CHAPTER IV
TEACHING BY MAIL
"Splendid,无敌🎦" cried the Doctor. "It's a kind of short-hand. You say a whole sentence in four signs."
THE GREAT MAIL ROBBERY
"Oh,小游戏🍒 quite,小朋友📱 quite. I understand perfectly,小朋友♠" said the Doctor,无敌🚊 poking salt into his egg with a bone egg-spoon. "I am dreadfully sorry. But why didn't Speedy bring the message himself?"
Then the old Chief opened the door and made a speech to the clamoring crowd outside. And when he had ended Obombo,无敌🈺 the son-in-law,小朋友💸 got up and began another speech,小游戏🌚 calling on the people to drive the old man out into the jungle. But before he had got halfway through the crowd began to murmur to one another:And now John Dolittle and his animals got tremendously busy arranging the post office,小朋友🌿 its furniture,小游戏♠ the stamp drawers,小朋友😃 the postcard drawers,小朋友📧 the weighing scales,小游戏💰 the sorting bags and all the rest of the paraphernalia. Dab-Dab,小游戏💳 of course,小朋友🌹 was housekeeper,无敌🐲 as usual,小游戏🏯 and she saw to it that the post office was swept properly every morning. Jip was the watchman and had charge of locking up at night and opening in the morning. Too-Too,小游戏🍯 with his head for mathematics,小朋友📱 was given the bookkeeping,小朋友🏡 and he kept account of how many stamps were sold and how much money was taken in. The Doctor ran the information window and answered the hundred and one questions that people are always asking at post offices. And the good and trusty Speedy was here,无敌Ⓜ there and everywhere.
"Then Morland,无敌🛄 all busy and excited,无敌💟 like a schoolboy,小朋友🈵 took the beggar's chalk pictures from against the wall and,小游戏🍛 rubbing them out,无敌⚡ did them over the way they should be done. He got so occupied with this that he didn't notice that a whole crowd of people was gathering around,小游戏😃 watching. His work was so fine that the people were spellbound with the beauty of the cats and dogs and cows and horses that he drew. And they began asking one another in whispers who the stranger could be who was doing the pavement artist's pictures for him.
"Well,小游戏🚧" said Gub-Gub,小朋友☕ "I was thinking of sending to England for some fresh vegetables."
"Sir Timothy was furious. And,无敌🔔 calling for Dr. Phipps,无敌🆖 he demanded that I apologize. I said I wouldn't. Then Sir Timothy told Phipps that if I didn't he would start an invalids' strike. Phipps got terribly worried and implored me to apologize to this very special patient. I still refused.
"Oh,无敌🌝 bother your feet!" cried Dab-Dab. "Let the Doctor get on with his story."
"How extraordinary!" said John Dolittle,小朋友🍮 entirely bewildered. "What ails the man?"
"How far would it be from here?" asked John Dolittle.
"The royal peacock complained that Cheapside had made faces at him"
"Sir Timothy was furious. And,小游戏🆚 calling for Dr. Phipps,小游戏📯 he demanded that I apologize. I said I wouldn't. Then Sir Timothy told Phipps that if I didn't he would start an invalids' strike. Phipps got terribly worried and implored me to apologize to this very special patient. I still refused.
"Matches! Matches! Where are the matches?" screamed Dab-Dab. "The light's out and there's a ship in danger! Where are the matches kept?"
Then the Emir flew into a terrible passion.
"'Go and see the Doctor,无敌💞' said my brother.
The Doctor told the woman that no matter what it cost he was going to help her. And he was all for speeding up his ship and going in chase of the slave boat right away. But Dab-Dab the duck warned him that his boat was very slow and that its sails could be easily seen by the slavers,无敌✉ who would never allow it to come near them.
"This cormorant,小朋友♈ Doctor,无敌😜" said she,小游戏🐃 "fished up that pile of oysters."
"The double letter boxes of Fantippo"THE PUSHMI-PULLYU'S STORY