“Jonah act, eh?” Gordon laughed. “Well, if I’m not greatly mistaken there’s the whale all ready for you,” Bill cried pointing ahead. “Sure’s you’re born,” Gordon shouted. “And it looks as if it were big enough to do his part all right,” Rogers added. “Let’s see how near we can get to him,” Gordon suggested. “He’s right in our path and we won’t lose more than a few minutes at the most.” The whale was, as near as they could judge, about two miles ahead of them when Bill slowed down the motor and, at the same time pulled the stick turning the nose of the plane downward. “Look at that baby spout water,” Gordon cried. “He’d make a peach of a fire engine,” Bill declared. They were rapidly nearing the whale which seemed to be idly floating on the surface of the water and so far had apparently not seen them. “My, but he’s a whopper, and will you look at that mouth,” Gordon said as they drew nearer. “I’ll never doubt the story of Jonah again. That baby could swallow him and the boat besides.” Bill had started the elevator and they were now almost directly over the whale and not more than fifty feet above the water. And still the whale paid not the slightest attention to them. “Better not get any lower,” Rogers said as the plane hung almost motionless over the big animal of the deep. “He might take a notion to wag his tail at us.” Just as he spoke the whale must have either seen or heard them for suddenly there was a mighty commotion in the water and high up in the air swung the tail sending a cloud of spray which sprinkled them liberally. Then he was gone leaving only a mighty swirling of the water below them. “I’ll say your advice was good,” Bill said as he started the forward propeller. “If we’d been much lower he’d have caught us.” “He was only playing,” Gordon declared. “Cunning little fellow, wasn’t he?” “Maybe he was playing, but I’m afraid he’d make rather a rough playfellow,” Rogers laughed. “How long would you say he was, about two hundred feet?” Gordon asked. “Two hundred fiddle sticks,” Bill scoffed. “They never grow to more than about eighty feet. Isn’t that right?” he asked turning to Rogers. “That’s about the limit, I believe,” he assured him. “Well, that may be your experience,” Gordon told them, “But, take it from me, that baby was an exception. A hundred and fifty feet and I won’t take off an inch.” “Too bad you couldn’t measure him,” Rogers said. “Probably he would have if he’d had scales like an ordinary fish,” Bill jeered. “Old stuff,” Gordon retorted. “If you can’t do better than that you’d better keep still and not try. Noah sprung that one when he was telling the King of Nineveh how big the whale was that swallowed him.” “I suppose you heard him.” “No, I didn’t hear him but I heard about it,” Gordon laughed. By this time their speed had crept up to a hundred and fifty miles an hour again and they were all looking for more whales.