it; but this was true long in the past,
Folks are much wiser now.

Long years ago there were Folks who believed that wearing a "charm,"
which often was a little piece of coral, perhaps made into an ornament,
would charm away harm or danger, and keep them safe from "the evil eye."

"Dear sakes!" you cry, "what was 'the evil eye'?"

Well, it is almost sad to think that any one could be so foolish, yet
when Folks know but little, they will catch up strange notions and
listen to silly signs without an atom of truth or common sense in them.
So some ignorant Folks once believed that a witch, or some witchy Folk
with an evil eye, might look upon them and cause them harm, or make them
meet some danger.

And they pretended that hanging a bit of coral somewhere about them
would keep off a look from "the evil eye," and that making children wear
a piece of it would charm away sickness and act as a medicine. Now did
you ever!

Chinese Folks and Hindoos have made most exquisite and wonderful
carvings of the coral of the Mediterranean, and there is such a thing as
black coral, also known as brain coral, but it is too brittle to be
worked upon.

Ah, who would not be a Dolphin, merry and free, whisking through deep,
still water, coasting over coral sands, and diving and sporting through
coral groves!

Nor is this the only rare and curious place through which I rove,
chasing my comrades, wandering about in search of caverns below, and
sweet music above, while forever making war on my enemy, the
flying-fish.

You see, these fish can cut through the water, reach the surface, then
really fly with finny wings across short spaces right in the air. They
think themselves smart, and are great braggarts.

One morning a flying-fish was bent on worrying me, swishing its flapping
fins directly before my face, then darting upward, sending the spray
cross-wise into my eyes. I made a snap or two at the vexing creature,
but as I missed him he became bolder, and stopped a race I was having
with one of my mates.

Suddenly I made a great leap after the flier, but up he went, up, up,
and I after him, sharp! Further up he went, and I pursued. He laughed,
fish-fashion, his big mouth sprawling way across his face as he sped
above the surface.

I poked my nose into upper air and saw which way he was going, and to my
joy he made a dip just as up went my beak again, and I had him, squeezed
securely between my jaws.

Of all the wriggling and squi