By daybreak the storm had stopped.
The Little Mermaid swam to a beach, pulling the Prince through the water.
Then she stretched the Prince out on the white sand.
"You're safe now," she told him.
But he was not awake and could not hear her.
She looked around.
She was in a little cove, with a small garden just beyond the beach.
The garden had white benches surrounded by fragrant lemon and orange trees.
Just behind the garden, she saw a large brick building.
"It has such a tall tower and such big wooden doors!" cried the Little Mermaid.
She held the Prince's head and ran her fingers through his wet hair.
"Please wake up, my Prince," said the Little Mermaid.
But his eyes remained closed.
"As you sleep, the sun will warm you," she lovingly told the Prince.
The Little Mermaid stared at his handsome face and then kissed his eyelids.
"He looks even more handsome than the statue in my garden," she thought.
"But my Prince is real."
Suddenly the Little Mermaid heard a sound she'd never heard before.
The tower was making a loud clang.
The Little Mermaid looked up.
"Could that sound be church bells?"
Out of the large doors came a group of young girls.
They were dressed in simple, white dresses, and their hair was pulled back with white ribbons.
"Who are they and what are they doing here?" wondered the curious mermaid.
The girls gathered around the benches, laughing and talking.
"The humans must not see me!" whispered the Little Mermaid, suddenly afraid.
"Please stay safe, my Prince."
The mermaid left the beach and swam out to a rock.
She covered herself with sea foam so no one would see her.
Then she watched the beach.
"Look!" shouted one girl to her friends.
Although she was dressed like the others, she was more beautiful.
She had big, green eyes and long, dark lashes.
She ran to the beach and stared at the young man, who still had not moved.
"Come here! I've found someone!"
The girl touched his face to make sure he was real.
And at that moment, he woke up and smiled at her.
"Oh, Maiden, what have you found?" called one giggling girl.
Then they all ran down to the beach and gathered around the Prince.
When the Prince saw all the pretty, young girls around him, he smiled an even bigger smile.
But his eyes lingered on the girl who had found him, the one they had called Maiden.
"Thank you for saving me," he said.
"He should be thanking me!" thought the Little Mermaid.
"I saved his life, and he doesn't even know it."
"Come inside to get warm," said the Maiden.
She led him toward the church.
The others followed and then disappeared through the big doors.
"They're taking my Prince away from me," the Little Mermaid said from behind her rock.
If she could have cried, her tears would have fallen one by one into the sea.
But mermaids are unable to cry, so no tears mingled with the crashing waves.
"I must go home to the Sea Kingdom," said the Little Mermaid.
"But I'll come back for you, my Prince."
And she dived underwater.