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tell the sick monkeys that the great doctor had

come at last.
But the King's men, who were still following,

had heard the noise of the monkeys cheering;
and they at last knew where the Doctor was,

and hastened on to catch him.
The big monkey carrying Gub-Gub was coming

along behind slowly, and he saw the Captain
of the army sneaking through the trees.

So he hurried after the Doctor and told him to
run.

Then they all ran harder than they had ever
run in their lives; and the King's men, coming

after them, began to run too; and the Captain
ran hardest of all.

Then the Doctor tripped over his medicine-
bag and fell down in the mud, and the Captain

thought he would surely catch him this time.
But the Captain had very long ears--though

his hair was very short. And as he sprang forward
to take hold of the Doctor, one of his ears

caught fast in a tree; and the rest of the army
had to stop and help him.

By this time the Doctor had picked himself
up, and on they went again, running and running.

And Chee-Chee shouted,
"It's all right! We haven't far to go now!"

But before they could get into the Land of
the Monkeys, they came to a steep cliff with a

river flowing below. This was the end of the
Kingdom of Jolliginki; and the Land of the

Monkeys was on the other side--across the
river.

And Jip, the dog, looked down over the edge
of the steep, steep cliff and said,

"Golly! How are we ever going to get across?"
"Oh, dear!" said Gub-Gub. "The King's

men are quite close now--Look at them! I am
afraid we are going to be taken back to prison

again." And he began to weep.
But the big monkey who was carrying the

pig dropped him on the ground and cried out
to the other monkeys.

"Boys--a bridge! Quick!--Make a bridge!
We've only a minute to do it. They've got the

Captain loose, and he's coming on like a deer.
Get lively! A bridge! A bridge!"

The Doctor began to wonder what they were going
to make a bridge out of, and he gazed around

to see if they had any boards hidden any place.
But when he looked back at the cliff, there,

hanging across the river, was a bridge all ready
for him--made of living monkeys! For while

his back was turned, the monkeys--quick as a
flash--had made themselves into a bridge, just

by holding hands and feet.
And the big one shouted to the Doctor, "Walk

over! Walk over--all of you--hurry!"
Gub-Gub was a bit scared, walking on such

a narrow bridge at that dizzy height above the
river. But he got over all right; and so did all

of them.
John Dolittle was the last to cross. And just

as he was getting to the other side, the King's
men came rushing up to the edge of the cliff.

Then they shook their fists and yelled with
rage. For they saw they were too late. The

Doctor and all his animals were safe in the Land
of the Monkeys and the bridge was pulled across

to the other side.
Then Chee-Chee turned to the Doctor and

said,
"Many great explorers and gray-bearded

naturalists have lain long weeks hidden in the
junglewaiting to see the monkeys do that trick.

But we never let a white man get a glimpse of it
before. You are the first to see the famous

`Bridge of Apes.'"
And the Doctor felt very pleased.

THE EIGHTH CHAPTER
THE LEADER OF THE LIONS

JOHN DOLITTLE now became dreadfully, awfully busy.
He found hundreds and thousands of monkeys sick--gorillas,

orangoutangs, chimpanzees, dog-faced baboons, marmosettes,
gray monkeys, red ones--all kinds. And many had died.

The first thing he did was to separate the
sick ones from the well ones. Then he got

Chee-Chee and his cousin to build him a little
house of grass. The next thing: he made all

the monkeys who were still well come and be
vaccinated.

And for three days and three nights the
monkeys kept coming from the jungles and the

valleys and the hills to the little house of grass,
where the Doctor sat all day and all night,

vaccinating and vaccinating.
Then he had another house made--a big one,

with a lot of beds in it; and he put all the sick
ones in this house.

But so many were sick, there were not enough
well ones to do the nursing. So he sent

messages to the other animals, like the lions and the
leopards and the antelopes, to come and help

with the nursing.
But the Leader of the Lions was a very proud

creature. And when he came to the Doctor's
big house full of beds he seemed angry and

scornful.
"Do you dare to ask me, Sir?" he said, glaring

at the Doctor. "Do you dare to ask me--ME,
THE KING OF BEASTS, to wait on a lot of dirty

monkeys? Why, I wouldn't even eat them
between meals!"

Although the lion looked very terrible, the
Doctor tried hard not to seem afraid of him.

"I didn't ask you to eat them," he said quietly.
"And besides, they're not dirty. They've all

had a bath this morning. YOUR coat looks as
though it needed brushing--badly. Now

listen, and I'll tell you something: the day may
come when the lions get sick. And if you don't

help the other animals now, the lions may
find themselves left all alone when THEY are

in trouble. That often happens to proud people."
"The lions are never IN trouble--they only

MAKE trouble," said the Leader, turning up his
nose. And he stalked away into the jungle, feeling

he had been rather smart and clever.
Then the leopards got proud too and said

they wouldn't help. And then of course the
antelopes--although they were too shy and timid

to be rude to the Doctor like the lion--THEY
pawed the ground, and smiled foolishly, and said

they had never been nurses before.
And now the poor Doctor was worried frantic,

wondering where he could get help enough
to take care of all these thousands of monkeys

in bed.
But the Leader of the Lions, when he got

back to his den, saw his wife, the Queen Lioness,
come running out to meet him with her hair

untidy.
"One of the cubs won't eat," she said. "I

don't know WHAT to do with him. He hasn't
taken a thing since last night."

And she began to cry and shake with nervousness--
for she was a good mother, even though

she was a lioness.
So the Leader went into his den and looked

at his children--two very cunning little cubs,
lying on the floor. And one of them seemed

quite poorly.
Then the lion told his wife, quite proudly,

just what he had said to the Doctor. And she got
so angry she nearly drove him out of the den.

"You never DID have a grain of sense!" she
screamed. "All the animals from here to the

Indian Ocean are talking about this wonderful
man, and how he can cure any kind of sickness,

and how kind he is--the only man in the whole
world who can talk the language of the animals!

And now, NOW--when we have a sick baby on
our hands, you must go and offend him! You

great booby! Nobody but a fool is ever rude
to a GOOD doctor. You--," and she started pulling

her husband's hair.
"Go back to that white man at once," she

yelled, "and tell him you're sorry. And take
all the other empty-headed lions with you--

and those stupid leopards and antelopes. Then
do everything the Doctor tells you. Work

hard! And perhaps he will be kind enough
to come and see the cub later. Now be off!--

HURRY, I tell you! You're not fit to be a father!"
And she went into the den next door, where another

mother-lion lived, and told her all about it.
So the Leader of the Lions went back to the

Doctor and said, "I happened to be passing this
way and thought I'd look in. Got any help yet?"

"No," said the Doctor. "I haven't.
And I'm dreadfully worried."

"Help's pretty hard to get these days," said
the lion. "Animals don't seem to want to work

any more. You can't blame them--in a way.
...Well, seeing you're in difficulties, I don't

mind doing what I can--just to oblige you--
so long as I don't have to wash the creatures.

And I have told all the other hunting animals
to come and do their share. The leopards

should be here any minute now.... Oh, and
by the way, we've got a sick cub at home. I

don't think there's much the matter with him
myself. But the wife is anxious. If you are

around that way this evening, you might take
a look at him, will you?"

Then the Doctor was very happy; for all the
lions and the leopards and the antelopes and

the giraffes and the zebras--all the animals of
the forests and the mountains and the plains

--came to help him in his work. There were
so many of them that he had to send some away,



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