Part II Chapter 6 Doctor Dolittle's Circus by Hugh Lofting
THE GRANTCHESTER COACH
After they had waited about a quarter of an hour, Sophie said:
"I hear wheels, Doctor. And look, there are the lights, far down the road."
"Yes," said John Dolittle. "But it isn't the coach we want. That's the Twinborough Express--a green light and a white light. The one we want has two white lights in front. Step back a little further into the shadow of the hedge. Try not to walk on your cloak. You mustn't get it muddy."
A little while after the Twinborough Express had rattled by, along came another.
"Ah!" said the Doctor. "This is ours, the Grantchester coach. Now sit up by the side of the road here and keep perfectly still till I signal the driver. Then I'll lift you in, and let's hope we find a corner seat empty. Is your bonnet on tight?"
"Yes," said Sophie. "But the veil is tickling my nose most awfully. I do hope I don't sneeze."
"So do I," said the Doctor, remembering the cow-like bellow that seals make when they sneeze.
Then John Dolittle stepped out into the middle of the road and stopped the coach. Inside he found three passengers--two men at the far end and an old lady near the door. To his delight, the corner seat opposite the old lady was empty.
Leaving the door open, he ran back and got Sophie and carried her to the coach. The two men at the far end were talking earnestly together about politics. They took little notice as the lame woman was lifted in and made comfortable in the corner seat. But as the Doctor closed the door, and sat beside his companion he noticed that the old lady opposite was very interested in his invalid.
The coach started off, and the Doctor, after making sure that Sophie's feet were not showing below the long cape, got out a newspaper from his pocket. Although the light from the oil lamp overhead was too dim to read by, he spread out the paper before his face and pretended to be deeply absorbed in it.
Presently the old lady leaned forward and tapped Sophie on the knee.
"Excuse me, my dear," she began in a kindly voice.
"Oh, er"--said the Doctor, looking up quickly. "She doesn't talk --er--that is, not any English."
"Has she got far to go?" asked the old lady.
"To Alaska," said the Doctor, forgetting himself--"er--that is, eventually. This journey we're only going to Grantchester."
Wishing people would mind their own business, the Doctor plunged again into his paper as though his life depended on his reading every word.
But the kindly passenger was not easily put off. After a moment she leaned forward once more and tapped the Doctor on the knee.
"Is it rheumatics?" she asked in a whisper, nodding toward Sophie. "I noticed that you had to carry her in, poor dear!"
"Er, not exactly," stammered the Doctor. "Her legs are too short. Can't walk. Can't walk a step. Been that way all her life."
"Dear me!" sighed the old lady. "How sad; how very sad!"
"I'm slipping," whispered Sophie behind her veil. "In a minute I'm going to slide on to the floor."
While the Doctor was putting away his newspaper and getting ready to hitch Sophie up higher, the old lady spoke again;
"What a nice sealskin coat she's wearing!"
Sophie's knee was sticking out through the cloak.
"Yes. She has to be kept warm." said the Doctor, busily wrapping his invalid up. "Most important."
"She'll be your daughter, I suppose?" asked the old lady.
But this time Sophie spoke for herself. A deep roar suddenly shook the carriage. The tickling of the veil had finally made her sneeze. The Doctor was now standing up, but before he could catch her she had slid down on to the floor between his feet.
"She's in pain, poor thing," said the old lady. "Wait till I get out my smelling bottle. She's fainted. I often do it myself, traveling. And this coach does smell something horrible--fishy-like."
Luckily for the Doctor, the old lady then busied herself hunting in her handbag. He was therefore able, while lifting the seal back on to the seat, to place himself in between Sophie and the two men, who were now also showing interest in her.
"Here you are," said the old lady, handing out a silver smelling bottle. "Lift up her veil and hold it under her nose."
"No, thank you," said the Doctor quickly. "All she needs is rest. She's very tired. We'll prop her up snugly in the corner, like this --so. Now let's not talk, and probably she'll soon drop off to sleep."
Well, finally the poor Doctor got the little old lady to mind her own business and keep quiet. And for about an hour and a half the coach continued on its way without anything further happening. But it was quite clear that the men at the other end were puzzled and curious about his invalid. They kept glancing in her direction and talking together in whispers in a way that made him very uneasy.
Presently the coach stopped at a village to change horses. The driver appeared at the door and told the passengers that if they wished to have supper at the inn (in whose yard they had halted) they had half an hour to do so before they went on.
The two men left the coach, eyeing Sophie and the Doctor as they passed on their way out; and soon the old lady followed their example. The driver had now also disappeared and John Dolittle and his companion had the coach to themselves.
"Listen, Sophie," the Doctor whispered. "I'm getting uneasy about those two men. I'm afraid they suspect that you are not what you pretend to be. You stay here now, while I go in and find out if they're traveling any further with us."
Then he strolled into the inn. In the passage he met a serving maid and asked the way to the dining room. She showed him an open door with a screen before it a little way down the passage.
"Supper will be served in a minute," she said. "Just walk in and sit down."
"Thank you," said the Doctor. "By the way, do you happen to know who those two men were who came in off the coach just now?"
"Yes, sir," said the maid. "One of them's the County Constable and the other's Mr. Tuttle, the Mayor of Penchurch."
"Thank you," said the Doctor, and passed on.
Reaching the screen door, he hesitated a moment before entering the dining room. And presently, he heard the voices of the two men seated at a table within on the other side of the screen.
"I tell you," said one in a low tone, there' not the least doubt. They're highwaymen, as sure as you're alive. It's an old trick, disguising as a woman. Did you notice the thick veil? As likely as not it's that rogue, Robert Finch himself. He robbed the Twinborough Express only last month."
"I shouldn't wonder," said the other. "And the short, thick villain will be Joe Gresham, his partner. Now, I'll tell you what we'll do --after supper let's go back and take our seats as though we suspected nothing. Their plan, no doubt, is to wait till the coach is full and has reached a lonely part of the road. Then they'll hold up the passengers--money or your life!--and get away before the alarm can be raised. Have you got your traveling pistols?"
"Yes."
"All right, give me one. Now, when I nudge you--you tear off the man's veil and hold a pistol to his head. I'll take care of the shorter one. Then we'll turn the coach about, drive back and lodge them in the village jail. Understand?"
While the Doctor was still listening the maid came down the passage again with a tray full of dishes, and touched him on the back.
"Go in, sir," she said, "and sit down. I'm just going to serve supper."
"No, thank you," said the Doctor. "I'm not really hungry. I think I'll go out into the air again."
Luckily, on reaching the yard, he found it deserted. The horses had been taken out of the shafts and put into the stable. The new ones had not yet been hitched up to the coach. The Doctor sped across the yard and opened the door.
"Sophie," he whispered, "come out of that. They think we're highwaymen in disguise. Let's get away--quick--while the coast is clear."
Hoisting the seal's huge weight in his arms, the Doctor staggered out of the yard with her. On account of the lateness of the hour there was no one in the road. All was still and quiet but for the rattle of dishes from the inn kitchen and the noise of watching from the stables.
"Now," said he, putting her down, "we haven't far to go. See, this place is the last in the village. Once we reach those fields and get beyond the hedge we should be all right. I'll go ahead and find a place to get through, and you follow along as quick as you can. Give me your cloak and bonnet--that's it. Now you can travel better."
A few minutes later they were safe behind a high hedge, resting in the long grass of a meadow.
"My!" sighed Sophie, stretching herself out. "It's good to be rid of that wretched cloak and veil. I don't like being a lady a bit."
"That was a narrow escape." said the Doctor. "It's a good thing I went in and overheard those men talking. If we had gone on with them in the coach we'd have been caught for sure."
"Aren't you afraid they'll come hunting for us?" asked Sophie.
"Oh, maybe. But they'll never look for us here. They take us for highwaymen, you see. And by the time they discover our escape they'll probably think we've gone miles. We'll wait here till the coach passes and then we needn't worry."
"Well," said Sophie, "even if we are safe it doesn't seem to me we are much better off than we were before."
"But we're this much farther on our way," said the Doctor. "Have patience. We'll do it yet."
"How far have we come now?" asked Sophie.
"That village was Shottlake," said the Doctor. "We've only got eighteen miles more to do to reach Talbot's Bridge."
"Well, but how are we going to travel? I can't walk it, Doctor; I simply can't--not eighteen miles."
"S-h-h! Don't speak so loud," whispered John Dolittle. "They may be snooping around somewhere, looking for us. We'll find a way--don't worry. And, once we reach the river, the worst will be over. We must first wait till the coach goes by, though, before we can stir."
"Poor Slushy!" murmured the Sophie, looking up at the moon. "I wonder how he's getting on . . . will you try to take another coach, Doctor?"
"No. I think we'd better not. They may leave word at the inn and drivers will be on the lookout for a woman of your description."
"Well, I hope they don't find us here," said Sophie. "It doesn't seem to me we're very well concealed. Good heavens! Listen-- a footstep!"
The place where they lay was the corner of a pasture field. Besides the hedge which hid them from the road there was another, on their right, dividing their field from the next. Behind this they now heard a heavy footstep passing up and down.
"Keep still, Sophie!" whispered the Doctor. "Don't move an inch."
Presently the top branches of the hedge began to sway and the crackling of twigs reached their ears.
"Doctor," said Sophie in a frightened whisper, "they've discovered us. There's some one trying to get through the hedge!"
For a moment or two the Doctor was undecided whether to keep still or to run for it. He thought at first that if it was some one out looking for them he might not know exactly where they were, anyway, and would, perhaps, if they kept quiet, go to some other part of the hedge easier to pass through.
But the crackling of branches grew louder--only a few feet away from them. Whoever it was, he seemed determined to enter the field at that place. So, with a whispered word to Sophie, the Doctor sprang up and started off, running across the meadow, with the poor seal flopping along at his side.
On and on they went. Behind them they heard a crash as the hedge gave away, and then heavy footsteps beating the ground in pursuit.
From the sound the pursuer, whoever he was, was gaining on them. And presently the Doctor, fearing that as highwaymen they might be fired upon without warning, turned to look back.
And there, lumbering along behind them, was an old, old plow horse!
"It's all right, Sophie," panted the Doctor halting. "It isn't a man at all. We've had our run for nothing.--Good lord, but I'm blown!"
The horse, seeing them stop, slowed down to a walk, and came ambling toward them in the moonlight. He seemed very decrepit and feeble; and when he came up Sophie saw with great astonishment that he was wearing spectacles.
"Heavens!" cried the Doctor. "It's my old friend from Puddleby. Why didn't you call to me, instead of chasing us across country? We expected you to shoot us in the back any minute."
"Is that John Dolittle's voice I hear?" asked the old horse, peering close into the Doctor's face.
"Yes," said the Doctor. "Can't you see me?"
"Only very mistily," said the plow horse. "My sight's been getting awful bad the last few months. I saw fine for quite a while after you gave me the spectacles. Then I got sold to another farmer, and I left Puddleby to come here. One day I fell on my nose while plowing, and after I got up my spectacles didn't seem to work right at all. I've been almost blind ever since."
"Let me take your glasses off and look at them," said the Doctor. "Perhaps you need your prescription changed."
Then John Dolittle took the spectacles off the old horse and, holding them up to the moon, peered through them, turning them this way and that.
"Why, good gracious!" he cried. "You've got the lenses all twisted. No wonder you couldn't see! That right glass I gave you is quite a strong one. Most important to have them in proper adjustment. I'll soon set them right for you."
"I did take them to the blacksmith who does my shoes," said the old horse, as the Doctor started screwing the glasses around in the frames. "But he only hammered the rims and made them worse then ever. Since I was brought to Shottlake I couldn't come to you about them and, of course, our local vet doesn't understand horse's glasses."
"There, now," said the Doctor, putting the spectacles back on his old friend's nose. "I've fixed them tight, so they can't turn. I think you'll find them all right now."
"Oh, my, yes," said the old horse, a broad smile spreading over his face as he looked through them. "I can see you as plain as day. Goodness! How natural you look--big nose, high hat and all! The sight of you does me good. Why, I can see the blades of grass by moonlight! You've no idea what an inconvenience it is to be shortsighted, if you're a horse. You spend most of your grazing time spitting out the wild garlic that you chew by accident . . . . My, oh, my! You're the only animal doctor there ever was!"