title: Of Land and Sea: The Untold Story of The Little Mermaid
author:  Lisa Dawn 
description: Lisa Dawn has always been passionate about fairy tales. She carried that passion with her on her journey from New Jersey to Florida to California. Today, she continues to pursue her passion with The Princess Blog at www.theprincessblog.org. You can find her other books on Amazon.
zlib_text: ### CHAPTER XXII
  
  
  #### THE SNAKE-TREE
  
  
  THEY managed to make a good meal of the food supplies they had brought along,
  and as a dessert Washington made some peach short-cake from the slices of the
  giant fruit they had found, the day before. Just as they finished supper it
  got very dark, but, in about an hour, the moon-beams, as the travelers called
  them, came up, and illuminated the lake with a weird light.
  
  
  As the machinery of the Mermaid was now in working order there was no further
  alarm because of the darkness. The ship rested on a level keel about a hundred
  yards back from the lake, and, seeing that all was snug, and the fastenings
  secure, the travelers went to bed.
  
  
  Though they had to forego fish for breakfast the travelers made a good meal.
  After seeing that the ship was in readiness for a quick start, the professor
  suggested they take a walk around and see what sort of country they might be
  in now.
  
  
  They tramped on for several miles, meeting with no adventures, and seeing
  no