I'm a--a girl."

"With a fish's tail?" he asked, laughing at her.

"That's only just for a while," she said, "while I'm in the water,
you know. When I'm at home on the land I walk just as you do, an' so
does Cap'n Bill."

"But we haven't any gills," remarked the Cap'n, looking closely at
the little man's throat, "so I take it we're not as fishy as some
others."

"If you mean me, I must admit you are right," said the little man,
twisting his mustache. "I'm as near a fish as a man can be. But you
see, Cap'n, without the gills that make me a fish, I could not live
under water."

"When it comes to that, you've no business to live under water,"
asserted the sailor. "But I s'pose you're a slave and can't help
it."

"I'm chief cook for that old horror Zog. And that reminds me, good
mermaids, or good people, or good girls and sailors, or whatever you
are, that I'm sent here to ask what you'd like to eat."

"Good to see you, sir," said Cap'n Bill. "I'm nearly starved,
myself."

"I had it in mind," said the little man, "to prepare a regular
mermaid dinner, but since you're not mermaids--"

"Oh, two of us are," said the Queen, smiling. "I, my good cook, am
Aquareine, the ruler of the mermaids, and this is the Princess
Clia."

"I've often heard of you, your Majesty," returned the chief cook,
bowing respectfully, "and I must say I've heard only good of you.
Now that you have unfortunately become my master's prisoners, it
will give me pleasure to serve you as well as I am able."

"We thank you, good sir," said Aquareine.

"What have you got to eat?" inquired Trot. "Seems to me I'm hollow
way down to my toes--my tail, I mean--and it'll take a lot to fill
me up. We haven't eaten a morsel since breakfast, you know."

"I think I shall be able to give you almost anything you would
like," said the cook. "Zog is a wonderful magician and can procure
anything that exists with no more effort than a wiggle of his thumb.
But some eatables, you know, are hard to serve under water, because
they get so damp that they are soon ruined."

"Ah, it is different with the mermaids," said Princess Clia.

"Yes, all your things are kept dry because they are surrounded by
air. I've heard how the mermaids live. But here it is different."

"Take this ring," said the Queen, handing the chief cook a circlet
which she drew from her finger. "While it is in your possession, the
food you prepare will not get wet, or even moist."

"I thank your