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〃I come from the warm Carolinas; and the sandbanks fringed with pines; where the great owl…rays leap and flap; like giant bats; upon the tide。 But I wandered north and north; upon the treacherous warm gulf…stream; till I met with the cold icebergs; afloat in the mid ocean。 So I got tangled among the icebergs; and chilled with their frozen breath。 But the water…babies helped me from among them; and set me free again。 And now I am mending every day; but I am very sick and sad; and perhaps I shall never get home again to play with the owl…rays any more。〃
〃Oh!〃 cried Tom。 〃And you have seen water…babies? Have you seen any near here?〃
〃Yes; they helped me again last night; or I should have been eaten by a great black porpoise。〃
How vexatious! The water…babies close to him; and yet he could not find one。
And then he left the buoy; and used to go along the sands and round the rocks; and come out in the night … like the forsaken Merman in Mr。 Arnold's beautiful; beautiful poem; which you must learn by heart some day … and sit upon a point of rock; among the shining sea…weeds; in the low October tides; and cry and call for the water…babies; but he never heard a voice call in return。 And at last; with his fretting and crying; he grew quite lean and thin。
But one day among the rocks he found a playfellow。 It was not a water…baby; alas! but it was a lobster; and a very distinguished lobster he was; for he had live barnacles on his claws; which is a great mark of distinction in lobsterdom; and no more to be bought for money than a good conscience or the Victoria Cross。
Tom had never seen a lobster before; and he was mightily taken with this one; for he thought him the most curious; odd; ridiculous creature he had ever seen; and there he was not far wrong; for all the ingenious men; and all the scientific men; and all the fanciful men; in the world; with all the old German bogy…painters into the bargain; could never invent; if all their wits were boiled into one; anything so curious; and so ridiculous; as a lobster。
He had one claw knobbed and the other jagged; and Tom delighted in watching him hold on to the seaweed with his knobbed claw; while he cut up salads with his jagged one; and then put them into his mouth; after smelling at them; like a monkey。 And always the little barnacles threw out their casting…nets and swept the water; and came in for their share of whatever there was for dinner。
But Tom was most astonished to see how he fired himself off … snap! like the leap…frogs which you make out of a goose's breast…bone。 Certainly he took the most wonderful shots; and backwards; too。 For; if he wanted to go into a narrow crack ten yards off; what do you think he did? If he had gone in head foremost; of course he could not have turned round。 So he used to turn his tail to it; and lay his long horns; which carry his sixth sense in their tips (and nobody knows what that sixth sense is); straight down his back to guide him; and twist his eyes back till they almost came out of their sockets; and then made ready; present; fire; snap! … and away he went; pop into the hole; and peeped out and twiddled his whiskers; as much as to say; 〃You couldn't do that。〃
Tom asked him about water…babies。 〃Yes;〃 he said。 He had seen them often。 But he did not think much of them。 They were meddlesome little creatures; that went about helping fish and shells which got into scrapes。 Well; for his part; he should be ashamed to be helped by little soft creatures that had not even a shell on their backs。 He had lived quite long enough in the world to take care of himself。
He was a conceited fellow; the old lobster; and not very civil to Tom; and you will hear how he had to alter his mind before he was done; as conceited people generally have。 But he was so funny; and Tom so lonely; that he could not quarrel with him; and they used to sit in holes in the rocks; and chat for hours。
And about this time there happened to Tom a very strange and important adventure … so important; indeed; that he was very near never finding the water…babies at all; and I am sure you would have been sorry for that。
I hope that you have not forgotten the little white lady all this while。 At least; here she comes; looking like a clean white good little darling; as she always was; and always will be。 For it befell in the pleasant short December days; when the wind always blows from the south…west; till Old Father Christmas comes and spreads the great white table…cloth; ready for little boys and girls to give the birds their Christmas dinner of crumbs … it befell (to go on) in the pleasant December days; that Sir John was so busy hunting that nobody at home could get a word out of him。 Four days a week he hunted; and very good sport he had; and the other two he went to the bench and the board of guardians; and very good justice he did; and; when he got home in time; he dined at five; for he hated this absurd new fashion of dining at eight in the hunting season; which forces a man to make interest with the footman for cold beef and beer as soon as he comes in; and so spoil his appetite; and then sleep in an arm…chair in his bedroom; all stiff and tired; for two or three hours before he can get his dinner like a gentleman。 And do you be like Sir John; my dear little man; when you are your own master; and; if you want either to read hard or ride hard; stick to the good old Cambridge hours of breakfast at eight and dinner at five; by which you may get two days' work out of one。 But; of course; if you find a fox at three in the afternoon and run him till dark; and leave off twenty miles from home; why you must wait for your dinner till you can get it; as better men than you have done。 Only see that; if you go hungry; your horse does not; but give him his warm gruel and beer; and take him gently home; remembering that good horses don't grow on the hedge like blackberries。
It befell (to go on a second time) that Sir John; hunting all day; and dining at five; fell asleep every evening; and snored so terribly that all the windows in Harthover shook; and the soot fell down the chimneys。 Whereon My Lady; being no more able to get conversation out of him than a song out of a dead nightingale; determined to go off and leave him; and the doctor; and Captain Swinger the agent; to snore in concert every evening to their hearts' content。 So she started for the seaside with all the children; in order to put herself and them into condition by mild applications of iodine。 She might as well have stayed at home and used Parry's liquid horse…blister; for there was plenty of it in the stables; and then she would have saved her money; and saved the chance; also; of making all the children ill instead of well (as hundreds are made); by taking them to some nasty smelling undrained lodging; and then wondering how they caught scarlatina and diphtheria: but people won't be wise enough to understand that till they are dead of bad smells; and then it will be too late; besides you see; Sir John did certainly snore very loud。
But where she went to nobody must know; for fear young ladies should begin to fancy that there are water…babies there! and so hunt and