"I wonder what it is!" she cried, and the children dismounted from the Dolphins, and, tying them by the reins to some coral stumps, so that they could not swim away, they half walked and half swam over to where Marjorie had first noticed the creature, whatever it was. "Why, it's a man!" cried Dick, as they drew nearer, and could distinguish him more clearly. He was a wretched-looking old fellow, with a heavy sack upon his back, and was clothed only in a ragged old garment, which scarcely reached to his knees. "Poor man," said Marjorie, in a whisper, "how unhappy he looks; perhaps he has lost something." The man glanced up nervously as the children approached, and, clutching at his bag jealously, he demanded-- "Who are you? What do you want?" "Nothing, thank you, poor old man," began Marjorie; "we were only----" The old man burst into a peal of hoarse laughter. "_Poor_ old man!" he exclaimed. "Do you know that I am the richest man in the world. Look!" he exclaimed, opening his bag before the children's astonished eyes. "Gold! jewels! riches! wealth! they are all mine--ha--ha--ha--ha!" and he laughed discordantly, and hugged the bag closely to himself again. "Oh, come away!" cried Marjorie, catching at Dick's arm. "I'm so frightened." "I'm the Old Man of the Sea," continued the man, "and all the treasures of the deep are mine. I have stacks of golden crowns and jewels without number, and each day I gather more--they are all mine--mine--mine!" "But where do they all come from?" asked Dick. "The bottom of the sea is strewn with riches," continued the old man, "and there is no one to reap the harvest but myself." "You must be very happy if you are so rich," said Dick. "It must be lovely to have all those things." "No, I am not happy," said the Old Man of the Sea. "I am very old, and very lonely, and there is no one here to admire my treasures but myself. The fishes will have nothing to do with me--they do not care for gold; it is valueless to them--and I may not go on land, so I am here alone with my riches, and every day I gather more and more. I have piled them high about my cave in a great circle, and some day, when it becomes top-heavy, it will fall over and crush me beneath it, and I shall be buried in a tomb of gold. No king, no emperor, had ever so grand a sepulchre as I shall have, but I am not happy--no--no--not happy, not happy." And the old man shouldered his bag and moved away, muttering sorrowfully. "Poor man, poor man," said Marjorie; "for he is poor, although he has so much wealth isn't he, Dick?" [Illustration: "Filling his bag with all kinds of treasure."] "Yes, jolly poor, and miserable too. I wouldn't be him for something," said Dick. "Come on, it makes me wretched to think about him--let's get back to the Dolphins." When they reached them, they found that little friend, the thin fish, had arrived at last.