22-LULLABY FOR A SICK YETI

LULLABY FOR A SICK YETI I RAN to the professor's rescue. "Don't worry, Professor! I'm here to save you!" I squeaked. Yes, I, geronimo stilton, would fight those big, hairy yetis until the finish! And I would do it all for my dear friend Professor von Volt! The professor just stared at me, He seemed confused. At last he smiled. "It's OK, Geronimo," he squeaked. "I'm not the one in danger." I blinked. Now I was the one to look confused. What was going on? Hadn't the professor sent for me because he was in

danger? Isn't that why I had just traveled all the way to ICY COLD Mouse Everest? Just then, I saw the professor was holding A GLASS BOLLE of green LIQUID in his paw. He poured some of the liquid into a spoon made of bone. Then he fed it to the young yeti. "Drink your medicine, little one," he murmured, "Soon you'll be as strong as your dad and as beautiful as your mom." The cub made a face. Bleaaahhh!!!" he cried, shaking his head. But eventually he gulped down the liquid. Then he closed his eyes and curled up snugly in the snow.

His mother stroked his fur as she sang a tune. It sounded like a lullaby. Soon, the cub was snoring away. Professor von Volt pulled me aside. "I believe I owe you an explanation, Geronimo," he whispered. "You see, I am not the one in DANGER," he began. "This baby yeti is. He is very ill. I sent his father in search of you. That's why you're the only one who saw him. I hope he didn't fluster you too much. He's huge, but he's quite mild-mannered.“ I stared at the enormous hairy creature. No. the father yeti hadn't flustered me. He had scared me half to death! He had knocked ten years off my natural

mouse lifespan! But I didn't want to make the professor feel bad. "Oh, no, I thought the YETI seemed quite friendly," I lied. Professor von Volt smiled and continued his tale. "As I was building my secret lab in this cave, I discovered a family of yetis," he explained. "You see, dear Geronimo, many thousands of years ago, the Himalayan mountains were populated by tribes of yetis. The yetis are HERBIVORES, which means they do not eat meat. They wouldn't hurt a fly! Then, gradually. almost all of the yetis were wiped out by a mysterious illness."