178 WHISPERS FROM FAIRVLAND. [1v.

laugh had proceeded? Another moment put the matter
beyond a doubt. A second burst of laughter again
sounded forth from the rock, and most decidedly it
came from the Turbot. His enormous fins positively
wagged with the effort, his huge mouth opened and
shut as if he were gasping for breath, and it was pal-
pable that he was enjoying himself ina manner which
few turbots could have done save indeed in that native
element which the fish in question appeared to have
left for the time.

Molly knew not what to make of it. The first
thought that crossed her mind was one regarding the
great size and probable weight of the creature before
her, and how much he would fetch in the market, if
she only had him there. This thought, however, passed
away. in a moment, for Molly was far too sensible not
to perceive at once that this could ‘be no ordinary
turbot. How he came there, what fun he could find
in lying on the rocks instead of swimming in the sea
as most respectable turbots generally did, and above
all, what he meant by laughing in that strange and
unaccountable manner,-were questions to which the
good woman could return no answer, and for a full
half-minute she continued to look at the creature
‘without either the will or the power to say a word,
Indeed, the Turbot was the first to break the silence,
for when he had sufficiently recovered from his fit of
laughter, he said, in a wheezy choky kind of voice,
such as you might have expected from a fish of his
size and corpulence, ‘Molly Goodchild! where's
‘your husband?’ and having said these words, he
went off into another fit of laughter of a kind which

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