"Why, you can't build a fire in the water, can you ?" "We have no need of fires," was the reply.

"The glass roof of our kitchen is so curved that it concentrates the heat of the sun's rays, which are then hot enough to cook anything we wish." "But how do you get along if the day is cloudy, and the sun doesn't shine ?" inquired the little girl.
"Then we use the hot springs that bubble up in another part of the palace," Merla answered.

"But the sun is the best to cook by." So it was no surprise to Trot when, about noon, dinner was announced and all the mermaids, headed by their queen and their guests, swam into another spacious room where a great, long table was laid.

The dishes were of polished gold and dainty-cut glass, and the cloth and napkins of fine gossamer.

Around the table were ranged rows of couches for the mermaids to recline upon as they ate.