But they caught sight of something else as well; something far more curious than any flower-garden. In the middle of the island was a rather high hill; on top of the hill was a fat round tower; and on top of the tower, seated on a three-legged stool, combing his whiskers with his claws, sat some huge, strange creature, unlike anything they had ever seen before. "What's that?" whispered Frances; for the Admiral was dozing and she did not want to disturb him. Before Margaret could reply, the creature, whatever it was, caught sight of them, when, just as the crack in the cloud-wall closed up again, it rose up on its hind feet, and putting its fore-paws to its mouth it bellowed like a cow. "The whistling buoy!" cried Margaret. "I've heard it before." "Excuse me, Miss," whispered a voice behind them; and looking back, they saw that the Crew was peeping at them over the top of the wheel. "Excuse me, Ladies," said he, "but you are mistaken. That was the King's dragon." "The King's dragon!" "Yes, Miss: the King's pet snap-dragon. He sits up there on his tower to keep watch, and when he sees anyone coming he bellows like that to give notice." "Are you sure?" asked Margaret. "Oh, yes, Miss. Quite sure." "Well," said Margaret, "I'm very glad to know that. I've often heard the sound from the shore, and somebody told me it was the whistling buoy. Now I shall know next time. There he goes again!" At this second bellow the Admiral woke up with a start. He cast a glance over his shoulder, and seeing how near they had come, he spun his chair round till it would go no further, when the boat immediately began to slacken speed. It was still going pretty fast, however, and the cloud-wall looked so solid that Margaret and Frances could not help feeling just a little bit anxious lest the glass boat should be cracked when it ran against it; which it was evidently going to do, for it kept straight on its course. But as the Admiral and the Crew were perfectly calm about it, they felt reassured, and presently the frail boat ran into the wall without a shock or a tremor. It just made a hole which closed up behind it--and there they were, unable to see out in any direction. At the same moment there arose all round them, in front and behind and on both sides, a perfect clamor of barking, as though a hundred dogs were all barking at once and all trying to see which could bark the loudest and the fastest. "Why! Where are they all?" cried Margaret, looking vainly about in every direction. "It sounds as though they were in the water." "They are," replied the Admiral, smiling at her wonder. "They always bark like this when they hear the dragon bellow." "But I don't understand," said Margaret. "Dogs don't live in the sea." "These dogs do." "Why! What kind of dogs are they?" "They are sea-dogs," replied the Admiral. "The King's own pack of hounds. The Royal Dog-fish." "Oh!" cried Frances, laughing. "I see. So they are fish after all, and not dogs."