"Why, we always have ours for
breakfast."

"Nonsense!" thundered the Whale, with a laugh that made the beach quake;
"I don't mean anything to eat. I mean dancing parties."

"And do _you_ dance?" said Davy, thinking that if he did it must be a
very extraordinary performance.

"Dance?" said the Whale, with a reverberating chuckle. "Bless you! I'm
as nimble as a sixpence. By the way I'll show you the advantage of
having a bit of whalebone in one's composition;" and with these words
the Whale curled himself up, then flattened out suddenly with a
tremendous flop, and, shooting through the air like a flying elephant,
disappeared with a great splash in the sea.

Davy stood anxiously watching the spot where he went down, in the hope
that he would come up again; but he soon discovered that the Whale had
gone for good. The sea was violently tossed about for a few moments, and
then began circling out into great rings around the spot where the Whale
had gone down. These soon disappeared, however, and the water resumed
its lazy ebb and flow upon the shore; and Davy, feeling quite lonesome
and deserted, sat down on the sand, and gazed mournfully out upon the
sea.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE TALKING WAVES, AND THE OLD SEA-DOG.

"I wonder why the ocean doesn't keep still sometimes, and not be moving
its edge about all the time," said Davy, after watching the waves that
constantly rolled up on the beach and then rolled back again, looking
like creamy soap-suds.

"That wouldn't do at all!" said a Wave that rolled almost up to his
feet. "The beach gets mussed, you see, and we have to smooth it off
again. The sea is always tidy;" and here the Wave broke with a little,
murmuring laugh, and rolled back again, all in a foam.

Davy was so astonished that it almost took away his breath. A talking
Wave was certainly the most marvellous thing he had met with, and in an
instant he was lying flat on his face, trembling with eagerness, and
waiting for the next Wave to roll up on the shore.

It came in a moment, and gently whispered, "If we didn't wet the sand
once in a while there wouldn't be any nuts on the beach-trees,--no nuts
on the trees, and no shells on the shore;" and here this Wave broke in
its turn into foam, and ran back into the sea.

"This is perfectly delicious!" said Davy, joyfully, and as the next
Wave rolled up to him he softly asked, "Do you know the Whale?"

"Know him!" cried the Wave, passionately; "I should think