“Then wear it,” said the mermaid, holding it out to him, and he slipped it on his finger.
“Good-bye,” she said; “you won’t forget the tame seal?”
“Certainly not; I’ll be home in time to dance at your birth-day party.”
The mermaid swam away to the house, turning at the door to wave her hand to her old playmate, but he did not see her. His two sisters had watched their interview from an upper window of their own house.
“He has no more eyes in his head than an oyster,” said the elder, in quite a pet.
“It would be so nice,” said the younger, with a sigh. “It would be just the thing for him.”
“Of course, and that’s the reason why he never thinks of it,” said the elder, who had more experience.
