ched, and, clutching
at his bag jealously, he demanded--

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"Nothing, thank you, poor old man," began Marjorie; "we were only----"

The old man burst into a peal of hoarse laughter.

"_Poor_ old man!" he exclaimed. "Do you know that I am the richest man
in the world. Look!" he exclaimed, opening his bag before the children's
astonished eyes. "Gold! jewels! riches! wealth! they are all
mine--ha--ha--ha--ha!" and he laughed discordantly, and hugged the bag
closely to himself again.

"Oh, come away!" cried Marjorie, catching at Dick's arm. "I'm so
frightened."

"I'm the Old Man of the Sea," continued the man, "and all the treasures
of the deep are mine. I have stacks of golden crowns and jewels without
number, and each day I gather more--they are all mine--mine--mine!"

"But where do they all come from?" asked Dick.

"The bottom of the sea is strewn with riches," continued the old man,
"and there is no one to reap the harvest but myself."

"You must be very happy if you are so rich," said Dick. "It must be
lovely to have all those things."

"No, I am not happy," said the Old Man of the Sea. "I am very old, and
very lonely, and there is no one here to admire my treasures but myself.
The fishes will have nothing to do with me--they do not care for gold;
it is valueless to them--and I may not go on land, so I am here alone
with my riches, and every day I gather more and more. I have piled them
high about my cave in a great circle, and some day, when it becomes
top-heavy, it will fall over and crush me beneath it, and I shall be
buried in a tomb of gold. No king, no emperor, had ever so grand a
sepulchre as I shall have, but I am not happy--no--no--not happy, not
happy."

And the old man shouldered his bag and moved away, muttering
sorrowfully.

"Poor man, poor man," said Marjorie; "for he is poor, although he has so
much wealth isn't he, Dick?"

[Illustration: "Filling his bag with all kinds of treasure."]

"Yes, jolly poor, and miserable too. I wouldn't be him for something,"
said Dick. "Come on, it makes me wretched to think about him--let's get
back to the Dolphins."

When they reached them, they found that little friend, the thin fish,
had arrived at last.

"Hullo!" cried Dick. "What a jolly long while you have been catching us
up. Wherever have you been to all this time?"

"Why," explained the fish, "I thought I heard you saying something about
a race, and suddenly I