THE FAIRY FISH QUEEN

Wherein a little girl has some strange adventures under the sea.

Eriline lived on an island. Her father made his living by fishing. One morning she asked her mother to let her go in her row boat to fish. Her mother told her that she might go but she must not go out of sight. Eriline carried her fishing tackle to the boat and started off very happily. After a while she dropped anchor and commenced fishing.

Soon she heard a splash and saw a huge fish rise above the water. Eriline had never before seen such a big fish! She tried her best to haul in the line, but the fish got tangled and began to pull and fight to get away. All of a sudden it gave a terrific jerk and Eriline fell into the water!

She was very much frightened. Just then she heard a soft voice say: “Don’t cry, little girl; nothing shall hurt you. I am queen of the fish fairies, and I’ll take care of you.”

Eriline was so surprised to hear a fish talk that she looked up quickly and saw a beautiful golden fish, with diamond eyes and a ruby mouth, swimming beside her.

The queen led her into a pearl palace built by the oysters. The floors were of tiny coral, while the furniture was of all kinds of shells. The queen swam until she reached her golden throne.

After a while they swam into the dining-room where supper was spread upon a shell table. When they finished eating they went into a bedroom. The queen put Eriline into a golden bed and covered her with sea-weed.

When she woke up she had on a scaly dress, too, that the queen had put on her so that she could play with all the fish fairies.

“Am I to stay a fish all my life?” she asked the fish queen.

“Yes, but if you ever get out of the water to dry land you will turn back into a little girl,” said the queen.

Eriline grew to be a beautiful fish. One day she was out swimming when she heard her father’s voice and looking out she saw him in his boat with his fish net spread in the water. Then Eriline began to want her mother. She remembered what the queen had said about dry land. So she went near the boat and swam right into her father’s net. He pulled it up quickly and put Eriline into his fishbasket. “What a fine fish,” he said.

When dark came her father went home, and threw his nets out of the fish basket on to the shore. He took the fish out and laid them on the sand. Eriline turned again into his beautiful daughter and threw her arms around his neck.

“Oh, father, here I am, your little Eriline!” she cried. The mother came running to greet her child again, and they were all happy and thankful to be together again.