-Oh, but before I do anything, you must first go
down to the beach and get a ship ready, with food in it, to take me
across the sea. Do not speak a word of this to any one. And when I
have done as you ask, you must let me and all my animals out of prison.
Promise--by the crown of Jolliginki!"

So the Prince promised and went away to get a ship ready at the
seashore.

When he came back and said that it was done, the Doctor asked Dab-Dab
to bring a basin. Then he mixed a lot of medicines in the basin and
told Bumpo to dip his face in it.

The Prince leaned down and put his face in--right up to the ears.

He held it there a long time--so long that the Doctor seemed to get
dreadfully anxious and fidgety, standing first on one leg and then on
the other, looking at all the bottles he had used for the mixture, and
reading the labels on them again and again. A strong smell filled the
prison, like the smell of brown paper burning.

At last the Prince lifted his face up out of the basin, breathing very
hard. And all the animals cried out in surprise.

For the Prince's face had turned as white as snow, and his eyes, which
had been mud-colored, were a manly gray!

When John Dolittle lent him a little looking-glass to see himself in,
he sang for joy and began dancing around the prison. But the Doctor
asked him not to make so much noise about it; and when he had closed
his medicine-bag in a hurry he told him to open the prison-door.

Bumpo begged that he might keep the looking-glass, as it was the only
one in the Kingdom of Jolliginki, and he wanted to look at himself all
day long. But the Doctor said he needed it to shave with.

Then the Prince, taking a bunch of copper keys from his pocket, undid
the great double locks. And the Doctor with all his animals ran as
fast as they could down to the seashore; while Bumpo leaned against the
wall of the empty dungeon, smiling after them happily, his big face
shining like polished ivory in the light of the moon.

When they came to the beach they saw Polynesia and Chee-Chee waiting
for them on the rocks near the ship.

"I feel sorry about Bumpo," said the Doctor.

"I am afraid that medicine I used will never last. Most likely he will
be as black as ever when he wakes up in the morning--that's one reason
why I didn't like to leave the mirror with him. But then again, he
MIGHT stay white--I had never used that mixture before. To tell the
truth, I was surprised, myself, t