bottom, took a second plunge, dragging Helen with her.

Then two curded and wheyey heads arose.

"Oh, Helen, you look so funny!" said Zaidee, as Helen spluttered in her
turn. "Doesn't it feel awful nasty? And see how funny these little
stones look now!"

The curd being pretty thoroughly churned up now, with the gyrations of
the two children, it was settling in a smooth, even layer over the top
of the whey. Zaidee slapped and splashed it about in high glee,
perfectly satisfied to stay in the tank any length of time, now that she
had Helen beside her there.

Just then steps sounded on the planks outside, and the voices of men
were heard.

"Great guns! Who left this 'ere spigot a-runnin'!" exclaimed one, coming
hastily forward. "Look at the whey goin' galumphin out. Suthin' must hev
gorn bust."

A breathless silence settled on Zaidee and Helen.

"There warn't nothin' a-runnin' when I went off to dinner," said
another, "and I was the last feller out."

The next moment the astonished men were gazing at the pair of
guilty-looking little mermaids, who wore curds for seaweeds. Helen's
floating golden hair, all stringy with whey, was a funnier sight even
than Zaidee's short plastered locks. The two frightened, dirty,
streaming little faces, were raised appealingly.

"Wal, I vum! We've caught suthin' in _this_ cheese, for sure," said one
man, coming nearer.

"We falled in," said Zaidee, regaining her courage, which never long
deserted her. "We don't like this white water, and it's all smelly.
Please take us out."

"I swan," said the other man. "Where did you come from, young uns?"

"We live at the beach, at grandma's. Take us out, please. Take Helen
first."

"What are you doin' around here, then, a-tumblin' into our vats, and
a-spilin' good curds and whey? You don't suppose we want to flavour it
with little gals, do you?"

Zaidee wasn't sure of anything but that she wanted to get out of her
new bath-tub, so she only repeated:

"Please take us out, Mr. Man, and we won't fall in again, ever, 'cause
we don't like this white water, truly we don't. There are such funny
little snow stones in it. We like really truly water best. Please take
us out."

"Was it you turned my spigot?" demanded her jailer, very sternly.

Zaidee quaked. She had forgotten about turning the spigot.

"We won't ever turn it again," she promised, hastily.

"Oh, come, Steve, take the kid out," said the other man.

"Ef it was one of our