"Are you a--a mermaid ?" asked Trot curiously.

She was not a bit afraid.

They seemed both gentle and friendly.
"Yes, dear," was the soft answer.
"We are all mermaids!" chimed a laughing chorus, and here and there, all about the boat, appeared pretty faces lying just upon the surface of the water.
"Are you part fishes ?" asked Trot, greatly pleased by this wonderful sight.
"No, we are all mermaid," replied the one with the brown hair.

"The fishes are partly like us, because they live in the sea and must move about.

And you are partly like us, Mayre dear, but have awkward stiff legs so you may walk on the land.