"They are wise little creatures," he said. "I have seen a might of strange things and pretty things; but this is as pretty as any thing I have seen."
"You can learn them any thing almost, sir," said Dan, who was bent upon making the Old Sailor love the birds.
"To climb ropes like a sailor?"
"In a week they could. If I had a little ship, with two or three sails and a rope-ladder, I could teach them to climb the ladder and set the sails."
"I dare say, my lad, I dare say."
"Did you ever see a mermaid, sir?"
This was one of the questions Dan had made up his mind to ask the Old Sailor directly they grew familiar.
"Yes," answered the Old Sailor. "I wasn't very near her; and I was laughed at for saying I had seen her. But I saw her, for all that."
"Where was it that you saw her, sir?"
"In the South Pacific, where there are the ugliest images of men and women, and the most wonderful birds and flowers and trees, in the world. I have walked for miles through forests of wild flowers and strange trees, while thousands of parrots were flying about, with their feathers all blue and gold and scarlet and silver."