Produced by Malcolm Farmer, eagkw and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) THE SEA LADY [Illustration: "Am I doing it right?" asked the Sea Lady. (See page 150.)] THE SEA LADY BY H. G. WELLS _ILLUSTRATED_ [Illustration] NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1902 COPYRIGHT, 1902 BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY _Published September, 1902_ Copyright 1901 by H. G. Wells CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I.--THE COMING OF THE SEA LADY 1 II.--SOME FIRST IMPRESSIONS 30 III.--THE EPISODE OF THE VARIOUS JOURNALISTS 71 IV.--THE QUALITY OF PARKER 90 V.--THE ABSENCE AND RETURN OF MR. HARRY CHATTERIS 101 VI.--SYMPTOMATIC 133 VII.--THE CRISIS 204 VIII.--MOONSHINE TRIUMPHANT 285 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE "Am I doing it right?" asked the Sea Lady _Frontispiece_ "Stuff that the public won't believe aren't facts" 81 She positively and quietly settled down with the Buntings 90 A little group about the Sea Lady's bath chair 134 "Why not?" 160 The waiter retires amazed 170 They seemed never to do anything but blow and sigh and rustle papers 180 Adjusting the folds of his blanket to a greater dignity 216 THE SEA LADY CHAPTER THE FIRST. THE COMING OF THE SEA LADY I Such previous landings of mermaids as have left a record, have all a flavour of doubt. Even the very circumstantial account of that Bruges Sea Lady, who was so clever at fancy work, gives occasion to the sceptic. I must confess that I was absolutely incredulous of such things until a year ago. But now, face to face with indisputable facts in my own immediate neighbourhood, and with my own second cousin Melville (of Seaton Carew) as the chief witness to the story, I see these old legends in a very different light. Yet so many people concerned themselves with the hushing up of this affair, that, but for my sedulous enquiries, I am certain it would have become as doubtful as those older legends in a couple of score of years. Even now to many minds----