you all of a sudden, anyhow?"

Poor Jimmieboy didn't know what to do. He had no wish to offend the
Merboy or to frighten whales or to prove unpleasant to the Merboy's
friends, but he also did not care to get a mouthful of salt water.

Fortunately at this moment a Porpoise, who was on duty as a policeman in
that neighborhood came swimming up, attracted, no doubt, by the somewhat
angry tones of the Merboy.

"What's the matter here?" he said, frowning with his left eyebrow and
using his right eye to look pleasant, for if everything was all right he
wanted to look pleasant, while the frown was for use in case there was
danger of a disturbance.

"Nothing, Mr. Policeman," answered the Merboy, nodding familiarly at the
Porpoise. "I am afraid my little friend here isn't feeling very well,
and I was only trying to find out what the trouble was."

[Illustration: "IS HE TAKEN THIS WAY OFTEN?" ASKED THE PORPOISE.]

"He does look kind of queer like, doesn't he?" said the Porpoise, gazing
at Jimmieboy's lips. "He looks to me as if he were trying to swallow his
teeth. Is he taken this way often?"

"Never saw him like this before," said the Merboy, anxiously. "It's
something new for him to keep his mouth shut up so tight, and I can't
understand it."

"Perhaps--" the Porpoise began; "but no," he added, "I was going to say
I'd arrest him for being disorderly, for he certainly is out of order,
but I'm afraid the judge would fine me. I lost my last month's pay for
arresting a shark by mistake. Some shark swallowed a whole school of
whitebait last week, and as the teachers of the school complained about
having their business mined I had to arrest some one. These sharks are
all alike, you know, and I got hold of the wrong one, and the judge let
him off and made me pay the damages. I'm afraid we couldn't make out a
case against this young man."

"No; and we shouldn't try it if we could," said the Merboy. "I don't
want to get him into trouble. He's my friend."

"Well--say," said the Porpoise. "I'll tell you how we can find out
what's the matter. There's a bureau of information about two hundred and
thirty fathoms up the street. They know everything there. You might
drive up there and find out what ails him."

"That's a good idea," said the Merboy. "Who is in charge of the bureau?"

"Nobody. It just lies there at the side of the street. You'll find the
most interesting information in the top drawer. You can't miss the
bureau, beca