Page 9 of The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me

'Now listen to me, all of you,' he said. 'Those diamonds were worth millions! Millions and millions! And you have saved them!'

The Monkey nodded. The Giraffe smiled. The Pelican blushed.

'No reward is too great for you,' the Duke went on. 'I am therefore going to make you an offer which I hope will give you pleasure. I hereby invite the Giraffe and the Pelican and the Monkey to live on my estate for the rest of their lives.

'I shall give you my best and largest hay-barn as your private house. Central heating, showers, a kitchen and anything else you desire for your comfort will be installed.

'In return, you will keep my windows clean, and pick my cherries and my apples. If the Pelican is willing, perhaps he will also give me a ride in his beak now and again.'

'A pleasure, Your Grace!' cried the Pelican. 'Would you like a ride now?'

'Later,' said the Duke. 'I'll have one after tea.'

At this point, the Giraffe gave a nervous little cough and looked up at the sky.

'Is there a problem?' asked the Duke. 'If there is, do please let me hear it.'

'I don't like to sound ungrateful or pushy,' murmured the Giraffe, 'but we do have one very pressing problem. We are all absolutely famished. We haven't eaten for days.'

'My dear Giraffey!' cried the Duke. 'How very thoughtless of me. Food is no problem around here.'

'I'm afraid it is not quite as easy as all that,' said the Giraffe. 'You see, I myself happen to be ...'

'Don't tell me!' cried the Duke. 'I know it already! I am an expert on the animals of Africa. The moment I saw you I knew you were no ordinary giraffe. You are of the Geraneous variety, are you not?'

'You are absolutely right, Your Grace,' said the Giraffe. 'But the trouble with us is that we only eat ...'

'You don't have to tell me that either!' cried the Duke. 'I know perfectly well a Geraneous Giraffe can eat only one kind of food. Am I not right in thinking that the pink and purple flowers of the tinkle-tinkle tree are your only diet?'

'Yes,' sighed the Giraffe, 'and that's been my problem ever since I arrived on these shores.'

'That is no problem at all here at Hampshire House,' said the Duke. 'Look over there, my dear Giraffey, and you will see the only plantation of tinkle-tinkle trees in the entire country!'

The Giraffe looked. She gave a gasp of astonishment, and at first she was so overwhelmed she couldn't even speak. Great tears of joy began running down her cheeks.

'Help yourself,' said the Duke. 'Eat all you want.'

'Oh, my sainted souls!' gasped the Giraffe. 'Oh, my naked neck! I cannot believe what I am seeing!'

The next moment she was galloping full speed across the lawns and whinnying with excitement and the last we saw of her, she was burying her head in the beautiful pink and purple flowers that blossomed on the tops of the trees all around her.

'As for the Monkey,' the Duke went on, 'I think he also will be pleased with what I have to offer. All over my estate there are thousands of giant nut trees ...'

'Nuts?' cried the Monkey. 'What kind of nuts?'

'Walnuts, of course,' said the Duke.

'Walnuts!' screamed the Monkey. 'Not walnuts? You don't really mean walnuts? You're pulling my leg! You're joking! You can't be serious! I must have heard wrong!'

'There's a walnut tree right over there,' the Duke said, pointing.

The Monkey took off like an arrow, and a few seconds later he was high up in the branches of the walnut tree, cracking the nuts and guzzling what was inside.

'That leaves only the Pelly,' said the Duke.

'Yes,' said the Pelican nervously, 'but I'm afraid that what I eat does not grow on trees. I only eat fish. Would it be too much trouble, I wonder, if I were to ask you for a reasonably fresh piece of haddock or cod every day?'

'Haddock or cod!' shouted the Duke, spitting out the words as though they made a bad taste in his mouth. 'Cast your eyes, my dear Pelly, over there to the south.'

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