They swam over to where Sprawley stood, and climbing out on the ice they
seemed to be welcoming him, hopping and sliding about, and pulling at
his hair and claws. Now that Teddy saw them quite close they were uglier
than ever, with goggle eyes, and rough, fishy-looking skins.

They all sat on the edge of the ice, and now and then one of them would
dive off, to reappear again, all wet and glistening, and then it would
climb up and sit on the ice again in a row with the others. They all
talked together, and their voices were so queer and husky that Teddy
could not understand what they were saying at first. At last he made out
that they were asking Sprawley about him,--where he had come from, and
how.

"Well, I'll tell you how he came," said Sprawley, and all the mermen
stopped to listen. Sprawley, too, was silent for a moment, and then he
said in a low, impressive voice, "The Counterpane Fairy brought him."

There was a long, quavering cry from the mermen, and several of them
dived off into the water and did not reappear again for some minutes;
when they did, their faces were all wrinkled up with anxiety.

They climbed up onto the edge of the ice and sat there blinking at the
sky for a while in silence; then one of them said in a trembling voice,
"Well, we haven't been doing anything but just frightening the bear cubs
a little."

"How about knocking Fatty down with a piece of ice?" asked Sprawley,
derisively.