“Oh, Etty, what lovely beads!” said one little girl.
“Lovely beads!” repeated Etty; “let’s take some home to mother.”
They took a handful each of the contents of the casket, and, burying the casket in the sand, went home.
As they started off they both turned and listened for a moment. “I thought I heard a lovely laugh,” said Etty.
She had; it was the laughter of the mermaid, the happy, merry laughter of the sea fairy, who was pleased to see her present had been received. They gave the beads to mother, who started when she saw them. They showed them to their father, who gave a great cry and sprang to his feet.
“Why do you do that?” said Etty, in much surprise. And her sister wondered also; what did it mean?
“Mean, my dears,” answered their father in a choking voice, “it means that our ship has at last come home. These are not beads but pearls.”
“We have plenty more of them,” said the children.
Their father put on his hat and went out. They came back shortly with the casket and all the pearls, and they were such lovely pearls; indeed, that was not very wonderful, for the Red Mullet had taken a world of trouble to find the most beautiful pearls in the ocean and had been quite successful.