THE NEXT DAY was quite eventful at 432 Proudfoot Avenue. First there was the service man and then the policeman and then the trouble about the license.
Captain Cook was in the children’s room, watching Janie and Bill put together a jigsaw puzzle on the floor. He was very good about not disturbing the pieces after Bill had spanked him for eating one. He did not hear the refrigerator service man come to the back door.
Mrs. Popper had gone marketing for canned shrimps for the penguin, so that Mr. Popper was alone in the kitchen to explain to the service man what he wanted done to the refrigerator.
The service man put his tool bag down on the kitchen floor, looked at the refrigerator, and then at Mr. Popper, who, to tell the truth, had not shaved yet and was not very tidy.
“Mister,” he said, “you don’t need no ventilating holes in that there door.”
“It’s my icebox, and I want some holes bored in the door,” said Mr. Popper.
They argued about it for quite a while. Mr. Popper knew that to get the service man to do what he wanted, all he had to do was to explain that he was going to keep a live penguin in the icebox, and that he wanted his pet to have plenty of fresh air, even though the door was closed all night. He felt a little stubborn about explaining, however. He didn’t want to discuss Captain Cook with this unsympathetic service man, who was already staring at Mr. Popper as if he thought Mr. Popper was not quite right in his head.
“Come on, do what I said,” said Mr. Popper. “I’m paying you for it.”
“With what?” asked the service man.
Mr. Popper gave him a five-dollar bill. It made him a little sad to think how many beans it would have bought for Mrs. Popper and the children.
The service man examined the bill carefully as if he didn’t trust Mr. Popper too much. But at last he put it in his pocket, took a drill from his tool bag, and made five small holes in a neat pattern on the refrigerator door.
“Now,” said Mr. Popper, “don’t get up. Wait a minute. There is one more thing.”
“Now what?” said the service man. “I suppose now you want me to take the door off its hinges to let in a little more air. Or do you want me to make a radio set out of your icebox?”
“Don’t get funny,” said Mr. Popper indignantly. “That is no way to talk. Believe it or not, I know what I’m doing. I mean, having you do. I want you to fix an extra handle on the inside of that box so it can be opened from the inside of the box.”
“That,” said the service man, “is a fine idea. You want an extra handle on the inside. Sure, sure.” He picked up his tool bag.
“Aren’t you going to do it for me?” asked Mr. Popper.
“Oh, sure, sure,” said the service man, edging toward the back door.
Mr. Popper saw that for all his words of agreement, the service man had no intention of putting on an inside handle.
“I thought you were a service man,” he said.
“I am. That’s the first sensible thing you’ve said yet.”
“You’re a fine kind of service man if you don’t even know how to put an extra handle on the inside of an icebox door.”
“Oh, I don’t, don’t I? Don’t think I don’t know how. As far as that goes, I’ve even got a spare handle in my tool bag, and plenty of screws. You needn’t think I don’t know how to do it, if I wanted to.”
Mr. Popper silently reached into his pocket and gave the service man his last five-dollar bill. He was pretty sure that Mrs. Popper would be annoyed at him for spending all that money, but it could not be helped.
“Mister,” said the service man, “you win. I’ll fix your extra handle. And while I am doing it, you sit down on that chair over there facing me, where I can keep an eye on you.”
“Fair enough,” said Mr. Popper, sitting down.
The service man was still on the floor, putting in the final screws that held the new handle in place, when the penguin came out to the kitchen on his silent pink feet.
Surprised at seeing a strange man sitting on the floor, Captain Cook quietly walked over and began to peck him curiously. But the service man was even more surprised than Captain Cook.
“Ork,” said the penguin. Or perhaps it was the service man. Mr. Popper was not sure just what had happened when he picked up himself and his chair a moment later. There had been a shower of flying tools, a violent slamming of the door, and the service man was gone.
These sudden noises, of course, brought the children running. Mr. Popper showed them how the refrigerator was now all remodeled for the penguin. He showed Captain Cook, too, by shutting him inside it. The penguin at once noticed the shiny new inside handle and bit it with his usual curiosity. The door opened, and Captain Cook jumped out.
Mr. Popper promptly put Captain Cook back inside and shut the door again, to be sure that the penguin learned his lesson. Before long, Captain Cook became quite skillful at getting out and was ready to be taught how to get inside when the door was shut.
By the time the policeman came to the back door, Captain Cook was going in and out the refrigerator as easily as if he had lived in one all his life.