116 
THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 
But suddenly, as he scrambled to his feet, 
Mannie discovered that one of the great friendly 
icebergs which had seemed so far away, now was 
quite close, very close indeed! The little waves 
had pushed his cake of ice closer and closer until 
it was hardly any distance at all. If he only could 
stay on the cake of ice a little longer, he might 
make a bold dash and be safe! So with good 
courage, he took the next tumble and held him¬ 
self as near the center of the cake as possible. 
Now, in just a few moments he would come 
bumping against the iceberg and he would 
be safe. Now he could hear the wash of the 
waves against the berg. And now it seemed 
that he could almost touch it. But suddenly, 
as if realizing that he was about to lose his 
dinner, the great whale gave a terrible bump, 
and the little cake of ice split in two. Over 
tumbled Mannie into the dark waters almost 
within grasp of the cruel monster. 
“Look out!” shouted Stormy, hovering 
near. 
