y floated quietly in
the water, and Trot inquired what they were.

"Balloonfish," answered Merla. "They are helpless creatures, but
have little spikes all over them so their enemies dare not bite them
for fear of getting pricked."

Trot found the balloonfish quite interesting. They had little dots
of eyes and dots for mouths, but she could see no noses, and their
fins and tails were very small.

"They catch these fish in the South Sea Islands and make lanterns of
'em," said Cap'n Bill. "They first skin 'em and sew the skin up
again to let it dry, and then they put candles inside, and the light
shines through the dried skin."

Many other curious sights they saw in the ocean that afternoon, and
both Cap'n Bill and Trot thoroughly enjoyed their glimpse of sea
life. At last Merla said it was time to return to the palace, from
which she claimed they had not at any time been very far distant.
"We must prepare for dinner, as it will soon begin to grow dark in
the water," continued their conductor. So they swam leisurely back
to the groves that surrounded the palaces, and as they entered the
gardens the sun sank, and deep shadows began to form in the ocean
depths.

CHAPTER 8

A BANQUET UNDER WATER

The palaces of the mermaids were all aglow with lights as they
approached them, and Trot was amazed at the sight.

"Where do the lamps come from?" she asked their guide wonderingly.

"They are not lamps, my dear," replied Merla, much amused at this
suggestion. "We use electric lights in our palaces and have done so
for thousands of years--long before the earth people knew of
electric lights."

"But where do you get 'em?" inquired Cap'n Bill, who was as much
astonished as the girl.

"From a transparent jellyfish which naturally emits a strong and
beautiful electric light," was the answer. "We have many hundreds of
them in our palaces, as you will presently see."

Their way was now lighted by small, phosphorescent creatures
scattered about the sea gardens and which Merla informed them were
hyalaea, or sea glowworms. But their light was dim when compared to
that of the electric jellyfish, which they found placed in clusters
upon the ceilings of all the rooms of the palaces, rendering them
light as day. Trot watched these curious creatures with delight, for
delicately colored lights ran around their bodies in every direction
in a continuous stream, shedding splendid rays throughout the vast
halls.

A group of