A splashing was heard, and out of the water came an old man in a chariot of mother-of-pearl.
The chariot was drawn by two horses with feet and manes of gold, and in one hand the old man carried a long wand with three prongs at one end.
The old man struck the water with the queer-looking wand, and from all over the surface of the water come the sea nymphs and all sorts of monsters and creatures that live at the bottom of the ocean.
But when the mermaids appeared the old man sent them back quickly and drove his chariot toward Cantilla and the dwarf.
Cantilla by this time was beyond being frightened or surprised, and she stood beside the dwarf waiting for the next thing to happen.
“My Lord Neptune,” said the dwarf, bowing low as the old man drove close to the island on which Cantilla and the dwarf stood, “I have come with my Princess for you to perform the ceremony. She has consented to become my wife.”
“What!” cried the old man, in an angry voice, “do you mean you have found a Princess who will consent to have such a husband as you are—ugly and misshapen wretch?”
“Answer him, my Princess,” said the dwarf. “Tell my Lord Neptune you consent to marry me.”
“I do consent to marry the dwarf,” Cantilla managed to say, and again the old man struck the water, this time in anger, and the water spouted about them like huge fountains throwing up rivers.
Cantilla felt the dwarf take her hand, and he said, “Fear not, my Princess; it will soon be over.”