As he spoke the bard took from his pocket a piece of string to which was attached a morsel of fish. This he lowered into the sea through the open port, then slowly drew it up again.
A moment afterwards there came crawling up two immense crabs, and they positively appeared to enter arm in arm, side by side certainly. They paused for a moment on the outside rocky ledge, and gazed at the lady with their stalky eyes.
Seeming perfectly satisfied, they then advanced, and Mrs. Fielding noticed that each had a red cross painted across his dark shell.
The bard quietly spread before them their dinner, and they ate it greedily, rolling their eyes about as they did so with an appearance of great satisfaction.
"Shall I make them dance?" said the poet.
"Oh, do, sir!"
The poet held a morsel of white meat of some kind above them, and in a moment they were standing on one end, hand in hand, or rather claw in claw, dancing round and round and all about in the most comical manner.
The lady laughed till the cave roof rang again.
"Of all things I have ever seen," she said, "that is the most ridiculous."
Then one more morsel was given to each, a red handkerchief was waved, and away the strange performers shuffled, and slowly disappeared over the ledge.