“We eat fish, but never marry them. Why do you ask?”
“Because the purple fish with the yellow tail said I must stay here all
my life unless I would marry him. And he has taken away my green cart,
so that I cannot get home.”
“As to that,” said the sea-gulls, “we can easily manage to get you
home. Put your arms around our necks and hold on tight!”
So the sea-gulls flew away with Elsie, and brought her safely home. She
kissed them and thanked them.
“What can I give you, dear sea-gulls,” she asked, “in return for your
saving me from that horrid fish?”
“Could you give us your golden curls?” asked the sea-gulls. “We think
they would become us, and they are a thing not often seen in our
society.”
No, Elsie could not do that.
“But,” she said, “I can give you each a necklace of glass beads,
fastened with a rosette of peach-coloured ribbon. I made them yesterday
for my dolls, but you are welcome to them.”
“Just the thing!” said the sea-gulls.
So Elsie put the necklaces round their necks, and they thanked her, and
flew away. I have been told that they flew straight to the island, and
spent the whole afternoon in making rude remarks to the purple fish
with the yellow tail, but one need not believe all one hears.