_Chap. 3._
_The_ DEPTHS _of the_ DEEP BLUE SEA]
Cap'n Bill stood up in the boat as if undecided what to do. Never asailorman was more bewildered than this old fellow by the strangenessof the adventure he had encountered. At first he could hardly believeit was all true, and that he was not dreaming; but there was Trot inthe water, laughing with the mermaids and floating comfortably about,and he couldn't leave his dear little companion to make the trip to thedepths of the ocean alone.
"Take my hand, please, Cap'n Bill," said Princess Clia, reaching herdainty arm toward him; and suddenly the old man took courage andclasped the soft fingers in his own. He had to lean over the boat todo this, and then there came a queer lightness to his legs and he hada great longing to be in the water. So he gave a flop and flopped inbeside Trot, where he found himself comfortable enough, but somewhatfrightened.
"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 tailyou'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 'a' done in a thousand years withol' peg."
"And don't be afraid of the rheumatism," advised the Princess. "Nomermaid ever catches cold or suffers pain in the water."
"Is Cap'n Bill a mermaid now?" asked Trot.
"Why, he's a mer_man_, I suppose," laughed the pretty princess. "Butwhen 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 powers of swimming, andbecame astonished at the feats he could accomplish. He could dart thisway and that with wonderful speed, and turn and dive, and caper aboutin the water far better than he had ever been able to do on land--evenbefore he got the wooden leg. And a curious thing about this presentexperience was that the water did not cling to him and wet him, as ithad 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 beenunderneath the surface, the cloth still seemed dry and warm. As hedived down and came up again the drops flashed from his head and thefringe of beard, but he never needed to wipe his face or eyes at all.
Trot, too, was having queer experiences and enjoying them. When sheducked under water she saw plainly everything around her, as easily anddistinctly as she had ever seen anything above water. And by lookingover her shoulder she could watch the motion of her new tail, allcovered with pretty iridescent pink scales, which gleamed like jewels.She wore her dress, the same as before, and the water failed to affectit in the least.
She now noticed that the mermaids were clothed, too, and theirexquisite gowns were the loveliest things the little girl had everbeheld. They seemed made of a material that was like sheeny silk, cutlow in the neck and with wide flowing sleeves that seldom coveredthe shapely white arms of her new friends. The gowns had trains thatfloated far behind the mermaids as they swam, but were so fleecy andtransparent that the sparkle of their scales might be seen reachingback of their waists, where the human form ended and the fish partbegan. The sea fairies wore strings of splendid pearls twined aroundtheir throats, while more pearls were sewn upon their gowns fortrimmings. They did not dress their beautiful hair at all, but let itfloat around them in clouds.
The little girl had scarcely time to observe all this when the princesssaid:
"Now, my dear, if you are ready we will begin our journey, for it is along way to our palaces."
"All right," answered Trot, and took the hand extended to her with atrustful smile.
"Will you allow me to guide you, Cap'n Bill?" asked the blonde mermaid,extending her hand to the old sailor.
"O' 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 toprevent your missing the way."
While she spoke they began to descend through the water, and itgrew quite dark for a time because the cave shut out the light. Butpresently Trot, who was eagerly looking around her, began to notice thewater 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 orlevel," replied Clia. "But we are in mid-water now, where nothing willhinder our journey, unless--"
She seemed to hesitate; so Trot asked: "Unless what?"
"Unless we meet with disagreeable creatures," said the Princess. "Themid-water is not as safe as the very bottom, and that is the reason weare holding your hands."
"What good would that do?" asked Trot.
"You must remember that we are fairies," said Princess Clia. "For thatreason nothing in the ocean can injure us; but you two are mortals, andtherefore not entirely safe at all times unless we protect you."
Trot was thoughtful for a few moments and looked around her a littleanxiously. 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 tosee plainly what it might be.
Suddenly they swam right into a big school of fishes, all yellowtailsand of very large size. There must have been hundreds of them lyinglazily in the water, and when they saw the mermaids they merely wiggledto 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 creaturesmostly, and this family is quite harmless."
"How about sharks?" asked Cap'n Bill, who was swimming gracefullybeside them, his hand clutched in that of pretty Merla.
"Sharks may indeed be dangerous to you," replied Clia; "so I adviseyou to keep them at a safe distance. They never dare attempt to bite amermaid, and it may be they will think you belong to our band; but itis 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 'fraido' sharks, 'cause if they came near I'd stick my wooden leg at 'em. Butnow, 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 inour 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 littlegirl, after they had swum quite a while in silence.
"One or two things, my dear," answered Princess Clia. "Of course, wemermaids have great powers, being fairies; yet among the sea people isone 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 tothe surface or go near shore, and are often caught by fishermen,"said Clia; "but they are only second cousins of the terrible deep-seadevilfish to which I refer."
"Those ones are bad enough, though," declared Cap'n Bill. "If you knowany worse ones I don't want a interduction to 'em."
"The monster devilfish inhabit caves in the rugged, mountainous regionsof the ocean," resumed the Princess, "and they are evil spirits whodelight in injuring all who meet them. None lives near our palaces, sothere 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 awide berth, an' devilfishes 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 folksas has seen 'em."
"Did they ever live to tell the tale?" asked Trot.
"Sometimes," he replied. "They're jes' _or_-ful creatures, mate."
"How easy it is to be mistaken," said Princess Clia, softly. "We knowthe 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 onlyare they harmless, but quite bashful and shy. They are kind-hearted,too, and although not beautiful in appearance, they do many kind deedsand are generally beloved."
"Where do they live?" asked the child.
"The oldest one, who is king of this ocean, lives quite near us," saidClia. "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 stayedhere because he learned to like the water better than the land as ahabitation. Perhaps King Anko is ten thousand years old--perhaps twentythousand. 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, Iguess."
"Summat," chuckled the sailorman; "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 histwo brothers--Unko and Inko. They each have an ocean of their own,you know; and once every hundred years they come here to visit theirbrother Anko. So we've seen all three many times."
"Why, how old are mermaids, then?" asked Trot, looking around at thebeautiful creatures wonderingly.
"We are like all ladies of uncertain age," rejoined the Princess, witha 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 ourhearts are ever young."
Trot was thoughtful. It made her feel solemn to be in the company ofsuch 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 forhundreds of years. The girl began to take more notice of the seamaidens following after her. More than a dozen were in the group; allvery lovely in appearance and clothed in the same gauzy robes as Merlaand the princess. These attendants did not join in the conversation,but darted here and there in sportive play, and often Trot heard thetinkling chorus of their laughter. Whatever doubts might have arisen inthe child's mind, through the ignorant tales of her sailor friend, shenow found the mermaids to be light-hearted, joyous and gay, and fromthe 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 looklike. Inside the water ain't as interestin' as the top of it. It's fineswimmin', I'll agree; an' I like it; but there ain't nuthin' special tosee, that I can make out."
"That is true, sir," replied the Princess. "We have purposely led youthrough the mid-water, hoping you would see nothing to alarm you untilyou get more accustomed to our ocean life. Moreover, we are able totravel 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 useda little of our fairy power," said Clia. "The result is that we arenearing our home. Let us go downward a bit, now, for you must know thatthe mermaid palaces are at the very bottom of the ocean--and in itsdeepest part."