"Goodbye, friends!" they called.
"Goodbye!" shouted both Trot and Cap'n Bill, and the little girl blew two kisses from her fingers toward the mermaids.
Then the faces disappeared, leaving little ripples on the surface of the water.
Cap'n Bill picked up the oars and slowly headed the boat toward the mouth of the cave.
"I wonder, Trot, if your ma has missed us," he remarked uneasily.
"Of course not," replied the girl. "She's been sound asleep, you know."
As the boat crept out into the bright sunlight, they were both silent, but each sighed with pleasure at beholding their own everyday world again.
Finally Trot said softly, "The land's the best, Cap'n."
"It is, mate, for livin' on," he answered.
"But I'm glad to have seen the mermaids," she added..