356 



demons. Over the hidden smolts passed the 

 chase, like the rush of a tornado ; then the 



iir ^ little fellows darted out of their hiding and 



^-^vV A^ quivered onward till they passed deep under 



the surge and thunder of the breakers and 

 vanished into the cool green forests of kelp 

 and seaweed that waved their soft arms every- 

 where on the ocean's floor, beckoning the 

 frightened little wanderers to rest and safety. 



Here they waited a few days and fed 

 abundantly, and looked out with wonder from 

 their green coverts, as from a window, at 

 the strange new life that passed by them, — 

 hermit-crabs and starfish and sea-robins and 

 skates and stingarees and lobsters and dol- 

 phins and Peter Grunters, — all with some 

 outlandish peculiarity, or some queer, crazy 

 way of flitting about, like dwarfs or hob- 

 goblins ; so that every day Wonderland itself 

 seemed to pass in procession before their 

 windows. But the fever of migration was still 

 upon them, and soon the shoal was moving 

 onward more eagerly than before. 



New dangers met them with every mile. 

 Strange and savage monsters with goggle 



fern 



*sW&\$. 





