Part 5

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It got very late,but the little mermaid could not take her eyes off the ship and the handsome prince. The brightly colored lanterns were put out,no more rockets flew through the air,and no more cannon boomed. But there was a mutter and rumble deep down in the sea,and the swell kept bouncing her up so high that she could look into the cabin.

Now the ship began to sail. Canvas after canvas was spread in the wind,the waves rose high,great clouds gathered,and lightning flashed in the distance. Ah,they were in for a terrible storm,and the mariners made haste to reef the sails. The tall ship pitched and rolled as it sped through the angry sea. The waves rose up like towering black mountains,as if they would break over the masthead,but the swan-like ship plunged into the valleys between such waves,and emerged to ride their lofty heights. To the little mermaid this seemed good sport,but to the sailors it was nothing of the sort. The ship creaked and labored,thick timbers gave way under the heavy blows,waves broke over the ship,the mainmast snapped in two like a reed,the ship listed over its side,and water burst into the hold.

Now the little mermaid saw that people were in peril,and that she herself must take care to avoid the beams and wreckage tossed about by the sea. One moment it would be black as pitch,and she couldn't see a thing. Next moment the lightning would flash so brightly that she could distinguish every soul on board. Everyone was looking out for himself as best he could. She watched closely for the young prince,and when the ship split in two she saw him sink down in the sea. At first she was overjoyed that he would be with her,but then she recalled that human people could not live under the water,and he could only visit her father's palace as a dead man. No,he should not die! So she swam in among all the floating planks and beams,completely forgetting that they might crush her. She dived through the waves and rode their crests,until at length she reached the young prince,who was no longer able to swim in that raging sea. His arms and legs were exhausted,his beautiful eyes were closing,and he would have died if the little mermaid had not come to help him. She held his head above the water,and let the waves take them wherever the waves went.

At daybreak,when the storm was over,not a trace of the ship was in view. The sun rose out of the waters,red and bright,and its beams seemed to bright the glow of life back to the cheeks of the prince, but his eyes remained closed. The mermaid kissed his high and shapely forehead. As she stroked his wet hair in place,it seemed to her that he looked like the marble statue in her little garden. She kissed him again and hoped that he would live.

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