FullReads

“Now she must have a glass and a comb in her hand, as the song says, and then she will be done,” said Fancy, looking about her, well pleased.

Presently she found the skeleton of a little fish, and his backbone made an excellent comb; while a transparent jelly-fish served for a glass, with a frame of cockle-shells round it. Placing these in the hands of her mermaid, and some red coral bracelets on her wrists, Fancy pronounced her done; and danced about her, singing:

“My pretty little mermaid,
Oh! come, and play with me:
I’ll love you, I’ll welcome you;
And happy we shall be.”

Now, while she had been working, the tide had crept higher and higher; and, as she sung, one wave ran up and wet her feet.

“Oh, what a pity I didn’t put her farther up!” cried Fancy; “the tide will wash her all away; and I meant to keep her fresh, and show her to Aunt Fiction. My poor mermaid!–I shall lose her; but perhaps she will be happier in the sea: so I will let her go.”

Mounting her rock, Fancy waited to see her work destroyed. But the sea seemed to pity her; and wave after wave came up, without doing any harm. At last one broke quite over the mermaid, and Fancy thought that would be the end of her. But, no: instead of scattering shells, stones, and weeds, the waves lifted the whole figure, without displacing any thing, and gently bore it back into the sea.

“Good by! good by!” cried Fancy, as the little figure floated away; then, as it disappeared, she put her hands before her face,–for she loved her mermaid, and had given all her treasures to adorn her; and now to lose her so soon seemed hard,–and Fancy’s eyes were full of tears. Another great wave came rolling in; but she did not look up to see it break, and, a minute after, she heard steps tripping toward her over the sand. Still she did not stir; for, just then, none of her playmates could take the place of her new friend, and she didn’t want to see them.

“Fancy! Fancy!” called a breezy voice, sweeter than any she had ever heard. But she did not raise her head, nor care to know who called. The steps came quite close; and the touch of a cold, wet hand fell on her own. Then she looked up, and saw a strange little girl standing by her, who smiled, showing teeth like little pearls, and said, in the breezy voice:

“You wanted me to play with you, so I came.”

“Who are you?” asked Fancy, wondering where she had seen the child before.

“I’m your mermaid,” said the child.

“But the water carried her away,” cried Fancy.

“The waves only carried me out for the sea to give me life, and then brought me back to you,” answered the new comer.

“But are you really a mermaid?” asked Fancy, beginning to smile and believe.

“I am really the one you made: look, and see if I’m not;” and the little creature turned slowly round, that Fancy might be sure it was her own work.

She certainly was very like the figure that once lay on the sand,–only she was not now made of stones and shells. There was the long brown hair blowing about her face, with a wreath of starry shells in it. Her eyes were gray, her cheeks and lips rosy, her neck and arms white; and from under her striped dress peeped little bare feet. She had pearls in her ears, coral bracelets, a golden belt, and a glass and comb in her hands.

“Yes,” said Fancy, drawing near, “you are my little mermaid; but how does it happen that you come to me at last?”

“Dear friend,” answered the water-child, “you believed in me, watched and waited long for me, shaped the image of the thing you wanted out of your dearest treasures, and promised to love and welcome me. I could not help coming; and the sea, that is as fond of you as you are of it, helped me to grant your wish.”