THE UNSELFISH MERMAID.
[CHAPTER XI]
'THE UNSELFISH MERMAID'
The stranger viewed the shore around.
The Lady of the Lake.
Leonore sprang to her feet, and as she did so something fell on the floor; it was her last remaining nut! She gazed at Hildegarde.
'Look,' she exclaimed, 'it dropped out of my pocket of itself; it means a message, I am sure it does. Where is your nut, Hildegarde?'
'Here,' was the reply, as she held it out.
'The time has come for cracking them,' said Leonore, and as she uttered the words the tapping in the corner of the room was repeated more loudly and rapidly, as if to say, 'Quite right, quite right.'