ying not to mind the wetness which he hated.
For he was talking earnestly with a pretty Mermaid who sat on the rock
in the surf, wringing her hands.

"It is he! It is he!" she cried. "I know him now. It is the lad whom
they call _Jan_, the finest swimmer of them all. Oh, he dives like a
fish! He swims like a true Sea-child. He is my own baby, my little one!
I followed, I watched him. I could hardly keep my hands from him. Tell
me, dear Stork, is he not indeed my own?"

The Stork looked at her gravely. "It is no longer a secret," he said,
"for Jan has been betrayed. He who is now Jan the unhappy mortal boy was
once your unhappy Sea-baby."

"Unhappy! Oh, is he unhappy?" cried the Mermaid. "Then at last I may
claim him as you promised. I may take him home once more to our fair
sea-home, to cherish him and make him happier than he ever was in all
his little life. But tell me, dear Stork, will he not be my own little
Sea-child again? I would not have him in his strange, ugly human guise,
but as my own little fish-tailed baby."

"When you kiss him," said the Stork, "when you throw your arms about his
neck and speak to him in the sea-language, he will become a Sea-child
once more, as he was when I found him in his cradle on the rocks. But
look! Yonder he comes. A second race has begun, and they swim this way.
Wait until they have turned the rock, and then it will be your turn. Ah,
Gil! You have ill kept your promise to me!"

Yes, the race between the brothers was two thirds over. Side by side as
before the two black heads pushed through the waves. Both faces were
white and drawn, and there was no joy in either. Gil's was pale with
anger, Jan's only with sadness. He loved his brother still, but he knew
that Gil loved him no more.

They were nearing the shore where the boys waited breathlessly for the
end of this strange contest. Suddenly Jan turned his face towards Gil
and gave him one look. "You will win, brother," he breathed brokenly,
"my strength is failing. You are the better swimmer, after all. Tell the
lads that I confess it. Go on and come in as the champion."

He thought that Gil might turn to see whether he needed aid. But Gil
made no sign save to quicken his strokes, which had begun to lag, for in
truth he was very weary. He pushed on with only a desire to win the
shore and to triumph over his younger brother. With a sigh Jan saw him
shoot ahead, then turning over on his back he began to float
carelessly. He