Mr. H. M. Wogglebug T.E. walked across the dock by the seaside carrying large heavy sack over his shoulder and a special green suitcase in his hand. Before him there was a great ship which had a profound resemblance to pirate ships as pictured in childrens storybooks. He stepped up onto the gangplank at the edge of the dock and walked across it and stepped aboard the ship.

Once he was on board he walked across the ship's deck and entered through an open door at the far left where there was a barrel beside it on the right with green seaweed growing out of it, a starfish on the floor, and purple sea fronds beside it on the right.

Inside the room he found a very large brown walrus with long white tusks and a long thin pipe sticking out between them. He was wearing a blue seaman's hat on his head and a tattoo in the design of an anchor on his right forearm. His eyes were closed lazily and his flippers were folded contentedly in his lap. Though he must have been awake as he looked up and opened his eyes when Mr. Wogglebug entered the room.

"Oh yes, it's you," he said in a rather gruff and sea salty voice.

"Ahoy! You're Captain Wall Russ the Fourth I presume?" Mr. Wogglebug said jovially.

The Walrus nodded. "Aye, that I am, and proud of it.

Mr. Wogglebug smiled and then glanced sideways at a large portrait on the wall of a much older looking walrus wearing a powdered wig that curled up at the sides and a large bushy white mustache. He was wearing a blue seaman's suit that looked to be in the style of the eighteenth century.

Captain Wall Russ noticed him looking at it and said, "And that be me great-grandfather, Captain Wall Russ the First. He was the first walrus ever to set sail on the high seas."

"I can see the family resemblance," Mr. Wogglebug said as he noticed they had the same tusks.

"Well, make yourself comfortable while I take my nap." said Captain Wall Russ, and so saying he closed his eyes again.

Mr. Wogglebug smiled and nodded. Then he turned and left the walrus captain to his nap. He went straight to his cabin at the other end of the ship. Once inside he set his sack and suitcase down on the bed. Then he noticed there was something making bubbling noises in the drawer of the nightstand beside the bed.

Curiously, he opened it and found there was a large green clam inside that was making the bubbling noise. Suddenly, the clam opened up and there was a big gray oyster inside it. It spoke to him in a squeaky and bubbly voice.

"Surely, it's not time to get up, is it? Please let me sleep a while longer. And if you see Mr. Rockefeller, don't tell him where I'm hiding."

Mr. Wogglebug smiled gently and nodded as he quietly closed the door again. "Alright. Sorry to have bothered you. Sweet dreams."

He then felt the sensation of the ship's anchor being dropped and the ship sailing out into the open sea, swaying gently back and forth He then decided to go up onto the deck and take a view of the ocean.

Once he was up there he could taste the salty sea air on his lips and breath into its scent. He went up to the edge of the ship's bow and looked out ahead. He could see an endless expanse of blue waves lit by the sun on all sides for miles around. He was suddenly reminded of an old tune which he began to hum.

"Sailing, sailing over the bounding main
Where many a storm wind shall blow
'Ere Jack comes home again
Sailing, sailing over the bounding main
Where many a storm shall blow
'Ere Jack comes home again!"

Just then, he suddenly heard a splashing sound coming from just below him in the water. He looked down to see a large green turtle jump up high in the air out of the water so that it almost reached him.

"Bienvenue. Je m'appelle Monsieur Tortoise!" it said in a refined French accent.

Then almost at once a large fish with bright golden orange scales leaped out of the water and translated, "He said, 'Welcome. My name is Mr. Turtle'."

Mr. Wogglebug smiled as leaned down and tipped his hat to them. "Hello, Mr. Turtle, and Ms. Goldfish!"

"Qu'est-ce que tu fais ici le fond de la mer?" asked Mr. Turtle.

"He said, 'What are you doing here on the sea'?" translated Ms. Goldfish.

"I am sailing with Captain Wall Russ the Fourth on this vessel in search of adventure," replied Mr. Wogglebug.

"Pourquoi?" asked Mr. Turtle.

"He said, 'Why?'" translated Ms. Goldfish.

"Because I wish to seek out new lands and improve my knowledge and education," replied Mr. Wogglebug.

"Il serpenteau de la mer vivant ici-bas," said Mr. Turtle.

"He said 'There is a serpent of the sea living here below," translated Ms. Goldfish.

"Is he friendly?" asked Mr. Wogglebug.

"Oui,," said Mr. Turtle.

"He said, 'Yes'," translated Ms. Goldfish.

"That is a relief," said Mr. Wogglebug.

"Fais gaffe de colosse poulpe, mais cela dit!" Mr. Turtle added.

"He said 'Watch out for the giant octopus, though!'" Ms. Goldfish translated.

"Don't worry, we will," Mr. Wogglebug assured them.

Just then a dozen more fish of all the different colors of the rainbow popped up from the water's surface and began to sing a ballad of the sea.

"Down where the ocean is deep blue
It's like an underwater zoo!
The flounder and groupers and the dolphins fishy crew
Have all banded together with a show for you!

The snappers and sharks and barred knife jaws
appear unfriendly, and give many a pause
but we found they're quite friendly and love the applause!

See how our scales are colors of green,
And purple and teal and blue,
And many in-between,
With orange and yellow and reddish hue
With a silver and gold sheen
We want to show ourselves on a screen!

Look there at Aileen,
She is the the sea's beauty Queen
Look there at Noreen
She is always so shiny clean

See how we swim, swim to the lieu
See how it's so cool
That we swim in a school
Which you'll agree
Is how we earn a degree
In Oceanology!

Then when we're through
We'll all start anew
Singing and swimming true
Oh! Look! Here comes you know who
Make way for our friend, Orkee-ooh!"

Mr. Wogglebug watched as the fish swam apart in two straight lines as the water began bubbling underneath the surface and soon a giant oblong head covered in midnight blue scales followed by a long spiked back appeared out of the water. The head looked over at him and smiled a friendly smile.

"Hello," said Mr. Wogglebug tipping his hat. "I take it you must be the friendly sea serpent I heard about."

"Yes, I am indeed," replied the sea serpent in a voice that sounded like a long whistle. "My name is Orkee-ooh, but you may call my Orky. I watch over all of the life in this ocean."

"Say, are you by any chance related to the Loch Ness Monster?" Mr. Wogglebug asked curiously as he noticed Orky bore a strong resemblance to pictures he had seen of the monster of Loch Ness.

"Why, yes, as a matter of fact I am," replied Orky. "He is my second cousin twice removed actually Tell me what brings you here?"

"I am sailing with Captain Wall Russ the Fourth in search of new lands," Mr. Wogglebug said. "Do you know of any nearby lands?"

"If you keep going East you will eventually reach the Land of Maho," replied Orky. "Though I should warm you that there is a fierce storm coming from that direction soon. You could go straight ahead and avoid the storm and still reach the land, however though there is a giant octopus who lives in that area and when it comes to being friendly I'm afraid he is the complete opposite."

Mr. Wogglebug thought about this for a moment and then said, "Well, I'll let Captain Wall Russ know about these things and see what he says about. Thank you for your advice, friend Orky!"

"Any time," replied Orky before he dove under water again and swam away.

Mr. Wogglebug then went quickly back to the captain's quarters where he found Captain Wall Russ still slumbering. He went up to him and nudged him as he exclaimed, "Wake up, Captain!"

Captain Wall Russ groaned and grumbled as he blinked his eyes open. He looked over at Mr. Wogglebug and frowned slightly. "This had better be important," he said.

"It is, Captain," Mr. Wogglebug assured him. "I just spoke with Orky, the local sea serpent, and he says to the East there is land but also storming brewing in that direction. We can still reach land by going straight but we'll also likely encounter a giant unfriendly octopus. What do you propose we do, Captain?"

"Hmm..." Captain Wall Russ muttered thoughtfully. "I propose we sail straight ahead and if we encounter this giant squid we'll throw a harpoon in it's side."

"Very well, Captain," replied Mr. Wogglebug. "And by the way, an octopus is different from a squid."

"Now, if you please, leave me to my nap," said Captain Wall Russ with a small yawn.

Mr. Wogglebug then left the Captain and went to his own cabin where he took from his special green suitcase a map of the ocean they were sailing on and the lands surrounding it. He sat studying it for a while when suddenly he felt the ship taking a great jerk to the side and he nearly fell to the floor.

While struggling to keep his balance he stumbled out of his cabin and ran as fast as he could to the Captain's quarters where he shook Captain Wall Russ awake.

"Captain! Captain! Wake up! Something is terribly wrong! The whole ship is shaking! Can't you feel it?" he exclaimed anxiously.

Indeed, it felt like the whole ship was being knocked up and down, and for the first time all day, Captain Wall Russ' eyes became wide open and he stood up and took action.

"All hands on deck, now!" he ordered briskly. "Man the front!"

"Aye, aye, Captain!" exclaimed Mr. Wogglebug as he and Captain Wall Russ raced up the stairs to the deck.

Once they were up on the deck they saw unto their horror why the ship was shaking so violently as it was. They saw a giant long slimy red tentacle had hold of it and was lifting it up in the air almost sideways. They looked down over the side of the ship and saw that the tentacle belonged to a giant octopus with very angry looking eyes.

"Here now! Stop!" shouted Captain Wall Russ to the octopus.

"You have invaded my territory and disturbed my rest!" the giant octopus boomed in a thunderous voice. "Now you will pay for it!"

"We're sorry! We didn't mean to!" exclaimed Mr. Wogglebug anxiously. "Please let us go and we will go back the way we came and never bother you again!"

"I don't know," said the giant octopus. "I'm awfully hungry right now and wonder which of you I should eat first."

"You wouldn't want to eat me, I am a wogglebug so I wouldn't taste good to you," Mr. Wogglebug said stoutly.

"And I am a walrus and so I am all fat and blubber which isn't good for you, honest!" cried Captain Wall Russ.

The giant octopus frowned in disappointment. "Very well then. I will release your ship and spare you only if you promise to never invade my resting place again."

"We promise!" said Mr. Wogglebug and Captain Wall Russ in unison.

Then the octopus released its tentacle's hold on the ship and dropped back onto the water with a hard splash.

"Now get out of here, you slimy, meddling creatures of the land!" he hissed.

"With all due respect, you are the one who is slimy, Mr. Giant Octopus!" exclaimed Mr. Wogglebug indignantly.

"Let's see, I've got eight arms, you've got two. I am four times better than you!" the giant octopus seethed as he slowly disappeared into the ocean.

Then with a swift turn of the wheel, Captain Wall Russ steered them back in the Easterly direction toward the Land of Maho again. They both soon noticed many dark gray clouds looming overhead in the distance indicating a storm was indeed brewing.

"We'll just have to brave this one out!" said Captain Wall Russ stoutly. "After all, a storm couldn't possibly be as horrific as that Giant Octopus back there!"

"No, indeed, my captain," replied Mr. Wogglebug.

Soon thunder was heard above them and then a streak of lightning flashed through the clouds and then the whole sky just seemed to rip apart as the rain came pouring down onto them.

"Ready the pumps just in case!" ordered Captain Wall Russ as he battled against the storm at the wheel.

"Aye, aye, Captain!" exclaimed Mr. Wogglebug as he ran splashing on the wet deck to down below.

The storm seemed to rage on for hours on end and lasted into the night. Then finally it began dying down gradually and the seas grew less turbulent for them and when at last they did Captain Wall Russ went back to his cabin to turn in for sleep and left Mr. Wogglebug in charge.