oppies (a kind of
flower which she was always noted for wearing), and got into her car drawn
by a pair of winged dragons, and was just ready to set off.

"Dear mother," said Proserpina, "I shall be very lonely while you are
away. May I not run down to the shore, and ask some of the sea-nymphs to
come up out of the waves and play with me?"

"Yes, child," answered Mother Ceres. "The sea-nymphs are good creatures,
and will never lead you into any harm. But you must take care not to stray
away from them, nor go wandering about the fields by yourself. Young
girls, without their mothers to take care of them, are very apt to get
into mischief."

The child promised to be as prudent as if she were a grown-up woman, and,
by the time the winged dragons had whirled the car out of sight, she was
already on the shore, calling to the sea-nymphs to come and play with her.
They knew Proserpina's voice, and were not long in showing their
glistening faces and sea-green hair above the water, at the bottom of
which was their home. They brought along with them a great many beautiful
shells; and, sitting down on the moist sand, where the surf wave broke
over them, they busied themselves in making a necklace, which they hung
round Proserpina's neck. By way of showing her gratitude, the child
besought them to go with her a little way into the fields, so that they
might gather abundance of flowers, with which she would make each of her
kind playmates a wreath.

"Oh, no, dear Proserpina," cried the sea-nymphs; "we dare not go with you
upon the dry land. We are apt to grow faint, unless at every breath we can
snuff up the salt breeze of the ocean. And don't you see how careful we
are to let the surf wave break over us every moment or two, so as to keep
ourselves comfortably moist? If it were not for that, we should soon look
like bunches of uprooted sea-weed dried in the sun."

"It is a great pity," said Proserpina, "but do you wait for me here, and I
will run and gather my apron full of flowers, and be back again before the
surf wave has broken ten times over you. I long to make you some wreaths
that shall be as lovely as this necklace of many-colored shells."

"We will wait, then," answered the sea-nymphs. "But while you are gone, we
may as well lie down on a bank of soft sponge, under the water. The air
to-day is a little too dry for our comfort. But we will pop up our heads
every few minutes to see if you are coming."

The young Proserp