How Mollie visited the Mer-Children.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14250, 22 December 1909, Page 5 (Supplement)

How Mollie visited the Mer-Children.

jj wafi a glorious summer night, moonlight jjjd calm. "Just the night." said Mollie jo .herself, "for my experiment." Mollie jjjved long words, and occasionally got them fight. Only last week lie had sat at her hdiooni window watching a. largo boat glide up 1110 harbour, and had been fascicled by tho bright reflections of the lights in the water. " t wonder," sho had said to ]ier«!f (' ie often talked to herself, " becjiw<n" iKS s;i ' r '' " ' never quarrel or jXguo with myself, and it. makes it to much jliccu"). " what the lit mermaids think»ol those lights, and if they como to the surface to play in them." And Mollie made up her own little mind to creep out some night'and hide in her father's boat and see If the mermaids could possibly resist those fascinating streams of light. J"To-night, seemed her very best chance. Mother and father were in Auckland (Moljj# lived at the North Shore), and Mary, tje housemaid, alter tucking Mollie safely in" bed, was' sitting on the hack door steps talking to cook. . It only took Mollie a few minutes to hop out of bed and put on her" clothe®. " I'm afraid the buttons are not quite in their right holes, but it does not Batter," she thought as she slipped through tie gate and across the flat,' sandy beach [o where the boat was pulled up. The little girl was rather nervous as she crouched in. the bottom of the boat; it was only eight o'clock, but she thought it must be nearly the middle of the night. A ferry itwraer moved across the harbour, the bright lights quivering and daiicing upon the water; they seemed to . almost reach ){ollie as she sat entranced.

/"Why," said she aloud, "they are comlag nearer and nearer, and, oh, what is that?" as something silvery and shining rose from the rippling water not. far from tie little girl. "There's another, and another,". and she stood up and clapped her hands. " Why, they're mermaids," she cried. " No, wo're mer-ehildren," said on© railing little figure coming close to Mollis "Come along." ; But I can't," began Mollie. Then to her surprise found herself swimming and playing with the little mer-children. " And father always <?ays I can't swim," the thought indignantly. They played and danced for some time in the sparkling shafts of light, and then asked Mollie if she would like to see their home. Upon the child eagerly assenting they put their arms around her, and then downdowndown they went gently through the clear water, "which funnily enough doesn't feel wet," thought Mollie. -' Presently she found herself running along »strip of fine white sand towards a cluster of brilliant lights. All the little iner-chil-d)jen eeemed ' very excited. " It's court tight you know," they said, "and wo have to'get- ready." 'When they reached tifijightii ' Mollie saw that it was the en- I tonce to a large room. At the door stood a portly echnapper, with a white apron on. and a pair of scieMirsand a comb stuck through his fins. "'Court barber, court barber," he was ailing in a very hoarse voice, " fins and tails curled while you wait." . They parsed into the room, and there were dozens of fish with their fins in curl papers, and hot Md Hurried-looking barbers attending to them.

-.•The mer-children clamoured to be dreesfd, but when a barbor wanted to brush Mollie's hair she would not let him, and ho backed away caving, " Very well, then, funny sort of seaweed you have for hair, anyway." And ea<!h time he passed he said " Seaweed" until Moflie was glad when If little friends were ready to move on. is were • entering a beautiful decorated . corridor • she heard a grumbling Toico exclaim :;•••■ "Beastly, beastly, I call it, for a fellow to have to put up with this for hours, and I can't'wipe it off." And as Mollie looked up she found the Halt* were really starfish, smeared with fSosphonis. This horrid stuff has got into my eye, oh, da'.r, oh. dear," the grumbling-voice WWiflued,, and Mollie would have liked to 'top and wipe it out. " For I expect it feels like soap," she thought : but the mcr-chil-dren hurried her on, telling her that "it's oily Winkie, and he is always grumbling." •They were now entering the court-room, tod Mollie thought she had never seen anything so beautiful. Festoons of coloured »*wecd hung from the walls, looped'up 'ith.strings of brilliant lights, and flowers tod fliusic seemed everywhere. The throne *as at one end of, the hall. and it was a beautiful piece of work, made of the palest link coral, and it was threaded and twined "jith pearls of every shape and' size. As collie moved across the hall she found that Wte*/ eye was fixed on her, and suddenly j«t afraid, and would have stopped but at moment there was a wild blaring-of limpets, and shouts of " Here she comes, we she comes,'' and Mollie found herself ebfid towards the throne. * A portly millWin,his robes of office look her hand, and S'Wefully placed her in her scab There M 'mother blare of trumpets, a sceptre wgojd was placed in her hand, a crown of PWrls on her head, and with a ciy of " our IVfen" the whole audience prostrated, themwhrea. There was ono .who still stood in Wat vast assemblage, and that was a fat **1 cross-looking flounder. She was gorpoiisly dressed in bright pink satin, with w fins elaborately curlcd, and strings of I" ar ls run.through them. W I must protest." she screamed at the tyP of.lier voice. "No oiie with two tails 'wild be allowed to be queen." , t. i£They're legs, not tails," said Mollio injj'gnanllv, curling her fat little legs tightv together, and feeling very uncomforiable. °

But ft fatherly looking eel helped her. Anarchist," ho shouted, springing to his " Remove her at once for speaking B ?ain»t our queen," and despite her shrieks rage the angry fish was borne from the Mom. J njile eel turned with a smile to Mollie. /Nous," he said with a wink. "Wanted be queen herself, has a try every year. I "to*/ 01 " the presentations'," he continued. Madame Mullet," arid he waved his hand i * ari^8 a sweet-faced mullet, " presents ™ daughters." Madame Mullet was dress°l ' n ; black satin, and her two daughters dainty white muslin, caught 011 the Jfiers . with knots of pale blue. They in front of the throne and then jffisf :,pn. Many other presentations fol-g-W) all the " debutants", of the season SP4 Presented. Then there was a pause, g, once more the trumpets sounded, and 5f of "arts and crafts" began. Mol- _ Oad not known that there were so many v«rent kinds of fish before—butchers, and 2~ r ® and candlestick-makers passed and jgjtted, each with a most important ex- £ s '° n on . its * ace chin tilted, eyes halfift u as W to say, "Oh, yes, the others Ml very well, but, of course, I am the »s* » i cou 'd not do without!" Mollie 'j&J' hjng it all in a meditative sort of ,w hen ' 18 heard 4he words " SeaMV th k ft ' r > hissed into her ear, and We irate banker just proceeding past.

BY M.G. WRITTEN SrECIALLY FOR THK NEW ZEALAND HERALD.

•lust then there began a. babel of noises at t'io door, and a furious-looking old seahorse. rushed into the hall, dragging a kicking and struggling little whiting by the ear. " Make way there," he exclaimed rudely-, bumping and brushing past everyone, and to Mollie's secret joy treading hard upon the rude little barber's tail as he passed. "Your majesty, I must beg that you commit this—this(here he shook the unfortunate whiting—larrikin to a solitary confinement shell. He torments and worries my life out. I try to read, he tips my book oyer. I try to sleep, he tickles my nose with seaweed. Me ! !" Here Mollie caught such a mischievous gleam in the whiting's eye that she could not help smiling, and then laughing. The more the angry seahorse frowned at her and tried to talk the more she laughed. She jumped to her feet and stretched out her hands, when there was a cry of: "She's human, she'll eat us!" "Yes, I will," said Mollie, "fried with breadcrumbs," and again she laughed. And then all'sorts of strange tilings began to happen. The tish all tried to get out of the door at once, and bit and kicked and pushed,, but the little mer-children took hands and danced round Mollie, singing and laughing. • The starfish lights began to revolve like Katherine wheels, and the air seemed full of shooting stars. Mollie still laughed—laughedlaughed. " Why, Mollie,'' exclaimed a familiar voice, what on earth are you doing here'?" and father lifted the still smiling child out of the boat. " Do you know if is nearly nine o'clock." Mollie was carried home and kissed and scolded alternately, given a cup of nice hot milk, and put to bed. Next . morning mother scolded first, and then listened to a long account of Mollie's adventures as queen. But all father would say was, " Just as well for you, young miss, that I remembered I had left the rowlocks in my boat, ■ and went to get them on my way home."