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"Well, well!" said the Octopus. "Are you all dumb? Or don't you know enough to

be civil when you meet a neighbor?"

We know how to be civil to our friends," replied Trot, who did not like the way he

spoke.

Well, are we not friends, then?" asked the Octopus in an airy tone of voice.

I think not," said the little girl. "Octopuses are horrid creatures."

OctoPI, if you please; octoPI," said the monster with a laugh.

I don't see any pie that pleases me," replied Trot, beginning to get angry.

OctoPUS means one of us; two or more are called octoPI," remarked the creature,

as if correcting her speech.

"I suppose a lot of you would be a whole bakery!" she said scornfully.

Our name is Latin. It was given to us by learned scientists years ago," said the

Octopus.

"That's true enough," agreed Cap'n Bill. "The learned scientists named ev'ry

blamed thing they come across, an' gener'ly they picked out names as nobody

could understand or pernounce."

That isn't our fault, sir," said the Octopus. "Indeed, it's pretty hard for us to go

through life with such terrible names. Think of the poor little seahorse. He used

to be a merry and cheerful fellow, but since they named him 'hippocampus' he

hasn't smiled once."

Let's go," said Trot. "I don't like to 'sociate with octopuses."

OctoPI," said the creature, again correcting her.

You're jus' as horrid whether you're puses or pies," she declared.

Horrid!" cried the monster in a shocked tone of voice.

Not only horrid, but horrible!" persisted the girl.

May I ask in what way?" he inquired, and it was easy to see he was offended.

Why, ev'rybody knows that octopuses are jus' wicked an' deceitful," she said. "Up

on the earth, where I live, we call the Stannerd Oil Company an octopus, an' the

Coal Trust an octopus, an'--"

The Sea Fairies