{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_28802/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_28802","id":"gutenberg_28802","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28802","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Christian life -- Juvenile fiction","Fairies -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: GOING TO THE MIDSUMMER BALL.]\n\n\n\n\n                   THE\n\n              FAIRY NIGHTCAPS.\n\n             BY THE AUTHOR OF\n  THE FIVE NIGHTCAP BOOKS, \"AUNT FANNY'S STORIES,\"\n                 ETC., ETC.\n\n                 NEW YORK:\n           D. APPLETON & COMPANY,\n             443 & 445 BROADWAY.\n          LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN.\n                   1861.\n\n\n\n\n  ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by\n                       FANNY BARROW,\n  In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the\n                 Southern District of New York.\n\n\n\n\n             TO MASSA CHARLES,\n  WHOSE MOST LOVABLE QUALITIES WERE BUT FAINTLY\n             PORTRAYED IN THE\n           FIRST NIGHTCAP BOOK,\n                  THIS\n      THE SIXTH AND LAST OF THE SERIES,\n            IS AFFECTIONATELY\n                 Dedicated.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO THE CHILDREN.\n\n\nDEAR CHILDREN,\n\nHere is the last Nightcap book, making six in all. The story of \"The\nThree Little Fishes\" was taken (but very much altered) from a clever\nbook for grown folks, written, I believe, nearly two hundred years\nago; but all the rest is true, \"real true.\"\n\nI have written them out with my heart full of love and good wishes\nfor you, and _you_, and YOU; and my only desire in return is,\nthat down in a cosy corner of your dear little hearts, you will keep warm,\none kind thought of your loving\n\n                AUNT FANNY.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n\n    THE FAIRIES' LIFE; WITH AN ACCOUNT OF WHAT THEY DID IN THE\n    BEAUTIFUL HOLLOW,                                                  9\n\n    THE CHILDREN'S LIFE; WITH THEIR JOURNEY TO WEST POINT,            37\n\n    THE FAIRIES' LIFE; WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE MIDSUMMER BALL,         77\n\n    THE CHILDREN'S LIFE; WITH AN ACCOUNT OF IDLEWILD, THE STAG DANCE,\n    THE BATTLE OF THE FAIRIES, &c.,                                  145\n\n    THE DEATH OF CHARLEY,                                            209\n\n\n\n\nFAIRY NIGHTCAPS.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FAIRIES' LIFE.\n\n\nIn the deep shadow of the Highlands, at the foot of the old Crow Nest\nMountain, is a wild and beautiful hollow, closed around on every side\nby tall trees, interlaced together by the clasping tendrils of the\nhoneysuckle, and the giant arms of luxuriant wild grape-vines.\n\nThe mossy edge of this magic circle is thickly embroidered with\nviolets, harebells, perfumed clover-blossoms, and delicate, feathery\nferns. A little brook, overhung with grasses and whispering leaves,\ndances and dimples in the bright sunlight and soft moonbeams, and then\ntrips away, to offer the wild-rose leaves that have fallen upon his\nbosom to his beloved tributary lord, the great Hudson River.\n\nNot a bat dare spread his unclean leathern wings across this charmed\nplace, and the very owls that wink and blink in the hollow trees near\nby keep their unmusical \"hoot toot\" to themselves.\n\nIn the short young velvety grass, a starry daisy, or a sly little\ncowslip, peeps up here and there, but nothing else disturbs the\nlawn-like smoothness, save a tiny mound of green moss near the centre\nof the hollow, shaped marvellously like a throne.\n\nIt was the night of the eighteenth of June; and evidently there was\nsomething of importance about to happen in the beautiful hollow, for\npresently a train of glow-worms came marching gravely in, and arranged\nthemselves in a circle around the mossy throne; while thousands of\nfire-flies flashed and twinkled through the trees. The soft,\ncoquetting wind wandered caressingly among the flowers, and the\nmoonbeams rested with a sweeter, tenderer light, upon the little brook\nwhich murmured and rippled, and gave back many a glancing, loving\nbeam.\n\nSuddenly a silvery tinkling bell was heard, like music at a distance.\nTwelve times it sounded; and immediately after an invisible chorus of\nsweet tiny voices were heard singing:\n\n  \"Hasten, Elfin! hasten, Fay!\n  From old Crow Nest wing your way;\n  Through the bush and dewy brake,\n  Fairies, hasten, for the sake\n  Of a mortal, whose pure breath\n  Soon will fade, and sink in death:\n  We for him sweet dreams will find,\n  We will fill with balm the wind;\n  Watch his young life glide away,\n  Deck with beauty its decay--\n  Till the closing earthly strife,\n  Opens into heavenly life.\"\n\nInstantly the air seemed filled with streams of light like falling\nstars; the booming sound of humble-bees was heard, as fairy knights\nand ladies came hastening to the call through the moon-lit air; the\nknights pricking their chargers with their wasp-sting spurs, and the\nladies urging theirs quite as fast with their sweet, coaxing voices.\n\nThe grave, elderly fairies, came more soberly. They crept out from\nunder the velvet mullen leaves, and gravely mounted their palfreys,\nwhich were small field mice, and held them well in, with corn-silk\nbridles; for elderly fairies are inclined to be gouty, and don't like\nto do any thing in a hurry; like other people, they are apt to go too\nfast when they are young--and to balance the matter, are very slow\ncoaches when they are old.\n\nSeveral ancient ladies, who had been napping in a secluded nook at the\nroot of an old tree, waited for their nutshells and four to be brought\nup; and as the coach-horses were represented by hairy, white\ncaterpillars--who were so short-legged, that they took the longest\npossible time to get over the ground--and as the ancient fairies had\nmuch ado to fold their wings, and arrange their crinoline in their\ncarriages, you may be sure they were very fashionably late.\n\nAnd now a strain of delicious music filled the air, the glow-worms\nlighted up brilliantly, and the dew grew heavy with fragrance, as the\nFairy Queen, with a bright train of attendants, floated past in dark\ngreen phaetons, made of the leaves of the camelia, and drawn by\nmagnificently painted butterflies, harnessed and caparisoned with\ngold.\n\nThe dignity and queenly presence of her Majesty would have rendered\nher conspicuous above the rest, even if her tiny golden crown and\nsceptre, tipped with a diamond that blazed like a meteor, had not\nindicated that she was a monarch; and the acclamations that rose on\nall sides attested the attachment her subjects felt for her person.\n\nShe was indeed most lovely; and kind and generous beyond words to\ndescribe; and she had called her court together this very night to do\nthat which makes both fairies and mortals lovelier and better, with\nevery new effort. Do you know what it is? It is, _trying to add to the\nhappiness of another_.\n\nAnd now the Queen and her maids of honor gracefully alighted with the\neagerly proffered assistance of the fashionable young fairy dandies;\nand the court gathered respectfully around, as the beautiful Queen\nseated herself on her throne, and gently waved her sceptre to command\nattention.\n\n\"My lords, ladies, and gentlemen,\" said her Majesty, in a voice of\nperfect music, \"I have called you together three nights before our\nopening midsummer festival, because I know by my fairy power, that a\nmortal--a gentle, lovely boy--will arrive here to-morrow, across\nwhose young life the harsh wings of pain and affliction have passed.\nFor a month or more he has so drooped and faded, that I fear, before\nlong, his pure life will be ended. His mother watches over him with\nthe undying, untiring love, which only a mother knows. We can help\nher, my beloved subjects, and we will; we can steal the venom from his\npainful sleep, by giving him fairy dreams; and on our gala nights we\nwill gently lift him from his couch, and bring him here. His sweet\npresence will cast no shadow on our festivities, so pure and lovely\nhave been all the thoughts, words, and actions of his short life.\"\n\nA murmur of pleasure rose from the assembled court, and the good and\nbeautiful Queen saw with delight, that her proposal had given pleasure\nto all her subjects, with one exception; and he was her very honest,\nbut still more disagreeable prime minister, who, being a sour,\nmeddlesome old bachelor, hated children. His temper was not\nparticularly sweet just then, because he was making wry faces over an\nattack of the gout in his great toe, from indulging too freely in\nMay-dew wine, and eating too often of roasted tiger-lily, which is a\nvery highly seasoned dish, and difficult to digest, unless you take\nimmediately after eating, half a dozen lady-slipper pills, which my\nlord the prime minister never would take, on account of the name--for\nof course, if he hated children he hated the ladies also--and as I\nwas saying, he felt very cross, and inclined to find fault with any\nthing anybody else proposed; so making as low a bow as his stiff back\nwould permit, he began, with an abominable nasal twang: \"May it please\nyour Majesty, who is this child you deign to favor so highly?\"\n\n\"He is called Lame Charley!\" graciously answered the Queen. \"He is the\ndarling of all who know him.\"\n\n\"Are there any other children in the family, my liege?\" snarled the\nprime minister.\n\n\"About three dozen, more or less,\" answered the Queen, frowning\nslightly, for she was not quite certain as to the number, and did not\nlike to be questioned. \"Humph!\" grumbled the prime minister. Then\nmuttering to himself, \"Three dozen children! all eating dreadful\npumpkin-pie--with cheeks like saddle-bags, and voices loud enough to\nmake a mummy jump out of his skin in an ecstasy of astonishment at the\nnoise! was there ever such a foolish freak?\" whereupon, taking out his\nbeetle-back snuff-box, and giving it the traditional taps, he helped\nhimself to such a prodigious pinch, by way of consolation, that he was\nobliged to retire precipitately behind the honeysuckles, and nearly\ncracked his left wing by a tremendous fit of sneezing. For let me tell\nyou that the pollen, or dust of the snap-dragon, properly dried,\nmakes very powerful fairy snuff, and I advise you not to try it.\n\nThe maids of honor had great difficulty to keep from bursting out\nlaughing at the flight of the cross old prime minister; and the Queen\npretended to arrange her bodice, made of the gossamer wing of the\nkatydid, to hide a smile; but now, reclining on her throne, and\ngracefully fanning herself with her right wing, she indulged in a\npleasant chat with her favorites, about Charley.\n\n\"Dear Cowslip!\" she began, \"I am so interested in this lovely boy.\nWill you assist me to watch over him, and keep away all harm from his\nloving brothers and sisters? Particularly we will protect them from\nthe Kelpies, those hateful water-sprites, who would drag them down to\ntheir dark caves beneath the wave, if once the children ventured upon\ntheir realm. We will bid their little mother to warn them from getting\ninto row-boats, or wading out into the river; the Kelpies shall\ncontent themselves with water-rats and tadpoles for this time, for too\nmany lovely children have already been sacrificed to their cruel\nspite.\"\n\n\"Ah, beloved Queen!\" answered Cowslip, \"I, for one, will help you with\nheart and will; those damp, wretched little goblins shall not hurt a\nhair of their heads.\"\n\n\"And I, with might and main, will do your behest!\" said the handsome\nyoung Ripple, twisting his mustache.\n\n\"And I, gracious Queen!\" cried the pretty Lota, \"for I dearly love\nchildren.\"\n\n\"And I, your Majesty,\" said Beeswing with Ripple and Firefly, \"will\norder our regiment--the seventh--to encamp under the sedges on the\nshore, half to keep watch, while the other half sleep in the swaying\nbranches of the water-willows.\"\n\n\"Give us something to do for the dear children, dearest Queen!\" cried\nDewdrop and Lilliebelle, two of the most famous beauties of the court,\nand, what is far better, as good as they were beautiful; \"let us also\nhelp to make them happy.\"\n\n\"Well said, fair ladies and brave knights!\" exclaimed the Queen; \"with\nsuch true and loyal assistance, my labor of love will be most\ndelightful. Come now--to the dance--while they are preparing supper.\"\n\nShe clapped her tiny hands thrice, and immediately the fairy band\ncommenced playing the most enchanting dances; and the beautiful hollow\nwas speedily filled with couples, whisking away in such rapid\nevolutions, that you would have thought they would soon tumble head\nover heels, from sheer dizziness; but as the dances were, after all,\nnot very different from ours, I suppose the fairies were quite as well\nused to the rushing style; and, in good truth, as they were _fairies_,\nit seemed more in keeping, for these rapid, gracefully undulating\nmovements, were the very poetry of motion.\n\nOf course the elderly gentlemen fairies lounged among the\nhoneysuckles, and talked politics, and quarrelled dreadfully about who\nshould be the next President; for they took an immense interest in the\naffairs of us mortals; and the elderly lady fairies just as much, of\ncourse, pulled the characters of their best friends to pieces, without\nso much as a single regret; while the lovely young Queen, with\nhalf-a-dozen of her favorites, after dancing once, to set the fashion,\nordered her pages to shake down a perfect shower of wild-rose leaves,\non the edge of the hollow, of which they made soft and freshly\nperfumed couches; and there they listened to the exquisite music, and\nwatched the dancers, and gaily devised plans for the comfort of our\ndear little friend, Lame Charley.\n\nWhile they were thus conversing, a queer little elfin sped down one of\nthe moonbeams, like a flash of summer lightning, and in an instant was\non his knee before the Queen.\n\nIt was the fairy, Slyboots, the Queen's favorite messenger, and the\nmost mischievous sprite in her dominions.\n\n\"Welcome, good Slyboots,\" cried the Queen; \"by your bright eyes and\nunsoiled wings, methinks you must have fulfilled our commands\nfaithfully. How fared you? and how did you find our dear 'Nightcap'\nfamily?\"\n\n\"Most gracious Majesty! I hurried to the great city, without folding\nwing; merely stopping a moment to torment a miserly old landlord, who,\nthe day before, had turned a poor widow, with two little children, out\nof his tenement house, because she was not quite ready with the rent.\nI put a great fly on his nose, and a great flea in his ear, and\nordered them to stay there, and buzz, and bite him, till he went\nnearly into fits.\"\n\nA chorus of sweet fairy laughter greeted this mad-cap caper, and\nSlyboots embraced the opportunity to whisper something to a small\nbrown spider, who had been listening with all his ears, and staring at\nSlyboots with all his eyes, of which he had more than his share, and\nwho immediately scampered off with all his legs.\n\n\"Then, your Majesty,\" continued the elfin, \"I hastened on, and flew\nthrough the window into the room where Charley slept. All was sweet,\nstill, and hushed; and oh! how pure and lovely the pale boy looked, as\nhe lay there, his hands folded across his breast. As I gazed, a\nradiant smile parted his lips, and a faint color came into his white\ncheek. He was dreaming--his soul was full of holy thoughts--and the\nsmile had come, as he saw in his dream the Beautiful Home above, for\nwhich he was preparing.\n\n\"The little mother, looking wearied with watching, lay upon a couch\nnear him. As I hovered over her, a large tear crept from under her\nclosed eyelid, and a quick convulsive sob broke from her breast. She\ntoo was dreaming, dreaming of the sorrowful time when her darling\nwould be taken from her.\n\n\"I swept my wings lightly across her brow, and bade her waken. She\nopened her eyes, looked upon Charley, and rising, with a sigh of\nrelief, she murmured: 'I have thee yet, oh my child! my darling!' and\nhastening to him, she softly drew back the golden curls from his\nforehead, sprinkled a few drops of grateful, refreshing perfume upon\nhis pillow, and then, tenderly touching his cheek with her loving\nlips, went comforted back to her couch.\n\n\"The rest of the children were in the other rooms, fast asleep in\ntwo-story cribs, and various dear little beds; and I left some of\nthem laughing merrily in their sleep, by telling them one or two\nridiculous anecdotes about your Majesty's stuffy old prime min----\"\n\n\"Silence, Slyboots!\" cried the Queen, trying not to laugh. \"You shall\nnot make fun of our minister to our face. Go and order the supper.\"\n\nSlyboots grinned sideways at the maids of honor, but bowed, with a\ngreat show of penitence, to his Queen. Retiring from the presence, he\nplaced a tiny bugle, fashioned out of a small honeysuckle, to his\nlips, and blew a shrill, peculiar blast.\n\nIt was perfectly well understood, for in an instant, a hundred small\npink and white mushrooms sprang out of the earth, making the most\ndelightful little tables imaginable, quite equal to the finest\nsatin-wood, upon which the fairy servants and pages hastened to place\ndishes of rose-leaves filled with honey-dust, and golden buttercups of\nsparkling May-dew, which, having been bottled up for six weeks, foamed\nand effervesced, and gave out a most exquisite aroma.\n\nThis was for the young fairies, who cared only for sweets. The elderly\nfays were to be feasted upon broiled fly's legs, brought up hot, and\neach one was rolled up in a leaf of pepper-grass, which gave them a\nvery piquant seasoning. These were garnished with small pearls,\nsteeped and softened in crab-apple vinegar, sharp enough and sour\nenough to draw squeals from a Japanese ambassador, who never smiles\nor squeals at any thing.\n\nWhen all was ready, the fairies sat down at the tables, in pleasant\nlittle parties of four and six, while the band played the most admired\nfairy opera airs. But before the banquet was through, I am sadly\nafraid some of the gay young fellows forgot they were in the presence\nof ladies, they laughed so loud, and talked so much nonsense, and one\nof them came very near upsetting the table at which he sat, spilling\nhis buttercup of dew all over the new gossamer dress of Lilliebelle,\nwho was next to him.\n\nBut this was nothing to the uproar which arose when the old prime\nminister, who had been eating flies' legs, and little pearl pickles,\ntill he could scarcely breathe, attempted to leave his seat. The\nlittle brown spider, sent by that mischievous Slyboots, had been hard\nat work fastening his wings together in a net, and then tying them in\na most complicated cobweb knot to the honeysuckle vine just behind\nhim. The old prime minister fairly howled with rage; he turned and\ntwisted from side to side; he kicked and made awful faces at Slyboots,\nwho was giggling and laughing, and shaking his wings with glee at a\nsafe distance. An impudent mosquito came past, and sneered out in his\nabominable nasal drone, \"You don't seem to like a net any better than\nI do;\" while myriads of midges up in the air danced around him,\nsinging, Why-don't-you-get-out? Why-don't-you-get-out? Why-don't-you-\nget-out? to which myriads of others answered, He-would-if-he-could-\nbut-he-couldn't! He-would-if-he-could-but-he-couldn't! He-would-if-\nhe-could-but-he-couldn't!\n\nAt last the Queen, who had been giving some private orders, inquired\nwhat all the noise and laughter meant; and, in great anger with\nSlyboots for thus turning her old prime minister into ridicule,\nordered the saucy goblin to draw his sword and release the old\nminister. The young fairy knights hastened to help, for they all liked\nSlyboots, and a tremendous slashing and cutting at the cobweb net\nensued, which speedily released the poor old prime minister, who went\noff breathing fury and vengeance.\n\nBut hark! What is that? A faint, far-off tramp is heard; the galloping\nhoofs of the steeds of the morning were sounding in the eastern sky,\nand the stir of their coming rustled the leaves that crowned the tops\nof the grand old trees. The first cock-crow was heard in the distance,\nand the fairy sentinels sounded the coming of the dawn loud and clear\non their great morning-glory trumpets, from the top of old Crow Nest.\nThe sky became dappled, and a rosy streak marched up to the zenith\nlike the banner of a herald.\n\nUp sprang the knights and ladies and mounted their chargers; the Queen\nand her maids entered their phaetons; the elderly fairies made what\nhaste their dignity permitted to their nutshells and four, and\nfield-mice palfreys, and away they all sped; some through the air,\nsome through the velvety grass; banners flying, and music playing,\nuntil naught was left but a shining trail that melted into the first\nbright golden beam of the morning.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHILDREN'S LIFE.\n\n\nIt was early in the sweet summer time. The young green leaves were\nbending over, and tenderly caressing the budding fruit and flowers,\nand the air was balmy with orchard blooms.\n\nYour old friends, the Nightcap children, were as merry and happy and\nwell as ever, except Charley--poor lame Charley. He was much worse;\nhis sufferings had greatly increased with the dreadful hip disease,\nand a terrible cough racked his delicate and wasted frame. Death had\nbeen coming slowly on for a long time; but now he hastened his\nfootsteps, and Charley knew that he should never see another summer in\nthis world. He was not _afraid_ to die--oh, no! the guileless, holy\nlife of the gentle boy had robbed death of its sting. He well knew\nthat _this_ life was but a small part of our career, and the\nseparation from those he loved so well, would be short. His faith in\nhis Saviour was perfect and entire. _He_ would soften the pang of\nparting to those left behind, and _He_ would guide them with unchanged\nlove to their darling in heaven.\n\nThe good little mother was advised by the doctor to take Charley into\nthe country, somewhere up the beautiful Hudson River, among those\ngrand old hills where the air is so bracing and pure.\n\nIt happened, fortunately, that one of her oldest friends, who was an\nofficer at West Point, was obliged to leave there upon some government\nexpedition for about three months; and he offered his pretty cottage\nto his friend for that time. This was most delightful, as Charley\ncould have far more comfort living in this way than in a\nboarding-house; and the rest of the children would not have to be tied\nup by the leg to the bedposts, because their noise disturbed other\npeople.\n\nSo the little mother gladly and gratefully accepted the offer, and was\nnow very busy making up dozens of petticoats and pantaloons, and\ncoarse brown aprons, and great sun-bonnets, buying copper-toed shoes,\nso that the children might go where they pleased, and do any thing\nthey liked, except tumble into the river, or fall down a well to live\nwith the bull-frogs.\n\nA few days before they left, the grand Japanese procession took place\nin New York; and Minnie said, \"Oh, mamma, please take us to see the\n_Jackanapes_,\" which made the rest laugh. So down Broadway they all\nwent, looking like a boarding-school that took boys as well as girls,\nwith the little mother marching like a captain at their head, and\nturned into a fine store, opposite the City Hall Park, that belonged\nto their uncle, where they had such an excellent view, that their\nfaces were a perfect picture of wonder and delight while the\nprocession was passing.\n\n\"Dear me!\" exclaimed George, \"I am nearly crazy with joy; I wish the\nJapanese would come every day. How funny! they all look like old women\nin black nightgowns!\"\n\n\"And their heads have little top-knots, like Poland hens,\" said Henry;\n\"and see that fellow sticking his foot on the edge of the\ncarriage--look! his great toe is put in a thumb!\"\n\nAt this they all laughed, and Harry, laughing too, cried out: \"I don't\nmean that; I mean that they knit thumbs in their stockings, and stick\ntheir great toes in;--dear! how it must tickle!\"\n\nIt was a grand sight. Many of the stores were decorated with numerous\nlittle Japanese flags, which consist of a large red ball in the centre\nof a plain white surface, and many Japanese lanterns were hung around.\nThe soldiers looked and marched splendidly; and the fine music was\nenchanting. Guns were firing in the Park, and smoking and flaming like\nsteamboat funnels: little boys were popping off squibs and crackers,\nand everybody seemed perfectly happy.\n\n\"Dear me!\" cried Arthur, \"I wish I could hear the speeches they intend\nto make. I suppose they will be stuck full of compliments, not a word\nof which the Mayor will understand; but, of course, he will bow a\ngreat many times to show that he agrees with it all: and then he, in\nreturn, will make a speech to the ambassadors, all flaming over with\nfine words and flummery, and the Japanese will bow all in a row like\nfour-and-twenty fiddlers--and oh! how nice it will all be!\"\n\nWhen the children got home, they told Charley about the grand\nprocession, all speaking at once; and one of them put on an old black\ngown of his mother's, and half shut his eyes, and would have shaved\nhis head, if his mother had let him, to show Charley just how they\nlooked; because he, poor little fellow, had to stay behind--he could\nnot have endured the fatigue of that long day away from home. But his\nkind little mother never forgot him; she was determined he should see\nsomething; so about eight o'clock that evening, two horses, with a\nnice comfortable barouche, were driven up to the door, and Charley was\ntenderly lifted in, and two large pillows were placed behind and at\nhis side, and his mother and two of the oldest children were driven\nslowly down Broadway to see the illumination.\n\n[Illustration: THE JAPANESE RECEPTION.]\n\nThe street was crowded. Beautiful colored lanterns were hung here and\nthere, and little Japanese flags fluttered in every direction. As they\ncame near the great Metropolitan Hotel, where the Japanese were\nstaying, the crowd increased, and a burst of delightful surprise broke\nfrom Charley and the rest, as the beautiful blazing windows came in\nview. In each of the several hundred windows were fine Japanese\nlanterns of different colors and two little flags. Such a glittering\nand a fluttering as they made! and over the door was the word\n\"Welcome,\" in blazing gas-burners, with the splendid flag of the\nUnited States on one side, and a great Japanese banner on the other.\nEverybody was shouting and hurrahing, and every up-turned face looked\nhappy, but none so merry and joyous as the children in the carriage;\ntheir eyes fairly danced with delight, and their faces looked as if\nthey had been illuminated too. All they wanted was to have two little\nJapanese flags fastened to their ears, and to be placed in the\nwindows, to have beaten the lanterns and gas-burners all to pieces.\n\nAfter they had looked just as long as they liked, and shouted and\nwaved their hats, when they saw any of the Japanese at the windows\nshaking out their queer-looking black pocket-handkerchiefs with round\nwhite spots, the carriage turned round, and the children had a fine\ndrive home, perfectly delighted with the unusual grandeur of a ride in\na carriage at night; _that_ was almost the best of all, to be out\nafter bed-time. They thought they could never admire the bright stars\nenough, which, with their sleepless eyes, watched the world below--fit\nemblems of the difference between the things made by man, and the\nenduring works of God. Before long those glittering lights below would\nfade and die; while these heavenly luminaries would shine on forever.\n\nThe next evening the little mother thought she would call upon Captain\nPorter, who had the Japanese in charge. He was a brave, noble-hearted\nofficer, and an old friend, and accordingly she went with some other\nfriends. Captain Porter received them very kindly, and amused them\nvery much with funny accounts of how the Japanese were stared at, and\nsometimes annoyed by people who ought to know better. While she sat\nthere, there came a knock at the door, and a morocco case was handed\nin: it was opened; and what do you think appeared? You will hardly\nbelieve it: some sets _of false teeth_; one set of them _jet black_,\nas a present! The little mother laughed, and wondered if the dentist\nwho sent them, thought the Japanese would want to have their own\nteeth pulled right out, and these put right in. Then two gentlemen\ncame in, and wanted Captain Porter to persuade the Japanese to buy a\nlot of guns from them, very cheap, indeed. Then, who do you think came\nin? Why, \"Little Tommy,\" the young Japanese that everybody was talking\nabout.\n\nHe looked so very smiling, that the two comical little triangular\nslits in his head which served for eyes nearly disappeared, when\nCaptain Porter took him by the hand and introduced him to the little\nmother.\n\n\"How do?\" said he, and shook hands with her; then he took up Captain\nPorter's sword and belt and buckled it round his waist, and said, \"Ver\ngood sword, indeed;\" then he tried on the Captain's naval uniform\ncap, with the gold band round it, and ran and looked in the glass. It\nwould not go on very well, on account of Tommy's pig-tail, which was\nfastened in a knot on the very top of his half-shaven pate, and which\nstuck up rather inconveniently: then the Captain said, \"Tommy, this\nlady wants to see the portrait of your little Washington sweetheart;\ncome, show it to her.\"\n\n\"No show,\" said Tommy; which answer made the little mother esteem him\nvery much, because it was plain that he had too much self-respect, and\n_too much respect_ for the young lady, if she _was_ a little girl only\ntwelve years old, to show her likeness to every stranger. He was not\ngoing to be made fun of. Not he!\n\nPresently the little mother got up to go; and, shaking hands with\nTommy, said, \"Good-bye Tommy; I mean to send you a 'Nightcap' book. It\nis written by 'Aunt Fanny.' Say, Aunt Fanny.\"\n\n\"Arnta Farnny. Yes! I like it,\" answered Tommy, holding the little\nmother's hand; \"but you,\" he continued, \"I like you; are you Spaniss?\"\n\n\"No,\" said she.\n\n\"You Frence?\"\n\n\"No,\" said she, smiling.\n\n\"You Angliss?\"\n\n\"No,\" said she.\n\n\"Why, Tommy, she is an American,\" said Captain Porter.\n\n\"Ah,\" cried Tommy; \"she so leetle--she ver good--good-bye:\" then he\nwrote his name on a card for her, and she went home very much pleased.\nBut just before she went, Captain Porter told her that the great\nphrenologist, Mr. Fowler, who knows all about you by merely looking at\nthe outside of your head, had been to see Tommy, and had told him that\nhe had the most tremendous bumps for reading, writing, and arithmetic,\nthat ever were seen; a great bump of trying on American clothes;\nmaking love to little girls; eating sugar-candy, and having a good\ntime generally; and scarcely any bump at all for getting up early in\nthe morning, working hard, or taking medicine; in fact, that his\ncranium was as full as the Metropolitan Hotel, of all sorts of good\nthings; which flattering description delighted Tommy so much, that he\nwrote Mr. Fowler of his own accord, and without any assistance from\nCaptain Porter or any other dictionary, the following note of thanks:\n\n                       METROPOLITAN HOTEL, NEW YORK,\n                                   June 22, 1860.\n\n\"DEAR SIR:--I am much oblige to you the history and head some paper\nand the letter with it whole my head examination. I shall take it to\nJapan, and esteemed much doctor Kawasake is also much please have been\nreceive it.\n\n    \"I am very true your friend,\n        \"TATEISH ONAJEIRO (TOMMY).\"\n\nAnd now every thing was made in the way of \"anti-tear-clothes,\" as\nthe children called them, and the express wagon was sent for on the\nafternoon of the 19th of June to carry the baggage down to the\nsteamboat.\n\nThe express man stared with amazement at the quantity of children\nwhisking and frisking, and rushing and brushing about in the hall;\nand, still more, at the trunks, boxes, and bundles, that were brought\nclattering and tumbling down the stairs for him to take away.\n\nJust before he was leaving with the last bundle, little Johnny rushed\nbreathless down the stairs with what looked like a horse's tail, only\nshorter and smaller, in one hand, and an old tin-box that had once\ncontained preserved tomatoes in the other, and screamed out,\n\"Here!--say! man, man! take this! here, take it! It's mamma's hair!\nshe's forgotten to sew it on her head! here, pack it up in this\ntin-box, and tie it with a rope, and put it on board the\nsteamboat--will you?\"\n\nDear me! how the poor express man did bite his lips and swell his\ncheeks, and turn very red, and try not to laugh: but it _would_ come\nout, and he laughed himself nearly into fits, while the little mother\nfelt for a moment as if she could have shaken _Johnny_ into fits, but\nonly for a moment; for, after all, what was the use of being angry: he\n_meant_ to be so useful and thoughtful, and if her hair was so thin,\nshe had to buy some to put with it--why, it was nothing to be ashamed\nof; so she laughed, too, at last, and all the children joined in with\nsuch good-will, that the canary bird over the way hearing such a\npleasant noise, set up his pipes and twittered in company, and sang so\nshrill and loud, that all his feathers stood out on end; and, on the\nwhole, it was thought a very good joke.\n\nAnd now a great hotel carriage, which is about three times as large as\nany other, drove up, and the children were packed in it, till it was\nas full as an egg; and they gave three cheers, as it started, to the\nastonishment of all the neighbors, and sang \"John Brown had a little\nIndian\" all the way down to the boat.\n\nThere had been so many berths engaged for one name, that the Captain\nthought there must be a colony going out west to set up a town for\nthemselves. But when he saw the family marching down the gang-plank\ntwo-and-two, like the animals that went into the ark, from the biggest\nto the smallest, he lifted up his hands and exclaimed, \"Dew tell! what\nan orful lot of children! I shud think that old lady'd want the\npatience of Job, any how!\"\n\nAh! the Yankee-talking Captain didn't know what you and I know--that\nthese children all \"_loved one another_\" and _that_ made every thing\neasy to the little mother.\n\nThere was no wrangling in that family. They left all that to \"dogs and\ncats,\" and \"bears and lions,\" as I am sure all good children do. There\nwas plenty of noise, to be sure; but this the great power of love\nchanged into sweet melody, so that, instead of irritating you, as a\nrude blustering wind would do, it charmed and delighted, because it\nwas first passed over the AEolian harp-strings of _love_.\n\nAnd now, before I forget it, let's have a little laugh you and I, over\nthat ridiculous picture of our \"Nightcap children\" in \"Baby\nNightcaps.\" I intended to have had a picture of the little mother\nsurrounded by lots of pretty children playing about her; but, instead\nof that, I was presented with a family that made my sides ache with\nlaughter. Such noses and such hats! I want to tip that tall-spook-of-\na-boy's hat off his head every time I look at it; And _such_ a baby!\nApple-dumpling face and squint eyes! Never mind! The funny printer\nwanted to make us laugh, and I am sure he did--_one_ of us, any way;\nbut don't _you_ believe, for a moment, that _our_ Nightcap children\nlooked the least like his. Not a bit of it!\n\nWhen the family were all comfortably settled, the splendid palace-like\nsteamboat--the Alida--started from the pier, and was soon gliding so\nswiftly over the water, that the magnificent Palisades rose in the\nblue evening air, while the golden glory of sunset was still lingering\nupon them. Charley sat by his mother, with his curly head pressed\nclose against her breast; his pure and simple thoughts mirrored in his\nsweet face. He was silently thanking God for the beautiful changing\npicture before his eyes. All the children were enjoying the trip; for\ntheir mother had taught them to feel and appreciate the beauty,\ngoodness, and grandeur of all God's works; and, save an exclamation of\ndelight now and then, they sat quite still.\n\nBut the silence did not last long. Of course not. If children are\nquite still for more than five minutes at a time, you may be sure they\nare either sick or in mischief; so presently George exclaimed,--\n\n\"Just see that sea-gull dipping his wings in the river!\"\n\n\"That's the way he does his washing,\" said Annie.\n\n\"Oh! look at that row-boat,\" cried Harry; \"four gentlemen and three\nladies rowing with parasols.\"\n\nHow the children laughed, and pretended to see the parasols rowing,\ntill Harry explained that he meant that the ladies had the parasols,\nand the gentlemen were rowing. His mother said she would have to give\nhim a dish of boiled grammar for his breakfast, if he did not mind his\nantecedents better.\n\n\"Grammar!\" cried George; \"dreadful! Aren't you all glad school-days\nare over for the summer?\"\n\nAt this blissful recollection all the children clapped their hands at\nsuch a rate, that a fat old lady jumped up in a hurry and gave a queer\nlittle squeak, because she thought the boiler was bursting; and\nalthough they were now in the very middle of the broad Tappaan Sea,\nshe waddled off to order the captain to set her immediately on shore;\nand a select company of blue jays, who had just started from the\nPalisades to take tea with some brown sparrows on the other side,\nturned somersets and flew back again, almost tripping each other up in\ntheir hurry.\n\n\"Yes, indeed,\" answered Annie, \"glad enough. Just think; no more hard\nsums either. I do believe arithmetic is meant on purpose to torment\nus, and that's the reason Willie made that mistake with such a grave\nface, when the lady asked him how far he had gotten in his sums.\"\n\n\"So it is,\" cried Clara; \"Willie said he had got to _dis_traction; I,\nfor one, wish that all the people that make the arithmetic books had\nto eat them with pepper-sauce the moment they were printed--and that\nwould be the end of them.\"\n\n\"But compositions! Just think of compositions!\" cried Harry; \"they are\nthe most hateful things. Just because I wrote in my last one, that 'a\nmule is a beast of burden which draws a rail-car shaped like a zebra,\nand is sometimes used for carts with two long ears and a miserable\ntail,' they all burst out laughing at me, and I very nearly cried--I\n_did_ cry.\"\n\n\"Well, never mind, Harry,\" cried George; \"it is all over now, and we\nare going to that delightful West Point: I wonder if those soldiers we\nsaw parading with the Japanese last Saturday came from West Point?\nthey were such splendid fellows.\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed,\" cried Harry; \"I dare say they did; they looked as if\nthey were afraid of nothing, but would be really glad to have an arm\nor a leg shot off in every battle, and are so brave, that they would\nkeep on fighting the enemies of America, if they had only an ear and\none great-toe left.\"\n\nCharley lifted his head and laughed at this, for he could hear all the\nchildren were saying; and he whispered to his mother, \"Isn't Harry a\nfunny fellow? The idea of one ear, and a great-toe firing a gun!\" and\nhe laughed again a sweet, low laugh; and Clara, who was sitting\nnearest, took his small thin white hand and kissed it, and patted it,\nand murmured, \"Oh, Charley, I'm so glad you are happy; I'm so glad\nthat cruel pain has gone away.\"\n\nAll this time they had been passing many beautiful villages and\nelegant country mansions, half buried in luxuriant foliage. They were\nnow leaving the Tappaan Sea; and soon after the little mother showed\nthe children Sunnyside, the lovely home of the great Washington\nIrving.\n\n\"He does not live there any more,\" said she; \"his home is now 'Eternal\nin the Heavens;' but his fame, and goodness, and renown will live in\nevery land for many, many years; and I hope the beautiful Sunnyside\nwill never fall into neglect or decay as long as his memory lasts.\"\n\nThe children looked with mournful interest at the beautiful place;\nbut when their mother pointed out the spot where Major Andre was\ncaptured, there was quite a difference of opinion; the boys were glad\nthat he, the spy, was taken and hung by the great Washington, while\nthe more tender-hearted girls wished he could have escaped: and\nMinnie said, \"General _Wassingter_ ought to have forgiven him, because\nhe would not like to be hung himself--would he?\" which, _I_ think, was\n_the golden-rule way_ of putting the case.\n\nAnd now the banks seemed to close in, and great dark mountains rose on\neither side.\n\n\"There's Anthony's nose,\" said the little mother.\n\n\"Where? where?\" cried the children, and looked with eager interest,\nas the profile of a great Roman nose was pointed out on the edge of a\nmountain. They were also delighted with Sugar-loaf Mountain, and\nwished it had really been made of sugar, for they thought they would\nlike to eat a hole through it. As they were eagerly gazing at the\nsplendid view which had now darkened and deepened with twilight\nshadows, a saucy puff of wind came round a jutting point, and in an\ninstant blew off Minnie's round hat.\n\n\"Oh! my hat! my hat!\" she screamed; \"get it! get it! quick! before it\ngoes across the Atlantic Ocean, and runs up the big mountains. Oh! get\nit! get it!\"\n\nHow everybody around did laugh, as George jumped after the hat, which\nMinnie thought would walk on the Atlantic Ocean; and how Minnie\njumped and laughed when he caught it just as it was flying off on its\ntravels. I have no words to tell, but everybody after that listened to\nthe comical talk of the Nightcap children, who caused so much\nmerriment, that they arrived at West Point before they knew it; but\nhad to burst out with laughter again as Minnie, gravely looking up,\nsaid, \"Is this West Point? Well, I don't think it looks so very,\n_very_ Pointy.\"\n\nThe first stars were peeping out, and the little birds had sung their\nevening hymns and were hushed into stillness, as the children got into\nthe stage, the strong horses of which toiled up the short but steep\nascent, and they soon arrived at their summer home. \"Oh, what a\nbeautiful cottage!\" exclaimed Harry, and George, and Clara; \"it seems\ncovered with roses; it must be the Castle of Perfect Happiness.\"\n\nThey all hurried in, in the most delightful bustle; and the children\nhad a grand time assisting the little mother to unpack every thing.\nYou would have imagined, to look in at the windows, that the house was\nfull of fishes out of water; they kept up such a continual bouncing\nand fluttering about, but they were not fishes, nor pollywogs, nor\ntadpoles, nor any thing like them; they were a company of capering\nchildren, taking all sorts of little boxes and bundles out of trunks,\nand putting them in the wrong places, and then running to get some\nmore, because they liked the fun of _helping_.\n\nThe good-natured little mother did not think them at all in the way:\nshe only laughed softly to herself, and would not for forty new\nbandboxes have given them any _ear_-boxes for what they were doing.\nNo, indeed! she just let them trot about as much as they liked with\nthe pillows, boxes, bags, and bundles, of which there seemed to be\nabout a hundred and fifty; and when they were tired of _helping_, she\nquietly arranged the things in their proper places.\n\nOh! how soundly the children slept that night with the \"fragrant\nstillness\" all around them, far away from the roar and whirl of the\ngreat city. The moonlight, sweet and mournful, flooded the earth, and\na white ray stole into the room where Charley lay and rested lovingly\nabove his head.\n\nThe next day Charley was very ill indeed. Even the short journey from\nthe city had overtasked his strength. He lay in a darkened chamber,\nfor his mother had to shut out the sweet sunshine, his head and side\nwere so racked with pain.\n\nThe children crept lovingly up to the door of the room they were not\npermitted to enter many times during the day; to hope in a whisper\nthat he felt better, and went about the pretty cottage on tip-toe--all\ntheir merriment gone. You would hardly believe they were the same\nchildren that yesterday had kept half the people in the steamboat\nlaughing; so changed and still were they become, through their love\nfor their sick brother.\n\nThe little mother sent for the doctor. He belonged to the army, and,\nof course dressed like the officers in military uniform.\n\nWhen he entered, the children gazed with wonder and delight upon his\nbright buttons, each of which had an astonishing spread-eagle\nengraved upon it, and thought they could never admire enough the\nbeautiful gold lace upon his coat-sleeves. Really, he was quite a\nshining doctor.\n\nHe became interested with Charley at once: the sweet, patient smile of\nthe suffering boy won his heart.\n\n\"My dear madam,\" said he to the little mother, \"this is nothing but\ntemporary exhaustion; with some strengthening medicine which I shall\nleave, and a good night's rest, our dear little friend will be as well\nas he was before he came up; and I am in great hopes that this bracing\nmountain air will soon make him much better than he was before he\ncame.\"\n\nThe children now approached the door and begged leave to enter, for\nthey wanted to hear about Charley, and have a \"_good look_\" at the\n\"soldier doctor.\"\n\n\"Well, my little friends,\" said he, in a hearty, cheery voice, \"so\nyou've come up, I suppose, to help the fairies amuse Charley this\nsummer.\"\n\n\"FAIRIES!\" exclaimed the children; \"DELIGHTFUL! Are there _fairies_\nhere?\"\n\n\"Lots of them,\" answered the doctor, laughing--\"_that is_, if I may\nbelieve my man, Patrick O'Neal. He declares he has seen the fairy\nrings in the beautiful hollow at the foot of Crow Nest mountain many\nand many a time.\"\n\n\"Oh dear! how perfect!\" cried the children; \"only fancy the dear\nlittle fairies dancing on the parade-ground in the moonlight.\"\n\n\"Not exactly,\" said the doctor, laughing again; \"fairies don't come so\nnear the haunts of mortals; besides, the cadets want the parade-ground\nfor their own dances and rings--not fairy rings--for those are made\nwith sparkling dew-drops, while the cadets have to content themselves\nwith tallow candles stuck into scooped-out turnips and placed in a\ncircle, and the lights throwing the shadows up, make the long legs of\nthe cadets look like ever so many great goblin black spiders, hopping\nharem-scarem over each other; but the cadets call them 'Stag-dances.'\"\n\n\"_Stag dances_,\" cried the children, \"who ever heard of such a thing?\nWhy! do they nail antlers on their foreheads and go on all-fours? Dear\ndoctor! how _do_ they go?\"\n\n\"Some on their heels, and some on their toes; but _I_ never saw one\ndance on all-fours; and, as to the antlers, _without_ them they\nprance: 'tis because they're all _boys_, that it's called a 'stag\ndance.'\"\n\n\"Why, only listen,\" whispered George to Annie, \"he is talking\npoetry--how queer!\"\n\n\"Isn't he a nice bright doctor?\" said Minnie; \"he shines so shiny, and\nhe's so very _buttony_; I think his buttons are splendid.\"\n\nThe doctor heard this speech and burst out laughing, and then seeing\nthat Minnie looked abashed, he took out his penknife, and in a moment\nhad snipt off one of the spread-eagle buttons, and said,--\"Here,\nlittle lady-bird--here is a bright button, which you can fasten up\nyour cloak with to-night when you go to the fairies' midsummer ball;\nfor, I suppose, you will all have an invitation, and when I come\nto-morrow, I expect to hear all about it. Good-bye, Charley; old\nfellows like you and I don't care to go to balls, but we won't object\nto hearing about the fairy festival, because that you know will be\nsomething particularly superfine;\" and he went away smiling, leaving\nthe delighted children chattering like a perfect army of magpies about\nthe fairies, and pretending to think that the good-natured doctor was\nreally in earnest.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FAIRIES' LIFE.\n\n\nIt was Midsummer eve; the moon in regal splendor proudly sailed above;\nthe fair, lovely June flowers were sleeping, fanned by the wings of\nthe tiny zephyrs floating past. A spell of enchantment was upon every\nthing, for a deep stillness reigned around; the little brown cricket\nhad ceased to chirp; the katydid no longer quarrelled in shrill tones\nwith her neighbor; the wail of the sad whippoorwill was hushed; the\nrugged sides of old Crow Nest were rounded and softened in the\nsilvery moonbeams, adown which the little brooklet sprang this night\nwith a more lightsome leap and a sweeter song.\n\nCharley lay sleeping in his room, his cheek resting on his hand, and\nhis golden curls lightly stirred by the soft west wind, were floating\nupon the pillow: a faint flush rested upon his sweet face, giving it a\nlovely, but, alas! deceptive hue of health; his lips were slightly\napart, and now they were moving as if he was softly and slowly\nanswering some question.\n\nThe window was wide open, and the room was bright with moonbeams; but\nnow a softer, tenderer light, shone through the apartments; the air\nwas filled with delicious fragrance, and low sweet music was heard:\nafar off, a halo in the moonlight was seen; it came near and nearer;\nnow it was close to the window, and one could plainly perceive that it\nwas a shining band of fairies, floating on the moonbeams with their\nbeautiful Queen at their head.\n\nThey stopped at the window, for the Queen, with a wave of her sceptre,\ngave them to understand that she would enter alone.\n\nShe was radiant to-night; a magnificent necklace of many-colored\nstones cut from a rainbow, sparkled like a wreath of prismatic fire\naround her white and slender throat; her wings were fringed with small\ndiamond dew-drops; her robe was fashioned of the royal purple velvet\nof the pansy; and her crown and sceptre flashed with precious gems.\n\n  \"But, oh! her beauty was far beyond\n  Her sparkling jewels:\"\n\nfor the sweet loving expression that beamed from her eyes, and the\nsmile that played about the corners of her beautiful mouth, mirrored\nthe pure, unselfish, spotless nature of the Queen.\n\nSoftly she floated towards the couch, and gently touched the boy with\nher sceptre.\n\nCharley opened his blue eyes. In a sweet amaze he slowly raised\nhimself and leaned upon his arm, gazing in bewildered delight upon the\nradiant stranger. The little mother still slept on; but in the room\nwas a young kitten--a daughter of Crocus, of whom you read in \"New\nNightcaps,\" and whom Charley so loved, that he brought her away with\nhim. She was lying at the foot of his bed; in a moment she bristled up\nher coat and tail, and darted out her sharp claws in terror at the\nsight; but at a touch of the Queen's sceptre she drew them into their\nvelvety sheath again, and laid quietly down.\n\n\"Dear Charley,\" said the Queen in a low, sweet voice, \"we do so love\nyour innocent and guileless nature, that while the pulses beat, and\nthe blood flows in your frail and fading form, we will do our utmost\nto drive the demon of pain far away; tender and beautiful influences\nshall surround you; you shall be a most favored mortal, for you shall\nbehold the happiest scenes in fairy life; you shall dream the\nsweetest dreams of fairy-land; this night is our great midsummer\nfestival; even now our subjects are hastening to the beautiful hollow,\nwhere the fairy revels are kept. Hark to the fairy call! they are\ninviting the fays from the beautiful green island that is sleeping in\nthe moonlight opposite to us.\"\n\nCharley with all his senses quickened, his lips slightly apart, his\neyes dilated, one hand raised in an attitude of intense listening,\ncaught the delicious harmony of fairy voices singing these words:\n\n  \"Hasten fairies--haste away;\n  Hasten through the golden spray;\n  Hasten to the frolic play.\n\n  \"Fly o'er water--fly o'er vale;\n  Ply the oar, and spread the sail;\n  Hie ye to the moon-lit dale.\n\n  \"Silver sweet the music swells\n  Of the snow-white lily-bells,\n  And the sounding pink sea-shells.\n\n  \"Hither--hither, haste away\n  To the fairies' frolic play;\n  'Tis the festive fairy-day.\"\n\nBrighter grew the eyes of the sick boy, and his cheek flushed with\nexcitement as he listened.\n\n\"Oh, how beautiful!\" he murmured; \"what dainty little rippling notes!\"\n\n\"Listen again,\" said the Queen, with a gratified smile, for she liked\nto hear her people praised; \"listen! the island fairies are\nanswering.\"\n\nWas it magic that brought those tiny voices so far over the water?\nSurely it was, for there rose on the air a clear tinkling sound like\nthe ringing of little glass bells; and Charley heard these words:\n\n  \"Beaming moon--shimmering fountain--\n      Light, and deck the fairy dell;\n  We are coming to the mountain,\n      From the isle we love so well:\n  To the fairy ball we hie;\n  Thought-swift through the purple sky\n  We are hastening at the call;\n  'Tis the great midsummer ball.\n\n  \"Open lily--blossom rose,\n      Shed around thy perfume light;\n  Heliotrope--thy sweets disclose\n      To the fragrant dews of night.\n  Dogwood grim we fairies banish;\n  Purple nightshade! fly! evanish!\n  We are hastening at the call;\n  'Tis the great midsummer ball.\n\n  \"Chime hare-bells! clearly, sweetly,\n      Joy our hearts with blithe accord,\n  As we fairies neatly, featly,\n      Trip it o'er the dainty sward.\n  Velvet sod thy carpet spread,\n  With small buds enamelled,\n  We are hastening at the call;\n  'Tis the great midsummer ball.\n\n\"Oh!\" exclaimed the entranced boy, \"how I should like to see the\nbeautiful fairies dancing in the moonlight. May I, sweet lady?\"\n\nWith a loving smile the Queen bent over and lightly tapped him thrice\nupon each shoulder-blade with her jewelled sceptre. Immediately a pair\nof gauzy wings started from his back. With an involuntary motion he\ngently waved them back and forth, and felt himself rising--_rising_\n--RISING--till he had floated out of the window into the moonbeams.\nThe poor little kitten set up a piteous cry, but a fairy spell was\nupon the mother, for she slept quietly on.\n\nOh! with what delight was the enchanted boy now welcomed by the\nwaiting train outside! They pressed lovingly around him; they played\nwith his golden curls; they fanned him with their delicate wings; they\nlooked down into the lambent depths of his clear blue eyes, and saw\nhis pure spirit within so free from guile; they touched with their\ntender fingers his poor little thin white neck and breast, and felt\nhis heart beating fast and faster with delight.\n\nUp, up they mounted, and a joyous thrill, like a sweet and sudden\nwind, shook the leaves of the trees as they passed swiftly by them.\n\nAnd now they approached the beautiful hollow; they heard the stirring\nsound of the fairy kettle-drums (which you know are chestnut shells,\ndivided in half, with mouse-skin drawn tightly over). Quickly they\nfloated over the last tree-tops; the frisky young fairies folding\ntheir wings and sliding down the moonbeams for fun, just as you slide\ndown the bannisters.\n\nThey are there, directly over the beautiful hollow, floating slowly\ndownward with a graceful waving motion; and Charley looked on a most\nenchanting sight. Crowds of fairies were assembled within an immense\ncircle of sparkling dew-drops, tricked out in all their holiday\nattire. More were coming in on every side; some in their nut-shells\nand four--others flying through the soft air. In the centre of the\nhollow the mossy throne was this night surmounted by a magnificent\ncanopy of scarlet geraniums, looped up at the sides by splendid\nclasps, formed of the backs of the scarlet lady-bug, dotted with spots\nof jet. The canopy was heavily fringed with small scarlet fuchsias, or\nlady's ear-drops. At the foot of the throne there appeared to be a\nlow seat of heaped-up rose-leaves, and in a circle round it a double\nrow of glow-worms shed a soft clear light. Small mushroom tables,\nfilled with plates of dew-drop ices, were already laid out; and the\nfairies only waited for the presence of their beloved Queen to open\nthe ball.\n\nSuddenly the music quickened; the fire-flies sparkled and danced, and\nall rose respectfully as the Queen touched the green velvety floor.\nBowing and smiling, she gracefully seated herself upon the throne, and\ntenderly placed the spell-bound Charley upon the rose-leaf couch at\nher feet. The rich color of the beautiful canopy threw a rosy blush\nover the boy's sweet face; and the glancing fairies thought they had\nnever seen a lovelier mortal. Although the soft rose-leaves pressed\ncaressingly around him and hid his poor deformed limbs, it would have\nmade no difference if they had been plainly seen, for the fairies only\nlooked in his _face_, where so much purity and goodness shone; and,\nseeing this, they loved him, and were glad he had come.\n\n\"Where is Slyboots?\" said the Queen.\n\n\"At your feet, most gracious Majesty,\" answered the sprite, dropping\ndown all at once from somewhere.\n\n\"And what is the last piece of mischief, you comical imp?\"\n\n\"Your Majesty! Mischief! I disapprove of it! but I have just been\ntying Peas-cod and Bean-pod together by their long green coat-tails,\nbecause they are such grumbling, discontented chaps.\"\n\n\"How do you know?\" asked the Queen.\n\n\"Please your Majesty,\" answered Slyboots, \"I heard Peas-cod say that\nhe hated the sight of every thing and everybody; that all other\nfairies could wear different colors, while he had to be green all his\ndays; then he opened his mouth so wide, and gave such a fearful yawn,\nI thought all his round bones would roll out; _I_ think, your Majesty,\nhe is not only green--he is '_jolly_' green.\"\n\n\"Don't talk slang to me,\" said the Queen, though she laughed a little;\n\"but go on and tell me about Bean-pod.\"\n\n\"Oh! Bean-pod is miserable because of his shape; he says he is bigger\nround his waist than anywhere else, and that is _so_ ungenteel; all\nyour Majesty's maids of honor laugh and make faces at him.\"\n\n\"Ah! I cannot have that,\" said the Queen; \"all must be happy here,\nespecially on midsummer night. Go, Slyboots, and command them to come\ninto my presence.\"\n\nOff started the sprite, and presently returned with the naughty\nfairies looking very much ashamed of themselves, with their\ncoat-tails all curled round from having been tied in a hard knot.\nLilliebelle and Dewdrop laughed behind their butterfly wing-fans,\nwhile Ripple and Firefly curled their mustaches, and looked on with\ndandified airs.\n\nThe Queen began with a severe aspect: \"I regret to learn, Peas-cod and\nBean-pod, that you are indulging in discontent; it is very wicked in\nany one to murmur or repine at his lot in this world. Learn from this\nmortal,\" she continued, placing her hand tenderly on Charley's head;\n\"almost since his birth he has led a life of suffering, yet no\nrepining falls from his patient lips; he is willing to live, and he\nwill be resigned to die. I think my story-teller, Charm-ear, has\nwritten down something that happened to some neighbors of ours in the\nlittle brook near by, which will serve as a warning to you. Would you\nlike to hear this story, Charley?\"\n\n\"Oh, beautiful lady!\" cried Charley; for, being an American boy, he\ndid not know he must say 'your Majesty.' \"Oh, beautiful lady! a story\nwould be so--so _fairy_ nice!\"\n\nThe Queen smiled, and, waving her hand to Charm-ear, the court\nstory-teller, he began as follows:\n\n    THE THREE LITTLE FISH.\n\n    \"Not very long ago, in our beautiful brook, there lived three\n    little silver trouts, who were very great friends. For some time\n    they were happier than the day was long, playing together, eating\n    together, and sleeping cosily together in the same little cave\n    scooped out of a stone under the water, and wanted for nothing\n    that good little fishes ought to have.\n\n    \"But after this I am sorry to have to tell that two of the little\n    trout became very sad and discontented: one wished for this, the\n    other for that, and neither cared a shrimp for any thing he had,\n    because they were always foolishly sighing for something else.\n\n    \"At last Neptune, the King of the Sea, heard of these naughty\n    little fish, and he resolved to punish them, by granting them all\n    their desires.\n\n    \"Accordingly he called them before him, and told them they should\n    have whatever they wanted.\n\n    \"Now, the oldest was a very proud little fish, and wanted to be\n    able to snub up all the other fishes, by being set above them--so\n    he said,\n\n    \"'Please your gracious goodness Majesty, I do not like the place\n    where you have put me. Here I am poked into a mean, narrow river,\n    where I can neither get down into the ground, or up into the air,\n    and yet I can see well enough what fine times others have; there\n    are the little birds that fly about over my head, and sing all\n    day, because they have wings. Give me wings, gracious goodness\n    Majesty--only give me wings, and then I shall have something for\n    which to be thankful; in fact, it will make me perfectly happy.'\n\n    \"No sooner asked for than granted. In a moment the little fish\n    felt the wings fluttering, and in another moment he had spread\n    them wide, and rose joyfully out of the water.\n\n    \"Ah! what a delicious sensation. He resolved to travel; then a\n    thought struck him.\n\n    \"'One favor more, your gracious Majesty.'\n\n    \"'Well, speak,' answered Neptune.\n\n    \"'Give me a wife, so that I may not fly alone in the world.'\n\n    \"'Granted,' said the Sea King; and immediately a beautiful little\n    silver trout swam the surface, and then flew to his side.\n\n    \"With joy the silver fish greeted his mate, and forthwith they\n    fluttered into a tree on the banks of the Hudson River, and\n    commenced building a nest.\n\n    \"In the due course of time a brood of little flying fish were\n    peeping up in the nest, and the papa and mamma had their hands\n    full (so to speak) in finding food for their young; they were very\n    happy, and thought this was the perfection of living, and heartily\n    despised their old companions in the beautiful brook.\n\n    \"But, alas! in this world it is very often the case that just as\n    we have attained our wishes, and are perfectly happy--bang! it is\n    all over. This was literally the case with our poor little trout,\n    for a party of sportsmen crossing the river in a row-boat seeing\n    such a queer bird, one of them deliberately took aim and shot the\n    mother trout, just as she was returning with food for her\n    children; and the poor papa, who had been keeping watch on the\n    nest, in the extremity of his terror, opened his mouth, and popped\n    out his eyes, and took to flight, and left his family to be\n    captured by the wicked sportsmen.\n\n[Illustration: DEATH OF THE SILVER TROUT.]\n\n    \"But our little flying fish happened to alight among desert-like\n    sands and rocks--far, far away from the least thing to eat or\n    drink. Faint, weary, and unable to rise again, he lay fluttering,\n    panting, and beating himself against the flinty stones. Oh! how he\n    longed for one drop of crystal water out of his own little\n    brook--only one drop.\n\n    \"Gasping, wounded, and sore, he lay there, wretched and all alone,\n    till at length, with a sob and a sigh, he breathed his last. He\n    was dead.\n\n    \"The second little silver trout was not so high-minded as the\n    first; still he was dreadfully conceited, and moreover, he was a\n    narrow-hearted, selfish little fish; for, provided _he_ was safe\n    and happy, he did not care the flap of a fin, what became of all\n    the rest of the fishes in the whole universe, or anywhere else.\n\n    \"'So,' said he to Neptune, 'may it please your worshipful honor; I\n    do not wish for wings to fly, for I do not care to poke my nose\n    into strange places; I might get lost or hurt, you know; I was\n    contented enough until the other day, when I saw a great rope come\n    down into the water, and fasten itself in some mysterious way\n    about the gills of a sweet little cousin of mine, and she was\n    hauled and dragged out of the water before my eyes, wriggling and\n    struggling with fright and pain. It scared me terribly, your\n    worshipful honor; for I thought this dreadful rope might some time\n    fasten upon me. Now, all I desire, is to know the meaning of this\n    rope, and of every single one of the dangers to which you have\n    subjected us poor little fishes.'\n\n    \"No sooner said than done. Neptune opened the eyes of the little\n    trout in such a marvellous manner, that he understood in a moment\n    all about snares, nets, hooks, and the lines, which he called a\n    rope, artificial flies, and every other danger to which little\n    fishes are exposed.\n\n    \"At first he was perfectly delighted with his newly-acquired\n    knowledge, and he took precious good care from this time forth,\n    not to go into deep water, for fear a great greedy pike or some\n    other great fish might be there and swallow him up at a mouthful.\n    He kept away from the shallow places in hot weather, lest the sun\n    should dry them up. When he saw a shadow on the water, he said to\n    himself, 'Halloo! here are the good-for-nothing fishermen with\n    their nets!' and immediately he sculled away and got under the\n    banks, where he sat trembling in all his scales; and when he saw a\n    tempting fly skimming on the water, or a nice fat worm, he did not\n    dare to bite, although he was half-starved. 'No, no,' said the\n    little trout, 'I am not such a fool as all that comes to; go and\n    tempt those _flats_, the flounders; _I_ know better.'\n\n    \"In this way the poor little silver trout kept himself in a\n    continual fright and flurry; and, of course, could neither eat,\n    drink, nor sleep, for fear some mischief might be at hand.\n\n    \"He grew poorer and poorer, and sighed and frightened himself to\n    skin and bone, until at last--ah me!--dear me!--alas! he died, for\n    fear of dying.\n\n    \"Now when Neptune came to the youngest trout, and asked him what\n    he wished for, he said: 'Oh, your great big Highness, you know I\n    am but a very foolish and good-for-nothing little fish; I don't\n    know what is good for me and what is bad for me; and I wonder how\n    I came to be thought worth bringing into the world at all. But if\n    I must wish for any thing, it is that you will please to do\n    whatever you think best; I shall be happy to live or die, just as\n    you would have me.'\n\n    \"When the precious little silver trout had said all this so\n    sweetly and modestly, Neptune immediately felt an immense liking\n    for him, and determined to take great care of this sweet little\n    fish who had such entire trust in his goodness; so he watched\n    tenderly over him, and was a father and a friend to him. He put a\n    perfect fountain of contentment into his gills, and, consequently,\n    happiness into his heart.\n\n    \"Thus, this dear little trout slept always in peace, and wakened\n    in gladness; and whether he was full or hungry, or whatever\n    happened to him, he was still pleased and thankful; and he is now\n    the happiest of all the little fishes that swim in our beautiful\n    brook.\"\n\nA delighted murmur of applause rose on every side as Charm-ear\nfinished this excellent story; and Charley was, if possible, still\nmore enchanted to find such a capital moral in a story told by a\nfairy. Peas-cod and Bean-pod looked very uncomfortable as the Queen\nsaid, \"Thank you, Charm-ear; you have related the story well; and I\nhope,\" she continued, looking kindly at the discontented fays, \"it\nwill have a profitable effect. It is no doubt a great blessing to\npossess what one wishes; but it is a greater blessing still, not to\ndesire that which we can never possess.\"\n\nThen the Queen, who ruled altogether by LOVE, said: \"Go, dear\nPeas-cod and Bean-pod--go join the dances; I give you Lilliebelle and\nDewdrop for partners, and let me hear no more of discontent.\"\n\nThe two green fairies brightened up amazingly when they heard their\nQueen speaking so kindly; really, their green coats became quite\nfashionable-looking--and not such a bad color either; and though\nLilliebelle and Dewdrop pouted a little at their humble partners,\nthey dared not disobey the Queen; but soon the inspiring music and\nthe pleasure of dancing, of which, like all fairies and most young\nladies, they were immoderately fond, caused them to forget their\nannoyance, especially as Peas-cod and Bean-pod were accomplished\ndancers, and hopped about in the most surprising manner.\n\nAnd Charley looked on in an ecstasy of delight, and the flush deepened\nand brightened in his cheek. It seemed as if a million of tiny flowers\nof every color had been taken from their stems and had gone on a\npic-nic, and were now at the very height of their fun. Such laughing!\nsuch dancing! such eager rushing for the ices and other goodies, just\nas you do at your parties. In one corner a small party of extremely\nfashionable belles were promenading, each holding a parasol over her\nhead made of a small green leaf, to preserve her complexion; for you\nmust know that moonbeams are very tanning. Among the honeysuckles, the\nelderly fairies were playing backgammon, talking, and pretending to\nadmire each others' dresses, thinking their own handsomer all the\ntime; while the bachelor fairies were smoking poppy leaf cigars, and\nordering any quantity of buttercups of Maydew.\n\nAll at once a tremendous shout of laughter was heard, and Charley and\nthe Queen looking eagerly in the direction whence it came, saw, to\ntheir unspeakable astonishment, the old prime minister turning a\nsomerset in the air. He got up, walked a few steps, and went\nhead-over-heels again; while the fairies, ready for any fun, thought\nhe had become crack-brained and was doing it on purpose, and screamed\nwith laughter.\n\nBut, bless your little heart! what a mistake they made! Rising from\nhis last leap in the air, with a scowl on his face, breathing forth\nfire and fury like a hippogriff or a fiery dragon, he pushed his way\nthrough the crowd and marched straight to the throne, where, kneeling\nas well as he could for his bumps and bruises, he demanded of the\nQueen in a shrill, gasping, wheezing voice, like the wind whistling\nthrough a broken bellows:\n\n\"Your Majesty!! your Majesty!!! that wretch! that Slyboots! confine\nhim in a nut-shell for a thousand years! tie him fast to a hornet!\ncut off his wings! oh! oh! oh! the impertinent little scamp!\"\n\n\"Why, my lord, calm yourself,\" said the Queen; while Charley looked on\nin bewildered astonishment at the enraged prime minister, and a great\ncrowd of fairies gathered around.\n\n\"Tell me what has happened.\"\n\n\"I need not remind your Majesty that our state affairs are very much\nbehindhand, and not feeling inclined to mix with coxcombs like Ripple,\n(here the Queen frowned, and Ripple, who was just behind him, made a\ngrimace,) I went to one of the mushroom tables, and sat down to finish\nmy memorial regarding the loan for the hospital for sick bumble-bees,\nwhen this torment of a Slyboots comes up, and looking over my\nshoulder, exclaims, 'What! my lord; surely you are not going to\nstupefy the Queen with the odious sick bumble-bee memorial _to-night_,\nare you? Say?'\"\n\n\"'Certainly I am,' I said; 'what would become of all the business in\nthe Queen's dominions if it were not for me? Go away, you ugly Ouphe!'\nAt this, Slyboots rushed off in such a haste, and with such a wicked\ngleam in his eye, that I smelt mischief immediately. 'After finishing\nmy memorial on eleven bees-wings closely written, I was hastening with\nit to your Majesty, when I fell, with great violence, over three\nsuccessive ropes that were stretched across the section of the hollow\nwhere I had been writing, crumpling and soiling my memorial, and\nbreaking off a corner of my right wing. I know it is Slyboots that has\ncommitted this outrage. Drive him out of your kingdom, your Majesty!\ngive him up to the water fairies! tell the snails to poke him well\nwith their horns!' and in a very torrent of passion and anger, the\nprime minister was going on, when the Queen interrupted him\nwith--'Softly, softly, my lord; we will call Slyboots and hear what he\nsays.'\"\n\nAnd now there was a great call for the culprit; and presently he came\nin the ring, riding on a comical-looking bull-frog, and making\ntremendous leaps, apparently in great haste, as if he had been on a\nlong journey, and had just that moment arrived. With an inconceivably\nroguish air, he alighted, and hastening up, bent his knee before the\nQueen. The foolish young fairies came very near bursting out laughing\nwhen they saw him put on a demure, innocent look of surprise, as he\ncaught sight of the scowling face of the prime minister; but at that\nmoment her Majesty said in an angry tone:\n\n\"What shocking mischief have you been doing?\"\n\n\"_I_ have been doing nothing, your Majesty.\"\n\n\"And who helped you to do it, you saucy goblin?\"\n\n\"Only a little brown spider,\" said Slyboots, \"and he didn't mean to.\"\n\n\"But between you two, the prime minister has had three heavy falls;\nand I am afraid not without intention on _your_ part.\"\n\n\"Please your Majesty, if my lord, the prime minister, loads himself\nwith such a heavy article as that sick humble-cum-tumble-bee\nmemorial, and then puts his eyes in his pockets, no wonder he can't\nsee straight before him, and falls down and cracks his crown. Why\ndon't he be jolly, like the rest of us? Your Majesty had better order\nan unlimited quantity of dandelion feather-beds to be put around in\nspots for my lord, the prime minister, to turn head over heels in.\"\n\n\"Hush! sauce-box,\" cried the Queen; while the prime minister gave him\na furious look. \"Here, Trip (turning to a page), go bring me the\nlittle brown spider; I must get at the bottom of this business.\"\n\nThe little brown spider came and made her obeisance, all in a fuzz of\nfear, for she could not imagine why she was called into the presence\nof the Queen. She shook so violently, that her Majesty said, kindly:\n\n\"Don't be afraid, Brownie; but tell me, with perfect truth, what did\nSlyboots employ you about this evening?\"\n\n\"Please your beautiful Majesty,\" began the spider, \"Slyboots is my\nfriend, and I would not like to get him into trouble.\"\n\n\"That is neither here nor there,\" said the Queen; \"I command you to\ntell me what you did for him.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the spider, almost crying, \"Slyboots came to my house in\nthe grape-vine in the greatest hurry, and begged me to scrabble and\nscratch with all my might and main to a certain part of the hollow,\nand spin three ropes, knee high, just as quickly as possible across\nit, as some of the court had taken a prodigious fancy to tight-rope\ndancing, and meant to give an exhibition before the evening was over;\nand he was to give me, for doing it, just the fattest little fly I\never beheld, which he had fast by the legs; it made my mouth water\nonly to look at it; so, your Majesty may believe, I rushed down and\nworked at the ropes for dear life, and finished them to Slyboots'\nsatisfaction, for he gave me the delicious fly, and I've just\nfinished eating it up; and that is all I know about it, please your\nbeautiful Majesty.\"\n\nIt was all as plain as moonlight; and after one moment passed in\nvainly endeavoring to suppress their merriment, the whole court burst\ninto such a scream of laughter, that the very leaves rustled, as if\nsome musical wind had stirred them. Of course not a fairy had ever\nheard that anybody had taken up the profession of tight-rope dancing,\nand Slyboots was at once convicted of having told a dreadful fib, and\nhad the ropes erected for the express purpose of tripping up the prime\nminister, to prevent his boring the Queen on the great gala night with\nhis sick bumble-bee memorial.\n\nThere the naughty sprite stood with a penitent look out of one eye,\nand winking ridiculously with the other; and the fairies having\nlaughed till they were tired, now waited in breathless silence to hear\nhis sentence pronounced.\n\nCharley was really sorry for Slyboots; he was distressed that the\nfairy had told a falsehood; but, as to the mischief, it was so like\nthe capers his own brothers and sisters were always cutting, that he\nfelt very certain the comical little imp had not one grain of malice\nin his heart, so he softly touched the Queen's knee, and as she kindly\nbent down to him, whispered--\"Oh, beautiful lady! he has a good heart,\nand he is very sorry; please to forgive him.\"\n\n\"Slyboots,\" began the Queen, in a tone which she tried to make very\nsevere, \"you have passed all reasonable bounds in this last prank; you\nhave outraged and insulted my faithful servant--and, worse than all,\nyou have told an untruth. If it had not been for this last, I might\nhave forgiven you after you had made fitting apologies to the prime\nminister; even now I shall lighten your punishment, because this pure\nand lovely mortal has interceded for you. Listen to your sentence. My\npower tells me that the great wasp, Spiteful, has just entered the\nchamber where little Minnie, Charley's sister, is lying peacefully\nasleep, and within the hour he will thrust his poisonous cruel sting\ninto the tender arm of the little child. With your wings to dart here\nand there, you might easily conquer him; but these must be fastened\ntogether by your friend Brownie, and within the hour you must bring me\nthe dead body of the wasp. You have heard; Brownie, to your work!\"\n\nIn the midst of a deep silence, the poor little trembling spider began\nto spin thread after thread round and round the beautiful gauzy wings\nof the disgraced and now sorrowful fay; one after the other the\nbeautiful tints of blue, and gold, and purple, first faded, then were\nhidden under the misty cloud-color of network.\n\nThe court looked on in sorrow, for the elfin was beloved by many, but\nnot a fay dared murmur or question the justice of the sentence. At\nlast his wings, of a dead dull gray, were prisoned fast; and the\nQueen, waving her sceptre, said--\"Go, Slyboots; if you carry a right\nspirit to your work, you will win the fight.\"\n\nThe fairy said not a word, but bowed him low, and turned sadly away.\nThe time was short, and he must hasten and don his stoutest armor, for\nthe foe was deadly. A friendly grasshopper offered to take him to the\nfoot of the window where he must enter. With a gleeful spring he\nmounted, and away with great leaps they went through the ferns and\nover the grass, scrambling painfully in and out of bramble bushes, and\npricking themselves with the sharp nettles that lay in their path. But\nthe grasshopper (that friend in need) carried him bravely through\nthem all, and came at last to a little house under a great mushroom,\nwhere Slyboots kept bachelor's hall.\n\nHere he alighted, and hastily fastened on his acorn helmet, with its\nbeautiful plume from the humming bird's breast; then he donned his\nclose-fitting vest, made of the skin of the prickly-pear--the sharp\npoints bristling terror to invaders. On his left arm he carried his\ntrusty shield, made of the back of the golden beetle, and his right\nhand grasped his sharp blade, fashioned out of the blue sword-grass.\n\nSwiftly he bestrode his grasshopper steed again, and in a few moments\nthey were beneath the open window of the room where lay the sleeping\nchild.\n\nAlighting, and thanking his friendly courser, Slyboots clambered up by\nthe luxuriant rose-vine fastened against the cottage wall, and in a\nmoment had dropped noiselessly into the room.\n\nIt was flooded with sweet clear moonlight. Clusters of roses were\npeeping in at the window, but none were half so lovely as the little\nhuman rose-bud lying so quietly in her tiny white bed. She might have\ncome out of Elfin land--she was so fair and sweet; her merry blue eyes\nclosed, her little song-voice stilled, and a lovely flush on her soft\ncheek from the kissing of the warm and balmy wind, which danced in\nand out of its own sweet will.\n\nHovering over her--a malignant gleam in his eyes--was the wasp.\nAlready was his body curved to inflict the mean and cruel sting upon\nthe defenceless child, when, with a bound, Slyboots was upon him, cut\nhim sharply with his sword, and then scampered out of the window and\ntook refuge in a great rose, apologizing to the little fairy whose\nhome it was. With his back against the rose-leaves, and his shield on\nguard, Slyboots waited for the fray.\n\n[Illustration: SLYBOOTS FIGHTING THE WASP.]\n\nOut came the wasp, breathing fire and fury; his usual snarling hum\nchanged into a fiendish roar of rage. Then did begin a most tremendous\nbattle!! The fairy's blows fell thick and fast upon the horny head\nof his enemy, who vainly sought to sting him; but the trusty shield\nwas never off duty. The wasp kept up a horrid din, as with maddening\nferocity and desperation, he tried to find his foe, for he was now\nblinded with the blows. Panting with pain, and roaring with rage, he\nflew wildly round and round, returning each time with fourfold fury to\nthe charge, till at last a well-directed stroke of the elfin's sword\ncleft his head asunder, and he fell prone to the earth, with one\nprodigious kick of all his feet in the air together.\n\nDown jumped Slyboots from the friendly rose, and making sure of the\ndeath of his enemy by sundry bangs and whacks with the flat of his\nsword, quickly made a stout rope of corn silk, and fastening it round\nthe head of the wasp, began his joyful journey back to the fairy\nhollow.\n\nThe good grasshopper had been a deeply interested spectator of the\nbattle; his eyes hanging out like a lobster's with anxiety, and\nchirping a perfectly continuous rattle of encouragement to Slyboots,\nso that really he was as hoarse as a bull-frog when it was all over.\nWith cheerful alacrity he helped the breathless fairy tie up the dead\nbody of the wasp, and willingly allowed the other end of the corn silk\nrope to be fastened to one of his long hind legs; and then Slyboots\nmounting him once more, he tugged and scrambled along with his double\nburthen with so much hearty _will_, that they arrived at the fairy\nground at least one minute and a quarter within the hour.\n\nMeanwhile harmony and order had been restored in the beautiful hollow.\nThe old prime minister was fast asleep under a fern leaf, with his\nprecious bumble-bee memorial under his head, and Charley was watching\nwith delighted interest the many happy groups upon which the moonbeams\nlovingly rested. Some were dancing the Fairy Lancers, some eating and\nlaughing at the little tables, some having a childish game of\ncats-cradle with the tendrils of the grape-vine, and all were full of\nmirth and gaiety, as noisy and happy as it was possible to be; in\nfact, the fairies were marvellously like you, little reader; you are\nboth full of fun and noise, and have no idea of going through the\nworld slowly and carefully, as if you were stepping on one\nfeather-bed, and had your head tied up in another. Not at all! they\nand you just jump and tumble about with prodigious talents for frolic,\nwearing out your shoes, and tearing your clothes--that is, _you_, for\nthe fairies' shoes and clothes have a patent trick of always looking\nfresh and new. Charley thought his dear brothers and sisters were very\nlike these little creatures in their fondness for fun, and he did wish\nthat they were here this Midsummer night to have \"a real good time.\"\n\nPresently the Queen said to him, \"Charley, did you ever blow bubbles?\"\n\n\"Yes, often, beautiful lady.\"\n\n\n\"And what have you seen in them?\" asked the Queen.\n\n\"Oh! the most lovely colors! and sometimes a charming tiny picture of\nthe room where we were.\"\n\n\"Would you like to see some _fairy_ bubbles?\"\n\n\"Ah, yes! I should like it of all things.\"\n\nThe Queen gently clapped her hands, and instantly a page was kneeling\nat her feet.\n\n\"Go, Light-wing,\" said the Queen, \"and tell Fancy to come here with\nher basin of foam and magic pipe.\"\n\nThe fairy rose from his knee, bowed low, and sped away. In an instant\nhe returned in company with the daintiest, most ethereal little elf\nin fairy-land. Her wings were of air--her golden ringlets danced in\nthe \"tremulous, singing wind,\" giving out the perfume of the\nblossoming lily; her tiny rose-bud of a mouth opened, disclosing the\nwhitest and smallest seed-pearl teeth, as with a smile beaming with\nlove and sweetness, she said:\n\n\"Beloved Queen, most gladly have I come at your bidding. Deign but to\ncommand, and I will hasten to obey.\"\n\n\"Dear Fancy,\" said the Queen, placing her hand tenderly upon Charley's\nshoulder, \"here is a lovely mortal who has suffered from his infancy;\nbut all his pain has not been sufficient to sour his temper, or\nconquer his gratitude and love for the blessings and mercies which\nremain to him. As flowers spring from the dust, so have love, and\ntruth, and every noble quality, sprung from the dark and bitter\nsuffering of his life. For this I love him, and will strive to make\nthe few days left to him on earth less sad, less painful; and I will\ndo this by showing him all our fairy life. I have sent for you to ask\nyou to exhibit, for his amusement, some magic bubbles; I would like\nhim to look at them now.\"\n\nFor answer, the little elf bowed gracefully, dipped her pipe in the\nfoaming dew, and began to breathe softly through the stem.\n\nSoon the thin bubble rose in the twinkling fire-fly light. At first it\nwas all of a gray-dark color; but out of this dark, like the sun\nbreaking through the mist, bright golden and ruby tints began to\nappear.\n\nIt grew in size and splendor, till at last the fairy gently waving the\npipe, the bubble slowly and gracefully floated away, and up a little,\nand then poised itself, and rested just before Charley.\n\nIt was like a moving picture in an oval frame. Within appeared a large\nand handsome parlor; a number of beautiful little children were\ngrouped about the room, evidently waiting for some event to happen.\nPresently a baby-boy entered--a perfect bud of beauty. His fine and\nsnowy-white garment was daintily embroidered and trimmed after a most\nroyal fashion, with ivy leaves. Upon his beautiful head, crowned with\nlight and lovely pale golden curls, was a wreath also of ivy.\n\nWith his luminous starry eyes uplifted, and the dimples peeping in and\nout of his rose-pink cheeks, he went around and offered a welcoming\nkiss to every one in the room. It was his birthday. Two sweet, happy\nyears, had been unfurled in his little life, and the children were now\ngathered together in honor of the event.\n\nCharley gazed with lips apart, intent and eager.\n\nAll at once he exclaimed,--\n\n\"Why! it is Howard! little Howard! Why, yes! and there is sweet little\nCarrie, his sister, with the beautiful wreath of roses, and the roses\non her dress! Oh! what wonders I am seeing!\"\n\nAs he spoke, a lady entered, Howard's loving and lovely mother, with\nan immense paper bag, and proceeded to fasten it to the chandelier in\nthe centre of the ceiling; then some one else came in, and spread a\nlarge white sheet upon the carpet immediately underneath.\n\nThen one of the little ones was blindfolded, and a cane was put into\nhis hands. He was to try to strike the bag, but instead, he made a\ntremendous whack at nothing half a yard one side of the bag, which\nmade the children laugh merrily.\n\nCharley laughed, too; you could _hear_ him, but he could only _see_\nthat the children in the magic bubble were laughing.\n\n\"I know them almost all!\" he cried, in a voice of delight; \"there are\nEva, and Robbie, and Alice, and Hattie, and Minnie, and Eddie, and\nsweet little Kitty and Mortie; and oh! how happy they all look! how\nperfect! and what a nice time they must be having!\"\n\nAfter two or three had tried to strike the bag, little baby Howard had\nthe handkerchief tied _above_ his eyes, just for fun, because he was\ntoo little to be _really_ blindfolded; and, armed with the cane, he\ngrasped it with both tiny hands, his eyes dancing with glee, and a\ngladsome smile parting his sweet little mouth, showing the pearly\nteeth within. He gave the bag a sounding thump, and instantly it\nburst asunder, and a perfect cataract of candies and sugar-plums\npoured down upon the carpet. Quick as a flash every child in the room\nwas clustered together upon the sheet helter-skelter, head-over-heels,\nlaughing, screaming, dashing after the candies; and then--the bubble\nburst, and Charley saw no more.\n\n\"Oh! oh! how beautiful! how wonderful!\" said the lame boy; \"dear, dear\nlittle fairy! I thank you; but I should so like to know what the\nchildren did after that.\"\n\nAgain the pipe was dipped in the foam-dew, and the fairy blew out\nanother bubble, that floated away and rested as before.\n\nThis time a wide hall, with a table in the centre, appeared. Upon the\ntable the colored waiters were quickly placing large dishes of cakes,\noranges, mottoes, and pyramids of cream. A door, within which shone a\nbright light, opened into this hall, and a little dancing form\nflitting past now and then, showed that the children were frolicking\ninside.\n\nWhen the table was so perfectly covered, that it very nearly broke\ndown under the weight of goodies, there was seen issuing from the\nparlor-door, first, the beautiful little king of the feast, carried in\nhis father's arms, his eyes sparkling, and his whole face radiant with\nsmiles. After him came, two and two, all the lovely little band; they\nmarched entirely round the table, and you may be sure they all looked\none way--and that way was the table-way, of course, where such a grand\nfeast was spread out. _That_ was the party, as I once heard a little\ngirl say, and who added, \"Oh! I'm so glad! the party has come--look\nwhat a lot of it!\"\n\nAnd now what a tremendous time the boys had helping the little girls,\nand filling their laps with every thing they could lay their hands on,\nand then cramming their own pockets till they stuck out all over like\nballoons.\n\nJust as they were in the height of eating, and laughing, and\npresenting each other with mottoes, on which were printed the most\nbeautiful poetry, declaring that they would love each other as long as\nthey lived, and nobody knows how much longer; and Charley was looking\non wild with delight--presto! the bubble suddenly burst, and the\npicture was gone.\n\n\"Oh! can any thing be more perfect!\" cried Charley. \"I am so happy!\nDear little fairy! do let me kiss you for making me so happy.\"\n\nWith a loving smile the beautiful elfin fluttered her wings and flew\ninto his breast, where she lay nestling like a little white dove.\nCharley tenderly lifted her up, kissed her soft tiny cheek, touched\nher golden ringlets, and felt her breath, fragrant as the perfume of\nviolets, fanning his face. He was silent with happiness, painting over\nin his mind Fancy's magic pictures. The beautiful Queen sat watching\nhim, and enjoying his delight, when a far-off sound startled them\nboth--a sound of acclamation. Nearer and nearer it came, till the air\nrang with tiny shouts and joyful clapping of hands. The voices were\nrespectfully hushed as a crowd of fairies advanced into the Queen's\npresence; and Charley saw that Slyboots was in their midst, weary and\nbreathless, his wings still hidden in the spider-net, but exultantly\ndragging the dead wasp by the corn-silk cord. His wee face looked\npale; but his eyes shone with the old brightness, as the Queen's\nglance fell kindly and approvingly upon him.\n\n\"Did you arrive in time to save Minnie from the cruel sting?\" she\nsaid.\n\n\"I did, please your gracious Majesty,\" answered Slyboots.\n\n\"And did you waken her?\"\n\n\"No, my Queen; I struck the wasp, and drew him outside of the window,\nwhere I took refuge in a rose, and from thence, with my good sword, I\ngave him battle. Long and fiercely we fought in the moonlight. The\nlittle yellow butterflies crept under the leaves affrighted; the\nmidges in the air trembled, and whispered to each other that an\nearthquake was surely at hand; but at last my enemy bit the dust, and\nI pounded him till he was as dead as the prime minister's abominable\nbumble-bee's mem--\"\n\n\"Silence!\" interrupted the Queen; but she really had to laugh, for\nSlyboots looked at her with such a comical twist of his eye, which\nchanged to a beam of happiness as her Majesty said to him:\n\n\"You have done your task aright, and gladly we forgive you; but\nremember, Slyboots, never let your love of fun carry you so far again;\nand put this piece of advice in your pocket--keep out of the way of\nthe prime minister the next time you have tight ropes erected for your\nfriends to dance on.\"\n\nSlyboots' face grew as red as a scarlet poppy at this allusion, and\nthe laugh that followed; and the Queen, seeing his confusion, said:\n\"Quick, Ripple--quick, Firefly--release his wings.\"\n\nIn a moment the fairy knights had cut away the gray network, and\nSlyboots joyfully shook his wings, now brighter than ever.\n\nJust at that moment a bugle-call sounded from the sentry at the top of\nCrow Nest, and a faint twittering of a little bird was heard in a tree\nskirting the hollow. The dawn was coming, lifting the dew-mist from\nthe lap of the earth; a faint light was streaking the east, as the\nQueen, gathering her shining band, with Charley in the midst, rose in\nthe air, and flitted away to the cottage window. Softly they laid him\ndown, and the Queen touched his eyes. The white lids drooped heavily,\nthen closed, as a grateful balmy sleep wrapped his senses like a\nmantle.\n\nThen the Queen softly detached the gauzy wings, and handed them to her\npage, Lightwing, charging him to guard them carefully. The little\nmother lay with her cheek in her hand, never stirring, and the kitten\nlooked on this time with a friendly purr; and just as the first day\nglimpse had gilded the hill-tops, the fairy train had vanished into\nthe sweet hazy mist of the MIDSUMMER MORN.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHILDREN'S LIFE.\n\n\nMidsummer morning broke in gorgeous, glorious brightness. Light fleecy\nclouds floated swiftly over the blue heaven; a crisp fresh wind curled\nthe waters of the Hudson; and the beautiful little island opposite\nWest Point lay on its bosom like an emerald; its green banks clasped\nby the loving tide.\n\nWith the first drum-beat, the happy Nightcap children were up and\ndressed; and having, with more gratitude than usual, thanked their\nHeavenly Father for so many blessings, they went first to inquire how\ntheir dear brother Charley had passed the night.\n\n\"Hush!\" said the little mother, as they came to the door, \"don't\nchatter now; Charley is still sleeping; do not make any noise; see how\nlovely he looks.\"\n\nThe children crept in on tiptoe, and gazed lovingly at the sleeping\nboy. At that moment a warm glow flashed suddenly into his cheek, and\nhis lips parted in a glad smile.\n\n\"Oh! see, see!\" whispered the children, \"Charley is dreaming; perhaps\nhe is talking to the fairies the doctor told us about; when he awakes\nwe will ask him.\"\n\nThen they went softly down stairs and out into the fresh delicious\nair. The birds were chanting their morning hymns; the lawn was golden\ngreen with the sun's rays, and spangled with dew. Bees were dreamily\nhumming over the wealth of honeysuckles and roses that covered the\ncottage-wall, gathering their sweet and fragrant food at their\nleisure.\n\nThe children felt the blessed influences of all these lovely works of\nthe great Creator in an increase (if such a thing were possible) of\ntheir happiness and joy.\n\nYou would have thought they were made of corks, so lightly did they\nskip here and there, running round the trees after each other, the\nboys turning somersets on the grass, and the girls declaring that they\ncould get to the top of Crow Nest with only a hop, skip, and jump.\n\n\"Oh, delightful!\" cried George, \"to get up a mountain with three\nsteps! you'll have to borrow Jack's seven-leagued boots. I wonder who\nlives on the top?\"\n\n\"Why, the crows, to be sure,\" said Harry, \"and they keep up _such_ a\ntalking; it is like a hail-storm all the time; you never heard any\nthing like the way crows can scold. If one crow is caught stealing,\nall the rest caw and croak at him, till he very nearly goes into fits,\nand then they all fly at him till he hasn't a feather left; I read all\nabout it in my Natural History.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" cried little Minnie, \"how I like to hear stories about fishes!\ntell another crow story.\"\n\nWhile the children were good-naturedly laughing and explaining to\nMinnie that a crow was a bird, their mother appeared at the\ncottage-door and said, \"Breakfast, children.\"\n\nIn they all rushed, quite ready for the nice corn-bread, boiled eggs,\nand _real milk_--not _milkman's_ milk--but they looked round in some\nsurprise for Charley.\n\n\"He is still sleeping,\" said the little mother, \"and smiling in his\nsleep; this quiet rest will do him so much good, I hope. Oh, my\nprecious Charley!\" she exclaimed, \"if I could only keep you a little\nlonger;\" and her eyes filled with tears.\n\nThe children looked sad and grave, and two or three went round and\nkissed their mother, and patted her kind cheek, and said they were\nsure Charley was better. After breakfast they stole softly up stairs\nto look again at their darling brother.\n\nCharley was sitting up in bed as they entered: a strange bewildered\nexpression was upon his face, and he had his hands behind him, trying\nto feel his shoulders.\n\n\"Do come here, George,\" said he, \"and see if there are wings upon my\nback.\"\n\n\"WINGS!!!\" shouted the children in amazement, \"what _can_ Charley\nmean?\"\n\n\"Yes, _wings_,\" replied Charley; \"the fairy Queen fastened them upon\nmy back last night, and I went with her and her beautiful maids of\nhonor to the Midsummer ball. Oh! how delightful it was, and how I\nlonged for you!\"\n\n\"Goodness!\" exclaimed the children, \"did you really go? How perfect!\nDid you ever? Why didn't they take us, too? Oh, Charley! do begin at\nthe very beginning, and tell us all about it. Won't you? Say! do, come!\"\n\nClustering around the bed, their eyes fastened upon his face,\nbreathless with wonder and delight, and with no end of exclamations,\nthey listened to the enchanting account of Charley's adventures. The\nlittle mother came in the room just at the end; upon which they all\nrushed at her in a body, and told the amazing story over again, all\ntalking at the same time; and the little mother said quite as many\n\"Ahs\" and \"Ohs\" and \"did you evers\" as they did. But she smiled\nlovingly at her lame boy, and parting the golden curls on his white\nforehead, and kissing him tenderly, whispered, \"My darling knows that\nhe has been DREAMING.\"\n\nWas it a dream?\n\nCharley was so much better that day, that the good doctor, when he\ncame, was astonished; and when he heard that the fairies had done him\nthe honor to take him to their Midsummer festival, he was delighted,\nas well as astonished, and laughingly declared that the elves had\nrobbed him of his patient. \"Why, Charley,\" he continued, \"if the fairy\nQueen can put such a rosy color in your cheeks, and such a sparkle in\nyour eyes in one night, she beats me all to pieces at doctoring. I\nshall have to give you up to her, and only come here every day to make\na social call, so that you and I, two old fellows, can have a talk\nabout the state of the country. But I may as well put my pills and\npowders into one of the cannons, and fire them off at some of the fine\nladies who go about, sweeping the parade-ground with their furbelowed\ndresses, and think they are dying of dyspepsia, when all they want is\nsome useful occupation. I have lots of them to make bread pills for,\nand I may as well let the fairies have my dear little friend here.\"\n\nJust at that instant the drums made a prodigious clatter, and the\nchildren started up to see what it meant.\n\n\"It is the call for the cavalry drill,\" said the doctor; \"you had\nbetter run.\"\n\nOff scampered the children to the edge of the parade-ground, their\neyes dancing with expectation and eagerness.\n\nOn their way they passed the encampment; they gazed at the snow-white\ntents of the cadets with the utmost interest, and indeed would rather\nhave lived in these delightful canvas houses, than in a king's palace.\n\n\"Oh! Harry!\" exclaimed Anna, \"I wonder if we mightn't just peep into\none of them.\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" answered Harry, who was always ready for adventures, and\nhe lifted up the opening of the tent nearest.\n\n\"Oh! what a perfect place!\" he cried; \"come! look!\" and he disappeared\nwithin.\n\n[Illustration: NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.]\n\nThe children all peeped in, their heads looking like a bunch of\ngrapes, all piled one on top of the other; while Harry, inside,\npretended he was a showman, and made them a speech.\n\n\"Walk in, ladies and gentlemen,\" he said, \"and see the show--all for\nsixpence; children half price. Here you have one small bed, or humble\ncot, one camp stool, one very small looking-glass, on the back of\nwhich,\" he continued, turning it suddenly over, \"is a picture of the\ngreat Napoleon Bonaparte, running away, with his drawn sword in one\nhand, and a leg of mutton in the other; while just below is another of\nan old cadet, poking a young one with his bayonet.\"\n\nThe children were laughing heartily over these specimens of the fine\narts, drawn by one of the cadets, when\n\nBang! tr-tr-tr-tr-tr-tr. Bang! tr-tr-tr-tr-tr-tr went the drums again.\nOff they hurried to the parade-ground, and there, out in the bright\nmorning sunlight, which came down like \"flickering gold\" through the\nglowing air, galloped that fierce and brave Colonel Hardie, who looked\nas if he should consider it the merest trifle to fight a dozen enemies\nat once, and kill them all, as a matter of course.\n\nAnd out galloped a regiment of cadets, while Colonel Hardie, wheeling\nround, awaited their coming.\n\nWith their drawn swords flashing in the glorious brightness, and the\ngallant Colonel now at their head; they wheeled about, and turned\nabout, dashed here and there, suddenly advancing, then as suddenly\nretreating, with their horses rearing and prancing, and snorting and\ndancing, till you would have been sure they were in the greatest\npossible hurry to rush full tilt at somebody, no matter who, and\ninstantly run them through with their sharp naked swords, without\ngiving them a ghost of a chance to cry \"Quarter.\"\n\nThe children looked on with great eyes and a kind of delicious fear,\nand were almost crazy after the drill was over, to run and beg the\ncadets to lend them their horses and swords, so as to practise the\ncavalry drill themselves.\n\nThey walked on the edge of the parade-ground, looking all around them\nwith the most amused and delighted interest; at times fairly singing\nand skipping for joy, and eagerly planning long walks and voyages of\ndiscovery.\n\nMinnie thought there must be a \"day party\" somewhere, the people were\ndressed so fine, and everybody seemed so very happy.\n\nNumbers of elegantly dressed ladies were walking about, and some\nfine-looking officers were paying them all the compliments they could\nthink of. In the midst of a group of gentlemen, high above them all,\ntowered the majestic form of the brave General Scott, who has won so\nmany battles for us in Mexico, and who is Commander-in-Chief of all\nthe soldiers in our country. The children looked at him with the\ngreatest admiration; and the boys made up their minds that it was\nabsolutely necessary they should be soldiers when they grew up; and\nthey would have given all they possessed to sleep now in the canvas\ntents like the brave cadets.\n\nAnd now the children began to descend a winding path, and wandered\ndown a beautiful road where the trees met overhead. The air was\nfragrant with the woodbine which curled round the trunks of the trees,\nwhile, at their feet, tiny harebells and the purple violet modestly\npeeped up.\n\nJumping, skipping, and gathering wild flowers, they came at length to\na lovely open space scooped out of the rock, as it seemed, in the\ncentre of which is a crystal spring, which comes up sweet and clear\ninto a stone basin.\n\nUpon this basin they read the name of the great \"Kosciusko;\" and this\nwas his garden, where he used to sit for many hours in the day reading\nhis book, or admiring the glorious works of God spread before him. The\nchildren looked with love and admiration upon the name and place where\nthe good and brave Pole had been; and the boys audibly hoped that they\nwould do something very noble and brave when they grew up, so that\neverybody might speak well of them.\n\nAs they drew near the house, they saw a lady sitting in the bowery\nporch with their mother.\n\n\"Goodness!\" cried half a dozen of them, \"it's Aunt Fanny! Did you\never?\" And thereupon they charged like a company of cadets going to\nfire on the run, and shot Aunt Fanny with a whole volley of kisses.\n\nIt was really a wonder she looked so well after it; fifty kisses in a\nminute is pretty severe loving; but Aunt Fanny only laughed when she\ncould catch her breath, and, taking Minnie on her lap, asked what\nparticular fun and mischief they had been about lately.\n\nThen didn't they have a grand time, telling about their journey? and\nthe wonderful fairy adventures of Charley? And Charley, who was\nsitting leaning against his mother, declared that he could not have\ndreamt them, because he remembered them all so well, and he had felt\nso much better ever since the beautiful fairy Queen had taken him in\ncharge.\n\n\"Why,\" cried Aunt Fanny, \"I shall have to go back to Idlewild, where I\npassed two delightful hours this morning, right away, and tell all\nthis to the lovely children I saw there. I am sure Edith, and Daisy,\nand sweet little Bailey, would go straightway down to their beautiful\nGlen, to hunt up the fairies that no doubt live there hidden under the\nferns and mosses, so fairily fine and delicate.\n\n\"O Aunt Fanny!\" cried the children, \"do tell us about Idlewild and\ndear little Edith, and Daisy, and Bailey Idlewild.\"\n\n\"That is not the name of the children, you monkeys,\" said Aunt Fanny,\nlaughing, \"any more than you are Harry and Minnie Nightcap. It is the\nfanciful, dreamily sweet name of the place; and the pure life and\nneighborly love ever adorning and brightening that graceful and kindly\nhouse-roof, make June sunshine all over the lovely place the year\nround.\"\n\n\"Ah! how delightful it must be,\" cried the children; \"do tell us, Aunt\nFanny, all about your visit.\"\n\n\"Well, to begin at the beginning, I went up to Cornwall upon some\nbusiness, and I staid all night at a house just this side of the\nbeautiful Idlewild Glen. In the evening I was invited to go to a\nSunday-school celebration; I was very glad to get this invitation,\nbecause I love children so much. The services were all very\ninteresting, but the best thing of all was a most beautiful story\nwhich was told, to prove the blessed effect of love upon the heart,\nand how much better it was to govern by _love_, than by fear and\ncontinual punishment.\"\n\n\"_We_ know that!\" exclaimed the children, \"that's the very way mother\ngoverns us--don't you, mamma?\" and they all had to give her a kiss\nbefore they said, \"Please go on, Aunt Fanny; do tell us the story.\"\n\n\"The teacher said it was true, every word of it, but I do not know\nwhether he got it out of a book, or whether it happened to some\nchildren he knew; perhaps you have read it already.\"\n\n\"O dear! no, we haven't, I'm sure,\" said the children, \"and if we\nhave, your way of telling it will make it new again. Come, Aunt Fanny,\ntell the story.\"\n\n\"Well, then, here it is--Once on a time a good old farmer said to his\nwife, 'Wife, you know poor neighbor Jones died a little while ago, and\nhis little son Johnny is left alone in the world. Suppose we take him?\nOne more will make very little difference. Shall we?'\n\n\"'O deary me! no,' said the wife, 'I wouldn't have him among our\nchildren for any thing! Why, he's worse than a little heathen!'\n\n\"'So he is,' said the farmer, 'I'm a little afraid to try it\nmyself--that's a fact!'\n\n\"Now while the old farmer was talking, he was also busily engaged in\neating his dinner of pork and greens, and his children had kept their\nears open, and had heard all that was said.\n\n\"Presently one of the boys, whose name was Luke, looked up and said,\n'Father, you know we send _one good missionary_ among a _great many\nheathen_. Now, why can't we bring this _one little heathen_ among a\ngreat many good people? I'll lend Johnny my kite and ball, and we'll\nbe so kind to him he will never _want_ to be bad. Father, WE'LL LOVE\nHIM GOOD.'\n\n\"The good old farmer, who tried his best to keep God's holy\ncommandments, and especially to 'love his neighbor,' thought this an\nexcellent plan; so he brought Johnny home with him the very next day.\n\n\"Sure enough, Johnny was worse than any heathen. He broke the good\nlittle boy's ball, tore his kite all to pieces, pulled little Susie's\nhair, pinched the baby, kicked the small children, and butted the\nlarge boys with his head, and, in short, behaved so badly, that they\nwere all nearly crying: still they would not give up Luke's plan, but\nkept on trying to be kind to him.\n\n\"But it was all of no use; Johnny was really a dreadful boy. At last\nthe old farmer said, 'Well, we can't go on so with Johnny; he must\nhave obedience knocked into him like a nail in a plank of wood. I must\ntry if I can't whip him into better behavior:' so he beat the bad\nboy, and whipped him, and shook him till his teeth rattled in his\nhead, and his hair was all in a friz about his eyes. But, alas! it did\nno good; Johnny was as bad as ever.\n\n\"Then the farmer said, 'Wife, this is a very bad business; whipping\ndoes not make Johnny any better; we must try if we can't STARVE the\nobstinacy out of him.'\n\n\"'I don't like to do that,' said the wife.\n\n\"'But it must be done,' answered the old farmer; 'it is our duty to\ntry to make him a good boy.'\n\n\"So they shut him up in the great garret, where paper bags of dried\nherbs, and strings of red peppers, and great cobwebs, kept him\ncompany. They gave him nothing to eat and drink but dry bread and a\ncup of water.\n\n\"Every now and then the farmer's wife would come, tap at the door, and\nsay, 'Johnny, will you be good _now_?' and Johnny would shout out in a\nfierce defiant voice, 'No! no! I won't! You may lock me up forever and\never, and I won't be good.' So the poor farmer's wife would heave a\nsigh and go away.\n\n\"All the morning little Susie had been very silent, with the tears\njust trembling on her eyelids. She felt very much grieved that Johnny\nwas such a bad boy, and she could not bear to think of him in the\nlonely garret with no company but his wicked thoughts: so, after\ndinner, she crept softly up to her mother, and said, 'Mother, I think\nI can get Johnny to be good, if you will let me try.'\n\n\"'Well,' said her mother, smoothing her hair lovingly, 'what is your\nplan?'\n\n\"'Why, mother,' answered the little girl, 'I will go and tell Johnny\nthat I will be locked up instead of him, and he may go play with my\ndear little boat that brother made, and named for me.'\n\n\"The mother looked at her a moment with a loving tear swelling in her\neyes, then she said, 'Very well, you may go.'\n\n\"So Susie took down the key of the garret, which hung behind the door,\nand went up stairs, unlocked the door, and then tapped gently.\n'Johnny, may I come in?' said she.\n\n\"'What do you want _now_?' grumbled the bad boy. Susie went in, and\ngoing softly up to him, she said--'Johnny, mother says you may go\nand play with my little boat this afternoon, and I will be locked up\ninstead.'\n\n\"I am ashamed to say that Johnny was mean enough to accept this offer,\nand let the little girl bear his punishment; for without even stopping\nto thank her, he started up and made off, slamming the door behind\nhim, and locking it with a spiteful snap.\n\n\"He had a famous time sailing the pretty little boat in the brook; and\nonly came in at tea-time--as hungry as a bear.\n\n\"After he had eaten a hearty meal of bread and butter, baked pears,\nand a great piece of nice gingerbread, he noticed that the farmer's\nwife commenced to clear away the things, and then he remembered poor\nlittle Susie. He sat silent a good while, but at last he could not\nstand it any longer, and he said--'Say? ain't you agoing to give that\nlittle gal up stairs any tea? say?'\n\n\"'Yes, Johnny,' answered the mother, 'you can take this to her,' and\nshe handed him a piece of dry bread on a plate.\n\n\"Johnny took the plate, carried it up stairs, and began to kick and\nbang at the door--Thump! bump! thump!\n\n\"'Unlock it and come in,' cried Susie. So Johnny did so, and went in;\nbut when he saw the dear little child sitting there so patiently and\nsmiling at him, a strange trembling came to his lips, and without\nsaying a word, he put down the plate, and darted away.\n\n\"All that night Susie staid in the garret, and slept as quietly and\nsweetly as if she had been in her own little room.\n\n\"When the next day came, Johnny felt very much like asking pardon for\nhis bad conduct, and begging that Susie might come down from her\ncaptivity, while he took her place; but the sun was shining\ngloriously, and Johnny thought of the little boat; and so, driving\naway the good thoughts and impulses, he eat his breakfast, snatched up\nthe boat, and ran out to play.\n\n\"When dinner-time came, he was the very first to come in, he was so\nhungry; and soon after the rest of the family, _except_ one, took\ntheir places.\n\n\"'Where's Susie?' asked Johnny.\n\n\"'She is locked up in the garret,' said her mother.\n\n\"'Can't she have any dinner?'\n\n\"'Yes; she can have some dry bread;' and the farmer's wife gave him a\npiece on a plate, as before.\n\n\"Johnny took it, and went slowly up stairs. He opened the door. There\nsat Susie, patient and silent. He put the plate beside her, but\ninstead of going away, he stood looking at her in silence.\n\n\"Presently he burst out with--'Susie! you're a fool, I say! a perfect\nfool! Before I'd let myself be locked up, I'd--I'd--' here Johnny\nstopped; a great lump came into his throat, and was choking him. He\ndrew in his breath with a painful sob, and then burst into an agony of\ntears, and rushing up to Susie, he threw his arms about her neck, and\ncried out--\n\n\"'O Susie! Susie! please forgive me. I'll never be so bad again,\nnever. They might have whipped me forever, and starved me forever, and\nit would just have made me worse; but you (and here the great tears\ncame fast and faster)--you have LOVED ME GOOD.'\"\n\n\"O----h!\" cried the children, taking long breaths, and wiping their\neyes, \"how lovely!--what a good, _GOOD_ story--what a dear, darling\nSusie! She must have heard of mamma, when she wanted to _LOVE_ Johnny\ngood.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Aunt Fanny, \"I think she was very much like your dear\nmother, and you children can hardly know what a blessed lot is yours,\nin having a mother who rules you by LOVE.\"\n\n\"Yes, we do! yes, we do!\" cried the children; we know she is a perfect\ndarling; and thereupon the little mother underwent a series of\ncaresses quite alarming to witness.\n\n\"And now about my visit to Idlewild,\" said Aunt Fanny, when they were\nonce more quiet. \"Soon after breakfast I commenced my walk. I had to\ncross the wild and beautiful ravine. I am afraid I looked a little\nlike a figure of fun, scrambling and scratching down the slippery\ndescent. I have no doubt some of Charley's fairies were laughing at me\nall the time; and I am sure the beautiful little waterfall did, as it\ncame joyously dancing down the great black rocks. Really, some of the\nplaces were as slippery as ice; and I had to go a-sliding in the\nsummer time, whether I wanted to or not.\"\n\n\"How nice!\" cried the children; \"that would just have suited the old\nwoman in Mother Goose, who wanted her children to slide on dry ground.\nYou can't drown that way, you know.\"\n\n\"Not exactly; but at last I stood upon the famous zigzag bridge, which\nis only a single plank with a railing on one side, made of a long,\nslender sapling. And now, how lovely the scene was that I looked\nupon! The sun came in dimples and ripples of light through the trees,\nand the waterfall, with its soft white foam, talked to me in a voice\nfull of power and beauty, of the greatness and goodness of God.\n\n\"When I got to the house, I was welcomed by its fair and gentle\nmistress with a simple courtesy, that made me feel at home at once.\nVery soon a sweet little maiden came to me, and shyly offered her\nhand; she told me her name was Daisy, and then she called her baby\nbrother. He was afraid of me at first, but when I said, 'Why, Bailey,\nI know all about you. I know how you fed the little birds last\nwinter'\"--\n\n\"Oh,\" interrupted the children, \"how did he feed the little birds,\nAunt Fanny?\"\n\n\"If you will put me in mind, I will tell you by and by. Then Bailey\nlooked at me when I said that, with wide-open eyes; and I continued,\n'I know all about the peacock, too, so I do--more, too.'\n\n\"Then he came right up to me, and laid his dear little curly head in\nmy lap, and looking up in my face with his merry, bright blue eyes, he\nsaid--'I've got a horse.'\n\n\"'Why, no! You don't tell me so!' I exclaimed. 'Why, I'm astonished!\nHow many legs has he?'\n\n\"'Two, nailed fast, and two, kicking up in the air.'\n\n\"'My patience! what a horse!' said I.\n\n\"'But come!' said the little darling fellow, pulling at my dress,\n'come see my horse! come!'\n\n\"So Daisy and the mother, and Bailey and I, went out of the room. Of\ncourse I expected to be conducted to the stables; but we began to\nmount the stairs, and up we went till we arrived at the third story,\nBailey holding me fast by the hand. We went into a large room--the\nchildren's play-room--from the windows of which there was a\nmagnificent view. Sitting at one of them, was the kind,\nmotherly-looking nurse, to whom I was introduced as to an old friend.\nAs I pressed her hand, her eyes turned fondly upon her mistress and\nthe lovely children. I looked around, and sure enough, in one corner\nwas a prancing charger, standing on his hind legs, which were made\nfast to a spring rocker, while the others were kicking up in the air,\njust as Bailey had told me.\n\n\"Then the little fellow was lifted up on his horse, and I said, \"Get\nup, pony;\" and then all of a sudden such a funny little shy fit came\nover Bailey, that down went his curly head on the horse's neck, and he\nvery nearly tumbled off. After that he dismounted, and pulling down\nthe prancing legs of the horse, got between them, and holding fast, he\nhad a fine ride after an ingenious invention of his own; for, as the\nhorse's legs rose in the air, up went little Bailey, and then down he\ncame with a funny little stamp of his feet on the carpet, which sent\nhim into the air again.\n\n\"Then the dear little fair-haired Daisy showed me her birds,\n'Buttercup' and 'Primrose,' and two others whose names I did not hear;\nand then we went down stairs again.\n\n\"In the charming library we met another daughter, a lovely young lady,\nand a friend who was visiting her. I knew this young lady before, and\nloved her very much; and I was very glad to meet her; and you may be\nsure we were very merry together.\n\n\"Just then we heard Bailey's voice in the hall, lifted up in loud\nwailing and weeping. We all rushed out, thinking the sweet little\nfellow had fallen down stairs. But he was safe, though the great tears\nwere running down his cheeks; and he sobbed out, 'Mamma! mamma! Edith\nwon't come to see Aunt Fanny!' Dear little fellow! It seems that\nEdith was the shyest little maiden in the world, and Bailey, in his\nloving endeavor to get her to come to me, had first coaxed her, then\nkissed her over and over again, and at last, broken-hearted about it,\nhad burst into loud crying. Edith stood at the turn of the stairs,\nready to dart away; and when I said, 'Do come, darling--come, little\nEdith,' she fled like a frightened fawn, upon which Bailey began\nlamenting again, and I had hard work to bring the peace once more into\nhis little, loving, troubled heart.\n\n\"When we returned to the room, Miss Laura, the young lady who was\nvisiting the family, told a funny story about Bailey. She was walking\nin the beautiful glen before breakfast, and frolicking round her were\nGouldy, and Caesar, and Bailey.\"\n\n\"Were they all boys? or what?\" asked the children.\n\n\"Not exactly, for two of them were dogs; but far better and gentler\ncompanions than _some_ boys I know. Gouldy was a dear old fellow, that\nwould not have hurt a hair of your head for a thousand dollars in\ngold, even if he knew about or cared for money; and Caesar--Oh! he was\nsomething and somebody very extra indeed.\"\n\n\"What! did he have horns on his head?\" asked Harry.\n\n[Illustration: DR. KANE AND CAESAR IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS.]\n\n\"Not a horn; but he once belonged to the good and famous Dr. Kane, the\ngreat Arctic explorer; and Caesar had seen as many icebergs and\nwhite bears as he wanted to, and a few over, I imagine; for Dr. Kane\ngave him to his friend, the owner of Idlewild; and the good dog tells\nhis new master every day by an extra flourish of his tail, how happy\nhe is, and how much he loves to live in such a lovely place, and with\nsuch lovely children.\n\n\"Well, as I was telling you, the dogs and little Bailey were\nscampering here and there, while Miss Laura walked in the glen,\nthinking how sweetly the rippling golden light came down through the\ngreen leaves. After a while she thought it was time to return, so she\ncalled--'Come, Gouldy, come, Caesar, come, Bailey. It is time to go\nhome.' Up bounded the two dogs at her bidding, but the darling little\nrogue, Bailey, pretended to be very busy looking for something in the\ngrass. Then the dogs, seeing that _he_ did not mind, went leaping off,\ntumbling over each other, pretending to bite, and growling at a great\nrate. So Miss Laura walked a few steps nearer Bailey, and called\nagain--'Come, Gouldy, come, Caesar, come, _Bailey_.' The dogs ran to\nher as before, but Bailey walked as grave as any deacon, and looking\nsideways at her, with a merry twinkle in his blue eyes, and a comical\nlittle chuckle, he said--'Miss Laura, there is no _dog_ of that name\nin this place.' His face looked so full of fun and mischief, that Miss\nLaura screamed out laughing, and then Bailey laughed, and was very\nglad he had been so funny.\"\n\n\"What a funny little fellow,\" exclaimed the children, \"to make believe\nMiss Laura did not mean him when she called. I _do_ wish he could come\nand play with us. He's a darling! Well, please go on Aunt Fanny.\"\n\n\"While we were sitting in the parlor, Bailey brought me a superb book\nof engravings to look at. They were flowers. I only wish you could\nhave heard him telling me the long names, slowly and carefully, in\nsuch a sweet little voice--'This is the Rho-de-den-dron,' and then\ngiving a quick, satisfied sigh, because he had gotten it all right.\nWhen he showed me a picture of a splendid lily, I looked at the\nbeautiful flower, and then at his innocent baby-brow, and in his\nunclouded eyes, through which the immortal soul shone purer and\nwhiter than any lily, and softly said--'Consider the lilies of the\nfield; they toil not, neither do they spin;' and as I bent over to\nkiss this immortal lily, I heard the gentle little mother murmur--'Yet\nSolomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.' Truly the\ninnocence of a little child invests him with a greater glory than any\nthis world can give. Why may we not always retain it, pure and\nundefiled?\n\n\"At last the carriage came to take me away; and they all bid me a kind\nadieu; and Bailey and Daisy kissed me so lovingly, that I felt the\nkisses all the way to my heart, where I mean to keep the memory of\nthem as long as I live. Wonderful to relate, something happened at the\nvery last moment, that made Bailey dance with delight, for Edith, shy\nEdith, ran to me and put up her sweet pink and white cheek for a kiss;\nand so I left beautiful Idlewild, a very happy Aunt Fanny.\"\n\nThe children were delighted with this account, which Minnie called \"a\nvery nice _inscription_.\"\n\n\"And now about the birds, Aunt Fanny. You know you told us to put you\nin mind.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes. Well, I will try to remember what I read in the Home Journal\na year ago about the dear little winter birds at Idlewild.\"\n\n\"There is a charming study at the north-west corner of the house; and\nthe father of Daisy, and Edith, and Bailey, began his beautiful little\nstory, by saying that he had two very sociable sets of visitors in\nhis study early every morning. First the little folks jump out of\ntheir beds, and run in to him in their slippers and nightgowns, just\nas Laina the cook, with her kind dark face, comes along with the\ntea-tray for him, and bread for the second set of visitors. The\nchildren crumble the bread very joyfully and carefully, and the window\nis quickly opened, (for it is winter, and snowing,) and the\nbread-feast is spread out over the roof of the portico.\n\n\"Then the children cluster round the fire, and talk about the dogs and\nthe peacock and their lessons, keeping one eye upon the window, near\nwhich the snow-white hemlocks are bowing in the wintry wind.\n\n\"Presently--'Hush! There they are!' and the little nightgowns flutter\nsoftly to the window, and gaze lovingly at fifteen or twenty little\nbirds, in only their bare feet and feathers, who have come with the\nfirst peep of dawn, and are made happy with a bountiful breakfast.\nThey were dear old birds, that had been before, and no doubt some\ninvited friends. Such a nice time as they all have! inside the window\nand out; and the children are so delighted that they can soften the\nwinter for those poor little houseless ones out in the cold, who,\nremembering the kindness of last year, came so trustingly again. It\nwas this confidence and love that was shown by the dear little birds,\nthat made the children so glad; and a rosier, happier troop of little\nfolk, could hardly be found than this early morning party in Idlewild\nstudy.\"\n\n\"Oh! oh! how sweet! how lovely!\" cried the children. \"How we wish we\nlived at Idlewild, or at any rate in the country, where we could feed\nthe little birds. We wish it would snow like every thing this very\nminute.\"\n\nAunt Fanny laughed, and said she was delighted, the story had pleased\nthem so much, but was afraid she had not done it justice, as it had\nbeen most beautifully told in the Home Journal; but she could not\nremember the exact words.\n\n[Illustration: THE WICKED WATER FAIRY.]\n\nAfter tea that evening, the whole family went out in a large row-boat.\nIt was bright moonlight. A light breeze stole through the\ntree-tops, making soft music; and it was so still and sweet on the\nwater, that everybody felt a thrill of delight.\n\nCharley had been carried down to the water, and he sat in the bow of\nthe boat, leaning his head upon his mother's breast. He was in no\npain, and soothed by the measured and musical drip of the oars, he\nclosed his blue eyes and fell into a sweet sleep.\n\nIn a few moments he was awakened by a tap upon his arm; opening his\neyes, he beheld, close by him, seated upon the back of a flying-fish,\nan ugly kelpie, or water-fairy, with a malevolent, evil aspect, who\nregarded him with a look of hate.\n\n\"Come out of the boat! come out of the boat!\" he said, in a baleful\nwhisper.\n\nSpite of his terror and shrinking, Charley felt himself impelled to\nlean over and look down into the moon-lit water.\n\nOh! what frightful forms he saw! Some riding on crabs, some on great\nleeches, and more on the backs of flying-fishes, who took tremendous\nleaps in the air, while their riders uttered frantic yells of delight.\n\n[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF THE FAIRIES.]\n\nThe poor boy felt that some horrible but irresistible power was\ndragging him down, down into the deep water, where these wicked imps\nwould bury him in some dark cave. He struggled to resist the impulse\nto plunge, but it grew stronger and stronger, till, with a faint moan\nof despair, he was just yielding to his hapless fate, when the sound\nof distant fairy music broke upon his ear, and raising his head, he\nbeheld, riding swiftly down on the moonbeams, in all the pomp and\nblazonry of military equipment, a band of armed fairy knights, with\nFirefly at their head. On they came, with dash and hurry, and soon the\nair was darkened with arrows and javelins hurled at the hateful\nwater-sprites.\n\nFast and sharp they came, and in a very few moments a still more\nbrilliant light gleamed from the eyes of the victorious army, as the\nkelpies, after a short but furious resistance, sank yelling with rage\nand disappointment beneath the wave, and the water became still and\nglassy as before.\n\nThe agitated boy heard a tiny but hearty shout of triumph, and then\nthe brave little fairy soldiers, after kissing their hands and waving\ntheir gossamer scarfs at Charley, turned and flew on their light and\nwinged steeds, towards the beautiful hollow from which the good Queen\nhad sent them, for she knew, by her fairy power, the danger her\nbeloved Charley was in.\n\nThe music, faint and sweet, lingered till the last lance had flashed\nin the moonbeams, as it disappeared over the tall tree-tops, and then\nit died insensibly away, so lingering were the delicious notes.\n\nThen the wondering boy looking round, saw only the bright moon, the\nstill water, and the row-boat full of his brothers and sisters.\n\n\"Why, Charley,\" said his mother, kissing him, \"you have had a nice\nlittle sleep; haven't you?\"\n\n\"Sleep? Oh no!\" answered the bewildered child. \"Did you see the\nbattle?\"\n\n\"BATTLE!\" screamed all the children. \"Why, Charley, you must be\ngetting crazy!\"\n\n\"Not at all,\" said Charley, very earnestly, \"this time it really\nhappened;\" and he told of the battle of the fairies, while the\nchildren opened their eyes and mouths so wide with astonishment, that\ntheir faces looked all holes; and they stared with all their might up\nat the moonbeams and down into the water, in the hope that at least\nsome one fairy might have found it necessary to see Charley safe on\ndry land; but I am sorry to have to relate that they were not\ngratified with a sight, though their very eye-balls stuck out, so\nintense and eager did they look, and so sure was Charley that he had\nnot been asleep.\n\n_Had he been asleep?_\n\nAnd now, for more than a month after this, Charley and the rest of the\nchildren lived a most delightful life. They were up at drum-beat\nevery morning. They would not have missed a parade on any account\nwhatever, that is, all except Charley, and he enjoyed it almost as\nmuch as the rest. They were so enthusiastic and glowing in their\ndescriptions. They even went to a stag-dance at night, and almost\nkilled themselves laughing at the cadets.\n\nThis stag-dance is performed on the green. A ring is formed, and a\ntallow candle is stuck in a cut potato, and placed at intervals round\nthe circle; and within this not very brilliant illumination, the\ncadets dance with each other to the excellent music of the band. Those\nwho personate ladies, take hold of their little bob-tailed jackets,\nand prink and mince, and take fine airs upon themselves, and look so\nprecisely like fine ladies, that the real fine ladies looking at them,\nwant to give them a good shaking.\n\nBut the children went off into fits of laughter at the long and\nquizzical shadows on the ground. When the cadets dance a figure, their\nshadows look like a company of sickly, melancholy monkeys, which dodge\nabout in a distracting way, and look so irresistibly funny, that\neverybody shouts with laughter--and it is a very merry spectacle.\n\nThen this pleasant family had the most delightful tea parties in an\narbor at the back of the house. To be sure the ear-wigs and\ndaddy-long-legs, _would_ drop into their tea once in a while, making\nthem first squeal, and jump up, and then laugh, and a grasshopper or\ntwo, _would_ hop suddenly on the cake, and hop more suddenly off,\nbefore they could catch him; but what of that? Some people shriek so\nif a grasshopper hops near them, you would think it was an elephant\ncome to pack them up in his trunk, for the rest of their lives; but\nthese children had more sense, and did not mind a little insect a\nthousand times smaller than themselves.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnd now I must come to a sad, sad part of my story--I dread to begin\nit--and would gladly have told you a great deal more about the\nfairies, and what they did for Charley; but Mr. Appleton says, you\nwould not like to have the same story go through two books, and this,\nI am afraid, is already too long.\n\nBut I must relate one circumstance. Charley had retired to his little\nbed one evening earlier than usual; dark, lowering clouds had sped\nquickly over the sky, soon after he fell asleep. The tops of the high\ntrees, skirting the fairy hollow, waved restlessly to and fro, and the\nangry growls of the thunder portended a violent storm. This night,\nthere was to have been a festival in the beautiful hollow.\n\nAs the fairies flew along in the troubled air, and the Queen tried\nvainly to charm away the coming tempest, (for they were to carry\nCharley to the hollow that night,) a dark form, like gathered mist,\nwent slowly past, her head bent, her arms folded.\n\nAnd now, the lightnings came with a blinding glare, and the grand\nbooming of Heaven's artillery awoke the solemn echoes. Fast the\naffrighted, shuddering fairies sped away, to hide under the fern\nleaves, and in the tiny caves at the foot of the rocks. But the misty,\nshadowy form still floated past, till it arrived at the open window of\nCharley's room.\n\n[Illustration: THE ANGEL OF DEATH.]\n\nWith noiseless motion it glided to the bed, bent over Charley, and\nwhispered in a soft, sweet voice, \"Beloved one, you are taken away in\nyour early and lovely spring-time, because for you, to live, is to\nsuffer. You will go where there are no storms, no sorrows, no\nsufferings; clasped in my arms, you will sleep, and be at rest\nforever.\"\n\nAnd Charley smiled lovingly upon the ANGEL OF DEATH, and his sleep\ngrew deeper, and calmer, and sweeter. But the next day, he told his\nmother, and sisters, and brothers, of his mournful visitor, who had\npassed out of the window into the veiling clouds, and disappeared. The\nchildren burst into passionate weeping, and clasped him in their arms,\nand refused to let him go. The little mother knew he had been\n_dreaming as before_; but alas! she knew also only too well, that her\ndarling's time had come. He suffered no pain; but he became weaker and\nweaker, and life was slowly but surely ebbing away. Consumption, that\nfell disease, had nearly finished her baleful work, and his lamp of\nlife, flickering and dim, would soon pass away into the dark valley of\nthe shadow of death.\n\nGod knew best, and in His infinite wisdom saw fit to take Charley out\nof this wearisome world, in which, if he had lived, he would suffer so\nmuch.\n\nBut the child was so much beloved. _He was the sunlight of the house_;\nand the pang of parting would be so cruel. They knew that they would\nmeet again in the place Jesus had prepared for them in His Father's\nhouse--they knew _that_; but how could they help grieving now?\n\nThe good doctor came every day, and used his utmost skill, for he\ndearly loved the sweet, patient child; but it was of no avail,\nCharley's everlasting HOME was ready for him.\n\nSlowly and sadly the poor children wandered around; for their sorrow\npressed like a weight upon them. They would come softly to his\nbedside, smooth his golden hair, and kiss his forehead, and hope he\nwould yet get well; then seeing his pallid face, and little wasted\nhands lying so still outside of the white bedspread, they would go\nhastily away, and shed bitter, bitter tears; vainly struggling to\nrepress them, lest he should hear and be grieved.\n\nThe joyous little birds still sang in the trees; the majestic\nHighlands still rose in the blue air; and the splendid sunset clouds\nstill covered their summits with a glory; the glittering water was\nbeautiful as ever. The drums beat to reveille, and crowds of gay\npeople walked about the parade-ground.\n\nAnd Charley was dying.\n\nEven now, the loving guardian angels were waiting on the other side of\nthe dark valley, to conduct this summer blossom to his heavenly home.\nMyriads of little children were tuning their golden harps, to greet\nhis purified spirit with a hymn of joyful welcome, and Jesus was\nsaying, \"Come.\"\n\nAnd now, his last day on earth was passing--lovely and serene.\nCharley's little bed had been moved in the afternoon, close to the\nopen window, where he could see the white sails gliding by on the\nsmooth silvery water. A peace from within, not of this world,\nilluminated his sweet face. He had sent for all his brothers and\nsisters, and with a faint voice, and at broken intervals, was talking\nto them, and giving to each one some little trifle belonging to him;\nand one by one, convulsed with sobs, they would rush from the\nroom--and after a painful struggle would return, with their tears\nforced back; their loving gaze fastened upon him, whom in a few short\nhours they would see no more.\n\nWhen the good doctor entered, and saw that the end was so near, his\nfeatures worked painfully, and covering his face with his hands, in\nanother moment the great scalding tears trickled through. This brave\nman, in the midst of battle, with the death strokes falling right and\nleft, and the great cannons booming destruction before him, had walked\nwithout fear or flinching among the dead and wounded, giving help and\nsuccor; but now, loving and tender-hearted as he was brave, he had\ncovered his face, and was weeping like a child.\n\n\"Tell the doctor not to cry,\" whispered the dying boy. \"I am going\nhome to Jesus. I am going _now_,\" he said, with a gasping sigh. \"Kiss\nme, mother. Oh! how I thank you for all your love and kindness. I\nthank you all; I bless you all. God bless you all;\" and thus to the\nend, grateful and loving, Charley spoke his last words.\n\nFor now his silken hair lay heavy and damp upon his snow-white\nforehead; and as the solemn twilight deepened into shade, and the\nfirst star broke like a promise in the sky, one little upward\nfluttering sigh was heard, and they knew that this life was ended, and\nCharley was winging his bright way to HEAVEN.\n\nNot a word was spoken, not a sob broke the stillness. The moonbeams,\nstruggling into the room, disclosed the little mother on her knees by\nthe small white couch, her head buried in the white coverings. The\nchildren sat sorrow-stricken, motionless, almost breathless, their\neyes fastened on the face of the dead child, in a despairing hope that\nhe might speak again; but not a breath stirred those still lips. The\ngood doctor, after a while, tenderly raised the heart-broken mother,\nand led her away, and then sending for some kind neighbors, they\ngently and lovingly prepared the remains of Charley for their last\nquiet resting-place.\n\nHow lovely now looked what was left of the good and lovely boy. The\nglistening golden curls pressed closely around the broad, open brow,\nwhite as a lily, and a heaven-sent smile just parted the pale lips.\nThe leaves of a cluster of white roses curled around his little hands,\nwhich were folded so tenderly above his stilled and quiet heart; and\nevery flower that he loved was placed with tears and kisses all about\nhim.\n\nBut oh! what a desolate cry arose in those children's hearts when the\nlittle coffin was closed, and the sweet, peaceful face was seen no\nmore. Charley was in heaven--Charley was happy, but they wanted him,\n_they wanted him_.\n\nIt seemed so cruel that the world should go on gay as ever, and their\nCharley dead. They wondered, as they came on board the boat, which was\nto carry what was left of their darling back to New York, they\nwondered why every face was not tearful, when theirs was so full of\nsorrow.\n\nThey made a little grave for him in the beautiful Greenwood Cemetery.\nThe soft moonlight sleeps lovingly upon it, and people tread lightly\nas they approach and read the name of \"LAME CHARLEY.\"\n\nSlowly and sadly passed the rest of the summer, for the little mother\ntold no more stories. Once she tried, for she could not bear to see\nthe sad faces of her children; alas! that one vanished face, with its\nsweet, grateful smile, and little tender ways, came before her, and\nthe story was lost in a flood of tears.\n\nBut late one lovely evening, as she was sitting by the open window,\nthinking of her loved and lost one, some friend, unseen beneath, sang\nthese words, to a sweet and tender melody--\n\n  \"Mildly, sweet summer moon,\n      Shine on this mother, weeping;\n  Whisper within her heart,\n      'He is not dead, but sleeping.'\n\n  \"Softly, sweet summer stars,\n      Evermore vigil keeping,\n  Tell her, in steadfast tones,\n      'He is not dead, but sleeping.'\n\n  \"Gently, sweet summer wind,\n      All things in perfume steeping;\n  Breathe in her sorrowing soul,\n      'He is not dead, but sleeping;\n\n  \"'And safe in Jesus' arms,\n      His great reward is reaping.'\n  Up! mother, up! and cry,\n      'He is not dead, but sleeping.'\"\n\nA faint flush passed over the mother's pale cheek, for she knew that\nsome one who loved her, had thus tenderly warned her that her grief\nwas not endured as hopefully as it should be. She had not remembered\nthat her beloved Charley was only \"gone before, not lost.\"\n\nWith an earnest, prayerful effort, she once more grew cheerful, and\nwith her cheerfulness came happiness to the children's hearts, though\nthey all their lives will remember their good, pure, and tenderly\nbeloved brother--whom you, dear little reader, also love, and know as\n\nLAME CHARLEY.\n\n\nDear little readers, you and I have now followed Charley together\nthrough six books, in which his life, and the lives of his brothers\nand sisters, have been faithfully portrayed. If the good and pure life\nof the little lame child, now happy in heaven, gives you _one_\nsteadfast resolution, to endeavor, from this time forth, to lead a\ngood and pure life, it will gladden the inmost heart of your loving\n\n               AUNT FANNY.\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note:\n\n  Variations and inconsistencies in spelling, hyphenation, and\n  punctuation in the original text have been retained in this ebook.","title":"The Fairy Nightcaps","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":24822}