Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag, Vol. 5 / Jimmy's Cruise in the Pinafore, Etc.

something like a swing; and was not only comfortable but curious, for it was made of a whale's bone. Freddy often sat there, and thoug

rom, and if you were a good and happy creature while you liv

ome monster groaned and sighed. Then Freddy heard a strange voice, very lo

u all about it; for you are the only person who ev

Freddy, very much astonis

d then be so loud you wouldn't be able to hear it. I don't think any one but you would understand me, any way. It isn't every one

to speak a little lower, and not sigh; for your voice almost

e, or to help groaning when I think of my sad fate; th

aughty whale?

ed for it. I dare say you know a good deal about us. I

and I only know that you are the bi

as laughing, and said in a tone that s

the biggest creatures in the sea and out of it. Why, bless you! some of us are nearly a hundred feet long; our tails alone are fifteen or twenty feet wide; the biggest of us weigh five hundred thousand pounds, and have in the

d Freddy, taking a long breath, while his

hes are famous in one way or another. Fin-backs, sperms, and rights are the largest; th

he big ones, please. Whic

zone is like a sea of fire, and we don't pass it. Our cousins do; and go to the East Indi

u eat, and how you live, and why you came here," said

one against the other; so they make an immense sieve. The tongue, which makes about five barrels of oil, lies below, like a cushion of white satin. When we want to feed, we rush through the water, which is full of the little things we eat, and catch them in our sieve, spurting the wat

houldn't think you could have,

fastens to us, and won't be shaken off till he has worried us to death; the sword-fish stabs us with his sword; and the thrasher whips us to death with his own slender, but stron

ut candles? I know about oil and seats and umbr

a sort of cistern in their heads, full of stuff like cream, and rose-colored. They cut a hole in the skull, and dip it out; and sometimes get sixteen or tw

sent Freddy flying off the seat on to the grass, where

; for I've a heavy heart somewhere, and have known tro

ity you very much, and like to he

various afflictions besides death. We grow blind; our jaws are deformed s

was, because at the sea-side there were many sickly

ne. "We suffer a great deal, and get thin and weak and miser

hew your food enough, and so have dyspepsia

cousins, the Sperms, have

they

are killed off very fast; for they are a very headstrong family. We fight when we can't help it; and my father died like a hero. They chased him five hours before they stuck him; he tried to get away, and dragged three or four boats and sixteen hundred fathoms of line from eight in t

tes, as the old bone seemed to feel a great d

ve feet long, and weighing but a ton,-my son was harpooned. His mamma, instead of flying, wrapped her fins round him, and dived as far as the line allowed. Then she came up, and dashed at the boats in great rage and anguish, entirely r

Freddy feared it would tumble to pieces,

ings," he said; "tell me how you c

sel was wrecked. But he paid dearly for that prank; for a few months afterward another ship harpooned him very easily, finding two spears still in him, and a wound in his head. I forgot to mention, that the Sperms have fine

ut yourself?" said Freddy again; for the bone seemed to avo

rry to confess what a fool I've been

ddy, wondering

arders or visitors: these are the real workers, and, when they sit in their cells and put out their feelers, they make all manner of lovely colors under the water,-crimson, green, orange, and violet. But if they are taken up or touched, the coral people go in doors, and the beautiful hues disappear. They say there are many coral reefs and islands built by these industrious people, in the South Seas; but I can't go there to see, and I am contented with those I find in the northern latitudes. I knew such a community of coral builders, and used to watch them long ago, when they began to work. It was a charming spot, down under the sea; for all

eddy, looking at the branch of coral

orked in its white chambers. I was glad to see them getting on so well; but still I didn't believe in the island story, and used to joke them about their ambition. They were very good-natured, and only answered me, 'Wait a little longer, Friend Right.' I had my own affairs to attend to; so, for years at a time, I forgot the coral-workers, and spent most of my life up Greenland way, for warm climates don't agree with my constitution. When I

u say then?"

aller than an elephant. I heard two learned men talking about diatoms, as they sailed to Labrador; and I listened. They said these people lived in both salt and fresh water, and were found in all parts of the world. They were a glassy shell, holding a soft, golden-yellow substance, and that they were so countless that banks were made of them, and that a town here in these United States was founded on them. They were the food of many little sea-animals, who, in turn, fed us big creatures, and were very interesting and wonderful. I saved up this story; and, when the polypes asked if they hadn't done what they intended, I told them I didn't think it so very remar

you?" ask

ic gentlemen worked away at me with microscopes, hammers, acids, and all sorts of tests, to decide what I was; and kept up such a fire of long words that I was 'most dead. They couldn't make up their minds; and meanwhile news of the strange thing spread, and every sort of person came to see me. The gulls kept telling them the joke; but they didn't understand, and I got on capitally. Every night I dined and fed and frolicked till dawn; then put on my sea-weeds, and lay still to be stared at. I wanted some one to come and live on me; then I should be equal to the island of the polypes. But no one came, and I was beginning to be tired of fooling people, when I was fooled myself. An old sailor came to visit me: he had been a whaler, and he soon guessed the secret. But he said no

tumbled to pieces; and found a peac