“NO!”
“How funny!”
“Yes, it is.” With a little reluctance—“Will you play with me?”
Strange: here was Eepersip, who detested people, asking a little boy to play with her! It was simply that she, not having seen any children for a long time, was fascinated by this small boy who seemed so unafraid of her and so natural.
They wandered together on the beach and picked up shells. Then Eepersip asked the little boy if he liked to swim.
“Yes,” he said. “But do you think I’d better?”
“Yes—why not?”
“All right.”
So he took off all his clothes and went in with her, and they splashed each other and had a lovely time. Eepersip wanted to make him a mermaid dress, but there was no sea-weed right there, and she didn’t want to leave him. So they went into the woods to find some ferns to make him a nymph dress. She found a beautiful ferny glade, and sat down and began to weave ferns together, talking to him at the same time. When it was all done he was delighted.
“But, please,” he said, “can’t I have a shell, too?”