d out beyond the breakers,
swimming as easily as if she had always been a little mermaid, instead
of a girl who wore tan shoes.

"Where are we going?" asked Mary Louise, as the dim line of the shore
disappeared and there was nothing in sight but the great, restless
ocean.

The mermaid did not answer, but looked about intently, as if trying to
find something.

"What are you looking for?" asked Mary Louise, for she was a curious
little girl, and forgot one question as soon as she asked another.

"Oh, there it is!" exclaimed the mermaid. "Come with me. Hold your
hands out before you like this and dive down!"

"But where are we going?" again asked Mary Louise as they sank lower
and lower in the sea.

"Oh, I forgot," answered the mermaid, turning with a smile to her
little companion; "I was so busy looking for the subway entrance that I
forgot your question."

"Goodness!" cried Mary Louise. "I didn't know there was a subway in
the sea!"

"To be sure," answered the mermaid. "The track lies along the bottom
of the ocean. It's not a railroad train we're going to take, but a
water train that comes all the way from the Northern seas, sweeping on
like a river in the sea. Wait till we get down there. You'll see how
fast it goes."

Mary Louise was too astonished to speak.

"The Pullman cars," continued the mermaid, "are icebergs. They come
from the North every summer to take a trip South."

"Whew!" shivered Mary Louise. "I think we ar near one now, for I feel
quite cold."

Sure enough, she was right, for there close at hand was a great white
object.

"All aboard!" shouted a big polar bear. "Watch your step!"

The mermaid helped Mary Louise to slide on a projecting ledge, and off
they went.

"Now we can enjoy the scenery," laughed the mermaid, as she arranged
her tail in an artistic curve and brushed back her hair, which had been
swept over her eyes by the swift action of the water.

"The train never stops, you know, until it reaches its destination, but
that need not interfere with our getting off any time we please should
you wish to visit any pretty spot we pass on our journey."

Just at that moment there was a tremendous crash and Mary Louise found
herself thrown off into the water, while a muffled roar rolled through
the depths of the ocean.

The Coral Palace

"Why, the ocean is full of cracked ice!" exclaimed Mary Louise, as she
and the mermaid rose to the surface and looked about th