Page 261 - Adventures in shadow-land

thq mermaid a little hastily. "I'm sure it’s noth­

ing to me.”
The bride's sister was not angry at all. She

kissed her friend good-night, and when she and
Dick had gone sat down and cried a little.
"T h e poor dearl” she said.

Meanwhile Moby Dick and the bridesmaid were
on their way to the old Witch of the Sea, She

lived in a cave in a thick dark grove of seaweed.
She was sitting before the door talking with a gos­

sip of hers, one of the Salem witches, whose broom­
stick would carry her through the water as well

as through the air. The broomstick, which was
a spirited young one, was standing hitched at the
door, impatiently stamping its stick part on the

ground and switching the broom part about to

keep off the little crabs.
“ Ho! ho!” said the Salem witch. " Here’s a
dainty young maiden indeed I I’m a great mind

to stick a few pins in her.”
"Y o u better hadn’t,” said Moby Dick, grimly,

for he was not at all afraid of witches, "A sk the
old lady any questions you like, my dear; nothing

shall hurt you.”