THE WHALE'S STORY.
FREDDY sat thinking on the seat under the trees. It was a wide, white seat, about four feet long, sloping from the sides to the middle, something like a swing; and was not only comfortable but curious, for it was made of a whale's bone. Freddy often sat there, and thought about it; for he was very much interested in it, and nobody could tell him any thing of it, except that it had been there a long time.
"Poor old whale, I wonder how you got here, where you came from, and if you were a good and happy creature while you lived," said Freddy, patting the old bone with his little hand.
It gave a great creak; and a sudden gust of air stirred the trees, as if some monster groaned and sighed. Then Freddy heard a strange voice, very loud, yet cracked and queer, as if some one tried to talk with a broken jaw.
"Freddy ahoy!" called the big voice. "I'll tell you all about it; for you are the only person who ever pitied me, or cared to know any thing about me."
"Why, can you talk?" asked Freddy, very much astonished and a little frightened.
"Of course I can, for this is a part of my jaw-bone. I should talk better if my whole mouth was here; but
