ngs of pearly gauze. But the only fairies were
the sailors, and every one of these looked like a very old man, because
heads and beards were white with frost and snow, and little icicles hung
round their hats.

The children dreamt of it all again that night; but lo! when they went on
deck next morning, before breakfast, to have a romp and a run with the
dogs and Flossy, everything was changed.

And what a change!

The sun was now shining brightly, with not a cloud in the blue sky.
Icebergs lay far astern; all around was a calm blue sea, with one great
whale half-asleep on its surface, wild birds more beautiful than any they
had ever seen before sailing around, and, more wonderful than anything
else, the _Valhalla_ was safe at anchor in front of a pretty island,
patched with the greens, reds, and browns of lovely flowers.

"Behold!" cried Peterkin, as he lifted Pansy up. "Behold, my child, the
land of gold and coals!"

Pansy's reply was to the point.

"Very pretty, very pretty," she said; "but, 'Fessor Pete, I wants to see
the gold--not the nasty coals."

This very forenoon Peterkin started off in the biggest boat to "spy out
the land", as he called it Tom and the three little stowaways were
allowed to come too. To them it was going to be a kind of picnic, and the
steward sent with them a huge basket, filled with enough good things to
last the whole crew for a week. As there was no wind, the men had to row
all the way.

"Oh," cried Pansy, "I hope dear Flossy won't swim away!"

Yes, they had taken Flossy with them as well as the dogs.

The water was deep and dark quite close to the beautiful shore, and the
girls could not help marvelling at the monsters of jelly-fish they saw
far down in its depths. Their bodies were as great as sunshades, and of
the same shape, and the legs they jerked out from under were spangled
with stars of blue and red. Once a huge shark swam up to the boat, leered
at them with his sly and evil eyes, then, turning on his back, showed a
mouth that could have swallowed them all. Poor Pansy drew nearer to the
professor with a cry of horror.

They found a little bay at last, and landed for a meal.

"I don't think there is anything that can hurt you here," said Peterkin,
"and, if you like, you can run about and gather flowers while I cruise
round the coast for an hour. There, I will leave you all the rugs, the
bear-skin, and the basket too."

They were delighted.

So off they set, Veeve