Sh!—Will you be quiet?" whispered Polynesia again. "Didn't you hear that? I tell you there's some one listening—or I'm a Double Dutchman. Pipe down, for pity's sake. There are ears all round us. Go to sleep!"
We all took the old parrot's advice—only too willingly. And very soon every one of us was snoring.
This time we did not awaken early. We had no jobs to attend to and we took advantage of a chance to snooze away as long as we wished.
It was nearly midday again when we finally got stirring. We were in need of water for breakfast. Getting the water had always been Chee-Chee's job. This morning, however, the Doctor wanted him to hunt up a further supply of medicinal plants for his surgical work. I volunteered therefore to act as water-carrier.
With several vessels which we had made from gourds I started out for the forests.
I had once or twice performed this same office of emergency water-carrier before. I was therefore able on reaching the edge of the jungle to make straight for the place where we usually got our supplies.
I hadn't gone very far before Polynesia overtook me.
"Watch out, Tommy!" said she, in a mysterious whisper as she settled on my shoulder.
"Why?" I asked. "Is anything amiss?"
"I don't quite know," said she. "But I'm uneasy and I wanted to warn you. Listen: that whole crowd that came to be doctored yesterday, you know? Well, not one of them has shown up again since. Why?"
There was a pause.
"Well," said I presently, "I don't see any particular reason why they should. They got their medicine, their treatment. Why should they pester the Doctor further? It's a jolly good thing that some patients leave him alone after they are treated, isn't it?"
"True, true," said she. "Just the same their all staying away the next day looks fishy to me. They didn't all get treated. There's something in it. I feel it in my bones. And besides, I can't find the Moon Man himself. I've been hunting everywhere for him. He too has gone into hiding again, just the same as they all did when we first arrived here.... Well, look out! That's all. I must go back now. But keep your eyes open, Tommy. Good luck!"
I couldn't make head or tail of the parrot's warning and, greatly puzzled, I proceeded on my way to the pool to fill my water-pots.
There I found the Moon Man. It was a strange and sudden meeting. I had no warning of his presence till I was actually standing in the water filling the gourds. Then a movement of one of his feet revealed his immense form squatting in the concealment of the dense jungle. He rose to his feet as soon as he saw that I perceived him.
His expression was not unfriendly—just as usual, a kindly, calm half-smile. Yet I felt at once uneasy and a little terrified. Lame as he was, his speed and size made escape by running out of the question. He did not understand my language, nor I his. It was a lonely spot, deep in the woods. No cry for help would be likely to reach the Doctor's ears.
I was not left long in doubt as to his intentions. Stretching out his immense right hand, he lifted me out of the water as though I were a specimen of some flower he wanted for a collection. Then with enormous strides he carried me away through the forest. One step of his was half-an-hour's journey for me. And yet it seemed as though he put his feet down very softly, presumably in order that his usual thunderous tread should not be heard—or felt—by others.
At length he stopped. He had reached a wide clearing. Jamaro Bumblelily, the same moth that had brought us from the Earth, was waiting. The Moon Man set me down upon the giant insect's back. I heard the low rumble of his voice as he gave some final orders. I had been kidnapped.