And now the animals gave up chattering and
sat around silent, anxious and miserable. The
little boy again grew sad. And on Jip's face
there was a worried look.
At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun
was going down, the owl, Too-Too, who
was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly
startled them all by crying out at the top of his
voice,
"Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front
of us--look--way out there where the sky and
the water meet. See the sun shine on it--like
gold! Is the smell coming from there?"
And Jip called back,
"Yes. That's it. That is where the man is.
--At last, at last!"
And when they got nearer they could see that
the rock was very large--as large as a big field.
No trees grew on it, no grass--nothing. The
great rock was as smooth and as bare as the back
of a tortoise.
Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round
the rock. But nowhere on it could a man be
seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes
and looked as hard as they could; and John
Dolittle got a telescope from downstairs.
But not one living thing could they spy--
not even a gull, nor a star-fish, nor a shred of
sea-weed.
They all stood still and listened, straining
their ears for any sound. But the only noise
they heard was the gentle lapping of the little
waves against the sides of their ship.
Then they all started calling, "Hulloa, there!
--HULLOA!" till their voices were hoarse.
But only the echo came back from the rock.
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