. The sea fairies . , and swam along the rocky canyon until, on turninga corner, they came upon a new and different scene. There were crabs here, too—many of them—and theywere performing the queerest antics imaginable. Some werebuilding themselves into a pyramid, each standing on edge,with the biggest and strongest ones at the bottom. Whenthe crabs were five or six rows high they would all tumbleover, still clinging to one another, and, having reached theground, they would separate and commence to build thepyramid over again. Others were chasing one another around in a circle,always moving bac
. The sea fairies . , and swam along the rocky canyon until, on turninga corner, they came upon a new and different scene. There were crabs here, too—many of them—and theywere performing the queerest antics imaginable. Some werebuilding themselves into a pyramid, each standing on edge,with the biggest and strongest ones at the bottom. Whenthe crabs were five or six rows high they would all tumbleover, still clinging to one another, and, having reached theground, they would separate and commence to build thepyramid over again. Others were chasing one another around in a circle,always moving backward or side wise, and trying to playleapfrog as they went. Still others were swinging on slightbranches of seaweed, or turning cart wheels, or indulging insimilar antics. Merla and the earth people watched the busy little crea-tures for some time before they were themselves observed; butfinally, Trot gave a laugh when one crab fell on its back andbegan frantically waving its legs to get right-side-up again. 82. The Sea Fairies At the sound of her laughter they all stopped their play andcame toward the visitors in a flock, looking up at them withtheir bright eyes in a most comical way. Welcome home! cried one, as he turned a back somer-sault and knocked another crab over. Whats the difference between a mermaid and a tad-pole? asked another, in a loud voice, and without a pausecontinued: why, one drops its tail and the other holds on toit. Ha, ha! Ho, ho! Hee-hee! These, said Merla, are the clown crabs. They arevery silly things, as you may already have discovered; butfor a short time they are rather amusing. One tires of themvery soon. They re funny, said Trot, laughing again. Its al-most as good as a circus. I dont think they would make metired; but, then, I m not a mermaid. The clown crabs had now formed a row in front of them. Mr. Johnsing, asked one, why is a mermaid like anautomobile4? I dont know, Tommy Blimken, answered a big crab inthe middle of the row. Why do you
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