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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4358-h.zip b/4358-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a621b07 --- /dev/null +++ b/4358-h.zip diff --git a/4358-h/4358-h.htm b/4358-h/4358-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9780c5b --- /dev/null +++ b/4358-h/4358-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8327 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of The Sea Fairies, by L. Frank Baum +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sea Fairies, by L. Frank Baum + +<table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto" cellpadding="4" border="3"> +<tr> +<td> +THIS EBOOK WAS ONE OF PROJECT GUTENBERG'S EARLY FILES, THERE IS +AN IMPROVED ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF THIS TITLE WHICH MAY VIEWED AT EBOOK <big><b><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48778/48778-h/48778-h.htm"> +[ #48778 ]</a></b></big> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Sea Fairies + +Author: L. Frank Baum + +Posting Date: July 26, 2009 [EBook #4358] +Release Date: August, 2003 +First Posted: January 14, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEA FAIRIES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TO JUDITH OF RANDOLPH MASSACHUSETTS +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE SEA FAIRIES +</H1> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY L. FRANK BAUM +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AUTHOR OF THE EMERALD CITY OF OZ, DOROTHY AND THE<BR> +WIZARD IN OZ, OZMA OF OZ, THE ROAD TO OZ,<BR> +THE LAND OF OZ, ETC. +</H4> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATED BY<BR> +JOHN R. NEILL +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P> +THE oceans are big and broad. I believe two-thirds of the +earth's surface is covered with water. What people inhabit +this water has always been a subject of curiosity to the +inhabitants of the land. Strange creatures come from the seas +at times, and perhaps in the ocean depths are many, more strange +than mortal eye has ever gazed upon. +</P> + +<P> +This story is fanciful. In it the sea people talk and act +much as we do, and the mermaids especially are not unlike the +fairies with whom we have learned to be familiar. Yet they +are real sea people, for all that, and with the exception of Zog +the Magician they are all supposed to exist in the ocean's depths. +</P> + +<P> +I am told that some very learned people deny that mermaids +or sea-serpents have ever inhabited the oceans, but it would be +very difficult for them to prove such an assertion unless they had +lived under the water as Trot and Cap'n Bill did in this story. +</P> + +<P> +I hope my readers who have so long followed Dorothy's +adventures in the Land of Oz will be interested in Trot's equally +strange experiences. The ocean has always appealed to me as +a veritable wonderland, and this story has been suggested to me +many times by my young correspondents in their letters. Indeed, +a good many children have implored me to "write something +about the mermaids," and I have willingly granted the request. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Hollywood, 1911. +<BR> +L. FRANK BAUM. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +LIST OF CHAPTERS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">1 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">TROT AND CAP'N BILL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">2 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">THE MERMAIDS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">3 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE DEPTHS OF THE DEEP BLUE SEA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">4 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE PALACE OF QUEEN AQUAREINE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">5 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">THE SEA-SERPENT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">6 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">EXPLORING THE OCEAN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">7 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">THE ARISTOCRATIC CODFISH</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">8 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">A BANQUET UNDER WATER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">9 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">THE BASHFUL OCTOPUS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">10 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">THE UNDISCOVERED ISLAND</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">11 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">ZOG THE TERRIBLE AND HIS SEA DEVILS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">12 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">THE ENCHANTED ISLAND</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">13 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">PRISONERS OF THE SEA MONSTER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">14 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">CAP'N JOE AND CAP'N BILL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">15 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">THE MAGIC OF THE MERMAIDS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">16 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">THE TOP OF THE GREAT DOME</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">17 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE QUEEN'S GOLDEN SWORD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">18 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">A DASH FOR LIBERTY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">19 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">KING ANKO TO THE RESCUE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">20 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">THE HOME OF THE OCEAN MONARCH</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">21 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">KING JOE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">22 </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">TROT LIVES TO TELL THE TALE</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 1 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TROT AND CAP'N BILL +</H3> + +<P> +"Nobody," said Cap'n Bill solemnly, "ever sawr a mermaid an' lived +to tell the tale." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" asked Trot, looking earnestly up into the old sailor's +face. +</P> + +<P> +They were seated on a bench built around a giant acacia tree that +grew just at the edge of the bluff. Below them rolled the blue waves +of the great Pacific. A little way behind them was the house, a neat +frame cottage painted white and surrounded by huge eucalyptus and +pepper trees. Still farther behind that—a quarter of a mile distant +but built upon a bend of the coast—was the village, overlooking a +pretty bay. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill and Trot came often to this tree to sit and watch the +ocean below them. The sailor man had one "meat leg" and one "hickory +leg," and he often said the wooden one was the best of the two. Once +Cap'n Bill had commanded and owned the "Anemone," a trading schooner +that plied along the coast; and in those days Charlie Griffiths, who +was Trot's father, had been the Captain's mate. But ever since Cap'n +Bill's accident, when he lost his leg, Charlie Griffiths had been +the captain of the little schooner while his old master lived +peacefully ashore with the Griffiths family. +</P> + +<P> +This was about the time Trot was born, and the old sailor became +very fond of the baby girl. Her real name was Mayre, but when she +grew big enough to walk, she took so many busy little steps every +day that both her mother and Cap'n Bill nicknamed her "Trot," and so +she was thereafter mostly called. +</P> + +<P> +It was the old sailor who taught the child to love the sea, to love +it almost as much as he and her father did, and these two, who +represented the "beginning and the end of life," became firm friends +and constant companions. +</P> + +<P> +"Why hasn't anybody seen a mermaid and lived?" asked Trot again. +</P> + +<P> +"'Cause mermaids is fairies, an' ain't meant to be seen by us mortal +folk," replied Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"But if anyone happens to see 'em, what then, Cap'n?" +</P> + +<P> +"Then," he answered, slowly wagging his head, "the mermaids give 'em +a smile an' a wink, an' they dive into the water an' gets drownded." +</P> + +<P> +"S'pose they knew how to swim, Cap'n Bill?" +</P> + +<P> +"That don't make any diff'rence, Trot. The mermaids live deep down, +an' the poor mortals never come up again." +</P> + +<P> +The little girl was thoughtful for a moment. "But why do folks dive +in the water when the mermaids smile an' wink?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Mermaids," he said gravely, "is the most beautiful creatures in the +world—or the water, either. You know what they're like, Trot, +they's got a lovely lady's form down to the waist, an' then the +other half of 'em's a fish, with green an' purple an' pink scales +all down it." +</P> + +<P> +"Have they got arms, Cap'n Bill?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Course, Trot; arms like any other lady. An' pretty faces that +smile an' look mighty sweet an' fetchin'. Their hair is long an' +soft an' silky, an' floats all around 'em in the water. When they +comes up atop the waves, they wring the water out'n their hair and +sing songs that go right to your heart. If anybody is unlucky enough +to be 'round jes' then, the beauty o' them mermaids an' their sweet +songs charm 'em like magic; so's they plunge into the waves to get +to the mermaids. But the mermaids haven't any hearts, Trot, no +more'n a fish has; so they laughs when the poor people drown an' +don't care a fig. That's why I says, an' I says it true, that nobody +never sawr a mermaid an' lived to tell the tale." +</P> + +<P> +"Nobody?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Nobody a tall." +</P> + +<P> +"Then how do you know, Cap'n Bill?" asked the little girl, looking +up into his face with big, round eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill coughed. Then he tried to sneeze, to gain time. Then he +took out his red cotton handkerchief and wiped his bald head with +it, rubbing hard so as to make him think clearer. "Look, Trot; ain't +that a brig out there?" he inquired, pointing to a sail far out in +the sea. +</P> + +<P> +"How does anybody know about mermaids if those who have seen them +never lived to tell about them?" she asked again. +</P> + +<P> +"Know what about 'em, Trot?" +</P> + +<P> +"About their green and pink scales and pretty songs and wet hair." +</P> + +<P> +"They don't know, I guess. But mermaids jes' natcherly has to be +like that, or they wouldn't be mermaids." +</P> + +<P> +She thought this over. "Somebody MUST have lived, Cap'n Bill," she +declared positively. "Other fairies have been seen by mortals; why +not mermaids?" +</P> + +<P> +"P'raps they have, Trot, p'raps they have," he answered musingly. +"I'm tellin' you as it was told to me, but I never stopped to +inquire into the matter so close before. Seems like folks wouldn't +know so much about mermaids if they hadn't seen 'em; an' yet +accordin' to all accounts the victim is bound to get drownded." +</P> + +<P> +"P'raps," suggested Trot softly, "someone found a fotygraph of one +of 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"That might o' been, Trot, that might o' been," answered Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +A nice man was Cap'n Bill, and Trot knew he always liked to explain +everything so she could fully understand it. The aged sailor was not +a very tall man, and some people might have called him chubby, or +even fat. He wore a blue sailor shirt with white anchors worked on +the corners of the broad, square collar, and his blue trousers were +very wide at the bottom. He always wore one trouser leg over his +wooden limb and sometimes it would flutter in the wind like a flag +because it was so wide and the wooden leg so slender. His rough +kersey coat was a pea-jacket and came down to his waistline. In the +big pockets of his jacket he kept a wonderful jackknife, and his +pipe and tobacco, and many bits of string, and matches and keys and +lots of other things. Whenever Cap'n Bill thrust a chubby hand into +one of his pockets, Trot watched him with breathless interest, for +she never knew what he was going to pull out. +</P> + +<P> +The old sailor's face was brown as a berry. He had a fringe of hair +around the back of his head and a fringe of whisker around the edge +of his face, running from ear to ear and underneath his chin. His +eyes were light blue and kind in expression. His nose was big and +broad, and his few teeth were not strong enough to crack nuts with. +</P> + +<P> +Trot liked Cap'n Bill and had a great deal of confidence in his +wisdom, and a great admiration for his ability to make tops and +whistles and toys with that marvelous jackknife of his. In the +village were many boys and girls of her own age, but she never had +as much fun playing with them as she had wandering by the sea +accompanied by the old sailor and listening to his fascinating +stories. +</P> + +<P> +She knew all about the Flying Dutchman, and Davy Jones' Locker, and +Captain Kidd, and how to harpoon a whale or dodge an iceberg or +lasso a seal. Cap'n Bill had been everywhere in the world, almost, +on his many voyages. He had been wrecked on desert islands like +Robinson Crusoe and been attacked by cannibals, and had a host of +other exciting adventures. So he was a delightful comrade for the +little girl, and whatever Cap'n Bill knew Trot was sure to know in +time. +</P> + +<P> +"How do the mermaids live?" she asked. "Are they in caves, or just +in the water like fishes, or how?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't say, Trot," he replied. "I've asked divers about that, but +none of 'em ever run acrost a mermaid's nest yet, as I've heard of." +</P> + +<P> +"If they're fairies," she said, "their homes must be very pretty." +</P> + +<P> +"Mebbe so, Trot, but damp. They are sure to be damp, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to see a mermaid, Cap'n Bill," said the child earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"What, an' git drownded?" he exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +"No, and live to tell the tale. If they're beautiful, and laughing, +and sweet, there can't be much harm in them, I'm sure." +</P> + +<P> +"Mermaids is mermaids," remarked Cap'n Bill in his most solemn +voice. "It wouldn't do us any good to mix up with 'em, Trot." +</P> + +<P> +"May-re! May-re!" called a voice from the house. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Mamma!" +</P> + +<P> +"You an' Cap'n Bill come in to supper." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 2 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MERMAIDS +</H3> + +<P> +The next morning, as soon as Trot had helped wipe the breakfast +dishes and put them away in the cupboard, the little girl and Cap'n +Bill started out toward the bluff. The air was soft and warm and the +sun turned the edges of the waves into sparkling diamonds. Across +the bay the last of the fisherboats was speeding away out to sea, +for well the fishermen knew this was an ideal day to catch rockbass, +barracuda and yellowtail. +</P> + +<P> +The old man and the young girl stood on the bluff and watched all +this with interest. Here was their world. "It isn't a bit rough this +morning. Let's have a boat ride, Cap'n Bill," said the child. +</P> + +<P> +"Suits me to a T," declared the sailor. So they found the winding +path that led down the face of the cliff to the narrow beach below +and cautiously began the descent. Trot never minded the steep path +or the loose rocks at all, but Cap'n Bill's wooden leg was not so +useful on a downgrade as on a level, and he had to be careful not to +slip and take a tumble. +</P> + +<P> +But by and by they reached the sands and walked to a spot just +beneath the big acacia tree that grew on the bluff. Halfway to the +top of the cliff hung suspended a little shed-like structure that +sheltered Trot's rowboat, for it was necessary to pull the boat out +of reach of the waves which beat in fury against the rocks at high +tide. About as high up as Cap'n Bill could reach was an iron ring +securely fastened to the cliff, and to this ring was tied a rope. +The old sailor unfastened the knot and began paying out the rope, +and the rowboat came out of its shed and glided slowly downward to +the beach. It hung on a pair of davits and was lowered just as a +boat is lowered from a ship's side. When it reached the sands, the +sailor unhooked the ropes and pushed the boat to the water's edge. +It was a pretty little craft, light and strong, and Cap'n Bill knew +how to sail it or row it, as Trot might desire. +</P> + +<P> +Today they decided to row, so the girl climbed into the bow and her +companion stuck his wooden leg into the water's edge "so he wouldn't +get his foot wet" and pushed off the little boat as he climbed +aboard. Then he seized the oars and began gently paddling. +</P> + +<P> +"Whither away, Commodore Trot?" he asked gaily. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care, Cap'n. It's just fun enough to be on the water," she +answered, trailing one hand overboard. So he rowed around by the +North Promontory, where the great caves were, and much as they were +enjoying the ride, they soon began to feel the heat of the sun. +</P> + +<P> +"That's Dead Man's Cave, 'cause a skellington was found there," +observed the child as they passed a dark, yawning mouth in the +cliff. "And that's Bumble Cave, 'cause the bumblebees make nests in +the top of it. And here's Smuggler's Cave, 'cause the smugglers used +to hide things in it." +</P> + +<P> +She knew all the caves well, and so did Cap'n Bill. Many of them +opened just at the water's edge, and it was possible to row their +boat far into their dusky depths. +</P> + +<P> +"And here's Echo Cave," she continued, dreamily, as they slowly +moved along the coast, "and Giant's Cave, and—oh, Cap'n Bill! Do +you s'pose there were ever any giants in that cave?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Pears like there must o' been, Trot, or they wouldn't o' named it +that name," he replied, pausing to wipe his bald head with the red +handkerchief while the oars dragged in the water. +</P> + +<P> +"We've never been into that cave, Cap'n," she remarked, looking at +the small hole in the cliff—an archway through which the water +flowed. "Let's go in now." +</P> + +<P> +"What for, Trot?" +</P> + +<P> +"To see if there's a giant there." +</P> + +<P> +"Hm. Aren't you 'fraid?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, are you? I just don't b'lieve it's big enough for a giant to +get into." +</P> + +<P> +"Your father was in there once," remarked Cap'n Bill, "an' he says +it's the biggest cave on the coast, but low down. It's full o' +water, an' the water's deep down to the very bottom o' the ocean; +but the rock roof's liable to bump your head at high tide ." +</P> + +<P> +"It's low tide now," returned Trot. "And how could any giant live in +there if the roof is so low down?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, he couldn't, mate. I reckon they must have called it Giant's +Cave 'cause it's so big, an' not 'cause any giant man lived there." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go in," said the girl again. "I'd like to 'splore it." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," replied the sailor. "It'll be cooler in there than out +here in the sun. We won't go very far, for when the tide turns we +mightn't get out again." He picked up the oars and rowed slowly +toward the cave. The black archway that marked its entrance seemed +hardly big enough to admit the boat at first, but as they drew +nearer, the opening became bigger. The sea was very calm here, for +the headland shielded it from the breeze. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out fer your head, Trot!" cautioned Cap'n Bill as the boat +glided slowly into the rocky arch. But it was the sailor who had to +duck, instead of the little girl. Only for a moment, though. Just +beyond the opening the cave was higher, and as the boat floated into +the dim interior they found themselves on quite an extensive branch +of the sea. For a time neither of them spoke and only the soft +lapping of the water against the sides of the boat was heard. A +beautiful sight met the eyes of the two adventurers and held them +dumb with wonder and delight. +</P> + +<P> +It was not dark in this vast cave, yet the light seemed to come from +underneath the water, which all around them glowed with an exquisite +sapphire color. Where the little waves crept up the sides of the +rocks they shone like brilliant jewels, and every drop of spray +seemed a gem fit to deck a queen. Trot leaned her chin on her hands +and her elbows on her lap and gazed at this charming sight with real +enjoyment. Cap'n Bill drew in the oars and let the boat drift where +it would while he also sat silently admiring the scene. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly the little craft crept farther and farther into the dim +interior of the vast cavern, while its two passengers feasted their +eyes on the beauties constantly revealed. Both the old seaman and +the little girl loved the ocean in all its various moods. To them it +was a constant companion and a genial comrade. If it stormed and +raved, they laughed with glee; if it rolled great breakers against +the shore, they clapped their hands joyfully; if it lay slumbering +at their feet, they petted and caressed it, but always they loved +it. +</P> + +<P> +Here was the ocean yet. It had crept under the dome of overhanging +rock to reveal itself crowned with sapphires and dressed in azure +gown, revealing in this guise new and unexpected charms. "Good +morning, Mayre," said a sweet voice. +</P> + +<P> +Trot gave a start and looked around her in wonder. Just beside her +in the water were little eddies—circles within circles—such as are +caused when anything sinks below the surface. "Did—did you hear +that, Cap'n Bill?" she whispered solemnly. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill did not answer. He was staring with eyes that fairly +bulged out at a place behind Trot's back, and he shook a little, as +if trembling from cold. Trot turned half around, and then she +stared, too. Rising from the blue water was a fair face around which +floated a mass of long, blonde hair. It was a sweet, girlish face +with eyes of the same deep blue as the water and red lips whose +dainty smile disposed two rows of pearly teeth. The cheeks were +plump and rosy, the brows gracefully penciled, while the chin was +rounded and had a pretty dimple in it. +</P> + +<P> +"The most beauti-ful-est in all the world," murmured Cap'n Bill in a +voice of horror, "an' no one has ever lived to—to tell the tale!" +</P> + +<P> +There was a peal of merry laughter at this, laughter that rippled +and echoed throughout the cavern. Just at Trot's side appeared a new +face even fairer than the other, with a wealth of brown hair +wreathing the lovely features. And the eyes smiled kindly into those +of the child. "Are you a—a mermaid?" asked Trot curiously. She was +not a bit afraid. They seemed both gentle and friendly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, dear," was the soft answer. +</P> + +<P> +"We are all mermaids!" chimed a laughing chorus, and here and there, +all about the boat, appeared pretty faces lying just upon the +surface of the water. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you part fishes?" asked Trot, greatly pleased by this wonderful +sight. +</P> + +<P> +"No, we are all mermaid," replied the one with the brown hair. "The +fishes are partly like us, because they live in the sea and must +move about. And you are partly like us, Mayre dear, but have awkward +stiff legs so you may walk on the land. But the mermaids lived +before fishes and before mankind, so both have borrowed something +from us." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you must be fairies if you've lived always," remarked Trot, +nodding wisely. +</P> + +<P> +"We are, dear. We are the water fairies," answered the one with the +blonde hair, coming nearer and rising till her slender white throat +showed plainly. +</P> + +<P> +"We—we're goners, Trot!" sighed Cap'n Bill with a white, woebegone +face. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess not, Cap'n," she answered calmly. "These pretty mermaids +aren't going to hurt us, I'm sure." +</P> + +<P> +"No indeed," said the first one who had spoken. "If we were wicked +enough to wish to harm you, our magic could reach you as easily upon +the land as in this cave. But we love little girls dearly and wish +only to please them and make their lives more happy." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe that!" cried Trot earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill groaned. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess why we have appeared to you," said another mermaid, coming to +the side of the boat. +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" asked the child. +</P> + +<P> +"We heard you say yesterday you would like to see a mermaid, and so +we decided to grant your wish." +</P> + +<P> +"That was real nice of you," said Trot gratefully. +</P> + +<P> +"Also, we heard all the foolish things Cap'n Bill said about us," +remarked the brown-haired one smilingly, "and we wanted to prove to +him that they were wrong." +</P> + +<P> +"I on'y said what I've heard," protested Cap'n Bill. "Never havin' +seen a mermaid afore, I couldn't be ackerate, an' I never expected +to see one an' live to tell the tale." +</P> + +<P> +Again the cave rang with merry laughter, and as it died away, Trot +said, "May I see your scales, please? And are they green and purple +and pink like Cap'n Bill said?" They seemed undecided what to say to +this and swam a little way off, where the beautiful heads formed a +group that was delightful to see. Perhaps they talked together, for +the brown-haired mermaid soon came back to the side of the boat and +asked, "Would you like to visit our kingdom and see all the wonders +that exist below the sea?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to," replied Trot promptly, "but I couldn't. I'd get +drowned." +</P> + +<P> +"That you would, mate!" cried Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh no," said the mermaid. "We would make you both like one of +ourselves, and then you could live within the water as easily as we +do." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know as I'd like that," said the child, "at least for +always." +</P> + +<P> +"You need not stay with us a moment longer than you please," +returned the mermaid, smiling as if amused at the remark. "Whenever +you are ready to return home, we promise to bring you to this place +again and restore to you the same forms you are now wearing." +</P> + +<P> +"Would I have a fish's tail?" asked Trot earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"You would have a mermaid's tail," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +"What color would my scales be—pink, or purple?" +</P> + +<P> +"You may choose the color yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"Look ahere, Trot!" said Cap'n Bill in excitement. "You ain't +thinkin' o' doin' such a fool thing, are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Course I am," declared the little girl. "We don't get such +inv'tations every day, Cap'n, and if I don't go now I may never find +out how the mermaids live." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care how they live, myself," said Cap'n Bill. "I jes' want +'em to let ME live." +</P> + +<P> +"There's no danger," insisted Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"I do' know 'bout that. That's what all the other folks said when +they dove after the mermaids an' got drownded." +</P> + +<P> +"Who?" asked the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know who, but I've heard tell—" +</P> + +<P> +"You've heard that no one ever saw a mermaid and lived," said Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"To tell the tale," he added, nodding. "An' if we dives down like +they says, we won't live ourselves." +</P> + +<P> +All the mermaids laughed at this, and the brown-haired one said, +"Well, if you are afraid, don't come. You may row your boat out of +this cave and never see us again, if you like. We merely thought it +would please little Mayre, and were willing to show her the sights +of our beautiful home." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to see 'em, all right," said Trot, her eyes glistening +with pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +"So would I," admitted Cap'n Bill, "if we would live to tell the +tale." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you believe us?" asked the mermaid, fixing her lovely eyes on +those of the old sailor and smiling prettily. "Are you afraid to +trust us to bring you safely back?" +</P> + +<P> +"N-n-no," said Cap'n Bill, "'tain't that. I've got to look after +Trot." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you'll have to come with me," said Trot decidedly, "for I'm +going to 'cept this inv'tation. If you don't care to come, Cap'n +Bill, you go home and tell mother I'm visitin' the mermaids." +</P> + +<P> +"She'd scold me inter shivers!" moaned Cap'n Bill with a shudder. "I +guess I'd ruther take my chance down below." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, I'm ready, Miss Mermaid," said Trot. "What shall I do? +Jump in, clothes and all?" +</P> + +<P> +"Give me your hand, dear," answered the mermaid, lifting a lovely +white arm from the water. Trot took the slender hand and found it +warm and soft and not a bit "fishy." +</P> + +<P> +"My name is Clia," continued the mermaid, "and I am a princess in +our deep-sea kingdom." +</P> + +<P> +Just then Trot gave a flop and flopped right out of the boat into +the water. Cap'n Bill caught a gleam of pink scales as his little +friend went overboard, and the next moment there was Trot's face in +the water among those of the mermaids. She was laughing with glee as +she looked up into Cap'n Bill's face and called, "Come on in, Cap'n! +It didn't hurt a bit!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 3 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DEPTHS OF THE DEEP BLUE SEA +</H3> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill stood up in the boat as if undecided what to do. Never a +sailor man was more bewildered than this old fellow by the +strangeness of the adventure he had encountered. At first he could +hardly believe it was all true and that he was not dreaming; but +there was Trot in the water, laughing with the mermaids and floating +comfortably about, and he couldn't leave his dear little companion +to make the trip to the depths of the ocean alone. +</P> + +<P> +"Take my hand, please, Cap'n Bill," said Princess Clia, reaching her +dainty arm toward him; and suddenly the old man took courage and +clasped the soft fingers in his own. He had to lean over the boat to +do this, and then there came a queer lightness to his legs and he +had a great longing to be in the water. So he gave a flop and +flopped in beside Trot, where he found himself comfortable enough, +but somewhat frightened. +</P> + +<P> +"Law sakes!" he gasped. "Here's me in the water with my rheumatics! +I'll be that stiff termorrer I can't wiggle." +</P> + +<P> +"You're wigglin' all right now," observed Trot. "That's a fine tail +you've got, Cap'n, an' its green scales is jus' beautiful." +</P> + +<P> +"Are they green, eh?" he asked, twisting around to try to see them. +</P> + +<P> +"Green as em'ralds, Cap'n. How do they feel?" +</P> + +<P> +"Feel, Trot, feel? Why, this tail beats that ol' wooden leg all +holler! I kin do stunts now that I couldn't o' done in a thousand +years with ol' peg." +</P> + +<P> +"And don't be afraid of the rheumatism," advised the Princess. "No +mermaid ever catches cold or suffers pain in the water." +</P> + +<P> +"Is Cap'n Bill a mermaid now?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, he's a merMAN, I suppose," laughed the pretty princess. "But +when he gets home, he will be just Cap'n Bill again." +</P> + +<P> +"Wooden leg an' all?" inquired the child. +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure, my dear." +</P> + +<P> +The sailor was now trying his newly discovered power of swimming, +and became astonished at the feats he could accomplish. He could +dart this way and that with wonderful speed, and turn and dive, and +caper about in the water far better than he had ever been able to do +on land—even before he got the wooden leg. And a curious thing +about this present experience was that the water did not cling to +him and wet him as it had always done before. He still wore his +flannel shirt and pea jacket and his sailor cap; but although he was +in the water and had been underneath the surface, the cloth still +seemed dry and warm. As he dived down and came up again, the drops +flashed from his head and the fringe of beard, but he never needed +to wipe his face or eyes at all. +</P> + +<P> +Trot, too, was having queer experiences and enjoying them. When she +ducked under water, she saw plainly everything about her as easily +and distinctly as she had ever seen anything above water. And by +looking over her shoulder she could watch the motion of her new +tail, all covered with pretty iridescent pink scales, which gleamed +like jewels. She wore her dress the same as before, and the water +failed to affect it in the least. +</P> + +<P> +She now noticed that the mermaids were clothed, too, and their +exquisite gowns were the loveliest thing the little girl had ever +beheld. They seemed made of a material that was like sheeny silk, +cut low in the neck and with wide, flowing sleeves that seldom +covered the shapely, white arms of her new friends. The gowns had +trains that floated far behind the mermaids as they swam, but were +so fleecy and transparent that the sparkle of their scales might be +seen reaching back of their waists, where the human form ended and +the fish part began. The sea fairies wore strings of splendid pearls +twined around their throats, while more pearls were sewn upon their +gowns for trimmings. They did not dress their beautiful hair at all, +but let it float around them in clouds. +</P> + +<P> +The little girl had scarcely time to observe all this when the +princess said, "Now, my dear, if you are ready, we will begin our +journey, for it is a long way to our palaces." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," answered Trot, and took the hand extended to her with a +trustful smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you allow me to guide you, Cap'n Bill?" asked the blonde +mermaid, extending her hand to the old sailor. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, ma'am," he said, taking her fingers rather bashfully. +</P> + +<P> +"My name is Merla," she continued, "and I am cousin to Princess +Clia. We must all keep together, you know, and I will hold your hand +to prevent your missing the way." +</P> + +<P> +While she spoke they began to descend through the water, and it grew +quite dark for a time because the cave shut out the light. But +presently Trot, who was eagerly looking around her, began to notice +the water lighten and saw they were coming into brighter parts of +the sea. "We have left the cave now," said Clia, "and may swim +straight home." +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose there are no winding roads in the ocean," remarked the +child, swimming swiftly beside her new friend. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes indeed. At the bottom, the way is far from being straight or +level," replied Clia. "But we are in mid-water now, where nothing +will hinder our journey, unless—" +</P> + +<P> +She seemed to hesitate, so Trot asked, "Unless what?" +</P> + +<P> +"Unless we meet with disagreeable creatures," said the Princess. +"The mid-water is not as safe as the very bottom, and that is the +reason we are holding your hands." +</P> + +<P> +"What good would that do?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"You must remember that we are fairies," said Princess Clia. "For +that reason, nothing in the ocean can injure us, but you two are +mortals and therefore not entirely safe at all times unless we +protect you." +</P> + +<P> +Trot was thoughtful for a few moments and looked around her a little +anxiously. Now and then a dark form would shoot across their pathway +or pass them at some distance, but none was near enough for the girl +to see plainly what it might be. Suddenly they swam right into a big +school of fishes, all yellowtails and of very large size. There must +have been hundreds of them lying lazily in the water, and when they +saw the mermaids they merely wriggled to one side and opened a path +for the sea fairies to pass through. "Will they hurt us?" asked +Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"No indeed," laughed the Princess. "Fishes are stupid creatures +mostly, and this family is quite harmless." +</P> + +<P> +"How about sharks?" asked Cap'n Bill, who was swimming gracefully +beside them, his hand clutched in that of pretty Merla. +</P> + +<P> +"Sharks may indeed be dangerous to you," replied Clia, "so I advise +you to keep them at a safe distance. They never dare attempt to bite +a mermaid, and it may be they will think you belong to our band; but +it is well to avoid them if possible." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't get careless, Cap'n," added Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"I surely won't, mate," he replied. "You see, I didn't use to be +'fraid o' sharks 'cause if they came near I'd stick my wooden leg at +'em. But now, if they happens to fancy these green scales, it's all +up with ol' Bill." +</P> + +<P> +"Never fear," said Merla, "I'll take care of you on our journey, and +in our palaces you will find no sharks at all." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't they get in?" he asked anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"No. The palaces of the mermaids are inhabited only by themselves." +</P> + +<P> +"Is there anything else to be afraid of in the sea?" asked the +little girl after they had swum quite a while in silence. +</P> + +<P> +"One or two things, my dear," answered Princess Clia. "Of course, we +mermaids have great powers, being fairies; yet among the sea people +is one nearly as powerful as we are, and that is the devilfish." +</P> + +<P> +"I know," said Trot. "I've seen 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"You have seen the smaller ones, I suppose, which sometimes rise to +the surface or go near the shore, and are often caught by +fishermen," said Clia, "but they are only second cousins of the +terrible deep-sea devilfish to which I refer." +</P> + +<P> +"Those ones are bad enough, though," declared Cap'n Bill. "If you +know any worse ones, I don't want a interduction to 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"The monster devilfish inhabit caves in the rugged, mountainous +regions of the ocean," resumed the Princess, "and they are evil +spirits who delight in injuring all who meet them. None lives near +our palaces, so there is little danger of your meeting any while you +are our guests." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope we won't," said Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"None for me," added Cap'n Bill. "Devils of any sort ought to be +give a wide berth, an' devilfish is worser ner sea serpents." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, do you know the sea serpents?" asked Merla as if surprised. +</P> + +<P> +"Not much I don't," answered the sailor, "but I've heard tell of +folks as has seen 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Did they ever live to tell the tale?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Sometimes," he replied. "They're jes' ORful creatures, mate." +</P> + +<P> +"How easy it is to be mistaken," said Princess Clia softly. "We know +the sea serpents very well, and we like them." +</P> + +<P> +"You do!" exclaimed Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, dear. There are only three of them in all the world, and not +only are they harmless, but quite bashful and shy. They are +kind-hearted, too, and although not beautiful in appearance, they do +many kind deeds and are generally beloved." +</P> + +<P> +"Where do they live?" asked the child. +</P> + +<P> +"The oldest one, who is king of this ocean, lives quite near us," +said Clia. "His name is Anko." +</P> + +<P> +"How old is he?" inquired Cap'n Bill curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"No one knows. He was here before the ocean came, and he stayed here +because he learned to like the water better than the land as a +habitation. Perhaps King Anko is ten thousand years old, perhaps +twenty thousand. We often lose track of the centuries down here in +the sea." +</P> + +<P> +"That's pretty old, isn't it?" said Trot. "Older than Cap'n Bill, I +guess." +</P> + +<P> +"Summat," chuckled the sailor man, "summat older, mate, but not +much. P'raps the sea serpent ain't got gray whiskers." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes he has," responded Merla with a laugh. "And so have his two +brothers, Unko and Inko. They each have an ocean of their own, you +know; and once every hundred years they come here to visit their +brother Anko. So we've seen all three many times." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, how old are mermaids, then?" asked Trot, looking around at the +beautiful creatures wonderingly. +</P> + +<P> +"We are like all ladies of uncertain age," rejoined the Princess +with a smile. "We don't care to tell." +</P> + +<P> +"Older than Cap'n Bill?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, dear," said Clia. +</P> + +<P> +"But we haven't any gray whiskers," added Merla merrily, "and our +hearts are ever young." +</P> + +<P> +Trot was thoughtful. It made her feel solemn to be in the company of +such old people. The band of mermaids seemed to all appearances +young and fresh and not a bit as if they'd been soaked in water for +hundreds of years. The girl began to take more notice of the sea +maidens following after her. More than a dozen were in the group; +all were lovely in appearance and clothed in the same gauzy robes as +Merla and the Princess. These attendants did not join in the +conversation but darted here and there in sportive play, and often +Trot heard the tinkling chorus of their laughter. Whatever doubts +might have arisen in the child's mind through the ignorant tales of +her sailor friend, she now found the mermaids to be light-hearted, +joyous and gay, and from the first she had not been in the least +afraid of her new companions. +</P> + +<P> +"How much farther do we have to go?" asked Cap'n Bill presently. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you getting tired?" Merla inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said he, "but I'm sorter anxious to see what your palaces look +like. Inside the water ain't as interestin' as the top of it. It's +fine swimmin', I'll agree, an' I like it, but there ain't nuthin' +special to see that I can make out." +</P> + +<P> +"That is true, sir," replied the Princess. "We have purposely led +you through the mid-water hoping you would see nothing to alarm you +until you get more accustomed to our ocean life. Moreover, we are +able to travel more swiftly here. How far do you think we have +already come, Cap'n?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, 'bout two mile," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we are now hundreds of miles from the cave where we started," +she told him. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't mean it!" he exclaimed in wonder. +</P> + +<P> +"Then there's magic in it," announced Trot soberly. +</P> + +<P> +"True, my dear. To avoid tiring you and to save time, we have used a +little of our fairy power," said Clia. "The result is that we are +nearing our home. Let us go downward a bit, now, for you must know +that the mermaid palaces are at the very bottom of the ocean, and in +its deepest part." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 4 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PALACE OF QUEEN AQUAREINE +</H3> + +<P> +Trot was surprised to find it was not at all dark or gloomy as they +descended farther into the deep sea. Things were not quite so clear +to her eyes as they had been in the bright sunshine above the +ocean's surface, but every object was distinct nevertheless, as if +she saw through a pane of green-tainted glass. The water was very +clear except for this green shading, and the little girl had never +before felt so light and buoyant as she did now. It was no effort at +all to dart through the water, which seemed to support her on all +sides. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe I weigh anything at all," she said to Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"No more do I, Trot," said he. "But that's nat'ral, seein' as we're +under water so far. What bothers me most is how we manage to +breathe, havin' no gills like fishes have." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure we haven't any gills?" she asked, lifting her free +hand to feel her throat. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure. Ner the mermaids haven't any, either," declared Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"Then," said Trot, "we're breathing by magic." +</P> + +<P> +The mermaids laughed at this shrewd remark, and the Princess said, +"You have guessed correctly, my dear. Go a little slower, now, for +the palaces are in sight." +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" asked Trot eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Just before you." +</P> + +<P> +"In that grove of trees?" inquired the girl. And really, it seemed +to her that they were approaching a beautiful grove. The bottom of +the sea was covered with white sand, in which grew many varieties of +sea shrubs with branches like those of trees. Not all of them were +green, however, for the branches and leaves were of a variety of +gorgeous colors. Some were purple, shading down to a light lavender; +and there were reds all the way from a delicate rose-pink to vivid +shades of scarlet. Orange, yellow and blue shades were there, too, +mingling with the sea-greens in a most charming manner. Altogether, +Trot found the brilliant coloring somewhat bewildering. +</P> + +<P> +These sea shrubs, which in size were quite as big and tall as the +trees on earth, were set so close together that their branches +entwined; but there were several avenues leading into the groves, +and at the entrance to each avenue the girl noticed several large +fishes with long spikes growing upon their noses. +</P> + +<P> +"Those are swordfishes," remarked the Princess as she led the band +past one of these avenues. +</P> + +<P> +"Are they dang'rous?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Not to us," was the reply. "The swordfishes are among our most +valued and faithful servants, guarding the entrances to the gardens +which surround our palaces. If any creatures try to enter uninvited, +these guards fight them and drive them away. Their swords are sharp +and strong, and they are fierce fighters, I assure you." +</P> + +<P> +"I've known 'em to attack ships, an' stick their swords right +through the wood," said Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"Those belonged to the wandering tribes of swordfishes," explained +the Princess. "These, who are our servants, are too sensible and +intelligent to attack ships." +</P> + +<P> +The band now headed into a broad passage through the "gardens," as +the mermaids called these gorgeous groves, and the great swordfishes +guarding the entrance made way for them to pass, afterward resuming +their posts with watchful eyes. As they slowly swam along the +avenue, Trot noticed that some of the bushes seemed to have fruits +growing upon them, but what these fruits might be neither she nor +Cap'n Bill could guess. +</P> + +<P> +The way wound here and there for some distance, till finally they +came to a more open space all carpeted with sea flowers of exquisite +colorings. Although Trot did not know it, these flowers resembled +the rare orchids of earth in their fanciful shapes and marvelous +hues. The child did not examine them very closely, for across the +carpet of flowers loomed the magnificent and extensive palaces of +the mermaids. +</P> + +<P> +These palaces were built of coral; white, pink and yellow being +used, and the colors arranged in graceful designs. The front of the +main palace, which now faced them, had circular ends connecting the +straight wall, not unlike the architecture we are all familiar with; +yet there seemed to be no windows to the building, although a series +of archways served as doors. +</P> + +<P> +Arriving at one of the central archways, the band of sea maidens +separated. Princess Clia and Merla leading Trot and Cap'n Bill into +the palace, while the other mermaids swam swiftly away to their own +quarters. +</P> + +<P> +"Welcome!" said Clia in her sweet voice. "Here you are surrounded +only by friends and are in perfect safety. Please accept our +hospitality as freely as you desire, for we consider you honored +guests. I hope you will like our home," she added a little shyly. +</P> + +<P> +"We are sure to, dear Princess," Trot hastened to say. +</P> + +<P> +Then Clia escorted them through the archway and into a lofty hall. +It was not a mere grotto, but had smoothly built walls of pink coral +inlaid with white. Trot at first thought there was no roof, for +looking upward she could see the water all above them. But the +princess, reading her thought, said with a smile, "Yes, there is a +roof, or we would be unable to keep all the sea people out of our +palace. But the roof is made of glass to admit the light." +</P> + +<P> +"Glass!" cried the astonished child. "Then it must be an awful big +pane of glass." +</P> + +<P> +"It is," agreed Clia. "Our roofs are considered quite wonderful, and +we owe them to the fairy powers of our queen. Of course, you +understand there is no natural way to make glass under water." +</P> + +<P> +"No indeed," said Cap'n Bill. And then he asked, "Does your queen +live here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. She is waiting now, in her throne room, to welcome you. Shall +we go in?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'd just as soon," replied Trot rather timidly, but she boldly +followed the princess, who glided through another arch into another +small room where several mermaids were reclining upon couches of +coral. They were beautifully dressed and wore many sparkling jewels. +</P> + +<P> +"Her Majesty is awaiting the strangers, Princess Clia," announced +one of these. "You are asked to enter at once." +</P> + +<P> +"Come, then," said Clia, and once more taking Trot's hand, she led +the girl through still another arch, while Merla followed just +behind them, escorting Cap'n Bill. They now entered an apartment so +gorgeous that the child fairly gasped with astonishment. The queen's +throne room was indeed the grandest and most beautiful chamber in +all the ocean palaces. Its coral walls were thickly inlaid with +mother-of-pearl, exquisitely shaded and made into borders and floral +decorations. In the corners were cabinets, upon the shelves of which +many curious shells were arranged, all beautifully polished. The +floor glittered with gems arranged in patterns of flowers, like a +brilliant carpet. +</P> + +<P> +Near the center of the room was a raised platform of mother-of-pearl +upon which stood a couch thickly studded with diamonds, rubies, +emeralds and pearls. Here reclined Queen Aquareine, a being so +lovely that Trot gazed upon her spellbound and Cap'n Bill took off +his sailor cap and held it in his hands. +</P> + +<P> +All about the room were grouped other mother-of-pearl couches, not +raised like that of the queen, and upon each of these reclined a +pretty mermaid. They could not sit down as we do, Trot readily +understood, because of their tails; but they rested very gracefully +upon the couches with their trailing gauzy robes arranged in fleecy +folds. +</P> + +<P> +When Clia and Merla escorted the strangers down the length of the +great room toward the royal throne, they met with pleasant looks and +smiles on every side, for the sea maidens were too polite to indulge +in curious stares. They paused just before the throne, and the queen +raised her head upon one elbow to observe them. "Welcome, Mayre," +she said, "and welcome, Cap'n Bill. I trust you are pleased with +your glimpse of the life beneath the surface of our sea." +</P> + +<P> +"I am," answered Trot, looking admiringly at the beautiful face of +the queen. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all mighty cur'ous an' strange-like," said the sailor slowly. +"I'd no idee you mermaids were like this, at all!" +</P> + +<P> +"Allow me to explain that it was to correct your wrong ideas about +us that led me to invite you to visit us," replied the Queen. "We +usually pay little heed to the earth people, for we are content in +our own dominions; but, of course, we know all that goes on upon +your earth. So when Princess Clia chanced to overhear your absurd +statements concerning us, we were greatly amused and decided to let +you see with your own eyes just what we are like." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad you did," answered Cap'n Bill, dropping his eyes in some +confusion as he remembered his former description of the mermaids. +</P> + +<P> +"Now that you are here," continued the Queen in a cordial, friendly +tone, "you may as well remain with us a few days and see the +wonderful sights of our ocean." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm much obliged to you, ma'am," said Trot, "and I'd like to stay +ever so much, but mother worries jus' dreadfully if we don't get +home in time." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll arrange all that," said Aquareine with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"How?" asked the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"I will make your mother forget the passage of time so she will not +realize how long you are away. Then she cannot worry." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you do that?" inquired Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Very easily. I will send your mother into a deep sleep that will +last until you are ready to return home. Just at present she is +seated in her chair by the front window, engaged in knitting." The +queen paused to raise an arm and wave it slowly to and fro. Then she +added, "Now your good mother is asleep, little Mayre, and instead of +worries I promise her pleasant dreams." +</P> + +<P> +"Won't someone rob the house while she's asleep?" asked the child +anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"No, dear. My charm will protect the house from any intrusion." +</P> + +<P> +"That's fine!" exclaimed Trot in delight. +</P> + +<P> +"It's jes' won-erful!" said Cap'n Bill. "I wish I knew it was so. +Trot's mother has a awful sharp tongue when she's worried." +</P> + +<P> +"You may see for yourselves," declared the Queen, and waved her hand +again. At once they saw before them the room in the cottage, with +Mayre's mother asleep by the window. Her knitting was in her lap, +and the cat lay curled up beside her chair. It was all so natural +that Trot thought she could hear the clock over the fireplace tick. +After a moment the scene faded away, when the queen asked with +another smile, "Are you satisfied?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes!" cried Trot. "But how could you do it?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is a form of mirage," was the reply. "We are able to bring any +earth scene before us whenever we wish. Sometimes these scenes are +reflected above the water so that mortals also observe them." +</P> + +<P> +"I've seen 'em," said Cap'n Bill, nodding. "I've seen mirages, but I +never knowed what caused 'em afore now." +</P> + +<P> +"Whenever you see anything you do not understand and wish to ask +questions, I will be very glad to answer them," said the Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"One thing that bothers me," said Trot, "is why we don't get wet, +being in the ocean with water all around us." +</P> + +<P> +"That is because no water really touches you," explained the Queen. +"Your bodies have been made just like those of the mermaids in order +that you may fully enjoy your visit to us. One of our peculiar +qualities is that water is never permitted to quite touch our +bodies, or our gowns. Always there remains a very small space, +hardly a hair's breadth, between us and the water, which is the +reason we are always warm and dry." +</P> + +<P> +"I see," said Trot. "That's why you don't get soggy or withered." +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly," laughed the Queen, and the other mermaids joined in her +merriment. +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose that's how we can breathe without gills," remarked Cap'n +Bill thoughtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. The air space is constantly replenished from the water, which +contains air, and this enables us to breathe as freely as you do +upon the earth." +</P> + +<P> +"But we have fins," said Trot, looking at the fin that stood upright +on Cap'n Bill's back. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. They allow us to guide ourselves as we swim, and so are very +useful," replied the Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"They make us more finished," said Cap'n Bill with a chuckle. Then, +suddenly becoming grave, he added, "How about my rheumatics, ma'am? +Ain't I likely to get stiffened up with all this dampness?" +</P> + +<P> +"No indeed," Aquareine answered. "There is no such thing as +rheumatism in all our dominions. I promise no evil result shall +follow this visit to us, so please be as happy and contented as +possible." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 5 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SEA-SERPENT +</H3> + +<P> +Just then Trot happened to look up at the glass roof and saw a +startling sight. A big head with a face surrounded by stubby gray +whiskers was poised just over them, and the head was connected with +a long, curved body that looked much like a sewer pipe. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, there is King Anko," said the Queen, following the child's +gaze. "Open a door and let him in, Clia, for I suppose our old +friend is anxious to see the earth people." +</P> + +<P> +"Won't he hurt us?" asked the little girl with a shiver of fear. +</P> + +<P> +"Who, Anko? Oh no, my dear! We are very fond of the sea serpent, who +is king of this ocean, although he does not rule the mermaids. Old +Anko is a very agreeable fellow, as you will soon discover." +</P> + +<P> +"Can he talk?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes indeed." +</P> + +<P> +"And can we understand what he says?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perfectly," replied the Queen. "I have given you power, while you +remain here, to understand the language of every inhabitant of the +sea." +</P> + +<P> +"That's nice," said Trot gratefully. +</P> + +<P> +The Princess Clia swam slowly to one of the walls of the throne room +where, at a wave of her hand, a round hole appeared in the coral. +The sea serpent at once observed this opening and the head left the +roof of glass only to reappear presently at the round hole. Through +this he slowly crawled until his head was just beneath the throne of +Queen Aquareine, who said to him: +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning, your Majesty. I hope you are quite well?" +</P> + +<P> +"Quite well, thank your Majesty," answered Anko; and then he turned +to the strangers. "I suppose these are the earth folks you were +expecting?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," returned the Queen. "The girl is named Mayre and the man +Cap'n Bill." +</P> + +<P> +While the sea serpent looked at the visitors, they ventured to look +at him. He certainly was a queer creature, yet Trot decided he was +not at all frightful. His head was round as a ball, but his ears +were sharp-pointed and had tassels at the ends of them. His nose was +flat, and his mouth very wide indeed, but his eyes were blue and +gentle in expression. The white, stubby hairs that surrounded his +face were not thick like a beard, but scattered and scraggly. From +the head, the long, brown body of the sea serpent extended to the +hole in the coral wall, which was just big enough to admit it; and +how much more of the body remained outside the child could not tell. +On the back of the body were several fins, which made the creature +look more like an eel than a serpent. +</P> + +<P> +"The girl is young and the man is old," said King Anko in a soft +voice. "But I'm quite sure Cap'n Bill isn't as old as I am." +</P> + +<P> +"How old are you?" asked the sailor. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't say exactly. I can remember several thousands of years +back, but beyond that my memory fails me. How's your memory, Cap'n +Bill?" +</P> + +<P> +"You've got me beat," was the reply. "I'll give in that you're older +than I am." +</P> + +<P> +This seemed to please the sea serpent. "Are you well?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Pretty fair," said Cap'n Bill. "How's yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm very well, thank you," answered Anko. "I never remember to +have had a pain but three times in my life. The last time was when +Julius Sneezer was on earth." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean Julius Caesar," said Trot, correcting him. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I mean Julius Sneezer," insisted the Sea Serpent. "That was his +real name—Sneezer. They called him Caesar sometimes just because he +took everything he could lay hands on. I ought to know, because I +saw him when he was alive. Did you see him when he was alive, Cap'n +Bill?" +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon not," admitted the sailor. +</P> + +<P> +"That time I had a toothache," continued Anko, "but I got a lobster +to pull the tooth with his claw, so the pain was soon over." +</P> + +<P> +"Did it hurt to pull it?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurt!" exclaimed the Sea Serpent, groaning at the recollection. "My +dear, those creatures have been called lobsters ever since! The +second pain I had way back in the time of Nevercouldnever." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I s'pose you mean Nebuchadnezzar," said Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you call him that now?" asked the Sea Serpent as if surprised. +"He used to be called Nevercouldnever when he was alive, but this +new way of spelling seems to get everything mixed up. Nebuchadnezzar +doesn't mean anything at all, it seems to me." +</P> + +<P> +"It means he ate grass," said the child. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh no, he didn't," declared the Sea Serpent. "He was the first to +discover that lettuce was good to eat, and he became very fond of +it. The people may have called it grass, but they were wrong. I +ought to know, because I was alive when Nevercouldnever lived. Were +you alive, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"The pain I had then," remarked Anko, "was caused by a kink in my +tail about three hundred feet from the end. There was an old octopus +who did not like me, and so he tied a knot in my tail when I wasn't +looking." +</P> + +<P> +"What did you do?" asked Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, first I transformed the octopus into a jellyfish, and then I +waited for the tide to turn. When my tail was untied, the pain +stopped." +</P> + +<P> +"I—I don't understand that," said Trot, somewhat bewildered. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, my dear," replied the Sea Serpent in a grateful voice. +"People who are always understood are very common. You are sure to +respect those you can't understand, for you feel that perhaps they +know more than you do." +</P> + +<P> +"About how long do you happen to be?" inquired Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"When last measured, I was seven thousand four hundred and +eighty-two feet, five inches and a quarter. I'm not sure about the +quarter, but the rest is probably correct. Adam measured me when +Cain was a baby." +</P> + +<P> +"Where's the rest of you, then?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Safe at home, I hope, and coiled up in my parlor," answered the Sea +Serpent. "When I go out, I usually take along only what is needed. +It saves a lot of bother and I can always find my way back in the +darkest night by just coiling up the part that has been away." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you like to be a sea serpent?" inquired the child. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, for I'm King of my Ocean, and there is no other sea serpent to +imagine he is just as good as I am. I have two brothers who live in +other oceans, but one is seven inches shorter than I am, and the +other several feet shorter. It's curious to talk about feet when we +haven't any feet, isn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Seems so," acknowledged Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"I feel I have much to be proud of," continued Anko in a dreamy +tone. "My great age, my undisputed sway, and my exceptional length." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't b'lieve I'd care to live so long," remarked Cap'n Bill +thoughtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"So long as seven thousand four hundred and eighty-two feet, five +inches and a quarter?" asked the Sea Serpent. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I mean so many years," replied the sailor. +</P> + +<P> +"But what can one do if one happens to be a sea serpent?" Anko +inquired. "There is nothing in the sea that can hurt me, and I +cannot commit suicide because we have no carbolic acid or firearms +or gas to turn on. So it isn't a matter of choice, and I'd about as +soon be alive as dead. It does not seem quite so monotonous, you +know. But I guess I've stayed about long enough, so I'll go home to +dinner. Come and see me when you have time." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," said Trot, and Merla added, "I'll take you over to his +majesty's palace when we go out and let you see how he lives." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, do," said Anko. And then he slowly slid out of the hole, which +immediately closed behind him, leaving the coral wall as solid as +before. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" exclaimed Trot. "King Anko forgot to tell us what his third +pain was about." +</P> + +<P> +"So he did," said Cap'n Bill. "We must ask him about that when we +see him. But I guess the ol' boy's mem'ry is failin', an' he can't +be depended on for pertic'lars." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 6 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +EXPLORING THE OCEAN +</H3> + +<P> +The queen now requested her guests to recline upon couches that they +might rest themselves from their long swim and talk more at their +ease. So the girl and the sailor allowed themselves to float +downward until they rested their bodies on two of the couches +nearest the throne, which were willingly vacated for them by the +mermaids who occupied them until then. +</P> + +<P> +The visitors soon found themselves answering a great many questions +about their life on the earth, for although the queen had said she +kept track of what was going on on the land, there were many details +of human life in which all the mermaids seemed greatly interested. +</P> + +<P> +During the conversation several sea-maids came swimming into the +room bearing trays of sea apples and other fruit, which they first +offered to the queen, and then passed the refreshments around to the +company assembled. Trot and Cap'n Bill each took some, and the +little girl found the fruits delicious to eat, as they had a richer +flavor than any that grew upon land. Queen Aquareine was much +pleased when the old sailor asked for more, but Merla warned him +dinner would soon be served and he must take care not to spoil his +appetite for that meal. "Our dinner is at noon, for we have to cook +in the middle of the day when the sun is shining," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Cook!" cried Trot. "Why, you can't build a fire in the water, can +you?" +</P> + +<P> +"We have no need of fires," was the reply. "The glass roof of our +kitchen is so curved that it concentrates the heat of the sun's +rays, which are then hot enough to cook anything we wish." +</P> + +<P> +"But how do you get along if the day is cloudy, and the sun doesn't +shine?" inquired the little girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we use the hot springs that bubble up in another part of the +palace," Merla answered. "But the sun is the best to cook by." So it +was no surprise to Trot when, about noon, dinner was announced and +all the mermaids, headed by their queen and their guests, swam into +another spacious room where a great, long table was laid. The dishes +were of polished gold and dainty-cut glass, and the cloth and +napkins of fine gossamer. Around the table were ranged rows of +couches for the mermaids to recline upon as they ate. Only the +nobility and favorites of Queen Aquareine were invited to partake of +this repast, for Clia explained that tables were set for the other +mermaids in different parts of the numerous palaces. +</P> + +<P> +Trot wondered who would serve the meal, but her curiosity was soon +satisfied when several large lobsters came sliding into the room +backward, bearing in their claws trays loaded with food. Each of +these lobsters had a golden band behind its neck to show it was the +slave of the mermaids. +</P> + +<P> +These curious waiters were fussy creatures, and Trot found much +amusement in watching their odd motions. They were so spry and +excitable that at times they ran against one another and upset the +platters of food, after which they began to scold and argue as to +whose fault it was, until one of the mermaids quietly rebuked them +and asked them to be more quiet and more careful. +</P> + +<P> +The queen's guests had no cause to complain of the dinner provided. +First the lobsters served bowls of turtle soup, which proved hot and +deliciously flavored. Then came salmon steaks fried in fish oil, +with a fungus bread that tasted much like field mushrooms. Oysters, +clams, soft-shell crabs and various preparations of seafoods +followed. The salad was a delicate leaf from some seaweed that Trot +thought was much nicer than lettuce. Several courses were served, +and the lobsters changed the plates with each course, chattering and +scolding as they worked, and as Trot said, "doing everything +backwards" in their nervous, fussy way. +</P> + +<P> +Many of the things offered them to eat were unknown to the visitors, +and the child was suspicious of some of them, but Cap'n Bill asked +no questions and ate everything offered him, so Trot decided to +follow his example. Certain it is they found the meal very +satisfying, and evidently there was no danger of their being hungry +while they remained the guests of the mermaids. When the fruits +came, Trot thought that must be the last course of the big dinner, +but following the fruits were ice creams frozen into the shape of +flowers. +</P> + +<P> +"How funny," said the child, "to be eating ice cream at the bottom +of the sea." +</P> + +<P> +"Why does that surprise you?" inquired the Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't see where you get the ice to freeze it," Trot replied. +</P> + +<P> +"It is brought to us from the icebergs that float in the northern +parts of the ocean," explained Merla. +</P> + +<P> +"O' course, Trot. You orter thought o' that. I did," said Cap'n +Bill. +</P> + +<P> +The little girl was glad there was no more to eat, for she was +ashamed to feel she had eaten every morsel she could. Her only +excuse for being so greedy was that "ev'rything tasted just +splendid!" as she told the queen. +</P> + +<P> +"And now," said Aquareine, "I will send you out for a swim with +Merla, who will show you some of the curious sights of our sea. You +need not go far this afternoon, and when you return, we will have +another interesting talk together." So the blonde mermaid led Trot +and Cap'n Bill outside the palace walls, where they found themselves +in the pretty flower gardens. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd feel all right, mate, if I could have a smoke," remarked the +old sailor to the child, "but that's a thing as can't be did here in +the water." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" asked Merla, who overheard him. +</P> + +<P> +"A pipe has to be lighted, an' a match wouldn't burn," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Try it," suggested the mermaid. "I do not mind your smoking at all, +if it will give you pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a bad habit I've got, an' I'm too old to break myself of it," +said Cap'n Bill. Then he felt in the big pocket of his coat and took +out a pipe and a bag of tobacco. After he had carefully filled his +pipe, rejoicing in the fact that the tobacco was not at all wet, he +took out his matchbox and struck a light. The match burned brightly, +and soon the sailor was puffing the smoke from his pipe in great +contentment. The smoke ascended through the water in the shape of +bubbles, and Trot wondered what anyone who happened to be floating +upon the surface of the ocean would think to see smoke coming from +the water. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I find I can smoke, all right," remarked Cap'n Bill, "but it +bothers me to understand why." +</P> + +<P> +"It is because of the air space existing between the water and +everything you have about you," explained Merla. "But now, if you +will come this way, I will take you to visit some of our neighbors." +They passed over the carpet of sea flowers, the gorgeous blossoms +swaying on their stems as the motion of the people in the water +above them disturbed their repose, and presently the three entered +the dense shrubbery surrounding the palace. They had not proceeded +far when they came to a clearing among the bushes, and here Merla +paused. +</P> + +<P> +Trot and Cap'n Bill paused, too, for floating in the clear water was +a group of beautiful shapes that the child thought looked like molds +of wine jelly. They were round as a dinner plate, soft and +transparent, but tinted in such lovely hues that no artist's brush +has ever been able to imitate them. Some were deep sapphire blue; +others rose pink; still others a delicate topaz color. They seemed +to have neither heads, eyes nor ears, yet it was easy to see they +were alive and able to float in any direction they wished to go. In +shape they resembled inverted flowerpots, with the upper edges +fluted, and from the centers floated what seemed to be bouquets of +flowers. +</P> + +<P> +"How pretty!" exclaimed Trot, enraptured by the sight. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, this is a rare variety of jellyfish," replied Merla. "The +creatures are not so delicate as they appear, and live for a long +time—unless they get too near the surface and the waves wash them +ashore." +</P> + +<P> +After watching the jellyfish a few moments, they followed Merla +through the grove, and soon a low chant, like that of an Indian +song, fell upon their ears. It was a chorus of many small voices and +grew louder as they swam on. Presently a big rock rose suddenly +before them from the bottom of the sea, rearing its steep side far +up into the water overhead, and this rock was thickly covered with +tiny shells that clung fast to its surface. The chorus they heard +appeared to come from these shells, and Merla said to her +companions, "These are the singing barnacles. They are really very +amusing, and if you listen carefully, you can hear what they say." +</P> + +<P> +So Trot and Cap'n Bill listened, and this is what the barnacles +sang: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "We went to topsy-turvy land to see a man-o'-war,<BR> + And we were much attached to it, because we simply were;<BR> + We found an anchor-ite within the mud upon the lea<BR> + For the ghost of Jonah's whale he ran away and went to sea.<BR> + Oh, it was awful!<BR> + It was unlawful!<BR> + We rallied round the flag in sev'ral millions;<BR> + They couldn't shake us;<BR> + They had to take us;<BR> + So the halibut and cod they danced cotillions."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +"What does it all mean?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose they refer to the way barnacles have of clinging to +ships," replied Merla, "but usually the songs mean nothing at all. +The little barnacles haven't many brains, so we usually find their +songs quite stupid." +</P> + +<P> +"Do they write some comic operas?" asked the child. +</P> + +<P> +"I think not," answered the mermaid. +</P> + +<P> +"They seem to like the songs themselves," remarked Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes, they sing all day long. But it never matters to them +whether their songs mean anything or not. Let us go in this +direction and visit some other sea people." +</P> + +<P> +So they swam away from the barnacle-covered rock, and Trot heard the +last chorus as she slowly followed their conductor. The barnacles +were singing: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Oh, very well, then, I hear the curfew, +Please go away and come some other day; +Goliath tussels +With Samson's muscles, +Yet the muscles never fight in Oyster Bay." +</P> + +<P> +"It's jus' nonsense!" said Trot scornfully. "Why don't they sing +'Annie Laurie' or 'Home, Sweet Home' or else keep quiet?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, if they were quiet," replied Merla, "they wouldn't be singing +barnacles." +</P> + +<P> +They now came to one of the avenues which led from the sea garden +out into the broad ocean, and here two swordfishes were standing +guard. "Is all quiet?" Merla asked them. +</P> + +<P> +"Just as usual, your Highness," replied one of the guards. +"Mummercubble was sick this morning and grunted dreadfully, but he's +better now and has gone to sleep. King Anko has been stirring around +some, but is now taking his after-dinner nap. I think it will be +perfectly safe for you to swim out for a while, if you wish." +</P> + +<P> +"Who's Mummercubble?" asked Trot as they passed out into deep water. +</P> + +<P> +"He's the sea pig," replied Merla. "I am glad he's asleep, for now +we won't meet him." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you like him?" inquired Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he complains so bitterly of everything that he bores us," Merla +answered. "Mummercubble is never contented or happy for a single +minute." +</P> + +<P> +"I've seen people like that," said Cap'n Bill with a nod of his +head. "An' they has a way of upsettin' the happiest folks they +meet." +</P> + +<P> +"Look out!" suddenly cried the mermaid. "Look out for your fingers! +Here are the snapping eels." +</P> + +<P> +"Who? Where?" asked Trot anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +And now they were in the midst of a cluster of wriggling, darting +eels which sported all around them in the water with marvelous +activity. "Yes, look out for your fingers and your noses!" said one +of the eels, making a dash for Cap'n Bill. At first the sailor was +tempted to put out a hand and push the creature away, but +remembering that his fingers would thus be exposed, he remained +quiet, and the eel snapped harmlessly just before his face and then +darted away. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop it!" said Merla. "Stop it this minute, or I'll report your +impudence to Aquareine." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, who cares?" shouted the Eels. "We're not afraid of the +mermaids." +</P> + +<P> +"She'll stiffen you up again, as she did once before," said Merla, +"if you try to hurt the earth people." +</P> + +<P> +"Are these earth people?" asked one. And then they all stopped their +play and regarded Trot and Cap'n Bill with their little black eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"The old polliwog looks something like King Anko," said one of them. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not a polliwog!" answered Cap'n Bill angrily. "I'm a respec'ble +sailor man, an' I'll have you treat me decent or I'll know why." +</P> + +<P> +"Sailor!" said another. "That means to float on the water—not IN +it. What are you doing down here?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm jes' a-visitin'," answered Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"He is the guest of our queen," said Merla, "and so is this little +girl. If you do not behave nicely to them, you will surely be +sorry." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's all right," replied one of the biggest eels, wriggling +around in a circle and then snapping at a companion, which as +quickly snapped out of his way. "We know how to be polite to company +as well as the mermaids. We won't hurt them." +</P> + +<P> +"Come on, fellows, let's go scare old Mummercubble," cried another; +and then in a flash they all darted away and left our friends to +themselves. Trot was greatly relieved. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't like eels," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"They are more mischievous than harmful," replied Merla, "but I do +not care much for them myself." +</P> + +<P> +"No," added Cap'n Bill, "they ain't respec'ful." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 7 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ARISTOCRATIC CODFISH +</H3> + +<P> +The three swam slowly along, quite enjoying the cool depths of the +water. Every little while they met with some strange creature—or +one that seemed strange to the earth people—for although Trot and +Cap'n Bill had seen many kinds of fish, after they had been caught +and pulled from the water, that was very different from meeting them +in their own element, "face to face," as Trot expressed it. Now that +the various fishes were swimming around free and unafraid in their +deep-sea home, they were quite different from the gasping, excited +creatures struggling at the end of a fishline or flopping from a +net. +</P> + +<P> +Before long they came upon a group of large fishes lying lazily near +the bottom of the sea. They were a dark color upon their backs and +silver underneath, but not especially pretty to look at. The fishes +made no effort to get out of Merla's way and remained motionless +except for the gentle motion of their fins and gills. +</P> + +<P> +"Here," said the mermaid, pausing, "is the most aristocratic family +of fish in all the sea." +</P> + +<P> +"What are they?" asked the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Codfish," was the reply. "Their only fault is that they are too +haughty and foolishly proud of their pedigree." +</P> + +<P> +Overhearing this speech, one codfish said to another in a very +dignified tone of voice, "What insolence!" +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it?" replied the other. "There ought to be a law to prevent +these common mermaids from discussing their superiors." +</P> + +<P> +"My sakes!" said Trot, astonished. "How stuck up they are, aren't +they?" +</P> + +<P> +For a moment the group of fishes stared at her solemnly. Then one of +the remarked in a disdainful manner, "Come, my dear, let us leave +these vulgar creatures." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not as vulgar as you are!" exclaimed Trot, much offended by +this speech. "Where I come from, we only eat codfish when there's +nothing else in the house to eat." +</P> + +<P> +"How absurd!" observed one of the creatures arrogantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Eat codfish indeed!" said another in a lofty manner. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and you're pretty salty, too, I can tell you. At home you're +nothing but a pick-up!" said Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Dear me!" exclaimed the first fish who had spoken. "Must we stand +this insulting language—and from a person to whom we have never +been introduced?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't need no interduction," replied the girl. "I've eaten you, +and you always make me thirsty." +</P> + +<P> +Merla laughed merrily at this, and the codfish said, with much +dignity, "Come, fellow aristocrats, let us go." +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, we're going ourselves," announced Merla, and followed +by her guests the pretty mermaid swam away. +</P> + +<P> +"I've heard tell of codfish aristocracy," said Cap'n Bill, "but I +never knowed 'zac'ly what it meant afore." +</P> + +<P> +"They jus' made me mad with all their airs," observed Trot, "so I +gave 'em a piece of my mind." +</P> + +<P> +"You surely did, mate," said the sailor, "but I ain't sure they +understand what they're like when they're salted an' hung up in the +pantry. Folks gener'ly gets stuck-up 'cause they don't know +theirselves like other folks knows 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"We are near Crabville now," declared Merla. "Shall we visit the +crabs and see what they are doing?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, let's," replied Trot. "The crabs are lots of fun. I've often +caught them among the rocks on the shore and laughed at the way they +act. Wasn't it funny at dinnertime to see the way they slid around +with the plates?" +</P> + +<P> +"Those were not crabs, but lobsters and crawfish," remarked the +mermaid. "They are very intelligent creatures, and by making them +serve us we save ourselves much household work. Of course, they are +awkward and provoke us sometimes, but no servants are perfect, it is +said, so we get along with ours as well as we can." +</P> + +<P> +"They're all right," protested the child, "even if they did tip +things over once in a while. But it is easy to work in a sea palace, +I'm sure, because there's no dusting or sweeping to be done." +</P> + +<P> +"Or scrubbin'," added Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"The crabs," said Merla, "are second cousins to the lobsters, +although much smaller in size. There are many families or varieties +of crabs, and so many of them live in one place near here that we +call it Crabville. I think you will enjoy seeing these little +creatures in their native haunts." +</P> + +<P> +They now approached a kelp bed, the straight, thin stems of the kelp +running far upward to the surface of the water. Here and there upon +the stalks were leaves, but Trot thought the growing kelp looked +much like sticks of macaroni, except they were a rich red-brown +color. It was beyond the kelp—which they had to push aside as they +swam through, so thickly did it grow—that they came to a higher +level, a sort of plateau on the ocean's bottom. It was covered with +scattered rocks of all sizes, which appeared to have broken off from +big shelving rocks they observed nearby. The place they entered +seemed like one of the rocky canyons you often see upon the earth. +</P> + +<P> +"Here live the fiddler crabs," said Merla, "but we must have taken +them by surprise, it is so quiet." +</P> + +<P> +Even as she spoke, there was a stirring and scrambling among the +rocks, and soon scores of light-green crabs were gathered before the +visitors. The crabs bore fiddles of all sorts and shapes in their +claws, and one big fellow carried a leader's baton. The latter crab +climbed upon a flat rock and in an excited voice called out, "Ready, +now—ready, good fiddlers. We'll play Number 19, Hail to the +Mermaids. Ready! Take aim! Fire away!" +</P> + +<P> +At this command every crab began scraping at his fiddle as hard as +he could, and the sounds were so shrill and unmusical that Trot +wondered when they would begin to play a tune. But they never did; +it was one regular mix-up of sounds from beginning to end. When the +noise finally stopped, the leader turned to his visitors and, waving +his baton toward them, asked, "Well, what did you think of that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not much," said Trot honestly. "What's it all about?" +</P> + +<P> +"I composed it myself!" said the Fiddler Crab. "But it's highly +classical, I admit. All really great music is an acquired taste." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't like it," remarked Cap'n Bill. "It might do all right to +stir up a racket New Year's Eve, but to call that screechin' +music—" +</P> + +<P> +Just then the crabs started fiddling again, harder than ever, and as +it promised to be a long performance, they left the little creatures +scraping away at their fiddles as if for dear life and swam along +the rocky canyon until, on turning a corner, they came upon a new +and different scene. +</P> + +<P> +There were crabs here, too, many of them, and they were performing +the queerest antics imaginable. Some were building themselves into a +pyramid, each standing on edge, with the biggest and strongest ones +at the bottom. When the crabs were five or six rows high, they would +all tumble over, still clinging to one another and, having reached +the ground, they would separate and commence to build the pyramid +over again. Others were chasing one another around in a circle, +always moving backward or sidewise, and trying to play "leapfrog" as +they went. Still others were swinging on slight branches of seaweed +or turning cartwheels or indulging in similar antics. +</P> + +<P> +Merla and the earth people watched the busy little creatures for +some time before they were themselves observed, but finally Trot +gave a laugh when one crab fell on its back and began frantically +waving its legs to get right-side-up again. At the sound of her +laughter they all stopped their play and came toward the visitors in +a flock, looking up at them with their bright eyes in a most comical +way. +</P> + +<P> +"Welcome home!" cried one as he turned a back somersault and knocked +another crab over. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the difference between a mermaid and a tadpole?" asked +another in a loud voice, and without a pause continued, "Why, one +drops its tail and the other holds onto it. Ha, ha! Ho, ho! Hee, +hee!" +</P> + +<P> +"These," said Merla, "are the clown crabs. They are very silly +things, as you may already have discovered, but for a short time +they are rather amusing. One tires of them very soon." +</P> + +<P> +"They're funny," said Trot, laughing again. "It's almost as good as +a circus. I don't think they would make me tired, but then I'm not a +mermaid." +</P> + +<P> +The clown crabs had now formed a row in front of them. "Mr. +Johnsing," asked one, "why is a mermaid like an automobile?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know, Tommy Blimken," answered a big crab in the middle of +the row. "WHY do you think a mermaid is like an automobile?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because they both get tired," said Tommy Blimken. Then all the +crabs laughed, and Tommy seemed to laugh louder than the rest. +</P> + +<P> +"How do the crabs in the sea know anything 'bout automobiles?" asked +Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Tommy Blimken and Harry Hustle were both captured once by +humans and put in an aquarium," answered the mermaid. "But one day +they climbed out and escaped, finally making their way back to the +sea and home again. So they are quite traveled, you see, and great +favorites among the crabs. While they were on land they saw a great +many curious things, and so I suppose they saw automobiles." +</P> + +<P> +"We did, we did!" cried Harry Hustle, an awkward crab with one big +claw and one little one. "And we saw earth people with legs, awfully +funny they were; and animals called horses, with legs; and other +creatures with legs; and the people cover themselves with the +queerest things—they even wear feathers and flowers on their heads, +and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we know all about that," said Trot. "We live on the earth +ourselves." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you're lucky to get off from it and into the good water," +said the Crab. "I nearly died on the earth; it was so stupid, dry +and airy. But the circus was great. They held the performance right +in front of the aquarium where we lived, and Tommy and I learned all +the tricks of the tumblers. Hi! Come on, fellows, and show the earth +people what you can do!" +</P> + +<P> +At this the crabs began performing their antics again, but they did +the same things over and over, so Cap'n Bill and Trot soon tired, as +Merla said they would, and decided they had seen enough of the crab +circus. So they proceeded to swim farther up the rocky canyon, and +near its upper end they came to a lot of conch shells lying upon the +sandy bottom. A funny-looking crab was sticking his head out from +each of these shells. +</P> + +<P> +"These are the hermit crabs," said one of the mermaids. "They steal +these shells and live in them so no enemies can attack them." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't they get lonesome?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps so, my dear. But they do not seem to mind being lonesome. +They are great cowards, and think if they can but protect their +lives there is nothing else to care for. Unlike the jolly crabs we +have just left, the hermits are cross and unsociable." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, keep quiet and go away!" said one of the hermit crabs in a +grumpy voice. "No one wants mermaids around here." Then every crab +withdrew its head into its shell, and our friends saw them no more. +</P> + +<P> +"They're not very polite," observed Trot, following the mermaid as +Merla swam upward into the middle water. +</P> + +<P> +"I know now why cross people are called 'crabbed,'" said Cap'n Bill. +"They've got dispositions jes' like these 'ere hermit crabs." +</P> + +<P> +Presently they came upon a small flock of mackerel, and noticed that +the fishes seemed much excited. When they saw the mermaid, they +cried out, "Oh, Merla! What do you think? Our Flippity has just gone +to glory!" +</P> + +<P> +"When?" asked the mermaid. +</P> + +<P> +"Just now," one replied. "We were lying in the water, talking +quietly together when a spinning, shining thing came along and our +dear Flippity ate it. Then he went shooting up to the top of the +water and gave a flop and—went to glory! Isn't it splendid, Merla?" +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Flippity!" sighed the mermaid. "I'm sorry, for he was the +prettiest and nicest mackerel in your whole flock." +</P> + +<P> +"What does it mean?" asked Trot. "How did Flippity go to glory?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, he was caught by a hook and pulled out of the water into some +boat," Merla explained. "But these poor stupid creatures do not +understand that, and when one of them is jerked out of the water and +disappears, they have the idea he has gone to glory, which means to +them some unknown but beautiful sea." +</P> + +<P> +"I've often wondered," said Trot, "why fishes are foolish enough to +bite on hooks." +</P> + +<P> +"They must know enough to know they're hooks," added Cap'n Bill +musingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, they do," replied Merla. "I've seen fishes gather around a hook +and look at it carefully for a long time. They all know it is a hook +and that if they bite the bait upon it they will be pulled out of +the water. But they are curious to know what will happen to them +afterward, and think it means happiness instead of death. So finally +one takes the hook and disappears, and the others never know what +becomes of him." +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you tell 'em the truth?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we do. The mermaids have warned them many times, but it does no +good at all. The fish are stupid creatures." +</P> + +<P> +"But I wish I was Flippity," said one of the mackerel, staring at +Trot with his big, round eyes. "He went to glory before I could eat +the hook myself." +</P> + +<P> +"You're lucky," answered the child. "Flippity will be fried in a pan +for someone's dinner. You wouldn't like that, would you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Flippity has gone to glory!" said another, and then they swam away +in haste to tell the news to all they met. +</P> + +<P> +"I never heard of anything so foolish," remarked Trot as she swam +slowly on through the clear, blue water. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is very foolish and very sad," answered Merla. "But if the +fish were wise, men could not catch them for food, and many poor +people on your earth make their living by fishing." +</P> + +<P> +"It seems wicked to catch such pretty things," said the child. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not think so," Merla replied laughingly, "for they were born +to become food for someone, and men are not the only ones that eat +fishes. Many creatures of the sea feed upon them. They even eat one +another at times. And if none was ever destroyed, they would soon +become so numerous that they would clog the waters of the ocean and +leave no room for the rest of us. So after all, perhaps it is just +as well they are thoughtless and foolish." +</P> + +<P> +Presently they came to some round balls that looked much like +balloons in shape and were gaily colored. They floated quietly in +the water, and Trot inquired what they were. +</P> + +<P> +"Balloonfish," answered Merla. "They are helpless creatures, but +have little spikes all over them so their enemies dare not bite them +for fear of getting pricked." +</P> + +<P> +Trot found the balloonfish quite interesting. They had little dots +of eyes and dots for mouths, but she could see no noses, and their +fins and tails were very small. +</P> + +<P> +"They catch these fish in the South Sea Islands and make lanterns of +'em," said Cap'n Bill. "They first skin 'em and sew the skin up +again to let it dry, and then they put candles inside, and the light +shines through the dried skin." +</P> + +<P> +Many other curious sights they saw in the ocean that afternoon, and +both Cap'n Bill and Trot thoroughly enjoyed their glimpse of sea +life. At last Merla said it was time to return to the palace, from +which she claimed they had not at any time been very far distant. +"We must prepare for dinner, as it will soon begin to grow dark in +the water," continued their conductor. So they swam leisurely back +to the groves that surrounded the palaces, and as they entered the +gardens the sun sank, and deep shadows began to form in the ocean +depths. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 8 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BANQUET UNDER WATER +</H3> + +<P> +The palaces of the mermaids were all aglow with lights as they +approached them, and Trot was amazed at the sight. +</P> + +<P> +"Where do the lamps come from?" she asked their guide wonderingly. +</P> + +<P> +"They are not lamps, my dear," replied Merla, much amused at this +suggestion. "We use electric lights in our palaces and have done so +for thousands of years—long before the earth people knew of +electric lights." +</P> + +<P> +"But where do you get 'em?" inquired Cap'n Bill, who was as much +astonished as the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"From a transparent jellyfish which naturally emits a strong and +beautiful electric light," was the answer. "We have many hundreds of +them in our palaces, as you will presently see." +</P> + +<P> +Their way was now lighted by small, phosphorescent creatures +scattered about the sea gardens and which Merla informed them were +hyalaea, or sea glowworms. But their light was dim when compared to +that of the electric jellyfish, which they found placed in clusters +upon the ceilings of all the rooms of the palaces, rendering them +light as day. Trot watched these curious creatures with delight, for +delicately colored lights ran around their bodies in every direction +in a continuous stream, shedding splendid rays throughout the vast +halls. +</P> + +<P> +A group of mermaids met the visitors in the hall of the main palace +and told Merla the queen had instructed them to show the guests to +their rooms as soon as they arrived. So Trot followed two of them +through several passages, after which they swam upward and entered a +circular opening. There were no stairs here, because there was no +need of them, and the little girl soon found herself in an upper +room that was very beautiful indeed. +</P> + +<P> +All the walls were covered with iridescent shells, polished till +they resembled mother-of-pearl, and upon the glass ceiling were +clusters of the brilliant electric jellyfish, rendering the room +bright and cheerful with their radiance. In one corner stood a couch +of white coral, with gossamer draperies hanging around it from the +four high posts. Upon examining it, the child found the couch was +covered with soft, amber sponges, which rendered it very comfortable +to lie upon. In a wardrobe she found several beautiful gossamer +gowns richly embroidered in colored seaweeds, and these Mayre was +told she might wear while she remained the guest of the mermaids. +She also found a toilet table with brushes, combs and other +conveniences, all of which were made of polished tortoise-shell. +</P> + +<P> +Really, the room was more dainty and comfortable than one might +suppose possible in a palace far beneath the surface of the sea, and +Trot was greatly delighted with her new quarters. The mermaid +attendants assisted the child to dress herself in one of the +prettiest robes, which she found to be quite dry and fitted her +comfortably. Then the sea-maids brushed and dressed her hair, and +tied it with ribbons of cherry-red seaweed. Finally they placed +around her neck a string of pearls that would have been priceless +upon the earth, and now the little girl announced she was ready for +supper and had a good appetite. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill had been given a similar room near Trot, but the old +sailor refused to change his clothes for any others offered him, for +which reason he was ready for supper long before his comrade. "What +bothers me, mate," he said to the little girl as the y swam toward +the great banquet hall where Queen Aquareine awaited them, "is why +ain't we crushed by the pressin' of the water agin us, bein' as +we're down here in the deep sea." +</P> + +<P> +"How's that, Cap'n? Why should we be crushed?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, ev'r'body knows that the deeper you go in the sea, the more +the water presses agin you," he explained. "Even the divers in their +steel jackets can't stand it very deep down. An' here we be, miles +from the top o' the water, I s'pect, an' we don't feel crowded a +bit." +</P> + +<P> +"I know why," answered the child wisely. "The water don't touch us, +you see. If it did, it might crush us, but it don't. It's always +held a little way off from our bodies by the magic of the fairy +mermaids." +</P> + +<P> +"True enough, Trot," declared the sailor man. "What an idjut I was +not to think o' that myself!" +</P> + +<P> +In the royal banquet hall were assembled many of the mermaids, +headed by the lovely queen, and as soon as their earth guests +arrived, Aquareine ordered the meal to be served. The lobsters again +waited upon the table, wearing little white caps and aprons which +made them look very funny; but Trot was so hungry after her +afternoon's excursion that she did not pay as much attention to the +lobsters as she did to her supper, which was very delicious and +consisted of many courses. A lobster spilled some soup on Cap'n +Bill's bald head and made him yell for a minute, because it was hot +and he had not expected it, but the queen apologized very sweetly +for the awkwardness of her servants, and the sailor soon forgot all +about the incident in his enjoyment of the meal. +</P> + +<P> +After the feast ended, they all went to the big reception room, +where some of the mermaids played upon harps while others sang +pretty songs. They danced together, too—a graceful, swimming dance, +so queer to the little girl that it interested and amused her +greatly. Cap'n Bill seemed a bit bashful among so many beautiful +mermaids, yet he was pleased when the queen offered him a place +beside her throne, where he could see and hear all the delightful +entertainment provided for the royal guests. He did not talk much, +being a man of few words except when alone with Trot, but his +light-blue eyes were big and round with wonder at the sights he saw. +</P> + +<P> +Trot and the sailor man went to bed early and slept soundly upon +their sponge-covered couches. The little girl never wakened until +long after the sun was shining down through the glass roof of her +room, and when she opened her eyes she was startled to find a number +of big, small and middle-sized fishes staring at her through the +glass. "That's one bad thing 'bout this mermaid palace," she said to +herself. "It's too public. Ever'thing in the sea can look at you +through the glass as much as it likes. I wouldn't mind fishes +looking at me if they hadn't such big eyes, an'—goodness me! +There's a monster that's all head! And there goes a fish with a sail +on its back, an' here's old Mummercubble, I'm sure, for he's got a +head just like a pig." +</P> + +<P> +She might have watched the fishes on the roof for hours, had she not +remembered it was late and breakfast must be ready. So she dressed +and made her toilet, and swam down into the palace to find Cap'n +Bill and the mermaids politely waiting for her to join them. The sea +maidens were as fresh and lovely as ever, while each and all proved +sweet tempered and merry, even at the breakfast table—and that is +where people are cross, if they ever are. During the meal the queen +said, "I shall take you this morning to the most interesting part of +the ocean, where the largest and most remarkable sea creatures live. +And we must visit King Anko, too, for the sea serpent would feel +hurt and slighted if I did not bring my guests to call upon him." +</P> + +<P> +"That will be nice," said Trot eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +But Cap'n Bill asked, "Is there any danger, ma'am?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think not," replied Queen Aquareine. "I cannot say that you will +be exposed to any danger at all, so long as I'm with you. But we are +going into the neighborhood of such fierce and even terrible beings +which would attack you at once did they suspect you to be earth +people. So in order to guard your safety, I intend to draw the Magic +Circle around both of you before we start." +</P> + +<P> +"What is the Magic Circle?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"A fairy charm that prevents any enemy from touching you. No monster +of the sea, however powerful, will be able to reach your body while +you are protected by the Magic Circle," declared the Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, then I'll not be a bit afraid," returned the child with perfect +confidence. +</P> + +<P> +"Am I to have the Magic Circle drawn around me, too?" asked Cap'n +Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," answered Aquareine. "You will need no other protection +than that, yet both Princess Clia and I will both be with you. For +today I shall leave Merla to rule our palaces in my place until we +return." +</P> + +<P> +No sooner was breakfast finished than Trot was anxious to start. The +girl was also curious to discover what the powerful Magic Circle +might prove to be, but she was a little disappointed in the +ceremony. The queen merely grasped her fairy wand in her right hand +and swam around the child in a circle, from left to right. Then she +took her wand in her left hand and swam around Trot in another +circle, from right to left. "Now, my dear," said she, "you are safe +from any creature we are liable to meet." +</P> + +<P> +She performed the same ceremony for Cap'n Bill, who was doubtful +about the Magic Circle because he felt the same after it as he had +before. But he said nothing of his unbelief, and soon they left the +palace and started upon their journey. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 9 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BASHFUL OCTOPUS +</H3> + +<P> +It was a lovely day, and the sea was like azure under the rays of +the sun. +</P> + +<P> +Over the flower beds and through the gardens they swam, emerging +into the open sea in a direction opposite that taken by the visitors +the day before. The party consisted of but four: Queen Aquareine, +Princess Clia, Trot and Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"People who live upon the land know only those sea creatures which +they are able to catch in nets or upon hooks or those which become +disabled and are washed ashore," remarked the Queen as they swam +swiftly through the clear water. "And those who sail in ships see +only the creatures who chance to come to the surface. But in the +deep ocean caverns are queer beings that no mortal has ever heard of +or beheld, and some of these we are to visit. We shall also see some +sea shrubs and flowering weeds which are sure to delight you with +their beauty." +</P> + +<P> +The sights really began before they had gone very far from the +palace, and a school of butterfly fish, having gorgeous colors +spattered over their broad wings, was first to delight the +strangers. They swam just as butterflies fly, with a darting, jerky +motion, and called a merry "Good morning!" to the mermaids as they +passed. +</P> + +<P> +"These butterfly fish are remarkably active," said the Princess, +"and their quick motions protect them from their enemies. We like to +meet them; they are always so gay and good-natured." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, so am I!" cried a sharp voice just beside them, and they all +paused to discover what creature had spoken to them. +</P> + +<P> +"Take care," said Clia in a low voice. "It's an octopus." +</P> + +<P> +Trot looked eagerly around. A long, brown arm stretched across their +way in front and another just behind them, but that did not worry +her. The octopus himself came slowly sliding up to them and proved +to be well worth looking at. He wore a red coat with brass buttons, +and a silk hat was tipped over one ear. His eyes were somewhat dull +and watery, and he had a moustache of long, hair-like "feelers" that +curled stiffly at the ends. When he tried to smile at them, he +showed two rows of sharp, white teeth. In spite of his red coat and +yellow-embroidered vest, his standing collar and carefully tied +cravat, the legs of the octopus were bare, and Trot noticed he used +some of his legs for arms, as in one of them was held a slender cane +and in another a handkerchief. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well!" said the Octopus. "Are you all dumb? Or don't you know +enough to be civil when you meet a neighbor?" +</P> + +<P> +"We know how to be civil to our friends," replied Trot, who did not +like the way he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, are we not friends, then?" asked the Octopus in an airy tone +of voice. +</P> + +<P> +"I think not," said the little girl. "Octopuses are horrid +creatures." +</P> + +<P> +"OctoPI, if you please; octoPI," said the monster with a laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see any pie that pleases me," replied Trot, beginning to +get angry. +</P> + +<P> +"OctoPUS means one of us; two or more are called octoPI," remarked +the creature, as if correcting her speech. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose a lot of you would be a whole bakery!" she said +scornfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Our name is Latin. It was given to us by learned scientists years +ago," said the Octopus. +</P> + +<P> +"That's true enough," agreed Cap'n Bill. "The learned scientists +named ev'ry blamed thing they come across, an' gener'ly they picked +out names as nobody could understand or pernounce." +</P> + +<P> +"That isn't our fault, sir," said the Octopus. "Indeed, it's pretty +hard for us to go through life with such terrible names. Think of +the poor little seahorse. He used to be a merry and cheerful fellow, +but since they named him 'hippocampus' he hasn't smiled once." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go," said Trot. "I don't like to 'sociate with octopuses." +</P> + +<P> +"OctoPI," said the creature, again correcting her. +</P> + +<P> +"You're jus' as horrid whether you're puses or pies," she declared. +</P> + +<P> +"Horrid!" cried the monster in a shocked tone of voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Not only horrid, but horrible!" persisted the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"May I ask in what way?" he inquired, and it was easy to see he was +offended. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, ev'rybody knows that octopuses are jus' wicked an' deceitful," +she said. "Up on the earth, where I live, we call the Stannerd Oil +Company an octopus, an' the Coal Trust an octopus, an'—" +</P> + +<P> +"Stop, stop!" cried the monster in a pleading voice. "Do you mean to +tell me that the earth people whom I have always respected compare +me to the Stannerd Oil Company?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Trot positively. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, what a disgrace! What a cruel, direful, dreadful disgrace!" +moaned the Octopus, drooping his head in shame, and Trot could see +great tears falling down his cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +"This comes of having a bad name," said the Queen gently, for she +was moved by the monster's grief. +</P> + +<P> +"It is unjust! It is cruel and unjust!" sobbed the creature +mournfully. "Just because we have several long arms and take +whatever we can reach, they accuse us of being like—like—oh, I +cannot say it! It is too shameful, too humiliating." +</P> + +<P> +"Come, let's go," said Trot again. So they left the poor octopus +weeping and wiping his watery eyes with his handkerchief and swam on +their way. "I'm not a bit sorry for him," remarked the child, "for +his legs remind me of serpents." +</P> + +<P> +"So they do me," agreed Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"But the octopi are not very bad," said the Princess, "and we get +along with them much better than we do with their cousins, the sea +devils." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh. Are the sea devils their cousins?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and they are the only creatures of the ocean which we greatly +fear," replied Aquareine. "I hope we shall meet none today, for we +are going near to the dismal caverns where they live." +</P> + +<P> +"What are the sea devils like, ma'am?" inquired Cap'n Bill a little +uneasily. +</P> + +<P> +"Something like the octopus you just saw, only much larger and of a +bright scarlet color, striped with black," answered the Queen. "They +are very fierce and terrible creatures and nearly as much dreaded by +the inhabitants of the ocean as is Zog, and nearly as powerful as +King Anko himself." +</P> + +<P> +"Zog! Who is Zog?" questioned the girl. "I haven't heard of him +before now." +</P> + +<P> +"We do not like to mention Zog's name," responded the Queen in a low +voice. "He is the wicked genius of the sea, and a magician of great +power." +</P> + +<P> +"What's he like?" asked Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"He is a dreadful creature, part fish, part man, part beast and part +serpent. Centuries ago they cast him off the earth into the sea, +where he has caused much trouble. Once he waged a terrible war +against King Anko, but the sea serpent finally conquered Zog and +drove the magician into his castle, where he now stays shut up. For +if ever Anko catches the monster outside of his enchanted castle, he +will kill him, and Zog knows that very well." +</P> + +<P> +"Seems like you have your troubles down here just as we do on top +the ground," remarked Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"But I'm glad old Zog is shut up in his castle," added Trot. "Is it +a sea castle like your own palace?" +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot say, my dear, for the enchantment makes it invisible to +all eyes but those of its inhabitants," replied Aquareine. "No one +sees Zog now, and we scarcely ever hear of him, but all the sea +people know he is here someplace and fear his power. Even in the old +days, before Anko conquered him, Zog was the enemy of the mermaids, +as he was of all the good and respectable seafolk. But do not worry +about the magician, I beg of you, for he has not dared to do an evil +deed in many, many years." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm not afraid," asserted Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad of that," said the Queen. "Keep together, friends, and be +careful not to separate, for here comes an army of sawfishes." +</P> + +<P> +Even as Aquareine spoke, they saw a swirl and commotion in the water +ahead of them, while a sound like a muffled roar fell upon their +ears. Then swiftly there dashed upon them a group of great fishes +with long saws sticking out in front of their noses, armed with +sharp, hooked teeth, all set in a row. They were larger than the +swordfishes and seemed more fierce and bold. But the mermaids and +Trot and Cap'n Bill quietly awaited their attack, and instead of +tearing them with their saws as they expected to do, the fishes were +unable to touch them at all. They tried every possible way to get at +their proposed victims, but the Magic Circle was all powerful and +turned aside the ugly saws; so our friends were not disturbed at +all. Seeing this, the sawfishes soon abandoned the attempt and with +growls and roars of disappointment swam away and were quickly out of +sight. +</P> + +<P> +Trot had been a wee bit frightened during the attack, but now she +laughed gleefully and told the queen that it seemed very nice to be +protected by fairy powers. The water grew a darker blue as they +descended into its depths, farther and farther away from the rays of +the sun. Trot was surprised to find she could see so plainly through +the high wall of water above her, but the sun was able to shoot its +beams straight down through the transparent sea, and they seemed to +penetrate to every nook and crevice of the rocky bottom. +</P> + +<P> +In this deeper part of the ocean some of the fishes had a +phosphorescent light of their own, and these could be seen far ahead +as if they were lanterns. The explorers met a school of argonauts +going up to the surface for a sail, and the child watched these +strange creatures with much curiosity. The argonauts live in shells +in which they are able to hide in case of danger from prowling wolf +fishes, but otherwise they crawl out and carry their shells like +humps upon their backs. Then they spread their skinny sails above +them and sail away under water till they come to the surface, where +they float and let the currents of air carry them along the same as +the currents of water had done before. Trot thought the argonauts +comical little creatures, with their big eyes and sharp noses, and +to her they looked like a fleet of tiny ships. +</P> + +<P> +It is said that men got their first idea of boats and of how to sail +them from watching these little argonauts. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 10 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE UNDISCOVERED ISLAND +</H3> + +<P> +In following the fleet of argonauts, the four explorers had risen +higher in the water and soon found they had wandered to an open +space that seemed to Trot like the flat top of a high hill. The +sands were covered with a growth of weeds so gorgeously colored that +one who had never peered beneath the surface of the sea would +scarcely believe they were not the product of a dye shop. Every +known hue seemed represented in the delicate, fern-like leaves that +swayed softly to and fro as the current moved them. They were not +set close together, these branches of magnificent hues, but were +scattered sparsely over the sandy bottom of the sea so that while +from a distance they seemed thick, a nearer view found them spread +out with ample spaces of sand between them. +</P> + +<P> +In these sandy spaces lay the real attractiveness of the place, for +here were many of those wonders of the deep that have surprised and +interested people in all ages. +</P> + +<P> +First were the starfishes—hundreds of them, it seemed—lying +sleepily on the bottom, with their five or six points extended +outward. They were of various colors, some rich and brilliant, +others of dark brown hues. A few had wound their arms around the +weeds or were creeping slowly from one place to another, in the +latter case turning their points downward and using them as legs. +But most of them were lying motionless, and as Trot looked down upon +them she thought they resembled stars in the sky on a bright night, +except that the blue of the heavens was here replaced by the white +sand, and the twinkling diamond stars by the colored starfish. +</P> + +<P> +"We are near an island," said the Queen, "and that is why so many +starfishes are here, as they love to keep close to shore. Also the +little seahorses love these weeds, and to me they are more +interesting than the starfish." +</P> + +<P> +Trot now noticed the seahorses for the first time. They were quite +small—merely two or three inches high—but had funny little heads +that were shaped much like the head of a horse, and bright, +intelligent eyes. They had no legs, though, for their bodies ended +in tails which they twined around the stems of seaweeds to support +themselves and keep the currents from carrying them away. +</P> + +<P> +Trot bent down close to examine one of the queer little creatures +and exclaimed, "Why, the seahorses haven't any fins or anything to +swim with." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes we have," replied the Sea Horse in a tiny but distinct +voice. "These things on the side of my head are fins." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought they were ears," said the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"So they are. Fins and ears at the same time," answered the little +sea animal. "Also, there are small fins on our backs. Of course, we +can't swim as the mermaids do, or even as swiftly as fishes; but we +manage to get around, thank you." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't the fishes catch and eat you?" inquired Trot curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Sometimes," admitted the Sea Horse, "and there are many other +living things that have a way of destroying us. But here I am, as +you see, over six weeks old, and during that time I have escaped +every danger. That isn't so bad, is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Phoo!" said a Starfish lying near. "I'm over three months old. +You're a mere baby, Sea Horse." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not!" cried the Sea Horse excitedly. "I'm full-grown and may +live to be as old as you are!" +</P> + +<P> +"Not if I keep on living," said the Starfish calmly, and Trot knew +he was correct in his statement. +</P> + +<P> +The little girl now noticed several sea spiders creeping around and +drew back because she did not think them very pretty. They were +shaped not unlike the starfishes, but had slender legs and big heads +with wicked-looking eyes sticking out of them. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I don't like those things!" said Trot, coming closer to her +companions. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't, eh?" said a big Sea Spider in a cross voice. "Why do you +come around here, then, scaring away my dinner when you're not +wanted?" +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't YOUR ocean," replied Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"No, and it isn't yours," snapped the Spider. "But as it's big +enough for us both, I'd like you to go away." +</P> + +<P> +"So we will," said Aquareine gently, and at once she moved toward +the surface of the water. Trot and Cap'n Bill followed, with Clia, +and the child asked, "What island are we near?" +</P> + +<P> +"It has no name," answered the Queen, "for it is not inhabited by +man, nor has it ever yet been discovered by them. Perhaps you will +be the first humans to see this island. But it is a barren, rocky +place, and only fit for seals and turtles." +</P> + +<P> +"Are any of them there now?" Cap'n Bill inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"I think so. We will see." +</P> + +<P> +Trot was astonished to find how near they were to the "top" of the +ocean, for they had not ascended through the water very long when +suddenly her head popped into the air, and she gave a gasp of +surprise to find herself looking at the clear sky for the first time +since she had started upon this adventure by rowing into Giant's +Cave. +</P> + +<P> +She floated comfortably in the water, with her head and face just +out of it, and began to look around her. Cap'n Bill was at her side, +and so were the two mermaids. The day was fair, and the surface of +the sea, which stretched far away as the eye could reach, rippled +under a gentle breeze. They had risen almost at the edge of a small, +rocky islet, high in the middle, but gradually slanting down to the +water. No trees or bushes or grass grew anywhere about; only rocks, +gray and bleak, were to be seen. +</P> + +<P> +Trot scarcely noticed this at first, however, for the island seemed +covered with groups of forms, some still and some moving, which the +old sailor promptly recognized as seals. Many were lying asleep or +sunning themselves; others crept awkwardly around, using their +strong fins as legs or "paddles" and caring little if they disturbed +the slumbers of the others. Once in a while one of those crowded out +of place would give a loud and angry bark, which awakened others and +set them to barking likewise. +</P> + +<P> +Baby seals were there in great numbers, and were more active and +playful than their elders. It was really wonderful how they could +scramble around on the land, and Trot laughed more than once at +their antics. +</P> + +<P> +At the edge of the water lay many huge turtles, some as big around +as a wagon wheel and others much smaller in size. +</P> + +<P> +"The big ones are very old," said the Queen, seeing Trot's eyes +fixed on the turtles. +</P> + +<P> +"How old?" asked the child. +</P> + +<P> +"Hundreds of years, I think. They live to a great age, for nothing +can harm them when they withdraw their legs and heads into their +thick shells. We use some of the turtles for food, but prefer the +younger ones. Men also fish for turtles and eat them, but of course +no men ever come to this out-of-the-way place in the ocean, so the +inhabitants of this little island know they are perfectly safe." +</P> + +<P> +In the center of the island rose high cliffs on top of which were to +be seen great flocks of seagulls, some whirling in the air, while +others were perched upon the points of rock. +</P> + +<P> +"What do the birds find to eat?" asked Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"They often feed upon seals which die of accident or old age, and +they are expert fishermen," explained Queen Aquareine. "Curiously +enough, the seals also feed upon these birds, which they are often +able to catch in their strong jaws when the gulls venture too near. +And then, the seals frequently rob the nests of eggs, of which they +are very fond." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like a few gulls' eggs now," remarked a big seal that lay near +them upon the shore. Trot had thought him sound asleep, but now he +opened his eyes to blink lazily at the group in the water. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning," said the Queen. "Aren't you Chief Muffruff?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am," answered the old seal. "And you are Aquareine, the mermaid +queen. You see, I remember you, although you haven't been here for +years. And isn't that Princess Clia? To be sure! But the other +mermaids are strangers to me, especially the bald-headed one." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not a mermaid," asserted Cap'n Bill. "I'm a sailor jes' +a-visitin' the mermaids." +</P> + +<P> +"Our friends are earth dwellers," explained the Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"That's odd," said Muffruff. "I can't remember that any earth +dwellers ever came this way before. I never travel far, you see, for +I'm chief of this disorderly family of seals that live on this +island—on it and off it, that is." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a poor chief," said a big turtle lying beside the seal. "If +your people are disorderly, it is your own fault." +</P> + +<P> +Muffruff gave a chuckling laugh. Then, with a movement quick as +lightning, he pushed his head under the shell of the turtle and gave +it a sudden jerk. The huge turtle was tossed up on edge and then +turned flat upon its back, where its short legs struggled vainly to +right its overturned body. +</P> + +<P> +"There!" snorted the Seal contemptuously. "Perhaps you'll dare +insult me again in the presence of visitors, you old mud-wallower!" +</P> + +<P> +Seeing the plight of the turtle, several young seals came laughingly +wabbling to the spot, and as they approached the helpless creature +drew in his legs and head and closed his two shells tightly +together. The seals bumped against the turtle and gave it a push +that sent it sliding down the beach like a toboggan, and a minute +later it splashed into the water and sank out of sight. But that was +just what the creature wanted. On shore the upset turtle was quite +helpless; but the mischievous seals saved him. For as soon as he +touched the water, he was able to turn and right himself, which he +promptly did. Then he raised his head above the water and asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Is it peace or war, Muffruff?" +</P> + +<P> +"Whichever you like," answered the Seal indifferently. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps the turtle was angry, for it ran on shore with remarkable +swiftness, uttering a shrill cry as it advanced. At once all the +other turtles awoke to life and with upraised heads joined their +comrade in the rush for the seals. Most of Chief Muffruff's band +scrambled hastily down the rocks and plunged into the water of the +sea without waiting for the turtles to reach them; but the chief +himself was slow in escaping. It may be that he was ashamed to run +while the mermaids were watching, but if this was so he made a great +mistake. The turtles snapped at his fins and tail and began biting +round chunks out of them so that Chief Muffruff screamed with pain +and anger and floundered into the water as fast as he could go. The +vengeful turtles were certainly the victors, and now held undisputed +possession of the island. +</P> + +<P> +Trot laughed joyously at the incident, not feeling a bit sorry for +the old seal who had foolishly begun the battle. Even the gentle +queen smiled as she said: +</P> + +<P> +"These quarrels between the turtles and the seals are very frequent, +but they are soon ended. An hour from now they will all be lying +asleep together just as we found them; but we will not wait for +that. Let us go." +</P> + +<P> +She sank slowly beneath the water again, and the others followed +after her. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 11 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ZOG THE TERRIBLE AND HIS SEA DEVILS +</H3> + +<P> +"The sun must be going under a cloud," said Trot, looking ahead. +</P> + +<P> +They had descended far into the ocean depths again—further, the +girl thought, than they had ever been before. +</P> + +<P> +"No," the Queen answered after a glance ahead of them, "that is a +cuttlefish, and he is dyeing the sea around him with ink so that he +can hide from us. Let us turn a little to the left, for we could see +nothing at all in that inky water." +</P> + +<P> +Following her advice, they made a broad curve to the left, and at +once the water began to darken in that direction. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, there's another of 'em," said Cap'n Bill as the little party +came to a sudden halt. +</P> + +<P> +"So there is," returned the Queen, and Trot thought there was a +little quiver of anxiety in her voice. "We must go far to the right +to escape the ink." +</P> + +<P> +So they again started, this time almost at a right angle to their +former course, the little girl inquired: +</P> + +<P> +"How can the cuttlefish color the water so very black?" +</P> + +<P> +"They carry big sacks in front of them where they conceal the ink," +Princess Clia answered. "Whenever they choose, the cuttlefish are +able to press out this ink, and it colors the water for a great +space around them." +</P> + +<P> +The direction in which they were now swimming was taking them far +out of their way. Aquareine did not wish to travel very far to the +right, so when she thought they had gone far enough to escape the +inky water, she turned to lead her party toward the left—the +direction in which she DID wish to go. At once another cloud of ink +stained the water and drove them to the right again. +</P> + +<P> +"Is anything wrong, ma'am?" asked Cap'n Bill, seeing a frown gather +upon the queen's lovely face. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope not," she said. "But I must warn you that these cuttlefish +are the servants of the terrible sea devils, and from the way they +are acting they seem determined to drive us toward the Devil Caves, +which I wished to avoid." +</P> + +<P> +This admission on the part of their powerful protector, the fairy +mermaid, sent a chill to the hearts of the earth people. Neither +spoke for a time, but finally Cap'n Bill asked in a timid voice: +</P> + +<P> +"Hadn't we better go back, ma'am?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," decided Aquareine after a moment's thought. "I think it will +be wise to retreat. The sea devils are evidently aware of our +movements and wish to annoy us. For my part, I have no fear of them, +but I do not care to have you meet such creatures." +</P> + +<P> +But when they turned around to abandon their journey, another inky +cloud was to be seen behind them. They really had no choice but to +swim in the only streak of clear water they could find, and the +mermaids well knew this would lead them nearer and nearer to the +caves of their enemies. +</P> + +<P> +But Aquareine led the way, moving very slowly, and the others +followed her. In every other direction they were hemmed in by the +black waters, and they did not dare to halt, because the inky fluid +crept swiftly up behind them and drove them on. +</P> + +<P> +The queen and the princess had now become silent and grave. They +swam on either side of their guests as if to better protect them. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't look up," whispered Clia, pressing close to the little girl's +side. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" asked Trot, and then she did exactly what she had been +told not to do. She lifted her head and saw stretched over them a +network of scrawny, crimson arms interlaced like the branches of +trees in winter when the leaves have fallen and left them bare. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill gave a start and muttered "Land sakes!" for he, too, had +gazed upward and seen the crimson network of limbs. +</P> + +<P> +"Are these the sea devils?" asked the child, more curious than +frightened. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, dear," replied the Queen. "But I advise you to pay no +attention to them. Remember, they cannot touch us." +</P> + +<P> +In order to avoid the threatening arms overhead, which followed them +as they swam, our friends kept near to the bottom of the sea, which +was here thickly covered with rough and jagged rocks. The inky water +had now been left far behind, but when Trot looked over her +shoulder, she shuddered to find a great crimson monster following +closely after them, with a dozen long, snaky feelers stretched out +as if to grab anyone that lagged behind. And there, at the side of +Princess Clia, was another devil, leering silently with his cruel, +bulging eyes at the pretty mermaid. Beside the queen swam still +another of their enemies. Indeed, the sea devils had crept upon them +and surrounded them everywhere except at the front, and Trot began +to feel nervous and worried for the first time. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill kept mumbling queer words under his breath, for he had a +way of talking to himself when anything "upsot him," as he would +quaintly remark. Trot always knew he was disturbed or in trouble +when he began to "growl." +</P> + +<P> +The only way now open was straight ahead. They swam slowly, yet fast +enough to keep a safe distance from the dreadful creature behind +them. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid they are driving us into a trap," whispered the Queen +softly. "But whatever happens, do not lose courage, earth friends. +Clia and I are here to protect you, and our fairy powers are +sufficient to keep you from all harm." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I don't mind so very much," declared Trot calmly. "It's like +the fairy adventures in storybooks, and I've often thought I'd like +that kind of adventures, 'cause the story always turns out the right +way." +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill growled something just then, but the only words Trot +could make out were, "never lived to tell the tale." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, pshaw, Cap'n," she said. "We may be in danger, right enough, +an' to be honest, I don't like the looks of these sea devils at all. +But I'm sure it's no KILLING matter, for we've got the fairy circles +all around us." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha ha!" laughed the monster beside her. "WE know all about the +fairy circles, don't we, Migg?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ho ho!" laughed the monster on the other side. "We do, Slibb, my +boy, and we don't think much of fairy circles, either!" +</P> + +<P> +"They have foiled our enemies many a time," declared the Princess +with much dignity. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha ha!" laughed one. "That's why we're here now." +</P> + +<P> +"Ho ho!" laughed the other. "We've learned a trick or two, and we've +got you fast this time." +</P> + +<P> +Then all the sea devils—those above and the one behind, and the two +on the sides—laughed all together, and their laughter was so +horrible that it made even Trot shudder. +</P> + +<P> +But now the queen stopped short, and the others stopped with her. +</P> + +<P> +"I will go no farther," she said firmly, not caring if the monsters +overheard her. "It is evident that these monsters are trying to +drive us into some secret place, and it is well known that they are +in league with Zog the Terrible, whom they serve because they are as +wicked as he is. We must be somewhere near the hidden castle of Zog, +so I prefer to stay here rather than be driven into some place far +more dangerous. As for the sea devils, they are powerless to injure +us in any way. Not one of those thousand arms about us can possibly +touch our bodies." +</P> + +<P> +The only reply to this defiant speech was another burst of horrible +laughter; and now there suddenly appeared before them still another +of the monsters, which thus completely hemmed them in. Then the +creatures began interlacing their long arms—or "feelers"—until +they formed a perfect cage around the prisoners, not an opening +being left that was large enough for one of them to escape through. +</P> + +<P> +The mermaids and the girl and sailor man kept huddled close +together, for although they might be walled in by the sea devils, +their captors could not touch them because of the protecting magic +circles. +</P> + +<P> +All at once Trot exclaimed, "Why, we must be moving!" +</P> + +<P> +This was startling news, but by watching the flow of water past them +they saw that the little girl was right. The sea devils were +swimming, all together, and as the cage they were in moved forward, +our friends were carried with it. +</P> + +<P> +Queen Aquareine had a stern look upon her beautiful face. Cap'n Bill +guessed from this look that the mermaid was angry, for it seemed +much like the look Trot's mother wore when they came home late to +dinner. But however angry the queen might be, she was unable to help +herself or her guests just now or to escape from the guidance of the +dreaded sea devils. The rest of the party had become sober and +thoughtful, and in dignified silence they awaited the outcome of +this strange adventure. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 12 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ENCHANTED ISLAND +</H3> + +<P> +All at once it grew dark around them. Neither Cap'n Bill nor Trot +liked this gloom, for it made them nervous not to be able to see +their enemies. +</P> + +<P> +"We must be near a sea cavern, if not within one," whispered +Princess Clia, and even as she spoke the network of scarlet arms +parted before them, leaving an avenue for them to swim out of the +cage. There was brighter water ahead, too, so the queen said without +hesitation: +</P> + +<P> +"Come along, dear friends; but let us clasp hands and keep close +together." +</P> + +<P> +They obeyed her commands and swam swiftly out of their prison and +into the clear water before them, glad to put a distance between +themselves and the loathesome sea devils. The monsters made no +attempt to follow them, but they burst into a chorus of harsh +laughter which warned our friends that they had not yet accomplished +their escape. +</P> + +<P> +The four now found themselves in a broad, rocky passage, which was +dimly lighted from some unknown source. The walls overhead, below +them and at the sides all glistened as if made of silver, and in +places were set small statues of birds, beasts and fishes, occupying +niches in the walls and seemingly made from the same glistening +material. +</P> + +<P> +The queen swam more slowly now that the sea devils had been left +behind, and she looked exceedingly grave and thoughtful. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you ever been here before?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"No, dear," said the Queen with a sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"And do you know where we are?" continued the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"I can guess," replied Aquareine. "There is only one place in all +the sea where such a passage as that we are in could exist without +my knowledge, and that is in the hidden dominions of Zog. If we are +indeed in the power of that fearful magician, we must summon all our +courage to resist him, or we are lost!" +</P> + +<P> +"Is Zog more powerful than the mermaids?" asked Trot anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know, for we have never before met to measure our +strength," answered Aquareine. "But if King Anko could defeat the +magician, as he surely did, then I think I shall be able to do so." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I was sure of it," muttered Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +Absolute silence reigned in the silver passage. No fish were there; +not even a sea flower grew to relieve the stern grandeur of this +vast corridor. Trot began to be impressed with the fact that she was +a good way from her home and mother, and she wondered if she would +ever get back again to the white cottage on the cliff. Here she was, +at the bottom of the great ocean, swimming through a big tunnel that +had an enchanted castle at the end, and a group of horrible sea +devils at the other! In spite of this thought, she was not very much +afraid. Although two fairy mermaids were her companions, she relied, +strange to say, more upon her tried and true friend, Cap'n Bill, +than upon her newer acquaintances to see her safely out of her +present trouble. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill himself did not feel very confident. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care two cents what becomes o' me," he told Princess Clia +in a low voice, "but I'm drea'ful worried over our Trot. She's too +sweet an' young to be made an end of in this 'ere fashion." +</P> + +<P> +Clia smiled at this speech. "I'm sure you will find the little +girl's end a good way off," she replied. "Trust to our powerful +queen, and be sure she will find some means for us all to escape +uninjured." +</P> + +<P> +The light grew brighter as they advanced, until finally they +perceived a magnificent archway just ahead of them. Aquareine +hesitated a moment whether to go on or turn back, but there was no +escaping the sea devils behind them, and she decided the best way +out of their difficulties was to bravely face the unknown Zog and +rely upon her fairy powers to prevent his doing any mischief to +herself or her friends. So she led the way, and together they +approached the archway and passed through it. +</P> + +<P> +They now found themselves in a vast cavern, so great in extent that +the dome overhead looked like the sky when seen from earth. In the +center of this immense sea cavern rose the towers of a splendid +castle, all built of coral inlaid with silver and having windows of +clear glass. +</P> + +<P> +Surrounding the castle were beds of beautiful sea flowers, many +being in full bloom, and these were laid out with great care in +artistic designs. Goldfish and silverfish darted here and there +among the foliage, and the whole scene was so pretty and peaceful +that Trot began to doubt there was any danger lurking in such a +lovely place. +</P> + +<P> +As they approached to look around them, a brilliantly colored +gregfish approached and gazed at them curiously with his big, +saucer-like eyes. "So Zog has got you at last!" he said in a pitying +tone. "How foolish you were to swim into that part of the sea where +he is powerful." +</P> + +<P> +"The sea devils made us," explained Clia. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm sorry for you, I'm sure," remarked the Greg, and with a +flash of his tail, he disappeared among the sea foliage. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us go to the castle," said the Queen in a determined voice. "We +may as well boldly defy our fate as to wait until Zog seeks us out." +</P> + +<P> +So they swam to the entrance of the castle. The doors stood wide +open, and the interior seemed as well lighted as the cavern itself, +although none of them could discover from whence the light came. +</P> + +<P> +At each side of the entrance lay a fish such as they had never seen +before. It was flat as a doormat and seemed to cling fast to the +coral floor. Upon its back were quills like those of a porcupine, +all pointed and sharp. From the center of the fish arose a head +shaped like a round ball, with a circle of piercing, bead-like eyes +set in it. These strange guardians of the entrance might be able to +tell what their numerous eyes saw, yet they remained silent and +watchful. Even Aquareine gazed upon them curiously, and she gave a +little shudder as she did so. +</P> + +<P> +Inside the entrance was a domed hall with a flight of stairs leading +to an upper balcony. Around the hall were several doorways hung with +curtains made of woven seaweeds. Chairs and benches stood against +the wall, and these astonished the visitors because neither stairs +nor chairs seemed useful in a kingdom where every living thing was +supposed to swim and have a fish's tail. In Queen Aquareine's +palaces benches for reclining were used, and stairs were wholly +unnecessary, but in the Palace of Zog the furniture and fittings +were much like those of a house upon earth, and except that every +space here was filled with water instead of air, Trot and Cap'n Bill +might have imagined themselves in a handsome earthly castle. +</P> + +<P> +The little group paused half fearfully in the hall, yet so far there +was surely nothing to be afraid of. They were wondering what to do +next when the curtains of an archway were pushed aside and a boy +entered. To Trot's astonishment, he had legs and walked upon them +naturally and with perfect ease. He was a delicate, frail-looking +little fellow, dressed in a black velvet suit with knee breeches. +The bows at his throat and knees were of colored seaweeds, woven +into broad ribbons. His hair was yellow and banged across his +forehead. His eyes were large and dark, with a pleasant, merry +sparkle in them. Around his neck he wore a high ruff, but in spite +of this Trot could see that below his plump cheeks were several +scarlet-edged slits that looked like the gills of fishes, for they +gently opened and closed as the boy breathed in the water by which +he was surrounded. These gills did not greatly mar the lad's +delicate beauty, and he spread out his arms and bowed low and +gracefully in greeting. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello," said Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I'd like to," replied the boy with a laugh, "but being a mere +slave, it isn't proper for me to hello. But it's good to see earth +people again, and I'm glad you're here." +</P> + +<P> +"We're not glad," observed the girl. "We're afraid." +</P> + +<P> +"You'll get over that," declared the boy smilingly. "People lose a +lot of time being afraid. Once I was myself afraid, but I found it +was no fun, so I gave it up." +</P> + +<P> +"Why were we brought here?" inquired Queen Aquareine gently. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't say, madam, being a mere slave," replied the boy. "But you +have reminded me of my errand. I am sent to inform you all that Zog +the Forsaken, who hates all the world and is hated by all the world, +commands your presence in his den." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you hate Zog, too?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh no," answered the boy. "People lose a lot of time in hating +others, and there's no fun in it at all. Zog may be hateful, but I'm +not going to waste time hating him. You may do so, if you like." +</P> + +<P> +"You are a queer child," remarked the Mermaid Queen, looking at him +attentively. "Will you tell us who you are?" +</P> + +<P> +"Once I was Prince Sacho of Sacharhineolaland, which is a sweet +country, but hard to pronounce," he answered. "But in this domain I +have but one title and one name, and that is 'Slave.'" +</P> + +<P> +"How came you to be Zog's slave?" asked Clia. +</P> + +<P> +"The funniest adventure you ever heard of," asserted the boy with +eager pride. "I sailed in a ship that went to pieces in a storm. All +on board were drowned but me, and I came mighty near it, to tell the +truth. I went down deep, deep into the sea, and at the bottom was +Zog, watching the people drown. I tumbled on his head, and he +grabbed and saved me, saying I would make a useful slave. By his +magic power he made me able to live under water as the fishes live, +and he brought me to this castle and taught me to wait upon him as +his other slaves do." +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it a dreadful, lonely life?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"No indeed," said Sacho. "We haven't any time to be lonely, and the +dreadful things Zog does are very exciting and amusing, I assure +you. He keeps us guessing every minute, and that makes the life here +interesting. Things were getting a bit slow an hour ago, but now +that you are here, I'm in hopes we will all be kept busy and amused +for some time." +</P> + +<P> +"Are there many others in the castle besides you and Zog?" asked +Aquareine. +</P> + +<P> +"Dozens of us. Perhaps hundreds. I've never counted them," said the +boy. "But Zog is the only master; all the rest of us are in the same +class, so there is no jealousy among the slaves." +</P> + +<P> +"What is Zog like?" Cap'n Bill questioned. +</P> + +<P> +At this the boy laughed, and the laugh was full of mischief. "If I +could tell you what Zog is like, it would take me a year," was the +reply. "But I can't tell you. Every one has a different idea of what +he's like, and soon you will see him yourselves." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you fond of him?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"If I said yes, I'd get a good whipping," declared Sacho. "I am +commanded to hate Zog, and being a good servant, I try to obey. If +anyone dared to like Zog, I am sure he'd be instantly fed to the +turtles; so I advise you not to like him." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we won't," promised Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"But we're keeping the master waiting, and that is also a dangerous +thing to do," continued the boy. "If we don't hurry up, Zog will +begin to smile, and when he smiles there is trouble brewing." +</P> + +<P> +The queen sighed. "Lead the way, Sacho," she said. "We will follow." +</P> + +<P> +The boy bowed again, and going to an archway, held aside the +curtains for them. They first swam into a small anteroom which led +into a long corridor, at the end of which was another curtained +arch. Through this Sacho also guided them, and now they found +themselves in a cleverly constructed maze. Every few feet were +twists and turns and sharp corners, and sometimes the passage would +be wide, and again so narrow that they could just squeeze through in +single file. "Seems like we're gettin' further into the trap," +growled Cap'n Bill. "We couldn't find our way out o' here to save +our lives." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes we could," replied Clia, who was just behind him. "Such a +maze may indeed puzzle you, but the queen or I could lead you safely +through it again, I assure you. Zog is not so clever as he thinks +himself." +</P> + +<P> +The sailor, however, found the maze very bewildering, and so did +Trot. Passages ran in every direction, crossing and recrossing, and +it seemed wonderful that the boy Sacho knew just which way to go. +But he never hesitated an instant. Trot looked carefully to see if +there were any marks to guide him, but every wall was of plain, +polished marble, and every turning looked just like all the others. +Suddenly Sacho stopped short. They were now in a broader passage, +but as they gathered around their conductor they found further +advance blocked. Solid walls faced them, and here the corridor +seemed to end. +</P> + +<P> +"Enter!" said a clear voice. +</P> + +<P> +"But we can't!" protested Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Swim straight ahead," whispered the boy in soft tones. "There is no +real barrier before you. Your eyes are merely deceived by magic." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, I understand," said Aquareine, nodding her pretty head. And +then she took Mayre's hand and swam boldly forward, while Cap'n Bill +followed holding the hand of Clia. And behold! the marble wall +melted away before them, and they found themselves in a chamber more +splendid than even the fairy mermaids had ever seen before. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 13 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PRISONERS OF THE SEA MONSTER +</H3> + +<P> +The room in the enchanted castle which Zog called the "den" and in +which the wicked sea monster passed most of his time was a perfectly +shaped dome of solid gold. The upper part of this dome was thickly +set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, +which sparkled beautifully through the crystal water. The lower +walls were as thickly studded with pearls, all being of perfect +shape and color. Many of the pearls were larger than any which may +be found upon earth, for the sea people knew where to find the very +best and hide them away where men cannot discover them. +</P> + +<P> +The golden floor was engraved with designs of rare beauty, depicting +not only sea life, but many adventures upon land. In the room were +several large, golden cabinets, the doors of which were closed and +locked, and in addition to the cabinets there were tables, chairs +and sofas, the latter upholstered with softest sealskins. Handsome +rugs of exquisitely woven seaweeds were scattered about, the colors +of which were artistically blended together. In one corner a +fountain of air bubbled up through the water. The entire room was +lighted as brilliantly as if exposed to the direct rays of the sun, +yet where this light came from our friends could not imagine. No +lamp or other similar device was visible anywhere. +</P> + +<P> +The strangers at first scarcely glanced at all these beautiful +things, for in an easy chair sat Zog himself, more wonderful than +any other living creature, and as they gazed upon him, their eyes +seemed fascinated as if held by a spell. Zog's face was the face of +a man, except that the tops of his ears were pointed like horns and +he had small horns instead of eyebrows and a horn on the end of his +chin. In spite of these deformities, the expression of the face was +not unpleasant or repulsive. His hair was carefully parted and +brushed, and his mouth and nose were not only perfect in shape but +quite handsome. +</P> + +<P> +Only the eyes betrayed Zog and made him terrible to all beholders. +They seemed like coals of glowing fire and sparkled so fiercely that +no one ever cared to meet their gaze for more than an instant. +Perhaps the monster realized this, for he usually drooped his long +lashes over his fiery eyes to shut out their glare. Zog had two +well-shaped legs which ended in the hoofs of beasts instead of feet, +and these hoofs were shod with gold. His body was a shapeless mass +covered with richly embroidered raiment, over which a great robe of +cloth of gold fell in many folds. This robe was intended to hide the +magician's body from view, but Trot noticed that the cloth moved +constantly in little ripples, as if what lay underneath would not +keep still. +</P> + +<P> +The best features of which Zog could boast were his arms and hands, +the latter being as well formed, as delicate and white as those of a +well-bred woman. When he spoke, his voice sounded sweet and clear, +and its tones were very gentle. He had given them a few moments to +stare at him, for he was examining them in turn with considerable +curiosity. "Well," said he, "do you not find me the most hateful +creature you have ever beheld?" +</P> + +<P> +The queen refrained from answering, but Trot said promptly, "We do. +Nothing could be more horrider or more disgustin' than you are, it +seems to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good, very good indeed," declared the monster, lifting his +lashes to flash his glowing eyes upon them. Then he turned toward +Cap'n Bill. "Man-fish," he continued, "what do YOU think of me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mighty little," the sailor replied. "You orter be 'shamed to ask +sech a question, knowin' you look worse ner the devil himself." +</P> + +<P> +"Very true," answered Zog, frowning. He felt that he had received a +high compliment, and the frown showed he was pleased with Cap'n +Bill. +</P> + +<P> +But now Queen Aquareine advanced to a position in front of their +captor and said, "Tell me, Zog, why have you trapped us and brought +us here?" +</P> + +<P> +"To destroy you," was the quick answer, and the magician turned for +an instant to flash his eyes upon the beautiful mermaid. "For two +hundred years I have been awaiting a chance to get within my power +some friend of Anko the Sea Serpent—of Anko, whom I hate!" he +added, smiling sweetly. "When you left your palace today, my swift +spies warned me, and so I sent the sea devils to capture you. Often +have they tried to do this before, but always failed. Today, acting +by my command, they tricked you, and by surrounding you forced you +to the entrance of my enchanted castle. The result is a fine capture +of important personages. I have now in my power the queen and +princess of the fairy mermaids, as well as two wandering earth +people, and I assure you I shall take great pleasure in destroying +you utterly." +</P> + +<P> +"You are a coward," declared the Queen proudly. "You dared not meet +us in the open sea." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I dare not leave this castle," Zog admitted, still smiling. +"But here in my own domain my power is supreme. Nothing can +interfere with my vengeance." +</P> + +<P> +"That remains to be seen," said Aquareine, firmly meeting the gaze +of the terrible eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," he answered, nodding his head with a graceful movement. +"You will try to thwart me and escape. You will pit your fairy power +against my powers of magic. That will give me great pleasure, for +the more you struggle, the greater will be my revenge." +</P> + +<P> +"But why should you seek revenge upon us?" asked Clia. "We have +never harmed you." +</P> + +<P> +"That is true," replied Zog. "I bear you no personal ill will. But +you are friends of my great enemy, King Anko, and it will annoy him +very much when he finds that you have been destroyed by me. I cannot +hurt the rascally old sea serpent himself, but through you I can +make him feel my vengeance." +</P> + +<P> +"The mermaids have existed thousands of years," said the Queen in a +tone of pride. "Do you imagine the despised and conquered Zog has +power to destroy them?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know," was the quiet answer. "It will be interesting to +discover which is the more powerful." +</P> + +<P> +"I challenge you to begin the test at once, vile magician!" +exclaimed Aquareine. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no hurry, fair Queen," answered Zog in his softest tones. +"I have been so many years in accomplishing your capture that it is +foolish to act hastily now. Besides, I am lonely. Here in my forced +retirement I see only those uninteresting earth mortals whom I have +made my slaves, for all sea dwellers are forbidden to serve me save +the sea devils, and they dare not enter my castle. I have saved many +mortals from drowning and brought them here to people my castle, but +I do not love mortals. Two lovely mermaids are much more +interesting, and before I allow you to perish, I shall have much +amusement in witnessing your despair and your struggles to escape. +You are now my prisoners. By slow degrees I shall wear out your +fairy powers and break your hearts, as well as the hearts of these +earth dwellers who have no magic powers, and I think it will be a +long time before I finally permit you to die." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right," said Trot cheerfully. "The longer you take, the +better I'll be satisfied." +</P> + +<P> +"That's how I feel about it," added Cap'n Bill. "Don't get in a +hurry to kill us Zog. It'll be such a wear an' tear on your nerves. +Jes' take it easy an' let us live as long as we can." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you care to die?" asked the magician. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a thing I never longed for," the sailor replied. "You see, we +had no business to go on a trip with the mermaids to begin with. +I've allus heard tell that mermaids is dangerous, an' no one as met +'em ever lived to tell the tale. Eh, Trot?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's what you said, Cap'n Bill." +</P> + +<P> +"So I guess we're done for, one way 'r 'nother, an' it don't matter +much which. But Trot's a good child, an' mighty young an' tender. It +don't seem like her time has come to die. I'd like to have her sent +safe home to her mother. So I've got this 'ere proposition to make, +Zog. If your magic could make ME die twice, or even THREE times fer +good measure, why you go ahead an' do it an' I won't complain. All I +ask is fer you to send this little girl safe back to dry land +again." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you do it, Zog!" cried Trot indignantly, and turning to Cap'n +Bill, she added, "I'm not goin' to leave you down here in all this +mess, Cap'n, and don't you think it. If one of us gets out of the +muddle we're in, we'll both get out, so don't you make any bargains +with Zog to die twice." +</P> + +<P> +Zog listened to this conversation very carefully. "The dying does +not amount to much," he said. "It is the thinking about it that +hurts you mortals most. I've watched many a shipwreck at sea, and +the people would howl and scream for hours before the ship broke up. +Their terror was very enjoyable. But when the end came, they all +drowned as peacefully as if they were going to sleep, so it didn't +amuse me at all." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not worrying," said Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Ner me," said Cap'n Bill. "You'll find we can take what comes jes' +as easy as anybody." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not expect to get much from you poor mortals," said Zog +carelessly. "You are merely a side show to my circus, a sort of +dessert to my feast of vengeance. When the time comes, I can find a +hundred ways to kill you. My most interesting prisoners are these +pretty mermaids, who claim that none of their race has ever yet died +or been destroyed. The first mermaid ever created is living yet, and +I am told she is none other than Queen Aquareine. So I have a pretty +problem before me to invent some way to destroy the mermaids or put +them out of existence. And it will require some thought." +</P> + +<P> +"Also, it will require some power you do not possess," suggested the +Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"That may be," replied Zog softly. "But I am going to experiment, +and I believe I shall be able to cause you a lot of pain and sorrow +before I finally make an end of you. I have not lived twenty-seven +thousand years, Aquareine, without getting a certain amount of +wisdom, and I am more powerful than you suspect." +</P> + +<P> +"You are a monster and a wicked magician," said the Mermaid Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"I am," agreed Zog, "but I cannot help it. I was created part man, +part bird, part fish, part beast and part reptile, and such a +monstrosity could not be otherwise than wicked. Everybody hates me, +and I hate everybody." +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you kill yourself?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"I've tried that and failed," he answered. "Only one being in the +world has power to destroy me, and that is King Anko, the sea +serpent." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you'd better let him do it," advised the little girl. +</P> + +<P> +"No. Much as I long to die, I cannot allow King Anko the pleasure of +killing me. He has always been my worst enemy, and it would be such +a joy to him to kill me that I really cannot allow him. Indeed, I +have always hoped to kill Anko. I have now been three thousand six +hundred and forty-two years, eleven months and nine days figuring +out a plan to destroy old Anko, and as yet I have not discovered a +way." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd give it up, if I were you," advised Trot. "Don't you think you +could get some fun out of trying to be good?" +</P> + +<P> +"No!" cried Zog, and his voice was not so soft as before. "Listen, +Aquareine, you and your attendants shall be prisoners in this castle +until I can manage to stop you from living. Rooms will be placed at +your disposal, and I wish you to go to them at o nce, as I am tired +of looking at you." +</P> + +<P> +"You're no more tired than we are," remarked Trot. "It's lucky you +can't see yourself, Zog." +</P> + +<P> +He turned his glowing eyes full upon her. "The worst of my queer +body I keep concealed," he said. "If ever you see it, you will +scream with terror." He touched a bell beside him, and the girl was +surprised to find how clearly its tones rang out through the water. +In an instant the boy Sacho appeared and bowed low before his +dreadful master. "Take the mermaids and the child to the Rose +Chamber," commanded Zog, "and take the old man-fish to the Peony +Room." +</P> + +<P> +Sacho turned to obey. "Are the outer passages well guarded?" asked +the monster. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, as you have commanded," said the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you may allow the prisoners to roam at will throughout the +castle. Now, go!" +</P> + +<P> +The prisoners followed Sacho from the room, glad to get away. The +presence of this evil being had grown oppressive to them, and Zog +had himself seemed ill at ease during the last few minutes. The robe +so closely wound around his body moved jerkily, as if something +beneath disturbed it, and at such times Zog shifted nervously in his +seat. +</P> + +<P> +Sacho's thin little legs trotted through the water and led the way +into a different passage from the one by which they had entered. +They swam slowly after him and breathed easier when they had left +the golden domed chamber where their wicked enemy sat enthroned. +"Well, how do you like him?" asked Sacho with a laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"We hate him!" declared Trot emphatically. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course you do," replied Sacho. "But you're wasting time hating +anything. It doesn't do you any good, or him any harm. Can you +sing?" +</P> + +<P> +"A little," said Trot, "but I don't feel like singing now." +</P> + +<P> +"You're wrong about that," the boy asserted. "Anything that keeps +you from singing is foolishness, unless it's laughter. Laughter, joy +and song are the only good things in the world." +</P> + +<P> +Trot did not answer this queer speech, for just then they came to a +flight of stairs, and Sacho climbed up them while the others swam. +And now they were in a lofty, broad corridor having many doors hung +with seaweed draperies. At one of these doorways Sacho stopped and +said, "Here is the Rose Chamber where the master commands you to +live until you die. You may wander anywhere in the castle as you +please; to leave it is impossible. Whenever you return to the Rose +Chamber, you will know it by this design of roses sewn in pearls +upon the hangings. The Peony Room where the man-fish is to live is +the next one farther on." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," replied Queen Aquareine. "Are we to be fed?" +</P> + +<P> +"Meals will be served in your rooms. If you desire anything, ring +the bell and some of the slaves will be sure to answer it. I am +mostly in attendance upon my master, but whenever I am at liberty I +will look after your comfort myself." +</P> + +<P> +Again they thanked the strange boy, and he turned and left them. +They could hear him whistle and sing as he returned along the +passage. Then Princess Clia parted the curtains that her queen and +companions might enter the Rose Chamber. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 14 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CAP'N JOE AND CAP'N BILL +</H3> + +<P> +The rooms Zog had given his prisoners were as handsome as all other +parts of this strange enchanted castle. Gold was used plentifully in +the decorations, and in the Rose Chamber occupied by the mermaids +and Trot golden roses formed a border around the entire room. The +sea maidens had evidently been expected, for the magician had +provided couches for them to recline upon similar to the ones used +in the mermaid palaces. The frames were of mother of pearl and the +cushions of soft, white sponges. In the room were toilet tables, +mirrors, ornaments and many articles used by earth people, which +they afterward learned had been plundered by Zog from sunken ships +and brought to his castle by his allies, the sea devils. +</P> + +<P> +While the mermaids were examining and admiring their room, Cap'n +Bill went to the Peony Room to see what it was like and found his +quarters were very cozy and interesting. There were pictures on the +wall, portraits of grave-looking porpoises, bashful seals, and smug +and smiling walruses. Some of the wall panels were formed of mirrors +and reflected clearly the interior of the room. Around the ceiling +was a frieze of imitation peonies in silver, and the furniture was +peony-shaped, the broad leaves being bent to form seats and couches. +Beside a pretty dressing table hung a bell cord with a tassel at the +end. Cap'n Bill did not know it was a bell cord, so he pulled it to +see what would happen and was puzzled to find that nothing seemed to +happen at all, the bell being too far away for him to hear it. Then +he began looking at the treasures contained in this royal apartment, +and was much pleased with a golden statue of a mermaid that +resembled Princess Clia in feature. A silver flower vase upon a +stand contained a bouquet of gorgeous peonies, "as nat'ral as life," +said Cap'n Bill, although he saw plainly that they must be made of +metal. +</P> + +<P> +Trot came in just then to see how her dear friend was located. She +entered from the doorway that connected the two rooms and said, +"Isn't it pretty, Cap'n? And who'd ever think that awful creature +Zog owned such a splendid castle and kept his prisoners in such +lovely rooms?" +</P> + +<P> +"I once heard tell," said the sailor, "of a foreign people that +sacrificed humans to please their pagan gods, an' before they killed +'em outright they stuffed the victims full of good things to eat an' +dressed 'em in pretty clothes an' treated 'em like princes. That's +why I don't take much comfort in our fine surroundin's, Trot. This +Zog is a pagan, if ever there was one, an' he don't mean us any +good, you may depend on 't." +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied Trot soberly, "I'm sure he does not expect us to be +happy here. But I'm going to fool him and have just as good a time +as I can." As she spoke they both turned around—an easy thing to do +with a single flop of their flexible tails—and Cap'n Bill uttered a +cry of surprise. Just across the room stood a perfect duplicate of +himself. The round head, with its bald top and scraggly whiskers, +the sailor cap and shirt, the wide pantaloons, even the wooden leg, +each and every one were exact copies of those owned by Cap'n Bill. +Even the expression in the light-blue eyes was the same, and it is +no wonder the old sailor stared at his "double" in amazement. But +the next minute he laughed and said, "Why, Trot, it's ME reflected +in a mirror. But at first I thought it was someone else." +</P> + +<P> +Trot was staring, too. "Look, Cap'n!" she whispered. "Look at the +wooden leg." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's MY wooden leg, ain't it?" he inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"If it is, it can't be a reflection in a mirror," she argued, "for +YOU haven't got a wooden leg. You've got a fish's tail." +</P> + +<P> +The old sailor was so startled by this truth that he gave a great +flop with his tail that upset his balance and made him keel a +somersault in the water before he got right side up again. Then he +found the other sailor man laughing at him and was horrified to find +the "reflection" advancing toward them by stumping along on its +wooden leg. "Keep away! Get out, there!" yelled Cap'n Bill. "You're +a ghost, the ghost o' me that once was, an' I can't bear the sight +o' you. Git out!" +</P> + +<P> +"Did you ring jes' to tell me to git out?" asked the other in a mild +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I didn't ring," declared Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"You did. You pulled that bell cord," said the one-legged (one or +more lines missing here in this edition) +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, did pullin' that thing ring a bell?" inquired the Cap'n, a +little ashamed of his ignorance and reassured by hearing the "ghost" +talk. +</P> + +<P> +"It surely did," was the reply, "and Sacho told me to answer your +bell and look after you. So I'm a-lookin' after you." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish you wouldn't," protested Cap'n Bill. "I've no use fer—fer +ghostses, anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +The strange sailor began to chuckle at hearing this, and his chuckle +was just like Cap'n Bill's chuckle, so full of merry humor that it +usually made everyone laugh with him. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you?" asked Trot, who was very curious and much surprised. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm Cap'n Joe," was the reply. "Cap'n Joe Weedles, formerly o' the +brig 'Gladsome' an' now a slave o' Zog at the bottom o' the sea." +</P> + +<P> +"J—J—Joe Wee-Weedles!" gasped Cap'n Bill, amazed. "Joe Weedles o' +the 'Gladsome'! Why, dash my eyes, mate, you must be my brother!" +</P> + +<P> +"Are YOU Bill Weedles?" asked the other. And then he added, "But no, +you can't be. Bill wasn't no mermaid. He were a human critter like +myself." +</P> + +<P> +"That's what I am," said Cap'n Bill hastily. "I'm a human critter, +too. I've jes' borrered this fish tail to swim with while I'm +visitin' the mermaids." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well," said Cap'n Joe in astonishment. "Who'd o' thought it! +An' who'd ever o' thought as I'd find my long-lost brother in Zog's +enchanted castle full fifty fathoms deep down in the wet, wet +water!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, as fer that," replied Cap'n Bill, "it's YOU as is the +long-lost brother, not me. You an' your ship disappeared many a year +ago, an' ain't never been heard of since, while, as you see, I'm +livin' on earth yet." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't look it to all appearances," remarked Cap'n Joe in a +reflective tone of voice. "But I'll agree it's many a year since I +saw the top o' the water, an' I'm not expectin' to ever tramp on dry +land again." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you dead, or drownded, or what?" asked Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"Neither one nor t'other," was the answer. "But Zog gave me gills +so's I could live in the water like fishes do, an' if I got on land +I couldn't breathe air any more'n a fish out o' water can. So I +guess as long as I live, I'll hev to stay down here." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you like it?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I don't objec' much," said Cap'n Joe. "There ain't much +excitement here, fer we don't catch a flock o' mermaids ev'ry day, +but the work is easy an' the rations fair. I might o' been worse +off, you know, for when my brig was wrecked, I'd 'a' gone to Davy +Jones's Locker if Zog hadn't happened to find me an' made me a +fish." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't look as much like a fish as Cap'n Bill does," observed +Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"P'raps not," said Cap'n Joe, "but I notice Bill ain't got any gills +an' breathes like you an' the mermaids does. When he gets back to +land, he'll have his two legs again an' live in comfort breathin' +air." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't have two legs," asserted Cap'n Bill, "for when I'm on earth +I'm fitted with one wooden leg, jes' the same as you are, Joe." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I hadn't heard o' that, Bill, but I'm not surprised," replied +Brother Joe. "Many a sailor gets to wear a wooden leg in time. +Mine's hick'ry." +</P> + +<P> +"So's mine," said Cap'n Bill with a air of pride. "I'm glad I've run +across you, Joe, for I often wondered what had become of you. Seems +too bad, though, to have to spend all your life under water." +</P> + +<P> +"What's the odds?" asked Cap'n Joe. "I never could keep away from +the water since I was a boy, an' there's more dangers to be met +floatin' on it than there is soakin' in it. An' one other thing +pleases me when I think on it: I'm parted from my wife, a mighty +good woman with a tongue like a two-edge sword, an' my pore +widder'll get the insurance money an' live happy. As fer me, Bill, +I'm a good deal happier than I was when she kep' scoldin' me from +mornin' to night every minute I was home." +</P> + +<P> +"Is Zog a kind master?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't say he's kind," replied Cap'n Joe, "for he's as near a +devil as any livin' critter CAN be. He grumbles an' growls in his +soft voice all day, an' hates himself an' everybody else. But I +don't see much of him. There's so many of us slaves here that Zog +don't pay much attention to us, an' we have a pretty good time when +the ol' magician is shut up in his den, as he mostly is." +</P> + +<P> +"Could you help us to escape?" asked the child. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I don't know how," admitted Cap'n Joe. "There's magic all +around us, and we slaves are never allowed to leave this great cave. +I'll do what I can, o' course, but Sacho is the boy to help you if +anyone can. That little chap knows a heap, I can tell you. So now, +if nothin' more's wanted, I must get back to work." +</P> + +<P> +"What work do you do?" Cap'n Bill asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I sew buttons on Zog's clothes. Every time he gets mad, he busts +his buttons off, an' I have to sew 'em on again. As he's mad most o' +the time, it keeps me busy." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll see you again, won't I, Joe?" said Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"No reason why you shouldn't, if you manage to keep alive," said +Cap'n Joe. "But you mustn't forget, Bill, this Zog has his grip on +you, an' I've never known anything to escape him yet." +</P> + +<P> +Saying this, the old sailor began to stump toward the door, but +tripped his foot against his wooden leg and gave a swift dive +forward. He would have fallen flat had he not grabbed the drapery at +the doorway and saved himself by holding fast to it with both hands. +Even then he rolled and twisted so awkwardly before he could get +upon his legs that Trot had to laugh outright at his antics. "This +hick'ry leg," said Cap'n Joe, "is so blamed light that it always +wants to float. Agga-Groo, the goldworker, has promised me a gold +leg that will stay down, but he never has time to make it. You're +mighty lucky, Bill, to have a merman's tail instead o' legs." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess I am, Joe," replied Cap'n Bill, "for in such a wet country +the fishes have the best of it. But I ain't sure I'd like this sort +o' thing always." +</P> + +<P> +"Think o' the money you'd make in a side show," said Cap'n Joe with +his funny chuckling laugh. Then he pounded his wooden leg against +the hard floor and managed to hobble from the room without more +accidents. +</P> + +<P> +When he had gone, Trot said, "Aren't you glad to find your brother +again, Cap'n Bill?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, so-so," replied the sailor. "I don't know much about Joe, +seein' as we haven't met before for many a long year, an' all I +remember about our boyhood days is that we fit an' pulled hair most +o' the time. But what worries me most is Joe's lookin' so much like +me myself, wooden leg an' all. Don't you think it's rather cheeky +an' unbrotherly, Trot?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps he can't help it," suggested the child. "And anyhow, he'll +never be able to live on land again." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Cap'n Bill with a sigh. "Joe's a fish, now, an' so he +ain't likely to be took for me by one of our friends on the earth." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 15 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MAGIC OF THE MERMAIDS +</H3> + +<P> +When Trot and Cap'n Bill entered the Rose Chamber they found the two +mermaids reclining before an air fountain that was sending thousands +of tiny bubbles up through the water. +</P> + +<P> +"These fountains of air are excellent things," remarked Queen +Aquareine, "for they keep the water fresh and sweet, and that is the +more necessary when it is confined by walls, as it is in this +castle. But now, let us counsel together and decide what to do in +the emergency that confronts us." +</P> + +<P> +"How can we tell what to do without knowing what's going to happen?" +asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Somethin's sure to happen," said Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +As if to prove his words, a gong suddenly sounded at their door and +in walked a fat little man clothed all in white, including a white +apron and white cap. His face was round and jolly, and he had a big +mustache that curled up at the ends. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well!" said the little man, spreading out his legs and +putting his hands on his hips as he stood looking at them. "Of all +the queer things in the sea, you're the queerest! Mermaids, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't bunch us that way!" protested Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"You are quite wrong," said Trot. "I'm a—a girl." +</P> + +<P> +"With a fish's tail?" he asked, laughing at her. +</P> + +<P> +"That's only just for a while," she said, "while I'm in the water, +you know. When I'm at home on the land I walk just as you do, an' so +does Cap'n Bill." +</P> + +<P> +"But we haven't any gills," remarked the Cap'n, looking closely at +the little man's throat, "so I take it we're not as fishy as some +others." +</P> + +<P> +"If you mean me, I must admit you are right," said the little man, +twisting his mustache. "I'm as near a fish as a man can be. But you +see, Cap'n, without the gills that make me a fish, I could not live +under water." +</P> + +<P> +"When it comes to that, you've no business to live under water," +asserted the sailor. "But I s'pose you're a slave and can't help +it." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm chief cook for that old horror Zog. And that reminds me, good +mermaids, or good people, or good girls and sailors, or whatever you +are, that I'm sent here to ask what you'd like to eat." +</P> + +<P> +"Good to see you, sir," said Cap'n Bill. "I'm nearly starved, +myself." +</P> + +<P> +"I had it in mind," said the little man, "to prepare a regular +mermaid dinner, but since you're not mermaids—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, two of us are," said the Queen, smiling. "I, my good cook, am +Aquareine, the ruler of the mermaids, and this is the Princess +Clia." +</P> + +<P> +"I've often heard of you, your Majesty," returned the chief cook, +bowing respectfully, "and I must say I've heard only good of you. +Now that you have unfortunately become my master's prisoners, it +will give me pleasure to serve you as well as I am able." +</P> + +<P> +"We thank you, good sir," said Aquareine. +</P> + +<P> +"What have you got to eat?" inquired Trot. "Seems to me I'm hollow +way down to my toes—my tail, I mean—and it'll take a lot to fill +me up. We haven't eaten a morsel since breakfast, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"I think I shall be able to give you almost anything you would +like," said the cook. "Zog is a wonderful magician and can procure +anything that exists with no more effort than a wiggle of his thumb. +But some eatables, you know, are hard to serve under water, because +they get so damp that they are soon ruined." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, it is different with the mermaids," said Princess Clia. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, all your things are kept dry because they are surrounded by +air. I've heard how the mermaids live. But here it is different." +</P> + +<P> +"Take this ring," said the Queen, handing the chief cook a circlet +which she drew from her finger. "While it is in your possession, the +food you prepare will not get wet, or even moist." +</P> + +<P> +"I thank your Majesty," returned the cook, taking the ring. "My name +is Tom Atto, and I'll do my best to please you. How would you like +for luncheon some oysters on the half-shell, clam broth, shrimp +salad, broiled turtle steak and watermelon?" +</P> + +<P> +"That will do very nicely," answered the Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"Do watermelons grow in the sea?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, that is why they are called watermelons," replied Tom +Atto. "I think I shall serve you a water ice, in addition to the +rest. Water ice is an appropriate sea food." +</P> + +<P> +"Have some watercress with the salad," said Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd thought of that," declared the cook. "Doesn't my bill of fare +make your mouths water?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hurry up and get it ready," suggested Trot. +</P> + +<P> +Tom Atto at once bowed and retired, and when they were done, Cap'n +Bill said to the queen, "Do you think, ma'am, we can manage to +escape from Zog and his castle?" +</P> + +<P> +"I hope we shall find a way," replied Aquareine. "The evil powers of +magic which Zog controls may not prove to be as strong as the fairy +powers I possess, but of course I cannot be positive until I +discover what this wicked magician is able to do." +</P> + +<P> +Princess Clia was looking out of one of the windows. "I think I can +see an opening far up in the top of the dome," she said. They all +hastened to the windows to look, and although Trot and Cap'n Bill +could see nothing but a solid dome above the castle—perhaps because +it was so far away from them—the sharp eyes of Aquareine were not +to be deceived. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she announced, "there is surely an opening in the center of +the great dome. A little thought must convince us that such an +opening is bound to exist, for otherwise the water confined within +the dome would not be fresh or clear." +</P> + +<P> +"Then if we could escape from this castle, we could swim up to the +hole in the dome and get free!" exclaimed Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Zog has probably ordered the opening well guarded, as he has +all the other outlets," responded the Queen. "Yet it may be worth +while for us to make the attempt to get back into the broad ocean +this way. The night would be the best time, when all are asleep, and +surely it will be quicker to reach the ocean through this hole in +the roof than by means of the long, winding passages by which we +entered." +</P> + +<P> +"But we will have to break out of the castle in some way," observed +Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"That will not be difficult," answered Aquareine. "It will be no +trouble for me to shatter one of these panes of glass, allowing us +to pass out and swim straight up to the top of the dome." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's do it now!" said Trot eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"No, my dear, we must wait for a good opportunity when we are not +watched closely. We do not wish the terrible Zog to thwart our +plan," answered the Queen gently. +</P> + +<P> +Presently two sailor boys entered bearing trays of food, which they +placed upon a large table. They were cheery-faced young fellows with +gills at their throats, but had laughing eyes, and Trot was +astonished not to find any of the slaves of Zog weeping or +miserable. Instead, they were as jolly and good-natured as could be +and seemed to like their life under the water. Cap'n Bill asked one +of the boys how many slaves were in the castle, and the youth +replied that he would try to count them and let him know. +</P> + +<P> +Tom Atto had, they found, prepared for them an excellent meal, and +they ate heartily because they were really hungry. After luncheon +Cap'n Bill smoked his pipe contentedly, and they renewed their +conversation, planning various ways to outwit Zog and make their +escape. While thus engaged, the gong at the door sounded and Sacho +entered. +</P> + +<P> +"My diabolical master commands you to attend him," said the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"When?" asked Aquareine. +</P> + +<P> +"At once, your Majesty." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, we will follow you," she said. So they swam down the +corridors following Sacho until they again reached the golden-domed +room they had formerly visited. Here sat Zog just as they had left +him, seemingly, but when his prisoners entered, the magician arose +and stood upon his cloven feet and then silently walked to a +curtained archway. +</P> + +<P> +Sacho commanded the prisoners to follow, and beyond the archway they +found a vast chamber that occupied the center of the castle and was +as big as a ballroom. Zog, who seemed to walk with much difficulty +because his ungainly body swayed back and forth, did not go far +beyond the arched entrance. A golden throne was set nearby, and in +this the monster seated himself. At one side of the throne stood a +group of slaves. They were men, women and children. All had broad +gold bands clasped around their ankles as a badge of servitude, and +at each throat were the fish's gills that enabled them to breathe +and live under water. Yet every face was smiling and serene, even in +the presence of their dread master. In parts of the big hall were +groups of other slaves. +</P> + +<P> +Sacho ranged the prisoners in a circle before Zog's throne, and +slowly the magician turned his eyes, glowing like live coals, upon +the four. "Captives," said he, speaking in his clear, sweet voice, +"in our first interview you defied me, and both the mermaid queen +and the princess declared they could not die. But if that is a true +statement, as I have yet to discover, there are various ways to make +you miserable and unhappy, and this I propose to do in order to +amuse myself at your expense. You have been brought here to undergo +the first trial of strength between us." None of the prisoners +replied to this speech, so Zog turned to one of his slaves and said, +"Rivivi, bring in the Yell-Maker." +</P> + +<P> +Rivivi was a big fellow, brown of skin and with flashing, black +eyes. He bowed to his master and left the room by an archway covered +with heavy draperies. The next moment these curtains were violently +pushed aside, and a dreadful sea creature swam into the hall. It had +a body much like that of a crab, only more round and of a jet-black +color. Its eyes were bright yellow balls set on the ends of two +horns that stuck out of its head. They were cruel-looking eyes, too, +and seemed able to see every person in the room at the same time. +The legs of the Yell-Maker, however, were the most curious part of +the creature. There were six of them, slender and black as coal, and +each extended twelve to fifteen feet from its body when stretched +out in a straight line. They were hinged in several places so they +could be folded up or extended at will. At the ends of these thin +legs were immense claws shaped like those of a lobster, and they +were real "nippers" of a most dangerous sort. +</P> + +<P> +The prisoners knew, as soon as they saw the awful claws, why the +thing was called the "Yell-Maker," and Trot gave a little shiver and +crept closer to Cap'n Bill. Zog looked with approval upon the +creature he had summoned and said to it, "I give you four victims, +the four people with fish's tails. Let me hear how loud they can +yell." +</P> + +<P> +The Yell-Maker uttered a grunt of pleasure and in a flash stretched +out one of its long legs toward the queen's nose, where its powerful +claws came together with a loud noise. Aquareine did not stir; she +only smiled. Both Zog and the creature that had attacked her seemed +much surprised to find she was unhurt. "Again!" cried Zog, and again +the Yell-Maker's claw shot out and tried to pinch the queen's pretty +ear. But the magic of the fairy mermaid was proof against this +sea-rascal's strength and swiftness, nor could he touch any part of +Aquareine, although he tried again and again, roaring with anger +like a mad bull. +</P> + +<P> +Trot began to enjoy this performance, and as her merry, childish +laughter rang out, the Yell-Maker turned furiously upon the little +girl, two of the dreadful claws trying to nip her at the same time. +She had no chance to cry out or jump backward, yet she remained +unharmed. For the Fairy Circle of Queen Aquareine kept her safe. Now +Cap'n Bill was attacked, and Princess Clia as well. The half-dozen +slender legs darted in every direction like sword thrusts to reach +their victims, and the cruel claws snapped so rapidly that the sound +was like the rattling of castanets. But the four prisoners regarded +their enemy with smiling composure, and no yell greeted the +Yell-Maker's efforts. +</P> + +<P> +"Enough!" said Zog, softly and sweetly. "You may retire, my poor +Yell-Maker, for with these people you are powerless." +</P> + +<P> +The creature paused and rolled its yellow eyes. "May I nip just one +of the slaves, oh Zog?" it asked pleadingly. "I hate to leave +without pleasing your ears with a single yell." +</P> + +<P> +"Let my slaves alone," was Zog's answer. "They are here to serve me +and must not be injured. Go, feeble one." +</P> + +<P> +"Not so!" cried the Queen. "It is a shame, Zog, that such an evil +thing should exist in our fair sea." With this, she drew her fairy +wand from a fold of her gown and waved it toward the creature. At +once the Yell-Maker sank down unconscious upon the floor; its legs +fell apart in many pieces, the claws tumbling in a heap beside the +body. Then all grew withered and lost shape, becoming a pulpy mass, +like gelatin. A few moments later the creature had melted away to +nothing at all, forever disappearing from the ocean where it had +caused so much horror and pain. +</P> + +<P> +Zog watched this destruction with surprising patience. When it was +all over, he nodded his head and smiled, and Trot noticed that +whenever Zog smiled, his slaves lost their jolly looks and began to +tremble. "That is very pretty magic, Aquareine," said the monster. +"I myself learned the trick several thousand years ago, so it does +not astonish me. Have you fairies nothing that is new to show me?" +</P> + +<P> +"We desire only to protect ourselves," replied the Queen with +dignity. +</P> + +<P> +"Then I will give you a chance to do so," said Zog. As he spoke, the +great marble blocks in the ceiling of the room directly over the +heads of the captives gave way and came crashing down upon them. +Many tons of weight were in these marble blocks, and the magician +had planned to crush his victims where they stood. But the four were +still unharmed. The marble, being unable to touch them, was diverted +from its course, and when the roar of the great crash had died away, +Zog saw his intended victims standing quietly in their places and +smiling scornfully at his weak attempts to destroy them. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 16 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TOP OF THE GREAT DOME +</H3> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill's heart was beating pretty vast, but he did not let Zog +know that. Trot was so sure of the protection of the fairy mermaids +that she would not allow herself to become frightened. Aquareine and +Clia were as calm as if nothing had happened. +</P> + +<P> +"Please excuse this little interruption," said Zog. "I knew very +well the marble blocks would not hurt you. But the play is over for +a time. You may now retire to your rooms, and when I again invite +you to my presence, I shall have found some better ways to entertain +you." +</P> + +<P> +Without reply to this threat, they turned and followed Sacho from +the hall, and the boy led them straight back to their own rooms. +</P> + +<P> +"Zog is making a great mistake," said Sacho with a laugh. "He has no +time for vengeance, but the great magician does not know that." +</P> + +<P> +"What is he trying to do, anyway?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"He does not tell me all his secrets, but I've an idea he wants to +kill you," replied Sacho. "How absurd it is to be plotting such a +thing when he might spend his time in laughing and being jolly! +Isn't it, now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Zog is a wicked, wicked creature!" exclaimed Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"But he had his good points," replied Sacho cheerfully. "There is no +one about in the world so bad that there is nothing good about him." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not so sure of that," said Cap'n Bill. "What are Zog's good +points?" +</P> + +<P> +"All his slaves were saved from drowning, and he is kind to them," +said Sacho. +</P> + +<P> +"That is merely the kindness of selfishness," said Aquareine. "Tell +me, my lad, is the opening in the great dome outside guarded?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes indeed," was the reply. "You cannot hope to escape in that way, +for the prince of the sea devils, who is the largest and fiercest of +his race, lies crouched over the opening night and day, and none can +pass his network of curling legs." +</P> + +<P> +"Is there no avenue that is not guarded?" continued Aquareine. +</P> + +<P> +"None at all, your Majesty. Zog is always careful to be well +guarded, for he fears the approach of an enemy. What this enemy can +be to terrify the great magician I do not know, but Zog is always +afraid and never leaves an entrance unguarded. Besides, it is an +enchanted castle, you know, and none in the ocean can see it unless +Zog wishes him to. So it will be very hard for his enemy to find +him." +</P> + +<P> +"We wish to escape," said Clia. "Will you help us, Sacho?" +</P> + +<P> +"In any way I can," replied the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"If we succeed, we will take you with us," continued the Princess. +</P> + +<P> +But Sacho shook his head and laughed. "I would indeed like to see +you escape Zog's vengeance," said he, "for vengeance is wrong, and +you are too pretty and too good to be destroyed. But I am happy here +and have no wish to go away, having no other home or friends other +than my fellow slaves." +</P> + +<P> +Then he left them, and when they were again alone, Aquareine said, +"We were able to escape Zog's attacks today, but I am quite sure he +will plan more powerful ways to destroy us. He has shown that he +knows some clever magic, and perhaps I shall not be able to foil it. +So it will be well for us to escape tonight if possible." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you fight and conquer the big sea devil up in the dome?" asked +Trot. +</P> + +<P> +The queen was thoughtful, and did not reply to this question at +once. But Cap'n Bill said uneasily, "I can't abide them devil +critters, an' I hopes, for my part, we won't be called on to tackle +'em. You see, Trot, we're in consider'ble of a bad mess, an' if we +ever live to tell the tale—" +</P> + +<P> +"Why not, Cap'n?" asked the child. "We're safe enough so far. Can't +you trust our good friend, the queen?" +</P> + +<P> +"She don't seem plumb sure o' things herself," remarked the sailor. +"The mermaids is all right an' friendly, mate, but this 'ere magic +maker, ol' Zog, is a bad one, out 'n' out, an' means to kill us if +he can." +</P> + +<P> +"But he can't!" cried Trot bravely. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you're right, dear. I wouldn't want to bet on Zog's chances +jes' yet, an' at the same time it would be riskin' money to bet on +our chances. Seems to me it's a case of luck which wins." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't worry, friend," said the Queen. "I have a plan to save us. +Let us wait patiently until nightfall." They waited in the Rose +Chamber a long time, talking earnestly together, but the brilliant +light that flooded both the room and the great dome outside did not +fade in the least. After several hours had passed away, the gong +sounded and Tom Atto again appeared, followed by four slaves bearing +many golden dishes upon silver trays. The friendly cook had prepared +a fine dinner, and they were all glad to find that, whatever Zog +intended to do to them, he had no intention of starving them. +Perhaps the magician realized that Aquareine's fairy powers, if put +to the test, would be able to provide food for her companions, but +whatever his object may have been, their enemy had given them +splendid rooms and plenty to eat. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it nearly nighttime?" asked the Queen as Tom Atto spread the +table with a cloth of woven seaweed and directed his men to place +the dishes upon it. +</P> + +<P> +"Night!" he exclaimed as if surprised. "There is no night here." +</P> + +<P> +"Doesn't it ever get dark?" inquired Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Never. We know nothing of the passage of time or of day or night. +The light always shines just as you see it now, and we sleep +whenever we are tired and rise again as soon as we are rested." +</P> + +<P> +"What causes the light?" Princess Clia asked. +</P> + +<P> +"It's magic, your Highness," said the cook solemnly. "It's one of +the curious things Zog is able to do. But you must remember all this +place is a big cave in which the castle stands, so the light is +never seen by anyone except those who live here." +</P> + +<P> +"But why does Zog keep his light going all the time?" asked the +Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose it is because he himself never sleeps," replied Tom Atto. +"They say the master hasn't slept for hundreds of years, not since +Anko, the sea serpent, defeated him and drove him into this place." +</P> + +<P> +They asked no more questions and began to eat their dinner in +silence. Before long, Cap'n Joe came in to visit his brother and +took a seat at the table with the prisoners. He proved a jolly +fellow, and when he and Cap'n Bill talked about their boyhood days, +the stories were so funny that everybody laughed and for a time +forgot their worries. +</P> + +<P> +When dinner was over, however, and Cap'n Joe had gone back to his +work of sewing on buttons and the servants had carried away the +dishes, the prisoners remembered their troubles and the fate that +awaited them. "I am much disappointed," said the Queen, "to find +there is no night here and that Zog never sleeps. It will make our +escape more difficult. Yet we must make the attempt, and as we are +tired and a great struggle is before us, it will be best for us to +sleep and refresh ourselves." +</P> + +<P> +They agreed to this, for the day had been long and adventurous, so +Cap'n Bill kissed Trot and went in to the Peony Room, where he lay +down upon his spongy couch and fell fast asleep. The mermaids and +Trot followed this example, and I think none of them was much +worried, after all, because they quickly sank into peaceful slumber +and forgot all the dangers that threatened them. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 17 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE QUEEN'S GOLDEN SWORD +</H3> + +<P> +"Goodness me!" exclaimed Trot, raising herself by a flirt of her +pink-scaled tail and a wave of her fins, "isn't it dreadful hot +here?" +</P> + +<P> +The mermaids had risen at the same time, and Cap'n Bill came +swimming in from the Peony Room in time to hear the little girl's +speech. +</P> + +<P> +"Hot!" echoed the sailor. "Why, I feel like the inside of a steam +engine!" +</P> + +<P> +The perspiration was rolling down his round, red face, and he took +out his handkerchief and carefully wiped it away, waving his fish +tail gently at the same time. +</P> + +<P> +"What we need most in this room," said he, "is a fan." +</P> + +<P> +"What's the trouble, do you s'pose?" inquired Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"It is another trick of the monster Zog," answered the Queen calmly. +"He has made the water in our rooms boiling hot, and if it could +touch us, we would be well cooked by this time. Even as it is, we +are all made uncomfortable by breathing the heated air." +</P> + +<P> +"What shall we do, ma'am?" the sailor man asked with a groan. "I +expected to get into hot water afore we've done with this +foolishness, but I don't like the feel o' bein' parboiled, jes' the +same." +</P> + +<P> +The queen was waving her fairy wand and paid no attention to Cap'n +Bill's moans. Already the water felt cooler, and they began to +breathe more easily. In a few moments more, the heat had passed from +the surrounding water altogether, and all danger from this source +was over. +</P> + +<P> +"This is better," said Trot gratefully. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you care to sleep again?" asked the Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I'm wide awake now," answered the child. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid if I goes to sleep ag'in, I'll wake up a pot roast," +said Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us consider ways to escape," suggested Clia. "It seems useless +for us to remain here quietly until Zog discovers a way to destroy +us." +</P> + +<P> +"But we must not blunder," added Aquareine cautiously. "To fail in +our attempt would be to acknowledge Zog's superior power, so we must +think well upon our plan before we begin to carry it out. What do +you advise, sir?" she asked, turning to Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"My opinion, ma'am, is that the only way for us to escape is to get +out o' here," was the sailor's vague answer. "How to do it is your +business, seein' as I ain't no fairy myself, either in looks or in +eddication." +</P> + +<P> +The queen smiled and said to Trot, "What is your opinion, my dear?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think we might swim out the same way we came in," answered the +child. "If we could get Sacho to lead us back through the maze, we +would follow that long tunnel to the open ocean, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"And there would be the sea devils waitin' for us," added Cap'n Bill +with a shake of his bald head. "They'd drive us back inter the +tunnel like they did the first time, Trot. It won't do, mate, it +won't do." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you a suggestion, Clia?" inquired the Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"I have thought of an undertaking," replied the pretty princess, +"but it is a bold plan, your Majesty, and you may not care to risk +it." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us hear it, anyway," said Aquareine encouragingly. +</P> + +<P> +"It is to destroy Zog himself and put him out of the world forever. +Then we would be free to go home whenever we pleased." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you suggest a way to destroy Zog?" asked Aquareine. +</P> + +<P> +"No, your Majesty," Clia answered. "I must leave the way for you to +determine." +</P> + +<P> +"In the old days," said the Queen thoughtfully, "the mighty King +Anko could not destroy this monster. He succeeded in defeating Zog +and drove him into this great cavern, but even Anko could not +destroy him." +</P> + +<P> +"I have heard the sea serpent explain that it was because he could +not reach the magician," returned Clia. "If King Anko could have +seized Zog in his coils, he would have made an end of the wicked +monster quickly. Zog knows this, and that is why he does not venture +forth from his retreat. Anko is the enemy he constantly dreads. But +with you, my queen, the case is different. You may easily reach Zog, +and the only question is whether your power is sufficient to destroy +him." +</P> + +<P> +For a while Aquareine remained silent. "I am not sure of my power +over him," she said at last, "and for that reason I hesitate to +attack him personally. His slaves and his allies, the sea devils, I +can easily conquer, so I prefer to find a way to overcome the guards +at the entrances rather than to encounter their terrible master. But +even the guards have been given strength and power by the magician, +as we have already discovered, so I must procure a weapon with which +to fight them." +</P> + +<P> +"A weapon, ma'am?" said Cap'n Bill, and then he took a jackknife +from his coat pocket and opened the big blade, afterward handing it +to the queen. "That ain't a bad weapon," he announced. +</P> + +<P> +"But it is useless in this case," she replied, smiling at the old +sailor's earnestness. "For my purpose I must have a golden sword." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, there's plenty of gold around this castle," said Trot, +looking around her. "Even in this room there's enough to make a +hundred golden swords." +</P> + +<P> +"But we can't melt or forge gold under water, mate," the Cap'n said. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not? Don't you s'pose all these gold roses and things were made +under water?" asked the little girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Like enough," remarked the sailor, "but I don't see how." +</P> + +<P> +Just then the gong at the door sounded, and the boy Sacho came in +smiling and cheerful as ever. He said Zog had sent him to inquire +after their health and happiness. "You may tell him that his water +became a trifle too warm, so we cooled it," replied the Queen. Then +they told Sacho how the boiling water had made them uncomfortable +while they slept. +</P> + +<P> +Sacho whistled a little tune and seemed thoughtful. "Zog is +foolish," said he. "How often have I told him that vengeance is a +waste of time. He is worried to know how to destroy you, and that is +wasting more time. You are worried for fear he will injure you, and +so you also are wasting time. My, my! What a waste of time is going +on in this castle!" +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to me that we have so much time it doesn't matter," said +Trot. "What's time for, anyhow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Time is given us to be happy, and for no other reason," replied the +boy soberly. "When we waste time, we waste happiness. But there is +no time for preaching, so I'll go." +</P> + +<P> +"Please wait a moment, Sacho," said the Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"Can I do anything to make you happy?" he asked, smiling again. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered Aquareine. "We are curious to know who does all this +beautiful gold work and ornamentation." +</P> + +<P> +"Some of the slaves here are goldsmiths, having been taught by Zog +to forge and work metal under water," explained Sacho. "In parts of +the ocean lie many rocks filled with veins of pure gold and golden +nuggets, and we get large supplies from sunken ships as well. There +is no lack of gold here, but it is not as precious as it is upon the +earth because here we have no need of money." +</P> + +<P> +"We would like to see the goldsmiths at work," announced the Queen. +</P> + +<P> +The boy hesitated a moment. Then he said, "I will take you to their +room, where you may watch them for a time. I will not ask Zog's +permission to do this, for he might refuse. But my orders were to +allow you the liberty of the castle, and so I will let you see the +goldsmiths' shop." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," replied Aquareine quietly, and then the four followed +Sacho along various corridors until they came to a large room where +a dozen men were busily at work. Lying here and there were heaps of +virgin gold, some in its natural state and some already fashioned +into ornaments and furniture of various sorts. Each man worked at a +bench where there was a curious iron furnace in which glowed a +vivid, white light. Although this workshop was all under water and +the workmen were all obliged to breathe as fishes do, the furnaces +glowed so hot that the water touching them was turned into steam. +Gold or other metal held over a furnace quickly softened or melted, +when it could be forged or molded into any shape desired. +</P> + +<P> +"The furnaces are electric," explained Sacho, "and heat as well +under water as they would in the open air. Let me introduce you to +the foreman, who will tell you of his work better than I can." +</P> + +<P> +The foreman was a slave named Agga-Groo, who was lean and lank and +had an expression more surly and unhappy than any slave they had yet +seen. Yet he seemed willing to leave his work and explain to the +visitors how he made so many beautiful things out of gold, for he +took much pride in this labor and knew its artistic worth. Moreover, +since he had been in Zog's castle these were the first strangers to +enter his workshop, so he welcomed them in his own gruff way. +</P> + +<P> +The queen asked him if he was happy, and he shook his head and +replied, "It isn't like Calcutta, where I used to work in gold +before I was wrecked at sea and nearly drowned. Zog rescued me and +brought me here a slave. It is a stupid life we lead, doing the same +things over and over every day, but perhaps it is better than being +dead. I'm not sure. The only pleasure I get in life is in creating +pretty things out of gold." +</P> + +<P> +"Could you forge me a golden sword?" asked the Queen, smiling +sweetly upon the goldsmith. +</P> + +<P> +"I could, madam, but I won't unless Zog orders me to do it." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you like Zog better than you do me?" inquired Aquareine. +</P> + +<P> +"No," was the answer. "I hate Zog." +</P> + +<P> +"Then won't you make the sword to please me and to show your skill?" +pleaded the pretty mermaid. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid of my master. He might not like it," the man replied. +</P> + +<P> +"But he will never know," said Princess Clia. +</P> + +<P> +"You cannot say what Zog knows or what he doesn't know," growled the +man. "I can't take chances of offending Zog, for I must live with +him always as a slave." With this he turned away and resumed his +work, hammering the leaf of a golden ship. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill had listened carefully to this conversation, and being a +wise old sailor in his way, he thought he understood the nature of +old Agga-Groo better than the mermaids did. So he went close to the +goldsmith, and feeling in the pockets of his coat drew out a silver +compass shaped like a watch. "I'll give you this if you'll make the +queen the golden sword," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Agga-Groo looked at the compass with interest and tested its power +of pointing north. Then he shook his head and handed it back to +Cap'n Bill. The sailor dived into his pocket again and pulled out a +pair of scissors, which he placed beside the compass on the palm of +his big hand. "You may have them both," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Agga-Groo hesitated, for he wanted the scissors badly, but finally +he shook his head again. Cap'n Bill added a piece of cord, an iron +thimble, some fishhooks, four buttons and a safety pin, but still +the goldsmith would not be tempted. So with a sigh the sailor +brought out his fine, big jackknife, and at sight of this +Agga-Groo's eyes began to sparkle. Steel was not to be had at the +bottom of the sea, although gold was so plentiful. "All right, +friend," he said. "Give me that lot of trinkets and I'll make you a +pretty gold sword. But it won't be any good except to look at, for +our gold is so pure that it is very soft." +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind that," replied Cap'n Bill. "All we want is the sword." +</P> + +<P> +The goldsmith set to work at once, and so skillful was he that in a +few minutes he had forged a fine sword of yellow gold with an +ornamental handle. The shape was graceful and the blade keen and +slender. It was evident to them all that the golden sword would not +stand hard use, for the edge of the blade would nick and curl like +lead, but the queen was delighted with the prize and took it eagerly +in her hand. +</P> + +<P> +Just then Sacho returned to say that they must go back to their +rooms, and after thanking the goldsmith, who was so busy examining +his newly acquired treasure that he made no response, they joyfully +followed the boy back to the Rose Chamber. Sacho told them that he +had just come from Zog, who was still wasting time in plotting +vengeance. "You must be careful," he advised them, "for my cruel +master intends to stop you from living, and he may succeed. Don't be +unhappy, but be careful. Zog is angry because you escaped his +Yell-Maker and the falling stones and the hot water. While he is +angry he is wasting time, but that will not help you. Take care not +to waste any time yourselves." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know what Zog intends to do to us next?" asked Princess +Clia. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Sacho, "but it is reasonable to guess that, being evil, +he intends evil. He never intends to do good, I assure you." Then +the boy went away. +</P> + +<P> +"I am no longer afraid," declared the Mermaid Queen when they were +alone. "When I have bestowed certain fairy powers upon this golden +sword, it will fight its way against any who dare oppose us, and +even Zog himself will not care to face so powerful a weapon. I am +now able to promise you that we shall make our escape." +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" cried Trot joyfully. "Shall we start now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet, my dear. It will take me a little while to charm this +golden blade so that it will obey my commands and do my work. There +is no need of undue haste, so I propose we all sleep for a time and +obtain what rest we can. We must be fresh and ready for our great +adventure." +</P> + +<P> +As their former nap had been interrupted, they readily agreed to +Aquareine's proposal and at once went to their couches and composed +themselves to slumber. When they were asleep, the fairy mermaid +charmed her golden sword and then she also lay down to rest herself. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 18 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A DASH FOR LIBERTY +</H3> + +<P> +Trot dreamed that she was at home in her own bed, but the night +seemed chilly and she wanted to draw the coverlet up to her chin. +She was not wide awake, but realized that she was cold and unable to +move her arms to cover herself up. She tried, but could not stir. +Then she roused herself a little more and tried again. Yes, it was +cold, very cold! Really, she MUST do something to get warm, she +thought. She opened her eyes and stared at a great wall of ice in +front of her. +</P> + +<P> +She was awake now, and frightened, too. But she could not move +because the ice was all around her. She was frozen inside of it, and +the air space around her was not big enough to allow her to turn +over. +</P> + +<P> +At once the little girl realized what had happened. Their wicked +enemy Zog had by his magic art frozen all the water in their room +while they slept, and now they were all imprisoned and helpless. +Trot and Cap'n Bill were sure to freeze to death in a short time, +for only a tiny air space remained between their bodies and the ice, +and this air was like that of a winter day when the thermometer is +below zero. +</P> + +<P> +Across the room Trot could see the mermaid queen lying on her couch, +for the solid ice was clear as crystal. Aquareine was imprisoned +just as Trot was, and although she held her fairy wand in one hand +and the golden sword in the other, she seemed unable to move either +of them, and the girl remembered that the queen always waved her +magic wand to accomplish anything. Princess Clia's couch was behind +that of Trot, so the child could not see her, and Cap'n Bill was in +his own room, probably frozen fast in the ice as the others were. +</P> + +<P> +The terrible Zog has surely been very clever in this last attempt to +destroy them. Trot thought it all over, and she decided that +inasmuch as the queen was unable to wave her fairy wand, she could +do nothing to release herself or her friends. +</P> + +<P> +But in this the girl was mistaken. The fairy mermaid was even now at +work trying to save them, and in a few minutes Trot was astonished +and delighted to see the queen rise from her couch. She could not go +far from it at first, but the ice was melting rapidly all around her +so that gradually Aquareine approached the place where the child +lay. Trot could hear the mermaid's voice sounding through the ice as +if from afar off, but it grew more distinct until she could make out +that the queen was saying, "Courage, friends! Do not despair, for +soon you will be free." +</P> + +<P> +Before very long the ice between Trot and the queen had melted away +entirely, and with a cry of joy the little girl flopped her pink +tail and swam to the side of her deliverer. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you very cold?" asked Aquareine. +</P> + +<P> +"N-not v-v-very!" replied Trot, but her teeth chattered and she was +still shivering. +</P> + +<P> +"The water will be warm in a few minutes," said the Queen. "But now +I must melt the rest of the ice and liberate Clia." +</P> + +<P> +This she did in an astonishingly brief time, and the pretty +princess, being herself a fairy, had not been at all affected by the +cold surrounding her. +</P> + +<P> +They now swam to the door of Cap'n Bill's room and found the Peony +Chamber a solid block of ice. The queen worked her magic power as +hard as she could, and the ice flowed and melted quickly before her +fairy wand. Yet when they reached the old sailor, he was almost +frozen stiff, and Trot and Clia had to rub his hands and nose and +ears very briskly to warm him up and bring him back to life. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill was pretty tough, and he came around, in time, and opened +his eyes and sneezed and asked if the blizzard was over. So the +queen waved her wand over his head a few times to restore him to his +natural condition of warmth, and soon the old sailor became quite +comfortable and was able to understand all about the strange +adventure from which he had so marvelously escaped. +</P> + +<P> +"I've made up my mind to one thing, Trot," he said confidentially. +"If ever I get out o' this mess I'm in, I won't be an Arctic +explorer, whatever else happens. Shivers an' shakes ain't to my +likin', an' this ice business ain't what it's sometimes cracked up +to be. To be friz once is enough fer anybody, an' if I was a gal +like you, I wouldn't even wear frizzes on my hair." +</P> + +<P> +"You haven't any hair, Cap'n Bill," answered Trot, "so you needn't +worry." +</P> + +<P> +The queen and Clia had been talking together very earnestly. They +now approached their earth friends, and Aquareine said: +</P> + +<P> +"We have decided not to remain in this castle any longer. Zog's +cruel designs upon our lives and happiness are becoming too +dangerous for us to endure. The golden sword now bears a fairy +charm, and by its aid I will cut a way through our enemies. Are you +ready and willing to follow me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course we are!" cried Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"It don't seem 'zactly right to ask a lady to do the fightin'," +remarked Cap'n Bill, "but magic ain't my strong p'int, and it seems +to be yours, ma'am. So swim ahead, and we'll wiggle the same way you +do, an' try to wiggle out of our troubles." +</P> + +<P> +"If I chance to fail," said the Queen, "try not to blame me. I will +do all in my power to provide for our escape, and I am willing to +risk everything, because I well know that to remain here will mean +to perish in the end." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right," said Trot with fine courage. "Let's have it over +with." +</P> + +<P> +"Then we will leave here at once," said Aquareine. +</P> + +<P> +She approached the window of the room and with one blow of her +golden sword shattered the thick pane of glass. The opening thus +made was large enough for them to swim through if they were careful +not to scrape against the broken points of glass. The queen went +first, followed by Trot and Cap'n Bill, with Clia last of all. +</P> + +<P> +And now they were in the vast dome in which the castle and gardens +of Zog had been built. Around them was a clear stretch of water, and +far above—full half a mile distant—was the opening in the roof +guarded by the prince of the sea devils. The mermaid queen had +determined to attack this monster. If she succeeded in destroying it +with her golden sword, the little band of fugitives might then swim +through the opening into the clear waters of the ocean. Although +this prince of the sea devils was said to be big and wise and +mighty, there was but one of him to fight; whereas, if they +attempted to escape through any of the passages, they must encounter +scores of such enemies. +</P> + +<P> +"Swim straight for the opening in the dome!" cried Aquareine, and in +answer to the command, the four whisked their glittering tails, +waved their fins, and shot away through the water at full speed, +their course slanting upward toward the top of the dome. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 19 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +KING ANKO TO THE RESCUE +</H3> + +<P> +The great magician Zog never slept. He was always watchful and +alert. Some strange power warned him that his prisoners were about +to escape. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had the four left the castle by the broken window when the +monster stepped from a doorway below and saw them. Instantly he blew +upon a golden whistle, and at the summons a band of wolf-fish +appeared and dashed after the prisoners. These creatures swam so +swiftly that soon they were between the fugitives and the dome, and +then they turned and with wicked eyes and sharp fangs began a fierce +attack upon the mermaids and the earth dwellers. +</P> + +<P> +Trot was a little frightened at the evil looks of the sea wolves, +whose heads were enormous, and whose jaws contained rows of curved +and pointed teeth. But Aquareine advanced upon them with her golden +sword, and every touch of the charmed weapon instantly killed an +enemy, so that one by one the wolf-fish rolled over upon their backs +and sank helplessly downward through the water, leaving the +prisoners free to continue their way toward the opening in the dome. +</P> + +<P> +Zog witnessed the destruction of his wolves and uttered a loud laugh +that was terrible to hear. Then the dread monster determined to +arrest the fugitives himself, and in order to do this he was forced +to discover himself in all the horror of his awful form, a form he +was so ashamed of and loathed so greatly that he always strove to +keep it concealed, even from his own view. But it was important that +his prisoners should not escape. Hastily casting off the folds of +the robe that enveloped him, Zog allowed his body to uncoil and +shoot upward through the water in swift pursuit of his victims. His +cloven hoofs, upon which he usually walked, being now useless, were +drawn up under him, while coil after coil of his eel-like body +wriggled away like a serpent. At his shoulders two broad, feathery +wings expanded, and these enabled the monster to cleave his way +through the water with terrific force. +</P> + +<P> +Zog was part man, part beast, part fish, part fowl, and part +reptile. His undulating body was broad and thin and like the body of +an eel. It was as repulsive as one could well imagine, and no wonder +Zog hated it and kept it covered with his robe. Now, with his horned +head and its glowing eyes thrust forward, wings flapping from his +shoulders and his eely body—ending in a fish's tail—wriggling far +behind him, this strange and evil creature was a thing of terror +even to the sea dwellers, who were accustomed to remarkable sights. +</P> + +<P> +The mermaids, the sailor and the child, one after another looking +back as they swam toward liberty and safety, saw the monster coming +and shuddered with uncontrollable fear. They were drawing nearer to +the dome by this time, yet it was still some distance away. The four +redoubled their speed, darting through the water with the swiftness +of skyrockets. But fast as they swam, Zog swam faster, and the good +queen's heart began to throb as she realized she would be forced to +fight her loathesome foe. +</P> + +<P> +Presently Zog's long body was circling around them like a whirlwind, +lashing the water into foam and gradually drawing nearer and nearer +to his victims. His eyes were no longer glowing coals, they were +balls of flame, and as he circled around them, he laughed aloud that +horrible laugh which was far more terrifying than any cry of rage +could be. The queen struck out with her golden sword, but Zog +wrapped a coil of his thin body around it and, wrestling it from her +hand, crushed the weapon into a shapeless mass. Then Aquareine waved +her fairy wand, but in a flash the monster sent it flying away +through the water. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill now decided that they were lost. He drew Trot closer to +his side and placed one arm around her. "I can't save you, dear +little mate," he said sadly, "but we've lived a long time together, +an' now we'll die together. I knew, Trot, when first we sawr them +mermaids, as we'd—we'd—" +</P> + +<P> +"Never live to tell the tale," said the child. "But never mind, +Cap'n Bill, we've done the best we could, and we've had a fine +time." +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me! Oh, forgive me!" cried Aquareine despairingly. "I tried +to save you, my poor friends, but—" +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" exclaimed the Princess, pointing upward. They all +looked past Zog's whirling body, which was slowly enveloping them in +its folds, toward the round opening in the dome. A dark object had +appeared there, sliding downward like a huge rope and descending +toward them with lightning rapidly. They gave a great gasp as they +recognized the countenance of King Anko, the sea serpent, its gray +hair and whiskers bristling like those of an angry cat, and the +usually mild blue eyes glowing with a ferocity even more terrifying +than the orbs of Zog. +</P> + +<P> +The magician gave a shrill scream at sight of his dreaded enemy, and +abandoning his intended victims, Zog made a quick dash to escape. +But nothing in the sea could equal the strength and quickness of +King Anko when he was roused. In a flash the sea serpent had caught +Zog fast in his coils, and his mighty body swept round the monster +and imprisoned him tightly. The four, so suddenly rescued, swam away +to a safer distance from the struggle, and then they turned to watch +the encounter between the two great opposing powers of the ocean's +depths. Yet there was no desperate fight to observe, for the +combatants were unequal. The end came before they were aware of it. +Zog had been taken by surprise, and his great fear of Anko destroyed +all of his magic power. When the sea serpent slowly released those +awful coils, a mass of jelly-like pulp floated downward through the +water with no remnant of life remaining in it, no form to show it +had once been Zog, the Magician. +</P> + +<P> +Then Anko shook his body that the water might cleanse it, and +advanced his head toward the group of four whom he had so +opportunely rescued. "It is all over, friends," said he in his +gentle tones, while a mild expression once more reigned on his +comical features. "You may go home at any time you please, for the +way through the dome will be open as soon as I get my own body +through it." +</P> + +<P> +Indeed, so amazing was the length of the great sea serpent that only +a part of him had descended through the hole into the dome. Without +waiting for the thanks of those he had rescued, he swiftly retreated +to the ocean above, and with grateful hearts they followed him, glad +to leave the cavern where they had endured so much anxiety and +danger. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 20 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE HOME OF THE OCEAN MONARCH +</H3> + +<P> +Trot sobbed quietly with her head on Cap'n Bill's shoulder. She had +been a brave little girl during the trying times they had +experienced and never once had she given way to tears, however +desperate their fate had seemed to be. But now that the one enemy in +all the sea to be dreaded was utterly destroyed and all dangers were +past, the reaction was so great that she could not help having "just +one good cry," as she naively expressed it. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill was a big sailor man hardened by age and many adventures, +but even he felt a "Lump in his throat" that he could not swallow, +try as hard as he might. Cap'n Bill was glad. He was mostly glad on +Trot's account, for he loved his sweet, childish companion very +dearly, and did not want any harm to befall her. +</P> + +<P> +They were now in the wide, open sea, with liberty to go wherever +they wished, and if Cap'n Bill could have "had his way," he would +have gone straight home and carried Trot to her mother. But the +mermaids must be considered. Aquareine and Clia had been true and +faithful friends to their earth guests while dangers were +threatening, and it would not be very gracious to leave them at +once. Moreover, King Anko was now with them, his big head keeping +pace with the mermaids as they swam, and this mighty preserver had a +distinct claim upon Trot and Cap'n Bill. The sailor felt that it +would not be polite to ask to go home so soon. +</P> + +<P> +"If you people had come to visit me as I invited you to do," said +the Sea Serpent, "all this bother and trouble would have been saved. +I had my palace put in order to receive the earth dwellers and sat +in my den waiting patiently to receive you. Yet you never came at +all." +</P> + +<P> +"That reminds me," said Trot, drying her eyes, "you never told us +about that third pain you once had." +</P> + +<P> +"Finally," continued Anko, "I sent to inquire as to what had become +of you, and Merla said you had been gone from the palace a long time +and she was getting anxious about you. Then I made inquiries. +Everyone in the sea loves to serve me—except those sea devils and +their cousins, the octopi—and it wasn't long before I heard you had +been captured by Zog." +</P> + +<P> +"Was the third pain as bad as the other two?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Naturally this news disturbed me and made me unhappy," said Anko, +"for I well knew, my Aquareine, that the magician's evil powers were +greater than your own fairy accomplishments. But I had never been +able to find Zog's enchanted castle, and so I was at a loss to know +how to save you from your dreadful fate. After I had wasted a good +deal of time thinking it over, I decided that if the sea devils were +slaves of Zog, the prince of the sea devils must know where the +enchanted castle was located. +</P> + +<P> +"I knew this prince and where to find him, for he always lay on a +hollow rock on the bottom of the sea and never moved from that +position. His people brought food to him and took his commands. So I +had no trouble in finding this evil prince, and I went to him and +asked the way to Zog's castle. Of course, he would not tell me. He +was even cross and disrespectful, just as I had expected him to be, +so I allowed myself to become angry and killed him, thinking he was +much better dead than alive. But after the sea devil was destroyed, +what was my surprise to find that all these years he had been lying +over a round hole in the rock and covering it with his scarlet body! +</P> + +<P> +"A light shone through this hole, so I thrust my head in and found a +great domed cave underneath with a splendid silver castle built at +the bottom. You, my friends, were at that moment swimming toward me +as fast as you could come, and the monster Zog, my enemy for +centuries past, was close behind you. Well, the rest of the story +you know. I would be angry with all of you for so carelessly getting +captured, had the incident not led to the destruction of the one +evil genius in all my ocean. I shall rest easier and be much happier +now that Zog is dead. He has defied me for hundreds of years." +</P> + +<P> +"But about that third pain," said Trot. "If you don't tell us now, +I'm afraid that I'll forget to ask you." +</P> + +<P> +"If you should happen to forget, just remind me of it," said Anko, +"and I'll be sure to tell you." +</P> + +<P> +While Trot was thinking this over, the swimmers drew near to a +great, circular palace made all of solid alabaster polished as +smooth as ivory. Its roof was a vast dome, for domes seemed to be +fashionable in the ocean houses. There were no doors or windows, but +instead of these, several round holes appeared in different parts of +the dome, some being high up and some low down and some in between. +Out of one of these holes, which it just fitted, stretched the long, +brown body of the sea serpent. Trot, being astonished at this sight, +asked, "Didn't you take all of you when you went to the cavern, +Anko?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nearly all, my dear," was the reply, accompanied by a cheerful +smile, for Anko was proud of his great length. "But not quite all. +Some of me remained, as usual, to keep house while my head was away. +But I've been coiling up ever since we started back, and you will +soon be able to see every inch of me all together." +</P> + +<P> +Even as he spoke, his head slid into the round hole, and at a signal +from Aquareine they all paused outside and waited. Presently there +came to them four beautiful winged fishes with faces like doll +babies. Their long hair and eyelashes were of a purple color, and +their cheeks had rosy spots that looked as if they had been painted +upon them. "His Majesty bids you welcome," said one of the doll +fishes in a sweet voice. "Be kind enough to enter the royal palace, +and our ocean monarch will graciously receive you." +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to me," said Trot to the queen, "these things are putting on +airs. Perhaps they don't know we're friends of Anko." +</P> + +<P> +"The king insists on certain formalities when anyone visits him," +was Aquareine's reply. "It is right that his dignity should be +maintained." +</P> + +<P> +They followed their winged conductors to one of the upper openings, +and as they entered it Aquareine said in a clear voice, "May the +glory and power of the ocean king continue forever!" Then she +touched the palm of her hand to her forehead in token of allegiance, +and Clia did the same, so Cap'n Bill and Trot followed suit. The +brief ceremony being ended, the child looked curiously around to see +what the palace of the mighty Anko was like. +</P> + +<P> +An extensive hall lined with alabaster was before them. In the floor +were five of the round holes. Upon the walls were engraved many +interesting scenes of ocean life, all chiseled very artistically by +the tusks of walruses who, Trot was afterward informed, are greatly +skilled in such work. A few handsome rugs of woven sea grasses were +spread upon the floor, but otherwise the vast hall was bare of +furniture. The doll-faced fishes escorted them to an upper room +where a table was set, and here the revelers were invited to refresh +themselves. As all four were exceedingly hungry, they welcomed the +repast, which was served by an army of lobsters in royal purple +aprons and caps. +</P> + +<P> +The meal being finished, they again descended to the hall, which +seemed to occupy all the middle of the building. And now their +conductors said, "His Majesty is ready to receive you in his den." +</P> + +<P> +They swam downward through one of the round holes in the floor and +found themselves in a brilliantly lighted chamber which appeared +bigger than all the rest of the palace put together. In the center +was the quaint head of King Anko, and around it was spread a great +coverlet of purple and gold woven together. This concealed all of +his body and stretched from wall to wall of the circular room. +"Welcome, friends!" said Anko pleasantly. "How do you like my home?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's very grand," replied Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Just the place for a sea serpent, seems to me," said Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad you admire it," said the King. "Perhaps I ought to tell +you that from this day you four belong to me." +</P> + +<P> +"How's that?" asked the girl, surprised. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a law of the ocean," declared Anko, "that whoever saves any +living creature from violent death owns that creature forever +afterward, while life lasts. You will realize how just this law is +when you remember that had I not saved you from Zog, you would now +be dead. The law was suggested by Captain Kid Glove, when he once +visited me." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean Captain Kidd?" asked Trot. "Because if you do—" +</P> + +<P> +"Give him his full name," said Anko. "Captain Kid Glove was—" +</P> + +<P> +"There's no glove to it," protested Trot. "I ought to know, 'cause +I've read about him." +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't it say anything about a glove?" asked Anko. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing at all. It jus' called him Cap'n Kidd," replied Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"She's right, ol' man," added Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"Books," said the Sea Serpent, "are good enough as far as they go, +but it seems to me your earth books don't go far enough. Captain Kid +Glove was a gentleman pirate, a kid-glove pirate. To leave off the +glove and call him just Kidd is very disrespectful." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! You told me to remind you of that third pain," said the little +girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Which proves my friendship for you," returned the Sea Serpent, +blinking his blue eyes thoughtfully. "No one likes to be reminded of +a pain, and that third pain was—was—" +</P> + +<P> +"What was it?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"It was a stomach ache," replied the King with a sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"What made it?" she inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Just my carelessness," said Anko. "I'd been away to foreign parts, +seeing how the earth people were getting along. I found the Germans +dancing the german and the Dutch making dutch cheese and the +Belgians combing their belgian hares and the Turks eating turkey and +the Sardinians sardonically pickling sardines. Then I called on the +Prince of Whales, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean the Prince of Wales," corrected Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean what I say, my dear. I saw the battlefield where the Bull +Run but the Americans didn't, and when I got to France I paid a +napoleon to see Napoleon with his boney apart. He was—" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course you mean—" Trot was beginning, but the king would not +give her a chance to correct him this time. +</P> + +<P> +"He was very hungry for Hungary," he continued, "and was Russian so +fast toward the Poles that I thought he'd discover them. So as I was +not accorded a royal welcome, I took French leave and came home +again." +</P> + +<P> +"But the pain—" +</P> + +<P> +"On the way home," continued Anko calmly, "I was a little +absent-minded and ate an anchor. There was a long chain attached to +it, and as I continued to swallow the anchor I continued to eat the +chain. I never realized what I had done until I found a ship on the +other end of the chain. Then I bit it off." +</P> + +<P> +"The ship?" asked Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"No, the chain. I didn't care for the ship, as I saw it contained +some skippers. On the way home the chain and anchor began to lie +heavily on my stomach. I didn't seem to digest them properly, and by +the time I got to my palace, where you will notice there is no +throne, I was thrown into throes of severe pain. So I at once sent +for Dr. Shark—" +</P> + +<P> +"Are all your doctors sharks?" asked the child. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, aren't your doctors sharks?" he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Not all of them," said Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"That is true," remarked Cap'n Bill. "But when you talk of +lawyers—" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not talking of lawyers," said Anko reprovingly. "I'm talking +about my pain. I don't imagine anyone could suffer more than I did +with that stomach ache." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you suffer long?" inquired Trot. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, about seven thousand four hundred and eighty-two feet and—" +</P> + +<P> +"I mean a long time." +</P> + +<P> +"It seemed like a long time," answered the King. "Dr. Shark said I +ought to put a mustard poultice on my stomach, so I uncoiled myself +and summoned my servants, and they began putting on the mustard +plaster. It had to be bound all around me so it wouldn't slip off, +and I began to look like an express package. In about four weeks +fully one-half of the pain had been covered by the mustard poultice, +which got so hot that it hurt me worse than the stomach ache did." +</P> + +<P> +"I know," said Trot. "I had one, once." +</P> + +<P> +"One what?" asked Anko. +</P> + +<P> +"A mustard plaster. They smart pretty bad, but I guess they're a +good thing." +</P> + +<P> +"I got myself unwrapped as soon as I could," continued the King, +"and then I hunted for the doctor, who hid himself until my anger +had subsided. He has never sent in a bill, so I think he must be +terribly ashamed of himself." +</P> + +<P> +"You're lucky, sir, to have escaped so easy," said Cap'n Bill. "But +you seem pretty well now." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I'm more careful of what I eat," replied the Sea Serpent. "But +I was saying when Trot interrupted me, that you all belong to me, +because I have saved your lives. By the law of the ocean, you must +obey me in everything." +</P> + +<P> +The sailor scowled a little at hearing this, but Trot laughed and +said, "The law of the ocean isn't OUR law, 'cause we live on land." +</P> + +<P> +"Just now you are living in the ocean," declared Anko, "and as long +as you live here, you must obey my commands." +</P> + +<P> +"What are your commands?" inquired the child. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, that's the point I was coming to," returned the King with his +comical smile. "The ocean is a beautiful place, and we who belong +here love it dearly. In many ways it's a nicer place for a home than +the earth, for we have no sunstroke, mosquitoes, earthquakes or +candy ships to bother us. But I am convinced that the ocean is no +proper dwelling place for earth people, and I believe the mermaids +did an unwise thing when they invited you to visit them." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't," protested the girl. "We've had a fine time, haven't we, +Cap'n Bill?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's been diff'rent from what I expected," admitted the +sailor. +</P> + +<P> +"Our only thought was to give the earth people pleasure, your +Majesty," pleaded Aquareine. +</P> + +<P> +"I know, I know, my dear Queen, and it was very good of you," +replied Anko. "But still it was an unwise act, for earth people are +as constantly in danger under water as we would be upon the land. So +having won the right to command you all, I order you to take little +Mayre and Cap'n Bill straight home, and there restore them to their +natural forms. It's a dreadful condition, I know, and they must each +have two stumbling legs instead of a strong, beautiful fish tail, +but it is the fate of earth dwellers, and they cannot escape it." +</P> + +<P> +"In my case, your Majesty, make it ONE leg," suggested Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah yes, I remember. One leg and a wooden stick to keep it company. +I issue this order, dear friends, not because I am not fond of your +society, but to keep you from getting into more trouble in a country +where all is strange and unnatural to you. Am I right, or do you +think I am wrong?" +</P> + +<P> +"You're quite correct, sir," said Cap'n Bill, nodding his head in +approval. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm ready to go home," said Trot. "But in spite of Zog, I've +enjoyed my visit, and I shall always love the mermaids for being so +good to me." That speech pleased Aquareine and Clia, who smiled upon +the child and kissed her affectionately. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall escort you home at once," announced the Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"But before you go," said King Anko, "I will give you a rare treat. +It is one you will remember as long as you live. You shall see every +inch of the mightiest sea serpent in the world, all at one time!" +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, the purple and gold cloth was lifted by unseen hands +and disappeared from view. And now Cap'n Bill and Trot looked down +upon thousands and thousands of coils of the sea serpent's body, +which filled all of the space at the bottom of the immense circular +room. It reminded them of a great coil of garden hose, only it was +so much bigger around and very much longer. +</P> + +<P> +Except for the astonishing size of the Ocean King, the sight was not +an especially interesting one, but they told old Anko that they were +pleased to see him, because it was evident he was very fond of his +figure. Then the cloth descended again and covered all but the head, +after which they bade the king goodbye and thanked him for all his +kindness to them. +</P> + +<P> +"I used to think sea serpents were horrid creatures," said Trot, +"but now I know they are good and—and—and—" +</P> + +<P> +"And big," added Cap'n Bill, realizing his little friend could not +find another word that was complimentary. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 21 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +KING JOE +</H3> + +<P> +As they swam out of Anko's palace and the doll-faced fishes left +them, Aquareine asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Would you rather go back to our mermaid home for a time and rest +yourselves or would you prefer to start for Giant's Cave at once?" +</P> + +<P> +"I guess we'd better go back home," decided Trot. "To our own home, +I mean. We've been away quite a while, and King Anko seemed to think +it was best." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," replied the Queen. "Let us turn in this direction, +then." +</P> + +<P> +"You can say goodbye to Merla for us," continued Trot. "She was very +nice to us, an' 'specially to Cap'n Bill." +</P> + +<P> +"So she was, mate," agreed the sailor, "an' a prettier lady I never +knew, even if she is a mermaid, beggin' your pardon, ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +"Are we going anywhere near Zog's castle?" asked the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Our way leads directly past the opening in the dome," said +Aquareine. +</P> + +<P> +"Then let's stop and see what Sacho and the others are doing," +suggested Trot. "They can't be slaves any longer, you know, 'cause +they haven't any master. I wonder if they're any happier than they +were before?" +</P> + +<P> +"They seemed to be pretty happy as it was," remarked Cap'n Bill. +</P> + +<P> +"It will do no harm to pay them a brief visit," said Princess Clia. +"All danger disappeared from the cavern with the destruction of +Zog." +</P> + +<P> +"I really ought to say goodbye to Brother Joe," observed the sailor +man. "I won't see him again, you know, and I don't want to seem +unbrotherly." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," said the Queen, "we will reenter the cavern, for I, +too, am anxious to know what will be the fate of the poor slaves of +the magician." +</P> + +<P> +When they came to the hole in the top of the dome, they dropped +through it and swam leisurely down toward the castle. The water was +clear and undisturbed and the silver castle looked very quiet and +peaceful under the radiant light that still filled the cavern. They +met no one at all, and passing around to the front of the building, +they reached the broad entrance and passed into the golden hall. +</P> + +<P> +Here a strange scene met their eyes. All the slaves of Zog, hundreds +in number, were assembled in the room, while standing before the +throne formerly occupied by the wicked magician was the boy Sacho, +who was just beginning to make a speech to his fellow slaves. "At +one time or another," he said, "all of us were born upon the earth +and lived in the thin air, but now we are all living as the fishes +live, and our home is in the water of the ocean. One by one we have +come to this place, having been saved from drowning by Zog, the +Magician, and by him given power to exist in comfort under water. +The powerful master who made us his slaves has now passed away +forever, but we continue to live, and are unable to return to our +native land, where we would quickly perish. There is no one but us +to inherit Zog's possessions, and so it will be best for us to +remain in this fine castle and occupy ourselves as we have done +before, in providing for the comforts of the community. Only in +labor is happiness to be found, and we may as well labor for +ourselves as for others. +</P> + +<P> +"But we must have a king. Not an evil, cruel master like Zog, but +one who will maintain order and issue laws for the benefit of all. +We will govern ourselves most happily by having a ruler, or head, +selected from among ourselves by popular vote. Therefore I ask you +to decide who shall be our king, for only one who is accepted by all +can sit in Zog's throne." +</P> + +<P> +The slaves applauded this speech, but they seemed puzzled to make +the choice of a ruler. Finally the chief cook came forward and said, +"We all have our duties to perform and so cannot spend the time to +be king. But you, Sacho, who were Zog's own attendant, have now no +duties at all. So it will be best for you to rule us. What say you, +comrades? Shall we make Sacho king?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes!" they all cried. +</P> + +<P> +"But I do not wish to be king," replied Sacho. "A king is a useless +sort of person who merely issues orders for others to carry out. I +want to be busy and useful. Whoever is king will need a good +attendant as well as an officer who will see that his commands are +obeyed. I am used to such duties, having served Zog in this same +way." +</P> + +<P> +"Who, then, has the time to rule over us?" asked Agga-Groo, the +goldsmith. +</P> + +<P> +"It seems to me that Cap'n Joe is the proper person for king," +replied Sacho. "His former duty was to sew buttons on Zog's +garments, so now he is out of a job and has plenty of time to be +king, for he can sew on his own buttons. What do you say, Cap'n +Joe?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I don't mind," agreed Cap'n Joe. "That is, if you all want me +to rule you." +</P> + +<P> +"We do!" shouted the slaves, glad to find someone willing to take +the job. +</P> + +<P> +"But I'll want a few pointers," continued Cap'n Bill's brother. "I +ain't used to this sort o' work, you know, an' if I ain't properly +posted I'm liable to make mistakes." +</P> + +<P> +"Sacho will tell you," said Tom Atto encouragingly. "And now I must +go back to the kitchen and look after my dumplings, or you people +won't have any dinner today." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," announced Sacho. "I hereby proclaim Cap'n Joe elected +King of the Castle, which is the Enchanted Castle no longer. You may +all return to your work." +</P> + +<P> +The slaves went away well contented, and the boy and Cap'n Joe now +came forward to greet their visitors. "We're on our way home," +explained Cap'n Bill, "an' we don't expec' to travel this way again. +But it pleases me to know, Joe, that you're the king o' such a fine +castle, an' I'll rest easier now that you're well pervided for." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm all right, Bill," returned Cap'n Joe. "It's an easy life +here, an' a peaceful one. I wish you were as well fixed." +</P> + +<P> +"If ever you need friends, Sacho, or any assistance or counsel, come +to me," said the Mermaid Queen to the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, madam," he replied. "Now that Zog has gone, I am sure we +shall be very safe and contented. But I shall not forget to come to +you if we need you. We are not going to waste any time in anger or +revenge or evil deeds, so I believe we shall prosper from now on." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure you will," declared Trot. +</P> + +<P> +They now decided that they must continue their journey, and as +neither Sacho nor King Joe could ascend to the top of the dome +without swimming in the human way, which was slow and tedious work +for them, the goodbyes were said at the castle entrance, and the +four visitors started on their return. Trot took one last view of +the beautiful silver castle from the hole high up in the dome, which +was now open and unguarded, and the next moment she was in the broad +ocean again, swimming toward home beside her mermaid friends. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER 22 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TROT LIVES TO TELL THE TALE +</H3> + +<P> +Aquareine was thoughtful for a time. Then she drew from her finger a +ring, a plain gold band set with a pearl of great value, and gave it +to the little girl. +</P> + +<P> +"If at any period of your life the mermaids can be of service to +you, my dear," she said, "you have but to come to the edge of the +ocean and call 'Aquareine.' If you are wearing the ring at the time, +I shall instantly hear you and come to your assistance." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you!" cried the child, slipping the ring over her own chubby +finger, which it fitted perfectly. "I shall never forget that I have +good and loyal friends in the ocean, you may be sure." +</P> + +<P> +Away and away they swam, swiftly and in a straight line, keeping in +the middle water where they were not liable to meet many sea people. +They passed a few schools of fishes, where the teachers were +explaining to the young ones how to swim properly, and to conduct +themselves in a dignified manner, but Trot did not care to stop and +watch the exercises. +</P> + +<P> +Although the queen had lost her fairy wand in Zog's domed chamber, +she had still enough magic power to carry them all across the ocean +in wonderfully quick time, and before Trot and Cap'n Bill were aware +of the distance they had come, the mermaids paused while Princess +Clia said: +</P> + +<P> +"Now we must go a little deeper, for here is the Giant's Cave and +the entrance to it is near the bottom of the sea." +</P> + +<P> +"What, already?" cried the girl joyfully, and then through the dark +water they swam, passing through the rocky entrance, and began to +ascend slowly into the azure-blue water of the cave. +</P> + +<P> +"You've been awfully good to us, and I don't know jus' how to thank +you," said Trot earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"We have enjoyed your visit to us," said beautiful Queen Aquareine, +smiling upon her little friend, "and you may easily repay any +pleasure we have given you by speaking well of the mermaids when you +hear ignorant earth people condemning us." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do that, of course," exclaimed the child. +</P> + +<P> +"How about changin' us back to our reg'lar shapes?" inquired Cap'n +Bill anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"That will be very easy," replied Princess Clia with her merry +laugh. "See! Here we are at the surface of the water." +</P> + +<P> +They pushed their heads above the blue water and looked around the +cave. It was silent and deserted. Floating gently near the spot +where they had left it was their own little boat. Cap'n Bill swam to +it, took hold of the side, and then turned an inquiring face toward +the mermaids. "Climb in," said the Queen. So he pulled himself up +and awkwardly tumbled forward into the boat. As he did so, he heard +his wooden leg clatter against the seat, and turned around to look +at it wonderingly. +</P> + +<P> +"It's me, all right!" he muttered. "One meat one, an' one hick'ry +one. That's the same as belongs to me!" +</P> + +<P> +"Will you lift Mayre aboard?" asked Princess Clia. +</P> + +<P> +The old sailor aroused himself, and as Trot lifted up her arms, he +seized them and drew her safely into the boat. She was dressed just +as usual, and her chubby legs wore shoes and stockings. Strangely +enough, neither of them were at all wet or even damp in any part of +their clothing. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder where our legs have been while we've been gone?" mused +Cap'n Bill, gazing at his little friend in great delight. +</P> + +<P> +"And I wonder what's become of our pretty pink and green scaled +tails!" returned the girl, laughing with glee, for it seemed good to +be herself again. +</P> + +<P> +Queen Aquareine and Princess Clia were a little way off, lying with +their pretty faces just out of the water while their hair floated in +soft clouds around them. +</P> + +<P> +"Goodbye, friends!" they called. +</P> + +<P> +"Goodbye!" shouted both Trot and Cap'n Bill, and the little girl +blew two kisses from her fingers toward the mermaids. +</P> + +<P> +Then the faces disappeared, leaving little ripples on the surface of +the water. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Bill picked up the oars and slowly headed the boat toward the +mouth of the cave. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder, Trot, if your ma has missed us," he remarked uneasily. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course not," replied the girl. "She's been sound asleep, you +know." +</P> + +<P> +As the boat crept out into the bright sunlight, they were both +silent, but each sighed with pleasure at beholding their own +everyday world again. +</P> + +<P> +Finally Trot said softly, "The land's the best, Cap'n." +</P> + +<P> +"It is, mate, for livin' on," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"But I'm glad to have seen the mermaids," she added.. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, so'm I, Trot," he agreed. "But I wouldn't 'a' believed any +mortal could ever 'a' seen 'em an'—an'—" +</P> + +<P> +Trot laughed merrily. +</P> + +<P> +"An' lived to tell the tale!" she cried, her eyes dancing with +mischief. "Oh, Cap'n Bill, how little we mortals know!" +</P> + +<P> +"True enough, mate," he replied, "but we're a-learnin' something +ev'ry day." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sea Fairies, by L. 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Frank Baum + +Posting Date: July 26, 2009 [EBook #4358] +Release Date: August, 2003 +First Posted: January 14, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEA FAIRIES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + +TO JUDITH OF RANDOLPH MASSACHUSETTS + + + + +THE SEA FAIRIES + +BY L. FRANK BAUM + +AUTHOR OF THE EMERALD CITY OF OZ, DOROTHY AND THE +WIZARD IN OZ, OZMA OF OZ, THE ROAD TO OZ, +THE LAND OF OZ, ETC. + + +ILLUSTRATED BY +JOHN R. NEILL + + + + + +THE oceans are big and broad. I believe two-thirds of the +earth's surface is covered with water. What people inhabit +this water has always been a subject of curiosity to the +inhabitants of the land. Strange creatures come from the seas +at times, and perhaps in the ocean depths are many, more strange +than mortal eye has ever gazed upon. + +This story is fanciful. In it the sea people talk and act +much as we do, and the mermaids especially are not unlike the +fairies with whom we have learned to be familiar. Yet they +are real sea people, for all that, and with the exception of Zog +the Magician they are all supposed to exist in the ocean's depths. + +I am told that some very learned people deny that mermaids +or sea-serpents have ever inhabited the oceans, but it would be +very difficult for them to prove such an assertion unless they had +lived under the water as Trot and Cap'n Bill did in this story. + +I hope my readers who have so long followed Dorothy's +adventures in the Land of Oz will be interested in Trot's equally +strange experiences. The ocean has always appealed to me as +a veritable wonderland, and this story has been suggested to me +many times by my young correspondents in their letters. Indeed, +a good many children have implored me to "write something +about the mermaids," and I have willingly granted the request. + +Hollywood, 1911. + +L. FRANK BAUM. + + + + +LIST OF CHAPTERS + +CHAPTER + + 1 TROT AND CAP'N BILL + 2 THE MERMAIDS + 3 THE DEPTHS OF THE DEEP BLUE SEA + 4 THE PALACE OF QUEEN AQUAREINE + 5 THE SEA-SERPENT + 6 EXPLORING THE OCEAN + 7 THE ARISTOCRATIC CODFISH + 8 A BANQUET UNDER WATER + 9 THE BASHFUL OCTOPUS + 10 THE UNDISCOVERED ISLAND + 11 ZOG THE TERRIBLE AND HIS SEA DEVILS + 12 THE ENCHANTED ISLAND + 13 PRISONERS OF THE SEA MONSTER + 14 CAP'N JOE AND CAP'N BILL + 15 THE MAGIC OF THE MERMAIDS + 16 THE TOP OF THE GREAT DOME + 17 THE QUEEN'S GOLDEN SWORD + 18 A DASH FOR LIBERTY + 19 KING ANKO TO THE RESCUE + 20 THE HOME OF THE OCEAN MONARCH + 21 KING JOE + 22 TROT LIVES TO TELL THE TALE + + + + +CHAPTER 1 + +TROT AND CAP'N BILL + + +"Nobody," said Cap'n Bill solemnly, "ever sawr a mermaid an' lived +to tell the tale." + +"Why not?" asked Trot, looking earnestly up into the old sailor's +face. + +They were seated on a bench built around a giant acacia tree that +grew just at the edge of the bluff. Below them rolled the blue waves +of the great Pacific. A little way behind them was the house, a neat +frame cottage painted white and surrounded by huge eucalyptus and +pepper trees. Still farther behind that--a quarter of a mile distant +but built upon a bend of the coast--was the village, overlooking a +pretty bay. + +Cap'n Bill and Trot came often to this tree to sit and watch the +ocean below them. The sailor man had one "meat leg" and one "hickory +leg," and he often said the wooden one was the best of the two. Once +Cap'n Bill had commanded and owned the "Anemone," a trading schooner +that plied along the coast; and in those days Charlie Griffiths, who +was Trot's father, had been the Captain's mate. But ever since Cap'n +Bill's accident, when he lost his leg, Charlie Griffiths had been +the captain of the little schooner while his old master lived +peacefully ashore with the Griffiths family. + +This was about the time Trot was born, and the old sailor became +very fond of the baby girl. Her real name was Mayre, but when she +grew big enough to walk, she took so many busy little steps every +day that both her mother and Cap'n Bill nicknamed her "Trot," and so +she was thereafter mostly called. + +It was the old sailor who taught the child to love the sea, to love +it almost as much as he and her father did, and these two, who +represented the "beginning and the end of life," became firm friends +and constant companions. + +"Why hasn't anybody seen a mermaid and lived?" asked Trot again. + +"'Cause mermaids is fairies, an' ain't meant to be seen by us mortal +folk," replied Cap'n Bill. + +"But if anyone happens to see 'em, what then, Cap'n?" + +"Then," he answered, slowly wagging his head, "the mermaids give 'em +a smile an' a wink, an' they dive into the water an' gets drownded." + +"S'pose they knew how to swim, Cap'n Bill?" + +"That don't make any diff'rence, Trot. The mermaids live deep down, +an' the poor mortals never come up again." + +The little girl was thoughtful for a moment. "But why do folks dive +in the water when the mermaids smile an' wink?" she asked. + +"Mermaids," he said gravely, "is the most beautiful creatures in the +world--or the water, either. You know what they're like, Trot, +they's got a lovely lady's form down to the waist, an' then the +other half of 'em's a fish, with green an' purple an' pink scales +all down it." + +"Have they got arms, Cap'n Bill?" + +"'Course, Trot; arms like any other lady. An' pretty faces that +smile an' look mighty sweet an' fetchin'. Their hair is long an' +soft an' silky, an' floats all around 'em in the water. When they +comes up atop the waves, they wring the water out'n their hair and +sing songs that go right to your heart. If anybody is unlucky enough +to be 'round jes' then, the beauty o' them mermaids an' their sweet +songs charm 'em like magic; so's they plunge into the waves to get +to the mermaids. But the mermaids haven't any hearts, Trot, no +more'n a fish has; so they laughs when the poor people drown an' +don't care a fig. That's why I says, an' I says it true, that nobody +never sawr a mermaid an' lived to tell the tale." + +"Nobody?" asked Trot. + +"Nobody a tall." + +"Then how do you know, Cap'n Bill?" asked the little girl, looking +up into his face with big, round eyes. + +Cap'n Bill coughed. Then he tried to sneeze, to gain time. Then he +took out his red cotton handkerchief and wiped his bald head with +it, rubbing hard so as to make him think clearer. "Look, Trot; ain't +that a brig out there?" he inquired, pointing to a sail far out in +the sea. + +"How does anybody know about mermaids if those who have seen them +never lived to tell about them?" she asked again. + +"Know what about 'em, Trot?" + +"About their green and pink scales and pretty songs and wet hair." + +"They don't know, I guess. But mermaids jes' natcherly has to be +like that, or they wouldn't be mermaids." + +She thought this over. "Somebody MUST have lived, Cap'n Bill," she +declared positively. "Other fairies have been seen by mortals; why +not mermaids?" + +"P'raps they have, Trot, p'raps they have," he answered musingly. +"I'm tellin' you as it was told to me, but I never stopped to +inquire into the matter so close before. Seems like folks wouldn't +know so much about mermaids if they hadn't seen 'em; an' yet +accordin' to all accounts the victim is bound to get drownded." + +"P'raps," suggested Trot softly, "someone found a fotygraph of one +of 'em." + +"That might o' been, Trot, that might o' been," answered Cap'n Bill. + +A nice man was Cap'n Bill, and Trot knew he always liked to explain +everything so she could fully understand it. The aged sailor was not +a very tall man, and some people might have called him chubby, or +even fat. He wore a blue sailor shirt with white anchors worked on +the corners of the broad, square collar, and his blue trousers were +very wide at the bottom. He always wore one trouser leg over his +wooden limb and sometimes it would flutter in the wind like a flag +because it was so wide and the wooden leg so slender. His rough +kersey coat was a pea-jacket and came down to his waistline. In the +big pockets of his jacket he kept a wonderful jackknife, and his +pipe and tobacco, and many bits of string, and matches and keys and +lots of other things. Whenever Cap'n Bill thrust a chubby hand into +one of his pockets, Trot watched him with breathless interest, for +she never knew what he was going to pull out. + +The old sailor's face was brown as a berry. He had a fringe of hair +around the back of his head and a fringe of whisker around the edge +of his face, running from ear to ear and underneath his chin. His +eyes were light blue and kind in expression. His nose was big and +broad, and his few teeth were not strong enough to crack nuts with. + +Trot liked Cap'n Bill and had a great deal of confidence in his +wisdom, and a great admiration for his ability to make tops and +whistles and toys with that marvelous jackknife of his. In the +village were many boys and girls of her own age, but she never had +as much fun playing with them as she had wandering by the sea +accompanied by the old sailor and listening to his fascinating +stories. + +She knew all about the Flying Dutchman, and Davy Jones' Locker, and +Captain Kidd, and how to harpoon a whale or dodge an iceberg or +lasso a seal. Cap'n Bill had been everywhere in the world, almost, +on his many voyages. He had been wrecked on desert islands like +Robinson Crusoe and been attacked by cannibals, and had a host of +other exciting adventures. So he was a delightful comrade for the +little girl, and whatever Cap'n Bill knew Trot was sure to know in +time. + +"How do the mermaids live?" she asked. "Are they in caves, or just +in the water like fishes, or how?" + +"Can't say, Trot," he replied. "I've asked divers about that, but +none of 'em ever run acrost a mermaid's nest yet, as I've heard of." + +"If they're fairies," she said, "their homes must be very pretty." + +"Mebbe so, Trot, but damp. They are sure to be damp, you know." + +"I'd like to see a mermaid, Cap'n Bill," said the child earnestly. + +"What, an' git drownded?" he exclaimed. + +"No, and live to tell the tale. If they're beautiful, and laughing, +and sweet, there can't be much harm in them, I'm sure." + +"Mermaids is mermaids," remarked Cap'n Bill in his most solemn +voice. "It wouldn't do us any good to mix up with 'em, Trot." + +"May-re! May-re!" called a voice from the house. + +"Yes, Mamma!" + +"You an' Cap'n Bill come in to supper." + + + + +CHAPTER 2 + +THE MERMAIDS + + +The next morning, as soon as Trot had helped wipe the breakfast +dishes and put them away in the cupboard, the little girl and Cap'n +Bill started out toward the bluff. The air was soft and warm and the +sun turned the edges of the waves into sparkling diamonds. Across +the bay the last of the fisherboats was speeding away out to sea, +for well the fishermen knew this was an ideal day to catch rockbass, +barracuda and yellowtail. + +The old man and the young girl stood on the bluff and watched all +this with interest. Here was their world. "It isn't a bit rough this +morning. Let's have a boat ride, Cap'n Bill," said the child. + +"Suits me to a T," declared the sailor. So they found the winding +path that led down the face of the cliff to the narrow beach below +and cautiously began the descent. Trot never minded the steep path +or the loose rocks at all, but Cap'n Bill's wooden leg was not so +useful on a downgrade as on a level, and he had to be careful not to +slip and take a tumble. + +But by and by they reached the sands and walked to a spot just +beneath the big acacia tree that grew on the bluff. Halfway to the +top of the cliff hung suspended a little shed-like structure that +sheltered Trot's rowboat, for it was necessary to pull the boat out +of reach of the waves which beat in fury against the rocks at high +tide. About as high up as Cap'n Bill could reach was an iron ring +securely fastened to the cliff, and to this ring was tied a rope. +The old sailor unfastened the knot and began paying out the rope, +and the rowboat came out of its shed and glided slowly downward to +the beach. It hung on a pair of davits and was lowered just as a +boat is lowered from a ship's side. When it reached the sands, the +sailor unhooked the ropes and pushed the boat to the water's edge. +It was a pretty little craft, light and strong, and Cap'n Bill knew +how to sail it or row it, as Trot might desire. + +Today they decided to row, so the girl climbed into the bow and her +companion stuck his wooden leg into the water's edge "so he wouldn't +get his foot wet" and pushed off the little boat as he climbed +aboard. Then he seized the oars and began gently paddling. + +"Whither away, Commodore Trot?" he asked gaily. + +"I don't care, Cap'n. It's just fun enough to be on the water," she +answered, trailing one hand overboard. So he rowed around by the +North Promontory, where the great caves were, and much as they were +enjoying the ride, they soon began to feel the heat of the sun. + +"That's Dead Man's Cave, 'cause a skellington was found there," +observed the child as they passed a dark, yawning mouth in the +cliff. "And that's Bumble Cave, 'cause the bumblebees make nests in +the top of it. And here's Smuggler's Cave, 'cause the smugglers used +to hide things in it." + +She knew all the caves well, and so did Cap'n Bill. Many of them +opened just at the water's edge, and it was possible to row their +boat far into their dusky depths. + +"And here's Echo Cave," she continued, dreamily, as they slowly +moved along the coast, "and Giant's Cave, and--oh, Cap'n Bill! Do +you s'pose there were ever any giants in that cave?" + +"'Pears like there must o' been, Trot, or they wouldn't o' named it +that name," he replied, pausing to wipe his bald head with the red +handkerchief while the oars dragged in the water. + +"We've never been into that cave, Cap'n," she remarked, looking at +the small hole in the cliff--an archway through which the water +flowed. "Let's go in now." + +"What for, Trot?" + +"To see if there's a giant there." + +"Hm. Aren't you 'fraid?" + +"No, are you? I just don't b'lieve it's big enough for a giant to +get into." + +"Your father was in there once," remarked Cap'n Bill, "an' he says +it's the biggest cave on the coast, but low down. It's full o' +water, an' the water's deep down to the very bottom o' the ocean; +but the rock roof's liable to bump your head at high tide ." + +"It's low tide now," returned Trot. "And how could any giant live in +there if the roof is so low down?" + +"Why, he couldn't, mate. I reckon they must have called it Giant's +Cave 'cause it's so big, an' not 'cause any giant man lived there." + +"Let's go in," said the girl again. "I'd like to 'splore it." + +"All right," replied the sailor. "It'll be cooler in there than out +here in the sun. We won't go very far, for when the tide turns we +mightn't get out again." He picked up the oars and rowed slowly +toward the cave. The black archway that marked its entrance seemed +hardly big enough to admit the boat at first, but as they drew +nearer, the opening became bigger. The sea was very calm here, for +the headland shielded it from the breeze. + +"Look out fer your head, Trot!" cautioned Cap'n Bill as the boat +glided slowly into the rocky arch. But it was the sailor who had to +duck, instead of the little girl. Only for a moment, though. Just +beyond the opening the cave was higher, and as the boat floated into +the dim interior they found themselves on quite an extensive branch +of the sea. For a time neither of them spoke and only the soft +lapping of the water against the sides of the boat was heard. A +beautiful sight met the eyes of the two adventurers and held them +dumb with wonder and delight. + +It was not dark in this vast cave, yet the light seemed to come from +underneath the water, which all around them glowed with an exquisite +sapphire color. Where the little waves crept up the sides of the +rocks they shone like brilliant jewels, and every drop of spray +seemed a gem fit to deck a queen. Trot leaned her chin on her hands +and her elbows on her lap and gazed at this charming sight with real +enjoyment. Cap'n Bill drew in the oars and let the boat drift where +it would while he also sat silently admiring the scene. + +Slowly the little craft crept farther and farther into the dim +interior of the vast cavern, while its two passengers feasted their +eyes on the beauties constantly revealed. Both the old seaman and +the little girl loved the ocean in all its various moods. To them it +was a constant companion and a genial comrade. If it stormed and +raved, they laughed with glee; if it rolled great breakers against +the shore, they clapped their hands joyfully; if it lay slumbering +at their feet, they petted and caressed it, but always they loved +it. + +Here was the ocean yet. It had crept under the dome of overhanging +rock to reveal itself crowned with sapphires and dressed in azure +gown, revealing in this guise new and unexpected charms. "Good +morning, Mayre," said a sweet voice. + +Trot gave a start and looked around her in wonder. Just beside her +in the water were little eddies--circles within circles--such as are +caused when anything sinks below the surface. "Did--did you hear +that, Cap'n Bill?" she whispered solemnly. + +Cap'n Bill did not answer. He was staring with eyes that fairly +bulged out at a place behind Trot's back, and he shook a little, as +if trembling from cold. Trot turned half around, and then she +stared, too. Rising from the blue water was a fair face around which +floated a mass of long, blonde hair. It was a sweet, girlish face +with eyes of the same deep blue as the water and red lips whose +dainty smile disposed two rows of pearly teeth. The cheeks were +plump and rosy, the brows gracefully penciled, while the chin was +rounded and had a pretty dimple in it. + +"The most beauti-ful-est in all the world," murmured Cap'n Bill in a +voice of horror, "an' no one has ever lived to--to tell the tale!" + +There was a peal of merry laughter at this, laughter that rippled +and echoed throughout the cavern. Just at Trot's side appeared a new +face even fairer than the other, with a wealth of brown hair +wreathing the lovely features. And the eyes smiled kindly into those +of the child. "Are you a--a mermaid?" asked Trot curiously. She was +not a bit afraid. They seemed both gentle and friendly. + +"Yes, dear," was the soft answer. + +"We are all mermaids!" chimed a laughing chorus, and here and there, +all about the boat, appeared pretty faces lying just upon the +surface of the water. + +"Are you part fishes?" asked Trot, greatly pleased by this wonderful +sight. + +"No, we are all mermaid," replied the one with the brown hair. "The +fishes are partly like us, because they live in the sea and must +move about. And you are partly like us, Mayre dear, but have awkward +stiff legs so you may walk on the land. But the mermaids lived +before fishes and before mankind, so both have borrowed something +from us." + +"Then you must be fairies if you've lived always," remarked Trot, +nodding wisely. + +"We are, dear. We are the water fairies," answered the one with the +blonde hair, coming nearer and rising till her slender white throat +showed plainly. + +"We--we're goners, Trot!" sighed Cap'n Bill with a white, woebegone +face. + +"I guess not, Cap'n," she answered calmly. "These pretty mermaids +aren't going to hurt us, I'm sure." + +"No indeed," said the first one who had spoken. "If we were wicked +enough to wish to harm you, our magic could reach you as easily upon +the land as in this cave. But we love little girls dearly and wish +only to please them and make their lives more happy." + +"I believe that!" cried Trot earnestly. + +Cap'n Bill groaned. + +"Guess why we have appeared to you," said another mermaid, coming to +the side of the boat. + +"Why?" asked the child. + +"We heard you say yesterday you would like to see a mermaid, and so +we decided to grant your wish." + +"That was real nice of you," said Trot gratefully. + +"Also, we heard all the foolish things Cap'n Bill said about us," +remarked the brown-haired one smilingly, "and we wanted to prove to +him that they were wrong." + +"I on'y said what I've heard," protested Cap'n Bill. "Never havin' +seen a mermaid afore, I couldn't be ackerate, an' I never expected +to see one an' live to tell the tale." + +Again the cave rang with merry laughter, and as it died away, Trot +said, "May I see your scales, please? And are they green and purple +and pink like Cap'n Bill said?" They seemed undecided what to say to +this and swam a little way off, where the beautiful heads formed a +group that was delightful to see. Perhaps they talked together, for +the brown-haired mermaid soon came back to the side of the boat and +asked, "Would you like to visit our kingdom and see all the wonders +that exist below the sea?" + +"I'd like to," replied Trot promptly, "but I couldn't. I'd get +drowned." + +"That you would, mate!" cried Cap'n Bill. + +"Oh no," said the mermaid. "We would make you both like one of +ourselves, and then you could live within the water as easily as we +do." + +"I don't know as I'd like that," said the child, "at least for +always." + +"You need not stay with us a moment longer than you please," +returned the mermaid, smiling as if amused at the remark. "Whenever +you are ready to return home, we promise to bring you to this place +again and restore to you the same forms you are now wearing." + +"Would I have a fish's tail?" asked Trot earnestly. + +"You would have a mermaid's tail," was the reply. + +"What color would my scales be--pink, or purple?" + +"You may choose the color yourself." + +"Look ahere, Trot!" said Cap'n Bill in excitement. "You ain't +thinkin' o' doin' such a fool thing, are you?" + +"'Course I am," declared the little girl. "We don't get such +inv'tations every day, Cap'n, and if I don't go now I may never find +out how the mermaids live." + +"I don't care how they live, myself," said Cap'n Bill. "I jes' want +'em to let ME live." + +"There's no danger," insisted Trot. + +"I do' know 'bout that. That's what all the other folks said when +they dove after the mermaids an' got drownded." + +"Who?" asked the girl. + +"I don't know who, but I've heard tell--" + +"You've heard that no one ever saw a mermaid and lived," said Trot. + +"To tell the tale," he added, nodding. "An' if we dives down like +they says, we won't live ourselves." + +All the mermaids laughed at this, and the brown-haired one said, +"Well, if you are afraid, don't come. You may row your boat out of +this cave and never see us again, if you like. We merely thought it +would please little Mayre, and were willing to show her the sights +of our beautiful home." + +"I'd like to see 'em, all right," said Trot, her eyes glistening +with pleasure. + +"So would I," admitted Cap'n Bill, "if we would live to tell the +tale." + +"Don't you believe us?" asked the mermaid, fixing her lovely eyes on +those of the old sailor and smiling prettily. "Are you afraid to +trust us to bring you safely back?" + +"N-n-no," said Cap'n Bill, "'tain't that. I've got to look after +Trot." + +"Then you'll have to come with me," said Trot decidedly, "for I'm +going to 'cept this inv'tation. If you don't care to come, Cap'n +Bill, you go home and tell mother I'm visitin' the mermaids." + +"She'd scold me inter shivers!" moaned Cap'n Bill with a shudder. "I +guess I'd ruther take my chance down below." + +"All right, I'm ready, Miss Mermaid," said Trot. "What shall I do? +Jump in, clothes and all?" + +"Give me your hand, dear," answered the mermaid, lifting a lovely +white arm from the water. Trot took the slender hand and found it +warm and soft and not a bit "fishy." + +"My name is Clia," continued the mermaid, "and I am a princess in +our deep-sea kingdom." + +Just then Trot gave a flop and flopped right out of the boat into +the water. Cap'n Bill caught a gleam of pink scales as his little +friend went overboard, and the next moment there was Trot's face in +the water among those of the mermaids. She was laughing with glee as +she looked up into Cap'n Bill's face and called, "Come on in, Cap'n! +It didn't hurt a bit!" + + + + +CHAPTER 3 + +THE DEPTHS OF THE DEEP BLUE SEA + + +Cap'n Bill stood up in the boat as if undecided what to do. Never a +sailor man was more bewildered than this old fellow by the +strangeness of the adventure he had encountered. At first he could +hardly believe it was all true and that he was not dreaming; but +there was Trot in the water, laughing with the mermaids and floating +comfortably about, and he couldn't leave his dear little companion +to make the trip to the depths of the ocean alone. + +"Take my hand, please, Cap'n Bill," said Princess Clia, reaching her +dainty arm toward him; and suddenly the old man took courage and +clasped the soft fingers in his own. He had to lean over the boat to +do this, and then there came a queer lightness to his legs and he +had a great longing to be in the water. So he gave a flop and +flopped in beside Trot, where he found himself comfortable enough, +but somewhat frightened. + +"Law sakes!" he gasped. "Here's me in the water with my rheumatics! +I'll be that stiff termorrer I can't wiggle." + +"You're wigglin' all right now," observed Trot. "That's a fine tail +you've got, Cap'n, an' its green scales is jus' beautiful." + +"Are they green, eh?" he asked, twisting around to try to see them. + +"Green as em'ralds, Cap'n. How do they feel?" + +"Feel, Trot, feel? Why, this tail beats that ol' wooden leg all +holler! I kin do stunts now that I couldn't o' done in a thousand +years with ol' peg." + +"And don't be afraid of the rheumatism," advised the Princess. "No +mermaid ever catches cold or suffers pain in the water." + +"Is Cap'n Bill a mermaid now?" asked Trot. + +"Why, he's a merMAN, I suppose," laughed the pretty princess. "But +when he gets home, he will be just Cap'n Bill again." + +"Wooden leg an' all?" inquired the child. + +"To be sure, my dear." + +The sailor was now trying his newly discovered power of swimming, +and became astonished at the feats he could accomplish. He could +dart this way and that with wonderful speed, and turn and dive, and +caper about in the water far better than he had ever been able to do +on land--even before he got the wooden leg. And a curious thing +about this present experience was that the water did not cling to +him and wet him as it had always done before. He still wore his +flannel shirt and pea jacket and his sailor cap; but although he was +in the water and had been underneath the surface, the cloth still +seemed dry and warm. As he dived down and came up again, the drops +flashed from his head and the fringe of beard, but he never needed +to wipe his face or eyes at all. + +Trot, too, was having queer experiences and enjoying them. When she +ducked under water, she saw plainly everything about her as easily +and distinctly as she had ever seen anything above water. And by +looking over her shoulder she could watch the motion of her new +tail, all covered with pretty iridescent pink scales, which gleamed +like jewels. She wore her dress the same as before, and the water +failed to affect it in the least. + +She now noticed that the mermaids were clothed, too, and their +exquisite gowns were the loveliest thing the little girl had ever +beheld. They seemed made of a material that was like sheeny silk, +cut low in the neck and with wide, flowing sleeves that seldom +covered the shapely, white arms of her new friends. The gowns had +trains that floated far behind the mermaids as they swam, but were +so fleecy and transparent that the sparkle of their scales might be +seen reaching back of their waists, where the human form ended and +the fish part began. The sea fairies wore strings of splendid pearls +twined around their throats, while more pearls were sewn upon their +gowns for trimmings. They did not dress their beautiful hair at all, +but let it float around them in clouds. + +The little girl had scarcely time to observe all this when the +princess said, "Now, my dear, if you are ready, we will begin our +journey, for it is a long way to our palaces." + +"All right," answered Trot, and took the hand extended to her with a +trustful smile. + +"Will you allow me to guide you, Cap'n Bill?" asked the blonde +mermaid, extending her hand to the old sailor. + +"Of course, ma'am," he said, taking her fingers rather bashfully. + +"My name is Merla," she continued, "and I am cousin to Princess +Clia. We must all keep together, you know, and I will hold your hand +to prevent your missing the way." + +While she spoke they began to descend through the water, and it grew +quite dark for a time because the cave shut out the light. But +presently Trot, who was eagerly looking around her, began to notice +the water lighten and saw they were coming into brighter parts of +the sea. "We have left the cave now," said Clia, "and may swim +straight home." + +"I s'pose there are no winding roads in the ocean," remarked the +child, swimming swiftly beside her new friend. + +"Oh yes indeed. At the bottom, the way is far from being straight or +level," replied Clia. "But we are in mid-water now, where nothing +will hinder our journey, unless--" + +She seemed to hesitate, so Trot asked, "Unless what?" + +"Unless we meet with disagreeable creatures," said the Princess. +"The mid-water is not as safe as the very bottom, and that is the +reason we are holding your hands." + +"What good would that do?" asked Trot. + +"You must remember that we are fairies," said Princess Clia. "For +that reason, nothing in the ocean can injure us, but you two are +mortals and therefore not entirely safe at all times unless we +protect you." + +Trot was thoughtful for a few moments and looked around her a little +anxiously. Now and then a dark form would shoot across their pathway +or pass them at some distance, but none was near enough for the girl +to see plainly what it might be. Suddenly they swam right into a big +school of fishes, all yellowtails and of very large size. There must +have been hundreds of them lying lazily in the water, and when they +saw the mermaids they merely wriggled to one side and opened a path +for the sea fairies to pass through. "Will they hurt us?" asked +Trot. + +"No indeed," laughed the Princess. "Fishes are stupid creatures +mostly, and this family is quite harmless." + +"How about sharks?" asked Cap'n Bill, who was swimming gracefully +beside them, his hand clutched in that of pretty Merla. + +"Sharks may indeed be dangerous to you," replied Clia, "so I advise +you to keep them at a safe distance. They never dare attempt to bite +a mermaid, and it may be they will think you belong to our band; but +it is well to avoid them if possible." + +"Don't get careless, Cap'n," added Trot. + +"I surely won't, mate," he replied. "You see, I didn't use to be +'fraid o' sharks 'cause if they came near I'd stick my wooden leg at +'em. But now, if they happens to fancy these green scales, it's all +up with ol' Bill." + +"Never fear," said Merla, "I'll take care of you on our journey, and +in our palaces you will find no sharks at all." + +"Can't they get in?" he asked anxiously. + +"No. The palaces of the mermaids are inhabited only by themselves." + +"Is there anything else to be afraid of in the sea?" asked the +little girl after they had swum quite a while in silence. + +"One or two things, my dear," answered Princess Clia. "Of course, we +mermaids have great powers, being fairies; yet among the sea people +is one nearly as powerful as we are, and that is the devilfish." + +"I know," said Trot. "I've seen 'em." + +"You have seen the smaller ones, I suppose, which sometimes rise to +the surface or go near the shore, and are often caught by +fishermen," said Clia, "but they are only second cousins of the +terrible deep-sea devilfish to which I refer." + +"Those ones are bad enough, though," declared Cap'n Bill. "If you +know any worse ones, I don't want a interduction to 'em." + +"The monster devilfish inhabit caves in the rugged, mountainous +regions of the ocean," resumed the Princess, "and they are evil +spirits who delight in injuring all who meet them. None lives near +our palaces, so there is little danger of your meeting any while you +are our guests." + +"I hope we won't," said Trot. + +"None for me," added Cap'n Bill. "Devils of any sort ought to be +give a wide berth, an' devilfish is worser ner sea serpents." + +"Oh, do you know the sea serpents?" asked Merla as if surprised. + +"Not much I don't," answered the sailor, "but I've heard tell of +folks as has seen 'em." + +"Did they ever live to tell the tale?" asked Trot. + +"Sometimes," he replied. "They're jes' ORful creatures, mate." + +"How easy it is to be mistaken," said Princess Clia softly. "We know +the sea serpents very well, and we like them." + +"You do!" exclaimed Trot. + +"Yes, dear. There are only three of them in all the world, and not +only are they harmless, but quite bashful and shy. They are +kind-hearted, too, and although not beautiful in appearance, they do +many kind deeds and are generally beloved." + +"Where do they live?" asked the child. + +"The oldest one, who is king of this ocean, lives quite near us," +said Clia. "His name is Anko." + +"How old is he?" inquired Cap'n Bill curiously. + +"No one knows. He was here before the ocean came, and he stayed here +because he learned to like the water better than the land as a +habitation. Perhaps King Anko is ten thousand years old, perhaps +twenty thousand. We often lose track of the centuries down here in +the sea." + +"That's pretty old, isn't it?" said Trot. "Older than Cap'n Bill, I +guess." + +"Summat," chuckled the sailor man, "summat older, mate, but not +much. P'raps the sea serpent ain't got gray whiskers." + +"Oh yes he has," responded Merla with a laugh. "And so have his two +brothers, Unko and Inko. They each have an ocean of their own, you +know; and once every hundred years they come here to visit their +brother Anko. So we've seen all three many times." + +"Why, how old are mermaids, then?" asked Trot, looking around at the +beautiful creatures wonderingly. + +"We are like all ladies of uncertain age," rejoined the Princess +with a smile. "We don't care to tell." + +"Older than Cap'n Bill?" + +"Yes, dear," said Clia. + +"But we haven't any gray whiskers," added Merla merrily, "and our +hearts are ever young." + +Trot was thoughtful. It made her feel solemn to be in the company of +such old people. The band of mermaids seemed to all appearances +young and fresh and not a bit as if they'd been soaked in water for +hundreds of years. The girl began to take more notice of the sea +maidens following after her. More than a dozen were in the group; +all were lovely in appearance and clothed in the same gauzy robes as +Merla and the Princess. These attendants did not join in the +conversation but darted here and there in sportive play, and often +Trot heard the tinkling chorus of their laughter. Whatever doubts +might have arisen in the child's mind through the ignorant tales of +her sailor friend, she now found the mermaids to be light-hearted, +joyous and gay, and from the first she had not been in the least +afraid of her new companions. + +"How much farther do we have to go?" asked Cap'n Bill presently. + +"Are you getting tired?" Merla inquired. + +"No," said he, "but I'm sorter anxious to see what your palaces look +like. Inside the water ain't as interestin' as the top of it. It's +fine swimmin', I'll agree, an' I like it, but there ain't nuthin' +special to see that I can make out." + +"That is true, sir," replied the Princess. "We have purposely led +you through the mid-water hoping you would see nothing to alarm you +until you get more accustomed to our ocean life. Moreover, we are +able to travel more swiftly here. How far do you think we have +already come, Cap'n?" + +"Oh, 'bout two mile," he answered. + +"Well, we are now hundreds of miles from the cave where we started," +she told him. + +"You don't mean it!" he exclaimed in wonder. + +"Then there's magic in it," announced Trot soberly. + +"True, my dear. To avoid tiring you and to save time, we have used a +little of our fairy power," said Clia. "The result is that we are +nearing our home. Let us go downward a bit, now, for you must know +that the mermaid palaces are at the very bottom of the ocean, and in +its deepest part." + + + + +CHAPTER 4 + +THE PALACE OF QUEEN AQUAREINE + + +Trot was surprised to find it was not at all dark or gloomy as they +descended farther into the deep sea. Things were not quite so clear +to her eyes as they had been in the bright sunshine above the +ocean's surface, but every object was distinct nevertheless, as if +she saw through a pane of green-tainted glass. The water was very +clear except for this green shading, and the little girl had never +before felt so light and buoyant as she did now. It was no effort at +all to dart through the water, which seemed to support her on all +sides. + +"I don't believe I weigh anything at all," she said to Cap'n Bill. + +"No more do I, Trot," said he. "But that's nat'ral, seein' as we're +under water so far. What bothers me most is how we manage to +breathe, havin' no gills like fishes have." + +"Are you sure we haven't any gills?" she asked, lifting her free +hand to feel her throat. + +"Sure. Ner the mermaids haven't any, either," declared Cap'n Bill. + +"Then," said Trot, "we're breathing by magic." + +The mermaids laughed at this shrewd remark, and the Princess said, +"You have guessed correctly, my dear. Go a little slower, now, for +the palaces are in sight." + +"Where?" asked Trot eagerly. + +"Just before you." + +"In that grove of trees?" inquired the girl. And really, it seemed +to her that they were approaching a beautiful grove. The bottom of +the sea was covered with white sand, in which grew many varieties of +sea shrubs with branches like those of trees. Not all of them were +green, however, for the branches and leaves were of a variety of +gorgeous colors. Some were purple, shading down to a light lavender; +and there were reds all the way from a delicate rose-pink to vivid +shades of scarlet. Orange, yellow and blue shades were there, too, +mingling with the sea-greens in a most charming manner. Altogether, +Trot found the brilliant coloring somewhat bewildering. + +These sea shrubs, which in size were quite as big and tall as the +trees on earth, were set so close together that their branches +entwined; but there were several avenues leading into the groves, +and at the entrance to each avenue the girl noticed several large +fishes with long spikes growing upon their noses. + +"Those are swordfishes," remarked the Princess as she led the band +past one of these avenues. + +"Are they dang'rous?" asked Trot. + +"Not to us," was the reply. "The swordfishes are among our most +valued and faithful servants, guarding the entrances to the gardens +which surround our palaces. If any creatures try to enter uninvited, +these guards fight them and drive them away. Their swords are sharp +and strong, and they are fierce fighters, I assure you." + +"I've known 'em to attack ships, an' stick their swords right +through the wood," said Cap'n Bill. + +"Those belonged to the wandering tribes of swordfishes," explained +the Princess. "These, who are our servants, are too sensible and +intelligent to attack ships." + +The band now headed into a broad passage through the "gardens," as +the mermaids called these gorgeous groves, and the great swordfishes +guarding the entrance made way for them to pass, afterward resuming +their posts with watchful eyes. As they slowly swam along the +avenue, Trot noticed that some of the bushes seemed to have fruits +growing upon them, but what these fruits might be neither she nor +Cap'n Bill could guess. + +The way wound here and there for some distance, till finally they +came to a more open space all carpeted with sea flowers of exquisite +colorings. Although Trot did not know it, these flowers resembled +the rare orchids of earth in their fanciful shapes and marvelous +hues. The child did not examine them very closely, for across the +carpet of flowers loomed the magnificent and extensive palaces of +the mermaids. + +These palaces were built of coral; white, pink and yellow being +used, and the colors arranged in graceful designs. The front of the +main palace, which now faced them, had circular ends connecting the +straight wall, not unlike the architecture we are all familiar with; +yet there seemed to be no windows to the building, although a series +of archways served as doors. + +Arriving at one of the central archways, the band of sea maidens +separated. Princess Clia and Merla leading Trot and Cap'n Bill into +the palace, while the other mermaids swam swiftly away to their own +quarters. + +"Welcome!" said Clia in her sweet voice. "Here you are surrounded +only by friends and are in perfect safety. Please accept our +hospitality as freely as you desire, for we consider you honored +guests. I hope you will like our home," she added a little shyly. + +"We are sure to, dear Princess," Trot hastened to say. + +Then Clia escorted them through the archway and into a lofty hall. +It was not a mere grotto, but had smoothly built walls of pink coral +inlaid with white. Trot at first thought there was no roof, for +looking upward she could see the water all above them. But the +princess, reading her thought, said with a smile, "Yes, there is a +roof, or we would be unable to keep all the sea people out of our +palace. But the roof is made of glass to admit the light." + +"Glass!" cried the astonished child. "Then it must be an awful big +pane of glass." + +"It is," agreed Clia. "Our roofs are considered quite wonderful, and +we owe them to the fairy powers of our queen. Of course, you +understand there is no natural way to make glass under water." + +"No indeed," said Cap'n Bill. And then he asked, "Does your queen +live here?" + +"Yes. She is waiting now, in her throne room, to welcome you. Shall +we go in?" + +"I'd just as soon," replied Trot rather timidly, but she boldly +followed the princess, who glided through another arch into another +small room where several mermaids were reclining upon couches of +coral. They were beautifully dressed and wore many sparkling jewels. + +"Her Majesty is awaiting the strangers, Princess Clia," announced +one of these. "You are asked to enter at once." + +"Come, then," said Clia, and once more taking Trot's hand, she led +the girl through still another arch, while Merla followed just +behind them, escorting Cap'n Bill. They now entered an apartment so +gorgeous that the child fairly gasped with astonishment. The queen's +throne room was indeed the grandest and most beautiful chamber in +all the ocean palaces. Its coral walls were thickly inlaid with +mother-of-pearl, exquisitely shaded and made into borders and floral +decorations. In the corners were cabinets, upon the shelves of which +many curious shells were arranged, all beautifully polished. The +floor glittered with gems arranged in patterns of flowers, like a +brilliant carpet. + +Near the center of the room was a raised platform of mother-of-pearl +upon which stood a couch thickly studded with diamonds, rubies, +emeralds and pearls. Here reclined Queen Aquareine, a being so +lovely that Trot gazed upon her spellbound and Cap'n Bill took off +his sailor cap and held it in his hands. + +All about the room were grouped other mother-of-pearl couches, not +raised like that of the queen, and upon each of these reclined a +pretty mermaid. They could not sit down as we do, Trot readily +understood, because of their tails; but they rested very gracefully +upon the couches with their trailing gauzy robes arranged in fleecy +folds. + +When Clia and Merla escorted the strangers down the length of the +great room toward the royal throne, they met with pleasant looks and +smiles on every side, for the sea maidens were too polite to indulge +in curious stares. They paused just before the throne, and the queen +raised her head upon one elbow to observe them. "Welcome, Mayre," +she said, "and welcome, Cap'n Bill. I trust you are pleased with +your glimpse of the life beneath the surface of our sea." + +"I am," answered Trot, looking admiringly at the beautiful face of +the queen. + +"It's all mighty cur'ous an' strange-like," said the sailor slowly. +"I'd no idee you mermaids were like this, at all!" + +"Allow me to explain that it was to correct your wrong ideas about +us that led me to invite you to visit us," replied the Queen. "We +usually pay little heed to the earth people, for we are content in +our own dominions; but, of course, we know all that goes on upon +your earth. So when Princess Clia chanced to overhear your absurd +statements concerning us, we were greatly amused and decided to let +you see with your own eyes just what we are like." + +"I'm glad you did," answered Cap'n Bill, dropping his eyes in some +confusion as he remembered his former description of the mermaids. + +"Now that you are here," continued the Queen in a cordial, friendly +tone, "you may as well remain with us a few days and see the +wonderful sights of our ocean." + +"I'm much obliged to you, ma'am," said Trot, "and I'd like to stay +ever so much, but mother worries jus' dreadfully if we don't get +home in time." + +"I'll arrange all that," said Aquareine with a smile. + +"How?" asked the girl. + +"I will make your mother forget the passage of time so she will not +realize how long you are away. Then she cannot worry." + +"Can you do that?" inquired Trot. + +"Very easily. I will send your mother into a deep sleep that will +last until you are ready to return home. Just at present she is +seated in her chair by the front window, engaged in knitting." The +queen paused to raise an arm and wave it slowly to and fro. Then she +added, "Now your good mother is asleep, little Mayre, and instead of +worries I promise her pleasant dreams." + +"Won't someone rob the house while she's asleep?" asked the child +anxiously. + +"No, dear. My charm will protect the house from any intrusion." + +"That's fine!" exclaimed Trot in delight. + +"It's jes' won-erful!" said Cap'n Bill. "I wish I knew it was so. +Trot's mother has a awful sharp tongue when she's worried." + +"You may see for yourselves," declared the Queen, and waved her hand +again. At once they saw before them the room in the cottage, with +Mayre's mother asleep by the window. Her knitting was in her lap, +and the cat lay curled up beside her chair. It was all so natural +that Trot thought she could hear the clock over the fireplace tick. +After a moment the scene faded away, when the queen asked with +another smile, "Are you satisfied?" + +"Oh yes!" cried Trot. "But how could you do it?" + +"It is a form of mirage," was the reply. "We are able to bring any +earth scene before us whenever we wish. Sometimes these scenes are +reflected above the water so that mortals also observe them." + +"I've seen 'em," said Cap'n Bill, nodding. "I've seen mirages, but I +never knowed what caused 'em afore now." + +"Whenever you see anything you do not understand and wish to ask +questions, I will be very glad to answer them," said the Queen. + +"One thing that bothers me," said Trot, "is why we don't get wet, +being in the ocean with water all around us." + +"That is because no water really touches you," explained the Queen. +"Your bodies have been made just like those of the mermaids in order +that you may fully enjoy your visit to us. One of our peculiar +qualities is that water is never permitted to quite touch our +bodies, or our gowns. Always there remains a very small space, +hardly a hair's breadth, between us and the water, which is the +reason we are always warm and dry." + +"I see," said Trot. "That's why you don't get soggy or withered." + +"Exactly," laughed the Queen, and the other mermaids joined in her +merriment. + +"I s'pose that's how we can breathe without gills," remarked Cap'n +Bill thoughtfully. + +"Yes. The air space is constantly replenished from the water, which +contains air, and this enables us to breathe as freely as you do +upon the earth." + +"But we have fins," said Trot, looking at the fin that stood upright +on Cap'n Bill's back. + +"Yes. They allow us to guide ourselves as we swim, and so are very +useful," replied the Queen. + +"They make us more finished," said Cap'n Bill with a chuckle. Then, +suddenly becoming grave, he added, "How about my rheumatics, ma'am? +Ain't I likely to get stiffened up with all this dampness?" + +"No indeed," Aquareine answered. "There is no such thing as +rheumatism in all our dominions. I promise no evil result shall +follow this visit to us, so please be as happy and contented as +possible." + + + + +CHAPTER 5 + +THE SEA-SERPENT + + +Just then Trot happened to look up at the glass roof and saw a +startling sight. A big head with a face surrounded by stubby gray +whiskers was poised just over them, and the head was connected with +a long, curved body that looked much like a sewer pipe. + +"Oh, there is King Anko," said the Queen, following the child's +gaze. "Open a door and let him in, Clia, for I suppose our old +friend is anxious to see the earth people." + +"Won't he hurt us?" asked the little girl with a shiver of fear. + +"Who, Anko? Oh no, my dear! We are very fond of the sea serpent, who +is king of this ocean, although he does not rule the mermaids. Old +Anko is a very agreeable fellow, as you will soon discover." + +"Can he talk?" asked Trot. + +"Yes indeed." + +"And can we understand what he says?" + +"Perfectly," replied the Queen. "I have given you power, while you +remain here, to understand the language of every inhabitant of the +sea." + +"That's nice," said Trot gratefully. + +The Princess Clia swam slowly to one of the walls of the throne room +where, at a wave of her hand, a round hole appeared in the coral. +The sea serpent at once observed this opening and the head left the +roof of glass only to reappear presently at the round hole. Through +this he slowly crawled until his head was just beneath the throne of +Queen Aquareine, who said to him: + +"Good morning, your Majesty. I hope you are quite well?" + +"Quite well, thank your Majesty," answered Anko; and then he turned +to the strangers. "I suppose these are the earth folks you were +expecting?" + +"Yes," returned the Queen. "The girl is named Mayre and the man +Cap'n Bill." + +While the sea serpent looked at the visitors, they ventured to look +at him. He certainly was a queer creature, yet Trot decided he was +not at all frightful. His head was round as a ball, but his ears +were sharp-pointed and had tassels at the ends of them. His nose was +flat, and his mouth very wide indeed, but his eyes were blue and +gentle in expression. The white, stubby hairs that surrounded his +face were not thick like a beard, but scattered and scraggly. From +the head, the long, brown body of the sea serpent extended to the +hole in the coral wall, which was just big enough to admit it; and +how much more of the body remained outside the child could not tell. +On the back of the body were several fins, which made the creature +look more like an eel than a serpent. + +"The girl is young and the man is old," said King Anko in a soft +voice. "But I'm quite sure Cap'n Bill isn't as old as I am." + +"How old are you?" asked the sailor. + +"I can't say exactly. I can remember several thousands of years +back, but beyond that my memory fails me. How's your memory, Cap'n +Bill?" + +"You've got me beat," was the reply. "I'll give in that you're older +than I am." + +This seemed to please the sea serpent. "Are you well?" he asked. + +"Pretty fair," said Cap'n Bill. "How's yourself?" + +"Oh, I'm very well, thank you," answered Anko. "I never remember to +have had a pain but three times in my life. The last time was when +Julius Sneezer was on earth." + +"You mean Julius Caesar," said Trot, correcting him. + +"No, I mean Julius Sneezer," insisted the Sea Serpent. "That was his +real name--Sneezer. They called him Caesar sometimes just because he +took everything he could lay hands on. I ought to know, because I +saw him when he was alive. Did you see him when he was alive, Cap'n +Bill?" + +"I reckon not," admitted the sailor. + +"That time I had a toothache," continued Anko, "but I got a lobster +to pull the tooth with his claw, so the pain was soon over." + +"Did it hurt to pull it?" asked Trot. + +"Hurt!" exclaimed the Sea Serpent, groaning at the recollection. "My +dear, those creatures have been called lobsters ever since! The +second pain I had way back in the time of Nevercouldnever." + +"Oh, I s'pose you mean Nebuchadnezzar," said Trot. + +"Do you call him that now?" asked the Sea Serpent as if surprised. +"He used to be called Nevercouldnever when he was alive, but this +new way of spelling seems to get everything mixed up. Nebuchadnezzar +doesn't mean anything at all, it seems to me." + +"It means he ate grass," said the child. + +"Oh no, he didn't," declared the Sea Serpent. "He was the first to +discover that lettuce was good to eat, and he became very fond of +it. The people may have called it grass, but they were wrong. I +ought to know, because I was alive when Nevercouldnever lived. Were +you alive, then?" + +"No," said Trot. + +"The pain I had then," remarked Anko, "was caused by a kink in my +tail about three hundred feet from the end. There was an old octopus +who did not like me, and so he tied a knot in my tail when I wasn't +looking." + +"What did you do?" asked Cap'n Bill. + +"Well, first I transformed the octopus into a jellyfish, and then I +waited for the tide to turn. When my tail was untied, the pain +stopped." + +"I--I don't understand that," said Trot, somewhat bewildered. + +"Thank you, my dear," replied the Sea Serpent in a grateful voice. +"People who are always understood are very common. You are sure to +respect those you can't understand, for you feel that perhaps they +know more than you do." + +"About how long do you happen to be?" inquired Cap'n Bill. + +"When last measured, I was seven thousand four hundred and +eighty-two feet, five inches and a quarter. I'm not sure about the +quarter, but the rest is probably correct. Adam measured me when +Cain was a baby." + +"Where's the rest of you, then?" asked Trot. + +"Safe at home, I hope, and coiled up in my parlor," answered the Sea +Serpent. "When I go out, I usually take along only what is needed. +It saves a lot of bother and I can always find my way back in the +darkest night by just coiling up the part that has been away." + +"Do you like to be a sea serpent?" inquired the child. + +"Yes, for I'm King of my Ocean, and there is no other sea serpent to +imagine he is just as good as I am. I have two brothers who live in +other oceans, but one is seven inches shorter than I am, and the +other several feet shorter. It's curious to talk about feet when we +haven't any feet, isn't it?" + +"Seems so," acknowledged Trot. + +"I feel I have much to be proud of," continued Anko in a dreamy +tone. "My great age, my undisputed sway, and my exceptional length." + +"I don't b'lieve I'd care to live so long," remarked Cap'n Bill +thoughtfully. + +"So long as seven thousand four hundred and eighty-two feet, five +inches and a quarter?" asked the Sea Serpent. + +"No, I mean so many years," replied the sailor. + +"But what can one do if one happens to be a sea serpent?" Anko +inquired. "There is nothing in the sea that can hurt me, and I +cannot commit suicide because we have no carbolic acid or firearms +or gas to turn on. So it isn't a matter of choice, and I'd about as +soon be alive as dead. It does not seem quite so monotonous, you +know. But I guess I've stayed about long enough, so I'll go home to +dinner. Come and see me when you have time." + +"Thank you," said Trot, and Merla added, "I'll take you over to his +majesty's palace when we go out and let you see how he lives." + +"Yes, do," said Anko. And then he slowly slid out of the hole, which +immediately closed behind him, leaving the coral wall as solid as +before. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Trot. "King Anko forgot to tell us what his third +pain was about." + +"So he did," said Cap'n Bill. "We must ask him about that when we +see him. But I guess the ol' boy's mem'ry is failin', an' he can't +be depended on for pertic'lars." + + + + +CHAPTER 6 + +EXPLORING THE OCEAN + + +The queen now requested her guests to recline upon couches that they +might rest themselves from their long swim and talk more at their +ease. So the girl and the sailor allowed themselves to float +downward until they rested their bodies on two of the couches +nearest the throne, which were willingly vacated for them by the +mermaids who occupied them until then. + +The visitors soon found themselves answering a great many questions +about their life on the earth, for although the queen had said she +kept track of what was going on on the land, there were many details +of human life in which all the mermaids seemed greatly interested. + +During the conversation several sea-maids came swimming into the +room bearing trays of sea apples and other fruit, which they first +offered to the queen, and then passed the refreshments around to the +company assembled. Trot and Cap'n Bill each took some, and the +little girl found the fruits delicious to eat, as they had a richer +flavor than any that grew upon land. Queen Aquareine was much +pleased when the old sailor asked for more, but Merla warned him +dinner would soon be served and he must take care not to spoil his +appetite for that meal. "Our dinner is at noon, for we have to cook +in the middle of the day when the sun is shining," she said. + +"Cook!" cried Trot. "Why, you can't build a fire in the water, can +you?" + +"We have no need of fires," was the reply. "The glass roof of our +kitchen is so curved that it concentrates the heat of the sun's +rays, which are then hot enough to cook anything we wish." + +"But how do you get along if the day is cloudy, and the sun doesn't +shine?" inquired the little girl. + +"Then we use the hot springs that bubble up in another part of the +palace," Merla answered. "But the sun is the best to cook by." So it +was no surprise to Trot when, about noon, dinner was announced and +all the mermaids, headed by their queen and their guests, swam into +another spacious room where a great, long table was laid. The dishes +were of polished gold and dainty-cut glass, and the cloth and +napkins of fine gossamer. Around the table were ranged rows of +couches for the mermaids to recline upon as they ate. Only the +nobility and favorites of Queen Aquareine were invited to partake of +this repast, for Clia explained that tables were set for the other +mermaids in different parts of the numerous palaces. + +Trot wondered who would serve the meal, but her curiosity was soon +satisfied when several large lobsters came sliding into the room +backward, bearing in their claws trays loaded with food. Each of +these lobsters had a golden band behind its neck to show it was the +slave of the mermaids. + +These curious waiters were fussy creatures, and Trot found much +amusement in watching their odd motions. They were so spry and +excitable that at times they ran against one another and upset the +platters of food, after which they began to scold and argue as to +whose fault it was, until one of the mermaids quietly rebuked them +and asked them to be more quiet and more careful. + +The queen's guests had no cause to complain of the dinner provided. +First the lobsters served bowls of turtle soup, which proved hot and +deliciously flavored. Then came salmon steaks fried in fish oil, +with a fungus bread that tasted much like field mushrooms. Oysters, +clams, soft-shell crabs and various preparations of seafoods +followed. The salad was a delicate leaf from some seaweed that Trot +thought was much nicer than lettuce. Several courses were served, +and the lobsters changed the plates with each course, chattering and +scolding as they worked, and as Trot said, "doing everything +backwards" in their nervous, fussy way. + +Many of the things offered them to eat were unknown to the visitors, +and the child was suspicious of some of them, but Cap'n Bill asked +no questions and ate everything offered him, so Trot decided to +follow his example. Certain it is they found the meal very +satisfying, and evidently there was no danger of their being hungry +while they remained the guests of the mermaids. When the fruits +came, Trot thought that must be the last course of the big dinner, +but following the fruits were ice creams frozen into the shape of +flowers. + +"How funny," said the child, "to be eating ice cream at the bottom +of the sea." + +"Why does that surprise you?" inquired the Queen. + +"I can't see where you get the ice to freeze it," Trot replied. + +"It is brought to us from the icebergs that float in the northern +parts of the ocean," explained Merla. + +"O' course, Trot. You orter thought o' that. I did," said Cap'n +Bill. + +The little girl was glad there was no more to eat, for she was +ashamed to feel she had eaten every morsel she could. Her only +excuse for being so greedy was that "ev'rything tasted just +splendid!" as she told the queen. + +"And now," said Aquareine, "I will send you out for a swim with +Merla, who will show you some of the curious sights of our sea. You +need not go far this afternoon, and when you return, we will have +another interesting talk together." So the blonde mermaid led Trot +and Cap'n Bill outside the palace walls, where they found themselves +in the pretty flower gardens. + +"I'd feel all right, mate, if I could have a smoke," remarked the +old sailor to the child, "but that's a thing as can't be did here in +the water." + +"Why not?" asked Merla, who overheard him. + +"A pipe has to be lighted, an' a match wouldn't burn," he replied. + +"Try it," suggested the mermaid. "I do not mind your smoking at all, +if it will give you pleasure." + +"It's a bad habit I've got, an' I'm too old to break myself of it," +said Cap'n Bill. Then he felt in the big pocket of his coat and took +out a pipe and a bag of tobacco. After he had carefully filled his +pipe, rejoicing in the fact that the tobacco was not at all wet, he +took out his matchbox and struck a light. The match burned brightly, +and soon the sailor was puffing the smoke from his pipe in great +contentment. The smoke ascended through the water in the shape of +bubbles, and Trot wondered what anyone who happened to be floating +upon the surface of the ocean would think to see smoke coming from +the water. + +"Well, I find I can smoke, all right," remarked Cap'n Bill, "but it +bothers me to understand why." + +"It is because of the air space existing between the water and +everything you have about you," explained Merla. "But now, if you +will come this way, I will take you to visit some of our neighbors." +They passed over the carpet of sea flowers, the gorgeous blossoms +swaying on their stems as the motion of the people in the water +above them disturbed their repose, and presently the three entered +the dense shrubbery surrounding the palace. They had not proceeded +far when they came to a clearing among the bushes, and here Merla +paused. + +Trot and Cap'n Bill paused, too, for floating in the clear water was +a group of beautiful shapes that the child thought looked like molds +of wine jelly. They were round as a dinner plate, soft and +transparent, but tinted in such lovely hues that no artist's brush +has ever been able to imitate them. Some were deep sapphire blue; +others rose pink; still others a delicate topaz color. They seemed +to have neither heads, eyes nor ears, yet it was easy to see they +were alive and able to float in any direction they wished to go. In +shape they resembled inverted flowerpots, with the upper edges +fluted, and from the centers floated what seemed to be bouquets of +flowers. + +"How pretty!" exclaimed Trot, enraptured by the sight. + +"Yes, this is a rare variety of jellyfish," replied Merla. "The +creatures are not so delicate as they appear, and live for a long +time--unless they get too near the surface and the waves wash them +ashore." + +After watching the jellyfish a few moments, they followed Merla +through the grove, and soon a low chant, like that of an Indian +song, fell upon their ears. It was a chorus of many small voices and +grew louder as they swam on. Presently a big rock rose suddenly +before them from the bottom of the sea, rearing its steep side far +up into the water overhead, and this rock was thickly covered with +tiny shells that clung fast to its surface. The chorus they heard +appeared to come from these shells, and Merla said to her +companions, "These are the singing barnacles. They are really very +amusing, and if you listen carefully, you can hear what they say." + +So Trot and Cap'n Bill listened, and this is what the barnacles +sang: + + "We went to topsy-turvy land to see a man-o'-war, + And we were much attached to it, because we simply were; + We found an anchor-ite within the mud upon the lea + For the ghost of Jonah's whale he ran away and went to sea. + Oh, it was awful! + It was unlawful! + We rallied round the flag in sev'ral millions; + They couldn't shake us; + They had to take us; + So the halibut and cod they danced cotillions." + +"What does it all mean?" asked Trot. + +"I suppose they refer to the way barnacles have of clinging to +ships," replied Merla, "but usually the songs mean nothing at all. +The little barnacles haven't many brains, so we usually find their +songs quite stupid." + +"Do they write some comic operas?" asked the child. + +"I think not," answered the mermaid. + +"They seem to like the songs themselves," remarked Cap'n Bill. + +"Oh yes, they sing all day long. But it never matters to them +whether their songs mean anything or not. Let us go in this +direction and visit some other sea people." + +So they swam away from the barnacle-covered rock, and Trot heard the +last chorus as she slowly followed their conductor. The barnacles +were singing: + +"Oh, very well, then, I hear the curfew, +Please go away and come some other day; +Goliath tussels +With Samson's muscles, +Yet the muscles never fight in Oyster Bay." + +"It's jus' nonsense!" said Trot scornfully. "Why don't they sing +'Annie Laurie' or 'Home, Sweet Home' or else keep quiet?" + +"Why, if they were quiet," replied Merla, "they wouldn't be singing +barnacles." + +They now came to one of the avenues which led from the sea garden +out into the broad ocean, and here two swordfishes were standing +guard. "Is all quiet?" Merla asked them. + +"Just as usual, your Highness," replied one of the guards. +"Mummercubble was sick this morning and grunted dreadfully, but he's +better now and has gone to sleep. King Anko has been stirring around +some, but is now taking his after-dinner nap. I think it will be +perfectly safe for you to swim out for a while, if you wish." + +"Who's Mummercubble?" asked Trot as they passed out into deep water. + +"He's the sea pig," replied Merla. "I am glad he's asleep, for now +we won't meet him." + +"Don't you like him?" inquired Trot. + +"Oh, he complains so bitterly of everything that he bores us," Merla +answered. "Mummercubble is never contented or happy for a single +minute." + +"I've seen people like that," said Cap'n Bill with a nod of his +head. "An' they has a way of upsettin' the happiest folks they +meet." + +"Look out!" suddenly cried the mermaid. "Look out for your fingers! +Here are the snapping eels." + +"Who? Where?" asked Trot anxiously. + +And now they were in the midst of a cluster of wriggling, darting +eels which sported all around them in the water with marvelous +activity. "Yes, look out for your fingers and your noses!" said one +of the eels, making a dash for Cap'n Bill. At first the sailor was +tempted to put out a hand and push the creature away, but +remembering that his fingers would thus be exposed, he remained +quiet, and the eel snapped harmlessly just before his face and then +darted away. + +"Stop it!" said Merla. "Stop it this minute, or I'll report your +impudence to Aquareine." + +"Oh, who cares?" shouted the Eels. "We're not afraid of the +mermaids." + +"She'll stiffen you up again, as she did once before," said Merla, +"if you try to hurt the earth people." + +"Are these earth people?" asked one. And then they all stopped their +play and regarded Trot and Cap'n Bill with their little black eyes. + +"The old polliwog looks something like King Anko," said one of them. + +"I'm not a polliwog!" answered Cap'n Bill angrily. "I'm a respec'ble +sailor man, an' I'll have you treat me decent or I'll know why." + +"Sailor!" said another. "That means to float on the water--not IN +it. What are you doing down here?" + +"I'm jes' a-visitin'," answered Cap'n Bill. + +"He is the guest of our queen," said Merla, "and so is this little +girl. If you do not behave nicely to them, you will surely be +sorry." + +"Oh, that's all right," replied one of the biggest eels, wriggling +around in a circle and then snapping at a companion, which as +quickly snapped out of his way. "We know how to be polite to company +as well as the mermaids. We won't hurt them." + +"Come on, fellows, let's go scare old Mummercubble," cried another; +and then in a flash they all darted away and left our friends to +themselves. Trot was greatly relieved. + +"I don't like eels," she said. + +"They are more mischievous than harmful," replied Merla, "but I do +not care much for them myself." + +"No," added Cap'n Bill, "they ain't respec'ful." + + + + +CHAPTER 7 + +THE ARISTOCRATIC CODFISH + + +The three swam slowly along, quite enjoying the cool depths of the +water. Every little while they met with some strange creature--or +one that seemed strange to the earth people--for although Trot and +Cap'n Bill had seen many kinds of fish, after they had been caught +and pulled from the water, that was very different from meeting them +in their own element, "face to face," as Trot expressed it. Now that +the various fishes were swimming around free and unafraid in their +deep-sea home, they were quite different from the gasping, excited +creatures struggling at the end of a fishline or flopping from a +net. + +Before long they came upon a group of large fishes lying lazily near +the bottom of the sea. They were a dark color upon their backs and +silver underneath, but not especially pretty to look at. The fishes +made no effort to get out of Merla's way and remained motionless +except for the gentle motion of their fins and gills. + +"Here," said the mermaid, pausing, "is the most aristocratic family +of fish in all the sea." + +"What are they?" asked the girl. + +"Codfish," was the reply. "Their only fault is that they are too +haughty and foolishly proud of their pedigree." + +Overhearing this speech, one codfish said to another in a very +dignified tone of voice, "What insolence!" + +"Isn't it?" replied the other. "There ought to be a law to prevent +these common mermaids from discussing their superiors." + +"My sakes!" said Trot, astonished. "How stuck up they are, aren't +they?" + +For a moment the group of fishes stared at her solemnly. Then one of +the remarked in a disdainful manner, "Come, my dear, let us leave +these vulgar creatures." + +"I'm not as vulgar as you are!" exclaimed Trot, much offended by +this speech. "Where I come from, we only eat codfish when there's +nothing else in the house to eat." + +"How absurd!" observed one of the creatures arrogantly. + +"Eat codfish indeed!" said another in a lofty manner. + +"Yes, and you're pretty salty, too, I can tell you. At home you're +nothing but a pick-up!" said Trot. + +"Dear me!" exclaimed the first fish who had spoken. "Must we stand +this insulting language--and from a person to whom we have never +been introduced?" + +"I don't need no interduction," replied the girl. "I've eaten you, +and you always make me thirsty." + +Merla laughed merrily at this, and the codfish said, with much +dignity, "Come, fellow aristocrats, let us go." + +"Never mind, we're going ourselves," announced Merla, and followed +by her guests the pretty mermaid swam away. + +"I've heard tell of codfish aristocracy," said Cap'n Bill, "but I +never knowed 'zac'ly what it meant afore." + +"They jus' made me mad with all their airs," observed Trot, "so I +gave 'em a piece of my mind." + +"You surely did, mate," said the sailor, "but I ain't sure they +understand what they're like when they're salted an' hung up in the +pantry. Folks gener'ly gets stuck-up 'cause they don't know +theirselves like other folks knows 'em." + +"We are near Crabville now," declared Merla. "Shall we visit the +crabs and see what they are doing?" + +"Yes, let's," replied Trot. "The crabs are lots of fun. I've often +caught them among the rocks on the shore and laughed at the way they +act. Wasn't it funny at dinnertime to see the way they slid around +with the plates?" + +"Those were not crabs, but lobsters and crawfish," remarked the +mermaid. "They are very intelligent creatures, and by making them +serve us we save ourselves much household work. Of course, they are +awkward and provoke us sometimes, but no servants are perfect, it is +said, so we get along with ours as well as we can." + +"They're all right," protested the child, "even if they did tip +things over once in a while. But it is easy to work in a sea palace, +I'm sure, because there's no dusting or sweeping to be done." + +"Or scrubbin'," added Cap'n Bill. + +"The crabs," said Merla, "are second cousins to the lobsters, +although much smaller in size. There are many families or varieties +of crabs, and so many of them live in one place near here that we +call it Crabville. I think you will enjoy seeing these little +creatures in their native haunts." + +They now approached a kelp bed, the straight, thin stems of the kelp +running far upward to the surface of the water. Here and there upon +the stalks were leaves, but Trot thought the growing kelp looked +much like sticks of macaroni, except they were a rich red-brown +color. It was beyond the kelp--which they had to push aside as they +swam through, so thickly did it grow--that they came to a higher +level, a sort of plateau on the ocean's bottom. It was covered with +scattered rocks of all sizes, which appeared to have broken off from +big shelving rocks they observed nearby. The place they entered +seemed like one of the rocky canyons you often see upon the earth. + +"Here live the fiddler crabs," said Merla, "but we must have taken +them by surprise, it is so quiet." + +Even as she spoke, there was a stirring and scrambling among the +rocks, and soon scores of light-green crabs were gathered before the +visitors. The crabs bore fiddles of all sorts and shapes in their +claws, and one big fellow carried a leader's baton. The latter crab +climbed upon a flat rock and in an excited voice called out, "Ready, +now--ready, good fiddlers. We'll play Number 19, Hail to the +Mermaids. Ready! Take aim! Fire away!" + +At this command every crab began scraping at his fiddle as hard as +he could, and the sounds were so shrill and unmusical that Trot +wondered when they would begin to play a tune. But they never did; +it was one regular mix-up of sounds from beginning to end. When the +noise finally stopped, the leader turned to his visitors and, waving +his baton toward them, asked, "Well, what did you think of that?" + +"Not much," said Trot honestly. "What's it all about?" + +"I composed it myself!" said the Fiddler Crab. "But it's highly +classical, I admit. All really great music is an acquired taste." + +"I don't like it," remarked Cap'n Bill. "It might do all right to +stir up a racket New Year's Eve, but to call that screechin' +music--" + +Just then the crabs started fiddling again, harder than ever, and as +it promised to be a long performance, they left the little creatures +scraping away at their fiddles as if for dear life and swam along +the rocky canyon until, on turning a corner, they came upon a new +and different scene. + +There were crabs here, too, many of them, and they were performing +the queerest antics imaginable. Some were building themselves into a +pyramid, each standing on edge, with the biggest and strongest ones +at the bottom. When the crabs were five or six rows high, they would +all tumble over, still clinging to one another and, having reached +the ground, they would separate and commence to build the pyramid +over again. Others were chasing one another around in a circle, +always moving backward or sidewise, and trying to play "leapfrog" as +they went. Still others were swinging on slight branches of seaweed +or turning cartwheels or indulging in similar antics. + +Merla and the earth people watched the busy little creatures for +some time before they were themselves observed, but finally Trot +gave a laugh when one crab fell on its back and began frantically +waving its legs to get right-side-up again. At the sound of her +laughter they all stopped their play and came toward the visitors in +a flock, looking up at them with their bright eyes in a most comical +way. + +"Welcome home!" cried one as he turned a back somersault and knocked +another crab over. + +"What's the difference between a mermaid and a tadpole?" asked +another in a loud voice, and without a pause continued, "Why, one +drops its tail and the other holds onto it. Ha, ha! Ho, ho! Hee, +hee!" + +"These," said Merla, "are the clown crabs. They are very silly +things, as you may already have discovered, but for a short time +they are rather amusing. One tires of them very soon." + +"They're funny," said Trot, laughing again. "It's almost as good as +a circus. I don't think they would make me tired, but then I'm not a +mermaid." + +The clown crabs had now formed a row in front of them. "Mr. +Johnsing," asked one, "why is a mermaid like an automobile?" + +"I don't know, Tommy Blimken," answered a big crab in the middle of +the row. "WHY do you think a mermaid is like an automobile?" + +"Because they both get tired," said Tommy Blimken. Then all the +crabs laughed, and Tommy seemed to laugh louder than the rest. + +"How do the crabs in the sea know anything 'bout automobiles?" asked +Trot. + +"Why, Tommy Blimken and Harry Hustle were both captured once by +humans and put in an aquarium," answered the mermaid. "But one day +they climbed out and escaped, finally making their way back to the +sea and home again. So they are quite traveled, you see, and great +favorites among the crabs. While they were on land they saw a great +many curious things, and so I suppose they saw automobiles." + +"We did, we did!" cried Harry Hustle, an awkward crab with one big +claw and one little one. "And we saw earth people with legs, awfully +funny they were; and animals called horses, with legs; and other +creatures with legs; and the people cover themselves with the +queerest things--they even wear feathers and flowers on their heads, +and--" + +"Oh, we know all about that," said Trot. "We live on the earth +ourselves." + +"Well, you're lucky to get off from it and into the good water," +said the Crab. "I nearly died on the earth; it was so stupid, dry +and airy. But the circus was great. They held the performance right +in front of the aquarium where we lived, and Tommy and I learned all +the tricks of the tumblers. Hi! Come on, fellows, and show the earth +people what you can do!" + +At this the crabs began performing their antics again, but they did +the same things over and over, so Cap'n Bill and Trot soon tired, as +Merla said they would, and decided they had seen enough of the crab +circus. So they proceeded to swim farther up the rocky canyon, and +near its upper end they came to a lot of conch shells lying upon the +sandy bottom. A funny-looking crab was sticking his head out from +each of these shells. + +"These are the hermit crabs," said one of the mermaids. "They steal +these shells and live in them so no enemies can attack them." + +"Don't they get lonesome?" asked Trot. + +"Perhaps so, my dear. But they do not seem to mind being lonesome. +They are great cowards, and think if they can but protect their +lives there is nothing else to care for. Unlike the jolly crabs we +have just left, the hermits are cross and unsociable." + +"Oh, keep quiet and go away!" said one of the hermit crabs in a +grumpy voice. "No one wants mermaids around here." Then every crab +withdrew its head into its shell, and our friends saw them no more. + +"They're not very polite," observed Trot, following the mermaid as +Merla swam upward into the middle water. + +"I know now why cross people are called 'crabbed,'" said Cap'n Bill. +"They've got dispositions jes' like these 'ere hermit crabs." + +Presently they came upon a small flock of mackerel, and noticed that +the fishes seemed much excited. When they saw the mermaid, they +cried out, "Oh, Merla! What do you think? Our Flippity has just gone +to glory!" + +"When?" asked the mermaid. + +"Just now," one replied. "We were lying in the water, talking +quietly together when a spinning, shining thing came along and our +dear Flippity ate it. Then he went shooting up to the top of the +water and gave a flop and--went to glory! Isn't it splendid, Merla?" + +"Poor Flippity!" sighed the mermaid. "I'm sorry, for he was the +prettiest and nicest mackerel in your whole flock." + +"What does it mean?" asked Trot. "How did Flippity go to glory?" + +"Why, he was caught by a hook and pulled out of the water into some +boat," Merla explained. "But these poor stupid creatures do not +understand that, and when one of them is jerked out of the water and +disappears, they have the idea he has gone to glory, which means to +them some unknown but beautiful sea." + +"I've often wondered," said Trot, "why fishes are foolish enough to +bite on hooks." + +"They must know enough to know they're hooks," added Cap'n Bill +musingly. + +"Oh, they do," replied Merla. "I've seen fishes gather around a hook +and look at it carefully for a long time. They all know it is a hook +and that if they bite the bait upon it they will be pulled out of +the water. But they are curious to know what will happen to them +afterward, and think it means happiness instead of death. So finally +one takes the hook and disappears, and the others never know what +becomes of him." + +"Why don't you tell 'em the truth?" asked Trot. + +"Oh, we do. The mermaids have warned them many times, but it does no +good at all. The fish are stupid creatures." + +"But I wish I was Flippity," said one of the mackerel, staring at +Trot with his big, round eyes. "He went to glory before I could eat +the hook myself." + +"You're lucky," answered the child. "Flippity will be fried in a pan +for someone's dinner. You wouldn't like that, would you?" + +"Flippity has gone to glory!" said another, and then they swam away +in haste to tell the news to all they met. + +"I never heard of anything so foolish," remarked Trot as she swam +slowly on through the clear, blue water. + +"Yes, it is very foolish and very sad," answered Merla. "But if the +fish were wise, men could not catch them for food, and many poor +people on your earth make their living by fishing." + +"It seems wicked to catch such pretty things," said the child. + +"I do not think so," Merla replied laughingly, "for they were born +to become food for someone, and men are not the only ones that eat +fishes. Many creatures of the sea feed upon them. They even eat one +another at times. And if none was ever destroyed, they would soon +become so numerous that they would clog the waters of the ocean and +leave no room for the rest of us. So after all, perhaps it is just +as well they are thoughtless and foolish." + +Presently they came to some round balls that looked much like +balloons in shape and were gaily colored. They floated quietly in +the water, and Trot inquired what they were. + +"Balloonfish," answered Merla. "They are helpless creatures, but +have little spikes all over them so their enemies dare not bite them +for fear of getting pricked." + +Trot found the balloonfish quite interesting. They had little dots +of eyes and dots for mouths, but she could see no noses, and their +fins and tails were very small. + +"They catch these fish in the South Sea Islands and make lanterns of +'em," said Cap'n Bill. "They first skin 'em and sew the skin up +again to let it dry, and then they put candles inside, and the light +shines through the dried skin." + +Many other curious sights they saw in the ocean that afternoon, and +both Cap'n Bill and Trot thoroughly enjoyed their glimpse of sea +life. At last Merla said it was time to return to the palace, from +which she claimed they had not at any time been very far distant. +"We must prepare for dinner, as it will soon begin to grow dark in +the water," continued their conductor. So they swam leisurely back +to the groves that surrounded the palaces, and as they entered the +gardens the sun sank, and deep shadows began to form in the ocean +depths. + + + + +CHAPTER 8 + +A BANQUET UNDER WATER + + +The palaces of the mermaids were all aglow with lights as they +approached them, and Trot was amazed at the sight. + +"Where do the lamps come from?" she asked their guide wonderingly. + +"They are not lamps, my dear," replied Merla, much amused at this +suggestion. "We use electric lights in our palaces and have done so +for thousands of years--long before the earth people knew of +electric lights." + +"But where do you get 'em?" inquired Cap'n Bill, who was as much +astonished as the girl. + +"From a transparent jellyfish which naturally emits a strong and +beautiful electric light," was the answer. "We have many hundreds of +them in our palaces, as you will presently see." + +Their way was now lighted by small, phosphorescent creatures +scattered about the sea gardens and which Merla informed them were +hyalaea, or sea glowworms. But their light was dim when compared to +that of the electric jellyfish, which they found placed in clusters +upon the ceilings of all the rooms of the palaces, rendering them +light as day. Trot watched these curious creatures with delight, for +delicately colored lights ran around their bodies in every direction +in a continuous stream, shedding splendid rays throughout the vast +halls. + +A group of mermaids met the visitors in the hall of the main palace +and told Merla the queen had instructed them to show the guests to +their rooms as soon as they arrived. So Trot followed two of them +through several passages, after which they swam upward and entered a +circular opening. There were no stairs here, because there was no +need of them, and the little girl soon found herself in an upper +room that was very beautiful indeed. + +All the walls were covered with iridescent shells, polished till +they resembled mother-of-pearl, and upon the glass ceiling were +clusters of the brilliant electric jellyfish, rendering the room +bright and cheerful with their radiance. In one corner stood a couch +of white coral, with gossamer draperies hanging around it from the +four high posts. Upon examining it, the child found the couch was +covered with soft, amber sponges, which rendered it very comfortable +to lie upon. In a wardrobe she found several beautiful gossamer +gowns richly embroidered in colored seaweeds, and these Mayre was +told she might wear while she remained the guest of the mermaids. +She also found a toilet table with brushes, combs and other +conveniences, all of which were made of polished tortoise-shell. + +Really, the room was more dainty and comfortable than one might +suppose possible in a palace far beneath the surface of the sea, and +Trot was greatly delighted with her new quarters. The mermaid +attendants assisted the child to dress herself in one of the +prettiest robes, which she found to be quite dry and fitted her +comfortably. Then the sea-maids brushed and dressed her hair, and +tied it with ribbons of cherry-red seaweed. Finally they placed +around her neck a string of pearls that would have been priceless +upon the earth, and now the little girl announced she was ready for +supper and had a good appetite. + +Cap'n Bill had been given a similar room near Trot, but the old +sailor refused to change his clothes for any others offered him, for +which reason he was ready for supper long before his comrade. "What +bothers me, mate," he said to the little girl as the y swam toward +the great banquet hall where Queen Aquareine awaited them, "is why +ain't we crushed by the pressin' of the water agin us, bein' as +we're down here in the deep sea." + +"How's that, Cap'n? Why should we be crushed?" she asked. + +"Why, ev'r'body knows that the deeper you go in the sea, the more +the water presses agin you," he explained. "Even the divers in their +steel jackets can't stand it very deep down. An' here we be, miles +from the top o' the water, I s'pect, an' we don't feel crowded a +bit." + +"I know why," answered the child wisely. "The water don't touch us, +you see. If it did, it might crush us, but it don't. It's always +held a little way off from our bodies by the magic of the fairy +mermaids." + +"True enough, Trot," declared the sailor man. "What an idjut I was +not to think o' that myself!" + +In the royal banquet hall were assembled many of the mermaids, +headed by the lovely queen, and as soon as their earth guests +arrived, Aquareine ordered the meal to be served. The lobsters again +waited upon the table, wearing little white caps and aprons which +made them look very funny; but Trot was so hungry after her +afternoon's excursion that she did not pay as much attention to the +lobsters as she did to her supper, which was very delicious and +consisted of many courses. A lobster spilled some soup on Cap'n +Bill's bald head and made him yell for a minute, because it was hot +and he had not expected it, but the queen apologized very sweetly +for the awkwardness of her servants, and the sailor soon forgot all +about the incident in his enjoyment of the meal. + +After the feast ended, they all went to the big reception room, +where some of the mermaids played upon harps while others sang +pretty songs. They danced together, too--a graceful, swimming dance, +so queer to the little girl that it interested and amused her +greatly. Cap'n Bill seemed a bit bashful among so many beautiful +mermaids, yet he was pleased when the queen offered him a place +beside her throne, where he could see and hear all the delightful +entertainment provided for the royal guests. He did not talk much, +being a man of few words except when alone with Trot, but his +light-blue eyes were big and round with wonder at the sights he saw. + +Trot and the sailor man went to bed early and slept soundly upon +their sponge-covered couches. The little girl never wakened until +long after the sun was shining down through the glass roof of her +room, and when she opened her eyes she was startled to find a number +of big, small and middle-sized fishes staring at her through the +glass. "That's one bad thing 'bout this mermaid palace," she said to +herself. "It's too public. Ever'thing in the sea can look at you +through the glass as much as it likes. I wouldn't mind fishes +looking at me if they hadn't such big eyes, an'--goodness me! +There's a monster that's all head! And there goes a fish with a sail +on its back, an' here's old Mummercubble, I'm sure, for he's got a +head just like a pig." + +She might have watched the fishes on the roof for hours, had she not +remembered it was late and breakfast must be ready. So she dressed +and made her toilet, and swam down into the palace to find Cap'n +Bill and the mermaids politely waiting for her to join them. The sea +maidens were as fresh and lovely as ever, while each and all proved +sweet tempered and merry, even at the breakfast table--and that is +where people are cross, if they ever are. During the meal the queen +said, "I shall take you this morning to the most interesting part of +the ocean, where the largest and most remarkable sea creatures live. +And we must visit King Anko, too, for the sea serpent would feel +hurt and slighted if I did not bring my guests to call upon him." + +"That will be nice," said Trot eagerly. + +But Cap'n Bill asked, "Is there any danger, ma'am?" + +"I think not," replied Queen Aquareine. "I cannot say that you will +be exposed to any danger at all, so long as I'm with you. But we are +going into the neighborhood of such fierce and even terrible beings +which would attack you at once did they suspect you to be earth +people. So in order to guard your safety, I intend to draw the Magic +Circle around both of you before we start." + +"What is the Magic Circle?" asked Trot. + +"A fairy charm that prevents any enemy from touching you. No monster +of the sea, however powerful, will be able to reach your body while +you are protected by the Magic Circle," declared the Queen. + +"Oh, then I'll not be a bit afraid," returned the child with perfect +confidence. + +"Am I to have the Magic Circle drawn around me, too?" asked Cap'n +Bill. + +"Of course," answered Aquareine. "You will need no other protection +than that, yet both Princess Clia and I will both be with you. For +today I shall leave Merla to rule our palaces in my place until we +return." + +No sooner was breakfast finished than Trot was anxious to start. The +girl was also curious to discover what the powerful Magic Circle +might prove to be, but she was a little disappointed in the +ceremony. The queen merely grasped her fairy wand in her right hand +and swam around the child in a circle, from left to right. Then she +took her wand in her left hand and swam around Trot in another +circle, from right to left. "Now, my dear," said she, "you are safe +from any creature we are liable to meet." + +She performed the same ceremony for Cap'n Bill, who was doubtful +about the Magic Circle because he felt the same after it as he had +before. But he said nothing of his unbelief, and soon they left the +palace and started upon their journey. + + + + +CHAPTER 9 + +THE BASHFUL OCTOPUS + + +It was a lovely day, and the sea was like azure under the rays of +the sun. + +Over the flower beds and through the gardens they swam, emerging +into the open sea in a direction opposite that taken by the visitors +the day before. The party consisted of but four: Queen Aquareine, +Princess Clia, Trot and Cap'n Bill. + +"People who live upon the land know only those sea creatures which +they are able to catch in nets or upon hooks or those which become +disabled and are washed ashore," remarked the Queen as they swam +swiftly through the clear water. "And those who sail in ships see +only the creatures who chance to come to the surface. But in the +deep ocean caverns are queer beings that no mortal has ever heard of +or beheld, and some of these we are to visit. We shall also see some +sea shrubs and flowering weeds which are sure to delight you with +their beauty." + +The sights really began before they had gone very far from the +palace, and a school of butterfly fish, having gorgeous colors +spattered over their broad wings, was first to delight the +strangers. They swam just as butterflies fly, with a darting, jerky +motion, and called a merry "Good morning!" to the mermaids as they +passed. + +"These butterfly fish are remarkably active," said the Princess, +"and their quick motions protect them from their enemies. We like to +meet them; they are always so gay and good-natured." + +"Why, so am I!" cried a sharp voice just beside them, and they all +paused to discover what creature had spoken to them. + +"Take care," said Clia in a low voice. "It's an octopus." + +Trot looked eagerly around. A long, brown arm stretched across their +way in front and another just behind them, but that did not worry +her. The octopus himself came slowly sliding up to them and proved +to be well worth looking at. He wore a red coat with brass buttons, +and a silk hat was tipped over one ear. His eyes were somewhat dull +and watery, and he had a moustache of long, hair-like "feelers" that +curled stiffly at the ends. When he tried to smile at them, he +showed two rows of sharp, white teeth. In spite of his red coat and +yellow-embroidered vest, his standing collar and carefully tied +cravat, the legs of the octopus were bare, and Trot noticed he used +some of his legs for arms, as in one of them was held a slender cane +and in another a handkerchief. + +"Well, well!" said the Octopus. "Are you all dumb? Or don't you know +enough to be civil when you meet a neighbor?" + +"We know how to be civil to our friends," replied Trot, who did not +like the way he spoke. + +"Well, are we not friends, then?" asked the Octopus in an airy tone +of voice. + +"I think not," said the little girl. "Octopuses are horrid +creatures." + +"OctoPI, if you please; octoPI," said the monster with a laugh. + +"I don't see any pie that pleases me," replied Trot, beginning to +get angry. + +"OctoPUS means one of us; two or more are called octoPI," remarked +the creature, as if correcting her speech. + +"I suppose a lot of you would be a whole bakery!" she said +scornfully. + +"Our name is Latin. It was given to us by learned scientists years +ago," said the Octopus. + +"That's true enough," agreed Cap'n Bill. "The learned scientists +named ev'ry blamed thing they come across, an' gener'ly they picked +out names as nobody could understand or pernounce." + +"That isn't our fault, sir," said the Octopus. "Indeed, it's pretty +hard for us to go through life with such terrible names. Think of +the poor little seahorse. He used to be a merry and cheerful fellow, +but since they named him 'hippocampus' he hasn't smiled once." + +"Let's go," said Trot. "I don't like to 'sociate with octopuses." + +"OctoPI," said the creature, again correcting her. + +"You're jus' as horrid whether you're puses or pies," she declared. + +"Horrid!" cried the monster in a shocked tone of voice. + +"Not only horrid, but horrible!" persisted the girl. + +"May I ask in what way?" he inquired, and it was easy to see he was +offended. + +"Why, ev'rybody knows that octopuses are jus' wicked an' deceitful," +she said. "Up on the earth, where I live, we call the Stannerd Oil +Company an octopus, an' the Coal Trust an octopus, an'--" + +"Stop, stop!" cried the monster in a pleading voice. "Do you mean to +tell me that the earth people whom I have always respected compare +me to the Stannerd Oil Company?" + +"Yes," said Trot positively. + +"Oh, what a disgrace! What a cruel, direful, dreadful disgrace!" +moaned the Octopus, drooping his head in shame, and Trot could see +great tears falling down his cheeks. + +"This comes of having a bad name," said the Queen gently, for she +was moved by the monster's grief. + +"It is unjust! It is cruel and unjust!" sobbed the creature +mournfully. "Just because we have several long arms and take +whatever we can reach, they accuse us of being like--like--oh, I +cannot say it! It is too shameful, too humiliating." + +"Come, let's go," said Trot again. So they left the poor octopus +weeping and wiping his watery eyes with his handkerchief and swam on +their way. "I'm not a bit sorry for him," remarked the child, "for +his legs remind me of serpents." + +"So they do me," agreed Cap'n Bill. + +"But the octopi are not very bad," said the Princess, "and we get +along with them much better than we do with their cousins, the sea +devils." + +"Oh. Are the sea devils their cousins?" asked Trot. + +"Yes, and they are the only creatures of the ocean which we greatly +fear," replied Aquareine. "I hope we shall meet none today, for we +are going near to the dismal caverns where they live." + +"What are the sea devils like, ma'am?" inquired Cap'n Bill a little +uneasily. + +"Something like the octopus you just saw, only much larger and of a +bright scarlet color, striped with black," answered the Queen. "They +are very fierce and terrible creatures and nearly as much dreaded by +the inhabitants of the ocean as is Zog, and nearly as powerful as +King Anko himself." + +"Zog! Who is Zog?" questioned the girl. "I haven't heard of him +before now." + +"We do not like to mention Zog's name," responded the Queen in a low +voice. "He is the wicked genius of the sea, and a magician of great +power." + +"What's he like?" asked Cap'n Bill. + +"He is a dreadful creature, part fish, part man, part beast and part +serpent. Centuries ago they cast him off the earth into the sea, +where he has caused much trouble. Once he waged a terrible war +against King Anko, but the sea serpent finally conquered Zog and +drove the magician into his castle, where he now stays shut up. For +if ever Anko catches the monster outside of his enchanted castle, he +will kill him, and Zog knows that very well." + +"Seems like you have your troubles down here just as we do on top +the ground," remarked Cap'n Bill. + +"But I'm glad old Zog is shut up in his castle," added Trot. "Is it +a sea castle like your own palace?" + +"I cannot say, my dear, for the enchantment makes it invisible to +all eyes but those of its inhabitants," replied Aquareine. "No one +sees Zog now, and we scarcely ever hear of him, but all the sea +people know he is here someplace and fear his power. Even in the old +days, before Anko conquered him, Zog was the enemy of the mermaids, +as he was of all the good and respectable seafolk. But do not worry +about the magician, I beg of you, for he has not dared to do an evil +deed in many, many years." + +"Oh, I'm not afraid," asserted Trot. + +"I'm glad of that," said the Queen. "Keep together, friends, and be +careful not to separate, for here comes an army of sawfishes." + +Even as Aquareine spoke, they saw a swirl and commotion in the water +ahead of them, while a sound like a muffled roar fell upon their +ears. Then swiftly there dashed upon them a group of great fishes +with long saws sticking out in front of their noses, armed with +sharp, hooked teeth, all set in a row. They were larger than the +swordfishes and seemed more fierce and bold. But the mermaids and +Trot and Cap'n Bill quietly awaited their attack, and instead of +tearing them with their saws as they expected to do, the fishes were +unable to touch them at all. They tried every possible way to get at +their proposed victims, but the Magic Circle was all powerful and +turned aside the ugly saws; so our friends were not disturbed at +all. Seeing this, the sawfishes soon abandoned the attempt and with +growls and roars of disappointment swam away and were quickly out of +sight. + +Trot had been a wee bit frightened during the attack, but now she +laughed gleefully and told the queen that it seemed very nice to be +protected by fairy powers. The water grew a darker blue as they +descended into its depths, farther and farther away from the rays of +the sun. Trot was surprised to find she could see so plainly through +the high wall of water above her, but the sun was able to shoot its +beams straight down through the transparent sea, and they seemed to +penetrate to every nook and crevice of the rocky bottom. + +In this deeper part of the ocean some of the fishes had a +phosphorescent light of their own, and these could be seen far ahead +as if they were lanterns. The explorers met a school of argonauts +going up to the surface for a sail, and the child watched these +strange creatures with much curiosity. The argonauts live in shells +in which they are able to hide in case of danger from prowling wolf +fishes, but otherwise they crawl out and carry their shells like +humps upon their backs. Then they spread their skinny sails above +them and sail away under water till they come to the surface, where +they float and let the currents of air carry them along the same as +the currents of water had done before. Trot thought the argonauts +comical little creatures, with their big eyes and sharp noses, and +to her they looked like a fleet of tiny ships. + +It is said that men got their first idea of boats and of how to sail +them from watching these little argonauts. + + + + +CHAPTER 10 + +THE UNDISCOVERED ISLAND + + +In following the fleet of argonauts, the four explorers had risen +higher in the water and soon found they had wandered to an open +space that seemed to Trot like the flat top of a high hill. The +sands were covered with a growth of weeds so gorgeously colored that +one who had never peered beneath the surface of the sea would +scarcely believe they were not the product of a dye shop. Every +known hue seemed represented in the delicate, fern-like leaves that +swayed softly to and fro as the current moved them. They were not +set close together, these branches of magnificent hues, but were +scattered sparsely over the sandy bottom of the sea so that while +from a distance they seemed thick, a nearer view found them spread +out with ample spaces of sand between them. + +In these sandy spaces lay the real attractiveness of the place, for +here were many of those wonders of the deep that have surprised and +interested people in all ages. + +First were the starfishes--hundreds of them, it seemed--lying +sleepily on the bottom, with their five or six points extended +outward. They were of various colors, some rich and brilliant, +others of dark brown hues. A few had wound their arms around the +weeds or were creeping slowly from one place to another, in the +latter case turning their points downward and using them as legs. +But most of them were lying motionless, and as Trot looked down upon +them she thought they resembled stars in the sky on a bright night, +except that the blue of the heavens was here replaced by the white +sand, and the twinkling diamond stars by the colored starfish. + +"We are near an island," said the Queen, "and that is why so many +starfishes are here, as they love to keep close to shore. Also the +little seahorses love these weeds, and to me they are more +interesting than the starfish." + +Trot now noticed the seahorses for the first time. They were quite +small--merely two or three inches high--but had funny little heads +that were shaped much like the head of a horse, and bright, +intelligent eyes. They had no legs, though, for their bodies ended +in tails which they twined around the stems of seaweeds to support +themselves and keep the currents from carrying them away. + +Trot bent down close to examine one of the queer little creatures +and exclaimed, "Why, the seahorses haven't any fins or anything to +swim with." + +"Oh yes we have," replied the Sea Horse in a tiny but distinct +voice. "These things on the side of my head are fins." + +"I thought they were ears," said the girl. + +"So they are. Fins and ears at the same time," answered the little +sea animal. "Also, there are small fins on our backs. Of course, we +can't swim as the mermaids do, or even as swiftly as fishes; but we +manage to get around, thank you." + +"Don't the fishes catch and eat you?" inquired Trot curiously. + +"Sometimes," admitted the Sea Horse, "and there are many other +living things that have a way of destroying us. But here I am, as +you see, over six weeks old, and during that time I have escaped +every danger. That isn't so bad, is it?" + +"Phoo!" said a Starfish lying near. "I'm over three months old. +You're a mere baby, Sea Horse." + +"I'm not!" cried the Sea Horse excitedly. "I'm full-grown and may +live to be as old as you are!" + +"Not if I keep on living," said the Starfish calmly, and Trot knew +he was correct in his statement. + +The little girl now noticed several sea spiders creeping around and +drew back because she did not think them very pretty. They were +shaped not unlike the starfishes, but had slender legs and big heads +with wicked-looking eyes sticking out of them. + +"Oh, I don't like those things!" said Trot, coming closer to her +companions. + +"You don't, eh?" said a big Sea Spider in a cross voice. "Why do you +come around here, then, scaring away my dinner when you're not +wanted?" + +"It isn't YOUR ocean," replied Trot. + +"No, and it isn't yours," snapped the Spider. "But as it's big +enough for us both, I'd like you to go away." + +"So we will," said Aquareine gently, and at once she moved toward +the surface of the water. Trot and Cap'n Bill followed, with Clia, +and the child asked, "What island are we near?" + +"It has no name," answered the Queen, "for it is not inhabited by +man, nor has it ever yet been discovered by them. Perhaps you will +be the first humans to see this island. But it is a barren, rocky +place, and only fit for seals and turtles." + +"Are any of them there now?" Cap'n Bill inquired. + +"I think so. We will see." + +Trot was astonished to find how near they were to the "top" of the +ocean, for they had not ascended through the water very long when +suddenly her head popped into the air, and she gave a gasp of +surprise to find herself looking at the clear sky for the first time +since she had started upon this adventure by rowing into Giant's +Cave. + +She floated comfortably in the water, with her head and face just +out of it, and began to look around her. Cap'n Bill was at her side, +and so were the two mermaids. The day was fair, and the surface of +the sea, which stretched far away as the eye could reach, rippled +under a gentle breeze. They had risen almost at the edge of a small, +rocky islet, high in the middle, but gradually slanting down to the +water. No trees or bushes or grass grew anywhere about; only rocks, +gray and bleak, were to be seen. + +Trot scarcely noticed this at first, however, for the island seemed +covered with groups of forms, some still and some moving, which the +old sailor promptly recognized as seals. Many were lying asleep or +sunning themselves; others crept awkwardly around, using their +strong fins as legs or "paddles" and caring little if they disturbed +the slumbers of the others. Once in a while one of those crowded out +of place would give a loud and angry bark, which awakened others and +set them to barking likewise. + +Baby seals were there in great numbers, and were more active and +playful than their elders. It was really wonderful how they could +scramble around on the land, and Trot laughed more than once at +their antics. + +At the edge of the water lay many huge turtles, some as big around +as a wagon wheel and others much smaller in size. + +"The big ones are very old," said the Queen, seeing Trot's eyes +fixed on the turtles. + +"How old?" asked the child. + +"Hundreds of years, I think. They live to a great age, for nothing +can harm them when they withdraw their legs and heads into their +thick shells. We use some of the turtles for food, but prefer the +younger ones. Men also fish for turtles and eat them, but of course +no men ever come to this out-of-the-way place in the ocean, so the +inhabitants of this little island know they are perfectly safe." + +In the center of the island rose high cliffs on top of which were to +be seen great flocks of seagulls, some whirling in the air, while +others were perched upon the points of rock. + +"What do the birds find to eat?" asked Cap'n Bill. + +"They often feed upon seals which die of accident or old age, and +they are expert fishermen," explained Queen Aquareine. "Curiously +enough, the seals also feed upon these birds, which they are often +able to catch in their strong jaws when the gulls venture too near. +And then, the seals frequently rob the nests of eggs, of which they +are very fond." + +"I'd like a few gulls' eggs now," remarked a big seal that lay near +them upon the shore. Trot had thought him sound asleep, but now he +opened his eyes to blink lazily at the group in the water. + +"Good morning," said the Queen. "Aren't you Chief Muffruff?" + +"I am," answered the old seal. "And you are Aquareine, the mermaid +queen. You see, I remember you, although you haven't been here for +years. And isn't that Princess Clia? To be sure! But the other +mermaids are strangers to me, especially the bald-headed one." + +"I'm not a mermaid," asserted Cap'n Bill. "I'm a sailor jes' +a-visitin' the mermaids." + +"Our friends are earth dwellers," explained the Queen. + +"That's odd," said Muffruff. "I can't remember that any earth +dwellers ever came this way before. I never travel far, you see, for +I'm chief of this disorderly family of seals that live on this +island--on it and off it, that is." + +"You're a poor chief," said a big turtle lying beside the seal. "If +your people are disorderly, it is your own fault." + +Muffruff gave a chuckling laugh. Then, with a movement quick as +lightning, he pushed his head under the shell of the turtle and gave +it a sudden jerk. The huge turtle was tossed up on edge and then +turned flat upon its back, where its short legs struggled vainly to +right its overturned body. + +"There!" snorted the Seal contemptuously. "Perhaps you'll dare +insult me again in the presence of visitors, you old mud-wallower!" + +Seeing the plight of the turtle, several young seals came laughingly +wabbling to the spot, and as they approached the helpless creature +drew in his legs and head and closed his two shells tightly +together. The seals bumped against the turtle and gave it a push +that sent it sliding down the beach like a toboggan, and a minute +later it splashed into the water and sank out of sight. But that was +just what the creature wanted. On shore the upset turtle was quite +helpless; but the mischievous seals saved him. For as soon as he +touched the water, he was able to turn and right himself, which he +promptly did. Then he raised his head above the water and asked: + +"Is it peace or war, Muffruff?" + +"Whichever you like," answered the Seal indifferently. + +Perhaps the turtle was angry, for it ran on shore with remarkable +swiftness, uttering a shrill cry as it advanced. At once all the +other turtles awoke to life and with upraised heads joined their +comrade in the rush for the seals. Most of Chief Muffruff's band +scrambled hastily down the rocks and plunged into the water of the +sea without waiting for the turtles to reach them; but the chief +himself was slow in escaping. It may be that he was ashamed to run +while the mermaids were watching, but if this was so he made a great +mistake. The turtles snapped at his fins and tail and began biting +round chunks out of them so that Chief Muffruff screamed with pain +and anger and floundered into the water as fast as he could go. The +vengeful turtles were certainly the victors, and now held undisputed +possession of the island. + +Trot laughed joyously at the incident, not feeling a bit sorry for +the old seal who had foolishly begun the battle. Even the gentle +queen smiled as she said: + +"These quarrels between the turtles and the seals are very frequent, +but they are soon ended. An hour from now they will all be lying +asleep together just as we found them; but we will not wait for +that. Let us go." + +She sank slowly beneath the water again, and the others followed +after her. + + + + +CHAPTER 11 + +ZOG THE TERRIBLE AND HIS SEA DEVILS + + +"The sun must be going under a cloud," said Trot, looking ahead. + +They had descended far into the ocean depths again--further, the +girl thought, than they had ever been before. + +"No," the Queen answered after a glance ahead of them, "that is a +cuttlefish, and he is dyeing the sea around him with ink so that he +can hide from us. Let us turn a little to the left, for we could see +nothing at all in that inky water." + +Following her advice, they made a broad curve to the left, and at +once the water began to darken in that direction. + +"Why, there's another of 'em," said Cap'n Bill as the little party +came to a sudden halt. + +"So there is," returned the Queen, and Trot thought there was a +little quiver of anxiety in her voice. "We must go far to the right +to escape the ink." + +So they again started, this time almost at a right angle to their +former course, the little girl inquired: + +"How can the cuttlefish color the water so very black?" + +"They carry big sacks in front of them where they conceal the ink," +Princess Clia answered. "Whenever they choose, the cuttlefish are +able to press out this ink, and it colors the water for a great +space around them." + +The direction in which they were now swimming was taking them far +out of their way. Aquareine did not wish to travel very far to the +right, so when she thought they had gone far enough to escape the +inky water, she turned to lead her party toward the left--the +direction in which she DID wish to go. At once another cloud of ink +stained the water and drove them to the right again. + +"Is anything wrong, ma'am?" asked Cap'n Bill, seeing a frown gather +upon the queen's lovely face. + +"I hope not," she said. "But I must warn you that these cuttlefish +are the servants of the terrible sea devils, and from the way they +are acting they seem determined to drive us toward the Devil Caves, +which I wished to avoid." + +This admission on the part of their powerful protector, the fairy +mermaid, sent a chill to the hearts of the earth people. Neither +spoke for a time, but finally Cap'n Bill asked in a timid voice: + +"Hadn't we better go back, ma'am?" + +"Yes," decided Aquareine after a moment's thought. "I think it will +be wise to retreat. The sea devils are evidently aware of our +movements and wish to annoy us. For my part, I have no fear of them, +but I do not care to have you meet such creatures." + +But when they turned around to abandon their journey, another inky +cloud was to be seen behind them. They really had no choice but to +swim in the only streak of clear water they could find, and the +mermaids well knew this would lead them nearer and nearer to the +caves of their enemies. + +But Aquareine led the way, moving very slowly, and the others +followed her. In every other direction they were hemmed in by the +black waters, and they did not dare to halt, because the inky fluid +crept swiftly up behind them and drove them on. + +The queen and the princess had now become silent and grave. They +swam on either side of their guests as if to better protect them. + +"Don't look up," whispered Clia, pressing close to the little girl's +side. + +"Why not?" asked Trot, and then she did exactly what she had been +told not to do. She lifted her head and saw stretched over them a +network of scrawny, crimson arms interlaced like the branches of +trees in winter when the leaves have fallen and left them bare. + +Cap'n Bill gave a start and muttered "Land sakes!" for he, too, had +gazed upward and seen the crimson network of limbs. + +"Are these the sea devils?" asked the child, more curious than +frightened. + +"Yes, dear," replied the Queen. "But I advise you to pay no +attention to them. Remember, they cannot touch us." + +In order to avoid the threatening arms overhead, which followed them +as they swam, our friends kept near to the bottom of the sea, which +was here thickly covered with rough and jagged rocks. The inky water +had now been left far behind, but when Trot looked over her +shoulder, she shuddered to find a great crimson monster following +closely after them, with a dozen long, snaky feelers stretched out +as if to grab anyone that lagged behind. And there, at the side of +Princess Clia, was another devil, leering silently with his cruel, +bulging eyes at the pretty mermaid. Beside the queen swam still +another of their enemies. Indeed, the sea devils had crept upon them +and surrounded them everywhere except at the front, and Trot began +to feel nervous and worried for the first time. + +Cap'n Bill kept mumbling queer words under his breath, for he had a +way of talking to himself when anything "upsot him," as he would +quaintly remark. Trot always knew he was disturbed or in trouble +when he began to "growl." + +The only way now open was straight ahead. They swam slowly, yet fast +enough to keep a safe distance from the dreadful creature behind +them. + +"I'm afraid they are driving us into a trap," whispered the Queen +softly. "But whatever happens, do not lose courage, earth friends. +Clia and I are here to protect you, and our fairy powers are +sufficient to keep you from all harm." + +"Oh, I don't mind so very much," declared Trot calmly. "It's like +the fairy adventures in storybooks, and I've often thought I'd like +that kind of adventures, 'cause the story always turns out the right +way." + +Cap'n Bill growled something just then, but the only words Trot +could make out were, "never lived to tell the tale." + +"Oh, pshaw, Cap'n," she said. "We may be in danger, right enough, +an' to be honest, I don't like the looks of these sea devils at all. +But I'm sure it's no KILLING matter, for we've got the fairy circles +all around us." + +"Ha ha!" laughed the monster beside her. "WE know all about the +fairy circles, don't we, Migg?" + +"Ho ho!" laughed the monster on the other side. "We do, Slibb, my +boy, and we don't think much of fairy circles, either!" + +"They have foiled our enemies many a time," declared the Princess +with much dignity. + +"Ha ha!" laughed one. "That's why we're here now." + +"Ho ho!" laughed the other. "We've learned a trick or two, and we've +got you fast this time." + +Then all the sea devils--those above and the one behind, and the two +on the sides--laughed all together, and their laughter was so +horrible that it made even Trot shudder. + +But now the queen stopped short, and the others stopped with her. + +"I will go no farther," she said firmly, not caring if the monsters +overheard her. "It is evident that these monsters are trying to +drive us into some secret place, and it is well known that they are +in league with Zog the Terrible, whom they serve because they are as +wicked as he is. We must be somewhere near the hidden castle of Zog, +so I prefer to stay here rather than be driven into some place far +more dangerous. As for the sea devils, they are powerless to injure +us in any way. Not one of those thousand arms about us can possibly +touch our bodies." + +The only reply to this defiant speech was another burst of horrible +laughter; and now there suddenly appeared before them still another +of the monsters, which thus completely hemmed them in. Then the +creatures began interlacing their long arms--or "feelers"--until +they formed a perfect cage around the prisoners, not an opening +being left that was large enough for one of them to escape through. + +The mermaids and the girl and sailor man kept huddled close +together, for although they might be walled in by the sea devils, +their captors could not touch them because of the protecting magic +circles. + +All at once Trot exclaimed, "Why, we must be moving!" + +This was startling news, but by watching the flow of water past them +they saw that the little girl was right. The sea devils were +swimming, all together, and as the cage they were in moved forward, +our friends were carried with it. + +Queen Aquareine had a stern look upon her beautiful face. Cap'n Bill +guessed from this look that the mermaid was angry, for it seemed +much like the look Trot's mother wore when they came home late to +dinner. But however angry the queen might be, she was unable to help +herself or her guests just now or to escape from the guidance of the +dreaded sea devils. The rest of the party had become sober and +thoughtful, and in dignified silence they awaited the outcome of +this strange adventure. + + + + +CHAPTER 12 + +THE ENCHANTED ISLAND + + +All at once it grew dark around them. Neither Cap'n Bill nor Trot +liked this gloom, for it made them nervous not to be able to see +their enemies. + +"We must be near a sea cavern, if not within one," whispered +Princess Clia, and even as she spoke the network of scarlet arms +parted before them, leaving an avenue for them to swim out of the +cage. There was brighter water ahead, too, so the queen said without +hesitation: + +"Come along, dear friends; but let us clasp hands and keep close +together." + +They obeyed her commands and swam swiftly out of their prison and +into the clear water before them, glad to put a distance between +themselves and the loathesome sea devils. The monsters made no +attempt to follow them, but they burst into a chorus of harsh +laughter which warned our friends that they had not yet accomplished +their escape. + +The four now found themselves in a broad, rocky passage, which was +dimly lighted from some unknown source. The walls overhead, below +them and at the sides all glistened as if made of silver, and in +places were set small statues of birds, beasts and fishes, occupying +niches in the walls and seemingly made from the same glistening +material. + +The queen swam more slowly now that the sea devils had been left +behind, and she looked exceedingly grave and thoughtful. + +"Have you ever been here before?" asked Trot. + +"No, dear," said the Queen with a sigh. + +"And do you know where we are?" continued the girl. + +"I can guess," replied Aquareine. "There is only one place in all +the sea where such a passage as that we are in could exist without +my knowledge, and that is in the hidden dominions of Zog. If we are +indeed in the power of that fearful magician, we must summon all our +courage to resist him, or we are lost!" + +"Is Zog more powerful than the mermaids?" asked Trot anxiously. + +"I do not know, for we have never before met to measure our +strength," answered Aquareine. "But if King Anko could defeat the +magician, as he surely did, then I think I shall be able to do so." + +"I wish I was sure of it," muttered Cap'n Bill. + +Absolute silence reigned in the silver passage. No fish were there; +not even a sea flower grew to relieve the stern grandeur of this +vast corridor. Trot began to be impressed with the fact that she was +a good way from her home and mother, and she wondered if she would +ever get back again to the white cottage on the cliff. Here she was, +at the bottom of the great ocean, swimming through a big tunnel that +had an enchanted castle at the end, and a group of horrible sea +devils at the other! In spite of this thought, she was not very much +afraid. Although two fairy mermaids were her companions, she relied, +strange to say, more upon her tried and true friend, Cap'n Bill, +than upon her newer acquaintances to see her safely out of her +present trouble. + +Cap'n Bill himself did not feel very confident. + +"I don't care two cents what becomes o' me," he told Princess Clia +in a low voice, "but I'm drea'ful worried over our Trot. She's too +sweet an' young to be made an end of in this 'ere fashion." + +Clia smiled at this speech. "I'm sure you will find the little +girl's end a good way off," she replied. "Trust to our powerful +queen, and be sure she will find some means for us all to escape +uninjured." + +The light grew brighter as they advanced, until finally they +perceived a magnificent archway just ahead of them. Aquareine +hesitated a moment whether to go on or turn back, but there was no +escaping the sea devils behind them, and she decided the best way +out of their difficulties was to bravely face the unknown Zog and +rely upon her fairy powers to prevent his doing any mischief to +herself or her friends. So she led the way, and together they +approached the archway and passed through it. + +They now found themselves in a vast cavern, so great in extent that +the dome overhead looked like the sky when seen from earth. In the +center of this immense sea cavern rose the towers of a splendid +castle, all built of coral inlaid with silver and having windows of +clear glass. + +Surrounding the castle were beds of beautiful sea flowers, many +being in full bloom, and these were laid out with great care in +artistic designs. Goldfish and silverfish darted here and there +among the foliage, and the whole scene was so pretty and peaceful +that Trot began to doubt there was any danger lurking in such a +lovely place. + +As they approached to look around them, a brilliantly colored +gregfish approached and gazed at them curiously with his big, +saucer-like eyes. "So Zog has got you at last!" he said in a pitying +tone. "How foolish you were to swim into that part of the sea where +he is powerful." + +"The sea devils made us," explained Clia. + +"Well, I'm sorry for you, I'm sure," remarked the Greg, and with a +flash of his tail, he disappeared among the sea foliage. + +"Let us go to the castle," said the Queen in a determined voice. "We +may as well boldly defy our fate as to wait until Zog seeks us out." + +So they swam to the entrance of the castle. The doors stood wide +open, and the interior seemed as well lighted as the cavern itself, +although none of them could discover from whence the light came. + +At each side of the entrance lay a fish such as they had never seen +before. It was flat as a doormat and seemed to cling fast to the +coral floor. Upon its back were quills like those of a porcupine, +all pointed and sharp. From the center of the fish arose a head +shaped like a round ball, with a circle of piercing, bead-like eyes +set in it. These strange guardians of the entrance might be able to +tell what their numerous eyes saw, yet they remained silent and +watchful. Even Aquareine gazed upon them curiously, and she gave a +little shudder as she did so. + +Inside the entrance was a domed hall with a flight of stairs leading +to an upper balcony. Around the hall were several doorways hung with +curtains made of woven seaweeds. Chairs and benches stood against +the wall, and these astonished the visitors because neither stairs +nor chairs seemed useful in a kingdom where every living thing was +supposed to swim and have a fish's tail. In Queen Aquareine's +palaces benches for reclining were used, and stairs were wholly +unnecessary, but in the Palace of Zog the furniture and fittings +were much like those of a house upon earth, and except that every +space here was filled with water instead of air, Trot and Cap'n Bill +might have imagined themselves in a handsome earthly castle. + +The little group paused half fearfully in the hall, yet so far there +was surely nothing to be afraid of. They were wondering what to do +next when the curtains of an archway were pushed aside and a boy +entered. To Trot's astonishment, he had legs and walked upon them +naturally and with perfect ease. He was a delicate, frail-looking +little fellow, dressed in a black velvet suit with knee breeches. +The bows at his throat and knees were of colored seaweeds, woven +into broad ribbons. His hair was yellow and banged across his +forehead. His eyes were large and dark, with a pleasant, merry +sparkle in them. Around his neck he wore a high ruff, but in spite +of this Trot could see that below his plump cheeks were several +scarlet-edged slits that looked like the gills of fishes, for they +gently opened and closed as the boy breathed in the water by which +he was surrounded. These gills did not greatly mar the lad's +delicate beauty, and he spread out his arms and bowed low and +gracefully in greeting. + +"Hello," said Trot. + +"Why, I'd like to," replied the boy with a laugh, "but being a mere +slave, it isn't proper for me to hello. But it's good to see earth +people again, and I'm glad you're here." + +"We're not glad," observed the girl. "We're afraid." + +"You'll get over that," declared the boy smilingly. "People lose a +lot of time being afraid. Once I was myself afraid, but I found it +was no fun, so I gave it up." + +"Why were we brought here?" inquired Queen Aquareine gently. + +"I can't say, madam, being a mere slave," replied the boy. "But you +have reminded me of my errand. I am sent to inform you all that Zog +the Forsaken, who hates all the world and is hated by all the world, +commands your presence in his den." + +"Do you hate Zog, too?" asked Trot. + +"Oh no," answered the boy. "People lose a lot of time in hating +others, and there's no fun in it at all. Zog may be hateful, but I'm +not going to waste time hating him. You may do so, if you like." + +"You are a queer child," remarked the Mermaid Queen, looking at him +attentively. "Will you tell us who you are?" + +"Once I was Prince Sacho of Sacharhineolaland, which is a sweet +country, but hard to pronounce," he answered. "But in this domain I +have but one title and one name, and that is 'Slave.'" + +"How came you to be Zog's slave?" asked Clia. + +"The funniest adventure you ever heard of," asserted the boy with +eager pride. "I sailed in a ship that went to pieces in a storm. All +on board were drowned but me, and I came mighty near it, to tell the +truth. I went down deep, deep into the sea, and at the bottom was +Zog, watching the people drown. I tumbled on his head, and he +grabbed and saved me, saying I would make a useful slave. By his +magic power he made me able to live under water as the fishes live, +and he brought me to this castle and taught me to wait upon him as +his other slaves do." + +"Isn't it a dreadful, lonely life?" asked Trot. + +"No indeed," said Sacho. "We haven't any time to be lonely, and the +dreadful things Zog does are very exciting and amusing, I assure +you. He keeps us guessing every minute, and that makes the life here +interesting. Things were getting a bit slow an hour ago, but now +that you are here, I'm in hopes we will all be kept busy and amused +for some time." + +"Are there many others in the castle besides you and Zog?" asked +Aquareine. + +"Dozens of us. Perhaps hundreds. I've never counted them," said the +boy. "But Zog is the only master; all the rest of us are in the same +class, so there is no jealousy among the slaves." + +"What is Zog like?" Cap'n Bill questioned. + +At this the boy laughed, and the laugh was full of mischief. "If I +could tell you what Zog is like, it would take me a year," was the +reply. "But I can't tell you. Every one has a different idea of what +he's like, and soon you will see him yourselves." + +"Are you fond of him?" asked Trot. + +"If I said yes, I'd get a good whipping," declared Sacho. "I am +commanded to hate Zog, and being a good servant, I try to obey. If +anyone dared to like Zog, I am sure he'd be instantly fed to the +turtles; so I advise you not to like him." + +"Oh, we won't," promised Trot. + +"But we're keeping the master waiting, and that is also a dangerous +thing to do," continued the boy. "If we don't hurry up, Zog will +begin to smile, and when he smiles there is trouble brewing." + +The queen sighed. "Lead the way, Sacho," she said. "We will follow." + +The boy bowed again, and going to an archway, held aside the +curtains for them. They first swam into a small anteroom which led +into a long corridor, at the end of which was another curtained +arch. Through this Sacho also guided them, and now they found +themselves in a cleverly constructed maze. Every few feet were +twists and turns and sharp corners, and sometimes the passage would +be wide, and again so narrow that they could just squeeze through in +single file. "Seems like we're gettin' further into the trap," +growled Cap'n Bill. "We couldn't find our way out o' here to save +our lives." + +"Oh yes we could," replied Clia, who was just behind him. "Such a +maze may indeed puzzle you, but the queen or I could lead you safely +through it again, I assure you. Zog is not so clever as he thinks +himself." + +The sailor, however, found the maze very bewildering, and so did +Trot. Passages ran in every direction, crossing and recrossing, and +it seemed wonderful that the boy Sacho knew just which way to go. +But he never hesitated an instant. Trot looked carefully to see if +there were any marks to guide him, but every wall was of plain, +polished marble, and every turning looked just like all the others. +Suddenly Sacho stopped short. They were now in a broader passage, +but as they gathered around their conductor they found further +advance blocked. Solid walls faced them, and here the corridor +seemed to end. + +"Enter!" said a clear voice. + +"But we can't!" protested Trot. + +"Swim straight ahead," whispered the boy in soft tones. "There is no +real barrier before you. Your eyes are merely deceived by magic." + +"Ah, I understand," said Aquareine, nodding her pretty head. And +then she took Mayre's hand and swam boldly forward, while Cap'n Bill +followed holding the hand of Clia. And behold! the marble wall +melted away before them, and they found themselves in a chamber more +splendid than even the fairy mermaids had ever seen before. + + + + +CHAPTER 13 + +PRISONERS OF THE SEA MONSTER + + +The room in the enchanted castle which Zog called the "den" and in +which the wicked sea monster passed most of his time was a perfectly +shaped dome of solid gold. The upper part of this dome was thickly +set with precious jewels--diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, +which sparkled beautifully through the crystal water. The lower +walls were as thickly studded with pearls, all being of perfect +shape and color. Many of the pearls were larger than any which may +be found upon earth, for the sea people knew where to find the very +best and hide them away where men cannot discover them. + +The golden floor was engraved with designs of rare beauty, depicting +not only sea life, but many adventures upon land. In the room were +several large, golden cabinets, the doors of which were closed and +locked, and in addition to the cabinets there were tables, chairs +and sofas, the latter upholstered with softest sealskins. Handsome +rugs of exquisitely woven seaweeds were scattered about, the colors +of which were artistically blended together. In one corner a +fountain of air bubbled up through the water. The entire room was +lighted as brilliantly as if exposed to the direct rays of the sun, +yet where this light came from our friends could not imagine. No +lamp or other similar device was visible anywhere. + +The strangers at first scarcely glanced at all these beautiful +things, for in an easy chair sat Zog himself, more wonderful than +any other living creature, and as they gazed upon him, their eyes +seemed fascinated as if held by a spell. Zog's face was the face of +a man, except that the tops of his ears were pointed like horns and +he had small horns instead of eyebrows and a horn on the end of his +chin. In spite of these deformities, the expression of the face was +not unpleasant or repulsive. His hair was carefully parted and +brushed, and his mouth and nose were not only perfect in shape but +quite handsome. + +Only the eyes betrayed Zog and made him terrible to all beholders. +They seemed like coals of glowing fire and sparkled so fiercely that +no one ever cared to meet their gaze for more than an instant. +Perhaps the monster realized this, for he usually drooped his long +lashes over his fiery eyes to shut out their glare. Zog had two +well-shaped legs which ended in the hoofs of beasts instead of feet, +and these hoofs were shod with gold. His body was a shapeless mass +covered with richly embroidered raiment, over which a great robe of +cloth of gold fell in many folds. This robe was intended to hide the +magician's body from view, but Trot noticed that the cloth moved +constantly in little ripples, as if what lay underneath would not +keep still. + +The best features of which Zog could boast were his arms and hands, +the latter being as well formed, as delicate and white as those of a +well-bred woman. When he spoke, his voice sounded sweet and clear, +and its tones were very gentle. He had given them a few moments to +stare at him, for he was examining them in turn with considerable +curiosity. "Well," said he, "do you not find me the most hateful +creature you have ever beheld?" + +The queen refrained from answering, but Trot said promptly, "We do. +Nothing could be more horrider or more disgustin' than you are, it +seems to me." + +"Very good, very good indeed," declared the monster, lifting his +lashes to flash his glowing eyes upon them. Then he turned toward +Cap'n Bill. "Man-fish," he continued, "what do YOU think of me?" + +"Mighty little," the sailor replied. "You orter be 'shamed to ask +sech a question, knowin' you look worse ner the devil himself." + +"Very true," answered Zog, frowning. He felt that he had received a +high compliment, and the frown showed he was pleased with Cap'n +Bill. + +But now Queen Aquareine advanced to a position in front of their +captor and said, "Tell me, Zog, why have you trapped us and brought +us here?" + +"To destroy you," was the quick answer, and the magician turned for +an instant to flash his eyes upon the beautiful mermaid. "For two +hundred years I have been awaiting a chance to get within my power +some friend of Anko the Sea Serpent--of Anko, whom I hate!" he +added, smiling sweetly. "When you left your palace today, my swift +spies warned me, and so I sent the sea devils to capture you. Often +have they tried to do this before, but always failed. Today, acting +by my command, they tricked you, and by surrounding you forced you +to the entrance of my enchanted castle. The result is a fine capture +of important personages. I have now in my power the queen and +princess of the fairy mermaids, as well as two wandering earth +people, and I assure you I shall take great pleasure in destroying +you utterly." + +"You are a coward," declared the Queen proudly. "You dared not meet +us in the open sea." + +"No, I dare not leave this castle," Zog admitted, still smiling. +"But here in my own domain my power is supreme. Nothing can +interfere with my vengeance." + +"That remains to be seen," said Aquareine, firmly meeting the gaze +of the terrible eyes. + +"Of course," he answered, nodding his head with a graceful movement. +"You will try to thwart me and escape. You will pit your fairy power +against my powers of magic. That will give me great pleasure, for +the more you struggle, the greater will be my revenge." + +"But why should you seek revenge upon us?" asked Clia. "We have +never harmed you." + +"That is true," replied Zog. "I bear you no personal ill will. But +you are friends of my great enemy, King Anko, and it will annoy him +very much when he finds that you have been destroyed by me. I cannot +hurt the rascally old sea serpent himself, but through you I can +make him feel my vengeance." + +"The mermaids have existed thousands of years," said the Queen in a +tone of pride. "Do you imagine the despised and conquered Zog has +power to destroy them?" + +"I do not know," was the quiet answer. "It will be interesting to +discover which is the more powerful." + +"I challenge you to begin the test at once, vile magician!" +exclaimed Aquareine. + +"There is no hurry, fair Queen," answered Zog in his softest tones. +"I have been so many years in accomplishing your capture that it is +foolish to act hastily now. Besides, I am lonely. Here in my forced +retirement I see only those uninteresting earth mortals whom I have +made my slaves, for all sea dwellers are forbidden to serve me save +the sea devils, and they dare not enter my castle. I have saved many +mortals from drowning and brought them here to people my castle, but +I do not love mortals. Two lovely mermaids are much more +interesting, and before I allow you to perish, I shall have much +amusement in witnessing your despair and your struggles to escape. +You are now my prisoners. By slow degrees I shall wear out your +fairy powers and break your hearts, as well as the hearts of these +earth dwellers who have no magic powers, and I think it will be a +long time before I finally permit you to die." + +"That's all right," said Trot cheerfully. "The longer you take, the +better I'll be satisfied." + +"That's how I feel about it," added Cap'n Bill. "Don't get in a +hurry to kill us Zog. It'll be such a wear an' tear on your nerves. +Jes' take it easy an' let us live as long as we can." + +"Don't you care to die?" asked the magician. + +"It's a thing I never longed for," the sailor replied. "You see, we +had no business to go on a trip with the mermaids to begin with. +I've allus heard tell that mermaids is dangerous, an' no one as met +'em ever lived to tell the tale. Eh, Trot?" + +"That's what you said, Cap'n Bill." + +"So I guess we're done for, one way 'r 'nother, an' it don't matter +much which. But Trot's a good child, an' mighty young an' tender. It +don't seem like her time has come to die. I'd like to have her sent +safe home to her mother. So I've got this 'ere proposition to make, +Zog. If your magic could make ME die twice, or even THREE times fer +good measure, why you go ahead an' do it an' I won't complain. All I +ask is fer you to send this little girl safe back to dry land +again." + +"Don't you do it, Zog!" cried Trot indignantly, and turning to Cap'n +Bill, she added, "I'm not goin' to leave you down here in all this +mess, Cap'n, and don't you think it. If one of us gets out of the +muddle we're in, we'll both get out, so don't you make any bargains +with Zog to die twice." + +Zog listened to this conversation very carefully. "The dying does +not amount to much," he said. "It is the thinking about it that +hurts you mortals most. I've watched many a shipwreck at sea, and +the people would howl and scream for hours before the ship broke up. +Their terror was very enjoyable. But when the end came, they all +drowned as peacefully as if they were going to sleep, so it didn't +amuse me at all." + +"I'm not worrying," said Trot. + +"Ner me," said Cap'n Bill. "You'll find we can take what comes jes' +as easy as anybody." + +"I do not expect to get much from you poor mortals," said Zog +carelessly. "You are merely a side show to my circus, a sort of +dessert to my feast of vengeance. When the time comes, I can find a +hundred ways to kill you. My most interesting prisoners are these +pretty mermaids, who claim that none of their race has ever yet died +or been destroyed. The first mermaid ever created is living yet, and +I am told she is none other than Queen Aquareine. So I have a pretty +problem before me to invent some way to destroy the mermaids or put +them out of existence. And it will require some thought." + +"Also, it will require some power you do not possess," suggested the +Queen. + +"That may be," replied Zog softly. "But I am going to experiment, +and I believe I shall be able to cause you a lot of pain and sorrow +before I finally make an end of you. I have not lived twenty-seven +thousand years, Aquareine, without getting a certain amount of +wisdom, and I am more powerful than you suspect." + +"You are a monster and a wicked magician," said the Mermaid Queen. + +"I am," agreed Zog, "but I cannot help it. I was created part man, +part bird, part fish, part beast and part reptile, and such a +monstrosity could not be otherwise than wicked. Everybody hates me, +and I hate everybody." + +"Why don't you kill yourself?" asked Trot. + +"I've tried that and failed," he answered. "Only one being in the +world has power to destroy me, and that is King Anko, the sea +serpent." + +"Then you'd better let him do it," advised the little girl. + +"No. Much as I long to die, I cannot allow King Anko the pleasure of +killing me. He has always been my worst enemy, and it would be such +a joy to him to kill me that I really cannot allow him. Indeed, I +have always hoped to kill Anko. I have now been three thousand six +hundred and forty-two years, eleven months and nine days figuring +out a plan to destroy old Anko, and as yet I have not discovered a +way." + +"I'd give it up, if I were you," advised Trot. "Don't you think you +could get some fun out of trying to be good?" + +"No!" cried Zog, and his voice was not so soft as before. "Listen, +Aquareine, you and your attendants shall be prisoners in this castle +until I can manage to stop you from living. Rooms will be placed at +your disposal, and I wish you to go to them at o nce, as I am tired +of looking at you." + +"You're no more tired than we are," remarked Trot. "It's lucky you +can't see yourself, Zog." + +He turned his glowing eyes full upon her. "The worst of my queer +body I keep concealed," he said. "If ever you see it, you will +scream with terror." He touched a bell beside him, and the girl was +surprised to find how clearly its tones rang out through the water. +In an instant the boy Sacho appeared and bowed low before his +dreadful master. "Take the mermaids and the child to the Rose +Chamber," commanded Zog, "and take the old man-fish to the Peony +Room." + +Sacho turned to obey. "Are the outer passages well guarded?" asked +the monster. + +"Yes, as you have commanded," said the boy. + +"Then you may allow the prisoners to roam at will throughout the +castle. Now, go!" + +The prisoners followed Sacho from the room, glad to get away. The +presence of this evil being had grown oppressive to them, and Zog +had himself seemed ill at ease during the last few minutes. The robe +so closely wound around his body moved jerkily, as if something +beneath disturbed it, and at such times Zog shifted nervously in his +seat. + +Sacho's thin little legs trotted through the water and led the way +into a different passage from the one by which they had entered. +They swam slowly after him and breathed easier when they had left +the golden domed chamber where their wicked enemy sat enthroned. +"Well, how do you like him?" asked Sacho with a laugh. + +"We hate him!" declared Trot emphatically. + +"Of course you do," replied Sacho. "But you're wasting time hating +anything. It doesn't do you any good, or him any harm. Can you +sing?" + +"A little," said Trot, "but I don't feel like singing now." + +"You're wrong about that," the boy asserted. "Anything that keeps +you from singing is foolishness, unless it's laughter. Laughter, joy +and song are the only good things in the world." + +Trot did not answer this queer speech, for just then they came to a +flight of stairs, and Sacho climbed up them while the others swam. +And now they were in a lofty, broad corridor having many doors hung +with seaweed draperies. At one of these doorways Sacho stopped and +said, "Here is the Rose Chamber where the master commands you to +live until you die. You may wander anywhere in the castle as you +please; to leave it is impossible. Whenever you return to the Rose +Chamber, you will know it by this design of roses sewn in pearls +upon the hangings. The Peony Room where the man-fish is to live is +the next one farther on." + +"Thank you," replied Queen Aquareine. "Are we to be fed?" + +"Meals will be served in your rooms. If you desire anything, ring +the bell and some of the slaves will be sure to answer it. I am +mostly in attendance upon my master, but whenever I am at liberty I +will look after your comfort myself." + +Again they thanked the strange boy, and he turned and left them. +They could hear him whistle and sing as he returned along the +passage. Then Princess Clia parted the curtains that her queen and +companions might enter the Rose Chamber. + + + + +CHAPTER 14 + +CAP'N JOE AND CAP'N BILL + + +The rooms Zog had given his prisoners were as handsome as all other +parts of this strange enchanted castle. Gold was used plentifully in +the decorations, and in the Rose Chamber occupied by the mermaids +and Trot golden roses formed a border around the entire room. The +sea maidens had evidently been expected, for the magician had +provided couches for them to recline upon similar to the ones used +in the mermaid palaces. The frames were of mother of pearl and the +cushions of soft, white sponges. In the room were toilet tables, +mirrors, ornaments and many articles used by earth people, which +they afterward learned had been plundered by Zog from sunken ships +and brought to his castle by his allies, the sea devils. + +While the mermaids were examining and admiring their room, Cap'n +Bill went to the Peony Room to see what it was like and found his +quarters were very cozy and interesting. There were pictures on the +wall, portraits of grave-looking porpoises, bashful seals, and smug +and smiling walruses. Some of the wall panels were formed of mirrors +and reflected clearly the interior of the room. Around the ceiling +was a frieze of imitation peonies in silver, and the furniture was +peony-shaped, the broad leaves being bent to form seats and couches. +Beside a pretty dressing table hung a bell cord with a tassel at the +end. Cap'n Bill did not know it was a bell cord, so he pulled it to +see what would happen and was puzzled to find that nothing seemed to +happen at all, the bell being too far away for him to hear it. Then +he began looking at the treasures contained in this royal apartment, +and was much pleased with a golden statue of a mermaid that +resembled Princess Clia in feature. A silver flower vase upon a +stand contained a bouquet of gorgeous peonies, "as nat'ral as life," +said Cap'n Bill, although he saw plainly that they must be made of +metal. + +Trot came in just then to see how her dear friend was located. She +entered from the doorway that connected the two rooms and said, +"Isn't it pretty, Cap'n? And who'd ever think that awful creature +Zog owned such a splendid castle and kept his prisoners in such +lovely rooms?" + +"I once heard tell," said the sailor, "of a foreign people that +sacrificed humans to please their pagan gods, an' before they killed +'em outright they stuffed the victims full of good things to eat an' +dressed 'em in pretty clothes an' treated 'em like princes. That's +why I don't take much comfort in our fine surroundin's, Trot. This +Zog is a pagan, if ever there was one, an' he don't mean us any +good, you may depend on 't." + +"No," replied Trot soberly, "I'm sure he does not expect us to be +happy here. But I'm going to fool him and have just as good a time +as I can." As she spoke they both turned around--an easy thing to do +with a single flop of their flexible tails--and Cap'n Bill uttered a +cry of surprise. Just across the room stood a perfect duplicate of +himself. The round head, with its bald top and scraggly whiskers, +the sailor cap and shirt, the wide pantaloons, even the wooden leg, +each and every one were exact copies of those owned by Cap'n Bill. +Even the expression in the light-blue eyes was the same, and it is +no wonder the old sailor stared at his "double" in amazement. But +the next minute he laughed and said, "Why, Trot, it's ME reflected +in a mirror. But at first I thought it was someone else." + +Trot was staring, too. "Look, Cap'n!" she whispered. "Look at the +wooden leg." + +"Well, it's MY wooden leg, ain't it?" he inquired. + +"If it is, it can't be a reflection in a mirror," she argued, "for +YOU haven't got a wooden leg. You've got a fish's tail." + +The old sailor was so startled by this truth that he gave a great +flop with his tail that upset his balance and made him keel a +somersault in the water before he got right side up again. Then he +found the other sailor man laughing at him and was horrified to find +the "reflection" advancing toward them by stumping along on its +wooden leg. "Keep away! Get out, there!" yelled Cap'n Bill. "You're +a ghost, the ghost o' me that once was, an' I can't bear the sight +o' you. Git out!" + +"Did you ring jes' to tell me to git out?" asked the other in a mild +voice. + +"I--I didn't ring," declared Cap'n Bill. + +"You did. You pulled that bell cord," said the one-legged (one or +more lines missing here in this edition) + +"Oh, did pullin' that thing ring a bell?" inquired the Cap'n, a +little ashamed of his ignorance and reassured by hearing the "ghost" +talk. + +"It surely did," was the reply, "and Sacho told me to answer your +bell and look after you. So I'm a-lookin' after you." + +"I wish you wouldn't," protested Cap'n Bill. "I've no use fer--fer +ghostses, anyhow." + +The strange sailor began to chuckle at hearing this, and his chuckle +was just like Cap'n Bill's chuckle, so full of merry humor that it +usually made everyone laugh with him. + +"Who are you?" asked Trot, who was very curious and much surprised. + +"I'm Cap'n Joe," was the reply. "Cap'n Joe Weedles, formerly o' the +brig 'Gladsome' an' now a slave o' Zog at the bottom o' the sea." + +"J--J--Joe Wee-Weedles!" gasped Cap'n Bill, amazed. "Joe Weedles o' +the 'Gladsome'! Why, dash my eyes, mate, you must be my brother!" + +"Are YOU Bill Weedles?" asked the other. And then he added, "But no, +you can't be. Bill wasn't no mermaid. He were a human critter like +myself." + +"That's what I am," said Cap'n Bill hastily. "I'm a human critter, +too. I've jes' borrered this fish tail to swim with while I'm +visitin' the mermaids." + +"Well, well," said Cap'n Joe in astonishment. "Who'd o' thought it! +An' who'd ever o' thought as I'd find my long-lost brother in Zog's +enchanted castle full fifty fathoms deep down in the wet, wet +water!" + +"Why, as fer that," replied Cap'n Bill, "it's YOU as is the +long-lost brother, not me. You an' your ship disappeared many a year +ago, an' ain't never been heard of since, while, as you see, I'm +livin' on earth yet." + +"You don't look it to all appearances," remarked Cap'n Joe in a +reflective tone of voice. "But I'll agree it's many a year since I +saw the top o' the water, an' I'm not expectin' to ever tramp on dry +land again." + +"Are you dead, or drownded, or what?" asked Cap'n Bill. + +"Neither one nor t'other," was the answer. "But Zog gave me gills +so's I could live in the water like fishes do, an' if I got on land +I couldn't breathe air any more'n a fish out o' water can. So I +guess as long as I live, I'll hev to stay down here." + +"Do you like it?" asked Trot. + +"Oh, I don't objec' much," said Cap'n Joe. "There ain't much +excitement here, fer we don't catch a flock o' mermaids ev'ry day, +but the work is easy an' the rations fair. I might o' been worse +off, you know, for when my brig was wrecked, I'd 'a' gone to Davy +Jones's Locker if Zog hadn't happened to find me an' made me a +fish." + +"You don't look as much like a fish as Cap'n Bill does," observed +Trot. + +"P'raps not," said Cap'n Joe, "but I notice Bill ain't got any gills +an' breathes like you an' the mermaids does. When he gets back to +land, he'll have his two legs again an' live in comfort breathin' +air." + +"I won't have two legs," asserted Cap'n Bill, "for when I'm on earth +I'm fitted with one wooden leg, jes' the same as you are, Joe." + +"Oh, I hadn't heard o' that, Bill, but I'm not surprised," replied +Brother Joe. "Many a sailor gets to wear a wooden leg in time. +Mine's hick'ry." + +"So's mine," said Cap'n Bill with a air of pride. "I'm glad I've run +across you, Joe, for I often wondered what had become of you. Seems +too bad, though, to have to spend all your life under water." + +"What's the odds?" asked Cap'n Joe. "I never could keep away from +the water since I was a boy, an' there's more dangers to be met +floatin' on it than there is soakin' in it. An' one other thing +pleases me when I think on it: I'm parted from my wife, a mighty +good woman with a tongue like a two-edge sword, an' my pore +widder'll get the insurance money an' live happy. As fer me, Bill, +I'm a good deal happier than I was when she kep' scoldin' me from +mornin' to night every minute I was home." + +"Is Zog a kind master?" asked Trot. + +"I can't say he's kind," replied Cap'n Joe, "for he's as near a +devil as any livin' critter CAN be. He grumbles an' growls in his +soft voice all day, an' hates himself an' everybody else. But I +don't see much of him. There's so many of us slaves here that Zog +don't pay much attention to us, an' we have a pretty good time when +the ol' magician is shut up in his den, as he mostly is." + +"Could you help us to escape?" asked the child. + +"Why, I don't know how," admitted Cap'n Joe. "There's magic all +around us, and we slaves are never allowed to leave this great cave. +I'll do what I can, o' course, but Sacho is the boy to help you if +anyone can. That little chap knows a heap, I can tell you. So now, +if nothin' more's wanted, I must get back to work." + +"What work do you do?" Cap'n Bill asked. + +"I sew buttons on Zog's clothes. Every time he gets mad, he busts +his buttons off, an' I have to sew 'em on again. As he's mad most o' +the time, it keeps me busy." + +"I'll see you again, won't I, Joe?" said Cap'n Bill. + +"No reason why you shouldn't, if you manage to keep alive," said +Cap'n Joe. "But you mustn't forget, Bill, this Zog has his grip on +you, an' I've never known anything to escape him yet." + +Saying this, the old sailor began to stump toward the door, but +tripped his foot against his wooden leg and gave a swift dive +forward. He would have fallen flat had he not grabbed the drapery at +the doorway and saved himself by holding fast to it with both hands. +Even then he rolled and twisted so awkwardly before he could get +upon his legs that Trot had to laugh outright at his antics. "This +hick'ry leg," said Cap'n Joe, "is so blamed light that it always +wants to float. Agga-Groo, the goldworker, has promised me a gold +leg that will stay down, but he never has time to make it. You're +mighty lucky, Bill, to have a merman's tail instead o' legs." + +"I guess I am, Joe," replied Cap'n Bill, "for in such a wet country +the fishes have the best of it. But I ain't sure I'd like this sort +o' thing always." + +"Think o' the money you'd make in a side show," said Cap'n Joe with +his funny chuckling laugh. Then he pounded his wooden leg against +the hard floor and managed to hobble from the room without more +accidents. + +When he had gone, Trot said, "Aren't you glad to find your brother +again, Cap'n Bill?" + +"Why, so-so," replied the sailor. "I don't know much about Joe, +seein' as we haven't met before for many a long year, an' all I +remember about our boyhood days is that we fit an' pulled hair most +o' the time. But what worries me most is Joe's lookin' so much like +me myself, wooden leg an' all. Don't you think it's rather cheeky +an' unbrotherly, Trot?" + +"Perhaps he can't help it," suggested the child. "And anyhow, he'll +never be able to live on land again." + +"No," said Cap'n Bill with a sigh. "Joe's a fish, now, an' so he +ain't likely to be took for me by one of our friends on the earth." + + + + +CHAPTER 15 + +THE MAGIC OF THE MERMAIDS + + +When Trot and Cap'n Bill entered the Rose Chamber they found the two +mermaids reclining before an air fountain that was sending thousands +of tiny bubbles up through the water. + +"These fountains of air are excellent things," remarked Queen +Aquareine, "for they keep the water fresh and sweet, and that is the +more necessary when it is confined by walls, as it is in this +castle. But now, let us counsel together and decide what to do in +the emergency that confronts us." + +"How can we tell what to do without knowing what's going to happen?" +asked Trot. + +"Somethin's sure to happen," said Cap'n Bill. + +As if to prove his words, a gong suddenly sounded at their door and +in walked a fat little man clothed all in white, including a white +apron and white cap. His face was round and jolly, and he had a big +mustache that curled up at the ends. + +"Well, well!" said the little man, spreading out his legs and +putting his hands on his hips as he stood looking at them. "Of all +the queer things in the sea, you're the queerest! Mermaids, eh?" + +"Don't bunch us that way!" protested Cap'n Bill. + +"You are quite wrong," said Trot. "I'm a--a girl." + +"With a fish's tail?" he asked, laughing at her. + +"That's only just for a while," she said, "while I'm in the water, +you know. When I'm at home on the land I walk just as you do, an' so +does Cap'n Bill." + +"But we haven't any gills," remarked the Cap'n, looking closely at +the little man's throat, "so I take it we're not as fishy as some +others." + +"If you mean me, I must admit you are right," said the little man, +twisting his mustache. "I'm as near a fish as a man can be. But you +see, Cap'n, without the gills that make me a fish, I could not live +under water." + +"When it comes to that, you've no business to live under water," +asserted the sailor. "But I s'pose you're a slave and can't help +it." + +"I'm chief cook for that old horror Zog. And that reminds me, good +mermaids, or good people, or good girls and sailors, or whatever you +are, that I'm sent here to ask what you'd like to eat." + +"Good to see you, sir," said Cap'n Bill. "I'm nearly starved, +myself." + +"I had it in mind," said the little man, "to prepare a regular +mermaid dinner, but since you're not mermaids--" + +"Oh, two of us are," said the Queen, smiling. "I, my good cook, am +Aquareine, the ruler of the mermaids, and this is the Princess +Clia." + +"I've often heard of you, your Majesty," returned the chief cook, +bowing respectfully, "and I must say I've heard only good of you. +Now that you have unfortunately become my master's prisoners, it +will give me pleasure to serve you as well as I am able." + +"We thank you, good sir," said Aquareine. + +"What have you got to eat?" inquired Trot. "Seems to me I'm hollow +way down to my toes--my tail, I mean--and it'll take a lot to fill +me up. We haven't eaten a morsel since breakfast, you know." + +"I think I shall be able to give you almost anything you would +like," said the cook. "Zog is a wonderful magician and can procure +anything that exists with no more effort than a wiggle of his thumb. +But some eatables, you know, are hard to serve under water, because +they get so damp that they are soon ruined." + +"Ah, it is different with the mermaids," said Princess Clia. + +"Yes, all your things are kept dry because they are surrounded by +air. I've heard how the mermaids live. But here it is different." + +"Take this ring," said the Queen, handing the chief cook a circlet +which she drew from her finger. "While it is in your possession, the +food you prepare will not get wet, or even moist." + +"I thank your Majesty," returned the cook, taking the ring. "My name +is Tom Atto, and I'll do my best to please you. How would you like +for luncheon some oysters on the half-shell, clam broth, shrimp +salad, broiled turtle steak and watermelon?" + +"That will do very nicely," answered the Queen. + +"Do watermelons grow in the sea?" asked Trot. + +"Of course, that is why they are called watermelons," replied Tom +Atto. "I think I shall serve you a water ice, in addition to the +rest. Water ice is an appropriate sea food." + +"Have some watercress with the salad," said Cap'n Bill. + +"I'd thought of that," declared the cook. "Doesn't my bill of fare +make your mouths water?" + +"Hurry up and get it ready," suggested Trot. + +Tom Atto at once bowed and retired, and when they were done, Cap'n +Bill said to the queen, "Do you think, ma'am, we can manage to +escape from Zog and his castle?" + +"I hope we shall find a way," replied Aquareine. "The evil powers of +magic which Zog controls may not prove to be as strong as the fairy +powers I possess, but of course I cannot be positive until I +discover what this wicked magician is able to do." + +Princess Clia was looking out of one of the windows. "I think I can +see an opening far up in the top of the dome," she said. They all +hastened to the windows to look, and although Trot and Cap'n Bill +could see nothing but a solid dome above the castle--perhaps because +it was so far away from them--the sharp eyes of Aquareine were not +to be deceived. + +"Yes," she announced, "there is surely an opening in the center of +the great dome. A little thought must convince us that such an +opening is bound to exist, for otherwise the water confined within +the dome would not be fresh or clear." + +"Then if we could escape from this castle, we could swim up to the +hole in the dome and get free!" exclaimed Trot. + +"Why, Zog has probably ordered the opening well guarded, as he has +all the other outlets," responded the Queen. "Yet it may be worth +while for us to make the attempt to get back into the broad ocean +this way. The night would be the best time, when all are asleep, and +surely it will be quicker to reach the ocean through this hole in +the roof than by means of the long, winding passages by which we +entered." + +"But we will have to break out of the castle in some way," observed +Cap'n Bill. + +"That will not be difficult," answered Aquareine. "It will be no +trouble for me to shatter one of these panes of glass, allowing us +to pass out and swim straight up to the top of the dome." + +"Let's do it now!" said Trot eagerly. + +"No, my dear, we must wait for a good opportunity when we are not +watched closely. We do not wish the terrible Zog to thwart our +plan," answered the Queen gently. + +Presently two sailor boys entered bearing trays of food, which they +placed upon a large table. They were cheery-faced young fellows with +gills at their throats, but had laughing eyes, and Trot was +astonished not to find any of the slaves of Zog weeping or +miserable. Instead, they were as jolly and good-natured as could be +and seemed to like their life under the water. Cap'n Bill asked one +of the boys how many slaves were in the castle, and the youth +replied that he would try to count them and let him know. + +Tom Atto had, they found, prepared for them an excellent meal, and +they ate heartily because they were really hungry. After luncheon +Cap'n Bill smoked his pipe contentedly, and they renewed their +conversation, planning various ways to outwit Zog and make their +escape. While thus engaged, the gong at the door sounded and Sacho +entered. + +"My diabolical master commands you to attend him," said the boy. + +"When?" asked Aquareine. + +"At once, your Majesty." + +"Very well, we will follow you," she said. So they swam down the +corridors following Sacho until they again reached the golden-domed +room they had formerly visited. Here sat Zog just as they had left +him, seemingly, but when his prisoners entered, the magician arose +and stood upon his cloven feet and then silently walked to a +curtained archway. + +Sacho commanded the prisoners to follow, and beyond the archway they +found a vast chamber that occupied the center of the castle and was +as big as a ballroom. Zog, who seemed to walk with much difficulty +because his ungainly body swayed back and forth, did not go far +beyond the arched entrance. A golden throne was set nearby, and in +this the monster seated himself. At one side of the throne stood a +group of slaves. They were men, women and children. All had broad +gold bands clasped around their ankles as a badge of servitude, and +at each throat were the fish's gills that enabled them to breathe +and live under water. Yet every face was smiling and serene, even in +the presence of their dread master. In parts of the big hall were +groups of other slaves. + +Sacho ranged the prisoners in a circle before Zog's throne, and +slowly the magician turned his eyes, glowing like live coals, upon +the four. "Captives," said he, speaking in his clear, sweet voice, +"in our first interview you defied me, and both the mermaid queen +and the princess declared they could not die. But if that is a true +statement, as I have yet to discover, there are various ways to make +you miserable and unhappy, and this I propose to do in order to +amuse myself at your expense. You have been brought here to undergo +the first trial of strength between us." None of the prisoners +replied to this speech, so Zog turned to one of his slaves and said, +"Rivivi, bring in the Yell-Maker." + +Rivivi was a big fellow, brown of skin and with flashing, black +eyes. He bowed to his master and left the room by an archway covered +with heavy draperies. The next moment these curtains were violently +pushed aside, and a dreadful sea creature swam into the hall. It had +a body much like that of a crab, only more round and of a jet-black +color. Its eyes were bright yellow balls set on the ends of two +horns that stuck out of its head. They were cruel-looking eyes, too, +and seemed able to see every person in the room at the same time. +The legs of the Yell-Maker, however, were the most curious part of +the creature. There were six of them, slender and black as coal, and +each extended twelve to fifteen feet from its body when stretched +out in a straight line. They were hinged in several places so they +could be folded up or extended at will. At the ends of these thin +legs were immense claws shaped like those of a lobster, and they +were real "nippers" of a most dangerous sort. + +The prisoners knew, as soon as they saw the awful claws, why the +thing was called the "Yell-Maker," and Trot gave a little shiver and +crept closer to Cap'n Bill. Zog looked with approval upon the +creature he had summoned and said to it, "I give you four victims, +the four people with fish's tails. Let me hear how loud they can +yell." + +The Yell-Maker uttered a grunt of pleasure and in a flash stretched +out one of its long legs toward the queen's nose, where its powerful +claws came together with a loud noise. Aquareine did not stir; she +only smiled. Both Zog and the creature that had attacked her seemed +much surprised to find she was unhurt. "Again!" cried Zog, and again +the Yell-Maker's claw shot out and tried to pinch the queen's pretty +ear. But the magic of the fairy mermaid was proof against this +sea-rascal's strength and swiftness, nor could he touch any part of +Aquareine, although he tried again and again, roaring with anger +like a mad bull. + +Trot began to enjoy this performance, and as her merry, childish +laughter rang out, the Yell-Maker turned furiously upon the little +girl, two of the dreadful claws trying to nip her at the same time. +She had no chance to cry out or jump backward, yet she remained +unharmed. For the Fairy Circle of Queen Aquareine kept her safe. Now +Cap'n Bill was attacked, and Princess Clia as well. The half-dozen +slender legs darted in every direction like sword thrusts to reach +their victims, and the cruel claws snapped so rapidly that the sound +was like the rattling of castanets. But the four prisoners regarded +their enemy with smiling composure, and no yell greeted the +Yell-Maker's efforts. + +"Enough!" said Zog, softly and sweetly. "You may retire, my poor +Yell-Maker, for with these people you are powerless." + +The creature paused and rolled its yellow eyes. "May I nip just one +of the slaves, oh Zog?" it asked pleadingly. "I hate to leave +without pleasing your ears with a single yell." + +"Let my slaves alone," was Zog's answer. "They are here to serve me +and must not be injured. Go, feeble one." + +"Not so!" cried the Queen. "It is a shame, Zog, that such an evil +thing should exist in our fair sea." With this, she drew her fairy +wand from a fold of her gown and waved it toward the creature. At +once the Yell-Maker sank down unconscious upon the floor; its legs +fell apart in many pieces, the claws tumbling in a heap beside the +body. Then all grew withered and lost shape, becoming a pulpy mass, +like gelatin. A few moments later the creature had melted away to +nothing at all, forever disappearing from the ocean where it had +caused so much horror and pain. + +Zog watched this destruction with surprising patience. When it was +all over, he nodded his head and smiled, and Trot noticed that +whenever Zog smiled, his slaves lost their jolly looks and began to +tremble. "That is very pretty magic, Aquareine," said the monster. +"I myself learned the trick several thousand years ago, so it does +not astonish me. Have you fairies nothing that is new to show me?" + +"We desire only to protect ourselves," replied the Queen with +dignity. + +"Then I will give you a chance to do so," said Zog. As he spoke, the +great marble blocks in the ceiling of the room directly over the +heads of the captives gave way and came crashing down upon them. +Many tons of weight were in these marble blocks, and the magician +had planned to crush his victims where they stood. But the four were +still unharmed. The marble, being unable to touch them, was diverted +from its course, and when the roar of the great crash had died away, +Zog saw his intended victims standing quietly in their places and +smiling scornfully at his weak attempts to destroy them. + + + + +CHAPTER 16 + +THE TOP OF THE GREAT DOME + + +Cap'n Bill's heart was beating pretty vast, but he did not let Zog +know that. Trot was so sure of the protection of the fairy mermaids +that she would not allow herself to become frightened. Aquareine and +Clia were as calm as if nothing had happened. + +"Please excuse this little interruption," said Zog. "I knew very +well the marble blocks would not hurt you. But the play is over for +a time. You may now retire to your rooms, and when I again invite +you to my presence, I shall have found some better ways to entertain +you." + +Without reply to this threat, they turned and followed Sacho from +the hall, and the boy led them straight back to their own rooms. + +"Zog is making a great mistake," said Sacho with a laugh. "He has no +time for vengeance, but the great magician does not know that." + +"What is he trying to do, anyway?" asked Trot. + +"He does not tell me all his secrets, but I've an idea he wants to +kill you," replied Sacho. "How absurd it is to be plotting such a +thing when he might spend his time in laughing and being jolly! +Isn't it, now?" + +"Zog is a wicked, wicked creature!" exclaimed Trot. + +"But he had his good points," replied Sacho cheerfully. "There is no +one about in the world so bad that there is nothing good about him." + +"I'm not so sure of that," said Cap'n Bill. "What are Zog's good +points?" + +"All his slaves were saved from drowning, and he is kind to them," +said Sacho. + +"That is merely the kindness of selfishness," said Aquareine. "Tell +me, my lad, is the opening in the great dome outside guarded?" + +"Yes indeed," was the reply. "You cannot hope to escape in that way, +for the prince of the sea devils, who is the largest and fiercest of +his race, lies crouched over the opening night and day, and none can +pass his network of curling legs." + +"Is there no avenue that is not guarded?" continued Aquareine. + +"None at all, your Majesty. Zog is always careful to be well +guarded, for he fears the approach of an enemy. What this enemy can +be to terrify the great magician I do not know, but Zog is always +afraid and never leaves an entrance unguarded. Besides, it is an +enchanted castle, you know, and none in the ocean can see it unless +Zog wishes him to. So it will be very hard for his enemy to find +him." + +"We wish to escape," said Clia. "Will you help us, Sacho?" + +"In any way I can," replied the boy. + +"If we succeed, we will take you with us," continued the Princess. + +But Sacho shook his head and laughed. "I would indeed like to see +you escape Zog's vengeance," said he, "for vengeance is wrong, and +you are too pretty and too good to be destroyed. But I am happy here +and have no wish to go away, having no other home or friends other +than my fellow slaves." + +Then he left them, and when they were again alone, Aquareine said, +"We were able to escape Zog's attacks today, but I am quite sure he +will plan more powerful ways to destroy us. He has shown that he +knows some clever magic, and perhaps I shall not be able to foil it. +So it will be well for us to escape tonight if possible." + +"Can you fight and conquer the big sea devil up in the dome?" asked +Trot. + +The queen was thoughtful, and did not reply to this question at +once. But Cap'n Bill said uneasily, "I can't abide them devil +critters, an' I hopes, for my part, we won't be called on to tackle +'em. You see, Trot, we're in consider'ble of a bad mess, an' if we +ever live to tell the tale--" + +"Why not, Cap'n?" asked the child. "We're safe enough so far. Can't +you trust our good friend, the queen?" + +"She don't seem plumb sure o' things herself," remarked the sailor. +"The mermaids is all right an' friendly, mate, but this 'ere magic +maker, ol' Zog, is a bad one, out 'n' out, an' means to kill us if +he can." + +"But he can't!" cried Trot bravely. + +"I hope you're right, dear. I wouldn't want to bet on Zog's chances +jes' yet, an' at the same time it would be riskin' money to bet on +our chances. Seems to me it's a case of luck which wins." + +"Don't worry, friend," said the Queen. "I have a plan to save us. +Let us wait patiently until nightfall." They waited in the Rose +Chamber a long time, talking earnestly together, but the brilliant +light that flooded both the room and the great dome outside did not +fade in the least. After several hours had passed away, the gong +sounded and Tom Atto again appeared, followed by four slaves bearing +many golden dishes upon silver trays. The friendly cook had prepared +a fine dinner, and they were all glad to find that, whatever Zog +intended to do to them, he had no intention of starving them. +Perhaps the magician realized that Aquareine's fairy powers, if put +to the test, would be able to provide food for her companions, but +whatever his object may have been, their enemy had given them +splendid rooms and plenty to eat. + +"Isn't it nearly nighttime?" asked the Queen as Tom Atto spread the +table with a cloth of woven seaweed and directed his men to place +the dishes upon it. + +"Night!" he exclaimed as if surprised. "There is no night here." + +"Doesn't it ever get dark?" inquired Trot. + +"Never. We know nothing of the passage of time or of day or night. +The light always shines just as you see it now, and we sleep +whenever we are tired and rise again as soon as we are rested." + +"What causes the light?" Princess Clia asked. + +"It's magic, your Highness," said the cook solemnly. "It's one of +the curious things Zog is able to do. But you must remember all this +place is a big cave in which the castle stands, so the light is +never seen by anyone except those who live here." + +"But why does Zog keep his light going all the time?" asked the +Queen. + +"I suppose it is because he himself never sleeps," replied Tom Atto. +"They say the master hasn't slept for hundreds of years, not since +Anko, the sea serpent, defeated him and drove him into this place." + +They asked no more questions and began to eat their dinner in +silence. Before long, Cap'n Joe came in to visit his brother and +took a seat at the table with the prisoners. He proved a jolly +fellow, and when he and Cap'n Bill talked about their boyhood days, +the stories were so funny that everybody laughed and for a time +forgot their worries. + +When dinner was over, however, and Cap'n Joe had gone back to his +work of sewing on buttons and the servants had carried away the +dishes, the prisoners remembered their troubles and the fate that +awaited them. "I am much disappointed," said the Queen, "to find +there is no night here and that Zog never sleeps. It will make our +escape more difficult. Yet we must make the attempt, and as we are +tired and a great struggle is before us, it will be best for us to +sleep and refresh ourselves." + +They agreed to this, for the day had been long and adventurous, so +Cap'n Bill kissed Trot and went in to the Peony Room, where he lay +down upon his spongy couch and fell fast asleep. The mermaids and +Trot followed this example, and I think none of them was much +worried, after all, because they quickly sank into peaceful slumber +and forgot all the dangers that threatened them. + + + + +CHAPTER 17 + +THE QUEEN'S GOLDEN SWORD + + +"Goodness me!" exclaimed Trot, raising herself by a flirt of her +pink-scaled tail and a wave of her fins, "isn't it dreadful hot +here?" + +The mermaids had risen at the same time, and Cap'n Bill came +swimming in from the Peony Room in time to hear the little girl's +speech. + +"Hot!" echoed the sailor. "Why, I feel like the inside of a steam +engine!" + +The perspiration was rolling down his round, red face, and he took +out his handkerchief and carefully wiped it away, waving his fish +tail gently at the same time. + +"What we need most in this room," said he, "is a fan." + +"What's the trouble, do you s'pose?" inquired Trot. + +"It is another trick of the monster Zog," answered the Queen calmly. +"He has made the water in our rooms boiling hot, and if it could +touch us, we would be well cooked by this time. Even as it is, we +are all made uncomfortable by breathing the heated air." + +"What shall we do, ma'am?" the sailor man asked with a groan. "I +expected to get into hot water afore we've done with this +foolishness, but I don't like the feel o' bein' parboiled, jes' the +same." + +The queen was waving her fairy wand and paid no attention to Cap'n +Bill's moans. Already the water felt cooler, and they began to +breathe more easily. In a few moments more, the heat had passed from +the surrounding water altogether, and all danger from this source +was over. + +"This is better," said Trot gratefully. + +"Do you care to sleep again?" asked the Queen. + +"No, I'm wide awake now," answered the child. + +"I'm afraid if I goes to sleep ag'in, I'll wake up a pot roast," +said Cap'n Bill. + +"Let us consider ways to escape," suggested Clia. "It seems useless +for us to remain here quietly until Zog discovers a way to destroy +us." + +"But we must not blunder," added Aquareine cautiously. "To fail in +our attempt would be to acknowledge Zog's superior power, so we must +think well upon our plan before we begin to carry it out. What do +you advise, sir?" she asked, turning to Cap'n Bill. + +"My opinion, ma'am, is that the only way for us to escape is to get +out o' here," was the sailor's vague answer. "How to do it is your +business, seein' as I ain't no fairy myself, either in looks or in +eddication." + +The queen smiled and said to Trot, "What is your opinion, my dear?" + +"I think we might swim out the same way we came in," answered the +child. "If we could get Sacho to lead us back through the maze, we +would follow that long tunnel to the open ocean, and--" + +"And there would be the sea devils waitin' for us," added Cap'n Bill +with a shake of his bald head. "They'd drive us back inter the +tunnel like they did the first time, Trot. It won't do, mate, it +won't do." + +"Have you a suggestion, Clia?" inquired the Queen. + +"I have thought of an undertaking," replied the pretty princess, +"but it is a bold plan, your Majesty, and you may not care to risk +it." + +"Let us hear it, anyway," said Aquareine encouragingly. + +"It is to destroy Zog himself and put him out of the world forever. +Then we would be free to go home whenever we pleased." + +"Can you suggest a way to destroy Zog?" asked Aquareine. + +"No, your Majesty," Clia answered. "I must leave the way for you to +determine." + +"In the old days," said the Queen thoughtfully, "the mighty King +Anko could not destroy this monster. He succeeded in defeating Zog +and drove him into this great cavern, but even Anko could not +destroy him." + +"I have heard the sea serpent explain that it was because he could +not reach the magician," returned Clia. "If King Anko could have +seized Zog in his coils, he would have made an end of the wicked +monster quickly. Zog knows this, and that is why he does not venture +forth from his retreat. Anko is the enemy he constantly dreads. But +with you, my queen, the case is different. You may easily reach Zog, +and the only question is whether your power is sufficient to destroy +him." + +For a while Aquareine remained silent. "I am not sure of my power +over him," she said at last, "and for that reason I hesitate to +attack him personally. His slaves and his allies, the sea devils, I +can easily conquer, so I prefer to find a way to overcome the guards +at the entrances rather than to encounter their terrible master. But +even the guards have been given strength and power by the magician, +as we have already discovered, so I must procure a weapon with which +to fight them." + +"A weapon, ma'am?" said Cap'n Bill, and then he took a jackknife +from his coat pocket and opened the big blade, afterward handing it +to the queen. "That ain't a bad weapon," he announced. + +"But it is useless in this case," she replied, smiling at the old +sailor's earnestness. "For my purpose I must have a golden sword." + +"Well, there's plenty of gold around this castle," said Trot, +looking around her. "Even in this room there's enough to make a +hundred golden swords." + +"But we can't melt or forge gold under water, mate," the Cap'n said. + +"Why not? Don't you s'pose all these gold roses and things were made +under water?" asked the little girl. + +"Like enough," remarked the sailor, "but I don't see how." + +Just then the gong at the door sounded, and the boy Sacho came in +smiling and cheerful as ever. He said Zog had sent him to inquire +after their health and happiness. "You may tell him that his water +became a trifle too warm, so we cooled it," replied the Queen. Then +they told Sacho how the boiling water had made them uncomfortable +while they slept. + +Sacho whistled a little tune and seemed thoughtful. "Zog is +foolish," said he. "How often have I told him that vengeance is a +waste of time. He is worried to know how to destroy you, and that is +wasting more time. You are worried for fear he will injure you, and +so you also are wasting time. My, my! What a waste of time is going +on in this castle!" + +"Seems to me that we have so much time it doesn't matter," said +Trot. "What's time for, anyhow?" + +"Time is given us to be happy, and for no other reason," replied the +boy soberly. "When we waste time, we waste happiness. But there is +no time for preaching, so I'll go." + +"Please wait a moment, Sacho," said the Queen. + +"Can I do anything to make you happy?" he asked, smiling again. + +"Yes," answered Aquareine. "We are curious to know who does all this +beautiful gold work and ornamentation." + +"Some of the slaves here are goldsmiths, having been taught by Zog +to forge and work metal under water," explained Sacho. "In parts of +the ocean lie many rocks filled with veins of pure gold and golden +nuggets, and we get large supplies from sunken ships as well. There +is no lack of gold here, but it is not as precious as it is upon the +earth because here we have no need of money." + +"We would like to see the goldsmiths at work," announced the Queen. + +The boy hesitated a moment. Then he said, "I will take you to their +room, where you may watch them for a time. I will not ask Zog's +permission to do this, for he might refuse. But my orders were to +allow you the liberty of the castle, and so I will let you see the +goldsmiths' shop." + +"Thank you," replied Aquareine quietly, and then the four followed +Sacho along various corridors until they came to a large room where +a dozen men were busily at work. Lying here and there were heaps of +virgin gold, some in its natural state and some already fashioned +into ornaments and furniture of various sorts. Each man worked at a +bench where there was a curious iron furnace in which glowed a +vivid, white light. Although this workshop was all under water and +the workmen were all obliged to breathe as fishes do, the furnaces +glowed so hot that the water touching them was turned into steam. +Gold or other metal held over a furnace quickly softened or melted, +when it could be forged or molded into any shape desired. + +"The furnaces are electric," explained Sacho, "and heat as well +under water as they would in the open air. Let me introduce you to +the foreman, who will tell you of his work better than I can." + +The foreman was a slave named Agga-Groo, who was lean and lank and +had an expression more surly and unhappy than any slave they had yet +seen. Yet he seemed willing to leave his work and explain to the +visitors how he made so many beautiful things out of gold, for he +took much pride in this labor and knew its artistic worth. Moreover, +since he had been in Zog's castle these were the first strangers to +enter his workshop, so he welcomed them in his own gruff way. + +The queen asked him if he was happy, and he shook his head and +replied, "It isn't like Calcutta, where I used to work in gold +before I was wrecked at sea and nearly drowned. Zog rescued me and +brought me here a slave. It is a stupid life we lead, doing the same +things over and over every day, but perhaps it is better than being +dead. I'm not sure. The only pleasure I get in life is in creating +pretty things out of gold." + +"Could you forge me a golden sword?" asked the Queen, smiling +sweetly upon the goldsmith. + +"I could, madam, but I won't unless Zog orders me to do it." + +"Do you like Zog better than you do me?" inquired Aquareine. + +"No," was the answer. "I hate Zog." + +"Then won't you make the sword to please me and to show your skill?" +pleaded the pretty mermaid. + +"I'm afraid of my master. He might not like it," the man replied. + +"But he will never know," said Princess Clia. + +"You cannot say what Zog knows or what he doesn't know," growled the +man. "I can't take chances of offending Zog, for I must live with +him always as a slave." With this he turned away and resumed his +work, hammering the leaf of a golden ship. + +Cap'n Bill had listened carefully to this conversation, and being a +wise old sailor in his way, he thought he understood the nature of +old Agga-Groo better than the mermaids did. So he went close to the +goldsmith, and feeling in the pockets of his coat drew out a silver +compass shaped like a watch. "I'll give you this if you'll make the +queen the golden sword," he said. + +Agga-Groo looked at the compass with interest and tested its power +of pointing north. Then he shook his head and handed it back to +Cap'n Bill. The sailor dived into his pocket again and pulled out a +pair of scissors, which he placed beside the compass on the palm of +his big hand. "You may have them both," he said. + +Agga-Groo hesitated, for he wanted the scissors badly, but finally +he shook his head again. Cap'n Bill added a piece of cord, an iron +thimble, some fishhooks, four buttons and a safety pin, but still +the goldsmith would not be tempted. So with a sigh the sailor +brought out his fine, big jackknife, and at sight of this +Agga-Groo's eyes began to sparkle. Steel was not to be had at the +bottom of the sea, although gold was so plentiful. "All right, +friend," he said. "Give me that lot of trinkets and I'll make you a +pretty gold sword. But it won't be any good except to look at, for +our gold is so pure that it is very soft." + +"Never mind that," replied Cap'n Bill. "All we want is the sword." + +The goldsmith set to work at once, and so skillful was he that in a +few minutes he had forged a fine sword of yellow gold with an +ornamental handle. The shape was graceful and the blade keen and +slender. It was evident to them all that the golden sword would not +stand hard use, for the edge of the blade would nick and curl like +lead, but the queen was delighted with the prize and took it eagerly +in her hand. + +Just then Sacho returned to say that they must go back to their +rooms, and after thanking the goldsmith, who was so busy examining +his newly acquired treasure that he made no response, they joyfully +followed the boy back to the Rose Chamber. Sacho told them that he +had just come from Zog, who was still wasting time in plotting +vengeance. "You must be careful," he advised them, "for my cruel +master intends to stop you from living, and he may succeed. Don't be +unhappy, but be careful. Zog is angry because you escaped his +Yell-Maker and the falling stones and the hot water. While he is +angry he is wasting time, but that will not help you. Take care not +to waste any time yourselves." + +"Do you know what Zog intends to do to us next?" asked Princess +Clia. + +"No," said Sacho, "but it is reasonable to guess that, being evil, +he intends evil. He never intends to do good, I assure you." Then +the boy went away. + +"I am no longer afraid," declared the Mermaid Queen when they were +alone. "When I have bestowed certain fairy powers upon this golden +sword, it will fight its way against any who dare oppose us, and +even Zog himself will not care to face so powerful a weapon. I am +now able to promise you that we shall make our escape." + +"Good!" cried Trot joyfully. "Shall we start now?" + +"Not yet, my dear. It will take me a little while to charm this +golden blade so that it will obey my commands and do my work. There +is no need of undue haste, so I propose we all sleep for a time and +obtain what rest we can. We must be fresh and ready for our great +adventure." + +As their former nap had been interrupted, they readily agreed to +Aquareine's proposal and at once went to their couches and composed +themselves to slumber. When they were asleep, the fairy mermaid +charmed her golden sword and then she also lay down to rest herself. + + + + +CHAPTER 18 + +A DASH FOR LIBERTY + + +Trot dreamed that she was at home in her own bed, but the night +seemed chilly and she wanted to draw the coverlet up to her chin. +She was not wide awake, but realized that she was cold and unable to +move her arms to cover herself up. She tried, but could not stir. +Then she roused herself a little more and tried again. Yes, it was +cold, very cold! Really, she MUST do something to get warm, she +thought. She opened her eyes and stared at a great wall of ice in +front of her. + +She was awake now, and frightened, too. But she could not move +because the ice was all around her. She was frozen inside of it, and +the air space around her was not big enough to allow her to turn +over. + +At once the little girl realized what had happened. Their wicked +enemy Zog had by his magic art frozen all the water in their room +while they slept, and now they were all imprisoned and helpless. +Trot and Cap'n Bill were sure to freeze to death in a short time, +for only a tiny air space remained between their bodies and the ice, +and this air was like that of a winter day when the thermometer is +below zero. + +Across the room Trot could see the mermaid queen lying on her couch, +for the solid ice was clear as crystal. Aquareine was imprisoned +just as Trot was, and although she held her fairy wand in one hand +and the golden sword in the other, she seemed unable to move either +of them, and the girl remembered that the queen always waved her +magic wand to accomplish anything. Princess Clia's couch was behind +that of Trot, so the child could not see her, and Cap'n Bill was in +his own room, probably frozen fast in the ice as the others were. + +The terrible Zog has surely been very clever in this last attempt to +destroy them. Trot thought it all over, and she decided that +inasmuch as the queen was unable to wave her fairy wand, she could +do nothing to release herself or her friends. + +But in this the girl was mistaken. The fairy mermaid was even now at +work trying to save them, and in a few minutes Trot was astonished +and delighted to see the queen rise from her couch. She could not go +far from it at first, but the ice was melting rapidly all around her +so that gradually Aquareine approached the place where the child +lay. Trot could hear the mermaid's voice sounding through the ice as +if from afar off, but it grew more distinct until she could make out +that the queen was saying, "Courage, friends! Do not despair, for +soon you will be free." + +Before very long the ice between Trot and the queen had melted away +entirely, and with a cry of joy the little girl flopped her pink +tail and swam to the side of her deliverer. + +"Are you very cold?" asked Aquareine. + +"N-not v-v-very!" replied Trot, but her teeth chattered and she was +still shivering. + +"The water will be warm in a few minutes," said the Queen. "But now +I must melt the rest of the ice and liberate Clia." + +This she did in an astonishingly brief time, and the pretty +princess, being herself a fairy, had not been at all affected by the +cold surrounding her. + +They now swam to the door of Cap'n Bill's room and found the Peony +Chamber a solid block of ice. The queen worked her magic power as +hard as she could, and the ice flowed and melted quickly before her +fairy wand. Yet when they reached the old sailor, he was almost +frozen stiff, and Trot and Clia had to rub his hands and nose and +ears very briskly to warm him up and bring him back to life. + +Cap'n Bill was pretty tough, and he came around, in time, and opened +his eyes and sneezed and asked if the blizzard was over. So the +queen waved her wand over his head a few times to restore him to his +natural condition of warmth, and soon the old sailor became quite +comfortable and was able to understand all about the strange +adventure from which he had so marvelously escaped. + +"I've made up my mind to one thing, Trot," he said confidentially. +"If ever I get out o' this mess I'm in, I won't be an Arctic +explorer, whatever else happens. Shivers an' shakes ain't to my +likin', an' this ice business ain't what it's sometimes cracked up +to be. To be friz once is enough fer anybody, an' if I was a gal +like you, I wouldn't even wear frizzes on my hair." + +"You haven't any hair, Cap'n Bill," answered Trot, "so you needn't +worry." + +The queen and Clia had been talking together very earnestly. They +now approached their earth friends, and Aquareine said: + +"We have decided not to remain in this castle any longer. Zog's +cruel designs upon our lives and happiness are becoming too +dangerous for us to endure. The golden sword now bears a fairy +charm, and by its aid I will cut a way through our enemies. Are you +ready and willing to follow me?" + +"Of course we are!" cried Trot. + +"It don't seem 'zactly right to ask a lady to do the fightin'," +remarked Cap'n Bill, "but magic ain't my strong p'int, and it seems +to be yours, ma'am. So swim ahead, and we'll wiggle the same way you +do, an' try to wiggle out of our troubles." + +"If I chance to fail," said the Queen, "try not to blame me. I will +do all in my power to provide for our escape, and I am willing to +risk everything, because I well know that to remain here will mean +to perish in the end." + +"That's all right," said Trot with fine courage. "Let's have it over +with." + +"Then we will leave here at once," said Aquareine. + +She approached the window of the room and with one blow of her +golden sword shattered the thick pane of glass. The opening thus +made was large enough for them to swim through if they were careful +not to scrape against the broken points of glass. The queen went +first, followed by Trot and Cap'n Bill, with Clia last of all. + +And now they were in the vast dome in which the castle and gardens +of Zog had been built. Around them was a clear stretch of water, and +far above--full half a mile distant--was the opening in the roof +guarded by the prince of the sea devils. The mermaid queen had +determined to attack this monster. If she succeeded in destroying it +with her golden sword, the little band of fugitives might then swim +through the opening into the clear waters of the ocean. Although +this prince of the sea devils was said to be big and wise and +mighty, there was but one of him to fight; whereas, if they +attempted to escape through any of the passages, they must encounter +scores of such enemies. + +"Swim straight for the opening in the dome!" cried Aquareine, and in +answer to the command, the four whisked their glittering tails, +waved their fins, and shot away through the water at full speed, +their course slanting upward toward the top of the dome. + + + + +CHAPTER 19 + +KING ANKO TO THE RESCUE + + +The great magician Zog never slept. He was always watchful and +alert. Some strange power warned him that his prisoners were about +to escape. + +Scarcely had the four left the castle by the broken window when the +monster stepped from a doorway below and saw them. Instantly he blew +upon a golden whistle, and at the summons a band of wolf-fish +appeared and dashed after the prisoners. These creatures swam so +swiftly that soon they were between the fugitives and the dome, and +then they turned and with wicked eyes and sharp fangs began a fierce +attack upon the mermaids and the earth dwellers. + +Trot was a little frightened at the evil looks of the sea wolves, +whose heads were enormous, and whose jaws contained rows of curved +and pointed teeth. But Aquareine advanced upon them with her golden +sword, and every touch of the charmed weapon instantly killed an +enemy, so that one by one the wolf-fish rolled over upon their backs +and sank helplessly downward through the water, leaving the +prisoners free to continue their way toward the opening in the dome. + +Zog witnessed the destruction of his wolves and uttered a loud laugh +that was terrible to hear. Then the dread monster determined to +arrest the fugitives himself, and in order to do this he was forced +to discover himself in all the horror of his awful form, a form he +was so ashamed of and loathed so greatly that he always strove to +keep it concealed, even from his own view. But it was important that +his prisoners should not escape. Hastily casting off the folds of +the robe that enveloped him, Zog allowed his body to uncoil and +shoot upward through the water in swift pursuit of his victims. His +cloven hoofs, upon which he usually walked, being now useless, were +drawn up under him, while coil after coil of his eel-like body +wriggled away like a serpent. At his shoulders two broad, feathery +wings expanded, and these enabled the monster to cleave his way +through the water with terrific force. + +Zog was part man, part beast, part fish, part fowl, and part +reptile. His undulating body was broad and thin and like the body of +an eel. It was as repulsive as one could well imagine, and no wonder +Zog hated it and kept it covered with his robe. Now, with his horned +head and its glowing eyes thrust forward, wings flapping from his +shoulders and his eely body--ending in a fish's tail--wriggling far +behind him, this strange and evil creature was a thing of terror +even to the sea dwellers, who were accustomed to remarkable sights. + +The mermaids, the sailor and the child, one after another looking +back as they swam toward liberty and safety, saw the monster coming +and shuddered with uncontrollable fear. They were drawing nearer to +the dome by this time, yet it was still some distance away. The four +redoubled their speed, darting through the water with the swiftness +of skyrockets. But fast as they swam, Zog swam faster, and the good +queen's heart began to throb as she realized she would be forced to +fight her loathesome foe. + +Presently Zog's long body was circling around them like a whirlwind, +lashing the water into foam and gradually drawing nearer and nearer +to his victims. His eyes were no longer glowing coals, they were +balls of flame, and as he circled around them, he laughed aloud that +horrible laugh which was far more terrifying than any cry of rage +could be. The queen struck out with her golden sword, but Zog +wrapped a coil of his thin body around it and, wrestling it from her +hand, crushed the weapon into a shapeless mass. Then Aquareine waved +her fairy wand, but in a flash the monster sent it flying away +through the water. + +Cap'n Bill now decided that they were lost. He drew Trot closer to +his side and placed one arm around her. "I can't save you, dear +little mate," he said sadly, "but we've lived a long time together, +an' now we'll die together. I knew, Trot, when first we sawr them +mermaids, as we'd--we'd--" + +"Never live to tell the tale," said the child. "But never mind, +Cap'n Bill, we've done the best we could, and we've had a fine +time." + +"Forgive me! Oh, forgive me!" cried Aquareine despairingly. "I tried +to save you, my poor friends, but--" + +"What's that?" exclaimed the Princess, pointing upward. They all +looked past Zog's whirling body, which was slowly enveloping them in +its folds, toward the round opening in the dome. A dark object had +appeared there, sliding downward like a huge rope and descending +toward them with lightning rapidly. They gave a great gasp as they +recognized the countenance of King Anko, the sea serpent, its gray +hair and whiskers bristling like those of an angry cat, and the +usually mild blue eyes glowing with a ferocity even more terrifying +than the orbs of Zog. + +The magician gave a shrill scream at sight of his dreaded enemy, and +abandoning his intended victims, Zog made a quick dash to escape. +But nothing in the sea could equal the strength and quickness of +King Anko when he was roused. In a flash the sea serpent had caught +Zog fast in his coils, and his mighty body swept round the monster +and imprisoned him tightly. The four, so suddenly rescued, swam away +to a safer distance from the struggle, and then they turned to watch +the encounter between the two great opposing powers of the ocean's +depths. Yet there was no desperate fight to observe, for the +combatants were unequal. The end came before they were aware of it. +Zog had been taken by surprise, and his great fear of Anko destroyed +all of his magic power. When the sea serpent slowly released those +awful coils, a mass of jelly-like pulp floated downward through the +water with no remnant of life remaining in it, no form to show it +had once been Zog, the Magician. + +Then Anko shook his body that the water might cleanse it, and +advanced his head toward the group of four whom he had so +opportunely rescued. "It is all over, friends," said he in his +gentle tones, while a mild expression once more reigned on his +comical features. "You may go home at any time you please, for the +way through the dome will be open as soon as I get my own body +through it." + +Indeed, so amazing was the length of the great sea serpent that only +a part of him had descended through the hole into the dome. Without +waiting for the thanks of those he had rescued, he swiftly retreated +to the ocean above, and with grateful hearts they followed him, glad +to leave the cavern where they had endured so much anxiety and +danger. + + + + +CHAPTER 20 + +THE HOME OF THE OCEAN MONARCH + + +Trot sobbed quietly with her head on Cap'n Bill's shoulder. She had +been a brave little girl during the trying times they had +experienced and never once had she given way to tears, however +desperate their fate had seemed to be. But now that the one enemy in +all the sea to be dreaded was utterly destroyed and all dangers were +past, the reaction was so great that she could not help having "just +one good cry," as she naively expressed it. + +Cap'n Bill was a big sailor man hardened by age and many adventures, +but even he felt a "Lump in his throat" that he could not swallow, +try as hard as he might. Cap'n Bill was glad. He was mostly glad on +Trot's account, for he loved his sweet, childish companion very +dearly, and did not want any harm to befall her. + +They were now in the wide, open sea, with liberty to go wherever +they wished, and if Cap'n Bill could have "had his way," he would +have gone straight home and carried Trot to her mother. But the +mermaids must be considered. Aquareine and Clia had been true and +faithful friends to their earth guests while dangers were +threatening, and it would not be very gracious to leave them at +once. Moreover, King Anko was now with them, his big head keeping +pace with the mermaids as they swam, and this mighty preserver had a +distinct claim upon Trot and Cap'n Bill. The sailor felt that it +would not be polite to ask to go home so soon. + +"If you people had come to visit me as I invited you to do," said +the Sea Serpent, "all this bother and trouble would have been saved. +I had my palace put in order to receive the earth dwellers and sat +in my den waiting patiently to receive you. Yet you never came at +all." + +"That reminds me," said Trot, drying her eyes, "you never told us +about that third pain you once had." + +"Finally," continued Anko, "I sent to inquire as to what had become +of you, and Merla said you had been gone from the palace a long time +and she was getting anxious about you. Then I made inquiries. +Everyone in the sea loves to serve me--except those sea devils and +their cousins, the octopi--and it wasn't long before I heard you had +been captured by Zog." + +"Was the third pain as bad as the other two?" asked Trot. + +"Naturally this news disturbed me and made me unhappy," said Anko, +"for I well knew, my Aquareine, that the magician's evil powers were +greater than your own fairy accomplishments. But I had never been +able to find Zog's enchanted castle, and so I was at a loss to know +how to save you from your dreadful fate. After I had wasted a good +deal of time thinking it over, I decided that if the sea devils were +slaves of Zog, the prince of the sea devils must know where the +enchanted castle was located. + +"I knew this prince and where to find him, for he always lay on a +hollow rock on the bottom of the sea and never moved from that +position. His people brought food to him and took his commands. So I +had no trouble in finding this evil prince, and I went to him and +asked the way to Zog's castle. Of course, he would not tell me. He +was even cross and disrespectful, just as I had expected him to be, +so I allowed myself to become angry and killed him, thinking he was +much better dead than alive. But after the sea devil was destroyed, +what was my surprise to find that all these years he had been lying +over a round hole in the rock and covering it with his scarlet body! + +"A light shone through this hole, so I thrust my head in and found a +great domed cave underneath with a splendid silver castle built at +the bottom. You, my friends, were at that moment swimming toward me +as fast as you could come, and the monster Zog, my enemy for +centuries past, was close behind you. Well, the rest of the story +you know. I would be angry with all of you for so carelessly getting +captured, had the incident not led to the destruction of the one +evil genius in all my ocean. I shall rest easier and be much happier +now that Zog is dead. He has defied me for hundreds of years." + +"But about that third pain," said Trot. "If you don't tell us now, +I'm afraid that I'll forget to ask you." + +"If you should happen to forget, just remind me of it," said Anko, +"and I'll be sure to tell you." + +While Trot was thinking this over, the swimmers drew near to a +great, circular palace made all of solid alabaster polished as +smooth as ivory. Its roof was a vast dome, for domes seemed to be +fashionable in the ocean houses. There were no doors or windows, but +instead of these, several round holes appeared in different parts of +the dome, some being high up and some low down and some in between. +Out of one of these holes, which it just fitted, stretched the long, +brown body of the sea serpent. Trot, being astonished at this sight, +asked, "Didn't you take all of you when you went to the cavern, +Anko?" + +"Nearly all, my dear," was the reply, accompanied by a cheerful +smile, for Anko was proud of his great length. "But not quite all. +Some of me remained, as usual, to keep house while my head was away. +But I've been coiling up ever since we started back, and you will +soon be able to see every inch of me all together." + +Even as he spoke, his head slid into the round hole, and at a signal +from Aquareine they all paused outside and waited. Presently there +came to them four beautiful winged fishes with faces like doll +babies. Their long hair and eyelashes were of a purple color, and +their cheeks had rosy spots that looked as if they had been painted +upon them. "His Majesty bids you welcome," said one of the doll +fishes in a sweet voice. "Be kind enough to enter the royal palace, +and our ocean monarch will graciously receive you." + +"Seems to me," said Trot to the queen, "these things are putting on +airs. Perhaps they don't know we're friends of Anko." + +"The king insists on certain formalities when anyone visits him," +was Aquareine's reply. "It is right that his dignity should be +maintained." + +They followed their winged conductors to one of the upper openings, +and as they entered it Aquareine said in a clear voice, "May the +glory and power of the ocean king continue forever!" Then she +touched the palm of her hand to her forehead in token of allegiance, +and Clia did the same, so Cap'n Bill and Trot followed suit. The +brief ceremony being ended, the child looked curiously around to see +what the palace of the mighty Anko was like. + +An extensive hall lined with alabaster was before them. In the floor +were five of the round holes. Upon the walls were engraved many +interesting scenes of ocean life, all chiseled very artistically by +the tusks of walruses who, Trot was afterward informed, are greatly +skilled in such work. A few handsome rugs of woven sea grasses were +spread upon the floor, but otherwise the vast hall was bare of +furniture. The doll-faced fishes escorted them to an upper room +where a table was set, and here the revelers were invited to refresh +themselves. As all four were exceedingly hungry, they welcomed the +repast, which was served by an army of lobsters in royal purple +aprons and caps. + +The meal being finished, they again descended to the hall, which +seemed to occupy all the middle of the building. And now their +conductors said, "His Majesty is ready to receive you in his den." + +They swam downward through one of the round holes in the floor and +found themselves in a brilliantly lighted chamber which appeared +bigger than all the rest of the palace put together. In the center +was the quaint head of King Anko, and around it was spread a great +coverlet of purple and gold woven together. This concealed all of +his body and stretched from wall to wall of the circular room. +"Welcome, friends!" said Anko pleasantly. "How do you like my home?" + +"It's very grand," replied Trot. + +"Just the place for a sea serpent, seems to me," said Cap'n Bill. + +"I'm glad you admire it," said the King. "Perhaps I ought to tell +you that from this day you four belong to me." + +"How's that?" asked the girl, surprised. + +"It is a law of the ocean," declared Anko, "that whoever saves any +living creature from violent death owns that creature forever +afterward, while life lasts. You will realize how just this law is +when you remember that had I not saved you from Zog, you would now +be dead. The law was suggested by Captain Kid Glove, when he once +visited me." + +"Do you mean Captain Kidd?" asked Trot. "Because if you do--" + +"Give him his full name," said Anko. "Captain Kid Glove was--" + +"There's no glove to it," protested Trot. "I ought to know, 'cause +I've read about him." + +"Didn't it say anything about a glove?" asked Anko. + +"Nothing at all. It jus' called him Cap'n Kidd," replied Trot. + +"She's right, ol' man," added Cap'n Bill. + +"Books," said the Sea Serpent, "are good enough as far as they go, +but it seems to me your earth books don't go far enough. Captain Kid +Glove was a gentleman pirate, a kid-glove pirate. To leave off the +glove and call him just Kidd is very disrespectful." + +"Oh! You told me to remind you of that third pain," said the little +girl. + +"Which proves my friendship for you," returned the Sea Serpent, +blinking his blue eyes thoughtfully. "No one likes to be reminded of +a pain, and that third pain was--was--" + +"What was it?" asked Trot. + +"It was a stomach ache," replied the King with a sigh. + +"What made it?" she inquired. + +"Just my carelessness," said Anko. "I'd been away to foreign parts, +seeing how the earth people were getting along. I found the Germans +dancing the german and the Dutch making dutch cheese and the +Belgians combing their belgian hares and the Turks eating turkey and +the Sardinians sardonically pickling sardines. Then I called on the +Prince of Whales, and--" + +"You mean the Prince of Wales," corrected Trot. + +"I mean what I say, my dear. I saw the battlefield where the Bull +Run but the Americans didn't, and when I got to France I paid a +napoleon to see Napoleon with his boney apart. He was--" + +"Of course you mean--" Trot was beginning, but the king would not +give her a chance to correct him this time. + +"He was very hungry for Hungary," he continued, "and was Russian so +fast toward the Poles that I thought he'd discover them. So as I was +not accorded a royal welcome, I took French leave and came home +again." + +"But the pain--" + +"On the way home," continued Anko calmly, "I was a little +absent-minded and ate an anchor. There was a long chain attached to +it, and as I continued to swallow the anchor I continued to eat the +chain. I never realized what I had done until I found a ship on the +other end of the chain. Then I bit it off." + +"The ship?" asked Trot. + +"No, the chain. I didn't care for the ship, as I saw it contained +some skippers. On the way home the chain and anchor began to lie +heavily on my stomach. I didn't seem to digest them properly, and by +the time I got to my palace, where you will notice there is no +throne, I was thrown into throes of severe pain. So I at once sent +for Dr. Shark--" + +"Are all your doctors sharks?" asked the child. + +"Yes, aren't your doctors sharks?" he replied. + +"Not all of them," said Trot. + +"That is true," remarked Cap'n Bill. "But when you talk of +lawyers--" + +"I'm not talking of lawyers," said Anko reprovingly. "I'm talking +about my pain. I don't imagine anyone could suffer more than I did +with that stomach ache." + +"Did you suffer long?" inquired Trot. + +"Why, about seven thousand four hundred and eighty-two feet and--" + +"I mean a long time." + +"It seemed like a long time," answered the King. "Dr. Shark said I +ought to put a mustard poultice on my stomach, so I uncoiled myself +and summoned my servants, and they began putting on the mustard +plaster. It had to be bound all around me so it wouldn't slip off, +and I began to look like an express package. In about four weeks +fully one-half of the pain had been covered by the mustard poultice, +which got so hot that it hurt me worse than the stomach ache did." + +"I know," said Trot. "I had one, once." + +"One what?" asked Anko. + +"A mustard plaster. They smart pretty bad, but I guess they're a +good thing." + +"I got myself unwrapped as soon as I could," continued the King, +"and then I hunted for the doctor, who hid himself until my anger +had subsided. He has never sent in a bill, so I think he must be +terribly ashamed of himself." + +"You're lucky, sir, to have escaped so easy," said Cap'n Bill. "But +you seem pretty well now." + +"Yes, I'm more careful of what I eat," replied the Sea Serpent. "But +I was saying when Trot interrupted me, that you all belong to me, +because I have saved your lives. By the law of the ocean, you must +obey me in everything." + +The sailor scowled a little at hearing this, but Trot laughed and +said, "The law of the ocean isn't OUR law, 'cause we live on land." + +"Just now you are living in the ocean," declared Anko, "and as long +as you live here, you must obey my commands." + +"What are your commands?" inquired the child. + +"Ah, that's the point I was coming to," returned the King with his +comical smile. "The ocean is a beautiful place, and we who belong +here love it dearly. In many ways it's a nicer place for a home than +the earth, for we have no sunstroke, mosquitoes, earthquakes or +candy ships to bother us. But I am convinced that the ocean is no +proper dwelling place for earth people, and I believe the mermaids +did an unwise thing when they invited you to visit them." + +"I don't," protested the girl. "We've had a fine time, haven't we, +Cap'n Bill?" + +"Well, it's been diff'rent from what I expected," admitted the +sailor. + +"Our only thought was to give the earth people pleasure, your +Majesty," pleaded Aquareine. + +"I know, I know, my dear Queen, and it was very good of you," +replied Anko. "But still it was an unwise act, for earth people are +as constantly in danger under water as we would be upon the land. So +having won the right to command you all, I order you to take little +Mayre and Cap'n Bill straight home, and there restore them to their +natural forms. It's a dreadful condition, I know, and they must each +have two stumbling legs instead of a strong, beautiful fish tail, +but it is the fate of earth dwellers, and they cannot escape it." + +"In my case, your Majesty, make it ONE leg," suggested Cap'n Bill. + +"Ah yes, I remember. One leg and a wooden stick to keep it company. +I issue this order, dear friends, not because I am not fond of your +society, but to keep you from getting into more trouble in a country +where all is strange and unnatural to you. Am I right, or do you +think I am wrong?" + +"You're quite correct, sir," said Cap'n Bill, nodding his head in +approval. + +"Well, I'm ready to go home," said Trot. "But in spite of Zog, I've +enjoyed my visit, and I shall always love the mermaids for being so +good to me." That speech pleased Aquareine and Clia, who smiled upon +the child and kissed her affectionately. + +"We shall escort you home at once," announced the Queen. + +"But before you go," said King Anko, "I will give you a rare treat. +It is one you will remember as long as you live. You shall see every +inch of the mightiest sea serpent in the world, all at one time!" + +As he spoke, the purple and gold cloth was lifted by unseen hands +and disappeared from view. And now Cap'n Bill and Trot looked down +upon thousands and thousands of coils of the sea serpent's body, +which filled all of the space at the bottom of the immense circular +room. It reminded them of a great coil of garden hose, only it was +so much bigger around and very much longer. + +Except for the astonishing size of the Ocean King, the sight was not +an especially interesting one, but they told old Anko that they were +pleased to see him, because it was evident he was very fond of his +figure. Then the cloth descended again and covered all but the head, +after which they bade the king goodbye and thanked him for all his +kindness to them. + +"I used to think sea serpents were horrid creatures," said Trot, +"but now I know they are good and--and--and--" + +"And big," added Cap'n Bill, realizing his little friend could not +find another word that was complimentary. + + + + +CHAPTER 21 + +KING JOE + + +As they swam out of Anko's palace and the doll-faced fishes left +them, Aquareine asked: + +"Would you rather go back to our mermaid home for a time and rest +yourselves or would you prefer to start for Giant's Cave at once?" + +"I guess we'd better go back home," decided Trot. "To our own home, +I mean. We've been away quite a while, and King Anko seemed to think +it was best." + +"Very well," replied the Queen. "Let us turn in this direction, +then." + +"You can say goodbye to Merla for us," continued Trot. "She was very +nice to us, an' 'specially to Cap'n Bill." + +"So she was, mate," agreed the sailor, "an' a prettier lady I never +knew, even if she is a mermaid, beggin' your pardon, ma'am." + +"Are we going anywhere near Zog's castle?" asked the girl. + +"Our way leads directly past the opening in the dome," said +Aquareine. + +"Then let's stop and see what Sacho and the others are doing," +suggested Trot. "They can't be slaves any longer, you know, 'cause +they haven't any master. I wonder if they're any happier than they +were before?" + +"They seemed to be pretty happy as it was," remarked Cap'n Bill. + +"It will do no harm to pay them a brief visit," said Princess Clia. +"All danger disappeared from the cavern with the destruction of +Zog." + +"I really ought to say goodbye to Brother Joe," observed the sailor +man. "I won't see him again, you know, and I don't want to seem +unbrotherly." + +"Very well," said the Queen, "we will reenter the cavern, for I, +too, am anxious to know what will be the fate of the poor slaves of +the magician." + +When they came to the hole in the top of the dome, they dropped +through it and swam leisurely down toward the castle. The water was +clear and undisturbed and the silver castle looked very quiet and +peaceful under the radiant light that still filled the cavern. They +met no one at all, and passing around to the front of the building, +they reached the broad entrance and passed into the golden hall. + +Here a strange scene met their eyes. All the slaves of Zog, hundreds +in number, were assembled in the room, while standing before the +throne formerly occupied by the wicked magician was the boy Sacho, +who was just beginning to make a speech to his fellow slaves. "At +one time or another," he said, "all of us were born upon the earth +and lived in the thin air, but now we are all living as the fishes +live, and our home is in the water of the ocean. One by one we have +come to this place, having been saved from drowning by Zog, the +Magician, and by him given power to exist in comfort under water. +The powerful master who made us his slaves has now passed away +forever, but we continue to live, and are unable to return to our +native land, where we would quickly perish. There is no one but us +to inherit Zog's possessions, and so it will be best for us to +remain in this fine castle and occupy ourselves as we have done +before, in providing for the comforts of the community. Only in +labor is happiness to be found, and we may as well labor for +ourselves as for others. + +"But we must have a king. Not an evil, cruel master like Zog, but +one who will maintain order and issue laws for the benefit of all. +We will govern ourselves most happily by having a ruler, or head, +selected from among ourselves by popular vote. Therefore I ask you +to decide who shall be our king, for only one who is accepted by all +can sit in Zog's throne." + +The slaves applauded this speech, but they seemed puzzled to make +the choice of a ruler. Finally the chief cook came forward and said, +"We all have our duties to perform and so cannot spend the time to +be king. But you, Sacho, who were Zog's own attendant, have now no +duties at all. So it will be best for you to rule us. What say you, +comrades? Shall we make Sacho king?" + +"Yes, yes!" they all cried. + +"But I do not wish to be king," replied Sacho. "A king is a useless +sort of person who merely issues orders for others to carry out. I +want to be busy and useful. Whoever is king will need a good +attendant as well as an officer who will see that his commands are +obeyed. I am used to such duties, having served Zog in this same +way." + +"Who, then, has the time to rule over us?" asked Agga-Groo, the +goldsmith. + +"It seems to me that Cap'n Joe is the proper person for king," +replied Sacho. "His former duty was to sew buttons on Zog's +garments, so now he is out of a job and has plenty of time to be +king, for he can sew on his own buttons. What do you say, Cap'n +Joe?" + +"Oh, I don't mind," agreed Cap'n Joe. "That is, if you all want me +to rule you." + +"We do!" shouted the slaves, glad to find someone willing to take +the job. + +"But I'll want a few pointers," continued Cap'n Bill's brother. "I +ain't used to this sort o' work, you know, an' if I ain't properly +posted I'm liable to make mistakes." + +"Sacho will tell you," said Tom Atto encouragingly. "And now I must +go back to the kitchen and look after my dumplings, or you people +won't have any dinner today." + +"Very well," announced Sacho. "I hereby proclaim Cap'n Joe elected +King of the Castle, which is the Enchanted Castle no longer. You may +all return to your work." + +The slaves went away well contented, and the boy and Cap'n Joe now +came forward to greet their visitors. "We're on our way home," +explained Cap'n Bill, "an' we don't expec' to travel this way again. +But it pleases me to know, Joe, that you're the king o' such a fine +castle, an' I'll rest easier now that you're well pervided for." + +"Oh, I'm all right, Bill," returned Cap'n Joe. "It's an easy life +here, an' a peaceful one. I wish you were as well fixed." + +"If ever you need friends, Sacho, or any assistance or counsel, come +to me," said the Mermaid Queen to the boy. + +"Thank you, madam," he replied. "Now that Zog has gone, I am sure we +shall be very safe and contented. But I shall not forget to come to +you if we need you. We are not going to waste any time in anger or +revenge or evil deeds, so I believe we shall prosper from now on." + +"I'm sure you will," declared Trot. + +They now decided that they must continue their journey, and as +neither Sacho nor King Joe could ascend to the top of the dome +without swimming in the human way, which was slow and tedious work +for them, the goodbyes were said at the castle entrance, and the +four visitors started on their return. Trot took one last view of +the beautiful silver castle from the hole high up in the dome, which +was now open and unguarded, and the next moment she was in the broad +ocean again, swimming toward home beside her mermaid friends. + + + + +CHAPTER 22 + +TROT LIVES TO TELL THE TALE + + +Aquareine was thoughtful for a time. Then she drew from her finger a +ring, a plain gold band set with a pearl of great value, and gave it +to the little girl. + +"If at any period of your life the mermaids can be of service to +you, my dear," she said, "you have but to come to the edge of the +ocean and call 'Aquareine.' If you are wearing the ring at the time, +I shall instantly hear you and come to your assistance." + +"Thank you!" cried the child, slipping the ring over her own chubby +finger, which it fitted perfectly. "I shall never forget that I have +good and loyal friends in the ocean, you may be sure." + +Away and away they swam, swiftly and in a straight line, keeping in +the middle water where they were not liable to meet many sea people. +They passed a few schools of fishes, where the teachers were +explaining to the young ones how to swim properly, and to conduct +themselves in a dignified manner, but Trot did not care to stop and +watch the exercises. + +Although the queen had lost her fairy wand in Zog's domed chamber, +she had still enough magic power to carry them all across the ocean +in wonderfully quick time, and before Trot and Cap'n Bill were aware +of the distance they had come, the mermaids paused while Princess +Clia said: + +"Now we must go a little deeper, for here is the Giant's Cave and +the entrance to it is near the bottom of the sea." + +"What, already?" cried the girl joyfully, and then through the dark +water they swam, passing through the rocky entrance, and began to +ascend slowly into the azure-blue water of the cave. + +"You've been awfully good to us, and I don't know jus' how to thank +you," said Trot earnestly. + +"We have enjoyed your visit to us," said beautiful Queen Aquareine, +smiling upon her little friend, "and you may easily repay any +pleasure we have given you by speaking well of the mermaids when you +hear ignorant earth people condemning us." + +"I'll do that, of course," exclaimed the child. + +"How about changin' us back to our reg'lar shapes?" inquired Cap'n +Bill anxiously. + +"That will be very easy," replied Princess Clia with her merry +laugh. "See! Here we are at the surface of the water." + +They pushed their heads above the blue water and looked around the +cave. It was silent and deserted. Floating gently near the spot +where they had left it was their own little boat. Cap'n Bill swam to +it, took hold of the side, and then turned an inquiring face toward +the mermaids. "Climb in," said the Queen. So he pulled himself up +and awkwardly tumbled forward into the boat. As he did so, he heard +his wooden leg clatter against the seat, and turned around to look +at it wonderingly. + +"It's me, all right!" he muttered. "One meat one, an' one hick'ry +one. That's the same as belongs to me!" + +"Will you lift Mayre aboard?" asked Princess Clia. + +The old sailor aroused himself, and as Trot lifted up her arms, he +seized them and drew her safely into the boat. She was dressed just +as usual, and her chubby legs wore shoes and stockings. Strangely +enough, neither of them were at all wet or even damp in any part of +their clothing. + +"I wonder where our legs have been while we've been gone?" mused +Cap'n Bill, gazing at his little friend in great delight. + +"And I wonder what's become of our pretty pink and green scaled +tails!" returned the girl, laughing with glee, for it seemed good to +be herself again. + +Queen Aquareine and Princess Clia were a little way off, lying with +their pretty faces just out of the water while their hair floated in +soft clouds around them. + +"Goodbye, friends!" they called. + +"Goodbye!" shouted both Trot and Cap'n Bill, and the little girl +blew two kisses from her fingers toward the mermaids. + +Then the faces disappeared, leaving little ripples on the surface of +the water. + +Cap'n Bill picked up the oars and slowly headed the boat toward the +mouth of the cave. + +"I wonder, Trot, if your ma has missed us," he remarked uneasily. + +"Of course not," replied the girl. "She's been sound asleep, you +know." + +As the boat crept out into the bright sunlight, they were both +silent, but each sighed with pleasure at beholding their own +everyday world again. + +Finally Trot said softly, "The land's the best, Cap'n." + +"It is, mate, for livin' on," he answered. + +"But I'm glad to have seen the mermaids," she added.. + +"Well, so'm I, Trot," he agreed. "But I wouldn't 'a' believed any +mortal could ever 'a' seen 'em an'--an'--" + +Trot laughed merrily. + +"An' lived to tell the tale!" she cried, her eyes dancing with +mischief. "Oh, Cap'n Bill, how little we mortals know!" + +"True enough, mate," he replied, "but we're a-learnin' something +ev'ry day." + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sea Fairies, by L. 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Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + +Edited by Charles Aldarondo (aldarondo@yahoo.com) + +TO JUDITH OF RANDOLPH MASSACHUSETTS + + + + +THE SEA FAIRIES + +BY L. FRANK BAUM + +AUTHOR OF THE EMERALD CITY OF OZ, DOROTHY AND THE +WIZARD IN OZ, OZMA OF OZ, THE ROAD TO OZ, +THE LAND OF OZ, ETC. + +ILLUSTRATED BY +JOHN R. NEILL + + + + + + +THE oceans are big and broad. I believe two-thirds of the +earth's surface is covered with water. What people inhabit +this water has always been a subject of curiosity to the +inhabitants of the land. Strange creatures come from the seas +at times, and perhaps in the ocean depths are many, more strange +than mortal eye has ever gazed upon. + +This story is fanciful. In it the sea people talk and act +much as we do, and the mermaids especially are not unlike the +fairies with whom we have learned to be familiar. Yet they +are real sea people, for all that, and with the exception of Zog +the Magician they are all supposed to exist in the ocean's depths. + +I am told that some very learned people deny that mermaids +or sea-serpents have ever inhabited the oceans, but it would be +very difficult for them to prove such an assertion unless they had +lived under the water as Trot and Cap'n Bill did in this story. + +I hope my readers who have so long followed Dorothy's +adventures in the Land of Oz will be interested in Trot's equally +strange experiences. The ocean has always appealed to me as +a veritable wonderland, and this story has been suggested to me +many times by my young correspondents in their letters. Indeed, +a good many childred have implored me to "write something +about the mermaids," and I have willingly granted the request. + +Hollywood, 1911. + +L. FRANK BAUM. + + + + + + +TROT AND CAP'N BILL + +CHAPTER 1 + + + + + +"Nobody," said Cap'n Bill solemnly, "ever sawr a mermaid an' lived +to tell the tale." + +"Why not?" asked Trot, looking earnestly up into the old sailor's +face. + +They were seated on a bench built around a giant acacia tree that +grew just at the edge of the bluff. Below them rolled the blue waves +of the great Pacific. A little way behind them was the house, a neat +frame cottage painted white and surrounded by huge eucalyptus and +pepper trees. Still farther behind that--a quarter of a mile distant +but built upon a bend of the coast--was the village, overlooking a +pretty bay. + +Cap'n Bill and Trot came often to this tree to sit and watch the +ocean below them. The sailor man had one "meat leg" and one "hickory +leg," and he often said the wooden one was the best of the two. Once +Cap'n Bill had commanded and owned the "Anemone," a trading schooner +that plied along the coast; and in those days Charlie Griffiths, who +was Trot's father, had been the Captain's mate. But ever since Cap'n +Bill's accident, when he lost his leg, Charlie Griffiths had been +the captain of the little schooner while his old master lived +peacefully ashore with the Griffiths family. + +This was about the time Trot was born, and the old sailor became +very fond of the baby girl. Her real name was Mayre, but when she +grew big enough to walk, she took so many busy little steps every +day that both her mother and Cap'n Bill nicknamed her "Trot," and so +she was thereafter mostly called. + +It was the old sailor who taught the child to love the sea, to love +it almost as much as he and her father did, and these two, who +represented the "beginning and the end of life," became firm friends +and constant companions. + +"Why hasn't anybody seen a mermaid and lived?" asked Trot again. + +"'Cause mermaids is fairies, an' ain't meant to be seen by us mortal +folk," replied Cap'n Bill. + +"But if anyone happens to see 'em, what then, Cap'n?" + +"Then," he answered, slowly wagging his head, "the mermaids give 'em +a smile an' a wink, an' they dive into the water an' gets drownded." + +"S'pose they knew how to swim, Cap'n Bill?" + +"That don't make any diff'rence, Trot. The mermaids live deep down, +an' the poor mortals never come up again." + +The little girl was thoughtful for a moment. "But why do folks dive +in the water when the mermaids smile an' wink?" she asked. + +"Mermaids," he said gravely, "is the most beautiful creatures in the +world--or the water, either. You know what they're like, Trot, +they's got a lovely lady's form down to the waist, an' then the +other half of 'em's a fish, with green an' purple an' pink scales +all down it." + +"Have they got arms, Cap'n Bill?" + +"'Course, Trot; arms like any other lady. An' pretty faces that +smile an' look mighty sweet an' fetchin'. Their hair is long an' +soft an' silky, an' floats all around 'em in the water. When they +comes up atop the waves, they wring the water out'n their hair and +sing songs that go right to your heart. If anybody is unlucky enough +to be 'round jes' then, the beauty o' them mermaids an' their sweet +songs charm 'em like magic; so's they plunge into the waves to get +to the mermaids. But the mermaids haven't any hearts, Trot, no +more'n a fish has; so they laughs when the poor people drown an' +don't care a fig. That's why I says, an' I says it true, that nobody +never sawr a mermaid an' lived to tell the tale." + +"Nobody?" asked Trot. + +"Nobody a tall." + +"Then how do you know, Cap'n Bill?" asked the little girl, looking +up into his face with big, round eyes. + +Cap'n Bill coughed. Then he tried to sneeze, to gain time. Then he +took out his red cotton handkerchief and wiped his bald head with +it, rubbing hard so as to make him think clearer. "Look, Trot; ain't +that a brig out there?" he inquired, pointing to a sail far out in +the sea. + +"How does anybody know about mermaids if those who have seen them +never lived to tell about them?" she asked again. + +"Know what about 'em, Trot?" + +"About their green and pink scales and pretty songs and wet hair." + +"They don't know, I guess. But mermaids jes' natcherly has to be +like that, or they wouldn't be mermaids." + +She thought this over. "Somebody MUST have lived, Cap'n Bill," she +declared positively. "Other fairies have been seen by mortals; why +not mermaids?" + +"P'raps they have, Trot, p'raps they have," he answered musingly. +"I'm tellin' you as it was told to me, but I never stopped to +inquire into the matter so close before. Seems like folks wouldn't +know so much about mermaids if they hadn't seen 'em; an' yet +accordin' to all accounts the victim is bound to get drownded." + +"P'raps," suggested Trot softly, "someone found a fotygraph of one +of 'em." + +"That might o' been, Trot, that might o' been," answered Cap'n Bill. + +A nice man was Cap'n Bill, and Trot knew he always liked to explain +everything so she could fully understand it. The aged sailor was not +a very tall man, and some people might have called him chubby, or +even fat. He wore a blue sailor shirt with white anchors worked on +the corners of the broad, square collar, and his blue trousers were +very wide at the bottom. He always wore one trouser leg over his +wooden limb and sometimes it would flutter in the wind like a flag +because it was so wide and the wooden leg so slender. His rough +kersey coat was a pea-jacket and came down to his waistline. In the +big pockets of his jacket he kept a wonderful jackknife, and his +pipe and tobacco, and many bits of string, and matches and keys and +lots of other things. Whenever Cap'n Bill thrust a chubby hand into +one of his pockets, Trot watched him with breathless interest, for +she never knew what he was going to pull out. + +The old sailor's face was brown as a berry. He had a fringe of hair +around the back of his head and a fringe of whisker around the edge +of his face, running from ear to ear and underneath his chin. His +eyes were light blue and kind in expression. His nose was big and +broad, and his few teeth were not strong enough to crack nuts with. + +Trot liked Cap'n Bill and had a great deal of confidence in his +wisdom, and a great admiration for his ability to make tops and +whistles and toys with that marvelous jackknife of his. In the +village were many boys and girls of her own age, but she never had +as much fun playing with them as she had wandering by the sea +accompanied by the old sailor and listening to his fascinating +stories. + +She knew all about the Flying Dutchman, and Davy Jones' Locker, and +Captain Kidd, and how to harpoon a whale or dodge an iceberg or +lasso a seal. Cap'n Bill had been everywhere in the world, almost, +on his many voyages. He had been wrecked on desert islands like +Robinson Crusoe and been attacked by cannibals, and had a host of +other exciting adventures. So he was a delightful comrade for the +little girl, and whatever Cap'n Bill knew Trot was sure to know in +time. + +"How do the mermaids live?" she asked. "Are they in caves, or just +in the water like fishes, or how?" + +"Can't say, Trot," he replied. "I've asked divers about that, but +none of 'em ever run acrost a mermaid's nest yet, as I've heard of." + +"If they're fairies," she said, "their homes must be very pretty." + +"Mebbe so, Trot, but damp. They are sure to be damp, you know." + +"I'd like to see a mermaid, Cap'n Bill," said the child earnestly. + +"What, an' git drownded?" he exclaimed. + +"No, and live to tell the tale. If they're beautiful, and laughing, +and sweet, there can't be much harm in them, I'm sure." + +"Mermaids is mermaids," remarked Cap'n Bill in his most solemn +voice. "It wouldn't do us any good to mix up with 'em, Trot." + +"May-re! May-re!" called a voice from the house. + +"Yes, Mamma!" + +"You an' Cap'n Bill come in to supper." + + + + + + +THE MERMAIDS + +CHAPTER 2 + + + + + +The next morning, as soon as Trot had helped wipe the breakfast +dishes and put them away in the cupboard, the little girl and Cap'n +Bill started out toward the bluff. The air was soft and warm and the +sun turned the edges of the waves into sparkling diamonds. Across +the bay the last of the fisherboats was speeding away out to sea, +for well the fishermen knew this was an ideal day to catch rockbass, +barracuda and yellowtail. + +The old man and the young girl stood on the bluff and watched all +this with interest. Here was their world. "It isn't a bit rough this +morning. Let's have a boat ride, Cap'n Bill," said the child. + +"Suits me to a T," declared the sailor. So they found the winding +path that led down the face of the cliff to the narrow beach below +and cautiously began the descent. Trot never minded the steep path +or the loose rocks at all, but Cap'n Bill's wooden leg was not so +useful on a downgrade as on a level, and he had to be careful not to +slip and take a tumble. + +But by and by they reached the sands and walked to a spot just +beneath the big acacia tree that grew on the bluff. Halfway to the +top of the cliff hung suspended a little shed-like structure that +sheltered Trot's rowboat, for it was necessary to pull the boat out +of reach of the waves which beat in fury against the rocks at high +tide. About as high up as Cap'n Bill could reach was an iron ring +securely fastened to the cliff, and to this ring was tied a rope. +The old sailor unfastened the knot and began paying out the rope, +and the rowboat came out of its shed and glided slowly downward to +the beach. It hung on a pair of davits and was lowered just as a +boat is lowered from a ship's side. When it reached the sands, the +sailor unhooked the ropes and pushed the boat to the water's edge. +It was a pretty little craft, light and strong, and Cap'n Bill knew +how to sail it or row it, as Trot might desire. + +Today they decided to row, so the girl climbed into the bow and her +companion stuck his wooden leg into the water's edge "so he wouldn't +get his foot wet" and pushed off the little boat as he climbed +aboard. Then he seized the oars and began gently paddling. + +"Whither away, Commodore Trot?" he asked gaily. + +"I don't care, Cap'n. It's just fun enough to be on the water," she +answered, trailing one hand overboard. So he rowed around by the +North Promontory, where the great caves were, and much as they were +enjoying the ride, they soon began to feel the heat of the sun. + +"That's Dead Man's Cave, 'cause a skellington was found there," +observed the child as they passed a dark, yawning mouth in the +cliff. "And that's Bumble Cave, 'cause the bumblebees make nests in +the top of it. And here's Smuggler's Cave, 'cause the smugglers used +to hide things in it." + +She knew all the caves well, and so did Cap'n Bill. Many of them +opened just at the water's edge, and it was possible to row their +boat far into their dusky depths. + +"And here's Echo Cave," she continued, dreamily, as they slowly +moved along the coast, "and Giant's Cave, and--oh, Cap'n Bill! Do +you s'pose there were ever any giants in that cave?" + +"'Pears like there must o' been, Trot, or they wouldn't o' named it +that name," he replied, pausing to wipe his bald head with the red +handkerchief while the oars dragged in the water. + +"We've never been into that cave, Cap'n," she remarked, looking at +the small hole in the cliff--an archway through which the water +flowed. "Let's go in now." + +"What for, Trot?" + +"To see if there's a giant there." + +"Hm. Aren't you 'fraid?" + +"No, are you? I just don't b'lieve it's big enough for a giant to +get into." + +"Your father was in there once," remarked Cap'n Bill, "an' he says +it's the biggest cave on the coast, but low down. It's full o' +water, an' the water's deep down to the very bottom o' the ocean; +but the rock roof's liable to bump your head at high tide ." + +"It's low tide now," returned Trot. "And how could any giant live in +there if the roof is so low down?" + +"Why, he couldn't, mate. I reckon they must have called it Giant's +Cave 'cause it's so big, an' not 'cause any giant man lived there." + +"Let's go in," said the girl again. "I'd like to 'splore it." + +"All right," replied the sailor. "It'll be cooler in there than out +here in the sun. We won't go very far, for when the tide turns we +mightn't get out again." He picked up the oars and rowed slowly +toward the cave. The black archway that marked its entrance seemed +hardly big enough to admit the boat at first, but as they drew +nearer, the opening became bigger. The sea was very calm here, for +the headland shielded it from the breeze. + +"Look out fer your head, Trot!" cautioned Cap'n Bill as the boat +glided slowly into the rocky arch. But it was the sailor who had to +duck, instead of the little girl. Only for a moment, though. Just +beyond the opening the cave was higher, and as the boat floated into +the dim interior they found themselves on quite an extensive branch +of the sea. For a time neither of them spoke and only the soft +lapping of the water against the sides of the boat was heard. A +beautiful sight met the eyes of the two adventurers and held them +dumb with wonder and delight. + +It was not dark in this vast cave, yet the light seemed to come from +underneath the water, which all around them glowed with an exquisite +sapphire color. Where the little waves crept up the sides of the +rocks they shone like brilliant jewels, and every drop of spray +seemed a gem fit to deck a queen. Trot leaned her chin on her hands +and her elbows on her lap and gazed at this charming sight with real +enjoyment. Cap'n Bill drew in the oars and let the boat drift where +it would while he also sat silently admiring the scene. + +Slowly the little craft crept farther and farther into the dim +interior of the vast cavern, while its two passengers feasted their +eyes on the beauties constantly revealed. Both the old seaman and +the little girl loved the ocean in all its various moods. To them it +was a constant companion and a genial comrade. If it stormed and +raved, they laughed with glee; if it rolled great breakers against +the shore, they clapped their hands joyfully; if it lay slumbering +at their feet, they petted and caressed it, but always they loved +it. + +Here was the ocean yet. It had crept under the dome of overhanging +rock to reveal itself crowned with sapphires and dressed in azure +gown, revealing in this guise new and unexpected charms. "Good +morning, Mayre," said a sweet voice. + +Trot gave a start and looked around her in wonder. Just beside her +in the water were little eddies--circles within circles--such as are +caused when anything sinks below the surface. "Did--did you hear +that, Cap'n Bill?" she whispered solemnly. + +Cap'n Bill did not answer. He was staring with eyes that fairly +bulged out at a place behind Trot's back, and he shook a little, as +if trembling from cold. Trot turned half around, and then she +stared, too. Rising from the blue water was a fair face around which +floated a mass of long, blonde hair. It was a sweet, girlish face +with eyes of the same deep blue as the water and red lips whose +dainty smile disposed two rows of pearly teeth. The cheeks were +plump and rosy, the brows gracefully penciled, while the chin was +rounded and had a pretty dimple in it. + +"The most beauti-ful-est in all the world," murmured Cap'n Bill in a +voice of horror, "an' no one has ever lived to--to tell the tale!" + +There was a peal of merry laughter at this, laughter that rippled +and echoed throughout the cavern. Just at Trot's side appeared a new +face even fairer than the other, with a wealth of brown hair +wreathing the lovely features. And the eyes smiled kindly into those +of the child. "Are you a--a mermaid?" asked Trot curiously. She was +not a bit afraid. They seemed both gentle and friendly. + +"Yes, dear," was the soft answer. + +"We are all mermaids!" chimed a laughing chorus, and here and there, +all about the boat, appeared pretty faces lying just upon the +surface of the water. + +"Are you part fishes?" asked Trot, greatly pleased by this wonderful +sight. + +"No, we are all mermaid," replied the one with the brown hair. "The +fishes are partly like us, because they live in the sea and must +move about. And you are partly like us, Mayre dear, but have awkward +stiff legs so you may walk on the land. But the mermaids lived +before fishes and before mankind, so both have borrowed something +from us." + +"Then you must be fairies if you've lived always," remarked Trot, +nodding wisely. + +"We are, dear. We are the water fairies," answered the one with the +blonde hair, coming nearer and rising till her slender white throat +showed plainly. + +"We--we're goners, Trot!" sighed Cap'n Bill with a white, woebegone +face. + +"I guess not, Cap'n," she answered calmly. "These pretty mermaids +aren't going to hurt us, I'm sure." + +"No indeed," said the first one who had spoken. "If we were wicked +enough to wish to harm you, our magic could reach you as easily upon +the land as in this cave. But we love little girls dearly and wish +only to please them and make their lives more happy." + +"I believe that!" cried Trot earnestly. + +Cap'n Bill groaned. + +"Guess why we have appeared to you," said another mermaid, coming to +the side of the boat. + +"Why?" asked the child. + +"We heard you say yesterday you would like to see a mermaid, and so +we decided to grant your wish." + +"That was real nice of you," said Trot gratefully. + +"Also, we heard all the foolish things Cap'n Bill said about us," +remarked the brown-haired one smilingly, "and we wanted to prove to +him that they were wrong." + +"I on'y said what I've heard," protested Cap'n Bill. "Never havin' +seen a mermaid afore, I couldn't be ackerate, an' I never expected +to see one an' live to tell the tale." + +Again the cave rang with merry laughter, and as it died away, Trot +said, "May I see your scales, please? And are they green and purple +and pink like Cap'n Bill said?" They seemed undecided what to say to +this and swam a little way off, where the beautiful heads formed a +group that was delightful to see. Perhaps they talked together, for +the brown-haired mermaid soon came back to the side of the boat and +asked, "Would you like to visit our kingdom and see all the wonders +that exist below the sea?" + +"I'd like to," replied Trot promptly, "but I couldn't. I'd get +drowned." + +"That you would, mate!" cried Cap'n Bill. + +"Oh no," said the mermaid. "We would make you both like one of +ourselves, and then you could live within the water as easily as we +do." + +"I don't know as I'd like that," said the child, "at least for +always." + +"You need not stay with us a moment longer than you please," +returned the mermaid, smiling as if amused at the remark. "Whenever +you are ready to return home, we promise to bring you to this place +again and restore to you the same forms you are now wearing." + +"Would I have a fish's tail?" asked Trot earnestly. + +"You would have a mermaid's tail," was the reply. + +"What color would my scales be--pink, or purple?" + +"You may choose the color yourself." + +"Look ahere, Trot!" said Cap'n Bill in excitement. "You ain't +thinkin' o' doin' such a fool thing, are you?" + +"'Course I am," declared the little girl. "We don't get such +inv'tations every day, Cap'n, and if I don't go now I may never find +out how the mermaids live." + +"I don't care how they live, myself," said Cap'n Bill. "I jes' want +'em to let ME live." + +"There's no danger," insisted Trot. + +"I do' know 'bout that. That's what all the other folks said when +they dove after the mermaids an' got drownded." + +"Who?" asked the girl. + +"I don't know who, but I've heard tell--" + +"You've heard that no one ever saw a mermaid and lived," said Trot. + +"To tell the tale," he added, nodding. "An' if we dives down like +they says, we won't live ourselves." + +All the mermaids laughed at this, and the brown-haired one said, +"Well, if you are afraid, don't come. You may row your boat out of +this cave and never see us again, if you like. We merely thought it +would please little Mayre, and were willing to show her the sights +of our beautiful home." + +"I'd like to see 'em, all right," said Trot, her eyes glistening +with pleasure. + +"So would I," admitted Cap'n Bill, "if we would live to tell the +tale." + +"Don't you believe us?" asked the mermaid, fixing her lovely eyes on +those of the old sailor and smiling prettily. "Are you afraid to +trust us to bring you safely back?" + +"N-n-no," said Cap'n Bill, "'tain't that. I've got to look after +Trot." + +"Then you'll have to come with me," said Trot decidedly, "for I'm +going to 'cept this inv'tation. If you don't care to come, Cap'n +Bill, you go home and tell mother I'm visitin' the mermaids." + +"She'd scold me inter shivers!" moaned Cap'n Bill with a shudder. "I +guess I'd ruther take my chance down below." + +"All right, I'm ready, Miss Mermaid," said Trot. "What shall I do? +Jump in, clothes and all?" + +"Give me your hand, dear," answered the mermaid, lifting a lovely +white arm from the water. Trot took the slender hand and found it +warm and soft and not a bit "fishy." + +"My name is Clia," continued the mermaid, "and I am a princess in +our deep-sea kingdom." + +Just then Trot gave a flop and flopped right out of the boat into +the water. Cap'n Bill caught a gleam of pink scales as his little +friend went overboard, and the next moment there was Trot's face in +the water among those of the mermaids. She was laughing with glee as +she looked up into Cap'n Bill's face and called, "Come on in, Cap'n! +It didn't hurt a bit!" + + + + + + +THE DEPTHS OF THE DEEP BLUE SEA + +CHAPTER 3 + + + + + +Cap'n Bill stood up in the boat as if undecided what to do. Never a +sailor man was more bewildered than this old fellow by the +strangeness of the adventure he had encountered. At first he could +hardly believe it was all true and that he was not dreaming; but +there was Trot in the water, laughing with the mermaids and floating +comfortably about, and he couldn't leave his dear little companion +to make the trip to the depths of the ocean alone. + +"Take my hand, please, Cap'n Bill," said Princess Clia, reaching her +dainty arm toward him; and suddenly the old man took courage and +clasped the soft fingers in his own. He had to lean over the boat to +do this, and then there came a queer lightness to his legs and he +had a great longing to be in the water. So he gave a flop and +flopped in beside Trot, where he found himself comfortable enough, +but somewhat frightened. + +"Law sakes!" he gasped. "Here's me in the water with my rheumatics! +I'll be that stiff termorrer I can't wiggle." + +"You're wigglin' all right now," observed Trot. "That's a fine tail +you've got, Cap'n, an' its green scales is jus' beautiful." + +"Are they green, eh?" he asked, twisting around to try to see them. + +"Green as em'ralds, Cap'n. How do they feel?" + +"Feel, Trot, feel? Why, this tail beats that ol' wooden leg all +holler! I kin do stunts now that I couldn't o' done in a thousand +years with ol' peg." + +"And don't be afraid of the rheumatism," advised the Princess. "No +mermaid ever catches cold or suffers pain in the water." + +"Is Cap'n Bill a mermaid now?" asked Trot. + +"Why, he's a merMAN, I suppose," laughed the pretty princess. "But +when he gets home, he will be just Cap'n Bill again." + +"Wooden leg an' all?" inquired the child. + +"To be sure, my dear." + +The sailor was now trying his newly discovered power of swimming, +and became astonished at the feats he could accomplish. He could +dart this way and that with wonderful speed, and turn and dive, and +caper about in the water far better than he had ever been able to do +on land--even before he got the wooden leg. And a curious thing +about this present experience was that the water did not cling to +him and wet him as it had always done before. He still wore his +flannel shirt and pea jacket and his sailor cap; but although he was +in the water and had been underneath the surface, the cloth still +seemed dry and warm. As he dived down and came up again, the drops +flashed from his head and the fringe of beard, but he never needed +to wipe his face or eyes at all. + +Trot, too, was having queer experiences and enjoying them. When she +ducked under water, she saw plainly everything about her as easily +and distinctly as she had ever seen anything above water. And by +looking over her shoulder she could watch the motion of her new +tail, all covered with pretty iridescent pink scales, which gleamed +like jewels. She wore her dress the same as before, and the water +failed to affect it in the least. + +She now noticed that the mermaids were clothed, too, and their +exquisite gowns were the loveliest thing the little girl had ever +beheld. They seemed made of a material that was like sheeny silk, +cut low in the neck and with wide, flowing sleeves that seldom +covered the shapely, white arms of her new friends. The gowns had +trains that floated far behind the mermaids as they swam, but were +so fleecy and transparent that the sparkle of their scales might be +seen reaching back of their waists, where the human form ended and +the fish part began. The sea fairies wore strings of splendid pearls +twined around their throats, while more pearls were sewn upon their +gowns for trimmings. They did not dress their beautiful hair at all, +but let it float around them in clouds. + +The little girl had scarcely time to observe all this when the +princess said, "Now, my dear, if you are ready, we will begin our +journey, for it is a long way to our palaces." + +"All right," answered Trot, and took the hand extended to her with a +trustful smile. + +"Will you allow me to guide you, Cap'n Bill?" asked the blonde +mermaid, extending her hand to the old sailor. + +"Of course, ma'am," he said, taking her fingers rather bashfully. + +"My name is Merla," she continued, "and I am cousin to Princess +Clia. We must all keep together, you know, and I will hold your hand +to prevent your missing the way." + +While she spoke they began to descend through the water, and it grew +quite dark for a time because the cave shut out the light. But +presently Trot, who was eagerly looking around her, began to notice +the water lighten and saw they were coming into brighter parts of +the sea. "We have left the cave now," said Clia, "and may swim +straight home." + +"I s'pose there are no winding roads in the ocean," remarked the +child, swimming swiftly beside her new friend. + +"Oh yes indeed. At the bottom, the way is far from being straight or +level," replied Clia. "But we are in mid-water now, where nothing +will hinder our journey, unless--" + +She seemed to hesitate, so Trot asked, "Unless what?" + +"Unless we meet with disagreeable creatures," said the Princess. +"The mid-water is not as safe as the very bottom, and that is the +reason we are holding your hands." + +"What good would that do?" asked Trot. + +"You must remember that we are fairies," said Princess Clia. "For +that reason, nothing in the ocean can injure us, but you two are +mortals and therefore not entirely safe at all times unless we +protect you." + +Trot was thoughtful for a few moments and looked around her a little +anxiously. Now and then a dark form would shoot across their pathway +or pass them at some distance, but none was near enough for the girl +to see plainly what it might be. Suddenly they swam right into a big +school of fishes, all yellowtails and of very large size. There must +have been hundreds of them lying lazily in the water, and when they +saw the mermaids they merely wriggled to one side and opened a path +for the sea fairies to pass through. "Will they hurt us?" asked +Trot. + +"No indeed," laughed the Princess. "Fishes are stupid creatures +mostly, and this family is quite harmless." + +"How about sharks?" asked Cap'n Bill, who was swimming gracefully +beside them, his hand clutched in that of pretty Merla. + +"Sharks may indeed be dangerous to you," replied Clia, "so I advise +you to keep them at a safe distance. They never dare attempt to bite +a mermaid, and it may be they will think you belong to our band; but +it is well to avoid them if possible." + +"Don't get careless, Cap'n," added Trot. + +"I surely won't, mate," he replied. "You see, I didn't use to be +'fraid o' sharks 'cause if they came near I'd stick my wooden leg at +'em. But now, if they happens to fancy these green scales, it's all +up with ol' Bill." + +"Never fear," said Merla, "I'll take care of you on our journey, and +in our palaces you will find no sharks at all." + +"Can't they get in?" he asked anxiously. + +"No. The palaces of the mermaids are inhabited only by themselves." + +"Is there anything else to be afraid of in the sea?" asked the +little girl after they had swum quite a while in silence. + +"One or two things, my dear," answered Princess Clia. "Of course, we +mermaids have great powers, being fairies; yet among the sea people +is one nearly as powerful as we are, and that is the devilfish." + +"I know," said Trot. "I've seen 'em." + +"You have seen the smaller ones, I suppose, which sometimes rise to +the surface or go near the shore, and are often caught by +fishermen," said Clia, "but they are only second cousins of the +terrible deep-sea devilfish to which I refer." + +"Those ones are bad enough, though," declared Cap'n Bill. "If you +know any worse ones, I don't want a interduction to 'em." + +"The monster devilfish inhabit caves in the rugged, mountainous +regions of the ocean," resumed the Princess, "and they are evil +spirits who delight in injuring all who meet them. None lives near +our palaces, so there is little danger of your meeting any while you +are our guests." + +"I hope we won't," said Trot. + +"None for me," added Cap'n Bill. "Devils of any sort ought to be +give a wide berth, an' devilfish is worser ner sea serpents." + +"Oh, do you know the sea serpents?" asked Merla as if surprised. + +"Not much I don't," answered the sailor, "but I've heard tell of +folks as has seen 'em." + +"Did they ever live to tell the tale?" asked Trot. + +"Sometimes," he replied. "They're jes' ORful creatures, mate." + +"How easy it is to be mistaken," said Princess Clia softly. "We know +the sea serpents very well, and we like them." + +"You do!" exclaimed Trot. + +"Yes, dear. There are only three of them in all the world, and not +only are they harmless, but quite bashful and shy. They are +kind-hearted, too, and although not beautiful in appearance, they do +many kind deeds and are generally beloved." + +"Where do they live?" asked the child. + +"The oldest one, who is king of this ocean, lives quite near us," +said Clia. "His name is Anko." + +"How old is he?" inquired Cap'n Bill curiously. + +"No one knows. He was here before the ocean came, and he stayed here +because he learned to like the water better than the land as a +habitation. Perhaps King Anko is ten thousand years old, perhaps +twenty thousand. We often lose track of the centuries down here in +the sea." + +"That's pretty old, isn't it?" said Trot. "Older than Cap'n Bill, I +guess." + +"Summat," chuckled the sailor man, "summat older, mate, but not +much. P'raps the sea serpent ain't got gray whiskers." + +"Oh yes he has," responded Merla with a laugh. "And so have his two +brothers, Unko and Inko. They each have an ocean of their own, you +know; and once every hundred years they come here to visit their +brother Anko. So we've seen all three many times." + +"Why, how old are mermaids, then?" asked Trot, looking around at the +beautiful creatures wonderingly. + +"We are like all ladies of uncertain age," rejoined the Princess +with a smile. "We don't care to tell." + +"Older than Cap'n Bill?" + +"Yes, dear," said Clia. + +"But we haven't any gray whiskers," added Merla merrily, "and our +hearts are ever young." + +Trot was thoughtful. It made her feel solemn to be in the company of +such old people. The band of mermaids seemed to all appearances +young and fresh and not a bit as if they'd been soaked in water for +hundreds of years. The girl began to take more notice of the sea +maidens following after her. More than a dozen were in the group; +all were lovely in appearance and clothed in the same gauzy robes as +Merla and the Princess. These attendants did not join in the +conversation but darted here and there in sportive play, and often +Trot heard the tinkling chorus of their laughter. Whatever doubts +might have arisen in the child's mind through the ignorant tales of +her sailor friend, she now found the mermaids to be light-hearted, +joyous and gay, and from the first she had not been in the least +afraid of her new companions. + +"How much farther do we have to go?" asked Cap'n Bill presently. + +"Are you getting tired?" Merla inquired. + +"No," said he, "but I'm sorter anxious to see what your palaces look +like. Inside the water ain't as interestin' as the top of it. It's +fine swimmin', I'll agree, an' I like it, but there ain't nuthin' +special to see that I can make out." + +"That is true, sir," replied the Princess. "We have purposely led +you through the mid-water hoping you would see nothing to alarm you +until you get more accustomed to our ocean life. Moreover, we are +able to travel more swiftly here. How far do you think we have +already come, Cap'n?" + +"Oh, 'bout two mile," he answered. + +"Well, we are now hundreds of miles from the cave where we started," +she told him. + +"You don't mean it!" he exclaimed in wonder. + +"Then there's magic in it," announced Trot soberly. + +"True, my dear. To avoid tiring you and to save time, we have used a +little of our fairy power," said Clia. "The result is that we are +nearing our home. Let us go downward a bit, now, for you must know +that the mermaid palaces are at the very bottom of the ocean, and in +its deepest part." + + + + + + +THE PALACE OF QUEEN AQUAREINE + +CHAPTER 4 + + + + + +Trot was surprised to find it was not at all dark or gloomy as they +descended farther into the deep sea. Things were not quite so clear +to her eyes as they had been in the bright sunshine above the +ocean's surface, but every object was distinct nevertheless, as if +she saw through a pane of green-tainted glass. The water was very +clear except for this green shading, and the little girl had never +before felt so light and buoyant as she did now. It was no effort at +all to dart through the water, which seemed to support her on all +sides. + +"I don't believe I weigh anything at all," she said to Cap'n Bill. + +"No more do I, Trot," said he. "But that's nat'ral, seein' as we're +under water so far. What bothers me most is how we manage to +breathe, havin' no gills like fishes have." + +"Are you sure we haven't any gills?" she asked, lifting her free +hand to feel her throat. + +"Sure. Ner the mermaids haven't any, either," declared Cap'n Bill. + +"Then," said Trot, "we're breathing by magic." + +The mermaids laughed at this shrewd remark, and the Princess said, +"You have guessed correctly, my dear. Go a little slower, now, for +the palaces are in sight." + +"Where?" asked Trot eagerly. + +"Just before you." + +"In that grove of trees?" inquired the girl. And really, it seemed +to her that they were approaching a beautiful grove. The bottom of +the sea was covered with white sand, in which grew many varieties of +sea shrubs with branches like those of trees. Not all of them were +green, however, for the branches and leaves were of a variety of +gorgeous colors. Some were purple, shading down to a light lavender; +and there were reds all the way from a delicate rose-pink to vivid +shades of scarlet. Orange, yellow and blue shades were there, too, +mingling with the sea-greens in a most charming manner. Altogether, +Trot found the brilliant coloring somewhat bewildering. + +These sea shrubs, which in size were quite as big and tall as the +trees on earth, were set so close together that their branches +entwined; but there were several avenues leading into the groves, +and at the entrance to each avenue the girl noticed several large +fishes with long spikes growing upon their noses. + +"Those are swordfishes," remarked the Princess as she led the band +past one of these avenues. + +"Are they dang'rous?" asked Trot. + +"Not to us," was the reply. "The swordfishes are among our most +valued and faithful servants, guarding the entrances to the gardens +which surround our palaces. If any creatures try to enter uninvited, +these guards fight them and drive them away. Their swords are sharp +and strong, and they are fierce fighters, I assure you." + +"I've known 'em to attack ships, an' stick their swords right +through the wood," said Cap'n Bill. + +"Those belonged to the wandering tribes of swordfishes," explained +the Princess. "These, who are our servants, are too sensible and +intelligent to attack ships." + +The band now headed into a broad passage through the "gardens," as +the mermaids called these gorgeous groves, and the great swordfishes +guarding the entrance made way for them to pass, afterward resuming +their posts with watchful eyes. As they slowly swam along the +avenue, Trot noticed that some of the bushes seemed to have fruits +growing upon them, but what these fruits might be neither she nor +Cap'n Bill could guess. + +The way wound here and there for some distance, till finally they +came to a more open space all carpeted with sea flowers of exquisite +colorings. Although Trot did not know it, these flowers resembled +the rare orchids of earth in their fanciful shapes and marvelous +hues. The child did not examine them very closely, for across the +carpet of flowers loomed the magnificent and extensive palaces of +the mermaids. + +These palaces were built of coral; white, pink and yellow being +used, and the colors arranged in graceful designs. The front of the +main palace, which now faced them, had circular ends connecting the +straight wall, not unlike the architecture we are all familiar with; +yet there seemed to be no windows to the building, although a series +of archways served as doors. + +Arriving at one of the central archways, the band of sea maidens +separated. Princess Clia and Merla leading Trot and Cap'n Bill into +the palace, while the other mermaids swam swiftly away to their own +quarters. + +"Welcome!" said Clia in her sweet voice. "Here you are surrounded +only by friends and are in perfect safety. Please accept our +hospitality as freely as you desire, for we consider you honored +guests. I hope you will like our home," she added a little shyly. + +"We are sure to, dear Princess," Trot hastened to say. + +Then Clia escorted them through the archway and into a lofty hall. +It was not a mere grotto, but had smoothly built walls of pink coral +inlaid with white. Trot at first thought there was no roof, for +looking upward she could see the water all above them. But the +princess, reading her thought, said with a smile, "Yes, there is a +roof, or we would be unable to keep all the sea people out of our +palace. But the roof is made of glass to admit the light." + +"Glass!" cried the astonished child. "Then it must be an awful big +pane of glass." + +"It is," agreed Clia. "Our roofs are considered quite wonderful, and +we owe them to the fairy powers of our queen. Of course, you +understand there is no natural way to make glass under water." + +"No indeed," said Cap'n Bill. And then he asked, "Does your queen +live here?" + +"Yes. She is waiting now, in her throne room, to welcome you. Shall +we go in?" + +"I'd just as soon," replied Trot rather timidly, but she boldly +followed the princess, who glided through another arch into another +small room where several mermaids were reclining upon couches of +coral. They were beautifully dressed and wore many sparkling jewels. + +"Her Majesty is awaiting the strangers, Princess Clia," announced +one of these. "You are asked to enter at once." + +"Come, then," said Clia, and once more taking Trot's hand, she led +the girl through still another arch, while Merla followed just +behind them, escorting Cap'n Bill. They now entered an apartment so +gorgeous that the child fairly gasped with astonishment. The queen's +throne room was indeed the grandest and most beautiful chamber in +all the ocean palaces. Its coral walls were thickly inlaid with +mother-of-pearl, exquisitely shaded and made into borders and floral +decorations. In the corners were cabinets, upon the shelves of which +many curious shells were arranged, all beautifully polished. The +floor glittered with gems arranged in patterns of flowers, like a +brilliant carpet. + +Near the center of the room was a raised platform of mother-of-pearl +upon which stood a couch thickly studded with diamonds, rubies, +emeralds and pearls. Here reclined Queen Aquareine, a being so +lovely that Trot gazed upon her spellbound and Cap'n Bill took off +his sailor cap and held it in his hands. + +All about the room were grouped other mother-of-pearl couches, not +raised like that of the queen, and upon each of these reclined a +pretty mermaid. They could not sit down as we do, Trot readily +understood, because of their tails; but they rested very gracefully +upon the couches with their trailing gauzy robes arranged in fleecy +folds. + +When Clia and Merla escorted the strangers down the length of the +great room toward the royal throne, they met with pleasant looks and +smiles on every side, for the sea maidens were too polite to indulge +in curious stares. They paused just before the throne, and the queen +raised her head upon one elbow to observe them. "Welcome, Mayre," +she said, "and welcome, Cap'n Bill. I trust you are pleased with +your glimpse of the life beneath the surface of our sea." + +"I am," answered Trot, looking admiringly at the beautiful face of +the queen. + +"It's all mighty cur'ous an' strange-like," said the sailor slowly. +"I'd no idee you mermaids were like this, at all!" + +"Allow me to explain that it was to correct your wrong ideas about +us that led me to invite you to visit us," replied the Queen. "We +usually pay little heed to the earth people, for we are content in +our own dominions; but, of course, we know all that goes on upon +your earth. So when Princess Clia chanced to overhear your absurd +statements concerning us, we were greatly amused and decided to let +you see with your own eyes just what we are like." + +"I'm glad you did," answered Cap'n Bill, dropping his eyes in some +confusion as he remembered his former description of the mermaids. + +"Now that you are here," continued the Queen in a cordial, friendly +tone, "you may as well remain with us a few days and see the +wonderful sights of our ocean." + +"I'm much obliged to you, ma'am," said Trot, "and I'd like to stay +ever so much, but mother worries jus' dreadfully if we don't get +home in time." + +"I'll arrange all that," said Aquareine with a smile. + +"How?" asked the girl. + +"I will make your mother forget the passage of time so she will not +realize how long you are away. Then she cannot worry." + +"Can you do that?" inquired Trot. + +"Very easily. I will send your mother into a deep sleep that will +last until you are ready to return home. Just at present she is +seated in her chair by the front window, engaged in knitting." The +queen paused to raise an arm and wave it slowly to and fro. Then she +added, "Now your good mother is asleep, little Mayre, and instead of +worries I promise her pleasant dreams." + +"Won't someone rob the house while she's asleep?" asked the child +anxiously. + +"No, dear. My charm will protect the house from any intrusion." + +"That's fine!" exclaimed Trot in delight. + +"It's jes' won-erful!" said Cap'n Bill. "I wish I knew it was so. +Trot's mother has a awful sharp tongue when she's worried." + +"You may see for yourselves," declared the Queen, and waved her hand +again. At once they saw before them the room in the cottage, with +Mayre's mother asleep by the window. Her knitting was in her lap, +and the cat lay curled up beside her chair. It was all so natural +that Trot thought she could hear the clock over the fireplace tick. +After a moment the scene faded away, when the queen asked with +another smile, "Are you satisfied?" + +"Oh yes!" cried Trot. "But how could you do it?" + +"It is a form of mirage," was the reply. "We are able to bring any +earth scene before us whenever we wish. Sometimes these scenes are +reflected above the water so that mortals also observe them." + +"I've seen 'em," said Cap'n Bill, nodding. "I've seen mirages, but I +never knowed what caused 'em afore now." + +"Whenever you see anything you do not understand and wish to ask +questions, I will be very glad to answer them," said the Queen. + +"One thing that bothers me," said Trot, "is why we don't get wet, +being in the ocean with water all around us." + +"That is because no water really touches you," explained the Queen. +"Your bodies have been made just like those of the mermaids in order +that you may fully enjoy your visit to us. One of our peculiar +qualities is that water is never permitted to quite touch our +bodies, or our gowns. Always there remains a very small space, +hardly a hair's breadth, between us and the water, which is the +reason we are always warm and dry." + +"I see," said Trot. "That's why you don't get soggy or withered." + +"Exactly," laughed the Queen, and the other mermaids joined in her +merriment. + +"I s'pose that's how we can breathe without gills," remarked Cap'n +Bill thoughtfully. + +"Yes. The air space is constantly replenished from the water, which +contains air, and this enables us to breathe as freely as you do +upon the earth." + +"But we have fins," said Trot, looking at the fin that stood upright +on Cap'n Bill's back. + +"Yes. They allow us to guide ourselves as we swim, and so are very +useful," replied the Queen. + +"They make us more finished," said Cap'n Bill with a chuckle. Then, +suddenly becoming grave, he added, "How about my rheumatics, ma'am? +Ain't I likely to get stiffened up with all this dampness?" + +"No indeed," Aquareine answered. "There is no such thing as +rheumatism in all our dominions. I promise no evil result shall +follow this visit to us, so please be as happy and contented as +possible." + + + + + + +THE SEA-SERPENT + +CHAPTER 5 + + + + + +Just then Trot happened to look up at the glass roof and saw a +startling sight. A big head with a face surrounded by stubby gray +whiskers was poised just over them, and the head was connected with +a long, curved body that looked much like a sewer pipe. + +"Oh, there is King Anko," said the Queen, following the child's +gaze. "Open a door and let him in, Clia, for I suppose our old +friend is anxious to see the earth people." + +"Won't he hurt us?" asked the little girl with a shiver of fear. + +"Who, Anko? Oh no, my dear! We are very fond of the sea serpent, who +is king of this ocean, although he does not rule the mermaids. Old +Anko is a very agreeable fellow, as you will soon discover." + +"Can he talk?" asked Trot. + +"Yes indeed." + +"And can we understand what he says?" + +"Perfectly," replied the Queen. "I have given you power, while you +remain here, to understand the language of every inhabitant of the +sea." + +"That's nice," said Trot gratefully. + +The Princess Clia swam slowly to one of the walls of the throne room +where, at a wave of her hand, a round hole appeared in the coral. +The sea serpent at once observed this opening and the head left the +roof of glass only to reappear presently at the round hole. Through +this he slowly crawled until his head was just beneath the throne of +Queen Aquareine, who said to him: + +"Good morning, your Majesty. I hope you are quite well?" + +"Quite well, thank your Majesty," answered Anko; and then he turned +to the strangers. "I suppose these are the earth folks you were +expecting?" + +"Yes," returned the Queen. "The girl is named Mayre and the man +Cap'n Bill." + +While the sea serpent looked at the visitors, they ventured to look +at him. He certainly was a queer creature, yet Trot decided he was +not at all frightful. His head was round as a ball, but his ears +were sharp-pointed and had tassels at the ends of them. His nose was +flat, and his mouth very wide indeed, but his eyes were blue and +gentle in expression. The white, stubby hairs that surrounded his +face were not thick like a beard, but scattered and scraggly. From +the head, the long, brown body of the sea serpent extended to the +hole in the coral wall, which was just big enough to admit it; and +how much more of the body remained outside the child could not tell. +On the back of the body were several fins, which made the creature +look more like an eel than a serpent. + +"The girl is young and the man is old," said King Anko in a soft +voice. "But I'm quite sure Cap'n Bill isn't as old as I am." + +"How old are you?" asked the sailor. + +"I can't say exactly. I can remember several thousands of years +back, but beyond that my memory fails me. How's your memory, Cap'n +Bill?" + +"You've got me beat," was the reply. "I'll give in that you're older +than I am." + +This seemed to please the sea serpent. "Are you well?" he asked. + +"Pretty fair," said Cap'n Bill. "How's yourself?" + +"Oh, I'm very well, thank you," answered Anko. "I never remember to +have had a pain but three times in my life. The last time was when +Julius Sneezer was on earth." + +"You mean Julius Caesar," said Trot, correcting him. + +"No, I mean Julius Sneezer," insisted the Sea Serpent. "That was his +real name--Sneezer. They called him Caesar sometimes just because he +took everything he could lay hands on. I ought to know, because I +saw him when he was alive. Did you see him when he was alive, Cap'n +Bill?" + +"I reckon not," admitted the sailor. + +"That time I had a toothache," continued Anko, "but I got a lobster +to pull the tooth with his claw, so the pain was soon over." + +"Did it hurt to pull it?" asked Trot. + +"Hurt!" exclaimed the Sea Serpent, groaning at the recollection. "My +dear, those creatures have been called lobsters ever since! The +second pain I had way back in the time of Nevercouldnever." + +"Oh, I s'pose you mean Nebuchadnezzar," said Trot. + +"Do you call him that now?" asked the Sea Serpent as if surprised. +"He used to be called Nevercouldnever when he was alive, but this +new way of spelling seems to get everything mixed up. Nebuchadnezzar +doesn't mean anything at all, it seems to me." + +"It means he ate grass," said the child. + +"Oh no, he didn't," declared the Sea Serpent. "He was the first to +discover that lettuce was good to eat, and he became very fond of +it. The people may have called it grass, but they were wrong. I +ought to know, because I was alive when Nevercouldnever lived. Were +you alive, then?" + +"No," said Trot. + +"The pain I had then," remarked Anko, "was caused by a kink in my +tail about three hundred feet from the end. There was an old octopus +who did not like me, and so he tied a knot in my tail when I wasn't +looking." + +"What did you do?" asked Cap'n Bill. + +"Well, first I transformed the octopus into a jellyfish, and then I +waited for the tide to turn. When my tail was untied, the pain +stopped." + +"I--I don't understand that," said Trot, somewhat bewildered. + +"Thank you, my dear," replied the Sea Serpent in a grateful voice. +"People who are always understood are very common. You are sure to +respect those you can't understand, for you feel that perhaps they +know more than you do." + +"About how long do you happen to be?" inquired Cap'n Bill. + +"When last measured, I was seven thousand four hundred and +eighty-two feet, five inches and a quarter. I'm not sure about the +quarter, but the rest is probably correct. Adam measured me when +Cain was a baby." + +"Where's the rest of you, then?" asked Trot. + +"Safe at home, I hope, and coiled up in my parlor," answered the Sea +Serpent. "When I go out, I usually take along only what is needed. +It saves a lot of bother and I can always find my way back in the +darkest night by just coiling up the part that has been away." + +"Do you like to be a sea serpent?" inquired the child. + +"Yes, for I'm King of my Ocean, and there is no other sea serpent to +imagine he is just as good as I am. I have two brothers who live in +other oceans, but one is seven inches shorter than I am, and the +other several feet shorter. It's curious to talk about feet when we +haven't any feet, isn't it?" + +"Seems so," acknowledged Trot. + +"I feel I have much to be proud of," continued Anko in a dreamy +tone. "My great age, my undisputed sway, and my exceptional length." + +"I don't b'lieve I'd care to live so long," remarked Cap'n Bill +thoughtfully. + +"So long as seven thousand four hundred and eighty-two feet, five +inches and a quarter?" asked the Sea Serpent. + +"No, I mean so many years," replied the sailor. + +"But what can one do if one happens to be a sea serpent?" Anko +inquired. "There is nothing in the sea that can hurt me, and I +cannot commit suicide because we have no carbolic acid or firearms +or gas to turn on. So it isn't a matter of choice, and I'd about as +soon be alive as dead. It does not seem quite so monotonous, you +know. But I guess I've stayed about long enough, so I'll go home to +dinner. Come and see me when you have time." + +"Thank you," said Trot, and Merla added, "I'll take you over to his +majesty's palace when we go out and let you see how he lives." + +"Yes, do," said Anko. And then he slowly slid out of the hole, which +immediately closed behind him, leaving the coral wall as solid as +before. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Trot. "King Anko forgot to tell us what his third +pain was about." + +"So he did," said Cap'n Bill. "We must ask him about that when we +see him. But I guess the ol' boy's mem'ry is failin', an' he can't +be depended on for pertic'lars." + + + + + + +EXPLORING THE OCEAN + +CHAPTER 6 + + + + + +The queen now requested her guests to recline upon couches that they +might rest themselves from their long swim and talk more at their +ease. So the girl and the sailor allowed themselves to float +downward until they rested their bodies on two of the couches +nearest the throne, which were willingly vacated for them by the +mermaids who occupied them until then. + +The visitors soon found themselves answering a great many questions +about their life on the earth, for although the queen had said she +kept track of what was going on on the land, there were many details +of human life in which all the mermaids seemed greatly interested. + +During the conversation several sea-maids came swimming into the +room bearing trays of sea apples and other fruit, which they first +offered to the queen, and then passed the refreshments around to the +company assembled. Trot and Cap'n Bill each took some, and the +little girl found the fruits delicious to eat, as they had a richer +flavor than any that grew upon land. Queen Aquareine was much +pleased when the old sailor asked for more, but Merla warned him +dinner would soon be served and he must take care not to spoil his +appetite for that meal. "Our dinner is at noon, for we have to cook +in the middle of the day when the sun is shining," she said. + +"Cook!" cried Trot. "Why, you can't build a fire in the water, can +you?" + +"We have no need of fires," was the reply. "The glass roof of our +kitchen is so curved that it concentrates the heat of the sun's +rays, which are then hot enough to cook anything we wish." + +"But how do you get along if the day is cloudy, and the sun doesn't +shine?" inquired the little girl. + +"Then we use the hot springs that bubble up in another part of the +palace," Merla answered. "But the sun is the best to cook by." So it +was no surprise to Trot when, about noon, dinner was announced and +all the mermaids, headed by their queen and their guests, swam into +another spacious room where a great, long table was laid. The dishes +were of polished gold and dainty-cut glass, and the cloth and +napkins of fine gossamer. Around the table were ranged rows of +couches for the mermaids to recline upon as they ate. Only the +nobility and favorites of Queen Aquareine were invited to partake of +this repast, for Clia explained that tables were set for the other +mermaids in different parts of the numerous palaces. + +Trot wondered who would serve the meal, but her curiosity was soon +satisfied when several large lobsters came sliding into the room +backward, bearing in their claws trays loaded with food. Each of +these lobsters had a golden band behind its neck to show it was the +slave of the mermaids. + +These curious waiters were fussy creatures, and Trot found much +amusement in watching their odd motions. They were so spry and +excitable that at times they ran against one another and upset the +platters of food, after which they began to scold and argue as to +whose fault it was, until one of the mermaids quietly rebuked them +and asked them to be more quiet and more careful. + +The queen's guests had no cause to complain of the dinner provided. +First the lobsters served bowls of turtle soup, which proved hot and +deliciously flavored. Then came salmon steaks fried in fish oil, +with a fungus bread that tasted much like field mushrooms. Oysters, +clams, soft-shell crabs and various preparations of seafoods +followed. The salad was a delicate leaf from some seaweed that Trot +thought was much nicer than lettuce. Several courses were served, +and the lobsters changed the plates with each course, chattering and +scolding as they worked, and as Trot said, "doing everything +backwards" in their nervous, fussy way. + +Many of the things offered them to eat were unknown to the visitors, +and the child was suspicious of some of them, but Cap'n Bill asked +no questions and ate everything offered him, so Trot decided to +follow his example. Certain it is they found the meal very +satisfying, and evidently there was no danger of their being hungry +while they remained the guests of the mermaids. When the fruits +came, Trot thought that must be the last course of the big dinner, +but following the fruits were ice creams frozen into the shape of +flowers. + +"How funny," said the child, "to be eating ice cream at the bottom +of the sea." + +"Why does that surprise you?" inquired the Queen. + +"I can't see where you get the ice to freeze it," Trot replied. + +"It is brought to us from the icebergs that float in the northern +parts of the ocean," explained Merla. + +"O' course, Trot. You orter thought o' that. I did," said Cap'n +Bill. + +The little girl was glad there was no more to eat, for she was +ashamed to feel she had eaten every morsel she could. Her only +excuse for being so greedy was that "ev'rything tasted just +splendid!" as she told the queen. + +"And now," said Aquareine, "I will send you out for a swim with +Merla, who will show you some of the curious sights of our sea. You +need not go far this afternoon, and when you return, we will have +another interesting talk together." So the blonde mermaid led Trot +and Cap'n Bill outside the palace walls, where they found themselves +in the pretty flower gardens. + +"I'd feel all right, mate, if I could have a smoke," remarked the +old sailor to the child, "but that's a thing as can't be did here in +the water." + +"Why not?" asked Merla, who overheard him. + +"A pipe has to be lighted, an' a match wouldn't burn," he replied. + +"Try it," suggested the mermaid. "I do not mind your smoking at all, +if it will give you pleasure." + +"It's a bad habit I've got, an' I'm too old to break myself of it," +said Cap'n Bill. Then he felt in the big pocket of his coat and took +out a pipe and a bag of tobacco. After he had carefully filled his +pipe, rejoicing in the fact that the tobacco was not at all wet, he +took out his matchbox and struck a light. The match burned brightly, +and soon the sailor was puffing the smoke from his pipe in great +contentment. The smoke ascended through the water in the shape of +bubbles, and Trot wondered what a nyone who happened to be floating +upon the surface of the ocean would think to see smoke coming from +the water. + +"Well, I find I can smoke, all right," remarked Cap'n Bill, "but it +bothers me to understand why." + +"It is because of the air space existing between the water and +everything you have about you," explained Merla. "But now, if you +will come this way, I will take you to visit some of our neighbors." +They passed over the carpet of sea flowers, the gorgeous blossoms +swaying on their stems as the motion of the people in the water +above them disturbed their repose, and presently the three entered +the dense shrubbery surrounding the palace. They had not proceeded +far when they came to a clearing among the bushes, and here Merla +paused. + +Trot and Cap'n Bill paused, too, for floating in the clear water was +a group of beautiful shapes that the child thought looked like molds +of wine jelly. They were round as a dinner plate, soft and +transparent, but tinted in such lovely hues that no artist's brush +has ever been able to imitate them. Some were deep sapphire blue; +others rose pink; still others a delicate topaz color. They seemed +to have neither heads, eyes nor ears, yet it was easy to see they +were alive and able to float in any direction they wished to go. In +shape they resembled inverted flowerpots, with the upper edges +fluted, and from the centers floated what seemed to be bouquets of +flowers. + +"How pretty!" exclaimed Trot, enraptured by the sight. + +"Yes, this is a rare variety of jellyfish," replied Merla. "The +creatures are not so delicate as they appear, and live for a long +time--unless they get too near the surface and the waves wash them +ashore." + +After watching the jellyfish a few moments, they followed Merla +through the grove, and soon a low chant, like that of an Indian +song, fell upon their ears. It was a chorus of many small voices and +grew louder as they swam on. Presently a big rock rose suddenly +before them from the bottom of the sea, rearing its steep side far +up into the water overhead, and this rock was thickly covered with +tiny shells that clung fast to its surface. The chorus they heard +appeared to come from these shells, and Merla said to her +companions, "These are the singing barnacles. They are really very +amusing, and if you listen carefully, you can hear what they say." + +So Trot and Cap'n Bill listened, and this is what the barnacles +sang: + +"We went to topsy-turvy land to see a man-o'-war, +And we were much attached to it, because we simply were; +We found an anchor-ite within the mud upon the lea +For the ghost of Jonah's whale he ran away and went to sea. +Oh, it was awful! +It was unlawful! +We rallied round the flag in sev'ral millions; +They couldn't shake us; +They had to take us; +So the halibut and cod they danced cotillions." + +"What does it all mean?" asked Trot. + +"I suppose they refer to the way barnacles have of clinging to +ships," replied Merla, "but usually the songs mean nothing at all. +The little barnacles haven't many brains, so we usually find their +songs quite stupid." + +"Do they write some comic operas?" asked the child. + +"I think not," answered the mermaid. + +"They seem to like the songs themselves," remarked Cap'n Bill. + +"Oh yes, they sing all day long. But it never matters to them +whether their songs mean anything or not. Let us go in this +direction and visit some other sea people." + +So they swam away from the barnacle-covered rock, and Trot heard the +last chorus as she slowly followed their conductor. The barnacles +were singing: + +"Oh, very well, then, I hear the curfew, +Please go away and come some other day; +Goliath tussels +With Samson's muscles, +Yet the muscles never fight in Oyster Bay." + +"It's jus' nonsense!" said Trot scornfully. "Why don't they sing +'Annie Laurie' or 'Home, Sweet Home' or else keep quiet?" + +"Why, if they were quiet," replied Merla, "they wouldn't be singing +barnacles." + +They now came to one of the avenues which led from the sea garden +out into the broad ocean, and here two swordfishes were standing +guard. "Is all quiet?" Merla asked them. + +"Just as usual, your Highness," replied one of the guards. +"Mummercubble was sick this morning and grunted dreadfully, but he's +better now and has gone to sleep. King Anko has been stirring around +some, but is now taking his after-dinner nap. I think it will be +perfectly safe for you to swim out for a while, if you wish." + +"Who's Mummercubble?" asked Trot as they passed out into deep water. + +"He's the sea pig," replied Merla. "I am glad he's asleep, for now +we won't meet him." + +"Don't you like him?" inquired Trot. + +"Oh, he complains so bitterly of everything that he bores us," Merla +answered. "Mummercubble is never contented or happy for a single +minute." + +"I've seen people like that," said Cap'n Bill with a nod of his +head. "An' they has a way of upsettin' the happiest folks they +meet." + +"Look out!" suddenly cried the mermaid. "Look out for your fingers! +Here are the snapping eels." + +"Who? Where?" asked Trot anxiously. + +And now they were in the midst of a cluster of wriggling, darting +eels which sported all around them in the water with marvelous +activity. "Yes, look out for your fingers and your noses!" said one +of the eels, making a dash for Cap'n Bill. At first the sailor was +tempted to put out a hand and push the creature away, but +remembering that his fingers would thus be exposed, he remained +quiet, and the eel snapped harmlessly just before his face and then +darted away. + +"Stop it!" said Merla. "Stop it this minute, or I'll report your +impudence to Aquareine." + +"Oh, who cares?" shouted the Eels. "We're not afraid of the +mermaids." + +"She'll stiffen you up again, as she did once before," said Merla, +"if you try to hurt the earth people." + +"Are these earth people?" asked one. And then they all stopped their +play and regarded Trot and Cap'n Bill with their little black eyes. + +"The old polliwog looks something like King Anko," said one of them. + +"I'm not a polliwog!" answered Cap'n Bill angrily. "I'm a respec'ble +sailor man, an' I'll have you treat me decent or I'll know why." + +"Sailor!" said another. "That means to float on the water--not IN +it. What are you doing down here?" + +"I'm jes' a-visitin'," answered Cap'n Bill. + +"He is the guest of our queen," said Merla, "and so is this little +girl. If you do not behave nicely to them, you will surely be +sorry." + +"Oh, that's all right," replied one of the biggest eels, wriggling +around in a circle and then snapping at a companion, which as +quickly snapped out of his way. "We know how to be polite to company +as well as the mermaids. We won't hurt them." + +"Come on, fellows, let's go scare old Mummercubble," cried another; +and then in a flash they all darted away and left our friends to +themselves. Trot was greatly relieved. + +"I don't like eels," she said. + +"They are more mischievous than harmful," replied Merla, "but I do +not care much for them myself." + +"No," added Cap'n Bill, "they ain't respec'ful." + + + + + + +THE ARISTOCRATIC CODFISH + +CHAPTER 7 + + + + + +The three swam slowly along, quite enjoying the cool depths of the +water. Every little while they met with some strange creature--or +one that seemed strange to the earth people--for although Trot and +Cap'n Bill had seen many kinds of fish, after they had been caught +and pulled from the water, that was very different from meeting them +in their own element, "face to face," as Trot expressed it. Now that +the various fishes were swimming around free and unafraid in their +deep-sea home, they were quite different from the gasping, excited +creatures struggling at the end of a fishline or flopping from a +net. + +Before long they came upon a group of large fishes lying lazily near +the bottom of the sea. They were a dark color upon their backs and +silver underneath, but not especially pretty to look at. The fishes +made no effort to get out of Merla's way and remained motionless +except for the gentle motion of their fins and gills. + +"Here," said the mermaid, pausing, "is the most aristocratic family +of fish in all the sea." + +"What are they?" asked the girl. + +"Codfish," was the reply. "Their only fault is that they are too +haughty and foolishly proud of their pedigree." + +Overhearing this speech, one codfish said to another in a very +dignified tone of voice, "What insolence!" + +"Isn't it?" replied the other. "There ought to be a law to prevent +these common mermaids from discussing their superiors." + +"My sakes!" said Trot, astonished. "How stuck up they are, aren't +they?" + +For a moment the group of fishes stared at her solemnly. Then one of +the remarked in a disdainful manner, "Come, my dear, let us leave +these vulgar creatures." + +"I'm not as vulgar as you are!" exclaimed Trot, much offended by +this speech. "Where I come from, we only eat codfish when there's +nothing else in the house to eat." + +"How absurd!" observed one of the creatures arrogantly. + +"Eat codfish indeed!" said another in a lofty manner. + +"Yes, and you're pretty salty, too, I can tell you. At home you're +nothing but a pick-up!" said Trot. + +"Dear me!" exclaimed the first fish who had spoken. "Must we stand +this insulting language--and from a person to whom we have never +been introduced?" + +"I don't need no interduction," replied the girl. "I've eaten you, +and you always make me thirsty." + +Merla laughed merrily at this, and the codfish said, with much +dignity, "Come, fellow aristocrats, let us go." + +"Never mind, we're going ourselves," announced Merla, and followed +by her guests the pretty mermaid swam away. + +"I've heard tell of codfish aristocracy," said Cap'n Bill, "but I +never knowed 'zac'ly what it meant afore." + +"They jus' made me mad with all their airs," observed Trot, "so I +gave 'em a piece of my mind." + +"You surely did, mate," said the sailor, "but I ain't sure they +understand what they're like when they're salted an' hung up in the +pantry. Folks gener'ly gets stuck-up 'cause they don't know +theirselves like other folks knows 'em." + +"We are near Crabville now," declared Merla. "Shall we visit the +crabs and see what they are doing?" + +"Yes, let's," replied Trot. "The crabs are lots of fun. I've often +caught them among the rocks on the shore and laughed at the way they +act. Wasn't it funny at dinnertime to see the way they slid around +with the plates?" + +"Those were not crabs, but lobsters and crawfish," remarked the +mermaid. "They are very intelligent creatures, and by making them +serve us we save ourselves much household work. Of course, they are +awkward and provoke us sometimes, but no servants are perfect, it is +said, so we get along with ours as well as we can." + +"They're all right," protested the child, "even if they did tip +things over once in a while. But it is easy to work in a sea palace, +I'm sure, because there's no dusting or sweeping to be done." + +"Or scrubbin'," added Cap'n Bill. + +"The crabs," said Merla, "are second cousins to the lobsters, +although much smaller in size. There are many families or varieties +of crabs, and so many of them live in one place near here that we +call it Crabville. I think you will enjoy seeing these little +creatures in their native haunts." + +They now approached a kelp bed, the straight, thin stems of the kelp +running far upward to the surface of the water. Here and there upon +the stalks were leaves, but Trot thought the growing kelp looked +much like sticks of macaroni, except they were a rich red-brown +color. It was beyond the kelp--which they had to push aside as they +swam through, so thickly did it grow--that they came to a higher +level, a sort of plateau on the ocean's bottom. It was covered with +scattered rocks of all sizes, which appeared to have broken off from +big shelving rocks they observed nearby. The place they entered +seemed like one of the rocky canyons you often see upon the earth. + +"Here live the fiddler crabs," said Merla, "but we must have taken +them by surprise, it is so quiet." + +Even as she spoke, there was a stirring and scrambling among the +rocks, and soon scores of light-green crabs were gathered before the +visitors. The crabs bore fiddles of all sorts and shapes in their +claws, and one big fellow carried a leader's baton. The latter crab +climbed upon a flat rock and in an excited voice called out, "Ready, +now--ready, good fiddlers. We'll play Number 19, Hail to the +Mermaids. Ready! Take aim! Fire away!" + +At this command every crab began scraping at his fiddle as hard as +he could, and the sounds were so shrill and unmusical that Trot +wondered when they would begin to play a tune. But they never did; +it was one regular mix-up of sounds from beginning to end. When the +noise finally stopped, the leader turned to his visitors and, waving +his baton toward them, asked, "Well, what did you think of that?" + +"Not much," said Trot honestly. "What's it all about?" + +"I composed it myself!" said the Fiddler Crab. "But it's highly +classical, I admit. All really great music is an acquired taste." + +"I don't like it," remarked Cap'n Bill. "It might do all right to +stir up a racket New Year's Eve, but to call that screechin' +music--" + +Just then the crabs started fiddling again, harder than ever, and as +it promised to be a long performance, they left the little creatures +scraping away at their fiddles as if for dear life and swam along +the rocky canyon until, on turning a corner, they came upon a new +and different scene. + +There were crabs here, too, many of them, and they were performing +the queerest antics imaginable. Some were building themselves into a +pyramid, each standing on edge, with the biggest and strongest ones +at the bottom. When the crabs were five or six rows high, they would +all tumble over, still clinging to one another and, having reached +the ground, they would separate and commence to build the pyramid +over again. Others were chasing one another around in a circle, +always moving backward or sidewise, and trying to play "leapfrog" as +they went. Still others were swinging on slight branches of seaweed +or turning cartwheels or indulging in similar antics. + +Merla and the earth people watched the busy little creatures for +some time before they were themselves observed, but finally Trot +gave a laugh when one crab fell on its back and began frantically +waving its legs to get right-side-up again. At the sound of her +laughter they all stopped their play and came toward the visitors in +a flock, looking up at them with their bright eyes in a most comical +way. + +"Welcome home!" cried one as he turned a back somersault and knocked +another crab over. + +"What's the difference between a mermaid and a tadpole?" asked +another in a loud voice, and without a pause continued, "Why, one +drops its tail and the other holds onto it. Ha, ha! Ho, ho! Hee, +hee!" + +"These," said Merla, "are the clown crabs. They are very silly +things, as you may already have discovered, but for a short time +they are rather amusing. One tires of them very soon." + +"They're funny," said Trot, laughing again. "It's almost as good as +a circus. I don't think they would make me tired, but then I'm not a +mermaid." + +The clown crabs had now formed a row in front of them. "Mr. +Johnsing," asked one, "why is a mermaid like an automobile?" + +"I don't know, Tommy Blimken," answered a big crab in the middle of +the row. "WHY do you think a mermaid is like an automobile?" + +"Because they both get tired," said Tommy Blimken. Then all the +crabs laughed, and Tommy seemed to laugh louder than the rest. + +"How do the crabs in the sea know anything 'bout automobiles?" asked +Trot. + +"Why, Tommy Blimken and Harry Hustle were both captured once by +humans and put in an aquarium," answered the mermaid. "But one day +they climbed out and escaped, finally making their way back to the +sea and home again. So they are quite traveled, you see, and great +favorites among the crabs. While they were on land they saw a great +many curious things, and so I suppose they saw automobiles." + +"We did, we did!" cried Harry Hustle, an awkward crab with one big +claw and one little one. "And we saw earth people with legs, awfully +funny they were; and animals called horses, with legs; and other +creatures with legs; and the people cover themselves with the +queerest things--they even wear feathers and flowers on their heads, +and--" + +"Oh, we know all about that," said Trot. "We live on the earth +ourselves." + +"Well, you're lucky to get off from it and into the good water," +said the Crab. "I nearly died on the earth; it was so stupid, dry +and airy. But the circus was great. They held the performance right +in front of the aquarium where we lived, and Tommy and I learned all +the tricks of the tumblers. Hi! Come on, fellows, and show the earth +people what you can do!" + +At this the crabs began performing their antics again, but they did +the same things over and over, so Cap'n Bill and Trot soon tired, as +Merla said they would, and decided they had seen enough of the crab +circus. So they proceeded to swim farther up the rocky canyon, and +near its upper end they came to a lot of conch shells lying upon the +sandy bottom. A funny-looking crab was sticking his head out from +each of these shells. + +"These are the hermit crabs," said one of the mermaids. "They steal +these shells and live in them so no enemies can attack them." + +"Don't they get lonesome?" asked Trot. + +"Perhaps so, my dear. But they do not seem to mind being lonesome. +They are great cowards, and think if they can but protect their +lives there is nothing else to care for. Unlike the jolly crabs we +have just left, the hermits are cross and unsociable." + +"Oh, keep quiet and go away!" said one of the hermit crabs in a +grumpy voice. "No one wants mermaids around here." Then every crab +withdrew its head into its shell, and our friends saw them no more. + +"They're not very polite," observed Trot, following the mermaid as +Merla swam upward into the middle water. + +"I know now why cross people are called 'crabbed,'" said Cap'n Bill. +"They've got dispositions jes' like these 'ere hermit crabs." + +Presently they came upon a small flock of mackerel, and noticed that +the fishes seemed much excited. When they saw the mermaid, they +cried out, "Oh, Merla! What do you think? Our Flippity has just gone +to glory!" + +"When?" asked the mermaid. + +"Just now," one replied. "We were lying in the water, talking +quietly together when a spinning, shining thing came along and our +dear Flippity ate it. Then he went shooting up to the top of the +water and gave a flop and--went to glory! Isn't it splendid, Merla?" + +"Poor Flippity!" sighed the mermaid. "I'm sorry, for he was the +prettiest and nicest mackerel in your whole flock." + +"What does it mean?" asked Trot. "How did Flippity go to glory?" + +"Why, he was caught by a hook and pulled out of the water into some +boat," Merla explained. "But these poor stupid creatures do not +understand that, and when one of them is jerked out of the water and +disappears, they have the idea he has gone to glory, which means to +them some unknown but beautiful sea." + +"I've often wondered," said Trot, "why fishes are foolish enough to +bite on hooks." + +"They must know enough to know they're hooks," added Cap'n Bill +musingly. + +"Oh, they do," replied Merla. "I've seen fishes gather around a hook +and look at it carefully for a long time. They all know it is a hook +and that if they bite the bait upon it they will be pulled out of +the water. But they are curious to know what will happen to them +afterward, and think it means happiness instead of death. So finally +one takes the hook and disappears, and the others never know what +becomes of him." + +"Why don't you tell 'em the truth?" asked Trot. + +"Oh, we do. The mermaids have warned them many times, but it does no +good at all. The fish are stupid creatures." + +"But I wish I was Flippity," said one of the mackerel, staring at +Trot with his big, round eyes. "He went to glory before I could eat +the hook myself." + +"You're lucky," answered the child. "Flippity will be fried in a pan +for someone's dinner. You wouldn't like that, would you?" + +"Flippity has gone to glory!" said another, and then they swam away +in haste to tell the news to all they met. + +"I never heard of anything so foolish," remarked Trot as she swam +slowly on through the clear, blue water. + +"Yes, it is very foolish and very sad," answered Merla. "But if the +fish were wise, men could not catch them for food, and many poor +people on your earth make their living by fishing." + +"It seems wicked to catch such pretty things," said the child. + +"I do not think so," Merla replied laughingly, "for they were born +to become food for someone, and men are not the only ones that eat +fishes. Many creatures of the sea feed upon them. They even eat one +another at times. And if none was ever destroyed, they would soon +become so numerous that they would clog the waters of the ocean and +leave no room for the rest of us. So after all, perhaps it is just +as well they are thoughtless and foolish." + +Presently they came to some round balls that looked much like +balloons in shape and were gaily colored. They floated quietly in +the water, and Trot inquired what they were. + +"Balloonfish," answered Merla. "They are helpless creatures, but +have little spikes all over them so their enemies dare not bite them +for fear of getting pricked." + +Trot found the balloonfish quite interesting. They had little dots +of eyes and dots for mouths, but she could see no noses, and their +fins and tails were very small. + +"They catch these fish in the South Sea Islands and make lanterns of +'em," said Cap'n Bill. "They first skin 'em and sew the skin up +again to let it dry, and then they put candles inside, and the light +shines through the dried skin." + +Many other curious sights they saw in the ocean that afternoon, and +both Cap'n Bill and Trot thoroughly enjoyed their glimpse of sea +life. At last Merla said it was time to return to the palace, from +which she claimed they had not at any time been very far distant. +"We must prepare for dinner, as it will soon begin to grow dark in +the water," continued their conductor. So they swam leisurely back +to the groves that surrounded the palaces, and as they entered the +gardens the sun sank, and deep shadows began to form in the ocean +depths. + + + + + + +A BANQUET UNDER WATER + +CHAPTER 8 + + + + + +The palaces of the mermaids were all aglow with lights as they +approached them, and Trot was amazed at the sight. + +"Where do the lamps come from?" she asked their guide wonderingly. + +"They are not lamps, my dear," replied Merla, much amused at this +suggestion. "We use electric lights in our palaces and have done so +for thousands of years--long before the earth people knew of +electric lights." + +"But where do you get 'em?" inquired Cap'n Bill, who was as much +astonished as the girl. + +"From a transparent jellyfish which naturally emits a strong and +beautiful electric light," was the answer. "We have many hundreds of +them in our palaces, as you will presently see." + +Their way was now lighted by small, phosphorescent creatures +scattered about the sea gardens and which Merla informed them were +hyalaea, or sea glowworms. But their light was dim when compared to +that of the electric jellyfish, which they found placed in clusters +upon the ceilings of all the rooms of the palaces, rendering them +light as day. Trot watched these curious creatures with delight, for +delicately colored lights ran around their bodies in every direction +in a continuous stream, shedding splendid rays throughout the vast +halls. + +A group of mermaids met the visitors in the hall of the main palace +and told Merla the queen had instructed them to show the guests to +their rooms as soon as they arrived. So Trot followed two of them +through several passages, after which they swam upward and entered a +circular opening. There were no stairs here, because there was no +need of them, and the little girl soon found herself in an upper +room that was very beautiful indeed. + +All the walls were covered with iridescent shells, polished till +they resembled mother-of-pearl, and upon the glass ceiling were +clusters of the brilliant electric jellyfish, rendering the room +bright and cheerful with their radiance. In one corner stood a couch +of white coral, with gossamer draperies hanging around it from the +four high posts. Upon examining it, the child found the couch was +covered with soft, amber sponges, which rendered it very comfortable +to lie upon. In a wardrobe she found several beautiful gossamer +gowns richly embroidered in colored seaweeds, and these Mayre was +told she might wear while she remained the guest of the mermaids. +She also found a toilet table with brushes, combs and other +conveniences, all of which were made of polished tortoise-shell. + +Really, the room was more dainty and comfortable than one might +suppose possible in a palace far beneath the surface of the sea, and +Trot was greatly delighted with her new quarters. The mermaid +attendants assisted the child to dress herself in one of the +prettiest robes, which she found to be quite dry and fitted her +comfortably. Then the sea-maids brushed and dressed her hair, and +tied it with ribbons of cherry-red seaweed. Finally they placed +around her neck a string of pearls that would have been priceless +upon the earth, and now the little girl announced she was ready for +supper and had a good appetite. + +Cap'n Bill had been given a similar room near Trot, but the old +sailor refused to change his clothes for any others offered him, for +which reason he was ready for supper long before his comrade. "What +bothers me, mate," he said to the little girl as the y swam toward +the great banquet hall where Queen Aquareine awaited them, "is why +ain't we crushed by the pressin' of the water agin us, bein' as +we're down here in the deep sea." + +"How's that, Cap'n? Why should we be crushed?" she asked. + +"Why, ev'r'body knows that the deeper you go in the sea, the more +the water presses agin you," he explained. "Even the divers in their +steel jackets can't stand it very deep down. An' here we be, miles +from the top o' the water, I s'pect, an' we don't feel crowded a +bit." + +"I know why," answered the child wisely. "The water don't touch us, +you see. If it did, it might crush us, but it don't. It's always +held a little way off from our bodies by the magic of the fairy +mermaids." + +"True enough, Trot," declared the sailor man. "What an idjut I was +not to think o' that myself!" + +In the royal banquet hall were assembled many of the mermaids, +headed by the lovely queen, and as soon as their earth guests +arrived, Aquareine ordered the meal to be served. The lobsters again +waited upon the table, wearing little white caps and aprons which +made them look very funny; but Trot was so hungry after her +afternoon's excursion that she did not pay as much attention to the +lobsters as she did to her supper, which was very delicious and +consisted of many courses. A lobster spilled some soup on Cap'n +Bill's bald head and made him yell for a minute, because it was hot +and he had not expected it, but the queen apologized very sweetly +for the awkwardness of her servants, and the sailor soon forgot all +about the incident in his enjoyment of the meal. + +After the feast ended, they all went to the big reception room, +where some of the mermaids played upon harps while others sang +pretty songs. They danced together, too--a graceful, swimming dance, +so queer to the little girl that it interested and amused her +greatly. Cap'n Bill seemed a bit bashful among so many beautiful +mermaids, yet he was pleased when the queen offered him a place +beside her throne, where he could see and hear all the delightful +entertainment provided for the royal guests. He did not talk much, +being a man of few words except when alone with Trot, but his +light-blue eyes were big and round with wonder at the sights he saw. + +Trot and the sailor man went to bed early and slept soundly upon +their sponge-covered couches. The little girl never wakened until +long after the sun was shining down through the glass roof of her +room, and when she opened her eyes she was startled to find a number +of big, small and middle-sized fishes staring at her through the +glass. "That's one bad thing 'bout this mermaid palace," she said to +herself. "It's too public. Ever'thing in the sea can look at you +through the glass as much as it likes. I wouldn't mind fishes +looking at me if they hadn't such big eyes, an'--goodness me! +There's a monster that's all head! And there goes a fish with a sail +on its back, an' here's old Mummercubble, I'm sure, for he's got a +head just like a pig." + +She might have watched the fishes on the roof for hours, had she not +remembered it was late and breakfast must be ready. So she dressed +and made her toilet, and swam down into the palace to find Cap'n +Bill and the mermaids politely waiting for her to join them. The sea +maidens were as fresh and lovely as ever, while each and all proved +sweet tempered and merry, even at the breakfast table--and that is +where people are cross, if they ever are. During the meal the queen +said, "I shall take you this morning to the most interesting part of +the ocean, where the largest and most remarkable sea creatures live. +And we must visit King Anko, too, for the sea serpent would feel +hurt and slighted if I did not bring my guests to call upon him." + +"That will be nice," said Trot eagerly. + +But Cap'n Bill asked, "Is there any danger, ma'am?" + +"I think not," replied Queen Aquareine. "I cannot say that you will +be exposed to any danger at all, so long as I'm with you. But we are +going into the neighborhood of such fierce and even terrible beings +which would attack you at once did they suspect you to be earth +people. So in order to guard your safety, I intend to draw the Magic +Circle around both of you before we start." + +"What is the Magic Circle?" asked Trot. + +"A fairy charm that prevents any enemy from touching you. No monster +of the sea, however powerful, will be able to reach your body while +you are protected by the Magic Circle," declared the Queen. + +"Oh, then I'll not be a bit afraid," returned the child with perfect +confidence. + +"Am I to have the Magic Circle drawn around me, too?" asked Cap'n +Bill. + +"Of course," answered Aquareine. "You will need no other protection +than that, yet both Princess Clia and I will both be with you. For +today I shall leave Merla to rule our palaces in my place until we +return." + +No sooner was breakfast finished than Trot was anxious to start. The +girl was also curious to discover what the powerful Magic Circle +might prove to be, but she was a little disappointed in the +ceremony. The queen merely grasped her fairy wand in her right hand +and swam around the child in a circle, from left to right. Then she +took her wand in her left hand and swam around Trot in another +circle, from right to left. "Now, my dear," said she, "you are safe +from any creature we are liable to meet." + +She performed the same ceremony for Cap'n Bill, who was doubtful +about the Magic Circle because he felt the same after it as he had +before. But he said nothing of his unbelief, and soon they left the +palace and started upon their journey. + + + + + + +THE BASHFUL OCTOPUS + +CHAPTER 9 + + + + + +It was a lovely day, and the sea was like azure under the rays of +the sun. + +Over the flower beds and through the gardens they swam, emerging +into the open sea in a direction opposite that taken by the visitors +the day before. The party consisted of but four: Queen Aquareine, +Princess Clia, Trot and Cap'n Bill. + +"People who live upon the land know only those sea creatures which +they are able to catch in nets or upon hooks or those which become +disabled and are washed ashore," remarked the Queen as they swam +swiftly through the clear water. "And those who sail in ships see +only the creatures who chance to come to the surface. But in the +deep ocean caverns are queer beings that no mortal has ever heard of +or beheld, and some of these we are to visit. We shall also see some +sea shrubs and flowering weeds which are sure to delight you with +their beauty." + +The sights really began before they had gone very far from the +palace, and a school of butterfly fish, having gorgeous colors +spattered over their broad wings, was first to delight the +strangers. They swam just as butterflies fly, with a darting, jerky +motion, and called a merry "Good morning!" to the mermaids as they +passed. + +"These butterfly fish are remarkably active," said the Princess, +"and their quick motions protect them from their enemies. We like to +meet them; they are always so gay and good-natured." + +"Why, so am I!" cried a sharp voice just beside them, and they all +paused to discover what creature had spoken to them. + +"Take care," said Clia in a low voice. "It's an octopus." + +Trot looked eagerly around. A long, brown arm stretched across their +way in front and another just behind them, but that did not worry +her. The octopus himself came slowly sliding up to them and proved +to be well worth looking at. He wore a red coat with brass buttons, +and a silk hat was tipped over one ear. His eyes were somewhat dull +and watery, and he had a moustache of long, hair-like "feelers" that +curled stiffly at the ends. When he tried to smile at them, he +showed two rows of sharp, white teeth. In spite of his red coat and +yellow-embroidered vest, his standing collar and carefully tied +cravat, the legs of the octopus were bare, and Trot noticed he used +some of his legs for arms, as in one of them was held a slender cane +and in another a handkerchief. + +"Well, well!" said the Octopus. "Are you all dumb? Or don't you know +enough to be civil when you meet a neighbor?" + +"We know how to be civil to our friends," replied Trot, who did not +like the way he spoke. + +"Well, are we not friends, then?" asked the Octopus in an airy tone +of voice. + +"I think not," said the little girl. "Octopuses are horrid +creatures." + +"OctoPI, if you please; octoPI," said the monster with a laugh. + +"I don't see any pie that pleases me," replied Trot, beginning to +get angry. + +"OctoPUS means one of us; two or more are called octoPI," remarked +the creature, as if correcting her speech. + +"I suppose a lot of you would be a whole bakery!" she said +scornfully. + +"Our name is Latin. It was given to us by learned scientists years +ago," said the Octopus." + +"That's true enough," agreed Cap'n Bill. "The learned scientists +named ev'ry blamed thing they come across, an' gener'ly they picked +out names as nobody could understand or pernounce." + +"That isn't our fault, sir," said the Octopus. "Indeed, it's pretty +hard for us to go through life with such terrible names. Think of +the poor little seahorse. He used to be a merry and cheerful fellow, +but since they named him 'hippocampus' he hasn't smiled once." + +"Let's go," said Trot. "I don't like to 'sociate with octopuses." + +"OctoPI," said the creature, again correcting her. + +"You're jus' as horrid whether you're puses or pies," she declared. + +"Horrid!" cried the monster in a shocked tone of voice. + +"Not only horrid, but horrible!" persisted the girl. + +"May I ask in what way?" he inquired, and it was easy to see he was +offended. + +"Why, ev'rybody knows that octopuses are jus' wicked an' deceitful," +she said. "Up on the earth, where I live, we call the Stannerd Oil +Company an octopus, an' the Coal Trust an octopus, an'--" + +"Stop, stop!" cried the monster in a pleading voice. "Do you mean to +tell me that the earth people whom I have always respected compare +me to the Stannerd Oil Company?" + +"Yes," said Trot positively. + +"Oh, what a disgrace! What a cruel, direful, dreadful disgrace!" +moaned the Octopus, drooping his head in shame, and Trot could see +great tears falling down his cheeks. + +"This comes of having a bad name," said the Queen gently, for she +was moved by the monster's grief. + +"It is unjust! It is cruel and unjust!" sobbed the creature +mournfully. "Just because we have several long arms and take +whatever we can reach, they accuse us of being like--like--oh, I +cannot say it! It is too shameful, too humiliating." + +"Come, let's go," said Trot again. So they left the poor octopus +weeping and wiping his watery eyes with his handkerchief and swam on +their way. "I'm not a bit sorry for him," remarked the child, "for +his legs remind me of serpents." + +"So they do me," agreed Cap'n Bill. + +"But the octopi are not very bad," said the Princess, "and we get +along with them much better than we do with their cousins, the sea +devils." + +"Oh. Are the sea devils their cousins?" asked Trot. + +"Yes, and they are the only creatures of the ocean which we greatly +fear," replied Aquareine. "I hope we shall meet none today, for we +are going near to the dismal caverns where they live." + +"What are the sea devils like, ma'am?" inquired Cap'n Bill a little +uneasily. + +"Something like the octopus you just saw, only much larger and of a +bright scarlet color, striped with black," answered the Queen. "They +are very fierce and terrible creatures and nearly as much dreaded by +the inhabitants of the ocean as is Zog, and nearly as powerful as +King Anko himself." + +"Zog! Who is Zog?" questioned the girl. "I haven't heard of him +before now." + +"We do not like to mention Zog's name," responded the Queen in a low +voice. "He is the wicked genius of the sea, and a magician of great +power." + +"What's he like?" asked Cap'n Bill. + +"He is a dreadful creature, part fish, part man, part beast and part +serpent. Centuries ago they cast him off the earth into the sea, +where he has caused much trouble. Once he waged a terrible war +against King Anko, but the sea serpent finally conquered Zog and +drove the magician into his castle, where he now stays shut up. For +if ever Anko catches the monster outside of his enchanted castle, he +will kill him, and Zog knows that very well." + +"Seems like you have your troubles down here just as we do on top +the ground," remarked Cap'n Bill. + +"But I'm glad old Zog is shut up in his castle," added Trot. "Is it +a sea castle like your own palace?" + +"I cannot say, my dear, for the enchantment makes it invisible to +all eyes but those of its inhabitants," replied Aquareine. "No one +sees Zog now, and we scarcely ever hear of him, but all the sea +people know he is here someplace and fear his power. Even in the old +days, before Anko conquered him, Zog was the enemy of the mermaids, +as he was of all the good and respectable seafolk. But do not worry +about the magician, I beg of you, for he has not dared to do an evil +deed in many, many years." + +"Oh, I'm not afraid," asserted Trot. + +"I'm glad of that," said the Queen. "Keep together, friends, and be +careful not to separate, for here comes an army of sawfishes." + +Even as Aquareine spoke, they saw a swirl and commotion in the water +ahead of them, while a sound like a muffled roar fell upon their +ears. Then swiftly there dashed upon them a group of great fishes +with long saws sticking out in front of their noses, armed with +sharp, hooked teeth, all set in a row. They were larger than the +swordfishes and seemed more fierce and bold. But the mermaids and +Trot and Cap'n Bill quietly awaited their attack, and instead of +tearing them with their saws as they expected to do, the fishes were +unable to touch them at all. They tried every possible way to get at +their proposed victims, but the Magic Circle was all powerful and +turned aside the ugly saws; so our friends were not disturbed at +all. Seeing this, the sawfishes soon abandoned the attempt and with +growls and roars of disappointment swam away and were quickly out of +sight. + +Trot had been a wee bit frightened during the attack, but now she +laughed gleefully and told the queen that it seemed very nice to be +protected by fairy powers. The water grew a darker blue as they +descended into its depths, farther and farther away from the rays of +the sun. Trot was surprised to find she could see so plainly through +the high wall of water above her, but the sun was able to shoot its +beams straight down through the transparent sea, and they seemed to +penetrate to every nook and crevice of the rocky bottom. + +In this deeper part of the ocean some of the fishes had a +phosphorescent light of their own, and these could be seen far ahead +as if they were lanterns. The explorers met a school of argonauts +going up to the surface for a sail, and the child watched these +strange creatures with much curiosity. The argonauts live in shells +in which they are able to hide in case of danger from prowling wolf +fishes, but otherwise they crawl out and carry their shells like +humps upon their backs. Then they spread their skinny sails above +them and sail away under water till they come to the surface, where +they float and let the currents of air carry them along the same as +the currents of water had done before. Trot thought the argonauts +comical little creatures, with their big eyes and sharp noses, and +to her they looked like a fleet of tiny ships. + +It is said that men got their first idea of boats and of how to sail +them from watching these little argonauts. + + + + + + +THE UNDISCOVERED ISLAND + +CHAPTER 10 + + + + + +In following the fleet of argonauts, the four explorers had risen +higher in the water and soon found they had wandered to an open +space that seemed to Trot like the flat top of a high hill. The +sands were covered with a growth of weeds so gorgeously colored that +one who had never peered beneath the surface of the sea would +scarcely believe they were not the product of a dye shop. Every +known hue seemed represented in the delicate, fern-like leaves that +swayed softly to and fro as the current moved them. They were not +set close together, these branches of magnificent hues, but were +scattered sparsely over the sandy bottom of the sea so that while +from a distance they seemed thick, a nearer view found them spread +out with ample spaces of sand between them. + +In these sandy spaces lay the real attractiveness of the place, for +here were many of those wonders of the deep that have surprised and +interested people in all ages. + +First were the starfishes--hundreds of them, it seemed--lying +sleepily on the bottom, with their five or six points extended +outward. They were of various colors, some rich and brilliant, +others of dark brown hues. A few had wound their arms around the +weeds or were creeping slowly from one place to another, in the +latter case turning their points downward and using them as legs. +But most of them were lying motionless, and as Trot looked down upon +them she thought they resembled stars in the sky on a bright night, +except that the blue of the heavens was here replaced by the white +sand, and the twinkling diamond stars by the colored starfish. + +"We are near an island," said the Queen, "and that is why so many +starfishes are here, as they love to keep close to shore. Also the +little seahorses love these weeds, and to me they are more +interesting than the starfish." + +Trot now noticed the seahorses for the first time. They were quite +small--merely two or three inches high--but had funny little heads +that were shaped much like the head of a horse, and bright, +intelligent eyes. They had no legs, though, for their bodies ended +in tails which they twined around the stems of seaweeds to support +themselves and keep the currents from carrying them away. + +Trot bent down close to examine one of the queer little creatures +and exclaimed, "Why, the seahorses haven't any fins or anything to +swim with." + +"Oh yes we have," replied the Sea Horse in a tiny but distinct +voice. "These things on the side of my head are fins." + +"I thought they were ears," said the girl. + +"So they are. Fins and ears at the same time," answered the little +sea animal. "Also, there are small fins on our backs. Of course, we +can't swim as the mermaids do, or even as swiftly as fishes; but we +manage to get around, thank you." + +"Don't the fishes catch and eat you?" inquired Trot curiously. + +"Sometimes," admitted the Sea Horse, "and there are many other +living things that have a way of destroying us. But here I am, as +you see, over six weeks old, and during that time I have escaped +every danger. That isn't so bad, is it?" + +"Phoo!" said a Starfish lying near. "I'm over three months old. +You're a mere baby, Sea Horse." + +"I'm not!" cried the Sea Horse excitedly. "I'm full-grown and may +live to be as old as you are!" + +"Not if I keep on living," said the Starfish calmly, and Trot knew +he was correct in his statement. + +The little girl now noticed several sea spiders creeping around and +drew back because she did not think them very pretty. They were +shaped not unlike the starfishes, but had slender legs and big heads +with wicked-looking eyes sticking out of them. + +"Oh, I don't like those things!" said Trot, coming closer to her +companions. + +"You don't, eh?" said a big Sea Spider in a cross voice. "Why do you +come around here, then, scaring away my dinner when you're not +wanted?" + +"It isn't YOUR ocean," replied Trot. + +"No, and it isn't yours," snapped the Spider. "But as it's big +enough for us both, I'd like you to go away." + +"So we will," said Aquareine gently, and at once she moved toward +the surface of the water. Trot and Cap'n Bill followed, with Clia, +and the child asked, "What island are we near?" + +"It has no name," answered the Queen, "for it is not inhabited by +man, nor has it ever yet been discovered by them. Perhaps you will +be the first humans to see this island. But it is a barren, rocky +place, and only fit for seals and turtles." + +"Are any of them there now?" Cap'n Bill inquired. + +"I think so. We will see." + +Trot was astonished to find how near they were to the "top" of the +ocean, for they had not ascended through the water very long when +suddenly her head popped into the air, and she gave a gasp of +surprise to find herself looking at the clear sky for the first time +since she had started upon this adventure by rowing into Giant's +Cave. + +She floated comfortably in the water, with her head and face just +out of it, and began to look around her. Cap'n Bill was at her side, +and so were the two mermaids. The day was fair, and the surface of +the sea, which stretched far away as the eye could reach, rippled +under a gentle breeze. They had risen almost at the edge of a small, +rocky islet, high in the middle, but gradually slanting down to the +water. No trees or bushes or grass grew anywhere about; only rocks, +gray and bleak, were to be seen. + +Trot scarcely noticed this at first, however, for the island seemed +covered with groups of forms, some still and some moving, which the +old sailor promptly recognized as seals. Many were lying asleep or +sunning themselves; others crept awkwardly around, using their +strong fins as legs or "paddles" and caring little if they disturbed +the slumbers of the others. Once in a while one of those crowded out +of place would give a loud and angry bark, which awakened others and +set them to barking likewise. + +Baby seals were there in great numbers, and were more active and +playful than their elders. It was really wonderful how they could +scramble around on the land, and Trot laughed more than once at +their antics. + +At the edge of the water lay many huge turtles, some as big around +as a wagon wheel and others much smaller in size. + +"The big ones are very old," said the Queen, seeing Trot's eyes +fixed on the turtles. + +"How old?" asked the child. + +"Hundreds of years, I think. They live to a great age, for nothing +can harm them when they withdraw their legs and heads into their +thick shells. We use some of the turtles for food, but prefer the +younger ones. Men also fish for turtles and eat them, but of course +no men ever come to this out-of-the-way place in the ocean, so the +inhabitants of this little island know they are perfectly safe." + +In the center of the island rose high cliffs on top of which were to +be seen great flocks of seagulls, some whirling in the air, while +others were perched upon the points of rock. + +"What do the birds find to eat?" asked Cap'n Bill. + +"They often feed upon seals which die of accident or old age, and +they are expert fishermen," explained Queen Aquareine. "Curiously +enough, the seals also feed upon these birds, which they are often +able to catch in their strong jaws when the gulls venture too near. +And then, the seals frequently rob the nests of eggs, of which they +are very fond." + +"I'd like a few gulls' eggs now," remarked a big seal that lay near +them upon the shore. Trot had thought him sound asleep, but now he +opened his eyes to blink lazily at the group in the water. + +"Good morning," said the Queen. "Aren't you Chief Muffruff?" + +"I am," answered the old seal. "And you are Aquareine, the mermaid +queen. You see, I remember you, although you haven't been here for +years. And isn't that Princess Clia? To be sure! But the other +mermaids are strangers to me, especially the bald-headed one." + +"I'm not a mermaid," asserted Cap'n Bill. "I'm a sailor jes' +a-visitin' the mermaids." + +"Our friends are earth dwellers," explained the Queen. + +"That's odd," said Muffruff. "I can't remember that any earth +dwellers ever came this way before. I never travel far, you see, for +I'm chief of this disorderly family of seals that live on this +island--on it and off it, that is." + +"You're a poor chief," said a big turtle lying beside the seal. "If +your people are disorderly, it is your own fault." + +Muffruff gave a chuckling laugh. Then, with a movement quick as +lightning, he pushed his head under the shell of the turtle and gave +it a sudden jerk. The huge turtle was tossed up on edge and then +turned flat upon its back, where its short legs struggled vainly to +right its overturned body. + +"There!" snorted the Seal contemptuously. "Perhaps you'll dare +insult me again in the presence of visitors, you old mud-wallower!" + +Seeing the plight of the turtle, several young seals came laughingly +wabbling to the spot, and as they approached the helpless creature +drew in his legs and head and closed his two shells tightly +together. The seals bumped against the turtle and gave it a push +that sent it sliding down the beach like a toboggan, and a minute +later it splashed into the water and sank out of sight. But that was +just what the creature wanted. On shore the upset turtle was quite +helpless; but the mischievous seals saved him. For as soon as he +touched the water, he was able to turn and right himself, which he +promptly did. Then he raised his head above the water and asked: + +"Is it peace or war, Muffruff?" + +"Whichever you like," answered the Seal indifferently. + +Perhaps the turtle was angry, for it ran on shore with remarkable +swiftness, uttering a shrill cry as it advanced. At once all the +other turtles awoke to life and with upraised heads joined their +comrade in the rush for the seals. Most of Chief Muffruff's band +scrambled hastily down the rocks and plunged into the water of the +sea without waiting for the turtles to reach them; but the chief +himself was slow in escaping. It may be that he was ashamed to run +while the mermaids were watching, but if this was so he made a great +mistake. The turtles snapped at his fins and tail and began biting +round chunks out of them so that Chief Muffruff screamed with pain +and anger and floundered into the water as fast as he could go. The +vengeful turtles were certainly the victors, and now held undisputed +possession of the island. + +Trot laughed joyously at the incident, not feeling a bit sorry for +the old seal who had foolishly begun the battle. Even the gentle +queen smiled as she said: + +"These quarrels between the turtles and the seals are very frequent, +but they are soon ended. An hour from now they will all be lying +asleep together just as we found them; but we will not wait for +that. Let us go." + +She sank slowly beneath the water again, and the others followed +after her. + + + + + + +ZOG THE TERRIBLE AND HIS SEA DEVILS + +CHAPTER 11 + + + + + +"The sun must be going under a cloud," said Trot, looking ahead. + +They had descended far into the ocean depths again--further, the +girl thought, than they had ever been before. + +"No," the Queen answered after a glance ahead of them, "that is a +cuttlefish, and he is dyeing the sea around him with ink so that he +can hide from us. Let us turn a little to the left, for we could see +nothing at all in that inky water." + +Following her advice, they made a broad curve to the left, and at +once the water began to darken in that direction. + +"Why, there's another of 'em," said Cap'n Bill as the little party +came to a sudden halt. + +"So there is," returned the Queen, and Trot thought there was a +little quiver of anxiety in her voice. "We must go far to the right +to escape the ink." + +So they again started, this time almost at a right angle to their +former course, the little girl inquired: + +"How can the cuttlefish color the water so very black?" + +"They carry big sacks in front of them where they conceal the ink," +Princess Clia answered. "Whenever they choose, the cuttlefish are +able to press out this ink, and it colors the water for a great +space around them." + +The direction in which they were now swimming was taking them far +out of their way. Aquareine did not wish to travel very far to the +right, so when she thought they had gone far enough to escape the +inky water, she turned to lead her party toward the left--the +direction in which she DID wish to go. At once another cloud of ink +stained the water and drove them to the right again. + +"Is anything wrong, ma'am?" asked Cap'n Bill, seeing a frown gather +upon the queen's lovely face. + +"I hope not," she said. "But I must warn you that these cuttlefish +are the servants of the terrible sea devils, and from the way they +are acting they seem determined to drive us toward the Devil Caves, +which I wished to avoid." + +This admission on the part of their powerful protector, the fairy +mermaid, sent a chill to the hearts of the earth people. Neither +spoke for a time, but finally Cap'n Bill asked in a timid voice: + +"Hadn't we better go back, ma'am?" + +"Yes," decided Aquareine after a moment's thought. "I think it will +be wise to retreat. The sea devils are evidently aware of our +movements and wish to annoy us. For my part, I have no fear of them, +but I do not care to have you meet such creatures." + +But when they turned around to abandon their journey, another inky +cloud was to be seen behind them. They really had no choice but to +swim in the only streak of clear water they could find, and the +mermaids well knew this would lead them nearer and nearer to the +caves of their enemies. + +But Aquareine led the way, moving very slowly, and the others +followed her. In every other direction they were hemmed in by the +black waters, and they did not dare to halt, because the inky fluid +crept swiftly up behind them and drove them on. + +The queen and the princess had now become silent and grave. They +swam on either side of their guests as if to better protect them. + +"Don't look up," whispered Clia, pressing close to the little girl's +side. + +"Why not?" asked Trot, and then she did exactly what she had been +told not to do. She lifted her head and saw stretched over them a +network of scrawny, crimson arms interlaced like the branches of +trees in winter when the leaves have fallen and left them bare. + +Cap'n Bill gave a start and muttered "Land sakes!" for he, too, had +gazed upward and seen the crimson network of limbs. + +"Are these the sea devils?" asked the child, more curious than +frightened. + +"Yes, dear," replied the Queen. "But I advise you to pay no +attention to them. Remember, they cannot touch us." + +In order to avoid the threatening arms overhead, which followed them +as they swam, our friends kept near to the bottom of the sea, which +was here thickly covered with rough and jagged rocks. The inky water +had now been left far behind, but when Trot looked over her +shoulder, she shuddered to find a great crimson monster following +closely after them, with a dozen long, snaky feelers stretched out +as if to grab anyone that lagged behind. And there, at the side of +Princess Clia, was another devil, leering silently with his cruel, +bulging eyes at the pretty mermaid. Beside the queen swam still +another of their enemies. Indeed, the sea devils had crept upon them +and surrounded them everywhere except at the front, and Trot began +to feel nervous and worried for the first time. + +Cap'n Bill kept mumbling queer words under his breath, for he had a +way of talking to himself when anything "upsot him," as he would +quaintly remark. Trot always knew he was disturbed or in trouble +when he began to "growl." + +The only way now open was straight ahead. They swam slowly, yet fast +enough to keep a safe distance from the dreadful creature behind +them. + +"I'm afraid they are driving us into a trap," whispered the Queen +softly. "But whatever happens, do not lose courage, earth friends. +Clia and I are here to protect you, and our fairy powers are +sufficient to keep you from all harm." + +"Oh, I don't mind so very much," declared Trot calmly. "It's like +the fairy adventures in storybooks, and I've often thought I'd like +that kind of adventures, 'cause the story always turns out the right +way." + +Cap'n Bill growled something just then, but the only words Trot +could make out were, "never lived to tell the tale." + +"Oh, pshaw, Cap'n," she said. "We may be in danger, right enough, +an' to be honest, I don't like the looks of these sea devils at all. +But I'm sure it's no KILLING matter, for we've got the fairy circles +all around us." + +"Ha ha!" laughed the monster beside her. "WE know all about the +fairy circles, don't we, Migg?" + +"Ho ho!" laughed the monster on the other side. "We do, Slibb, my +boy, and we don't think much of fairy circles, either!" + +"They have foiled our enemies many a time," declared the Princess +with much dignity. + +"Ha ha!" laughed one. "That's why we're here now." + +"Ho ho!" laughed the other. "We've learned a trick or two, and we've +got you fast this time." + +Then all the sea devils--those above and the one behind, and the two +on the sides--laughed all together, and their laughter was so +horrible that it made even Trot shudder. + +But now the queen stopped short, and the others stopped with her. + +"I will go no farther," she said firmly, not caring if the monsters +overheard her. "It is evident that these monsters are trying to +drive us into some secret place, and it is well known that they are +in league with Zog the Terrible, whom they serve because they are as +wicked as he is. We must be somewhere near the hidden castle of Zog, +so I prefer to stay here rather than be driven into some place far +more dangerous. As for the sea devils, they are powerless to injure +us in any way. Not one of those thousand arms about us can possibly +touch our bodies." + +The only reply to this defiant speech was another burst of horrible +laughter; and now there suddenly appeared before them still another +of the monsters, which thus completely hemmed them in. Then the +creatures began interlacing their long arms--or "feelers"--until +they formed a perfect cage around the prisoners, not an opening +being left that was large enough for one of them to escape through. + +The mermaids and the girl and sailor man kept huddled close +together, for although they might be walled in by the sea devils, +their captors could not touch them because of the protecting magic +circles. + +All at once Trot exclaimed, "Why, we must be moving!" + +This was startling news, but by watching the flow of water past them +they saw that the little girl was right. The sea devils were +swimming, all together, and as the cage they were in moved forward, +our friends were carried with it. + +Queen Aquareine had a stern look upon her beautiful face. Cap'n Bill +guessed from this look that the mermaid was angry, for it seemed +much like the look Trot's mother wore when they came home late to +dinner. But however angry the queen might be, she was unable to help +herself or her guests just now or to escape from the guidance of the +dreaded sea devils. The rest of the party had become sober and +thoughtful, and in dignified silence they awaited the outcome of +this strange adventure. + + + + + + +THE ENCHANTED ISLAND + +CHAPTER 12 + + + + + +All at once it grew dark around them. Neither Cap'n Bill nor Trot +liked this gloom, for it made them nervous not to be able to see +their enemies. + +"We must be near a sea cavern, if not within one," whispered +Princess Clia, and even as she spoke the network of scarlet arms +parted before them, leaving an avenue for them to swim out of the +cage. There was brighter water ahead, too, so the queen said without +hesitation: + +"Come along, dear friends; but let us clasp hands and keep close +together." + +They obeyed her commands and swam swiftly out of their prison and +into the clear water before them, glad to put a distance between +themselves and the loathesome sea devils. The monsters made no +attempt to follow them, but they burst into a chorus of harsh +laughter which warned our friends that they had not yet accomplished +their escape. + +The four now found themselves in a broad, rocky passage, which was +dimly lighted from some unknown source. The walls overhead, below +them and at the sides all glistened as if made of silver, and in +places were set small statues of birds, beasts and fishes, occupying +niches in the walls and seemingly made from the same glistening +material. + +The queen swam more slowly now that the sea devils had been left +behind, and she looked exceedingly grave and thoughtful. + +"Have you ever been here before?" asked Trot. + +"No, dear," said the Queen with a sigh. + +"And do you know where we are?" continued the girl. + +"I can guess," replied Aquareine. "There is only one place in all +the sea where such a passage as that we are in could exist without +my knowledge, and that is in the hidden dominions of Zog. If we are +indeed in the power of that fearful magician, we must summon all our +courage to resist him, or we are lost!" + +"Is Zog more powerful than the mermaids?" asked Trot anxiously. + +"I do not know, for we have never before met to measure our +strength," answered Aquareine. "But if King Anko could defeat the +magician, as he surely did, then I think I shall be able to do so." + +"I wish I was sure of it," muttered Cap'n Bill. + +Absolute silence reigned in the silver passage. No fish were there; +not even a sea flower grew to relieve the stern grandeur of this +vast corridor. Trot began to be impressed with the fact that she was +a good way from her home and mother, and she wondered if she would +ever get back again to the white cottage on the cliff. Here she was, +at the bottom of the great ocean, swimming through a big tunnel that +had an enchanted castle at the end, and a group of horrible sea +devils at the other! In spite of this thought, she was not very much +afraid. Although two fairy mermaids were her companions, she relied, +strange to say, more upon her tried and true friend, Cap'n Bill, +than upon her newer acquaintances to see her safely out of her +present trouble. + +Cap'n Bill himself did not feel very confident. + +"I don't care two cents what becomes o' me," he told Princess Clia +in a low voice, "but I'm drea'ful worried over our Trot. She's too +sweet an' young to be made an end of in this 'ere fashion." + +Clia smiled at this speech. "I'm sure you will find the little +girl's end a good way off," she replied. "Trust to our powerful +queen, and be sure she will find some means for us all to escape +uninjured." + +The light grew brighter as they advanced, until finally they +perceived a magnificent archway just ahead of them. Aquareine +hesitated a moment whether to go on or turn back, but there was no +escaping the sea devils behind them, and she decided the best way +out of their difficulties was to bravely face the unknown Zog and +rely upon her fairy powers to prevent his doing any mischief to +herself or her friends. So she led the way, and together they +approached the archway and passed through it. + +They now found themselves in a vast cavern, so great in extent that +the dome overhead looked like the sky when seen from earth. In the +center of this immense sea cavern rose the towers of a splendid +castle, all built of coral inlaid with silver and having windows of +clear glass. + +Surrounding the castle were beds of beautiful sea flowers, many +being in full bloom, and these were laid out with great care in +artistic designs. Goldfish and silverfish darted here and there +among the foliage, and the whole scene was so pretty and peaceful +that Trot began to doubt there was any danger lurking in such a +lovely place. + +As they approached to look around them, a brilliantly colored +gregfish approached and gazed at them curiously with his big, +saucer-like eyes. "So Zog has got you at last!" he said in a pitying +tone. "How foolish you were to swim into that part of the sea where +he is powerful." + +"The sea devils made us," explained Clia. + +"Well, I'm sorry for you, I'm sure," remarked the Greg, and with a +flash of his tail, he disappeared among the sea foliage. + +"Let us go to the castle," said the Queen in a determined voice. "We +may as well boldly defy our fate as to wait until Zog seeks us out." + +So they swam to the entrance of the castle. The doors stood wide +open, and the interior seemed as well lighted as the cavern itself, +although none of them could discover from whence the light came. + +At each side of the entrance lay a fish such as they had never seen +before. It was flat as a doormat and seemed to cling fast to the +coral floor. Upon its back were quills like those of a porcupine, +all pointed and sharp. From the center of the fish arose a head +shaped like a round ball, with a circle of piercing, bead-like eyes +set in it. These strange guardians of the entrance might be able to +tell what their numerous eyes saw, yet they remained silent and +watchful. Even Aquareine gazed upon them curiously, and she gave a +little shudder as she did so. + +Inside the entrance was a domed hall with a flight of stairs leading +to an upper balcony. Around the hall were several doorways hung with +curtains made of woven seaweeds. Chairs and benches stood against +the wall, and these astonished the visitors because neither stairs +nor chairs seemed useful in a kingdom where every living thing was +supposed to swim and have a fish's tail. In Queen Aquareine's +palaces benches for reclining were used, and stairs were wholly +unnecessary, but in the Palace of Zog the furniture and fittings +were much like those of a house upon earth, and except that every +space here was filled with water instead of air, Trot and Cap'n Bill +might have imagined themselves in a handsome earthly castle. + +The little group paused half fearfully in the hall, yet so far there +was surely nothing to be afraid of. They were wondering what to do +next when the curtains of an archway were pushed aside and a boy +entered. To Trot's astonishment, he had legs and walked upon them +naturally and with perfect ease. He was a delicate, frail-looking +little fellow, dressed in a black velvet suit with knee breeches. +The bows at his throat and knees were of colored seaweeds, woven +into broad ribbons. His hair was yellow and banged across his +forehead. His eyes were large and dark, with a pleasant, merry +sparkle in them. Around his neck he wore a high ruff, but in spite +of this Trot could see that below his plump cheeks were several +scarlet-edged slits that looked like the gills of fishes, for they +gently opened and closed as the boy breathed in the water by which +he was surrounded. These gills did not greatly mar the lad's +delicate beauty, and he spread out his arms and bowed low and +gracefully in greeting. + +"Hello," said Trot. + +"Why, I'd like to," replied the boy with a laugh, "but being a mere +slave, it isn't proper for me to hello. But it's good to see earth +people again, and I'm glad you're here." + +"We're not glad," observed the girl. "We're afraid." + +"You'll get over that," declared the boy smilingly. "People lose a +lot of time being afraid. Once I was myself afraid, but I found it +was no fun, so I gave it up." + +"Why were we brought here?" inquired Queen Aquareine gently. + +"I can't say, madam, being a mere slave," replied the boy. "But you +have reminded me of my errand. I am sent to inform you all that Zog +the Forsaken, who hates all the world and is hated by all the world, +commands your presence in his den." + +"Do you hate Zog, too?" asked Trot. + +"Oh no," answered the boy. "People lose a lot of time in hating +others, and there's no fun in it at all. Zog may be hateful, but I'm +not going to waste time hating him. You may do so, if you like." + +"You are a queer child," remarked the Mermaid Queen, looking at him +attentively. "Will you tell us who you are?" + +"Once I was Prince Sacho of Sacharhineolaland, which is a sweet +country, but hard to pronounce," he answered. "But in this domain I +have but one title and one name, and that is 'Slave.'" + +"How came you to be Zog's slave?" asked Clia. + +"The funniest adventure you ever heard of," asserted the boy with +eager pride. "I sailed in a ship that went to pieces in a storm. All +on board were drowned but me, and I came mighty near it, to tell the +truth. I went down deep, deep into the sea, and at the bottom was +Zog, watching the people drown. I tumbled on his head, and he +grabbed and saved me, saying I would make a useful slave. By his +magic power he made me able to live under water as the fishes live, +and he brought me to this castle and taught me to wait upon him as +his other slaves do." + +"Isn't it a dreadful, lonely life?" asked Trot. + +"No indeed," said Sacho. "We haven't any time to be lonely, and the +dreadful things Zog does are very exciting and amusing, I assure +you. He keeps us guessing every minute, and that makes the life here +interesting. Things were getting a bit slow an hour ago, but now +that you are here, I'm in hopes we will all be kept busy and amused +for some time." + +"Are there many others in the castle besides you and Zog?" asked +Aquareine. + +"Dozens of us. Perhaps hundreds. I've never counted them," said the +boy. "But Zog is the only master; all the rest of us are in the same +class, so there is no jealousy among the slaves." + +"What is Zog like?" Cap'n Bill questioned. + +At this the boy laughed, and the laugh was full of mischief. "If I +could tell you what Zog is like, it would take me a year," was the +reply. "But I can't tell you. Every one has a different idea of what +he's like, and soon you will see him yourselves." + +"Are you fond of him?" asked Trot. + +"If I said yes, I'd get a good whipping," declared Sacho. "I am +commanded to hate Zog, and being a good servant, I try to obey. If +anyone dared to like Zog, I am sure he'd be instantly fed to the +turtles; so I advise you not to like him." + +"Oh, we won't," promised Trot. + +"But we're keeping the master waiting, and that is also a dangerous +thing to do," continued the boy. "If we don't hurry up, Zog will +begin to smile, and when he smiles there is trouble brewing." + +The queen sighed. "Lead the way, Sacho," she said. "We will follow." + +The boy bowed again, and going to an archway, held aside the +curtains for them. They first swam into a small anteroomn which led +into a long corridor, at the end of which was another curtained +arch. Through this Sacho also guided them, and now they found +themselves in a cleverly constructed maze. Every few feet were +twists and turns and sharp corners, and sometimes the passage would +be wide, and again so narrow that they could just squeeze through in +single file. "Seems like we're gettin' further into the trap," +growled Cap'n Bill. "We couldn't find our way out o' here to save +our lives." + +"Oh yes we could," replied Clia, who was just behind him. "Such a +maze may indeed puzzle you, but the queen or I could lead you safely +through it again, I assure you. Zog is not so clever as he thinks +himself." + +The sailor, however, found the maze very bewildering, and so did +Trot. Passages ran in every direction, crossing and recrossing, and +it seemed wonderful that the boy Sacho knew just which way to go. +But he never hesitated an instant. Trot looked carefully to see if +there were any marks to guide him, but every wall was of plain, +polished marble, and every turning looked just like all the others. +Suddenly Sacho stopped short. They were now in a broader passage, +but as they gathered around their conductor they found further +advance blocked. Solid walls faced them, and here the corridor +seemed to end. + +"Enter!" said a clear voice. + +"But we can't!" protested Trot. + +"Swim straight ahead," whispered the boy in soft tones. "There is no +real barrier before you. Your eyes are merely deceived by magic." + +"Ah, I understand," said Aquareine, nodding her pretty head. And +then she took Mayre's hand and swam boldly forward, while Cap'n Bill +followed holding the hand of Clia. And behold! the marble wall +melted away before them, and they found themselves in a chamber more +splendid than even the fairy mermaids had ever seen before. + + + + + + +PRISONERS OF THE SEA MONSTER + +CHAPTER 13 + + + + + +The room in the enchanted castle which Zog called the "den" and in +which the wicked sea monster passed most of his time was a perfectly +shaped dome of solid gold. The upper part of this dome was thickly +set with precious jewels--diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, +which sparkled beautifully through the crystal water. The lower +walls were as thickly studded with pearls, all being of perfect +shape and color. Many of the pearls were larger than any which may +be found upon earth, for the sea people knew where to find the very +best and hide them away where men cannot discover them. + +The golden floor was engraved with designs of rare beauty, depicting +not only sea life, but many adventures upon land. In the room were +several large, golden cabinets, the doors of which were closed and +locked, and in addition to the cabinets there were tables, chairs +and sofas, the latter upholstered with softest sealskins. Handsome +rugs of exquisitely woven seaweeds were scattered about, the colors +of which were artistically blended together. In one corner a +fountain of air bubbled up through the water. The entire room was +lighted as brilliantly as if exposed to the direct rays of the sun, +yet where this light came from our friends could not imagine. No +lamp or other similar device was visible anywhere. + +The strangers at first scarcely glanced at all these beautiful +things, for in an easy chair sat Zog himself, more wonderful than +any other living creature, and as they gazed upon him, their eyes +seemed fascinated as if held by a spell. Zog's face was the face of +a man, except that the tops of his ears were pointed like horns and +he had small horns instead of eyebrows and a horn on the end of his +chin. In spite of these deformities, the expression of the face was +not unpleasant or repulsive. His hair was carefully parted and +brushed, and his mouth and nose were not only perfect in shape but +quite handsome. + +Only the eyes betrayed Zog and made him terrible to all beholders. +They seemed like coals of glowing fire and sparkled so fiercely that +no one ever cared to meet their gaze for more than an instant. +Perhaps the monster realized this, for he usually drooped his long +lashes over his fiery eyes to shut out their glare. Zog had two +well-shaped legs which ended in the hoofs of beasts instead of feet, +and these hoofs were shod with gold. His body was a shapeless mass +covered with richly embroidered rainment, over which a great robe of +cloth of gold fell in many folds. This robe was intended to hide the +magician's body from view, but Trot noticed that the cloth moved +constantly in little ripples, as if what lay underneath would not +keep still. + +The best features of which Zog could boast were his arms and hands, +the latter being as well formed, as delicate and white as those of a +well-bred woman. When he spoke, his voice sounded sweet and clear, +and its tones were very gentle. He had given them a few moments to +stare at him, for he was examining them in turn with considerable +curiosity. "Well," said he, "do you not find me the most hateful +creature you have ever beheld?" + +The queen refrained from answering, but Trot said promptly, "We do. +Nothing could be more horrider or more disgustin' than you are, it +seems to me." + +"Very good, very good indeed," declared the monster, lifting his +lashes to flash his glowing eyes upon them. Then he turned toward +Cap'n Bill. "Man-fish," he continued, "what do YOU think of me?" + +"Mighty little," the sailor replied. "You orter be 'shamed to ask +sech a question, knowin' you look worse ner the devil himself." + +"Very true," answered Zog, frowning. He felt that he had received a +high compliment, and the frown showed he was pleased with Cap'n +Bill. + +But now Queen Aquareine advanced to a position in front of their +captor and said, "Tell me, Zog, why have you trapped us and brought +us here?" + +"To destroy you," was the quick answer, and the magician turned for +an instant to flash his eyes upon the beautiful mermaid. "For two +hundred years I have been awaiting a chance to get within my power +some friend of Anko the Sea Serpent--of Anko, whom I hate!" he +added, smiling sweetly. "When you left your palace today, my swift +spies warned me, and so I sent the sea devils to capture you. Often +have they tried to do this before, but always failed. Today, acting +by my command, they tricked you, and by surrounding you forced you +to the entrance of my enchanted castle. The result is a fine capture +of important personages. I have now in my power the queen and +princess of the fairy mermaids, as well as two wandering earth +people, and I assure you I shall take great pleasure in destroying +you utterly." + +"You are a coward," declared the Queen proudly. "You dared not meet +us in the open sea." + +"No, I dare not leave this castle," Zog admitted, still smiling. +"But here in my own domain my power is supreme. Nothing can +interfere with my vengeance." + +"That remains to be seen," said Aquareine, firmly meeting the gaze +of the terrible eyes. + +"Of course," he answered, nodding his head with a graceful movement. +"You will try to thwart me and escape. You will pit your fairy power +against my powers of magic. That will give me great pleasure, for +the more you struggle, the greater will be my revenge." + +"But why should you seek revenge upon us?" asked Clia. "We have +never harmed you." + +"That is true," replied Zog. "I bear you no personal ill will. But +you are friends of my great enemy, King Anko, and it will annoy him +very much when he finds that you have been destroyed by me. I cannot +hurt the rascally old sea serpent himself, but through you I can +make him feel my vengeance." + +"The mermaids have existed thousands of years," said the Queen in a +tone of pride. "Do you imagine the despised and conquered Zog has +power to destroy them?" + +"I do not know," was the quiet answer. "It will be interesting to +discover which is the more powerful." + +"I challenge you to begin the test at once, vile magician!" +exclaimed Aquareine. + +"There is no hurry, fair Queen," answered Zog in his softest tones. +"I have been so many years in accomplishing your capture that it is +foolish to act hastily now. Besides, I am lonely. Here in my forced +retirement I see only those uninteresting earth mortals whom I have +made my slaves, for all sea dwellers are forbidden to serve me save +the sea devils, and they dare not enter my castle. I have saved many +mortals from drowning and brought them here to people my castle, but +I do not love mortals. Two lovely mermaids are much more +interesting, and before I allow you to perish, I shall have much +amusement in witnessing your despair and your struggles to escape. +You are now my prisoners. By slow degrees I shall wear out your +fairy powers and break your hearts, as well as the hearts of these +earth dwellers who have no magic powers, and I think it will be a +long time before I finally permit you to die." + +"That's all right," said Trot cheerfully. "The longer you take, the +better I'll be satisfied." + +"That's how I feel about it," added Cap'n Bill. "Don't get in a +hurry to kill us Zog. It'll be such a wear an' tear on your nerves. +Jes' take it easy an' let us live as long as we can." + +"Don't you care to die?" asked the magician. + +"It's a thing I never longed for," the sailor replied. "You see, we +had no business to go on a trip with the mermaids to begin with. +I've allus heard tell that mermaids is dangerous, an' no one as met +'em ever lived to tell the tale. Eh, Trot?" + +"That's what you said, Cap'n Bill." + +"So I guess we're done for, one way 'r 'nother, an' it don't matter +much which. But Trot's a good child, an' mighty young an' tender. It +don't seem like her time has come to die. I'd like to have her sent +safe home to her mother. So I've got this 'ere proposition to make, +Zog. If your magic could make ME die twice, or even THREE times fer +good measure, why you go ahead an' do it an' I won't complain. All I +ask is fer you to send this little girl safe back to dry land +again." + +"Don't you do it, Zog!" cried Trot indignantly, and turning to Cap'n +Bill, she added, "I'm not goin' to leave you down here in all this +mess, Cap'n, and don't you think it. If one of us gets out of the +muddle we're in, we'll both get out, so don't you make any bargains +with Zog to die twice." + +Zog listened to this conversation very carefully. "The dying does +not amount to much," he said. "It is the thinking about it that +hurts you mortals most. I've watched many a shipwreck at sea, and +the people would howl and scream for hours before the ship broke up. +Their terror was very enjoyable. But when the end came, they all +drowned as peacefully as if they were going to sleep, so it didn't +amuse me at all." + +"I'm not worrying," said Trot. + +"Ner me," said Cap'n Bill. "You'll find we can take what comes jes' +as easy as anybody." + +"I do not expect to get much from you poor mortals," said Zog +carelessly. "You are merely a side show to my circus, a sort of +dessert to my feast of vengeance. When the time comes, I can find a +hundred ways to kill you. My most interesting prisoners are these +pretty mermaids, who claim that none of their race has ever yet died +or been destroyed. The first mermaid ever created is living yet, and +I am told she is none other than Queen Aquareine. So I have a pretty +problem before me to invent some way to destroy the mermaids or put +them out of existence. And it will require some thought." + +"Also, it will require some power you do not possess," suggested the +Queen. + +"That may be," replied Zog softly. "But I am going to experiment, +and I believe I shall be able to cause you a lot of pain and sorrow +before I finally make an end of you. I have not lived twenty-seven +thousand years, Aquareine, without getting a certain amount of +wisdom, and I am more powerful than you suspect." + +"You are a monster and a wicked magician," said the Mermaid Queen. + +"I am," agreed Zog, "but I cannot help it. I was created part man, +part bird, part fish, part beast and part reptile, and such a +monstrosity could not be otherwise than wicked. Everybody hates me, +and I hate everybody." + +"Why don't you kill yourself?" asked Trot. + +"I've tried that and failed," he answered. "Only one being in the +world has power to destroy me, and that is King Anko, the sea +serpent." + +"Then you'd better let him do it," advised the little girl. + +"No. Much as I long to die, I cannot allow King Anko the pleasure of +killing me. He has always been my worst enemy, and it would be such +a joy to him to kill me that I really cannot allow him. Indeed, I +have always hoped to kill Anko. I have now been three thousand six +hundred and forty-two years, eleven months and nine days figuring +out a plan to destroy old Anko, and as yet I have not discovered a +way." + +"I'd give it up, if I were you," advised Trot. "Don't you think you +could get some fun out of trying to be good?" + +"No!" cried Zog, and his voice was not so soft as before. "Listen, +Aquareine, you and your attendants shall be prisoners in this castle +until I can manage to stop you from living. Rooms will be placed at +your disposal, and I wish you to go to them at o nce, as I am tired +of looking at you." + +"You're no more tired than we are," remarked Trot. "It's lucky you +can't see yourself, Zog." + +He turned his glowing eyes full upon her. "The worst of my queer +body I keep concealed," he said. "If ever you see it, you will +scream with terror." He touched a bell beside him, and the girl was +surprised to find how clearly its tones rang out through the water. +In an instant the boy Sacho appeared and bowed low before his +dreadful master. "Take the mermaids and the child to the Rose +Chamber," commanded Zog, "and take the old man-fish to the Peony +Room." + +Sacho turned to obey. "Are the outer passages well guarded?" asked +the monster. + +"Yes, as you have commanded," said the boy. + +"Then you may allow the prisoners to roam at will throughout the +castle. Now, go!" + +The prisoners followed Sacho from the room, glad to get away. The +presence of this evil being had grown oppressive to them, and Zog +had himself seemed ill at ease during the last few minutes. The robe +so closely wound around his body moved jerkily, as if something +beneath disturbed it, and at such times Zog shifted nervously in his +seat. + +Sacho's thin little legs trotted through the water and led the way +into a different passage from the one by which they had entered. +They swam slowly after him and breathed easier when they had left +the golden domed chamber where their wicked enemy sat enthroned. +"Well, how do you like him?" asked Sacho with a laugh. + +"We hate him!" declared Trot emphatically. + +"Of course you do," replied Sacho. "But you're wasting time hating +anything. It doesn't do you any good, or him any harm. Can you +sing?" + +"A little," said Trot, "but I don't feel like singing now." + +"You're wrong about that," the boy asserted. "Anything that keeps +you from singing is foolishness, unless it's laughter. Laughter, joy +and song are the only good things in the world." + +Trot did not answer this queer speech, for just then they came to a +flight of stairs, and Sacho climbed up them while the others swam. +And now they were in a lofty, broad corridor having many doors hung +with seaweed draperies. At one of these doorways Sacho stopped and +said, "Here is the Rose Chamber where the master commands you to +live until you die. You may wander anywhere in the castle as you +please; to leave it is impossible. Whenever you return to the Rose +Chamber, you will know it by this design of roses sewn in pearls +upon the hangings. The Peony Room where the man-fish is to live is +the next one farther on." + +"Thank you," replied Queen Aquareine. "Are we to be fed?" + +"Meals will be served in your rooms. If you desire anything, ring +the bell and some of the slaves will be sure to answer it. I am +mostly in attendance upon my master, but whenever I am at liberty I +will look after your comfort myself." + +Again they thanked the strange boy, and he turned and left them. +They could hear him whistle and sing as he returned along the +passage. Then Princess Clia parted the curtains that her queen and +companions might enter the Rose Chamber. + + + + + + +CAP'N JOE AND CAP'N BILL + +CHAPTER 14 + + + + + +The rooms Zog had given his prisoners were as handsome as all other +parts of this strange enchanted castle. Gold was used plentifully in +the decorations, and in the Rose Chamber occupied by the mermaids +and Trot golden roses formed a border around the entire room. The +sea maidens had evidently been expected, for the magician had +provided couches for them to recline upon similar to the ones used +in the mermaid palaces. The frames were of mother of pearl and the +cushions of soft, white sponges. In the room were toilet tables, +mirrors, ornaments and many articles used by earth people, which +they afterward learned had been plundered by Zog from sunken ships +and brought to his castle by his allies, the sea devils. + +While the mermaids were examining and admiring their room, Cap'n +Bill went to the Peony Room to see what it was like and found his +quarters were very cozy and interesting. There were pictures on the +wall, portraits of grave-looking porpoises, bashful seals, and smug +and smiling walruses. Some of the wall panels were formed of mirrors +and reflected clearly the interior of the room. Around the ceiling +was a frieze of imitation peonies in silver, and the furniture was +peony-shaped, the broad leaves being bent to form seats and couches. +Beside a pretty dressing table hung a bell cord with a tassel at the +end. Cap'n Bill did not know it was a bell cord, so he pulled it to +see what would happen and was puzzled to find that nothing seemed to +happen at all, the bell being too far away for him to hear it. Then +he began looking at the treasures contained in this royal apartment, +and was much pleased with a golden statue of a mermaid that +resembled Princess Clia in feature. A silver flower vase upon a +stand contained a bouquet of gorgeous peonies, "as nat'ral as life," +said Cap'n Bill, although he saw plainly that they must be made of +metal. + +Trot came in just then to see how her dear friend was located. She +entered from the doorway that connected the two rooms and said, +"Isn't it pretty, Cap'n? And who'd ever think that awful creature +Zog owned such a splendid castle and kept his prisoners in such +lovely rooms?" + +"I once heard tell," said the sailor, "of a foreign people that +sacrificed humans to please their pagan gods, an' before they killed +'em outright they stuffed the victims full of good things to eat an' +dressed 'em in pretty clothes an' treated 'em like princes. That's +why I don't take much comfort in our fine surroundin's, Trot. This +Zog is a pagan, if ever there was one, an' he don't mean us any +good, you may depend on 't." + +"No," replied Trot soberly, "I'm sure he does not expect us to be +happy here. But I'm going to fool him and have just as good a time +as I can." As she spoke they both turned around--an easy thing to do +with a single flop of their flexible tails--and Cap'n Bill uttered a +cry of surprise. Just across the room stood a perfect duplicate of +himself. The round head, with its bald top and scraggly whiskers, +the sailor cap and shirt, the wide pantaloons, even the wooden leg, +each and every one were exact copies of those owned by Cap'n Bill. +Even the expression in the light-blue eyes was the same, and it is +no wonder the old sailor stared at his "double" in amazement. But +the next minute he laughed and said, "Why, Trot, it's ME reflected +in a mirror. But at first I thought it was someone else." + +Trot was staring, too. "Look, Cap'n!" she whispered. "Look at the +wooden leg." + +"Well, it's MY wooden leg, ain't it?" he inquired. + +"If it is, it can't be a reflection in a mirror," she argued, "for +YOU haven't got a wooden leg. You've got a fish's tail." + +The old sailor was so startled by this truth that he gave a great +flop with his tail that upset his balance and made him keel a +somersault in the water before he got right side up again. Then he +found the other sailor man laughing at him and was horrified to find +the "reflection" advancing toward them by stumping along on its +wooden leg. "Keep away! Get out, there!" yelled Cap'n Bill. "You're +a ghost, the ghost o' me that once was, an' I can't bear the sight +o' you. Git out!" + +"Did you ring jes' to tell me to git out?" asked the other in a mild +voice. + +"I--I didn't ring," declared Cap'n Bill. + +"You did. You pulled that bell cord," said the one-legged (one or +more lines missing here in this edition) + +"Oh, did pullin' that thing ring a bell?" inquired the Cap'n, a +little ashamed of his ignorance and reassured by hearing the "ghost" +talk. + +"It surely did," was the reply, "and Sacho told me to answer your +bell and look after you. So I'm a-lookin' after you." + +"I wish you wouldn't," protested Cap'n Bill. "I've no use fer--fer +ghostses, anyhow." + +The strange sailor began to chuckle at hearing this, and his chuckle +was just like Cap'n Bill's chuckle, so full of merry humor that it +usually made everyone laugh with him. + +"Who are you?" asked Trot, who was very curious and much surprised. + +"I'm Cap'n Joe," was the reply. "Cap'n Joe Weedles, formerly o' the +brig 'Gladsome' an' now a slave o' Zog at the bottom o' the sea." + +"J--J--Joe Wee-Weedles!" gasped Cap'n Bill, amazed. "Joe Weedles o' +the 'Gladsome'! Why, dash my eyes, mate, you must be my brother!" + +"Are YOU Bill Weedles?" asked the other. And then he added, "But no, +you can't be. Bill wasn't no mermaid. He were a human critter like +myself." + +"That's what I am," said Cap'n Bill hastily. "I'm a human critter, +too. I've jes' borrered this fish tail to swim with while I'm +visitin' the mermaids." + +"Well, well," said Cap'n Joe in astonishment. "Who'd o' thought it! +An' who'd ever o' thought as I'd find my long-lost brother in Zog's +enchanted castle full fifty fathoms deep down in the wet, wet +water!" + +"Why, as fer that," replied Cap'n Bill, "it's YOU as is the +long-lost brother, not me. You an' your ship disappeared many a year +ago, an' ain't never been heard of since, while, as you see, I'm +livin' on earth yet." + +"You don't look it to all appearances," remarked Cap'n Joe in a +reflective tone of voice. "But I'll agree it's many a year since I +saw the top o' the water, an' I'm not expectin' to ever tramp on dry +land again." + +"Are you dead, or drownded, or what?" asked Cap'n Bill. + +"Neither one nor t'other," was the answer. "But Zog gave me gills +so's I could live in the water like fishes do, an' if I got on land +I couldn't breathe air any more'n a fish out o' water can. So I +guess as long as I live, I'll hev to stay down here." + +"Do you like it?" asked Trot. + +"Oh, I don't objec' much," said Cap'n Joe. "There ain't much +excitement here, fer we don't catch a flock o' mermaids ev'ry day, +but the work is easy an' the rations fair. I might o' been worse +off, you know, for when my brig was wrecked, I'd 'a' gone to Davy +Jones's Locker if Zog hadn't happened to find me an' made me a +fish." + +"You don't look as much like a fish as Cap'n Bill does," observed +Trot. + +"P'raps not," said Cap'n Joe, "but I notice Bill ain't got any gills +an' breathes like you an' the mermaids does. When he gets back to +land, he'll have his two legs again an' live in comfort breathin' +air." + +"I won't have two legs," asserted Cap'n Bill, "for when I'm on earth +I'm fitted with one wooden leg, jes' the same as you are, Joe." + +"Oh, I hadn't heard o' that, Bill, but I'm not surprised," replied +Brother Joe. "Many a sailor gets to wear a wooden leg in time. +Mine's hick'ry." + +"So's mine," said Cap'n Bill with a air of pride. "I'm glad I've run +across you, Joe, for I often wondered what had become of you. Seems +too bad, though, to have to spend all your life under water." + +"What's the odds?" asked Cap'n Joe. "I never could keep away from +the water since I was a boy, an' there's more dangers to be met +floatin' on it than there is soakin' in it. An' one other thing +pleases me when I think on it: I'm parted from my wife, a mighty +good woman with a tongue like a two-edge sword, an' my pore +widder'll get the insurance money an' live happy. As fer me, Bill, +I'm a good deal happier than I was when she kep' scoldin' me from +mornin' to night every minute I was home." + +"Is Zog a kind master?" asked Trot. + +"I can't say he's kind," replied Cap'n Joe, "for he's as near a +devil as any livin' critter CAN be. He grumbles an' growls in his +soft voice all day, an' hates himself an' everybody else. But I +don't see much of him. There's so many of us slaves here that Zog +don't pay much attention to us, an' we have a pretty good time when +the ol' magician is shut up in his den, as he mostly is." + +"Could you help us to escape?" asked the child. + +"Why, I don't know how," admitted Cap'n Joe. "There's magic all +around us, and we slaves are never allowed to leave this great cave. +I'll do what I can, o' course, but Sacho is the boy to help you if +anyone can. That little chap knows a heap, I can tell you. So now, +if nothin' more's wanted, I must get back to work." + +"What work do you do?" Cap'n Bill asked. + +"I sew buttons on Zog's clothes. Every time he gets mad, he busts +his buttons off, an' I have to sew 'em on again. As he's mad most o' +the time, it keeps me busy." + +"I'll see you again, won't I, Joe?" said Cap'n Bill. + +"No reason why you shouldn't, if you manage to keep alive," said +Cap'n Joe. "But you mustn't forget, Bill, this Zog has his grip on +you, an' I've never known anything to escape him yet." + +Saying this, the old sailor began to stump toward the door, but +tripped his foot against his wooden leg and gave a swift dive +forward. He would have fallen flat had he not grabbed the drapery at +the doorway and saved himself by holding fast to it with both hands. +Even then he rolled and twisted so awkwardly before he could get +upon his legs that Trot had to laugh outright at his antics. "This +hick'ry leg," said Cap'n Joe, "is so blamed light that it always +wants to float. Agga-Groo, the goldworker, has promised me a gold +leg that will stay down, but he never has time to make it. You're +mighty lucky, Bill, to have a merman's tail instead o' legs." + +"I guess I am, Joe," replied Cap'n Bill, "for in such a wet country +the fishes have the best of it. But I ain't sure I'd like this sort +o' thing always." + +"Think o' the money you'd make in a side show," said Cap'n Joe with +his funny chuckling laugh. Then he pounded his wooden leg against +the hard floor and managed to hobble from the room without more +accidents. + +When he had gone, Trot said, "Aren't you glad to find your brother +again, Cap'n Bill?" + +"Why, so-so," replied the sailor. "I don't know much about Joe, +seein' as we haven't met before for many a long year, an' all I +remember about our boyhood days is that we fit an' pulled hair most +o' the time. But what worries me most is Joe's lookin' so much like +me myself, wooden leg an' all. Don't you think it's rather cheeky +an' unbrotherly, Trot?" + +"Perhaps he can't help it," suggested the child. "And anyhow, he'll +never be able to live on land again." + +"No," said Cap'n Bill with a sigh. "Joe's a fish, now, an' so he +ain't likely to be took for me by one of our friends on the earth." + + + + + + +THE MAGIC OF THE MERMAIDS + +CHAPTER 15 + + + + + +When Trot and Cap'n Bill entered the Rose Chamber they found the two +mermaids reclining before an air fountain that was sending thousands +of tiny bubbles up through the water. + +"These fountains of air are excellent things," remarked Queen +Aquareine, "for they keep the water fresh and sweet, and that is the +more necessary when it is confined by walls, as it is in this +castle. But now, let us counsel together and decide what to do in +the emergency that confronts us." + +"How can we tell what to do without knowing what's going to happen?" +asked Trot. + +"Somethin's sure to happen," said Cap'n Bill. + +As if to prove his words, a gong suddenly sounded at their door and +in walked a fat little man clothed all in white, including a white +apron and white cap. His face was round and jolly, and he had a big +mustache that curled up at the ends. + +"Well, well!" said the little man, spreading out his legs and +putting his hands on his hips as he stood looking at them. "Of all +the queer things in the sea, you're the queerest! Mermaids, eh?" + +"Don't bunch us that way!" protested Cap'n Bill. + +"You are quite wrong," said Trot. "I'm a--a girl." + +"With a fish's tail?" he asked, laughing at her. + +"That's only just for a while," she said, "while I'm in the water, +you know. When I'm at home on the land I walk just as you do, an' so +does Cap'n Bill." + +"But we haven't any gills," remarked the Cap'n, looking closely at +the little man's throat, "so I take it we're not as fishy as some +others." + +"If you mean me, I must admit you are right," said the little man, +twisting his mustache. "I'm as near a fish as a man can be. But you +see, Cap'n, without the gills that make me a fish, I could not live +under water." + +"When it comes to that, you've no business to live under water," +asserted the sailor. "But I s'pose you're a slave and can't help +it." + +"I'm chief cook for that old horror Zog. And that reminds me, good +mermaids, or good people, or good girls and sailors, or whatever you +are, that I'm sent here to ask what you'd like to eat." + +"Good to see you, sir," said Cap'n Bill. "I'm nearly starved, +myself." + +"I had it in mind," said the little man, "to prepare a regular +mermaid dinner, but since you're not mermaids--" + +"Oh, two of us are," said the Queen, smiling. "I, my good cook, am +Aquareine, the ruler of the mermaids, and this is the Princess +Clia." + +"I've often heard of you, your Majesty," returned the chief cook, +bowing respectfully, "and I must say I've heard only good of you. +Now that you have unfortunately become my master's prisoners, it +will give me pleasure to serve you as well as I am able." + +"We thank you, good sir," said Aquareine. + +"What have you got to eat?" inquired Trot. "Seems to me I'm hollow +way down to my toes--my tail, I mean--and it'll take a lot to fill +me up. We haven't eaten a morsel since breakfast, you know." + +"I think I shall be able to give you almost anything you would +like," said the cook. "Zog is a wonderful magician and can procure +anything that exists with no more effort than a wiggle of his thumb. +But some eatables, you know, are hard to serve under water, because +they get so damp that they are soon ruined." + +"Ah, it is different with the mermaids," said Princess Clia. + +"Yes, all your things are kept dry because they are surrounded by +air. I've heard how the mermaids live. But here it is different." + +"Take this ring," said the Queen, handing the chief cook a circlet +which she drew from her finger. "While it is in your possession, the +food you prepare will not get wet, or even moist." + +"I thank your Majesty," returned the cook, taking the ring. "My name +is Tom Atto, and I'll do my best to please you. How would you like +for luncheon some oysters on the half-shell, clam broth, shrimp +salad, broiled turtle steak and watermelon?" + +"That will do very nicely," answered the Queen. + +"Do watermelons grow in the sea?" asked Trot. + +"Of course, that is why they are called watermelons," replied Tom +Atto. "I think I shall serve you a water ice, in addition to the +rest. Water ice is an appropriate sea food." + +"Have some watercress with the salad," said Cap'n Bill. + +"I'd thought of that," declared the cook. "Doesn't my bill of fare +make your mouths water?" + +"Hurry up and get it ready," suggested Trot. + +Tom Atto at once bowed and retired, and when they were done, Cap'n +Bill said to the queen, "Do you think, ma'am, we can manage to +escape from Zog and his castle?" + +"I hope we shall find a way," replied Aquareine. "The evil powers of +magic which Zog controls may not prove to be as strong as the fairy +powers I possess, but of course I cannot be positive until I +discover what this wicked magician is able to do." + +Princess Clia was looking out of one of the windows. "I think I can +see an opening far up in the top of the dome," she said. They all +hastened to the windows to look, and although Trot and Cap'n Bill +could see nothing but a solid dome above the castle--perhaps because +it was so far away from them--the sharp eyes of Aquareine were not +to be deceived. + +"Yes," she announced, "there is surely an opening in the center of +the great dome. A little thought must convince us that such an +opening is bound to exist, for otherwise the water confined within +the dome would not be fresh or clear." + +"Then if we could escape from this castle, we could swim up to the +hole in the dome and get free!" exclaimed Trot. + +"Why, Zog has probably ordered the opening well guarded, as he has +all the other outlets," responded the Queen. "Yet it may be worth +while for us to make the attempt to get back into the broad ocean +this way. The night would be the best time, when all are asleep, and +surely it will be quicker to reach the ocean through this hole in +the roof than by means of the long, winding passages by which we +entered." + +"But we will have to break out of the castle in some way," observed +Cap'n Bill. + +"That will not be difficult," answered Aquareine. "It will be no +trouble for me to shatter one of these panes of glass, allowing us +to pass out and swim straight up to the top of the dome." + +"Let's do it now!" said Trot eagerly. + +"No, my dear, we must wait for a good opportunity when we are not +watched closely. We do not wish the terrible Zog to thwart our +plan," answered the Queen gently. + +Presently two sailor boys entered bearing trays of food, which they +placed upon a large table. They were cheery-faced young fellows with +gills at their throats, but had laughing eyes, and Trot was +astonished not to find any of the slaves of Zog weeping or +miserable. Instead, they were as jolly and good-natured as could be +and seemed to like their life under the water. Cap'n Bill asked one +of the boys how many slaves were in the castle, and the youth +replied that he would try to count them and let him know. + +Tom Atto had, they found, prepared for them an excellent meal, and +they ate heartily because they were really hungry. After luncheon +Cap'n Bill smoked his pipe contentedly, and they renewed their +conversation, planning various ways to outwit Zog and make their +escape. While thus engaged, the gong at the door sounded and Sacho +entered. + +"My diabolical master commands you to attend him," said the boy. + +"When?" asked Aquareine. + +"At once, your Majesty." + +"Very well, we will follow you," she said. So they swam down the +corridors following Sacho until they again reached the golden-domed +room they had formerly visited. Here sat Zog just as they had left +him, seemingly, but when his prisoners entered, the magician arose +and stood upon his cloven feet and then silently walked to a +curtained archway. + +Sacho commanded the prisoners to follow, and beyond the archway they +found a vast chamber that occupied the center of the castle and was +as big as a ballroom. Zog, who seemed to walk with much difficulty +because his ungainly body swayed back and forth, did not go far +beyond the arched entrance. A golden throne was set nearby, and in +this the monster seated himself. At one side of the throne stood a +group of slaves. They were men, women and children. All had broad +gold bands clasped around their ankles as a badge of servitude, and +at each throat were the fish's gills that enabled them to breathe +and live under water. Yet every face was smiling and serene, even in +the presence of their dread master. In parts of the big hall were +groups of other slaves. + +Sacho ranged the prisoners in a circle before Zog's throne, and +slowly the magician turned his eyes, glowing like live coals, upon +the four. "Captives," said he, speaking in his clear, sweet voice, +"in our first interview you defied me, and both the mermaid queen +and the princess declared they could not die. But if that is a true +statement, as I have yet to discover, there are various ways to make +you miserable and unhappy, and this I propose to do in order to +amuse myself at your expense. You have been brought here to undergo +the first trial of strength between us." None of the prisoners +replied to this speech, so Zog turned to one of his slaves and said, +"Rivivi, bring in the Yell-Maker." + +Rivivi was a big fellow, brown of skin and with flashing, black +eyes. He bowed to his master and left the room by an archway covered +with heavy draperies. The next moment these curtains were violently +pushed aside, and a dreadful sea creature swam into the hall. It had +a body much like that of a crab, only more round and of a jet-black +color. Its eyes were bright yellow balls set on the ends of two +horns that stuck out of its head. They were cruel-looking eyes, too, +and seemed able to see every person in the room at the same time. +The legs of the Yell-Maker, however, were the most curious part of +the creature. There were six of them, slender and black as coal, and +each extended twelve to fifteen feet from its body when stretched +out in a straight line. They were hinged in several places so they +could be folded up or extended at will. At the ends of these thin +legs were immense claws shaped like those of a lobster, and they +were real "nippers" of a most dangerous sort. + +The prisoners knew, as soon as they saw the awful claws, why the +thing was called the "Yell-Maker," and Trot gave a little shiver and +crept closer to Cap'n Bill. Zog looked with approval upon the +creature he had summoned and said to it, "I give you four victims, +the four people with fish's tails. Let me hear how loud they can +yell." + +The Yell-Maker uttered a grunt of pleasure and in a flash stretched +out one of its long legs toward the queen's nose, where its powerful +claws came together with a loud noise. Aquareine did not stir; she +only smiled. Both Zog and the creature that had attacked her seemed +much surprised to find she was unhurt. "Again!" cried Zog, and again +the Yell-Maker's claw shot out and tried to pinch the queen's pretty +ear. But the magic of the fairy mermaid was proof against this +sea-rascal's strength and swiftness, nor could he touch any part of +Aquareine, although he tried again and again, roaring with anger +like a mad bull. + +Trot began to enjoy this performance, and as her merry, childish +laughter rang out, the Yell-Maker turned furiously upon the little +girl, two of the dreadful claws trying to nip her at the same time. +She had no chance to cry out or jump backward, yet she remained +unharmed. For the Fairy Circle of Queen Aquareine kept her safe. Now +Cap'n Bill was attacked, and Princess Clia as well. The half-dozen +slender legs darted in every direction like sword thrusts to reach +their victims, and the cruel claws snapped so rapidly that the sound +was like the rattling of castanets. But the four prisoners regarded +their enemy with smiling composure, and no yell greeted the +Yell-Maker's efforts. + +"Enough!" said Zog, softly and sweetly. "You may retire, my poor +Yell-Maker, for with these people you are powerless." + +The creature paused and rolled its yellow eyes. "May I nip just one +of the slaves, oh Zog?" it asked pleadingly. "I hate to leave +without pleasing your ears with a single yell." + +"Let my slaves alone," was Zog's answer. "They are here to serve me +and must not be injured. Go, feeble one." + +"Not so!" cried the Queen. "It is a shame, Zog, that such an evil +thing should exist in our fair sea." With this, she drew her fairy +wand from a fold of her gown and waved it toward the creature. At +once the Yell-Maker sank down unconscious upon the floor; its legs +fell apart in many pieces, the claws tumbling in a heap beside the +body. Then all grew withered and lost shape, becoming a pulpy mass, +like gelatin. A few moments later the creature had melted away to +nothing at all, forever disappearing from the ocean where it had +caused so much horror and pain. + +Zog watched this destruction with surprising patience. When it was +all over, he nodded his head and smiled, and Trot noticed that +whenever Zog smiled, his slaves lost their jolly looks and began to +tremble. "That is very pretty magic, Aquareine," said the monster. +"I myself learned the trick several thousand years ago, so it does +not astonish me. Have you fairies nothing that is new to show me?" + +"We desire only to protect ourselves," replied the Queen with +dignity. + +"Then I will give you a chance to do so," said Zog. As he spoke, the +great marble blocks in the ceiling of the room directly over the +heads of the captives gave way and came crashing down upon them. +Many tons of weight were in these marble blocks, and the magician +had planned to crush his victims where they stood. But the four were +still unharmed. The marble, being unable to touch them, was diverted +from its course, and when the roar of the great crash had died away, +Zog saw his intended victims standing quietly in their places and +smiling scornfully at his weak attempts to destroy them. + + + + + + +THE TOP OF THE GREAT DOME + +CHAPTER 16 + + + + + +Cap'n Bill's heart was beating pretty vast, but he did not let Zog +know that. Trot was so sure of the protection of the fairy mermaids +that she would not allow herself to become frightened. Aquareine and +Clia were as calm as if nothing had happened. + +"Please excuse this little interruption," said Zog. "I knew very +well the marble blocks would not hurt you. But the play is over for +a time. You may now retire to your rooms, and when I again invite +you to my presence, I shall have found some better ways to entertain +you." + +Without reply to this threat, they turned and followed Sacho from +the hall, and the boy led them straight back to their own rooms. + +"Zog is making a great mistake," said Sacho with a laugh. "He has no +time for vengeance, but the great magician does not know that." + +"What is he trying to do, anyway?" asked Trot. + +"He does not tell me all his secrets, but I've an idea he wants to +kill you," replied Sacho. "How absurd it is to be plotting such a +thing when he might spend his time in laughing and being jolly! +Isn't it, now?" + +"Zog is a wicked, wicked creature!" exclaimed Trot. + +"But he had his good points," replied Sacho cheerfully. "There is no +one about in the world so bad that there is nothing good about him." + +"I'm not so sure of that," said Cap'n Bill. "What are Zog's good +points?" + +"All his slaves were saved from drowning, and he is kind to them," +said Sacho. + +"That is merely the kindness of selfishness," said Aquareine. "Tell +me, my lad, is the opening in the great dome outside guarded?" + +"Yes indeed," was the reply. "You cannot hope to escape in that way, +for the prince of the sea devils, who is the largest and fiercest of +his race, lies crouched over the opening night and day, and none can +pass his network of curling legs." + +"Is there no avenue that is not guarded?" continued Aquareine. + +"None at all, your Majesty. Zog is always careful to be well +guarded, for he fears the approach of an enemy. What this enemy can +be to terrify the great magician I do not know, but Zog is always +afraid and never leaves an entrance unguarded. Besides, it is an +enchanted castle, you know, and none in the ocean can see it unless +Zog wishes him to. So it will be very hard for his enemy to find +him." + +"We wish to escape," said Clia. "Will you help us, Sacho?" + +"In any way I can," replied the boy. + +"If we succeed, we will take you with us," continued the Princess. + +But Sacho shook his head and laughed. "I would indeed like to see +you escape Zog's vengeance," said he, "for vengeance is wrong, and +you are too pretty and too good to be destroyed. But I am happy here +and have no wish to go away, having no other home or friends other +than my fellow slaves." + +Then he left them, and when they were again alone, Aquareine said, +"We were able to escape Zog's attacks today, but I am quite sure he +will plan more powerful ways to destroy us. He has shown that he +knows some clever magic, and perhaps I shall not be able to foil it. +So it will be well for us to escape tonight if possible." + +"Can you fight and conquer the big sea devil up in the dome?" asked +Trot. + +The queen was thoughtful, and did not reply to this question at +once. But Cap'n Bill said uneasily, "I can't abide them devil +critters, an' I hopes, for my part, we won't be called on to tackle +'em. You see, Trot, we're in consider'ble of a bad mess, an' if we +ever live to tell the tale--" + +"Why not, Cap'n?" asked the child. "We're safe enough so far. Can't +you trust our good friend, the queen?" + +"She don't seem plumb sure o' things herself," remarked the sailor. +"The mermaids is all right an' friendly, mate, but this 'ere magic +maker, ol' Zog, is a bad one, out 'n' out, an' means to kill us if +he can." + +"But he can't!" cried Trot bravely. + +"I hope you're right, dear. I wouldn't want to bet on Zog's chances +jes' yet, an' at the same time it would be riskin' money to bet on +our chances. Seems to me it's a case of luck which wins." + +"Don't worry, friend," said the Queen. "I have a plan to save us. +Let us wait patiently until nightfall." They waited in the Rose +Chamber a long time, talking earnestly together, but the brilliant +light that flooded both the room and the great dome outside did not +fade in the least. After several hours had passed away, the gong +sounded and Tom Atto again appeared, followed by four slaves bearing +many golden dishes upon silver trays. The friendly cook had prepared +a fine dinner, and they were all glad to find that, whatever Zog +intended to do to them, he had no intention of starving them. +Perhaps the magician realized that Aquareine's fairy powers, if put +to the test, would be able to provide food for her companions, but +whatever his object may have been, their enemy had given them +splendid rooms and plenty to eat. + +"Isn't it nearly nighttime?" asked the Queen as Tom Atto spread the +table with a cloth of woven seaweed and directed his men to place +the dishes upon it. + +"Night!" he exclaimed as if surprised. "There is no night here." + +"Doesn't it ever get dark?" inquired Trot. + +"Never. We know nothing of the passage of time or of day or night. +The light always shines just as you see it now, and we sleep +whenever we are tired and rise again as soon as we are rested." + +"What causes the light?" Princess Clia asked. + +"It's magic, your Highness," said the cook solemnly. "It's one of +the curious things Zog is able to do. But you must remember all this +place is a big cave in which the castle stands, so the light is +never seen by anyone except those who live here." + +"But why does Zog keep his light going all the time?" asked the +Queen. + +"I suppose it is because he himself never sleeps," replied Tom Atto. +"They say the master hasn't slept for hundreds of years, not since +Anko, the sea serpent, defeated him and drove him into this place." + +They asked no more questions and began to eat their dinner in +silence. Before long, Cap'n Joe came in to visit his brother and +took a seat at the table with the prisoners. He proved a jolly +fellow, and when he and Cap'n Bill talked about their boyhood days, +the stories were so funny that everybody laughed and for a time +forgot their worries. + +When dinner was over, however, and Cap'n Joe had gone back to his +work of sewing on buttons and the servants had carried away the +dishes, the prisoners remembered their troubles and the fate that +awaited them. "I am much disappointed," said the Queen, "to find +there is no night here and that Zog never sleeps. It will make our +escape more difficult. Yet we must make the attempt, and as we are +tired and a great struggle is before us, it will be best for us to +sleep and refresh ourselves." + +They agreed to this, for the day had been long and adventurous, so +Cap'n Bill kissed Trot and went in to the Peony Room, where he lay +down upon his spongy couch and fell fast asleep. The mermaids and +Trot followed this example, and I think none of them was much +worried, after all, because they quickly sank into peaceful slumber +and forgot all the dangers that threatened them. + + + + + + +THE QUEEN'S GOLDEN SWORD + +CHAPTER 17 + + + + + +"Goodness me!" exclaimed Trot, raising herself by a flirt of her +pink-scaled tail and a wave of her fins, "isn't it dreadful hot +here?" + +The mermaids had risen at the same time, and Cap'n Bill came +swimming in from the Peony Room in time to hear the little girl's +speech. + +"Hot!" echoed the sailor. "Why, I feel like the inside of a steam +engine!" + +The perspiration was rolling down his round, red face, and he took +out his handkerchief and carefully wiped it away, waving his fish +tail gently at the same time. + +"What we need most in this room," said he, "is a fan." + +"What's the trouble, do you s'pose?" inquired Trot. + +"It is another trick of the monster Zog," answered the Queen calmly. +"He has made the water in our rooms boiling hot, and if it could +touch us, we would be well cooked by this time. Even as it is, we +are all made uncomfortable by breathing the heated air." + +"What shall we do, ma'am?" the sailor man asked with a groan. "I +expected to get into hot water afore we've done with this +foolishness, but I don't like the feel o' bein' parboiled, jes' the +same." + +The queen was waving her fairy wand and paid no attention to Cap'n +Bill's moans. Already the water felt cooler, and they began to +breathe more easily. In a few moments more, the heat had passed from +the surrounding water altogether, and all danger from this source +was over. + +"This is better," said Trot gratefully. + +"Do you care to sleep again?" asked the Queen. + +"No, I'm wide awake now," answered the child. + +"I'm afraid if I goes to sleep ag'in, I'll wake up a pot roast," +said Cap'n Bill. + +"Let us consider ways to escape," suggested Clia. "It seems useless +for us to remain here quietly until Zog discovers a way to destroy +us." + +"But we must not blunder," added Aquareine cautiously. "To fail in +our attempt would be to acknowledge Zog's superior power, so we must +think well upon our plan before we begin to carry it out. What do +you advise, sir?" she asked, turning to Cap'n Bill. + +"My opinion, ma'am, is that the only way for us to escape is to get +out o' here," was the sailor's vague answer. "How to do it is your +business, seein' as I ain't no fairy myself, either in looks or in +eddication." + +The queen smiled and said to Trot, "What is your opinion, my dear?" + +"I think we might swim out the same way we came in," answered the +child. "If we could get Sacho to lead us back through the maze, we +would follow that long tunnel to the open ocean, and--" + +"And there would be the sea devils waitin' for us," added Cap'n Bill +with a shake of his bald head. "They'd drive us back inter the +tunnel like they did the first time, Trot. It won't do, mate, it +won't do." + +"Have you a suggestion, Clia?" inquired the Queen. + +"I have thought of an undertaking," replied the pretty princess, +"but it is a bold plan, your Majesty, and you may not care to risk +it." + +"Let us hear it, anyway," said Aquareine encouragingly. + +"It is to destroy Zog himself and put him out of the world forever. +Then we would be free to go home whenever we pleased." + +"Can you suggest a way to destroy Zog?" asked Aquareine. + +"No, your Majesty," Clia answered. "I must leave the way for you to +determine." + +"In the old days," said the Queen thoughtfully, "the mighty King +Anko could not destroy this monster. He succeeded in defeating Zog +and drove him into this great cavern, but even Anko could not +destroy him." + +"I have heard the sea serpent explain that it was because he could +not reach the magician," returned Clia. "If King Anko could have +seized Zog in his coils, he would have made an end of the wicked +monster quickly. Zog knows this, and that is why he does not venture +forth from his retreat. Anko is the enemy he constantly dreads. But +with you, my queen, the case is different. You may easily reach Zog, +and the only question is whether your power is sufficient to destroy +him." + +For a while Aquareine remained silent. "I am not sure of my power +over him," she said at last, "and for that reason I hesitate to +attack him personally. His slaves and his allies, the sea devils, I +can easily conquer, so I prefer to find a way to overcome the guards +at the entrances rather than to encounter their terrible master. But +even the guards have been given strength and power by the magician, +as we have already discovered, so I must procure a weapon with which +to fight them." + +"A weapon, ma'am?" said Cap'n Bill, and then he took a jackknife +from his coat pocket and opened the big blade, afterward handing it +to the queen. "That ain't a bad weapon," he announced. + +"But it is useless in this case," she replied, smiling at the old +sailor's earnestness. "For my purpose I must have a golden sword." + +"Well, there's plenty of gold around this castle," said Trot, +looking around her. "Even in this room there's enough to make a +hundred golden swords." + +"But we can't melt or forge gold under water, mate," the Cap'n said. + +"Why not? Don't you s'pose all these gold roses and things were made +under water?" asked the little girl. + +"Like enough," remarked the sailor, "but I don't see how." + +Just then the gong at the door sounded, and the boy Sacho came in +smiling and cheerful as ever. He said Zog had sent him to inquire +after their health and happiness. "You may tell him that his water +became a trifle too warm, so we cooled it," replied the Queen. Then +they told Sacho how the boiling water had made them uncomfortable +while they slept. + +Sacho whistled a little tune and seemed thoughtful. "Zog is +foolish," said he. "How often have I told him that vengeance is a +waste of time. He is worried to know how to destroy you, and that is +wasting more time. You are worried for fear he will injure you, and +so you also are wasting time. My, my! What a waste of time is going +on in this castle!" + +"Seems to me that we have so much time it doesn't matter," said +Trot. "What's time for, anyhow?" + +"Time is given us to be happy, and for no other reason," replied the +boy soberly. "When we waste time, we waste happiness. But there is +no time for preaching, so I'll go." + +"Please wait a moment, Sacho," said the Queen. + +"Can I do anything to make you happy?" he asked, smiling again. + +"Yes," answered Aquareine. "We are curious to know who does all this +beautiful gold work and ornamentation." + +"Some of the slaves here are goldsmiths, having been taught by Zog +to forge and work metal under water," explained Sacho. "In parts of +the ocean lie many rocks filled with veins of pure gold and golden +nuggets, and we get large supplies from sunken ships as well. There +is no lack of gold here, but it is not as precious as it is upon the +earth because here we have no need of money." + +"We would like to see the goldsmiths at work," announced the Queen. + +The boy hesitated a moment. Then he said, "I will take you to their +room, where you may watch them for a time. I will not ask Zog's +permission to do this, for he might refuse. But my orders were to +allow you the liberty of the castle, and so I will let you see the +goldsmiths' shop." + +"Thank you," replied Aquareine quietly, and then the four followed +Sacho along various corridors until they came to a large room where +a dozen men were busily at work. Lying here and there were heaps of +virgin gold, some in its natural state and some already fashioned +into ornaments and furniture of various sorts. Each man worked at a +bench where there was a curious iron furnace in which glowed a +vivid, white light. Although this workshop was all under water and +the workmen were all obliged to breathe as fishes do, the furnaces +glowed so hot that the water touching them was turned into steam. +Gold or other metal held over a furnace quickly softened or melted, +when it could be forged or molded into any shape desired. + +"The furnaces are electric," explained Sacho, "and heat as well +under water as they would in the open air. Let me introduce you to +the foreman, who will tell you of his work better than I can." + +The foreman was a slave named Agga-Groo, who was lean and lank and +had an expression more surly and unhappy than any slave they had yet +seen. Yet he seemed willing to leave his work and explain to the +visitors how he made so many beautiful things out of gold, for he +took much pride in this labor and knew its artistic worth. Moreover, +since he had been in Zog's castle these were the first strangers to +enter his workshop, so he welcomed them in his own gruff way. + +The queen asked him if he was happy, and he shook his head and +replied, "It isn't like Calcutta, where I used to work in gold +before I was wrecked at sea and nearly drowned. Zog rescued me and +brought me here a slave. It is a stupid life we lead, doing the same +things over and over every day, but perhaps it is better than being +dead. I'm not sure. The only pleasure I get in life is in creating +pretty things out of gold." + +"Could you forge me a golden sword?" asked the Queen, smiling +sweetly upon the goldsmith. + +"I could, madam, but I won't unless Zog orders me to do it." + +"Do you like Zog better than you do me?" inquired Aquareine. + +"No," was the answer. "I hate Zog." + +"Then won't you make the sword to please me and to show your skill?" +pleaded the pretty mermaid. + +"I'm afraid of my master. He might not like it," the man replied. + +"But he will never know," said Princess Clia. + +"You cannot say what Zog knows or what he doesn't know," growled the +man. "I can't take chances of offending Zog, for I must live with +him always as a slave." With this he turned away and resumed his +work, hammering the leaf of a golden ship. + +Cap'n Bill had listened carefully to this conversation, and being a +wise old sailor in his way, he thought he understood the nature of +old Agga-Groo better than the mermaids did. So he went close to the +goldsmith, and feeling in the pockets of his coat drew out a silver +compass shaped like a watch. "I'll give you this if you'll make the +queen the golden sword," he said. + +Agga-Groo looked at the compass with interest and tested its power +of pointing north. Then he shook his head and handed it back to +Cap'n Bill. The sailor dived into his pocket again and pulled out a +pair of scissors, which he placed beside the compass on the palm of +his big hand. "You may have them both," he said. + +Agga-Groo hesitated, for he wanted the scissors badly, but finally +he shook his head again. Cap'n Bill added a piece of cord, an iron +thimble, some fishhooks, four buttons and a safety pin, but still +the goldsmith would not be tempted. So with a sigh the sailor +brought out his fine, big jackknife, and at sight of this +Agga-Groo's eyes began to sparkle. Steel was not to be had at the +bottom of the sea, although gold was so plentiful. "All right, +friend," he said. "Give me that lot of trinkets and I'll make you a +pretty gold sword. But it won't be any good except to look at, for +our gold is so pure that it is very soft." + +"Never mind that," replied Cap'n Bill. "All we want is the sword." + +The goldsmith set to work at once, and so skillful was he that in a +few minutes he had forged a fine sword of yellow gold with an +ornamental handle. The shape was graceful and the blade keen and +slender. It was evident to them all that the golden sword would not +stand hard use, for the edge of the blade would nick and curl like +lead, but the queen was delighted with the prize and took it eagerly +in her hand. + +Just then Sacho returned to say that they must go back to their +rooms, and after thanking the goldsmith, who was so busy examining +his newly acquired treasure that he made no response, they joyfully +followed the boy back to the Rose Chamber. Sacho told them that he +had just come from Zog, who was still wasting time in plotting +vengeance. "You must be careful," he advised them, "for my cruel +master intends to stop you from living, and he may succeed. Don't be +unhappy, but be careful. Zog is angry because you escaped his +Yell-Maker and the falling stones and the hot water. While he is +angry he is wasting time, but that will not help you. Take care not +to waste any time yourselves." + +"Do you know what Zog intends to do to us next?" asked Princess +Clia. + +"No," said Sacho, "but it is reasonable to guess that, being evil, +he intends evil. He never intends to do good, I assure you." Then +the boy went away. + +"I am no longer afraid," declared the Mermaid Queen when they were +alone. "When I have bestowed certain fairy powers upon this golden +sword, it will fight its way against any who dare oppose us, and +even Zog himself will not care to face so powerful a weapon. I am +now able to promise you that we shall make our escape." + +"Good!" cried Trot joyfully. "Shall we start now?" + +"Not yet, my dear. It will take me a little while to charm this +golden blade so that it will obey my commands and do my work. There +is no need of undue haste, so I propose we all sleep for a time and +obtain what rest we can. We must be fresh and ready for our great +adventure." + +As their former nap had been interrupted, they readily agreed to +Aquareine's proposal and at once went to their couches and composed +themselves to slumber. When they were asleep, the fairy mermaid +charmed her golden sword and then she also lay down to rest herself. + + + + + + +A DASH FOR LIBERTY + +CHAPTER 18 + + + + + +Trot dreamed that she was at home in her own bed, but the night +seemed chilly and she wanted to draw the coverlet up to her chin. +She was not wide awake, but realized that she was cold and unable to +move her arms to cover herself up. She tried, but could not stir. +Then she roused herself a little more and tried again. Yes, it was +cold, very cold! Really, she MUST do something to get warm, she +thought. She opened her eyes and stared at a great wall of ice in +front of her. + +She was awake now, and frightened, too. But she could not move +because the ice was all around her. She was frozen inside of it, and +the air space around her was not big enough to allow her to turn +over. + +At once the little girl realized what had happened. Their wicked +enemy Zog had by his magic art frozen all the water in their room +while they slept, and now they were all imprisoned and helpless. +Trot and Cap'n Bill were sure to freeze to death in a short time, +for only a tiny air space remained between their bodies and the ice, +and this air was like that of a winter day when the thermometer is +below zero. + +Across the room Trot could see the mermaid queen lying on her couch, +for the solid ice was clear as crystal. Aquareine was imprisoned +just as Trot was, and although she held her fairy wand in one hand +and the golden sword in the other, she seemed unable to move either +of them, and the girl remembered that the queen always waved her +magic wand to accomplish anything. Princess Clia's couch was behind +that of Trot, so the child could not see her, and Cap'n Bill was in +his own room, probably frozen fast in the ice as the others were. + +The terrible Zog has surely been very clever in this last attempt to +destroy them. Trot thought it all over, and she decided that +inasmuch as the queen was unable to wave her fairy wand, she could +do nothing to release herself or her friends. + +But in this the girl was mistaken. The fairy mermaid was even now at +work trying to save them, and in a few minutes Trot was astonished +and delighted to see the queen rise from her couch. She could not go +far from it at first, but the ice was melting rapidly all around her +so that gradually Aquareine approached the place where the child +lay. Trot could hear the mermaid's voice sounding through the ice as +if from afar off, but it grew more distinct until she could make out +that the queen was saying, "Courage, friends! Do not despair, for +soon you will be free." + +Before very long the ice between Trot and the queen had melted away +entirely, and with a cry of joy the little girl flopped her pink +tail and swam to the side of her deliverer. + +"Are you very cold?" asked Aquareine. + +"N-not v-v-very!" replied Trot, but her teeth chattered and she was +still shivering. + +"The water will be warm in a few minutes," said the Queen. "But now +I must melt the rest of the ice and liberate Clia." + +This she did in an astonishingly brief time, and the pretty +princess, being herself a fairy, had not been at all affected by the +cold surrounding her. + +They now swam to the door of Cap'n Bill's room and found the Peony +Chamber a solid block of ice. The queen worked her magic power as +hard as she could, and the ice flowed and melted quickly before her +fairy wand. Yet when they reached the old sailor, he was almost +frozen stiff, and Trot and Clia had to rub his hands and nose and +ears very briskly to warm him up and bring him back to life. + +Cap'n Bill was pretty tough, and he came around, in time, and opened +his eyes and sneezed and asked if the blizzard was over. So the +queen waved her wand over his head a few times to restore him to his +natural condition of warmth, and soon the old sailor became quite +comfortable and was able to understand all about the strange +adventure from which he had so marvelously escaped. + +"I've made up my mind to one thing, Trot," he said confidentially. +"If ever I get out o' this mess I'm in, I won't be an Arctic +explorer, whatever else happens. Shivers an' shakes ain't to my +likin', an' this ice business ain't what it's sometimes cracked up +to be. To be friz once is enough fer anybody, an' if I was a gal +like you, I wouldn't even wear frizzes on my hair." + +"You haven't any hair, Cap'n Bill," answered Trot, "so you needn't +worry." + +The queen and Clia had been talking together very earnestly. They +now approached their earth friends, and Aquareine said: + +"We have decided not to remain in this castle any longer. Zog's +cruel designs upon our lives and happiness are becoming too +dangerous for us to endure. The golden sword now bears a fairy +charm, and by its aid I will cut a way through our enemies. Are you +ready and willing to follow me?" + +"Of course we are!" cried Trot. + +"It don't seem 'zactly right to ask a lady to do the fightin'," +remarked Cap'n Bill, "but magic ain't my strong p'int, and it seems +to be yours, ma'am. So swim ahead, and we'll wiggle the same way you +do, an' try to wiggle out of our troubles." + +"If I chance to fail," said the Queen, "try not to blame me. I will +do all in my power to provide for our escape, and I am willing to +risk everything, because I well know that to remain here will mean +to perish in the end." + +"That's all right," said Trot with fine courage. "Let's have it over +with." + +"Then we will leave here at once," said Aquareine. + +She approached the window of the room and with one blow of her +golden sword shattered the thick pane of glass. The opening thus +made was large enough for them to swim through if they were careful +not to scrape against the broken points of glass. The queen went +first, followed by Trot and Cap'n Bill, with Clia last of all. + +And now they were in the vast dome in which the castle and gardens +of Zog had been built. Around them was a clear stretch of water, and +far above--full half a mile distant--was the opening in the roof +guarded by the prince of the sea devils. The mermaid queen had +determined to attack this monster. If she succeeded in destroying it +with her golden sword, the little band of fugitives might then swim +through the opening into the clear waters of the ocean. Although +this prince of the sea devils was said to be big and wise and +mighty, there was but one of him to fight; whereas, if they +attempted to escape through any of the passages, they must encounter +scores of such enemies. + +"Swim straight for the opening in the dome!" cried Aquareine, and in +answer to the command, the four whisked their glittering tails, +waved their fins, and shot away through the water at full speed, +their course slanting upward toward the top of the dome. + + + + + + +KING ANKO TO THE RESCUE + +CHAPTER 19 + + + + + +The great magician Zog never slept. He was always watchful and +alert. Some strange power warned him that his prisoners were about +to escape. + +Scarcely had the four left the castle by the broken window when the +monster stepped from a doorway below and saw them. Instantly he blew +upon a golden whistle, and at the summons a band of wolf-fish +appeared and dashed after the prisoners. These creatures swam so +swiftly that soon they were between the fugitives and the dome, and +then they turned and with wicked eyes and sharp fangs began a fierce +attack upon the mermaids and the earth dwellers. + +Trot was a little frightened at the evil looks of the sea wolves, +whose heads were enormous, and whose jaws contained rows of curved +and pointed teeth. But Aquareine advanced upon them with her golden +sword, and every touch of the charmed weapon instantly killed an +enemy, so that one by one the wolf-fish rolled over upon their backs +and sank helplessly downward through the water, leaving the +prisoners free to continue their way toward the opening in the dome. + +Zog witnessed the destruction of his wolves and uttered a loud laugh +that was terrible to hear. Then the dread monster determined to +arrest the fugitives himself, and in order to do this he was forced +to discover himself in all the horror of his awful form, a form he +was so ashamed of and loathed so greatly that he always strove to +keep it concealed, even from his own view. But it was important that +his prisoners should not escape. Hastily casting off the folds of +the robe that enveloped him, Zog allowed his body to uncoil and +shoot upward through the water in swift pursuit of his victims. His +cloven hoofs, upon which he usually walked, being now useless, were +drawn up under him, while coil after coil of his eel-like body +wriggled away like a serpent. At his shoulders two broad, feathery +wings expanded, and these enabled the monster to cleave his way +through the water with terrific force. + +Zog was part man, part beast, part fish, part fowl, and part +reptile. His undulating body was broad and thin and like the body of +an eel. It was as repulsive as one could well imagine, and no wonder +Zog hated it and kept it covered with his robe. Now, with his horned +head and its glowing eyes thrust forward, wings flapping from his +shoulders and his eely body--ending in a fish's tail--wriggling far +behind him, this strange and evil creature was a thing of terror +even to the sea dwellers, who were accustomed to remarkable sights. + +The mermaids, the sailor and the child, one after another looking +back as they swam toward liberty and safety, saw the monster coming +and shuddered with uncontrollable fear. They were drawing nearer to +the dome by this time, yet it was still some distance away. The four +redoubled their speed, darting through the water with the swiftness +of skyrockets. But fast as they swam, Zog swam faster, and the good +queen's heart began to throb as she realized she would be forced to +fight her loathesome foe. + +Presently Zog's long body was circling around them like a whirlwind, +lashing the water into foam and gradually drawing nearer and nearer +to his victims. His eyes were no longer glowing coals, they were +balls of flame, and as he circled around them, he laughed aloud that +horrible laugh which was far more terrifying than any cry of rage +could be. The queen struck out with her golden sword, but Zog +wrapped a coil of his thin body around it and, wrestling it from her +hand, crushed the weapon into a shapeless mass. Then Aquareine waved +her fairy wand, but in a flash the monster sent it flying away +through the water. + +Cap'n Bill now decided that they were lost. He drew Trot closer to +his side and placed one arm around her. "I can't save you, dear +little mate," he said sadly, "but we've lived a long time together, +an' now we'll die together. I knew, Trot, when first we sawr them +mermaids, as we'd--we'd--" + +"Never live to tell the tale," said the child. "But never mind, +Cap'n Bill, we've done the best we could, and we've had a fine +time." + +"Forgive me! Oh, forgive me!" cried Aquareine despairingly. "I tried +to save you, my poor friends, but--" + +"What's that?" exclaimed the Princess, pointing upward. They all +looked past Zog's whirling body, which was slowly enveloping them in +its folds, toward the round opening in the dome. A dark object had +appeared there, sliding downward like a huge rope and descending +toward them with lightning rapidly. They gave a great gasp as they +recognized the countenance of King Anko, the sea serpent, its gray +hair and whiskers bristling like those of an angry cat, and the +usually mild blue eyes glowing with a ferocity even more terrifying +than the orbs of Zog. + +The magician gave a shrill scream at sight of his dreaded enemy, and +abandoning his intended victims, Zog made a quick dash to escape. +But nothing in the sea could equal the strength and quickness of +King Anko when he was roused. In a flash the sea serpent had caught +Zog fast in his coils, and his mighty body swept round the monster +and imprisoned him tightly. The four, so suddenly rescued, swam away +to a safer distance from the struggle, and then they turned to watch +the encounter between the two great opposing powers of the ocean's +depths. Yet there was no desperate fight to observe, for the +combatants were unequal. The end came before they were aware of it. +Zog had been taken by surprise, and his great fear of Anko destroyed +all of his magic power. When the sea serpent slowly released those +awful coils, a mass of jelly-like pulp floated downward through the +water with no remnant of life remaining in it, no form to show it +had once been Zog, the Magician. + +Then Anko shook his body that the water might cleanse it, and +advanced his head toward the group of four whom he had so +opportunely rescued. "It is all over, friends," said he in his +gentle tones, while a mild expression once more reigned on his +comical features. "You may go home at any time you please, for the +way through the dome will be open as soon as I get my own body +through it." + +Indeed, so amazing was the length of the great sea serpent that only +a part of him had descended through the hole into the dome. Without +waiting for the thanks of those he had rescued, he swiftly retreated +to the ocean above, and with grateful hearts they followed him, glad +to leave the cavern where they had endured so much anxiety and +danger. + + + + + + +THE HOME OF THE OCEAN MONARCH + +CHAPTER 20 + + + + + +Trot sobbed quietly with her head on Cap'n Bill's shoulder. She had +been a brave little girl during the trying times they had +experienced and never once had she given way to tears, however +desperate their fate had seemed to be. But now that the one enemy in +all the sea to be dreaded was utterly destroyed and all dangers were +past, the reaction was so great that she could not help having "just +one good cry," as she naively expressed it. + +Cap'n Bill was a big sailor man hardened by age and many adventures, +but even he felt a "Lump in his throat" that he could not swallow, +try as hard as he might. Cap'n Bill was glad. He was mostly glad on +Trot's account, for he loved his sweet, childish companion very +dearly, and did not want any harm to befall her. + +They were now in the wide, open sea, with liberty to go wherever +they wished, and if Cap'n Bill could have "had his way," he would +have gone straight home and carried Trot to her mother. But the +mermaids must be considered. Aquareine and Clia had been true and +faithful friends to their earth guests while dangers were +threatening, and it would not be very gracious to leave them at +once. Moreover, King Anko was now with them, his big head keeping +pace with the mermaids as they swam, and this mighty preserver had a +distinct claim upon Trot and Cap'n Bill. The sailor felt that it +would not be polite to ask to go home so soon. + +"If you people had come to visit me as I invited you to do," said +the Sea Serpent, "all this bother and trouble would have been saved. +I had my palace put in order to receive the earth dwellers and sat +in my den waiting patiently to receive you. Yet you never came at +all." + +"That reminds me," said Trot, drying her eyes, "you never told us +about that third pain you once had." + +"Finally," continued Anko, "I sent to inquire as to what had become +of you, and Merla said you had been gone from the palace a long time +and she was getting anxious about you. Then I made inquiries. +Everyone in the sea loves to serve me--except those sea devils and +their cousins, the octopi--and it wasn't long before I heard you had +been captured by Zog." + +"Was the third pain as bad as the other two?" asked Trot. + +"Naturally this news disturbed me and made me unhappy," said Anko, +"for I well knew, my Aquareine, that the magician's evil powers were +greater than your own fairy accomplishments. But I had never been +able to find Zog's enchanted castle, and so I was at a loss to know +how to save you from your dreadful fate. After I had wasted a good +deal of time thinking it over, I decided that if the sea devils were +slaves of Zog, the prince of the sea devils must know where the +enchanted castle was located. + +"I knew this prince and where to find him, for he always lay on a +hollow rock on the bottom of the sea and never moved from that +position. His people brought food to him and took his commands. So I +had no trouble in finding this evil prince, and I went to him and +asked the way to Zog's castle. Of course, he would not tell me. He +was even cross and disrespectful, just as I had expected him to be, +so I allowed myself to become angry and killed him, thinking he was +much better dead than alive. But after the sea devil was destroyed, +what was my surprise to find that all these years he had been lying +over a round hole in the rock and covering it with his scarlet body! + +"A light shone through this hole, so I thrust my head in and found a +great domed cave underneath with a splendid silver castle built at +the bottom. You, my friends, were at that moment swimming toward me +as fast as you could come, and the monster Zog, my enemy for +centuries past, was close behind you. Well, the rest of the story +you know. I would be angry with all of you for so carelessly getting +captured, had the incident not led to the destruction of the one +evil genius in all my ocean. I shall rest easier and be much happier +now that Zog is dead. He has defied me for hundreds of years." + +"But about that third pain," said Trot. "If you don't tell us now, +I'm afraid that I'll forget to ask you." + +"If you should happen to forget, just remind me of it," said Anko, +"and I'll be sure to tell you." + +While Trot was thinking this over, the swimmers drew near to a +great, circular palace made all of solid alabaster polished as +smooth as ivory. Its roof was a vast dome, for domes seemed to be +fashionable in the ocean houses. There were no doors or windows, but +instead of these, several round holes appeared in different parts of +the dome, some being high up and some low down and some in between. +Out of one of these holes, which it just fitted, stretched the long, +brown body of the sea serpent. Trot, being astonished at this sight, +asked, "Didn't you take all of you when you went to the cavern, +Anko?" + +"Nearly all, my dear," was the reply, accompanied by a cheerful +smile, for Anko was proud of his great length. "But not quite all. +Some of me remained, as usual, to keep house while my head was away. +But I've been coiling up ever since we started back, and you will +soon be able to see every inch of me all together." + +Even as he spoke, his head slid into the round hole, and at a signal +from Aquareine they all paused outside and waited. Presently there +came to them four beautiful winged fishes with faces like doll +babies. Their long hair and eyelashes were of a purple color, and +their cheeks had rosy spots that looked as if they had been painted +upon them. "His Majesty bids you welcome," said one of the doll +fishes in a sweet voice. "Be kind enough to enter the royal palace, +and our ocean monarch will graciously receive you." + +"Seems to me," said Trot to the queen, "these things are putting on +airs. Perhaps they don't know we're friends of Anko." + +"The king insists on certain formalities when anyone visits him," +was Aquareine's reply. "It is right that his dignity should be +maintained." + +They followed their winged conductors to one of the upper openings, +and as they entered it Aquareine said in a clear voice, "May the +glory and power of the ocean king continue forever!" Then she +touched the palm of her hand to her forehead in token of allegiance, +and Clia did the same, so Cap'n Bill and Trot followed suit. The +brief ceremony being ended, the child looked curiously around to see +what the palace of the mighty Anko was like. + +An extensive hall lined with alabaster was before them. In the floor +were five of the round holes. Upon the walls were engraved many +interesting scenes of ocean life, all chiseled very artistically by +the tusks of walruses who, Trot was afterward informed, are greatly +skilled in such work. A few handsome rugs of woven sea grasses were +spread upon the floor, but otherwise the vast hall was bare of +furniture. The doll-faced fishes escorted them to an upper room +where a table was set, and here the revelers were invited to refresh +themselves. As all four were exceedingly hungry, they welcomed the +repast, which was served by an army of lobsters in royal purple +aprons and caps. + +The meal being finished, they again descended to the hall, which +seemed to occupy all the middle of the building. And now their +conductors said, "His Majesty is ready to receive you in his den." + +They swam downward through one of the round holes in the floor and +found themselves in a brilliantly lighted chamber which appeared +bigger than all the rest of the palace put together. In the center +was the quaint head of King Anko, and around it was spread a great +coverlet of purple and gold woven together. This concealed all of +his body and stretched from wall to wall of the circular room. +"Welcome, friends!" said Anko pleasantly. "How do you like my home?" + +"It's very grand," replied Trot. + +"Just the place for a sea serpent, seems to me," said Cap'n Bill. + +"I'm glad you admire it," said the King. "Perhaps I ought to tell +you that from this day you four belong to me." + +"How's that?" asked the girl, surprised. + +"It is a law of the ocean," declared Anko, "that whoever saves any +living creature from violent death owns that creature forever +afterward, while life lasts. You will realize how just this law is +when you remember that had I not saved you from Zog, you would now +be dead. The law was suggested by Captain Kid Glove, when he once +visited me." + +"Do you mean Captain Kidd?" asked Trot. "Because if you do--" + +"Give him his full name," said Anko. "Captain Kid Glove was--" + +"There's no glove to it," protested Trot. "I ought to know, 'cause +I've read about him." + +"Didn't it say anything about a glove?" asked Anko. + +"Nothing at all. It jus' called him Cap'n Kidd," replied Trot. + +"She's right, ol' man," added Cap'n Bill. + +"Books," said the Sea Serpent, "are good enough as far as they go, +but it seems to me your earth books don't go far enough. Captain Kid +Glove was a gentleman pirate, a kid-glove pirate. To leave off the +glove and call him just Kidd is very disrespectful." + +"Oh! You told me to remind you of that third pain," said the little +girl. + +"Which proves my friendship for you," returned the Sea Serpent, +blinking his blue eyes thoughtfully. "No one likes to be reminded of +a pain, and that third pain was--was--" + +"What was it?" asked Trot. + +"It was a stomach ache," replied the King with a sigh. + +"What made it?" she inquired. + +"Just my carelessness," said Anko. "I'd been away to foreign parts, +seeing how the earth people were getting along. I found the Germans +dancing the german and the Dutch making dutch cheese and the +Belgians combing their belgian hares and the Turks eating turkey and +the Sardinians sardonically pickling sardines. Then I called on the +Prince of Whales, and--" + +"You mean the Prince of Wales," corrected Trot. + +"I mean what I say, my dear. I saw the battlefield where the Bull +Run but the Americans didn't, and when I got to France I paid a +napoleon to see Napoleon with his boney apart. He was--" + +"Of course you mean--" Trot was beginning, but the king would not +give her a chance to correct him this time. + +"He was very hungry for Hungary," he continued, "and was Russian so +fast toward the Poles that I thought he'd discover them. So as I was +not accorded a royal welcome, I took French leave and came home +again." + +"But the pain--" + +"On the way home," continued Anko calmly, "I was a little +absent-minded and ate an anchor. There was a long chain attached to +it, and as I continued to swallow the anchor I continued to eat the +chain. I never realized what I had done until I found a ship on the +other end of the chain. Then I bit it off." + +"The ship?" asked Trot. + +"No, the chain. I didn't care for the ship, as I saw it contained +some skippers. On the way home the chain and anchor began to lie +heavily on my stomach. I didn't seem to digest them properly, and by +the time I got to my palace, where you will notice there is no +throne, I was thrown into throes of severe pain. So I at once sent +for Dr. Shark--" + +"Are all your doctors sharks?" asked the child. + +"Yes, aren't your doctors sharks?" he replied. + +"Not all of them," said Trot. + +"That is true," remarked Cap'n Bill. "But when you talk of +lawyers--" + +"I'm not talking of lawyers," said Anko reprovingly. "I'm talking +about my pain. I don't imagine anyone could suffer more than I did +with that stomach ache." + +"Did you suffer long?" inquired Trot. + +"Why, about seven thousand four hundred and eighty-two feet and--" + +"I mean a long time." + +"It seemed like a long time," answered the King. "Dr. Shark said I +ought to put a mustard poultice on my stomach, so I uncoiled myself +and summoned my servants, and they began putting on the mustard +plaster. It had to be bound all around me so it wouldn't slip off, +and I began to look like an express package. In about four weeks +fully one-half of the pain had been covered by the mustard poultice, +which got so hot that it hurt me worse than the stomach ache did." + +"I know," said Trot. "I had one, once." + +"One what?" asked Anko. + +"A mustard plaster. They smart pretty bad, but I guess they're a +good thing." + +"I got myself unwrapped as soon as I could," continued the King, +"and then I hunted for the doctor, who hid himself until my anger +had subsided. He has never sent in a bill, so I think he must be +terribly ashamed of himself." + +"You're lucky, sir, to have escaped so easy," said Cap'n Bill. "But +you seem pretty well now." + +"Yes, I'm more careful of what I eat," replied the Sea Serpent. "But +I was saying when Trot interrupted me, that you all belong to me, +because I have saved your lives. By the law of the ocean, you must +obey me in everything." + +The sailor scowled a little at hearing this, but Trot laughed and +said, "The law of the ocean isn't OUR law, 'cause we live on land." + +"Just now you are living in the ocean," declared Anko, "and as long +as you live here, you must obey my commands." + +"What are your commands?" inquired the child. + +"Ah, that's the point I was coming to," returned the King with his +comical smile. "The ocean is a beautiful place, and we who belong +here love it dearly. In many ways it's a nicer place for a home than +the earth, for we have no sunstroke, mosquitoes, earthquakes or +candy ships to bother us. But I am convinced that the ocean is no +proper dwelling place for earth people, and I believe the mermaids +did an unwise thing when they invited you to visit them." + +"I don't," protested the girl. "We've had a fine time, haven't we, +Cap'n Bill?" + +"Well, it's been diff'rent from what I expected," admitted the +sailor. + +"Our only thought was to give the earth people pleasure, your +Majesty," pleaded Aquareine. + +"I know, I know, my dear Queen, and it was very good of you," +replied Anko. "But still it was an unwise act, for earth people are +as constantly in danger under water as we would be upon the land. So +having won the right to command you all, I order you to take little +Mayre and Cap'n Bill straight home, and there restore them to their +natural forms. It's a dreadful condition, I know, and they must each +have two stumbling legs instead of a strong, beautiful fish tail, +but it is the fate of earth dwellers, and they cannot escape it." + +"In my case, your Majesty, make it ONE leg," suggested Cap'n Bill. + +"Ah yes, I remember. One leg and a wooden stick to keep it company. +I issue this order, dear friends, not because I am not fond of your +society, but to keep you from getting into more trouble in a country +where all is strange and unnatural to you. Am I right, or do you +think I am wrong?" + +"You're quite correct, sir," said Cap'n Bill, nodding his head in +approval. + +"Well, I'm ready to go home," said Trot. "But in spite of Zog, I've +enjoyed my visit, and I shall always love the mermaids for being so +good to me." That speech pleased Aquareine and Clia, who smiled upon +the child and kissed her affectionately. + +"We shall escort you home at once," announced the Queen. + +"But before you go," said King Anko, "I will give you a rare treat. +It is one you will remember as long as you live. You shall see every +inch of the mightiest sea serpent in the world, all at one time!" + +As he spoke, the purple and gold cloth was lifted by unseen hands +and disappeared from view. And now Cap'n Bill and Trot looked down +upon thousands and thousands of coils of the sea serpent's body, +which filled all of the space at the bottom of the immense circular +room. It reminded them of a great coil of garden hose, only it was +so much bigger around and very much longer. + +Except for the astonishing size of the Ocean King, the sight was not +an especially interesting one, but they told old Anko that they were +pleased to see him, because it was evident he was very fond of his +figure. Then the cloth descended again and covered all but the head, +after which they bade the king goodbye and thanked him for all his +kindness to them. + +"I used to think sea serpents were horrid creatures," said Trot, +"but now I know they are good and--and--and--" + +"And big," added Cap'n Bill, realizing his little friend could not +find another word that was complimentary. + + + + + + +KING JOE + +CHAPTER 21 + + + + + +As they swam out of Anko's palace and the doll-faced fishes left +them, Aquareine asked: + +"Would you rather go back to our mermaid home for a time and rest +yourselves or would you prefer to start for Giant's Cave at once?" + +"I guess we'd better go back home," decided Trot. "To our own home, +I mean. We've been away quite a while, and King Anko seemed to think +it was best." + +"Very well," replied the Queen. "Let us turn in this direction, +then." + +"You can say goodbye to Merla for us," continued Trot. "She was very +nice to us, an' 'specially to Cap'n Bill." + +"So she was, mate," agreed the sailor, "an' a prettier lady I never +knew, even if she is a mermaid, beggin' your pardon, ma'am." + +"Are we going anywhere near Zog's castle?" asked the girl. + +"Our way leads directly past the opening in the dome," said +Aquareine. + +"Then let's stop and see what Sacho and the others are doing," +suggested Trot. "They can't be slaves any longer, you know, 'cause +they haven't any master. I wonder if they're any happier than they +were before?" + +"They seemed to be pretty happy as it was," remarked Cap'n Bill. + +"It will do no harm to pay them a brief visit," said Princess Clia. +"All danger disappeared from the cavern with the destruction of +Zog." + +"I really ought to say goodbye to Brother Joe," observed the sailor +man. "I won't see him again, you know, and I don't want to seem +unbrotherly." + +"Very well," said the Queen, "we will reenter the cavern, for I, +too, am anxious to know what will be the fate of the poor slaves of +the magician." + +When they came to the hole in the top of the dome, they dropped +through it and swam leisurely down toward the castle. The water was +clear and undisturbed and the silver castle looked very quiet and +peaceful under the radiant light that still filled the cavern. They +met no one at all, and passing around to the front of the building, +they reached the broad entrance and passed into the golden hall. + +Here a strange scene met their eyes. All the slaves of Zog, hundreds +in number, were assembled in the room, while standing before the +throne formerly occupied by the wicked magician was the boy Sacho, +who was just beginning to make a speech to his fellow slaves. "At +one time or another," he said, "all of us were born upon the earth +and lived in the thin air, but now we are all living as the fishes +live, and our home is in the water of the ocean. One by one we have +come to this place, having been saved from drowning by Zog, the +Magician, and by him given power to exist in comfort under water. +The powerful master who made us his slaves has now passed away +forever, but we continue to live, and are unable to return to our +native land, where we would quickly perish. There is no one but us +to inherit Zog's possessions, and so it will be best for us to +remain in this fine castle and occupy ourselves as we have done +before, in providing for the comforts of the community. Only in +labor is happiness to be found, and we may as well labor for +ourselves as for others. + +"But we must have a king. Not an evil, cruel master like Zog, but +one who will maintain order and issue laws for the benefit of all. +We will govern ourselves most happily by having a ruler, or head, +selected from among ourselves by popular vote. Therefore I ask you +to decide who shall be our king, for only one who is accepted by all +can sit in Zog's throne." + +The slaves applauded this speech, but they seemed puzzled to make +the choice of a ruler. Finally the chief cook came forward and said, +"We all have our duties to perform and so cannot spend the time to +be king. But you, Sacho, who were Zog's own attendant, have now no +duties at all. So it will be best for you to rule us. What say you, +comrades? Shall we make Sacho king?" + +"Yes, yes!" they all cried. + +"But I do not wish to be king," replied Sacho. "A king is a useless +sort of person who merely issues orders for others to carry out. I +want to be busy and useful. Whoever is king will need a good +attendant as well as an officer who will see that his commands are +obeyed. I am used to such duties, having served Zog in this same +way." + +"Who, then, has the time to rule over us?" asked Agga-Groo, the +goldsmith. + +"It seems to me that Cap'n Joe is the proper person for king," +replied Sacho. "His former duty was to sew buttons on Zog's +garments, so now he is out of a job and has plenty of time to be +king, for he can sew on his own buttons. What do you say, Cap'n +Joe?" + +"Oh, I don't mind," agreed Cap'n Joe. "That is, if you all want me +to rule you." + +"We do!" shouted the slaves, glad to find someone willing to take +the job. + +"But I'll want a few pointers," continued Cap'n Bill's brother. "I +ain't used to this sort o' work, you know, an' if I ain't properly +posted I'm liable to make mistakes." + +"Sacho will tell you," said Tom Atto encouragingly. "and now I must +go back to the kitchen and look after my dumplings, or you people +won't have any dinner today." + +"Very well," announced Sacho. "I hereby proclaim Cap'n Joe elected +King of the Castle, which is the Enchanted Castle no longer. You may +all return to your work." + +The slaves went away well contented, and the boy and Cap'n Joe now +came forward to greet their visitors. "We're on our way home," +explained Cap'n Bill, "an' we don't expec' to travel this way again. +But it pleases me to know, Joe, that you're the king o' such a fine +castle, an' I'll rest easier now that you're well pervided for." + +"Oh, I'm all right, Bill," returned Cap'n Joe. "It's an easy life +here, an' a peaceful one. I wish you were as well fixed." + +"If ever you need friends, Sacho, or any assistance or counsel, come +to me," said the Mermaid Queen to the boy. + +"Thank you, madam," he replied. "Now that Zog has gone, I am sure we +shall be very safe and contented. But I shall not forget to come to +you if we need you. We are not going to waste any time in anger or +revenge or evil deeds, so I believe we shall prosper from now on." + +"I'm sure you will," declared Trot. + +They now decided that they must continue their journey, and as +neither Sacho nor King Joe could ascend to the top of the dome +without swimming in the human way, which was slow and tedious work +for them, the goodbyes were said at the castle entrance, and the +four visitors started on their return. Trot took one last view of +the beautiful silver castle from the hole high up in the dome, which +was now open and unguarded, and the next moment she was in the broad +ocean again, swimming toward home beside her mermaid friends. + + + + + + +TROT LIVES TO TELL THE TALE + +CHAPTER 22 + + + + + +Aquareine was thoughtful for a time. Then she drew from her finger a +ring, a plain gold band set with a pearl of great value, and gave it +to the little girl. + +"If at any period of your life the mermaids can be of service to +you, my dear," she said, "you have but to come to the edge of the +ocean and call 'Aquareine.' If you are wearing the ring at the time, +I shall instantly hear you and come to your assistance." + +"Thank you!" cried the child, slipping the ring over her own chubby +finger, which it fitted perfectly. "I shall never forget that I have +good and loyal friends in the ocean, you may be sure." + +Away and away they swam, swiftly and in a straight line, keeping in +the middle water where they were not liable to meet many sea people. +They passed a few schools of fishes, where the teachers were +explaining to the young ones how to swim properly, and to conduct +themselves in a dignified manner, but Trot did not care to stop and +watch the exercises. + +Although the queen had lost her fairy wand in Zog's domed chamber, +she had still enough magic power to carry them all across the ocean +in wonderfully quick time, and before Trot and Cap'n Bill were aware +of the distance they had come, the mermaids paused while Princess +Clia said: + +"Now we must go a little deeper, for here is the Giant's Cave and +the entrance to it is near the bottom of the sea." + +"What, already?" cried the girl joyfully, and then through the dark +water they swam, passing through the rocky entrance, and began to +ascend slowly into the azure-blue water of the cave. + +"You've been awfully good to us, and I don't know jus' how to thank +you," said Trot earnestly. + +"We have enjoyed your visit to us," said beautiful Queen Aquareine, +smiling upon her little friend, "and you may easily repay any +pleasure we have given you by speaking well of the mermaids when you +hear ignorant earth people condemning us." + +"I'll do that, of course," exclaimed the child. + +"How about changin' us back to our reg'lar shapes?" inquired Cap'n +Bill anxiously. + +"That will be very easy," replied Princess Clia with her merry +laugh. "See! Here we are at the surface of the water." + +They pushed their heads above the blue water and looked around the +cave. It was silent and deserted. Floating gently near the spot +where they had left it was their own little boat. Cap'n Bill swam to +it, took hold of the side, and then turned an inquiring face toward +the mermaids. "Climb in," said the Queen. So he pulled himself up +and awkwardly tumbled forward into the boat. As he did so, he heard +his wooden leg clatter against the seat, and turned around to look +at it wonderingly. + +"It's me, all right!" he muttered. "One meat one, an' one hick'ry +one. That's the same as belongs to me!" + +"Will you lift Mayre aboard?" asked Princess Clia. + +The old sailor aroused himself, and as Trot lifted up her arms, he +seized them and drew her safely into the boat. She was dressed just +as usual, and her chubby legs wore shoes and stockings. Strangely +enough, neither of them were at all wet or even damp in any part of +their clothing. + +"I wonder where our legs have been while we've been gone?" mused +Cap'n Bill, gazing at his little friend in great delight. + +"And I wonder what's become of our pretty pink and green scaled +tails!" returned the girl, laughing with glee, for it seemed good to +be herself again. + +Queen Aquareine and Princess Clia were a little way off, lying with +their pretty faces just out of the water while their hair floated in +soft clouds around them. + +"Goodbye, friends!" they called. + +"Goodbye!" shouted both Trot and Cap'n Bill, and the little girl +blew two kisses from her fingers toward the mermaids. + +Then the faces disappeared, leaving little ripples on the surface of +the water. + +Cap'n Bill picked up the oars and slowly headed the boat toward the +mouth of the cave. + +"I wonder, Trot, if your ma has missed us," he remarked uneasily. + +"Of course not," replied the girl. "She's been sound asleep, you +know." + +As the boat crept out into the bright sunlight, they were both +silent, but each sighed with pleasure at beholding their own +everyday world again. + +Finally Trot said softly, "The land's the best, Cap'n." + +"It is, mate, for livin' on," he answered. + +"But I'm glad to have seen the mermaids," she added.. + +"Well, so'm I, Trot," he agreed. "But I wouldn't 'a' believed any +mortal could ever 'a' seen 'em an'--an'--" + +Trot laughed merrily. + +"An' lived to tell the tale!" she cried, her eyes dancing with +mischief. "Oh, Cap'n Bill, how little we mortals know!" + +"True enough, mate," he replied, "but we're a-learnin' something +ev'ry day." + +THE END + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Sea Fairies +by L. Frank Baum + diff --git a/old/thsfr10.zip b/old/thsfr10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca81e89 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/thsfr10.zip |