142
would have to tell Tom the whole peculiar adventure to get
him to take his auto out at such an unearthly hour.
“He’ll think me clean daft when I unfold it to him,” said
Edwin to himself.
And Tom did, too. He laughed loud and long when
Edwin chose what he thought to be a propitious moment
and began his confession. “What are you stuffing me with?”
Tom demanded, with tears in his eyes. Edwin renewed his
explanations, only to bring on another explosion. “You’ll be
the death of me yet, old fellow,” asserted Tom. “You’d better
cut out those absinthes.” Edwin added details most earnestly.
“You’re crazy, boy,” was the only reply he got. He grew an-
gry and hurt. “Now, Tom Reese,” he demanded, “have I ever
failed you when you wanted my help?” Tom apologized and
began to study Edwin with intentness. “Look here, Edwin
Horton,” he said, “if there is any such girl at Druid Lake as
you describe, she’s a ‘fake’ and she’s got you strung mightily.”
Edwin swallowed this dig at his intelligence peacefully. He
saw he had won. “All I ask, Tom,” he rejoined, “is that you will
take me out in the car and see for yourself.” Tom gave him
his hand. “I’m from Missouri, and you’ll have to show me,”
he chuckled.
A wash tub from Mrs. Reese’s cellar was requisitioned
at 3
a.m.
for use as a tank. After it had been lifted into the
tonneau, a hose supplied the needed water. “Climb into the
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143
water wagon,” ordered Tom, and he threw on the lever and
spun out to Druid Hill Park.
The day was still in embryo when the lake tower was
reached. But the nymph was there. Her trim blue blouse was
still wet after her swim ashore. The morning was summery,
but Edwin had appreciated that the ride might be cold for
the water lady, and had thoughtfully
brought his sister’s raincoat.
Tom’s astonishment at seeing a
bona-fide mermaid was balm to Ed-
win. The lad stood open-mouthed
after Edwin had introduced them.
In fact, he was so dumfounded that
he failed to notice the hand the damsel had extended to him.
“Come on, Tom,” said Edwin; “there isn’t much time.”
One on each side, the two boys supported the nymph
as she cavorted as gracefully as possible up the rocks. They
hadn’t thought of the iron railing. “Caesar’s ghost!” muttered
Tom in dismay. “How are we going to get her over that?” Ed-
win turned to the mermaid. “If you don’t mind,” said he, “we
will have to lift you.” “I don’t mind,” she said, simply, “if you
don’t drop me.”
At Edwin’s suggestion he clambered over first, and then
Tom raised the young creature boldly until she was clear of
the iron spikes. There Edwin took hold of her and carried
The day was still
in embryo when
the lake tower was
reached.
Among the Mermaids
144
her to the auto. She was not a heavy burden, but her wet con-
dition and her combination shape increased the difficulties.
From the moment she was once in the auto her joy was
a pleasure to observe. She began by expressing her delight
at their thoughtfulness in sup-
plying the wash tub. When the
machine began to move she
clapped her hands in childish
glee. From glee to wonderment
her mood changed as they
spun along the park roads. A
hundred naive questions were
asked about the objects unfa-
miliar to a lady whose habitat
was at the bottom of a big pond. Edwin answered faithfully,
and had his reward in his enjoyment of her artlessness and
winsomeness. Occasionally Tom looked round to share in it.
At a good clip the auto was run out Park Heights Ave-
nue and back. The dawn seemed most kindly disposed to the
trio, for it was long in coming. And when they had reached
Pimlico, Tom proposed a detour by way of Roland Park, to
return to the lake across Cedar-avenue Bridge. The damsel
hailed it with glee, only stipulating that she must be back by
“sun-up.”
At Edwin’s suggestion
he clambered over first,
and then Tom raised the
young creature boldly
until she was clear of the
iron spikes.
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145
They showed her the turf tracks on either side as they
bowled along Belvidere Avenue eastward, and they were
still engaged in explaining to her the methods of horse rac-
ing when Tom started down the long hill beside the Tyson
place, Cylburn, leading down to the bridge across Jones’ Falls.
The girl was asking questions, with her bewitching face in
close proximity to Edwin’s, when there came a startling in-
terruption to their fun. Tom, again greatly interested in the
talk, failed to notice a large boulder in the road, and the auto
shot over it with a jolt that caused him to lose control of
the wheel. The big machine regained its balance, but not its
course. Instead, it careened to the right and bumped into
the ditch before the alarmed occupants had scarcely grasped
Among the Mermaids
146
their peril. Tom was tossed out on the roadway. Edwin was
pitched into the front seat, the mermaid shot past him and
fell on a clump of green turf and the tub of water upset, and,
in seeking an outlet, poured over the car, drenching Edwin.
“Look out for a gasoline explosion!” shrieked Tom, rais-
ing himself from the road, apparently unhurt. Edwin knew
he could do nothing to prevent such a catastrophe, so he fol-
lowed the other two out of the auto as quickly as he could.
For a moment he and Tom paid no attention to the mer-
maid, so absorbed were they in the possibility of a blow-up.
But when this danger had apparently passed they discovered
that she had lifted herself from the grassy sward and was
flip-flopping awkwardly in the direction of the brook that
runs through Cylburn near the road.
“Come back! Come back! There’s no danger!” called Ed-
win, as he started after her.
The damsel paid no heed. She was intent on getting to
that stream of running water.
Again Edwin called, this time more sharply. The mer-
maid stopped not, but turned a tearful and much convulsed
face to him.
Edwin raced after her. So did Tom. But when they got to
the edge of the brook the only sign of her was an increasing
ripple on the surface of a little pool. The stream was not so
deep but that the bottom could be studied. And yet they saw
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147
nothing of her. Evidently she had the enchanted gift of being
invisible in water.
Tom looked at Edwin. Edwin looked at Tom.
“That beats the D
utch!” said Tom.
“It’s worse than that,” replied Edwin, an odd catch in his
voice. “We certainly have queered her for good. We must
find her and get her back to the park somehow.”
For hours they moved up and down alongside the stream,
calling pleadingly, but without response, for their quondam
friend. Edwin made a little oration to her in absentia, in
which he humbly begged her pardon and swore by all the
gods of Mount Olympus—by the great Jupiter, the chaste
Diana and all the rest of them, as far as he could remember
their names—that he would restore her safely to the lake.
But she came not. Tom added his entreaties, but she heeded
not. Then Tom suggested that perhaps she had worked her
way down the brook and into Jones’ Falls, whence she could,
if she but knew the pipes, get into her beloved lake again.
Edwin jumped at the idea, and, leaving Tom to look after the
auto, hastened down the ravine to Jones’ Falls, and moved
Among the Mermaids
148
up and down the Falls, calling for the vanished damsel with
a fervor that might have caused doubts as to his sanity had
anyone heard it.
When he returned, terribly downcast, Tom had gotten
the car righted and had discovered that it was uninjured.
“No luck, I suppose?” said Tom.
“No,” replied Edwin, moodily.
“Get in, then. We can’t stay here all day.”
Edwin required urging to leave the spot. Finally he con-
sented to go. As he climbed in he saw the overturned wash
tub, and his concentrated wrath and grief were heaped upon
it. Picking it up, he hurled it savagely at a tree, and, when it
fell to pieces with the concussion, he exclaimed, vehemently
and inconsequentially:
“That’s the blamed thing that got us into this muss!”
At Druid Lake he insisted on another long search. Time
and again the auto was stopped that he might call aloud for
his charmer. But no answering sound came across the water.
“Curses!” said Edwin. “I’m afraid she’s lost for good.”
And that is probably the true explanation as to why
there has been no mermaid in Druid Lake since. She may be
in Cylburn brook, she may be in Jones’ Falls, she may have
reached the Patapsco, but no one has ever seen a creature an-
swering her description and aquatic habits since the damsel
who once held the job got giddy and went motoring.
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149
Sorry Kids! The United States Government
Officially Denies Mermaids Exist
♦ In
May
2012,
The
Discovery
Channel
released
a
short
series called
Mermaids: The Body Found
, outlining
scientific theories and historical recordings that might
support the existence of mermaids. One interesting
point that Dr. Paul Robertson, member of the NOAA
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Fisheries Department and commentator in the series,
highlights is the fact that mermaids are recorded in the
arts of civilizations and cultures that previously had
little to no contact with one another, yet the mermaid
figure is nearly identically represented. Some recorded
examples include the Greeks, Vikings, and Chinese,
who, during maritime exploration, recorded sightings
while away at sea.
♦ Nineteenth-century
captains
of
whaling
vessels
spotted
mermaids swimming with pods of whales.
♦ Mermaid
sightings
were
recorded
in
the
logs
of
Henry
Hudson and Christopher Columbus.
♦ There
are
sixteenth-century
Italian
drawings
of
rare
human medical anomalies—including people with
webbed hands.
Among the Mermaids
150
♦ Sandstone
caves
in
Egypt
were
tidal
30,000
years
ago,
but the water has receded, uncovering cave paint-
ings depicting human creatures with fins swimming
amongst dolphins and in direct conflict with the hu-
mans, holding spears.
With the possibility that humans once interacted with mer-
maids but arrived at a period of animosity and conflict, Dr.
Robertson poses the question: “Did we drive them into ex-
tinction, or, did we drive them into hiding?”
Mermaid Joy Ride
151
The mockumentary was so convincing, in fact, that it
started an Internet explosion of theories on the existence of
the creatures. Tough the show is a self-proclaimed science
fiction piece, blending scientific fact and theory with imagi-
native speculation, many mistook its conjecture for factual
claims—so many, in fact, that the United States government
felt the need to release a statement reassuring viewers that
“no evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found”
(NOAA statement). And thus the government officially
dashed the hopes of children across the world. (Up next,
they plan to issue a statement denying the existence of the
Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.)
The Mermaid’s Prophecy
Anonymous
The King he has caught the fair mermaid, and deep
(
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
In the dungeon has placed her, to pine and to weep,
Because his will she had not done.
The Queen of the Danes addressed two of her
band: (
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
Among the Mermaids
152
“To come to my presence the mermaid command,
For my will by her it shall be done.”
The mermaid came in, to the Queen she up went:
(
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
“What wilt thou, O Queen, that for me thou hast
sent? By me thy will can never be done.”
The Queen the blue cushion stroked down with a
smile: (
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
“Sit down pretty mermaid and rest thee awhile,
My will by thee must now be done.”
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153
“Why seek’st thou, O Queen, to betray my young
life? (
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
For under that cushion is stuck a sharp knife,
By me thy will can never be done.”
“If thou knowest that, then much more thou dost
know, (
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
So do thou my destiny unto me show,
And thus by thee shall m
y will be done.”
“If I should thy destiny to thee announce,
(
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
On a fire of faggots thoud’st burn me at once!
By me unwilling your will is done.
“Three babes thou shalt bear, each a beautiful boy,
(
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
And in leaving thy womb they thy life shall destroy,
And thus fair Queen thy will is done.”
“If with me, luckless me, it no better shall speed,
(
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
Inform me what fortune for them is decreed,
For thus by thee can my will be done.”
Among the Mermaids
154
“The first shall be King in old Denmark of them,
(
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
The next shall succeed to the gold diadem,
By me can thus thy will be done.
“The third as the wisest of mortals shall shine,
(
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
And for him thou art doomed thy young life to
resign, Thus all your will, fair Queen, I’ve done.”
In her mantle of azure the Queen wrapt her head,
(
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
And unto the hall to the Monarch she sped,
For she her will had fairly done.
“Now hear my entreaty, my heart’s belov’d Lord,
(
The mermaid dances the floor upon
)
To my own disposal this mermaid award,
For she my will has fairly done.”
Among the Mermaids Page 12