e adventure he had encountered. At first he could
hardly believe it was all true and that he was not dreaming; but
there was Trot in the water, laughing with the mermaids and floating
comfortably about, and he couldn't leave his dear little companion
to make the trip to the depths of the ocean alone.

"Take my hand, please, Cap'n Bill," said Princess Clia, reaching her
dainty arm toward him; and suddenly the old man took courage and
clasped the soft fingers in his own. He had to lean over the boat to
do this, and then there came a queer lightness to his legs and he
had a great longing to be in the water. So he gave a flop and
flopped in beside Trot, where he found himself comfortable enough,
but somewhat frightened.

"Law sakes!" he gasped. "Here's me in the water with my rheumatics!
I'll be that stiff termorrer I can't wiggle."

"You're wigglin' all right now," observed Trot. "That's a fine tail
you've got, Cap'n, an' its green scales is jus' beautiful."

"Are they green, eh?" he asked, twisting around to try to see them.

"Green as em'ralds, Cap'n. How do they feel?"

"Feel, Trot, feel? Why, this tail beats that ol' wooden leg all
holler! I kin do stunts now that I couldn't o' done in a thousand
years with ol' peg."

"And don't be afraid of the rheumatism," advised the Princess. "No
mermaid ever catches cold or suffers pain in the water."

"Is Cap'n Bill a mermaid now?" asked Trot.

"Why, he's a merMAN, I suppose," laughed the pretty princess. "But
when he gets home, he will be just Cap'n Bill again."

"Wooden leg an' all?" inquired the child.

"To be sure, my dear."

The sailor was now trying his newly discovered power of swimming,
and became astonished at the feats he could accomplish. He could
dart this way and that with wonderful speed, and turn and dive, and
caper about in the water far better than he had ever been able to do
on land--even before he got the wooden leg. And a curious thing
about this present experience was that the water did not cling to
him and wet him as it had always done before. He still wore his
flannel shirt and pea jacket and his sailor cap; but although he was
in the water and had been underneath the surface, the cloth still
seemed dry and warm. As he dived down and came up again, the drops
flashed from his head and the fringe of beard, but he never needed
to wipe his face or eyes at all.

Trot, too, was having queer experiences and enjoying them. When she
ducked under wat