← catalogue

Lulu's Library, Volume 2 (of 3)

by Louisa May Alcott · English · Gutenberg #32357 · 305,159 chars · public domain (US)

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lulu's Library, Volume 2 (of 3)
    
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.

Title: Lulu's Library, Volume 2 (of 3)

Author: Louisa May Alcott


        
Release date: May 13, 2010 [eBook #32357]
                Most recently updated: January 6, 2021

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32357

Credits: Produced by David Edwards, Josephine Paolucci and the
        Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
        (This file was produced from images generously made
        available by The Internet Archive.)


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LULU'S LIBRARY, VOLUME 2 (OF 3) ***




Produced by David Edwards, Josephine Paolucci and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
(This file was produced from images generously made
available by The Internet Archive.)







[Illustration: LULU'S LIBRARY]




LULU'S LIBRARY.

BY

LOUISA M. ALCOTT,

AUTHOR OF "LITTLE WOMEN," "AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL," "LITTLE MEN," "EIGHT
COUSINS," "ROSE IN BLOOM," "UNDER THE LILACS," "JACK AND JILL," "JO'S
BOYS," "HOSPITAL SKETCHES," "WORK, A STORY OF EXPERIENCE," "MOODS, A
NOVEL," "PROVERB STORIES," "SILVER PITCHERS," "SPINNING-WHEEL STORIES,"
"AUNT JO'S SCRAP-BAG."


            Vol. II.

    THE FROST KING AND HOW THE FAIRIES CONQUERED HIM.

    LILYBELL AND THISTLEDOWN.

    RIPPLE, THE WATER SPRITE.

    EVA'S VISIT TO FAIRYLAND.

    SUNSHINE, AND HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

    THE FAIRY SPRING.

    QUEEN ASTER.

    THE BROWNIE AND THE PRINCESS.

    MERMAIDS.

    LITTLE BUD.

    THE FLOWER'S STORY.

  BOSTON:
  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY,
  1901.

  _Copyright, 1887_,
  BY LOUISA M. ALCOTT.


  University Press:
  JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE.


  TO

  ELLEN T. EMERSON,

  ONE OF THE GOOD FAIRIES WHO STILL REMAIN TO US,
  BELOVED BY POETS, LITTLE CHILDREN, AND
  MANY GRATEFUL HEARTS,

  This Book

  _IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED_

  BY HER OLD FRIEND,

  L. M. ALCOTT.

  _June, 1887._




PREFACE.


Most of these stories were written at sixteen for my younger sisters and
their playmates, the little Emersons and Channings, and appeared some
years later under the name of "Flower Fables." With some additions they
are now republished for the amusement of those children's children by
their old friend,

                             L. M. ALCOTT.

                                 JUNE, 1887.




CONTENTS.


                                                             PAGE

I. THE FROST KING AND HOW THE FAIRIES CONQUERED HIM             7

II. LILYBELL AND THISTLEDOWN, OR THE FAIRY SLEEPING BEAUTY     25

III. RIPPLE, THE WATER SPRITE                                  50

IV. EVA'S VISIT TO FAIRYLAND                                   68

V. SUNSHINE, AND HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS                      91

VI. THE FAIRY SPRING                                          101

VII. QUEEN ASTER                                              122

VIII. THE BROWNIE AND THE PRINCESS                            135

IX. MERMAIDS                                                  173

X. LITTLE BUD                                                 203

XI. THE FLOWER'S STORY                                        243




I.

THE FROST KING AND HOW THE FAIRIES CONQUERED HIM.


[Illustration: Instead of dying in her cell, the fairy had made it
beautiful.--PAGE 13.]

The Queen sat upon her throne, and all the fairies from the four
kingdoms were gathered for a grand council. A very important question
was to be decided, and the bravest, wisest elves were met to see what
could be done. The Frost King made war upon the flowers; and it was a
great grief to Queen Blossom and her subjects to see their darlings die
year after year, instead of enjoying one long summer, as they might have
done but for him. She had sent messengers with splendid gifts, and had
begged him to stop this dreadful war, which made autumn so sad and left
the fields strewn with dead flowers. But he sent back the gifts, sternly
refused her prayers, and went on with his cruel work; because he was a
tyrant, and loved to destroy innocent things.

"My subjects, we will try once more," said the Queen, "if any one can
propose a plan that will touch his hard heart and make him kind to the
dear flowers."

Then there was a great rustling of wings and murmuring of voices; for
all the elves were much excited, and each wanted to propose something.
The Queen listened, but none of the plans seemed wise, and she was sadly
perplexed, when her favorite maid of honor, the lovely Star, came and
knelt before her, saying, while her face shone and her voice trembled
with the earnestness of her words, "Dear Queen, let me go alone to the
Frost King and try what love will do. We have sent presents and prayers
by messengers who feared and hated him, and he would not receive them;
but we have not tried to make him love us, nor shown him how beautiful
his land might be, by patiently changing that dreary place, and teaching
his people to plant flowers, not to kill them. I am not afraid; let me
go and try my plan, for love is very powerful, and I know he has a heart
if we can only find it."

"You may go, dear Star," answered the Queen, "and see if you can conquer
him. But if any harm happens to you, we will come with our whole army
and fight this cruel King till he is conquered."

At these brave words all the elves cheered, and General Sun, the great
warrior, waved his sword as if longing to go to battle at once. They
gathered about Star,--some to praise and caress her, some to warn her of
the dangers of her task, others to tell her the way, and every one to
wish her success; for fairies are gentle little creatures, and believe
heartily in the power of love.

Star wished to go at once; so they wrapped her in a warm cloak of down
from a swan's breast, gave her a bag of the seeds of all their sweetest
flowers, and with kisses and tears went to the gates of Fairyland to say
good-by.

Smiling bravely she flew away toward the North, where the frost spirits
lived. Soon the wind grew cold, the sunshine faded, and snow began to
fall, making Star shiver under her soft cloak. Presently she saw the
King's palace. Pillars of ice held up the roof fringed with icicles,
which would have sparkled splendidly if there had been any sun. But all
was dark and cold, and not a green leaf rustled, or bird sang in the
wide plains, white with snow, that stretched as far as the eye could
see. Before the doors stood the guard, frozen to their places, who
lifted their sharp spears and let Star go in when she said she was a
messenger from the Queen.

Walls of ice carved with strange figures were round her, long icicles
hung from the roof, and carpets of snow covered the floor. On a throne
hung with gray mist sat the King; a crown of crystals was on his white
hair, and his mantle was covered with silver frost-work. His eyes were
cold, his face stern, and a smile never moved his hard lips. He frowned
as he saw the fairy, and drew his cloak closer, as if afraid the light
of her bright face might soften his heart.

Then Star told her errand, and in her gentle voice begged him to be
kind. She described the sorrow of both elves and children when his frost
killed all the flowers; she painted a bright picture of a world where it
was always summer, and asked him to let her show how lovely flowers made
any spot, by planting some in his bleak fields.

But he only scowled and ordered her away, saying harshly, "I will do as
I please; and if your Queen does not leave me in peace, I will go to war
and freeze every fairy to death."

Star tried to say more, but he was so angry that he called his people
and bid them shut her up till she would own that he was right and
promise to let him kill all the flowers he liked.

"I never will do that," said Star, as the Frost people led her away to a
dark little cell, and left her alone.

She was cold and tired and very sad because the King would not listen to
her, but her heart was brave, and instead of crying she began to sing.
Soon the light of her own eyes, that shone like stars, made a little
glimmer in the dark, and she saw that the floor of her cell was of
earth; and presently she heard the tinkle of water as it dripped drop by
drop down from the snow above. Then she smiled, so that it seemed as if
a ray of light had crept in.

"Here is earth and water, I will make the sunshine, and soon by my fairy
power I will have a garden even in Frostland." As she spoke she pulled
out the seeds and fell to work, still singing, still smiling, still sure
that in time she would do the hard task she had set herself. First she
gathered the drops in her warm hands and moistened the hard earth; then
she loosened it and planted her seeds along the walls; and then, sitting
in the middle of the narrow room, she waved her wand and chanted the
fairy spell that works the pretty miracle of turning seeds to flowers.

    "Sleep, little seed,
    Deep in your bed,
    While winter snow
    Lies overhead.
    Wake, little sprout,
    And drink the rain,
    Till sunshine calls
    You to rise again.
    Strike deep, young root,
    In the earth below;
    Unfold, pale leaves,
    Begin to grow.
    Baby bud, dance
    In the warm sun;
    Bloom, sweet rose,
    Life has begun."

As she sung, the light grew stronger, the air warmer, and the drops fell
like dew, till up came rows of little green vines and plants, growing
like the magic beanstalk all over the walls and all round the room,
making the once dark place look like a bower. Moss spread like a carpet
underfoot, and a silvery white mushroom sprung up under Star, as if she
were the queen of this pretty place.

Soon the Frost spirits heard the music and went to see who dared sing in
that gloomy prison. They were much surprised when they peeped, to see
that instead of dying in her cell, the fairy had made it beautiful, and
sat there singing while her flowers bloomed in spite of all their power.

They hurried to the King and bade him come and see. He went, and when he
saw the lovely place he could not spoil it till he had watched Star at
her work, and tried to see what magic did such wonders. For now the dark
walls were hung with morning-glories, ringing their many-colored bells,
the floor was green with soft moss, the water-drops made music as they
fell, and rows of flowers nodded from their beds as if talking together
in a sweet language of their own. Star sat on her throne still singing
and smiling, till the once dark place was as bright as if a little sun
shone there.

"I am strong, but I cannot do that," said the King. "I love power, and
perhaps if I watch I shall learn some of her magic skill to use as I
please. I will let her live, but keep her a prisoner, and do as I please
about killing other flowers."

So he left her there, and often stole down to peep, and wonder at her
cheerfulness and courage; for she never complained or cried, though she
longed for home, and found it very hard to be brave and patient.

Meantime the Queen waited and waited for Star to come, and when a long
time passed she sent a messenger to learn where she was. He brought
back the sad tidings that she was a prisoner, and the King would not let
her go. Then there was great weeping and wailing in Fairyland, for every
one loved gentle Star. They feared she would be frozen to death if they
left her in the cruel King's power, and resolved to go to war as he
would not set her free.

General Sun ordered out the army, and there was a great blowing of
trumpets, beating of drums, and flying of flags as the little soldiers
came marching from the four quarters of the kingdom. The earth elves
were on foot, in green suits, with acorn cups for helmets and spear
grass for lances. The water sprites were in blue armor made of
dragon-fly scales, and they drew shells full of tiny bubbles that were
shot like cannon-balls, upsetting their small enemies by the dozen. The
fire imps wore red, and carried torches to burn, and little guns to
shoot bullets of brimstone from, which killed by their dreadful smell.
The air spirits were the finest of all; for they were in golden armor,
and carried arrows of light, which they shot from tiny rainbows. These
came first, and General Sun was splendid to behold as he led them
shining and flashing before the Queen, whose great banner of purple and
gold streamed over their heads, while the trumpets blew, the people
cheered, and the elfin soldiers marched bravely away to fight the Frost
King and bring Star home.

The Queen followed in her chariot drawn by white butterflies, with her
maids, and her body guard of the tallest elves in Fairyland. They lived
in the pine-trees, and were fine strong fellows, with little cones on
their heads, pine needles for swords, and the handsome russet scales for
chain armor. Their shields were of sweet-smelling gum, like amber; but
no one could approach the Queen when they made a wall about her, for
whoever touched these shields stuck fast, and were killed with the sharp
swords.

Away streamed the army like a wandering rainbow, and by and by reached
the land of frost and snow. The King had been warned that they were
coming, and made ready by building a fort of ice, laying in piles of
snow-balls, and arming his subjects with sharp icicles. All the cold
winds that blow wailed like bagpipes, hailstones drummed on the frozen
ground, and banners of mist floated over the towers of the palace.
General Fog, in a suit of silver, stood ready to meet the enemy, with an
army of snow men behind him, and the Frost King looked down from the
walls to direct the fight.

On came the fairy folk, making the icy world sparkle so brilliantly with
their light that the King was half-blinded and hid his eyes. The elves
shivered as the cold wind touched them, but courage kept them warm, and
the Queen, well wrapped in down, stood up in her chariot, boldly
demanding Star at the hands of the King.

"I will not give her up," he answered, scowling like a thunder-cloud,
though in his heart he wondered more and more how the brave fairy had
lived so long away from such lovely friends as these.

"Then I proclaim war upon your country; and if Star is dead we will show
no mercy. Sound the trumpets and set on!" cried the Queen, waving her
hand to the General, while every sword flashed out, and an elfin cheer
rung like music in the air.

Ordering the rest to halt, General Sun led the air spirits to battle
first, well knowing that nothing could stand long before a charge of
that brilliant troop. General Fog did his best, but was driven back
against his will; for his snow men melted away as the arrows of light
struck them, and he could not stand before the other general, whose
shield was a golden sun, without feeling himself dissolve like mist at
noon.

They were forced to take refuge in the fort, where the King himself was
ordering showers of snow-balls to be shot among the fairy troops. Many
were wounded, and carried from the field to the tent where the Queen and
her maids tended them, and by their soft magic soon made them fit to
fight again.

"Now, a grand attack. Bring up the sappers and miners, Captain Rock.
Major Flash, surround the walls and melt them as fast as possible, while
the archers shall go on shooting," commanded General Sun.

Then a company of moles began to dig under the fort; the fire imps
banged away at the walls with their cannon, and held their flaming
torches close till the blocks of ice began to melt; the air spirits
flew high above and shot their golden arrows down at the Frost people,
who fled away to hide in the darkest corners, dazzled and daunted by
these brave and brilliant enemies.

It was a hard battle, and the fairies were obliged to rest, after
killing General Fog, destroying the fort, and forcing the King to take
refuge in the palace. Among the prisoners taken was one who told them
where Star was, and all she had done in her little cell. Then they
rejoiced, and the Queen said, "Let us follow her example, for these
prisoners say the King is changed since she came; that he goes to peep
at her lovely bower, and does not spoil it, but talks kindly to her, and
seems as if his hard heart might be melting a little. We will not fight
any more, but try Star's gentle way, and besiege the King till he
surrenders; so we shall win a friend, not kill an enemy."

"We will; we will!" cried all the elves; for they did not love to fight,
though brave as little lions to defend their country and their Queen.
They all took counsel together, and the Frost people were surprised next
day to see the army busily at work making a great garden round the
palace instead of trying to destroy it. Creeping to the holes in the
walls they watched what went on, and wondered more and more; for the
elves worked hard, and their magic helped them to do in a day what it
would have taken years for mortals to do.

First the moles dug up the ground, then the Queen's guard sowed pine
seeds, and in an hour a green wall fenced in the garden where the earth
fairies planted seeds of all the flowers that grow. The fire imps warmed
the air, and drove away every chilly wind, every gray cloud or flake of
snow that dared come near this enchanted spot. The water sprites
gathered drops from the melting ice palace and watered the budding beds,
after the imps had taken the chill off, while the air spirits made
sunshine overhead by flying to and fro with tireless wings, till a
golden curtain was woven that shut out the cold sky and made summer for
the flowers.

The Queen and her maids helped, for they fashioned birds, bees, and
butterflies with magic skill, and gave them life to sing, buzz, and
flutter in the new world, growing so fast where once all was bare and
cold and dark.

Slowly the ice palace melted; for warm airs stole through the pines, and
soon the walls were thin as glass, the towers vanished like frost-work
in the sun, and block after block flowed away in little rills as if glad
to escape from prison. The King and his subjects felt that they were
conquered; for the ice seemed to melt from them also, and their hearts
began to beat, their cold faces to soften as if they wanted to smile if
they knew how, and they loved to watch and wonder at the sweet miracles
the elves were working all about them.

The King tried not to give up, for he was very proud, and had ruled so
long it was hard to submit; but his power was gone, his palace crumbling
about him, his people longing to join the enemy, and there was nothing
for him to do but lay down his crown or fly away to the far North and
live with the bears and icebergs in that frozen world. He would have
done this but for Star. All the while the battle and the siege were
going on, she lived in her little cell, knowing nothing about it, but
hoping and waiting, sure that help would come. Every time the King
visited her he seemed kinder, and liked more and more to listen to her
songs or the stories she told him of life in Fairyland, and the joy of
being merciful. So she knew that the seeds she sowed in his heart were
beginning to grow like those planted in the cell, and she watched over
them as carefully.

One day her loveliest roses bloomed, and she was singing for joy as the
pink flowers filled the cell with their sweet breath, when the King came
hurrying down to her and falling at her feet begged her to save his
life. She wondered what he meant, and he told her of the battle, and how
the elves were conquering him by love; for the palace was nearly gone, a
great garden lay blossoming all about it, and he had nowhere to go
unless she would be his friend and ask her people to forgive and pity
him.

Then Star felt that she had done her task, and laying her hands on his
white head, she melted the last frost from his old heart by saying in
her tender voice, "Do not fear my people; they will welcome you and give
you a home if you will promise to hurt no more flowers, but always be as
gentle as you are now. Come with me, and let us teach you how beautiful
sunshine and love and happy work can make you."

The King promised, and Star led him up to the light again, where his
people waited to know what was to become of them.

"Follow me, follow me, and do not be afraid," called Star, dancing
before them,--so glad to be free that she longed to fly away. Everything
was changed; for as they came up from the cell the ruins of the palace
melted into a quiet lake, and under the archway of the pines they passed
into a new and lovely world of sunshine, flowers, and happy elves. A
great cry went up when Star was seen leading the King, with his few
subjects behind him, and every one flew to welcome the dear fairy and
the captives she brought.

"I am your prisoner, and I submit, for I have no kingdom now," said the
King, as he bowed before the Queen.

"These are the only chains you shall wear, and _this_ is your new
kingdom," answered the Queen, as her maids hung wreaths of flowers on
the King's arms and put a green crown on his head, while all the fairies
gathered round to welcome him to the lovely garden where he was to reign
beloved and happy, with no frost to spoil the long summer he had learned
to love.

There was a great feast that day, and then the elfin army marched home
again, well pleased with the battle they had fought, though all said
that it was Star who had conquered the Frost-King.

[Illustration]




II.

LILYBELL AND THISTLEDOWN, OR THE FAIRY SLEEPING BEAUTY.


[Illustration: On a bed of moss lay Lilybell fast asleep.--PAGE 37.]

Once upon a time two little fairies went out into the world to seek
their fortune. Thistledown wore a green suit, a purple cloak, a gay
feather in his cap, and was as handsome an elf as one could wish to see.
But he was not loved in Fairyland; for, like the flower whose name and
colors he wore, many faults like sharp prickles were hidden under his
fine clothes. He was idle, selfish, and cruel, and cared for nothing but
his own pleasure and comfort, as we shall see.

His little friend Lilybell was very different, for she was so kind and
good every one loved her. She spent her time trying to undo the mischief
naughty Thistle did, and that was why she followed him now, because she
was afraid he would get into trouble and need some one to help him.

Side by side they flew over hill and dale till they came to a pleasant
garden.

"I am tired and hungry," said Thistle; "let us rest here and see what
fun is going on."

"Now, dear Thistle, be kind and gentle, and make friends among these
flowers. See how they spread their leaves for our beds, and offer us
their honey to eat, and their dew to bathe in. It would be very wrong to
treat them badly after such a welcome as this," answered Lilybell, as
she lay down to sleep in the deep cup of one of her own flowers, as if
in a little bed hung with white curtains.

Thistle laughed and flew off to find the tulips, for he liked splendid
flowers and lived like a king. First he robbed the violets of their
honey, and shook the blue-bells roughly to get all their dew for his
bath. Then he ruffled many leaves before his bed suited him, and after a
short nap was up and away having what he called fun. He chased the
butterflies and hurt them with the sharp thorn he carried for a sword;
he broke the cobwebs laid to bleach on the grass for fairy cloth; he
pushed the little birds out of the nest and killed them; he stole pollen
from the busy bees, and laughed to see them patiently begin to fill
their little bags again. At last he came to a lovely rose-tree with one
open flower and a little bud.

"Why are you so slow about blooming, baby rose? You are too old to be
rocked in your green cradle any longer. Come out and play with me," said
Thistle, as he perched on the tree ready for more mischief.

"No, my little bud is not strong enough to meet the sun and air yet,"
answered the rose-mother, bending over her baby, while all her red
leaves trembled with fear, for the wind had told her the harm this
cruel fairy had been doing in the garden.

"You silly flower, to wait so long. See how quickly I will make the ugly
green bud a pretty pink rose," cried Thistle, as he pulled open the
folded bud so rudely that the little leaves fell all broken on the
ground.

"It was my first and only one, and I was so fond and proud of it! Now
you have killed it, cruel fairy, and I am all alone," sobbed the mother,
while her tears fell like rain on the poor bud fading in the hot sun.

Thistle was ashamed of himself, but he would not say he was sorry, and
flew away to hunt a white moth, till clouds began to gather and a shower
came on. Then he hurried back to the tulips for shelter, sure they would
take him in because he had praised their gay colors, and they were vain
flowers. But when he came all wet and cold begging to be covered, they
laughed and shook their broad leaves till the drops fell on him faster
than the rain and beat him down.

"Go away, naughty fairy! we know you now, and won't let you in, for you
bring trouble wherever you go. You needn't come to us for a new cloak
when the shower has spoilt that one," they cried.

"I don't care, the daisies will be glad to take pity on so splendid an
elf as I am," said Thistle, as he flew down to the humble flowers in the
grass.

But all the rosy leaves were tightly closed and he knocked in vain, for
the daisies had heard of his pranks, and would not risk spoiling their
seeds by opening to such a naughty fellow.

He tried the buttercups and dandelions, the violets and mignonette, the
lilies and the honeysuckles, but all shut their doors against him and
told him to go away.

"Now I have no friends and must die of cold. If I had only minded
Lilybell I might be safe and warm as she is somewhere," sighed Thistle,
as he stood shivering in the rain.

"I have no little bud to shelter now, and you can come in here," said a
soft voice above him; and looking up, Thistle saw that he was under the
rose-tree where the dead bud hung broken on its stem.

Grieved and ashamed, the fairy gladly crept in among the warm red
leaves, and the rose-mother held him close to her gentle bosom where no
rain or chilly wind could reach him. But when she thought he was asleep
she sighed so sadly over her lost baby that Thistle found no rest, and
dreamed only sad dreams.

Soon the sun shone again and Lilybell came to find her friend; but he
was ashamed to meet her and stole away. When the flowers told Lily all
the harm Thistle had done she was very sorrowful, and tried to comfort
them. She cured the hurt birds and butterflies, helped the bees he had
robbed, and watered the poor rose till more buds came to bloom on her
stem. Then when all were well and happy again she went to find Thistle,
leaving the garden full of grateful friends.

Meantime, Thistle had been playing more pranks, and got into trouble. A
kind bee invited him to dinner one day, and the fairy liked the pretty
home in the hive; for the floors were of white wax, the walls of golden
honey-comb, and the air sweet with the breath of flowers. It was a busy
place; some got the food and stored it up in the little cells; some were
the house-maids, and kept all exquisitely neat; some took care of the
eggs and fed the young bees like good nurses; and others waited on the
Queen.

"Will you stay and work with us? No one is idle here, and it is a
happier life than playing all day," said Buzz, the friendly bee.

"I hate to work," answered lazy Thistle, and would not do anything at
all.

Then they told him he must go; that made him angry, and he went to some
of the bees whom he had made discontented by his fine tales of an idle
life, and said to them,--

"Let us feast and be jolly; winter is far off and there is no need to
work in the summer time. Come and make merry, while those busy fellows
are away, and the nurses watching the babies in the cells."

Then he led the drones to the hive, like a band of robbers; first they
fastened the Queen into her royal room, so she could do nothing but buzz
angrily; next they drove the poor house-keepers away, and frightened the
little bees into fits as they went rioting through the waxen halls,
pulling down the honey-comb, and stealing the bee-bread carefully put
away in the neat cells for winter time. They stayed as long as they
dared, and flew off before the workers came home to find their pretty
hive in ruins.

"That was fine fun," said Thistle, as he went to hide in a great forest
where he thought the angry bees could not find him.

Here he soon made friends with a gay dragon-fly, and they had splendid
games skimming over the lake or swinging on the ferns that grew about
it. For a while Thistle was good, and might have had a happy time if he
had not quarrelled with his friend about a little fish that the cruel
elf pricked with his sword till it nearly died. Gauzy-wing thought that
very cruel, and said he would tell the Brownies who ruled over
everything in the wood.

"I'm not afraid," answered Thistle; "they can't hurt me."

But he _was_ afraid, and as soon as the dragon-fly was asleep that
night, he got an ugly spider to come and spin webs all round the poor
thing till it could stir neither leg nor wing.

Then leaving it to starve, Thistle flew out of the wood, sure that the
Brownies would not catch him.

But they did, for they knew all that happened in their kingdom; and when
he stopped to rest in a wild morning-glory-bell, they sent word by the
wind that he was to be kept a prisoner till they came. So the purple
leaves closed round the sleeping fairy, and he woke to find himself held
fast. Then he knew how poor Gauzy-wing felt, and wished he had not been
so unkind. But it was too late, for soon the Brownies came, and tying
his wings with a strong blade of grass said as they led him away,--

"You do so much harm we are going to keep you a prisoner till you
repent, for no one can live in this beautiful world unless he is kind
and good. Here you will have time to think over your naughtiness, and
learn to be a better elf."

So they shut him up in a great rock where there was no light but one
little ray through a crack that let air into his narrow cell, and there
poor Thistle sat alone longing to be free, and sobbing over all the
pleasant things he had lost. By and by he stopped crying, and said to
himself,--

"Perhaps if I am patient and cheerful, even in this dark place, the
Brownies will let me out." So he began to sing, and the more he sang the
better he felt, for the ray of sunshine seemed to grow brighter, the
days shorter, and his sorrow easier to bear, because he was trying to
take his punishment bravely and be good.

Lilybell was looking for him all this time, tracing him by the harm he
did, and stopping to comfort those whom he hurt; so she never found him
till she had helped the bees put the hive in order, set free poor
Gauzy-wing, and nursed the hurt fish till it was well again. Then she
went on looking for him, and wondering where he was. She never would
have guessed if he had not sung so much, for the birds loved to hear
him, and often perched on the rocks to listen and learn the fairy songs.
Columbines sprung up there in the sunshine and danced on their slender
stems as they peeped in at him with rosy faces, while green moss went
creeping up the sides of the rock as if eager to join in the music.

As Lilybell came to this pleasant place, she wondered if there was a
fairy party going on, for the birds were singing, the flowers dancing,
and the old rock looked very gay. When they saw her, the birds stopped,
and the columbines stood so still that she heard a voice singing
sadly,--

    "Bright shines the summer sun,
      Soft is the summer air,
    Gayly the wood-birds sing,
      Flowers are blooming fair.
    But deep in the dark, cold rock
      All alone must I dwell,
    Longing for you, dear friend,
      Lilybell, Lilybell!"

"Where are you?" cried the other fairy, flying up among the columbines;
for she could see no opening in the rock, and wondered where the voice
came from. No one replied, for Thistle did not hear her, so she sang her
answer to his call,--

    "Through sunshine and shower
      I have looked for you long,
    Guided by bird and flower,
      And now by your song,
    Thistledown! Thistledown!
      O'er wood, hill, and dell
    Hither to comfort you
      Comes Lilybell."

Then through the narrow opening two arms were stretched out to her, and
all the columbines danced for joy that Thistle was found.

Lilybell made her home there, and did all she could to cheer the poor
prisoner, glad to see that he was sorry for his naughtiness, and really
trying to be good. But he pined so to come out that she could not bear
it, and said she would go and ask the Brownies what he could do to be
free.

Thistle waited and waited, but she did not come back, and he cried and
called so pitifully that the Brownies came at last and took him out,
saying,--

"Lilybell is safe, but she is in a magic sleep, and will not wake till
you bring us a golden wand from the earth elves, a cloak of sunshine
from the air spirits, and a crown of diamonds from the water fairies. It
is a hard task, for you have no friends to help you along. But if you
love Lilybell enough to be patient, brave, and kind, you may succeed,
and she will wake to reward you when you bring the fairy gifts."

As they said this, the Brownies led him to a green tent made of tall
ferns, and inside on a bed of moss lay Lilybell fast asleep, like the
Beauty in the dear old story.

"I will do it," said Thistle, and spreading the wings that had been idle
so long, he was off like a humming-bird.

"Flowers know most about the earth elves, so I will ask them," he
thought, and began to ask every clover and buttercup, wood-violet, and
wayside dandelion that he met. But no one would answer him; all shrunk
away and drew their curtains close, remembering his rough treatment
before.

"I will go to the rose; I think she is a friend, for she forgave me, and
took me in when the rest left me in the cold," said Thistle, much
discouraged, and half afraid to ask anything of the flower he had hurt
so much.

But when he came to the garden the rose-mother welcomed him kindly, and
proudly showed the family of little buds that now grew on her stem.

"I will trust and help you for Lilybell's sake," she said. "Look up, my
darlings, and show the friend how rosy your little faces are growing;
you need not be afraid now."

But the buds leaned closer to their mother, and would only peep at
Thistle, for they remembered the little sister whom he had killed, and
they feared him.

"Ah," he sadly thought, "if I had only been kind like Lily, they would
all love and trust me, and be glad to help me. How beautiful goodness
is! I must try to prove to them that I _am_ sorry; then they will
believe me, and show me how to find the crown."

So, at night when the flowers were asleep, he watered them; sung
lullabies to the restless young birds, and tucked the butterflies up
under the leaves where no dew could spoil their lovely wings. He rocked
the baby-buds to sleep when they grew impatient before it was time to
blossom; he kept grubs from harming the delicate leaves of the flowers,
and brought cool winds to refresh them when the sun was hot.

The rose was always good to him, and when the other plants wondered who
did so many kind things, she said to them,--

"It is Thistle, and he is so changed I am sure we may trust him. He
hides by day for no one is friendly, but by night he works or sits
alone, and sobs and sighs so sadly I cannot sleep for pity."

Then they all answered, "We will love and help him for Lilybell's sake."

So they called him to come and be friends, and he was very happy to be
forgiven. But he did not forget his task, and when he told them what it
was, they called Downy-back, the mole, and bid him show Thistle where
the earth elves lived. Thanking the kind flowers, Thistle followed the
mole deep into the ground, along the road he knew so well, till they saw
a light before them.

"There they are; now you can go on alone, and good luck to you," said
Downy-back, as he scampered away,--for he liked the dark best.

Thistle came to a great hall made of jewels that shone like the sun, and
here many spirits were dancing like fireflies to the music of silver
bells.

One of these came and asked why he was there, and when he told her,
Sparkle said, "You must work for us if you want to earn the golden
wand."

"What must I do?" asked Thistle.

"Many things," answered Sparkle; "some of us watch over the roots of the
flowers and keep them warm and safe; others gather drops and make
springs that gush up among the rocks, where people drink the fresh water
and are glad; others dig for jewels, make good-luck pennies, and help
miners find gold and silver hidden in dark places. Can you be happy
here, and do all these things faithfully?"

"Yes, for love of Lily I can do anything," said Thistle bravely, and
fell to work at once with all his heart.

It was hard and dull for the gay fairy, who loved light and air, to live
in the earth like a mole; and often he was very sad and tired, and
longed to fly away to rest. But he never did, and at last Sparkle said,
"You have done enough. Here is the golden wand, and as many jewels as
you like."

But Thistle cared only for the wand, and hurried up to the sunshine as
fast as he could climb, eager to show the Brownies how well he had kept
his word.

They were very glad to see him back and told him to rest a little. But
he could not wait, and with a look at Lily, still fast asleep, he flew
away to find the air spirits.

No one seemed to know where they lived, and Thistle was in despair till
he remembered hearing Buzz speak of them when he first met him.

"I dare not go to the hive, for the bees might kill me, I did so much
harm. Perhaps if I first show them I am sorry, they will forgive me as
the flowers did," he said.

So he went into a field of clover and worked busily till he had filled
two blue-bells full of the sweetest honey. These he left at the door of
the hive when no one saw him, and then hid in the apple-tree close by.

The bees were much pleased and surprised; for every day two little blue
jars stood at the door, full of honey so fresh and sweet that it was
kept for the Queen and the royal babies.

"It is some good elf, who knows how much trouble we have had this
summer, and wants to help us fill our cells before the frost comes. If
we catch the kind fellow we will thank him well," said the bees
gratefully.

"Ah, ha! we shall be friends again, I think, if I keep on," laughed
Thistle, much cheered as he sat among the leaves.

After this he not only left the pretty honey-pots, but flew far and wide
for all the flowering herbs bees love to suck, and nearly broke his back
lugging berries from the wood, or great bags of pollen for their bread,
till he was as dusty as a little miller. He helped the ants with their
heavy loads, the field-mice with their small harvesting, and chased
flies from the patient cows feeding in the fields. No one saw him, but
all loved "Nimble Nobody" as they called the invisible friend who did so
many kindly things.

At last they caught him, as he was wrapping a lizard who had chills in a
warm mullein-leaf blanket.

"Why, it is naughty Thistle!" cried the bees, ready to sting him to
death.

"No, no," chirped an old cricket, who had kept the secret. "It is the
good fellow who has done so much to make us all happy and comfortable.
Put up your stings and shake hands, before he flies away to hide from
you again."

The bees could hardly believe this at first, but finding it true were
glad to make up the quarrel and be friends. When they heard what
Thistle wanted, they consented at once, and sent Buzz to show him the
way to Cloudland, where the air spirits lived.

It seemed a lovely place, for the sky was gold and purple overhead,
silver mist hung like curtains from the rainbow arches, and white clouds
were piled up like downy cushions for the spirits to sleep on. But they
were very busy flying to and fro like motes in a sunbeam, some polishing
the stars that they might shine well at night, some drawing up water
from rivers and lakes, to shower it down again in rain or dew; others
sent messages by the winds that kept coming and going like
telegraph-boys, with news from all parts of the world; and others were
weaving light into a shining stuff to hang on dark walls, wrap about
budding plants, and clothe all spirits of the airy world.

"These are the ones I want," said Thistle, and asked for the mantle of
sunshine.

"You must earn it first, and help us work," answered the weavers.

Thistle willingly went with them and shared their lovely tasks; but most
of all he liked to shake sweet dreams from the dreamland tree down upon
little people in their beds, to send strong, bright rays suddenly into
dark rooms, dancing on the walls and cheering sick or sad eyes.
Sometimes he went riding to the earth on a raindrop, like a little
water-cart man, and sprinkled the dusty road or gave some thirsty plant
a good drink. He helped the winds carry messages, and blow flower-seeds
into lonely places to spring and blossom there, a pleasant surprise for
all who might find them.

It was a busy and a happy life, and he liked it; for fairies love light,
air, and motion, and he was learning to live for good and helpful
things. Sooner than he expected the golden cloak was won, and he shot
like a falling star to the forest with his prize.

"One more trial and she will wake," said the Brownies, well pleased.

"This I shall not like, for I am not a water elf, but I'll do my best,"
answered Thistle, and roamed away into the wood, following a brook till
he came to the lake where he used to play with Gauzy-wing. As he stood
wondering how to find the nixies, he heard a faint cry for help, and
presently found a little frog with a broken leg, lying on the moss.

"I tried to jump too far, when a cruel child was going to tread on me,
and fell among the stones; I long for the water, but can drag myself no
farther," sighed the frog, his bright eyes dim with pain.

Thistle did not like to touch the cold thing, but remembering his own
unkindness to the dragon-fly, he helped the poor froggie to a fallen
oak-leaf, and then tugged it by its stout stem to the waterside where he
could bathe the hurt leg and bring cool draughts in an acorn cup.

"Alas! I cannot swim, and I am very tired of this bed," cried poor Hop
after a day or two, during which Thistle fed and nursed him tenderly.

"I'll pull a lily-pad to the shore, and when you are on it we can sail
about wherever we please, without tiring you," and away went the elf to
find the green boat.

After that they floated all day, and anchored at night, and Hop got well
so fast that soon he could dive off and paddle a bit with his hands, or
float, using his well leg to steer with. Thistle had talked about the
water sprites, but Hop was rather a dull fellow, and lived in the mud,
so he could tell him nothing. One day, however, a little fish popped up
his head and said,--

"I know, and for kind Lilybell's sake I'll show you where they live."

Then Thistle left grateful Hop to his family, and folding his wings
plunged into the lake after the silvery fish, who darted deeper and
deeper till they stood in a curious palace made of rosy coral at the
bottom of the sea. Gay shells made the floors and ornamented the walls.
Lovely sea-weeds grew from the white sand, and heaps of pearls lay
everywhere. The water sprites in their blue robes floated here and
there, or slept in beds of foam, rocked by the motion of the waves.

They gathered round the stranger, bringing all sorts of treasures for
him. But he did not care for these, and told them what he wanted. Then
little Pearl, the gentlest of the sprites, said:

"You must help the coral-workers till the branches of their tree reach
the air; because we want a new island, and that is the way we begin
them. It is very dull work, but we cannot give you the crown till that
is done."

Thistle was ready to begin at once, and hastened away to the coral-tree,
where hundreds of little creatures were building cell upon cell, till
the white tree rose tall and wide, spreading through the blue water. It
_was_ very dull, and the poor fairy never could lose his fear of the
strange monsters that swam to and fro, staring at him with big eyes, or
opening their great mouths as if to swallow him. There was no sun,--only
a dim light, and the sky seemed full of storm, when the waves rolled
overhead, and wrecks came floating down. The sea-flowers had no
sweetness; the only birds were flying-fish and Mother Carey's chickens,
as the stormy petrels are called. Thistle pined for light and air, but
kept patiently at work, and his only pleasure was now and then to float
with Pearl on the waves that rippled to the shore, and get a breath of
warm air from the lovely earth he longed to see again.

At last the great tree rose above the sea, and the long task was done;
for now the waves would wash weeds over the branches, gulls would bring
earth and sticks to make their nests, and by and by an island would be
formed where men might land or wild birds live in peace.

"Now you can go. Here is the crown of water-drops, changed to diamonds,
that will always lie cool and bright on your Lily's head. Good-by,
good-by," said Pearl, as she gave the reward and waved her hand to
Thistle, who shook the foam off his wings and flew away in the sunshine,
like a happy butterfly just out of its cell.

When he came to the wood the Brownies hastened to meet him, and he saw
that they had made the place beautiful with wreaths from tree to tree;
birds were singing their sweetest on every bough; the brook was laughing
as it hurried by to tell the good news wherever it went; and the
flowers, all in their best, were dancing with impatience to welcome him
home.

Lilybell lay with the cloak of sunshine folded round her, and the golden
wand in her hand, waiting for the crown and the kiss that should wake
her from this long sleep. Thistle gave them both; and when her eyes
opened and she stretched out her arms to him, he was the happiest fairy
in the world. The Brownies told all he had done, and how at last he had
learned to be gentle, true, and brave, after many trials and troubles.

"You shall have the crown, for you have worked so hard you deserve it,
and I will have a wreath of flowers," said Lily, so glad and proud she
cared for nothing else.

"Keep your crown, for here are friends coming to bring Thistle his
rewards," said the Brownies, as they pointed to a troop of earth spirits
rising from among the mossy roots of an old tree. Sparkle brought a
golden wand like the one he had earned for Lily, and while she was
giving it, down through the air came the sky spirits, with the mantle of
sunshine as their gift. Hardly had they folded it round happy Thistle,
when the sound of music, like drops falling in time and tune, was heard,
and along the brook in their boats of rosy shells came the water sprites
with the crown.

As they put it on his head all took hands and danced about the two
elves, shouting in their soft voices, "Thistledown and Lilybell! Long
live our King and Queen!"




III.

RIPPLE, THE WATER SPRITE.


[Illustration: Suddenly a great wave came rolling in.--PAGE 64.]

Down in the deep sea lived Ripple, a happy little water sprite. She
lived in a palace of red coral, with gardens of sea-flowers all round
it, the waves like a blue sky above it, and white sand full of jewels
for its floor. Ripple and her mates had gay times playing with the
sea-urchins, chasing flying-fish, rocking in the shells, and weaving
many-colored sea-weed into delicate clothes to wear.

But the pastime Ripple loved best was to rise to the light and air, and
float on the waves that rocked her softly in the sunshine, while the
gulls stooped to tell her news of the great world they saw in their long
flights. She liked to watch little children playing on the shore, and
when they ran into the sea she caught them in her arms and held them up
and kissed them, though they saw and felt only the cool water and the
white foam.

Ripple had one sorrow; for when tempests came and the waves rolled
overhead like black clouds, ships were often wrecked, and those whom the
angry sea drowned came floating down, pale and cold, to the home of the
water sprites, who mourned over them, and laid them in graves of white
sea-sand, where jewels shone like flowers.

One day a little child sank down from the storm above to the quiet that
was never broken, far below. Its pretty eyes were closed as if asleep,
its long hair hung about the pale face like wet weeds, and the little
hands still held the shells they had been gathering when the cruel waves
swept it away. The tender-hearted sprites cried salt tears over it, and
wrapped it in their softest sheets, finding it so lovely and so sad they
could not bury it out of sight. While they sung their lullabies Ripple
heard through the roar of wind and water a bitter cry that seemed to
call her. Floating up through foam and spray she saw a woman standing on
the beach with her arms outstretched, imploring the cruel sea to give
her back her little child.

Ripple longed so much to comfort the poor mother that power was given
her to show herself, and to make her soft language understood. A slender
creature, in a robe as white as foam, with eyes as blue as the sea, and
a murmuring voice that made music like falling drops of water, bent over
the weeping woman and told her that the child was cared for far below
all storms, and promised to keep the little grave beautiful with
sea-flowers, and safe from any harm. But the mother could not be
comforted, and still cried bitterly,--

"Give him back to me alive and laughing, or I cannot live. Dear sprite,
have you no charm to make the little darling breathe again? Oh, find
one, find one, or let me lie beside him in the hungry sea."

"I will look far and wide and see if I can help you. Watch by the shore,
and I will come again with the little child if there is any power in
land or sea to make him live," cried Ripple, so eager to do this happy
thing that she sprang into the ocean and vanished like a bubble.

She hurried to the Queen in her palace of pearls and told her all the
sad story.

"Dear Ripple, you cannot keep your promise, for there is no power in my
kingdom to work this spell. The only thing that could do it would be a
flame from the sun to warm the little body into life, and you could
never reach the fire spirits' home far, far away."

"But I _will_!" cried Ripple, bravely. "If you had seen the poor
mother's tears and heard her cries you would feel as I do, and never let
her watch in vain. Tell me where I must go; and I will not be afraid of
anything if I can only make the little child live again."

"Far away beside the sun live the fire spirits; but I cannot tell the
road, for it is through the air and no water sprite could live to reach
it. Dear Ripple, do not go, for if any harm comes to you I shall lose my
sweetest subject," said the Queen,--and all the others begged her to
stay safely at home.

But Ripple would not break her promise, and they had to let her go. So
the sprites built a tomb of delicate, bright shells, where the child
might lie till she came to make him live again; and with a brave good-by
Ripple floated away on her long journey to the sky.

"I will go round the world till I find a road to the sun. Some kind
friend will help me, for I have no wings and cannot float through the
blue air as through the sea," she said, as she came to the other side of
the ocean and saw a lovely land before her. Grass was green on all the
hills, flowers were budding, young leaves danced upon the trees, and
birds were singing everywhere.

"Why are you all so gay?" asked Ripple, wondering.

"Spring is coming! Spring is coming! and all the earth is glad," sang
the lark, as the music poured from its little throat.

"Shall I see her?" asked Ripple, eagerly.

"You will meet her soon. The sunshine told us she was near, and we are
hurrying to be up and dressed to welcome her back," answered a blue-eyed
violet, dancing on her stem for joy.

"I will ask her how to reach the fire spirits. She travels over the
earth every year, and perhaps can show me the way," said Ripple, as she
went on.

Soon a beautiful child came dancing over the hills, rosy as dawn, with
hair like sunshine, a voice like the balmy wind, and her robe full of
seeds, little leaves, dewdrops, and budding flowers, which she scattered
far and wide, till the earth smiled back at the smiling sky.

"Dear Spring, will you help a poor little sprite, who is looking for the
fire spirits' home?" cried Ripple,--and told her tale so eagerly that
the child stopped to hear.

"Alas, I cannot tell you," answered Spring, "but my elder sister Summer
is coming behind me, and she may know. I long to help, so I will give
you this breeze, that will carry you over land and sea and never tire. I
wish I could do more, but the world is calling me, and I must go."

"Many thanks, kind Spring," cried Ripple, as she floated away on the
breeze. "Say a kind word to the poor mother waiting on the shore, and
tell her I do not forget."

Then the lovely season flew on with her sunshine and song, and Ripple
went swiftly over hill and dale till she came to the place where Summer
lived. Here the sun shone warmly on early fruit and ripening grain; the
wind blew freshly over sweet hay-fields and rustled the thick branches
of the trees. Heavy dews and soft showers refreshed the growing things,
and long bright days brought beauty to the world.

"Now I must look for Summer," said Ripple, as she sailed along.

"I am here," said a voice, and she saw a beautiful woman floating by, in
green robes, with a golden crown on her hair, and her arms full of
splendid flowers.

Ripple told her story again, but Summer said with a sigh of pity,--

"I cannot show you the way, but my brother Autumn may know. I, too, will
give you a gift to help you along, good little creature. This sunbeam
will be a lamp to light your way, for you may have a gloomy journey
yet."

Then Summer went on, leaving all green and golden behind her, and Ripple
flew away to look for Autumn. Soon the fields were yellow with corn and
grain; purple grapes hung on the vines; nuts rattled down among the dead
leaves, and frost made the trees gay with lovely colors. A handsome
hunter, in a russet suit, came striding over the hills, with his hounds
about him, while he made music on his silver horn, and all the echoes
answered him.

This was Autumn, but he was no wiser than his sisters, and seeing the
little sprite's disappointment he kindly said,--

"Ask Winter; he knows the fire spirits well, for when he comes they fly
down to kindle fires on the hearths where people gather to keep warm.
Take this red leaf, and when you meet his chilly winds wrap it round
you, else you will be frozen to death. A safe journey and a happy end;"
and with a shrill blast on his horn Autumn hurried away, with his
hounds leaping after him.

"Shall I ever get there?" sighed poor Ripple, as the never-tiring breeze
flew on, till the sky grew dark and cold winds began to blow. Then she
folded the warm red leaf about her like a cloak, and looked sadly down
at the dead flowers and frozen fields, not knowing that Winter spread a
soft blanket of snow over them, so they could lie safely asleep till
Spring woke them again.

Presently, riding on the north wind, Winter came rushing by, with a
sparkling crown of ice on his white hair, and a cloak of frost-work,
from which he scattered snow-flakes far and wide.

"What do you want with me, pretty thing? Do not be afraid; I am warm at
heart, though rude and cold outside," said Winter, with a smile that
made his pleasant face glow in the frosty air.

When Ripple told what she was looking for, he nodded and pointed to the
gloomy sky.

"Far away up there is the palace, and the only road is through cloud and
mist and strange places full of danger. It is too hard a task for you,
and the fire spirits are wild, hot-tempered things who may kill you.
Come back with me, and do not try."

"I cannot go back, now that I have found the way. Surely the spirits
will not hurt me when I tell why I have come; and if they do give me the
spark I shall be the happiest sprite in all the big sea. Tell the poor
mother I will keep my word; and be kind to her, she is so sad."

"You brave little creature! I think you will succeed. Take this
snowflake, that will never melt, and good luck to you," cried Winter, as
the north wind carried him away, leaving the air full of snow.

"Now, dear Breeze, fly straight up till we reach our journey's end.
Sunbeam shall light the way; Redleaf shall keep me warm, and Snowflake
lie here beside me till I need it. Good-by to land and sea; now away, up
to the sun!"

When Ripple first began her airy journey, heavy clouds lay piled like
hills about her, and a cold mist filled the air. Higher and higher they
went, and darker grew the air, while a stormy wind tossed the little
traveller to and fro as if on the angry sea.

"Shall I ever see the beautiful world again?" sighed Ripple. "It is
indeed a dreadful road, and but for the seasons' gifts I should have
died. Fly fast, dear wind, and bring me to the sunshine again."

Soon the clouds were left behind, the mist rolled away, and she came up
among the stars. With wondering eyes she looked at the bright worlds
that once seemed dim and distant when she saw them from the sea. Now
they moved around her, some shining with a soft light, some with
many-colored rings, some pale and cold, while others burned with a red
glare.

Ripple would gladly have stayed to watch them, for she fancied voices
called; faces smiled at her, and each star made music as it shone in the
wide sky. But higher up, still nearer to the sun, she saw a far-off
light that glittered like a crimson flame, and made a fiery glow. "The
spirits must be there," she said, and hurried on, eager to reach her
journey's end.

Up she flew till straight before her lay a broad path that led to a
golden arch, behind which she could see lovely creatures moving to and
fro. As she drew nearer, the air grew so hot that the red leaf
shrivelled up, and Ripple would have died if she had not quickly
unfolded the snowflake and wrapped herself in that cool cloak. Then she
could safely pass under the tall arch into a strange place, where the
walls were of orange, blue, and purple flames, that made beautiful
figures as they flickered to and fro. Here the fire spirits lived, and
Ripple saw with wonder their crowns of flame, their flashing eyes, the
sparks that popped from their lips as they spoke, and how in each one's
bosom burned a little flame that never wavered or went out.

She had time to see no more, for the wild things came dancing round her;
and their hot breath would have burned her if she had not pulled the
snow-cloak over her head and begged them not to touch her, but to take
her to the Queen.

Through halls of many-colored fire they led her to a spirit more
brilliant than the rest; for a crown of yellow flames waved on her head,
and under the transparent violet of her robe the light in her breast
shone like a star.

Then Ripple told how she had been round the world to find them, and,
thanks to the seasons, had come at last to ask the magic spark that
would make the little child live again.

"We cannot give it," said the Queen; "for each of us must take something
from our bosom-fires to make up this flame, and this we do not like to
do; because the brighter these souls of ours burn, the lovelier we are."

"Dear, warm-hearted spirits, do not send me away without it after this
long, hard journey," cried Ripple, clasping her hands. "I am sure if you
do this kind thing your souls will shine the brighter; for every good
act makes us beautiful. Give me the spark and I will do anything I can
for you."

As she spoke, the cloak fell back a little, and the Queen saw the chain
of jewels Ripple wore.

"If you will give me those lovely blue stones that shine like water I
will give a little of my bosom-fire for the child; because you are a
brave sprite, and it is hard to be cruel to you."

Gladly Ripple gave her the necklace; but, alas! as soon as the Queen's
hand touched it the jewels melted like snow, and fell in bright drops
to the ground. Then the Queen's eyes flashed, and the spirits gathered
angrily about Ripple, while sparks showered from their lips as they
spoke angrily to her.

"I have many finer ones at home, and if you will give me the flame I
will bring all I can gather in the sea, and each shall have a necklace
to remember the kind deed you have done," she said gently, as they
hovered about her, looking ready to burn her up in their wrath.

"We will do it," said the Queen; "but if the jewels you bring melt like
these, we shall keep you a prisoner here. Promise to come back, or we
shall send lightning to find and kill you, even at the bottom of the
sea."

Ripple promised, and each spirit gave a spark, till the golden flame was
made, and put into a crystal vase, where it shone like a splendid star.

"Remember! remember!" cried the fierce imps as they led her to the arch
and left her to travel back through mist and cloud till far below she
saw the beautiful blue sea.

Gladly she plunged into the cool waves and sunk to her home, where her
friends hastened joyfully to welcome her.

"Now come," they said, "dear, brave Ripple, and finish the good work you
have begun." They gathered round the tomb, where like a marble image lay
the little child. Ripple placed the flame on his breast and watched it
sparkle there while the color came slowly back to the pale face, light
to the dim eyes, and breath through the cold lips, till the child woke
from his long sleep and looked up smiling as he called his mother.

Then the spirits sang for joy, and dressed him in pretty clothes of
woven sea-weed, put chains of shells on his neck and a wreath of
water-flowers on his head.

"Now you shall see your mother who has waited so long, dear child," said
Ripple, taking him in her arms and feeling that all her weariness was
not in vain.

On the shore the poor woman still sat, watching and waiting patiently,
as she had done all that weary year. Suddenly a great wave came rolling
in, and on it, lifted high by arms as white as foam, sat the child
waving his hands as he cried to her, "I am coming, mother, and I have
such lovely things to show you from the bottom of the sea!"

Then the wave broke gently on the shore and left the child safe in his
happy mother's arms.

"O faithful Ripple, what can I do to thank you? I wish I had some
splendid thing, but I have only this little chain of pearls. They are
the tears I shed, and the sea changed them so that I might offer them to
you," said the woman, when she could speak for joy.

Ripple took the pretty chain and floated away, ready for her new task,
while the child danced gayly on the sand, and the mother smiled like
sunshine on the happy sprite who had done so much for her.

Far and wide in all the caves of the sea did Ripple look for jewels, and
when she had long necklaces of all the brightest, she flew away again on
the tireless breeze to the fire palace in the sky.

The spirits welcomed her warmly as she poured out her treasures at the
feet of the Queen. But when the hot hands touched the jewels, they
melted and fell like drops of colored dew. Ripple was filled with fear,
for she could not live in that fiery place, and begged for some other
task to save her life.

"No, no," cried the spirits fiercely. "You have not kept your promise
and you must stay. Fling off this cold cloak and swim in the
fire-fountains till you get a soul like ours, and can help us brighten
our bosom sparks again."

Ripple sank down in despair and felt that she must die; but even then
was glad to give her life for the little child's. The spirits gathered
about her, but as they began to pull the cloak away, underneath they saw
the chain of pearls shining with a soft light, that only brightened as
they put their hands upon it.

"Oh, give us this!" they cried; "it is finer than the others, and does
not melt. Give us this and you may go free."

Ripple gladly gave it, and, safe under the cloak, told them how the
pearls they so proudly divided to wear were tears which, but for them,
would still be flowing. This pleased the spirits, for they had warm
hearts as well as hot tempers, and they said, smiling,--"Since we may
not kiss you, and you cannot live with us, we will show our love for you
by giving you a pleasant journey home. Come out and see the bright path
we have made."

They led her to the gate and there she saw a splendid rainbow arching
from the sky to the sea, its lovely colors shining in the sun.

Then with thanks and good-by, happy little Ripple flew back along that
lovely road, and every wave in the great ocean danced for joy to welcome
her home.

[Illustration]




IV.

EVA'S VISIT TO FAIRYLAND.


[Illustration: Eva watched their pretty play.--PAGE 69.]

A little girl lay on the grass down by the brook wondering what the
brown water said as it went babbling over the stones. As she listened
she heard another kind of music that seemed to come nearer and nearer,
till round the corner floated a beautiful boat filled with elves, who
danced on the broad green leaves of the lily of the valley, while the
white bells of the tall stem that was the mast rung loud and sweet.

A flat rock, covered with moss, stood in the middle of the brook, and
here the boat was anchored for the elves to rest a little. Eva watched
them at their pretty play, as they flew about or lay fanning themselves
and drinking from the red-brimmed cups on the rocks. Wild strawberries
grew in the grass close by, and Eva threw some of the ripest to the
fairy folk; for honey and dew seemed a poor sort of lunch to the child.
Then the elves saw her, and nodded and smiled and called, but their soft
voices could not reach her. So, after whispering among themselves, two
of them flew to the brookside, and perching on a buttercup said close to
Eva's ear,--

"We have come to thank you for your berries, and to ask if we can do
anything for you, because this is our holiday and we can become visible
to you."

"Oh, let me go to fairyland! I have longed so to see and know all about
you dear little people; and never would believe it is true that there
are no fairies left," cried Eva, so glad to find that she was right.

"We should not dare to take some children, they would do so much harm;
but you believe in us, you love all the sweet things in the world, and
never hurt innocent creatures, or tread on flowers, or let ugly passions
come into your happy little heart. You shall go with us and see how we
live."

But as the elves spoke, Eva looked very sad and said,--

"How can I go? I am so big I should sink that pretty ship with one
finger, and I have no wings."

The elves laughed and touched her with their soft hands, saying,--

"You cannot hurt us now. Look in the water and see what we have done."

Eva looked and saw a tiny child standing under a tall blue violet. It
was herself, but so small she seemed an elf in a white pinafore and
little pink sun-bonnet. She clapped her hands and skipped for joy, and
laughed at the cunning picture; but suddenly she grew sober again, as
she looked from the shore to the rock.

"But now I am so wee I cannot step over, and you cannot lift me, I am
sure."

"Give us each a hand and do not be afraid," said the elves, and whisked
her across like dandelion down.

The elves were very glad to see her, and touched and peeped and asked
questions as if they had never had a mortal child to play with before.
Eva was so small she could dance with them now, and eat what they ate,
and sing their pretty songs. She found that flower-honey and dewdrops
were very nice, and that it was fine fun to tilt on a blade of grass, to
slide down a smooth bulrush-stem, or rock in the cup of a flower. She
learned new and merry games, found out what the brook said, saw a
cowslip blossom, and had a lovely time till the captain of the ship blew
a long sweet blast on a honeysuckle horn, and all the elves went aboard
and set sail for home.

"Now I shall find the way to Fairyland and can go again whenever I
like," thought Eva, as she floated away.

But the sly little people did not mean that she should know, for only
now and then can a child go to that lovely place. So they set the bells
to chiming softly, and all sung lullabies till Eva fell fast asleep, and
knew nothing of the journey till she woke in Fairyland.

It seemed to be sunset; for the sky was red, the flowers all dreaming
behind their green curtains, the birds tucked up in their nests, and
there was no sound but the whisper of the wind that softly sang,
"Good-night, good-night."

"We all go early to bed unless the moon shines. We are tired, so come
and let us make you cosey till to-morrow," said the elves, showing her a
dainty bed with white rose-leaves for sheets, a red rose-leaf for
coverlet, and two plump little mushrooms for pillows. Cobweb curtains
hung over it, a glow-worm was the candle, and a lily-of-the-valley cup
made a nice night-cap, while a tiny gown of woven thistle-down lay ready
to be put on.

Eva quickly undressed and slipped into the pretty bed, where she lay
looking at the red light till sleep kissed her eyelids, and a lovely
dream floated through her mind till morning came.

As soon as the sun peeped over the hills the elves were up and away to
the lake, where they all dipped and splashed and floated and frolicked
till the air was full of sparkling drops and the water white with foam.
Then they wiped on soft cobweb towels, which they spread on the grass to
dry, while they combed their pretty hair and put on fresh gowns of
flower-leaves. After that came breakfast, all sitting about in parties
to eat fruit and cakes of pollen, while their drink was fresh dew.

"Now, Eva, you see that we are not idle, foolish creatures, but have
many things to do, many lessons to learn, and a heaven of our own to
hope for," said the elves when they had all sung together; while the
wind, who was the house-maid there, cleared the tables by blowing
everything away at one breath. "First of all come to our hospital,--for
here we bring all the sick and hurt things cruel or careless people have
harmed. In your world children often torment and kill poor birds and
worms and flies, and pick flowers to throw away, and chase butterflies
till their poor wings are broken. All these we care for, and our magic
makes them live again. Come and see."

Eva followed to a cool, quiet place, where on soft beds lay many wounded
things. Rose, the fairy nurse, was binding up the leg of a fly as he lay
in a cobweb hammock and feebly buzzed his thanks. In another place an
ugly worm was being put together after a cruel boy had cut him in two.
Eva thought the elves were good to do such work, and went on to a
humming-bird which lay in a bed of honeysuckles, with the quick colors
very dim on its little breast and bright wings very still.

"I was shot with an air-gun, and my poor head still aches with the
dreadful blow," sighed the poor bird, trying to sip a little honey with
his long beak.

"I'm nearly well," chirped a cricket, whose stiff tail had been pulled
off by a naughty child and nicely put on again by a very skilful elf.

He looked so cheerful and lively as he hopped about on his bed of dried
grass, with his black eyes twinkling, and a bandage of bindweed holding
his tail firmly in place till it was well, that Eva laughed aloud, and
at the pleasant sound all the sick things smiled and seemed better.

Rows of pale flowers stood in one place, and elves watered them, or tied
up broken leaves, or let in the sunshine to cure their pains,--for these
delicate invalids needed much care; and Mignonette was the name of the
nurse who watched over them, like a little Sister of Charity, with her
gray gown and sweet face.

"You have seen enough. Come to school now, and see where we are taught
all that fairies must know," said Trip, the elf who was guiding her
about.

In a pleasant place they found the child elves sitting on pink daisies
with their books of leaves in their hands, while the teacher was a
Jack-in-the-pulpit, who asked questions, and was very wise. Eva nodded
to the little ones, and they smiled at the stranger as they rustled
their books and pretended to study busily.

A class in arithmetic was going on, and Eva listened to questions that
none but elves would care to know.

"Twinkle, if there were fifteen seeds on a dandelion, and the wind blew
ten away, how many would be left?"

"Five."

"Bud, if a rose opens three leaves one day, two the next, and seven the
next, how many in all?"

"Eleven."

"Daisy, if a silk-worm spins one yard of fairy cloth in an hour, how
many can he spin in a day?"

"Twelve, if he isn't lazy," answered the little elf, fluttering her
wings, as if anxious to be done.

"Now we will read," said Jack, and a new class flew to the long leaf,
where they stood in a row, with open books, ready to begin.

"You may read 'The Flower's Lesson' to-day, and be careful not to
sing-song, Poppy," said the teacher, passing a dainty book to Eva that
she might follow the story.

     "Once there was a rose who had two little buds. One was
     happy and contented, but the other always wanted something.

     "'I wish the elves would bring me a star instead of dew
     every night. The drop is soon gone, but a star would shine
     splendidly, and I should be finer than all the other
     flowers,' said the naughty bud one night.

     "'But you need the dew to live, and the moon needs the stars
     up there to light the world. Don't fret, sister, but be sure
     it is best to take what is sent, and be glad,' answered the
     good bud.

     "'I won't have the dew, and if I cannot get a star I will
     take a firefly to shine on my breast,' said the other,
     shaking off a fresh drop that had just fallen on her, and
     folding her leaves round the bright fly.

     "'Foolish child!' cried the rose-mother; 'let the fly go,
     before he harms you. It is better to be sweet and fair than
     to shine with a beauty not your own. Be wise, dear, before
     it is too late.'

     "But the silly bud only held the firefly closer, till in its
     struggles it tore her leaves and flew away. When the hot sun
     came up the poor bud hung all faded on her stem, longing for
     a cool drop to drink. Her sister was strong and fresh, and
     danced gayly in the wind, opening her red petals to the
     sun.

     "'Now I must die. Oh, why was I vain and silly?' sobbed the
     poor bud, fainting in the heat.

     "Then the mother leaned over her, and from her bosom, where
     she had hidden it, the dew-drop fell on the thirsty bud, and
     while she drank it eagerly the rose drew her closer,
     whispering, 'Little darling, learn to be contented with what
     heaven sends, and make yourself lovely by being good.'"

"I shall remember that story," said Eva when the elves shut their books
and flew back to the daisy seats.

"Would you like to hear them sing?" asked Trip.

"Very much," said Eva, and in the little song they gave her she got
another lesson to carry home.

    "I shine," says the sun,
      "To give the world light,"
    "I glimmer," adds the moon,
      "To beautify the night."
    "I ripple," says the brook,
      "I whisper," sighs the breeze,
    "I patter," laughs the rain,
      "We rustle," call the trees
    "We dance," nod the daisies,
      "I twinkle," shines the star,
    "We sing," chant the birds,
      "How happy we all are!"
    "I smile," cries the child,
      Gentle, good, and gay;
    The sweetest thing of all,
      The sunshine of each day.

"I shall sing that to myself and try to do my part," said Eva, as the
elves got out their paints and brushes of butterfly-down, and using
large white leaves for paper, learned to imitate the colors of every
flower.

"Why do they do this?" asked Eva, for she saw no pictures anywhere.

"We keep the flowers fresh, for in the world below they have trials with
the hot sun that fades, the mould that spots, grubs that gnaw, and frost
that kills. We melt bits of rainbow in our paint-pots, and when it is
needed we brighten the soft color on Anemone's cheeks, deepen the blue
of Violet's eyes, or polish up the cowslips till they shine like cups of
gold. We redden the autumn leaves, and put the purple bloom on the
grapes. We made the budding birches a soft green, color maple keys, and
hang brown tassels on the alder twigs. We repair the dim spots on
butterflies' wings, paint the blue-bird like the sky, give Robin his red
vest, and turn the yellow bird to a flash of sunshine. Oh, we are
artists, and hereafter you will see our pictures everywhere."

"How lovely!" said Eva. "I often wondered who kept all these delicate
things so beautiful and gay. But where are we going now?" she added, as
the elves led her away from the school.

"Come and see where we learn to ride," they answered, smiling as if they
enjoyed this part of their education.

In a little dell where the ground was covered with the softest moss Eva
found the fairy riding-school and gymnasium. The horses were all kinds
of winged and swift-footed things, and the race-ground was a smooth path
round the highest moss mound. Groups of elves lay on the ground, swung
on the grass-blades, or sat in the wood flowers, that stood all about.

In one place the mothers and fathers were teaching their little ones to
fly. The baby elves sat in a row on the branch of a birch-tree,
fluttering their small wings and nestling close together, timid yet
longing to launch boldly out into the air and float as the others did.
The parents were very patient, and one by one the babies took little
flights, getting braver and braver each time.

One very timid elf would not stir, so the sly papa and mamma put it on a
leaf, and each taking a side, they rode the dear about for a few
minutes, till she was used to the motion; then they dropped the leaf,
and the little elf finding herself falling spread her wings and flew
away to a tall bush, to the great delight of all who saw it.

But the riding was very funny, and Eva soon forgot everything else in
watching the gay creatures mount their various horses and fly or gallop
round the ring while the teacher--a small fellow in a gay cap and green
suit--stood on the moss-mound, cracking a long whip and telling them how
to ride in the best fairy fashion.

Several lady elves learned to mount butterflies gracefully and float
where they liked, sitting firmly when the winged horses alighted on the
flowers. The boy elves preferred field-mice, who went very swiftly
round and round, with saddles of woven grass and reins of yellow
bindweed, which looked well on the little gray creatures, who twinkled
their bright eyes and whisked their long tails as if they liked it.

But the best fun of all was when the leaping began; and Eva quite
trembled lest some sad accident should happen; for grasshoppers were led
out, and the gallant elves leaped over the highest flower-tops without
falling off.

It was very funny to see the queer hoppers skip with their long legs,
and when Puck, the riding-master, mounted, and led a dozen of his pupils
a race round the track, all the rest of the elves laughed aloud and
clapped their hands in great glee; for Puck was a famous fairy, and his
pranks were endless.

Eva was shouting with the rest as the green horses came hopping by, when
Puck caught her up before him, and away they raced so swiftly that her
hair whistled in the wind and her breath was nearly gone. A tremendous
leap took them high over the little hill and landed Eva in a tall
dandelion, where she lay laughing and panting as if on a little yellow
sofa, while Trip and her mates fanned her and smoothed her pretty hair.

"That was splendid!" she cried. "I wish I was a real fairy, and always
lived in this lovely place. Everything will seem so ugly and big and
coarse when I go home I shall never be happy again."

"Oh, yes, you will," answered Trip, "for after this visit you will be
able to hear and see and know what others never do, and that will make
you happy and good. You believed in us, and we reward all who love what
we love, and enjoy the beautiful world they live in as we do."

"Thank you," said Eva. "If I can know what the birds sing and the brook,
and talk with the flowers, and see faces in the sky, and hear music in
the wind, I won't mind being a child, even if people call me queer."

"You shall understand many lovely things and be able to put them into
tales and songs that all will read and sing and thank you for," said
Moonbeam, a sweet, thoughtful elf, who stole quietly about, and was
always singing like a soft wind.

"Oh, that is what I always wanted to do," cried Eva, "for I love my
song-books best, and never find new ones enough. Show me more, dear
elves, so that I can have many fine tales to tell when I am old enough
to write."

"Come, then, and see our sweetest sight. We cannot show it to every one,
but your eyes will be able to see through the veil, and you will
understand the meaning of our flower-heaven."

So Moonlight led her away from all the rest, along a little winding path
that went higher and higher till they stood on a hilltop.

"Look up and follow me," said the elf, and touching Eva's shoulders with
her wand, a pair of wings shot out, and away she floated after her guide
toward what looked like a white cloud sailing in the blue sky.

When they alighted a soft mist was round them, and through it Eva saw a
golden glimmer like sunshine.

"Look, but do not speak," said Moonlight, beckoning her along.

Soon the mist passed away and nothing but a thin veil of gossamer like a
silken cobweb hung between them and the world beyond. "Can you see
through it?" whispered the elf anxiously.

Eva nodded, and then forgot everything to look with all her eyes into a
lovely land of flowers; for the walls were of white lilies, the trees
were rose-trees, the ground blue violets, and the birds the little
yellow canary-plant, whose blossoms are like birds on the wing.
Columbines sounded their red horns, and the air was filled with delicate
voices, unlike any ever heard before, because it was the sweet breath of
flowers set to music.

But what surprised Eva most was the sight of a common dandelion, a tuft
of clover, a faded mignonette-plant, with several other humble flowers,
set in a little plot by themselves as if newly come, and about them
gathered a crowd of beautiful spirits, so bright, so small, so perfect
that Eva could hardly see them, and winked as if dazzled by the sunshine
of this garden among the clouds.

"Who are they? and why do they care for those poor flowers?" whispered
Eva, forgetting that she must not speak.

Before Moonlight could answer, all grew dim for a moment, as if a cold
breath had passed beyond the curtain and chilled the delicate world
within.

"Hush! mortal voices must not be heard here," answered the elf with a
warning look.

"These lovely creatures are the spirits of flowers who did some good
deed when they bloomed on earth, and their reward is to live here
forever where there is no frost, no rain, no stormy wind to hurt them.
Those poor plants have just come, for their work is done, and their
souls will soon be set free from the shapes that hold them. You will see
how beautiful they have made themselves when out of the common flowers
come souls like the perfect ones who are welcoming them.

"That dandelion lived in the room of a poor little sick girl who had no
other toy, no other playmate. She watched and loved it as she lay on her
bed, for she was never well, and the good flower, instead of fading
without sunshine in that dreary room, bloomed its best, till it shone
like a little sun. The child died with it in her hand, and when she no
longer needed it, we saved it from being thrown away and brought it here
to live forever.

"The clover grew in a prison-yard, and a bad boy shut up there watched
it as the only green thing that made him think of the fields at home
where his mother was waiting and hoping he would come back to her.
Clover did her best to keep good thoughts in his mind and he loved her,
and tried to repent, and when he was told he might go, he meant to take
his flower with him but forgot it in his hurry to get home. We did not
forget, for the wind that goes everywhere had told us the little story,
and we brought brave Clover out of prison to this flower-heaven.

"Mignonette lived in a splendid garden, but no one minded her, for she
is only a little brown thing and hid in a corner, happy with her share
of sunshine and rain, and her daily task of blossoming green and strong.
People admired the other fine flowers and praised their perfume, never
knowing that the sweetest breath of all came from the nook where
Mignonette modestly hid behind the roses. No one ever praised her, or
came to watch her, and the gardener took no care of her. But the bees
found her out and came every day to sip her sweet honey, the butterflies
loved her better than the proud roses, and the wind always stopped for
a kiss as it flew by. When autumn came and all the other plants were
done blossoming, and stood bare and faded, there was modest Mignonette
still green and fresh, still with a blossom or two, and still smiling
contentedly with a bosom full of ripened seeds,--her summer work well
done, her happy heart ready for the winter sleep.

"But we said, 'No frost shall touch our brave flower; she shall not be
neglected another year, but come to live loved and honored in the
eternal summer that shines here.' Now look."

Eva brushed away the tears that had filled her eyes as she listened to
these little histories, and looking eagerly, saw how from the dandelion,
set free by the spells the spirits sang, there rose, light as down, a
little golden soul, in the delicate shape the others wore. One in pale
rose came from the clover, and a third in soft green with dusky wings;
but a bright face flew out of the mignonette. Then the others took hands
and floated round the new-comers in an airy dance, singing so joyfully
that Eva clapped her hands crying, "Happy souls! I will go home and try
to be as good as they were; then I may be as happy when I go away to my
heaven."

The sound of her voice made all dark, and she would have been frightened
if the elf had not taken her hand and led her back to the edge of the
cloud, saying as they flew down to Fairyland--"See, the sun is setting;
we must take you home before this midsummer day ends, and with it our
power to make ourselves known."

Eva had so much to tell that she was ready to go; but a new surprise
waited for her, and she saw a fairy spectacle as she came again before
the palace.

Banners of gay tulip-leaves were blowing in the wind from the lances of
reeds held by a troop of elves mounted on mice; a car made of a curled
green leaf with checkerberry wheels and cushions of pink mushrooms stood
ready for her, and Trip as maid of honor helped her in. Lady elves on
butterflies flew behind, and the Queen's trumpeters marched before
making music on their horns. All the people of Elfland lined the way,
throwing flowers, waving their hands, and calling, "Farewell, little
Eva! Come again! Do not forget us!" till she was out of sight.

"How sweet and kind you are to me. What can I do to thank you?" said Eva
to Trip, who sat beside her as they rolled along,--a gay and lovely
sight, if any but fairy eyes could have seen it.

"Remember all you have seen and heard. Love the good and beautiful
things you will find everywhere, and be always a happy child at heart,"
answered Trip with a kiss.

Before Eva could speak the sun set and in a moment every elf was
invisible, all the pretty show was gone, and the child stood alone by
the brook. But she never forgot her visit to Fairyland, and as she grew
up she seemed to be a sort of elf herself, happy, gay, and good, with
the power of making every one love her as she went singing and smiling
through the world. She wrote songs that people loved to sing, told tales
children delighted to read, and found so much wisdom, beauty, and music
everywhere, that it was very plain she understood the sweet language of
bird and flower, wind and water, and remembered all the lessons the
elves taught her.




V.

SUNSHINE, AND HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS.


[Illustration: Sunshine was a sweet creature, and a great comfort to her
mother.--PAGE 92.]

Once upon a time there was a very wise old spirit called Mother Nature,
who lived in a beautiful place, and had a large family of children, whom
she found it rather hard to manage. When they obeyed her, all went well;
but when they played pranks or quarrelled, everything was in confusion,
and all sorts of trouble came.

Sunshine, the eldest girl, was a sweet creature, always good, and a
great comfort to her mother at all seasons. So were South and West Winds
nice little girls; but Lightning, Thunder's twin sister, was very
naughty, and liked to do mischief. Snow, the fourth daughter, was a
cold, quiet spirit, fond of covering up the world with the nice white
sheets she kept folded away in the sky. Rain was always crying, East
Wind sulking, Thunder and Hail scolding and growling, and North Wind,
the biggest of the boys, went roaring and blustering about so fiercely
that every one ran before him, though his wholesome breath freshened the
world, and blew away much rubbish, which his gentle sisters could not
manage as they kept house.

"Now, my dears, I'm very tired and going to take a nap, so be good
children; do your tasks nicely, and wake me in March," said Mother
Nature, one November day, when her summer work was over, and her time
for rest had come.

"Yes, mamma," said Sunshine, as she tucked her up with a kiss. "I will
do my best to keep the girls busy and the boys in order. Have a good
sleep, and I'll call you in time for the spring work."

Then the old lady tied her night-cap over her ears, and dozed off quite
comfortably, while her good daughter, after a last smile at the frosty
world, went to her spinning, that there might be plenty of sunshine for
the next summer.

"It's my turn now, and I'll cry as much as I like, for mother isn't here
to stop me, and Sunny can't," said Rain; and down came floods of tears,
while his brother, East Wind, began to blow till every one shivered, and
coughs and colds and fog and mud made the world a dismal place. Sunny
begged them to stop and give her a chance now and then, but they would
not; and everybody said what a dreadful month November was that year.

Fortunately it was soon time for North Wind and his favorite sister Snow
to come back from Iceland; and the moment the older brother's loud voice
was heard, Rain and East ran and hid, for they were rather afraid of
him.

"Ha, what a mess those rascals have made! Never mind, we'll soon have it
all nice and tidy for Christmas," said North, as he dried up the mud,
blew away the fog, and got the world ready for Snow to cover with her
beautiful down quilt. In a day or two it looked like a fairy world, and
Sunshine peeped out to do her part, making the ice on the trees glitter
like diamonds, the snowy drifts shine like silver, and fill the blue sky
full of light.

Then every one rejoiced, bells jingled merrily, children coasted and
snow-balled; Christmas trees began to grow, and all faces to glow as
they never do at any other time.

"The holydays shall be pleasant if I can only keep those bad boys in a
good humor," said Sunny; and to make sure of them she fed Rain and East
Wind on plum-cake with poppy-seeds in it, so they slept like dormice
till the New Year was born.

Snow had her frolics, and no one minded, because she was so pretty; and
North was so amiable just then that the white storms only made fine
sleighing, and the fresh air kept cheeks rosy, eyes sparkling, lips
laughing, and hearts happy as they should be at that blessed season.

Sunshine was so pleased that she came out to see the fun, and smiled so
warmly that a January thaw set in.

"Dear me, I forgot that I must not be too generous at this season, or it
makes trouble; for, though people enjoy my pleasant days, they leave off
their furs and get cold. I'll go back to my spinning and only smile
through the window; then no harm will be done."

Thunder and Lightning had been in Italy all this time, and they too got
into mischief. Their mother had shut the twins up in a volcano to keep
them out of the way till summer, when they were useful. Down there they
found playmates to suit them, and had fine times rumbling and boiling,
and sending out hot lava and showers of ashes to scare the people who
lived near by. Growing tired of this, they at last planned to get up an
earthquake and escape. So they kicked and shook the world like children
tumbling about under the bed-clothes; and the fire roared, and Thunder
growled, and Lightning flew about trying to get the lid of the volcano
off. At last she did, and out they all burst with such a dreadful noise
that the poor people thought the end of the world had come. Towns fell
down, hills moved, the sea came up on the shore, ashes and stones
covered up a whole city, and destruction and despair were everywhere.

"There! wasn't that a fine frolic? Mother won't dare to shut us up
again, I fancy, when she sees what a piece of work we make for her,"
said naughty Lightning, dashing about to peep through the smoke at the
sad scene below.

"Grand fun! but if Sunshine wakes mother we shall wish we had not done
it. Let's run away to Africa and hide till this is all forgotten,"
answered Thunder, rather ashamed of such a dreadful prank.

So they flew off, leaving great sorrow behind them; but Sunshine did not
wake mamma, though West Wind came home from Italy to tell her all about
it. There was trouble here also, for Rain and East Wind had waked up,
and were very angry to find they had been dosed with poppy-seeds.

"Now we'll pay Sunny for that, and turn everything topsy-turvy," they
said; and calling Hail, they went to work.

Rain emptied all his water-buckets till the rivers rose and flooded the
towns; the snow on the hills melted and covered the fields, washed away
the railroads, carried off houses, and drowned many poor animals; Hail
pelted with his stones, and East Wind blew cold and shrill till there
was no comfort anywhere.

Poor Sunny was at her wits' end with all these troubles; but she would
not wake her mother, and tried to manage her unruly brothers alone. West
helped her, for while Sunny shone, and shone so sweetly that Rain had to
stop crying, West tugged at the weather-cocks till she made East give
way, and let her blow for a while. He was out of breath and had to
yield; so the "bad spell of weather" was over, and the poor,
half-drowned people could get dry and fish their furniture out of the
flood, and moor their floating houses at last. Sunny kept on smiling
till she dried up the ground. West sent fresh gales to help her, and by
March things looked much better.

"Now do be good children, and let us get ready for the spring-cleaning
before mother wakes. I don't know what she _will_ say to the boys, but
I've done my best, and I hope she will be pleased with me," said
Sunshine, when at last she sat down to rest a moment, tired out.

All the brothers and sisters except the naughty twins, gathered about
her, and promised to be very good, for they loved her and were sorry for
their pranks. Each tried to help her, and March was a very busy month,
for all the winds blew in turn; even gentle South from far away came
home to do her part. Snow folded up her down quilts and packed them
away; Rain dropped a few quiet showers to swell the buds and green the
grass, and Sunny began to shake out the golden webs of light she had
been spinning all winter. Every one worked so well that April found that
part of the world in fine order; and when South Wind blew open the first
hyacinths, Mother Nature smelt them, began to rub her eyes and wake up.

"Bless me, how I've slept. Why didn't you rouse me sooner, dear? Ah, my
good child, I see you've tried to do my work and get all ready for me,"
said the old lady, throwing away her night-cap, and peeping out of
window at the spring world budding everywhere.

Then sitting in her mother's lap, Sunny told her trials and
tribulations. At some Mamma Nature laughed, at others she frowned; and
when it came to the earthquake and the flood, she looked very sober,
saying, as she stroked her daughter's bright hair,--

"My darling, I can't explain these things to you, and I don't always
understand why they happen; but you know we have only to obey the King's
orders and leave the rest to him. He will punish my naughty children if
he sees fit, and reward my good ones; so I shall leave them to him, and
go cheerfully on with my own work. That is the only way to keep our
lovely world in order and be happy. Now, call your brothers and sisters
and we will have our spring frolic together."

They all came, and had a merry time; for as every one knows, April has
every kind of weather; so each had a turn to show what he or she could
do, and by May-day things were in fine trim, though East would nip the
May queen's little nose, and all Sunny's efforts could only coax out a
few hardy dandelions for the eager hands to pick.

But the children were happy, for spring had come; Mother Nature was
awake again, and now all would be well with the world.

[Illustration]




VI.

THE FAIRY SPRING.


[Illustration: Before her was the spirit, so beautiful and smiling, May
could only clasp her hands and look.--PAGE 116.]

One summer morning a party of little wood-people were talking together
about something which interested them very much. The fruit-fairy was
eating her breakfast as she swung on a long spray of the raspberry-vines
that waved in the wind; a blue-bird was taking his bath in the pool
below, looking as if a bit of the sky had fallen into the water as he
splashed and shook the drops from his wings; Skip, the squirrel, was
resting on the mossy wall, after clearing out his hole of last year's
nuts, to be ready for a new supply; Spin, the spider, was busily
spreading her webs to bleach, and Brownie, the little bear, was warming
his fuzzy back in the sunshine, for his den was rather dark and cold.

"It is such a pity that no one understands what the brook is trying to
tell them. If they only knew about the fairy spring as we do, this is
just the day to set out and find it," said Iris, the elf, as she took
the last sip of raspberry shrub from the pretty red cup, and wiped her
lips on a napkin Spin had made for her.

"Ah, if they only did! how glad I should be to show them the way,"
answered the blue-bird, as he dried his feathers on a mossy stone, while
the caddis-worms all popped their heads out of sight in their little
stone houses for fear he might eat them up.

"I have called every child I see, and done my best to lead them up the
mountain; but they won't come, and I cannot make them understand the
sweet words the brook keeps singing. How dull human creatures are! Even
Brownie knows this song, though he is a dear, clumsy thing, always going
to sleep when he is not eating," said Skip, with a twinkle in his bright
eye; for he and the little bear were good friends, though one was so
brisk and the other so big and awkward.

"Of course I do; I've heard it ever since I was born, and the first long
walk I took was up the mountain to find the wonderful spring. I drank of
it, and have been the happiest creature alive ever since," answered
Brownie, with a comfortable roll on the green grass.

"I am too busy to go, but my cousin Velvetback often comes down and
tells me about the splendid life he leads up there, where no foot ever
treads on him, no hand ever breaks his webs, and everything is so still
and bright that he always is in a hurry to get home again. When my
weaving and bleaching are all done I am going up to see for myself;" and
Spin shook off the tiny drops of dew which shone like diamonds on her
largest web.

"There is one child who comes every day to look at the brook and listen
to its babble as it runs under the little bridge over there. I think
_she_ will soon hear what it says, and then we will lead her along
higher and higher till she finds the spring, and is able to tell every
one the happy secret," said Iris, shaking out her many-colored robe
before she skimmed away to float over the pool, so like a glittering
dragon-fly few guessed that she was a fairy.

"Yes, she is a sweet child," said the blue-bird, hopping to the wall to
look along the lane to see if she was coming. "She never throws pebbles
in the water to disturb the minnows, nor breaks the ferns only to let
them die, nor troubles us as we work and play as most children do. She
leans there and watches us as if she loved us, and sings to herself as
if she were half a bird. I like her, and I hope she will be the first to
find the spring."

"So do I," said Skip, going to sit by his friend and watch for the
child, while Brownie peeped through a chink in the wall that she might
not be frightened at sight of him, small as he was.

"She is coming! she is coming!" called Iris, who had flown to the
railing of the rustic bridge, and danced for joy as a little figure came
slowly down the winding lane.

A pretty child, with hair like sunshine, eyes blue as the sky, cheeks
like the wild roses nodding to her on either side of the way, and a
voice as sweet as the babbling brook she loved to sing with. May was
never happier than when alone in the woods; and every morning, with her
cup, and a little roll of bread in her basket, she wandered away to some
of her favorite nooks, to feast on berries, play with the flowers, talk
to the birds, and make friends with all the harmless wood-creatures who
soon knew and welcomed her.

She had often wondered what the brook sang, and tried to catch the words
it seemed to be calling to her. But she never quite understood till this
day, for when she came to the bridge and saw her friends--blue-bird,
squirrel, and dragon-fly--waiting for her, she smiled, and waved her
hand to them, and just at that moment she heard the song of the brook
quite plainly,--

    "I am calling, I am calling,
      As I ripple, run, and sing,
    Come up higher, come up higher,
      Come and find the fairy spring.
    Who will listen, who will listen
      To the wonders I can tell,
    Of a palace built of sunshine,
      Where the sweetest spirits dwell?--
    Singing winds, and magic waters,
      Golden shadows, silver rain,
    Spells that make the sad heart happy,
      Sleep that cures the deepest pain.
    Cheeks that bloom like summer roses,
      Smiling lips and eyes that shine,
    Come to those who climb the mountain,
      Find and taste the fairy wine.
    I am calling, I am calling,
      As I ripple, run, and sing;
    Who will listen, who will listen,
      To the story of the spring?"

"Where is it; oh, where is it?" cried May, when the song ended; for she
longed to see this lovely place and enjoy these beautiful things.

    "Go up higher, go up higher,
      Far beyond the waterfall.
    Follow Echo up the mountain,
      She will answer to your call.
    Bird and butterfly and blossom,
      All will help to show the way;
    Lose no time, the day is going,
      Find the spring, dear little May,"

sung the brook; and the child was enchanted to hear the sweet voice
talking to her of this pleasant journey.

"Yes, I will go at once. I am ready, and have no fear, for the woods are
full of friends, and I long to see the mountain top; it must be so
lovely up there," she said, looking through the green arches where the
brook came dancing down over the rocks, far away to the gray peak,
hidden in clouds.

There lay the fairy spring, and she was going to find it. No one would
miss her, for she often played all day in the forest and went home with
the lambs at night. The brook said, "Make haste!" so away she went over
the wall, with Skip leaping before her, as if to show the safest stones
to set her little feet on. Iris waved the raspberry-sprays, to attract
her with the ripe fruit, and when the basket was nearly full, Blue-bird
flew from tree to tree to lead her on further into the wood. Brownie
dodged behind the rocks and fallen logs, waiting for his turn to come,
as he had a fine surprise for the little traveller by and by.

It was a lovely road, and May went happily on, with thick moss
underneath, shady boughs overhead, flowers to nod and smile at her, and
friends to guard, guide, and amuse her. Every ant stopped work to see
her pass; every mosquito piped his little song in her ear; birds leaned
out of their nests to bid her good-day, and the bright-eyed snakes,
fearing to alarm her, hid under the leaves. But lovely butterflies flew
round her in clouds; and she looked like a pretty one herself, with her
blue gown and sunny hair blowing in the wind.

So she came at last to the waterfall. Here the brook took a long leap
over some high rocks, to fall foaming into a basin fringed with ferns;
out of which it flowed again, to run faster than ever down to join the
river rolling through the valley, to flow at last into the mighty ocean
and learn a grander song.

"I never can get up there without wings," said May, as she looked at the
high rocks with a tangle of vines all over them. Then she remembered
what the brook told her, and called out,--

"Echo, are you here?"

"Here!" answered an airy voice.

"How can I climb up?"

"Climb up."

"Yes; but can I get through the vines?"

"Through the vines."

"It is very high, but I can try it."

"Try it, try it," answered the voice so clearly that May could not doubt
what to do.

"Well, if I'm brave I shall be helped."

"Be helped," answered Echo.

"Now I'm coming, and I hope I shall find you, sweet Echo."

"Find sweet Echo," sung the voice; and when May laughed, a softer laugh
answered her so gayly that she forgot her fear in eagerness to see this
new friend, hiding above the waterfall.

Up she went, and as if fairy hands cleared the way for her, the tangled
vines made a green ladder for her feet, while every time she stopped
for breath and called, as she peeped into the shadowy nooks or looked at
the dashing water, "Are you here?" the mocking voice always answered
from above,--

"Here!"

So she climbed safely up and sat to rest at the top, looking down the
valley where the brook danced and sparkled as if glad to see her on her
way. The air blew freshly, and the sun shone more warmly here, for the
trees were not so thick, and lovely glimpses of far-off hills and
plains, like pictures set in green frames, made one eager to go on and
see more.

Skip and Blue-bird kept her company, so she did not feel lonely, and
followed these sure guides higher and higher, till she came out among
the great bare cliffs, where rocks lay piled as if giants had been
throwing them about in their rough play.

"Oh, how large the world is! and what a little thing I am!" said May, as
she looked out over miles of country so far below that the towns looked
like toy villages, and people like ants at work. A strong wind blew, all
was very still, for no bird sang, and no flowers bloomed; only green
moss grew on the rocks, and tiny pines no longer than her finger
carpeted the narrow bits of ground here and there. An eagle flew high
overhead, and great white clouds sailed by, so near that May could feel
their damp breath as they passed.

The child felt a little fear, all was so vast and strange and wonderful;
and she seemed so weak and small that for a moment she half wished she
had not come. She was hungry and tired, but her basket was empty, and no
water appeared. She sighed, and looked from the mountain top, hidden in
mist, to the sunny valley where mother was, and a tear was about to
fall, when Iris came floating to her like a blue and silver butterfly,
and alighting on her hand let May see her lovely little face, and hear
her small voice as she smiled and sung,--

      "Have no fear,
      Friends are here,
    To help you on your way.
      The mountain's breast
      Will give you rest,
    And we a feast, dear May.
      Here at your feet
      Is honey sweet,
    And water fresh to sip.
      Fruit I bring
      On Blue-bird's wing,
    And nuts sends merry Skip.
      Rough and wild,
      To you, dear child,
    Seems the lonely mountain way;
      But have no fear,
      For friends are near,
    To guard and guide, sweet May."

Then at the tap of the fairy's wand up gushed fresh water from the rock;
Blue-bird dropped a long stalk of grass strung with raspberries like red
beads; Skip scattered his best nuts; and Brownie came lumbering up with
a great piece of honey-comb, folded in vine-leaves. He had found a
wild-bees' nest, and this was his surprise. He was so small and gentle,
and his little eyes twinkled so kindly, that May could not be afraid,
and gladly sat down on the crisp moss to eat and drink with her friends
about her.

It was a merry lunch, for all told tales, and each amused the little
pilgrim in his or her pretty way. The bird let her hold him on her hand
and admire his lovely blue plumes. Skip chattered and pranced till there
seemed to be a dozen squirrels there instead of one. Brownie stood on
his head, tried to dance, and was so funny in his clumsy attempts to
outdo the others that May laughed till many echoes joined in her
merriment. Iris told her splendid stories of the fairy spring, and
begged her to go on, for no one ever had so good a chance as she to find
out the secret and see the spirit who lived on the mountain top.

"I am strong and brave now, and will not turn back. Come with me, dear
creatures, and help me over these great rocks, for I have no wings,"
said May, trudging on again, much refreshed by her rest.

"I'll carry you like a feather, my dear; step up and hold fast, and see
me climb," cried Brownie, glad to be of use.

So May sat on his fuzzy back as on a soft cushion, and his strong legs
and sharp claws carried him finely over the rough, steep places, while
Blue-bird and Skip went beside her, and Iris flew in front to show the
way. It was a very hard journey, and poor fat Brownie panted and
puffed, and often stopped to rest. But May was so surprised and charmed
with the lovely clouds all about her that she never thought of being
tired. She forgot the world below, and soon the mist hid it from her,
and she was in a world of sunshine, sky, and white clouds floating about
like ships in a sea of blue air. She seemed to be riding on them when
one wrapped her in its soft arms; and more than once a tiny cloud came
and sat in her lap, like a downy lamb, which melted when she tried to
hold it.

"Now we are nearly there, and Velvet comes to meet us. These fine
fellows are the only creatures who live up here, and these tiny
star-flowers the only green things that grow," said Iris, at last, when
all the clouds were underneath, and the sky overhead was purple and
gold, as the sun was going down.

Velvet ran nimbly to give May a silver thread which would lead her
straight to the spring; and the path before her was carpeted with the
pretty white stars, that seemed to smile at her as if glad to welcome
her. She was so eager that she forgot her weariness, and hurried on
till she came at last to the mountain top, and there like a beautiful
blue eye looking up to heaven lay the fairy spring.

May ran to look into it, thinking she would see only the rock below and
the clouds above; but to her wonder there was a lovely palace reflected
in the clear water, and shining as if made of silver, with crystal bells
chiming with a sound like water-drops set to music.

"Oh, how beautiful! Is it real? Who lives there? Can I go to it?" cried
May, longing to sink down and find herself in that charming palace, and
know to whom it belonged.

"You cannot go till you have drunk of the water and slept by the spring;
then the spirit will appear, and you will know the secret," answered
Iris, filling a pearly shell that lay on the brim of the spring.

"Must I stay here all alone? I shall be cold and afraid so far from my
own little bed and my dear mother," said May, looking anxiously about
her, for the sky was growing dim and night coming on.

"We will stay with you, and no harm can come to you, for the spirit
will be here while you sleep. Drink and dream, and in the morning you
will be in a new world."

While Iris spoke Brownie had piled up a bed of star-flowers in a little
crevice of the rock; Velvet had spun a silken curtain over it to keep
the dew off; Blue-bird perched on the tallest stone to keep watch; and
when May had drunk a cup of the fairy water, and lay down, with Skip
rolled up for a pillow, and Brownie at her feet for a warm rug, Iris
waved her wand and sung a lullaby so sweet that the child was in
dreamland at once.

When she woke it was day, but she had no time to see the rosy sky, the
mist rolling away, or the sunshine dazzling down upon the world, for
there before her rising from the spring, was the spirit, so beautiful
and smiling, May could only clasp her hands and look. As softly as a
cloud the spirit floated toward her, and with a kiss as cool as a
dew-drop, she said in a voice like a fresh wind,--

"Dear child, you are the first to come and find me. Welcome to the
mountain and the secret of the spring. It is this: whoever climbs up
and drinks this water will leave all pain and weariness behind, and grow
healthy in body, happy in heart, and learn to see and love all the
simple wholesome things that help to keep us good and gay. Do you feel
tired now, or lonely, or afraid? Has the charm begun to work?"

"Yes," cried May, "I think it has, for I feel so happy, light, and well,
I could fly like a bird. It is so lovely here I could stay all my life
if I only had mamma to enjoy it with me."

"She will come, and many others. Little children often are wiser than
grown people, and lead them up without knowing it. Look and see what you
have done by this longing of yours for the mountain top, and the brave
journey that brought you here."

Then the spirit touched May's eyes, and looking down she saw the little
path by which she had come grow wider and smoother, till it wound round
and round the mountain like a broad white ribbon, and up this pleasant
path came many people. Some were pale and sad; some lame, some ill; some
were children in their mothers' arms; some old and bent, but were
climbing eagerly up toward the fairy spring,--sure of help and health
when they arrived.

"Can you cure them all?" asked May, delighted to see what hope and
comfort her journey had given others.

"Not all; but every one will be the better for coming, even the oldest,
the saddest, and the sickest; for my four servants, Sunshine, Fresh-air,
Water, and Rest, can work miracles, as you will see. Souls and bodies
need their help, and they never fail to do good if people will only come
to them and believe in their power."

"I am so glad, for mamma is often ill, and loves to come to the hills
and rest. Shall I see her soon? Can I go and tell her all I have
learned, or must I stay till she comes?" asked May, longing to run and
skip, she felt so well with the fairy water bubbling in her veins.

"Go and tell the news, and lead the others up. You will not see me, but
I am here; and my servants will do their work faithfully, for all who
are patient and brave. Farewell, dear child, no harm will come to you,
and your friends are waiting to help you down. But do not forget when
you are in the valley, or you will never find the fairy spring again."

Then the spirit vanished like mist, and May ran away, singing like a
bird, and skipping like a little goat, so proud and happy she felt as if
she could fly like a thistle-down. The path seemed very easy now, and
her feet were never tired. Her good friends joined her by the way, and
they had a merry journey back to the valley. There May thanked them and
hastened to tell all she had seen and heard and done. Few believed her;
most people said, "The child fell asleep and dreamed it." A few invalids
looked up and sighed to be there, but had no courage to climb so far. A
poet said he would go at once, and set off; so did a man who had lost
his wife and little children, and was very sad. May's mother believed
every word, and went hand in hand with the happy child along the path
that grew wider and smoother with every pair of feet that passed.

The wood-creatures nodded at May, and rejoiced to see the party go; but
there was no need of them now, so they kept out of sight, and only the
child and the poet saw them. Every one enjoyed the journey, for each
hour they felt better; and when at last they reached the spring, and May
filled her little cup for them to drink the sweet water, every one
tasted and believed, for health and happiness came to them with a single
draught.

The sad man smiled, and said he felt so near to heaven and his lost
children up there that he should stay. The poet began to sing the
loveliest songs he ever made, and pale mamma looked like a rose, as she
lay on the star-flowers, breathing the pure air, and basking in the
sunshine. May was the spirit of the spring for them, and washed away the
tears, the wrinkles, and the lines of pain with the blessed water, while
the old mountain did its best to welcome them with mild air, cloud
pictures, and the peace that lies above the world.

That was the beginning of the great cure; for when this party came down
all so beautifully changed, every one began to hurry away to try their
fortune also. Soon the wide road wound round and round, and up it
journeyed pilgrims from all parts of the world, till the spirit and her
servants had hundreds of visitors each day. People tried to build a
great house up there, and make money out of the spring; but every
building put up blew away, the water vanished, and no one was cured till
the mountain top was free again to all.

Then the spring gushed up more freshly than before; the little
star-flowers bloomed again, and all who came felt the beauty of the
quiet place, and were healed of all their troubles by the magic of the
hills where the spirit of health still lives to welcome and bless
whoever go to find her.

[Illustration]




VII.

QUEEN ASTER.


[Illustration: Golden-rod heard the soft sigh, and whispered, "What
troubles you, sweet neighbor?"--PAGE 133.]

For many seasons the Golden-rods had reigned over the meadow, and no one
thought of choosing a king from any other family, for they were strong
and handsome, and loved to rule.

But one autumn something happened which caused great excitement among
the flowers. It was proposed to have a queen, and such a thing had never
been heard of before. It began among the Asters; for some of them grew
outside the wall beside the road, and saw and heard what went on in the
great world. These sturdy plants told the news to their relations
inside; and so the Asters were unusually wise and energetic flowers,
from the little white stars in the grass to the tall sprays tossing
their purple plumes above the mossy wall.

"Things are moving in the great world, and it is time we made a change
in our little one," said one of the roadside Asters, after a long talk
with a wandering wind. "Matters are not going well in the meadow; for
the Golden-rods rule, and they care only for money and power, as their
name shows. Now, _we_ are descended from the stars, and are both wise
and good, and our tribe is even larger than the Golden-rod tribe; so it
is but fair that we should take our turn at governing. It will soon be
time to choose, and I propose our stately cousin, Violet Aster, for
queen this year. Whoever agrees with me, say Aye."

Quite a shout went up from all the Asters; and the late Clovers and
Buttercups joined in it, for they were honest, sensible flowers, and
liked fair play. To their great delight the Pitcher-plant, or
Forefathers' Cup, said "Aye" most decidedly, and that impressed all the
other plants; for this fine family came over in the "Mayflower," and was
much honored everywhere.

But the proud Cardinals by the brook blushed with shame at the idea of a
queen; the Fringed Gentians shut their blue eyes that they might not see
the bold Asters; and Clematis fainted away in the grass, she was so
shocked. The Golden-rods laughed scornfully, and were much amused at the
suggestion to put them off the throne where they had ruled so long.

"Let those discontented Asters try it," they said. "No one will vote for
that foolish Violet, and things will go on as they always have done; so,
dear friends, don't be troubled, but help us elect our handsome cousin
who was born in the palace this year."

In the middle of the meadow stood a beautiful maple, and at its foot lay
a large rock overgrown by a wild grape-vine. All kinds of flowers
sprung up here; and this autumn a tall spray of Golden-rod and a lovely
violet Aster grew almost side by side, with only a screen of ferns
between them. This was called the palace; and seeing their cousin there
made the Asters feel that their turn had come, and many of the other
flowers agreed with them that a change of rulers ought to be made for
the good of the kingdom.

So when the day came to choose, there was great excitement as the wind
went about collecting the votes. The Golden-rods, Cardinals, Gentians,
Clematis, and Bitter-sweet voted for the Prince, as they called the
handsome fellow by the rock. All the Asters, Buttercups, Clovers, and
Pitcher-plants voted for Violet; and to the surprise of the meadow the
Maple dropped a leaf, and the Rock gave a bit of lichen for her also.
They seldom took part in the affairs of the flower people,--the tree
living so high above them, busy with its own music, and the rock being
so old that it seemed lost in meditation most of the time; but they
liked the idea of a queen (for one was a poet, the other a
philosopher), and both believed in gentle Violet.

Their votes won the day, and with loud rejoicing by her friends she was
proclaimed queen of the meadow and welcomed to her throne.

"We will never go to Court or notice her in any way," cried the haughty
Cardinals, red with anger.

"Nor we! Dreadful, unfeminine creature! Let us turn our backs and be
grateful that the brook flows between us," added the Gentians, shaking
their fringes as if the mere idea soiled them.

Clematis hid her face among the vine leaves, feeling that the palace was
no longer a fit home for a delicate, high-born flower like herself. All
the Golden-rods raged at this dreadful disappointment, and said many
untrue and disrespectful things of Violet. The Prince tossed his yellow
head behind the screen, and laughed as if he did not mind, saying
carelessly,--

"Let her try; she never can do it, and will soon be glad to give up and
let me take my proper place."

So the meadow was divided: one half turned its back on the new queen;
the other half loved, admired, and believed in her; and all waited to
see how the experiment would succeed. The wise Asters helped her with
advice; the Pitcher-plant refreshed her with the history of the brave
Puritans who loved liberty and justice and suffered to win them; the
honest Clovers sweetened life with their sincere friendship, and the
cheerful Buttercups brightened her days with kindly words and deeds. But
her best help came from the rock and the tree,--for when she needed
strength she leaned her delicate head against the rough breast of the
rock, and courage seemed to come to her from the wise old stone that had
borne the storms of a hundred years; when her heart was heavy with care
or wounded by unkindness, she looked up to the beautiful tree, always
full of soft music, always pointing heavenward, and was comforted by
these glimpses of a world above her.

The first thing she did was to banish the evil snakes from her kingdom;
for they lured the innocent birds to death, and filled many a happy nest
with grief. Then she stopped the bees from getting tipsy on the wild
grapes and going about stupid, lazy, and cross, a disgrace to their
family and a terror to the flowers. She ordered the field-mice to nibble
all the stems of the clusters before they were ripe; so they fell and
withered, and did no harm. The vine was very angry, and the bees and
wasps scolded and stung; but the Queen was not afraid, and all her good
subjects thanked her. The Pitcher-plant offered pure water from its
green and russet cups to the busy workers, and the wise bees were
heartily glad to see the Grape-vine saloon shut up.

The next task was to stop the red and black ants from constantly
fighting; for they were always at war, to the great dismay of more
peaceful insects. She bade each tribe keep in its own country, and if
any dispute came up, to bring it to her, and she would decide it fairly.
This was a hard task; for the ants loved to fight, and would go on
struggling after their bodies were separated from their heads, so fierce
were they. But she made them friends at last, and every one was glad.

Another reform was to purify the news that came to the meadow. The wind
was telegraph-messenger; but the birds were reporters, and some of them
very bad ones. The larks brought tidings from the clouds, and were
always welcome; the thrushes from the wood, and all loved to hear their
pretty romances; the robins had domestic news, and the lively wrens bits
of gossip and witty jokes to relate. But the magpies made much mischief
with their ill-natured tattle and evil tales, and the crows criticised
and condemned every one who did not believe and do just as they did; so
the magpies were forbidden to go gossiping about the meadow, and the
gloomy black crows were ordered off the fence where they liked to sit
cawing dismally for hours at a time.

Every one felt safe and comfortable when this was done, except the
Cardinals, who liked to hear their splendid dresses and fine feasts
talked about, and the Golden-rods, who were so used to living in public
that they missed the excitement, as well as the scandal of the magpies
and the political and religious arguments and quarrels of the crows.

A hospital for sick and homeless creatures was opened under the big
burdock leaves; and there several belated butterflies were tucked up in
their silken hammocks to sleep till spring, a sad lady-bug who had lost
all her children found comfort in her loneliness, and many crippled ants
sat talking over their battles, like old soldiers, in the sunshine.

It took a long time to do all this, and it was a hard task, for the rich
and powerful flowers gave no help. But the Asters worked bravely, so did
the Clovers and Buttercups; and the Pitcher-plant kept open house with
the old-fashioned hospitality one so seldom sees now-a-days. Everything
seemed to prosper, and the meadow grew more beautiful day by day. Safe
from their enemies the snakes, birds came to build in all the trees and
bushes, singing their gratitude so sweetly that there was always music
in the air. Sunshine and shower seemed to love to freshen the thirsty
flowers and keep the grass green, till every plant grew strong and fair,
and passers-by stopped to look, saying with a smile,--

"What a pretty little spot this is!"

The wind carried tidings of these things to other colonies, and brought
back messages of praise and good-will from other rulers, glad to know
that the experiment worked so well.

This made a deep impression on the Golden-rods and their friends, for
they could not deny that Violet had succeeded better than any one dared
to hope; and the proud flowers began to see that they would have to give
in, own they were wrong, and become loyal subjects of this wise and
gentle queen.

"We shall have to go to Court if ambassadors keep coming with such gifts
and honors to her Majesty; for they wonder not to see us there, and will
tell that we are sulking at home instead of shining as _we_ only can,"
said the Cardinals, longing to display their red velvet robes at the
feasts which Violet was obliged to give in the palace when kings came to
visit her.

"Our time will soon be over, and I'm afraid we must humble ourselves or
lose all the gayety of the season. It is hard to see the good old ways
changed; but if they must be, we can only gracefully submit," answered
the Gentians, smoothing their delicate blue fringes, eager to be again
the belles of the ball.

Clematis astonished every one by suddenly beginning to climb the
maple-tree and shake her silvery tassels like a canopy over the Queen's
head.

"I cannot live so near her and not begin to grow. Since I must cling to
something, I choose the noblest I can find, and look up, not down,
forevermore," she said; for like many weak and timid creatures, she was
easily guided, and it was well for her that Violet's example had been a
brave one.

Prince Golden-rod had found it impossible to turn his back entirely upon
her Majesty, for he was a gentleman with a really noble heart under his
yellow cloak; so he was among the first to see, admire, and love the
modest faithful flower who grew so near him. He could not help hearing
her words of comfort or reproof to those who came to her for advice. He
saw the daily acts of charity which no one else discovered; he knew how
many trials came to her, and how bravely she bore them; how humbly she
asked help, and how sweetly she confessed her shortcomings to the wise
rock and the stately tree.

"She has done more than ever we did to make the kingdom beautiful and
safe and happy, and I'll be the first to own it, to thank her and offer
my allegiance," he said to himself, and waited for a chance.

One night when the September moon was shining over the meadow, and the
air was balmy with the last breath of summer, the Prince ventured to
serenade the Queen on his wind-harp. He knew she was awake; for he had
peeped through the ferns and seen her looking at the stars with her
violet eyes full of dew, as if something troubled her. So he sung his
sweetest song, and her Majesty leaned nearer to hear it; for she much
longed to be friends with the gallant Prince, and only waited for him to
speak to own how dear he was to her, because both were born in the
palace and grew up together very happily till coronation time came.

As he ended she sighed, wondering how long it would be before he told
her what she knew was in his heart.

Golden-rod heard the soft sigh, and being in a tender mood, forgot his
pride, pushed away the screen, and whispered, while his face shone and
his voice showed how much he felt,--

"What troubles you, sweet neighbor? Forget and forgive my unkindness,
and let me help you if I can,--I dare not say as Prince Consort, though
I love you dearly; but as a friend and faithful subject, for I confess
that you are fitter to rule than I."

As he spoke the leaves that hid Violet's golden heart opened wide and
let him see how glad she was, as she bent her stately head and answered
softly,--

"There is room upon the throne for two: share it with me as King, and
let us rule together; for it is lonely without love, and each needs the
other."

What the Prince answered only the moon knows; but when morning came all
the meadow was surprised and rejoiced to see the gold and purple flowers
standing side by side, while the maple showered its rosy leaves over
them, and the old rock waved his crown of vine-leaves as he said,--

"This is as it should be; love and strength going hand in hand, and
justice making the earth glad."




VIII.

THE BROWNIE AND THE PRINCESS.


[Illustration: Betty always wore a brown frock, a big brown hat, and,
being out in the sun a great deal, her face was as brown as a
berry.--PAGE 135.]

She was not a real Brownie, but a little girl named Betty, who lived
with her father in a cottage near a great forest. They were poor; so
Betty always wore a brown frock, a big brown hat, and, being out in the
sun a great deal, her face was as brown as a berry, though very pretty
with its rosy cheeks, dark eyes, and curly hair blowing in the wind. She
was a lively little creature, and having no neighbors she made friends
with the birds and flowers, rabbits and squirrels, and had fine frolics
with them, for they knew and loved her dearly. Many people drove through
the beautiful wood, which was not far from the King's palace; and when
they saw the little girl dancing with the daisies in the meadow, chasing
squirrels up the trees, splashing in the brook, or sitting under her big
hat like an elf under a mushroom, they would say, "There is the
Brownie."

Betty was wild and shy, and always tried to hide if any one called to
her; and it was funny to see her vanish in a hollow tree, drop down in
the tall grass, or skip away into the ferns like a timid rabbit. She was
afraid of the fine lords and ladies, who laughed at her and called her
names, but never thought to bring a book or a toy or say a kind word to
the lonely little girl.

Her father took care of the deer in the King's park and was away all
day, leaving Betty to sweep the little house, bake the brown bread, and
milk Daisy the white cow, who lived in the shed behind the cottage and
was Betty's dearest friend. They had no pasture for her to feed in; so,
when the work was done, Betty would take her knitting and drive Daisy
along the road where she could eat the grass on either side till she had
had enough and lay down to rest under some shady tree. While the cow
chewed her cud and took naps, the little girl would have fine games
among her playmates, the wood creatures, or lie watching the clouds, or
swing on the branches of the trees, or sail leaf boats in the brook. She
was happy; but she longed for some one to talk to, and tried vainly to
learn what the birds sang all day long. There were a great many about
the cottage, for no one troubled them, and they were so tame they would
eat out of her hand and sit on her head. A stork family lived on the
roof, swallows built their clay nests under the eaves, and wrens chirped
in their little homes among the red and white roses that climbed up to
peep in at Betty's window. Wood-pigeons came to pick up the grain she
scattered for them, larks went singing up from the grass close by, and
nightingales sang her to sleep.

"If I only knew what they said, we could have such happy times together.
How can I ever learn?" sighed Betty, as she was driving Daisy home one
day at sunset.

She was in the wood, and as she spoke she saw a great gray owl
fluttering on the ground as if he was hurt. She ran at once to see what
ailed the bird, and was not afraid, though his round eyes stared at her,
and he snapped his hooked beak as if very angry.

"Poor thing! its leg is broken," she said, wondering how she could help
it.

"No, it isn't; it's my wing. I leaned out of my nest up there to watch a
field mouse, and a ray of sunshine dazzled me so I tumbled down. Pick me
up, child, and put me back, and I shall be all right."

Betty was so surprised to hear the owl speak that she did not stir; and
thinking she was frightened at his cross tone, the gray bird said more
gently, with a blink of its yellow eyes and a wise nod,--

"I shouldn't speak to every one, nor trust any other child; but I know
you never hurt anything. I've watched you a long time, and I like you;
so I'm going to reward you by giving you the last wish you made,
whatever it is. I can: I'm a wizard, and I know all sorts of magic
charms. Put me in my nest, tell me your wish, and you shall have it."

"Oh, thank you!" cried Betty, joyfully. "I wished to understand what
birds say."

"Dear me, that's a wish that may make trouble; but I'll grant it if you
won't tell any one how you learned the secret. I can't have people
coming to me, and my neighbors won't want their gossip heard by many
ears. They won't mind you, and it will amuse you, poor thing!" said the
owl, after a pause.

Betty promised, and, holding the fat bird carefully in her arm, she
climbed up the old oak and put him safely in his hole, where he settled
himself with a great ruffling of feathers and a hoot of pleasure at
being home again.

"Now, pull the tallest bit of down off my right ear and put it in your
own; then you will hear what the birds say. Good-night; I'm used up and
want to rest," said the owl, with a gape.

"Thank you," said Betty, and ran after Daisy, who was slowly eating her
way home.

The bit of down lay snugly in Betty's ear, and in a moment she heard
many sweet voices called to one another,--"Good-night!" "Happy dreams!"
"A bright to-morrow;" "Lie still, my darlings;" "Hush, my birdie, sleep
till day,"--and all sorts of pretty things, as the wood-birds were going
to bed with the sun. When she came to the cottage the papa stork was
standing on one leg, while the mamma tucked the little ones under her
wings, scolding now and then as a red bill or a long leg popped out. The
doves were cooing tenderly in the pine that rustled near by, the
swallows skimming over the ground to catch and bring their babies a few
more gnats for supper, and the wrens were twittering among the roses
like the little gossips they were.

"Now I shall know what they all are saying," cried Betty, trying to hear
the different voices; for there were so many going at once it was
difficult to understand the sweet new language.

So she milked Daisy, set the table, and made ready for her father, who
was often late, then took her bowl of bread and milk and sat on the
door-step listening with all her might. She always strewed crumbs for
the wrens, and they flew down to eat without fear. To-night they came,
and as they pecked they talked, and Betty understood every word.

"Here's a fine soft bit, my love," said the papa, as he hopped briskly
about, with his bright eye on the little girl. "Have a good supper while
I feed the children. The child never forgets us, and saves me many a
long journey by giving us these nice crumbs. I wish we could do
something for her."

"So do I, and quite tire my wits trying to make some plan to give her
pleasure. I often wonder why the little Princess up at the palace has so
much and our dear Betty so little. A few of the books and toys that lie
about up there would make this child so happy. It is a pity no one
thinks of it;" and the kind Mamma Wren sighed as she ate a nice bit
close to Betty's bare foot.

"If she was not so shy and would let people speak to her, I think she
would soon make friends, she is so pretty and gay," answered the papa,
coming back for another load for the hungry babies in the nest.

"The Princess has heard of her and wants to see her. I heard the maids
talking about it to-day when I went to call on Cousin Tomtit in the
palace garden. They said her Highness was to drive through the pine wood
early to-morrow morning to breathe the fresh air, and hoped to see the
Brownie and the pretty white cow. Now, if Betty only knew it, she might
gather a posy of cowslips, and when the little lady comes give them to
her. That would please her very much and bring Betty some pretty gift;
for her Highness is generous, though sadly spoilt, I'm afraid."

This fine plan of Mamma Wren's pleased Betty so much that she clapped
her hands and startled the birds away.

"I'll do it! I'll do it!" she cried. "I always wanted to see the little
Princess father has told me about. She is ill, and cannot run and play
as I do, so I should love to please her, and the cowslips are all out.
I'll go early and get a hat full, and not run away if she comes."

Betty was so full of this delightful plan that she went early to bed,
but did not forget to lean out of her window and peep through the roses
into the nest where Mamma Wren brooded over her babies while the papa
roosted near by with his head under his wing.

"Good-night, dear birds; thank you very much," whispered Betty; but they
did not mind her, and only twittered sleepily as if a dream disturbed
them.

    "Up, up, little maid;
      Day has begun.
    Welcome with us
      Our father, the sun!"

sang the larks, as they rose from the grass and waked Betty with their
sweet voices.

    "Tweet, tweet, it is morning;
      Please get up, mamma.
    Do bring us some breakfast,
      Our dearest papa,"

twittered the young wrens, with their mouths wide open.

    "Click, clack, here's another day;
    Stretch our wings and fly away
    Over the wood and over the hills,
    Seeking food for our babies' bills;"

and away went the storks with their long legs trailing out behind, while
the little ones popped up their heads and stared at the sun.

    "Cluck! cluck!
    Here's good luck:
    Old yellow-legs
    Has laid two eggs,
    All fresh and sweet,
    For our girl to eat,"

cackled the gray hens, picking about the shed where the cock stood
crowing loudly.

    "Coo! coo! coo!
    Come, bathe in the dew;
    For the rosy dawn shines
    Through our beautiful pines.
    So kiss, every one,
    For a new day's begun,"

called the doves softly to one another as they billed and cooed and
tripped about on their little pink feet.

Betty looked and listened at her window, and was so happy she kissed the
roses nodding at her, then ran down to make the porridge, singing like a
bird herself. When her father had gone away to work she made haste to
milk Daisy, sweep the floor, and make all tidy for the day before she
went to wait for the Princess.

"Now, you eat your breakfast here while I get the cowslips; for this is
a pretty place to be in, and I want you to look very nice when the fine
people come," said Betty, as she left the cow to feed in a little shady
nook by the road where the grass was green and an old oak made pleasant
shade.

The cowslips were all open and as yellow as gold, so Betty made a great
nosegay of some and a splendid cowslip-ball of the rest; then she put
them in her hat, well sprinkled with water, and sat on a fallen log
knitting busily, while Daisy lay down to chew her cud, with a green
wreath of oak leaves round her neck for full dress.

They did not have to wait long. Soon the tramp of horses was heard, and
along the wood-road came the white ponies tossing their heads, the
pretty carriage with coachman and footman in blue and silver coats, and
inside the little Princess, with white plumes waving from her hat as she
sat by her nurse, wrapt in a soft silken cloak, for the summer air
seemed cold to her.

"Oh, there's the Brownie and her pretty white cow! Tell her not to run
away, I want to see her and hear her sing," cried the little Princess,
eagerly, as they came nearer.

Betty was rather scared, but did not run away; for the nurse was a
kind-looking old woman in a high peasant cap, who smiled and nodded at
her with a motherly look, and seemed much pleased when she held up the
cowslips, saying,--

"Will the little lady have them?"

"Oh yes, I wanted some; I never had a cowslip ball before. How pretty it
is! Thank you, Brownie," cried the Princess, with both hands full of
flowers as she laughed with pleasure.

"I picked them all for you. I have so many, and I heard you cried for
some," said Betty, very glad that she had not run away and spoiled the
little lady's drive.

"How did you know?" asked the Princess, staring at her.

"The birds told me," said Betty.

"Oh yes! brownies are fairies, and understand bird-talk; I forgot that.
I know what parrots say, but not my other birds. Could you tell me?"
asked the Princess, leaning down very earnestly, for any new thing
pleased her.

"I think so, if tame ones sing like the wild ones," answered Betty,
proud to know more than the fine child did.

"Come to the palace and tell me; come now, I can't wait! My canary sings
all day, but I never understand a word, and I must. Tell her to come,
Nurse," commanded the Princess, who always had her own way.

"Can you?" asked the old woman. "We will bring you back at night. Her
Highness has a fancy to see you, and she will pay you for coming."

"I can't leave Daisy; we have no field to put her in, and if I shut her
up in the shed all day she will be hungry and call for me," answered
Betty, longing to go, but not liking to leave her dear cow to suffer.

"Put her in that field till you come back; I give you leave. All this
land is mine, so no one will blame you. Do it!" said the Princess,
waving her hand to the footman, who jumped down and had Daisy in the
great clover-field before Betty could say a word.

"She will like that; and now I can go if you don't mind my old gown and
hat,--I have no other clothes," she said, as the cow began to eat, and
the footman opened the carriage door for her.

"I like it. Come in.--Now, go home at once," said the Princess; and
there was poor little Betty rolling away in the grand carriage, feeling
as if it was all a fairy tale.

The Princess asked a great many questions, and liked her new friend more
and more; for she had never spoken to a poor child before, or known how
they live. Betty was excited by this fine adventure, and was so gay and
charming in her little ways that the old nurse soon forgot to watch lest
she should do or say something amiss.

When they drove up to the great marble palace shining in the sun, with
green lawns and terraces and blooming gardens all about it, Betty could
only hold her breath and look with all her eyes as she was led through
splendid halls and up wide stairs into a room full of pretty things,
where six gayly dressed maids sewed and chattered together.

The Princess went away to rest, but Betty was told to stay there and be
dressed before she went to play with her Highness. The room was full of
closets and chests and boxes and baskets, and as the doors opened and
the covers flew off, Betty saw piles of pretty frocks, hats, cloaks, and
all manner of dainty things for little girls to wear. Never had she
dreamed of such splendid clothes, all lace and ribbons, silk and velvet.
Hats with flowers and feathers, pretty pink and blue shoes with gold and
silver buckles, silk stockings like cobwebs, and muslin and linen
petticoats and nightgowns and little caps all embroidered as if by fairy
fingers.

She could only stand and look like one in a dream while the maids very
kindly took away her poor brown dress and hat, and after much gossip
over what looked best, at last put on a rosy muslin frock, a straw hat
with roses in it, and some neat shoes and stockings. Then when her hair
was smoothed in thick brown curls, they told her to look in the tall
mirror and tell what she saw there.

"Oh, what a pretty little girl!" cried Betty, smiling and nodding at the
other child, who smiled and nodded back at her. She did not know
herself, never having had any glass but a quiet pool in the wood or the
brook in the meadow.

The maids laughed, and then she saw who it was, and laughed with them,
and danced and courtesied and was very merry till a bell rang and she
was ordered to go to her Highness.

It was a lovely room, all hung with blue silk and lace, with a silver
bed, and chairs and couches of blue damask, pictures on the walls,
flowers in all the windows, and golden cages full of birds. A white cat
slept on its cushion, a tiny dog ran about with a golden collar hung
with bells, and books and toys were heaped on the tables. The Princess
was scolding her nurse because she wanted her to rest longer after the
drive; but when Betty came in looking so pretty and gay, the frown
changed to a smile, and she cried,--

"How nice you look! Not like a Brownie now; but I hope you have not
forgotten about the birds."

"No," said Betty; "let me listen a minute and I'll tell you what they
say."

So both were silent, and the maid and nurse kept as still as mice while
the canary sang his shrill, sweet song, and Betty's face grew sad as she
heard it.

"He says he is tired of his cage and longs to be free among the other
birds; for a tree is a better home than a golden palace, and a crumb in
the wood sweeter than all the sugar in his silver cup. 'Let me go! let
me go! or my heart will break!' That is what he says, and the bulfinch
sings the same song; so do the love birds and the beautiful gay one whom
I don't know."

"What does Polly say? I understand him when he talks, but not when he
scolds and chatters to himself as he is doing now," said the Princess,
looking much surprised at what she heard; for she thought her birds must
be happy in such fine cages.

Betty listened to the great red and green and blue parrot, who sat on a
perch wagging his head and chuckling to himself as if he were enjoying
some good joke. Presently Betty blushed and laughed, and looked both
troubled and amused at what she heard; for the bird was gabbling away
and nodding his head at her in a very funny manner.

"What does he say?" asked the Princess, impatiently.

"Please don't ask. You will not like it. I couldn't tell," said Betty,
still laughing and blushing.

"You _must_ tell, or I'll have Polly's neck wrung. I _will_ know every
word, and I won't be angry with _you_, no matter what that saucy bird
says," commanded the Princess.

"He says this," began Betty, not liking to obey, but afraid poor Polly
would be hurt if she did not: "'Now here's a new pet for her Highness to
torment. Nice, pretty little girl! Pity she came, to be made much of for
a day or two and then thrown away or knocked about like an old doll. She
thinks it all very fine here, poor thing! But if she knew all I know she
would run away and never come back; for a crosser, more spoilt child
than her Highness never lived.'"

Betty dared not go on, for the Princess looked angry; and the maid went
to slap the parrot, who gave a queer laugh and snapped at her fingers,
squalling out,--

"She is! she is! and you all say it behind her back. _I_ know your sly
ways. You praise and pet her, and pretend that she is the sweetest
darling in the world, when you know that this nice, rosy, good little
girl out of the wood is worth a dozen silly, tyrannical princesses. Ha!
ha! I'm not afraid to speak the truth, am I, Betty?"

Betty was frightened, but could not help laughing when the naughty bird
winked at her as he hung upside down, with his hooked beak wide open and
his splendid wings flapping.

"Tell me! tell me!" cried the Princess, forgetting her anger in
curiosity.

Betty had to tell, and was very glad when Bonnibelle laughed also, and
seemed to enjoy the truth told in this funny way.

"Tell him you know what he says, and ask him, since he is so wise, what
I shall do to be as good as you are," said the Princess, who really had
a kind little heart and knew that she was petted far too much.

Betty told the parrot she understood his language, and he was so
surprised that he got on his perch at once and stared at her, as he said
eagerly,--

"Don't let me be punished for telling truth, there's a dear child. I
can't take it back, and since you ask my advice, I think the best thing
you can do for her Highness is to let her change places with you and
learn to be contented and useful and happy. Tell her so, with my
compliments."

Betty found this a hard message to give; but it pleased Bonnibelle, for
she clapped her hands and cried,--

"I'll ask mamma. Would you like to do it, Brownie, and be a princess?"

"No, thank you," said Betty; "I couldn't leave my father and Daisy, and
I'm not fit to live in a palace. It's very splendid, but I think I love
the little house and the wood and my birds better."

The nurse and the maid held up their hands, amazed at such a fancy; but
Bonnibelle seemed to understand, and said kindly,--

"Yes; I think it is very dull here, and much pleasanter in the fields to
do as one likes. May I come and play with you, and learn to be like you,
dear Betty?"

She looked a little sad as she spoke, and Betty pitied her; so she
smiled and answered gladly,--

"Yes, that will be lovely. Come and stay with me, and I will show you
all my playmates, and you shall milk Daisy, and feed the hens, and see
the rabbits and the tame fawn, and run in the daisy field, and pull
cowslips, and eat bread and milk out of my best blue bowl."

"Yes, and have a little brown gown and a big hat like yours, and wooden
shoes that clatter, and learn how to knit, and climb trees, and what the
birds say!" added Bonnibelle, so charmed at the plan that she jumped off
the couch and began to skip about as she had not done for days before.

"Now come and see my toys, and choose any you like; for I'm fond of you,
dear, because you tell me new things and are not like the silly little
lords and ladies who come to see me, and only quarrel and strut about
like peacocks till I'm tired of them."

Bonnibelle put her arm round Betty, and led her away to a long hall so
full of playthings that it looked like a splendid toy-shop. Dolls by the
dozen were there,--dolls that talked and sang and walked and went to
sleep, fine dolls, funny dolls, big and little doll queens and babies,
dolls of all nations. Never was there such a glorious party of these
dear creatures seen before; and Betty had no eyes for anything else,
being a real little girl, full of love for dollies, and never yet had
she owned one.

"Take as many as you like," said Bonnibelle. "I'm tired of them."

It nearly took Betty's breath away to think that she might have a dozen
dolls if she chose. But she wisely decided that one was enough, and
picked out a darling baby-doll in its pretty cradle, with blue eyes
shut, and flaxen curls under the dainty cap. It would fill her motherly
little soul with joy to have this lovely thing to lie in her arms by
day, sleep by her side at night, and live with her in the lonely
cottage; for baby could say "Mamma" quite naturally, and Betty felt that
she would never be tired of hearing the voice call her by that sweet
name.

It was hard to tear herself from the cradle to see the other treasures;
but she went to and fro with Bonnibelle, admiring all she saw, till
Nurse came to tell them that lunch was ready and her Highness must play
no more.

Betty hardly knew how to behave when she found herself sitting at a fine
table with a footman behind her chair and all sorts of curious glass and
china and silver things before her. But she watched what Bonnibelle did,
and so got on pretty well, and ate peaches and cream and cake and dainty
white rolls and bonbons with a good appetite. She would not touch the
little birds in the silver dish, though they smelt very nice, but said
sadly,--

"No, thank you, sir; I couldn't eat my friends."

The footman tried not to laugh; but the Princess pushed away her own
plate with a frown, saying,--

"Neither will I. Give me some apricot jelly and a bit of angel cake. Now
that I know more about birds and what they think of me, I shall be
careful how I treat them. Don't bring any more to my table."

After lunch the children went to the library, where all the best
picture-books ever printed were ranged on the shelves, and cosey little
chairs stood about where one could sit and read delicious fairy tales
all day long. Betty skipped for joy when her new friend picked out a
pile of the gayest and best for her to take home; and then they went to
the music-room, where a band played beautifully and the Princess danced
with her master in a stately way that Betty thought very stupid.

"Now you must dance. I've heard how finely you do it; for some lords and
ladies saw you dancing with the daisies, and said it was the prettiest
ballet they ever looked at. You _must_! No, please do, dear Betty," said
Bonnibelle, commanding at first; then, remembering what the parrot said,
she spoke more gently.

"I cannot here before these people. I don't know any steps, and need
flowers to dance with me," said Betty.

"Then come on the terrace; there are plenty of flowers in the garden,
and I am tired of this," answered Bonnibelle, going through one of the
long windows to the wide marble walk where Betty had been longing to go.

Several peacocks were sitting on the steps, and they at once spread
their splendid tails and began to strut before the children, making a
harsh noise as they tossed the crowns of shining feathers on their
heads.

"What do they say?" asked the Princess.

"'Here comes the vain little creature who thinks her fine clothes
handsomer than ours, and likes to show them off to poorer people and put
on proud airs. We don't admire her; for we know how silly she is, for
all her fine feathers.'"

"I won't listen to any more rude words from these bad birds, and I won't
praise their splendid tails as I meant to. Go along, you vain things! no
one wants you here," cried Betty, chasing the peacocks off the terrace,
while the Princess laughed to see them drop their gorgeous trains and go
scurrying away with loud squawks of fear.

"It was true. I _am_ vain and silly; but no one ever dared to tell me
so, and I shall try to do better now I see how foolish those birds look
and how sweet you are," she said, when Betty came skipping back to her.

"I'll make a peacock dance for you. See how well I do it!" and Betty
began to prance, with her full pink skirt held up, and her head tossed,
and her toes turned out, so like the birds that old Nurse and the maid,
who had followed, began to laugh as well as Bonnibelle.

It was very funny; and when she had imitated the vain strutting and
fluttering of the peacocks, Betty suddenly dropped her skirt, and went
hurrying away, flapping her arms like wings and squawking dismally.

She wanted to please the Princess and make her forget the rude things
she had been forced to tell; so when she came running back she was glad
to find her very merry, and anxious for more fun.

"Now I'll do the tulip dance," said Betty, and began to bow and courtesy
to a bed full of splendid flowers, all gold and scarlet, white and
purple; and the tulips seemed to bow and courtesy back again like
stately lords and ladies at a ball. Such dainty steps, such graceful
sweeps and elegant wavings of the arms one never saw before; for Betty
imitated the tall blossoms waving in the wind, and danced a prettier
minuet with them than any ever seen at court.

"It is wonderful!" said the maid.

"Bless the dear! she must be a real fairy to do all that," said the old
nurse.

"Dance again! oh, please dance again, it is so pretty!" cried the
Princess, clapping her hands as Betty rose from her farewell courtesy
and came smiling toward her.

"I'll give you the wind dance; that is very gay, and this fine floor is
so smooth I feel as if my feet had wings."

With that Betty began to flutter to and fro like a leaf blown by the
wind; now she went down the terrace as if swept by a strong gust, now
she stood still, swaying a little in the soft breath of air, then off
she spun as if caught in a storm, eddying round and round till she
looked like a stray rose-leaf whisked over the ground. Sometimes she
whirled close to the Princess, then blew up against the stout old nurse,
but was gone before she could be caught. Once she went down the marble
steps at a bound and came flying over the railing as if in truth she did
have wings on her nimble feet. Then the gale seemed to die away, and
slowly the leaf floated to the ground at Bonnibelle's feet, to lie there
rosy, breathless, and tired.

Bonnibelle clapped her hands again; but before she could tell half her
delight, a beautiful lady came from the window, where she had seen the
pretty ballet. Two little pages carried her long train of silvery silk;
two ladies walked beside her, one holding a rose-colored parasol over
her head, the other with a fan and cushion; jewels shone on her white
hands and neck and in her hair, and she was very splendid, for this was
the Queen. But her face was sweet and lovely, her voice very soft, and
her smile so kind that Betty was not afraid, and made her best courtesy
prettily.

When the red damask cushion was laid on one of the carved stone seats,
and the pages had dropped the train, and the maids had shut the parasol
and handed the golden fan, they stepped back, and only the Queen and
nurse and little girls were left together.

"Does the new toy please you, darling?" asked the shining lady, as
Bonnibelle ran to climb into her lap and pour out a long story of the
pleasant time she had been having with the Brownie. "Indeed I think she
is a fairy, to make you so rosy, gay, and satisfied."

"Who taught you to dance so wonderfully, child?" asked the Queen, when
she had kissed her little daughter, glad to see her look so unlike the
sad, cross, or listless creature she usually found.

"The wind, Lady Queen," answered Betty, smiling.

"And where did you get the fine tales you tell?"

"From the birds, Lady Queen."

"And what do you do to have such rosy cheeks?"

"Eat brown bread and milk, Lady Queen."

"And how is it that a lonely child like you is so happy and good?"

"My father takes care of me, and my mother in heaven keeps me good, Lady
Queen."

When Betty said that, the Queen put out her hand and drew the little
girl closer, as if her tender heart pitied the motherless child and
longed to help if she only knew how.

Just then the sound of horses' feet was heard in the great courtyard
below, trumpets sounded, and every one knew that the king had come home
from hunting. Presently, with a jingling of spurs and trampling of
boots, he came along the terrace with some of his lords behind him.

Every one began to bow except the Queen, who sat still with the Princess
on her knee, for Bonnibelle did not run to meet her father as Betty
always did when he came home. Betty thought she would be afraid of the
King, and so she would perhaps, if he had worn his crown and ermine
cloak and jewels everywhere; but now he was dressed very like her
father, in hunter's green, with a silver horn over his shoulder, and no
sign of splendor about him but the feather in his hat and the great ring
that glittered when he pulled off his glove to kiss the Queen's hand; so
Betty smiled and bobbed her little courtesy, looking boldly up in his
face.

He liked that, and knew her, for he had often seen her when he rode
through the wood.

"Come hither, Brownie, I have a story you will like to hear," he said,
sitting down beside the Queen and beckoning to Betty with a friendly
nod.

She went and stood at his knee, eager to hear, while all the lords and
ladies bent forward to listen, for it was plain that something had
happened beside the killing of a stag that day.

"I was hunting in the great oak wood two hours ago, and had knelt down
to aim at a splendid stag," began the King, stroking Betty's brown head,
"when a wild boar, very fierce and large, burst out of the ferns behind
me just as I fired at the deer. I had only my dagger left to use, but I
sprang up to face him, when a root tripped my foot, and there I lay
quite helpless, as the furious old fellow rushed at me. I think this
little maid here would have been Queen Bonnibelle to-morrow if a brave
woodman had not darted from behind a tree and with one blow of his axe
killed the beast as he bent his head to gore me. It was your father,
Brownie, and I owe my life to him."

As the King ended, a murmur rose, and all the lords and ladies looked as
if they would like to give a cheer; but the Queen turned pale and old
Nurse ran to fan her, while Bonnibelle put out her arms to her father,
crying,--

"No, I will never be a queen if you die, dear papa!"

The King took her on one knee and set Betty on the other, saying
gayly,--

"Now what shall we do for this brave man who saved me?"

"Give him a palace to live in, and millions of money," said the
Princess, who could think of nothing better.

"I offered him a house and money, but he wanted neither, for he loved
his little cottage and had no need of gold, he said. Think again, little
maids, and find something he _will_ like," said the King, looking at
Betty.

"A nice field for Daisy is all he wants, Lord King," she answered
boldly; for the handsome brown face with the kind eyes was very like her
father's, she thought.

"He shall have it. Now wish three wishes for yourself, my child, and I
will grant them if I can."

Betty showed all her little white teeth as she laughed for joy at this
splendid offer. Then she said slowly,--

"I have but one wish now, for the Princess has given me a dear doll and
many books; so I am the happiest creature in all the kingdom, and have
no wants."

"Contented little lass! Who of us can say the same?" said the King,
looking at the people round him, who dropped their eyes and looked
foolish, for they were always asking favors of the good King. "Well, now
let us know the one thing I can do to please brave woodman John's little
daughter."

"Please let the Princess come and play with me," said Betty, eagerly.

The lords looked horrified, and the ladies as if they would faint away
at the mere idea of such a dreadful thing. But the Queen nodded,
Bonnibelle cried, "Oh, do!" and the King laughed as he asked in a
surprised tone,--

"But why not come and play with her here? What is there at the cottage
that we have not at the palace?"

"Many things, Lord King," answered Betty. "She is tired of the palace
and everything in it, she says, and longs to run about in the wood, and
be well and gay and busy all day long, as I am. She wants to bake and
milk and sweep and knit, and hear the wind blow, and dance with the
daisies, and talk with my birds, and dream happy dreams, and love to be
alive, as I do."

"Upon my word, here's a bold Brownie! But she is right, I think; and if
my Princess can get a pair of cheeks like these down at the cottage, she
shall go as often as she likes," said the King, amused at Betty's free
words, and struck by the contrast between the two faces before him, one
like a pale garden lily and the other like a fresh wild rose.

Then Bonnibelle burst out and told all the story of the day, talking as
she had never talked before; and every one listened, amazed to see how
lively and sweet her Highness could be, and wondered what had made such
a sudden change. But the old nurse went about, saying in a whisper,--

"She is a real Brownie, I know it; for no mortal child would be so bold
and bright, and do what she has done,--bewitched both King and Queen,
and made her Highness a new child."

So all looked at Betty with great respect; and when at last the talk was
over and the King rose to go, with a kiss for each little girl, every
one bowed and made way for the Brownie, as if she too were a Princess.

But Betty was not proud; for she remembered the peacocks as she walked
hand in hand with Bonnibelle after the royal papa and mamma over the
terrace to the great hall, where the feast was spread and music sounding
splendidly.

"You shall sit by me and have my golden cup," said Bonnibelle, when the
silver horns were still, and all waited for the King to hand the Queen
to her place.

"No, I must go home. It is sunset; Daisy must be milked, and father's
supper ready when he comes. Let me run away and get my old clothes;
these are too fine to wear in the cottage," answered Betty, longing to
stay, but so faithful to her duty that even the King's command could not
keep her.

"Tell her to stay, papa; I want her," cried Bonnibelle, going to the
great gilded chair where her father sat.

"Stay, child," said the King, with a wave of the hand where the great
jewel shone like a star.

But Betty shook her head and answered sweetly,--

"Please do not make me, dear Lord King. Daisy needs me, and father will
miss me sadly if I do not run to meet him when he comes home."

Then the King smiled, and said heartily,--

"Good child! we will not keep you. Woodman John gave me my life, and I
will not take away the comfort of his. Run home, little Brownie, and God
bless you!"

Betty tripped upstairs, and put on her old frock and hat, took one of
the finest books and the dear doll, leaving the rest to be sent next
day, and then tried to slip away by some back door; but there were so
many halls and steps she got lost, and came at last into the great hall
again. All were eating now; and the meat and wine and spicy pies and
piles of fruit smelt very nice, and Betty would have only brown bread
and milk for supper; but she did not stay, and no one but the pages saw
her as she ran down the steps to the courtyard, like Cinderella hurrying
from the hall when the clock struck twelve and all her fine clothes
vanished.

She had a very happy walk through the cool green wood, however, and a
happy hour telling her father all about this wonderful day; but the
happiest time of all was when she went to bed in her little room, with
the darling baby fast asleep on her arm, and the wrens talking together
among the roses of how much good their wise Brownie would do the
Princess in the days to come.

Then Betty fell asleep and dreamed such lovely dreams of the moon with a
sweet face like the Queen's smiling at her, of her father looking as
proud and handsome as the King, with his axe on his shoulder and the
great boar dead at his feet; and Bonnibelle, rosy, gay, and strong,
working and playing with her like a little sister in the cottage, while
all the birds sang gayly:--

    "Bonnibelle! Bonnibelle!
    Listen, listen, while we tell
    A sweet secret all may know,
    How a little child may grow
    Like a happy wayside flower,
    Warmed by sun, fed by shower,
    Rocked by wind, loved by elf,
    Quite forgetful of itself;
    Full of honey for the bee,
    Beautiful for all to see,
    Nodding to the passers-by,
    Smiling at the summer sky,
    Sweetening all the balmy air,
    Happy, innocent, and fair.
    Flowers like these blossom may
    In a palace garden gay;
    Lilies tall or roses red,
    For a royal hand or head.
    But be they low, or be they high,
    Under the soft leaves must lie
    A true little heart of gold,
    Never proud or hard or cold,
    But brave and tender, just and free,
    Whether it queen or beggar be;
    Else its beauty is in vain,
    And never will it bloom again.
    This the secret we would tell,
    Bonnibelle! Bonnibelle!"




IX.

MERMAIDS.


[Illustration: Nelly spied two pretty little creatures floating to and
fro on the rocking waves.--PAGE 175.]

"I wish I were a sea-gull or a fish or a mermaid; then I could swim as
much as I like, and not have to stay on this stupid dry land all day,"
said Nelly, as she sat frowning and punching holes in the sand one
summer morning, while the waves came murmuring up on the beach, and a
fresh wind sang its pleasant song.

The little girl loved to bathe so well that she wanted to be in the
water all the time, and had been forbidden to go into the sea for a day
or two because she had a cold. So she was in a pet, and ran away from
her playmates to sit and sulk in a lonely spot among the rocks. She had
been watching the gulls fly and float, with their white wings shining as
they dipped down or soared away in the sunshine. As she wished her wish
a very large one swept down upon the sand before her, and startled her
by saying in a hoarse tone, as she stared at its bright eyes, the red
ring round its neck, and the little tuft on its head,--

"I am the King of the gulls, and I can grant any one of your wishes.
Which will you be,--a fish, a bird, or a mermaid?"

"People say there are no mermaids," stammered Nelly.

"There are; only mortals cannot see them unless I give the power. Be
quick! I don't like the sand. Choose, and let me be off!" commanded the
Great Gull, with an impatient flutter of its wide wings.

"Then I'll be a mermaid, please. I always wanted to see one, and it must
be very nice to live always in the water."

"Done!" said the gull, and was gone like a flash.

Nelly rubbed her eyes, and looked about her rather scared; but nothing
had happened to her yet, and she was just going to complain that the
bird had cheated her, when the sound of soft voices made her climb the
rock behind her to see who was singing down there.

She nearly fell off again when she spied two pretty little creatures
floating to and fro on the rocking waves. Both had long brown hair,
green eyes as clear as crystal, pale faces, and the sweetest voices
Nelly had ever heard. But the strange thing was that each little body
ended in a shining tail,--one all golden, the other all silver scales.
Their little breasts and arms were white as foam, and they wore
bracelets of pearls, strings of rosy shells about their necks, and
garlands of gay sea-weed in their hair. They were singing as they
rocked, and throwing bubbles to and fro as if playing ball. They saw
Nelly in a moment, and tossing a great rainbow-colored bubble toward
her, cried gayly,--

"Come and play, little friend. We know you, and have often tried to make
you see us when you float and dive so bravely in our sea."

"I long to come; but it is so deep there and the waves are so rough that
I should be dashed on the rocks," answered Nelly, charmed to see real
mermaids at last, and eager to go to them.

"We came for you. The King-gull told us to call you. Slip off your
clothes and spring down to us; then we will change you, and you can have
your wish," said the mermaids, holding up their arms to her.

"My mother said I must not go into the sea," began Nelly, sadly.

"What is a mother?" asked one little sea-maid, while the other laughed
as if the word amused her.

"Why, don't you know? Don't you have fathers and mothers down there?"
cried Nelly, so surprised that she forgot her wish for a moment.

"No; we are born of the moon and the sea, and we have no other parents,"
said Goldfin, the shining one.

"How dreadful!" exclaimed Nelly. "Who takes care of you, and where do
you live? Without fathers and mothers you cannot have any home."

"We take care of ourselves. All the sea is our home, and we do as we
please. Come, come, and see how gay it is!" called Silver-tail, the
other mermaid, tossing bubbles like a juggler till the air was full of
them as they sailed away on the wind.

Now, if Nelly had not been angry with her good mamma just then, and
ready for any disobedience, she would never have been so naughty, or
have gone to play with such strange friends. She was very curious to see
how they lived, and be able to relate her adventures when she came back,
as she was sure she would, all safe and sound. So she dropped her
clothes on the rock and splashed into the green pool below, glad to show
off her fine swimming. But Goldfin and Silver-tail caught her and bade
her drink the spray they held in their hands.

"Sea water is salt and bitter; I don't like it," said Nelly, holding
back.

"Then you cannot be like us. Drink, and in a moment see what will
happen!" cried Goldfin.

Nelly swallowed the cold drops and caught her breath, for a dreadful
pain shot through her from her head to her feet, while the mermaids
chanted some strange words and waved their hands over her. It was gone
in an instant, and she felt like a cork floating on the water. She
wondered, till glancing down she saw that her little white legs were
changed to a fish's tail of many colors, which gently steered her along
as the waves rippled against her breast.

"Now I am a mermaid," she cried, and looked into the pool to see if her
eyes were green, her face pale, and her hair like curly brown sea-weed.

No; she had her child's face still, with rosy cheeks, blue eyes, and
yellow curls. She was not disappointed, however, for she thought it a
prettier face than the moony ones of her new playmates; so she laughed
and said gayly,--

"Now you will play with me and love me, won't you?"

"What is love?" asked Silver-tail, staring at her.

"Why, when people love they put their arms round one another and kiss,
and feel happy in their hearts," answered Nelly, trying to explain the
beautiful word.

"How do you kiss?" asked Goldfin, curiously.

Nelly put an arm round the neck of each, and softly kissed them on their
cold wet lips.

"Don't you like it? Is it sweet?" she asked.

"I feel that you are warmer than I, but I think oysters taste better,"
said one; and the other added,--

"Mermaids have no hearts, so that does not make us happier."

"No hearts?" cried Nelly, in dismay. "Can't you love? Don't you know
about souls and being good, and all that?"

"No," laughed the mermaids, shaking their heads till the drops flew
about like pearls. "We have no souls, and don't trouble about being
good. We sing and swim and eat and sleep; is not that enough to make us
happy?"

"Dear me, how queer they are!" thought Nelly, half afraid, yet very
anxious to go with them and see more of this curious sea-life of which
they had spoken. "Don't you care about me at all, and don't you want me
to stay with you a little while?" she asked, wondering how she should
get on with creatures who could not love her.

"Oh yes, we like you as a new playmate, and are glad you came to see us.
You shall have our bracelets to wear, and we will show you all kinds of
pretty things down below, if you are not afraid to come," answered the
mermaids, dressing her in their garlands and necklaces, and smiling at
her so sweetly that she was ready to follow as they swam away with her
far out on the great billows that tossed them to and fro but could not
drown or harm them now.

Nelly enjoyed it very much, and wondered why the fishermen in their
boats did not try to catch them, till she learned that mermaids were
invisible and were never caught. This made her feel very safe, and
after a fine game of play she let her friends take her by the hand and
sink down to the new world below. She expected to find it very gay and
splendid, with sea-coral trees growing everywhere, palaces of pearl, and
the ground covered with jewels; but it was dim and quiet. Great weeds
fanned to and fro as the water stirred them; shells lay about on the
sand, and queer creatures crawled or swam everywhere.

The green sea-water was the sky, and ships cast their shadows like
clouds over the twilight world below. Several gray-bearded old mermen
sat meditating in nooks among the rocks, and a few mermaids lay asleep
in the great oyster-shells that opened to receive them and their beds of
sea-weed. A soft murmur was in the air like the sound one hears in
shells, and nowhere did Nelly see any toys or food or fun of any sort.

"Is this the way you live?" she asked, trying not to show how
disappointed she was.

"Isn't it lovely?" answered Goldfin. "This is my bed, and you shall have
the shell between Silver-tail and me. See! it is lined with
mother-of-pearl, and has a soft cushion of our best sea-weeds to lie
on."

"Are you hungry?" asked Silver-tail. "Come and have some shrimps for
dinner,--I know a fine place for them,--or oysters if you like them
better."

Nelly was ready to eat anything, the sea air had given her such a fine
appetite; so they swam away to gather the pretty pink shrimps in scallop
shells, as little girls gather strawberries in baskets; then they sat
down to eat them, and Nelly longed for bread and butter, but dared not
say so. She was so surprised at all she saw, that this queer, cold lunch
was soon forgotten in the wonderful tales the mermaids told her, as they
cracked snails and ate them like nuts, or pulled the green sea-apples
tasting like pickled limes from the vines that climbed up the rocks.

"You don't seem to have a very large family, or have the others gone to
a party somewhere?" asked Nelly, rather tired of the quiet.

"No; there never are many of us. A new brood will be out soon, and then
there will be some little mer-babies to play with. We will show you the
Wonder-tree, if you are done eating, and tell you all about it,"
answered Silver-tail, floating away with a wave of the hand.

Nelly and Goldfin followed to a lonely place, where a tall plant grew up
from the sand till its branches reached the air above and spread out
like floating weeds covered with little pods like those we often snap
under our feet as they lie dry upon the beach.

"Only a few of these will bloom; for there never are many mermaids in
the sea, you know. It takes long for the tree to reach the light, and it
cannot blossom unless the full moon shines on it at midnight; then these
buds open, and the water-babies swim away to grow up like us," said
Silver-tail.

"Without any nurses to take care of them, or mothers to pet them?" asked
Nelly, thinking of the pretty baby at home with whom she was so fond of
playing.

"They take care of themselves, and when there are too many in one place
the old mermen send away some to another ocean; so we get on quietly,
and there is room for all," said Goldfin, contentedly.

"And when you die, what happens?" asked Nelly, much interested in these
queer creatures.

"Oh, we grow older and grayer and sit still in a corner till we turn to
stone and help make these rocks. I've been told by Barnacle, the old one
yonder, that people sometimes find marks of our hands or heads or fins
in the stone, and are very much puzzled to know what kind of fish or
animal made the prints; that is one of our jokes;" and both the mermaids
laughed as if they enjoyed bewildering the wits of the people who were
so much wiser than they.

"Well, I think it is much nicer to be buried under grass and flowers
when our souls have flown away to heaven," said Nelly, beginning to be
glad she was not a "truly" mermaid.

"What is heaven?" asked Silver-tail, stupidly.

"You would not understand if I tried to tell you. I can only say it is a
lovely place where we go when we die, and the angels don't puzzle over
us at all, but love us and are glad to see us come," said Nelly,
soberly.

Both little maids stared at her with their green eyes as if they wanted
to understand, but gave it up, and with a whisk of their shining tails
darted away, calling to her,--

"Come and play with the crabs; it's great fun."

Nelly was rather afraid of crabs, they nipped her toes so when she went
among them; but having no feet now, she felt braver, and was soon having
a gay time chasing them over the rocks, and laughing to see them go
scrambling sidewise into their holes. The green lobsters amused her very
much by the queer way they hitched along, with their great claws ready
to grasp and hold whatever they wanted. It was funny to see them wipe
their bulging eyes with their feelers and roll them about on all sides.
The hermit crabs in their shells were curious, and the great snails
popping out their horns; the sea-spiders were very ugly, and she shook
with fear when the horrible Octopus went by, with his eight long arms
waving about like snakes and his hooked beak snapping.

"Show me something pretty," she begged; "I don't like these ugly things.
Haven't you any flowers or birds or animals here to play with?"

"Oh yes, here are our sea anemones, yellow, red, and white, all blooming
in their beds; and these lovely plants of every color which you call
weeds. Then there are the coral trees, far away, which we will show you
some day, and the sponges on the rocks, and many other curious things,"
answered Goldfin, leading Nelly up and down to see the only flowers they
had. Then Silver-tail said,--

"She will like the nautilus boats and the flying fish, and a ride on the
dolphins and whales. Come and let her see that we have birds and animals
as well as she."

Up they went; and when Nelly saw the lovely red and blue creatures like
a fleet of fairy boats floating over the waves, she clapped her hands
and cried,--

"We have nothing so beautiful on the land! How delicate and fair they
are! Won't the wind tear them to pieces and the storms wreck them?"

"Watch and see!" answered the mermaids, well pleased at her delight; and
as a gust blew by every silken sail was furled, the lovely colors
vanished, and the fairy boats sank out of sight safely to the bottom of
the sea.

"Our sailors can't do that," said Nelly; "and when our ships go down
they never come up again."

Just then some fish flew over their heads and splashed down again, while
the gulls snapped at them in vain.

"Those are our birds, and here are our horses. People call them
porpoises, but we call them dolphins, and have many a fine gallop on
their backs," said Goldfin, as a school of great creatures came
gambolling by.

Up sprang the mermaids, and went swiftly dashing through the water with
high leaps now and then, as their sea-horses reared and plunged, tossing
their tails and waving their fins as if they enjoyed the frolic. Nelly
did, and wished to ride longer; but a whale appeared, and her playmates
went to climb on his back and hear the news from the North Sea. It was
like a moving island, and they sat under the fountain as he spouted
water and rolled about lazily basking in the sun after his cold voyage.

"Don't we have good times?" asked Silver-tail, when they slid down the
slippery sides of the monster and climbed up again as if coasting.

"Splendid! I like to be a mermaid and have no lessons to study, no work
to sew, no nurse to scold me, and no mamma to forbid my swimming as much
as I choose," said naughty Nelly; but as she spoke and looked toward the
land now far away, a little pain went through her heart to remind her
that she was not a real mermaid, and still had a conscience, though she
would not listen to it.

They played all the afternoon, had an oyster supper, and went early to
bed to get a good nap before midnight, because the moon was full and
they hoped the Wonder-tree would bloom before morning.

Nelly liked the quiet now; and the soft song of the sea lulled her to
sleep, to dream of sailing in a nautilus boat till a dreadful
cuttle-fish came after her and she woke in a fright, wondering to find
herself lying on a bed of wet weeds in a great shell.

"Come away; it is time, and a lovely night," called the mermaids, and
with several new friends they all hurried up to watch the buds open when
the moon kissed them.

The sea shone like silver; the stars seemed to float there as well as
in the sky, and the wind blew off the shore bringing the sweet smell of
hay-fields and gardens. All the sea people sang as they lay rocking on
the quiet waves, and Nelly felt as if this were the strangest, loveliest
dream she had ever dreamed.

By and by the moon shone full upon the Wonder-tree, and one by one out
popped the water-babies, looking like polliwogs, only they had little
faces and arms instead of fins. Lively mites they were, swimming away at
once in a shoal like minnows, while the older mermaids welcomed them and
gave them pretty names as the tiny things came to peep at them and dart
between the hands that tried to grasp them. Till dawn they kept in the
moonlight, growing fast as they learned to use their little tails and
talk in small, sweet voices; but when day came they all sank down to the
bottom of the sea, and went to sleep in the shell cradles made ready for
them. That was all the care they needed, and after that they had no
nursing, but did what they liked, and let the older ones play with them
like dolls.

Nelly had several pets, and tried to make them love and mind her; but
the queer little creatures laughed in her face when she talked to them,
darted away when she wanted to kiss them, and stood on their heads and
waggled their bits of tails when she told them to be good. So she let
them alone, and amused herself as well as she could with other things;
but soon she grew very tired of this strange, idle life, and began to
long for some of the dear old plays and people and places she used to
like so much.

Every one was kind to her; but nobody seemed to love her, to care when
she was good, or wish to make her better when she was selfish or angry.
She felt hungry for something all the time, and often sad, though she
hardly knew why. She dreamed about her mother, and sometimes woke up
feeling for baby, who used to creep into her bed and kiss her eyes open
in the morning. But now it was only a water-baby, who would squirm away
like a little eel and leave her to think about home and wonder if they
missed her there.

"I can't go back, so I must forget," she said, and tried to do it; but
it was very hard, and she half wished she was a real mermaid with no
heart at all.

"Show me something new; I'm tired of all these plays and sights and
toys," she said one day, as she and her two playmates sat stringing
little silver and rosy shells for necklaces.

"We are never tired," said Goldfin.

"You haven't any minds, and don't think much or care to know things. I
do, and I want to learn a little or make some one happy if I can," said
Nelly, soberly, as she looked about the curious world she lived in and
saw what a dim, cold, quiet place it was, with the old mermen turning to
stone in their nooks, the lazy mermaids rocking in their shells or
combing their hair, and the young ones playing like so many stupid
little fishes in the sun.

"We can't go to the South Sea yet, and we have nothing more to show you
unless a great storm comes up," said Silver-tail.

"Perhaps she would like a wreck; there is a new one not far off,"
proposed Goldfin. "A big ship went over a small one, and it sank very
soon. One of Mother Carey's chickens told me about it this morning, and
I thought we might go and see it before it is all spoiled. Things that
men make never last very long in our sea."

"Yes, let us go; I long to see and touch something my people made. Your
world is wonderful, but I begin to think my own is the best, for me at
least," said Nelly, as they left their pearls and swam away to the
wreck, which lay down among the rocks, fast going to pieces. "Where are
the people?" she asked, as they were about to float in at the broken
windows and doors. She was very much afraid that she might see some poor
drowned creature, and it would trouble _her_, though the mermaids might
not care.

"Little Chick said they were all saved. It was a fruit-ship, and there
were only a few passengers. One lady and child and some men went away in
the boats to the shore, but left everything else behind."

"I'm so glad!" cried Nelly, feeling her heart warm in her breast at the
good news about the mother and little child.

The ship had been loaded with oranges, and the sand was covered with
boxes of them broken open, and letting the fruit float to the top of
the water. Much was spoiled, but some was still good, and Nelly told the
mermaids to taste and see if oranges were not better than salt
sea-apples. They did not like them, but played ball with the golden
things till Nelly proposed that they should toss some on the shore for
the fishermen's children. That suited them; and soon the beach was
covered with oranges, and the poor little people were running and
screaming with delight to pick up this splendid feast.

"I wish there were some pretty things to give them; but there are only
the sailors' bags of clothes all wet, and those are not nice," said
Nelly, enjoying this game very much; for she was homesick and longed to
hear human voices and see faces like her own. She wanted to do something
for some one, and be loved a little. So she peeped all about the ship,
and at last, in one cabin better than the others, she found the toys and
clothes of the little child and its mother. She was very glad of that,
and, knowing how children love their own things and cry when they are
lost, she gathered up all that were not spoiled, and made Goldfin and
Silver-tail help her carry them to the shore, where people had gathered
to save whatever came from the wreck.

There was great rejoicing when these small treasures came ashore, and
they were carried to the house where the lady and the child were. This
pleased Nelly very much, and even the lazy mermaids found the new game
pleasant; so they went on floating things to the beach, even the heavy
bags with the poor sailors' clothes, wet books, and boxes, which
otherwise would have been lost. No one could see Goldfin and
Silver-tail, but now and then some child would cry out, when Nelly
lingered to look and listen through the foam and spray,--

"Oh, I saw a face over there,--a dear little face, very pretty but sad,
and a hand waved at me! Could it be a mermaid?"

Then some older person would say,--

"Nonsense, child! there are no mermaids. It is only the reflection of
your own face in the water. Come away, or the tide will catch you."

If Nelly had not been partly human this could not have happened; and
though no one believed in her, she took comfort in the thought that she
was not all a fish, and loved to linger where she could see the children
at play long after Goldfin and Silver-tail had grown tired of them and
gone back to their own affairs.

The longer she stayed the more sad she grew; for the land seemed
pleasanter now than the sea,--the green, dry, warm land, with the
flowers and trees, birds and lambs, and dear people to love and care for
her. Even school looked like a happy place; and when she thought of her
own home, where mother and Baby were, her heart was so full of longing
for them that her tears dropped into the sea, and she held out her arms,
crying sadly,--

"Oh, mamma, dear mamma, forgive me, love me, and help me to come back to
you!"

No one answered, no one came; and poor Nelly sank sobbing down to cry
herself to sleep in her pearl-lined bed, with no good-night kiss to
comfort her.

Every day she longed more and more to go home, and grew more and more
tired of the sea and all in it. The mermaids could not amuse her nor
understand her sorrow; so she went to wise old Barnacle and asked him
what she should do to be a child again.

"No one but the King of the gulls can change you, my Periwinkle," said
the merman, kindly. "You must wait and watch for him patiently. He is
not seen very often; so it may be years before he comes again. Meantime
be happy with us, and don't fret for that very dry land in which we see
no beauty."

This comforted Nelly a good deal, and she spent half her time floating
on the waves, calling the gulls, feeding them, and making them her
friends, so that they might be sure to tell her when the King came.
Other kind things she did, trying to be good; for _she_ knew, though
even the wise old merman did not, that naughty people _cannot_ be happy.
She gathered all the curious shells she could find, and strewed them on
the beach for the children playing there. She popped the cross crabs and
lobsters into the nets let down for them, and helped the fishermen to
many a good load for market. She sat and sang among the rocks where
lonely people could hear the faint sweet music and enjoy it. She watched
over the little people when they went bathing, and loved to catch and
kiss the rosy babies as they splashed about, and send quiet ripples to
refresh the sick ones when their nurses dipped them in the wholesome
sea.

She was good to all the wounded fishes who got hurt by the many enemies
that haunt the great ocean, and tried to teach the cruel sharks, the
ugly octopus, and the lazy snails to be kinder and more industrious.
They did not mind her; but it kept her busy, and made her heart tender
to try to help all who came near her, and every night when she went to
her lonely bed she said hopefully,--

"Perhaps to-morrow the King will come and let me go home. When I do,
mamma must find a better Nelly than the naughty, wilful one who ran
away."

She supposed her mother would think her drowned when the clothes were
found on the rock, and often mourned over the sorrow she had given those
at home. But she cheered herself with imagining the joy her wonderful
return would bring, and could hardly wait for that happy time.

The mermaids were soon going far away to the South Sea for the winter,
and begged her to come with them, telling how lovely everything was
there,--all about the pearl-divers, the Spice Islands, the coral trees,
and the many wonders of that summer world. But Nelly no longer cared for
any place but the pretty cottage on the cliff that overlooked the sea,
and she was not tempted by any of the fine tales they told.

"No; I'd rather live here all alone where I can see my own people and
home, even if I wait years and years before the King comes. I know now
what a silly child I was to leave everything that I was made to use and
enjoy, and try to be a creature without any soul. I don't care if my
heart does ache; I'd rather be as I am than like you, without any love
in you or any wish to be good and wise and happy as we are."

Goldfin and Silver-tail thought her very ungrateful after she said that,
and left her alone. But she did not care; for Father Barnacle was to
stay and "stone up," as they called their queer way of dying. So when
all had gone she was very kind to the old merman, who never stirred out
of his nook, but sat meditating on the hundred years of his life and
wondering what would become of the rock he was slowly to grow a part of.

Nelly did not want him to die yet; so she brought him nice things to
eat, sang to him, and asked so many questions that he was forced to keep
awake and answer them. Oh, such wonderful stories as he told her! Such
interesting histories of sea flowers, fishes, and monsters, such wise
lessons in tides and stars, and the mysteries of the great ocean! Nelly
would sit on a conch shell and listen for hours, never tired of these
new fairy tales.

But she did not forget to watch for the Great Gull, and every day
floated near the shore, beckoning every white-winged bird that flew by
and asking for tidings of the King. At last he came! Nelly was lying on
the waves idly singing to herself, with one hand held up for her pet
sandpiper to light upon, when, instead of little Peep, a great silvery
bird perched there, and looking up she saw the fiery eye, the red ring
about the neck, the crest on the head, and with a joyful splash she
cried out,--

"He's come! he's come! Oh, dear King, give me another wish, a better
wish, and let me be a little girl again."

"Done!" said the Great Gull, waving his wings over her. "Will you be
contented now?"

"I will! I will!" answered Nelly, eagerly.

"Never wilful and disobedient?"

"Never, never!"

"Sure you won't want to be a bird, a fish, or a mermaid again?"

"Yes, yes; for nothing is so lovely as to be a child."

"Good!" and suddenly clutching her in his strong claws the gull flew
high up in the air as if he were going to take her to his nest and eat
her like a fish.

Poor Nelly was sadly frightened; but before she could catch her breath
to ask what was to happen, the King said, in a loud voice, "Remember!"
and let her drop.

She expected to be dashed on the rocks below, and thought that was to be
her punishment, perhaps; but to her great surprise she floated down like
a feather, and found herself lying on the sand in her own shape and the
very clothes she wore when she went away. She lay a moment enjoying the
comfort of being warm and dry, and feeling the dear earth under her.

"Why, darling, how long you have been asleep!" said a voice close by;
and starting up Nelly saw her mother stooping over her, while Baby was
creeping nearer to laugh and crow as he peeped into her face to see if
she was awake.

"Oh, mamma, dear mamma, I am so glad to have you again! I was very
naughty, but I've learned a lesson, and I'm going to be your good child
now," cried Nelly, holding her mother tight with many kisses.

"Bless the dear! she has been dreaming, and wakes up in a lovely mo

Showing first 200,000 characters. Full text: gutenberg.org/ebooks/32357