"I never had feet," said the little mermaid, "so I can't say, but I
should think they'd be very nice to walk on."

"Yes, if you go to the mountains, as we did last summer," answered
Mary Louise, "but you don't have to climb hills in the ocean."

"Perhaps you don't know there are mountains in the sea," said the little
mermaid. "Of course, you have seen nothing but their tops. What is
that little rocky ledge over yonder, where the white lighthouse stands,
but the stony top of a hill rising from the bottom of the sea? And
what are those pretty green islands, with their clusters of trees
and grassy slopes, but the summits of hills lifted out of the water?"

"Oh!" said Mary Louise, with a gasp. "You do know geography, don't
you? Is it pretty, away down there under the waves?" she added
wistfully.

The mermaid smiled very sweetly as she answered, "Yes, it is. There
are many wonderful things to see, and many strange beautiful things
to hear under the sea! I will comb your hair with my magic comb,"
and she ran the pearly comb gently through Mary Louise's hair.

"Over the sea the white ships sail,
Out through the mist and the rollicking gale,
While deep below the mermaids swim
With their finny tails so neat and trim.
So please, little magic comb, don't fail
To give Mary Louise a mermaid tail."

And the more she combed the longer grew the pretty curls, until, to