Soon the Doctor chopped a hole in the door and got in. At first he could see nothing at all, it was so dark inside. So he struck a match. The room was quite small; there was no window; the ceiling was low. There was only one little stool. And in the middle of the floor there was a little boy, crying bitterly. He was about eight years old.

The little boy was frightened when he saw a man before him. But as soon as he saw John Dolittle’s face by the light of the match, he got up. “You aren’t one of the pirates, are you?” he asked. And when the Doctor laughed loudly, the little boy smiled too and came and took his hand.

“You laugh like a friend,” he said – “not like a pirate. Could you tell me where my uncle is?”

“I am afraid I can’t,” said the Doctor. “When did you see him last?”

“It was the day before yesterday,” said the boy. “I and my uncle went fishing in our little boat, and the pirates came and caught us. They sank our fishing-boat and brought us both onto this ship. They told my uncle that they wanted to make him a pirate because he knew how to sail a ship in any weather. But my uncle said that he didn’t want to be a pirate because he didn’t want to kill people and steal things. Then the leader, Ben Ali, became very angry and said, ‘We will throw you into the sea then!’ They sent me downstairs; and I heard the noise of a fight. And I never saw my uncle again after that. I am very much afraid they threw him into the sea and drowned him.”

And the little boy began to cry again. “Well now – wait a minute,” said the Doctor. “Don’t cry. Let’s go and have tea in the dining-room, and we’ll talk about it. Maybe your uncle is quite safe all the time. You don’t KNOW that they drowned him, do you? Perhaps we can find him for you. First we’ll go and have tea – with strawberry jam; and then we will see what we can do.”

All the animals heard the boy’s story. So after tea Dab-Dab whispered to the Doctor, “Ask the dolphins about the boy’s uncle.”

“All right,” said the Doctor.

“What are those funny noises which you are making with your tongue?” asked the boy.

“Oh, I just said a couple of words in duck language,” the Doctor answered. “This is Dab-Dab, one of my pets.”

“I didn’t even know that ducks had a language,” said the boy. “Are all these other animals your pets, too? What is that strange animal with two heads?”

“Sh!” the Doctor whispered. “That is the pushmi-pullyu. Don’t let him see that we’re talking about him – he becomes really embarrassed… Tell me about your uncle now. “

“He had red hair,” the boy said – “very red hair, and he had the picture of an anchor on his arm, a tattoo. He was a strong man, a kind uncle and the best sailor in the South Atlantic.”

Then the Doctor left the boy to play with the animals in the dining-room and went upstairs. Soon he saw a school of dolphins near the ship. They were on their way to Brazil. And the Doctor asked them, “Have you seen a man with red hair and the tattoo of an anchor on his arm?”

“We saw his boat on the bottom of the sea. But we know that there was nobody inside it, because we went and looked.”

“His little nephew is on the ship with me here,” said the Doctor. “And he is afraid that the pirates threw his uncle into the sea.”

“No – tell the little boy we are sure that the pirates didn’t drown him in the sea.”

So the Doctor ran downstairs with the news and told the nephew, who clapped his hands with happiness. And the pushmi-pullyu took the little boy on his back and gave him a ride round the dining-room table.