36 A. Day with the Sea Urchins.

- You will find pictures of both of these scenes in this
book, for Pearl sat down on an empty snail shell under a
coraline tree, and drew them on the spot.

When Emerald rejoined his comrades, he found them
in a state of excitement, and as he appeared Jasper
exclaimed,—

“ Great news has reached us since you went away—
Our gracious Queen will visit us to-day ;
We mist prepare for her the banquet hall,
And deck with garlands bright each rocky wall.”

And Topaz chimed in,—

“Haste brothers, each I know doth understand
His work—we serve with heart as well as hand ;
And we're determined our beloved Queen
Shall have the grandest welcome ever seen !”

Without losing a moment the Urchins disappeared in |
various directions, to make ready for the great event.

Now the name of their Queen was Aphrodite; many
of you know it well, and some of you will read by-
and-by, how she, the Queen of love, and of beauty
also, was formed of the foam of the sea (which was
very likely intended to teach us that to be beautiful,
a thing must first be clean and pure). There are
many seas, as you will have found on your maps; but
there is only one Queen for them all, and every crea-

ture in each one of the seas loved and obeyed her.
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