ter, which was changed to
weeping and wailing when one of the mermaids could not find her seal
robe. Her companions ran up and down the strand and helped her search
for it, but no trace could they find. While they were seeking they
noticed that the sky was growing pale and the day was breaking, so they
could tarry no longer, and they all swam away, leaving behind the one
whose seal skin was missing. She sat on the strand and wept.

"The fisherman felt sorry for her, of course, but he forced himself to
lie still till daybreak. Then he got up, pushed the boat into the water,
and stepped into it to make it appear that he saw her by chance after he
had lifted the oars.

"'Who are you?' he called out. 'Are you shipwrecked?'

"She ran toward him and asked if he had seen her seal skin. The
fisherman looked as if he did not know what she was talking about. She
sat down again and wept. Then he determined to take her with him in the
boat. 'Come with me to my cottage,' he commanded, 'and my mother will
take care of you. You can't stay here on the island, where you have
neither food nor shelter!' He talked so convincingly that she was
persuaded to step into his boat.

"Both the fisherman and his mother were very kind to the poor mermaid,
and she seemed to be happy with them. She grew more contented every day
and helped the older woman with her work, and was exactly like any other
island lass--only she was much prettier. One day the fisherman asked her
if she would be his wife, and she did not object, but at once said yes.

"Preparations were made for the wedding. The mermaid dressed as a bride
in her green, trailing robe with the shimmering pearl crown she had worn
when the fisherman first saw her. There was neither church nor parson on
the island at that time, so the bridal party seated themselves in the
boats to row up to the first church they should find.

"The fisherman had the mermaid and his mother in his boat, and he rowed
so well that he was far ahead of all the others. When he had come so far
that he could see the islet in the river, where he won his bride, he
could not help smiling.

"'What are you smiling at?' she asked.

"'Oh, I'm thinking of that night when I hid your seal skin,' answered
the fisherman; for he felt so sure of her that he thought there was no
longer any need for him to conceal anything.

"'What are you saying?' asked the bride, astonished. 'Surely I have
never possessed a seal skin!' It appear