So Chunky began to swim. I have told you that hippos are very good swimmers and divers in the water, and Chunky was one of the best. Even if his legs were very short, he knew how to use them to paddle himself through the ocean waves, and he was soon swimming in fine style.
At first Chunky liked it, but, after awhile, he became tired.
“I wonder how much farther away the shore is,” thought Chunky. “I ought to be there pretty soon. And I wonder if I can get down to the bottom of this big pond of water and dig up some grass roots to eat. I guess I’ll try that.”
Taking a long breath, so he would not have to come up to breathe for about ten minutes, Chunky let himself sink under the waves. Down and down he went, quite a distance in the ocean, but he did not come to the bottom. That was more than a mile down, and quite too far for Chunky to sink.
As he was floating around in the water, big fish brushed by him, and tried to talk to him, but he could not understand what they said. They were asking him what kind of fish he was, and, of course, he was not a fish at all!
Then, all of a sudden, a big shark, with a large mouth and very sharp teeth, made a rush for Chunky, intending to bite him.
“My!” thought the hippo. “This is as bad as the crocodile! I must get away from here!”
He began swimming toward the top as fast as he could go, and the shark for some reason or other, not liking to go too near the surface, stopped following Chunky.
For two or three hours Chunky swam about in the ocean, and by that time the storm had commenced to die down. The wind did not blow so hard and the rain did not come down so heavily. The waves, too, were not so large.