“I’m just as anxious to see the ocean as I can be,” declared Lucy Poole who, like the Corner House girls, had never been to Pleasant Cove before.
“Oh, dear me!” scoffed her cousin Carrie. “It’s only a big, big pond! Our frog pond at home looks like a piece of the ocean—when it’s calm.”
The others laughed and Pearl said: “Guess Lucy wants to see Old Ocean in its might, eh? Big storm, whales, great ships——”
“A sea serpent!” cried Agnes.
“Of course—if there is such a thing,” admitted Lucy. “A sea serpent must be an awfully interesting sight.”
“There aren’t any more,” said Pearl. “Father Neptune’s all out of stock.”
“I guess the sea serpent is something like the snakes alcoholic victims think they see,” proposed Carrie.
“Oh, no,” proclaimed Agnes. “Here’s what I read about the sea serpent:
“‘The old sea serpent used to rave
And fiercely roam about;
He hit a prohibition wave,
And that’s what knocked him out.’”
“‘Perils of the Deep!’” laughed Ruth. “But even if we don’t see serpents in the ocean, I expect we’ll have plenty of adventures down there at the shore.”