Has he been drowned?"
"His fishing-sloop was sunk," said the
porpoises--"for we saw it lying on the bottom of
the sea. But there was nobody inside it, because
we went and looked."
"His little nephew is on the ship with me
here," said the Doctor. "And he is terribly
afraid that the pirates threw his uncle into the
sea. Would you be so good as to find out for
me, for sure, whether he has been drowned or
not?"
"Oh, he isn't drowned," said the porpoises.
"If he were, we would be sure to have heard of
it from the deep-sea Decapods. We hear all
the salt-water news. The shell-fish call us `The
Ocean Gossips.' No--tell the little boy we are
sorry we do not know where his uncle is; but
we are quite certain he hasn't been drowned in
the sea."
So the Doctor ran downstairs with the news
and told the nephew, who clapped his hands
with happiness. And the pushmi-pullyu took the
little boy on his back and gave him a ride round
the dining-room table; while all the other animals
followed behind, beating the dish-covers
with spoons, pretending it was a parade.
THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER
SMELLS
YOUR uncle must now be FOUND," said the Doctor--"that is the
next thing--now that we know he wasn't thrown into the sea."
Then Dab-Dab came up to him again and whispered,
"Ask the eagles to look for the man. No living
creature can see better than an eagle. When they
are miles high in the air they can count the ants
crawling on the ground.
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