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CHAPTER 10 - THE UNDISCOVERED ISLAND

In following the fleet of argonauts, the four explorers had risen higher in the

water and soon found they had wandered to an open space that seemed to Trot

like the flat top of a high hill. The sands were covered with a growth of weeds so

gorgeously colored that one who had never peered beneath the surface of the sea

would scarcely believe they were not the product of a dye shop. Every known hue

seemed represented in the delicate, fern-like leaves that swayed softly to and fro

as the current moved them. They were not set close together, these branches of

magnificent hues, but were scattered sparsely over the sandy bottom of the sea so

that while from a distance they seemed thick, a nearer view found them spread

out with ample spaces of sand between them.

In these sandy spaces lay the real attractiveness of the place, for here were many

of those wonders of the deep that have surprised and interested people in all

ages.

First were the starfishes--hundreds of them, it seemed--lying sleepily on the

bottom, with their five or six points extended outward. They were of various

colors, some rich and brilliant, others of dark brown hues. A few had wound their

arms around the weeds or were creeping slowly from one place to another, in the

latter case turning their points downward and using them as legs. But most of

them were lying motionless, and as Trot looked down upon them she thought

they resembled stars in the sky on a bright night, except that the blue of the

heavens was here replaced by the white sand, and the twinkling diamond stars

by the colored starfish.

"We are near an island," said the Queen, "and that is why so many starfishes are

here, as they love to keep close to shore. Also the little seahorses love these

weeds, and to me they are more interesting than the starfish."

Trot now noticed the seahorses for the first time. They were quite small--merely

two or three inches high--but had funny little heads that were shaped much like

the head of a horse, and bright, intelligent eyes. They had no legs, though, for

their bodies ended in tails which they twined around the stems of seaweeds to

support themselves and keep the currents from carrying them away.

Trot bent down close to examine one of the queer little creatures and exclaimed,

"Why, the seahorses haven't any fins or anything to swim with."

Oh yes we have," replied the Sea Horse in a tiny but distinct voice. "These things

on the side of my head are fins."

The Sea Fairies