The oceans are big and broad.I believe two-thirds of the earth's surface is covered in 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.
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." (sic)
"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 clost(sic), 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 (sic--tussles?)
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 they 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