Page 204 - Adventures in shadow-land

selves. I heard, indeed, of a sailor who had seen

one in Passamaquoddy Bay, but 1 did not have the
pleasure of conversing with this mariner myself,

so I am unable to state as an absolute fact that a
mermaid was seen.
If any of you are at the seaside in the summer,

you can keep a sharp lookout, and there is no tell­
ing what you may see, You would find an alli­

ance with a mer-person very advantageous if we
may judge by the experience of Abdalla, Jewels
in the sea are as common as pebbles with us, and

in return for a little fruit a merman will give you
bushels of precious stones.

You must be a little careful, however, not to
offend them, for it would seem that some of them

are rather touchy and apt to be intolerant of other
people's opinion in matters of doctrine and prac­

tice.
Now, not far from the Massachusetts coast, out
beyond the bay, is a very beautiful sea country*

There are mountains as big as Mount Washington,
whose tops, just covered by the sea, are bare rock,

but which are clothed around their base with the
most beautiful seaweed, golden green and purple