adventures and filling note-books full of natural history that I
never seemed to get time to sit down and write of our doings.
Now of course, when I am quite an old man, my memory isn't so
good any more. But whenever I am in doubt and have to hesitate
and think, I always ask Polynesia, the parrot.
That wonderful bird (she is now nearly two hundred and fifty
years old) sits on the top of my desk, usually humming sailor
songs to herself, while I write this book. And, as every one who
ever met her knows, Polynesia's memory is the most marvelous
memory in the world. If there is any happening I am not quite
sure of, she is always able to put me right, to tell me exactly
how it took place, who was there and everything about it. In
fact sometimes I almost think I ought to say that this book was
written by Polynesia instead of me.
Very well then, I will begin. And first of all I must tell you
something about myself and how I came to meet the Doctor.
PART I
THE FIRST CHAPTER
THE COBBLER'S SON
MY name was Tommy Stubbins, son of Jacob Stubbins, the cobbler of
Puddleby-on-the-Marsh; and I was nine and a half years old. At
that time Puddleby was only quite a small town. A river ran
through the middle of it; and over this river there was a very
old stone bridge, called Kingsbridge, which led you from the
market-place on one side to the churchyard on the other.
Sailing-ships came up this river from the sea and anchored near
the bridge. I used to go down and watch the sailors unloading
the ships upon the river-wall. The sailors sang strange songs as
they pulled upon the ropes; and I learned these songs by heart.
And I would sit on the river-wall with my feet dangling over the
water and sing with the men, pretending to myself that I too was
a sailor.
For I longed always to sail away with those brave ships when they
turned their backs on Puddleby Church and went creeping down the
river again, across the wide lonely marshes to the sea. I longed
to go with them out into the world to seek my fortune in foreign
lands--Africa, India, China and Peru! When they got round the
bend in the river and the water was hidden from view, you could
still see their huge brown sails towering over the roofs of the
