listened, bronzed and iridescent. Then, as we climbed a little hill,
the sea-wind freshened in our faces, and lo! the ocean lay below us,
far-stretching as the eye could reach, glittering, magnificent.

"Daisy sat down flat on the sand. It takes a clever girl to do that
and retain the respectful deference due her from men. It takes a
graceful girl to accomplish it triumphantly when a man is looking.

"'You must sit beside me,' she said--as though it would prove irksome
to me.

"'Now,' she continued, 'you must watch the water while I am talking.'

"I nodded.

"'Why don't you do it, then?' she asked.

"I succeeded in wrenching my head towards the ocean, although I felt
sure it would swing gradually round again in spite of me.

"'To begin with,' said Daisy Holroyd, 'there's a thing in that ocean
that would astonish you if you saw it. Turn your head!'

"'I am,' I said, meekly.

"'Did you hear what I said?'

"'Yes--er--a thing in the ocean that's going to astonish me.' Visions
of mermaids rose before me.

"'The thing,' said Daisy, 'is a thermosaurus!'

"I nodded vaguely, as though anticipating a delightful introduction to
a nautical friend.

"'You don't seem astonished,' she said, reproachfully.

"'Why should I be?' I asked.

"'Please turn your eyes towards the water. Suppose a thermosaurus
should look out of the waves!'

"'Well,' said I, 'in that case the pleasure would be mutual.'

"She frowned and bit her upper lip.

"'Do you know what a thermosaurus is?' she asked.

"'If I am to guess,' said I, 'I guess it's a jelly-fish.'

"'It's that big, ugly, horrible creature that I showed you in the
shed!' cried Daisy, impatiently.

"'Eh!' I stammered.

"'Not papier-mache, either,' she continued, excitedly; 'it's a real
one.'

"This was pleasant news. I glanced instinctively at my rifle and then
at the ocean.

"'Well,' said I at last, 'it strikes me that you and I resemble a pair
of Andromedas waiting to be swallowed. This rifle won't stop a beast,
a live beast, like that Nibelungen dragon of yours.'

"'Yes, it will,' she said; 'it's not an ordinary rifle.'

"Then, for the first time, I noticed, just below the magazine, a
cylindrical attachment that was strange to me.

"'Now, if you will watch the sea very carefully, and will promise not
to look at me,' said Daisy, 'I will try to explain.'

"She did not wait for me to promise, but went on eagerly, a sparkle of
excitement in her blue eyes:

"'Y