Part II Chapter 3 Doctor Dolittle's Circus by Hugh Lofting
IN THE DESERTED GARDEN
The Doctor, always fascinated by any kind of a garden, lit his pipe and strolled out of the tool-shed into the moonlight. The neglected appearance of the beds and lawns of this deserted property reminded him of his own beautiful home in Puddleby. There were weeds everywhere. John Dolittle could not abide weeds in flower-beds. He pulled one or two away from the roots of a rose-tree. Further along he found them thicker still, nearly smothering a very fine lavender bush.
"Dear me!" he said, tiptoeing back to the shed for a hoe and a basket. "What a shame to neglect a fine place like this!"
And before long he was weeding away by moonlight like a Trojan-- just as though the garden were his own and no danger threatened him within a thousand miles.
"After all," he muttered to himself as he piled the basket high with dandelions, "we are occupying the place--and rent free at that. This is the least I can do for the landlord."
After he had finished the weeding he would have got the mower and cut the lawn--only that he was afraid the noise might wake the neighbors.
And when, a week later, the owner of the property rented the place to his aunt, that good lady entirely puzzled her nephew by writing to congratulate him on the way he had had his garden kept!
The Doctor, going back to bed after a hard night's work, suddenly discovered that he was hungry. Remembering the apple-trees he had noticed behind a wistaria arbor, he turned back. But no fruit could he find. It had all been gathered or taken by marauding boys. Knowing that he would not be able to move about the garden after daylight came, he then started hunting for vegetables. But in this he had no better luck. So, with the prospect of a foodless day before him to-morrow, he finally went to bed.
In the morning the first thing Sophie said when she woke up was:
"My! I've been dreaming about the dear old sea all night. It's given me a wonderful appetite. Is there anything to eat around, Doctor?"
"I'm afraid not," said John Dolittle. "We'll have to go without breakfast--and lunch, too, I fear. I dare not to try to get out of here by daylight. As soon as it gets dark, though, I may be able to go by myself and bring you some kippers or something from a shop. But I hope that late to-night they'll have given up hunting for you and that we can both make for the open country and get on our way to the sea."
Well, Sophie was very brave and made the best of it. But, as the day wore on they both got ravenously hungry. Somewhere near one o'clock in the afternoon, Sophie, suddenly said:
"Sh! Did you hear that?"
"No," said the Doctor, who was looking for onions in a corner of the shed. "What was it?"
"It's a dog barking in the passage--the other side of the garden wall. Come out from under the bench and you'll hear it. Goodness! I do hope they're not hunting me with dogs now. The game's up if they do."
The Doctor crawled out from under a potting table, came to the door and listened. A low, cautious bark reached his ears from over the wall.
"Good Heavens!" he muttered. "That's Jip's voice. I wonder what he wants."
Not far from the shed there was a thick, branchy pear tree standing close to the wall. Making sure no one saw him from the windows of houses overlooking the garden, the Doctor sped across and got behind the tree.
"What is it, Jip?" he called. "Is anything wrong?"
"Let me in," Jip whispered back. "I can't get over the wall."
"How can I?" said the Doctor. "There's no door and I'm afraid the neighbors may see me if I move out in the open."
"Get a rope and tie a basket on the end," whispered Jip. "Then throw it over the wall behind the tree and I'll get in it. When I bark, pull on the rope and haul me up. Hurry! I don't want to be seen around this passage."
Then the Doctor crept back to the tool shed, found a planting line and tied the garden basket on the end of it.
Returning to the cover of the tree, he threw the basket over the wall, but kept the end of the line in his hand.
Presently a bark sounded from the passage and he started hauling in the rope. When the basket reached the top of the wall on the other side Jip's head appeared.
"Keep the rope tight, but tie it to the tree," he whispered. "Then spread your coat out like an apron. I want you to catch some things."
The Doctor did as he was told. And Jip threw down to him the contents of the basket: four ham sandwiches, a bottle of milk, two herrings, a razor, a piece of soap and a newspaper. Then he threw the empty basket onto the lawn.
"Now catch me," said Jip. "Hold your coat real tight. Ready? One, two, three!"
"My goodness!" said the Doctor, as the dog took the flying dive and landed neatly in the coat. "You could perform in the circus yourself."
"I may take it up some day," said Jip carelessly. "Whereabouts in this place have you been living? In the cellar?"
"No. Over there in the tool shed," whispered the Doctor. "Let's slip across quietly and quickly."
A minute later they were safe in the tool shed, Sophie was gulping a herring and the Doctor was chewing hungrily on a ham sandwich.
"You're a marvel, Jip," said he with his mouth full. "But how did you know we were here--and in need of food? Both of us were just starving."
"Well," said Jip, throwing the seal another herring, "after Sophie got out of the gate the excitement still went on inside the circus. Blossom and his men hunted around all night. Then we decided, from the people's heads popping out of the windows, that the town, too, was pretty much disturbed by the rumpus. Too-Too was awfully worried.
"'I do hope,' he kept saying, 'that the Doctor has not tried to get out into the country. He'll surely be caught if he has. The thing for him to do for the present is to hide.'
"So, all night long we sat up expecting any minute to see you and Sophie dragged back into the circus. Well, morning came and still you hadn't been captured--and, as far as I know, nobody suspects that you, Doctor, have had anything to do with it. But the circus folk were still searching even when daylight came, and Too-Too kept fussing and worrying. So I said to him, I said:
"'I'll soon tell you if the Doctor is still in Ashby or not.'
"And I went off on a tour of inspection. It was a damp morning and a good one for smelling. I made a circular trip right round the outside of the town. I knew that if you had left it by any means except flying I could pick up your scent. But nowhere did I cross the Dolittle trail. So I went back to Too-Too and I said:
"'The Doctor hasn't left Ashby yet--unless he went by balloon.'
"'Good,' says he. 'Then he's safe in hiding some place. He's got wits, has the Doctor--in some things. Now, nose him out--and come back and tell me where he is. In the mean time I'll have some food got ready for him. Both he and the seal will be hungry. They've neither of them had a thing probably since noon yesterday, and they'll certainly have to stay where they are till late-to-night.'
"So then I went smelling around inside the town and picked up your incoming trail from where the coach stops. And it led me first, as I expected, by roundabout side streets to the dark passage. But from there, to my surprise, it didn't go on--just stopped dead. Sophie's didn't go on any further either. Well, I knew you couldn't have crept down a rat hole or flown up in the air; and for a couple of minutes I was absolutely fogged. Then, suddenly, I got a whiff of tobacco smoke coming over the wall--I know the brand you smoke --and I was certain you were in the garden. But, if you ask me, I should say that both of you are pretty fine jumpers."
The Doctor laughed as he started on a second sandwich, and even Sophie, wiping her fishy whiskers with the back of her flipper, smiled broadly.
"We didn't jump the wall, Jip," said John Dolittle. "We used that ladder over there. But how did you get this food here without being seen?"
"It wasn't easy," said Jip, "not by any means. Too-Too and Dab-Dab made up the sandwiches, and we got Sophie's herrings from Higgins' fish pail. The milk was delivered at our wagon by the usual dairyman. Then Too-Too said you'd surely like to see a newspaper--to pass the time--if you had to stay here all day; and I chose The Morning Gazette, which is the one we had often seen you reading. Then the white mouse said not to forget your razor and soap, because you hated to go without shaving. And we put them in. But all this stuff together weighted quite a lot--too much for me to carry in one trip. So I made two, hiding the first load behind an ash barrel in the passage till I could fetch the second. On the first journey I got stopped by an old woman--you see, I had the things rolled up in the newspaper, so they wouldn't look so noticeable. 'Oh, my,' said the old lady, 'look at the nice doggie carrying the newspaper for his master! Come here, clever doggie!'
"Well, I gave the old frump the slip and got away from her all right. And then on the second trip I met some more idiots--dog idiots. They caught the scent of the herrings I was carrying for Sophie and started following me in droves. I ran all round the town trying to get away from them and nearly lost the luggage more than once. Finally I put my package down and fought the whole bunch of them. --No, it wasn't an easy job."
"Goodness!" said the Doctor, finishing his last sandwich and opening the milk. "It's wonderful to have such friends. I'm awfully glad you thought of the razor. I'm getting terribly bristly around the chin. --Oh, but I haven't any water."
"You must use milk," said Jip. "Steady! Don't drink it all. We thought of that, too, you see."
"Humph," said the Doctor setting down the half empty bottle. "That's an idea. I never shaved with milk before. Ought to be splendid for the complexion. You don't drink it, Sophie, do you? No. Oh, well, now we're all fixed up."
And he took off his collar and began to shave.
After he had finished, Jip said:
"Well, I must be leaving, Doctor. I promised them at the caravan I'd come and let them know how everything was going with you as soon as I could. If you don't succeed in getting away to-night I'll be back again the same time to-morrow, with some more grub. The townsfolk have pretty much calmed down. But Higgins and Blossom haven't given up the hunt yet by any means. So you will be careful, won't you? You're all safe and snug here. Better stay two days--or even three more, if necessary, rather than run for it too soon and get caught."
"All right, Jip," said the Doctor. "We'll be careful. Thank you ever so much for coming. Remember me to everyone."
"Me, too," said Sophie.
"And tell Too-Too and the rest we are ever so grateful for their help," the Doctor added as he opened the door of the shed.
Then they slipped across to the pear tree again. And after he had climbed into the branches of it, the Doctor poked Jip, inside the basket, over the wall and let him down on the string into the passage.
Nothing further of excitement happened for some hours. And though, from time to time, they heard the voices of people hunting for them in the passage and the streets around, a pleasant afternoon was spent by the two fugitives, the Doctor reading the paper and Sophie lolling thoughtfully on her bed.
After darkness began to fall John Dolittle could no longer see to read; so he and Sophie took to chattering over plans in low tones.
"Do you think we'll be able to get away to-night, Doctor?" asked Sophie. "Surely, they'll have given up hunting me by then, won't they?"
"I hope so," said the Doctor. "As soon as it's dark I'll go out into the garden and see if I hear anything. I know how anxious you are to be getting along on your trip. But try and be patient."
About half an hour later the Doctor took the ladder, and mounting near the top of the garden wall, he listened long and carefully.
When he came back to Sophie in the tool shed he was shaking his head.
"There are still an awful lot of people moving about in the streets," he said. "But whether they are circus men hunting you, or just ordinary townsfolk walking abroad, I can't make out. We'd better wait a while longer, I think."
"Oh, dear!" sighed Sophie. "Are we never going to get further than this garden? Poor Slushy! I'm so worried."
And she began to weep softly in the darkness of the shed.
After another hour had gone by the Doctor went out again. This time, just as he was about to climb the ladder, he heard Jip was whispering to him on the other side of the wall.
"Doctor, are you there?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"Listen! Higgins and the boss have gone off somewhere with a wagon. Blossom just came and told Matthew to take on some extra jobs with the circus because he wouldn't back for a while. Too-Too thinks it's a grand chance for you to make a dash for it and get out of the town. Start in an hour, when the circus is in full swing and the men are all busy. Have you got that?"
"Yes, I heard you. Thank you, Jip. All right. We'll leave in an hour." And the Doctor looked at his watch. "Which way did Blossom go?"
"East--toward Grimbledon. Swizzle followed them out a ways and came back and told us. You make for the West. Turn to the left at the end of this passage and then double to the left again at the next corner. It's a dark by-street and it leads you out onto the Dunwich Road. Once you reach that you'll be all right. There aren't many houses on it and you'll be in the open country in no time. I'm leaving some more sandwiches here in the passage for you. Pick them up on your way out. Can you hear me?"
"Yes, I understand," whispered the Doctor. Then he ran back to the shed with the good news.
Poor Sophie, when she heard they were to leave that night, stood up on her tail and clapped her flippers with joy.
"Now, listen," said the Doctor: "if we meet any one on the street-- and we are pretty sure to--you lie down by the wall and pretend you're a sack I'm carrying--that I'm taking a rest, you see. Try and look as much like a sack as you can. Understand?"
"All right," said Sophie, "I'm frightfully excited. See how my flippers are fluttering."
"Well, the Doctor kept an eye on his watch; and long before the hour had passed he and Sophie were waiting at the foot of the ladder ready and impatient.
Finally, after looking at the time once more, the Doctor whispered:
"All right, I think we can start now. Let me go first, so I can steady the ladder for you, the way I did before."
But, alas, for poor Sophie's hopes! Just as the Doctor was half way up, the noise of distant barking, deep-voiced and angry, broke out.
John Dolittle paused on the ladder, frowning. The barking, many dogs baying together, drew nearer.
"What's that?" said Sophie in a tremulous whisper from below. "That's not Jip or any of our dogs."
"No," said the Doctor, climbing down slowly. "There's no mistaking that sound. Sophie, something's gone wrong. That's the baying of bloodhounds--bloodhounds on a scent. And they're coming-- this way!"