ow he is here someplace and fear his power. Even in the old
days, before Anko conquered him, Zog was the enemy of the mermaids,
as he was of all the good and respectable seafolk. But do not worry
about the magician, I beg of you, for he has not dared to do an evil
deed in many, many years."

"Oh, I'm not afraid," asserted Trot.

"I'm glad of that," said the Queen. "Keep together, friends, and be
careful not to separate, for here comes an army of sawfishes."

Even as Aquareine spoke, they saw a swirl and commotion in the water
ahead of them, while a sound like a muffled roar fell upon their
ears. Then swiftly there dashed upon them a group of great fishes
with long saws sticking out in front of their noses, armed with
sharp, hooked teeth, all set in a row. They were larger than the
swordfishes and seemed more fierce and bold. But the mermaids and
Trot and Cap'n Bill quietly awaited their attack, and instead of
tearing them with their saws as they expected to do, the fishes were
unable to touch them at all. They tried every possible way to get at
their proposed victims, but the Magic Circle was all powerful and
turned aside the ugly saws; so our friends were not disturbed at
all. Seeing this, the sawfishes soon abandoned the attempt and with
growls and roars of disappointment swam away and were quickly out of
sight.

Trot had been a wee bit frightened during the attack, but now she
laughed gleefully and told the queen that it seemed very nice to be
protected by fairy powers. The water grew a darker blue as they
descended into its depths, farther and farther away from the rays of
the sun. Trot was surprised to find she could see so plainly through
the high wall of water above her, but the sun was able to shoot its
beams straight down through the transparent sea, and they seemed to
penetrate to every nook and crevice of the rocky bottom.

In this deeper part of the ocean some of the fishes had a
phosphorescent light of their own, and these could be seen far ahead
as if they were lanterns. The explorers met a school of argonauts
going up to the surface for a sail, and the child watched these
strange creatures with much curiosity. The argonauts live in shells
in which they are able to hide in case of danger from prowling wolf
fishes, but otherwise they crawl out and carry their shells like
humps upon their backs. Then they spread their skinny sails above
them and sail away under water till they come to the surface, wher