Chapter 15 The Barbary Dragon Everything would have been fine if the pig had not caught a cold.
They had pulled up the anchor in perfect silence.
The ship started to move quietly out of the bay.
Then, just as they were almost away, Gub-Gub sneezed.
He sneezed so loudly that the pirates on the other ship rushed back upstairs.
They looked back at their ship and saw it moving out to sea.
The pirates pulled anchor and started after the doctor.
They were expert sailors.
In only a matter of moments, they had moved the boat to the mouth of the bay.
They were blocking Dr. Doolittle.
He had no way to get back to the open sea.
The pirate leader shook his fist at the doctor.
Aha!
You're mine now, he said.
You thought you could take off at my ship, did you?
You're not a good enough sailor to escape me.
That is why they call me the Barbary Dragon.
No one is stronger than me.
The pirate leader looked at all the animals with Dr. Doolittle.
I want that duck and the pig.
We'll have a fine supper tonight.
All the other pirates laughed.
Poor Gub-Gub started to cry.
Dab-Dab started to think about an escape plan.
Too-Too the owl leaned in to whisper in Dr. Doolittle's ear.
Keep him talking, he said.
Try to be nice so he doesn't become angry.
If the rats were correct, our ship will sink very soon, and rats are never wrong.
So be calm. and keep him talking until the ship sinks.
But the rat said it would sink by tomorrow morning, Dr. Doolittle whispered.
You expect me to keep him talking until then?
Well, I suppose we don't have much choice, do we?
I wonder what I should talk about.
When Dr. Doolittle looked back at the pirates, he saw that their boat was closer still.
The pirates were laughing.
I wonder which of us will catch the pig, one of them yelled.
They laughed some more.
Poor Gub-Gub was scared.
The Push-Me-Pull-You prepared for a fight.
Although they were shy and quiet creatures, Push-Me-Pull-You's defend the friends.
And Jip stood between the pig and the pirates, ready to protect Gub-Gub if necessary.
Then the pirates stopped laughing.
They became very serious.
Something was upsetting them.
They looked around them, puzzled.
Something was making them uneasy.
Thunder and lightning, the Barbary dragon called.
Men, the boat's leaking.
The pirates looked over the side.
They were sinking.
The boat was going lower and lower into the water.
The front end went down first.
It sank so low that the back end stuck straight up in the air.
The pirates had to hold on to the rails.
The sea rushed and roared in through all the windows and doors.
At last, the ship plunged right down to the bottom of the sea.
The six bad men were left bobbing in the water.
Some of them started to swim to shore.
Others tried to get aboard the ship with Dr. Doolittle.
Jip kept close guard by the rails, though.
He nipped and bucked as any of them tried to climb up.
The pirates started to panic.
Then one of them noticed something swimming near them in the water.
Sharks! one of them yelled.
Please, let us aboard.
The sharks will eat us.
Dr. Doolittle looked in the water by the pirates.
He saw the large gray fish swimming in the deep.
He had to agree that this looked like a very bad situation.
One of the sharks popped his head up out of the water.
Are you Dr. Doolittle?
Yes, the doctor said.
You've heard of me?
There's no creature on land or in water who hasn't heard of you, the shark said.
Are these men bothering you?
We know all about these pirates, too.
If you like, we could eat them for you.
Oh, well, Dr. Doolittle said, that's kind of you to offer, but I don't think it's necessary.
You could do us another favor, though.
Would you mind keeping all the pirates in the bay until we leave?
It would help if they couldn't reach ship or shore.
When we are gone, you could let them go.
Your wish is our command, Doctor, the sharks said.
The sharks made a tight circle around the pirates in the water.
The boat was about to set sail when Dr. Doolittle put up his hand.
Wait, he called.
He walked back to the railing and called to the pirates.
I have one more thing to say, he said.
You must stop being pirates from now on.
Excuse me, the pirate leader said.
Why should we stop being pirates?
The other pirates laughed.
They planned to find another boat as soon as Dr. Doolittle was gone.
They would be back to stealing things in no time.
You will stop being pirates because I said so, Dr. Doolittle replied.
You can see that the sharks listen to me.
All the animals on land and sea will listen, too.
If you continue to steal things and hurt people, these sharks will not be so kind.
You will have trouble with birds, horses, dogs, and monkeys.
The pirate leader looked at the sharks in the water.
He knew that the doctor was telling the truth.
The animals would never leave them alone.
What else will we do? he asked.
We don't know how to be anything else.
You could learn to be farmers, Dr. Doolittle said.
That is a good, honest job.
You could help people rather than steal from them.
The pirate leader was about to complain when he felt a shark brush against his foot.
Okay, okay, he called.
We'll be farmers.
We promise.
Can we go to shore now?
That's fine, the doctor said.
He told the sharks to let them swim to shore.
But Dr. Doolittle, Dab-Dab said, how can you trust a pirate?
They know the animals will keep an eye on them, Dr. Doolittle said.
All the pirates said, we promise, we'll be farmers and live a quiet life.
So the pirates or new farmers swam to shore, and Dr. Doolittle and his animals set sail once more.
