Page:Little Ellie and Other Tales (1850).djvu/86

Rh and growled. I went along the shore, looked into the birds’ nests, and saw the callow young ones screaming and chirping with open mouths; so I blew into their throats by thousands, and then they learned to shut their mouths. Beneath me the walruses tumbled about, looking like gigantic worms with heads of swine and tusks an ell long.’

“You tell your story well, my son,” exclaimed the mother; “it makes one freeze to listen to you.”

“Now, then, the fishing began; the harpoon was thrust into the breast of the walrus, and the reeking stream of blood spouted like a fountain over the ice. Then I thought of my part of the sport. I gave a blast, and made my ships, the stupendous icebergs, hem in the boats. Ha, ha! how the crew all whistled and shouted, but I whistled louder! The pieces of the dead whales, chests, and tackle—all were obliged to be unpacked upon the ice. I shook snow-flakes about them, and sent them and their boat, locked up in the ice, drifting to