Part I Chapter 5 Doctor Dolittle's Return by Hugh Lofting
I SEND FOR HELP
The Doctor's little house on the Oxenthorpe Road had in its time seen many days and nights of excitement and thrill. But I don't believe that it ever saw anything quite as uproarious and crazy as it did now. All the animals asked me a question at once, and, without waiting for an answer, aske'd me another. When they were not asking questions they were chattering and cheering or giving advice, or just singing for sheer joy. And I must admit I was pretty well excited myself.
"Cheapside," I said, "fly over to Matthew Mugg's house, will you? He'll be in bed, but tap on his window and wake him up. Point to the moon. He'll understand. Get him to come here right away. Bring him in his nightshirt if necessary, but get him here. I may need his help."
"Okay!" chirped the sparrow, and with a flirt of his wings he was under way.
"How long do you think it will be before the Doctor gets here?" asked Gub-Gub. "What will he do if a storm comes up? Will he be hungry? Yes, of course he will. I'll go and dig up some of the spring onions at once."
"Listen, Tommy," said the white mouse. "What will he be wearing? Most likely his clothes will be all in rags after this long time, won't they? I'll go and thread some needles for him right away."
Dab-Dab was a changed duck. Instead of carrying her usual look of seriousness, care, and responsibility, she was now weeping and smiling at the same time.
"Just to think of it!" she kept muttering. "The dear man! On his way back at last! Which room shall we put him in, Tommy—his old one? It's the only large bedroom, facing East—and he always did like to wake up with the morning sun on the windows, you know. You've got it full of dried plants and specimens. But no matter, we'll soon clear it. I'll go and make his bed up."
"There is no hurry about that, Dab-Dab," I said. "He can't get down to the earth for many hours yet."
The eclipse was nearly over now. We waited a few minutes—just to make sure we did not miss any further signals. Then, after the shadow had cleared away entirely and the moon sailed the sky again in all her glory, we went down into the house.
"Listen, everybody," I said when we were gathered in the kitchen: "you know we agreed to keep the Doctor's visit to the moon a secret. And we have. That is one of the reasons why I have hardly left the house since I came back to you—I did not want to be asked questions by people I might meet. Now it is more important than ever that we say nothing—nothing to any living thing, you understand—of John Dolittle's return. Do not speak of it even to your animal friends or we shall have a string of cows and dogs and horses a mile long waiting at the gate to greet him. That will attract the attention of people and the Doctor will get no peace day or night. He may be very much in need of rest and sleep when he arrives. So remember: not a word."
"Tommy," Jip whispered, "you're not fearing he'll be sick when he gets here, are you?"
"I'm not fearing anything, Jip," I answered. "But on the other hand I don't know what to expect. The journey down here is a very trying and hard one, as I told you. The changes of air and gravity and climate are awfully sudden and disturbing. John Dolittle has been more than a year on the moon. I was only up there a short time. It may be much more difficult for him to get used to the earth again than it was for me. I would feel happier if I had another doctor here in case he needs medical care. But Matthew will be along presently. I'll be able to send him into the town if we need anything."
"But everything will be all shut up now, Tommy," said he. "It's nearly midnight."
"I doubt if we shall see the Doctor before tomorrow night, Jip," I said. "Even at the tremendous speed that the giant moth travels, it takes a long time. Then again he may not leave immediately after signalling. He may wait a while. I have an idea he chose the time of the eclipse for some special reason. Too-Too, would you please see how much money I have?"
"Yes, Tommy," said the owl, "right away."
In those days we only had metal money, copper, silver and gold, except for large amounts. What I had saved I kept in the same old money-box the Doctor used. It stood in the same place, too—on the dresser shelf in the kitchen. Too-Too, who had always been a wizard at mathematics, now emptied the money-box into a flat dish and began to count up the coins.
"If he arrives in the daylight," said Jip, "what shall we do then?—I mean about people seeing him land. How are we going to keep it a secret?"
"I imagine the Doctor will think of that himself," I said. "Most likely he will time his departure from the moon so as to land here in the dark. I think, Jip, we had better arrange for some one to stay on watch at the trap-door till the moon sets. Will you go?"
"Certainly," said Jip, and he made for the stairs.
"Tommy," called Too-Too from the dresser, "you have here exactly seven shillings and four-pence ha'penny. Let's see: you've had your job five weeks now. That means you've saved eighteenpence a week. Not bad, Tommy, not bad."
"No," I said; "I didn't think I had so much. Well, we'll need it—and maybe a good deal more."
There came a familiar tap-tap at the window-pane.
"Cheapside!" said the white mouse.
I let him in.
"You didn't take long," I said. "Did you find Matthew?"
"Yes," said the sparrow. "'E's comin' right along be'ind me. I can fly much quicker, see? So I come on ahead."
It was not many minutes after Cheapside's return that Gub-Gub came in from the kitchen garden. He had a beautiful bunch of spring onions which he had gathered.
"I do love digging up onions by moonlight," said he. "There's something so poetic about it. Listen, Tommy, I saw Matthew's figure from the gate, way down the road, coming here on the run."
At that moment Matthew burst into the room.
"Tommy!" he cried, all out of breath. "You don't mean to say you got the signal!"
"That's it, Matthew," I said. "We all saw it—twice—two distinct puffs of smoke. Isn't it grand?"
"Why, I should say it is!" said the Cats'-meat-Man, sinking into a chair. "I run all the way 'ere. Ain't done such a thing since I was a boy. I thought it was Cheapside, but then I couldn't be sure, because all sparrers look alike to me. Me and Theodosia 'ad gone to bed; but that blinkin' little bird woke us up—kept peckin' at the glass and pointin' to the moon. My, I wish I could talk these bird languages, the same as you can! But at last I tumbled to the idea and I jumps into me clothes like a fireman and 'ere I am. 'Ow soon do yer expect the Doctor?"
"I can't tell, Matthew. My guess is some time to-morrow night. But I wanted to have you here right away to help me if necessary. You don't mind, do you?"
"I'm deelighted, Tommy, deelighted! I wouldn't miss being 'ere to welcome the Doctor, not for nothin' in the world."
All the animals were far too excited to go to bed that night. They kept skipping in and out of the house, peering at the moon. Matthew Mugg sat up with me in the kitchen, where we talked till the dawn showed in the east windows.