“Oh! no, n—no, never!” promised the Dodo.
“Well, one good one for the last, then,” cried the Doctor, giving a final push, and then leaving the poor Dodo to his fate.
I don’t think that it could have been a very dreadful one, however, for a few minutes later he had joined the three children and the Palæotherium in a journey on the switchback.
Fidge, who had never been on one before, was delighted with the experience, and shouted, “Hooray! This is jolly!” as the car dashed down the steep incline.
The poor Palæotherium, however, his nerves evidently greatly unstrung by his unfortunate experience on the roundabout, was dreadfully upset, and alarmed, and, hiding his eyes, he crouched at the bottom of the car till it reached the other end, when he at once got out, and no amount of persuasion would induce him to undertake the return journey.
He had scarcely got out into the grounds again, when he met the Archæopteryx, who was carrying a strange-looking object, which he held up for the Palæotherium’s inspection.
“Your tail, I believe,” he said.
The Palæotherium gave a hasty glance at his back, and then said, in rather a shamefaced way—
