How handsome the young prince looked ! He shook
hands with everybody, and smiled, as the music rang
out into the glorious night. It grew late, but the
little mermaid could not turn her eyes away from the
ship and the handsome prince."

Once more Letty's thought wandered from the page.
She too would have watched her handsome prince,
no matter what the temptation to look elsewhere.
**The colored lanterns were put out, no rocket rose
in the air, no cannon boomed from the portholes ; but
deep below there was a surging and a murmuring.
The mermaid sat still, cradled by the waves, so that
she could look in at the cabin window. But now the
ship began to make more way. One sail after another
was unfurled ; the waves rose higher ; clouds gathered
in the sky ; and there was a distant flash of lightning.
