“Please, Mr. Dolphin, do you ever eat? I am lonesome, eating all alone.”
“I eat only fish,” said the dolphin. “They are in my element, you see. I do not find my food out of my element.”
“Oh, as to that,” replied Mary Frances, “I will fill a bowl with your element, if you will only accept the invitation.”
“Agreed!” said the dolphin, swimming to the rope ladder hanging over the side of the ship. Mary Frances leaned down and caught hold of his fins, when within reach, and helped him up.
When the dolphin reached the deck, she picked up a fire-pail with a rope attached, threw it overside, and brought up a pail of water. Then she hastened to the dining-room and brought a bowl.
After that she helped the dolphin to the dining table. The only chair was clamped in place to the floor, just as on any steamer, and she could not move it. So she changed her place to the side of the table. As the chair was a revolving one, like a desk chair, she turned and turned it until it reached the right height for the dolphin. She placed the bowl of water, “element” she called it, at the dolphin’s place.
Mary Frances Leaned Down and Caught Hold of His Fins
“Is there anything on the table, Mr. Dolphin,” she asked, “which you would like?”