Dick, Marjorie and Fidge: A Search for the Wonderful Dodo
"The bottom of the sea is strewn with riches," continued the old man,
"and there is no one to reap the harvest but myself."
"You must be very happy if you are so rich," said Dick. "It must be
lovely to have all those things."
"No, I am not happy," said the Old Man of the Sea. "I am very old, and
very lonely, and there is no one here to admire my treasures but myself.
The fishes will have nothing to do with me--they do not care for gold;
it is valueless to them--and I may not go on land, so I am here alone
with my riches, and every day I gather more and more. I have piled them
high about my cave in a great circle, and some day, when it becomes
top-heavy, it will fall over and crush me beneath it, and I shall be
buried in a tomb of gold. No king, no emperor, had ever so grand a
sepulchre as I shall have, but I am not happy--no--no--not happy, not
happy."
And the old man shouldered his bag and moved away, muttering
sorrowfully.
"Poor man, poor man," said Marjorie; "for he is poor, although he has so
much wealth isn't he, Dick?"
"Yes, jolly poor, and miserable too. I wouldn't be him for something,"
said Dick. "Come on, it makes me wretched to think about him--let's get
back to the Dolphins."
When they reached them, they found that little friend, the thin fish,
had arrived at last.
"Hullo!" cried Dick. "What a jolly long while you have been catching us
up. Wherever have you been to all this time?"
"Why," explained the fish, "I thought I heard you saying something about
a race, and suddenly I remembered what a splendid opportunity your visit
down here would afford us of witnessing a real human race--you are
human, aren't you?" he asked, anxiously.
"Yes, I suppose so," replied Dick.
"That's right," said the fish. "Come on, the King is most anxious for
the race to begin at once, and I promised to bring you back with me
immediately."
"But what _is_ a human race?" inquired Marjorie, as they mounted their
Dolphins.
"Oh, you'll see when we get back," was the reply, and, the little fish
hanging on to one of the Dolphins' tails they were soon flying through
the water at a rare rate.
When they got back to the lawn by the King's Palace, the children were
greatly astonished to see a big crowd of fishes drawn up in two lines,
with a wide path between them. The King, on a shell throne, surrounded
by his courtiers, was at one end, and several important-looking fishes
were fussing about at the other, making a straight line with some little
lumps of white chalk.
There was a cheer when the children arrived on their Dolphins, and a
rush was made to assist them to alight.
"But what are we to do?" they inquired, rather dismayed at these
elaborate preparations.
"Show us a human race," was the reply.
"Well, a human race is just like any other kind of race, I suppose,"
said Dick, "the one who reaches the goal first wins. If we are going to
race, though, we shall have to be handicapped."
"What's that?" cried the fishes.
"Why, you see," explained Dick, "it wouldn't be fair for us all to start
from the same line, for Fidge, of course, cannot run as quickly as
Marjorie or me; and Marjorie, too, being only a girl, will have to have
a start allowed her, and this is called handicapping."
"Very well, manage it your own way," was the reply. "When are you going
to start?"
"Oh, as soon as you like," said Dick. "Where's the winning-post?"
"That white line up by the King's throne," said one of the fishes. And
Dick, having given Fidge a very long start, and Marjorie a slight
advantage, declared himself ready to begin.
"One, to make ready,
Two, to be steady,
Three, and--away!"
shouted one of the principal fishes, and off they scrambled. I say
scrambled, because if you have ever tried to run under water you will
know that it is a very difficult thing to do--the weight of the water
prevents you from getting along at all quickly. The fishes watching the
race became very excited, and, in their eagerness to urge them on, kept
getting in the children's way, swimming about in front of them, and
getting mixed up with their arms and legs in a most confusing manner. At
length, however, this extraordinary race came to an end, and the
children arrived at the winning-post in the same order in which they had
started.
"Oh, I've won--I've won!" shouted Fidge, delightedly. "Haven't I, Dick?"
"Of course you have," said Dick, who had purposely been holding back to
give the other two a chance.
"Shall I get a prize?" whispered the little boy, anxiously.
"Perhaps," answered Dick; "wait and see."
Their little friend, the thin fish, had gone up to the King, and was
talking very earnestly to him, and presently returning said that His
Majesty had decided to give them all a prize.
"Oh, I wonder what it will be!" said Marjorie, excitedly. "Fancy, having
a prize from a real King!"
"He's only a fish," said Dick.
"Hush, dear, you'll hurt his feelings," whispered Marjorie, warningly.
Just then the thin fish put on his top hat--he was the only one allowed
to wear one in the King's presence--and began a long speech. He spoke so
very softly, though, that no one could hear a word that he said; but, at
regular intervals, all the other fishes clapped their fins, and called
out, "Hear, hear!" most enthusiastically.
"Whatever do you do that for?" inquired Dick, of one of them; "I'm sure
you cannot hear a word of what he is saying."
"Oh, no, we can't," admitted the fish, quite candidly; "but it's the
proper thing to do, you know, it encourages him so."
After the speech the children were called before the King to receive
their prize.
His Majesty did not speak to them, but motioned majestically to a large
branch of pink coral near the throne, and they were thus given to
understand that it was intended for them as a prize.
Of course, they pretended to be highly gratified, though, in reality,
they were greatly disappointed.
"Stupid old thing! it's not a bit of use, even if we could carry it,"
muttered Dick; and Fidge, too, was so cross that he nearly quarreled
outright with a perky little fish who had been standing, hat in hand,
near him, and who now came and sat down so close to him that his sharp
scales scratched the little fellow's bare legs.
A moment afterwards, however, they had all forgotten their ill-humor in
their amusement at what was happening, for the King having withdrawn,
the rest of the fishes each took a partner, and began whirling round
and round in a frantic way in a mad kind of dance, to the strains of
some weird music, provided by one or two of their number blowing through
some long shells, whilst others used some smaller flat ones as
castanets.
"I suppose this is what is called a fish ball," said Dick, laughing
heartily at the strange antics which the fishes were cutting.
And just as Marjorie was about to reply a dark shadow passing overhead
caused all of the children to look up.
A pair of large webbed feet were seen slowly paddling above them, and
beyond them the outline of a bird's body could be traced.
Marjorie seized Dick's arm excitedly. "Look! look!" she exclaimed,
hastily, "the Dodo!"
CHAPTER VIII.
THE DODO AT LAST.
"I really believe it is the Dodo," said Dick. "Only I'm not quite sure
if his feet _were_ webbed."
"Oh, I don't think they were," declared Marjorie. "Now don't you think,"
she continued, excitedly, "that it would be best for us just to swim
quietly up to him, and catch hold of his legs; you see, he couldn't
possibly get away then, and----"
"All right," interrupted Dick. "Come on--steady now, so as not to alarm
him."
The feet above them were paddling leisurely along, and the children had
no difficulty in quickly catching up to the bird, and, with a triumphant
shout, Dick clutched hold of one leg, while Marjorie and Fidge hung on
to the other.
There was immediately a great outcry from above the water.
"Help! Help! Fire! Police! Thieves!" cried a voice, and the feet began
to kick so violently that the children had quite a difficulty to keep
their hold.
In response to the cries a number of other birds came flying to the
rescue, and "splush," "splash," sounded on all sides as they settled
down on the water.
"What is the matter?" cried several voices at once.
"Oh!" cried the bird which the children had captured, beating his wings
about violently, and creating a terrible confusion, "a crab or something
has caught hold of my legs, and I am being killed--help!--save me!--save
me!"
A confused sound of voices followed, and presently one or two heads
appeared below the water; they were hastily withdrawn, however, and with
an alarmed cry of "Sharks!" the other birds all flew away, leaving their
luckless companion to his fate.
The bird, when he found himself deserted by his friends, made more
frantic efforts than ever to escape; and the beating of his wings upon
the water caused the whole party to move slowly along.
"What are we to do now?" whispered Marjorie; "we can't drag him
underneath, or he'd be drowned, you know."
"Oh, let's hang on," cried Dick, "perhaps he will drag us along till we
come to land somewhere. I say," he shouted, "are you the Dodo, or not?"
His voice could evidently not be heard above the water, for there was no
reply from the bird, which continued making a terrific outcry, using
every effort to get away from them.
Presently, just as Dick had suggested, some rocks came in sight, and the
children could see that they were being gradually dragged tards the
shore.
In a few minutes they had the satisfaction of being able to scramble out
of the water, when they discovered, to their great dismay, that their
captive was not the Dodo at all, but a great wild goose, who, when they
hurriedly released his legs waddled awkwardly ashore, and gazed at them
with reproachful eyes.
A little way inland the Dodo himself could be seen standing, surrounded
by an excited group of birds, who, when they caught sight of the
children emerging from the water, immediately took to flight, screaming
in horrified tones--
"The Sharks! The Sharks! Here come the Sharks!"
The Dodo tried to follow their example, and for a moment it looked as
though the children would lose him after all; but it soon became evident
that the creature could not fly, for after wildly beating the air for
awhile, with his little apologies for wings, the miserable bird fell
squalling into the water, while his companions disappeared in the
distance.
"Help! Help!" he screamed, as he struggled with the waves. "Don't you
see that I'm drowning? Oh! Oh! Help! Help!"
"Swim ashore," cried the children.
"I can't," was the reply, in a faint voice. "I can't swim. Oh!--oh!
there go my poor, dear gloves." This last as his wings, which he had
been holding up out of the water, sank exhausted to his side.
Dick plunged in, and soon brought the bird to shore, where he stood for
a moment or two, ruefully regarding his white kid gloves, which the salt
water had completely ruined, while the bow of his necktie had slipped
around to the back of his neck.
"A pretty figure I shall cut now at the Ichthyosaurus' At Home," he
grumbled. "It's all your fault, too," he declared, ungratefully
disregarding the fact that Dick had just rescued him from a watery
grave. "What do you want with me, anyhow?"
"Why, you see," hastily explained Dick, "the Ambassador to the Little
Panjandrum sent us in search of you, and if we don't take you back in