The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-05-30
THE STORY OF THE DOLPHIN.


20. Uncle Richard. please tell the
story"
-'WeH. do dolphins carry Matches
Why, yes. s'pose So
'.An right The dolphin reached in his
pocket for a match He found one, and,
. lighting his pipe. settled back on top Of
: his favorite coral chair and told oil the
other dolphins. and the mermaids. and
the sharks that were gathered around
this interesting tale. i
When 1 was a boy said the dolphin;
that is. when l was a boy dolphin,
had a great ambition TO go abroad and
see strange seas and roam in far on
waters. So. L secured passage on 4
whales back for the Indian ocean / had
to work my passage catching small fish
and feeding them TO the whale. / was
: young and nimble and could catch mack
erel faster than you could say scat, but
/ that whale was terrible eater. He was
always hungry. and every time l would
! lie down to take a nap he would wake
me UP snorting for more fish got mad
once and struck. l said that I intended
TO feed him just a hundred fish a day
and no more, and then the whale he
snorted again and said that he wasn't
/ so particular as to whether he lunched on
mackerel or dolphin. That gave me quite
a chill and l never talked about strik-
| ing again.
We got down somewhere in the south
part of the Atlantic ocean when We ran
, into a school OF electric eels. The whale
/ was riding on had rheumatism in his
| left fin, the worst kind. and some shark
/ had told him that the best way 10 do
was to take electricity. So. the whale
/ decided to stop at a ssnitarium the eels
We're running and take their electric treat
ment for his rheumatism. so / had 10 con-
tinue on my journey alone.
Il got along all right for a few days.
and then / ran into a strange part OF
| the ocean, inhabited by a peculiar sort
/ of fish, the like of which | had never
! seen before. They We're a lazy and stupid
sort of fish. although they did seem 10
! appreciate the fact that / was the finest
/ looking creature they had ever seen, and
they wanted me to be king. OF course. 7
did not intend to settle down there for
the rest of my life, but ! thought il
wouldn't be bad to be king for while.
and l told the fish that from then on
until further notice l was the whole thing.
and was to be abeyed and respected &C
| cordingly. / set up housekeeping in a
coral palace and had a fine time
After a while the whale that had
stopped off at the sanitarium came down
/ to make me a call. He wanted a nice
mess of my subjects to be served him
every hour or two. He had sampled some
of them and said he thought they were
fattening and quieting as well for the
nerves.
"Of course, as king l didn't propose 10
fet any old cannibal whale loaf around
eating up my loyal subjects. so / pro
tested bitterly. l warned my subjects
not TO go anywhere near the whale or he
would make a dinner off of them, but
they were so stupid they didn't pay much
attention to me. The whale told them
that II they would come up and sit on
his side teeth he would sing them won
derful songs, such as no fish ever heard
before, and they all believed 1t. SO All
that old whale had to do for breakfast
or dinner was Just to open his mouth
and the fish would come Up and sit on
his teeth until there was no more room.
and then he would just shut his mouth
and have a fine meal Why, those stupid
subjects of mine used to just swarm
around that whale and beg for the priv
ilege of sitting on his teeth. and they
would be so clamorous and crowd IN so
/ that the whale had to say all the time,
| Stand back now take your turn. do not
push or shove: there is room for all. Get
| your checks and wait until your number
/ is called
well. this thing kept UP until he had
| eaten every one OF my loyal subjects, and
he was ready to go on looking for some
other place as easy as that one was for a
tramp whale to be fed without work. He
was talking terribly sassy TO me and was
/ leaning on my castle and breaking IL al
down. and had said something about
/ dolphin being the finest thing in the world
I for dessert. when l happened to think OF
something important
Il said 'BlowhaTd'-I always called him
Blowhard-you have eaten up all my loyal
subjects
I have that he said remorselessly,
and I want 10 say right here your loyal
subjects were fine eating
Good | said. But now. since those
/ loyal subjects have been turned into
whale, can't yOu see that you are now
my loyal subject
u can't see IT from here said the
whale tanning himself with his top flip
/ per.
Come over here and see how it looks
I said. and the whale crossed over.
e Now. I told him, you have swallow
/ ed down all my loyal subjects. You ate
/ up twelve thousand of them Therefore.
/ you represent twelve thousand loyal sub
/ jects. Now. Blowhard. said I, how many
/ is there of you?
! Why. 1 suppose there's one Of me-
- You don't seem sure. I said. Sup
; pose you look IN that mirror made az
/ the copper hull Of a ship which the nler-
maids have secured until it's like a look
/ ing glass and count yourself and see jus.
/ how many there are Of you.
The whale swan over and looked IN
! the copper looking glass and said. Just
/ one
{" That's right. said Just one whale
and twelve thousand Of my loyal sub
/ jects. Now. / said. don't you see that
you are hopelessly outnumbered?
e I do said the whale, suikiiy.
q" Wen I went on. YOU are now my
I loyal subjects. Go, get me my break
{ fast
We'll. Il was an awful come-down for
! that whale 90 hunt around and get my
i breakfast but he knew that he was out
numbered twelve thousand 70 one. and he
+ had IL to do so he got my breakfast.
and then I had him take me ont for
hundred mile ride. and after that ! made
( him keep guard while ! slept
After this I took a tour around the
world and came back here ard started in
| getting rich ! started a Il~ery stable and
rented the whale out J used - Jet him
, out 20 meekerel schools BE would take
I the entire school on his back. sometime
I as many as eight hundred uackerel and
/ give them a fine ride
II charged two bushels q small fsh %
dainty favor N hour for letting CHt the
whale. and 7 was getting rch- Dhen ore
I DAY the whale came 10 ne ard said.
] Look here. became your loyal subiect
. because 7 ate twelve Thousand q them-
o. You did. J said
O. Well. said the Whale. then. n ]
! eat YOU / become you don't y
I i was terribly n ghfeBed- When big.
| fat-heaae,s whale commences getting NO.
tio-S there's 10 arguing him out ~ them
50 was terribly alarmed. ht.t tod iin.
% wait uuta next day. rntil could fht-s
. Il ever. lie aid b would. and swam