mermaid cast up by that sea on which she gazed with
such a tragic wistfulness--and forever cut off from it.

A little distance from the rest, Honey sat with Lulu. She was shaking
the brown masses of her hair vigorously and Honey was helping her.
He was evidently trying to teach her something because, over and over
again, his lips moved to form two words, and over and over again, her
red lips parted, mimicking them. Gradually, Lulu lost all interest
in her hair. She let it drop. It floated like a furry mantle over
her shoulders. Into her little brown, pointed face came a look of
overpowering seriousness, of tremendous concentration. Occasionally
Honey would stop to listen to her; but invariably her recital sent
him into peals of laughter. Lulu did not laugh; she grew more and more
serious, more and more concentrated.

The other men talked among themselves. Occasionally they addressed
a remark to their captives. The flying-girls replied in hesitating
flutters of speech, a little breathy yes or no whenever those
monosyllables would serve, an occasional broken phrase. Superficially
they seemed calm, placid even. But if one of the men moved suddenly, an
uncontrollable panic overspread their faces.

Honey arose after a long interval, strolled over to the main group.

"I think they're coming to the conclusion that we're regular fellows,"
he declared cheerfully. "Lulu doesn't jump or shriek any more when I run
toward her."

"Oh, it's coming along all right," Frank said.

"It's surprising how quickly and how correctly they're getting the
language."

"I'm going to begin reading aloud to them next week," Pete announced.
"That'll be a picnic."

"It's been a long fight," Ralph said contentedly. "But we've won out.
We've got them going. I knew we would." His eyes went to Peachy's face,
but once there, their look of triumph melted to tenderness.

"What are we going to read them?" Honey asked idly. He did not really
listen to Pete's answer. His eyes, sparkling with amusement, had gone
back to Lulu, who still sat seriously practising her lesson. Red
lips, little white teeth, slender pink tongue seemed to get into an
inextricable tangle over the simple monosyllables.

"Leave that to me!" Pete was saying mysteriously. "I'll have them
reading and writing by the end of another two months."

"It's curious how long it's taken them to get over that terror of us,"
said Billy. "I cannot understand it."

"Oh, they'll explain why th