up rather close to the hindmost of
them the nine little pipers disappeared, but the children heard the
music playing beneath the waters. The white steed pulled up suddenly,
and wouldn't move a step further.

"Now," said the little man to the children, "clasp me tight, Nora, and
do you, Connla, cling on to Nora, and both of you shut your eyes."

The children did as they were bidden, and the little man cried:

"Swish! swash!"

And the steed went down and down until at last his feet struck the
bottom.

"Now open your eyes," said the little man.

And when the children did so they saw beneath the horse's feet a
golden strand, and above their heads the sea like a transparent cloud
between them and the sky. And once more they heard the fairy music,
and marching on the strand before them were the nine little pipers.

"You must get off now," said the little man, "I can go no farther with
you."

The children scrambled down, and the little man cried "swish," and
himself and the steed shot up through the sea, and they saw him no
more. Then they set out after the nine little pipers, and it wasn't
long until they saw rising up from the golden strand and pushing their
heads up into the sea above, a mass of dark grey rocks. And as they
were gazing at them they saw the rocks opening, and the nine little
pipers disappearing through them.

The children hurried on, and when they came up close to the rocks they
saw sitting on a flat and polished stone a mermaid combing her golden
hair, and singing a strange sweet song that brought the tears to their
eyes, and by the mermaid's side was a little sleek brown otter.

When the mermaid saw them she flung her golden tresses back over her
snow-white shoulders, and she beckoned the children to her. Her large
eyes were full of sadness; but there was a look so tender upon her
face that the children moved towards her without any fear.

"Come to me, little one," she said to Nora, "come and kiss me," and in
a second her arms were around the child. The mermaid kissed her again
and again, as the tears rushed to her eyes, she said:

"Oh, Nora, avourneen, your breath is as sweet as the wild rose that
blooms in the green fields of Erin, and happy are you, my children,
who have come so lately from the pleasant land. Oh, Connla! Connla! I
get the scent of the dew of the Irish grasses and of the purple
heather from your feet. And you both can soon return to Erin of the
Streams, but I shall not se