And the swallows
up above started whistling at the top of their
voices--thousands and millions of them--to
show that they too were glad that the boy's brave
uncle had been found. The noise they made
was so great that sailors far out at sea thought
that a terrible storm was coming. "Hark to
that gale howling in the East!" they said.
And Jip was awfully proud of himself--
though he tried hard not to look conceited.
When Dab-Dab came to him and said, "Jip, I
had no idea you were so clever!" he just tossed
his head and answered,
"Oh, that's nothing special. But it takes a
dog to find a man, you know. Birds are no good
for a game like that."
Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman
where his home was. And when he had
told him, the Doctor asked the swallows to guide
the ship there first.
And when they had come to the land which
the man had spoken of, they saw a little fishing-
town at the foot of a rocky mountain; and the
man pointed out the house where he lived.
And while they were letting down the anchor,
the little boy's mother (who was also the man's
sister) came running down to the shore to meet
them, laughing and crying at the same time.
She had been sitting on a hill for twenty days,
watching the sea and waiting for them to
return.
And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that
he giggled and blushed like a school-girl. And
she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away and
hid inside the ship.
"It's a silly business, this kissing," he said.
Pages:
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100