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Dick, Marjorie and Fidge: A Search for the Wonderful Dodo

G. E. Farrow

So the children and the Dodo went aboard, and the Skipper blew a little whistle, which he wore tied around his neck by a white cord, and the sailors all came running up, bringing their spinning wheels, which they packed away at the bow of the vessel, and then settled themselves down at the oars. At the other end was a cosy little cabin, and above it a small deck, upon which the little passengers made themselves quite comfortable, and the Captain ordered the scales to be brought up from below. "What are they for?" asked Dick, who, boy-like, always wanted to know the reason for everything. "To weigh the anchor with," explained the Skipper, seriously. "We always have to weigh it when we start on a voyage, and again when we reach our journey's end." "What for?" asked Dick, who certainly remembered having heard the expression "weighing the anchor" before. "Oh, I don't know, I'm sure," said the Skipper; "pack of nonsense, I calls it; but it's the custom, and it's got to be done." So the anchor was duly weighed, and the exact weight put down in a book, and the _Argosy_, as the ship was called, slowly moved out of the harbor. It was a beautiful day, but there was just a little breeze blowing, and the sea was a little "choppy" outside, and, as a consequence, the _Argosy_ rolled a little. After they had been out at sea for about an hour, and the Skipper had been letting them take turns in looking through his telescope, the Dodo suddenly muttered something about having "forgotten his pocket-handkerchief," and hurried down into the cabin. "Why, I didn't know he had one," said Marjorie, wonderingly.
Illustration note[Illustration: "Hope you're feeling better, Sir."]
The Skipper winked, and said in a whisper behind his hand, "They always say that; he's gone to lie down, the motion of the boat has made him feel a little seasick." The Dodo didn't come up for a long while and at last the Skipper said he would go down and see if he wanted anything. He found the poor bird looking the picture of misery, lolling limply against the cushioned seat. "Hope you're feeling better, Sir," he said, respectfully, tugging at his forelock. "Oh! oh!" groaned the Dodo. "Do throw me overboard, and let me die." "Nonsense," said the Skipper, cheerfully. "You'll be all right in an hour or two." "Oh, no," said the bird; "I shall never be well again. I have never, never felt so ill in all my life." "Lie down, Sir, and I'll cover you up with this rug," said the Skipper, kindly; "you'll be better presently." "Don't tell the others," gasped the bird, faintly. "All right, Sir," was the reply, and the Skipper went on deck again. The breeze was quite fresh still, and the children had climbed up into the "lookout," and were pointing eagerly into the distance. "Land! over there!" shouted Dick, when he saw the Skipper. "Oh! Ah! It's an island," said the Skipper. "I've been there before. The Archaeopteryx lives there." "The what?" cried the children.
Illustration note[Illustration: "'Charmed to meet you,' said the Archaeopteryx."]
"The Archaeopteryx," repeated the Skipper. "It's an awful name, isn't it?" "What is he?" demanded Dick. "A kind of lizardish bird, or a birdish lizard, whichever you like," was the reply. "He's a great swell, I can tell you, and fancies himself immensely." The children were all eagerness to see this strange creature, and could scarcely wait until the ship reached the land. The Skipper went down and told the Dodo, who, directly he heard that they would meet the Archaeopteryx, made a great effort to pull himself together again. "I mustn't let him see me in this state," he declared. "He is a distant relative of mine, and a person of great consequence. Do you think," he continued, addressing the Skipper, "that you could clean up my gloves a little with some bread crumbs, they have become slightly soiled; and would you kindly rearrange my necktie?" These necessary preparations completed, the Dodo staggered up on deck just as the _Argosy_ reached the shore. The Archaeopteryx was waiting for them on the beach, and recognized the Dodo immediately. "Charmed to meet you again," he said, hurrying forward to meet him, and raising his hat, with a polite bow. "Pray, introduce me to your friends." CHAPTER XIII. THE LITTLE PANJANDRUM'S BALLOON. "Delighted to make your acquaintance," said the Archaeopteryx, when the necessary introductions had been made. "I've often wanted to meet some human beings; come and have luncheon with me. I've a couple of old friends staying here who will be delighted to see you." So saying, he led the way to where two most extraordinary-looking creatures sat waiting at a table, which was set for seven people. "Both antediluvians," whispered their host, "the Palaeotherium and the Eteraedarium. Capital chaps, but crotchety." Fidge was a little alarmed at first, for they were really very ugly. They seemed quite amiable, however; and the Palaeotherium--his mouth full of banana--motioned them to seats at the table, and, turning to the Dodo, said, "Haven't I seen you before?" The Dodo smirked, and, smoothing his gloves, said, in a self-conscious voice, "Very possibly we _may_ have met before. I don't remember you, but mine is a face which one is not likely to forget. Where did we meet, do you think?" "I'm trying to remember," said the Palaeotherium, "it must have been several hundreds of years ago now, and my memory is getting so bad----" "I once stayed with the Ichthyosaurus," said the Dodo. "It may have been there." "Ah, that must have been it," said the Palaeotherium. "I met a curious lot of people there--very mixed lot of associates _he_ had, to be sure." "Ahem," said the Dodo, indignantly. "I hope you don't mean that I----" "My dear Sir," replied the other, "I'm quite sure you are highly respectable; your gloves alone are a guarantee for that." "Thanks," said the Dodo, looking quite happy again. "Do you know any riddles?" asked the Eteraedarium, suddenly, addressing Dick. "Let's see," said he, glad that the conversation had taken a turn which they could all understand. "I think I do know a few. Why is a robin like a waterbut?" "First of all," said the Archaeopteryx, anxiously, "what is a robin, and who is a waterbut?" "Oh, a robin," explained Marjorie, "is a dear little bird with a red breast that comes in the winter----" "Stop! stop!" said the Palaeotherium, "one thing at a time. What is a bird?" "Oh, I say! You _must_ know what a bird is," expostulated Dick. "I don't," said the Palaeotherium, stubbornly. "Why--why--the Dodo is a bird," explained Dick. "Yes, but nothing like a robin, Dick, dear," added Marjorie; "a robin is such a sweet, pretty little thing----" "Well, I never!" exclaimed the Dodo, "do you mean to say _I'm_ not a pretty little thing?" "Well, you're not _quite_ like a robin, are you?" said Marjorie, getting out of the difficulty very cleverly. "Not _quite_, perhaps," admitted the Dodo; "but I _am_ pretty," he added decidedly. "I don't see what all this has to do with my conundrum," said Dick. "Well, let's try again," said the Archaeopteryx. "Why is a robin like a waterbut?" "A robin is a bird that comes in the winter," repeated the Eteraedarium, "and the waterbut--is that also a bird?" "Oh, no," laughed Marjorie; "a waterbut is a tub for holding water." "Can it fly?" asked the Eteraedarium. "Of course not!" said Dick; "who ever heard of such a thing?" "Well, _is_ it like a robin? That's the point," said the Palaeotherium. "Not in appearance," admitted Dick. "Will you give it up?" he added, looking around the table. "Give what up?" asked the creatures. "The conundrum," replied Dick. "I haven't got it," declared the Dodo. "Nor have I." "Nor I." "Nor I," said the others. "No, no! I mean, will you give the answer up?" said Dick, losing patience. "But we haven't it," said the Archaeopteryx. "Look here, I'll tell you what we'll do," said the Palaeotherium, generously: "I'll give up the robin, and my friend here will give up the waterbut. There!" "Now _that's_ settled," said the Dodo, conclusively, "_I'll_ ask you a conundrum. 'If your wife's aunt is----'" "Stop! stop!" said the Palaeotherium, "I haven't got a wife, you know." "No," said the Eteraedarium, "he hasn't, and, if he had, she very likely would not have an aunt. Make it my wife's aunt." "All right," said the Dodo. "If _your_ wife's aunt is my brother's son, what relation is Dick to Tom?" "You haven't asked it right," said Dick, who knew a riddle something like that. "It's 'if this man's father is that man's son, what relation is Dick to Tom?'" "I wish you wouldn't interfere," said the Dodo. "I tell you the question is right as I asked it." "But your wife's aunt couldn't be anybody's son," said Marjorie, who was trying to puzzle it out. "Who said she _was_?" snapped the Dodo, crossly; "she is as likely to be anybody's son as a robin is to be like a waterbut, and besides, I didn't say she was; I said, if she was, you know." "Well, let's work it out," said the Eteraedarium, spreading out his fingers. "Let's see, that's my wife's aunt," he continued, pointing to his thumb, "and that's my brother's son," he added, touching the next finger, "and the other two will do for Dick and Tom. Now--er----" "Who is the other finger?" interrupted the Dodo, anxiously. "Me," said the Palaeotherium, solemnly and ungrammatically. "It isn't," declared the other. "It is," repeated the Palaeotherium. "Oh, very well! let it be so," cried the Archaeopteryx, impatiently. "What's the answer, anyhow?"
Illustration note[Illustration: "'Who is the other finger?' interrupted the Dodo, anxiously."]
"I don't know," said the Eteraedarium, staring at his fingers stupidly. "I don't see what relation those two fingers are to the other two. Well, what relation _is_ Dick to Tom?" he asked, turning to the Dodo. "The same relation that the robin is to the waterbut," said that bird, conclusively. "Come on, let's get the Skipper to teach us how to dance a hornpipe," and he led the way from the table, quite disregarding the fact that the others had not finished. The Skipper, who had been quite as puzzled as the others were by these extraordinary conundrums, willingly agreed, and, first of all, danced a hornpipe himself very successfully, and then did his best to teach the others. The Dodo, with his short legs and big body, very soon gave up trying, and, thoroughly worn out by the exertion, lay panting on the shingle, while the Eteraedarium took his turn. He got along capitally, and the children laughed heartily at the queer capers which he cut. They were in the midst of the fun, when the Dodo suddenly jumped up, and, pointing excitedly up into the air, cried, "Look! Look! What's that?" They all looked in the direction which he indicated, and after a time discerned a tiny speck in the sky, which the Skipper declared, after watching some time, to be a balloon. "It's all red," cried Marjorie, whose eyesight was very keen. "What!" exclaimed the Dodo, trembling. "Red! Are you sure?" he inquired, anxiously. "Certain," said Marjorie. "Yes," said Dick, "I can see it now; it's quite red--a bright scarlet, in fact."
Illustration note[Illustration: "The Eteraedarium took his turn."]
"The Little Panjandrum's State Balloon!" gasped the Dodo, in a terrible fright. "Oh, my dear friends, hide me somewhere! If he finds me I'm done for! I've--got--his gloves on--oh! How could I have been so foolish as to have taken them--it's all my pride--and now I shall have to suffer for it--oh!--oh!" And the Dodo, quite overcome with fear and anxiety, fell upon his knees and sobbed violently.