end an hour and a half in the cars between
New York and Albany when the _Maxim_ will do it in forty-five minutes!

Strange creatures, to me, these women. I have never married. Joe's
mother wept when we left, and I am blamed if she is not crying this
minute. "What!"

"You too, Joe? I--"

OFF WITH THE MERBOY.

BY JOHN KENDRICK BANGS.

CHAPTER III.

UNDER WATER.

[Illustration: Decorative I]

sn't that interesting?" asked the Merboy when he had finished.

"Very," returned Jimmieboy. "But I don't see how it proves that the
Porpoise knew any more than the Professor. Did he know why men have
chins and why boys are noisy?"

"I don't suppose he did," returned the Merboy; "but even if he didn't
his ignorance wasn't any greater than that of the Professor, while the
Professor had to admit that there wasn't anything he could tell the
Porpoise that the Porpoise hadn't heard before. That proved that the
Porpoise knew quite as much as the Professor did; and the fact that the
Porpoise knew how to get the Professor home while the Professor didn't,
showed that the Porpoise knew more than he did. That simply proves what
I have already said, that sea creatures know more than land
creatures--even Porpoises, and they know less than any other kind of
fish."

"It looks true," said Jimmieboy. "But I hardly believe it, though."

"Well, you'd better," retorted the Merboy. "Why, people of your kind say
themselves that fish is good for their brains. Why should this be so if
fish weren't what I've said they are?"

"That's so!" Jimmieboy answered, convinced at last. "But it seems
queer."

"That's because you don't understand it," said the Merboy,
patronizingly. "If you were a fish you'd understand it, but being a boy
you can't be expected to. It's simple enough. You people on land are
kept so busy all day long earning your living that you don't have time
really to study. On the other hand, we sea people don't do anything but
swim about all day and think. Didn't you ever notice me up there in the
aquarium lying perfectly motionless in the water with my eyes gazing off
on both sides of me with a far-away look in them?"

"Often," said Jimmieboy. "And I've wondered every time what you really
were doing. Were you always thinking at those times?"

"Always," said the Merboy. "Always studying out something."

"And did you ever find out anything?" queried Jimmieboy.

"Yes," said the Merboy. "I've found out everything; but," he