He landed close to old Sea Vitch -- the big , ugly , bloated , pimpled , fat-necked , long-tusked walrus of the North Pacific , who has no manners except when he is asleep -- as he was then , with his hind flippers half in and half out of the surf . `` Wake up ! '' barked Kotick , for the gulls were making a great noise . `` Hah ! Ho ! Hmph ! What 's that ? '' said Sea Vitch , and he struck the next walrus a blow with his tusks and waked him up , and the next struck the next , and so on till they were all awake and staring in every direction but the right one . `` Hi ! It 's me , '' said Kotick , bobbing in the surf and looking like a little white slug . `` Well ! May I be -- skinned ! '' said Sea Vitch , and they all looked at Kotick as you can fancy a club full of drowsy old gentlemen would look at a little boy . Kotick did not care to hear any more about skinning just then ; he had seen enough of it . So he called out : `` Is n't there any place for seals to go where men do n't ever come ? '' `` Go and find out , '' said Sea Vitch , shutting his eyes . `` Run away . We 're busy here . '' Kotick made his dolphin-jump in the air and shouted as loud as he could : `` Clam-eater ! Clam-eater ! ''
He knew XXXXX Sea Vitch never caught a fish in his life but always rooted for clams and seaweed ; though he pretended to be a very terrible person .
So about as except for in like of that with