Dr. Dolittle called a meeting with all the stowaways.
"I am very disappointed in you, Jip," he scolded.
"And you, too, Gub-Gub!"
"We only wanted to go with you, Dr. Dolittle," the pig cried.
"And I wanted to be part of your adventures," interrupted Matthew.
Dr. Dolittle shook his head.
"I'm afraid this trip is not an adventure, but a rescue mission."
"To rescue whom?" asked Matthew.
But the doctor did not explain.
"Tommy," he said instead, "bring me the map."
Tommy returned with the map.
"Aha," said the doctor after a while,
"Capa Blanca Islands."
Everyone waited quietly for the doctor to continue.
"We can stop there and drop off the stowaways," he said.
Dr. Dolittle turned the boat toward the north.
"Is it very far from here?" Tommy asked.
"Not too far," the doctor replied.
"Polynesia!" he called, "how is the water temperature?"
Polynesia pulled up her tail.
At the end of her tail was a long piece of string.
And tied to the end of the string was a thermometer.
"Brrr!" she shivered. "The water feels cold."
Polynesia held the thermometer close to her face.
"I must be getting old," she sighed.
"I can't see what it says."
Tommy helped her read the thermometer.
"It looks okay," said Tommy.
"Good," said Dr. Dolittle.
"If the water temperature is very cold, there might be icebergs nearby."
At that moment, there was a loud thump followed by a cracking noise.
"The thermometer must be broken!" cried Polynesia.
"Dr. Dolittle! Be careful!" shouted Tommy.
But it was too late.
Dr. Dolittle lost control of the wheel and fell.
Tommy ran over to Dr. Dolittle to help him up.
"Grab the wheel, Tommy!" the doctor shouted.
Tommy tried but it was too heavy.
"I can't see the iceberg, Doctor!" he gasped.
"It must be underwater," Dr. Dolittle replied.
There was another cracking sound and Tommy saw water leaking into the boat.
Meanwhile, there was trouble in the kitchen.
"Hurry, Chip!" yelled Charles.
"My name is Jip! Not Chip!" barked the dog.
But of course Charles could not understand animal language.
"Cover the holes with the potato sacks!" he cried.
They blocked the water with the sacks.
Soon the water seeped through the potatoes.
"What should we do?" cried Charles.
"I have an idea!" oinked Gub-Gub.
But of course the humans only heard snorting sounds.
"Use the flour!
Like making bread!" the pig cried.
"What are you talking about?" barked Jip.
"I saw Dab-Dab do it," the pig explained.
Gub-Gub opened the lid of one barrel.
"What on earth is that pig doing?" shouted Matthew.
He did not have fond memories of flour barrels.
Gub-Gub pushed the barrel over.
Flour came spilling out.
Then, using a broom, he pushed it toward the holes.
As the flour absorbed the water, it became sticky and thick.
It turned into dough.
The dough plugged the holes.
"What a clever pig!" said Charles.
Together they began emptying all the flour barrels.
Soon the kitchen looked like a giant oven filled with dough.
The water stopped leaking into the boat.
"That should hold us till we get to land," said Matthew.
"I'm quite impressed,"
Charles said as he handed Gub-Gub another biscuit.
Gub-Gub snorted loudly.
After a while the boat was under control again.
"What happened?" asked Tommy.
"I think it must have been a rock," replied the doctor.
"The boat's been damaged, especially in the kitchen," said Charles.
"And we have no more flour," added Matthew, "and the potatoes are spoiled."
Everyone's heart felt heavy.
But soon their spirits lifted.
"Land ho!" Polynesia called from the mast.
They all stood up to look.
Indeed, land was within sight.
"We'll get our boat fixed," said the doctor happily, "and get some more food.
Then we'll be on our way to Spider Monkey Island."