Sketches From Oldest America 



The whale had just started to take a fresh breath, 

 and the raven entered the blow hole along with the 

 rush of air. Looking around he said to himself, 

 &quot; What a nice long room this is,&quot; and commenced 

 walking about picking at the walls here and there. 

 The whale remarked to some of its companions, 

 &quot; What a cold I have taken in my nose,&quot; and began 

 sneezing. The raven thought he was in a very 

 draughty apartment, but he had been born on the 

 cliffs at Cape Lisburne, where the gales are frequent 

 and severe, so he did not mind the present wollies * 

 to any extent. 



He took a walk in the long passageway until the 

 road divided up into the many small by-paths of 

 the lungs. At last, finding a crevice where the 

 drafts did not seem quite so strong, he settled down 

 for a good sleep. On awakening, he began examin 

 ing the comfortable crevice and found that the walls 

 were not quite so thick as at the other places. So 

 setting to work with bill and claws on a thin por 

 tion, he soon had a hole made through the mem 

 brane; at the same time the whale was grumbling 

 at having the tickling sensation in its nose and throat 

 that made it sneeze so often. 



1 Wollie, a sudden high gust of wind rushing through a gulch. 

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