36 
THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 
“Oh, I see,” said Miss Specks, with a sigh 
of relief; # “you had to breathe, so you came 
up and spouted all the air out of your lungs 
at once and that is what gave us such a 
tumble.” 
“That’s just where you’re wrong, and a 
lot of other people are wrong, too,” Old 
Giant Whale corrected her. “I don’t spout 
when I breathe. It is only when I need more 
room in my banquet hall that I spout the 
water out. Now, just a moment ago, for 
instance, the Tomcod family reunion party 
came along and were all mixed up about 
where they should hold their reunion. I 
just opened up the door to my banquet hall 
and said, ‘Please, folks, won’t you step 
inside?’ and inside they stepped. Then, of 
course, I had to spout out the water so 
there’d be room for them all.” 
“My!” said Miss Specks, after a moment’s 
thought, “I think I’d rather not go to a 
reunion in your banquet hall!” 
“There isn’t much danger of it,” Old 
Giant Whale reassured her, with a ponderous 
