_THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER_
THE ROCK
UP they got, early next morning, out of the silken beds; and they sawthat the sun was shining brightly and that the wind was blowing fromthe South.
Jip smelt the South wind for half an hour. Then he came to the Doctor,shaking his head.
“I smell no snuff as yet,” he said. “We must wait till the wind changesto the East.”
But even when the East wind came, at three o’clock that afternoon, thedog could not catch the smell of snuff.
The little boy was terribly disappointed and began to cry again, sayingthat no one seemed to be able to find his uncle for him. But all Jipsaid to the Doctor was,
“Tell him that when the wind changes to the West, I’ll find his uncleeven though he be in China—so long as he is still taking Black Rappeesnuff.”
Three days they had to wait before the West wind came. This was on aFriday morning, early—just as it was getting light. A fine rainy mistlay on the sea like a thin fog. And the wind was soft and warm and wet.
“‘Doctor!’ he cried. ‘I’ve got it!’”]
As soon as Jip awoke he ran upstairs and poked his nose in the air.Then he got most frightfully excited and rushed down again to wake theDoctor up.
“Doctor!” he cried. “I’ve got it! Doctor! Doctor! Wake up! Listen!I’ve got it! The wind’s from the West and it smells of nothing butsnuff. Come upstairs and start the ship—quick!”
So the Doctor tumbled out of bed and went to the rudder to steer theship.
“Now I’ll go up to the front,” said Jip; “and you watch mynose—whichever way I point it, you turn the ship the same way. The mancannot be far off—with the smell as strong as this. And the wind’s alllovely and wet. Now watch me!”
So all that morning Jip stood in the front part of the ship, sniffingthe wind and pointing the way for the Doctor to steer; while all theanimals and the little boy stood round with their eyes wide open,watching the dog in wonder.
About lunch-time Jip asked Dab-Dab to tell the Doctor that he wasgetting worried and wanted to speak to him. So Dab-Dab went and fetchedthe Doctor from the other end of the ship and Jip said to him,
“The boy’s uncle is starving. We must make the ship go as fast as wecan.”
“How do you know he is starving?” asked the Doctor.
“Because there is no other smell in the West wind but snuff,” said Jip.“If the man were cooking or eating food of any kind, I would be boundto smell it too. But he hasn’t even fresh water to drink. All he istaking is snuff—in large pinches. We are getting nearer to him all thetime, because the smell grows stronger every minute. But make the shipgo as fast as you can, for I am certain that the man is starving.”
“All right,” said the Doctor; and he sent Dab-Dab to ask the swallowsto pull the ship, the same as they had done when the pirates werechasing them.
So the stout little birds came down and once more harnessed themselvesto the ship.
And now the boat went bounding through the waves at a terrible speed.It went so fast that the fishes in the sea had to jump for their livesto get out of the way and not be run over.
And all the animals got tremendously excited; and they gave up lookingat Jip and turned to watch the sea in front, to spy out any land orislands where the starving man might be.
But hour after hour went by and still the ship went rushing on, overthe same flat, flat sea; and no land anywhere came in sight.
And now the animals gave up chattering and sat around silent, anxiousand miserable. The little boy again grew sad. And on Jip’s face therewas a worried look.
At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun was going down, theowl, Too-Too, who was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly startledthem 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 therewhere the sky and the water meet. See the sun shine on it—like gold! Isthe 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—aslarge as a big field. No trees grew on it, no grass—nothing. The greatrock was as smooth and as bare as the back of a tortoise.
Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round the rock. But nowhere onit could a man be seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes andlooked as hard as they could; and John Dolittle got a telescope fromdownstairs.
But not one living thing could they spy—not even a gull, nor astar-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 littlewaves against the sides of their ship.
Then they all started calling, “Hulloa, there!—HULLOA!” till theirvoices were hoarse. But only the echo came back from the rock.
And the little boy burst into tears and said,
“I am afraid I shall never see my uncle any more! What shall I tellthem when I get home!”
But Jip called to the Doctor,
“He must be there—he must—_he must_! The smell goes on no further. Hemust be there, I tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock and let mejump out on it.”
So the Doctor brought the ship as close as he could and let down theanchor. Then he and Jip got out of the ship on to the rock.
Jip at once put his nose down close to the ground and began to runall over the place. Up and down he went, back and forth—zig-zagging,twisting, doubling and turning. And everywhere he went, the Doctor ranbehind him, close at his heels—till he was terribly out of breath.
At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down. And when the Doctor camerunning up to him, he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole inthe middle of the rock.
“The boy’s uncle is down there,” said Jip quietly. “No wonder thosesilly eagles couldn’t see him!—It takes a dog to find a man.”
So the Doctor got down into the hole, which seemed to be a kind ofcave, or tunnel, running a long way under the ground. Then he strucka match and started to make his way along the dark passage with Jipfollowing behind.
The Doctor’s match soon went out; and he had to strike another andanother and another.
At last the passage came to an end; and the Doctor found himself in akind of tiny room with walls of rock.
And there, in the middle of the room, his head resting on his arms, laya man with very red hair—fast asleep!
Jip went up and sniffed at something lying on the ground beside him.The Doctor stooped and picked it up. It was an enormous snuff-box. Andit was full of Black Rappee!