40 
THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 
tusks; Mr. Shark, with his rows and rows 
of terrible teeth—none of these is so terrible 
as Old Sea Serpent. Nobody has ever really 
caught any member of Old Sea Serpent’s fam¬ 
ily, but many and many a seaman sailing 
the silent sea, has declared he has caught 
sight of him, and we may feel certain it 
is just because he has never been caught 
that Old Sea Serpent seems so terrible. All 
the little sea folk are as much afraid of him 
as sailors are, and the hearts of our three 
young bird friends were beating very, very 
fast at the thought of meeting this dreadful 
monster face to face. True, no one but 
Tommy had seen him, but Tommy had 
looked so scared that the others had never 
thought of doubting that he had actually 
glimpsed the sea fellow. 
They couldn’t stay under water very long, 
however, for the sea bird folk can’t hold their 
breath nearly so long as Little Brown Seal or 
Tusks the Walrus. And of course they 
couldn’t talk, either. They could only make 
signs and talk with their eyes. As soon as 
