Then they all grew very sad; and Gub-Gub, the pig, began to cry. But Chee-Chee said he would spank him if he didn’t stop that horrible noise; and he kept quiet. “Are we all here?” asked the Doctor, after he had got used to the dim light. “Yes, I think so,” said the duck and started to count them. “Where’s Polynesia?” asked the crocodile. “She isn’t here.” “Are you sure?” said the Doctor. “Look again. Polynesia! Polynesia! Where are you?” “I suppose she escaped,” grumbled the crocodile. “Well, that’s just like her!—Sneaked off into the jungle as soon as her friends got into trouble.” “I’m not that kind of a bird,” said the parrot, climbing out of the pocket in the tail of the Doctor’s coat. “You see, I’m small enough to get through the bars of that window; and I was afraid they would put me in a cage instead. So while the King was busy talking, I hid in the Doctor’s pocket—and here I am! That’s what you call a ‘ruse,’” she said, smoothing down her feathers with her beak. “Good Gracious!” cried the Doctor. “You’re lucky I didn’t sit on you.” “Now listen,” said Polynesia, “to-night, as soon as it gets dark, I am going to creep through the bars of that window and fly over to the palace. And then—you’ll see—I’ll soon find a way to make the King let us all out of prison.” “Oh, what can _you_ do?” said Gub-Gub, turning up his nose and beginning to cry again. “You’re only a bird!” “Quite true,” said the parrot. “But do not forget that although I am only a bird, _I can talk like a man_—and I know these darkies.” So that night, when the moon was shining through the palm-trees and all the King’s men were asleep, the parrot slipped out through the bars of the prison and flew across to the palace. The pantry window had been broken by a tennis ball the week before; and Polynesia popped in through the hole in the glass. She heard Prince Bumpo snoring in his bedroom at the back of the palace. Then she tip-toed up the stairs till she came to the King’s bedroom. She opened the door gently and peeped in. The Queen was away at a dance that night at her cousin’s; but the King was in bed fast asleep. Polynesia crept in, very softly, and got under the bed. Then she coughed—just the way Doctor Dolittle used to cough. Polynesia could mimic any one. The King opened his eyes and said sleepily: “Is that you, Ermintrude?” (He thought it was the Queen come back from the dance.) Then the parrot coughed again—loud, like a man. And the King sat up, wide awake, and said, “Who’s that?” “I am Doctor Dolittle,” said the parrot—just the way the Doctor would have said it. “What are you doing in my bedroom?” cried the King. “How dare you get out of prison! Where are you?—I don’t see you.” [Illustration: “‘Who’s that?’”] But the parrot just laughed—a long, deep, jolly laugh, like the Doctor’s. “Stop laughing and come here at once, so I can see you,” said the King.