between the sea realm and the earth there was no difference in the night of time, and the happy hunter found that three years went fleeting quickly by in this delightful land. the years pass swiftly when any one is truly happy. but though the wonders of that enchanted land seemed to be new every day, and though the sea king's kindness seemed rather to increase than to grow less with time, the happy hunter grew more and more homesick as the days passed, and he could not repress a great anxiety to know what had happened to his home and his country and his brother while he had been away.