{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_32357/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_32357","id":"gutenberg_32357","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32357","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Children's stories","Fairy tales"],"text":"Produced by David Edwards, Josephine Paolucci and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.\n(This file was produced from images generously made\navailable by The Internet Archive.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: LULU'S LIBRARY]\n\n\n\n\nLULU'S LIBRARY.\n\nBY\n\nLOUISA M. ALCOTT,\n\nAUTHOR OF \"LITTLE WOMEN,\" \"AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL,\" \"LITTLE MEN,\" \"EIGHT\nCOUSINS,\" \"ROSE IN BLOOM,\" \"UNDER THE LILACS,\" \"JACK AND JILL,\" \"JO'S\nBOYS,\" \"HOSPITAL SKETCHES,\" \"WORK, A STORY OF EXPERIENCE,\" \"MOODS, A\nNOVEL,\" \"PROVERB STORIES,\" \"SILVER PITCHERS,\" \"SPINNING-WHEEL STORIES,\"\n\"AUNT JO'S SCRAP-BAG.\"\n\n\n            Vol. II.\n\n    THE FROST KING AND HOW THE FAIRIES CONQUERED HIM.\n\n    LILYBELL AND THISTLEDOWN.\n\n    RIPPLE, THE WATER SPRITE.\n\n    EVA'S VISIT TO FAIRYLAND.\n\n    SUNSHINE, AND HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS.\n\n    THE FAIRY SPRING.\n\n    QUEEN ASTER.\n\n    THE BROWNIE AND THE PRINCESS.\n\n    MERMAIDS.\n\n    LITTLE BUD.\n\n    THE FLOWER'S STORY.\n\n  BOSTON:\n  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY,\n  1901.\n\n  _Copyright, 1887_,\n  BY LOUISA M. ALCOTT.\n\n\n  University Press:\n  JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE.\n\n\n  TO\n\n  ELLEN T. EMERSON,\n\n  ONE OF THE GOOD FAIRIES WHO STILL REMAIN TO US,\n  BELOVED BY POETS, LITTLE CHILDREN, AND\n  MANY GRATEFUL HEARTS,\n\n  This Book\n\n  _IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED_\n\n  BY HER OLD FRIEND,\n\n  L. M. ALCOTT.\n\n  _June, 1887._\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nMost of these stories were written at sixteen for my younger sisters and\ntheir playmates, the little Emersons and Channings, and appeared some\nyears later under the name of \"Flower Fables.\" With some additions they\nare now republished for the amusement of those children's children by\ntheir old friend,\n\n                             L. M. ALCOTT.\n\n                                 JUNE, 1887.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                             PAGE\n\nI. THE FROST KING AND HOW THE FAIRIES CONQUERED HIM             7\n\nII. LILYBELL AND THISTLEDOWN, OR THE FAIRY SLEEPING BEAUTY     25\n\nIII. RIPPLE, THE WATER SPRITE                                  50\n\nIV. EVA'S VISIT TO FAIRYLAND                                   68\n\nV. SUNSHINE, AND HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS                      91\n\nVI. THE FAIRY SPRING                                          101\n\nVII. QUEEN ASTER                                              122\n\nVIII. THE BROWNIE AND THE PRINCESS                            135\n\nIX. MERMAIDS                                                  173\n\nX. LITTLE BUD                                                 203\n\nXI. THE FLOWER'S STORY                                        243\n\n\n\n\nI.\n\nTHE FROST KING AND HOW THE FAIRIES CONQUERED HIM.\n\n\n[Illustration: Instead of dying in her cell, the fairy had made it\nbeautiful.--PAGE 13.]\n\nThe Queen sat upon her throne, and all the fairies from the four\nkingdoms were gathered for a grand council. A very important question\nwas to be decided, and the bravest, wisest elves were met to see what\ncould be done. The Frost King made war upon the flowers; and it was a\ngreat grief to Queen Blossom and her subjects to see their darlings die\nyear after year, instead of enjoying one long summer, as they might have\ndone but for him. She had sent messengers with splendid gifts, and had\nbegged him to stop this dreadful war, which made autumn so sad and left\nthe fields strewn with dead flowers. But he sent back the gifts, sternly\nrefused her prayers, and went on with his cruel work; because he was a\ntyrant, and loved to destroy innocent things.\n\n\"My subjects, we will try once more,\" said the Queen, \"if any one can\npropose a plan that will touch his hard heart and make him kind to the\ndear flowers.\"\n\nThen there was a great rustling of wings and murmuring of voices; for\nall the elves were much excited, and each wanted to propose something.\nThe Queen listened, but none of the plans seemed wise, and she was sadly\nperplexed, when her favorite maid of honor, the lovely Star, came and\nknelt before her, saying, while her face shone and her voice trembled\nwith the earnestness of her words, \"Dear Queen, let me go alone to the\nFrost King and try what love will do. We have sent presents and prayers\nby messengers who feared and hated him, and he would not receive them;\nbut we have not tried to make him love us, nor shown him how beautiful\nhis land might be, by patiently changing that dreary place, and teaching\nhis people to plant flowers, not to kill them. I am not afraid; let me\ngo and try my plan, for love is very powerful, and I know he has a heart\nif we can only find it.\"\n\n\"You may go, dear Star,\" answered the Queen, \"and see if you can conquer\nhim. But if any harm happens to you, we will come with our whole army\nand fight this cruel King till he is conquered.\"\n\nAt these brave words all the elves cheered, and General Sun, the great\nwarrior, waved his sword as if longing to go to battle at once. They\ngathered about Star,--some to praise and caress her, some to warn her of\nthe dangers of her task, others to tell her the way, and every one to\nwish her success; for fairies are gentle little creatures, and believe\nheartily in the power of love.\n\nStar wished to go at once; so they wrapped her in a warm cloak of down\nfrom a swan's breast, gave her a bag of the seeds of all their sweetest\nflowers, and with kisses and tears went to the gates of Fairyland to say\ngood-by.\n\nSmiling bravely she flew away toward the North, where the frost spirits\nlived. Soon the wind grew cold, the sunshine faded, and snow began to\nfall, making Star shiver under her soft cloak. Presently she saw the\nKing's palace. Pillars of ice held up the roof fringed with icicles,\nwhich would have sparkled splendidly if there had been any sun. But all\nwas dark and cold, and not a green leaf rustled, or bird sang in the\nwide plains, white with snow, that stretched as far as the eye could\nsee. Before the doors stood the guard, frozen to their places, who\nlifted their sharp spears and let Star go in when she said she was a\nmessenger from the Queen.\n\nWalls of ice carved with strange figures were round her, long icicles\nhung from the roof, and carpets of snow covered the floor. On a throne\nhung with gray mist sat the King; a crown of crystals was on his white\nhair, and his mantle was covered with silver frost-work. His eyes were\ncold, his face stern, and a smile never moved his hard lips. He frowned\nas he saw the fairy, and drew his cloak closer, as if afraid the light\nof her bright face might soften his heart.\n\nThen Star told her errand, and in her gentle voice begged him to be\nkind. She described the sorrow of both elves and children when his frost\nkilled all the flowers; she painted a bright picture of a world where it\nwas always summer, and asked him to let her show how lovely flowers made\nany spot, by planting some in his bleak fields.\n\nBut he only scowled and ordered her away, saying harshly, \"I will do as\nI please; and if your Queen does not leave me in peace, I will go to war\nand freeze every fairy to death.\"\n\nStar tried to say more, but he was so angry that he called his people\nand bid them shut her up till she would own that he was right and\npromise to let him kill all the flowers he liked.\n\n\"I never will do that,\" said Star, as the Frost people led her away to a\ndark little cell, and left her alone.\n\nShe was cold and tired and very sad because the King would not listen to\nher, but her heart was brave, and instead of crying she began to sing.\nSoon the light of her own eyes, that shone like stars, made a little\nglimmer in the dark, and she saw that the floor of her cell was of\nearth; and presently she heard the tinkle of water as it dripped drop by\ndrop down from the snow above. Then she smiled, so that it seemed as if\na ray of light had crept in.\n\n\"Here is earth and water, I will make the sunshine, and soon by my fairy\npower I will have a garden even in Frostland.\" As she spoke she pulled\nout the seeds and fell to work, still singing, still smiling, still sure\nthat in time she would do the hard task she had set herself. First she\ngathered the drops in her warm hands and moistened the hard earth; then\nshe loosened it and planted her seeds along the walls; and then, sitting\nin the middle of the narrow room, she waved her wand and chanted the\nfairy spell that works the pretty miracle of turning seeds to flowers.\n\n    \"Sleep, little seed,\n    Deep in your bed,\n    While winter snow\n    Lies overhead.\n    Wake, little sprout,\n    And drink the rain,\n    Till sunshine calls\n    You to rise again.\n    Strike deep, young root,\n    In the earth below;\n    Unfold, pale leaves,\n    Begin to grow.\n    Baby bud, dance\n    In the warm sun;\n    Bloom, sweet rose,\n    Life has begun.\"\n\nAs she sung, the light grew stronger, the air warmer, and the drops fell\nlike dew, till up came rows of little green vines and plants, growing\nlike the magic beanstalk all over the walls and all round the room,\nmaking the once dark place look like a bower. Moss spread like a carpet\nunderfoot, and a silvery white mushroom sprung up under Star, as if she\nwere the queen of this pretty place.\n\nSoon the Frost spirits heard the music and went to see who dared sing in\nthat gloomy prison. They were much surprised when they peeped, to see\nthat instead of dying in her cell, the fairy had made it beautiful, and\nsat there singing while her flowers bloomed in spite of all their power.\n\nThey hurried to the King and bade him come and see. He went, and when he\nsaw the lovely place he could not spoil it till he had watched Star at\nher work, and tried to see what magic did such wonders. For now the dark\nwalls were hung with morning-glories, ringing their many-colored bells,\nthe floor was green with soft moss, the water-drops made music as they\nfell, and rows of flowers nodded from their beds as if talking together\nin a sweet language of their own. Star sat on her throne still singing\nand smiling, till the once dark place was as bright as if a little sun\nshone there.\n\n\"I am strong, but I cannot do that,\" said the King. \"I love power, and\nperhaps if I watch I shall learn some of her magic skill to use as I\nplease. I will let her live, but keep her a prisoner, and do as I please\nabout killing other flowers.\"\n\nSo he left her there, and often stole down to peep, and wonder at her\ncheerfulness and courage; for she never complained or cried, though she\nlonged for home, and found it very hard to be brave and patient.\n\nMeantime the Queen waited and waited for Star to come, and when a long\ntime passed she sent a messenger to learn where she was. He brought\nback the sad tidings that she was a prisoner, and the King would not let\nher go. Then there was great weeping and wailing in Fairyland, for every\none loved gentle Star. They feared she would be frozen to death if they\nleft her in the cruel King's power, and resolved to go to war as he\nwould not set her free.\n\nGeneral Sun ordered out the army, and there was a great blowing of\ntrumpets, beating of drums, and flying of flags as the little soldiers\ncame marching from the four quarters of the kingdom. The earth elves\nwere on foot, in green suits, with acorn cups for helmets and spear\ngrass for lances. The water sprites were in blue armor made of\ndragon-fly scales, and they drew shells full of tiny bubbles that were\nshot like cannon-balls, upsetting their small enemies by the dozen. The\nfire imps wore red, and carried torches to burn, and little guns to\nshoot bullets of brimstone from, which killed by their dreadful smell.\nThe air spirits were the finest of all; for they were in golden armor,\nand carried arrows of light, which they shot from tiny rainbows. These\ncame first, and General Sun was splendid to behold as he led them\nshining and flashing before the Queen, whose great banner of purple and\ngold streamed over their heads, while the trumpets blew, the people\ncheered, and the elfin soldiers marched bravely away to fight the Frost\nKing and bring Star home.\n\nThe Queen followed in her chariot drawn by white butterflies, with her\nmaids, and her body guard of the tallest elves in Fairyland. They lived\nin the pine-trees, and were fine strong fellows, with little cones on\ntheir heads, pine needles for swords, and the handsome russet scales for\nchain armor. Their shields were of sweet-smelling gum, like amber; but\nno one could approach the Queen when they made a wall about her, for\nwhoever touched these shields stuck fast, and were killed with the sharp\nswords.\n\nAway streamed the army like a wandering rainbow, and by and by reached\nthe land of frost and snow. The King had been warned that they were\ncoming, and made ready by building a fort of ice, laying in piles of\nsnow-balls, and arming his subjects with sharp icicles. All the cold\nwinds that blow wailed like bagpipes, hailstones drummed on the frozen\nground, and banners of mist floated over the towers of the palace.\nGeneral Fog, in a suit of silver, stood ready to meet the enemy, with an\narmy of snow men behind him, and the Frost King looked down from the\nwalls to direct the fight.\n\nOn came the fairy folk, making the icy world sparkle so brilliantly with\ntheir light that the King was half-blinded and hid his eyes. The elves\nshivered as the cold wind touched them, but courage kept them warm, and\nthe Queen, well wrapped in down, stood up in her chariot, boldly\ndemanding Star at the hands of the King.\n\n\"I will not give her up,\" he answered, scowling like a thunder-cloud,\nthough in his heart he wondered more and more how the brave fairy had\nlived so long away from such lovely friends as these.\n\n\"Then I proclaim war upon your country; and if Star is dead we will show\nno mercy. Sound the trumpets and set on!\" cried the Queen, waving her\nhand to the General, while every sword flashed out, and an elfin cheer\nrung like music in the air.\n\nOrdering the rest to halt, General Sun led the air spirits to battle\nfirst, well knowing that nothing could stand long before a charge of\nthat brilliant troop. General Fog did his best, but was driven back\nagainst his will; for his snow men melted away as the arrows of light\nstruck them, and he could not stand before the other general, whose\nshield was a golden sun, without feeling himself dissolve like mist at\nnoon.\n\nThey were forced to take refuge in the fort, where the King himself was\nordering showers of snow-balls to be shot among the fairy troops. Many\nwere wounded, and carried from the field to the tent where the Queen and\nher maids tended them, and by their soft magic soon made them fit to\nfight again.\n\n\"Now, a grand attack. Bring up the sappers and miners, Captain Rock.\nMajor Flash, surround the walls and melt them as fast as possible, while\nthe archers shall go on shooting,\" commanded General Sun.\n\nThen a company of moles began to dig under the fort; the fire imps\nbanged away at the walls with their cannon, and held their flaming\ntorches close till the blocks of ice began to melt; the air spirits\nflew high above and shot their golden arrows down at the Frost people,\nwho fled away to hide in the darkest corners, dazzled and daunted by\nthese brave and brilliant enemies.\n\nIt was a hard battle, and the fairies were obliged to rest, after\nkilling General Fog, destroying the fort, and forcing the King to take\nrefuge in the palace. Among the prisoners taken was one who told them\nwhere Star was, and all she had done in her little cell. Then they\nrejoiced, and the Queen said, \"Let us follow her example, for these\nprisoners say the King is changed since she came; that he goes to peep\nat her lovely bower, and does not spoil it, but talks kindly to her, and\nseems as if his hard heart might be melting a little. We will not fight\nany more, but try Star's gentle way, and besiege the King till he\nsurrenders; so we shall win a friend, not kill an enemy.\"\n\n\"We will; we will!\" cried all the elves; for they did not love to fight,\nthough brave as little lions to defend their country and their Queen.\nThey all took counsel together, and the Frost people were surprised next\nday to see the army busily at work making a great garden round the\npalace instead of trying to destroy it. Creeping to the holes in the\nwalls they watched what went on, and wondered more and more; for the\nelves worked hard, and their magic helped them to do in a day what it\nwould have taken years for mortals to do.\n\nFirst the moles dug up the ground, then the Queen's guard sowed pine\nseeds, and in an hour a green wall fenced in the garden where the earth\nfairies planted seeds of all the flowers that grow. The fire imps warmed\nthe air, and drove away every chilly wind, every gray cloud or flake of\nsnow that dared come near this enchanted spot. The water sprites\ngathered drops from the melting ice palace and watered the budding beds,\nafter the imps had taken the chill off, while the air spirits made\nsunshine overhead by flying to and fro with tireless wings, till a\ngolden curtain was woven that shut out the cold sky and made summer for\nthe flowers.\n\nThe Queen and her maids helped, for they fashioned birds, bees, and\nbutterflies with magic skill, and gave them life to sing, buzz, and\nflutter in the new world, growing so fast where once all was bare and\ncold and dark.\n\nSlowly the ice palace melted; for warm airs stole through the pines, and\nsoon the walls were thin as glass, the towers vanished like frost-work\nin the sun, and block after block flowed away in little rills as if glad\nto escape from prison. The King and his subjects felt that they were\nconquered; for the ice seemed to melt from them also, and their hearts\nbegan to beat, their cold faces to soften as if they wanted to smile if\nthey knew how, and they loved to watch and wonder at the sweet miracles\nthe elves were working all about them.\n\nThe King tried not to give up, for he was very proud, and had ruled so\nlong it was hard to submit; but his power was gone, his palace crumbling\nabout him, his people longing to join the enemy, and there was nothing\nfor him to do but lay down his crown or fly away to the far North and\nlive with the bears and icebergs in that frozen world. He would have\ndone this but for Star. All the while the battle and the siege were\ngoing on, she lived in her little cell, knowing nothing about it, but\nhoping and waiting, sure that help would come. Every time the King\nvisited her he seemed kinder, and liked more and more to listen to her\nsongs or the stories she told him of life in Fairyland, and the joy of\nbeing merciful. So she knew that the seeds she sowed in his heart were\nbeginning to grow like those planted in the cell, and she watched over\nthem as carefully.\n\nOne day her loveliest roses bloomed, and she was singing for joy as the\npink flowers filled the cell with their sweet breath, when the King came\nhurrying down to her and falling at her feet begged her to save his\nlife. She wondered what he meant, and he told her of the battle, and how\nthe elves were conquering him by love; for the palace was nearly gone, a\ngreat garden lay blossoming all about it, and he had nowhere to go\nunless she would be his friend and ask her people to forgive and pity\nhim.\n\nThen Star felt that she had done her task, and laying her hands on his\nwhite head, she melted the last frost from his old heart by saying in\nher tender voice, \"Do not fear my people; they will welcome you and give\nyou a home if you will promise to hurt no more flowers, but always be as\ngentle as you are now. Come with me, and let us teach you how beautiful\nsunshine and love and happy work can make you.\"\n\nThe King promised, and Star led him up to the light again, where his\npeople waited to know what was to become of them.\n\n\"Follow me, follow me, and do not be afraid,\" called Star, dancing\nbefore them,--so glad to be free that she longed to fly away. Everything\nwas changed; for as they came up from the cell the ruins of the palace\nmelted into a quiet lake, and under the archway of the pines they passed\ninto a new and lovely world of sunshine, flowers, and happy elves. A\ngreat cry went up when Star was seen leading the King, with his few\nsubjects behind him, and every one flew to welcome the dear fairy and\nthe captives she brought.\n\n\"I am your prisoner, and I submit, for I have no kingdom now,\" said the\nKing, as he bowed before the Queen.\n\n\"These are the only chains you shall wear, and _this_ is your new\nkingdom,\" answered the Queen, as her maids hung wreaths of flowers on\nthe King's arms and put a green crown on his head, while all the fairies\ngathered round to welcome him to the lovely garden where he was to reign\nbeloved and happy, with no frost to spoil the long summer he had learned\nto love.\n\nThere was a great feast that day, and then the elfin army marched home\nagain, well pleased with the battle they had fought, though all said\nthat it was Star who had conquered the Frost-King.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\nLILYBELL AND THISTLEDOWN, OR THE FAIRY SLEEPING BEAUTY.\n\n\n[Illustration: On a bed of moss lay Lilybell fast asleep.--PAGE 37.]\n\nOnce upon a time two little fairies went out into the world to seek\ntheir fortune. Thistledown wore a green suit, a purple cloak, a gay\nfeather in his cap, and was as handsome an elf as one could wish to see.\nBut he was not loved in Fairyland; for, like the flower whose name and\ncolors he wore, many faults like sharp prickles were hidden under his\nfine clothes. He was idle, selfish, and cruel, and cared for nothing but\nhis own pleasure and comfort, as we shall see.\n\nHis little friend Lilybell was very different, for she was so kind and\ngood every one loved her. She spent her time trying to undo the mischief\nnaughty Thistle did, and that was why she followed him now, because she\nwas afraid he would get into trouble and need some one to help him.\n\nSide by side they flew over hill and dale till they came to a pleasant\ngarden.\n\n\"I am tired and hungry,\" said Thistle; \"let us rest here and see what\nfun is going on.\"\n\n\"Now, dear Thistle, be kind and gentle, and make friends among these\nflowers. See how they spread their leaves for our beds, and offer us\ntheir honey to eat, and their dew to bathe in. It would be very wrong to\ntreat them badly after such a welcome as this,\" answered Lilybell, as\nshe lay down to sleep in the deep cup of one of her own flowers, as if\nin a little bed hung with white curtains.\n\nThistle laughed and flew off to find the tulips, for he liked splendid\nflowers and lived like a king. First he robbed the violets of their\nhoney, and shook the blue-bells roughly to get all their dew for his\nbath. Then he ruffled many leaves before his bed suited him, and after a\nshort nap was up and away having what he called fun. He chased the\nbutterflies and hurt them with the sharp thorn he carried for a sword;\nhe broke the cobwebs laid to bleach on the grass for fairy cloth; he\npushed the little birds out of the nest and killed them; he stole pollen\nfrom the busy bees, and laughed to see them patiently begin to fill\ntheir little bags again. At last he came to a lovely rose-tree with one\nopen flower and a little bud.\n\n\"Why are you so slow about blooming, baby rose? You are too old to be\nrocked in your green cradle any longer. Come out and play with me,\" said\nThistle, as he perched on the tree ready for more mischief.\n\n\"No, my little bud is not strong enough to meet the sun and air yet,\"\nanswered the rose-mother, bending over her baby, while all her red\nleaves trembled with fear, for the wind had told her the harm this\ncruel fairy had been doing in the garden.\n\n\"You silly flower, to wait so long. See how quickly I will make the ugly\ngreen bud a pretty pink rose,\" cried Thistle, as he pulled open the\nfolded bud so rudely that the little leaves fell all broken on the\nground.\n\n\"It was my first and only one, and I was so fond and proud of it! Now\nyou have killed it, cruel fairy, and I am all alone,\" sobbed the mother,\nwhile her tears fell like rain on the poor bud fading in the hot sun.\n\nThistle was ashamed of himself, but he would not say he was sorry, and\nflew away to hunt a white moth, till clouds began to gather and a shower\ncame on. Then he hurried back to the tulips for shelter, sure they would\ntake him in because he had praised their gay colors, and they were vain\nflowers. But when he came all wet and cold begging to be covered, they\nlaughed and shook their broad leaves till the drops fell on him faster\nthan the rain and beat him down.\n\n\"Go away, naughty fairy! we know you now, and won't let you in, for you\nbring trouble wherever you go. You needn't come to us for a new cloak\nwhen the shower has spoilt that one,\" they cried.\n\n\"I don't care, the daisies will be glad to take pity on so splendid an\nelf as I am,\" said Thistle, as he flew down to the humble flowers in the\ngrass.\n\nBut all the rosy leaves were tightly closed and he knocked in vain, for\nthe daisies had heard of his pranks, and would not risk spoiling their\nseeds by opening to such a naughty fellow.\n\nHe tried the buttercups and dandelions, the violets and mignonette, the\nlilies and the honeysuckles, but all shut their doors against him and\ntold him to go away.\n\n\"Now I have no friends and must die of cold. If I had only minded\nLilybell I might be safe and warm as she is somewhere,\" sighed Thistle,\nas he stood shivering in the rain.\n\n\"I have no little bud to shelter now, and you can come in here,\" said a\nsoft voice above him; and looking up, Thistle saw that he was under the\nrose-tree where the dead bud hung broken on its stem.\n\nGrieved and ashamed, the fairy gladly crept in among the warm red\nleaves, and the rose-mother held him close to her gentle bosom where no\nrain or chilly wind could reach him. But when she thought he was asleep\nshe sighed so sadly over her lost baby that Thistle found no rest, and\ndreamed only sad dreams.\n\nSoon the sun shone again and Lilybell came to find her friend; but he\nwas ashamed to meet her and stole away. When the flowers told Lily all\nthe harm Thistle had done she was very sorrowful, and tried to comfort\nthem. She cured the hurt birds and butterflies, helped the bees he had\nrobbed, and watered the poor rose till more buds came to bloom on her\nstem. Then when all were well and happy again she went to find Thistle,\nleaving the garden full of grateful friends.\n\nMeantime, Thistle had been playing more pranks, and got into trouble. A\nkind bee invited him to dinner one day, and the fairy liked the pretty\nhome in the hive; for the floors were of white wax, the walls of golden\nhoney-comb, and the air sweet with the breath of flowers. It was a busy\nplace; some got the food and stored it up in the little cells; some were\nthe house-maids, and kept all exquisitely neat; some took care of the\neggs and fed the young bees like good nurses; and others waited on the\nQueen.\n\n\"Will you stay and work with us? No one is idle here, and it is a\nhappier life than playing all day,\" said Buzz, the friendly bee.\n\n\"I hate to work,\" answered lazy Thistle, and would not do anything at\nall.\n\nThen they told him he must go; that made him angry, and he went to some\nof the bees whom he had made discontented by his fine tales of an idle\nlife, and said to them,--\n\n\"Let us feast and be jolly; winter is far off and there is no need to\nwork in the summer time. Come and make merry, while those busy fellows\nare away, and the nurses watching the babies in the cells.\"\n\nThen he led the drones to the hive, like a band of robbers; first they\nfastened the Queen into her royal room, so she could do nothing but buzz\nangrily; next they drove the poor house-keepers away, and frightened the\nlittle bees into fits as they went rioting through the waxen halls,\npulling down the honey-comb, and stealing the bee-bread carefully put\naway in the neat cells for winter time. They stayed as long as they\ndared, and flew off before the workers came home to find their pretty\nhive in ruins.\n\n\"That was fine fun,\" said Thistle, as he went to hide in a great forest\nwhere he thought the angry bees could not find him.\n\nHere he soon made friends with a gay dragon-fly, and they had splendid\ngames skimming over the lake or swinging on the ferns that grew about\nit. For a while Thistle was good, and might have had a happy time if he\nhad not quarrelled with his friend about a little fish that the cruel\nelf pricked with his sword till it nearly died. Gauzy-wing thought that\nvery cruel, and said he would tell the Brownies who ruled over\neverything in the wood.\n\n\"I'm not afraid,\" answered Thistle; \"they can't hurt me.\"\n\nBut he _was_ afraid, and as soon as the dragon-fly was asleep that\nnight, he got an ugly spider to come and spin webs all round the poor\nthing till it could stir neither leg nor wing.\n\nThen leaving it to starve, Thistle flew out of the wood, sure that the\nBrownies would not catch him.\n\nBut they did, for they knew all that happened in their kingdom; and when\nhe stopped to rest in a wild morning-glory-bell, they sent word by the\nwind that he was to be kept a prisoner till they came. So the purple\nleaves closed round the sleeping fairy, and he woke to find himself held\nfast. Then he knew how poor Gauzy-wing felt, and wished he had not been\nso unkind. But it was too late, for soon the Brownies came, and tying\nhis wings with a strong blade of grass said as they led him away,--\n\n\"You do so much harm we are going to keep you a prisoner till you\nrepent, for no one can live in this beautiful world unless he is kind\nand good. Here you will have time to think over your naughtiness, and\nlearn to be a better elf.\"\n\nSo they shut him up in a great rock where there was no light but one\nlittle ray through a crack that let air into his narrow cell, and there\npoor Thistle sat alone longing to be free, and sobbing over all the\npleasant things he had lost. By and by he stopped crying, and said to\nhimself,--\n\n\"Perhaps if I am patient and cheerful, even in this dark place, the\nBrownies will let me out.\" So he began to sing, and the more he sang the\nbetter he felt, for the ray of sunshine seemed to grow brighter, the\ndays shorter, and his sorrow easier to bear, because he was trying to\ntake his punishment bravely and be good.\n\nLilybell was looking for him all this time, tracing him by the harm he\ndid, and stopping to comfort those whom he hurt; so she never found him\ntill she had helped the bees put the hive in order, set free poor\nGauzy-wing, and nursed the hurt fish till it was well again. Then she\nwent on looking for him, and wondering where he was. She never would\nhave guessed if he had not sung so much, for the birds loved to hear\nhim, and often perched on the rocks to listen and learn the fairy songs.\nColumbines sprung up there in the sunshine and danced on their slender\nstems as they peeped in at him with rosy faces, while green moss went\ncreeping up the sides of the rock as if eager to join in the music.\n\nAs Lilybell came to this pleasant place, she wondered if there was a\nfairy party going on, for the birds were singing, the flowers dancing,\nand the old rock looked very gay. When they saw her, the birds stopped,\nand the columbines stood so still that she heard a voice singing\nsadly,--\n\n    \"Bright shines the summer sun,\n      Soft is the summer air,\n    Gayly the wood-birds sing,\n      Flowers are blooming fair.\n    But deep in the dark, cold rock\n      All alone must I dwell,\n    Longing for you, dear friend,\n      Lilybell, Lilybell!\"\n\n\"Where are you?\" cried the other fairy, flying up among the columbines;\nfor she could see no opening in the rock, and wondered where the voice\ncame from. No one replied, for Thistle did not hear her, so she sang her\nanswer to his call,--\n\n    \"Through sunshine and shower\n      I have looked for you long,\n    Guided by bird and flower,\n      And now by your song,\n    Thistledown! Thistledown!\n      O'er wood, hill, and dell\n    Hither to comfort you\n      Comes Lilybell.\"\n\nThen through the narrow opening two arms were stretched out to her, and\nall the columbines danced for joy that Thistle was found.\n\nLilybell made her home there, and did all she could to cheer the poor\nprisoner, glad to see that he was sorry for his naughtiness, and really\ntrying to be good. But he pined so to come out that she could not bear\nit, and said she would go and ask the Brownies what he could do to be\nfree.\n\nThistle waited and waited, but she did not come back, and he cried and\ncalled so pitifully that the Brownies came at last and took him out,\nsaying,--\n\n\"Lilybell is safe, but she is in a magic sleep, and will not wake till\nyou bring us a golden wand from the earth elves, a cloak of sunshine\nfrom the air spirits, and a crown of diamonds from the water fairies. It\nis a hard task, for you have no friends to help you along. But if you\nlove Lilybell enough to be patient, brave, and kind, you may succeed,\nand she will wake to reward you when you bring the fairy gifts.\"\n\nAs they said this, the Brownies led him to a green tent made of tall\nferns, and inside on a bed of moss lay Lilybell fast asleep, like the\nBeauty in the dear old story.\n\n\"I will do it,\" said Thistle, and spreading the wings that had been idle\nso long, he was off like a humming-bird.\n\n\"Flowers know most about the earth elves, so I will ask them,\" he\nthought, and began to ask every clover and buttercup, wood-violet, and\nwayside dandelion that he met. But no one would answer him; all shrunk\naway and drew their curtains close, remembering his rough treatment\nbefore.\n\n\"I will go to the rose; I think she is a friend, for she forgave me, and\ntook me in when the rest left me in the cold,\" said Thistle, much\ndiscouraged, and half afraid to ask anything of the flower he had hurt\nso much.\n\nBut when he came to the garden the rose-mother welcomed him kindly, and\nproudly showed the family of little buds that now grew on her stem.\n\n\"I will trust and help you for Lilybell's sake,\" she said. \"Look up, my\ndarlings, and show the friend how rosy your little faces are growing;\nyou need not be afraid now.\"\n\nBut the buds leaned closer to their mother, and would only peep at\nThistle, for they remembered the little sister whom he had killed, and\nthey feared him.\n\n\"Ah,\" he sadly thought, \"if I had only been kind like Lily, they would\nall love and trust me, and be glad to help me. How beautiful goodness\nis! I must try to prove to them that I _am_ sorry; then they will\nbelieve me, and show me how to find the crown.\"\n\nSo, at night when the flowers were asleep, he watered them; sung\nlullabies to the restless young birds, and tucked the butterflies up\nunder the leaves where no dew could spoil their lovely wings. He rocked\nthe baby-buds to sleep when they grew impatient before it was time to\nblossom; he kept grubs from harming the delicate leaves of the flowers,\nand brought cool winds to refresh them when the sun was hot.\n\nThe rose was always good to him, and when the other plants wondered who\ndid so many kind things, she said to them,--\n\n\"It is Thistle, and he is so changed I am sure we may trust him. He\nhides by day for no one is friendly, but by night he works or sits\nalone, and sobs and sighs so sadly I cannot sleep for pity.\"\n\nThen they all answered, \"We will love and help him for Lilybell's sake.\"\n\nSo they called him to come and be friends, and he was very happy to be\nforgiven. But he did not forget his task, and when he told them what it\nwas, they called Downy-back, the mole, and bid him show Thistle where\nthe earth elves lived. Thanking the kind flowers, Thistle followed the\nmole deep into the ground, along the road he knew so well, till they saw\na light before them.\n\n\"There they are; now you can go on alone, and good luck to you,\" said\nDowny-back, as he scampered away,--for he liked the dark best.\n\nThistle came to a great hall made of jewels that shone like the sun, and\nhere many spirits were dancing like fireflies to the music of silver\nbells.\n\nOne of these came and asked why he was there, and when he told her,\nSparkle said, \"You must work for us if you want to earn the golden\nwand.\"\n\n\"What must I do?\" asked Thistle.\n\n\"Many things,\" answered Sparkle; \"some of us watch over the roots of the\nflowers and keep them warm and safe; others gather drops and make\nsprings that gush up among the rocks, where people drink the fresh water\nand are glad; others dig for jewels, make good-luck pennies, and help\nminers find gold and silver hidden in dark places. Can you be happy\nhere, and do all these things faithfully?\"\n\n\"Yes, for love of Lily I can do anything,\" said Thistle bravely, and\nfell to work at once with all his heart.\n\nIt was hard and dull for the gay fairy, who loved light and air, to live\nin the earth like a mole; and often he was very sad and tired, and\nlonged to fly away to rest. But he never did, and at last Sparkle said,\n\"You have done enough. Here is the golden wand, and as many jewels as\nyou like.\"\n\nBut Thistle cared only for the wand, and hurried up to the sunshine as\nfast as he could climb, eager to show the Brownies how well he had kept\nhis word.\n\nThey were very glad to see him back and told him to rest a little. But\nhe could not wait, and with a look at Lily, still fast asleep, he flew\naway to find the air spirits.\n\nNo one seemed to know where they lived, and Thistle was in despair till\nhe remembered hearing Buzz speak of them when he first met him.\n\n\"I dare not go to the hive, for the bees might kill me, I did so much\nharm. Perhaps if I first show them I am sorry, they will forgive me as\nthe flowers did,\" he said.\n\nSo he went into a field of clover and worked busily till he had filled\ntwo blue-bells full of the sweetest honey. These he left at the door of\nthe hive when no one saw him, and then hid in the apple-tree close by.\n\nThe bees were much pleased and surprised; for every day two little blue\njars stood at the door, full of honey so fresh and sweet that it was\nkept for the Queen and the royal babies.\n\n\"It is some good elf, who knows how much trouble we have had this\nsummer, and wants to help us fill our cells before the frost comes. If\nwe catch the kind fellow we will thank him well,\" said the bees\ngratefully.\n\n\"Ah, ha! we shall be friends again, I think, if I keep on,\" laughed\nThistle, much cheered as he sat among the leaves.\n\nAfter this he not only left the pretty honey-pots, but flew far and wide\nfor all the flowering herbs bees love to suck, and nearly broke his back\nlugging berries from the wood, or great bags of pollen for their bread,\ntill he was as dusty as a little miller. He helped the ants with their\nheavy loads, the field-mice with their small harvesting, and chased\nflies from the patient cows feeding in the fields. No one saw him, but\nall loved \"Nimble Nobody\" as they called the invisible friend who did so\nmany kindly things.\n\nAt last they caught him, as he was wrapping a lizard who had chills in a\nwarm mullein-leaf blanket.\n\n\"Why, it is naughty Thistle!\" cried the bees, ready to sting him to\ndeath.\n\n\"No, no,\" chirped an old cricket, who had kept the secret. \"It is the\ngood fellow who has done so much to make us all happy and comfortable.\nPut up your stings and shake hands, before he flies away to hide from\nyou again.\"\n\nThe bees could hardly believe this at first, but finding it true were\nglad to make up the quarrel and be friends. When they heard what\nThistle wanted, they consented at once, and sent Buzz to show him the\nway to Cloudland, where the air spirits lived.\n\nIt seemed a lovely place, for the sky was gold and purple overhead,\nsilver mist hung like curtains from the rainbow arches, and white clouds\nwere piled up like downy cushions for the spirits to sleep on. But they\nwere very busy flying to and fro like motes in a sunbeam, some polishing\nthe stars that they might shine well at night, some drawing up water\nfrom rivers and lakes, to shower it down again in rain or dew; others\nsent messages by the winds that kept coming and going like\ntelegraph-boys, with news from all parts of the world; and others were\nweaving light into a shining stuff to hang on dark walls, wrap about\nbudding plants, and clothe all spirits of the airy world.\n\n\"These are the ones I want,\" said Thistle, and asked for the mantle of\nsunshine.\n\n\"You must earn it first, and help us work,\" answered the weavers.\n\nThistle willingly went with them and shared their lovely tasks; but most\nof all he liked to shake sweet dreams from the dreamland tree down upon\nlittle people in their beds, to send strong, bright rays suddenly into\ndark rooms, dancing on the walls and cheering sick or sad eyes.\nSometimes he went riding to the earth on a raindrop, like a little\nwater-cart man, and sprinkled the dusty road or gave some thirsty plant\na good drink. He helped the winds carry messages, and blow flower-seeds\ninto lonely places to spring and blossom there, a pleasant surprise for\nall who might find them.\n\nIt was a busy and a happy life, and he liked it; for fairies love light,\nair, and motion, and he was learning to live for good and helpful\nthings. Sooner than he expected the golden cloak was won, and he shot\nlike a falling star to the forest with his prize.\n\n\"One more trial and she will wake,\" said the Brownies, well pleased.\n\n\"This I shall not like, for I am not a water elf, but I'll do my best,\"\nanswered Thistle, and roamed away into the wood, following a brook till\nhe came to the lake where he used to play with Gauzy-wing. As he stood\nwondering how to find the nixies, he heard a faint cry for help, and\npresently found a little frog with a broken leg, lying on the moss.\n\n\"I tried to jump too far, when a cruel child was going to tread on me,\nand fell among the stones; I long for the water, but can drag myself no\nfarther,\" sighed the frog, his bright eyes dim with pain.\n\nThistle did not like to touch the cold thing, but remembering his own\nunkindness to the dragon-fly, he helped the poor froggie to a fallen\noak-leaf, and then tugged it by its stout stem to the waterside where he\ncould bathe the hurt leg and bring cool draughts in an acorn cup.\n\n\"Alas! I cannot swim, and I am very tired of this bed,\" cried poor Hop\nafter a day or two, during which Thistle fed and nursed him tenderly.\n\n\"I'll pull a lily-pad to the shore, and when you are on it we can sail\nabout wherever we please, without tiring you,\" and away went the elf to\nfind the green boat.\n\nAfter that they floated all day, and anchored at night, and Hop got well\nso fast that soon he could dive off and paddle a bit with his hands, or\nfloat, using his well leg to steer with. Thistle had talked about the\nwater sprites, but Hop was rather a dull fellow, and lived in the mud,\nso he could tell him nothing. One day, however, a little fish popped up\nhis head and said,--\n\n\"I know, and for kind Lilybell's sake I'll show you where they live.\"\n\nThen Thistle left grateful Hop to his family, and folding his wings\nplunged into the lake after the silvery fish, who darted deeper and\ndeeper till they stood in a curious palace made of rosy coral at the\nbottom of the sea. Gay shells made the floors and ornamented the walls.\nLovely sea-weeds grew from the white sand, and heaps of pearls lay\neverywhere. The water sprites in their blue robes floated here and\nthere, or slept in beds of foam, rocked by the motion of the waves.\n\nThey gathered round the stranger, bringing all sorts of treasures for\nhim. But he did not care for these, and told them what he wanted. Then\nlittle Pearl, the gentlest of the sprites, said:\n\n\"You must help the coral-workers till the branches of their tree reach\nthe air; because we want a new island, and that is the way we begin\nthem. It is very dull work, but we cannot give you the crown till that\nis done.\"\n\nThistle was ready to begin at once, and hastened away to the coral-tree,\nwhere hundreds of little creatures were building cell upon cell, till\nthe white tree rose tall and wide, spreading through the blue water. It\n_was_ very dull, and the poor fairy never could lose his fear of the\nstrange monsters that swam to and fro, staring at him with big eyes, or\nopening their great mouths as if to swallow him. There was no sun,--only\na dim light, and the sky seemed full of storm, when the waves rolled\noverhead, and wrecks came floating down. The sea-flowers had no\nsweetness; the only birds were flying-fish and Mother Carey's chickens,\nas the stormy petrels are called. Thistle pined for light and air, but\nkept patiently at work, and his only pleasure was now and then to float\nwith Pearl on the waves that rippled to the shore, and get a breath of\nwarm air from the lovely earth he longed to see again.\n\nAt last the great tree rose above the sea, and the long task was done;\nfor now the waves would wash weeds over the branches, gulls would bring\nearth and sticks to make their nests, and by and by an island would be\nformed where men might land or wild birds live in peace.\n\n\"Now you can go. Here is the crown of water-drops, changed to diamonds,\nthat will always lie cool and bright on your Lily's head. Good-by,\ngood-by,\" said Pearl, as she gave the reward and waved her hand to\nThistle, who shook the foam off his wings and flew away in the sunshine,\nlike a happy butterfly just out of its cell.\n\nWhen he came to the wood the Brownies hastened to meet him, and he saw\nthat they had made the place beautiful with wreaths from tree to tree;\nbirds were singing their sweetest on every bough; the brook was laughing\nas it hurried by to tell the good news wherever it went; and the\nflowers, all in their best, were dancing with impatience to welcome him\nhome.\n\nLilybell lay with the cloak of sunshine folded round her, and the golden\nwand in her hand, waiting for the crown and the kiss that should wake\nher from this long sleep. Thistle gave them both; and when her eyes\nopened and she stretched out her arms to him, he was the happiest fairy\nin the world. The Brownies told all he had done, and how at last he had\nlearned to be gentle, true, and brave, after many trials and troubles.\n\n\"You shall have the crown, for you have worked so hard you deserve it,\nand I will have a wreath of flowers,\" said Lily, so glad and proud she\ncared for nothing else.\n\n\"Keep your crown, for here are friends coming to bring Thistle his\nrewards,\" said the Brownies, as they pointed to a troop of earth spirits\nrising from among the mossy roots of an old tree. Sparkle brought a\ngolden wand like the one he had earned for Lily, and while she was\ngiving it, down through the air came the sky spirits, with the mantle of\nsunshine as their gift. Hardly had they folded it round happy Thistle,\nwhen the sound of music, like drops falling in time and tune, was heard,\nand along the brook in their boats of rosy shells came the water sprites\nwith the crown.\n\nAs they put it on his head all took hands and danced about the two\nelves, shouting in their soft voices, \"Thistledown and Lilybell! Long\nlive our King and Queen!\"\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\nRIPPLE, THE WATER SPRITE.\n\n\n[Illustration: Suddenly a great wave came rolling in.--PAGE 64.]\n\nDown in the deep sea lived Ripple, a happy little water sprite. She\nlived in a palace of red coral, with gardens of sea-flowers all round\nit, the waves like a blue sky above it, and white sand full of jewels\nfor its floor. Ripple and her mates had gay times playing with the\nsea-urchins, chasing flying-fish, rocking in the shells, and weaving\nmany-colored sea-weed into delicate clothes to wear.\n\nBut the pastime Ripple loved best was to rise to the light and air, and\nfloat on the waves that rocked her softly in the sunshine, while the\ngulls stooped to tell her news of the great world they saw in their long\nflights. She liked to watch little children playing on the shore, and\nwhen they ran into the sea she caught them in her arms and held them up\nand kissed them, though they saw and felt only the cool water and the\nwhite foam.\n\nRipple had one sorrow; for when tempests came and the waves rolled\noverhead like black clouds, ships were often wrecked, and those whom the\nangry sea drowned came floating down, pale and cold, to the home of the\nwater sprites, who mourned over them, and laid them in graves of white\nsea-sand, where jewels shone like flowers.\n\nOne day a little child sank down from the storm above to the quiet that\nwas never broken, far below. Its pretty eyes were closed as if asleep,\nits long hair hung about the pale face like wet weeds, and the little\nhands still held the shells they had been gathering when the cruel waves\nswept it away. The tender-hearted sprites cried salt tears over it, and\nwrapped it in their softest sheets, finding it so lovely and so sad they\ncould not bury it out of sight. While they sung their lullabies Ripple\nheard through the roar of wind and water a bitter cry that seemed to\ncall her. Floating up through foam and spray she saw a woman standing on\nthe beach with her arms outstretched, imploring the cruel sea to give\nher back her little child.\n\nRipple longed so much to comfort the poor mother that power was given\nher to show herself, and to make her soft language understood. A slender\ncreature, in a robe as white as foam, with eyes as blue as the sea, and\na murmuring voice that made music like falling drops of water, bent over\nthe weeping woman and told her that the child was cared for far below\nall storms, and promised to keep the little grave beautiful with\nsea-flowers, and safe from any harm. But the mother could not be\ncomforted, and still cried bitterly,--\n\n\"Give him back to me alive and laughing, or I cannot live. Dear sprite,\nhave you no charm to make the little darling breathe again? Oh, find\none, find one, or let me lie beside him in the hungry sea.\"\n\n\"I will look far and wide and see if I can help you. Watch by the shore,\nand I will come again with the little child if there is any power in\nland or sea to make him live,\" cried Ripple, so eager to do this happy\nthing that she sprang into the ocean and vanished like a bubble.\n\nShe hurried to the Queen in her palace of pearls and told her all the\nsad story.\n\n\"Dear Ripple, you cannot keep your promise, for there is no power in my\nkingdom to work this spell. The only thing that could do it would be a\nflame from the sun to warm the little body into life, and you could\nnever reach the fire spirits' home far, far away.\"\n\n\"But I _will_!\" cried Ripple, bravely. \"If you had seen the poor\nmother's tears and heard her cries you would feel as I do, and never let\nher watch in vain. Tell me where I must go; and I will not be afraid of\nanything if I can only make the little child live again.\"\n\n\"Far away beside the sun live the fire spirits; but I cannot tell the\nroad, for it is through the air and no water sprite could live to reach\nit. Dear Ripple, do not go, for if any harm comes to you I shall lose my\nsweetest subject,\" said the Queen,--and all the others begged her to\nstay safely at home.\n\nBut Ripple would not break her promise, and they had to let her go. So\nthe sprites built a tomb of delicate, bright shells, where the child\nmight lie till she came to make him live again; and with a brave good-by\nRipple floated away on her long journey to the sky.\n\n\"I will go round the world till I find a road to the sun. Some kind\nfriend will help me, for I have no wings and cannot float through the\nblue air as through the sea,\" she said, as she came to the other side of\nthe ocean and saw a lovely land before her. Grass was green on all the\nhills, flowers were budding, young leaves danced upon the trees, and\nbirds were singing everywhere.\n\n\"Why are you all so gay?\" asked Ripple, wondering.\n\n\"Spring is coming! Spring is coming! and all the earth is glad,\" sang\nthe lark, as the music poured from its little throat.\n\n\"Shall I see her?\" asked Ripple, eagerly.\n\n\"You will meet her soon. The sunshine told us she was near, and we are\nhurrying to be up and dressed to welcome her back,\" answered a blue-eyed\nviolet, dancing on her stem for joy.\n\n\"I will ask her how to reach the fire spirits. She travels over the\nearth every year, and perhaps can show me the way,\" said Ripple, as she\nwent on.\n\nSoon a beautiful child came dancing over the hills, rosy as dawn, with\nhair like sunshine, a voice like the balmy wind, and her robe full of\nseeds, little leaves, dewdrops, and budding flowers, which she scattered\nfar and wide, till the earth smiled back at the smiling sky.\n\n\"Dear Spring, will you help a poor little sprite, who is looking for the\nfire spirits' home?\" cried Ripple,--and told her tale so eagerly that\nthe child stopped to hear.\n\n\"Alas, I cannot tell you,\" answered Spring, \"but my elder sister Summer\nis coming behind me, and she may know. I long to help, so I will give\nyou this breeze, that will carry you over land and sea and never tire. I\nwish I could do more, but the world is calling me, and I must go.\"\n\n\"Many thanks, kind Spring,\" cried Ripple, as she floated away on the\nbreeze. \"Say a kind word to the poor mother waiting on the shore, and\ntell her I do not forget.\"\n\nThen the lovely season flew on with her sunshine and song, and Ripple\nwent swiftly over hill and dale till she came to the place where Summer\nlived. Here the sun shone warmly on early fruit and ripening grain; the\nwind blew freshly over sweet hay-fields and rustled the thick branches\nof the trees. Heavy dews and soft showers refreshed the growing things,\nand long bright days brought beauty to the world.\n\n\"Now I must look for Summer,\" said Ripple, as she sailed along.\n\n\"I am here,\" said a voice, and she saw a beautiful woman floating by, in\ngreen robes, with a golden crown on her hair, and her arms full of\nsplendid flowers.\n\nRipple told her story again, but Summer said with a sigh of pity,--\n\n\"I cannot show you the way, but my brother Autumn may know. I, too, will\ngive you a gift to help you along, good little creature. This sunbeam\nwill be a lamp to light your way, for you may have a gloomy journey\nyet.\"\n\nThen Summer went on, leaving all green and golden behind her, and Ripple\nflew away to look for Autumn. Soon the fields were yellow with corn and\ngrain; purple grapes hung on the vines; nuts rattled down among the dead\nleaves, and frost made the trees gay with lovely colors. A handsome\nhunter, in a russet suit, came striding over the hills, with his hounds\nabout him, while he made music on his silver horn, and all the echoes\nanswered him.\n\nThis was Autumn, but he was no wiser than his sisters, and seeing the\nlittle sprite's disappointment he kindly said,--\n\n\"Ask Winter; he knows the fire spirits well, for when he comes they fly\ndown to kindle fires on the hearths where people gather to keep warm.\nTake this red leaf, and when you meet his chilly winds wrap it round\nyou, else you will be frozen to death. A safe journey and a happy end;\"\nand with a shrill blast on his horn Autumn hurried away, with his\nhounds leaping after him.\n\n\"Shall I ever get there?\" sighed poor Ripple, as the never-tiring breeze\nflew on, till the sky grew dark and cold winds began to blow. Then she\nfolded the warm red leaf about her like a cloak, and looked sadly down\nat the dead flowers and frozen fields, not knowing that Winter spread a\nsoft blanket of snow over them, so they could lie safely asleep till\nSpring woke them again.\n\nPresently, riding on the north wind, Winter came rushing by, with a\nsparkling crown of ice on his white hair, and a cloak of frost-work,\nfrom which he scattered snow-flakes far and wide.\n\n\"What do you want with me, pretty thing? Do not be afraid; I am warm at\nheart, though rude and cold outside,\" said Winter, with a smile that\nmade his pleasant face glow in the frosty air.\n\nWhen Ripple told what she was looking for, he nodded and pointed to the\ngloomy sky.\n\n\"Far away up there is the palace, and the only road is through cloud and\nmist and strange places full of danger. It is too hard a task for you,\nand the fire spirits are wild, hot-tempered things who may kill you.\nCome back with me, and do not try.\"\n\n\"I cannot go back, now that I have found the way. Surely the spirits\nwill not hurt me when I tell why I have come; and if they do give me the\nspark I shall be the happiest sprite in all the big sea. Tell the poor\nmother I will keep my word; and be kind to her, she is so sad.\"\n\n\"You brave little creature! I think you will succeed. Take this\nsnowflake, that will never melt, and good luck to you,\" cried Winter, as\nthe north wind carried him away, leaving the air full of snow.\n\n\"Now, dear Breeze, fly straight up till we reach our journey's end.\nSunbeam shall light the way; Redleaf shall keep me warm, and Snowflake\nlie here beside me till I need it. Good-by to land and sea; now away, up\nto the sun!\"\n\nWhen Ripple first began her airy journey, heavy clouds lay piled like\nhills about her, and a cold mist filled the air. Higher and higher they\nwent, and darker grew the air, while a stormy wind tossed the little\ntraveller to and fro as if on the angry sea.\n\n\"Shall I ever see the beautiful world again?\" sighed Ripple. \"It is\nindeed a dreadful road, and but for the seasons' gifts I should have\ndied. Fly fast, dear wind, and bring me to the sunshine again.\"\n\nSoon the clouds were left behind, the mist rolled away, and she came up\namong the stars. With wondering eyes she looked at the bright worlds\nthat once seemed dim and distant when she saw them from the sea. Now\nthey moved around her, some shining with a soft light, some with\nmany-colored rings, some pale and cold, while others burned with a red\nglare.\n\nRipple would gladly have stayed to watch them, for she fancied voices\ncalled; faces smiled at her, and each star made music as it shone in the\nwide sky. But higher up, still nearer to the sun, she saw a far-off\nlight that glittered like a crimson flame, and made a fiery glow. \"The\nspirits must be there,\" she said, and hurried on, eager to reach her\njourney's end.\n\nUp she flew till straight before her lay a broad path that led to a\ngolden arch, behind which she could see lovely creatures moving to and\nfro. As she drew nearer, the air grew so hot that the red leaf\nshrivelled up, and Ripple would have died if she had not quickly\nunfolded the snowflake and wrapped herself in that cool cloak. Then she\ncould safely pass under the tall arch into a strange place, where the\nwalls were of orange, blue, and purple flames, that made beautiful\nfigures as they flickered to and fro. Here the fire spirits lived, and\nRipple saw with wonder their crowns of flame, their flashing eyes, the\nsparks that popped from their lips as they spoke, and how in each one's\nbosom burned a little flame that never wavered or went out.\n\nShe had time to see no more, for the wild things came dancing round her;\nand their hot breath would have burned her if she had not pulled the\nsnow-cloak over her head and begged them not to touch her, but to take\nher to the Queen.\n\nThrough halls of many-colored fire they led her to a spirit more\nbrilliant than the rest; for a crown of yellow flames waved on her head,\nand under the transparent violet of her robe the light in her breast\nshone like a star.\n\nThen Ripple told how she had been round the world to find them, and,\nthanks to the seasons, had come at last to ask the magic spark that\nwould make the little child live again.\n\n\"We cannot give it,\" said the Queen; \"for each of us must take something\nfrom our bosom-fires to make up this flame, and this we do not like to\ndo; because the brighter these souls of ours burn, the lovelier we are.\"\n\n\"Dear, warm-hearted spirits, do not send me away without it after this\nlong, hard journey,\" cried Ripple, clasping her hands. \"I am sure if you\ndo this kind thing your souls will shine the brighter; for every good\nact makes us beautiful. Give me the spark and I will do anything I can\nfor you.\"\n\nAs she spoke, the cloak fell back a little, and the Queen saw the chain\nof jewels Ripple wore.\n\n\"If you will give me those lovely blue stones that shine like water I\nwill give a little of my bosom-fire for the child; because you are a\nbrave sprite, and it is hard to be cruel to you.\"\n\nGladly Ripple gave her the necklace; but, alas! as soon as the Queen's\nhand touched it the jewels melted like snow, and fell in bright drops\nto the ground. Then the Queen's eyes flashed, and the spirits gathered\nangrily about Ripple, while sparks showered from their lips as they\nspoke angrily to her.\n\n\"I have many finer ones at home, and if you will give me the flame I\nwill bring all I can gather in the sea, and each shall have a necklace\nto remember the kind deed you have done,\" she said gently, as they\nhovered about her, looking ready to burn her up in their wrath.\n\n\"We will do it,\" said the Queen; \"but if the jewels you bring melt like\nthese, we shall keep you a prisoner here. Promise to come back, or we\nshall send lightning to find and kill you, even at the bottom of the\nsea.\"\n\nRipple promised, and each spirit gave a spark, till the golden flame was\nmade, and put into a crystal vase, where it shone like a splendid star.\n\n\"Remember! remember!\" cried the fierce imps as they led her to the arch\nand left her to travel back through mist and cloud till far below she\nsaw the beautiful blue sea.\n\nGladly she plunged into the cool waves and sunk to her home, where her\nfriends hastened joyfully to welcome her.\n\n\"Now come,\" they said, \"dear, brave Ripple, and finish the good work you\nhave begun.\" They gathered round the tomb, where like a marble image lay\nthe little child. Ripple placed the flame on his breast and watched it\nsparkle there while the color came slowly back to the pale face, light\nto the dim eyes, and breath through the cold lips, till the child woke\nfrom his long sleep and looked up smiling as he called his mother.\n\nThen the spirits sang for joy, and dressed him in pretty clothes of\nwoven sea-weed, put chains of shells on his neck and a wreath of\nwater-flowers on his head.\n\n\"Now you shall see your mother who has waited so long, dear child,\" said\nRipple, taking him in her arms and feeling that all her weariness was\nnot in vain.\n\nOn the shore the poor woman still sat, watching and waiting patiently,\nas she had done all that weary year. Suddenly a great wave came rolling\nin, and on it, lifted high by arms as white as foam, sat the child\nwaving his hands as he cried to her, \"I am coming, mother, and I have\nsuch lovely things to show you from the bottom of the sea!\"\n\nThen the wave broke gently on the shore and left the child safe in his\nhappy mother's arms.\n\n\"O faithful Ripple, what can I do to thank you? I wish I had some\nsplendid thing, but I have only this little chain of pearls. They are\nthe tears I shed, and the sea changed them so that I might offer them to\nyou,\" said the woman, when she could speak for joy.\n\nRipple took the pretty chain and floated away, ready for her new task,\nwhile the child danced gayly on the sand, and the mother smiled like\nsunshine on the happy sprite who had done so much for her.\n\nFar and wide in all the caves of the sea did Ripple look for jewels, and\nwhen she had long necklaces of all the brightest, she flew away again on\nthe tireless breeze to the fire palace in the sky.\n\nThe spirits welcomed her warmly as she poured out her treasures at the\nfeet of the Queen. But when the hot hands touched the jewels, they\nmelted and fell like drops of colored dew. Ripple was filled with fear,\nfor she could not live in that fiery place, and begged for some other\ntask to save her life.\n\n\"No, no,\" cried the spirits fiercely. \"You have not kept your promise\nand you must stay. Fling off this cold cloak and swim in the\nfire-fountains till you get a soul like ours, and can help us brighten\nour bosom sparks again.\"\n\nRipple sank down in despair and felt that she must die; but even then\nwas glad to give her life for the little child's. The spirits gathered\nabout her, but as they began to pull the cloak away, underneath they saw\nthe chain of pearls shining with a soft light, that only brightened as\nthey put their hands upon it.\n\n\"Oh, give us this!\" they cried; \"it is finer than the others, and does\nnot melt. Give us this and you may go free.\"\n\nRipple gladly gave it, and, safe under the cloak, told them how the\npearls they so proudly divided to wear were tears which, but for them,\nwould still be flowing. This pleased the spirits, for they had warm\nhearts as well as hot tempers, and they said, smiling,--\"Since we may\nnot kiss you, and you cannot live with us, we will show our love for you\nby giving you a pleasant journey home. Come out and see the bright path\nwe have made.\"\n\nThey led her to the gate and there she saw a splendid rainbow arching\nfrom the sky to the sea, its lovely colors shining in the sun.\n\nThen with thanks and good-by, happy little Ripple flew back along that\nlovely road, and every wave in the great ocean danced for joy to welcome\nher home.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\nEVA'S VISIT TO FAIRYLAND.\n\n\n[Illustration: Eva watched their pretty play.--PAGE 69.]\n\nA little girl lay on the grass down by the brook wondering what the\nbrown water said as it went babbling over the stones. As she listened\nshe heard another kind of music that seemed to come nearer and nearer,\ntill round the corner floated a beautiful boat filled with elves, who\ndanced on the broad green leaves of the lily of the valley, while the\nwhite bells of the tall stem that was the mast rung loud and sweet.\n\nA flat rock, covered with moss, stood in the middle of the brook, and\nhere the boat was anchored for the elves to rest a little. Eva watched\nthem at their pretty play, as they flew about or lay fanning themselves\nand drinking from the red-brimmed cups on the rocks. Wild strawberries\ngrew in the grass close by, and Eva threw some of the ripest to the\nfairy folk; for honey and dew seemed a poor sort of lunch to the child.\nThen the elves saw her, and nodded and smiled and called, but their soft\nvoices could not reach her. So, after whispering among themselves, two\nof them flew to the brookside, and perching on a buttercup said close to\nEva's ear,--\n\n\"We have come to thank you for your berries, and to ask if we can do\nanything for you, because this is our holiday and we can become visible\nto you.\"\n\n\"Oh, let me go to fairyland! I have longed so to see and know all about\nyou dear little people; and never would believe it is true that there\nare no fairies left,\" cried Eva, so glad to find that she was right.\n\n\"We should not dare to take some children, they would do so much harm;\nbut you believe in us, you love all the sweet things in the world, and\nnever hurt innocent creatures, or tread on flowers, or let ugly passions\ncome into your happy little heart. You shall go with us and see how we\nlive.\"\n\nBut as the elves spoke, Eva looked very sad and said,--\n\n\"How can I go? I am so big I should sink that pretty ship with one\nfinger, and I have no wings.\"\n\nThe elves laughed and touched her with their soft hands, saying,--\n\n\"You cannot hurt us now. Look in the water and see what we have done.\"\n\nEva looked and saw a tiny child standing under a tall blue violet. It\nwas herself, but so small she seemed an elf in a white pinafore and\nlittle pink sun-bonnet. She clapped her hands and skipped for joy, and\nlaughed at the cunning picture; but suddenly she grew sober again, as\nshe looked from the shore to the rock.\n\n\"But now I am so wee I cannot step over, and you cannot lift me, I am\nsure.\"\n\n\"Give us each a hand and do not be afraid,\" said the elves, and whisked\nher across like dandelion down.\n\nThe elves were very glad to see her, and touched and peeped and asked\nquestions as if they had never had a mortal child to play with before.\nEva was so small she could dance with them now, and eat what they ate,\nand sing their pretty songs. She found that flower-honey and dewdrops\nwere very nice, and that it was fine fun to tilt on a blade of grass, to\nslide down a smooth bulrush-stem, or rock in the cup of a flower. She\nlearned new and merry games, found out what the brook said, saw a\ncowslip blossom, and had a lovely time till the captain of the ship blew\na long sweet blast on a honeysuckle horn, and all the elves went aboard\nand set sail for home.\n\n\"Now I shall find the way to Fairyland and can go again whenever I\nlike,\" thought Eva, as she floated away.\n\nBut the sly little people did not mean that she should know, for only\nnow and then can a child go to that lovely place. So they set the bells\nto chiming softly, and all sung lullabies till Eva fell fast asleep, and\nknew nothing of the journey till she woke in Fairyland.\n\nIt seemed to be sunset; for the sky was red, the flowers all dreaming\nbehind their green curtains, the birds tucked up in their nests, and\nthere was no sound but the whisper of the wind that softly sang,\n\"Good-night, good-night.\"\n\n\"We all go early to bed unless the moon shines. We are tired, so come\nand let us make you cosey till to-morrow,\" said the elves, showing her a\ndainty bed with white rose-leaves for sheets, a red rose-leaf for\ncoverlet, and two plump little mushrooms for pillows. Cobweb curtains\nhung over it, a glow-worm was the candle, and a lily-of-the-valley cup\nmade a nice night-cap, while a tiny gown of woven thistle-down lay ready\nto be put on.\n\nEva quickly undressed and slipped into the pretty bed, where she lay\nlooking at the red light till sleep kissed her eyelids, and a lovely\ndream floated through her mind till morning came.\n\nAs soon as the sun peeped over the hills the elves were up and away to\nthe lake, where they all dipped and splashed and floated and frolicked\ntill the air was full of sparkling drops and the water white with foam.\nThen they wiped on soft cobweb towels, which they spread on the grass to\ndry, while they combed their pretty hair and put on fresh gowns of\nflower-leaves. After that came breakfast, all sitting about in parties\nto eat fruit and cakes of pollen, while their drink was fresh dew.\n\n\"Now, Eva, you see that we are not idle, foolish creatures, but have\nmany things to do, many lessons to learn, and a heaven of our own to\nhope for,\" said the elves when they had all sung together; while the\nwind, who was the house-maid there, cleared the tables by blowing\neverything away at one breath. \"First of all come to our hospital,--for\nhere we bring all the sick and hurt things cruel or careless people have\nharmed. In your world children often torment and kill poor birds and\nworms and flies, and pick flowers to throw away, and chase butterflies\ntill their poor wings are broken. All these we care for, and our magic\nmakes them live again. Come and see.\"\n\nEva followed to a cool, quiet place, where on soft beds lay many wounded\nthings. Rose, the fairy nurse, was binding up the leg of a fly as he lay\nin a cobweb hammock and feebly buzzed his thanks. In another place an\nugly worm was being put together after a cruel boy had cut him in two.\nEva thought the elves were good to do such work, and went on to a\nhumming-bird which lay in a bed of honeysuckles, with the quick colors\nvery dim on its little breast and bright wings very still.\n\n\"I was shot with an air-gun, and my poor head still aches with the\ndreadful blow,\" sighed the poor bird, trying to sip a little honey with\nhis long beak.\n\n\"I'm nearly well,\" chirped a cricket, whose stiff tail had been pulled\noff by a naughty child and nicely put on again by a very skilful elf.\n\nHe looked so cheerful and lively as he hopped about on his bed of dried\ngrass, with his black eyes twinkling, and a bandage of bindweed holding\nhis tail firmly in place till it was well, that Eva laughed aloud, and\nat the pleasant sound all the sick things smiled and seemed better.\n\nRows of pale flowers stood in one place, and elves watered them, or tied\nup broken leaves, or let in the sunshine to cure their pains,--for these\ndelicate invalids needed much care; and Mignonette was the name of the\nnurse who watched over them, like a little Sister of Charity, with her\ngray gown and sweet face.\n\n\"You have seen enough. Come to school now, and see where we are taught\nall that fairies must know,\" said Trip, the elf who was guiding her\nabout.\n\nIn a pleasant place they found the child elves sitting on pink daisies\nwith their books of leaves in their hands, while the teacher was a\nJack-in-the-pulpit, who asked questions, and was very wise. Eva nodded\nto the little ones, and they smiled at the stranger as they rustled\ntheir books and pretended to study busily.\n\nA class in arithmetic was going on, and Eva listened to questions that\nnone but elves would care to know.\n\n\"Twinkle, if there were fifteen seeds on a dandelion, and the wind blew\nten away, how many would be left?\"\n\n\"Five.\"\n\n\"Bud, if a rose opens three leaves one day, two the next, and seven the\nnext, how many in all?\"\n\n\"Eleven.\"\n\n\"Daisy, if a silk-worm spins one yard of fairy cloth in an hour, how\nmany can he spin in a day?\"\n\n\"Twelve, if he isn't lazy,\" answered the little elf, fluttering her\nwings, as if anxious to be done.\n\n\"Now we will read,\" said Jack, and a new class flew to the long leaf,\nwhere they stood in a row, with open books, ready to begin.\n\n\"You may read 'The Flower's Lesson' to-day, and be careful not to\nsing-song, Poppy,\" said the teacher, passing a dainty book to Eva that\nshe might follow the story.\n\n     \"Once there was a rose who had two little buds. One was\n     happy and contented, but the other always wanted something.\n\n     \"'I wish the elves would bring me a star instead of dew\n     every night. The drop is soon gone, but a star would shine\n     splendidly, and I should be finer than all the other\n     flowers,' said the naughty bud one night.\n\n     \"'But you need the dew to live, and the moon needs the stars\n     up there to light the world. Don't fret, sister, but be sure\n     it is best to take what is sent, and be glad,' answered the\n     good bud.\n\n     \"'I won't have the dew, and if I cannot get a star I will\n     take a firefly to shine on my breast,' said the other,\n     shaking off a fresh drop that had just fallen on her, and\n     folding her leaves round the bright fly.\n\n     \"'Foolish child!' cried the rose-mother; 'let the fly go,\n     before he harms you. It is better to be sweet and fair than\n     to shine with a beauty not your own. Be wise, dear, before\n     it is too late.'\n\n     \"But the silly bud only held the firefly closer, till in its\n     struggles it tore her leaves and flew away. When the hot sun\n     came up the poor bud hung all faded on her stem, longing for\n     a cool drop to drink. Her sister was strong and fresh, and\n     danced gayly in the wind, opening her red petals to the\n     sun.\n\n     \"'Now I must die. Oh, why was I vain and silly?' sobbed the\n     poor bud, fainting in the heat.\n\n     \"Then the mother leaned over her, and from her bosom, where\n     she had hidden it, the dew-drop fell on the thirsty bud, and\n     while she drank it eagerly the rose drew her closer,\n     whispering, 'Little darling, learn to be contented with what\n     heaven sends, and make yourself lovely by being good.'\"\n\n\"I shall remember that story,\" said Eva when the elves shut their books\nand flew back to the daisy seats.\n\n\"Would you like to hear them sing?\" asked Trip.\n\n\"Very much,\" said Eva, and in the little song they gave her she got\nanother lesson to carry home.\n\n    \"I shine,\" says the sun,\n      \"To give the world light,\"\n    \"I glimmer,\" adds the moon,\n      \"To beautify the night.\"\n    \"I ripple,\" says the brook,\n      \"I whisper,\" sighs the breeze,\n    \"I patter,\" laughs the rain,\n      \"We rustle,\" call the trees\n    \"We dance,\" nod the daisies,\n      \"I twinkle,\" shines the star,\n    \"We sing,\" chant the birds,\n      \"How happy we all are!\"\n    \"I smile,\" cries the child,\n      Gentle, good, and gay;\n    The sweetest thing of all,\n      The sunshine of each day.\n\n\"I shall sing that to myself and try to do my part,\" said Eva, as the\nelves got out their paints and brushes of butterfly-down, and using\nlarge white leaves for paper, learned to imitate the colors of every\nflower.\n\n\"Why do they do this?\" asked Eva, for she saw no pictures anywhere.\n\n\"We keep the flowers fresh, for in the world below they have trials with\nthe hot sun that fades, the mould that spots, grubs that gnaw, and frost\nthat kills. We melt bits of rainbow in our paint-pots, and when it is\nneeded we brighten the soft color on Anemone's cheeks, deepen the blue\nof Violet's eyes, or polish up the cowslips till they shine like cups of\ngold. We redden the autumn leaves, and put the purple bloom on the\ngrapes. We made the budding birches a soft green, color maple keys, and\nhang brown tassels on the alder twigs. We repair the dim spots on\nbutterflies' wings, paint the blue-bird like the sky, give Robin his red\nvest, and turn the yellow bird to a flash of sunshine. Oh, we are\nartists, and hereafter you will see our pictures everywhere.\"\n\n\"How lovely!\" said Eva. \"I often wondered who kept all these delicate\nthings so beautiful and gay. But where are we going now?\" she added, as\nthe elves led her away from the school.\n\n\"Come and see where we learn to ride,\" they answered, smiling as if they\nenjoyed this part of their education.\n\nIn a little dell where the ground was covered with the softest moss Eva\nfound the fairy riding-school and gymnasium. The horses were all kinds\nof winged and swift-footed things, and the race-ground was a smooth path\nround the highest moss mound. Groups of elves lay on the ground, swung\non the grass-blades, or sat in the wood flowers, that stood all about.\n\nIn one place the mothers and fathers were teaching their little ones to\nfly. The baby elves sat in a row on the branch of a birch-tree,\nfluttering their small wings and nestling close together, timid yet\nlonging to launch boldly out into the air and float as the others did.\nThe parents were very patient, and one by one the babies took little\nflights, getting braver and braver each time.\n\nOne very timid elf would not stir, so the sly papa and mamma put it on a\nleaf, and each taking a side, they rode the dear about for a few\nminutes, till she was used to the motion; then they dropped the leaf,\nand the little elf finding herself falling spread her wings and flew\naway to a tall bush, to the great delight of all who saw it.\n\nBut the riding was very funny, and Eva soon forgot everything else in\nwatching the gay creatures mount their various horses and fly or gallop\nround the ring while the teacher--a small fellow in a gay cap and green\nsuit--stood on the moss-mound, cracking a long whip and telling them how\nto ride in the best fairy fashion.\n\nSeveral lady elves learned to mount butterflies gracefully and float\nwhere they liked, sitting firmly when the winged horses alighted on the\nflowers. The boy elves preferred field-mice, who went very swiftly\nround and round, with saddles of woven grass and reins of yellow\nbindweed, which looked well on the little gray creatures, who twinkled\ntheir bright eyes and whisked their long tails as if they liked it.\n\nBut the best fun of all was when the leaping began; and Eva quite\ntrembled lest some sad accident should happen; for grasshoppers were led\nout, and the gallant elves leaped over the highest flower-tops without\nfalling off.\n\nIt was very funny to see the queer hoppers skip with their long legs,\nand when Puck, the riding-master, mounted, and led a dozen of his pupils\na race round the track, all the rest of the elves laughed aloud and\nclapped their hands in great glee; for Puck was a famous fairy, and his\npranks were endless.\n\nEva was shouting with the rest as the green horses came hopping by, when\nPuck caught her up before him, and away they raced so swiftly that her\nhair whistled in the wind and her breath was nearly gone. A tremendous\nleap took them high over the little hill and landed Eva in a tall\ndandelion, where she lay laughing and panting as if on a little yellow\nsofa, while Trip and her mates fanned her and smoothed her pretty hair.\n\n\"That was splendid!\" she cried. \"I wish I was a real fairy, and always\nlived in this lovely place. Everything will seem so ugly and big and\ncoarse when I go home I shall never be happy again.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, you will,\" answered Trip, \"for after this visit you will be\nable to hear and see and know what others never do, and that will make\nyou happy and good. You believed in us, and we reward all who love what\nwe love, and enjoy the beautiful world they live in as we do.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" said Eva. \"If I can know what the birds sing and the brook,\nand talk with the flowers, and see faces in the sky, and hear music in\nthe wind, I won't mind being a child, even if people call me queer.\"\n\n\"You shall understand many lovely things and be able to put them into\ntales and songs that all will read and sing and thank you for,\" said\nMoonbeam, a sweet, thoughtful elf, who stole quietly about, and was\nalways singing like a soft wind.\n\n\"Oh, that is what I always wanted to do,\" cried Eva, \"for I love my\nsong-books best, and never find new ones enough. Show me more, dear\nelves, so that I can have many fine tales to tell when I am old enough\nto write.\"\n\n\"Come, then, and see our sweetest sight. We cannot show it to every one,\nbut your eyes will be able to see through the veil, and you will\nunderstand the meaning of our flower-heaven.\"\n\nSo Moonlight led her away from all the rest, along a little winding path\nthat went higher and higher till they stood on a hilltop.\n\n\"Look up and follow me,\" said the elf, and touching Eva's shoulders with\nher wand, a pair of wings shot out, and away she floated after her guide\ntoward what looked like a white cloud sailing in the blue sky.\n\nWhen they alighted a soft mist was round them, and through it Eva saw a\ngolden glimmer like sunshine.\n\n\"Look, but do not speak,\" said Moonlight, beckoning her along.\n\nSoon the mist passed away and nothing but a thin veil of gossamer like a\nsilken cobweb hung between them and the world beyond. \"Can you see\nthrough it?\" whispered the elf anxiously.\n\nEva nodded, and then forgot everything to look with all her eyes into a\nlovely land of flowers; for the walls were of white lilies, the trees\nwere rose-trees, the ground blue violets, and the birds the little\nyellow canary-plant, whose blossoms are like birds on the wing.\nColumbines sounded their red horns, and the air was filled with delicate\nvoices, unlike any ever heard before, because it was the sweet breath of\nflowers set to music.\n\nBut what surprised Eva most was the sight of a common dandelion, a tuft\nof clover, a faded mignonette-plant, with several other humble flowers,\nset in a little plot by themselves as if newly come, and about them\ngathered a crowd of beautiful spirits, so bright, so small, so perfect\nthat Eva could hardly see them, and winked as if dazzled by the sunshine\nof this garden among the clouds.\n\n\"Who are they? and why do they care for those poor flowers?\" whispered\nEva, forgetting that she must not speak.\n\nBefore Moonlight could answer, all grew dim for a moment, as if a cold\nbreath had passed beyond the curtain and chilled the delicate world\nwithin.\n\n\"Hush! mortal voices must not be heard here,\" answered the elf with a\nwarning look.\n\n\"These lovely creatures are the spirits of flowers who did some good\ndeed when they bloomed on earth, and their reward is to live here\nforever where there is no frost, no rain, no stormy wind to hurt them.\nThose poor plants have just come, for their work is done, and their\nsouls will soon be set free from the shapes that hold them. You will see\nhow beautiful they have made themselves when out of the common flowers\ncome souls like the perfect ones who are welcoming them.\n\n\"That dandelion lived in the room of a poor little sick girl who had no\nother toy, no other playmate. She watched and loved it as she lay on her\nbed, for she was never well, and the good flower, instead of fading\nwithout sunshine in that dreary room, bloomed its best, till it shone\nlike a little sun. The child died with it in her hand, and when she no\nlonger needed it, we saved it from being thrown away and brought it here\nto live forever.\n\n\"The clover grew in a prison-yard, and a bad boy shut up there watched\nit as the only green thing that made him think of the fields at home\nwhere his mother was waiting and hoping he would come back to her.\nClover did her best to keep good thoughts in his mind and he loved her,\nand tried to repent, and when he was told he might go, he meant to take\nhis flower with him but forgot it in his hurry to get home. We did not\nforget, for the wind that goes everywhere had told us the little story,\nand we brought brave Clover out of prison to this flower-heaven.\n\n\"Mignonette lived in a splendid garden, but no one minded her, for she\nis only a little brown thing and hid in a corner, happy with her share\nof sunshine and rain, and her daily task of blossoming green and strong.\nPeople admired the other fine flowers and praised their perfume, never\nknowing that the sweetest breath of all came from the nook where\nMignonette modestly hid behind the roses. No one ever praised her, or\ncame to watch her, and the gardener took no care of her. But the bees\nfound her out and came every day to sip her sweet honey, the butterflies\nloved her better than the proud roses, and the wind always stopped for\na kiss as it flew by. When autumn came and all the other plants were\ndone blossoming, and stood bare and faded, there was modest Mignonette\nstill green and fresh, still with a blossom or two, and still smiling\ncontentedly with a bosom full of ripened seeds,--her summer work well\ndone, her happy heart ready for the winter sleep.\n\n\"But we said, 'No frost shall touch our brave flower; she shall not be\nneglected another year, but come to live loved and honored in the\neternal summer that shines here.' Now look.\"\n\nEva brushed away the tears that had filled her eyes as she listened to\nthese little histories, and looking eagerly, saw how from the dandelion,\nset free by the spells the spirits sang, there rose, light as down, a\nlittle golden soul, in the delicate shape the others wore. One in pale\nrose came from the clover, and a third in soft green with dusky wings;\nbut a bright face flew out of the mignonette. Then the others took hands\nand floated round the new-comers in an airy dance, singing so joyfully\nthat Eva clapped her hands crying, \"Happy souls! I will go home and try\nto be as good as they were; then I may be as happy when I go away to my\nheaven.\"\n\nThe sound of her voice made all dark, and she would have been frightened\nif the elf had not taken her hand and led her back to the edge of the\ncloud, saying as they flew down to Fairyland--\"See, the sun is setting;\nwe must take you home before this midsummer day ends, and with it our\npower to make ourselves known.\"\n\nEva had so much to tell that she was ready to go; but a new surprise\nwaited for her, and she saw a fairy spectacle as she came again before\nthe palace.\n\nBanners of gay tulip-leaves were blowing in the wind from the lances of\nreeds held by a troop of elves mounted on mice; a car made of a curled\ngreen leaf with checkerberry wheels and cushions of pink mushrooms stood\nready for her, and Trip as maid of honor helped her in. Lady elves on\nbutterflies flew behind, and the Queen's trumpeters marched before\nmaking music on their horns. All the people of Elfland lined the way,\nthrowing flowers, waving their hands, and calling, \"Farewell, little\nEva! Come again! Do not forget us!\" till she was out of sight.\n\n\"How sweet and kind you are to me. What can I do to thank you?\" said Eva\nto Trip, who sat beside her as they rolled along,--a gay and lovely\nsight, if any but fairy eyes could have seen it.\n\n\"Remember all you have seen and heard. Love the good and beautiful\nthings you will find everywhere, and be always a happy child at heart,\"\nanswered Trip with a kiss.\n\nBefore Eva could speak the sun set and in a moment every elf was\ninvisible, all the pretty show was gone, and the child stood alone by\nthe brook. But she never forgot her visit to Fairyland, and as she grew\nup she seemed to be a sort of elf herself, happy, gay, and good, with\nthe power of making every one love her as she went singing and smiling\nthrough the world. She wrote songs that people loved to sing, told tales\nchildren delighted to read, and found so much wisdom, beauty, and music\neverywhere, that it was very plain she understood the sweet language of\nbird and flower, wind and water, and remembered all the lessons the\nelves taught her.\n\n\n\n\nV.\n\nSUNSHINE, AND HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS.\n\n\n[Illustration: Sunshine was a sweet creature, and a great comfort to her\nmother.--PAGE 92.]\n\nOnce upon a time there was a very wise old spirit called Mother Nature,\nwho lived in a beautiful place, and had a large family of children, whom\nshe found it rather hard to manage. When they obeyed her, all went well;\nbut when they played pranks or quarrelled, everything was in confusion,\nand all sorts of trouble came.\n\nSunshine, the eldest girl, was a sweet creature, always good, and a\ngreat comfort to her mother at all seasons. So were South and West Winds\nnice little girls; but Lightning, Thunder's twin sister, was very\nnaughty, and liked to do mischief. Snow, the fourth daughter, was a\ncold, quiet spirit, fond of covering up the world with the nice white\nsheets she kept folded away in the sky. Rain was always crying, East\nWind sulking, Thunder and Hail scolding and growling, and North Wind,\nthe biggest of the boys, went roaring and blustering about so fiercely\nthat every one ran before him, though his wholesome breath freshened the\nworld, and blew away much rubbish, which his gentle sisters could not\nmanage as they kept house.\n\n\"Now, my dears, I'm very tired and going to take a nap, so be good\nchildren; do your tasks nicely, and wake me in March,\" said Mother\nNature, one November day, when her summer work was over, and her time\nfor rest had come.\n\n\"Yes, mamma,\" said Sunshine, as she tucked her up with a kiss. \"I will\ndo my best to keep the girls busy and the boys in order. Have a good\nsleep, and I'll call you in time for the spring work.\"\n\nThen the old lady tied her night-cap over her ears, and dozed off quite\ncomfortably, while her good daughter, after a last smile at the frosty\nworld, went to her spinning, that there might be plenty of sunshine for\nthe next summer.\n\n\"It's my turn now, and I'll cry as much as I like, for mother isn't here\nto stop me, and Sunny can't,\" said Rain; and down came floods of tears,\nwhile his brother, East Wind, began to blow till every one shivered, and\ncoughs and colds and fog and mud made the world a dismal place. Sunny\nbegged them to stop and give her a chance now and then, but they would\nnot; and everybody said what a dreadful month November was that year.\n\nFortunately it was soon time for North Wind and his favorite sister Snow\nto come back from Iceland; and the moment the older brother's loud voice\nwas heard, Rain and East ran and hid, for they were rather afraid of\nhim.\n\n\"Ha, what a mess those rascals have made! Never mind, we'll soon have it\nall nice and tidy for Christmas,\" said North, as he dried up the mud,\nblew away the fog, and got the world ready for Snow to cover with her\nbeautiful down quilt. In a day or two it looked like a fairy world, and\nSunshine peeped out to do her part, making the ice on the trees glitter\nlike diamonds, the snowy drifts shine like silver, and fill the blue sky\nfull of light.\n\nThen every one rejoiced, bells jingled merrily, children coasted and\nsnow-balled; Christmas trees began to grow, and all faces to glow as\nthey never do at any other time.\n\n\"The holydays shall be pleasant if I can only keep those bad boys in a\ngood humor,\" said Sunny; and to make sure of them she fed Rain and East\nWind on plum-cake with poppy-seeds in it, so they slept like dormice\ntill the New Year was born.\n\nSnow had her frolics, and no one minded, because she was so pretty; and\nNorth was so amiable just then that the white storms only made fine\nsleighing, and the fresh air kept cheeks rosy, eyes sparkling, lips\nlaughing, and hearts happy as they should be at that blessed season.\n\nSunshine was so pleased that she came out to see the fun, and smiled so\nwarmly that a January thaw set in.\n\n\"Dear me, I forgot that I must not be too generous at this season, or it\nmakes trouble; for, though people enjoy my pleasant days, they leave off\ntheir furs and get cold. I'll go back to my spinning and only smile\nthrough the window; then no harm will be done.\"\n\nThunder and Lightning had been in Italy all this time, and they too got\ninto mischief. Their mother had shut the twins up in a volcano to keep\nthem out of the way till summer, when they were useful. Down there they\nfound playmates to suit them, and had fine times rumbling and boiling,\nand sending out hot lava and showers of ashes to scare the people who\nlived near by. Growing tired of this, they at last planned to get up an\nearthquake and escape. So they kicked and shook the world like children\ntumbling about under the bed-clothes; and the fire roared, and Thunder\ngrowled, and Lightning flew about trying to get the lid of the volcano\noff. At last she did, and out they all burst with such a dreadful noise\nthat the poor people thought the end of the world had come. Towns fell\ndown, hills moved, the sea came up on the shore, ashes and stones\ncovered up a whole city, and destruction and despair were everywhere.\n\n\"There! wasn't that a fine frolic? Mother won't dare to shut us up\nagain, I fancy, when she sees what a piece of work we make for her,\"\nsaid naughty Lightning, dashing about to peep through the smoke at the\nsad scene below.\n\n\"Grand fun! but if Sunshine wakes mother we shall wish we had not done\nit. Let's run away to Africa and hide till this is all forgotten,\"\nanswered Thunder, rather ashamed of such a dreadful prank.\n\nSo they flew off, leaving great sorrow behind them; but Sunshine did not\nwake mamma, though West Wind came home from Italy to tell her all about\nit. There was trouble here also, for Rain and East Wind had waked up,\nand were very angry to find they had been dosed with poppy-seeds.\n\n\"Now we'll pay Sunny for that, and turn everything topsy-turvy,\" they\nsaid; and calling Hail, they went to work.\n\nRain emptied all his water-buckets till the rivers rose and flooded the\ntowns; the snow on the hills melted and covered the fields, washed away\nthe railroads, carried off houses, and drowned many poor animals; Hail\npelted with his stones, and East Wind blew cold and shrill till there\nwas no comfort anywhere.\n\nPoor Sunny was at her wits' end with all these troubles; but she would\nnot wake her mother, and tried to manage her unruly brothers alone. West\nhelped her, for while Sunny shone, and shone so sweetly that Rain had to\nstop crying, West tugged at the weather-cocks till she made East give\nway, and let her blow for a while. He was out of breath and had to\nyield; so the \"bad spell of weather\" was over, and the poor,\nhalf-drowned people could get dry and fish their furniture out of the\nflood, and moor their floating houses at last. Sunny kept on smiling\ntill she dried up the ground. West sent fresh gales to help her, and by\nMarch things looked much better.\n\n\"Now do be good children, and let us get ready for the spring-cleaning\nbefore mother wakes. I don't know what she _will_ say to the boys, but\nI've done my best, and I hope she will be pleased with me,\" said\nSunshine, when at last she sat down to rest a moment, tired out.\n\nAll the brothers and sisters except the naughty twins, gathered about\nher, and promised to be very good, for they loved her and were sorry for\ntheir pranks. Each tried to help her, and March was a very busy month,\nfor all the winds blew in turn; even gentle South from far away came\nhome to do her part. Snow folded up her down quilts and packed them\naway; Rain dropped a few quiet showers to swell the buds and green the\ngrass, and Sunny began to shake out the golden webs of light she had\nbeen spinning all winter. Every one worked so well that April found that\npart of the world in fine order; and when South Wind blew open the first\nhyacinths, Mother Nature smelt them, began to rub her eyes and wake up.\n\n\"Bless me, how I've slept. Why didn't you rouse me sooner, dear? Ah, my\ngood child, I see you've tried to do my work and get all ready for me,\"\nsaid the old lady, throwing away her night-cap, and peeping out of\nwindow at the spring world budding everywhere.\n\nThen sitting in her mother's lap, Sunny told her trials and\ntribulations. At some Mamma Nature laughed, at others she frowned; and\nwhen it came to the earthquake and the flood, she looked very sober,\nsaying, as she stroked her daughter's bright hair,--\n\n\"My darling, I can't explain these things to you, and I don't always\nunderstand why they happen; but you know we have only to obey the King's\norders and leave the rest to him. He will punish my naughty children if\nhe sees fit, and reward my good ones; so I shall leave them to him, and\ngo cheerfully on with my own work. That is the only way to keep our\nlovely world in order and be happy. Now, call your brothers and sisters\nand we will have our spring frolic together.\"\n\nThey all came, and had a merry time; for as every one knows, April has\nevery kind of weather; so each had a turn to show what he or she could\ndo, and by May-day things were in fine trim, though East would nip the\nMay queen's little nose, and all Sunny's efforts could only coax out a\nfew hardy dandelions for the eager hands to pick.\n\nBut the children were happy, for spring had come; Mother Nature was\nawake again, and now all would be well with the world.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nVI.\n\nTHE FAIRY SPRING.\n\n\n[Illustration: Before her was the spirit, so beautiful and smiling, May\ncould only clasp her hands and look.--PAGE 116.]\n\nOne summer morning a party of little wood-people were talking together\nabout something which interested them very much. The fruit-fairy was\neating her breakfast as she swung on a long spray of the raspberry-vines\nthat waved in the wind; a blue-bird was taking his bath in the pool\nbelow, looking as if a bit of the sky had fallen into the water as he\nsplashed and shook the drops from his wings; Skip, the squirrel, was\nresting on the mossy wall, after clearing out his hole of last year's\nnuts, to be ready for a new supply; Spin, the spider, was busily\nspreading her webs to bleach, and Brownie, the little bear, was warming\nhis fuzzy back in the sunshine, for his den was rather dark and cold.\n\n\"It is such a pity that no one understands what the brook is trying to\ntell them. If they only knew about the fairy spring as we do, this is\njust the day to set out and find it,\" said Iris, the elf, as she took\nthe last sip of raspberry shrub from the pretty red cup, and wiped her\nlips on a napkin Spin had made for her.\n\n\"Ah, if they only did! how glad I should be to show them the way,\"\nanswered the blue-bird, as he dried his feathers on a mossy stone, while\nthe caddis-worms all popped their heads out of sight in their little\nstone houses for fear he might eat them up.\n\n\"I have called every child I see, and done my best to lead them up the\nmountain; but they won't come, and I cannot make them understand the\nsweet words the brook keeps singing. How dull human creatures are! Even\nBrownie knows this song, though he is a dear, clumsy thing, always going\nto sleep when he is not eating,\" said Skip, with a twinkle in his bright\neye; for he and the little bear were good friends, though one was so\nbrisk and the other so big and awkward.\n\n\"Of course I do; I've heard it ever since I was born, and the first long\nwalk I took was up the mountain to find the wonderful spring. I drank of\nit, and have been the happiest creature alive ever since,\" answered\nBrownie, with a comfortable roll on the green grass.\n\n\"I am too busy to go, but my cousin Velvetback often comes down and\ntells me about the splendid life he leads up there, where no foot ever\ntreads on him, no hand ever breaks his webs, and everything is so still\nand bright that he always is in a hurry to get home again. When my\nweaving and bleaching are all done I am going up to see for myself;\" and\nSpin shook off the tiny drops of dew which shone like diamonds on her\nlargest web.\n\n\"There is one child who comes every day to look at the brook and listen\nto its babble as it runs under the little bridge over there. I think\n_she_ will soon hear what it says, and then we will lead her along\nhigher and higher till she finds the spring, and is able to tell every\none the happy secret,\" said Iris, shaking out her many-colored robe\nbefore she skimmed away to float over the pool, so like a glittering\ndragon-fly few guessed that she was a fairy.\n\n\"Yes, she is a sweet child,\" said the blue-bird, hopping to the wall to\nlook along the lane to see if she was coming. \"She never throws pebbles\nin the water to disturb the minnows, nor breaks the ferns only to let\nthem die, nor troubles us as we work and play as most children do. She\nleans there and watches us as if she loved us, and sings to herself as\nif she were half a bird. I like her, and I hope she will be the first to\nfind the spring.\"\n\n\"So do I,\" said Skip, going to sit by his friend and watch for the\nchild, while Brownie peeped through a chink in the wall that she might\nnot be frightened at sight of him, small as he was.\n\n\"She is coming! she is coming!\" called Iris, who had flown to the\nrailing of the rustic bridge, and danced for joy as a little figure came\nslowly down the winding lane.\n\nA pretty child, with hair like sunshine, eyes blue as the sky, cheeks\nlike the wild roses nodding to her on either side of the way, and a\nvoice as sweet as the babbling brook she loved to sing with. May was\nnever happier than when alone in the woods; and every morning, with her\ncup, and a little roll of bread in her basket, she wandered away to some\nof her favorite nooks, to feast on berries, play with the flowers, talk\nto the birds, and make friends with all the harmless wood-creatures who\nsoon knew and welcomed her.\n\nShe had often wondered what the brook sang, and tried to catch the words\nit seemed to be calling to her. But she never quite understood till this\nday, for when she came to the bridge and saw her friends--blue-bird,\nsquirrel, and dragon-fly--waiting for her, she smiled, and waved her\nhand to them, and just at that moment she heard the song of the brook\nquite plainly,--\n\n    \"I am calling, I am calling,\n      As I ripple, run, and sing,\n    Come up higher, come up higher,\n      Come and find the fairy spring.\n    Who will listen, who will listen\n      To the wonders I can tell,\n    Of a palace built of sunshine,\n      Where the sweetest spirits dwell?--\n    Singing winds, and magic waters,\n      Golden shadows, silver rain,\n    Spells that make the sad heart happy,\n      Sleep that cures the deepest pain.\n    Cheeks that bloom like summer roses,\n      Smiling lips and eyes that shine,\n    Come to those who climb the mountain,\n      Find and taste the fairy wine.\n    I am calling, I am calling,\n      As I ripple, run, and sing;\n    Who will listen, who will listen,\n      To the story of the spring?\"\n\n\"Where is it; oh, where is it?\" cried May, when the song ended; for she\nlonged to see this lovely place and enjoy these beautiful things.\n\n    \"Go up higher, go up higher,\n      Far beyond the waterfall.\n    Follow Echo up the mountain,\n      She will answer to your call.\n    Bird and butterfly and blossom,\n      All will help to show the way;\n    Lose no time, the day is going,\n      Find the spring, dear little May,\"\n\nsung the brook; and the child was enchanted to hear the sweet voice\ntalking to her of this pleasant journey.\n\n\"Yes, I will go at once. I am ready, and have no fear, for the woods are\nfull of friends, and I long to see the mountain top; it must be so\nlovely up there,\" she said, looking through the green arches where the\nbrook came dancing down over the rocks, far away to the gray peak,\nhidden in clouds.\n\nThere lay the fairy spring, and she was going to find it. No one would\nmiss her, for she often played all day in the forest and went home with\nthe lambs at night. The brook said, \"Make haste!\" so away she went over\nthe wall, with Skip leaping before her, as if to show the safest stones\nto set her little feet on. Iris waved the raspberry-sprays, to attract\nher with the ripe fruit, and when the basket was nearly full, Blue-bird\nflew from tree to tree to lead her on further into the wood. Brownie\ndodged behind the rocks and fallen logs, waiting for his turn to come,\nas he had a fine surprise for the little traveller by and by.\n\nIt was a lovely road, and May went happily on, with thick moss\nunderneath, shady boughs overhead, flowers to nod and smile at her, and\nfriends to guard, guide, and amuse her. Every ant stopped work to see\nher pass; every mosquito piped his little song in her ear; birds leaned\nout of their nests to bid her good-day, and the bright-eyed snakes,\nfearing to alarm her, hid under the leaves. But lovely butterflies flew\nround her in clouds; and she looked like a pretty one herself, with her\nblue gown and sunny hair blowing in the wind.\n\nSo she came at last to the waterfall. Here the brook took a long leap\nover some high rocks, to fall foaming into a basin fringed with ferns;\nout of which it flowed again, to run faster than ever down to join the\nriver rolling through the valley, to flow at last into the mighty ocean\nand learn a grander song.\n\n\"I never can get up there without wings,\" said May, as she looked at the\nhigh rocks with a tangle of vines all over them. Then she remembered\nwhat the brook told her, and called out,--\n\n\"Echo, are you here?\"\n\n\"Here!\" answered an airy voice.\n\n\"How can I climb up?\"\n\n\"Climb up.\"\n\n\"Yes; but can I get through the vines?\"\n\n\"Through the vines.\"\n\n\"It is very high, but I can try it.\"\n\n\"Try it, try it,\" answered the voice so clearly that May could not doubt\nwhat to do.\n\n\"Well, if I'm brave I shall be helped.\"\n\n\"Be helped,\" answered Echo.\n\n\"Now I'm coming, and I hope I shall find you, sweet Echo.\"\n\n\"Find sweet Echo,\" sung the voice; and when May laughed, a softer laugh\nanswered her so gayly that she forgot her fear in eagerness to see this\nnew friend, hiding above the waterfall.\n\nUp she went, and as if fairy hands cleared the way for her, the tangled\nvines made a green ladder for her feet, while every time she stopped\nfor breath and called, as she peeped into the shadowy nooks or looked at\nthe dashing water, \"Are you here?\" the mocking voice always answered\nfrom above,--\n\n\"Here!\"\n\nSo she climbed safely up and sat to rest at the top, looking down the\nvalley where the brook danced and sparkled as if glad to see her on her\nway. The air blew freshly, and the sun shone more warmly here, for the\ntrees were not so thick, and lovely glimpses of far-off hills and\nplains, like pictures set in green frames, made one eager to go on and\nsee more.\n\nSkip and Blue-bird kept her company, so she did not feel lonely, and\nfollowed these sure guides higher and higher, till she came out among\nthe great bare cliffs, where rocks lay piled as if giants had been\nthrowing them about in their rough play.\n\n\"Oh, how large the world is! and what a little thing I am!\" said May, as\nshe looked out over miles of country so far below that the towns looked\nlike toy villages, and people like ants at work. A strong wind blew, all\nwas very still, for no bird sang, and no flowers bloomed; only green\nmoss grew on the rocks, and tiny pines no longer than her finger\ncarpeted the narrow bits of ground here and there. An eagle flew high\noverhead, and great white clouds sailed by, so near that May could feel\ntheir damp breath as they passed.\n\nThe child felt a little fear, all was so vast and strange and wonderful;\nand she seemed so weak and small that for a moment she half wished she\nhad not come. She was hungry and tired, but her basket was empty, and no\nwater appeared. She sighed, and looked from the mountain top, hidden in\nmist, to the sunny valley where mother was, and a tear was about to\nfall, when Iris came floating to her like a blue and silver butterfly,\nand alighting on her hand let May see her lovely little face, and hear\nher small voice as she smiled and sung,--\n\n      \"Have no fear,\n      Friends are here,\n    To help you on your way.\n      The mountain's breast\n      Will give you rest,\n    And we a feast, dear May.\n      Here at your feet\n      Is honey sweet,\n    And water fresh to sip.\n      Fruit I bring\n      On Blue-bird's wing,\n    And nuts sends merry Skip.\n      Rough and wild,\n      To you, dear child,\n    Seems the lonely mountain way;\n      But have no fear,\n      For friends are near,\n    To guard and guide, sweet May.\"\n\nThen at the tap of the fairy's wand up gushed fresh water from the rock;\nBlue-bird dropped a long stalk of grass strung with raspberries like red\nbeads; Skip scattered his best nuts; and Brownie came lumbering up with\na great piece of honey-comb, folded in vine-leaves. He had found a\nwild-bees' nest, and this was his surprise. He was so small and gentle,\nand his little eyes twinkled so kindly, that May could not be afraid,\nand gladly sat down on the crisp moss to eat and drink with her friends\nabout her.\n\nIt was a merry lunch, for all told tales, and each amused the little\npilgrim in his or her pretty way. The bird let her hold him on her hand\nand admire his lovely blue plumes. Skip chattered and pranced till there\nseemed to be a dozen squirrels there instead of one. Brownie stood on\nhis head, tried to dance, and was so funny in his clumsy attempts to\noutdo the others that May laughed till many echoes joined in her\nmerriment. Iris told her splendid stories of the fairy spring, and\nbegged her to go on, for no one ever had so good a chance as she to find\nout the secret and see the spirit who lived on the mountain top.\n\n\"I am strong and brave now, and will not turn back. Come with me, dear\ncreatures, and help me over these great rocks, for I have no wings,\"\nsaid May, trudging on again, much refreshed by her rest.\n\n\"I'll carry you like a feather, my dear; step up and hold fast, and see\nme climb,\" cried Brownie, glad to be of use.\n\nSo May sat on his fuzzy back as on a soft cushion, and his strong legs\nand sharp claws carried him finely over the rough, steep places, while\nBlue-bird and Skip went beside her, and Iris flew in front to show the\nway. It was a very hard journey, and poor fat Brownie panted and\npuffed, and often stopped to rest. But May was so surprised and charmed\nwith the lovely clouds all about her that she never thought of being\ntired. She forgot the world below, and soon the mist hid it from her,\nand she was in a world of sunshine, sky, and white clouds floating about\nlike ships in a sea of blue air. She seemed to be riding on them when\none wrapped her in its soft arms; and more than once a tiny cloud came\nand sat in her lap, like a downy lamb, which melted when she tried to\nhold it.\n\n\"Now we are nearly there, and Velvet comes to meet us. These fine\nfellows are the only creatures who live up here, and these tiny\nstar-flowers the only green things that grow,\" said Iris, at last, when\nall the clouds were underneath, and the sky overhead was purple and\ngold, as the sun was going down.\n\nVelvet ran nimbly to give May a silver thread which would lead her\nstraight to the spring; and the path before her was carpeted with the\npretty white stars, that seemed to smile at her as if glad to welcome\nher. She was so eager that she forgot her weariness, and hurried on\ntill she came at last to the mountain top, and there like a beautiful\nblue eye looking up to heaven lay the fairy spring.\n\nMay ran to look into it, thinking she would see only the rock below and\nthe clouds above; but to her wonder there was a lovely palace reflected\nin the clear water, and shining as if made of silver, with crystal bells\nchiming with a sound like water-drops set to music.\n\n\"Oh, how beautiful! Is it real? Who lives there? Can I go to it?\" cried\nMay, longing to sink down and find herself in that charming palace, and\nknow to whom it belonged.\n\n\"You cannot go till you have drunk of the water and slept by the spring;\nthen the spirit will appear, and you will know the secret,\" answered\nIris, filling a pearly shell that lay on the brim of the spring.\n\n\"Must I stay here all alone? I shall be cold and afraid so far from my\nown little bed and my dear mother,\" said May, looking anxiously about\nher, for the sky was growing dim and night coming on.\n\n\"We will stay with you, and no harm can come to you, for the spirit\nwill be here while you sleep. Drink and dream, and in the morning you\nwill be in a new world.\"\n\nWhile Iris spoke Brownie had piled up a bed of star-flowers in a little\ncrevice of the rock; Velvet had spun a silken curtain over it to keep\nthe dew off; Blue-bird perched on the tallest stone to keep watch; and\nwhen May had drunk a cup of the fairy water, and lay down, with Skip\nrolled up for a pillow, and Brownie at her feet for a warm rug, Iris\nwaved her wand and sung a lullaby so sweet that the child was in\ndreamland at once.\n\nWhen she woke it was day, but she had no time to see the rosy sky, the\nmist rolling away, or the sunshine dazzling down upon the world, for\nthere before her rising from the spring, was the spirit, so beautiful\nand smiling, May could only clasp her hands and look. As softly as a\ncloud the spirit floated toward her, and with a kiss as cool as a\ndew-drop, she said in a voice like a fresh wind,--\n\n\"Dear child, you are the first to come and find me. Welcome to the\nmountain and the secret of the spring. It is this: whoever climbs up\nand drinks this water will leave all pain and weariness behind, and grow\nhealthy in body, happy in heart, and learn to see and love all the\nsimple wholesome things that help to keep us good and gay. Do you feel\ntired now, or lonely, or afraid? Has the charm begun to work?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" cried May, \"I think it has, for I feel so happy, light, and well,\nI could fly like a bird. It is so lovely here I could stay all my life\nif I only had mamma to enjoy it with me.\"\n\n\"She will come, and many others. Little children often are wiser than\ngrown people, and lead them up without knowing it. Look and see what you\nhave done by this longing of yours for the mountain top, and the brave\njourney that brought you here.\"\n\nThen the spirit touched May's eyes, and looking down she saw the little\npath by which she had come grow wider and smoother, till it wound round\nand round the mountain like a broad white ribbon, and up this pleasant\npath came many people. Some were pale and sad; some lame, some ill; some\nwere children in their mothers' arms; some old and bent, but were\nclimbing eagerly up toward the fairy spring,--sure of help and health\nwhen they arrived.\n\n\"Can you cure them all?\" asked May, delighted to see what hope and\ncomfort her journey had given others.\n\n\"Not all; but every one will be the better for coming, even the oldest,\nthe saddest, and the sickest; for my four servants, Sunshine, Fresh-air,\nWater, and Rest, can work miracles, as you will see. Souls and bodies\nneed their help, and they never fail to do good if people will only come\nto them and believe in their power.\"\n\n\"I am so glad, for mamma is often ill, and loves to come to the hills\nand rest. Shall I see her soon? Can I go and tell her all I have\nlearned, or must I stay till she comes?\" asked May, longing to run and\nskip, she felt so well with the fairy water bubbling in her veins.\n\n\"Go and tell the news, and lead the others up. You will not see me, but\nI am here; and my servants will do their work faithfully, for all who\nare patient and brave. Farewell, dear child, no harm will come to you,\nand your friends are waiting to help you down. But do not forget when\nyou are in the valley, or you will never find the fairy spring again.\"\n\nThen the spirit vanished like mist, and May ran away, singing like a\nbird, and skipping like a little goat, so proud and happy she felt as if\nshe could fly like a thistle-down. The path seemed very easy now, and\nher feet were never tired. Her good friends joined her by the way, and\nthey had a merry journey back to the valley. There May thanked them and\nhastened to tell all she had seen and heard and done. Few believed her;\nmost people said, \"The child fell asleep and dreamed it.\" A few invalids\nlooked up and sighed to be there, but had no courage to climb so far. A\npoet said he would go at once, and set off; so did a man who had lost\nhis wife and little children, and was very sad. May's mother believed\nevery word, and went hand in hand with the happy child along the path\nthat grew wider and smoother with every pair of feet that passed.\n\nThe wood-creatures nodded at May, and rejoiced to see the party go; but\nthere was no need of them now, so they kept out of sight, and only the\nchild and the poet saw them. Every one enjoyed the journey, for each\nhour they felt better; and when at last they reached the spring, and May\nfilled her little cup for them to drink the sweet water, every one\ntasted and believed, for health and happiness came to them with a single\ndraught.\n\nThe sad man smiled, and said he felt so near to heaven and his lost\nchildren up there that he should stay. The poet began to sing the\nloveliest songs he ever made, and pale mamma looked like a rose, as she\nlay on the star-flowers, breathing the pure air, and basking in the\nsunshine. May was the spirit of the spring for them, and washed away the\ntears, the wrinkles, and the lines of pain with the blessed water, while\nthe old mountain did its best to welcome them with mild air, cloud\npictures, and the peace that lies above the world.\n\nThat was the beginning of the great cure; for when this party came down\nall so beautifully changed, every one began to hurry away to try their\nfortune also. Soon the wide road wound round and round, and up it\njourneyed pilgrims from all parts of the world, till the spirit and her\nservants had hundreds of visitors each day. People tried to build a\ngreat house up there, and make money out of the spring; but every\nbuilding put up blew away, the water vanished, and no one was cured till\nthe mountain top was free again to all.\n\nThen the spring gushed up more freshly than before; the little\nstar-flowers bloomed again, and all who came felt the beauty of the\nquiet place, and were healed of all their troubles by the magic of the\nhills where the spirit of health still lives to welcome and bless\nwhoever go to find her.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nVII.\n\nQUEEN ASTER.\n\n\n[Illustration: Golden-rod heard the soft sigh, and whispered, \"What\ntroubles you, sweet neighbor?\"--PAGE 133.]\n\nFor many seasons the Golden-rods had reigned over the meadow, and no one\nthought of choosing a king from any other family, for they were strong\nand handsome, and loved to rule.\n\nBut one autumn something happened which caused great excitement among\nthe flowers. It was proposed to have a queen, and such a thing had never\nbeen heard of before. It began among the Asters; for some of them grew\noutside the wall beside the road, and saw and heard what went on in the\ngreat world. These sturdy plants told the news to their relations\ninside; and so the Asters were unusually wise and energetic flowers,\nfrom the little white stars in the grass to the tall sprays tossing\ntheir purple plumes above the mossy wall.\n\n\"Things are moving in the great world, and it is time we made a change\nin our little one,\" said one of the roadside Asters, after a long talk\nwith a wandering wind. \"Matters are not going well in the meadow; for\nthe Golden-rods rule, and they care only for money and power, as their\nname shows. Now, _we_ are descended from the stars, and are both wise\nand good, and our tribe is even larger than the Golden-rod tribe; so it\nis but fair that we should take our turn at governing. It will soon be\ntime to choose, and I propose our stately cousin, Violet Aster, for\nqueen this year. Whoever agrees with me, say Aye.\"\n\nQuite a shout went up from all the Asters; and the late Clovers and\nButtercups joined in it, for they were honest, sensible flowers, and\nliked fair play. To their great delight the Pitcher-plant, or\nForefathers' Cup, said \"Aye\" most decidedly, and that impressed all the\nother plants; for this fine family came over in the \"Mayflower,\" and was\nmuch honored everywhere.\n\nBut the proud Cardinals by the brook blushed with shame at the idea of a\nqueen; the Fringed Gentians shut their blue eyes that they might not see\nthe bold Asters; and Clematis fainted away in the grass, she was so\nshocked. The Golden-rods laughed scornfully, and were much amused at the\nsuggestion to put them off the throne where they had ruled so long.\n\n\"Let those discontented Asters try it,\" they said. \"No one will vote for\nthat foolish Violet, and things will go on as they always have done; so,\ndear friends, don't be troubled, but help us elect our handsome cousin\nwho was born in the palace this year.\"\n\nIn the middle of the meadow stood a beautiful maple, and at its foot lay\na large rock overgrown by a wild grape-vine. All kinds of flowers\nsprung up here; and this autumn a tall spray of Golden-rod and a lovely\nviolet Aster grew almost side by side, with only a screen of ferns\nbetween them. This was called the palace; and seeing their cousin there\nmade the Asters feel that their turn had come, and many of the other\nflowers agreed with them that a change of rulers ought to be made for\nthe good of the kingdom.\n\nSo when the day came to choose, there was great excitement as the wind\nwent about collecting the votes. The Golden-rods, Cardinals, Gentians,\nClematis, and Bitter-sweet voted for the Prince, as they called the\nhandsome fellow by the rock. All the Asters, Buttercups, Clovers, and\nPitcher-plants voted for Violet; and to the surprise of the meadow the\nMaple dropped a leaf, and the Rock gave a bit of lichen for her also.\nThey seldom took part in the affairs of the flower people,--the tree\nliving so high above them, busy with its own music, and the rock being\nso old that it seemed lost in meditation most of the time; but they\nliked the idea of a queen (for one was a poet, the other a\nphilosopher), and both believed in gentle Violet.\n\nTheir votes won the day, and with loud rejoicing by her friends she was\nproclaimed queen of the meadow and welcomed to her throne.\n\n\"We will never go to Court or notice her in any way,\" cried the haughty\nCardinals, red with anger.\n\n\"Nor we! Dreadful, unfeminine creature! Let us turn our backs and be\ngrateful that the brook flows between us,\" added the Gentians, shaking\ntheir fringes as if the mere idea soiled them.\n\nClematis hid her face among the vine leaves, feeling that the palace was\nno longer a fit home for a delicate, high-born flower like herself. All\nthe Golden-rods raged at this dreadful disappointment, and said many\nuntrue and disrespectful things of Violet. The Prince tossed his yellow\nhead behind the screen, and laughed as if he did not mind, saying\ncarelessly,--\n\n\"Let her try; she never can do it, and will soon be glad to give up and\nlet me take my proper place.\"\n\nSo the meadow was divided: one half turned its back on the new queen;\nthe other half loved, admired, and believed in her; and all waited to\nsee how the experiment would succeed. The wise Asters helped her with\nadvice; the Pitcher-plant refreshed her with the history of the brave\nPuritans who loved liberty and justice and suffered to win them; the\nhonest Clovers sweetened life with their sincere friendship, and the\ncheerful Buttercups brightened her days with kindly words and deeds. But\nher best help came from the rock and the tree,--for when she needed\nstrength she leaned her delicate head against the rough breast of the\nrock, and courage seemed to come to her from the wise old stone that had\nborne the storms of a hundred years; when her heart was heavy with care\nor wounded by unkindness, she looked up to the beautiful tree, always\nfull of soft music, always pointing heavenward, and was comforted by\nthese glimpses of a world above her.\n\nThe first thing she did was to banish the evil snakes from her kingdom;\nfor they lured the innocent birds to death, and filled many a happy nest\nwith grief. Then she stopped the bees from getting tipsy on the wild\ngrapes and going about stupid, lazy, and cross, a disgrace to their\nfamily and a terror to the flowers. She ordered the field-mice to nibble\nall the stems of the clusters before they were ripe; so they fell and\nwithered, and did no harm. The vine was very angry, and the bees and\nwasps scolded and stung; but the Queen was not afraid, and all her good\nsubjects thanked her. The Pitcher-plant offered pure water from its\ngreen and russet cups to the busy workers, and the wise bees were\nheartily glad to see the Grape-vine saloon shut up.\n\nThe next task was to stop the red and black ants from constantly\nfighting; for they were always at war, to the great dismay of more\npeaceful insects. She bade each tribe keep in its own country, and if\nany dispute came up, to bring it to her, and she would decide it fairly.\nThis was a hard task; for the ants loved to fight, and would go on\nstruggling after their bodies were separated from their heads, so fierce\nwere they. But she made them friends at last, and every one was glad.\n\nAnother reform was to purify the news that came to the meadow. The wind\nwas telegraph-messenger; but the birds were reporters, and some of them\nvery bad ones. The larks brought tidings from the clouds, and were\nalways welcome; the thrushes from the wood, and all loved to hear their\npretty romances; the robins had domestic news, and the lively wrens bits\nof gossip and witty jokes to relate. But the magpies made much mischief\nwith their ill-natured tattle and evil tales, and the crows criticised\nand condemned every one who did not believe and do just as they did; so\nthe magpies were forbidden to go gossiping about the meadow, and the\ngloomy black crows were ordered off the fence where they liked to sit\ncawing dismally for hours at a time.\n\nEvery one felt safe and comfortable when this was done, except the\nCardinals, who liked to hear their splendid dresses and fine feasts\ntalked about, and the Golden-rods, who were so used to living in public\nthat they missed the excitement, as well as the scandal of the magpies\nand the political and religious arguments and quarrels of the crows.\n\nA hospital for sick and homeless creatures was opened under the big\nburdock leaves; and there several belated butterflies were tucked up in\ntheir silken hammocks to sleep till spring, a sad lady-bug who had lost\nall her children found comfort in her loneliness, and many crippled ants\nsat talking over their battles, like old soldiers, in the sunshine.\n\nIt took a long time to do all this, and it was a hard task, for the rich\nand powerful flowers gave no help. But the Asters worked bravely, so did\nthe Clovers and Buttercups; and the Pitcher-plant kept open house with\nthe old-fashioned hospitality one so seldom sees now-a-days. Everything\nseemed to prosper, and the meadow grew more beautiful day by day. Safe\nfrom their enemies the snakes, birds came to build in all the trees and\nbushes, singing their gratitude so sweetly that there was always music\nin the air. Sunshine and shower seemed to love to freshen the thirsty\nflowers and keep the grass green, till every plant grew strong and fair,\nand passers-by stopped to look, saying with a smile,--\n\n\"What a pretty little spot this is!\"\n\nThe wind carried tidings of these things to other colonies, and brought\nback messages of praise and good-will from other rulers, glad to know\nthat the experiment worked so well.\n\nThis made a deep impression on the Golden-rods and their friends, for\nthey could not deny that Violet had succeeded better than any one dared\nto hope; and the proud flowers began to see that they would have to give\nin, own they were wrong, and become loyal subjects of this wise and\ngentle queen.\n\n\"We shall have to go to Court if ambassadors keep coming with such gifts\nand honors to her Majesty; for they wonder not to see us there, and will\ntell that we are sulking at home instead of shining as _we_ only can,\"\nsaid the Cardinals, longing to display their red velvet robes at the\nfeasts which Violet was obliged to give in the palace when kings came to\nvisit her.\n\n\"Our time will soon be over, and I'm afraid we must humble ourselves or\nlose all the gayety of the season. It is hard to see the good old ways\nchanged; but if they must be, we can only gracefully submit,\" answered\nthe Gentians, smoothing their delicate blue fringes, eager to be again\nthe belles of the ball.\n\nClematis astonished every one by suddenly beginning to climb the\nmaple-tree and shake her silvery tassels like a canopy over the Queen's\nhead.\n\n\"I cannot live so near her and not begin to grow. Since I must cling to\nsomething, I choose the noblest I can find, and look up, not down,\nforevermore,\" she said; for like many weak and timid creatures, she was\neasily guided, and it was well for her that Violet's example had been a\nbrave one.\n\nPrince Golden-rod had found it impossible to turn his back entirely upon\nher Majesty, for he was a gentleman with a really noble heart under his\nyellow cloak; so he was among the first to see, admire, and love the\nmodest faithful flower who grew so near him. He could not help hearing\nher words of comfort or reproof to those who came to her for advice. He\nsaw the daily acts of charity which no one else discovered; he knew how\nmany trials came to her, and how bravely she bore them; how humbly she\nasked help, and how sweetly she confessed her shortcomings to the wise\nrock and the stately tree.\n\n\"She has done more than ever we did to make the kingdom beautiful and\nsafe and happy, and I'll be the first to own it, to thank her and offer\nmy allegiance,\" he said to himself, and waited for a chance.\n\nOne night when the September moon was shining over the meadow, and the\nair was balmy with the last breath of summer, the Prince ventured to\nserenade the Queen on his wind-harp. He knew she was awake; for he had\npeeped through the ferns and seen her looking at the stars with her\nviolet eyes full of dew, as if something troubled her. So he sung his\nsweetest song, and her Majesty leaned nearer to hear it; for she much\nlonged to be friends with the gallant Prince, and only waited for him to\nspeak to own how dear he was to her, because both were born in the\npalace and grew up together very happily till coronation time came.\n\nAs he ended she sighed, wondering how long it would be before he told\nher what she knew was in his heart.\n\nGolden-rod heard the soft sigh, and being in a tender mood, forgot his\npride, pushed away the screen, and whispered, while his face shone and\nhis voice showed how much he felt,--\n\n\"What troubles you, sweet neighbor? Forget and forgive my unkindness,\nand let me help you if I can,--I dare not say as Prince Consort, though\nI love you dearly; but as a friend and faithful subject, for I confess\nthat you are fitter to rule than I.\"\n\nAs he spoke the leaves that hid Violet's golden heart opened wide and\nlet him see how glad she was, as she bent her stately head and answered\nsoftly,--\n\n\"There is room upon the throne for two: share it with me as King, and\nlet us rule together; for it is lonely without love, and each needs the\nother.\"\n\nWhat the Prince answered only the moon knows; but when morning came all\nthe meadow was surprised and rejoiced to see the gold and purple flowers\nstanding side by side, while the maple showered its rosy leaves over\nthem, and the old rock waved his crown of vine-leaves as he said,--\n\n\"This is as it should be; love and strength going hand in hand, and\njustice making the earth glad.\"\n\n\n\n\nVIII.\n\nTHE BROWNIE AND THE PRINCESS.\n\n\n[Illustration: Betty always wore a brown frock, a big brown hat, and,\nbeing out in the sun a great deal, her face was as brown as a\nberry.--PAGE 135.]\n\nShe was not a real Brownie, but a little girl named Betty, who lived\nwith her father in a cottage near a great forest. They were poor; so\nBetty always wore a brown frock, a big brown hat, and, being out in the\nsun a great deal, her face was as brown as a berry, though very pretty\nwith its rosy cheeks, dark eyes, and curly hair blowing in the wind. She\nwas a lively little creature, and having no neighbors she made friends\nwith the birds and flowers, rabbits and squirrels, and had fine frolics\nwith them, for they knew and loved her dearly. Many people drove through\nthe beautiful wood, which was not far from the King's palace; and when\nthey saw the little girl dancing with the daisies in the meadow, chasing\nsquirrels up the trees, splashing in the brook, or sitting under her big\nhat like an elf under a mushroom, they would say, \"There is the\nBrownie.\"\n\nBetty was wild and shy, and always tried to hide if any one called to\nher; and it was funny to see her vanish in a hollow tree, drop down in\nthe tall grass, or skip away into the ferns like a timid rabbit. She was\nafraid of the fine lords and ladies, who laughed at her and called her\nnames, but never thought to bring a book or a toy or say a kind word to\nthe lonely little girl.\n\nHer father took care of the deer in the King's park and was away all\nday, leaving Betty to sweep the little house, bake the brown bread, and\nmilk Daisy the white cow, who lived in the shed behind the cottage and\nwas Betty's dearest friend. They had no pasture for her to feed in; so,\nwhen the work was done, Betty would take her knitting and drive Daisy\nalong the road where she could eat the grass on either side till she had\nhad enough and lay down to rest under some shady tree. While the cow\nchewed her cud and took naps, the little girl would have fine games\namong her playmates, the wood creatures, or lie watching the clouds, or\nswing on the branches of the trees, or sail leaf boats in the brook. She\nwas happy; but she longed for some one to talk to, and tried vainly to\nlearn what the birds sang all day long. There were a great many about\nthe cottage, for no one troubled them, and they were so tame they would\neat out of her hand and sit on her head. A stork family lived on the\nroof, swallows built their clay nests under the eaves, and wrens chirped\nin their little homes among the red and white roses that climbed up to\npeep in at Betty's window. Wood-pigeons came to pick up the grain she\nscattered for them, larks went singing up from the grass close by, and\nnightingales sang her to sleep.\n\n\"If I only knew what they said, we could have such happy times together.\nHow can I ever learn?\" sighed Betty, as she was driving Daisy home one\nday at sunset.\n\nShe was in the wood, and as she spoke she saw a great gray owl\nfluttering on the ground as if he was hurt. She ran at once to see what\nailed the bird, and was not afraid, though his round eyes stared at her,\nand he snapped his hooked beak as if very angry.\n\n\"Poor thing! its leg is broken,\" she said, wondering how she could help\nit.\n\n\"No, it isn't; it's my wing. I leaned out of my nest up there to watch a\nfield mouse, and a ray of sunshine dazzled me so I tumbled down. Pick me\nup, child, and put me back, and I shall be all right.\"\n\nBetty was so surprised to hear the owl speak that she did not stir; and\nthinking she was frightened at his cross tone, the gray bird said more\ngently, with a blink of its yellow eyes and a wise nod,--\n\n\"I shouldn't speak to every one, nor trust any other child; but I know\nyou never hurt anything. I've watched you a long time, and I like you;\nso I'm going to reward you by giving you the last wish you made,\nwhatever it is. I can: I'm a wizard, and I know all sorts of magic\ncharms. Put me in my nest, tell me your wish, and you shall have it.\"\n\n\"Oh, thank you!\" cried Betty, joyfully. \"I wished to understand what\nbirds say.\"\n\n\"Dear me, that's a wish that may make trouble; but I'll grant it if you\nwon't tell any one how you learned the secret. I can't have people\ncoming to me, and my neighbors won't want their gossip heard by many\nears. They won't mind you, and it will amuse you, poor thing!\" said the\nowl, after a pause.\n\nBetty promised, and, holding the fat bird carefully in her arm, she\nclimbed up the old oak and put him safely in his hole, where he settled\nhimself with a great ruffling of feathers and a hoot of pleasure at\nbeing home again.\n\n\"Now, pull the tallest bit of down off my right ear and put it in your\nown; then you will hear what the birds say. Good-night; I'm used up and\nwant to rest,\" said the owl, with a gape.\n\n\"Thank you,\" said Betty, and ran after Daisy, who was slowly eating her\nway home.\n\nThe bit of down lay snugly in Betty's ear, and in a moment she heard\nmany sweet voices called to one another,--\"Good-night!\" \"Happy dreams!\"\n\"A bright to-morrow;\" \"Lie still, my darlings;\" \"Hush, my birdie, sleep\ntill day,\"--and all sorts of pretty things, as the wood-birds were going\nto bed with the sun. When she came to the cottage the papa stork was\nstanding on one leg, while the mamma tucked the little ones under her\nwings, scolding now and then as a red bill or a long leg popped out. The\ndoves were cooing tenderly in the pine that rustled near by, the\nswallows skimming over the ground to catch and bring their babies a few\nmore gnats for supper, and the wrens were twittering among the roses\nlike the little gossips they were.\n\n\"Now I shall know what they all are saying,\" cried Betty, trying to hear\nthe different voices; for there were so many going at once it was\ndifficult to understand the sweet new language.\n\nSo she milked Daisy, set the table, and made ready for her father, who\nwas often late, then took her bowl of bread and milk and sat on the\ndoor-step listening with all her might. She always strewed crumbs for\nthe wrens, and they flew down to eat without fear. To-night they came,\nand as they pecked they talked, and Betty understood every word.\n\n\"Here's a fine soft bit, my love,\" said the papa, as he hopped briskly\nabout, with his bright eye on the little girl. \"Have a good supper while\nI feed the children. The child never forgets us, and saves me many a\nlong journey by giving us these nice crumbs. I wish we could do\nsomething for her.\"\n\n\"So do I, and quite tire my wits trying to make some plan to give her\npleasure. I often wonder why the little Princess up at the palace has so\nmuch and our dear Betty so little. A few of the books and toys that lie\nabout up there would make this child so happy. It is a pity no one\nthinks of it;\" and the kind Mamma Wren sighed as she ate a nice bit\nclose to Betty's bare foot.\n\n\"If she was not so shy and would let people speak to her, I think she\nwould soon make friends, she is so pretty and gay,\" answered the papa,\ncoming back for another load for the hungry babies in the nest.\n\n\"The Princess has heard of her and wants to see her. I heard the maids\ntalking about it to-day when I went to call on Cousin Tomtit in the\npalace garden. They said her Highness was to drive through the pine wood\nearly to-morrow morning to breathe the fresh air, and hoped to see the\nBrownie and the pretty white cow. Now, if Betty only knew it, she might\ngather a posy of cowslips, and when the little lady comes give them to\nher. That would please her very much and bring Betty some pretty gift;\nfor her Highness is generous, though sadly spoilt, I'm afraid.\"\n\nThis fine plan of Mamma Wren's pleased Betty so much that she clapped\nher hands and startled the birds away.\n\n\"I'll do it! I'll do it!\" she cried. \"I always wanted to see the little\nPrincess father has told me about. She is ill, and cannot run and play\nas I do, so I should love to please her, and the cowslips are all out.\nI'll go early and get a hat full, and not run away if she comes.\"\n\nBetty was so full of this delightful plan that she went early to bed,\nbut did not forget to lean out of her window and peep through the roses\ninto the nest where Mamma Wren brooded over her babies while the papa\nroosted near by with his head under his wing.\n\n\"Good-night, dear birds; thank you very much,\" whispered Betty; but they\ndid not mind her, and only twittered sleepily as if a dream disturbed\nthem.\n\n    \"Up, up, little maid;\n      Day has begun.\n    Welcome with us\n      Our father, the sun!\"\n\nsang the larks, as they rose from the grass and waked Betty with their\nsweet voices.\n\n    \"Tweet, tweet, it is morning;\n      Please get up, mamma.\n    Do bring us some breakfast,\n      Our dearest papa,\"\n\ntwittered the young wrens, with their mouths wide open.\n\n    \"Click, clack, here's another day;\n    Stretch our wings and fly away\n    Over the wood and over the hills,\n    Seeking food for our babies' bills;\"\n\nand away went the storks with their long legs trailing out behind, while\nthe little ones popped up their heads and stared at the sun.\n\n    \"Cluck! cluck!\n    Here's good luck:\n    Old yellow-legs\n    Has laid two eggs,\n    All fresh and sweet,\n    For our girl to eat,\"\n\ncackled the gray hens, picking about the shed where the cock stood\ncrowing loudly.\n\n    \"Coo! coo! coo!\n    Come, bathe in the dew;\n    For the rosy dawn shines\n    Through our beautiful pines.\n    So kiss, every one,\n    For a new day's begun,\"\n\ncalled the doves softly to one another as they billed and cooed and\ntripped about on their little pink feet.\n\nBetty looked and listened at her window, and was so happy she kissed the\nroses nodding at her, then ran down to make the porridge, singing like a\nbird herself. When her father had gone away to work she made haste to\nmilk Daisy, sweep the floor, and make all tidy for the day before she\nwent to wait for the Princess.\n\n\"Now, you eat your breakfast here while I get the cowslips; for this is\na pretty place to be in, and I want you to look very nice when the fine\npeople come,\" said Betty, as she left the cow to feed in a little shady\nnook by the road where the grass was green and an old oak made pleasant\nshade.\n\nThe cowslips were all open and as yellow as gold, so Betty made a great\nnosegay of some and a splendid cowslip-ball of the rest; then she put\nthem in her hat, well sprinkled with water, and sat on a fallen log\nknitting busily, while Daisy lay down to chew her cud, with a green\nwreath of oak leaves round her neck for full dress.\n\nThey did not have to wait long. Soon the tramp of horses was heard, and\nalong the wood-road came the white ponies tossing their heads, the\npretty carriage with coachman and footman in blue and silver coats, and\ninside the little Princess, with white plumes waving from her hat as she\nsat by her nurse, wrapt in a soft silken cloak, for the summer air\nseemed cold to her.\n\n\"Oh, there's the Brownie and her pretty white cow! Tell her not to run\naway, I want to see her and hear her sing,\" cried the little Princess,\neagerly, as they came nearer.\n\nBetty was rather scared, but did not run away; for the nurse was a\nkind-looking old woman in a high peasant cap, who smiled and nodded at\nher with a motherly look, and seemed much pleased when she held up the\ncowslips, saying,--\n\n\"Will the little lady have them?\"\n\n\"Oh yes, I wanted some; I never had a cowslip ball before. How pretty it\nis! Thank you, Brownie,\" cried the Princess, with both hands full of\nflowers as she laughed with pleasure.\n\n\"I picked them all for you. I have so many, and I heard you cried for\nsome,\" said Betty, very glad that she had not run away and spoiled the\nlittle lady's drive.\n\n\"How did you know?\" asked the Princess, staring at her.\n\n\"The birds told me,\" said Betty.\n\n\"Oh yes! brownies are fairies, and understand bird-talk; I forgot that.\nI know what parrots say, but not my other birds. Could you tell me?\"\nasked the Princess, leaning down very earnestly, for any new thing\npleased her.\n\n\"I think so, if tame ones sing like the wild ones,\" answered Betty,\nproud to know more than the fine child did.\n\n\"Come to the palace and tell me; come now, I can't wait! My canary sings\nall day, but I never understand a word, and I must. Tell her to come,\nNurse,\" commanded the Princess, who always had her own way.\n\n\"Can you?\" asked the old woman. \"We will bring you back at night. Her\nHighness has a fancy to see you, and she will pay you for coming.\"\n\n\"I can't leave Daisy; we have no field to put her in, and if I shut her\nup in the shed all day she will be hungry and call for me,\" answered\nBetty, longing to go, but not liking to leave her dear cow to suffer.\n\n\"Put her in that field till you come back; I give you leave. All this\nland is mine, so no one will blame you. Do it!\" said the Princess,\nwaving her hand to the footman, who jumped down and had Daisy in the\ngreat clover-field before Betty could say a word.\n\n\"She will like that; and now I can go if you don't mind my old gown and\nhat,--I have no other clothes,\" she said, as the cow began to eat, and\nthe footman opened the carriage door for her.\n\n\"I like it. Come in.--Now, go home at once,\" said the Princess; and\nthere was poor little Betty rolling away in the grand carriage, feeling\nas if it was all a fairy tale.\n\nThe Princess asked a great many questions, and liked her new friend more\nand more; for she had never spoken to a poor child before, or known how\nthey live. Betty was excited by this fine adventure, and was so gay and\ncharming in her little ways that the old nurse soon forgot to watch lest\nshe should do or say something amiss.\n\nWhen they drove up to the great marble palace shining in the sun, with\ngreen lawns and terraces and blooming gardens all about it, Betty could\nonly hold her breath and look with all her eyes as she was led through\nsplendid halls and up wide stairs into a room full of pretty things,\nwhere six gayly dressed maids sewed and chattered together.\n\nThe Princess went away to rest, but Betty was told to stay there and be\ndressed before she went to play with her Highness. The room was full of\nclosets and chests and boxes and baskets, and as the doors opened and\nthe covers flew off, Betty saw piles of pretty frocks, hats, cloaks, and\nall manner of dainty things for little girls to wear. Never had she\ndreamed of such splendid clothes, all lace and ribbons, silk and velvet.\nHats with flowers and feathers, pretty pink and blue shoes with gold and\nsilver buckles, silk stockings like cobwebs, and muslin and linen\npetticoats and nightgowns and little caps all embroidered as if by fairy\nfingers.\n\nShe could only stand and look like one in a dream while the maids very\nkindly took away her poor brown dress and hat, and after much gossip\nover what looked best, at last put on a rosy muslin frock, a straw hat\nwith roses in it, and some neat shoes and stockings. Then when her hair\nwas smoothed in thick brown curls, they told her to look in the tall\nmirror and tell what she saw there.\n\n\"Oh, what a pretty little girl!\" cried Betty, smiling and nodding at the\nother child, who smiled and nodded back at her. She did not know\nherself, never having had any glass but a quiet pool in the wood or the\nbrook in the meadow.\n\nThe maids laughed, and then she saw who it was, and laughed with them,\nand danced and courtesied and was very merry till a bell rang and she\nwas ordered to go to her Highness.\n\nIt was a lovely room, all hung with blue silk and lace, with a silver\nbed, and chairs and couches of blue damask, pictures on the walls,\nflowers in all the windows, and golden cages full of birds. A white cat\nslept on its cushion, a tiny dog ran about with a golden collar hung\nwith bells, and books and toys were heaped on the tables. The Princess\nwas scolding her nurse because she wanted her to rest longer after the\ndrive; but when Betty came in looking so pretty and gay, the frown\nchanged to a smile, and she cried,--\n\n\"How nice you look! Not like a Brownie now; but I hope you have not\nforgotten about the birds.\"\n\n\"No,\" said Betty; \"let me listen a minute and I'll tell you what they\nsay.\"\n\nSo both were silent, and the maid and nurse kept as still as mice while\nthe canary sang his shrill, sweet song, and Betty's face grew sad as she\nheard it.\n\n\"He says he is tired of his cage and longs to be free among the other\nbirds; for a tree is a better home than a golden palace, and a crumb in\nthe wood sweeter than all the sugar in his silver cup. 'Let me go! let\nme go! or my heart will break!' That is what he says, and the bulfinch\nsings the same song; so do the love birds and the beautiful gay one whom\nI don't know.\"\n\n\"What does Polly say? I understand him when he talks, but not when he\nscolds and chatters to himself as he is doing now,\" said the Princess,\nlooking much surprised at what she heard; for she thought her birds must\nbe happy in such fine cages.\n\nBetty listened to the great red and green and blue parrot, who sat on a\nperch wagging his head and chuckling to himself as if he were enjoying\nsome good joke. Presently Betty blushed and laughed, and looked both\ntroubled and amused at what she heard; for the bird was gabbling away\nand nodding his head at her in a very funny manner.\n\n\"What does he say?\" asked the Princess, impatiently.\n\n\"Please don't ask. You will not like it. I couldn't tell,\" said Betty,\nstill laughing and blushing.\n\n\"You _must_ tell, or I'll have Polly's neck wrung. I _will_ know every\nword, and I won't be angry with _you_, no matter what that saucy bird\nsays,\" commanded the Princess.\n\n\"He says this,\" began Betty, not liking to obey, but afraid poor Polly\nwould be hurt if she did not: \"'Now here's a new pet for her Highness to\ntorment. Nice, pretty little girl! Pity she came, to be made much of for\na day or two and then thrown away or knocked about like an old doll. She\nthinks it all very fine here, poor thing! But if she knew all I know she\nwould run away and never come back; for a crosser, more spoilt child\nthan her Highness never lived.'\"\n\nBetty dared not go on, for the Princess looked angry; and the maid went\nto slap the parrot, who gave a queer laugh and snapped at her fingers,\nsqualling out,--\n\n\"She is! she is! and you all say it behind her back. _I_ know your sly\nways. You praise and pet her, and pretend that she is the sweetest\ndarling in the world, when you know that this nice, rosy, good little\ngirl out of the wood is worth a dozen silly, tyrannical princesses. Ha!\nha! I'm not afraid to speak the truth, am I, Betty?\"\n\nBetty was frightened, but could not help laughing when the naughty bird\nwinked at her as he hung upside down, with his hooked beak wide open and\nhis splendid wings flapping.\n\n\"Tell me! tell me!\" cried the Princess, forgetting her anger in\ncuriosity.\n\nBetty had to tell, and was very glad when Bonnibelle laughed also, and\nseemed to enjoy the truth told in this funny way.\n\n\"Tell him you know what he says, and ask him, since he is so wise, what\nI shall do to be as good as you are,\" said the Princess, who really had\na kind little heart and knew that she was petted far too much.\n\nBetty told the parrot she understood his language, and he was so\nsurprised that he got on his perch at once and stared at her, as he said\neagerly,--\n\n\"Don't let me be punished for telling truth, there's a dear child. I\ncan't take it back, and since you ask my advice, I think the best thing\nyou can do for her Highness is to let her change places with you and\nlearn to be contented and useful and happy. Tell her so, with my\ncompliments.\"\n\nBetty found this a hard message to give; but it pleased Bonnibelle, for\nshe clapped her hands and cried,--\n\n\"I'll ask mamma. Would you like to do it, Brownie, and be a princess?\"\n\n\"No, thank you,\" said Betty; \"I couldn't leave my father and Daisy, and\nI'm not fit to live in a palace. It's very splendid, but I think I love\nthe little house and the wood and my birds better.\"\n\nThe nurse and the maid held up their hands, amazed at such a fancy; but\nBonnibelle seemed to understand, and said kindly,--\n\n\"Yes; I think it is very dull here, and much pleasanter in the fields to\ndo as one likes. May I come and play with you, and learn to be like you,\ndear Betty?\"\n\nShe looked a little sad as she spoke, and Betty pitied her; so she\nsmiled and answered gladly,--\n\n\"Yes, that will be lovely. Come and stay with me, and I will show you\nall my playmates, and you shall milk Daisy, and feed the hens, and see\nthe rabbits and the tame fawn, and run in the daisy field, and pull\ncowslips, and eat bread and milk out of my best blue bowl.\"\n\n\"Yes, and have a little brown gown and a big hat like yours, and wooden\nshoes that clatter, and learn how to knit, and climb trees, and what the\nbirds say!\" added Bonnibelle, so charmed at the plan that she jumped off\nthe couch and began to skip about as she had not done for days before.\n\n\"Now come and see my toys, and choose any you like; for I'm fond of you,\ndear, because you tell me new things and are not like the silly little\nlords and ladies who come to see me, and only quarrel and strut about\nlike peacocks till I'm tired of them.\"\n\nBonnibelle put her arm round Betty, and led her away to a long hall so\nfull of playthings that it looked like a splendid toy-shop. Dolls by the\ndozen were there,--dolls that talked and sang and walked and went to\nsleep, fine dolls, funny dolls, big and little doll queens and babies,\ndolls of all nations. Never was there such a glorious party of these\ndear creatures seen before; and Betty had no eyes for anything else,\nbeing a real little girl, full of love for dollies, and never yet had\nshe owned one.\n\n\"Take as many as you like,\" said Bonnibelle. \"I'm tired of them.\"\n\nIt nearly took Betty's breath away to think that she might have a dozen\ndolls if she chose. But she wisely decided that one was enough, and\npicked out a darling baby-doll in its pretty cradle, with blue eyes\nshut, and flaxen curls under the dainty cap. It would fill her motherly\nlittle soul with joy to have this lovely thing to lie in her arms by\nday, sleep by her side at night, and live with her in the lonely\ncottage; for baby could say \"Mamma\" quite naturally, and Betty felt that\nshe would never be tired of hearing the voice call her by that sweet\nname.\n\nIt was hard to tear herself from the cradle to see the other treasures;\nbut she went to and fro with Bonnibelle, admiring all she saw, till\nNurse came to tell them that lunch was ready and her Highness must play\nno more.\n\nBetty hardly knew how to behave when she found herself sitting at a fine\ntable with a footman behind her chair and all sorts of curious glass and\nchina and silver things before her. But she watched what Bonnibelle did,\nand so got on pretty well, and ate peaches and cream and cake and dainty\nwhite rolls and bonbons with a good appetite. She would not touch the\nlittle birds in the silver dish, though they smelt very nice, but said\nsadly,--\n\n\"No, thank you, sir; I couldn't eat my friends.\"\n\nThe footman tried not to laugh; but the Princess pushed away her own\nplate with a frown, saying,--\n\n\"Neither will I. Give me some apricot jelly and a bit of angel cake. Now\nthat I know more about birds and what they think of me, I shall be\ncareful how I treat them. Don't bring any more to my table.\"\n\nAfter lunch the children went to the library, where all the best\npicture-books ever printed were ranged on the shelves, and cosey little\nchairs stood about where one could sit and read delicious fairy tales\nall day long. Betty skipped for joy when her new friend picked out a\npile of the gayest and best for her to take home; and then they went to\nthe music-room, where a band played beautifully and the Princess danced\nwith her master in a stately way that Betty thought very stupid.\n\n\"Now you must dance. I've heard how finely you do it; for some lords and\nladies saw you dancing with the daisies, and said it was the prettiest\nballet they ever looked at. You _must_! No, please do, dear Betty,\" said\nBonnibelle, commanding at first; then, remembering what the parrot said,\nshe spoke more gently.\n\n\"I cannot here before these people. I don't know any steps, and need\nflowers to dance with me,\" said Betty.\n\n\"Then come on the terrace; there are plenty of flowers in the garden,\nand I am tired of this,\" answered Bonnibelle, going through one of the\nlong windows to the wide marble walk where Betty had been longing to go.\n\nSeveral peacocks were sitting on the steps, and they at once spread\ntheir splendid tails and began to strut before the children, making a\nharsh noise as they tossed the crowns of shining feathers on their\nheads.\n\n\"What do they say?\" asked the Princess.\n\n\"'Here comes the vain little creature who thinks her fine clothes\nhandsomer than ours, and likes to show them off to poorer people and put\non proud airs. We don't admire her; for we know how silly she is, for\nall her fine feathers.'\"\n\n\"I won't listen to any more rude words from these bad birds, and I won't\npraise their splendid tails as I meant to. Go along, you vain things! no\none wants you here,\" cried Betty, chasing the peacocks off the terrace,\nwhile the Princess laughed to see them drop their gorgeous trains and go\nscurrying away with loud squawks of fear.\n\n\"It was true. I _am_ vain and silly; but no one ever dared to tell me\nso, and I shall try to do better now I see how foolish those birds look\nand how sweet you are,\" she said, when Betty came skipping back to her.\n\n\"I'll make a peacock dance for you. See how well I do it!\" and Betty\nbegan to prance, with her full pink skirt held up, and her head tossed,\nand her toes turned out, so like the birds that old Nurse and the maid,\nwho had followed, began to laugh as well as Bonnibelle.\n\nIt was very funny; and when she had imitated the vain strutting and\nfluttering of the peacocks, Betty suddenly dropped her skirt, and went\nhurrying away, flapping her arms like wings and squawking dismally.\n\nShe wanted to please the Princess and make her forget the rude things\nshe had been forced to tell; so when she came running back she was glad\nto find her very merry, and anxious for more fun.\n\n\"Now I'll do the tulip dance,\" said Betty, and began to bow and courtesy\nto a bed full of splendid flowers, all gold and scarlet, white and\npurple; and the tulips seemed to bow and courtesy back again like\nstately lords and ladies at a ball. Such dainty steps, such graceful\nsweeps and elegant wavings of the arms one never saw before; for Betty\nimitated the tall blossoms waving in the wind, and danced a prettier\nminuet with them than any ever seen at court.\n\n\"It is wonderful!\" said the maid.\n\n\"Bless the dear! she must be a real fairy to do all that,\" said the old\nnurse.\n\n\"Dance again! oh, please dance again, it is so pretty!\" cried the\nPrincess, clapping her hands as Betty rose from her farewell courtesy\nand came smiling toward her.\n\n\"I'll give you the wind dance; that is very gay, and this fine floor is\nso smooth I feel as if my feet had wings.\"\n\nWith that Betty began to flutter to and fro like a leaf blown by the\nwind; now she went down the terrace as if swept by a strong gust, now\nshe stood still, swaying a little in the soft breath of air, then off\nshe spun as if caught in a storm, eddying round and round till she\nlooked like a stray rose-leaf whisked over the ground. Sometimes she\nwhirled close to the Princess, then blew up against the stout old nurse,\nbut was gone before she could be caught. Once she went down the marble\nsteps at a bound and came flying over the railing as if in truth she did\nhave wings on her nimble feet. Then the gale seemed to die away, and\nslowly the leaf floated to the ground at Bonnibelle's feet, to lie there\nrosy, breathless, and tired.\n\nBonnibelle clapped her hands again; but before she could tell half her\ndelight, a beautiful lady came from the window, where she had seen the\npretty ballet. Two little pages carried her long train of silvery silk;\ntwo ladies walked beside her, one holding a rose-colored parasol over\nher head, the other with a fan and cushion; jewels shone on her white\nhands and neck and in her hair, and she was very splendid, for this was\nthe Queen. But her face was sweet and lovely, her voice very soft, and\nher smile so kind that Betty was not afraid, and made her best courtesy\nprettily.\n\nWhen the red damask cushion was laid on one of the carved stone seats,\nand the pages had dropped the train, and the maids had shut the parasol\nand handed the golden fan, they stepped back, and only the Queen and\nnurse and little girls were left together.\n\n\"Does the new toy please you, darling?\" asked the shining lady, as\nBonnibelle ran to climb into her lap and pour out a long story of the\npleasant time she had been having with the Brownie. \"Indeed I think she\nis a fairy, to make you so rosy, gay, and satisfied.\"\n\n\"Who taught you to dance so wonderfully, child?\" asked the Queen, when\nshe had kissed her little daughter, glad to see her look so unlike the\nsad, cross, or listless creature she usually found.\n\n\"The wind, Lady Queen,\" answered Betty, smiling.\n\n\"And where did you get the fine tales you tell?\"\n\n\"From the birds, Lady Queen.\"\n\n\"And what do you do to have such rosy cheeks?\"\n\n\"Eat brown bread and milk, Lady Queen.\"\n\n\"And how is it that a lonely child like you is so happy and good?\"\n\n\"My father takes care of me, and my mother in heaven keeps me good, Lady\nQueen.\"\n\nWhen Betty said that, the Queen put out her hand and drew the little\ngirl closer, as if her tender heart pitied the motherless child and\nlonged to help if she only knew how.\n\nJust then the sound of horses' feet was heard in the great courtyard\nbelow, trumpets sounded, and every one knew that the king had come home\nfrom hunting. Presently, with a jingling of spurs and trampling of\nboots, he came along the terrace with some of his lords behind him.\n\nEvery one began to bow except the Queen, who sat still with the Princess\non her knee, for Bonnibelle did not run to meet her father as Betty\nalways did when he came home. Betty thought she would be afraid of the\nKing, and so she would perhaps, if he had worn his crown and ermine\ncloak and jewels everywhere; but now he was dressed very like her\nfather, in hunter's green, with a silver horn over his shoulder, and no\nsign of splendor about him but the feather in his hat and the great ring\nthat glittered when he pulled off his glove to kiss the Queen's hand; so\nBetty smiled and bobbed her little courtesy, looking boldly up in his\nface.\n\nHe liked that, and knew her, for he had often seen her when he rode\nthrough the wood.\n\n\"Come hither, Brownie, I have a story you will like to hear,\" he said,\nsitting down beside the Queen and beckoning to Betty with a friendly\nnod.\n\nShe went and stood at his knee, eager to hear, while all the lords and\nladies bent forward to listen, for it was plain that something had\nhappened beside the killing of a stag that day.\n\n\"I was hunting in the great oak wood two hours ago, and had knelt down\nto aim at a splendid stag,\" began the King, stroking Betty's brown head,\n\"when a wild boar, very fierce and large, burst out of the ferns behind\nme just as I fired at the deer. I had only my dagger left to use, but I\nsprang up to face him, when a root tripped my foot, and there I lay\nquite helpless, as the furious old fellow rushed at me. I think this\nlittle maid here would have been Queen Bonnibelle to-morrow if a brave\nwoodman had not darted from behind a tree and with one blow of his axe\nkilled the beast as he bent his head to gore me. It was your father,\nBrownie, and I owe my life to him.\"\n\nAs the King ended, a murmur rose, and all the lords and ladies looked as\nif they would like to give a cheer; but the Queen turned pale and old\nNurse ran to fan her, while Bonnibelle put out her arms to her father,\ncrying,--\n\n\"No, I will never be a queen if you die, dear papa!\"\n\nThe King took her on one knee and set Betty on the other, saying\ngayly,--\n\n\"Now what shall we do for this brave man who saved me?\"\n\n\"Give him a palace to live in, and millions of money,\" said the\nPrincess, who could think of nothing better.\n\n\"I offered him a house and money, but he wanted neither, for he loved\nhis little cottage and had no need of gold, he said. Think again, little\nmaids, and find something he _will_ like,\" said the King, looking at\nBetty.\n\n\"A nice field for Daisy is all he wants, Lord King,\" she answered\nboldly; for the handsome brown face with the kind eyes was very like her\nfather's, she thought.\n\n\"He shall have it. Now wish three wishes for yourself, my child, and I\nwill grant them if I can.\"\n\nBetty showed all her little white teeth as she laughed for joy at this\nsplendid offer. Then she said slowly,--\n\n\"I have but one wish now, for the Princess has given me a dear doll and\nmany books; so I am the happiest creature in all the kingdom, and have\nno wants.\"\n\n\"Contented little lass! Who of us can say the same?\" said the King,\nlooking at the people round him, who dropped their eyes and looked\nfoolish, for they were always asking favors of the good King. \"Well, now\nlet us know the one thing I can do to please brave woodman John's little\ndaughter.\"\n\n\"Please let the Princess come and play with me,\" said Betty, eagerly.\n\nThe lords looked horrified, and the ladies as if they would faint away\nat the mere idea of such a dreadful thing. But the Queen nodded,\nBonnibelle cried, \"Oh, do!\" and the King laughed as he asked in a\nsurprised tone,--\n\n\"But why not come and play with her here? What is there at the cottage\nthat we have not at the palace?\"\n\n\"Many things, Lord King,\" answered Betty. \"She is tired of the palace\nand everything in it, she says, and longs to run about in the wood, and\nbe well and gay and busy all day long, as I am. She wants to bake and\nmilk and sweep and knit, and hear the wind blow, and dance with the\ndaisies, and talk with my birds, and dream happy dreams, and love to be\nalive, as I do.\"\n\n\"Upon my word, here's a bold Brownie! But she is right, I think; and if\nmy Princess can get a pair of cheeks like these down at the cottage, she\nshall go as often as she likes,\" said the King, amused at Betty's free\nwords, and struck by the contrast between the two faces before him, one\nlike a pale garden lily and the other like a fresh wild rose.\n\nThen Bonnibelle burst out and told all the story of the day, talking as\nshe had never talked before; and every one listened, amazed to see how\nlively and sweet her Highness could be, and wondered what had made such\na sudden change. But the old nurse went about, saying in a whisper,--\n\n\"She is a real Brownie, I know it; for no mortal child would be so bold\nand bright, and do what she has done,--bewitched both King and Queen,\nand made her Highness a new child.\"\n\nSo all looked at Betty with great respect; and when at last the talk was\nover and the King rose to go, with a kiss for each little girl, every\none bowed and made way for the Brownie, as if she too were a Princess.\n\nBut Betty was not proud; for she remembered the peacocks as she walked\nhand in hand with Bonnibelle after the royal papa and mamma over the\nterrace to the great hall, where the feast was spread and music sounding\nsplendidly.\n\n\"You shall sit by me and have my golden cup,\" said Bonnibelle, when the\nsilver horns were still, and all waited for the King to hand the Queen\nto her place.\n\n\"No, I must go home. It is sunset; Daisy must be milked, and father's\nsupper ready when he comes. Let me run away and get my old clothes;\nthese are too fine to wear in the cottage,\" answered Betty, longing to\nstay, but so faithful to her duty that even the King's command could not\nkeep her.\n\n\"Tell her to stay, papa; I want her,\" cried Bonnibelle, going to the\ngreat gilded chair where her father sat.\n\n\"Stay, child,\" said the King, with a wave of the hand where the great\njewel shone like a star.\n\nBut Betty shook her head and answered sweetly,--\n\n\"Please do not make me, dear Lord King. Daisy needs me, and father will\nmiss me sadly if I do not run to meet him when he comes home.\"\n\nThen the King smiled, and said heartily,--\n\n\"Good child! we will not keep you. Woodman John gave me my life, and I\nwill not take away the comfort of his. Run home, little Brownie, and God\nbless you!\"\n\nBetty tripped upstairs, and put on her old frock and hat, took one of\nthe finest books and the dear doll, leaving the rest to be sent next\nday, and then tried to slip away by some back door; but there were so\nmany halls and steps she got lost, and came at last into the great hall\nagain. All were eating now; and the meat and wine and spicy pies and\npiles of fruit smelt very nice, and Betty would have only brown bread\nand milk for supper; but she did not stay, and no one but the pages saw\nher as she ran down the steps to the courtyard, like Cinderella hurrying\nfrom the hall when the clock struck twelve and all her fine clothes\nvanished.\n\nShe had a very happy walk through the cool green wood, however, and a\nhappy hour telling her father all about this wonderful day; but the\nhappiest time of all was when she went to bed in her little room, with\nthe darling baby fast asleep on her arm, and the wrens talking together\namong the roses of how much good their wise Brownie would do the\nPrincess in the days to come.\n\nThen Betty fell asleep and dreamed such lovely dreams of the moon with a\nsweet face like the Queen's smiling at her, of her father looking as\nproud and handsome as the King, with his axe on his shoulder and the\ngreat boar dead at his feet; and Bonnibelle, rosy, gay, and strong,\nworking and playing with her like a little sister in the cottage, while\nall the birds sang gayly:--\n\n    \"Bonnibelle! Bonnibelle!\n    Listen, listen, while we tell\n    A sweet secret all may know,\n    How a little child may grow\n    Like a happy wayside flower,\n    Warmed by sun, fed by shower,\n    Rocked by wind, loved by elf,\n    Quite forgetful of itself;\n    Full of honey for the bee,\n    Beautiful for all to see,\n    Nodding to the passers-by,\n    Smiling at the summer sky,\n    Sweetening all the balmy air,\n    Happy, innocent, and fair.\n    Flowers like these blossom may\n    In a palace garden gay;\n    Lilies tall or roses red,\n    For a royal hand or head.\n    But be they low, or be they high,\n    Under the soft leaves must lie\n    A true little heart of gold,\n    Never proud or hard or cold,\n    But brave and tender, just and free,\n    Whether it queen or beggar be;\n    Else its beauty is in vain,\n    And never will it bloom again.\n    This the secret we would tell,\n    Bonnibelle! Bonnibelle!\"\n\n\n\n\nIX.\n\nMERMAIDS.\n\n\n[Illustration: Nelly spied two pretty little creatures floating to and\nfro on the rocking waves.--PAGE 175.]\n\n\"I wish I were a sea-gull or a fish or a mermaid; then I could swim as\nmuch as I like, and not have to stay on this stupid dry land all day,\"\nsaid Nelly, as she sat frowning and punching holes in the sand one\nsummer morning, while the waves came murmuring up on the beach, and a\nfresh wind sang its pleasant song.\n\nThe little girl loved to bathe so well that she wanted to be in the\nwater all the time, and had been forbidden to go into the sea for a day\nor two because she had a cold. So she was in a pet, and ran away from\nher playmates to sit and sulk in a lonely spot among the rocks. She had\nbeen watching the gulls fly and float, with their white wings shining as\nthey dipped down or soared away in the sunshine. As she wished her wish\na very large one swept down upon the sand before her, and startled her\nby saying in a hoarse tone, as she stared at its bright eyes, the red\nring round its neck, and the little tuft on its head,--\n\n\"I am the King of the gulls, and I can grant any one of your wishes.\nWhich will you be,--a fish, a bird, or a mermaid?\"\n\n\"People say there are no mermaids,\" stammered Nelly.\n\n\"There are; only mortals cannot see them unless I give the power. Be\nquick! I don't like the sand. Choose, and let me be off!\" commanded the\nGreat Gull, with an impatient flutter of its wide wings.\n\n\"Then I'll be a mermaid, please. I always wanted to see one, and it must\nbe very nice to live always in the water.\"\n\n\"Done!\" said the gull, and was gone like a flash.\n\nNelly rubbed her eyes, and looked about her rather scared; but nothing\nhad happened to her yet, and she was just going to complain that the\nbird had cheated her, when the sound of soft voices made her climb the\nrock behind her to see who was singing down there.\n\nShe nearly fell off again when she spied two pretty little creatures\nfloating to and fro on the rocking waves. Both had long brown hair,\ngreen eyes as clear as crystal, pale faces, and the sweetest voices\nNelly had ever heard. But the strange thing was that each little body\nended in a shining tail,--one all golden, the other all silver scales.\nTheir little breasts and arms were white as foam, and they wore\nbracelets of pearls, strings of rosy shells about their necks, and\ngarlands of gay sea-weed in their hair. They were singing as they\nrocked, and throwing bubbles to and fro as if playing ball. They saw\nNelly in a moment, and tossing a great rainbow-colored bubble toward\nher, cried gayly,--\n\n\"Come and play, little friend. We know you, and have often tried to make\nyou see us when you float and dive so bravely in our sea.\"\n\n\"I long to come; but it is so deep there and the waves are so rough that\nI should be dashed on the rocks,\" answered Nelly, charmed to see real\nmermaids at last, and eager to go to them.\n\n\"We came for you. The King-gull told us to call you. Slip off your\nclothes and spring down to us; then we will change you, and you can have\nyour wish,\" said the mermaids, holding up their arms to her.\n\n\"My mother said I must not go into the sea,\" began Nelly, sadly.\n\n\"What is a mother?\" asked one little sea-maid, while the other laughed\nas if the word amused her.\n\n\"Why, don't you know? Don't you have fathers and mothers down there?\"\ncried Nelly, so surprised that she forgot her wish for a moment.\n\n\"No; we are born of the moon and the sea, and we have no other parents,\"\nsaid Goldfin, the shining one.\n\n\"How dreadful!\" exclaimed Nelly. \"Who takes care of you, and where do\nyou live? Without fathers and mothers you cannot have any home.\"\n\n\"We take care of ourselves. All the sea is our home, and we do as we\nplease. Come, come, and see how gay it is!\" called Silver-tail, the\nother mermaid, tossing bubbles like a juggler till the air was full of\nthem as they sailed away on the wind.\n\nNow, if Nelly had not been angry with her good mamma just then, and\nready for any disobedience, she would never have been so naughty, or\nhave gone to play with such strange friends. She was very curious to see\nhow they lived, and be able to relate her adventures when she came back,\nas she was sure she would, all safe and sound. So she dropped her\nclothes on the rock and splashed into the green pool below, glad to show\noff her fine swimming. But Goldfin and Silver-tail caught her and bade\nher drink the spray they held in their hands.\n\n\"Sea water is salt and bitter; I don't like it,\" said Nelly, holding\nback.\n\n\"Then you cannot be like us. Drink, and in a moment see what will\nhappen!\" cried Goldfin.\n\nNelly swallowed the cold drops and caught her breath, for a dreadful\npain shot through her from her head to her feet, while the mermaids\nchanted some strange words and waved their hands over her. It was gone\nin an instant, and she felt like a cork floating on the water. She\nwondered, till glancing down she saw that her little white legs were\nchanged to a fish's tail of many colors, which gently steered her along\nas the waves rippled against her breast.\n\n\"Now I am a mermaid,\" she cried, and looked into the pool to see if her\neyes were green, her face pale, and her hair like curly brown sea-weed.\n\nNo; she had her child's face still, with rosy cheeks, blue eyes, and\nyellow curls. She was not disappointed, however, for she thought it a\nprettier face than the moony ones of her new playmates; so she laughed\nand said gayly,--\n\n\"Now you will play with me and love me, won't you?\"\n\n\"What is love?\" asked Silver-tail, staring at her.\n\n\"Why, when people love they put their arms round one another and kiss,\nand feel happy in their hearts,\" answered Nelly, trying to explain the\nbeautiful word.\n\n\"How do you kiss?\" asked Goldfin, curiously.\n\nNelly put an arm round the neck of each, and softly kissed them on their\ncold wet lips.\n\n\"Don't you like it? Is it sweet?\" she asked.\n\n\"I feel that you are warmer than I, but I think oysters taste better,\"\nsaid one; and the other added,--\n\n\"Mermaids have no hearts, so that does not make us happier.\"\n\n\"No hearts?\" cried Nelly, in dismay. \"Can't you love? Don't you know\nabout souls and being good, and all that?\"\n\n\"No,\" laughed the mermaids, shaking their heads till the drops flew\nabout like pearls. \"We have no souls, and don't trouble about being\ngood. We sing and swim and eat and sleep; is not that enough to make us\nhappy?\"\n\n\"Dear me, how queer they are!\" thought Nelly, half afraid, yet very\nanxious to go with them and see more of this curious sea-life of which\nthey had spoken. \"Don't you care about me at all, and don't you want me\nto stay with you a little while?\" she asked, wondering how she should\nget on with creatures who could not love her.\n\n\"Oh yes, we like you as a new playmate, and are glad you came to see us.\nYou shall have our bracelets to wear, and we will show you all kinds of\npretty things down below, if you are not afraid to come,\" answered the\nmermaids, dressing her in their garlands and necklaces, and smiling at\nher so sweetly that she was ready to follow as they swam away with her\nfar out on the great billows that tossed them to and fro but could not\ndrown or harm them now.\n\nNelly enjoyed it very much, and wondered why the fishermen in their\nboats did not try to catch them, till she learned that mermaids were\ninvisible and were never caught. This made her feel very safe, and\nafter a fine game of play she let her friends take her by the hand and\nsink down to the new world below. She expected to find it very gay and\nsplendid, with sea-coral trees growing everywhere, palaces of pearl, and\nthe ground covered with jewels; but it was dim and quiet. Great weeds\nfanned to and fro as the water stirred them; shells lay about on the\nsand, and queer creatures crawled or swam everywhere.\n\nThe green sea-water was the sky, and ships cast their shadows like\nclouds over the twilight world below. Several gray-bearded old mermen\nsat meditating in nooks among the rocks, and a few mermaids lay asleep\nin the great oyster-shells that opened to receive them and their beds of\nsea-weed. A soft murmur was in the air like the sound one hears in\nshells, and nowhere did Nelly see any toys or food or fun of any sort.\n\n\"Is this the way you live?\" she asked, trying not to show how\ndisappointed she was.\n\n\"Isn't it lovely?\" answered Goldfin. \"This is my bed, and you shall have\nthe shell between Silver-tail and me. See! it is lined with\nmother-of-pearl, and has a soft cushion of our best sea-weeds to lie\non.\"\n\n\"Are you hungry?\" asked Silver-tail. \"Come and have some shrimps for\ndinner,--I know a fine place for them,--or oysters if you like them\nbetter.\"\n\nNelly was ready to eat anything, the sea air had given her such a fine\nappetite; so they swam away to gather the pretty pink shrimps in scallop\nshells, as little girls gather strawberries in baskets; then they sat\ndown to eat them, and Nelly longed for bread and butter, but dared not\nsay so. She was so surprised at all she saw, that this queer, cold lunch\nwas soon forgotten in the wonderful tales the mermaids told her, as they\ncracked snails and ate them like nuts, or pulled the green sea-apples\ntasting like pickled limes from the vines that climbed up the rocks.\n\n\"You don't seem to have a very large family, or have the others gone to\na party somewhere?\" asked Nelly, rather tired of the quiet.\n\n\"No; there never are many of us. A new brood will be out soon, and then\nthere will be some little mer-babies to play with. We will show you the\nWonder-tree, if you are done eating, and tell you all about it,\"\nanswered Silver-tail, floating away with a wave of the hand.\n\nNelly and Goldfin followed to a lonely place, where a tall plant grew up\nfrom the sand till its branches reached the air above and spread out\nlike floating weeds covered with little pods like those we often snap\nunder our feet as they lie dry upon the beach.\n\n\"Only a few of these will bloom; for there never are many mermaids in\nthe sea, you know. It takes long for the tree to reach the light, and it\ncannot blossom unless the full moon shines on it at midnight; then these\nbuds open, and the water-babies swim away to grow up like us,\" said\nSilver-tail.\n\n\"Without any nurses to take care of them, or mothers to pet them?\" asked\nNelly, thinking of the pretty baby at home with whom she was so fond of\nplaying.\n\n\"They take care of themselves, and when there are too many in one place\nthe old mermen send away some to another ocean; so we get on quietly,\nand there is room for all,\" said Goldfin, contentedly.\n\n\"And when you die, what happens?\" asked Nelly, much interested in these\nqueer creatures.\n\n\"Oh, we grow older and grayer and sit still in a corner till we turn to\nstone and help make these rocks. I've been told by Barnacle, the old one\nyonder, that people sometimes find marks of our hands or heads or fins\nin the stone, and are very much puzzled to know what kind of fish or\nanimal made the prints; that is one of our jokes;\" and both the mermaids\nlaughed as if they enjoyed bewildering the wits of the people who were\nso much wiser than they.\n\n\"Well, I think it is much nicer to be buried under grass and flowers\nwhen our souls have flown away to heaven,\" said Nelly, beginning to be\nglad she was not a \"truly\" mermaid.\n\n\"What is heaven?\" asked Silver-tail, stupidly.\n\n\"You would not understand if I tried to tell you. I can only say it is a\nlovely place where we go when we die, and the angels don't puzzle over\nus at all, but love us and are glad to see us come,\" said Nelly,\nsoberly.\n\nBoth little maids stared at her with their green eyes as if they wanted\nto understand, but gave it up, and with a whisk of their shining tails\ndarted away, calling to her,--\n\n\"Come and play with the crabs; it's great fun.\"\n\nNelly was rather afraid of crabs, they nipped her toes so when she went\namong them; but having no feet now, she felt braver, and was soon having\na gay time chasing them over the rocks, and laughing to see them go\nscrambling sidewise into their holes. The green lobsters amused her very\nmuch by the queer way they hitched along, with their great claws ready\nto grasp and hold whatever they wanted. It was funny to see them wipe\ntheir bulging eyes with their feelers and roll them about on all sides.\nThe hermit crabs in their shells were curious, and the great snails\npopping out their horns; the sea-spiders were very ugly, and she shook\nwith fear when the horrible Octopus went by, with his eight long arms\nwaving about like snakes and his hooked beak snapping.\n\n\"Show me something pretty,\" she begged; \"I don't like these ugly things.\nHaven't you any flowers or birds or animals here to play with?\"\n\n\"Oh yes, here are our sea anemones, yellow, red, and white, all blooming\nin their beds; and these lovely plants of every color which you call\nweeds. Then there are the coral trees, far away, which we will show you\nsome day, and the sponges on the rocks, and many other curious things,\"\nanswered Goldfin, leading Nelly up and down to see the only flowers they\nhad. Then Silver-tail said,--\n\n\"She will like the nautilus boats and the flying fish, and a ride on the\ndolphins and whales. Come and let her see that we have birds and animals\nas well as she.\"\n\nUp they went; and when Nelly saw the lovely red and blue creatures like\na fleet of fairy boats floating over the waves, she clapped her hands\nand cried,--\n\n\"We have nothing so beautiful on the land! How delicate and fair they\nare! Won't the wind tear them to pieces and the storms wreck them?\"\n\n\"Watch and see!\" answered the mermaids, well pleased at her delight; and\nas a gust blew by every silken sail was furled, the lovely colors\nvanished, and the fairy boats sank out of sight safely to the bottom of\nthe sea.\n\n\"Our sailors can't do that,\" said Nelly; \"and when our ships go down\nthey never come up again.\"\n\nJust then some fish flew over their heads and splashed down again, while\nthe gulls snapped at them in vain.\n\n\"Those are our birds, and here are our horses. People call them\nporpoises, but we call them dolphins, and have many a fine gallop on\ntheir backs,\" said Goldfin, as a school of great creatures came\ngambolling by.\n\nUp sprang the mermaids, and went swiftly dashing through the water with\nhigh leaps now and then, as their sea-horses reared and plunged, tossing\ntheir tails and waving their fins as if they enjoyed the frolic. Nelly\ndid, and wished to ride longer; but a whale appeared, and her playmates\nwent to climb on his back and hear the news from the North Sea. It was\nlike a moving island, and they sat under the fountain as he spouted\nwater and rolled about lazily basking in the sun after his cold voyage.\n\n\"Don't we have good times?\" asked Silver-tail, when they slid down the\nslippery sides of the monster and climbed up again as if coasting.\n\n\"Splendid! I like to be a mermaid and have no lessons to study, no work\nto sew, no nurse to scold me, and no mamma to forbid my swimming as much\nas I choose,\" said naughty Nelly; but as she spoke and looked toward the\nland now far away, a little pain went through her heart to remind her\nthat she was not a real mermaid, and still had a conscience, though she\nwould not listen to it.\n\nThey played all the afternoon, had an oyster supper, and went early to\nbed to get a good nap before midnight, because the moon was full and\nthey hoped the Wonder-tree would bloom before morning.\n\nNelly liked the quiet now; and the soft song of the sea lulled her to\nsleep, to dream of sailing in a nautilus boat till a dreadful\ncuttle-fish came after her and she woke in a fright, wondering to find\nherself lying on a bed of wet weeds in a great shell.\n\n\"Come away; it is time, and a lovely night,\" called the mermaids, and\nwith several new friends they all hurried up to watch the buds open when\nthe moon kissed them.\n\nThe sea shone like silver; the stars seemed to float there as well as\nin the sky, and the wind blew off the shore bringing the sweet smell of\nhay-fields and gardens. All the sea people sang as they lay rocking on\nthe quiet waves, and Nelly felt as if this were the strangest, loveliest\ndream she had ever dreamed.\n\nBy and by the moon shone full upon the Wonder-tree, and one by one out\npopped the water-babies, looking like polliwogs, only they had little\nfaces and arms instead of fins. Lively mites they were, swimming away at\nonce in a shoal like minnows, while the older mermaids welcomed them and\ngave them pretty names as the tiny things came to peep at them and dart\nbetween the hands that tried to grasp them. Till dawn they kept in the\nmoonlight, growing fast as they learned to use their little tails and\ntalk in small, sweet voices; but when day came they all sank down to the\nbottom of the sea, and went to sleep in the shell cradles made ready for\nthem. That was all the care they needed, and after that they had no\nnursing, but did what they liked, and let the older ones play with them\nlike dolls.\n\nNelly had several pets, and tried to make them love and mind her; but\nthe queer little creatures laughed in her face when she talked to them,\ndarted away when she wanted to kiss them, and stood on their heads and\nwaggled their bits of tails when she told them to be good. So she let\nthem alone, and amused herself as well as she could with other things;\nbut soon she grew very tired of this strange, idle life, and began to\nlong for some of the dear old plays and people and places she used to\nlike so much.\n\nEvery one was kind to her; but nobody seemed to love her, to care when\nshe was good, or wish to make her better when she was selfish or angry.\nShe felt hungry for something all the time, and often sad, though she\nhardly knew why. She dreamed about her mother, and sometimes woke up\nfeeling for baby, who used to creep into her bed and kiss her eyes open\nin the morning. But now it was only a water-baby, who would squirm away\nlike a little eel and leave her to think about home and wonder if they\nmissed her there.\n\n\"I can't go back, so I must forget,\" she said, and tried to do it; but\nit was very hard, and she half wished she was a real mermaid with no\nheart at all.\n\n\"Show me something new; I'm tired of all these plays and sights and\ntoys,\" she said one day, as she and her two playmates sat stringing\nlittle silver and rosy shells for necklaces.\n\n\"We are never tired,\" said Goldfin.\n\n\"You haven't any minds, and don't think much or care to know things. I\ndo, and I want to learn a little or make some one happy if I can,\" said\nNelly, soberly, as she looked about the curious world she lived in and\nsaw what a dim, cold, quiet place it was, with the old mermen turning to\nstone in their nooks, the lazy mermaids rocking in their shells or\ncombing their hair, and the young ones playing like so many stupid\nlittle fishes in the sun.\n\n\"We can't go to the South Sea yet, and we have nothing more to show you\nunless a great storm comes up,\" said Silver-tail.\n\n\"Perhaps she would like a wreck; there is a new one not far off,\"\nproposed Goldfin. \"A big ship went over a small one, and it sank very\nsoon. One of Mother Carey's chickens told me about it this morning, and\nI thought we might go and see it before it is all spoiled. Things that\nmen make never last very long in our sea.\"\n\n\"Yes, let us go; I long to see and touch something my people made. Your\nworld is wonderful, but I begin to think my own is the best, for me at\nleast,\" said Nelly, as they left their pearls and swam away to the\nwreck, which lay down among the rocks, fast going to pieces. \"Where are\nthe people?\" she asked, as they were about to float in at the broken\nwindows and doors. She was very much afraid that she might see some poor\ndrowned creature, and it would trouble _her_, though the mermaids might\nnot care.\n\n\"Little Chick said they were all saved. It was a fruit-ship, and there\nwere only a few passengers. One lady and child and some men went away in\nthe boats to the shore, but left everything else behind.\"\n\n\"I'm so glad!\" cried Nelly, feeling her heart warm in her breast at the\ngood news about the mother and little child.\n\nThe ship had been loaded with oranges, and the sand was covered with\nboxes of them broken open, and letting the fruit float to the top of\nthe water. Much was spoiled, but some was still good, and Nelly told the\nmermaids to taste and see if oranges were not better than salt\nsea-apples. They did not like them, but played ball with the golden\nthings till Nelly proposed that they should toss some on the shore for\nthe fishermen's children. That suited them; and soon the beach was\ncovered with oranges, and the poor little people were running and\nscreaming with delight to pick up this splendid feast.\n\n\"I wish there were some pretty things to give them; but there are only\nthe sailors' bags of clothes all wet, and those are not nice,\" said\nNelly, enjoying this game very much; for she was homesick and longed to\nhear human voices and see faces like her own. She wanted to do something\nfor some one, and be loved a little. So she peeped all about the ship,\nand at last, in one cabin better than the others, she found the toys and\nclothes of the little child and its mother. She was very glad of that,\nand, knowing how children love their own things and cry when they are\nlost, she gathered up all that were not spoiled, and made Goldfin and\nSilver-tail help her carry them to the shore, where people had gathered\nto save whatever came from the wreck.\n\nThere was great rejoicing when these small treasures came ashore, and\nthey were carried to the house where the lady and the child were. This\npleased Nelly very much, and even the lazy mermaids found the new game\npleasant; so they went on floating things to the beach, even the heavy\nbags with the poor sailors' clothes, wet books, and boxes, which\notherwise would have been lost. No one could see Goldfin and\nSilver-tail, but now and then some child would cry out, when Nelly\nlingered to look and listen through the foam and spray,--\n\n\"Oh, I saw a face over there,--a dear little face, very pretty but sad,\nand a hand waved at me! Could it be a mermaid?\"\n\nThen some older person would say,--\n\n\"Nonsense, child! there are no mermaids. It is only the reflection of\nyour own face in the water. Come away, or the tide will catch you.\"\n\nIf Nelly had not been partly human this could not have happened; and\nthough no one believed in her, she took comfort in the thought that she\nwas not all a fish, and loved to linger where she could see the children\nat play long after Goldfin and Silver-tail had grown tired of them and\ngone back to their own affairs.\n\nThe longer she stayed the more sad she grew; for the land seemed\npleasanter now than the sea,--the green, dry, warm land, with the\nflowers and trees, birds and lambs, and dear people to love and care for\nher. Even school looked like a happy place; and when she thought of her\nown home, where mother and Baby were, her heart was so full of longing\nfor them that her tears dropped into the sea, and she held out her arms,\ncrying sadly,--\n\n\"Oh, mamma, dear mamma, forgive me, love me, and help me to come back to\nyou!\"\n\nNo one answered, no one came; and poor Nelly sank sobbing down to cry\nherself to sleep in her pearl-lined bed, with no good-night kiss to\ncomfort her.\n\nEvery day she longed more and more to go home, and grew more and more\ntired of the sea and all in it. The mermaids could not amuse her nor\nunderstand her sorrow; so she went to wise old Barnacle and asked him\nwhat she should do to be a child again.\n\n\"No one but the King of the gulls can change you, my Periwinkle,\" said\nthe merman, kindly. \"You must wait and watch for him patiently. He is\nnot seen very often; so it may be years before he comes again. Meantime\nbe happy with us, and don't fret for that very dry land in which we see\nno beauty.\"\n\nThis comforted Nelly a good deal, and she spent half her time floating\non the waves, calling the gulls, feeding them, and making them her\nfriends, so that they might be sure to tell her when the King came.\nOther kind things she did, trying to be good; for _she_ knew, though\neven the wise old merman did not, that naughty people _cannot_ be happy.\nShe gathered all the curious shells she could find, and strewed them on\nthe beach for the children playing there. She popped the cross crabs and\nlobsters into the nets let down for them, and helped the fishermen to\nmany a good load for market. She sat and sang among the rocks where\nlonely people could hear the faint sweet music and enjoy it. She watched\nover the little people when they went bathing, and loved to catch and\nkiss the rosy babies as they splashed about, and send quiet ripples to\nrefresh the sick ones when their nurses dipped them in the wholesome\nsea.\n\nShe was good to all the wounded fishes who got hurt by the many enemies\nthat haunt the great ocean, and tried to teach the cruel sharks, the\nugly octopus, and the lazy snails to be kinder and more industrious.\nThey did not mind her; but it kept her busy, and made her heart tender\nto try to help all who came near her, and every night when she went to\nher lonely bed she said hopefully,--\n\n\"Perhaps to-morrow the King will come and let me go home. When I do,\nmamma must find a better Nelly than the naughty, wilful one who ran\naway.\"\n\nShe supposed her mother would think her drowned when the clothes were\nfound on the rock, and often mourned over the sorrow she had given those\nat home. But she cheered herself with imagining the joy her wonderful\nreturn would bring, and could hardly wait for that happy time.\n\nThe mermaids were soon going far away to the South Sea for the winter,\nand begged her to come with them, telling how lovely everything was\nthere,--all about the pearl-divers, the Spice Islands, the coral trees,\nand the many wonders of that summer world. But Nelly no longer cared for\nany place but the pretty cottage on the cliff that overlooked the sea,\nand she was not tempted by any of the fine tales they told.\n\n\"No; I'd rather live here all alone where I can see my own people and\nhome, even if I wait years and years before the King comes. I know now\nwhat a silly child I was to leave everything that I was made to use and\nenjoy, and try to be a creature without any soul. I don't care if my\nheart does ache; I'd rather be as I am than like you, without any love\nin you or any wish to be good and wise and happy as we are.\"\n\nGoldfin and Silver-tail thought her very ungrateful after she said that,\nand left her alone. But she did not care; for Father Barnacle was to\nstay and \"stone up,\" as they called their queer way of dying. So when\nall had gone she was very kind to the old merman, who never stirred out\nof his nook, but sat meditating on the hundred years of his life and\nwondering what would become of the rock he was slowly to grow a part of.\n\nNelly did not want him to die yet; so she brought him nice things to\neat, sang to him, and asked so many questions that he was forced to keep\nawake and answer them. Oh, such wonderful stories as he told her! Such\ninteresting histories of sea flowers, fishes, and monsters, such wise\nlessons in tides and stars, and the mysteries of the great ocean! Nelly\nwould sit on a conch shell and listen for hours, never tired of these\nnew fairy tales.\n\nBut she did not forget to watch for the Great Gull, and every day\nfloated near the shore, beckoning every white-winged bird that flew by\nand asking for tidings of the King. At last he came! Nelly was lying on\nthe waves idly singing to herself, with one hand held up for her pet\nsandpiper to light upon, when, instead of little Peep, a great silvery\nbird perched there, and looking up she saw the fiery eye, the red ring\nabout the neck, the crest on the head, and with a joyful splash she\ncried out,--\n\n\"He's come! he's come! Oh, dear King, give me another wish, a better\nwish, and let me be a little girl again.\"\n\n\"Done!\" said the Great Gull, waving his wings over her. \"Will you be\ncontented now?\"\n\n\"I will! I will!\" answered Nelly, eagerly.\n\n\"Never wilful and disobedient?\"\n\n\"Never, never!\"\n\n\"Sure you won't want to be a bird, a fish, or a mermaid again?\"\n\n\"Yes, yes; for nothing is so lovely as to be a child.\"\n\n\"Good!\" and suddenly clutching her in his strong claws the gull flew\nhigh up in the air as if he were going to take her to his nest and eat\nher like a fish.\n\nPoor Nelly was sadly frightened; but before she could catch her breath\nto ask what was to happen, the King said, in a loud voice, \"Remember!\"\nand let her drop.\n\nShe expected to be dashed on the rocks below, and thought that was to be\nher punishment, perhaps; but to her great surprise she floated down like\na feather, and found herself lying on the sand in her own shape and the\nvery clothes she wore when she went away. She lay a moment enjoying the\ncomfort of being warm and dry, and feeling the dear earth under her.\n\n\"Why, darling, how long you have been asleep!\" said a voice close by;\nand starting up Nelly saw her mother stooping over her, while Baby was\ncreeping nearer to laugh and crow as he peeped into her face to see if\nshe was awake.\n\n\"Oh, mamma, dear mamma, I am so glad to have you again! I was very\nnaughty, but I've learned a lesson, and I'm going to be your good child\nnow,\" cried Nelly, holding her mother tight with many kisses.\n\n\"Bless the dear! she has been dreaming, and wakes up in a lovely mood,\"\nsaid mamma, laughing.\n\n\"Didn't you think I was drowned? How long have I been away?\" asked\nNelly, looking about her as if bewildered.\n\n\"About an hour. I was not troubled, for I knew you would not break your\npromise, dear.\"\n\n\"Then it _was_ a dream, and I haven't been a mermaid?\" said Nelly.\n\n\"I hope not; for I like my little girl just as she is. Tell me the dream\nwhile I smooth away these tangles before we go home.\"\n\nSo, sitting on her mother's knee, while Baby dug holes in the sand,\nNelly told her adventures as well as she could; for now it all seemed\ndim and far away, and nothing remained clear in her mind but the thought\nthat it was indeed a lovely and a happy thing to be a little child with\na heart to feel, a mother to love, and a home to live in till we go to\nfind that other one, fairer than any on the earth or in the sea.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nX.\n\nLITTLE BUD.\n\n\n[Illustration: Bud admired them very much, and felt very glad and proud\nwhen they lighted all over her, till she looked like one great butterfly\nwith wings of every color.--PAGE 215.]\n\n\"The naughty cuckoo has been here while we were gone, and left this\ngreat blue egg among our little white ones,\" said the linnet to her mate\nas they came back from their breakfast one day and found the nest full.\n\n\"It is not a cuckoo's egg, my dear,\" answered the father bird, shaking\nhis head, \"some fairy must have put it here, and we must take care of it\nor they may be angry and do harm to our little ones by and by. Sit\ncarefully on it, and see what will follow.\"\n\nSo Mamma Linnet sat patiently on the five eggs for many days more, and\nthen out came her four small children and began to chirp for food. But\nthe big blue egg still lay there, and no sound of a little bill pecking\ninside was heard.\n\n\"Shall we throw it out of the nest and make room for our babies?\" asked\nthe mother, finding her nursery very crowded.\n\n\"Not yet,\" said the careful papa, standing on one leg to rest, being\nvery tired of bringing worms for his family. \"Wait two more days, and\nthen if the egg does not break, we will push it out.\"\n\nHe was a wise bird, and they were always glad that they waited; for on\nthe seventh day the blue egg suddenly flew open, and there lay the\nsmallest, prettiest little girl ever seen,--three inches long, but rosy,\ngay, and lively as she popped up her curly head and looked about her as\nif much surprised to find herself in a nest swinging on the branch of a\ntree.\n\n\"Who are you?\" asked the father linnet, while all the young ones stared\nat her with their big eyes, and opened their beaks as if to eat her up.\n\n\"I'm little Bud,\" answered the tiny creature, smiling at them so sweetly\nit was impossible to help loving her at once.\n\n\"Where do you come from?\" said the mother.\n\n\"I don't know.\"\n\n\"Are you a fairy?\"\n\n\"No; for I have no wand.\"\n\n\"A new kind of bird?\"\n\n\"I have no feathers or wings.\"\n\n\"A human child?\"\n\n\"I think not; for I have no parents.\"\n\n\"Bless the dear! what can she be? and what shall we do with her?\" cried\nboth the birds, much amazed at this new child of theirs.\n\nBud did not seem to be troubled at all, but lay rocking in her blue\ncradle and laughing at the young linnets who peeped curiously over the\nedge of it.\n\n\"She must have something to eat,\" said the papa, flying off.\n\n\"And some clothes,\" added the mamma, bustling about.\n\nBut when a nice, fat worm was brought, Bud covered her face and cried\nwith a shiver,--\n\n\"No, no! I cannot eat that ugly thing.\"\n\n\"Get a strawberry,\" said the mamma; and she tried to wrap the largest,\nsoftest feather that lined her nest round the naked little maid.\n\nBut Bud kicked her small legs out of it at once, and stood up, saying\nwith a laugh,--\n\n\"I'm not a bird; I cannot wear feathers. Give me a pretty green leaf for\na gown, and let me look about this big world where I find myself all at\nonce.\"\n\nSo the linnet pulled a leaf and pecked two holes for Bud's arms, and put\nit on like a pinafore; for she never had dressed a baby and did not know\nhow, her own children being born with down coats which soon changed to\ngray feathers. Bud looked very pretty in her green dress as she sat on\nthe edge of the nest staring about with her blue eyes and clapping her\nhands when the papa came flying home with a sweet wild berry in his\nbill for her breakfast. She ate it like an apple, and drank a drop of\ndew that had fallen in the night; then she began to sing so sweetly that\nall the neighbors came to see what sort of bird Dame Linnet had hatched.\n\nSuch a twittering and fluttering as went on while they talked the matter\nover, asked many questions, and admired the pretty little creature who\nonly knew her name and nothing more!\n\n\"Shall you keep her?\" asked the robin, as he puffed out his red\nwaistcoat and looked very wise.\n\n\"We dare not send her away,\" said the linnets.\n\n\"She will be a great deal of care,\" said the wren.\n\n\"You never can teach her to fly, and what will you do when your own\nchildren are gone?\" asked the wood dove, who was very tender-hearted.\n\n\"You will have to make a new frock every day, and that will be so much\nwork,\" said the yellow-bird, who was very proud of her own gay gown and\nblack velvet hood.\n\n\"I think some bad elf put her here to bring you trouble. I'd push her\nout of the nest and let her take care of herself,\" advised the\nwoodpecker, wondering if the plump child would be as good to eat as the\nworms he hammered out of the trees.\n\n\"No, no!\" cried the brown thrush; \"she is too pretty to bring harm. Keep\nher till you see what she can do, and perhaps she may be a good sprite\nafter all.\"\n\n\"She sings almost as well as I do, and I shall like to add her songs to\nthe many I already know,\" said the blackbird, who had lovely concerts in\nthe meadow all by himself.\n\n\"Yes, we will wait a little; and if we cannot decide, by and by we will\nask your advice, neighbors,\" said the linnets, beginning to feel rather\nproud of the curious stranger, since her coming made such a stir in the\nwood.\n\nThe birds flew away; and Bud settled down as one of the family, making\nherself so pleasant that all loved her and willingly crowded together to\nmake room for her in the nest. The mother brooded over her at night, and\nmade her fresh gowns every day when the old ones withered up; the\nfather brought her dew to wash in and to drink, and flew far and wide to\nfind ripe berries for her to eat; while the young birds were never tired\nof hearing her sing, watching her dance on the edge of the nest, or\nlearning the pretty plays she taught them. Every one was very kind and\nwaited patiently to see what would come. But when at last the little\nbirds flew away, the parents wanted to go with them, and did not like to\nleave Bud all alone.\n\n\"I'm not afraid,\" she said, \"for now I am strong enough to take care of\nmyself. All the birds know me, and I shall not be lonely. Carry me down\nto the grass below, and let me run about and find my own food and\nclothes as your children do. I won't forget you, but you need not\ntrouble about me any more.\"\n\nSo Papa Linnet took her on his back, as often before, and flew down to\nthe softest place below, and there they left her with a tender good-by;\nfor they had to watch over their young ones, who were trying their wings\nand wandering far and wide.\n\n\"I shall be taken care of as the flowers are,\" said Bud, when she found\nherself sitting on a pebble beside the path that went through the\npleasant wood, full of happy little creatures busy with their work or\nplay.\n\n\"I wish I were a bird, then I could fly about and see the world; or a\nfairy, then I could do splendid things; or even a flower for some one to\nlove and carry away. I wonder what I was made for, and what I can\ndo,--such a little thing in this great world! I'm sure I don't know; but\nI can be happy and kind, and try to help all I see, then I shall make\nfriends and not feel lonely very long.\"\n\nAs she said this, brave Bud looked about her to see whom she could help\nfirst, and spied an ant tugging a large white bundle along. It looked as\nif he were taking clothes to some fairy washerwoman; but the bundle was\nan egg, and the ant-nurse was bringing it up from the nest to lie awhile\nin the warm sun to grow.\n\nHe told Bud all about it when she offered to help, and very gladly let\nher watch this egg while he and the other nurses went down for many\nmore. Soon they lay all about in the quiet corner where the sun shone on\nthem, and Bud went to and fro, turning them, and keeping guard over\nthem lest some hungry bird should snap them up.\n\n\"Now I'm useful,\" she said, quite happy in her new work, though she was\nonly a nursery-maid, and had no wages but the thanks of the busy ants.\nBy and by the eggs were carried down, and she was free to go on her\ntravels again. The grass was like a forest to her, the mounds of moss\nwere high hills, a little brook a great river, and a patch of sand a\ndesert to be crossed.\n\n\"First, I will dress myself nicely,\" said Bud; and coming to a wild\nrosebush she gathered up several of the fallen leaves, and tried to\nfasten them together with the thorns. But her little hands could not\nmanage the pretty pink skirt, and the thorns pricked her tender flesh as\nshe folded the leaves over her bosom; so she was about to give up in\ndespair and put on the faded green one again, when a wood-spider, who\nsat in his hole near by, said kindly,--\n\n\"Come here, little lady! I can spin and weave, and I'll sew your dress\nfor you with pleasure. I saw you helping my neighbors the ants; so I\nwill help you.\"\n\nBud was very glad of this kind offer, and watched the spider at his work\nas he sewed the pink leaves together with his silver thread as neatly as\na seamstress, put a line of embroidery all round the hem, and twisted a\nsilken cord to tie it at the waist.\n\n\"Oh, how pretty you are!\" cried the spider when the dress was on. \"You\nmust have a veil to keep the sun out of your eyes. Here is my last web;\"\nand he threw the shining gauze over her head, making her look like a\nlittle bride under the silvery veil.\n\nBud thanked him very much, and went happily on till she came to a party\nof columbines dancing in the wind. They thought she was the spirit of a\nrose come to visit them, and lowered their scarlet horns to offer her\nthe honey in the tower ends.\n\nShe was just wondering where she should find some dinner, and here was a\ndelicious feast all ready for her, thanks to the pretty dress which made\nthe columbines think her a flower. She threw up her veil and told them\nher story, which they thought very interesting and rather sad.\n\n\"Stay and live with us, little darling!\" they cried. \"You are too\ndelicate to go about all alone. The wind will blow you away, some foot\nwill crush you, or some cruel wasp kill you with its sting. Live here,\nand we will be your friends, and feed and care for you.\"\n\n\"You are very kind, and your home is very pleasant; but I must go on. I\nfeel sure that I have something to do, that somewhere I shall find my\nplace, and sometime have a pair of wings, and be either a bird or a\nfairy,\" answered Bud, as she rested by the rock round which the flowers\ngrew.\n\n\"Here comes our good friend Honey-bag, the bee. He is very wise; perhaps\nhe can tell you where you should go and what you are,\" said the\ncolumbines, nodding joyfully as the brown velvet bee came buzzing along,\nfor he was their postman and brought the daily news.\n\nEagerly they told him all about their little guest, and asked him if he\nhad heard anything of a featherless bird, a strayed elf, or a human\nchangeling hidden in a blue egg.\n\nThe bee said he once heard a humming-bird tell about some little\ncreatures who were neither children nor fairies, because they were made\nout of the fancies in people's heads. These poor mites never could be\nreal boys and girls; but if they tried very hard, and were very good,\nwings would grow and they would be elves at last.\n\n\"I will, I will!\" cried Bud. \"I know I am one of those creatures, and I\nwant to be a fairy and find my home by and by. How shall I do it?\"\n\n\"I think you have begun very well; for I've heard of you from several\nfriends as I came through the wood, and all say good words of you. Go\non, and I am sure you will find your wings at last. See! I will do my\npart, and give you something to eat as you travel along.\"\n\nAs the kind bee spoke he began to mix the yellow pollen and honey he had\ngathered, and soon handed Bud a nice little loaf of bee-bread to carry\nwith her. She folded it up in white violet leaves, like a sweet-scented\nnapkin, and with a horn of honey from the columbines set out again with\nmany thanks and full of hope and courage.\n\nPresently a cloud of gay butterflies came flocking round her, crying\nout,--\n\n\"Here's a rose! I smell honey! Come and taste! No, it is an elf! Dance\nwith us, little dear!\"\n\nBud admired them very much, and felt very glad and proud when they\nlighted all over her, till she looked like one great butterfly with\nwings of every color.\n\n\"I cannot play with you because I am not an elf; but if you will carry\nme on my way toward Fairyland I will give you my honey and my bread, for\nI go very slowly and want to get along as quickly as I can,\" said Bud,\nthinking that these pretty insects might help her.\n\nThe butterflies were idle things and hated to work, but they wanted the\ndainty loaf and the flower sweets; so they said they would try to carry\nBud and save her tired little feet. They held tightly to her belt, her\nhair, her frock, and all flew up at once, lifting her a little way above\nthe ground and carrying her along in a cloud of blue and yellow, red and\nbrown wings fluttering as they went. It was hard work, and soon the\nsmaller ones let go; so Bud began to fall, and they were forced to lay\nher down on the grass while they rested and ate the bee-bread every\ncrumb.\n\n\"Take me a little farther, and then you shall have the honey,\" said wise\nBud, who was anxious to get on, and saw that the lazy flies would leave\nher as soon as her provisions were gone.\n\n\"Up again!\" cried the great black and golden one; and away they went,\nall tugging stoutly. But though the tiny maid was as light as a feather,\nthey had little strength in either legs or wings, and soon dropped her\nbump in the dusty path below.\n\n\"Thanks! Here's the horn; now let me rest and get over my fall,\" said\nBud, making up her mind that her own feet were safest, after all.\n\nThe butterflies flew away, and the small traveller sat up to see where\nshe was. A dismal groaning caught her ear; and close by she saw a rusty\nold beetle feebly trying to dig a hole in the sand.\n\n\"What is the matter?\" asked Bud.\n\n\"It is time to die, and I want to bury myself; but I'm so weak I'm\nafraid I shall not get my grave ready in time, and then I shall be eaten\nup by some bird, or crushed by some giant's foot,\" answered the beetle,\nkicking and shovelling away as hard as he could.\n\n\"But if you were dead you would not know it,\" said Bud.\n\n\"Stupid child! if I'm killed in that way I cannot live again; but if I\nbury myself and lie asleep till spring, I come up a grub or a young\nbeetle, I don't know which, but I am sure of some change. So I want a\ngood grave to rest in; for dying is only a sleep before we wake up in\nanother shape.\"\n\n\"I'm glad of that!\" cried Bud. \"I'll help you dig, and I'll cover you\nnicely, and hope you will be some pretty insect by and by.\"\n\nSo she threw off her veil, and worked busily with a little wooden shovel\ntill a deep grave was made. The old beetle tumbled in with a gruff\n\"Thank you, child,\" and died quite comfortably, with the warm sand over\nhim. Bud piled little stones above the place, and left him to his long\nsleep, happy to be able to help, and full of wonder as to whether she\ntoo would have to die before her change came.\n\nThe sun was going down now; for the butterfly party and the beetle's\nfuneral had taken a long time, and twilight was coming on.\n\n\"I must find a place to sleep,\" said Bud, rather anxiously; for this was\nher first night alone, and she began to miss Mother Linnet's warm wings\nbrooding over her.\n\nBut she kept up her courage and trudged on till she was so tired she was\nforced to stop and rest on a bank where a glow-worm had just lighted its\nlittle lamp.\n\n\"Can I stay here under this big leaf?\" she asked, glad to see the\nfriendly light and bathe her tired feet in the dewy grass.\n\n\"You cannot go much farther, for the marsh is close by, and I see you\nhave no wings, so you never could get on,\" answered the worm, turning\nhis green lamp full upon the weary little wanderer.\n\nBud told her story, and was just going to ask if there was anything to\neat, for she was sadly hungry, when some very sweet voices called down\nto her from a tall bush over her head,--\n\n\"Come to us, dear! We are the marsh-honeysuckles, cousins of the\ncolumbines you met to-day. Here is supper, with a bed, and a warm\nwelcome for the good little creature Honey-bag the bee told us about.\"\n\nBud put up her arms to a great cluster of white flowers bending down to\nher, and in a moment lay in a delicious place, full of sweetest\nfragrance, while the honeysuckles fed and petted and rocked her to sleep\nbefore she could half thank them for their kindness.\n\nThere was time for a good nap and a lovely dream before a harsh voice\nwaked her up, and she heard a bat talking as it hung near by, with its\nleathery wings over its eyes to shut out the light of the glow-worm\nstill strolling about on the bank.\n\n\"Yes, the poor little boy wandered into the bog and was nearly drowned,\"\nsaid the bat. \"It was that naughty Willy Wisp playing tricks again, and\nleading people out of the right path to splash into the mud. I've\nscolded him many a time, but he _will_ do it; for he loves to make the\nwoodmen and the children think he is the light in their cottage windows\ntill they fall into the marsh, and then he hides and leaves them to get\nout as they can.\"\n\n\"What a wicked fellow!\" cried Bud, rubbing her eyes and sitting up to\nlisten.\n\n\"Of course he wouldn't mind you, for he knows you hate light, and he\nlikes to teaze you by flashing his lantern in your eyes,\" said the\nglow-worm.\n\n\"Yes, I do hate light of all kinds, and wish it were always night,\"\nscolded the bat.\n\n\"I don't! I love sunshine and stars and fireflies and glow-worms and all\nthe bright things; so perhaps if _I_ went and talked to Willy Wisp he\nwould stop playing these naughty pranks,\" said Bud, much interested, and\nfeeling that this would be a very good work to do for the dear children.\n\n\"You couldn't keep him out of mischief unless you told stories all\nnight. He loves tales dearly, but won't stay still and listen unless\nthey are always new and _very_ charming,\" said the bat, peeping out with\none eye to see who the stranger might be.\n\n\"I know hundreds! for I was born of a fancy, and my head is full of\nlovely ones, and I sing such merry songs all the birds used to listen to\nme for hours. If I could only reach this Willy Wisp I think I could\namuse him till the people got safely home,\" said Bud.\n\n\"Come and try; I'll carry you,\" said the bat, shutting his wings and\nlooking like a black mouse as he crept nearer for Bud to mount.\n\n\"No, no; stay with us, and don't go to that dismal marsh full of ugly\nthings and bad air,\" cried the honeysuckles, trying to hold her fast\nwith soft, sticky hands.\n\nBut Bud was eager to do all the good she might, and bravely mounted her\nnew horse, singing as she flew away,--\n\n    \"On the bat's back I do fly\n    After summer, merrily.\"\n\n\"She won't do it,\" said the glow-worm, putting out his lamp as he went\nto bed.\n\n\"Alas, no! Poor little thing! she will die over there, and never be a\nfairy,\" sighed the flowers, looking like sad white ghosts in the dim\nlight.\n\nA cloud of fireflies danced over the marsh, where frogs croaked,\nmosquitoes hummed, and tall yellow lilies rang their freckled bells. The\nair was damp and hot; a white mist rose from the water that glimmered\nbetween the forests of reeds and the islands of bog moss, and sleek\nmuskrats and bright-eyed snakes glided about, while wild ducks slept\nwith their heads under their wings in quiet corners.\n\nA strange, shadowy place, and Bud's heart died within her as she thought\nof staying here alone. But she did want to see if she could make the bad\nWilly behave better and not lead poor people into danger; so she held\nfast while the bat skimmed to and fro looking for the naughty fellow.\nSoon he came dancing toward them,--a dark little body with a big head\nlike a round lantern, all shining with the light inside.\n\n\"What have you brought me, old Leather-wing?--a pretty bride to cheer up\nthe marsh, or an elf to dance at my ball to-night?\" he said, looking at\nBud with delight as she sat on the dusky bat, with her pink dress and\nsilvery veil glimmering in the brightness, that now shone over her like\nmoonlight.\n\n\"No; it is a famous story-teller, come to amuse you when you are tired\nof whisking about and doing mischief. Be very polite or I will take her\naway again,\" answered the bat, setting Bud down on a small green island\namong the bulrushes and tall marsh moss.\n\n\"Let us hear one. Stop croaking, Speckle-back, and do you ladies quit\ndancing while I listen. Go along, Leather-wing; she shall stay till\nto-morrow and see what she can do,\" said Willy Wisp, seating himself\nnear Bud, while the frogs grew still and the fireflies settled on the\nleaves like little lamps, making the island as light as day.\n\n\"It is late now; so when you hear the clock strike twelve you can stop\nand go to sleep, for the people will all be safe at home and Willy can\ndo no harm. I'll come again soon. Good-night.\"\n\nAnd away skimmed the bat, glad to find the darkest part of the marsh and\nhunt gnats for supper.\n\nBud immediately began to tell the story of \"The Merry Cockchafer,\" and\nit proved so very interesting that soon a circle of frogs surrounded the\nisland, laughing with their great mouths and winking their bright eyes\nas they listened. The wild ducks woke up and came to hear also; a\nwater-snake glided nearer, with his neighbor the muskrat; while the\nfireflies grew so thick on the reeds and moss that everything sparkled,\nand Willy Wisp nodded his bright head joyfully as he sat like a king\nwith his court about him.\n\nJust in the most exciting place, when the Cockchafer and the Stag-beetle\nwere going to fight a duel about the lovely white Moth, the clock struck\ntwelve, and Bud, who was very tired, stopped short, saying,--\n\n\"I will finish to-morrow at twilight. The last part is the best, for the\nLady-bug and the wicked Grasshopper do terrible things in it.\"\n\nThey all begged eagerly for the end, but Bud was hoarse and must go to\nsleep; so every one went away to talk about this new and charming\ncreature who had come to make the long nights pleasant. Willy Wisp went\nzigzagging to and fro, trying to imagine what would come next, and Bud\nlaid her head on a bulrush pillow to dream of stars till morning.\n\nShe was rather troubled, when daylight came, to find herself a prisoner;\nfor deep water was all round her island, and there was no way of\nescaping. She asked a pretty white duck to take her to a larger place,\nfor here there was nothing to eat but the soft green buds of the sweet\nflag and the little sour balls of the wild-cranberry vines.\n\n\"I'm not a steamer, and I don't carry passengers,\" answered the duck,\npaddling away; for he wanted Bud to stay and tell more tales.\n\nSo there she had to live for many days, watching the long-legged herons\nas they stalked about fishing in the pools, seeing how the rats built\ntheir curious houses, the frogs leaped and dived, the snakes glided to\nand fro, and the ducklings ate flies all day long. She talked with the\nyellow lilies, learned the song of the whispering reeds, and climbed up\nthe tall stems of the bulrushes to look out over the marsh and long to\nbe on the firm ground again. The bat forgot to come and see her, and\nWilly grew so fond of her stories that he would sit for hours while she\ntold them; so no one came to harm, and Bud felt that she was really\ndoing a good thing all alone there in the dreary bog. Every one loved\nher and wanted her to stay; but by and by the summer was over, the\nfireflies died, and Willy Wisp grew pale and lazy and fell asleep easier\neach night, as if he too were ready to fade away till hot weather\nshould make him lively and bright again.\n\n\"Now I might go if I could find any friend to help me,\" said Bud, when\nthe wild ducks said good-by and the herons stalked away.\n\n\"I will help you,\" said a water-snake, popping his head up with a kinder\nlook than one would fancy such fiery eyes could wear.\n\n\"You!\" said Bud, much surprised; for she had never liked the snake very\nwell, though she had always been kind to him.\n\n\"I am your friend if you will have me. No one cares for me, I am so ugly\nand have had a bad name ever since the world began; but I hope when I\nshed my skin I may be handsomer or change to something better, so I try\nto be a good snake and do what I can to make my neighbors happy.\"\n\n\"Poor thing! I hope you will be a pretty green adder, and live among the\nflowers like one I once knew. It must be hard to be contented here, and\nyou are very kind to want to help me,\" said Bud, laying her little warm\nhand on the ugly head of the snake, who had crept up to bask in the\nsun.\n\nThat pleased Forked-tongue very much; for no one ever petted him, and\nhis eyes shone like jewels as he coiled his slender body nearer Bud's\nfeet, and lifted up his head to answer her.\n\n\"You want to go away and you shall. We shall all miss you sadly, but it\nwill soon be cold and you need stay no longer; so I will ask my friend\nSleek to gnaw these strong rushes till they fall and make bridges across\nthe pools. You can go safely over them and find some warm, pretty place\nto live in till the summer comes again.\"\n\n\"That is a fine plan! Thank you, dear friend; let us do it at once while\nWilly is asleep and no one sees us,\" cried Bud.\n\nSo Sleek the muskrat came and made a road for her from one tuft of grass\nto another till she was safely on the land. Then she bade these ugly but\nkind friends good-by, and gladly ran about the pleasant field where\nautumn flowers were going to seed and dead leaves falling fast. She\nfeasted on wild grapes, dried berries, and apples fallen from the trees\nsince the harvest was carried in. Everything was getting ready for\nwinter, and Bud was glad to make herself a warm suit of mullein\nclothes, with a little hood of thistle-down. She was fitting beechnut\nshells on her tiny feet for shoes when a withered plant near by called\nout to her,--\n\n\"Are you going far, that you put on new clothes and stout boots, little\nstranger?\"\n\n\"I must travel till I find my own country, no matter how far away it is.\nCan I do any errand for you?\" asked Bud, kindly.\n\n\"Yes; will you carry these seeds of mine to the great meadow over there?\nAll my friends are there, and I long to be at home again. Some one\npicked me last spring and dropped me here. But I did not die; I took\nroot and bloomed here, and must always stay unless some one will take my\nseeds back. Then I shall come up in my own place next spring and be a\nhappy flower again.\"\n\n\"I will do it,\" said Bud; \"but I thought the wind took your seeds about\nfor you.\"\n\n\"Some are too heavy. Pine seeds, maple keys, thistle and dandelion down,\nand many others blow about; but some of us grow from our roots, and\nsome, like me, come from seeds kept in little bags. I'm called\nShepherd's-purse, and I'm a humble weed; but I love my own people and\nlong to see them again.\"\n\n\"You shall!\" cried Bud; and gathering the three-cornered bags she took\nthem carefully away to the meadow where other plants like this one were\nglad to hear of their lost friend and to watch over the gift she sent\nthem.\n\nRemembering how pleasant and comfortable it was to find various flowers\nblooming along the roadside like hospitable inns for tiny travellers\nlike herself, good Bud spent several days in planting roots and seeds\nbeside the path that led through the meadow.\n\n\"Now children, birds, butterflies, and fairies will be glad to find\nthese pretty things blooming here, though they will never know who\nplanted them,\" she said, when the last task was done.\n\nThe frost had come, and nuts were rattling down, leaves turning brown,\nand cold winds beginning to blow; so poor Bud looked about as she went\nthrough a wood to find some safe, warm place to sleep in, for a time at\nleast, because she felt sure that when the snow came she would die, so\nsmall and delicate and friendless was the dear little thing. When she\ncame to a great oak she sat down on an acorn cup, and tried to break\nthe hard shell of an acorn that she might nibble a bit for her dinner.\nShe could not do it, and sat thinking sadly what would become of her,\nwhen a sweet acorn without its shell dropped into her lap, and, looking\nup, she saw a gray squirrel peeping at her from a branch above her head.\nShe smiled, and thanked him, and he came down with a whisk to sit\nopposite and look at her with his fine tail over his head like an\numbrella.\n\n\"I know you, little maid, and I'm glad you came here, for I can show you\na charming house for the winter. I heard you tell a field-mouse how\nlonely you were, and I saw tears dropping just now as you sat here\nthinking you had not a friend in the world,\" said Dart, as he nodded at\nher and kindly cracked a chestnut to follow the acorn if she needed\nmore.\n\n\"Every one is very kind to me, but every one seems to go to sleep when\nautumn comes; so I felt alone and sad, and expected to die in the snow.\nBut if I can find a cosey place to live in till spring I shall be very\nglad, and will do anything I can to pay for it,\" answered Bud, much\ncomforted by her good dinner and a kind word.\n\n\"If you will help me get in my nuts and acorns and moss and leaves for\nwinter food and bedding, I will let you use the Kobolds' house till they\ncome. They are jolly little fellows, and they will allow you to stay,\nand teach you to spin; for they spin all winter, and make lovely cloth\nfor the elves out of silkweed and thistle-down. Here is their house. I\nhide it and take care of it while they are gone, and get it ready for\nthem in the autumn, as they come with the first snow.\"\n\nWhile Dart spoke he had been clearing away a pile of dead leaves at the\nfoot of the old oak, and soon Bud saw an arched doorway leading into the\nhollow trunk, where the roots made different chambers, and all was dry\nand warm and cosey as a little house. She went in and looked about, well\npleased at what she saw, and very glad of such a comfortable home. She\nhoped the Kobolds would let her stay, and set to work at once to help\nDart get ready for them; for the sky looked dark with snow, and a cold\nwind rustled through the wood.\n\nIn one room they stored nuts and acorns, rose and holly berries, a dried\napple or two, and many pine cones to burn; for Dart showed her a little\nfireplace, and told her the Kobolds kept themselves very warm and jolly\nat their work. In another room they spread moss and dry grass for beds,\nand there the seven little men would sleep like dormice. The empty\ncocoon of a caterpillar still hung in one corner, and Bud said that\nshould be her hammock with a curtain made of woven yellow bindweed hung\nbefore the nook. They swept the floor with fir-needle brooms, and spread\na carpet of red oak leaves, which gave a very gay air to the place. Then\nDart left Bud to fill a row of acorn cups with water from a spring near\nby, while he ran off to nibble splinters from the pitch pines to make\ntorches for the Kobolds, who worked in the evening and needed light.\n\nBud was as happy as a little girl with a new baby-house, and looked like\na tiny doll herself as she bustled to and fro, filling her tubs, dusting\nher pretty rooms, and getting ready for the seven strangers, like\nSnowdrop and the dwarfs in the dear old fairy tale. All was ready in two\ndays, and Dart had time to lay up his own stores before the snow came.\nBud watched over the heaps of nuts he piled lest his sly neighbors\nshould steal them while he ran up and down tucking them away in holes\nabout the oak-tree. This helped him much, and he was very fond of her;\nand together they got up a nice surprise for the Kobolds by putting in\nnew beds for them made of chestnut burrs, which rocked on their outside\nprickles like cradles, and were lined with down as soft as silk.\n\n\"That will tickle them,\" said Dart; \"and when they know that you thought\nof it, they will like you as much as I do. Now rest a bit, and be ready\nto welcome them, for I'm sure they will come to-day. I'll run to the\ntree-top and look out for them, so you can light the fire when I give\nthe word.\"\n\nDart whisked away, and Bud stood in the doorway, with a warm mat of\nhemlock sprigs under her feet, and a garland of evergreen overhead; for\nshe had trimmed up the arch, and stuck bits of gay holly all about to\nwelcome the little men. Soon snow-flakes began to flutter down, and Bud\nrejoiced that she had a nice, warm home to stay in, instead of freezing\nto death like a lost bird. Suddenly Dart called from the tree-top, \"They\nare coming!\" and hurried down to rub two sticks together till a spark\nflew out and set the pine cone on the hearth ablaze. \"Run to the door\nand courtesy when you see them,\" he said, fanning the fire with his\nbushy tail, in a great state of excitement.\n\nBud peeped out and was just going to say, \"I see nothing but snow,\" when\nshe saw that what looked like a party of flakes blowing up to the door\nwas really the seven Kobolds loaded with great piles of white silkweed\nfor their spinning. She dropped her best courtesy, smiled her sweetest\nsmile, and called out, \"Welcome home, my masters!\" like a little\nmaidservant, as she led the way to the large room, now bright and warm\nwith the fire roaring up the chimney made by a hole in the old roots.\n\n\"Ha, ha! Neighbor Dart, you have done well this time, and we are\nsatisfied with you. Now just store away our packs while we go for our\nwheels, and then we will have supper. But first, tell us who this pretty\nperson is, if you please?\" said the oldest of the Kobolds, while the\nothers stood nodding and looking at Bud as if she pleased them well.\n\n\"Your new housekeeper, gentlemen,\" answered Dart, and in a few words\ntold them all about his friend,--how she had helped get ready for them,\nwhat fine tales and songs she knew, and how much good she had done and\nstill hoped to do while waiting for her wings to grow.\n\n\"Good, very good! She shall stay with us, and we will take care of her\ntill spring. Then we will see what happens;\" and they all smiled and\nnodded harder than ever, as if they knew something charming but would\nnot tell it yet.\n\nThen they clapped on their funny pointed hats, and trotted away before\nBud could thank them half enough. While they were gone Dart showed her\nhow to put a row of chestnuts on the hearth to roast, and how to set the\ntable, which was a dry mushroom propped up on four legs in the middle of\nthe room, with little toadstools to sit on. Acorn cups full of berries\nand water, and grains of wheat and barley were arranged on it, with a\nplace for the chestnuts when they were done, and some preserved apple\non an oak-leaf platter. Several torches were lighted and stuck in holes\nat the four corners of the table, and then all was ready, and Bud put on\na little white apron made of her torn veil, and waited like a neat cook\nto dish up supper when her masters arrived.\n\nPresently they came, each lugging a tiny spinning-wheel on his back; for\nthey hid them in a cave among the rocks all summer, and got them out\nwhen the time for their winter work was come again. Dart helped them\nsettle down a bit, and then left them to eat and rest; while Bud waited\non them so nicely they wondered how they ever got on without a maid\nbefore. She was not at all afraid of them now; for they were jolly\nlittle fellows, with fat bodies, thin legs, rosy faces, and sharp eyes.\nAll were dressed in white down suits, and wore droll pointed hats made\nof some seed pod, and boots of magic stuff which carried them great\ndistances as if blown by the wind.\n\nThey liked their supper very much, and ate and drank and chatted\npleasantly till all were done; then they sat round the fire and smoked\nsweet fern in Indian pipes till Bud had cleared away.\n\n\"Now come and sing to us,\" they said; and the youngest Kobold politely\nset a stool in the warmest corner for her.\n\nSo Bud sang all her gayest songs to their great delight, and told her\nadventures; and all were very cosey till it was time to sleep. The\nlittle men were charmed with their new beds, and pulling poppy-pod\nnightcaps over their heads tumbled in with drowsy good-nights, leaving\nBud to cover up the fire, shut the front door, and put out the lights.\nSoon she was in her own soft hammock; and nothing broke the silence but\nthe sigh of the wind, the tap of falling snow-flakes on dry leaves\noutside, and seven little snores inside, as the tired Kobolds dreamed\ncosily in their new beds.\n\nBud was up early next day, and had everything ready when the little men\ncame out to breakfast. After it they set their wheels whirling, and all\nday long they spun busily till many skeins of shining silk were ready to\nbe woven into elfin cloth. Bud soon learned, and they made her a wheel;\nso she could work with them. They seldom spoke, and never ate nor\nstopped till night; then the wheels stood still, and the spinners went\nout for a run while Bud got supper.\n\nIn the evening they went coasting if it was moonlight, or owl-hunting,\nand had gay times in the wood, whisking Bud with them, or sliding down\nhillocks of snow on their sleds of bark, while Dart looked on, well\nwrapped up in his gray fur coat.\n\nBut stormy nights they sat at home, and told stories and played games,\nand were very merry, and Bud learned many wise and interesting things;\nfor the Kobolds knew all kinds of fairies, nixies, goblins, and spirits,\nand had been in many lands.\n\nIt was very pleasant; but when the last month of winter came Bud began\nto be so sleepy she could not keep her eyes open, and sat nodding as she\nspun, gaping instead of singing, and was often found dreaming in her bed\nwhen she should have been up and at work. She was much troubled about\nit, but could not help it; and the Kobolds only laughed, slyly felt of\nher shoulders, and told her to sleep away, for their work was nearly\ndone and they did not need her.\n\nOne morning Bud did not wake up at all, and when the little men peeped\nat her there she lay rolled up in her hammock very like a chrysalis in\nits shell.\n\n\"All right,\" laughed the imps, nodding at one another; \"let her sleep\nwhile the wings grow, and in May she will wake up to a prettier surprise\nthan the one she gave us.\"\n\nSo they finished their work, packed up the silk, and as soon as the snow\nwas gone they hid their wheels, had a farewell feast with Dart, and\ndeparted, begging him to watch over Bud, and have their house ready for\nthem next year.\n\nDay after day the grass grew greener, the buds larger, the air warmer,\nand the world more beautiful as spring flew over it; but Bud still lay\nasleep in her little bed, and the faithful squirrel went every morning\nto see that she was safe. May came at last, and the pink flowers under\nthe leaves pushed out their rosy faces; birds sang among the green\nbushes, and the sun shone brightly as the little wood creatures\nventured out one by one for another happy summer.\n\nThen Bud woke from her long sleep, stretched her small arms and legs\nlike a baby after its nap, looked about her to see where she was, and\nsprang up, fearing it was too late to get the Kobolds' breakfast. But\nthe house was empty, the fire was out, the wheels gone, and nothing to\nbe seen but a lovely white silk dress lying on the table with her name\nwoven in tiny buds all over it. While she was looking at it with\ndelight, Dart came in, and skipped for joy to see her awake again and\nprettier than ever; for while she slept she had grown very beautiful.\nHer winter gown was withered up, and fell off as she got out of bed,\nleaving her all ready for the new silver-white gown, which she gladly\nput on.\n\n\"Pull away my old hood that lies there on my shoulders, and let me tie\nmy pretty dress with this fine belt,\" said Bud, feeling something on her\nback.\n\nDart's black eyes sparkled as he answered with a gay whisk,--\n\n\"Shake yourself and see what happens. But don't go till I have time to\nadmire the splendid princess ready for Fairyland.\"\n\nBud shook; and, lo! a pair of blue and silver wings unfolded from her\nlittle shoulders, and there she stood, a shining creature, gay as a\nbutterfly, delicate as an elf, lovely as a happy child; while Dart waved\nhis tail like a banner as he cried joyfully,--\n\n\"The Kobolds said it would be so because you tried so hard to be and do\ngood! Now you can go home and lead a happy life in Fairyland.\"\n\nBud could only clap her hands and laugh for joy, and try to see the\nbeautiful wings she had worked and waited for so long.\n\n\"Thank you very much for all your kindness to me, dear Dart; I will come\nagain and see you and the little men if I can. Now I must go and try to\nfly before I set out for home,\" she said, and hastened to the door,\nwhere wood violets were watching for her with eager blue eyes, while the\nrobins, wrens, and linnets sang to welcome her.\n\nThere was no need to learn how to fly; the lovely wings lifted her\nlightly up, and away she went like a new-born butterfly glittering in\nthe sunshine. It was so delightful that she could hardly bear to come\ndown to the earth again; so she perched on a high branch of the old oak\nand took a peep at Dart's home before she said good-by to him.\n\n\"How shall I find my way to Fairyland?\" she asked, eager to be off, for\nthe longing was stronger than ever in her heart.\n\n\"I have come to show you the road,\" answered a shrill small voice, as a\nsplendid humming-bird lit on the branch beside her, its breast sparkling\nlike a jewel, and its long bill full of honey, while its quivering wings\nmade the softest music.\n\n\"I am ready! Good-by, dear friends! good-by, great world! I love you,\nbut I must go to my own people,\" cried Bud, and with a flash of the blue\nand silver wings she was gone.\n\nBut for many a winter's night her story was told by the Kobolds as they\nspun around their fire; and for many a long day did bird and bee,\nbeetle, ant, and flower, love and remember little Bud.\n\n\n\n\nXI.\n\nTHE FLOWER'S STORY.\n\n\n[Illustration: So they chose a sunny spot on a lonely moor, where the\nearth was rich, and a brook kept it moist, and there they planted the\nseeds and tended them carefully.--PAGE 257.]\n\nMarion had been ill, and was still so weak that she had to lie on her\nbed many hours each day trying to sleep and rest. One winter afternoon\nwhen the snow fell quietly outside and the room was very still, with\nNurse dozing in her chair, the kitten purring on the rug, and nothing\nnew or pretty to look at but a bunch of pansies in a glass beside the\nbed, Marion said to herself with a sigh,--\n\n\"If I only had some one to tell me a story I should be able to get\nthrough this long day without fretting. But Mamma is away, Nurse is\ntired, and I know all my books by heart; so what can I do, since I'm too\ntired to play with my dolls?\"\n\nNo one answered this important question; and Marion sighed again as she\nturned to look at the other side of the room, hoping to discover some\nhelp or amusement in that direction. The queer ladies on the great\nJapanese fan over the glass stared at her with their small eyes, but\nseemed too busy drinking tea out of red and yellow teapots to take any\ninterest in the pale little girl on the bed. The pins sat primly in the\nblue satin cushion as usual; but neither the pearl fly, the golden\nrose-headed one, nor the funny mourning brooch Nurse was so fond\nof,--with hair in it, and a picture of a fat baby at the back,--could\namuse Marion now. The dolls lay piled up in the cradle, with their poor\narms and legs sticking out in all directions, sadly neglected by their\nlittle mamma; while the dear books upon the shelves had been read so\noften lately that they had nothing new and pleasant to offer now.\n\n\"Oh dear! I wish the birds on the wall-paper or the children in the\npictures hanging round my room could sing and talk to me. I've been so\ngood and patient I really think some one _ought_ to take pity on a poor\nlittle sick girl and do something to please her,\" said Marion, with a\nthird sigh, heavier than the others.\n\nIt made such a breeze that it blew one of the flowers out of the glass.\nMarion took it up and looked at it, ready for any playmate, even a\nladies'-delight.\n\nIt was a very pretty one, and showed such a smiling face among its dark\nand bright petals that the child felt as if she had found a friend, and\nkissed it softly, being rather tender-hearted just then as well as\nlonely.\n\nTo her great surprise the flower nodded at her, and then a faint, sweet\nvoice said, as she still held it close to her face,--\n\n\"Now I can speak, and am very glad to come and amuse you; for we have\nbeen pitying you very much, because we also are lonely and homesick so\nfar from our own people.\"\n\n\"Why, you dear little thing, how lovely it is to hear you talk and see\nyou smile at me! Please tell me all about yourself. I'm fond of flowers,\nand was so pleased when one of my schoolmates sent me this pretty\nnosegay of pansies,\" said Marion, charmed with this surprise.\n\n\"I have no story; for I was born in a green-house, and have lived in a\nlittle flower-pot all my life, with many sisters, who are carried away\nwhen they bloom, and never come back again. We only sat for a few hours\nin a shop before we were pinned in paper, and brought here by a dreadful\nboy, who left us at your door. We were much pleased to find ourselves in\nthis pretty vase of fresh water in a quiet, warm room, with a gentle\nmistress to look at us. Now, if you want a story about our people, I\nwill tell you an old one that all our family know and like very much.\"\n\n\"Do!\" cried Marion; and then, with kitty asleep on her arm, she lay and\nlistened with the deepest interest to this little history of--\n\n\nTHE PRINCES AND THE PANSIES:\n\nA FAIRY TALE.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a King who had two little sons, named Purple\nand Plush because they always wore mourning for their mother, who died\nwhen they were born. The King would not wear purple, which is the proper\ncolor for royal sorrow. He was a very selfish man, and cared only for\nhis own comfort; so he lived in his splendid rooms, and amused himself\namong his books, quite lazy and contented in his green velvet\ndressing-gown and red cap, sleeping a great deal, reading, and drinking\nwine so that he might forget the loss of his beautiful queen.\n\nHe did not care about his little sons, and left them to the nurses and\nthen the tutors, as they grew up from babies to pretty boys, so sweet\nand wise and good that people said the spirit of their dead mother must\nwatch over them; and perhaps it did. They were always together, always\nbusy, always kind and gentle, but rather sad, because their father did\nnot love them; and all the affection of the many friends they made could\nnot make up for the loss of father and mother love.\n\nHis subjects wanted the King to marry again, so that the court might be\ngay with feasts and balls and splendid games as it used to be; but he\nwas too selfish and lazy to disturb himself, till a certain beautiful\nlady came to see him. She was a widow, with two little daughters, named\nPrimrose and Daffodil because they always wore yellow gowns. Their\nmother was the Princess Jonquil, and dressed in cloth of gold. She was\nvery proud, and wished to be queen; so she put on a purple velvet cloak,\nand made the little girls wear purple hats to look as if they mourned\nlike the rest of the kingdom, and went to court to marry the King. They\nwere all so pretty and charming that every one admired and welcomed\nthem; and while the Princess played chess and read poetry to amuse his\nMajesty, the children played together and tried to be friends.\n\nBut Primrose and Daffodil were vain and selfish and wilful; and the\nlittle Princes soon found that they expected to have their own way\nabout everything, and flew into sad passions if any one dared to reprove\nthem. So the little boys were more unhappy than ever when they were told\nthat their father was to marry the Princess, and these disagreeable\ngirls were to be their half-sisters.\n\nThere was a splendid wedding, and the bells rang, and the trumpets\nsounded, and every one feasted and danced; for the fountains were filled\nwith wine, and tables were spread in the market-place, so that all the\npoor people could have a good time as well as the rich. The new Queen\nwas very anxious to please her subjects, and made things so gay that at\nfirst every one praised her; and the King gladly let her rule, as it\nleft him quiet with his books and bottles. Now the little girls were\nprouder than ever, and shone like the sun in their fine new gowns. But\nthe Princes would not change their purple velvet suits, though they put\non gold belts and set jonquils in their caps in honor of the Queen. They\ntried to enjoy the gayety, but soon found that they were neglected by\nevery one; for people saw who was to have the power, and hastened to\npet and flatter the young Princesses in order to please their mother.\nShe showed how she meant to rule the first time she took the throne; for\nthe King was not there, and she sat alone in her cloth-of-gold robes\nvery splendid to see. She put her daughters one at each side on the\ngreen satin chairs set for the Princes, and ordered the poor boys to\nshare her footstool between them.\n\nSome people were very angry at this, and told the King. But he only\nsaid: \"Don't trouble me. Her Majesty will do as she thinks best; and my\nsons will obey her as if they were her own.\" So nothing could be done;\nand the gentle boys sat at the Queen's feet, while the vain little girls\nrustled and smiled and tossed their heads on the high seats where they\ndid not belong.\n\nThis was the beginning of sad times for the Princes; for the new mother\nwanted them out of the way that she might reign when the King died. She\ndared not send them away so soon; but she ordered them to live quietly\nwith their tutors and servants in a lonely part of the palace, and never\nallowed them to come to the feasts, the hunting-parties, or any of the\nsplendid shows with which she amused the people. Since their father did\nnot object, the boys obeyed, and amused themselves by working among the\nflowers with old Adam, the gardener, who taught them many curious,\nuseful, and beautiful things about trees and plants. They also learned\nto play and sing, and often sat in the summer evenings making music with\ntheir little lutes sweeter than that of the nightingales in the\nrose-bushes, or the court concerts, where the bad Queen and the proud\nPrincesses sat in all their splendor. The boys studied and grew wise\nwith the teachers, who loved them; but as time went by they began to\nlong for more freedom and pleasure, when the horns blew and all the\ngreat people rode away to hunt the deer or fly their falcons. They\nbegged the Queen to let them see their father; but when she saw what\nhandsome, tall lads they were growing she was more anxious than ever to\nget rid of them, and in the night she sent her soldiers to take them to\nthe tower, where they were shut up in a high room, with only bread and\nwater to live on,--no books, no friends, no freedom; for no one knew\nwhere they were, because the Queen told the father that they had run\naway, and when he had sent some people to look for them he troubled\nhimself no more about the matter.\n\nSo they lived for a year all alone in the tower; but they were not very\nunhappy, for the sun smiled in at them, birds built nests in the ivy\nthat covered the gray walls, and the wind sang them to sleep as it\nroared or whispered round their high room. They loved and cheered each\nother, and kept up their courage till one day no bread and water was put\nin at the little wicket of the door. For three days no food came, and\nthen they knew that the wicked Queen meant to starve them to death.\nPeople thought them lost; and all but the few who were faithful forgot\nthe Princes and obeyed the Queen, who now ruled over them like a tyrant,\nwhile her daughters grew more proud and selfish every day, and the old\nKing slept most of the time, careless of everything but his ease.\n\n\"Now, brother, we must escape, for it is plain that no one will help us;\nso we will help ourselves,\" said Purple bravely, resolving not to starve\nto death to please a cruel stepmother.\n\n\"We will,\" cried Plush; \"but how can we get out of this high tower with\nno ladder?\"\n\n\"We will make one. I've often planned it all, but thought it our duty to\nobey. Now it is right to take care of ourselves, and try to reach our\nfather if we can. Let us braid ropes of the straw of our beds, the\nblankets and sheets, and as many of our clothes as we can spare. All\nthese will not make a ladder long enough to reach the ground; but it\nwill carry us down to where the ivy branches are strong, and from there\nwe can climb safely to the bottom. We will go by night and find good old\nAdam. He will feed and help us and tell us what to do.\"\n\n\"A splendid plan! Let us set to work while our strength holds out or it\nwill be too late,\" answered Plush, who was very white and weak with\nhunger.\n\nBusily flew the fingers, and soon long coils of cord were made; while\nthe poor lads chewed leaves and drank the rain to keep themselves alive.\nAt last they had enough to reach a long way down; and when night came\nPurple made his brother go first,--for he was an hour younger, and\nrather lighter, and he wanted to be sure he was safe before he escaped\nhimself. Down climbed Plush, while the other lad leaned out, with his\nhands on the frail ladder, holding his breath till the dark figure was\nout of sight in the gloom, and a soft whistle told him that all was safe\nwith the dear boy. Then he followed, and Plush caught him in his arms as\nhe came climbing down; while all the little birds sat silent in their\nnests among the ivy, and not a stout branch broke under the clinging\nhands and feet,--for birds and plants loved them, and were faithful\nfriends, as we shall see.\n\nIn the darkness the Princes found their way to Adam's house in the great\ngarden, and were welcomed joyfully; for the old man thought them dead.\nWhen he heard their story he told them that they could never reach their\nfather, and that they were in danger of their lives if they tried to do\nso; for the Queen was very cruel and powerful, and would not let them\nlive if she could help it.\n\n\"Go away till you are grown, my dear little masters; then come back as\nmen and take the kingdom that belongs to you.\"\n\n\"But how can we live? What can we do, since we have no money or friends\nto help us?\" asked the boys, as they rested after a good supper.\n\n\"Here are your lutes,\" said old Adam; \"I took care of them for you; and\nyou can go singing through the world, and so earn money for your bread.\nI will give you some magic seeds which my father left me, saying that\nthey would not grow unless royal hands planted them, when they would\nbring fortune to the happy owner for whom they bloomed. I taught you how\nto garden; so when you are safely out of the kingdom sow the seed in\nsome wild spot, and see if the story is true. I have nothing else to\ngive you but bread and wine and all good wishes, my dear wronged\nPrinces. God be with you, and bring you safely home again to reign over\nus long and happily.\"\n\nThe brothers thanked him heartily, and at dawn stole out of the city\nwith their lutes at their backs, wallets of food at their sides, and\neach wrapped in a russet mantle made out of Adam's old cloak. Freedom\nand fresh air soon gave them back their strength and courage, and when\nthey were at a safe distance from home they began to sing and play in\nthe villages as they travelled along. With their faded suits, bonny\nfaces, and gentle manners, they were a charming pair of young\ntroubadours, and every one was glad to listen to the sweet music they\nmade. Rich people threw silver into the caps they held up when the songs\nwere done, and poor people gladly gave them food and beds since they had\nno money to give. In this way they got on very pleasantly through the\nwinter, for in that country there was no snow; and the lads grew strong\nand brave trudging over hill and dale, with no enemies but wind and rain\nto fear, and leaving many friends behind them. They liked the free life,\nthough it was hard; but they never forgot that they were princes, even\nwhen their purple suits were in rags and the russet cloaks worn out.\nNothing mean or selfish, cruel or unjust, ever disturbed the peace of\ntheir honest hearts and clean consciences; and many generous acts,\ngentle words, and brave thoughts made the beggar lads kings of\nthemselves at least, and very rich in the blessings of those whom they\nso kindly helped and comforted.\n\nWhen spring came they were far from home, and felt that it was time to\ntry the fairy flowers. So they chose a sunny spot on a lonely moor,\nwhere the earth was rich, and a brook kept it moist, and no one cared\nwhat they did, and there they planted the seeds and tended them\ncarefully. While waiting for the blossoms they built a hut of green\nbranches, and lived on wild berries, the rabbits they snared, the fish\nthey caught, and the black bread they bought of an old woman who came to\nlook for herbs. They had saved a little money, and when that was gone\none of them would wander off for a few days singing some more into the\nbag, while the other watched over the bed of tender plants fast growing\ngreen and strong.\n\nThey wondered what the magic flowers would be, and often feared that\nthey would never bloom, it was so long before any buds appeared.\n\n\"If no flowers come we shall know that we are not the right gardeners,\nthough we _are_ royal,\" said Purple, as he watered the bed one day.\n\n\"Then we will go on singing till we get round the world, brother. By\nthat time we shall be men and can fight for our kingdom,\" answered\nPlush, weeding busily in among the low plants that spread far and wide\nwith large tightly folded buds on all of them.\n\n\"Our old neighbor, the herb-woman, is very curious about this plot of\nours, and wants to know what we are going to raise here. I told her we\ndid not know, but when the flowers came she might see them, because she\nis very wise and this may be some new herb which will cure the sick.\nThat would be a pleasant thing to do, even if we never made a fortune.\"\n\n\"Indeed it would! I'd rather make people happy than be a king, and so\nwould you, brother.\"\n\nAs the boys spoke a very sweet perfume filled the air, and all the\nleaves rustled softly as if the south wind stirred them. Then everything\nwas still again, and the larks twittered high above their heads as if\nthey were telling some good news to the beautiful blue world far above\nthe clouds.\n\nNext morning, when the Princes went to their garden, lo! it was all in\nbloom, and lay there like a gold and purple carpet fit for a king. The\nflowers were pansies, but such as were never seen before; for these\nwere very large and all alike, looking like little faces, half sad, half\ncheerful, as the yellow and the dark leaves framed them in. They were\nvery sweet, and as they nodded in the wind seemed to be whispering\nsomething to one another so interesting that the lads longed to know the\npretty story they were telling.\n\n\"What can we do with them, and how can they bring us good luck?\" said\nthe elder brother, looking seriously down at the lovely things.\n\n\"Enjoy them first, then sell them in little posies, and so make money;\nfor they are the finest ever seen, and people will be glad to buy them,\"\nanswered the younger, as he began to gather the great beauties at his\nfeet.\n\n\"So we can, and keep the seed, and go on planting and selling till we\nare rich. It is slow work, but we learned to be patient in the tower,\nand will wait to see what fortune heart's-ease is to bring us,\" said\nPrince Purple, going down on his knees before a group of lovely flowers,\nwho bent as if glad to be gathered by such gentle hands.\n\n\"Heyday! what have we here? Surely you are fairy gardeners, my sons, to\nbring such splendid blossoms out of this wild moor,\" said a cracked\nvoice behind them, as the old herb-woman came hobbling up with her apron\nfull of mushrooms and her basket of sweet-smelling roots and leaves.\n\n\"Only pansies, mother, for the market,\" answered Plush, looking up with\na smile.\n\n\"See how sweet they are! You shall have the first because you are so\nkind to us,\" added Purple, offering her a bunch of them as gallantly as\nif he were kneeling to a queen instead of an old woman as brown and\nwrinkled as a withered leaf.\n\n\"Good lads! I'll be still kinder and read the story these fine flowers\nare trying to tell,\" she said, as her eyes shone and her skinny hands\nturned the pansies to and fro. \"I can read all plants, and so I learn\nmany strange things. See if you understand this sad tale, for this is\nwhat is written on these flowers, and it must be true, for they cannot\nlie.\"\n\nThe Princes drew nearer and watched curiously as a trembling finger\npointed out the different parts while the old woman spoke, glancing\ninto their tell-tale faces now and then.\n\n\"There are five leaves. This great golden one sits alone on her green\nseat at the top. These two smaller yellow ones, with a touch of purple\nin them, sit on either side; but these two purple ones have only one\nseat between them, though they are the handsomest of all. Now look here\nin the middle, and see this little image like a man in a green gown and\na red cap hiding away in the warmest, safest place with a bag of seeds\nwhich will ripen by-and-by if he will let the sun in. Come now, do you\nsee any meaning to that, my sons?\" asked the old soul, with a sharp look\nat the boys, who blushed and smiled and sighed, but could not speak, for\nhere was their own sad story truly told in the magic flower.\n\nThe herb-woman nodded wisely, but only said in a kind tone, as she put\nthe posy in her bosom,--\n\n\"Heart's-ease won't grow for every one, but all the world wants it and\nwill pay well for it; so sell your pansies, lads, and earn a fortune\nworth having. I'll be in the market-place when you come, and say a good\nword for you, though you don't need it with such bonny faces and gentle\nways of your own.\"\n\nThen she went away, and the wondering Princes made haste to pick all the\nflowers that were in bloom, tying the bunches up with sweet-scented\ngrass, and laying them in baskets of green rushes which they had made. A\npretty sight it was; for the little pansy faces seemed to smile up at\nwhoever looked, the sweet breath called out, \"Come and buy us!\" and the\ndew sparkled on the leaves like diamonds on the gold and purple robes of\nsome queen.\n\nWhen the Princes came to the town they stood in the market-place and\ncried their wares like the other people with fruit and vegetables; but\ntheir faces were so noble, their voices so clear, their flowers so large\nand beautiful, that in spite of their poor clothes and humble work every\none who saw and heard them felt that there was something strange and\ninteresting about the fine boys who called so sweetly,--\n\n\"Heart's-ease! here's fresh heart's-ease! Who'll buy? Who'll buy?\"\n\nAll who passed were charmed with the great pansies, for the like had\nnever been seen in that country; so the baskets were soon empty, and\nmore than one bit of gold shone among the copper and silver coins in\ntheir pockets, because the rich as well as the poor hastened to buy\nheart's-ease. Much pleased with their day's work, the lads went gayly\nhome to water the bed and rejoice over the buds that were thicker than\never. After that they sold flowers all summer long; for the magic\npansies kept on blooming till the frost came, and every one who bought\nthem discovered that they really did bring comfort and happy thoughts,\nand this made high and low eager to get them. Doctors sent for them for\nthe sick; sad people ordered many to cheer them up; even bad people\nloved them because the bright faces, half grave, half gay, never\nreproached them, but smiled so pleasantly, that they woke better\nfeelings in the evil minds. Far and wide flew the fame of this new herb,\nas they called it; and kings and queens begged for the seed, since they\nespecially needed heart's-ease. Several plants even reached the lazy\nKing as he sat in his luxurious room drinking his wine, studying, and\nsleeping; and the sight of the flowers woke him up, for his beautiful\ndead wife's name was Pansy, and he began to wonder where his sons could\nbe and to ask about them.\n\nThe Queen also needed the wonderful herb, for she was troubled by the\ndisorder of her kingdom. Her subjects did not love her, and grew tired\nof being taxed to pay for her splendor. They began to rebel, especially\nthe poor, of whom she took no care, but left them to starve and suffer\nwhile she enjoyed herself. Even the rich and noble people became\ndiscontented and wanted to be still richer and nobler, and quarrelled\namong themselves, and hinted that she had killed or banished the\nPrinces, who ought to be ruling, and would now do it better than she\ndid.\n\nPrimrose and Daffodil had sent for the magic flowers because they wanted\neverything new and pretty that they heard of, no matter what it cost.\nWhen the lovely things arrived in beautiful china urns, the young\nPrincesses were charmed with them and forbade any one else to have them.\n\n\"These are our colors, and these flowers shall be our royal badge, and\nno one must wear them under pain of death,\" they said; and they put\ntheir servants as well as themselves into new suits of purple velvet and\ngold, very splendid to see, with pansies everywhere,--on carriages and\nclothes, banners and furniture,--very proud of the graceful\ncoat-of-arms.\n\nBut they, like their mother, soon found that the name meant something\nmore than a pretty flower; for _pensee_ is the French for \"a thought,\"\nand into their careless minds came thoughts of all the harm they had\ndone, as if the breath of the new-fashioned violet reproached them,\nwhile the sweet little faces recalled the sad ones of the banished boys\nwhose places they had unjustly taken.\n\nSo all were ill at ease, and the spell of the flower began to work at\nhome as well as abroad, helping to make things ready for the wanderers\nwhen they should return.\n\nMeantime the Princes were travelling round the world, learning much and\ngrowing wise and good as well as tall and brave, and handsomer than\never. In the winter time they sang and played, and no Christmas feast\nwas merry without the lute-players, no peasant's wedding quite perfect\ntill they came, and often in palaces they made music for lords and\nladies to dance by, and were generously paid. But what they liked better\nwas to sing in prisons, hospitals, or poor places, where they not only\ngave pleasure but money, and then stole away without stopping to be\nthanked, so happy to be able to help the sad and sick and suffering.\n\nIn summer they rested in some pleasant spot, and planted the magic seed\nwhich would grow in any soil and was admired everywhere. So they went on\ntheir way busily and happily, leaving music and flowers behind them, and\nmaking the world brighter and better by sweet sounds and happy thoughts,\ntill they were called \"The Blessed Boys,\" and were waited for and\nwelcomed and loved east and west and north and south.\n\nSummers and winters passed, and they were tall youths when they came\nagain to their father's kingdom in their journey round the world. But\nthough old and wise enough now to rule, and sure to be gladly received\nby the discontented people, they found that they no longer felt bitter\nand angry with those who had wronged them. Time had taught them to\nforgive and forget; their peaceful, happy life made war distasteful, and\nthey loved freedom so well that they had no heart to force others to\nobey.\n\n\"We reign over a larger and lovelier kingdom than this, our subjects\nlove us dearly, and we are not tied to a throne, but are as free as the\nwind; let us be content with this, and ask for nothing more,\" said\nPrince Purple to his brother, as they looked down on the familiar city\nwhile resting on a hill outside the gates.\n\n\"I don't care to be shut up in a palace and obliged to live by rule any\nmore. But if what we heard is true, there is plenty of work to do for\nthe poor here, and we have saved so much we can at least begin to help\nthose who suffer most. No one need know us, and we can be at work while\nwaiting for our father to remember and recall us,\" answered Plush, who\nwas as princely yet as delicate as the soft silken stuff he loved to\nwear.\n\nSo they disguised themselves as young Brothers of Mercy in black hoods\nand gowns, and went into the city looking about them for a home. Old\nAdam was still alive, but very poor now; for the Queen had sent him away\nwhen the Princes escaped, and the King had forgotten him. The boys found\nhim out and told him who they were, and lived with him, making the old\nman very happy, proud, and comfortable. All day they went about among\nthe poor, helping them in many ways; for the money they had earned never\nseemed to give out, no matter how generous they were. Heart's-ease\nsprang up where they walked, as if the magic seeds fell out of their\npockets unseen; and soon they could be traced all over the city by happy\nfaces, and the pots of pansies in humble windows where no flowers would\never grow before. No one knew them by any name but that of \"The\nBrothers;\" and many sick, sad souls blessed them for the good they did\nso quietly.\n\nBefore long, tidings of these wonderful young men reached the palace,\nwhere the old King now lay ill, and the Queen lived in fear of her life,\nfor the people hated her and might break out at any moment. She sent for\nthe Brothers; and they came at once, hoping to do some good. Nobody\nrecognized the pretty Princes in the tall young monks, half hidden in\ntheir hoods and gowns; but comfort and courage seemed to come with them,\nfor the sick King grew stronger when they prayed or sang beside him, and\nthe sad Queen took heart, and confessed her sins to them, begging them\nto tell her what to do, since selfish splendor brought neither\nhappiness, love, nor honor.\n\n\"Repent, and undo the wrong you have done,\" answered one Brother,\nboldly.\n\n\"But the Princes are lost or dead, and my people hate me,\" sighed the\npoor Queen.\n\n\"God has taken better care of the motherless boys than you did, and they\nwill come back when it is time. Do you pity and help your people. Make\nthem love and trust you; then you will be safe and happy, and your\nkingdom glorious,\" said the other Brother in his gentle voice.\n\n\"I will, I will!\" cried the Queen, while repentant tears fell on her\ncloth-of-gold mantle, which was not dimmed by the salt drops, but seemed\nto shine the brighter for them.\n\nThen she took counsel with the Brothers; and while Plush nursed and\ncheered the old father, Purple helped his stepmother to win the\nconfidence of her people by giving bread and money generously, building\nbetter houses for them, making wiser laws, and ruling with mercy and\njustice, till peace came back and the danger of rebellion was over,--for\nkindness conquers all things.\n\nThe Princesses at first objected to these changes, and were angry with\nthe new-comers for preaching self-denial, humility, and simplicity; but\nthe monks made them so beautiful by their persuasive words and lovely\nlives that soon these royal girls, as well as all their ladies, began to\nsee how selfish and frivolous their days had been and to long for better\nthings.\n\nIt took time to teach them to freely put away their fine clothes, forget\ntheir luxurious habits, and heartily enjoy good books, wise society,\nreal charity, and all the sweet, simple duties, pleasures, and lessons\nwhich make life happy and death peaceful when it comes to kings as well\nas beggars.\n\nSlowly the beautiful work went on. The old father seemed to wake up and\nwonder why he had been wasting time in dreams. It was too late now for\nhim to rule; he had not strength enough, and he vainly longed for his\nbrave boys. The Queen sat alone on the throne, forgiven and loved, and\nmight have been happy if the thought of the lost Princes had not haunted\nher till she was so full of remorse and sorrow she resolved to go into a\nconvent and do penance for her sins. But who should reign in her place?\nThe King was too old and feeble, the Princesses too young, and the\nrightful heirs were lost or dead.\n\n\"Now is the time!\" said Purple. \"We are needed, and must enter into our\nkingdom before some usurper comes to take it.\"\n\n\"I am ready, brother; and we both are fitter to rule as princes for\nhaving learned to work, wait, and be happy as beggars,\" answered Plush.\n\nThere was to be a grand council of all the wise men, great lords, and\ngood people to decide about a new king; for the Queen wanted to\nabdicate, being tired of her splendor. When all were gathered together,\nand the beautiful ladies looked down from the gallery at the knights in\narmor, the gray-headed ministers, and the sturdy citizens, every one was\nglad to see the beloved Brothers come in and stand humbly at the lower\nend of the council board. They were welcome everywhere; for though so\nyoung, they seemed to understand the hearts of people better than the\nold men who studied books all their long lives. After much debate the\nQueen said, as she left the great golden chair empty,--\n\n\"Let us leave it to our good friends who have helped us so much, and\ntaught us to see what is needed on a throne. Dear Brothers, come up\nhither, and tell us who shall sit here, for I am not worthy.\"\n\nWithout a word the two young monks went to the high place, and, standing\non either side of the Queen, dropped off their disguises. There, brave\nin purple velvet suits, with the golden heads and handsome faces of the\nroyal boys, older and graver, but still the same,--there were the lost\nPrinces, come to their own at last!\n\nPeople were so startled that for a moment no one spoke or stirred; all\nstood up and stared silently while Purple said, with a smile and gesture\nthat won their hearts,--\n\n\"We are ready to take our rightful places, if you need us, glad to\nforget the past, forgive our wrongs, and try to make the future happier\nfor all. We have been prisoners, beggars, gardeners, minstrels, and\nmonks in our long wanderings. Now we are princes again, more fit to rule\nbecause of the hard lessons we have learned; while time and poverty and\npain have taught us the value of patience, justice, courage, and mercy.\"\n\nAs he ended a great shout greeted them, and the Queen fell at their feet\npraying for pardon; while Primrose and Daffodil hid their faces,\nremembering the cruel things they had said and done. There could be no\ndoubt that the Princes were welcome home and well beloved, for soon all\nover the city flew the glad news. Bells rang, bonfires blazed, people\ndanced and sang, and feasts were spread in palaces and cottages in honor\nof the Blessed Boys.\n\nThe old King was startled wide awake, and so delighted that he got\nstraight out of his bed, cured of all his ills but age, as if by magic.\nThe Queen smiled again, and felt that she was forgiven; penitent\nPrimrose and Daffodil grew as sweet and gay as the flowers they were\nnamed for, and the Princes fell in love with them in the good old\nfairy-tale fashion. Everything was all right now, and the kingdom soon\nlooked like a great garden of pansies; for the chosen flower blossomed\neverywhere, and rich and poor loved it.\n\nBefore long two splendid weddings were seen at court, and a new throne\nwas made,--a double one, for on it sat the twin kings with their young\nwives beside them. The old King abdicated at once; and the Queen was so\ntired of reigning that she gladly devoted herself to her husband, both\nenjoying the happiness of their children, who ruled long and well over\nPansyland,--for they gave that name to their country out of gratitude to\nthe flower that brought them friends and fortune, wisdom and\nheart's-ease.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"That is a pleasant story, and I shall remember it,\" said Marion, as the\nteller leaned down to refresh itself with a sip of water after the long\ntale.\n\n\"Remember also what it means, my dear,\" said the flower in its sweet\nvoice. \"Learn to rule yourself; make your own little kingdom a peaceful,\nhappy one, and find nothing too humble to teach you a lesson,--not even\na Ladies'-Delight.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nUniversity Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge.\n\n\n\n\n_Louisa M. Alcott's Writings._\n\n\nTHE LITTLE WOMEN SERIES.\n\nLITTLE WOMEN; or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. With Illustrations. 16mo.\n$1.50.\n\nLITTLE MEN. Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys. With Illustrations. 16mo.\n$1.50.\n\nJO'S BOYS AND HOW THEY TURNED OUT. A Sequel to \"Little Men.\" With new\nPortrait of Author. 16mo. $1.50.\n\nAN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.50.\n\nEIGHT COUSINS; or, The Aunt-Hill. Illustrated. 16mo. $1.50.\n\nROSE IN BLOOM. A Sequel to \"Eight Cousins.\" Illustrated. 16mo. $1.50.\n\nUNDER THE LILACS. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.50.\n\nJACK AND JILL. A Village Story. Illustrated. 16mo. $1.50.\n\nThe above eight volumes, uniformly bound in cloth, gilt, in box, $12.00.\n\n\nTHE SPINNING-WHEEL SERIES.\n\nSPINNING-WHEEL STORIES. With twelve initial Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nSILVER PITCHERS: and Independence. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nPROVERB STORIES. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nA GARLAND FOR GIRLS. With Illustrations by JESSIE MCDERMOTT. 16mo.\n$1.25.\n\nThe above four volumes, uniformly bound in cloth, gilt, in box, $5.00.\n\n\nAUNT JO'S SCRAP BAG.\n\nMY BOYS. Illustrated. 16mo. $1.00.\n\nSHAWL-STRAPS. Illustrated. 16mo. $1.00.\n\nCUPID AND CHOW-CHOW. Illustrated. 16mo. $1.00.\n\nMY GIRLS. Illustrated. 16mo. $1.00.\n\nJIMMY'S CRUISE IN THE PINAFORE, ETC. Illustrated. 16mo. $1.00.\n\nAN OLD-FASHIONED THANKSGIVING. Illustrated. 16mo. $1.00.\n\nThe above six volumes, uniformly bound in cloth, gilt, in box, $6.00.\n\n\nLULU'S LIBRARY.\n\nThree volumes. Each, $1.00. The set uniformly bound in cloth, gilt, in\nbox, $3.00.\n\n\nNOVELS, ETC. _Uniform with \"Little Women Series.\"_\n\nHOSPITAL SKETCHES, and Camp and Fireside Stories. With Illustrations.\n16mo. $1.50.\n\nWORK: A Story of Experience. Illustrated by SOL EYTINGE. 16mo. $1.50.\n\nMOODS. A Novel. 16mo. $1.50.\n\nA MODERN MEPHISTOPHELES, AND A WHISPER IN THE DARK. 16mo. $1.50.\n\nThe above four volumes, uniformly bound in cloth, gilt, in box, $6.00.\n\n\nCOMIC TRAGEDIES. Written by \"Jo\" and \"Meg,\" and acted by the \"Little\nWomen,\" with a Foreword by \"Meg.\" Portraits, etc. 16mo. $1.50.\n\nLIFE OF MISS ALCOTT. LOUISA MAY ALCOTT: Her Life, Letters, and Journals.\nEdited by EDNAH D. CHENEY. Photogravure Portraits, etc. 16mo. $1.50.\n\n\nLITTLE WOMEN. _Illustrated edition._\n\nEmbellished with nearly two hundred Characteristic Illustrations from\nOriginal Designs drawn expressly for this edition of this noted American\nClassic. Small quarto, cloth, gilt, $2.50.\n\n_Little, Brown, and Company, Publishers_, 254 Washington Street,\nBoston.\n\n\n\n\nBY TWO OF THE \"LITTLE WOMEN.\"\n\nCOMIC TRAGEDIES.\n\n\nWritten by \"Jo\" and \"Meg,\" and acted by the \"Little Women.\" With a\nForeword by \"Meg,\" Portraits of \"Jo\" and \"Meg,\" and a view of the house\nin which they lived. 16mo. Cloth. Uniform with Miss Alcott's books.\nPrice, $1.50.\n\n     In the good old times, when \"Little Women\" worked and played\n     together, the big garret was the scene of many dramatic\n     revels. After a long day of teaching, sewing, and \"helping\n     mother,\" the greatest delight of the girls was to transform\n     themselves into queens, knights, and cavaliers of high\n     degree, and ascend into a world of fancy and romance.\n     Cinderella's godmother waved her wand, and the dismal room\n     became a fairyland. Flowers bloomed, forests arose, music\n     sounded, and lovers exchanged their vows by moonlight.\n     Nothing was too ambitious to attempt,--armor, gondolas,\n     harps, towers, and palaces grew as if by magic, and\n     wonderful scenes of valor and devotion were enacted before\n     admiring audiences.\n\n     Jo, of course, played the villains, ghosts, bandits, and\n     disdainful queens; for her tragedy-loving soul delighted in\n     the lurid parts, and no drama was perfect in her eyes\n     without a touch of the demonic or supernatural. Meg loved\n     the sentimental roles, the tender maiden with the airy robes\n     and flowing locks, who made impossible sacrifices for ideal\n     lovers, or the cavalier, singing soft serenades and\n     performing lofty acts of gallantry and prowess. Amy was the\n     fairy sprite, while Beth enacted the page or messenger when\n     the scene required their aid.\n\n     From the little stage library, still extant, the following\n     plays have been selected as fair examples of the work of\n     these children of sixteen and seventeen. With some slight\n     changes and omissions, they remain as written more than\n     forty years ago by Meg and Jo, so dear to the hearts of many\n     other \"Little Women.\"\n\n_For sale by all booksellers, and mailed, post-paid, on receipt of price\nby the publishers_,\n\nLITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY,\n\nBOSTON.\n\n\n\n\nSUSAN COOLIDGE'S POPULAR STORY BOOKS.\n\n\nSUSAN COOLIDGE has always possessed the affection of her young readers,\nfor it seems as if she had the happy instinct of planning stories that\neach girl would like to act out in reality.--_The Critic._\n\nNot even Miss Alcott apprehends child nature with finer sympathy, or\npictures its nobler traits with more skill.--_Boston Daily Advertiser._\n\n\nTHE NEW YEAR'S BARGAIN. A Christmas Story for Children. With\nIllustrations by ADDIE LEDYARD. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nWHAT KATY DID. A Story. With Illustrations by ADDIE LEDYARD. 16mo.\n$1.25.\n\nWHAT KATY DID AT SCHOOL. Being more about \"What Katy Did.\" With\nIllustrations. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nMISCHIEF'S THANKSGIVING, and other Stories. With Illustrations by ADDIE\nLEDYARD. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nNINE LITTLE GOSLINGS. With Illustrations by J. A. MITCHELL. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nEYEBRIGHT. A Story. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nCROSS PATCH. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nA ROUND DOZEN. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nA LITTLE COUNTRY GIRL. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25\n\nWHAT KATY DID NEXT. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nCLOVER. A Sequel to the Katy Books. With Illustrations by JESSIE\nMCDERMOTT. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nJUST SIXTEEN. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nIN THE HIGH VALLEY. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nA GUERNSEY LILY; or, How the Feud was Healed. A Story of the Channel\nIslands. Profusely Illustrated. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nTHE BARBERRY BUSH, and Seven Other Stories about Girls for Girls. With\nIllustrations by JESSIE MCDERMOTT. 16mo. $1.25.\n\nNOT QUITE EIGHTEEN. A volume of Stories. With illustrations by JESSIE\nMCDERMOTT. 16mo. $1.25.\n\n_Sold by all booksellers. Mailed, post-paid, on receipt of price, by the\npublishers._\n\n\n\n\nBOOKS BY THE AUTHOR OF \"MISS TOOSEY'S MISSION\" AND \"LADDIE.\"\n\n\nMISS TOOSEY'S MISSION, AND LADDIE. By the author of \"Miss Toosey's\nMission.\" Both in one volume. 16mo. 50 cents.\n\n     They are two of the most finished and strengthening stories\n     one may find, although he seek long among choice\n     stories.--_Exchange._\n\nTIP CAT. A Story. 16mo. $1.00.\n\n     It is not, as the name might indicate, the story of a cat,\n     but of a young man who makes a brave effort to support his\n     two little sisters. The children's little amusements and\n     artless way of relating them, and the brother's unselfish\n     devotion, are both pathetic and amusing.--_Boston\n     Traveller._\n\nOUR LITTLE ANN. 16mo. $1.00.\n\n     It breathes a pure and wholesome spirit, and is treated in a\n     wholly artistic and sympathetic manner. In every respect it\n     is one of the most charming of recent fictions.--_Post,\n     Boston._\n\nPEN. A Story. 16mo. $1.00.\n\n     \"Pen\" has the peculiar charm and pathos of the earlier\n     books, with quite as much of interest. It is thoroughly\n     wholesome and sweet in its tone, a book to put in the hands\n     of all young people, or old ones either, for that\n     matter.--_Living Church._\n\nLIL. A Story. 16mo. $1.00.\n\n     One of those bright, sweet, and pure little tales of English\n     domestic life. Both boys and girls will enjoy it.\n\nZOE. A Story. 16mo. 60 cents.\n\n     It tells of the power of a little life over the heart of a\n     man made hard and bitter by the world's disappointments,\n     which resulted in winning him back to kind and loving ways.\n\nROSE AND LAVENDER. A Story. 16mo. $1.00.\n\n     A simple story of English country life, but a story that\n     breathes goodness as a rose does fragrance.\n\nPRIS. A Story. 16mo. 50 cents.\n\n     Pris was a neglected girl, left motherless at fourteen, who\n     thenceforth assumed the charge of her father's household,\n     and gave her days and nights to unselfish and loving labor.\n     It is a very sweet and pathetic story, filled with beautiful\n     thoughts.\n\nDEAR. A Story. With Frontispiece, by Jessie McDermott. 16mo. Cloth.\n$1.00.\n\nBABY JOHN. A Story. 16mo. 50 cents.\n\n     A story that will hold every reader from the nursery to the\n     library.--_Budget._\n\nPOMONA. 16mo. $1.00.\n\nFOR THE FOURTH TIME OF ASKING. 16mo. 50 cents.\n\nDON. A Story. 16mo. $1.00.\n\nMY HONEY. A Story. 16mo. $1.00.\n\nLITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY,\n\nBOSTON.\n\n\n\n\nSUSAN COOLIDGE'S POPULAR BOOKS.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE BARBERRY BUSH. And Seven Other Stories about Girls for Girls. By\nSUSAN COOLIDGE. Illustrated by Jessie McDermott. 16mo. Cloth. Uniform\nwith \"What Katy Did,\" etc. Price, $1.25.\n\n_For sale by all booksellers, and mailed, post-paid, on receipt of price\nby the publishers._\n\nLITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY, BOSTON.\n\n\n\n\nBy the Author of Dear Daughter Dorothy.\n\nRobin's Recruit.\n\nBY A. G. PLYMPTON,\n\nAUTHOR OF \"BETTY A BUTTERFLY,\" AND \"THE LITTLE SISTER OF WILIFRED.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWith illustrations by the author. Small 4to. Cloth, gilt. Price, $1.00.\n\n_Sold by all Booksellers. Mailed, post-paid, on receipt of price, by the\nPublishers._\n\nLITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY, BOSTON.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF JULIETTE.\n\nA Child's Romance. By BEATRICE WASHINGTON. With 45 illustrations by J.\nF. Goodridge. Small 4to. Cloth. Price, $1.00.\n\n[Illustration: \"SHE WAS CARRIED IN HER TRUE KNIGHT'S ARMS.\"]\n\n_Sold by all Booksellers. Mailed, post-paid, by the Publishers._\n\nLITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY, BOSTON.\n\n\n\n\nUNDER THE WATER-OAKS.\n\nA SOUTHERN STORY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. By MARIAN BREWSTER. Illustrated by J.\nF. Goodridge. Square 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n_Sold by all Booksellers. Mailed, post-paid, by the Publishers._\n\nLITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY, BOSTON.","title":"Lulu's Library, Volume 2 (of 3)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":53544}