then the doctor and zuzana started to paddle their canoe for all they were worth in the direction of the light. the night was calm, but the long swell of the ocean swung the little canoe up and down like a seesaw and it needed all zuzana's skill to keep it in a straight line.
after about an hour had gone by the doctor noticed that the ship they were trying to reach was no longer coming toward them, but seemed to have stopped. and when he finally came up beneath its towering shape in the darkness he saw the reason why—the man-o'-war had run into his own ship, which he had left at anchor with no lights. however, the navy vessel had fortunately been going so carefully that no serious damage, it seemed, had been done to either ship.
finding a rope ladder hanging on the side of the man-o'-war, john dolittle climbed up it, with zuzana, and went aboard to see the captain.
he found the captain strutting the quarterdeck, mumbling to himself.
"good evening," said the doctor politely. "nice weather we're having."
the captain came up to him and shook his fist in his face.
"are you the owner of that noah's ark down there?" he stormed, pointing to the other ship alongside.
"er—yes—temporarily," said the doctor. "why?"
"well, will you be so good," snarled the captain, his face all out of shape with rage, "as to tell me what in thunder you mean by leaving your old junk at anchor on a dark night without any lights? what kind of a sailor are you? here i bring her majesty's latest cruiser after jimmie bones, the slave trader—been hunting him for weeks, i have—and, as though the beastly coast wasn't difficult enough as it is, i bump into a craft riding at anchor with no lights. luckily, i was going slow, taking soundings, or we might have gone down with all hands. i hallooed to your ship and got no answer. so i go aboard her, with pistols ready, thinking maybe she's a slaver, trying to play tricks on me. i creep all over the ship, but not a soul do i meet. at last in the cabin i find a pig—asleep in an armchair! do you usually leave your craft in the charge of a pig, with orders to go to sleep? if you own the ship, why aren't you on her? where have you been?"
"'where have you been?'"
"i was out canoeing with a lady," said the doctor, and he smiled comfortingly at zuzana, who was beginning to weep again.
"canoeing with a lady!" spluttered the captain. "well, i'll be——"
"yes," said the doctor. "let me introduce you. this is zuzana, captain—er——"
but the captain interrupted him by calling for a sailor, who stood near.
"i'll teach you to leave noah's arks at anchor on the high seas for the navy to bump into, my fine deep-sea philanderer! think the shipping laws are made for a joke? here," he turned to the sailor, who had come in answer to his call, "master-at-arms, put this man under arrest."
"aye, aye, sir," said the master-at-arms. and before the doctor knew it he had handcuffs fastened firmly on his wrists.
"but this lady was in distress," said the doctor. "i was in such a hurry i forgot all about lighting the ship. in fact, it wasn't dark yet when i left."
"take him below!" roared the captain. "take him below before i kill him."
and the poor doctor was dragged away by the master-at-arms toward a stair leading to the lower decks. but at the head of the stairs he caught hold of the handrail and hung on long enough to shout back to the captain:
"i could tell you where jimmie bones is, if i wanted to."
"what's that?" snorted the captain. "here, bring him back! what was that you said?"
"i said," murmured the doctor, getting his handkerchief out and blowing his nose with his handcuffed hands, "that i could tell you where jimmie bones is—if i wanted to."
"jimmie bones, the slaver?" cried the captain. "that's the man the government has sent me after. where is he?"
"my memory doesn't work very well while my hands are tied," said the doctor quietly, nodding toward the handcuffs. "possibly if you took these things off i might remember."
"oh, excuse me," said the captain, his manner changing at once. "master-at-arms, release the prisoner."
"aye, aye, sir," said the sailor, removing the handcuffs from the doctor's wrists and turning to go.
"oh, and by the way," the captain called after him, "bring a chair up on deck. perhaps our visitor is tired."
then john dolittle told the captain the whole story of zuzana and her troubles. and all the other officers on the ship gathered around to listen.
"and i have no doubt," the doctor ended, "that this slaver who took away the woman's husband was no other than jimmie bones, the man you are after."
"quite so," said the captain. "i know he is somewhere around the coast. but where is he now? he's a difficult fish to catch."
"he has gone northward," said the doctor. "but your ship is fast and should be able to overtake him. if he hides in some of these bays and creeks i have several birds here with me who can, as soon as it is light, seek him out for us and tell us where he is."
the captain looked with astonishment into the faces of his listening officers, who all smiled unbelievingly.
"what do you mean—birds?" the captain asked. "pigeons—trained canaries, or something?"
"no," said the doctor, "i mean the swallows who are going back to england for the summer. they very kindly offered to guide my ship home. they're friends of mine, you see."
this time the officers all burst out laughing and tapped their foreheads knowingly, to show they thought the doctor was crazy. and the captain, thinking he was being made a fool of, flew into a rage once more and was all for having the doctor arrested again.
but the officer who was second in command whispered in the captain's ear:
"why not take the old fellow along and let him try, sir? our course was northward, anyway. i seem to remember hearing something, when i was attached to the home fleet, about an old chap in the west counties who had some strange powers with beasts and birds. i have no doubt this is he. dolittle, he was called. he seems harmless enough. there's just a chance he may be of some assistance to us. the natives evidently trust him or the woman wouldn't have come with him—you know how scared they are of putting to sea with a white man."
after a moment's thought the captain turned to the doctor again.
"you sound clean crazy to me, my good man. but if you can put me in the way of capturing jimmie bones the slaver i don't care what means you use to do it. as soon as the day breaks we will get under way. but if you are just amusing yourself at the expense of her majesty's navy i warn you it will be the worst day's work for yourself you ever did. now go and put riding lights on that ark of yours and tell the pig that if he lets them go out he shall be made into rashers of bacon for the officers' mess."
there was much laughter and joking as the doctor climbed over the side and went back to his own ship to get his lights lit. but the next morning when he came back to the man-o'-war—and about a thousand swallows came with him—the officers of her majesty's navy were not nearly so inclined to make fun of him.
the sun was just rising over the distant coast of africa and it was as beautiful a morning as you could wish to see.
speedy-the-skimmer had arranged plans with the doctor overnight. and long before the great warship pulled up her anchor and swung around upon her course the famous swallow leader was miles ahead, with a band of picked hunters, exploring up creeks and examining all the hollows of the coast where the slave trader might be hiding.
speedy had agreed with the doctor upon a sort of overhead telegraph system to be carried on by the swallows. and as soon as the millions of little birds had spread themselves out in a line along the coast, so that the sky was speckled with them as far as the eye could reach, they began passing messages, by whistling to one another, all the way from the scouts in front back to the doctor on the warship, to give news of how the hunt was progressing.
"the birds spread themselves out along the coast"
and somewhere about noon word came through that bones's slave ship had been sighted behind a long, high cape. great care must be taken, the message said, because the slave ship was in all readiness to sail at a moment's notice. the slavers had only stopped to get water and look-outs were posted to warn them to return at once, if necessary.
when the doctor told this to the captain the man-o'-war changed her course still closer inshore, to keep behind the cover of the long cape. all the sailors were warned to keep very quiet, so the navy ship could sneak up on the slaver unawares.
now, the captain, expecting the slavers to put up a fight, also gave orders to get the guns ready. and just as they were about to round the long cape one of the silly gunners let a gun off by accident.
"boom!" ... the shot went rolling and echoing over the silent sea like angry thunder.
instantly back came word over the swallows' telegraph line that the slavers were warned and were escaping. and, sure enough, when the warship rounded the cape at last, there was the slave ship putting out to sea, with all sail set and a good ten-mile start on the man-o'-war.
