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"Summon his most excellent self, the Prime Minister," commanded King Seaphus. The Mer-boy page glided away and presently appeared, deferentially escorting the Prime Minister. The latter was a very distinguished looking person. His long, white beard was parted gracefully in the center, no doubt by the action of the water as he swam up to where the King sat.
"Indeed," exclaimed King Seaphus, "this is the second time in the last month we've had an accident on the Sea Bottom Subway. I must call in my Prime Minister and have an investigation begun at once." Pulling vigorously on a beautifully braided sea-grass rope, he awaited the coming of a page. Little Mary Louise heard the far-off tinkle of the bell, and presently the Mer-bell-boy appeared.
"Oh, lovely!" cried Mary Louise. "I've never met any kinds, although I've read about them in fairy stories." "Come along then," said the mermaid. "Follow me straight down, for I think we are not very far from the Coral Palace, where King Seaphus holds court."
As befitted so important an official, he was clad in a long, red robe, which reached nearly to the end of his fin-tail. His head was adorned with a crimson cap and tassel made of the softest velvet sea-grass. "What is your majesty's command?" he asked, bending low before King Seaphus. The King did not reply for a moment. He was a wise King, and thought for several minutes before he spoke.
Mary Louise clapped her hands and hopped, or, rather, flopped about, so happy was she to receive such a gift in the depths of the sea. When she was dressed in the lovely shawl, and a beautiful mother-of-pearl comb fastened in her hair, the princess mermaid declared she looked "too sweet for anything!" Then they floated down, arm in arm, to the great dining hall. King Seaphus
"Well," exclaimed King Seaphus, after a brief silence, "you honor us by your presence, but, what do you want?" "I want redress," cried the Star Fish in a queer little gurgle. "You want what?" thundered the King, realizing now that his visitors were looking for damages on account of the accident. This naturally worried him, as he was a heavy stockholder in the Sea Bottom Subway.
"Why, are you a princess?" asked Mary Louise in surprise, turning quickly to the mermaid and forgetting for the moment that they were on the steps of a real merman's castle. The little mermaid only laughed in reply, and taking Mary Louise by the hand led her through the coral doors to King Seaphus. His Majesty was seated on a throne of pearl, studded with many precious stones.
When it was over and the coffee was served in a beautiful room adjoining, King Seaphus smoked a big cigar, which, to Mary Louise's amazement, glowed and burned like any ordinary Havana her father smoked at home. After King Seaphus had smoked away in perfect silence for some time, he turned to Mary Louise and asked: "Where were you going, my dear, when you met my daughter?"
One of the Iceberg cars was demolished, and one of the Polar Bear porters, I believe, although I am not certain at the moment, was slightly injured. None of the passengers was hurt, with the possible exception of a Star Fish, who complained of a slight pain in one of his five fingers I forget, for the moment, which finger." "Is the road again in operation?" inquired King Seaphus.
The great dining hall of King Seaphus was considered by all the inhabitants of Merland that is, all those who had been lucky enough to have seen its splendor to be the most magnificent of its kind anywhere. The dining table, or banquet board, as it was called, was made of mother-of-pearl. The pale, shimmery cloth was woven from the most delicate of sea-grasses.
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