Nick Sullivan: It was very quiet in the barber shop. The barber was shaving an elderly gentleman. Captain Cook found this spectacle very interesting. And in order to get a better view, he jumped up on the mirror ledge. "Good Night", said the barber. The gentleman in the barber's chair, his face already white with lather, half tilted his head to see what had happened. "Gawk", said the penguin, flapping his flippers and reaching out it's long beak towards the lather on the gentleman's face. With a yell and a leap the gentleman rose from his reclining position, left the barber's chair and fled into the street. Not even stopping for his coat and hat. "Gaw", said Captain. "Hey!", said the barber to Mr. Popper. "Take that thing out of my shop. This is no zoo. What's the idea?". "Do you mind if I take him out your back door?", asked Mr. Popper. "Any door!", said the barber. "As long as it's quick. Now it's biting the teeth off my combs.". Mr. Popper took Captain Cook in his arms and amid cries of "Quawk, Gawk" and "Ark" made his way out of the shop and it's back door and out a door into an ally.

Captain Cook now discovered his first back stairway. Mr. Popper discovered that when a penguin has found steps going up somewhere, it is absolutely impossible to keep him from climbing them. "Alright.", said Mr. Popper, panting up the steps behind Captain Cook. "I suppose being a bird and one that can't fly, you have to go up in the air somehow so you like to climb stairs. Well, it's a good thing this building has only 3 stories. Come on, let's see what you can do." Slowly but unwearyingly, Captain Cook lifted one pink foot after another from one step to the next followed by Mr. Popper at the other end of the clothes line. At last they came to the top landing. "Now what?", inquired Mr. Popper of Captain Cook. Finding there were no more steps to climb, Captain Cook turned around and surveyed the steps that now went down. Then he raised his flippers and leaned forward.

Mr. Popper, who was still panting for breath had not supposed the determined bird would plunge so quickly. He should have remembered that penguins will toboggan whenever they get a chance. Perhaps he had been unwise in tying one end of the clothes line to his own wrist. At any rate, this time Mr. Popper found himself suddenly sliding on his own white clad stomach down the three flights of steps. This delighted the penguin who was enjoying his own slide just ahead of Mr. Popper. When they reached the bottom, Captain Cook was so eager to go up again that Mr. Popper had to call a taxi to distract him. "432 Proudfoot Avenue.", said Mr. Popper to the driver. The driver, who was a kind and polite man, did not laugh at his oddly assorted passengers until he had been paid.