he began looking at the treasures contained in this royal apartment,
and was much pleased with a golden statue of a mermaid that
resembled Princess Clia in feature. A silver flower vase upon a
stand contained a bouquet of gorgeous peonies, "as nat'ral as life,"
said Cap'n Bill, although he saw plainly that they must be made of
metal.

Trot came in just then to see how her dear friend was located. She
entered from the doorway that connected the two rooms and said,
"Isn't it pretty, Cap'n? And who'd ever think that awful creature
Zog owned such a splendid castle and kept his prisoners in such
lovely rooms?"

"I once heard tell," said the sailor, "of a foreign people that
sacrificed humans to please their pagan gods, an' before they killed
'em outright they stuffed the victims full of good things to eat an'
dressed 'em in pretty clothes an' treated 'em like princes. That's
why I don't take much comfort in our fine surroundin's, Trot. This
Zog is a pagan, if ever there was one, an' he don't mean us any
good, you may depend on 't."

"No," replied Trot soberly, "I'm sure he does not expect us to be
happy here. But I'm going to fool him and have just as good a time
as I can." As she spoke they both turned around--an easy thing to do
with a single flop of their flexible tails--and Cap'n Bill uttered a
cry of surprise. Just across the room stood a perfect duplicate of
himself. The round head, with its bald top and scraggly whiskers,
the sailor cap and shirt, the wide pantaloons, even the wooden leg,
each and every one were exact copies of those owned by Cap'n Bill.
Even the expression in the light-blue eyes was the same, and it is