"Where is Wilkins?" he asked in a dazed, sleepy kind of way.
"Gone," said Dab-Dab; "and the pearls with him—the scoundrel! As soon as they had dumped you in the canoe they pulled up the anchor, hoisted sail and got away. They were in an awful hurry and kept looking out to sea with telescopes and talking about the revenue cutter. I guess they are wanted by the government for a good many bad deeds. I never saw a tougher-looking crowd of men in all my life. See, I've got the rope around your hands free now; you can do the rest better yourself. Does your head hurt much?"
"It's a bit dizzy still," said the Doctor, working at the rope about his ankles. "But I'll be all right in a little."
Presently when he had undone the cord that tied his feet, John Dolittle stood up and gazed over the ocean. And there, on the sky line, he could just see the sails of Wilkins' schooner disappearing eastward.
"Villain!" was all he said between his clenched teeth.
[CHAPTER III]
PEARLS AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS
Disappointed and sad, Dab-Dab and the Doctor started to paddle their way back.
"I think I'll stop in at the post office before I return to Chief Nyam-Nyam's country," said the Doctor. "There's nothing more I can do about the pearls, I suppose. But I'd like to see if everything else is going all right."
"Wilkins may get caught yet—by the government," said Dab-Dab. "And if he does we might get the pearls back, after all."