_Chap. 6._
EXPLORING THE OCEAN]
The queen now requested her guests to recline upon couches, that theymight rest themselves from their long swim and talk more at their ease.So the girl and the sailor allowed themselves to float downward untilthey rested their bodies on two of the couches nearest the throne,which were willingly vacated for them by the mermaids who had occupiedthem until then.
The visitors soon found themselves answering a great many questionsabout their life on the earth, for, although the queen had said shekept track of what was going on on the land, there were many details ofhuman 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 offeredto the queen and then passed the refreshments around to the companyassembled. Trot and Cap'n Bill each took some, and the little girlfound the fruits delicious to eat, as they had a richer flavor thanany that grew upon land. Queen Aquareine was much pleased when the oldsailor asked for more, but Merla warned him dinner would soon be servedand 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 ourkitchen 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'tshine?" inquired the little girl.
"Then we use the hot springs that bubble up in another part of thepalace," Merla answered. "But the sun is the best to cook by."
So, it was no surprise to Trot when, about noon, dinner was announcedand all the mermaids, headed by their queen and their guests, swam intoanother spacious room where a great, long table was laid. The disheswere of polished gold and dainty cut glass, and the cloth and napkinsof fine gossamer. Around the table were ranged rows of couches for themermaids to recline upon as they ate. Only the nobility and favoritesof Queen Aquareine were invited to partake of this repast, for Cliaexplained that tables were set for the other mermaids in differentparts of the numerous palaces.
Trot wondered who would serve the meal, but her curiosity was soonsatisfied when several large lobsters came sliding into the room,backward, bearing in their claws trays loaded with food. Each of theselobsters had a golden band around its neck to show it was the slave ofthe mermaids.
These curious waiters were fussy creatures and Trot found muchamusement in watching their odd motions. They were so spry andexcitable that, at times, they ran against one another and upset theplatters of food, after which they began to scold and argue as to whosefault it was, until one of the mermaids quietly rebuked them and askedthem 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 anddeliciously flavored. Then came salmon steaks fried in fish oil, witha fungus bread that tasted much like field mushrooms. Oysters, clams,soft-shell crabs and various preparations of sea foods followed. Thesalad was a delicate leaf from some seaweed that Trot thought wasmuch nicer than lettuce. Several courses were served and the lobsterschanged the plates with each course, chattering and scolding as theyworked, and as Trot said, "doing everything backwards" in theirnervous, 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 noquestions and ate everything offered him, so Trot decided to followhis example. Certain it is they found the meal very satisfying, andevidently there was no danger of their being hungry while they remainedthe guests of the mermaids. When the fruits came, Trot thought thatmust be the last course of the big dinner, but, following the fruitswere ice creams frozen into the shapes of flowers.
"How funny," said the child, "to be eating ice cream at the bottom ofthe 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 partsof 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 ashamedto feel she had eaten every morsel she could. Her only excuse for beingso greedy was that "ev'rything tasted just splendid!" as she told thequeen.
"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 neednot go far this afternoon, and when you return we will have anotherinteresting 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 oldsailor to the child; "but that's a thing as can't be did here in thewater."
"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, ifit 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 pockets of his coat and tookout a pipe and a bag of tobacco. After he had carefully filled hispipe, rejoicing in the fact that the tobacco was not at all wet, hetook out his match box and struck a light. The match burned brightlyand soon the sailor was puffing the smoke from his pipe in greatcontentment. The smoke ascended through the water in the shape ofbubbles and Trot wondered what anyone who happened to be floating uponthe 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 itbothers me to understand why."
"It is because of the air space existing between the water andeverything you have about you," explained Merla. "But now, if you willcome this way, I will take you to visit some of our neighbors."
They passed over the carpet of sea flowers, the gorgeous blossomsswaying on their stems as the motion of the people in the water abovethem disturbed their repose, and presently the three entered the denseshrubbery surrounding the palaces. They had not proceeded far when theycame to a clearing among the bushes, and here Merla paused.
Trot and Cap'n Bill paused, too, for floating in the clear water was agroup of beautiful shapes that the child thought looked like molds ofwine jelly. They were round as a dinner plate, soft and transparent,but tinted in such lovely hues that no artist's brush has ever beenable 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 floatin any direction they wished to go. In shape they resembled invertedflowerpots, with the upper edges fluted, and from the centers floatedwhat seemed to be bouquets of flowers.
"How pretty!" exclaimed Trot, enraptured by the sight.
"Yes; this is a rare variety of jellyfish," replied Merla. "Thecreatures are not so delicate as they appear, and live for a longtime--unless they get too near the surface and the waves wash themashore."
After watching the jellyfish a few moments they followed Merla throughthe grove and soon a low chant, like that of an Indian song, fell upontheir ears. It was a chorus of many small voices, and grew louderas they swam on. Presently a big rock rose suddenly before them fromthe bottom of the sea, rearing its steep side far up into the wateroverhead, and this rock was thickly covered with tiny shells that clungfast to its surface. The chorus they heard appeared to come from theseshells, and Merla said to her companions:
"These are the singing barnacles. They are really very amusing, and ifyou listen carefully you can hear what they say."
So Tro
t and Cap'n Bill listened, and this was 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 their songs mean nothing at all. The littlebarnacles haven't many brains, so we usually find their songs quitestupid."
"Do they write 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 whethertheir songs mean anything or not. Let us go in this direction and visitsome other sea people."
So they swam away from the barnacle-covered rock and Trot heard thelast chorus as she slowly followed their conductor. The barnacles weresinging:
"_Oh, very well, then, I hear the curfew, Please go away and come some other day; Goliath tussels With Samson's muscles, Yet the muscles never fight in Oyster Bay._"
"It's jus' nonsense!" said Trot, scornfully. "Why don't they sing'Annie Laurie,' or 'Home, Sweet Home,' or else keep quiet?"
"Why, if they were quiet," replied Merla, "they wouldn't be singingbarnacles."
They now came to one of the avenues which led from the sea garden outinto 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'sbetter now and has gone to sleep. King Anko has been stirring aroundsome, but is now taking his after-dinner nap. I think it will beperfectly 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 is asleep, for now wewon't meet him."
"Don't you like him?" inquired Trot.
"Oh, he complains so bitterly of everything that he bores us," Merlaanswered. "Mummercubble is never contented or happy for a singleminute."
"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, dartingeels 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 putout a hand and push the creature away, but remembering that his fingerswould thus be exposed he remained quiet, and the eel snapped harmlesslyjust before his face, and then darted away.
"Stop it!" said Merla; "stop it this minute, or I'll report yourimpudence to Aquareine."
"Oh, who cares?" shouted the Eels. "We're not afraid of the mermaids."
"She'll stiffen you all 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 theirplay 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 re-spec'ablesailorman, 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 littlegirl. If you do not behave nicely to them you will surely be sorry."
"Oh, that's all right," replied one of the biggest eels, wrigglingaround in a circle and then snapping at a companion, which as quicklysnapped out of his way. "We know how to be polite to company as well asthe 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 tothemselves.
Trot was greatly relieved.
"I don't like eels," she said.
"They are more mischievous than harmful," replied Merla; "but I do notcare much for them myself."
"No," added Cap'n Bill; "they ain't respec'ful."
The Sea Fairies Page 11