He is, also, distinguished by the most exquisite little rings or bands of scarlet, which seem to encircle his body; but the picturesque effect is really produced by his antennae, which the pandalus has the happy knack of arranging round his little person in the most graceful fashion.
Beyond these rarities, precious above price, Nellie had gathered a quantity of cuttle-fish `bone,' as it is erroneously called, sufficient to have supplied Bob and herself for a lifetime with ink-erasers--a purpose for which it is generally employed.
The substance, however, is not really `bone,' but is composed of thin layers of the purest white chalk, which, when the cuttle-fish is living, is embedded in the body of the animal, running through its entire length.
The cuttle-fish in which this so-called bone is generally met with, is the same species from whence the well-known colour sepia used in painting is usually obtained.
To make a long story short, the rest of Miss Nellie's collection consisted of most of the various members of the crustacean family found along the south coast, which she, with the help of Bob and Dick, had picked up promiscuously.
"A good deal of rubbish still, my dear," was the Captain's comment when he came round in the evening and Nellie showed him the latest additions to her store; "but, you've got one or two good things.

I'll tell you what you want, though." "What ?" she asked excitedly.

"What do we want, Captain?
Hush, Bob!" "An aquarium," said he.

"You see, my dear--" "Why, we've got one.

We've got one already, Captain!" she cried out triumphantly, clapping her hands as she interrupted him.