l62 



Charley s Wonderful Jour7iey. 



"Is this a moment for idle conundrums?" 

 asked the mermaid, reproachfully. "We 

 have a long way to go and a great deal to 

 do yet, better wind in the line while I steer 

 around him until we come to his jaws." 



So Charley kept winding in the line, and 

 the mermaid steered along the coast until 

 they came to a great cavern in the bank. 



"Here we are," said she. "We'll drop 

 anchor here in the bottom of the cavern and 

 take in cargo. The black is the whalebone 

 and the white is the ivory, and we must try 

 to get it all on board." 



As soon as they had it all on board the 

 mermaid set the sails and away they went. 



" Where shall we go next ? " said Charley. 



"Why, to the islands, of course," said the 

 mermaid. " What would be the good of 

 the whalebone and the ivory unless we 

 traded it away ? " 



So they sailed away until they came to 

 the first island, and the natives came down 

 to the shore and traded a cargo of cocoa- 

 nuts for the whalebone and ivory, and once 

 more the mermaid up sail and away. 



"Where next?" said Charley. 



"Oh, we'll go to another island and trade 

 away the cocoanuts," said she, "there's al- 

 ways something to be made by trade." 



"If you're tired," continued she, "lie 

 down and go to sleep.' 



Charley lay down and dreamily watched 

 the mermaid standing in the stern and steer- 

 ing the boat, which dashed along at a rapid 

 rate over the waves. 



Then he began to nod, and was just fall- 

 ing off to sleep when he was startled by 

 hearing some one say "Git." 



When he looked up it was not the mer- 

 maid who was steering at all. It was Aunt 



Maria. It wasn't a boat either, but Aunt 

 Maria's rockaway, and there was Cousin 

 Bob lying asleep on a bundle of rugs. 



Charley tried to wake him, but it was no 

 good. Bob only rolled over and wouldn't 

 wake. 



"Where are we going. Aunt Maria?" 

 asked Charley. 



"Why, we're going home, of course," said 

 Aunt Maria. " Git. If this old horse wasn't 

 so lazy we would be there now. Better go 

 to sleep again." 



Charley fell asleep again, and when at 

 last he awoke in the morning it was broad 

 daylight, and this time he really was sur- 

 prised — he was in his own chamber, and 

 there was Bob lying asleep alongside of him. 



Charley shook him a bit to wake him, but 

 Bob only rolled on his other side just as he 

 did in the rockaway, but the next moment 

 he opened his eyes, remembered where he 

 was, sat up in bed and looking at Charley 

 said, "Hello." 



"Hello," replied Charley, "how did you 

 come here? Didn't you come home in the 

 rockaway with me last night?" 



" Oh, what a story," said Bob, "you wasn't 

 in the rockaway at all, you was asleep in 

 bed when we came." 



"That's bad grammar," said Charley, 

 "anyhow." 



"I don't care if it is," said Bob; "bad 

 grammar isn't so bad as telling lies." 



"I'm not telling lies," said Charley, "I 

 am only telling what happened when I was 

 asleep," and he told Bob how he caught 

 the mermaid. 



Bob only laughed, and when Charley told 

 him how he baited with the mermaid s tail 

 and caueht a whale, Bob said "Git." 



You call them tnieves and pillagers, but know 



They are the winged warders of your farms, 

 Who from the cornfields drive the insidious foe. 



And from your harvest keep a hundred harms. 



Longfellow, Birds of Killingworth. 



