THE HUMAN RACE.
The little thin fish seemed to be a long while catching them up, and,
while they were waiting, Marjorie espied a curious figure poking about
among the seaweed a short distance away from them.
"I wonder what it is!" she cried, and the children dismounted from the
Dolphins, and, tying them by the reins to some coral stumps, so that
they could not swim away, they half walked and half swam over to where
Marjorie had first noticed the creature, whatever it was.
"Why, it's a man!" cried Dick, as they drew nearer, and could
distinguish him more clearly.
He was a wretched-looking old fellow, with a heavy sack upon his back,
and was clothed only in a ragged old garment, which scarcely reached to
his knees.
"Poor man," said Marjorie, in a whisper, "how unhappy he looks; perhaps
he has lost something."
The man glanced up nervously as the children approached, and, clutching
at his bag jealously, he demanded--
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"Nothing, thank you, poor old man," began Marjorie; "we were only----"
The old man burst into a peal of hoarse laughter.
"_Poor_ old man!" he exclaimed. "Do you know that I am the richest man
in the world. Look!" he exclaimed, opening his bag before the children's
astonished eyes. "Gold! jewels! riches! wealth! they are all
mine--ha--ha--ha--ha!" and he laughed discordantly, and hugged the bag
closely to himself again.
"Oh, come away!" cried Marjorie, catching at Dick's arm. "I'm so
frightened."
"I'm the Old Man of the Sea," continued the man, "and all the treasures
of the deep are mine. I have stacks of golden crowns and jewels without
number, and each day I gather more--they are all mine--mine--mine!"
"But where do they all come from?" asked Dick.
"The bottom of the sea is strewn with riches," continued the old man,
"and there is no one to reap the harvest but myself."
"You must be very happy if you are so rich," said Dick. "It must be
lovely to have all those things."
"No, I am not happy," said the Old Man of the Sea. "I am very old, and
very lonely, and there is no one here to admire my treasures but myself.
The fishes will have nothing to do with me--they do not care for gold;
it is valueless to them--and I may not go on land, so I am here alone
with my riches, and every day I gather more and more. I have piled them
high about my cave in a great circle, and some day, when it becomes
top-heavy, it will fall over and crush me beneath it, and I shall be
buried in a tomb of gold. No king, no emperor, had ever so grand a
sepulchre as I shall have, but I am not happy--no--no--not happy, not
happy."
And the old man shouldered his bag and moved away, muttering
sorrowfully.
"Poor man, poor man," said Marjorie; "for he is poor, although he has so
much wealth isn't he, Dick?"
[Illustration: "Filling his bag with all kinds of treasure."]
"Yes, jolly poor, and miserable too. I wouldn't be him for something,"
said Dick. "Come on, it makes me wretched to think about him--let's get
back to the Dolphins."
When they reached them, they found that little friend, the thin fish,
had arrived at last.
"Hullo!" cried Dick. "What a jolly long while you have been catching us
up. Wherever have you been to all this time?"
"Why," explained the fish, "I thought I heard you saying something about
a race, and suddenly I remembered what a splendid opportunity your visit
down here would afford us of witnessing a real human race--you are
human, aren't you?" he asked, anxiously.
"Yes, I suppose so," replied Dick.
"That's right," said the fish. "Come on, the King is most anxious for
the race to begin at once, and I promised to bring you back with me
immediately."
"But what _is_ a human race?" inquired Marjorie, as they mounted their
Dolphins.
"Oh, you'll see when we get back," was the reply, and, the little fish
hanging on to one of the Dolphins' tails they were soon flying through
the water at a rare rate.
When they got back to the lawn by the King's Palace, the children were
greatly astonished to see a big crowd of fishes drawn up in two lines,
with a wide path between them. The King, on a shell throne, surrounded
by his courtiers, was at one end, and several important-looking fishes
were fussing about at the other, making a straight line with some little
lumps of white chalk.
There was a cheer when the children arrived on their Dolphins, and a
rush was made to assist them to alight.
"But what are we to do?" they inquired, rather dismayed at these
elaborate preparations.
"Show us a human race," was the reply.
"Well, a human race is just like any other kind of race, I suppose,"
said Dick, "the one who reaches the goal first wins. If we are going to
race, though, we shall have to be handicapped."
"What's that?" cried the fishes.
"Why, you see," explained Dick, "it wouldn't be fair for us all to start
from the same line, for Fidge, of course, cannot run as quickly as
Marjorie or me; and Marjorie, too, being only a girl, will have to have
a start allowed her, and this is called handicapping."
"Very well, manage it your own way," was the reply. "When are you going
to start?"
"Oh, as soon as you like," said Dick. "Where's the winning-post?"
"That white line up by the King's throne," said one of the fishes. And
Dick, having given Fidge a very long start, and Marjorie a slight
advantage, declared himself ready to begin.
"One, to make ready,
Two, to be steady,
Three, and--away!"
shouted one of the principal fishes, and off they scrambled. I say
scrambled, because if you have ever tried to run under water you will
know that it is a very difficult thing to do--the weight of the water
prevents you from getting along at all quickly. The fishes watching the
race became very excited, and, in their eagerness to urge them on, kept
getting in the children's way, swimming about in front of them, and
getting mixed up with their arms and legs in a most confusing manner. At
length, however, this extraordinary race came to an end, and the
children arrived at the winning-post in the same order in which they had
started.
"Oh, I've won--I've won!" shouted Fidge, delightedly. "Haven't I, Dick?"
[Illustration: "They were called before the king to receive their
prize."]
"Of course you have," said Dick, who had purposely been holding back to
give the other two a chance.
"Shall I get a prize?" whispered the little boy, anxiously.
"Perhaps," answered Dick; "wait and see."
Their little friend, the thin fish, had gone up to the King, and was
talking very earnestly to him, and presently returning said that His
Majesty had decided to give them all a prize.
"Oh, I wonder what it will be!" said Marjorie, excitedly. "Fancy, having
a prize from a real King!"
"He's only a fish," said Dick.
"Hush, dear, you'll hurt his feelings," whispered Marjorie, warningly.
Just then the thin fish put on his top hat--he was the only one allowed
to wear one in the King's presence--and began a long speech. He spoke so
very softly, though, that no one could hear a word that he said; but, at
regular intervals, all the other fishes clapped their fins, and called
out, "Hear, hear!" most enthusiastically.
"Whatever do you do that for?" inquired Dick, of one of them; "I'm sure
you cannot hear a word of what he is saying."
"Oh, no, we can't," admitted the fish, quite candidly; "but it's the
proper thing to do, you know, it encourages him so."
After the speech the children were called before the King to receive
their prize.
His Majesty did not speak to them, but motioned majestically to a large
branch of pink coral near the throne, and they were thus given to
understand that it was intended for them as a prize.
Of course, they pretended to be highly gratified, though, in reality,
they were greatly disappointed.
"Stupid old thing! it's not a bit of use, even if we could carry it,"
muttered Dick; and Fidge, too, was so cross that he nearly quarreled
outright with a perky little fish who had been standing, hat in hand,
near him, and who now came and sat down so close to him that his sharp
scales scratched the little fellow's bare legs.
A moment afterwards, however, they had all forgotten their ill-humor in
their amusement at what was happening, for the King having withdrawn,
the rest of the fishes each took a partner, and began whirling round
and round in a frantic way in a mad kind of dance, to the strains of
some weird music, provided by one or two of their number blowing through
some long shells, whilst others used some smaller flat ones as
castanets.
[Illustration: "Whirling round and round in a frantic way."]
"I suppose this is what is called a fish ball," said Dick, laughing
heartily at the strange antics which the fishes were cutting.
And just as Marjorie was about to reply a dark shadow passing overhead
caused all of the children to look up.
A pair of large webbed feet were seen slowly paddling above them, and
beyond them the outline of a bird's body could be traced.
Marjorie seized Dick's arm excitedly. "Look! look!" she exclaimed,
hastily, "the Dodo!"