after some persuasion the doctor consented to this proposal feeling that perhaps he could do some good. little did he realize what great labors and strange adventures he was taking upon himself as he got into the canoe with the king, begwe and zuzana to be paddled to the town of fantippo.
this place he found very different from any of the african villages or settlements he had ever visited. it was quite large, almost a city. it was bright and cheerful to look at and the people, like their king, all seemed very kind and jolly.
the doctor was introduced to all the chief men of the fantippo nation and later he was taken to see the post office.
this he found in a terrible state. there were letters everywhere—on the floors, in old drawers, knocking about on desks, even lying on the pavement outside the post office door. the doctor explained to the king that this would never do, that in properly-run post offices the letters that had stamps on were treated with respect and care. it was no wonder, he said, that zuzana's letter had never been delivered to her cousin if this was the way they took care of the mails.
then king koko again begged him to take charge of the post office and try to get it running in proper order. and the doctor said he would see what he could do. and, going into the post office, he took off his coat and set to work.
but after many hours of terrific labor, trying to get letters sorted and the place in order, john dolittle saw that such a tremendous job as setting the fantippo post office to rights would not be a matter of a day or two. it would take weeks at least. so he told this to the king. then the doctor's ship was brought into the harbor and put safely at anchor and the animals were all taken ashore. and a nice, new house on the main street was given over to the doctor for himself and his pets to live in while the work of straightening out the fantippo mails was going on.
well, after ten days john dolittle got what is called the domestic mails in pretty good shape. domestic mails are those that carry letters from one part of a country to another part of the same country, or from one part of a city to another. the mails that carry letters outside the country to foreign lands are called foreign mails. to have a regular and good service of foreign mails in the fantippo post office the doctor found a hard problem, because the mail ships which could carry letters abroad did not come very often to this port. fantippo, although king koko was most proud of it, was not considered a very important country among the regular civilized nations and two or three ships a year were all that ever called there.
now, one day, very early in the morning, when the doctor was lying in bed, wondering what he could do about the foreign mail service, dab-dab and jip brought him in his breakfast on a tray and told him there was a swallow outside who wanted to give him a message from speedy-the-skimmer. john dolittle had the swallow brought in and the little bird sat on the foot of his bed while he ate his breakfast.
"good morning," said the doctor, cracking open the top of a hard-boiled egg. "what can i do for you?"
"speedy would like to know," said the swallow, "how long you expect to stay in this country. he doesn't want to complain, you understand—nor do any of us—but this journey of yours is taking longer than we thought it would. you see, there was the delay while we hunted out bones the slaver, and now it seems likely you will be busy with this post office for some weeks yet. ordinarily we would have been in england long before this, getting the nests ready for the new season's families. we cannot put off the nesting season, you know. of course, you understand we are not complaining, don't you? but this delay is making things rather awkward for us."
"oh, quite, quite. i understand perfectly," said the doctor, poking salt into his egg with a bone egg-spoon. "i am dreadfully sorry. but why didn't speedy bring the message himself?"
"i suppose he didn't like to," said the swallow. "thought you'd be offended, perhaps."
"oh, not in the least," said the doctor. "you birds have been most helpful to me. tell speedy i'll come to see him as soon as i've got my trousers on and we'll talk it over. something can be arranged, i have no doubt."
"very good, doctor," said the swallow, turning to go. "i'll tell the skimmer what you say."
"by the way," said john dolittle, "i've been trying to think where i've seen your face before. did you ever build your nest in my stable in puddleby?"
"no," said the bird. "but i am the swallow that brought you the message from the monkeys that time they were sick."
"oh, to be sure—of course," cried the doctor. "i knew i had seen you somewhere. i never forget faces. you had a pretty hard time coming to england in the winter, didn't you—snow on the ground and all that sort of thing. very plucky of you to undertake it."
"yes, it was a hard trip," said the swallow. "i came near freezing to death more than once. flying into the teeth of that frosty wind was just awful. but something had to be done. the monkeys would most likely have been wiped right out if we hadn't got you."
"how was it that you were the one chosen to bring the message?" asked the doctor.
"well," said the swallow, "speedy did want to do it himself. he's frightfully brave, you know—and fast as lightning. but the other swallows wouldn't let him. they said he was too valuable as a leader. it was a risky job. and if he had lost his life from the frost we'd never be able to get another leader like him. because, besides being brave and fast, he's the cleverest leader we ever had. whenever the swallows are in trouble he always thinks of a way out. he's a born leader. he flies quick and he thinks quick."
"humph!" murmured the doctor, as he thoughtfully brushed the toast crumbs off the bed clothes. "but why did they pick you to bring the message?"
"they didn't," said the swallow. "we nearly all of us volunteered for the job, so as not to have speedy risk his life. but the skimmer said the only fair way was to draw lots. so we got a number of small leaves and we took the stalks off all of them except one. and we put the leaves in an old cocoanut shell and shook them up. then, with our eyes shut, we began picking them out. the swallow who picked the leaf with the stalk on it was to carry the message to england—and i picked the leaf with the stalk on. before i started off on the trip i kissed my wife good-bye, because i really never expected to get back alive. still, i'm kind of glad the lot fell to me."
"why?" asked the doctor, pushing the breakfast tray off his knees and punching the pillows into shape.
"well, you see," said the swallow, lifting his right leg and showing a tiny red ribbon made of corn silk tied about his ankle, "i got this for it."
"what's that?" asked the doctor.
"that's to show i've done something brave—and special," said the swallow modestly.
"oh, i see," said the doctor. "like a medal, eh?"
"yes. my name is quip. it used to be just plain quip. now i'm called quip the carrier," said the small bird proudly gazing down at his little, stubby white leg.
"splendid, quip," said the doctor. "i congratulate you. now i must be getting up. i've a frightful lot of work to do. don't forget to tell speedy i'll meet him on the ship at ten. good-bye! oh, and would you mind asking dab-dab, as you go out, to clear away the breakfast things? i'm glad you came. you've given me an idea. good-bye!"
and when dab-dab and jip came to take away the tray they found the doctor shaving. he was peering into a looking glass, holding the end of his nose and muttering to himself:
"that's the idea for the fantippo foreign mail service—i wonder why i never thought of it before. i'll have the fastest overseas mail the world ever saw. why, of course! that's the idea—the swallow mail!"
