"One thing that bothers me," said Trot, "is why we don't get wet,
being in the ocean with water all around us."

"That is because no water really touches you," explained the Queen.
"Your bodies have been made just like those of the mermaids in order
that you may fully enjoy your visit to us. One of our peculiar
qualities is that water is never permitted to quite touch our
bodies, or our gowns. Always there remains a very small space,
hardly a hair's breadth, between us and the water, which is the
reason we are always warm and dry."

"I see," said Trot. "That's why you don't get soggy or withered."

"Exactly," laughed the Queen, and the other mermaids joined in her
merriment.

"I s'pose that's how we can breathe without gills," remarked Cap'n
Bill thoughtfully.

"Yes. The air space is constantly replenished from the water, which
contains air, and this enables us to breathe as freely as you do
upon the earth."

"But we have fins," said Trot, looking at the fin that stood upright
on Cap'n Bill's back.

"Yes. They allow us to guide ourselves as we swim, and so are very
useful," replied the Queen.

"They make us more finished," said Cap'n Bill with a chuckle. Then,