There is a great deal of unwritten history connected with the Mermaid which ought to he supplied. Like other maids, they sometimes betray unsuspecting young men. One of them fell in love with Leander, if you remember; and one day, when he was taking a swim, she approached him, and, without an introduction, she insisted upon him accompanying her home. She was very beautiful, and Leander did not make a great kick against going.
According to Mr. Hood, who was a gentleman whose word could not be questioned, she bundled him up in her embrace and took him along.
It was a bad move for Leander. He wasn't used to the climate into which he was being hurried, and he lasted about as long as it would take you to say ‘Grannywillyourdogbitenochildno’ without any punctuation marks or any thing else to delay you.
There was no coroner on hand to hold an inquest on the drowned boy ; but had there been, a clear case could have been made out against the love-sick Mermaid. Could have been made out, mark you. There is no telling what the jury would have returned. It is more than likely, however, that the verdict would have been : ‘We, the,’ &c., find that the deceased came to his death by being kicked in the stomach by a mule, not knowing that the same was loaded.’
