The Sea Fairies | Page 9

do?
Jump in, clothes and all?"
"Give me your hand, dear," answered the mermaid, lifting a lovely
white arm from the water. Trot took the slender hand and found it
warm and soft and not a bit "fishy."
"My name is Clia," continued the mermaid, "and I am a princess in our
deep-sea kingdom."
Just then Trot gave a flop and flopped right out of the boat into the
water. Cap'n Bill caught a gleam of pink scales as his little friend went
overboard, and the next moment there was Trot's face in the water
among those of the mermaids. She was laughing with glee as she
looked up into Cap'n Bill's face and called, "Come on in, Cap'n! It
didn't hurt a bit!"

THE DEPTHS OF THE DEEP BLUE SEA
CHAPTER 3

Cap'n Bill stood up in the boat as if undecided what to do. Never a
sailor man was more bewildered than this old fellow by the strangeness
of the adventure he had encountered. At first he could hardly believe it
was all true and that he was not dreaming; but there was Trot in the
water, laughing with the mermaids and floating comfortably about, and
he couldn't leave his dear little companion to make the trip to the
depths of the ocean alone.
"Take my hand, please, Cap'n Bill," said Princess Clia, reaching her

dainty arm toward him; and suddenly the old man took courage and
clasped the soft fingers in his own. He had to lean over the boat to do
this, and then there came a queer lightness to his legs and he had a great
longing to be in the water. So he gave a flop and flopped in beside Trot,
where he found himself comfortable enough, but somewhat frightened.
"Law sakes!" he gasped. "Here's me in the water with my rheumatics!
I'll be that stiff termorrer I can't wiggle."
"You're wigglin' all right now," observed Trot. "That's a fine tail you've
got, Cap'n, an' its green scales is jus' beautiful."
"Are they green, eh?" he asked, twisting around to try to see them.
"Green as em'ralds, Cap'n. How do they feel?"
"Feel, Trot, feel? Why, this tail beats that ol' wooden leg all holler! I
kin do stunts now that I couldn't o' done in a thousand years with ol'
peg."
"And don't be afraid of the rheumatism," advised the Princess. "No
mermaid ever catches cold or suffers pain in the water."
"Is Cap'n Bill a mermaid now?" asked Trot.
"Why, he's a merMAN, I suppose," laughed the pretty princess. "But
when he gets home, he will be just Cap'n Bill again."
"Wooden leg an' all?" inquired the child.
"To be sure, my dear."
The sailor was now trying his newly discovered power of swimming,
and became astonished at the feats he could accomplish. He could dart
this way and that with wonderful speed, and turn and dive, and caper
about in the water far better than he had ever been able to do on
land--even before he got the wooden leg. And a curious thing about this
present experience was that the water did not cling to him and wet him
as it had always done before. He still wore his flannel shirt and pea

jacket and his sailor cap; but although he was in the water and had been
underneath the surface, the cloth still seemed dry and warm. As he
dived down and came up again, the drops flashed from his head and the
fringe of beard, but he never needed to wipe his face or eyes at all.
Trot, too, was having queer experiences and enjoying them. When she
ducked under water, she saw plainly everything about her as easily and
distinctly as she had ever seen anything above water. And by looking
over her shoulder she could watch the motion of her new tail, all
covered with pretty iridescent pink scales, which gleamed like jewels.
She wore her dress the same as before, and the water failed to affect it
in the least.
She now noticed that the mermaids were clothed, too, and their
exquisite gowns were the loveliest thing the little girl had ever beheld.
They seemed made of a material that was like sheeny silk, cut low in
the neck and with wide, flowing sleeves that seldom covered the
shapely, white arms of her new friends. The gowns had trains that
floated far behind the mermaids as they swam, but were so fleecy and
transparent that the sparkle of their scales might be seen reaching back
of their waists, where the human form ended and the fish part began.
The sea fairies wore strings of splendid pearls twined around their
throats, while more pearls were sewn upon their gowns for trimmings.
They did not dress their