Three Tales of My Father's Dragon

by Ruth Stiles Gannett

  “I know,” said the gorilla, “but hurry. I’ve got work to do,” and he winked at my father.

  “Oh, Gorilla,” said my father, “in my knapsack I have six magnifying glasses. They’d be just the thing for hunting fleas.” My father unpacked them and gave one to Rosie, one to Rhoda, one to Rachel, one to Ruthie, one to Ruby, and one to Roberta.

  “Why, they’re miraculous!” said the six little monkeys. “It’s easy to see the fleas now, only there are hundreds of them!” And they went on hunting frantically.

  A moment later many more monkeys appeared out of a nearby clump of mangroves and began crowding around to get a look at the fleas through the magnifying glasses. They completely surrounded the gorilla, and he could not see my father nor did he remember to twist his arms.

  Chapter Nine

  MY FATHER MAKES A BRIDGE

  My father walked back and forth along the bank trying to think of some way to cross the river. He found a high flagpole with a rope going over to the other side. The rope went through a loop at the top of the pole and then down the pole and around a large crank. A sign on the crank said:

  TO SUMMON DRAGON, YANK THE CRANK

  REPORT DISORDERLY CONDUCT TO GORILLA

  From what the cat had told my father, he knew that the other end of the rope was tied around the dragon’s neck, and he felt sorrier than ever for the poor dragon. If he were on this side, the gorilla would twist his wings until it hurt so much that he’d have to fly to the other side. If he were on the other side, the gorilla would crank the rope until the dragon would either choke to death or fly back to this side. What a life for a baby dragon!

  My father knew that if he called to the dragon to come across the river, the gorilla would surely hear him, so he thought about climbing the pole and going across the rope. The pole was very high, and even if he could get to the top without being seen he’d have to go all the way across hand over hand. The river was very muddy, and all sorts of unfriendly things might live in it, but my father could think of no other way to get across. He was about to start up the pole when, despite all the noise the monkeys were making, he heard a loud splash behind him. He looked all around in the water but it was dusk now, and he couldn’t see anything there.

  “It’s me, Crocodile,” said a voice to the left. “The water’s lovely, and I have such a craving for something sweet. Won’t you come in for a swim?”

  A pale moon came out from behind the clouds and my father could see where the voice was coming from. The crocodile’s head was just peeping out of the water.

  “Oh, no thank you,” said my father. “I never swim after sundown, but I do have something sweet to offer you. Perhaps you’d like a lollipop, and perhaps you have friends who would like lollipops, too?”

  “Lollipops!” said the crocodile. “Why, that is a treat! How about it, boys?”

  A whole chorus of voices shouted, “Hurrah! Lollipops!” and my father counted as many as seventeen crocodiles with their heads just peeping out of the water.

  “That’s fine,” said my father as he got out the two dozen pink lollipops and the rubber bands. “I’ll stick one here in the bank. Lollipops last longer if you keep them out of the water, you know. Now, one of you can have this one.”

  The crocodile who had first spoken swam up and tasted it. “Delicious, mighty delicious!” he said.

  “Now if you don’t mind,” said my father, “I’ll just walk along your back and fasten another lollipop to the tip of your tail with a rubber band. You don’t mind, do you?”

  “Oh no, not in the least,” said the crocodile.

  “Can you get your tail out of the water just a bit?” asked my father.

  “Yes, of course,” said the crocodile, and he lifted up his tail. Then my father ran along his back and fastened another lollipop with a rubber band.

  “Who’s next?” said my father, and a second crocodile swam up and began sucking on that lollipop.

  “Now, you gentlemen can save a lot of time if you just line up across the river,” said my father, “and I’ll be along to give you each a lollipop.”

  So the crocodiles lined up right across the river with their tails in the air, waiting for my father to fasten on the rest of the lollipops. The tail of the seventeenth crocodile just reached the other bank.

  Chapter Ten

  MY FATHER FINDS THE DRAGON

  When my father was crossing the back of the fifteenth crocodile with two more lollipops to go, the noise of the monkeys suddenly stopped, and he could hear a much bigger noise getting louder every second. Then he could hear seven furious tigers and one raging rhinoceros and two seething lions and one ranting gorilla along with countless screeching monkeys, led by two extremely irate wild boars, all yelling, “It’s a trick! It’s a trick! There’s an invasion and it must be after our dragon. Kill it! Kill it!” The whole crowd stampeded down to the bank.

  As my father was fixing the seventeenth lollipop for the last crocodile he heard a wild boar scream, “Look, it came this way! It’s over there now, see! The crocodiles made a bridge for it,” and just as my father leapt onto the other bank one of the wild boars jumped onto the back of the first crocodile. My father didn’t have a moment to spare.

  By now the dragon realized that my father was coming to rescue him. He ran out of the bushes and jumped up and down yelling, “Here I am! I’m right here! Can you see me? Hurry, the boar is coming over on the crocodiles, too. They’re all coming over! Oh, please hurry, hurry!” The noise was simply terrific.

  My father ran up to the dragon, and took out his very sharp jackknife. “Steady, old boy, steady. We’ll make it. Just stand still,” he told the dragon as he began to saw through the big rope.

  By this time both boars, all seven tigers, the two lions, the rhinoceros, and the gorilla, along with the countless screeching monkeys, were all on their way across the crocodiles and there was still a lot of rope to cut through.

  “Oh, hurry,” the dragon kept saying, and my father again told him to stand still.

  “If I don’t think I can make it,” said my father, “we’ll fly over to the other side of the river and I can finish cutting the rope there.”

  Suddenly the screaming grew louder and madder and my father thought the animals must have crossed the river. He looked around, and saw something which surprised and delighted him. Partly because he had finished his lollipop, and partly because, as I told you before, crocodiles are very moody and not the least bit dependable and are always looking for something to eat, the first crocodile had turned away from the bank and started swimming down the river. The second crocodile hadn’t finished yet, so he followed right after the first, still sucking his lollipop. All the rest did the same thing, one right after the other, until they were all swimming away in a line. The two wild boars, the seven tigers, the rhinoceros, the two lions, the gorilla, along with the countless screeching monkeys, were all riding down the middle of the river on the train of crocodiles sucking pink lollipops, and all yelling and screaming and getting their feet wet.

  My father and the dragon laughed themselves weak because it was such a silly sight. As soon as they had recovered, my father finished cutting the rope and the dragon raced around in circles and tried to turn a somersault. He was the most excited baby dragon that ever lived. My father was in a hurry to fly away, and when the dragon finally calmed down a bit my father climbed up onto his back.

  “All aboard!” said the dragon. “Where shall we go?”

  “We’ll spend the night on the beach, and tomorrow we’ll start on the long journey home. So, it’s off to the shores of Tangerina!” shouted my father as the dragon soared above the dark jungle and the muddy river and all the animals bellowing at them and all the crocodiles licking pink lollipops and grinning wide grins. After all, what did the crocodiles care about a way to cross the river, and what a fine feast they were carrying on their backs!

  As my father and the dragon passed over the Ocean Rocks they heard a tiny excited voice scr
eam, “Bum cack! Bum cack! We dreed our nagon! I mean, we need our dragon!”

  But my father and the dragon knew that nothing in the world would ever make them go back to Wild Island.

  THE END

  RUTH STILES GANNETT

  Illustrated by

  RUTH CHRISMAN GANNETT

  A YEARLING BOOK

  Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York

  My Father’s Dragon and design is a trademark of Ruth Stiles Gannett.

  Copyright © 1950 by Random House, Inc. Copyright renewed 1977 by Ruth Stiles Gannett and Ruth Chrisman Gannett.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law. For information address Random House Books for Young Readers.

  Visit us on the Web! www.randomhouse.com/kids

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at www.randomhouse.com/teachers

  eISBN: 978-0-307-97648-2

  Reprinted by arrangement with Random House Books for Young Readers

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Map

  1. Tangerina

  2. Storm

  3. The Sand Bar

  4. The Island

  5. Flute, the Canary

  6. King Can XI

  7. The Secret

  8. Treasure

  9. Farewell

  10. Elmer Flies Home

  Chapter One

  TANGERINA

  Into the evening sky flew Elmer Elevator aboard the gentle baby dragon, leaving Wild Island behind forever. Elmer, who was nine years old, had just rescued the dragon from the ferocious animals who lived on the island. An old alley cat told him how the dragon had been hurt when he fell from a cloud onto the island, and how the wild animals had made him their miserable prisoner. Elmer, feeling sorry for the dragon, and also hoping to fly on his back, had set off to the rescue.

  Now the dragon was free, and happy and grateful, and he said, “Elmer, you were wonderful to come all the way to Wild Island just to rescue me. I’ll never be able to thank you enough!”

  “Oh, that’s all right,” said Elmer. “Flying on your back makes all my trouble worthwhile.”

  “Then I’ll take you on a trip! Where would you like to go?”

  “Everywhere,” said Elmer. “The trouble is that I ran away ten days ago to rescue you, and I guess I ought to be getting home.”

  “Well, at least I can fly you there.”

  “That would be swell,” said Elmer, peering over the dragon’s side. “Let’s rest tonight down there on Tangerina Island, and start the trip tomorrow.”

  “Fine,” said the dragon, swooping down and landing beneath a tree on the beach of Tangerina.

  Elmer slid down and took off his knapsack. “You’re beautiful!” he said, admiring the dragon’s blue and yellow stripes, his red horn and eyes, his great long tail, and especially his gold-colored wings shining in the faint moonlight.

  “It’s very kind of you to say so,” said the dragon, suddenly feeling very hungry. “What’s there to eat around here?”

  “Tangerines all over the place!” said Elmer, picking one and peeling it for the dragon.

  “Pew! Pew! What a terrible taste!” choked the dragon, spitting out the tangerine as hard as he could.

  “What do dragons eat?” asked Elmer.

  “I used to enjoy the skunk cabbages and the ostrich ferns on Wild Island, but I don’t see any here,” said the dragon, looking anxiously up and down the empty beach.

  “Maybe you’d like the tangerine peelings?” suggested Elmer.

  The dragon closed his eyes and carefully bit off a small corner of a piece of a peel. Then he jumped up yelling, “Why, they’re delicious!”

  So Elmer and the dragon ate nineteen tangerines, Elmer the insides and the dragon the peels. A chilly wind blew along the beach and the dragon curled his great long tail around the boy to keep him warm. “Good night!” said Elmer, resting his head on his knapsack. “I can’t wait for the trip home tomorrow.”

  Next morning, as the sun edged over the horizon, the dragon rubbed his eyes, stretched his wings, and yawned. “My, but it’s good to be free again! By the way, Elmer, where do you live?”

  “In Nevergreen City near Evergreen Park on the coast of Popsicornia,” mumbled Elmer, who was already awake and eating tangerines.

  “I hope you know how to get there,” said the dragon.

  “Don’t you?” asked Elmer.

  “No, don’t you?” asked the dragon.

  “No,” said Elmer. “You see, I came here in the bottom of a boat and I couldn’t see where I was going.”

  “The seagulls will know,” said the dragon. “They follow ships out to sea.”

  “I’ll go ask one,” said Elmer, suddenly remembering that it would be nice to be home for his father’s birthday. He walked down to the water where a very old gull was blinking at the morning sun.

  “Excuse me,” said Elmer, “but did you ever hear of Nevergreen City?”

  “Of course,” croaked the very old gull. “I lived there before I followed a ship to Tangerina, but I wouldn’t dream of going back now.”

  “That’s very interesting,” said Elmer, “but would you know how to go if you did want to?”

  “Certainly!” answered the old gull, pointing his right wing toward the ocean. “Just fly in exactly that direction until you get there.”

  Elmer took out his compass and found that this direction was west northwest. “Is it very far?”

  “Far? I should say so!”

  “Well, thanks a lot,” said Elmer.

  “I’m kind of worried,” said the dragon. “Suppose we never find it?”

  “We’ll find it, all right,” said Elmer, who was a tiny bit worried himself.

  The dragon ran along the beach warming up his wings while Elmer packed sixty-nine tangerines, as many as his knapsack would hold. Besides the tangerines, he had in his knapsack all sorts of things left over from the rescue, including seven pink lollipops (which he was saving for an emergency), half a package of rubber bands, three sticks of chewing gum, a very good jackknife, and a burlap bag. Of course, he kept his compass in his pocket where it would be handy, and he wore his black rubber boots.

  “Are you ready?” asked Elmer.

  “Jump on!” said the dragon.

  Elmer clambered onto the dragon’s back and took one last look at Tangerina and the blue and white waves skipping in from the cold ocean onto the sandy beach.

  Chapter Two

  STORM

  They flew all morning, high above the endless blue and white waves. Elmer sat feeling the wind on his face, listening to the whir of the dragon’s wings, and watching the compass to make sure they were going in the right direction.

  “I see a rock down there,” said the dragon in the late afternoon. “Let’s rest a bit.”

  “Good idea,” said Elmer.

  The dragon circled down to the rock, landing on all four feet. Elmer unpacked eleven tangerines and as he and the dragon ate they watched the sky turn from blue to gray and then to dark gray.

  “Looks like a storm,” said Elmer.

  “Yes,” said the dragon. “Do you think we’d better wait here or go on?”

  “If the wind’s bad, the waves will wash right over this rock,” said Elmer. “But if we keep going maybe we can fly away from the storm.”

  “Let’s hurry on,” said the dragon, and up they flew while the waves grew whiter and wilder.

  “I felt a drop of rain,” said Elmer, looking up at the blackening sky.

  Suddenly a ferocious wind rushed up from behind, pushing them forward faster and faster. Thunder crackled all around them, and cold hard rain beat down upon them.

&nb
sp; “I wish I had my raincoat,” yelled Elmer.

  “I wish it weren’t raining!” panted the dragon. “My wings are getting heavy and I can’t fly very well. Besides, I hate thunder!”

  The wind blew harder and the rain was colder. Elmer looked at his compass and cried through the rumbling storm, “We’re going in the wrong direction!”

  “I can’t help it. The wind’s too strong. I can’t fight against it,” screamed the dragon.

  Elmer put away his compass and looked down at the thrashing spray. He could hear the dragon breathing hard, and he watched his wings beating slower and slower. He wondered how long the tired dragon could fly through the crashing storm.

  “I can’t go on,” puffed the dragon, and he sank through the rain nearer to the cold wild water. Elmer shut his eyes and held on as hard as he could, trying not to cry or think about home.

  “I’m sorry,” huffed the dragon, “that I couldn’t keep my promise.”

  “Oh, that’s all right. You did your best,” sobbed Elmer.

  And then the dragon sank lower, closer to the water.

  Splash!

  “Elmer, we’re safe! I landed on sand!” yelled the dragon. “But don’t get off, because the water is up to my knees.”

  Elmer opened his eyes and looked around, but it was too dark to see anything. “Are you very uncomfortable?” he screamed above the noise of the storm.

  “It’s not too bad,” shrieked the dragon, “but I think the water’s getting deeper.”

  “Gosh, maybe you’re sinking in quicksand!”

  “No, I don’t think so. Anyway, where else can I go? We’ll just have to wait here. Why don’t you take a nap? I can sleep standing up, you know.”