Dick, Marjorie and Fidge: A Search for the Wonderful Dodo
and grew in volume till it sounded like distant thunder, and then faded
away and ended up with a comical little whistle. Again and again it was
repeated.
"Oh, Dick! what is it?" called Marjorie, putting her head outside the
curtains.
"I can't think," said Dick, in a puzzled voice.
"Where have I heard that sound before?" exclaimed the Dodo, putting one
finger of the glove to his forehead, and striking a thoughtful attitude.
"Ah! I have it," he cried. "Of course, it's a prehistoric snore--the
Doctor is asleep."
And, sure enough, that was what the noise was. By listening outside the
curtains of his berth they discovered, without a doubt, that it
proceeded from there.
"What a frightful row," cried Dick, indignantly. "We can't go to sleep
with all that noise going on. Let's wake him up."
"Oh, no!" cried the Dodo, "not for worlds. He is sure to be very
sensitive on the point, and would doubtless resent it very much."
"He ought to be made to sleep in another part of the train, or in a
carriage by himself," grumbled Dick, scrambling back to his berth just
in time to meet Fidge, who was trying to get down at the risk of
breaking his neck.
"Oh! Dick!" he cried, pointing to the further corner of the berth,
"Look! Look! A snake!"
"What?" cried Marjorie, from below, with a little scream.
"A snake!" repeated Fidge. "Look, look, Dick!" he cried, pointing.
Dick looked in the direction indicated, and was horrified to see what he
took to be a huge snake, slowly crawling over the partition which
divided their berth from the next.
"Give me something to hit it with, quick!" he shouted, excitedly. And
Marjorie, with another little frightened scream, handed him the
Prehistoric Doctor's umbrella, which was lying on the floor outside her
berth.
Dick seized the umbrella, and, grasping it with both hands, aimed a
mighty blow at what he took to be the snake.
An agonized scream from the next berth, and a hasty withdrawal of the
_snake_, was followed by the appearance of the Palaeotherium's head over
the top of the partition.
"Who did that?" he demanded, with tears in his eyes.
"It was a snake!" cried Dick, excitedly, "and I was trying to kill it."
"Snake, indeed!" said the Palaeotherium, wrathfully. "It was my tail."
"Oh! I'm _so_ sorry," exclaimed Dick, "I really _thought_ it was a
snake, you know. I beg your pardon. I _do_ hope I haven't hurt you very
much."
"H'm! Well, I can't say that it was very pleasant," said the
Palaeotherium, "but if you are really sorry I'll forgive you--only you
mustn't let it happen again."
"Shouldn't have a tail like a snake," said Fidge, half crying, "and
shouldn't let it come over in our bed."
The Palaeotherium muttered something that neither of the children could
understand, and retired, and, except for the Prehistoric Doctor's
snoring, all was quiet again.
This time the children really did get to sleep, and when they awoke the
carriage was quite light, and Dick, looking out through the little
window at the side of his berth, could see that they were traveling
through some very delightful country.
"Wake up! Wake up, Marjorie," he cried, "it's morning."
"I'm velly hungry," announced Fidge, sitting up and rubbing his eyes
sleepily.
"Yes, so am I," admitted Dick; "we must see what we can do to get some
food."
"The doors at the ends of the carriage are open," cried Marjorie, from
below. "I believe it's a corridor train, like that we went to
Scarborough in last year," she added. "Perhaps there's a dining-car at
the end of this one."
Dick and Fidge scrambled down, and, accompanied by Marjorie, determined
to explore.
None of the other creatures were apparently awake, and most of the
curtains were drawn.
The Dodo, however, true to his word, had left his open, and there he lay
in an affected attitude, with his gloves carefully displayed outside the
bed-clothes, and his nightcap arranged at the most becoming angle.
Dick could see that he was not really asleep, for one eye was partially
open, and as the children passed he murmured, quite loudly enough for
Dick to hear--"Ain't I _beautiful_?"
Dick laughed, and passed on to where he could see some wash-basins and a
water tap, and there the children had a most refreshing wash; and then,
to their great delight, found that the next carriage was
labeled--"BREAKFAST CAR"; and as it was the easiest matter in the world
to step from one carriage to the other, they were soon at the door.
As soon as they opened it they beheld a curious sight.
There were a number of little tables in the carriage, on each of which
were basins of steaming hot bread-and-milk.
The Eteraedarium stood at one of the tables, and, with a spoon in each
hand, was greedily devouring the bread-and-milk as quickly as he
possibly could.
"Come on!" he shouted, with his mouth full. "Just in time. There are one
or two basins left; but make haste, before the others come, or you won't
get any."
CHAPTER XIX.
AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
The bread-and-milk was very good, and the children enjoyed it immensely.
They would have taken a second basinful had the Eteraedarium been at all
pressing in his invitation for them to do so; but instead of asking them
in the usual way, "Will you have any more?" he said, in a very anxious
tone of voice, "You won't have any more, will you?" which was, of
course, a very different thing; and so they each meekly said, "No, thank
you," and watched the Eteraedarium finish up the remaining basins.
"There now, I feel that I've done my duty," he said, with a sigh of
satisfaction, as he wiped his lips with a serviette, after scraping out
the very last spoonful.
"You see," he said, with a sort of half attempt at an apology, "I was
afraid the poor, dear Dodo, in his delicate state of health, might come
in to breakfast and eat more than was good for him; so, by eating the
lot myself, I have prevented him from doing that. He ought to be very
grateful to me, I'm sure."
"But what about the others?" asked Dick.
"Oh, great, strong, healthy animals like them, it will do them good to
go without for once in a way. I think, though, that in order to prevent
them from feeling any disappointment it will be better to throw the
basins out of the window, the sight of them would probably be rather
tantalizing." And the Eteraedarium began hurriedly to throw all the
breakfast things out of the window--spoons, basins, tablecloths, and
serviettes, all disappeared, and only the three basins which the
children had been using remained.
They, doubtless, would have followed the others had not the Dodo,
leaning heavily on the Prehistoric Doctor's arm, entered the breakfast
car just at that moment.
"Ah! bread-and-milk--capital!" exclaimed the Doctor, rubbing his hands,
and looking at the children's basins. "I think our patient could manage
a small basinful, eh?"
The Dodo, with a great affectation of weakness, feebly nodded his head.
"I think I _could_ manage a small basinful, Doctor--er--er--not _too_
small, you know. A _very_ small quantity never agrees with me."
"No, no; of course not," said the Doctor, soothingly. "I will see that
it is not too small; and perhaps, just to encourage you, I will have a
basinful myself."
"It's all gone!" said the Eteraedarium, suddenly and emphatically.
"Gone!" screamed the Dodo, in a loud voice, quite forgetting his
supposed weakness. "Do you mean to say there is _none_ left?"
The Eteraedarium shook his head.
"But where's it all gone to?" asked the Doctor.
The Eteraedarium solemnly pointed to the children.
"Pigs!" declared the Dodo, wrathfully.
"Here, who are you calling pigs?" demanded Dick, getting up angrily.
"Well, I must say that it was exceedingly greedy of you to devour all of
the breakfast," said the Doctor, reprovingly.
"But we didn't," said Dick. "It was the Eteraedarium; he had ever so many
basinsful. We only had one each, didn't we, Marjorie?"
"No," said Marjorie; "and mine was a very small one."
"And mine was the littlest of all," said Fidge, flourishing his spoon,
"like the littlest bear's, you know, in the story of the Three Bears."
"Well, where are the other basins, then, if you say the Eteraedarium had
such a lot?" demanded the Dodo.
"He threw them out of the window," declared the children.
"Oh! Oh! Well, I _never_--whatever will they say next?" cried the
Eteraedarium, throwing up his hands and turning his eyes up to the
ceiling.
"I must say it doesn't seem a very probable story," said the Doctor,
looking out of the window; "and as I don't see any of the basins lying
about I am afraid I cannot believe your statement."
"But that was some time ago," argued Dick, "and as we are traveling very
rapidly they must be some miles down the line by this time."
"Rubbish!" exclaimed the Dodo, "you are only making matters worse by
your lame excuses. I always had my suspicions that you were a greedy
lot, like all the rest of the human creatures."
"Ahem!" coughed the Doctor, looking pained.
"Oh, you're prehistoric--that doesn't count," said the Dodo, and the
Doctor brightened up again.
Fortunately, at this moment, something occurred to prevent the argument
from continuing, or goodness knows where it might have led to, for the
children were naturally indignant at being so greatly misjudged. Dick
was particularly wroth. Their attention was diverted, however, by the
train dashing into a station, and coming to a somewhat abrupt stop,
causing the passengers to pitch forward, while a porter called in a loud
voice, "Crystal Palace! Crystal Palace! All change here!"
"Oh! here we are, at last," cried the children, hurrying on to the
platform where the animals were all turning out.
The porter had given one horrified glance at the strange creatures, and
then, with a howl of fear, had fled up the steps at the end of the
platform. The children could see that he was explaining something or
other to the ticket collector, for that worthy came to the barrier and
peeped over.
"Oh--o--o--a--aah!" the children heard him cry, and then he fled, as his
companion had done, leaving the barrier free.
"Come," laughed Dick, "that simplifies matters considerably, for we
shall not have to bother about our tickets now." And the children
hurried up the stairs, while the Dodo remained behind to adjust his
gloves, complaining loudly that notice ought to have been given that
they were nearing the station, so that he might have made himself
presentable before alighting.
On turning back, while on the steps, the children could see that,
besides their own party, the train had contained a number of other
strange animals, some of whom, the Archaeopteryx whispered, impressively,
were "antediluvians."
The whole party having alighted, with a great deal of noise and
confusion, they proceeded at once to the Palace. Everywhere their
appearance was the signal for a wild stampede of other visitors, and by
the time they had reached the great hall no one at all was in sight,
except one old gentleman in glasses, who was consulting a guide book
while he stood before a group of wooden Hottentots.
"Sh!" whispered the Dodo, "a Missionary! I have seen them before, when
abroad. In some places they are greatly admired by the natives, some of
whom have described them enthusiastically as being simply _delicious_!
Let us be friendly to him; he is, no doubt, a very excellent man.
"My dear Sir," he continued, waddling up to the Missionary, "delighted
to see you looking so well."
The Missionary, who was very short-sighted, beamed kindly, and grasped