y tempted to catch them and carry them
home. All were kind and friendly, and said many pleasant things, which
Bobbily Bungaloo, who is a very learned fish, translated into English
for the mice's benefit. At length they arrived at the bottom of the sea,
and saw at a little distance before them, the palace of my cousin Patty.
As I may have told you before, this palace is simply a huge round pearl,
hollowed out into many chambers. A more superb dwelling-place can hardly
be imagined. It is really like a small moon under the water, so bright
and beautiful is it. The children were speechless with admiration and
wonder, as they well might be.

[Illustration]

"H'm!" said a fat oyster, opening her shell to peep at them, "I should
think they had never seen a pearl before. My necklace also is worth
looking at, if they only knew enough to look down."

But the mice had no eyes for anything except the pearl palace,
especially as Patty herself now appeared in the doorway, waiting to
welcome her little guests.

She kissed them all, and led them into a great hall, the walls and
ceiling of which were of mother-of-pearl, while the floor was of pink
coral, laid in a hundred beautiful patterns. At one end of the hall was
a throne of pearl, and on this Patty seated herself, bidding the
children sit down on some pretty pink coral stools beside her.

"Now, my dears," she said, "what shall Patty do to amuse her little
friends? I think we will have some lunch first, for you must be hungry
after your long journey. Then I will take you through the palace, and
then you shall sail in one of my pretty boats. How does that programme
please you?"

She rang a bell, and a tall merman in a splendid livery, glistening with
pearl buttons, made his appearance, carrying a huge silver tray heaped
with sea-delicacies. The children were really hungry, and they soon
found that the dishes were as good as they were strange.

"What _is_ this, Patty?" asked Brighteyes; "it is delicious, but I
cannot imagine what it is."

"That," said Patty, "is a fricassee of sea-anemones. They are very nice,
I think, and we cook them in a great many different ways. Nibble, there,
is eating fried gold-fish, and Fluff and Roger are busy over a dish of
scallops in jelly."

"Oh! how nice everything is!" sighed Fluff; "I wish I knew whether it
were all real or not. Mr. Moonman always laughs at me when I ask him if
I am dreaming him and all the good times we have with him. Are