"You're treading water," said Billy.
"How did you guess it?" asked the Sea Urchin.
"I can see your feet."
"So can I see your feet, but you're not treading water."
"That has nothing to do with it," said Billy.
"Just what I'm trying to prove to you," said the Urchin. "Are you coming in, or shall I have to come out and get you?"
"Neither," said Billy, jumping up very, very hard, because he knew it would take a long leap to carry him over the sea. "Good-bye."
"I suppose they are harmless," said Billy to himself, "but I'm glad enough to be away from them—that eel looks like a slippery old fellow and the Urchin has a bad face."
Up, up, up he went, floated forward quite a distance, stopped just a second, and then began to fall.