“Why,” explained the fish, “I thought I heard you saying something about a race, and suddenly I remembered what a splendid opportunity your visit down here would afford us of witnessing a real human race—you are human, aren’t you?” he asked, anxiously.
“Yes, I suppose so,” replied Dick.
“That’s right,” said the fish. “Come on, the King is most anxious for the race to begin at once, and I promised to bring you back with me immediately.”
“But what is a human race?” inquired Marjorie, as they mounted their Dolphins.
“Oh, you’ll see when we get back,” was the reply, and, the little fish hanging on to one of the Dolphins’ tails they were soon flying through the water at a rare rate.
When they got back to the lawn by the King’s Palace, the children were greatly astonished to see a big crowd of fishes drawn up in two lines, with a wide path between them. The King, on a shell throne, surrounded by his courtiers, was at one end, and several important-looking fishes were fussing about at the other, making a straight line with some little lumps of white chalk.
There was a cheer when the children arrived on their Dolphins, and a rush was made to assist them to alight.
“But what are we to do?” they inquired, rather dismayed at these elaborate preparations.
“Show us a human race,” was the reply.
“Well, a human race is just like any other kind of race, I suppose,” said Dick, “the one who reaches the goal first wins. If we are going to race, though, we shall have to be handicapped.”