Lyman Frank Baum

Ozma of Oz Lyman Frank Baum

The wind blew hard and joggled the water of the ocean, sending ripples across its surface. Then the wind pushed the edges of the ripples until they became waves, and shoved the wavesaround until they became billows. The billows rolled dreadfully high: higher even than the topsof houses. Some of them, indeed, rolled as high as the tops of tall trees, and seemed likemountains; and the gulfs between the great billows were like deep valleys. All this mad dashing and splashing of the waters of the big ocean, which the mischievouswind caused without any good reason whatever, resulted in a terrible storm, and a storm on theocean is liable to cut many queer pranks and do a lot of damage. At the time the wind began to blow, a ship was sailing far out upon the waters. When thewaves began to tumble and toss and to grow bigger and bigger the ship rolled up and down, andtipped sidewise--first one way and then the other--and was jostled around so roughly that eventhe sailor-men had to hold fast to the ropes and railings to keep themselves from being sweptaway by the wind or pitched headlong into the sea.