When she flew down to get it, she found one
of the white mice, very frightened, sitting
inside it.
"What are you doing here?" asked the duck.
"You were told to stay behind in Puddleby."
"I didn't want to be left behind," said the
mouse. "I wanted to see what Africa was like
--I have relatives there. So I hid in the baggage
and was brought on to the ship with the
hard-tack. When the ship sank I was terribly
frightened--because I cannot swim far. I
swam as long as I could, but I soon got all
exhausted and thought I was going to sink. And
then, just at that moment, the old man's hat came
floating by; and I got into it because I did not
want to be drowned."
So the duck took up the hat with the mouse in
it and brought it to the Doctor on the shore.
And they all gathered round to have a look.
"That's what you call a `stowaway,'" said the parrot.
Presently, when they were looking for a place
in the trunk where the white mouse could travel
comfortably, the monkey, Chee-Chee, suddenly said,
"Sh! I hear footsteps in the jungle!"
They all stopped talking and listened. And
soon a black man came down out of the woods
and asked them what they were doing there.
"My name is John Dolittle--M. D.," said the
Doctor. "I have been asked to come to Africa
to cure the monkeys who are sick."
"You must all come before the King," said
the black man.
"What king?" asked the Doctor, who didn't
want to waste any time.
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