t him in, Clia, for I suppose our old
friend is anxious to see the earth people."

"Won't he hurt us?" asked the little girl with a shiver of fear.

"Who, Anko? Oh no, my dear! We are very fond of the sea serpent, who
is king of this ocean, although he does not rule the mermaids. Old
Anko is a very agreeable fellow, as you will soon discover."

"Can he talk?" asked Trot.

"Yes indeed."

"And can we understand what he says?"

"Perfectly," replied the Queen. "I have given you power, while you
remain here, to understand the language of every inhabitant of the
sea."

"That's nice," said Trot gratefully.

The Princess Clia swam slowly to one of the walls of the throne room
where, at a wave of her hand, a round hole appeared in the coral.
The sea serpent at once observed this opening and the head left the
roof of glass only to reappear presently at the round hole. Through
this he slowly crawled until his head was just beneath the throne of
Queen Aquareine, who said to him:

"Good morning, your Majesty. I hope you are quite well?"

"Quite well, thank your Majesty," answered Anko; and then he turned
to the strangers. "I suppose these are the earth folks you were
expecting?"

"Yes," returned the Queen. "The girl is named Mayre and the man
Cap'n Bill."

While the sea serpent looked at the visitors, they ventured to look
at him. He certainly was a queer creature, yet Trot decided he was
not at all frightful. His head was round as a ball, but his ears
were sharp-pointed and had tassels at the ends of them. His nose was
flat, and his mouth very wide indeed, but his eyes were blue and
gentle in expression. The white, stubby hairs that surrounded his
face were not thick like a beard, but scattered and scraggly. From
the head, the long, brown body of the sea serpent extended to the
hole in the coral wall, which was just big enough to admit it; and
how much more of the body remained outside the child could not tell.
On the back of the body were several fins, which made the creature
look more like an eel than a serpent.

"The girl is young and the man is old," said King Anko in a soft
voice. "But I'm quite sure Cap'n Bill isn't as old as I am."

"How old are you?" asked the sailor.

"I can't say exactly. I can remember several thousands of years
back, but beyond that my memory fails me. How's your memory, Cap'n
Bill?"

"You've got me beat," was the reply. "I'll give in that you're older
than I am."

This seemed t