bureau he opened the second drawer and found it full of books. They
were very handsome books on the outside, and if one could judge from
their titles they were attractive inside too. One of them, for instance,
was named _The Porpoise of the Mediterranean, or A Minnow's Adventures
on the Coast of Africa_. Another was labelled _Poems of A. Swordfish_.
Another was called _Jellyfish Jingles_, a title which so interested
Jimmieboy that he opened it and read some of them. In a minute he threw
his head back and laughed loudly, opening his mouth as widely as
possible in his mirth. He was so amused that he couldn't keep his lips
closed.

"Listen to this," he said; "it's called 'The Unfortunate Tale of the
Polliwog:'

"The small sea-toad he climbed a tree
One windy summer's day,
And through the water chanced to see
A pollywog grown gray;
Whereat he cried, 'Oh, Pollywog,
Come tell me, sir, I pray,
How is it you are not a frog
And yet have grown so gray?'

"'Because,' the Pollywog replied,
His visage turning pale;
'Because,' and here he deeply sighed,
And sadly wagged his tail;
'Because,' he added, as the tide
Grew wavy in the gale;
'Because I shed but tears; I've tried
But cannot shed my tail.'"

"That's pretty good," said the Merboy, with a smile, noticing with a
great deal of relief that Jimmieboy had at last opened his mouth. "Are
there any more?" he added, just to see if Jimmieboy's cure were final.

"Yes," said Jimmieboy. "Here's one about 'A Sad Sea-Dog.'

"Oh, the sad sea-dog he has no fin,
And he never moves, they say.
He sits as still as a piece of tin,
And he's never known to smile or grin,
Or to wipe his tears away.

"His chief delight is to bark and growl,
And to yelp and screech and snap;
He does not mind if the wild winds howl,
He never will stir for fish or fowl,
And cares not what may hap.

"He shakes his flippers and wags his jaws,
Delights in the awful gale,
He breaks each one of the ocean's laws,
And no one lives that can make him pause,
From sharks to the mammoth whale.

"And it's all because a fisherman--
A man with a great green eye--
Mistook him once for his black-and-tan,
And whistled to him, and called him 'Fan,'
In the days long since gone by.

"When a sea-dog's name is Anthony
Montgomery Varian,
'Tis apt to sour his spirit to be
Miscalled as upon that day was he