So Daddy was right, and there _was_ a dragon after all! Margaret and Frances could not help feeling just a little bit uneasy at the thought, for though they felt sure the dragon would be a tame one, still, a dragon was a dragon--there was no getting over that fact. But the Admiral, seeing them look so serious, hastened to relieve their minds. "Your Royal Hi--Your Ladyships, I mean," he corrected himself, "need not be in the least alarmed: the King's dragon is not at all like the common, low-class dragons you are accustomed to." "But we aren't--" Margaret began, when the Admiral stopped her with a polite wave of his hand. "I know," said he. "I quite understand. You were going to say you are not accustomed to associate with dragons at all. Very natural. The average dragon, I am aware, is a rude and boisterous creature. But Lobsterneck! Well, Lobsterneck is _not_ an average dragon. In the first place he is a snap-dragon; and in the second place he is the most amiable and considerate snap-dragon you ever met. He lives by himself in a round tower on the top of Dragon hill, and he never thinks of taking a walk without first putting boxing gloves on all six of his claws for fear he should accidentally step on somebody and scratch their paint off. And then he is such friends with the children! As soon as he appears they all run and scramble upon his back. You'll see a dozen of them perched up there at once sometimes, all in a row, like swallows on a telegraph wire, and a dozen more running behind, begging for a ride." "What a nice dragon!" exclaimed Margaret. "And is he polite to strangers?" "Always," replied the Admiral. "And--and to puppies?" asked Frances, leaning forward to stroke Periwinkle's head. "Always," replied the Admiral once more. "Well, then," said Frances, "let us start at once. We should be so sorry if we were late; and we are not at all afraid of the dragon any more, are we, Margaret?" "Not the least," replied her sister. "So, let's start again at once." "Very good," said the Admiral; and with that he jumped into his chair again and gave a push off with his right foot. Round spun the chair with the Admiral in it, and away went the boat, skipping over the tops of the waves, as a boy can make a flat stone skip across a pond--and a girl can't. "How beautifully it goes!" cried Margaret. "It's almost like flying. What is the boat's name? Has it any name?" "Certainly," replied the Admiral. "The name is painted on the bows. You can see it yourself through the glass." "Oh, yes! So I can! I wonder if I can read it. 'M, A,--' Why! The letters are all turned the wrong way! What is that for?" "That is because they are painted on the other side of the glass. You are looking at the backs of the letters. Begin at the other end, and then you will see." "'T, H, E,' The," began Margaret. "'P, L, E, A,--' It's too hard for me. What _does_ it spell?" "'The Pleasant Dream'," replied the Admiral. "Good name, isn't it?"