VI

and he kept quiet.

“Are we all here?” asked the Doctor, after he had got used to the dim light.

“Yes, I think so,” said the duck and started to count them.

“Where’s Polynesia?” asked the crocodile. “She isn’t here.”

“Are you sure?” said the Doctor. “Look again. Polynesia! Polynesia! Where are you?”

“I suppose she escaped,” grumbled the crocodile. “Well, that’s just like her!⁠—Sneaked off into the jungle as soon as her friends got into trouble.”

“I’m not that kind of a bird,” said the parrot, climbing out of the pocket in the tail of the Doctor’s coat. “You see, I’m small enough to get through the bars of that window; and I was afraid they would put me in a cage instead. So while the King was busy talking, I hid in the Doctor’s pocket⁠—and here I am! That’s what you call a ‘ruse,’ ” she said, smoothing down her feathers with her beak.

“Good Gracious!” cried the Doctor. “You’re lucky I didn’t sit on you.”

“Now listen,” said Polynesia, “tonight, as soon as it gets dark, I am going to creep through the bars of that window and fly over to the palace. And then⁠—you’ll see⁠—I’ll soon find a way to make the King let us all out of prison.”

“Oh, what can you do?” said Gub-Gub, turning up his nose and beginning to cry again. “You’re only a bird!”

“Quite true,” said the parrot. “But do not forget that although I am only a bird, I can talk like a man ⁠—and I know these darkies.”