36 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [17:1— Jan., 1921 



One or two of the wavelets, braver than the rest, thought they 

 would like to see the great world of water they had heard so much 

 about, and they boldly climbed up on their big brothers' heads 

 and shoulders, and shouted good-bye to their comrades, and were 

 off, for the big ones were in a great hurry and wouldn't stop a 

 minute for them to think about it ! 



"Come, we must be off! the tide waits for no one!" they cried. 

 And then the little waves had an experience more wonderful and 

 thrilling than anything they had ever imagined in their wildest 

 dreams! At first, it was great fun, just rolling smoothly along, 

 with the familiar ducks and gulls flying above them or settling 

 down on the water for a rest and a friendly chat, and then sud- 

 denly they were out far from land and they were raised way up 

 on a big swell, and looking all around hurriedly, one little wave 

 cried, "Why, I can't see the shore! Where is it?" 



"Don't be afraid," said his big brother, as they sank swiftly 

 down, down, down, into a deep green trough, "we're just getting 

 out on the ocean now, there are no rocks here to hurt you, and soon 

 you'll begin to see interesting sights." 



The next moment, they began to rise again, and as they reached 

 the top, his brother gave the little wave a toss high into the air, 

 so that he shrieked with delight and cried out that he could see 

 ships, bigger than any he had ever seen before, steaming by in 

 both directions. To please him, his brother now tossed him up 

 every time they rose, and caught him again deftly, just in time to 

 follow the movements of the giant waves they had now joined, 

 and then for a time they were surrounded and covered by a thick 

 fog, so he could see nothing. But this did not worry him, for he 

 was used to fogs at home, and he and his little brothers very often 

 played "Hide and seek" in them. Bye-and-bye it grew very, very 

 cold, and the little wave cried, "Oh, dear! is winter coming again 

 so soon?" 



"No, no," said his brother, "look over to your left now, the next 

 time we get up very high, and you'll see something very big and 

 white and shining. That's a big iceberg sailing down on us, but 

 we'll soon get out of its way." 



So the little wave looked and there was the most beautiful sight 

 he had ever seen ! A great towering mass of ice, glistening in the 

 sunlight with a dazzling brilliancy that made him blink and 

 sparkle in return, and he thought how glad he was that he had 



