After a long time he saw something swirling about in a sort of whirlpool about a hundred yards from his boat, but when he tried to move the boat towards it her bows ran on to something hard. 'Keep still, keep still, keep still,' cried thousands and thousands of sharp, thin, little voices. 'You'll kill us if you move.' Then he looked over the boat side, and saw that the hard something was nothing but thousands and thousands of mussels all jammed close together, and through the clear water more and more were coming and piling themselves together. Almost at once his boat was slowly lifted--the top of the mussel heap showed through the water, and there he was, high and dry on a mussel reef. And in all that part of the sea the water was disappearing, and as far as the eye could reach stretched a great plain of purple and gray--the shells of countless mussels. Only at one spot there was still a splashing. Then a mussel opened its shell and spoke. 'We've got him,' it said. 'We've piled our selves up till we've filled this part of the sea. The wind warned all the good fishes--and we've got the old traitor in a little pool over there. Get out and walk over our backs--we'll all lie sideways so as not to hurt you. You must catch the fish--but whatever you do don't kill it till we give the word.' Sep promised, and he got out and walked over the mussels to the pool, and when he saw the wicked soul of the Magician looking out through the round eyes of a big finny fish he remembered all that his Princess had suffered, and he longed to draw his sword and kill the wicked thing then and there. But he remembered his promise. He threw a net about it, and dragged it back to the boat. The mussels dispersed and let the boat down again into the water--and he rowed home, towing the evil fish in the net by a line. He beached the boat, and looked along the shore. The shore looked a very odd colour. And well it might, for every bit of the sand was covered with purple-gray mussels. They had all come up out of the sea--leaving just one little bit of real yellow sand for him to beach the boat on. 'Now,' said millions of sharp thin little voices, 'Kill him, kill him!' Sep drew his sword and waded into the shallow surf and killed the evil fish with one strong stroke. Then such a shout went up all along the shore as that shore had never heard; and all along the shore where the mussels had been, stood men in armour and men in smock-frocks and men in leather aprons and huntsmen's coats and women and children--a whole nation of people. Close by the boat stood a King and Queen with crowns upon their heads. 'Thank you, Sep,' said the King, 'you've saved us all. I am the King Mussel, doomed to be a mussel so long as that wretch lived. You have set us all free. And look!' Down the path from the shore came running his own Princess, who hung round his neck crying his name and looking at him with the most beautiful eyes in the world.