carelessly. "You are merely a side show to my circus--a sort of dessert
to my feast of vengeance. When the time comes I can find a hundred ways
to kill you. My most interesting prisoners are these pretty mermaids,
who claim that none of their race has ever yet died, or been destroyed.
The first mermaid ever created is living yet--and I am told she is none
other than Queen Aquareine. So I have a pretty problem before me, to
invent some way to destroy the mermaids, or put them out of existence.
And it will require some thought."
"Also, it will require some power you do not possess," suggested the
Queen.
"That may be," replied Zog, softly; "but I am going to experiment, and
I believe I shall be able to cause you a lot of pain and sorrow before
I finally make an end of you. I have not lived twenty-seven thousand
years, Aquareine, without getting a certain amount of wisdom, and I am
more powerful than you suspect."
"You are a monster and a wicked magician," said the Mermaid Queen.
"I am," agreed Zog; "but I cannot help it. I was created part man, part
bird, part fish, part beast and part reptile, and such a monstrosity
could not be otherwise than wicked. Everybody hates me, and I hate
everybody."
"Why don't you kill yourself?" asked Trot.
"I've tried that, and failed," he answered. "Only one being in the
world has power to destroy me, and that is King Anko, the sea serpent."
"Then you'd better let him do it," advised the little girl.
"No; much as I long to die, I cannot allow King Anko the pleasure of
killing me. He has always been my worst enemy, and it would be such a
joy to him to kill me that I really cannot allow him. Indeed, I have
always hoped to kill Anko. I have now been three thousand six hundred
and forty-two years, eleven months and nine days figuring out a plan to
destroy old Anko, and as yet I have not discovered a way."
"I'd give it up, if I were you," advised Trot. "Don't you think you
could get some fun out of trying to be good?"
"No!" cried Zog, and his voice was not so soft as before. "Listen,
Aquareine: You and your attendants shall be prisoners in this castle
until I can manage to stop you from living. Rooms will be placed at
your disposal, and I wish you to go to them at once, as I am tired of
looking at you."
"You're no more tired than we are," remarked Trot. "It's lucky you
can't see yourself, Zog."
[Illustration]
He turned his glowing eyes full upon her.
"The worst of my queer body I keep concealed," he said. "If ever you
see it, you will scream with terror."
He touched a bell beside him and the girl was surprised to find how
clearly its tones rang out through the water. In an instant the boy
Sacho appeared and bowed low before his dreadful master.
"Take the mermaids and the child to the Rose Chamber," commanded Zog;
"and take the old man-fish to the Peony Room."
Sacho turned to obey.
"Are the outer passages well guarded?" asked the monster.
"Yes; as you have commanded," said the boy.
"Then you may allow the prisoners to roam at will throughout the
castle. Now, go!"
The prisoners followed Sacho from the room, glad to get away. The
presence of this evil being had grown oppressive to them, and Zog had
himself seemed ill at ease during the last few minutes. The robe so
closely wound around his body moved jerkily, as if something beneath
disturbed it, and at such times Zog shifted nervously in his seat.
Sacho's thin little legs trotted through the water, and led the way
into a different passage from the one by which they had entered. They
swam slowly after him and breathed easier when they had left the golden
domed chamber, where their wicked enemy sat enthroned.
"Well, how do you like him?" asked Sacho, with a laugh.
"We hate him!" declared Trot, emphatically.
"Of course you do," replied Sacho. "But, you're wasting time hating
anything. It doesn't do you any good, or him any harm. Can you sing?"
"A little," said Trot; "but I don't feel like singing now."
[Illustration]
"You're wrong about that," the boy asserted. "Anything that keeps you
from singing is foolishness, unless it's laughter. Laughter, joy and
song are the only good things in the world."
Trot did not answer this queer speech, for just then they came to a
flight of stairs, and Sacho climbed up them, while the others swam. And
now they were in a lofty, broad corridor having many doors hung with
seaweed draperies. At one of these doorways Sacho stopped and said:
"Here is the Rose Chamber, where the master commands you to live until
you die. You may wander anywhere in the castle as you please; to leave
it is impossible. Whenever you return to the Rose Chamber you will know
it by this design of roses, sewn in pearls upon the hangings. The Peony
Room, where the man-fish is to live, is the next one farther on."
"Thank you," replied Queen Aquareine. "Are we to be fed?"
"Meals will be served in your rooms. If you desire anything, ring the
bell and some of the slaves will be sure to answer it. I am mostly in
attendance upon my master, but whenever I am at liberty I will look
after your comfort myself."
Again they thanked the strange boy, and he turned and left them. They
could hear him whistle and sing as he returned along the passage. Then
Princess Clia parted the curtains that her queen and companions might
enter the Rose Chamber.
[Illustration: _Chap. 14._
CAP'N JOE _and_ CAP'N BILL]
The rooms Zog had given his prisoners were as handsome as all other
parts of this strange, enchanted castle. Gold was used plentifully in
the decorations, and in the Rose Chamber occupied by the mermaids and
Trot, golden roses formed a border around the entire room. The sea
maidens had evidently been expected, for the magician had provided
couches for them to recline upon, similar to the ones used in the
mermaid palaces. The frames were of mother-of-pearl and the cushions of
soft, white sponges. In the room were toilet tables, mirrors, ornaments
and many articles used by earth people, which they afterward learned
had been plundered by Zog from sunken ships and brought to his castle
by his allies, the sea devils.
While the mermaids were examining and admiring their room, Cap'n Bill
went to the Peony Room to see what it was like, and found his quarters
very cosy and interesting. There were pictures on the walls--portraits
of grave-looking porpoises, bashful seals, and smug and smiling
walruses. Some of the wall panels were formed of mirrors and reflected
clearly the interior of the room. Around the ceiling was a frieze of
imitation peonies in silver, and the furniture was peony-shaped, the
broad leaves being bent to form seats and couches.
Beside a pretty dressing table hung a bell cord, with a tassel at the
end. Cap'n Bill did not know it was a bell cord, so he pulled it to see
what would happen and was puzzled to find that nothing seemed to happen
at all, the bell being too far away for him to hear it. Then he began
looking at the treasures contained in this royal apartment, and was
much pleased with a golden statue of a mermaid, that resembled Princess
Clia in feature. A silver flower vase upon a stand contained a bouquet
of gorgeous peonies, "as nat'ral as life," said Cap'n Bill, although he
saw plainly that they must be made of metal.
Trot came in just then to see how her dear friend was located. She
entered from the doorway that connected the two rooms, and said:
"Isn't it pretty, Cap'n? And who'd ever think that awful creature Zog
owned such a splendid castle, and kept his prisoners in such lovely
rooms?"
"I once heard tell," said the sailor, "of a foreign people that
sacrificed human bein's to please their pagan gods; an' before they
killed 'em outright they stuffed the victims full o' good things to
eat, an' dressed 'em in pretty clothes, an' treated 'em like princes.
That's why I don't take much comfort in our fine surroundin's, Trot.
This Zog is a pagan, if ever there was one, an' he don't mean us any
good, you may depend on't."
"No," replied Trot, soberly; "I'm sure he doesn't expect us to be happy
here. But, I'm going to fool him and have just as good a time as I can."
As she spoke they both turned around--an easy thing to do with a single
flop of their flexible tails--and Cap'n Bill uttered a cry of surprise.
Just across the room stood a perfect duplicate of himself. The round
head, with its bald top and scraggly whiskers, the sailor cap and
shirt, the wide pantaloons--even the wooden leg--each and every one
were exact copies of those owned by Cap'n Bill. Even the expression in
the light blue eyes was the same, and it is no wonder the old sailor
stared at his "double" in amazement. But the next minute he laughed,
and said:
"Why, Trot, it's _me_ reflected in a mirror. But, at first, I thought
it was some one else."
Trot was staring, too.
"Look, Cap'n!" she whispered; "look at the wooden leg."
"Well, it's _my_ wooden leg, ain't it?" he inquired.
"If it is, it can't be a reflection in a mirror," she argued, "for
_you_ haven't got a wooden leg. You've got a fish's tail."
The old sailor was so startled by this truth that he gave a great flop
with his tail that upset his balance, and made him keel a somersault in
the water before he got right side up again. Then he found the other
sailorman laughing at him, and was horrified to find the "reflection"
advancing toward them, by stumping along on its wooden leg.
"Keep away! Git out, there!" yelled Cap'n Bill. "You're a ghost--the
ghost o' me that once was--an' I can't bear the sight o' you. Git out!"
"Did you ring jes' to tell me to git out?" asked the other, in a mild
voice.
"I--I didn't ring," declared Cap'n Bill.
"You did; you pulled that bell cord," said the one-legged.
"Oh; did pullin' that thing ring a bell?" inquired the Cap'n, a little
ashamed of his ignorance and reassured by hearing the "ghost" talk.
"It surely did," was the reply; "and Sacho told me to answer your bell
an' look after you. So I'm a-lookin' after you."
"I wish you wouldn't," protested Cap'n Bill. "I've no use
fer--fer--ghostses, anyhow."
[Illustration: YOU'RE A GHOST!]
The strange sailor began to chuckle at hearing this, and his chuckle
was just like Cap'n Bill's chuckle--so full of merry humor that it
usually made every one laugh with him.
"Who are you?" asked Trot, who was very curious and much surprised.
"I'm Cap'n Joe," was the reply. "Cap'n Joe Weedles, formerly o' the
brig 'Gladsome' an' now a slave o' Zog at the bottom o' the sea."
"J--J--Joe Wee--Weedles!" gasped Cap'n Bill, amazed; "Joe Weedles o'
the 'Gladsome'! Why, dash my eyes, mate, you must be my brother!"
"Are _you_ Bill Weedles?" asked the other. And then he added: "But,
no; you can't be. Bill wasn't no merman. He were a human critter, like
myself."
"That's what _I_ am," said Cap'n Bill, hastily; "I'm a human critter,
too. I've jes' borrered this fishtail to swim with while I'm visitin'
the mermaids."
"Well, well," said Cap'n Joe, in astonishment; "who'd 'a' thought it!
An' who'd ever 'a' thought as I'd find my long lost brother in Zog's
enchanted castle, full fifty fathoms deep down in the wet, wet water!"
"Why, as fer that," replied Cap'n Bill, "it's _you_ as is the long lost
brother, not me. You an' your ship disappeared many a year ago, an'
ain't never been heard of since; while, as fer me, I'm livin' on earth
yet."
"You don't look it, to all appearances," remarked Cap'n Joe, in a
reflective tone of voice. "But I'll agree it's many a year since I saw
the top o' the water, an' I'm not expectin' to ever tramp on dry land
again."
"Are you dead, or drownded, or what?" asked Cap'n Bill.
"Neither one nor t'other," was the answer. "But Zog gave me gills,
so's I could live in the water like fishes do, an' if I got on land I
couldn't breathe air any more 'n a fish out o' water can. So I guess as
long as I live I'll hev to stay down here."
"Do you like it?" asked Trot.
"Oh, I don't objec' much," said Cap'n Joe. "There ain't much excitement
here, fer we don't catch a flock o' mermaids ev'ry day; but the work is
easy an' the rations fair. I might 'a' been worse off, you know, for
when my brig was wrecked I'd 'a' gone to Davy Jones's Locker if Zog
hadn't happened to find me an' made me a fish."
"You don't look as much like a fish as Cap'n Bill does," observed Trot.
"P'raps not," said Cap'n Joe; "but I notice Bill ain't got any gills,
an' breathes like you an' the mermaids does. When he gets back to land
he'll have his two legs again, an' live in comfort breathin' air."
"I won't have two legs," asserted Cap'n Bill, "for when I'm on earth
I'm fitted with one wooden leg, jes' the same as you are, Joe."
"Oh; I hadn't heard o' that, Bill; but I'm not surprised," replied
Brother Joe. "Many a sailor gets to wear a wooden leg, in time. Mine's
hick'ry."
"So's mine," said Cap'n Bill, with an air of pride. "I'm glad I've run
across you, Joe, for I often wondered what had become of you. Seems too
bad, though, to have you spend all your life under water."
"What's the odds?" asked Cap'n Joe. "I never could keep away from the
water since I was a boy, an' there's more dangers to be met floatin'
on it than there is soakin' in it. An' one other thing pleases me when
I think on it: I'm parted from my wife--a mighty good woman with a
tongue like a two-edge sword--an' my pore widder'll get the insurance
money an' live happy. As fer me, Bill, I'm a good deal happier than I
was when she kep' scoldin' me from mornin' to night every minute I was
home."
"Is Zog a kind master?" asked Trot.
"I can't say he's kind," replied Cap'n Joe, "for he's as near a devil
as any livin' critter _can_ be. He grumbles an' growls in his soft
voice all day, an' hates himself an' everybody else. But I don't see
much of him. There's so many of us slaves here that Zog don't pay much
attention to us, an' we have a pretty good time when the ol' magician
is shut up in his den, as he mostly is."
"Could you help us to escape?" asked the child.
"Why, I don't know how," admitted Cap'n Joe. "There's magic all around
us, and we slaves are never allowed to leave this great cave. I'll do
what I can, o' course; but Sacho is the boy to help you, if anyone
can. That little chap knows a heap, I can tell you. So now, if nothin'
more's wanted, I must get back to work."
"What work do you do?" Cap'n Bill asked.
"I sew buttons on Zog's clothes. Every time he gets mad he busts his
buttons off, an' I have to sew 'em on again. As he's mad most o' the
time, it keeps me busy."
"I'll see you again, won't I, Joe?" said Cap'n Bill.
"No reason why you shouldn't--if you manage to keep alive," said Cap'n
Joe. "But you mustn't forget, Bill, that Zog has his grip on you, an'
I've never known anything to escape him yet."
Saying this the old sailor began to stump toward the door, but tripped
his foot against his wooden leg and gave a swift dive forward. He
would have fallen flat had he not grabbed the drapery at the doorway,
and saved himself by holding fast to it with both hands. Even then he
rolled and twisted so awkwardly before he could get upon his legs that
Trot had to laugh outright at his antics.
"This hick'ry leg," said Cap'n Joe, "is so blamed light that it always
wants to float. Agga-Groo, the goldworker, has promised me a gold leg,
that will stay down; but he never has time to make it. You're mighty
lucky, Bill, to have a merman's tail, instead o' legs."
[Illustration]
"I guess I am, Joe," replied Bill; "for in such a wet country the
fishes have the best of it. But I ain't sure I'd like this sort o'
thing always."
"Think o' the money you'd make in a side show," said Cap'n Joe, with
his funny chuckling laugh. Then he pounded his wooden leg against the
hard floor, and managed to hobble from the room without more accidents.
When he had gone, Trot said:
"Aren't you glad to find your brother again, Cap'n Bill?"
"Why, so-so," replied the sailor. "I don't know much about Joe, seein'
as we haven't met before for many a long year; an' all I remember about
our boyhood days is that we fit an' pulled hair most o' the time. But
what worries me most is Joe's lookin' so much like me myself--wooden
leg an' all. Don't you think it's rather cheeky an' unbrotherly, Trot?"
"Perhaps he can't help it," suggested the child. "And, anyhow, he'll
never be able to live on land again."
"No," said Cap'n Bill, with a sigh, "Joe's a fish, now, an' so he ain't
likely to be took for me by any of our friends on the earth."
[Illustration: _Chap. 15._
_The_ MAGIC _of the_ MERMAIDS]
When Trot and Cap'n Bill entered the Rose Chamber they found the two
mermaids reclining before an air fountain that was sending thousands of
tiny bubbles up through the water.
"These fountains of air are excellent things," remarked Queen
Aquareine, "for they keep the water fresh and sweet, and that is
the more necessary where it is confined by walls, as it is in this
castle. But, now let us counsel together, and decide what to do in the
emergency that confronts us."
"How can we tell what to do, without knowing what's going to happen?"
asked Trot.
"Something's sure to happen," said Cap'n Bill.
As if to prove his words a gong suddenly sounded at their door, and in
walked a fat little man clothed all in white, including a white apron
and white cap. His face was round and jolly, and he had a big mustache
that curled up at the ends.
"Well, well!" said the little man, spreading out his legs and putting
his hands on his hips as he stood looking at them; "of all the queer
things in the sea, you're the queerest! Mermaids, eh?"
"Don't bunch us that way!" protested Cap'n Bill.
"You are quite wrong," said Trot; "I'm a--a girl."
"With a fish's tail?" he asked, laughing at her.
"That's only just for a while," she said; "while I'm in the water, you
know. When I'm at home on the land I walk just as you do--an' so does
Cap'n Bill."
"But we haven't any gills," remarked the Cap'n, looking closely at the
little man's throat; "so I take it we're not as fishy as some others."
"If you mean me, I must admit you are right," said the little man,
twisting his mustaches. "I'm as near a fish as a man can be. But you
see, Cap'n, without the gills that make me a fish I could not live
under water."
"When it comes to that, you've no business to live under water,"
asserted the sailor. "But I s'pose you're a slave and can't help it."
"I'm chief cook for that old horror, Zog. And that reminds me, good
mermaids--or good people, or good girls and sailors, or whatever you
are--that I'm sent here to ask what you'd like to eat."
[Illustration]
"Glad to see you, sir," said Cap'n Bill. "I'm nearly starved, myself."
"I had it in mind," said the little man, "to prepare a regular mermaid
dinner; but since you're not mermaids--"
"Oh, two of us are," said the Queen, smiling. "I, my good cook, am
Aquareine, the ruler of the mermaids, and this is the Princess Clia."
"I've often heard of you, your Majesty," returned the chief cook,
bowing respectfully, "and I must say I've heard only good of you. Now
that you have unfortunately become my master's prisoners it will give
me pleasure to serve you as well as I am able."
"We thank you, good sir," said Aquareine.
"What have you got to eat?" inquired Trot. "Seems to me I'm hollow way
down to my toes--my tail, I mean--and it'll take a lot to fill me up.
We haven't eaten a morsel since breakfast, you know."
"I think I shall be able to give you almost anything you would like,"
said the cook. "Zog is a wonderful magician, and can procure anything
that exists with no more effort than a wiggle of his thumb. But some
eatables, you know, are hard to serve under water, because they get so
damp that they are soon ruined."
"Ah, it is different with the mermaids," said Princess Clia.
"Yes; all your things are kept dry because they are surrounded by air.
I've heard how the mermaids live. But here it is different."
"Take this ring," said the Queen, handing the chief cook a circlet
which she drew from her finger. "While it is in your possession the
food you prepare will not get wet--or even moist."
"I thank your Majesty," returned the cook, taking the ring. "My name
is Tom Atto, and I'll do my best to please you. How would you like for
luncheon some oysters on the half shell, clam broth, shrimp salad,
broiled turtle steak and watermelon?"
"That will do very nicely," answered the Queen.
"Do watermelons grow in the sea?" asked Trot.
"Of course; that is why they are called watermelons," replied Tom Atto.
"I think I shall serve you a water ice, in addition to the rest. Water
ice is an appropriate sea food."
"Have some water cress with the salad," said Cap'n Bill.
"I'd thought of that," declared the cook. "Doesn't my bill of fare make
your mouths water?"
"Hurry up and get it ready," suggested Trot.
Tom Atto at once bowed and retired, and when they were alone, Cap'n
Bill said to the queen:
"Do you think, ma'am, we can manage to escape from Zog and his castle?"
"I hope we shall find a way," replied Aquareine. "The evil powers of
magic, which Zog controls, may not prove to be as strong as the fairy
powers I possess; but of course I cannot be positive until I discover
what this wicked magician is able to do."
Princess Clia was looking out of one of the windows.
"I think I can see an opening far up in the top of the dome," she said.
They all hastened to the windows to look, and although Trot and Cap'n
Bill could see nothing but a solid dome above the castle--perhaps,
because it was so far away from them--the sharp eyes of Aquareine were
not to be deceived.
"Yes," she announced, "there is surely an opening in the center of the
great dome. A little thought must convince us that such an opening is
bound to exist, for otherwise the water confined within the dome would
not be fresh or clear."
"Then, if we could escape from this castle, we could swim up to the
hole in the dome and get free!" exclaimed Trot.
"Why, Zog has probably ordered the opening well guarded, as he has all
other outlets," responded the Queen. "Yet it may be worth while for
us to make the attempt to get back into the broad ocean this way. The
night would be the best time, when all are asleep; and surely it will
be quicker to reach the ocean through this hole in the roof, than by
means of the long, winding passages by which we entered."
[Illustration]
"But we will have to break out of the castle, in some way," observed
Cap'n Bill.
"That will not be difficult," answered Aquareine. "It will be no
trouble for me to shatter one of these panes of glass, allowing us to
pass out and swim straight up to the top of the dome."
"Let's do it now!" said Trot, eagerly.
"No, my dear; we must wait for a good opportunity, when we are not
watched closely. We do not wish the terrible Zog to thwart our plan,"
answered the Queen, gently.
Presently, two sailor boys entered, bearing trays of food which they
placed upon a large table. They were cheery-faced young fellows, with
gills at their throats but had laughing eyes, and Trot was astonished
not to find any of the slaves of Zog weeping or miserable. Instead,
they were as jolly and good-natured as could be, and seemed to like
their life under the water. Cap'n Bill asked one of these boys how many
slaves were in the castle, and the youth replied that he would try to
count them and let him know.
Tom Atto had, they found, prepared for them an excellent meal, and they
ate heartily because they were really hungry. After luncheon Cap'n
Bill smoked his pipe contentedly and they renewed their conversation,
planning various ways to outwit Zog and make their escape. While thus
engaged the gong at the door sounded and Sacho entered.
"My diabolical master commands you to attend him," said the boy.
"When?" asked Aquareine.
"At once, your Majesty."
"Very well; we will follow you," she said.
So they swam down the corridors, following Sacho, until they again
reached the golden domed room they had formerly visited.
Here sat Zog, just as they had left him, seemingly; but when his
prisoners entered the magician arose and stood upon his cloven feet,
and then silently walked to a curtained archway.
Sacho commanded the prisoners to follow, and beyond the archway they
found a vast chamber that occupied the center of the castle and was
as big as a ballroom. Zog, who seemed to walk with much difficulty
because his ungainly body swayed back and forth, did not go far beyond
the arched entrance. A golden throne was set near by, and in this the
monster seated himself.