'Ah! that is where Theeda lives,' exclaimed Oscar, rising, with some cheerfulness in his face. 'I had forgotten her.'
'Theeda? what is Theeda?' demanded Kanker.
'She is my playmate and companion,' Oscar said. 'She is dearer to me than anything else in the world, and nothing in the world is so lovely as she.'
'And do you mean to say she lives in the water? Pray, how big is she?'
'She is not so tall as your hand is long.'
'No such creature ever existed,' said Kanker, positively. 'In the first place, no one ever was made of that size, and in the second place, it is impossible for anyone to live under water. It is another of your hallucinations. There is no use in your denying it. I shall believe in her when I see her, and not before.'
'I will not let you see her,' replied Oscar.
'Just what I expected! When did you see her last yourself?'
'Just before your shadow fell across the vase.'
'What language does she talk?'