`` But , my deary , what will you do when uncle sends you away from me , as he means to do as soon as we go home ? I can see you sometimes ; but we can not be always together , and there is no ocean for you to enjoy in the city . '' `` I shall bear it , if I can , for your sake ; if I can not , I shall come back here , and wait till you come again next year . '' `` No , no ! I will not be parted from you ; and , if uncle takes you away , I 'll come here , and be a mermaid with you , '' cried Fancy . The little friends threw their arms about each other , and were so full of their own feelings that they never saw Uncle Fact 's tall shadow flit across them , as he stole away over the soft sand . Poor old gentleman ! he was in a sad state of mind , and did n't know what to do ; for in all his long life he had never been so puzzled before . `` A mermaid indeed ! '' he muttered . `` I always thought that child was a fool , and now I 'm sure of it . She thinks she is a mermaid , and has made Fancy believe it . I 've told my wife a dozen times that she let Fancy read too many fairy tales and wonder-books . Her head is full of nonsense , and she is just ready to believe any ridiculous story that is told her . Now , what on earth shall I do ? If I put Luly in an asylum , Fancy will break her heart , and very likely they will both run away . If I leave them together , Luly will soon make Fancy as crazy as she is herself , and I shall be mortified by having a niece who insists that her playmate is a mermaid . Bless my soul ! how absurd it all is ! '' Aunt Fiction had gone to town to see her publishers about a novel she had written , and he did n't like to tell the queer story to any one else ; so Uncle Fact thought it over , and decided to settle the matter at once .
When the children came in , he sent XXXXX to wait for him in the library , while he talked alone with Lorelei .
Fancy Poor arms asylum city head home mermaid ocean sake