But as she held the baby over the gallery rail , to show it the dolphins leaping and the water gurgling in the ship 's wake , lo ! and behold , the baby saw Tom . He was quite sure of that for when their eyes met , the baby smiled and held out his hands ; and Tom smiled and held out his hands too ; and the baby kicked and leaped , as if it wanted to jump overboard to him . `` What do you see , my darling ? '' said the lady ; and her eyes followed the baby 's till she too caught sight of Tom , swimming about among the foam-beads below . She gave a little shriek and start ; and then she said , quite quietly , `` Babies in the sea ? Well , perhaps it is the happiest place for them ; '' and waved her hand to Tom , and cried , `` Wait a little , darling , only a little : and perhaps we shall go with you and be at rest . '' And at that an old nurse , all in black , came out and talked to her , and drew her in . And Tom turned away northward , sad and wondering ; and watched the great steamer slide away into the dusk , and the lights on board peep out one by one , and die out again , and the long bar of smoke fade away into the evening mist , till all was out of sight . And he swam northward again , day after day , till at last he met the King of the Herrings , with a curry-comb growing out of his nose , and a sprat in his mouth for a cigar , and asked him the way to Shiny Wall ; so he bolted his sprat head foremost , and said : `` If I were you , young Gentleman , I should go to the Allalonestone , and ask the last of the Gairfowl . She is of a very ancient clan , very nearly as ancient as my own ; and knows a good deal which these modern upstarts do n't , as ladies of old houses are likely to do . '' Tom asked his way to her , and the King of the Herrings told him very kindly , for he was a courteous old gentleman of the old school , though he was horribly ugly , and strangely bedizened too , like the old dandies who lounge in the club-house windows . But just as Tom had thanked him and set off , he called after him : `` Hi ! I say , can you fly ? '' `` I never tried , '' says Tom . `` Why ? '' `` Because , if you can , I should advise you to say nothing to the old lady about it . There ; take a hint . Good-bye . '' And away Tom went for seven days and seven nights due north-west , till he came to a great codbank , the like of which he never saw before .
The great cod lay below in tens of thousands , and gobbled shell-fish all XXXXX long ; and the blue sharks roved above in hundreds , and gobbled them when they came up .
Gairfowl Herrings Wall codbank dandies day days foam-beads north-west upstarts