“Here, Mulligan! Secure the boat, and you and your mates come off and follow us.”
Then he came back to where Justin and Britomarte stood, and said that he was ready to accompany them.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE CAPTAIN OF THE SEA SCOURGE.
They walked on through a grove of palms, and then through a thicket that clothed the base of the mountain, until they reached the front of Britomarte’s grotto.
“You see it is to no house that we are able to invite you, captain, but we will make you very heartily welcome to this ‘hole in the wall’ of the mountain,” said Justin, smiling, as he opened the door, and drew aside the curtain that concealed the entrance to Britomarte’s grotto.
“A palace for Pan and the wood nymphs, upon my soul!” said the captain, in sincere admiration, as he followed Justin and Britomarte into the grotto, and looked around upon its glistening white walls and brilliant skylight.
“We like it very much,” said Britomarte.
“Like it! Who would dwell in houses made with hands, when they might live in a fairy grotto like this?” exclaimed the captain.
Justin drew one of the armchairs forward, and invited him to take it.
And Judith removed the woolen table cover, and replaced it with a damask tablecloth, preparatory to spreading the lunch.