64 A Day with the Sea Urchins.

side, with their heads towards it,.and some distance
outsidé this again pairs of flying-fish were stationed
as scouts, whose duty it. was to give ‘warning if any
danger threatened.

. Thad remarked that neither Pearl nor Topaz had:
taken part in the dance. Pearl, I knew, was seated
‘on the step of the throne, very busily engaged making’:
pictures of everything. Some of them you. will find}
in this book, especially a sketch, which may be termed |
a fish’s-eye view of the ball, which was admired and
praised even by the Queen herself; indeed, she was. soy
pleased with it, that she graciously honoured her little! —
_ subject by allowing her to take a portrait of her royal;
‘mistress seated on her throne. But it was some minutes!
before I discovered what had become of Topaz, whom!
I had last seen eating, as it appeared to me, rather
too heartily of some of the good things with which —
the tables were laden; then, as I peered about, 1
caught sight of her, sitting mournfully in a dim ‘recess.
all alone. And I saw that, as I had suspected, the|
silly little maiden was paying the inevitable penalty’
of her greediness. Nurse Nature had given her a
bitter dose of salt water to drink, and here she had
to sit, feeling very ill and unhappy, until she got well)
again. Of course, she could not dance at all; and,
worse still, she could not even come forward: to say,
good-bye to her dear Queen; so she cried till her: