ough tossing, and my absence and the
direction I had taken all told my mother that something had gone hard
with me, and that I was glad to again be near her in the silent depths
of home. She floated with me close alongside, guided me to a restful
grove midst shimmering weeds that made a soft and silken couch, where in
the sweet stillness, lulled by the lap of gentle ripples against weed,
or shell, or bending sea-flowers, I glided off to dreamless slumber.

And the last thing I saw before slipping off to quiet sleep was a little
bright-haired child on her knees, eyes closed, hands upraised and
folded: a child that was not afraid.

CHAPTER III.

A CORAL GROVE

Perhaps you did not know that the fishes in the sea, both large and
small, were playful creatures. Well, they are. They can frisk, frolic,
play "hide-and-seek", "catch", and race and romp at a great rate.

Now I want to tell something of our playground, and if you are surprised
at the beauty with which we are surrounded, why should you be? There
surely are lovely things on the earth for all kinds of upper-air
creatures, such as Folks, animals, birds, and insects, to enjoy.

Listen, then, while I tell about the "caverns of ocean". A cavern, you
know, is a hollow or den, and old ocean holds many a cavern or den full
of interest and beauty. But I will take you first to a kind of grove.

My home, where I spend most of my time, is in deep water. But not in the
deepest, oh, no! That is said to be two thousand fathoms down. Think of
it! More than two miles below the surface. There probably is but very
little life at that depth. But when I visit some groves, or the region
of a reef, I must first sail and sail until I reach water that is not
deep at all.

Do you think you have ever seen coral, real coral? Yes, doubtless you
have, and you may have seen it in various forms. But I feel sure you
have never seen coral to know very much about it, as you have never been
to the bottom of the sea.

Ah, here are all kinds of graceful shapes shooting up from the depths,
so singular and varied in form, that one would wonder what they are
meant to stand for. Look at these trees, perfect little trees in coral,
eight or ten feet high, with branches spreading out from the trunk. On
the branches are delicate sprays of fairylike net or lace-work, all in
white, but of various patterns. Should you get near enough, you would
see that these branches, some of which seem to bear f