"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 By a mean land name like Fan!" "I should think so," said the Goldfish. "It's like being christened Algernon at church and being known as Petie in school." "I don't wonder he sulked," said Jimmieboy. "Nor I," said the Merboy. "But, say, Jimmieboy, you are cured of your lockjaw, aren't you?" "Dear me, I forgot!" said Jimmieboy. "I wasn't going to open my mouth under water at all." "Why not, pray?" asked the Merboy. "For fear of swallowing the ocean," replied Jimmieboy. "Ha! ha!" laughed the Merboy. "Why, you couldn't swallow a drop of it, much less the whole of it, the way I've fixed it. Is that all you were doing--just holding your month shut?" "That's all," said Jimmieboy. "Well, well! The idea!" said the Merboy. "You ought to have known better." "Well, I didn't," said Jimmieboy, glad to find that it was not really necessary to keep his mouth closed. "Apparently not--and it took the bureau of information to cure you. That's a very useful bureau." "Very," said Jimmieboy. "I'd like to go through some of the drawers if we have time. Have we?" "Lots," said the Merboy, taking the brush on the top of the bureau and fixing his hair with it. "We have ten times as much time as there is really." "How can that be?" asked Jimmieboy.