‘She came from Captain Ball’s, didn’t she?’ asked Sally. ‘I know she did.’
While Alice, not waiting for Andy’s nod, spoke up.
‘My doll, Jack Tar, came from Captain Ball’s, too.’
‘Isn’t she a beauty?’ asked Andy again. ‘Here is her name, painted on the side, just like a real boat. “The Mermaid” she is called, and I know what a mermaid is, too. Mother told me.’
‘So do I,’ said Sally proudly. ‘They are little girls and their mothers who live under the ocean, and they have tails like fish. They swim and dive and play in the water all day long.’
‘They are very pretty, too,’ added Andy. ‘Mother said so. They wear necklaces of shells and coral, and they have long hair twined with seaweed. Their eyes are green like the sea, and their arms are very white.’
‘Did you ever see a mermaid?’ asked Alice. ‘Do they ever come out of the sea?’
Sally shook her head doubtfully.
‘I never saw one,’ she admitted, ‘but perhaps Father has. He has seen everything. And I don’t think mermaids ever come out of the water, because fish never do, if they can help it, and mermaids have tails like fish.’
This satisfied Alice, but Andy had a question to ask.