The doctor woke the man up. When John Dolittle told him that he had his little nephew on his ship, the man was very glad. And he said, “The Barbary Dragon put me onto this rock and left me there, when I refused to become a pirate; I slept in this hole because there was no house on the rock to keep me warm.” And then he said, “I didn’t eat or drink for four days. I’m starving.” So they went back to the boat and the man got some soup.

When the animals and the little boy saw the red-headed man, they began to cheer and dance about the boat. And Jip was awfully proud of himself. When Dab-Dab came to him and said, “Jip, I had no idea you were so clever!” he answered, “Oh, that’s nothing special. But only a dog can find a man, you know. Birds are not good for a game like that.” Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman where his home was, and told the swallows to guide the ship there first.

So they came to the land and saw a little fishing-town at the foot of a rocky mountain; and the man pointed out the house where he lived. And then the little boy’s mother (who was also the man’s sister) ran to the shore to meet them, and she was really happy. And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that he giggled and blushed like a school-girl. And she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away and hid inside the ship. “Let her go and kiss Gub-Gub – if she MUST kiss something,” he said.

The fisherman and his sister begged the Doctor to spend a few days with them. So John Dolittle and his animals stayed at their house a whole Saturday and Sunday and half of Monday. All those days that the Doctor stayed at the little fishing-town the people invited him to dinners and parties; all the ladies sent him boxes of flowers and candies; and the village-band played music under his window every night. At last the Doctor said, “Good people, I must go home now. You are really kind. I will always remember it. But I must go home because I have a lot of work.”

Then, just as the Doctor was going to leave, the Mayor of the town came to the Doctor.

“Doctor John Dolittle,” said he: “It is a great pleasure for me to present to the man who rid the seas of the Dragon of Barbary this little gift from the grateful people of our town.” And the Mayor took from his pocket a little packet, opened it, and handed to the Doctor a beautiful watch with real diamonds in the back. Then the Mayor pulled out of his pocket a larger parcel and said, “Where is the dog?” When Jip came to the Doctor’s side, the Mayor opened the larger parcel; and inside was a dog-collar made of gold! And on the collar in big letters were these words: “JIP – THE CLEVEREST DOG IN THE WORLD.” Then the whole crowd moved down to the beach to see them off. The red-haired fisherman and his sister and the little boy thanked the Doctor and his dog many times, and the great, swift ship sailed to Puddleby.