"No," said the merchant quietly.

"Then you shall seek for it yourself," cried the King. And he gave
orders that the merchant be tied hand and foot, and tossed into a little
boat without food or drink, and then sent adrift to die helplessly in
the lonely seas. And so this awful sentence was carried out.

Bound hand and foot, scarce able to roll from side to side, the merchant
lay motionless in his little craft and stared up at the blue sky.
Presently a merciful sleep overcame him, and while he slept, a wind
arose which swept the little boat along with it.

Meanwhile, on the beautiful island, the sailor and his companions,
stunned at their discovery, began preparations to return to the
under-waters. Just as the twilight fell, all walked together to the
margin of the darkening sea, and advanced into the waves.

Suddenly, the sailor, whose eyes were the keenest, saw a little boat
rapidly drifting ashore. Now caught in a current of the shallow beach,
it drifted sideways; now propelled by the rising tide, it floated on,
bow pointed to the shore. The sailor hurried toward it and seized it.
Suddenly he uttered a ringing cry! The old merchant lay on the floor of
the boat. He still lived, for they could see him gently breathing.
Lifting him up tenderly, the three sons carried him to the shore,
unloosed his bonds, and brought him back to life.

Now when the merchant was himself again, the sailor, through the power
of the emerald, caused the waves to carry a great ship to the island,
and on this ship the three sons, the two princesses, and the old
merchant returned to the merchant's country. All landed secretly,
however, for they knew that the angry King would seize them if he knew
of their return. And so it came to pass that, one night, shortly after
the homecoming, word was brought to the sailor that the King had heard
of the merchant's escape and was sending guards to arrest the merchant
and his companions.

It was almost midnight when the sailor lad received the warning. Taking
the emerald with him, he advanced to a window by the ocean, and cried
out over the moonlit waters,--

"Waters of the Sea, rise and overwhelm the palace of the King!"

Now the King's palace stood apart by itself on a tongue of land running
far out into the tide, and soon the rising waters were flowing over the
marble floors and pouring in through the windows. One by one, the lights
in the thousand rooms, touched by the waves, hissed, sputtered