"Nice advice to give a Whale," sneered the monster. "Where is my upper lip I'd like to know, or my forefinger for that matter? If I don't catch the right answer this time I'll hit that bureau with my tail and knock it all to pieces." The Whale made one more effort. This time the slip he took out read, "If your teeth ache go to the dentist and have them pulled." "That's a little nearer right," said the Merboy. "I don't see how," retorted the Whale. "I haven't a toothache. I have a backache. Shall I go and get my back pulled?" "No," said the Goldfish, "but perhaps you could get the harpoon pulled." The Whale's face wreathed with smiles. "That's so," he said, eagerly. "Wonder I didn't think of that before. It's a good idea. The bureau is some use after all--though if it hadn't been for you, Merby, I'd never have discovered it." "Oh, yes you would," said the Merboy. "After you had thought it over a little while you'd have seen what was meant. Information isn't any good unless you think about it a little." "Well, I'm obliged to you just the same," said the Whale, backing off. "It's pretty hard to think when one has a harpoon in his back. I suppose you don't know where I can find a dentist, do you?" "No, I don't," said the Merboy. "I've never had occasion to use one." "Oh, well, I suppose there are such things, and so I'll set about finding one. Good-by," said the Whale, and off he started in search of a dentist. "He's a very dull creature," said the Merboy, returning to the bureau. "He never thinks much even when he hasn't a harpoon in his back. Now for our trouble again. This envelope looks as if it might tell us." Again was the little fellow doomed to disappointment. All the information contained in this envelope related to the killing of potato-bugs, and the best way to keep mosquitos from biting. "This is the worst failure of a bureau of information I ever saw, or else I don't know how to manage it," he said. "Suppose you try it, Jimmieboy. You may have better luck." Jimmieboy dropped the reins and alighted from the carriage. Walking to the 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:'