“Avast there, messmates!” said the Sailor to the rest. “What did I tell you? He can see us!”
And the cry was taken up all around the ring:
“He can see us! He can see us!”
“Why shouldn’t I be able to see you?” said Florimel, rather impatiently. “I have eyes.”
“Yes,” said one who wore a long black gown, and who had a tasseled mortarboard on his head, “but so have other people. It takes second sight to see the Brownies.”
The Brownies! Florimel’s heart gave a sudden bound.
“Much am I beholden to you all,” he said, “for having rescued me. If you had not saved me I should have been obliged to save myself.”
“Can you swim?” asked the Sailor, while all looked much chagrined.
“Like any duck!” was Florimel’s response. “But are you mortal?” questioned the Uncle Sam Brownie. “No mortal eye has ever yet beheld us.”
“My ex-fairy godmother at my christening bestowed on me the gift of second sight,” explained Florimel, “so that I have always been able to see things no one else could.”