“Come on, boys! See what I’ve found!”
The others followed and soon were examining a number of vertebra of a whale.
“By the Great Horn Spoon! Is a remnant of that old whale here yet!” cried Uncle Bill, in surprise.
“What old whale—do tell us the story!” begged Billy, scenting an exciting adventure of Uncle Bill’s youth.
“Well, when I was about your age, my brother and I took a sail one day and landed for lunch at this island. We intended to spend the day fishing for cod and then start home about sunset. Just about the time we were ready for lunch, the wind veered and brought the most dreadful odour to our nostrils.
“We looked at each other, while reaching the same conclusion—something unusual had been washed ashore!
“Say, Bill, folks say ‘follow your nose’—shall we?” asked my brother.
“Sure thing—come on!” said I, and we ran down to this beach and right here we came upon a young whale which yet was ancient of days!
“Even in death the strength of the whale was more than our lusty powers of resistance so we both returned to that lunch minus an appetite. The fire was smothered and we sadly resumed our cod-fishing, but strange to say, it had lost its zest for us and the boat seemed very wobbly. We returned home quite early that day and took relief in a mad game of tennis. That evening we felt better and could partake of slight nourishment!”
Every one laughed at Uncle Bill’s experience and Dudley made a suggestion. “Let’s take home the vertebra for souvenirs!”