“Oh, yes, you can. Come! Drag yourself as near as possible to the water. You amphibians can live out of the water for a while. So make haste!”
“But Mr. Tursio told me never to leave the water.”
“Well, just for once.”
Marsovino finally gave in. There was no great harm in just one little disobedience, he thought.
Pinocchio hastened away, and soon he was back with the shell full of fresh water.
“Oh, how good that spring water was,” he said to his friend, who was busily blowing the fire. “Now for a good dinner!”
The eggs were soon cooked, and Pinocchio certainly enjoyed them.
“I feel so well after that dinner I could travel to the end of the world,” he said when he had finished.
The two travelers then turned toward the sea. But Marsovino gave a cry of horror. In the channel hardly any water was left. The pebbly bottom could be seen, and beyond that the steep rock.
“The tide!” cried Marsovino. “I forgot the tide! Poor me! I am lost!”