wildly to and fro over the sea.

"What is it, Mermaid?"

She tried to stamp her foot; but the four inches of water in which she
was standing were against her.

"Can't you see, idiot? This is mine--this chemise--so's this shoe.
The tide's come up into my cave while I've been making a fool of myself
talking to you, and all my things are gone. There's the other shoe."

"All right--I'll get it."

I got it, and one stocking, but though I swam about till I was tired,
and even climbed on to the rock, now almost submerged, to which we had
raced, I could see nothing else. I returned temporarily exhausted to
the cove. She waded out to meet me.

"Tell me exactly where your cave is," I said, as I handed her the
flotsam.

She showed me, and, after a moment or two's rest, I swam out and round
to the mouth, only to find the water too high to enter. I did try, but
a wave lifted me up to the roof, and I only saved a broken head at the
expense of a nasty cut on the back of my hand.

She was anxiously awaiting me, and listened to my report without a
word. When I had finished, she deliberately wrung the last atom of
water out of the derelict stocking, smoothed it out carefully by the
side of the chemise in the sun, laid herself down on the sand, and
burst into tears.

I tried to comfort her. I patted her shoulder and took her hand in
mine.

"Don't worry, Mermaid dear," I said. "Trust me--I'll think of
something. I know. I'll swim round to my cove and dress, and then go
and get you some fresh clothes before anyone's the wiser. See? I'll
go now," I added, getting up and licking the blood off my hand. "You
wait here and--"

I broke off abruptly, and one of the more violent expletives,
indicative of combined horror and amazement, escaped my lips before I
could stop it.

"What is it?" wailed the Mermaid.

On the crest of a wave, some thirty yards from the shore, danced my
grey hat. Beyond it, a little to the right, was something which might
be a shirt.

Stammering incoherent sentences, I staggered into the water and swam
for the hat. When I had caught it, I went on to get the shirt. I
would have gone on round the headland to my cove, only the shirt was
not my shirt. It was Berry's! Yes, it was--had his name on it and
all. And not ten yards away floated Daphne's straw hat. For the next
two minutes I was in imminent danger of drowning. At last I began to
swim feebly, blindly back. When I reached the shor