The bird, when he found himself deserted by his friends, made more frantic efforts than ever to escape; and the beating of his wings upon the water caused the whole party to move slowly along.
“What are we to do now?” whispered Marjorie; “we can’t drag him underneath, or he’d be drowned, you know.”
“Oh, let’s hang on,” cried Dick, “perhaps he will drag us along till we come to land somewhere. I say,” he shouted, “are you the Dodo, or not?”
His voice could evidently not be heard above the water, for there was no reply from the bird, which continued making a terrific outcry, using every effort to get away from them.
Presently, just as Dick had suggested, some rocks came in sight, and the children could see that they were being gradually dragged towards the shore.
In a few minutes they had the satisfaction of being able to scramble out of the water, when they discovered, to their great dismay, that their captive was not the Dodo at all, but a great wild goose, who, when they hurriedly released his legs waddled awkwardly ashore, and gazed at them with reproachful eyes.
A little way inland the Dodo himself could be seen standing, surrounded by an excited group of birds, who, when they caught sight of the children emerging from the water, immediately took to flight, screaming in horrified tones—
“The Sharks! The Sharks! Here come the Sharks!”
The Dodo tried to follow their example, and for a moment it looked as though the children would lose him after all; but it soon became evident that the creature could not fly, for after wildly beating the air for awhile, with his little apologies for wings, the miserable bird fell squalling into the water, while his companions disappeared in the distance.
“Help! Help!” he screamed, as he struggled with the waves. “Don’t you see that I’m drowning? Oh! Oh! Help! Help!”