Too-Too listened very long and hard.
"What do you hear now, Too-Too?" Dab-Dab asked.
"I don’t think it’s a man or a woman . . . ," he said, confused.
Soon Dr. Dolittle returned with an ax. "Move back, everyone," he called out. Dr. Dolittle raised the ax and chopped a hole in the door. He did it again and again. "There! Now, let’s see who is behind this door," the doctor said.
It was very dark inside. Dr. Dolittle found a lamp. The room was very small. There were lots of barrels.
"This must be where the pirates keep their rum," said Jip.
In between two barrels sat a little boy crying. He seemed scared of Dr. Dolittle. So the doctor spoke gently to him. "Hello, there."
The boy looked up at the man with the kind voice.
"Are you a pirate?" the boy asked.
"No. I’m a doctor," Dr. Dolittle laughed.
The little boy stopped crying. "Where is my uncle?" he asked.
"Your uncle? Well, I don’t know," Dr. Dolittle replied. The boy started crying again. Dr. Dolittle took the boy upstairs.
"Do you like biscuits?" the doctor asked.
"Oh, I do. Can I have one, please?" Gub-Gub asked.
After eating a biscuit and drinking some hot tea, the boy told Dr. Dolittle what happened.
"My uncle and I were fishing. But the Barbary pirates came and took our boat. They wanted my uncle to be a pirate! But my uncle didn’t want to be like them."
The boy paused, and the doctor poured him more tea.
"So the pirates got angry," the boy continued. "They were going to throw my uncle into the ocean. They put me in the rum room. And after that, I didn’t see my uncle." He began to cry.
Dr. Dolittle tried to comfort him. "Don’t cry. Maybe your uncle is fine."
"Ask the dolphins. Maybe they saw the uncle," Dab-Dab whispered in Dr. Dolittle’s ear.
"That’s a good idea," the doctor replied.
"What are those sounds you are making?" the boy asked.
"I’m using duck language," said the doctor, smiling.
The little boy wanted to speak duck language, too.
"What’s that strange animal?" he pointed to the pushmi-pullyu.
"That’s a pushmi-pullyu. He’s very shy," the doctor whispered.
"He’s got two heads!" the boy exclaimed.
"SSSH!" the doctor calmed the boy down. "Don’t talk about his heads. He’s very sensitive." Dr. Dolittle asked many more questions. "What does your uncle look like?"
"He has red hair. My uncle is very strong but kind. He is the best sailor in the world!" the boy boasted.
"What is his boat called?" Dr. Dolittle asked.
"The Saucy Sally," replied the boy.
"Stay here. I am going to talk to the dolphins." With that, the doctor got up.
Dr. Dolittle called the dolphins.
"Hello, Dr. Dolittle! How was Africa?" one shouted.
"Oh, lovely! Can you do something for me?" the doctor asked.
Of course the dolphins would do anything for Dr. Dolittle.