That afternoon the Sunbonnet Babies begged to visit the lovely park
near the shore of the bay. They wanted to run and play games with
other children under the tall green trees.
"How would you like to take a look under the deep water and see all
the strange creatures that live there?" asked their father.
"Oh, that would be wonderful! But how can we do it?" asked Molly.
"We can do it easily when we get to the park," said her father.
"Let's do it the very first thing. Just think of seeing how all the
big and little fish live 'way down in the deep, deep ocean!"
"I am afraid we shall be drowned," said May. "I think I shall not like
to go under the deep water any better than I liked to walk on top
of the volcano."
"Why, it will be as easy as walking on this path," said their father.
"Here we are at the door already. Shall we open it and take a look
into the fish world?"
"Oh, dear! I feel as if I were Alice in Wonderland," said May. "Is
this the door into the long, dark tunnel? I wonder if we shall fall
down, down, down the tunnel just as Alice did. O father! Will the fish
talk with us, the same as the rabbit and all the other animals talked
with Alice?"
"If you should happen to fall asleep, as Alice did, the fish will
probably tell you all their secrets," said her father. "But there is
no long, dark tunnel here down which you must fall. We will each pay
this man at the door two lire, then he will open the door and let us
go in."
In another moment the door closed behind them, and they stood in the
strangest place they had ever seen. It looked like the bottom of the
great ocean, with ragged rocks and slippery seaweed everywhere,
and many kinds of strange fish swimming quietly about them.
And yet, the water did not wet the children, and they could not touch
the fish. A strong glass wall held back both the water and the fish.
Molly and May walked along a narrow path close beside the glass wall,
and watched the queer fish chase each other about in the water or lie
lazily under the shadow of a big rock.
At last Molly said, "Why, the bottom of the ocean looks very much like
the top of the earth. There are hills and valleys and rocks and sand
and green things growing everywhere."
"See that tiny forest of pink coral. I suppose our coral neck chains
grew at the bottom of the ocean in just that way."
"And see those timid little animals peeping from the doors of their
pretty shell houses. I wonder if they like always to carry about such
heavy houses on their backs."
"Here is a whole family of lazy turtles," called May. "Look at that
big fellow! I believe his shell is large enough for me to creep into,
if he were not inside of it."
[Illustration: _"Look at that big fellow!"_]
"I advise you not to try it while he is there," said her father. "If
he once took a bite of you, he would never let go."
"Oh, my!" exclaimed Molly. "But see those little starfish and that big
soft jellyfish. They are not afraid of the turtle. And those eels are
playing close about him."
Just then a frightened scream came from May, who had walked ahead of
the others.
"Come quickly!" she cried. "Here is a big, big round thing with eight
long arms, or legs, I don't know which they are. They keep
reaching out as if they were trying to get hold of something. And its
two big round eyes are looking straight at me! I'm glad the glass wall
is between us. It's the worst looking thing I ever saw in all my life!
What is it, father?"
[Illustration: _"Its two big round eyes are looking straight at me!"_]
"Well, well!" exclaimed her father. "That is an octopus. A real, live
octopus! It is a big one, too. It can easily reach six or seven feet
with those long legs."
"Why is it called an octopus, father?" asked Molly. "Why haven't we
seen one before, and what does it do with so many legs?"
"It is called an octopus because it has eight feet, and the word
octopus means 'eight-footed.' We have never seen one before because it
lives at the bottom of the ocean, and we have not visited the bottom
of the ocean until to-day. I suppose it uses its feet more in catching
food than it does in walking. I have heard that when it winds them
around anything it never lets go."
Just then their mother called, "Come with me! I have found the
strangest fish you ever heard of. If you touch the fish, it will give
you a tiny electric shock. Who wants to try it?"
"Oh, I do!" cried Molly, and in went her hand to stroke the sleepy
fish lazily swimming about in a small tank of water. But the hand came
out more quickly than it went in.
"Oh! oh!" she cried. "My hand prickles just as if it were asleep. What
a strange, strange fish! You touch it, May."
"No!" said May. "I don't want to touch it. I don't want an electric
shock. I want to go back to the park and play."
"Very well," said her father. "I believe we have stayed with these
deep-sea creatures long enough. We will go out through the secret
door, the way we came in."
And so, in a few moments, they were all standing in the bright
sunshine looking out over the deep blue water which was the home of so
many strange and interesting creatures.
"Have we really been 'way down under that deep water, father?" asked
Molly. "Or was it just a fish museum that we were in?"
"That is a good name for it," said her father. "We have been in an
aquarium. Many of the fish that are caught alive in the Mediterranean
Sea are brought to this aquarium, so people may study and enjoy them."
"I feel as if I had really and truly been to the bottom of the sea,"
said Molly. "I am glad I am not a fish. I should much rather be a
little girl and have a ride in that goat cart. Those Italian children
have just had a ride. See, they are each paying the man a penny.
O sir! Please may we ride next?"
[Illustration: _May shook the reins and away they went_]
"And please may I drive the goats?" asked May. "I know how to drive my
pony."
In another moment Molly and May were climbing into the small cart. May
then shook the reins and away they went, with the man following close
behind them.
They passed groups of jolly boys and girls playing marbles, spinning
tops, or rolling hoops. They were clean, well-dressed children, not
ragged and poor like so many children Molly and May had seen in
other parts of the city.
[Illustration: _Suddenly a little boy began to race with the goats_]
Smiling nurse maids pushed dear little babies about in handsome
carriages, or sat on shaded benches watching the little children at
their play.
Everyone was interested in the small goat cart with its happy
passengers.
Suddenly a little boy who was rolling a hoop began to race with the
goats. He ran along beside them, driving his hoop as fast as he
could make it go. The goats did not want to be left behind, so they
trotted faster and still faster, but the little boy with his rolling
hoop kept up with them.
The Sunbonnet Babies began to be a bit frightened, they were riding so
very fast. May pulled on the reins and cried, "Whoa! whoa! stop!
stop!" The small Italian goats did not understand English, so they ran
faster than ever. They were enjoying the race, and so was the man who
owned them. But when he saw that his little passengers were afraid, he
sprang forward to stop his team. Just at that moment the goats turned
sharply about, and over went the cart, Sunbonnet Babies and all.
Everybody was then really frightened, though only for a moment. Molly
and May were on their feet in a jiffy. The boys and girls all laughed
and talked at the same time, and the man scolded his goats for their
naughty trick.
"Please don't scold the goats," said the little boy with the hoop.
"You ought to praise them. They knew if you stopped them they would
lose the race, so they tried to turn around and go in the other
direction. Then the cart tipped over and spoiled the fun."
"It was fun, wasn't it?" exclaimed Molly. "But let's not do it over
again. Let's have a tea party now."
"Oh, yes! Let's have a tea party!" cried May. "Here is a lovely place
for it in front of this pretty tea house. Who wants some grape juice
and some little cakes?"
"Oh, I do!" "And I do!" cried two happy voices in real American
English, for the little boy with the hoop was an American, just like
the Sunbonnet Babies. And so they had the jolliest tea party under the
big trees in the park that three little American children ever had
together, which is saying a very great deal.
[Illustration: The Buried City]
[Illustration]