l; then a
thought struck him.

"'One favor more, your gracious Majesty.'

"'Well, speak,' answered Neptune.

"'Give me a wife, so that I may not fly alone in the world.'

"'Granted,' said the Sea King; and immediately a beautiful little
silver trout swam the surface, and then flew to his side.

"With joy the silver fish greeted his mate, and forthwith they
fluttered into a tree on the banks of the Hudson River, and
commenced building a nest.

"In the due course of time a brood of little flying fish were
peeping up in the nest, and the papa and mamma had their hands
full (so to speak) in finding food for their young; they were very
happy, and thought this was the perfection of living, and heartily
despised their old companions in the beautiful brook.

"But, alas! in this world it is very often the case that just as
we have attained our wishes, and are perfectly happy--bang! it is
all over. This was literally the case with our poor little trout,
for a party of sportsmen crossing the river in a row-boat seeing
such a queer bird, one of them deliberately took aim and shot the
mother trout, just as she was returning with food for her
children; and the poor papa, who had been keeping watch on the
nest, in the extremity of his terror, opened his mouth, and popped
out his eyes, and took to flight, and left his family to be
captured by the wicked sportsmen.

[Illustration: DEATH OF THE SILVER TROUT.]

"But our little flying fish happened to alight among desert-like
sands and rocks--far, far away from the least thing to eat or
drink. Faint, weary, and unable to rise again, he lay fluttering,
panting, and beating himself against the flinty stones. Oh! how he
longed for one drop of crystal water out of his own little
brook--only one drop.

"Gasping, wounded, and sore, he lay there, wretched and all alone,
till at length, with a sob and a sigh, he breathed his last. He
was dead.

"The second little silver trout was not so high-minded as the
first; still he was dreadfully conceited, and moreover, he was a
narrow-hearted, selfish little fish; for, provided _he_ was safe
and happy, he did not care the flap of a fin, what became of all
the rest of the fishes in the whole universe, or anywhere else.

"'So,' said he to Neptune, 'may it please your worshipful honor; I