SOME NEW ACQUAINTANCES.
It was all very well for the Walrus to shout "Come back!" but _that_ was
a matter of utter impossibility, for down--and down--and down the
children sped at a terrific rate, so quickly indeed that after a moment
or two they must have lost their senses completely, for not one of them
could remember anything about the marvelous journey through the center
of the earth.
"It seemed," Dick explained afterwards, "as though we were falling
through a big black hole for hours and hours, and then, all of a sudden,
it was light again, and we shot out into the air at the other end."
The children were greatly relieved to find that they were not expected
to walk on their heads, as they had vaguely feared might have been the
case on the other side of the world. "But, of course," Marjorie
explained, "we are not really _quite_ on the other side, or we should
be at the South Pole, and that would be as cold as where we came from,
wouldn't it, Dick?"
"I suppose so," answered Dick, looking about him. "Well, this place is
hot enough, anyhow, whew!" and he unbuttoned the heavy fur coat which he
had been glad enough to put on a short time before.
"We are probably somewhere near the Equator," remarked the Dodo,
pointing to the palms and other tropical plants to be seen on every
side. "I've heard that this sort of thing grows there."
"In that case we have only to find out where the sea is, and wait on the
shore for a passing ship to come and take us back to England," said
Marjorie, who was as fond as her brother of reading books of adventure,
and so knew exactly what to expect under the circumstances.
Fidge had divested himself of his snowshoes and heavy Arctic outfit, and
was eagerly chasing some gaudy butterflies which were flitting about
amongst the bright tropical flowers, and the others, feeling the heat
very oppressive, were glad to follow his example, and get rid of their
cumbersome clothing. Marjorie made a neat little bundle of them, and hid
them behind a big stone, and then, calling Fidge to them, the party set
out to explore the surrounding country.
They had not gone far before they heard a voice crying out in a
peremptory way--
"Now then! move on, there!"
The Dodo was highly indignant at being addressed in this unceremonious
way, particularly as he once more displayed his white kid gloves and his
bright necktie, and consequently, imagined that he presented a dignified
and imposing appearance.
"Who's that?" he cried, looking about him angrily.
"Now then, move on! Do you hear?" cried the voice again.
The children stared to the right and left, in front of them, and behind
them, but no one was in sight.
"That's very strange!" exclaimed Dick. "Whoever can it be?"
"_Will_ you move on, there?" shouted the voice, louder than ever, and,
looking up into the trees, the children saw a huge green parrot, with a
red tail, hanging down from one of the branches by one claw, while he
shook the other at them menacingly.
"Bah! it's only a parrot," said the Dodo, in a contemptuous voice.
"What!" screamed the bird; "only a parrot, indeed. Who are you, I should
like to know?"
"We're tourists," said the Dodo, importantly. "These--ahem--gentlemen,
and this lady and myself, are on our way to visit the Ichthyosaurus,
while you are merely a common or garden parrot, and not at all fit and
proper person for us to be seen talking to. Come along," he added to the
others, grandly, and started to walk off with his beak in the air.
"Hoity, toity! Not so fast," said the parrot. "I've no doubt you think
yourself very grand with your kid gloves and your consequential airs;
but allow me to inform you that _I_ am some one of consequence in these
parts, too. I am a police officer, and regulate the traffic, so move
on, there, and don't block the way."
"Oh!" cried Marjorie, "if this--er--" (she was going to say "bird," but
thought perhaps the parrot might be offended, and she certainly couldn't
say "gentleman," so she got out of it this way)--"if this is a police
officer, perhaps he could be kind enough to direct us to where the
steamboats start for England."
"I daresay I _could_ if I wanted to," said the parrot, ungraciously,
"but I don't choose. Move on! You are stopping the traffic."
"What nonsense! you ridiculous bird; there is not any traffic," said
Dick.
"Oh! isn't there? A lot _you_ know about it," replied the parrot.
"There's a vehicle coming along this way now."
The children turned around, and, sure enough, there was a something
coming down the road, though what it was the children couldn't determine
till it came a little closer. They waited and waited, but it scarcely
seemed to move at all, and, at last, Dick, whose curiosity was greatly
aroused, proposed going to meet it.
"Let's go and fetch the clothes the Walrus gave us first," suggested
Marjorie, wisely, and so they ran off to the rock behind which they had
hidden them.
[Illustration: "The snowshoes seemed to puzzle them somewhat."]
To their great surprise, they found a party of apes and monkeys calmly
trying the things on, and apparently enjoying themselves very much
indeed. The snowshoes seemed to puzzle them considerably, however, and
they were undecided whether to regard them as musical instruments or a
novel form of headgear.
"Hi! Just you put those clothes down at once!" shouted Dick. "How dare
you interfere with our things!"
"They're not yours," said one of the monkeys. "Findings keepings. We
found them, and so they are ours."
"Indeed they are not. Give them back at once!" demanded Dick.
"Shan't!" screamed the monkeys, impudently, and, scampering up into the
trees beyond the children's reach, they made grimaces at them, and
openly defied them. Indeed, one of them went so far as to climb up into
a cocoanut palm and began pelting the children with the nuts.
Fortunately, none of them reached the mark, however, and the children,
hastily gathered one or two of the cocoanuts, abandoned the clothes,
which, really, were not of much value to them now, and fled.
This little incident had almost driven from their mind the recollection
of the vehicle which they had seen in the high-road, but a rumbling
sound, as they neared the place where they had last seen it, reminded
them of the fact, and they hurried up to the spot from whence the sounds
proceeded.
[Illustration: "'I shall get very angry in a minute,' said the Dodo."]
To their great astonishment, they found a clumsy-looking cart, somewhat
resembling the pictures which they had seen of the old Roman chariots,
to the shafts of which a sleepy-looking sloth-bear was attached.
"Ha! ha! what a funny horse," laughed Fidge. "It is a horse, isn't it,
Dick?"
"No," said Dick; "I don't think so."
"Horse! no, indeed," said the Dodo. "It's a kind of camel."
"I ain't," said the sloth-bear, with a yawn.
"You shouldn't say 'ain't,'" said the Dodo, rebukingly. "What are you,
then?"
There was no answer, the creature had gone to sleep.
"Wake up! wake up!" cried the Dodo, shaking him violently. "The idea of
dropping off to sleep when any one is talking to you!"
"I thought you were going to preach," explained the sloth-bear. "You
began talking about something that I shouldn't do or say, and I always
go to sleep when people talk to me like that--it's so stupid of them."
"Where are you going to?" asked the Dodo.
"I don't know," was the reply. "Where are you?"
"We want to get to the place where the steamers start for England,"
explained Marjorie.
"Jump in, then," said the sloth-bear, jerking his head in the direction
of the cart; and the children, highly delighted at the prospect of a
ride, all scrambled in.
Dick took the reins, and Marjorie made herself comfortable beside him,
while Fidge dangled his legs over the back of the "chariot," the Dodo
solemnly squatting down at his side, with his gloves carefully
displayed, and his necktie properly adjusted.
"Now then," said Dick, shaking the reins, "we are ready to start. Go on,
please."
There was no answer, and it transpired that the creature was asleep
again.
"Good gracious!" said the Dodo, impatiently, "we shall never get
anywhere at this rate. I say, do wake up," he cried, going up to the
sloth-bear and giving him a good shake.
"Oh! are you ready?" said that individual, waking up slowly. "Come on,
then!" and he took two or three steps forward, and then stopped to rest,
his eyes gradually closing, and his head beginning to sink.
"Come, come!" said the Dodo, getting in front of him, grasping the
reins, and pulling with all his might. "I shall get very angry with you
in a minute. It's perfectly ridiculous going on in this way; however do
you imagine we are to get to our destination if you waste time in this
manner?"
The answer was a loud snore from the sloth-bear, who had once more
fallen into a deep sleep.