THE TOMCOD FAMILY REUNION 
33 
to be as friendly as she was plain, and the 
three were having a joyous time coasting 
on the waves. 
“Listen!” said little Miss Puffin suddenly, 
as she reached the bottom of a wave. “I 
think I hear voices.” 
Miss Specks listened sharply. It might 
be the voices of Ivory Sea Gull and his pirate 
crowd, she thought. 
“Yes, I hear them, too,” she said, “many, 
many little voices. They must be down in 
the sea.” 
True enough, as they looked into the blue 
water, they saw hundreds of little people 
swimming about, all talking as loudly as 
they could, and all talking at once. It was 
the Tomcod family, gathered for a reunion. 
“Hush!” cautioned Miss Puffin. “They 
are talking about where they will hold their 
celebration.” 
They held their breath, listening, and this 
is what they heard: “I think under the 
great brown rock is the place.” 
