Sure enough, the beautiful bird swooped down like a glittering rainbow on the top of the gilded cage.
"Is everything all ready?" he asked.
Sapphira explained about her having to get the common pig, and the Cockatoo agreed, only saying she must do it at once, as there was not a minute to be lost.
The Fattest Pig was very glad to see Sapphira, and perfectly willing to do as he was told, in fact spending the day in the Flying Pig's cage was the one ambition of his lazy soul. When they got back to the cage, they found the Cockatoo had been as good as his word, and four bars had been bitten through. In less time than it takes to tell, the Flying Pig was out, and the Fattest Pig was in, the bars were replaced, and Sapphira, seated on the back of the Flying Pig, and accompanied by the Squawking Cockatoo, was on her way to the ocean.
They found the Walruses all drawn up in line, just outside the breakers. They had with them a dear little boat, for they pointed out to Sapphira she couldn't sit on their backs without getting very wet, as they swam so low in the water. It was decided that the Flying Pig should be back in that same spot at half-past four, and having planted Sapphira safely in the bottom of the little boat, he flew away with squeals of joy.
The Walruses started immediately, drawing the little boat after them, and they seemed to swim quite a long, long way, till they came to an island that was just covered with walruses of all sizes and shapes. They were perfectly delighted to see Sapphira, and hastened to the water's edge, with shouts of welcome. The wife of the biggest Walrus, who was Sapphira's greatest friend, took charge of the entertainment, and it was she who directed the landing of the boat, and made the little speech of welcome to Sapphira.
Then followed a day of such wild gayety that Sapphira thinks she will never forget it, if she lives to be a hundred. The Walruses showed her caves of the most beautiful colors where the mermaids lived. They taught her how to dive off of the rocks, so that she could go straight to the bottom and bring up some of the lovely flowers that grew down there, and Sapphira wondered why she had never been able to do it before, for she had always bathed, but somehow this seemed quite different. Then some of the little Walruses were so funny, the way they tumbled off the rocks, and crawled up again.
In the middle of the day they had dinner, served out on the rocks, and everything was delicious, though Sapphira couldn't tell what one of the dishes was. After dinner the biggest Walrus suggested that they should go and visit the Old Man of the Sea, so Sapphira got into the boat, and the Walruses pulling it, they went quite a long way till they came to a funny little pointed rock that rose right out of the sea, and had a little gold bell hanging on its top. This bell one of the Walruses rang, and then they all waited. Pretty soon there was a sort of a bubbling on the surface of the water near the rock, and a most beautiful mermaid appeared.
When she saw Sapphira she seemed quite pleased, and asked if she were coming down to see the Old Man of the Sea. Sapphira said "yes" and the mermaid took hold of the edge of the boat and said, "shut your eyes," which Sapphira did. She felt the queerest rushing sensation, and the water surged all around her ears, and for a minute she was awfully frightened, but the next minute she heard the voice of the mermaid saying, "open your eyes, Sapphira," and she was standing in a gorgeous hall, all mother of pearl in the most lovely colors. They went through this into a large room, and seated on a pink coral throne was the Old Man of the Sea. He was very old, with long gray hair and curling beard, but he had kind eyes, and he was very glad to see Sapphira. He gave her a lovely string of pearls to remember him by, and just as they had begun to be very friendly, and Sapphira was telling him about the Flying Pig and the Squawking Cockatoo, the mermaid came hurrying in.
"The Walruses say you must go, Sapphira," she said. "It is after half-past four, and the Flying Pig has been missed."