Chapter 7 THE HUMAN RACE.

The little thin fish seemed to be a long while catching them up, and, while they were waiting, Marjorie espied a curious figure poking about among the seaweed a short distance away from them.

"I wonder what it is!" she cried, and the children dismounted from the Dolphins, and, tying them by the reins to some coral stumps, so that they could not swim away, they half walked and half swam over to where Marjorie had first noticed the creature, whatever it was.

"Why, it's a man!" cried Dick, as they drew nearer, and could distinguish him more clearly.

He was a wretched-looking old fellow, with a heavy sack upon his back, and was clothed only in a ragged old garment, which scarcely reached to his knees.

"Poor man," said Marjorie, in a whisper, "how unhappy he looks; perhaps he has lost something."

The man glanced up nervously as the children approached, and, clutching at his bag jealously, he demanded-

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"Nothing, thank you, poor old man," began Marjorie; "we were only--"

The old man burst into a peal of hoarse laughter.

"Poor old man!" he exclaimed. "Do you know that I am the richest man in the world. Look!" he exclaimed, opening his bag before the children's astonished eyes. "Gold! jewels! riches! wealth! they are all mine-ha-ha-ha-ha!" and he laughed discordantly, and hugged the bag closely to himself again.

"Oh, come away!" cried Marjorie, catching at Dick's arm. "I'm so frightened."

"I'm the Old Man of the Sea," continued the man, "and all the treasures of the deep are mine. I have stacks of golden crowns and jewels without number, and each day I gather more-they are all mine-mine-mine!"

"But where do they all come from?" asked Dick.

"The bottom of the sea is strewn with riches," continued the old man, "and there is no one to reap the harvest but myself."

"You must be very happy if you are so rich," said Dick. "It must be lovely to have all those things."

"No, I am not happy," said the Old Man of the Sea. "I am very old, and very lonely, and there is no one here to admire my treasures but myself. The fishes will have nothing to do with me-they do not care for gold; it is valueless to them-and I may not go on land, so I am here alone with my riches, and every day I gather more and more. I have piled them high about my cave in a great circle, and some day, when it becomes top-heavy, it will fall over and crush me beneath it, and I shall be buried in a tomb of gold. No king, no emperor, had ever so grand a sepulchre as I shall have, but I am not happy-no-no-not happy, not happy."

And the old man shouldered his bag and moved away, muttering sorrowfully.

"Poor man, poor man," said Marjorie; "for he is poor, although he has so much wealth isn't he, Dick?"

"Filling his bag with all kinds of treasure."

"Yes, jolly poor, and miserable too. I wouldn't be him for something," said Dick. "Come on, it makes me wretched to think about him-let's get back to the Dolphins."

When they reached them, they found that little friend, the thin fish, had arrived at last.

"Hullo!" cried Dick. "What a jolly long while you have been catching us up. Wherever have you been to all this time?"

"Why," explained the fish, "I thought I heard you saying something about a race, and suddenly I remembered what a splendid opportunity your visit down here would afford us of witnessing a real human race-you are human, aren't you?" he asked, anxiously.

"Yes, I suppose so," replied Dick.

"That's right," said the fish. "Come on, the King is most anxious for the race to begin at once, and I promised to bring you back with me immediately."

"But what is a human race?" inquired Marjorie, as they mounted their Dolphins.

"Oh, you'll see when we get back," was the reply, and, the little fish hanging on to one of the Dolphins' tails they were soon flying through the water at a rare rate.

When they got back to the lawn by the King's Palace, the children were greatly astonished to see a big crowd of fishes drawn up in two lines, with a wide path between them. The King, on a shell throne, surrounded by his courtiers, was at one end, and several important-looking fishes were fussing about at the other, making a straight line with some little lumps of white chalk.

There was a cheer when the children arrived on their Dolphins, and a rush was made to assist them to alight.

"But what are we to do?" they inquired, rather dismayed at these elaborate preparations.

"Show us a human race," was the reply.

"Well, a human race is just like any other kind of race, I suppose," said Dick, "the one who reaches the goal first wins. If we are going to race, though, we shall have to be handicapped."

"What's that?" cried the fishes.

"Why, you see," explained Dick, "it wouldn't be fair for us all to start from the same line, for Fidge, of course, cannot run as quickly as Marjorie or me; and Marjorie, too, being only a girl, will have to have a start allowed her, and this is called handicapping."

"Very well, manage it your own way," was the reply. "When are you going to start?"

"Oh, as soon as you like," said Dick. "Where's the winning-post?"

"That white line up by the King's throne," said one of the fishes. And Dick, having given Fidge a very long start, and Marjorie a slight advantage, declared himself ready to begin.

"One, to make ready,

Two, to be steady,

Three, and-away!"

shouted one of the principal fishes, and off they scrambled. I say scrambled, because if you have ever tried to run under water you will know that it is a very difficult thing to do-the weight of the water prevents you from getting along at all quickly. The fishes watching the race became very excited, and, in their eagerness to urge them on, kept getting in the children's way, swimming about in front of them, and getting mixed up with their arms and legs in a most confusing manner. At length, however, this extraordinary race came to an end, and the children arrived at the winning-post in the same order in which they had started.

"Oh, I've won-I've won!" shouted Fidge, delightedly. "Haven't I, Dick?"

"They were called before the king to receive their prize."

"Of course you have," said Dick, who had purposely been holding back to give the other two a chance.

"Shall I get a prize?" whispered the little boy, anxiously.

"Perhaps," answered Dick; "wait and see."

Their little friend, the thin fish, had gone up to the King, and was talking very earnestly to him, and presently returning said that His Majesty had decided to give them all a prize.

"Oh, I wonder what it will be!" said Marjorie, excitedly. "Fancy, having a prize from a real King!"

"He's only a fish," said Dick.

"Hush, dear, you'll hurt his feelings," whispered Marjorie, warningly.

Just then the thin fish put on his top hat-he was the only one allowed to wear one in the King's presence-and began a long speech. He spoke so very softly, though, that no one could hear a word that he said; but, at regular intervals, all the other fishes clapped their fins, and called out, "Hear, hear!" most enthusiastically.

"Whatever do you do that for?" inquired Dick, of one of them; "I'm sure you cannot hear a word of what he is saying."

"Oh, no, we can't," admitted the fish, quite candidly; "but it's the proper thing to do, you know, it encourages him so."

After the speech the children were called before the King to receive their prize.

His Majesty did not speak to them, but motioned majestically to a large branch of pink coral near the throne, and they were thus given to understand that it was intended for them as a prize.

Of course, they pretended to be highly gratified, though, in reality, they were greatly disappointed.

"Stupid old thing! it's not a bit of use, even if we could carry it," muttered Dick; and Fidge, too, was so cross that he nearly quarreled outright with a perky little fish who had been standing, hat in hand, near him, and who now came and sat down so close to him that his sharp scales scratched the little fellow's bare legs.

A moment afterwards, however, they had all forgotten their ill-humor in their amusement at what was happening, for the King having withdrawn, the rest of the fishes each took a partner, and began whirling round and round in a frantic way in a mad kind of dance, to the strains of some weird music, provided by one or two of their number blowing through some long shells, whilst others used some smaller flat ones as castanets.

"Whirling round and round in a frantic way."

"I suppose this is what is called a fish ball," said Dick, laughing heartily at the strange antics which the fishes were cutting.

And just as Marjorie was about to reply a dark shadow passing overhead caused all of the children to look up.

A pair of large webbed feet were seen slowly paddling above them, and beyond them the outline of a bird's body could be traced.

Marjorie seized Dick's arm excitedly. "Look! look!" she exclaimed, hastily, "the Dodo!"

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