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 AMONG THE FAIRIES 
 
 THE HON. MRS. ADAMSON PARKER 
 
 (HON. AUGUSTA BETHELL), 
 
 AUTHOR OF ' ECHOES OF AN OLD BELL,' ' FEATHERS AND FAIRIES,' 
 ' HELEN IN SWITZERLAND," ETC. 
 
 Hon&on 
 
 W. SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO. 
 PATERNOSTER ROW
 
 TO THE LITTLE AUNTS 
 SYLVIA AND DOLLY. 
 
 544964
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 RUBY, ii 
 
 THE SLIPPERY MOUNTAIN, 7* 
 
 THE SHRIMP PRINCE 87 
 
 iRUMBLEWITCH, . . 109 
 
 .ITTLE MAX AND HIS WINGS 143 
 
 DREAM OR NO DREAM, .161 
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR 181 
 
 UNDER THE APPLE-TREE 207
 
 AMONG THE FAIRIES.
 
 RUBY. 
 
 r HEN 
 
 fairies still dwelt on the 
 earth, there once lived an 
 ancient woman. She was so 
 old that no one living could 
 
 remember her 
 ever having been 
 any younger than 
 she now seemed, 
 and yet she never 
 grew any older; 
 was never ill ; 
 and day after 
 day she might be 
 seen in the forest 
 picking herbs 
 and grubbing 
 roots. 
 
 Indeed, so ac-
 
 12 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 customed were the inhabitants of the little 
 village to the sight of the old creature, that 
 she attracted very little attention. Some 
 may have looked upon her as a witch, or as 
 an old woman under an enchantment; but 
 the generality did not think about her at all. 
 Her hut was perched upon a mountain peak, 
 of which the lower part was clad with pine 
 trees. It was said that the summit of the 
 range of mountains to which this peak be- 
 longed was sacred to the fairies, and that if 
 any rash mortal should venture beyond a cer- 
 tain height, he would disappear and never 
 be heard of again. One hot day in summer, 
 two strangers an old man and a little girl 
 about twelve years old were seen toiling 
 up the steep mule-track leading to the afore- 
 said village. On reaching a shady spot 
 of the road where some kind person had 
 placed a seat, the old man halted, and said, 
 ' Rue, I don't see this wonderful village, do 
 you ?' 
 
 ' No, sir/ answered the little girl briskly ; 
 ' but, if you like, I will run to the top of the 
 hill and look.' 
 
 'No, no, child, no running away, I know
 
 RUBY. 1 3 
 
 what that means ; stay here, and when I feel a 
 little rested we will go on.' 
 
 Rue frowned, but said nothing. She was 
 certainly not a pretty child, in spite of her 
 regular features and beautiful eyes, for her 
 complexion was of the deepest red, intensified 
 by long exposure to the sun, and the hue of 
 her long wavy hair could only be described as 
 ' carrots/ Looked at in the sunlight, she had 
 the appearance of being red-hot. 
 
 Ruby was the only child of very wealthy 
 people, and, in consequence, all the fairies 
 were invited to the christening, to bestow their 
 various gifts and blessings on the wee baby. 
 
 Among others arrived Vulcan's great-great- 
 granddaughter, Jewellia, queen of the precious 
 stones, and being in a very bad temper because 
 the Koh-i-noor, one of her favourite servants, 
 had just fallen into mortal hands, she felt 
 nothing but rage against the innocent little 
 girl whose christening she was obliged to 
 attend. Accordingly, when the fat little baby 
 was brought in, she exclaimed, ' Ugh ! you 
 ugly little monster, my gift shall be that of 
 colour, ha ! ha ! your hair and complexion shall 
 be as red as a ruby !'
 
 14 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 So saying, she vanished without waiting to 
 say goodbye, and retired to her fairy palace in 
 a very cross frame of mind ; but her ill temper 
 soon turned into remorse, and in a short time 
 she was as enraged and put out with herself 
 as she had before been with her goddaughter. 
 So although unable to retract her words, she 
 determined to mitigate the sentence ; and 
 accordingly, that same evening she ran down 
 a moonbeam, and entering the nursery, whis- 
 pered these words into the baby's ear 
 
 ' Red as a Ruby shall you be, 
 Until you find your way to me ; 
 And I shall put it in your mind, 
 That unto me your way you '11 find.' 
 
 Jewellia's spell soon began to work. Little 
 tufts of carmine hair began to grow on 
 each side of the baby's face, and as she got 
 older she became such an unmistakeable little 
 fright that her parents took a great dislike to 
 her, and, being heartless people, were easily 
 persuaded by an old travelling magician to sell 
 her to him, he being just then in want of an 
 oddity. It was on one of their long expedi- 
 tions that they arrived at the little village. 
 There we will now return to them.
 
 RUBY. 1 5 
 
 Rue looked a hot little object sitting in the 
 broiling sun, with her flaming hair and ruby- 
 coloured velvet-dress. Very wistfully did she 
 eye the small piece of shade under which her 
 master had made himself comfortable, and still 
 more wistfully did she watch the bottle of milk 
 and water that every now and then was con- 
 veyed to his lips. For she, too, was frightfully 
 thirsty, and burning hot; but this seemed a 
 very secondary matter in the old magician's 
 eyes, as he neither offered to share his shade 
 or his milk with her. Then out came his pipe, 
 and he was preparing to smoke in comfort, 
 when an old woman appeared on the scene, 
 the very same old dame of whom mention 
 has already been made. She stood for a 
 moment or two with her arms akimbo survey- 
 ing the pair of travellers, and at last exclaimed, 
 in a cracked voice, * Well, what do you call 
 yourself, sir ? A gentleman ? I should think 
 not ! Nor even a man ; for what gentleman 
 or man would leave a poor little girl to broil in 
 this sun while he himself was comfortable in 
 the shade ?' 
 
 The magician only shrugged his shoulders, 
 saying, carelessly, ' Pray, don't trouble your-
 
 1 6 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 self, my good woman, the child is used to, and 
 indeed prefers, sun to shade.' 
 
 'Which way are you bound?' said the 
 woman, turning suddenly to Rue, who pointed 
 in silence to the north. 
 
 ' Going to Caddio ? Poor wee mite ! My 
 dear, if you ever want a friend remember that 
 I live there, and shall always be at home to 
 welcome you. And if I mistake not,' she con- 
 tinued to herself, ' it will not be long before 
 you come.' 
 
 So saying, she vanished in the same extra- 
 ordinary manner as she had appeared, leaving 
 Ruby wondering apathetically what possible 
 interest the old creature could have in her. 
 Soon Faniss, so the magician was called, rose, 
 stretched himself, pocketed his pipe, and the 
 two proceeded silently on their way. The 
 village now made its appearance, and Rue 
 heaved a sigh of relief, for they had come a 
 long way that day, and her little legs ached. 
 
 Faniss changed his manner of walking as 
 soon as they came within sight of the huts. 
 From an upright, alert old man, he became an 
 infirm cripple, and, taking Rue's arm, slowly 
 panted up the narrow street. Four women
 
 RUBY. i; 
 
 were having a gossip, when their attention was 
 attracted by the two travellers. 
 
 ' Dear me, Anna Clotzen,' said the oldest 
 and fattest of the four, ' do just look at these 
 poor things. They must have come a long 
 way. The old man looks half dead, and what 
 an extraordinary-looking child !' 
 
 Seeing that they were the subject of remark, 
 Faniss turned and said, ' Good people, will you 
 tell me if this is Caddio ? We were told that 
 if we climbed the mountain, and came north, 
 we should find it. My poor grandchild is so 
 tired and hungry that I hope we have not 
 come to the wrong place.' 
 
 By this time quite a small crowd had col- 
 lected, and pity for the travellers was loudly 
 expressed on all sides, while much curiosity 
 about them was evinced by the women. The 
 good folks offered beds and food, which Faniss 
 accepted for the present. ' But,' said he, ' I 
 intend to build myself a hut at once, and am 
 come here for the purpose of setting up my 
 business among you.' 
 
 ' Business ! what business ?' was asked in 
 whispers. ' He looks like a wizard ! Don't 
 have anything to do with him ! Look how he
 
 1 8 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 glares at poor Anna! He has the evil eye!' 
 and so on, till at length, one by one, the vil- 
 lagers dropped off, leaving only Anna Clotzen, 
 who, shrugging her shoulders, said, ' Never 
 mind, if every one else refuses you a bed and 
 a bit of supper I will take you in, let come 
 what may.' 
 
 Faniss put on a humble dejected look, and 
 said, 'What have I said or done that they 
 should think evil of me ? Come, Rue, my 
 darling, let us go back the way we came, for 
 instead of the simple hospitable people we 
 expected to find, suspicion and black looks are 
 all we get.' 
 
 ' Nonsense, nonsense, good man,' said Anna, 
 hastily. ' Come home with me and see my 
 good man ; he has been laid up with rheu- 
 matism since Christmas.' 
 
 ' Perhaps I can do him some good,' said 
 Faniss, looking warily into the good woman's 
 face. 
 
 ' No, no,' said Anna, quickly. ' No conjur- 
 ing, mind that.' 
 
 ' But, madam, I am a doctor ; that, indeed, 
 is the profession of which I spoke ; and in 
 gratitude for your kindness, I should be most
 
 RUBY. 19 
 
 happy to do anything for your husband that 
 lies in my power.' 
 
 This Faniss brought out most suavely, and 
 so used was Rue to his different characters, 
 that she felt no surprise when he announced 
 himself as a doctor. It ended in their being 
 established in Anna's cottage until the village 
 hut-builder had erected a dwelling for them. 
 
 Rue enjoyed herself very much, as Faniss 
 was on his best behaviour before Anna and 
 her husband. She dreaded the time when 
 they would be alone again ; for besides being 
 treated with cruelty and neglect, she was forced 
 to take part in many secret magical experi- 
 ments, and, though not naturally a timid child, 
 she saw much that would almost have killed 
 any one else. 
 
 At last their own hut was ready, and then 
 all her old troubles began again. At night the 
 fumes of Faniss' magical fires would ascend 
 the chimney, and cause luminous appearances 
 in the air, which were watched and commented 
 upon by all the villagers, some even declaring 
 that dark shapes could be seen flitting about 
 in the different coloured lights, gesticulating, 
 weeping, and tearing their hair before vanish-
 
 20 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ing into smoke. Thus, without being at all 
 aware of it, Faniss got a bad name in the 
 village before he had been there a month, and 
 poor Ruby was shunned as something uncanny. 
 Still, as nothing definite could be brought 
 against them, they could not be turned out of 
 the place. 
 
 One day Faniss called Ruby into his little 
 den. ' Here, child/ said he, ' I wish for your 
 assistance with the magical mirror.' Now this 
 magical mirror was hated and feared by Rue. 
 It was the custom of Faniss to place her in 
 front of it, and to conjure up two dark shadows, 
 who, standing behind her, laid their hands on 
 her head until she became insensible. Then it 
 was the delight of Faniss to ask her numerous 
 questions, and to extract all her thoughts about 
 him to find out, in fact, all that was in her 
 mind. Then, when she could tell no more, he 
 would wake her, and punish her well. This 
 day Ruby was more than usually alarmed, for 
 she had meditated running away in search of 
 the old woman who had appeared to them on 
 the road. However, there was no disobeying 
 Faniss, so she followed him into his room, and 
 saw that the mystical fire was already lighted
 
 RUBY. 2 1 
 
 in a tall iron tripod. It was changing colours 
 rapidly, first blue, then red, green and yellow. 
 In the centre was the piece of polished steel 
 which formed the mirror. She glanced at it 
 with a feeling of loathing, and Faniss, standing 
 in the shadowy background, saw the glance, 
 and smiled maliciously. He advanced, and 
 the flames sprang up still higher, and were now 
 dead white, causing even Rue to look of a 
 pallid greenish hue instead of her usual bril- 
 liant colour. 
 
 She advanced, and silently placed herself in 
 front of the tripod. The flames parted, and 
 the poor child saw herself reflected in the steel 
 mirror, saw also, hovering behind her, a dark 
 form she well knew and hated. Her terror 
 sharpened her wits; a sudden idea darted 
 across her mind, and on Faniss turning his 
 back for a moment, she started forward, and 
 exerting all her strength, overturned the tripod. 
 The flames were extinguished, and the room 
 left in utter darkness. 
 
 Now was the time to escape run, Rue, run! 
 But, alas ! in her fright she forgot the exact 
 position of the door, and for some seconds she 
 rushed madly to and fro, groping with her
 
 22 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 hands along the wall. She heard Faniss 
 stumbling across the room to catch her, but, 
 fortunately, he fell over the tripod and hurt his 
 foot, which gave her a little time, and before 
 he was sufficiently recovered to continue the 
 chase she had found the handle of the door 
 and escaped from the room and from the 
 house. When at length he could follow her 
 she was nowhere to be seen, and so, returning 
 to the house, Faniss was soon engaged in 
 magical operations, hoping thereby to arrest 
 the fugitive, for he had the greatest terror lest 
 she should fall into the hands of the fairies, 
 when all his power would be at an end. 
 
 Meanwhile Ruby ran on and on, keeping in 
 sight a little white speck on the mountain side, 
 which the old woman had pointed out as her 
 abode. 
 
 All went well till she was within half a mile 
 of her destination, when she suddenly felt as 
 if cords were twined round her legs, which 
 impeded all further progress. Then she knew 
 that Faniss and his magic were at work, and 
 she sank to the ground, in despair. 'What 
 shall I do !' she moaned ; ' in a few moments 
 his two messengers, Spark and Wave, will be
 
 RUBY. 23 
 
 here, and then ' . At this moment she saw 
 coming up the path, with a fagot of sticks, 
 the very old woman whose assistance she was 
 about to seek. Ruby uttered a cry of joy. 
 ' Oh ! help me, help me, good woman,' she 
 screamed. To her great disappointment, how- 
 ever, the old hag continued to wend her way 
 slowly up the hill without taking the slightest 
 notice of her appeal, and the poor little girl 
 could now see two bright specks in the dis- 
 tance flying towards her. Just as they came 
 near enough for her to distinguish their fea- 
 tures the old woman threw one of her sticks to 
 Ruby. It stuck in the ground and grew 
 rapidly, so that in a moment she found herself 
 cased, as it were, in the very heart of a huge 
 oak tree. When the spirits arrived they were 
 amazed not to see Ruby. 
 
 ' I certainly saw the child lying here. Do 
 you mean to say that you did not see her, 
 Wave ?' said the Fire Spirit, in a hot quarrel- 
 some voice. 
 
 ' I don't mean to say anything about it, good 
 Spark,' said Wave, frigidly. ' I think no time 
 should be lost in idle talk. Action is required, 
 not conversation.'
 
 24 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ' Well, well/ said Spark ; ' but do you 
 mean to say that we can both act together 
 without consulting ? Now I think the best 
 plan would be for me to stand here, while 
 you climb the tree and inundate every 
 hole or cranny in which she could be 
 hidden. Quick, quick, Wave, you are wast- 
 ing time !' 
 
 ' My good, impetuous Spark, I cannot say 
 I think your plan a good one/ said Wave, 
 throwing a wet blanket, so to speak, over 
 Spark's excitement, and completely quenching 
 him. 
 
 ' Surely you cannot imagine that the fairies, 
 who must have aided the girl, would allow such 
 things as holes and crannies to exist if she is 
 inside ? No, she is cased in as solidly as pos- 
 sible, if there at all. So you had best set fire 
 to the wood, while I stand ready to put you 
 out. It is fortunate that this is mortal, and 
 not fairy ground, as she can hardly escape us 
 here.' 
 
 You can imagine the feelings of Ruby as she 
 listened to this conversation. She had given 
 up all hopes of escape, when suddenly the 
 tree began to sink into the ground, and in a
 
 RUBY. 25 
 
 moment or two she was several yards beneath 
 the surface of the earth, emerging presently 
 close to the old woman's cottage, where she 
 knocked loudly for admittance. For some 
 moments no attention was paid to her appeal ; 
 but at length the door opened, apparently of 
 itself, for the sole occupant of the large room 
 into which she entered was a big black rabbit, 
 squatting on the floor, engaged in the hopeless 
 attempt of biting its own tail, which seemed 
 even shorter than the ordinary run of rabbits' 
 tails. Ruby entered quickly, shutting and 
 securing the door, which was well supplied 
 with bolts, and then proceeded to look round 
 the hut in search of the old hag or a hiding- 
 place. She could see neither; but, glancing 
 out of a window, her mind was set at ease by 
 seeing the two bright specks fading away in 
 the distance, and after a little time she began 
 to feel rather dull. The rabbit made no 
 remark, as she fully expected, being a fairy 
 rabbit, it would do, and she was tired of watch- 
 ing its monotonous chase after its tail. At 
 last she spied a large manuscript book, and 
 opening it found it contained the life of a 
 rabbit, and, as she shrewdly suspected, of the
 
 26 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 very rabbit she was confronting. It was 
 entitled 
 
 llift of a (Bm&p Black Eabbit, 
 
 AS RELATED BY PUCK, 
 
 COURT POET TO THE QUEEN OF THE FAIRIES. 
 
 A LITTLE hare sits in the golden fern, 
 
 No ! 'tis a rabbit I mean ; 
 And a soft wind blows from the balmy south, 
 
 And sighs through the lindens green. 
 The autumn sun sinks in the golden west, 
 
 And tinges each cloud with red ; 
 The autumn leaves catch up the rosy tint, 
 
 As on to the ground they 're shed. 
 
 A sweet, balmy scent on the breeze is borne, 
 
 From what paradise can it come ? 
 Follow the soft little buzzing bee 
 
 To a bed of wild heather bloom. 
 A sad carol sounds in the evening sky, 
 
 What echo of heaven is here ? 
 A blackbird lamenting the loss of her young 
 
 That have flown from her tender care. 
 
 But little Black Rabbit he cocks his tail, 
 
 Which with soft white fur is lined, 
 What cares he for sights and sounds such as these 
 
 With such a plan in his mind ! 
 The neighbouring farm has a garden wide, 
 
 The neighbouring hedge a gap, 
 And to this garden our Bunny would hie 
 
 For a good meal and a nap.
 
 RUBY, 2 7 
 
 So, over the common, under the fern, 
 
 Through the shed leaves dry and dead, 
 Across sandy roads of bright yellow sands, 
 
 And hedges with moss overhead, 
 He scuttles along, and he frisks his tail 
 
 As he thinks in his knowing pate, 
 ' When Growler the dog has gone to his bed, 
 
 I '11 be at the garden gate ! ' 
 
 Tis a long way there, and the sky grows dark, 
 
 But~never a rap cares he, 
 As he trots along on his four little pads, 
 
 And longs for his coming tea ! 
 Ah ! a very greedy rabbit, 
 And a very greedy rabbit, 
 
 And a greedy rabbit was he ; 
 But he quickly got his punishment, 
 
 As you very soon will see. 
 
 Under the cabbages softly he creeps, 
 
 The cabbages moist and green, 
 And begins his meal with good appetite 
 
 And haste lest he should be seen. 
 He eats and eats for an hour or so, 
 
 And then goes on as before ; 
 Then, yawning, he lays himself down to sleep, 
 
 Never to wake any more ! 
 
 The morning breaks, and the silvery grey 
 
 Is changing to warmer hue ; 
 Wake up ! O wake up ! my Bunny black, 
 
 Or it will be worse for you. 
 The sun slowly rises, and casts over all 
 
 A cool mellow morning light ; 
 A little bird's first early warble is heard, 
 
 As he sings to the passing night.
 
 28 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 Far away in the distance, a faint moo -o, 
 
 Proclaim that the cattle are there ; 
 And the dogs are barking, all wide awake, 
 
 And are roaming the farm-yard near. 
 Soon clink go the pails, and the milkmaid's voice 
 
 Is heard through the frosty air ; 
 And beating of mats by the front house-door, 
 
 Shows that the maids are astir. 
 
 But Bunny sleeps on in the cabbage-bed, 
 
 Beneath a huge cabbage green, 
 And his soft fur rises with every breath, 
 
 The jettiest fur ever seen. 
 He hears not a step on the garden-path ; 
 
 He heareth not Growler's trot ; 
 He hears not Growler's short yelp of delight, 
 
 When he arrives at the spot. 
 
 He dreams a sweet dream of his soft white wife, 
 
 And his little children four ; 
 He dreams he 's vowing he never will come 
 
 And eat cabbages any more. 
 He thinks that his little wife kisses his nose, 
 
 And says, ' Oh, my husband dear ! 
 Too many, to-night, of those nasty green things 
 
 You have been eating, I fear.' 
 
 Just then a bad pain in his little black neck, 
 And then he knows nothing more. 
 
 But, see ! old Growler has carried him off, 
 As far as the kitchen door ! 
 
 P.S. I, Puck, caught his spirit before it flew away, and 
 Queen Mab has ordered it to be punished by continually 
 trying to bite its own tail, until a mortal will intercede with 
 her in its behalf.
 
 RUBY. 29 
 
 ' Oh poor little thing,' cried Ruby, ' what a 
 shame for so small a fault it should have so 
 hard a punishment. Bunny dear,' she con- 
 tinued, addressing the rabbit, ' Bunny!' 
 
 But the rabbit did not give her any encour- 
 agement, and went on with its monotonous 
 employment. 
 
 Just then the door opened, and in came the 
 old woman with her bundle of sticks. ' Oh, 
 there you are, my dear,' said she. Rue was 
 silent from amazement. How had she opened 
 the bolted door ? 
 
 ' I thought you would have the sense to 
 come here ; and indeed it is lucky you did, for 
 it is the only place within two miles where you 
 would be safe. I did not follow you at once, 
 for I wanted you to do what I very well see 
 you have done, viz., to read the history and sad 
 fate of this poor little rabbit. Perhaps on the 
 journey you are to make through Fairyland 
 you will meet with Queen Mab, and will inter- 
 cede for him.' 
 
 ' The journey I am to make through Fairy- 
 land ?' repeated Ruby in surprise. 
 
 ' Yes,' answered the old woman ; ' did you not 
 know that you have three fairy godmothers, the
 
 30 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 Queen of the Woods, the Queen of the Birds, 
 and the Queen of the Precious Stones ?' And 
 thereupon she gave Ruby an account of her 
 christening; of the evil gift Jewellia had given 
 her, and of the only remedy for it. 
 
 ' But/ objected Ruby, ' I don't mind my 
 colour and red hair. Why should I take so 
 much trouble and run into so many dangers 
 for what is, after all, only a secondary matter 
 to me ?' 
 
 'My dear/ said the old woman gravely, 
 ' think before you speak. It is not a secondary 
 matter to you at all. When you leave this 
 cottage where will you go ? How will you 
 live ? How will you escape the spells of your 
 old master Faniss ? Who will take you in in 
 your present costume and with your present 
 looks ?' 
 
 * Your are right/ said Ruby, ' but all you 
 have just said only makes me more curious and 
 anxious to know who you are, and why you 
 are so kind to the miserable little outcast you 
 have just described.' 
 
 ' All that you will understand after you have 
 made your journey, found Jewellia, and ob- 
 tained the Black Rabbit's pardon from Mab.'
 
 RUBY. 3 1 
 
 ' Then I will set forth at once,' said Ruby, 
 jumping up and running to the door ; but 
 she was stopped by a loud noise, a boom ! 
 which sounded like four claps of thunder con- 
 centrated into one short clap. She thought 
 the boiler had burst, or that an earthquake had 
 taken place ; but looking round, except that the 
 room seemed darker, all was as usual. The 
 rabbit continued twirling round and round, and 
 the old woman was sitting by the dying fire, 
 apparently half asleep. Ruby moved cautiously 
 to the window and looked out. Suddenly, 
 to her horror, she perceived the pale face of 
 Faniss glowering in the darkness, and hover- 
 ing round him were Wave and Spark. He was 
 in the act of dropping some liquid into a metal 
 basin, and this liquid, when stirred by Spark's 
 finger, exploded, and another loud boom was 
 heard, preceded by a flash of lightning. Then 
 Ruby perceived he was trying to force an 
 entrance into the cottage, and forgetting that it 
 was magic ground, she ran to the now snoring 
 old woman and shook her violently by the 
 shoulder, screaming, * Look ! look ! wake up ! 
 oh, wake up ! Faniss is at the door !' 
 
 The old woman did not open her eyes, but
 
 32 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 she chanted two or three verses of a song 
 apparently in her sleep. Ruby felt constrained 
 to sit down, and as she listened to the dreamy 
 sounds, a drowsiness that she could not shake 
 off fell upon her. She forgot Faniss and every- 
 thing but the words she heard, mingled with 
 the soft sound of the clattering of the rabbit's 
 paws as he kept time to the air. These were 
 the words that Ruby heard 
 
 ' Rest, my darling, 
 ' Sleep thy deepest, 
 
 Let not fear 
 
 Thy slumbers break ; 
 
 Neither thunder 
 
 Nor the tempest, 
 
 Nor the moon 
 
 Shall thee awake. 
 
 Let no thought 
 
 Of sorrow fright thee, 
 
 Think not now 
 
 Of grief or pain ; 
 
 Sleep as softly, 
 
 And as brightly, 
 
 As the sun on drops of rain.' 
 
 About the beginning of the second verse 
 Ruby thought, 'What a sweet voice the old 
 woman has!' but almost before the thought 
 had passed through her mind she was fast 
 asleep. She did not hear the remainder of the 
 verse, did not see the old woman rise, or feel the
 
 RUBY. 33 
 
 soft kiss that was impressed on her forehead, 
 but remained totally unconscious of passing 
 events until she awoke and found herself in 
 quite a new scene. 
 
 A high vaulted cavern formed of some clear 
 pale green stone, which hung in long spikes 
 from the roof, and projected in rough blocks 
 from the sides, making the whole appear like 
 a beautiful cathedral formed of aquamarines. 
 Columns of the same transparent stone sup- 
 ported the roof, and the floor was of the softest 
 velvety grass, without a single daisy or butter- 
 cup to take off from the mass of green. 
 
 This was what Ruby awoke from her trance 
 to see. There was no sound to be heard but 
 the tinkle, tinkle of a little stream of clear water 
 running through the centre of the cavern. She 
 rose to survey her surroundings, and going 
 behind the row of columns nearest her, per- 
 ceived that the cavern was of immense size, for 
 far away she could see column after column 
 fading into the distance. There were no signs 
 of any human or fairy beings, and Ruby won- 
 dered for what reason she had been placed in 
 the cavern. Her sharp eyes soon caught sight of 
 something bright and sparkling on the column
 
 34 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 nearest her, and going closer she found it was 
 a knob of diamonds. She uttered an exclama- 
 tion of delight, and was about to examine it 
 more closely, when she heard the following 
 warning in a low soft voice : 
 
 ' Oh, stop not for rock, 
 
 Oh, stop not for stone, 
 For you Fairyland through 
 
 Must pass quite alone ; 
 And the sooner you start, 
 
 The sooner you '11 see 
 The Queen then request her 
 
 To set Bunny free.' 
 
 Then a chorus joined in 
 
 ' Oh, take off your hat, and roll up your hair ! 
 
 Fairyland 's a hard road to travel ; 
 Oh, take off your hat, and roll up your hair ! 
 Fairyland 's a hard road to travel, I declare.' 
 
 A dead silence followed this strange effusion, 
 and then Ruby, always a child of good sound 
 common sense, proceeded to follow out the 
 directions in the chorus, which she felt must 
 apply to her. Off came the small velvet cap 
 she wore, and then, having divided her hair 
 into two parts, she was adroitly rolling it up 
 into a little bundle on the top of her head, 
 when a curious thing happened. In the column 
 directly facing her appeared a picture of a 
 winding staircase and a door with a diamond
 
 RUBY. 
 
 35 
 
 handle. Curiosity caused her to look at the 
 next column, where to her great horror she 
 saw represented Faniss, walking briskly along 
 a hard high-road, and to all appearance coming 
 nearer and nearer. With a half-suppressed 
 scream she sprang forward, opened the door 
 with the precious handle, and was soon half- 
 way up the staircase. It was a very long one, 
 and she thought that the last step would never 
 come. But it came at last, and she found her- 
 self where she least expected to be, namely, at 
 the very top of the principal mountain above 
 Caddio. Beneath her feet was a large circle 
 of grass, and all round were great boulders of 
 rock, and steep precipices with sharp jagged 
 edges, so that she no longer wondered at the 
 impossibility of any human being climbing to 
 the summit, ' unless, indeed, they came up the 
 same easy way that I did/ she thought Just 
 then a little commotion at her feet made her 
 start, and looking she perceived that each 
 blade of grass was laying itself down quite 
 flat and smooth ; so, fearing to disturb the 
 operation, she moved on one side and seated 
 herself on a stone to wait for the next ad- 
 venture, which was not long in coming.
 
 36 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 When the fairy ring was quite ready, and 
 the moon had just risen, the fairies began to 
 assemble on their favourite dancing ground. 
 These little beings were very different in ap- 
 pearance. Two bright creatures, who had 
 come spinning down one of the last rays of 
 the sun, seemed formed out of a piece of 
 the sunset; others from the moon were pale 
 and languid, with silvery dresses; and some 
 were little soft roundabouts, deposited by tiny 
 clouds drifting by. Then clambering over 
 the rock came twenty or thirty more from 
 the various flowers growing there, such as the 
 bright rock cistus, the mountain rose, the 
 blue veronica, the white eyebright, and many 
 others. Finally, out of holes and crannies 
 sprang other fairies representing different metals 
 and precious stones ; and now Ruby kept a 
 sharp look-out for the Queen, her godmother. 
 No one appeared to notice her, however, but 
 all chattered and laughed together, the ladies 
 gossiping and criticising the dresses, and the 
 gentlemen quarrelling over Fairyland politics 
 and flirting with the ladies, behaving, in fact, 
 very much as we mortals do. 
 
 A dance began, and Ruby was much amused
 
 RUBY. 3 7 
 
 by watching the different antics that went on, 
 until all of a sudden the proceedings were 
 stopped by a round ball rolling into the centre 
 of the fairy ring. Uncurling itself, it disclosed 
 the figure of Puck, who, standing up, made 
 the following speech : 
 
 ' In Queen Mab's Court, not long ago, 
 
 I heard a whisper passing, 
 That soon a thing should come to pass, 
 
 All other things surpassing. 
 Come to a pretty pass are things, 
 
 And now 'tis I who say so, 
 If fairy things, with fairy wings, 
 
 Can pass a mortal by so. 
 Are eyes then blind, and noses dead, 
 
 And ears without their hearing, 
 If by that rock you cannot see 
 
 A mortal now appearing ? ' 
 
 There was a sudden movement of surprise 
 among the fairies, and all eyes were turned 
 towards Ruby, who felt very uncomfortable. 
 It was strange how one wave of Puck's hand 
 and a few words had opened their eyes. Puck 
 laughed, and turning to Ruby, addressed her in 
 prose, apparently, he thought, a mortal could 
 not understand rhyme. 
 
 ' Do not be afraid, little girl. We are all 
 friends here.' 
 
 ' I am not afraid,' said Ruby indignantly ;
 
 38 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 for after the dreadful visions she had been in 
 the habit of seeing in the magical glass, she 
 was inclined to regard fairies in the light of 
 pretty little playthings. 
 
 Puck then delivered a long message from 
 Queen Mab to the small crowd of fairies, in 
 which they were commanded to pay every 
 attention to Ruby, and to help her as far as 
 they were able through the numerous dangers 
 and difficulties of her path ; at the same time, 
 to avoid giving such help as might cause her 
 to distrust her own brains, which were quite 
 sharp enough to conquer ordinary difficulties. 
 Then, stepping forward, one of the little ladies 
 chanted 
 
 ' Her Majesty's will 
 Is, and shall still 
 
 Be the very first thought of us all ; 
 She has only to say, 
 And I 'm sure every fay, 
 Will then hasten to answer her call' 
 
 At this there was a faint buzz of approval. 
 Then said Puck, ' No time to be lost, my dear ! 
 You must now plan your route, change your 
 skin, and be off.' 
 
 ' Change my skin ?' repeated Ruby. 
 
 1 Well, not literally ; that is a quotation from
 
 RUBY. 39 
 
 a fairy book, which naturally you do not under- 
 stand. I merely meant that you cannot expect 
 to pass through our doorways or associate with 
 our people when you are such a giantess. 
 Therefore you had better argue out for your- 
 self the way to the " Diminishing Falls," where 
 by drinking the water you will become a proper 
 size. But to reach them you must pass through 
 one of her Gracious Majesty's provinces. There 
 are four Featherland, Flowerland, Jewelland, 
 and Sparkland, so choose ' 
 
 ' I I don't know,' stammered poor bewil- 
 dered Ruby. ' Does it matter which I choose ? 
 Is there any difference ?' 
 
 Puck's reply was 
 
 ' Featherland is soft, 
 
 Flowerland is light, 
 Jewelland is hard, 
 Sparkland is bright.' 
 
 Ruby made a dash at the first. 
 
 ' Oh, I '11 go to Featherland.' 
 
 As she spoke two or three small creatures 
 separated themselves from the rest and stood 
 before her. She perceived they were dressed 
 in feathers of different colours, and held 
 wands of varied hues, chiefly composed of 
 feathers from the peacock's tail.
 
 4O AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 Then a soft little voice sang 
 
 ' In danger, utter but this rhyme, 
 And we will help you in good time. 
 " Feather fairies floating near, 
 Out of reach of mortal ear ; 
 Eagle, magpie, chaffinch all 
 Quickly answer mortal call." ' 
 
 Ruby repeated the verse over and over, and 
 when she had at last learnt it by heart she 
 perceived that every fairy had disappeared, 
 and that she was again alone on the mountain 
 top. 
 
 She remembered Puck's peculiar expression, 
 ' Argue out the way to the Diminishing Falls ;' 
 and as she sat there on the rock she took his 
 words literally, and began : ' The Diminishing 
 Falls. Well, if they diminish they must be in 
 the distance, because things always diminish as 
 they get further away ; and as I am at the top 
 of all things, I cannot get any higher, so I 
 must go down. The question is, Which side 
 down to the left or to the right ?' Here she 
 stopped, puzzled, for, on looking round, neither 
 side seemed possible to descend. ' Well, I 
 hope I shall go right', she at last said, and then 
 her words struck her as prophetic. ' Of course 
 yes, I must go right, if I can ;' and, rising, she
 
 RUBY. 4 1 
 
 looked down the precipice, determined not to 
 be daunted by what she saw. It was very 
 steep, certainly; but there were great cracks 
 and fissures in which a foot could easily be 
 placed. So, turning her back to the black 
 chasm, she began to descend, and, after many 
 slips and frights, found herself at length* safely 
 landed on a small ledge of rock, on which it 
 was possible to sit and rest for a while. Then, 
 seeing that the ledge continued for some dis- 
 tance, she walked to the end, and came upon 
 some falls of pale green water dashing down a 
 chasm. Stooping, she drank a handful of 
 water. She did not feel any difference in her- 
 self, but every surrounding object seemed of 
 enormous size. A small dead leaf lying by 
 her side now had the appearance of an enorm- 
 ous sheet of crumpled brown paper, and the 
 small waterfall grew into a Niagara. Every 
 little crack was a great chasm ; and great was 
 her fright when a large creature flew by, which, 
 however, in reality was nothing more or less 
 than a common fly. 
 
 The small holes and crannies in the rocks 
 now quite changed their appearance ; and Ruby 
 perceived, to her surprise, that she was walk-
 
 42 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ing on a kind of terrace in front of a sombre- 
 looking palace with long passages, windows, 
 and doors, one thing being remarkable, that it 
 seemed quite dark inside. Boldly entering the 
 first of these passages, she walked for some 
 time in semi-darkness, till suddenly her path 
 was arrested by a huge green frog, with a 
 lantern fixed on a pole in his hand. 
 
 ' Your passport ? The password ? Your 
 country? Your Queen ?' 
 
 * Kind frog, will you tell me the way to 
 Featherland ?.' said Ruby ; ' I am very tired, 
 and ' 
 
 ' Your passport ? ' demanded the frog. 
 ' But, really/ continued Ruby coaxingly, 
 'I ' 
 
 ' The password ? ' cried the frog. 
 
 * Well, wait a minute/ said Ruby impatiently. 
 ' You don't give one time to ' 
 
 ' Your country ? ' shouted the frog. 
 
 Ruby began to get rather frightened, but, 
 thinking the only way was to conciliate her 
 enemy, she began anew, ' Good frog ' 
 
 ' Your Queen ? ' screamed the frog, and this 
 time he shouted so loudly that Ruby was quite 
 frightened, and said to herself, ' Perhaps he
 
 RUBY. 43 
 
 does not understand prose. I wonder if I 
 could talk to him in rhyme, and she began 
 
 ' Oh, Froggy dear, just listen 
 
 To what I 'm going to say, 
 
 I want to get to Featherland, 
 
 And fear I Ve lost my way.' 
 
 ' Why couldn't you say so before ?' said the 
 frog gruffly ; and, taking hold of her with his 
 flabby feet, he dragged her into a cavern, 
 where frogs of all hues and sizes were 
 squatting or hopping about the wet floor. 
 
 When her errand was known, it appeared she 
 could not have gone to a better place, for the 
 Frog Queen had one of the keys of Feather- 
 land ; the other key being kept by Queen 
 Hummingbird, the Vice-regent of Featherland. 
 The fairies could, of course, fly over the gates ; 
 but anything in the shape of a mortal was 
 obliged to beg admission from one of these 
 ladies. It was usually a long and difficult pro- 
 cess to get into the good graces of the Queen, 
 as she was terribly suspicious ; but Ruby found 
 favour at once, perhaps on account of her ex- 
 traordinary colour, for frogs are proverbially 
 capricious, and very soon she was standing 
 inside the small golden gate that formed the
 
 44 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 entrance to Featherland. Here a new and 
 strange sight met her eye. 
 
 Everything was soft and feathery. The 
 hills could only be compared to blue and violet 
 down, the branches of the trees to long ostrich 
 plumes, which, as they moved to and fro peace- 
 fully in the breeze, made little noise, but a soft 
 ' swish, swish/ 
 
 Presently Ruby came to a small house built 
 entirely of pheasants' feathers, the door being 
 composed of the beautiful golden feathers 
 which form the cock's breast. She tried to 
 knock, but could make no sound on the soft 
 surface, so she shook the door instead, and 
 then, no notice being taken, opened it and 
 walked in. A little table was spread in the 
 most inviting manner, with a hot dinner. 
 Ruby felt very hungry, and something told 
 her the food was meant for her ; so, after wait- 
 ing a few moments for politeness' sake, she sat 
 down, and before long very little was left but 
 the dishes and covers. Then she began to 
 wish she could see some one who would tell 
 her the quickest way to the end of her journey, 
 and thereupon she jumped up, and, leaving the 
 little house, wandered off anew.
 
 RUBY. 45 
 
 For a long way this wonderful land seemed 
 quite deserted. On all sides was the same 
 beautiful scenery, and the same strange still- 
 ness. One would have thought that in Feather- 
 land a bird, at least, would have been seen ; 
 but no, and not a pipe or whistle could be 
 heard. Ruby had some idea of retracing her 
 steps and making further inquiries of the Frog 
 Queen, when, turning a corner suddenly, she 
 came upon a number of little people lying on 
 the ground in different positions, all fast asleep. 
 
 Ruby coughed and stamped, in hopes that 
 one or other would awake, but in vain ; and at 
 last, getting quite angry, she took hold of the 
 nearest mannikin and shook him violently. 
 Great was her surprise when, on opening his 
 eyes, he suddenly changed into a robin ! 
 
 ' Ah ! you have caught me napping, so I am 
 your prisoner, you funny little red girl ; but 
 don't be very hard on me, for I am only a 
 harmless robin. I will do anything you like ; 
 but don't, oh don't,' here he trembled all over, 
 and flapped his wings piteously, 'dorit give 
 me up to the enemy.' 
 
 ' Poor little thing !' said Ruby, ' what do you 
 mean ? I don't want to make you my pri-
 
 46 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 soner, and as for the enemy I know nothing 
 about it.' 
 
 ' Don't talk about it/ said the robin, looking 
 nervously over its shoulder. ' We often notice 
 that it appears when it is talked of.' 
 
 ' You shall go in one moment/ said Ruby ; 
 ' but, please, answer one or two questions first. 
 Which is the way to Queen* Mab's Court ? and 
 why are you all asleep ? ' 
 
 1 Queen Mab's Court/ answered the robin, 
 ' is far from here, and very difficult for a mortal 
 to find, for the Ogres' Wood and the Mer- 
 maids' Lake must be crossed before you reach 
 Sparkland. When once you have crossed 
 Sparkland borders you will be safe, for it is a 
 friendly nation, and I will give you a passport ; 
 but I am sadly afraid you will come to grief 
 among the ogres and mermaids, unless, indeed, 
 you are very careful and prudent, and will 
 follow out strictly two or three rules that I will 
 give you. And now for your other question. 
 Feather tairies sleep three months of every 
 year, not every night, as you mortals do, and 
 this is the last day of the third month. Now, 
 come with me/ and away he hopped, Ruby 
 following.
 
 RUBY. 47 
 
 The robin led the way to a wall composed of 
 swan's down, and opening a little door in the 
 side, showed her a grass walk leading appa- 
 rently to a large forest. * While walking 
 through the wood remember these four things/ 
 said the robin : ' Always turn to your left 
 when two turnings come ; never utter a word 
 to any one, unless the word " Frizzlewig " is 
 first said to you ; don't help any one in distress, 
 however unkind it may seem ; lastly, if you are 
 in any great and immediate danger, call out 
 these words, " Robbin a bobbin a bilberry 
 ben." ' 
 
 Ruby promised obedience, and giving the 
 fairy bird a parting kiss, passed through the 
 doorway, and very soon had left Featherland 
 far behind her. The forest seemed very gloomy 
 after the rosy brightness of the feathers, never- 
 theless she trotted along bravely, and soon 
 became accustomed to the darkness. At first 
 she thought most carefully over her rules, but 
 as time went on and nothing happened she 
 began to think Robin had been over cautious, 
 and that in reality there was no danger at all. 
 
 Presently she heard a faint moaning sound 
 on one side of the path, and looking down per-
 
 48 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ceived a little white puppy that had caught its 
 foot in a trap and was looking up at her most 
 piteously, ' Oh you poor little darling !' cried 
 Ruby, and stooping down she was about to 
 unfasten the trap when the warning ' Do not 
 help any one in distress/ darted into her mind ; 
 she started back and was going on her way 
 when the little dog gave such a heartrending 
 cry she could not resist stopping to pat it Of 
 course every moment of delay made matters 
 worse, for the little puppy wagged its tail, and 
 licked her hand, and was altogether such a 
 fascinating little dog, that at last pity won the 
 day, and she was in the act of unfastening the 
 trap when she was startled by a half-stifled 
 laugh of triumph, and looking up fancied she 
 saw a glistening eye looking through the bushes 
 at her. Snap went the trap and off rushed 
 Ruby as hard as she could, so fast indeed that 
 she did not notice a very small turning to the 
 left. On she went, and all seemed going well 
 when suddenly appeared a nice little girl riding 
 a white pony. She stopped on meeting Ruby 
 and said, ' Oh, Robin told me you would come 
 this way, and so I have come to meet you, to ask 
 you to stop and rest in my little summer bower
 
 RUBY. 49 
 
 close by.' As she spoke she pointed with her 
 riding-whip through the branches, and Ruby 
 saw a pretty rose- covered abode a few yards 
 off. ' No/ thought she, ' I am not going to be 
 taken in again. I should be foolish if I could 
 not remember that I must hear " Frizzlewig " 
 before I answer any one.' And she pushed on 
 in silence. The little girl rode after her com- 
 plaining of her rudeness, and at length placing 
 herself and her pony between Ruby and the 
 road screamed out, ' Now, will you answer me 
 or will you not ?' Ruby shook her head but 
 began to feel rather frightened. The little girl 
 gave a loud hiss, and to Ruby's horror changed 
 into the most frightful old woman imaginable, 
 who clutched at her with claw-like hands, and 
 was just carrying her off when Ruby remember- 
 ing Robin's words, screamed out, ' Robbin a 
 bobbin a bilberry ben !' In a moment thousands 
 of crows and ravens darkened the air and 
 pecked furiously at the old witch till she released 
 Ruby. Then a voice said, ' Run back to the 
 turning to the left, which you missed.' Ruby 
 immediately obeyed, turned the corner, and was 
 in comparative safety. Nothing of importance 
 happened during the remainder of the journey,
 
 5O AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 for that little incident had made her cautious ; 
 she heeded neither shrieks nor groans, and took 
 especial care to look out for all the left-hand 
 paths, and very soon she arrived on the borders 
 of a large lake, which she guessed rightly to be 
 the home of the Mermaids. Yes ! it was the 
 Enchanted Lake, and Ruby, as she wandered 
 on the golden sands in the brilliant sunshine, 
 thought she had never seen a prettier sight. 
 Floating on the deep blue water were several 
 little sailing boats, now and then accosting one 
 another, now and then lowering their white sails, 
 or anchoring under the lee of some lovely islet, 
 yet, strange to say, not one of these boats was 
 manned by a sailor. 
 
 Presently in a bend of the shore Ruby came 
 upon a little old man dragging a small truck 
 laden with barrels. She stopped, and asked 
 where he was going. ' Taking fresh water to 
 Sparkland,' he said ; ' it 's seldom I can get it, 
 but to-day all the mermaids are at the regatta. 
 Don't you tell them you saw me, will you ?' 
 he added anxiously, ' for if they knew that a 
 Sparklander had been seen again stealing lake- 
 water they would complain to Queen Mab, and 
 then there would be a pretty state of things !'
 
 RUBY. 5 1 
 
 Ruby reassured him ; for she really felt no 
 interest in the Sparklanders, and then inquired 
 the best way of crossing the lake. He shrugged 
 his shoulders, and said, ' Some say one, and 
 some say the other, but I think they are all 
 worst, and none best. There ; s the ferry, and 
 there's the boat, and then there's swimming, 
 but I should advise you not to cross at all.' 
 And with this he disappeared through a hole in 
 the wall, dragging his truck of barrels after him. 
 
 At that moment Ruby's attention, and in- 
 deed every sense, was attracted by the most 
 exquisite singing she had ever heard. It 
 seemed to come across the water, and rose and 
 fell with every little breath of air. It sounded 
 to Ruby like a description of the most lovely 
 scenery ever seen or heard of. It seemed to 
 describe the scented air, the lovely flowers and 
 fruits, and soft subdued light of a place where 
 everything was pale delicate blue and shimmer- 
 ing silver, a kind of drowsy, dreamy place 
 where you remembered nothing that was dis- 
 agreeable, and only saw the most lovely faces 
 and heard the most beautiful songs. Entranced 
 by the melodious sounds, half unconsciously she 
 drew nearer and nearer to the water's edge,
 
 52 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 and even walked into the lake. The water 
 rippled round her, but she was not conscious 
 of it. Neither did she see that all the fairy 
 boats were gathering together in order to ap- 
 proach her. She heard, saw, and felt nothing 
 but that exquisite voice and that lovely place. 
 Suddenly the singing ceased, and then Ruby 
 felt the water close over her head, heard it 
 bubbling and singing in her ears, and then for 
 some time remembered nothing more. When 
 she came to herself she seemed to be in just 
 such a place as the song had described, every- 
 thing was of a pale blue green colour, with 
 here and there ripples and darts of silver light. 
 Bending over her was a most beautiful face, 
 shadowed by a veil of golden hair. As Ruby 
 opened her eyes the bright vision spoke, and 
 the voice sounded like the voice of the song 
 
 ' At last you have wakened, and now can I see 
 That again those deep blue eyes are looking at me. 
 Oh child of a mortal ! what wonderful charm 
 Do you use that can keep you from Fairylake harm ? 
 I sang for your death, but the moment I saw 
 That golden-crowned head, the waters close o'er, 
 My siren song faltered ere sealed was your fate, 
 Here I trembling hastened, lest I was too late, 
 Lest my sister should get you, and before I could say, 
 Should have killed and then eaten you just where you lay.' 
 
 Ruby shuddered, not feeling yet quite her-
 
 RUBY. 53 
 
 self again. She sat up, and asked the mermaid 
 what her name was. 
 
 ' Finda-lo-lo,' answered she, ' which in mer- 
 maid language means "Golden Ripple."' 
 
 ' Well, Finda,' said Ruby, ' I am very much 
 obliged to you for not letting your sisters eat 
 me, and I should be still more obliged if you will 
 tell me how to get to Queen Mab's court, as I 
 am in a great hurry.' Finda-lo-lo looked very 
 sad, and two tears trickled down her lovely 
 pale cheeks as she said 
 
 ' Oh, go not and leave me, 
 
 All lonely to sigh, 
 For if thou dost leave me, 
 
 To thee I must fly. 
 And if water she leaves, 
 Then thy Finda will die.' 
 
 And the poor little mermaid buried her face in 
 her long golden hair, and sobbed as if her 
 heart would break. 
 
 ' What can I do ?' thought Ruby, who, 
 though very sorry for Finda, did not feel 
 quite the same amount of enthusiasm. ' Listen, 
 Finda-lo-lo, there is little good in crying ; look 
 up and tell me what I am to do. Of course I 
 do not wish to leave you, but still, you know> 
 there is the black rabbit to be thought of.' But
 
 54 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 Finda sobbed on, saying between her sobs, 
 'You 1-like the b-b-black rabbit better than 
 me!' 
 
 ' No, Finda, I do not,' answered Ruby ; ' if 
 you would only show me the way out of this 
 place I should like you much better/ 
 
 ' Would you really ? ' cried Finda, forgetting 
 poetry in her excitement. ' Then this is what 
 you must do. Ask Queen Mab to give me a 
 pair of feet instead of a tail, and then I shall 
 be able to come with you, and to be with you 
 always.' To this Ruby agreed, though, per- 
 haps, not over cordially, and, leading the way, 
 Finda led her through some wonderful sights. 
 Great fish and small fish were swimming about 
 among perfect palaces of white and red coral. 
 Coloured sea-weed, in the form of great trees, 
 waved overhead, while underfoot was a carpet 
 of golden sands, thickly strewn with tiny pink 
 and purple shells. Soon Finda-lo-lo exclaimed, 
 ' Here we are ! Now, wait a moment,' and 
 taking Ruby's hand, her eyes fixed on her 
 face, she began to sing 
 
 ' Ripple, ripple, waters blue, 
 On thy surface flowers strew, 
 Floating, floating with the stream, 
 Precious jewels now they seem.
 
 RUBY. 55 
 
 Splashing, splashing, little waves, 
 Give the dewdrop each one craves. 
 Sparkling, sparkling, drops of dew, 
 Tears of diamond in eyes of blue. 
 Rocking, rocking on its breast, 
 Flowers upon the lake at rest.' 
 
 As she sang, an enchanted stupor again 
 stole over Ruby. She could feel and hear 
 nothing but Finda's lovely voice, and see 
 nothing but the shining lake waters strewn 
 with the most lovely flowers. Suddenly she 
 awoke from her trance to find herself on the 
 shore, with Finda close to her. ' You have 
 now only to walk straight on to the Forget-me- 
 not Gate. Ruby, don't forget me. I fear you 
 will, but I cannot stay, this air is too much for 
 me. Good-bye, my heart's own.' So saying, 
 the poor little mermaid sank gradually back 
 into the cool waters, keeping Ruby chained to 
 the spot by singing faintly as she disappeared 
 from sight 
 
 ' Remember ! but, alas ! you will forget 
 The day, the hour, the place e'en where we met 
 Remember yes ! Forget me not, my love, 
 But send me soon a call from earth above. 
 Remember, and forget me not, 
 Remember remember ' 
 
 Over and over again there echoed ' Remem- 
 ber,' then all was quiet, and Ruby was once
 
 56 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 more left to herself. She looked round, and far 
 away in the distance could see tall silver spires 
 gleaming, each with a huge sapphire at the top. 
 Ruby, being of a fanciful turn of mind, com- 
 pared the spikes with their blue stones to a 
 tuft of huge harebells. 
 
 As she approached the city, she looked in 
 vain for any chief entrance among the rose- 
 wreathed arches leading apparently into a maze 
 of flower walks, which surrounded the city 
 instead of walls. Ruby, advancing to one of 
 the numerous fairies who were flitting to and 
 fro, called, ' May I go in through these arches, 
 or is it private ?' She received no answer, 
 however indeed, the fairies did not even seem 
 to perceive her. After walking about for a 
 short time, she came suddenly upon a placard 
 printed in letters of gold 
 
 ' To strangers who attempt to pass these gates, 
 I do address these words, 
 Lest they should enter, and then share the fate 
 Of many gone before. 
 Invisible though either man or maid 
 To fairies shall you be, 
 Until, by hazard unto fairy aid, 
 You come, and then you '11 see ! 
 
 On reading these lines, Ruby at once per- 
 ceived what was required of her; but she
 
 RUBY. 57 
 
 thought it rather aggravating, after coming 
 such a long way, only to find a new difficulty. 
 Walking through an archway, she found her- 
 self in a kind of bazaar. There were stalls on 
 all sides, one heaped with nuts, another with 
 sugar-plums, another with gloves, and so on. 
 But there were inscriptions over each stall, 
 which proved that they were not ordinary nuts, 
 gloves, or sugar-plums. For over the nuts was 
 written, ' Who tastes of me becomes invisible ;' 
 over the sugar-plums, 'I kill;' and over the 
 gloves, ' Put me on and you will be as strong as 
 a lion.' Believing that these things were for 
 her use, Ruby did not hesitate to take some of 
 each and put them in her pocket, excepting the 
 gloves, which she at once drew on to her hands. 
 Then she walked on, peering about anxiously 
 in search of any fairy in distress, but such a 
 thing seemed absurd, for everybody she met 
 was as happy and quiet as possible. Presently, 
 however, she turned a corner, and found she 
 was again on the borders of a city, only upon a 
 different side. Fronting her was a dark forest, 
 and from it issued a sound as of some one cry- 
 ing. Ruby rushed forward, and after a short 
 search perceived a little fay in a pink dress
 
 58 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 chained to a tree, her hair dishevelled, and her 
 wand broken in two. ' What is the matter, 
 you poor little thing?' asked Ruby; but the 
 fairy neither saw nor heard her, and continued 
 to sob and struggle. At that moment Ruby 
 saw a hut at a little distance, and advancing 
 cautiously she peered in, only to shrink back 
 with a cry of horror, for by the flickering light 
 of the fire she had seen two objects which filled 
 her with fear and trembling. These were a 
 tall iron tripod, and a mirror with its face 
 turned to the wall. There was no one in the 
 hut, but pure imagination made her see the 
 well-known phantom forms rising round her, 
 and whispering horrible words into her ears. 
 
 A faintness stole over her, and she sank to 
 the ground, forgetful alike of the fairy and of her 
 own danger in remaining there. She sat on in 
 a kind of stupor for some minutes, until aroused 
 by something climbing into her lap, and looking 
 down she saw a tiny black rabbit gazing up at 
 her piteously, as though it would say, ' Please 
 get up and run away.' Then it all flashed upon 
 her, and rising she tried to think what she 
 ought to do. But her thoughts would wander. 
 It was like a hideous nightmare. She could
 
 RUBY. 59 
 
 only think, ' Faniss is here! Faniss is here!' 
 and when she saw the well-known wicked- 
 looking face peering at her out of a bush, she 
 was not at all surprised. Still, although he 
 seemed to be looking straight at her, he yet did 
 not appear to see her, for after a moment or two, 
 during which time Ruby stood perfectly rigid 
 with fear, he came from behind the bush,' and 
 approached the little fay, who began screaming 
 violently and calling for help. Then Ruby 
 remembered her mission, and her gloves, and 
 rushing up to Faniss, was just in time to see 
 him draw out a huge knife and begin to sharpen 
 it on a stone. Realising by this time that she 
 was invisible, and feeling a wonderful strength 
 in her hands, still clad in the magic gloves, she 
 twisted the cord round Faniss, binding his hands 
 and feet securely. Frightful yells now rent the 
 air, but, nothing daunted, Ruby at once pro- 
 ceeded to set free the little pink fairy, and no 
 sooner was this done than the small creature's 
 eyes were opened, and she perceived the little 
 red oddity who was standing by her. 
 
 ' You are Ruby Diamonda, I am sure ?' she 
 said. ' We have been expecting you for a long 
 time, indeed her Majesty was beginning to
 
 60 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 give you up in despair. Lady Jewellia, your 
 godmother, is afraid lest she should die with 
 the remorse of having spoilt your life upon 
 her conscience, and Queen Mab is afraid that 
 the poor black rabbit will never be set free. 
 However, here you are, and better late than 
 never. Before we pass the city gate, where I 
 shall have to talk poetry, let me thank you for 
 getting into trouble so that you might set me 
 free, for if you had not come this way and found 
 me, you would have wandered about probably 
 for three or four years. It is so seldom that 
 a fairy gets into trouble.' 
 
 As she spoke they passed beneath the flower 
 arches, and very soon Ruby found herself in a 
 street paved with beautiful coloured marble, 
 with houses of silver. A flight of magnificent 
 golden steps led to the Queen's palace, and 
 while mounting Ruby conned over in her mind 
 what she should say to her Majesty about 
 herself, Faniss, and the black rabbit. She had 
 plenty of time for deliberation, as it appeared 
 that Queen Mab was holding a court for listen- 
 ing to appeals, and as every one went in in 
 alphabetical order, she, Ruby, would be one of 
 the last She took her seat in a large anteroom
 
 RUBY. 6 1 
 
 among a crowd of fairies, young and old, as 
 well as animals of all kinds, each of which had 
 some complaint or petition to make to their 
 beloved Queen. A horrible-looking old person 
 in yellow, with a complexion that matched her 
 dress, was her neighbour, and as Ruby made 
 herself as comfortable as she could on a rather 
 hard bench, this creature turned and said 
 sharply - 
 
 ' Pray what is your letter ?' 
 
 ' R/ replied Ruby, concluding she was asking 
 for her initial. 
 
 ' Ugh,' growled the old hag, giving her a dig 
 with her sharp elbow. ' Another half-hour for 
 me to wait ! My name is Saffron, so of course, 
 though one of the oldest and most celebrated 
 of the fairies, and with the most important 
 commission, I am kept to the last.' 
 
 'What is your commission ?' asked Ruby in 
 a conciliating manner, hoping thus to soothe 
 her jaundiced neighbour. Saffron cast down 
 her eyes, and Ruby thought she was trying to 
 call up a blush. 
 
 ' You must know,' she said, ' that we fairies 
 are never allowed to marry any one but our 
 own countrymen, unless we can get a written
 
 62 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 permission from Queen Mab. Now, I I ' 
 (affectedly) 'have received an offer from a gentle- 
 man who is not one of her Majesty's subjects, and 
 I am here to obtain her permission for the match.' 
 
 'What is the gentleman's name?' asked 
 Ruby, more for the sake of saying something 
 than from real curiosity, for she did not care 
 two straws who he was. Her surprise, however, 
 was great when Saffron murmured bashfully 
 
 ' Magician Faniss.' 
 
 'Faniss !' exclaimed Ruby, horrified 'never!' 
 
 'And why pray never, Miss?' indignantly 
 demanded Saffron, rising from her seat and 
 facing Ruby. 
 
 'Oh, well, you are quite welcome to him, 
 I am sure,' Ruby hastened to remark, 'and I 
 daresay he will suit you very nicely,' she added, 
 as her eyes fell on Saffron's malignant expres- 
 sion and her obstinate mouth and chin. At 
 this moment the curtains that guarded the 
 entrance to the chamber of state were drawn 
 back, and Puck appeared dressed in a pale blue 
 livery. He called out 'Ruby,' and with a 
 beating heart Ruby approached him and passed 
 into the next chamber. To her surprise it was 
 almost dark, or seemed so at first ; a faint blue
 
 RUBY. 63 
 
 light pervaded everything 1 , but something glis- 
 tened in the distance, which proved to be Queen 
 Mab's throne. It was formed of one solid 
 block of silver, and upon it was seated her 
 Majesty with a long diamond wand in her hand, 
 and a diamond crown on her head. 
 
 Among the court ladies around her was one 
 who, directly Ruby entered the room, hid her 
 face in her hands, and drew behind the shadow 
 of the throne. Our heroine advanced, made a 
 deep reverence as she passed in front of the 
 throne, and then a soft voice addressed her 
 thus : ' Well done, brave little girl, you have 
 found your way here in safety ; and now, as I 
 promised, I am ready to grant any requests 
 you may make, and to introduce you to your 
 godmother, my sister Jewellia.' 
 
 Queen Mab paused, and Ruby concluded it 
 was her turn to speak, so she said, ' I am 
 most grateful to your Majesty for all your 
 kindness ; and if your Majesty will allow me a 
 few minutes to think I will make my requests, 
 and not detain your Majesty any longer.' 
 
 ' Then call in the next on the list, Puck/ 
 said Queen Mab, ' the next, and the last, I 
 believe.'
 
 64 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 Then Saffron was ushered in simpering, and, 
 making her curtsey, she began as follows : 
 
 ' A spinster for fifty long years have I been, 
 
 And now I Ve an offer of marriage, 
 The difficulty being, most worshipful Queen 
 
 (Not wishing your power to disparage), 
 That he whom I love is a mortal magician, 
 
 And a subject of yours will not be, 
 And so that I cannot without your permission, 
 
 Be easily united to he.' 
 
 'His name, my good Saffron, his name?' 
 asked the Queen. 
 
 ' It is not so great as his fame, 
 Flam Flambersnatch Angerberiss 
 Flick Flackerlock Panderby Faniss.' 
 
 Queen Mab turned to Ruby : ' Faniss ! why 
 that is the name of your old master, is it not ?' 
 
 ' Yes,' answered Ruby, ' and I do not know 
 how he will marry Saffron, for I left him tied 
 up in the wood.' 
 
 'Well, I wanted to find a suitable punish- 
 ment for all his cruelty to you, and I think 
 nothing could be worse than a marriage with 
 Saffron,' said the Queen, laughing ; and turning 
 to Saffron, she said 
 
 ' I grant my permission : 
 Marry your magician ; 
 But on this condition, 
 
 Should you, either of you, show your faces again 
 Within the walls or the borders of our royal domain, 
 On that day and that hour, whenever it be, 
 You'll be chained side by side to an eld olive tree. 1
 
 RUBY. 65 
 
 Saffron gave a little affected shriek, and pre- 
 pared to go into hysterics, but Puck took her 
 by the shoulders and turned her out of the 
 chamber. 
 
 Then Ruby plucked up her courage and 
 said, ' I have two requests to make to your 
 Majesty. Will you pardon the little black 
 rabbit, and give Finda-lo-lo a pair of feet ?' 
 
 ' I will grant your first-named request,' said 
 the Queen ; ' but believe me the second would 
 be unkindness, and not kindness, to Finda-lo-lo ; 
 you cannot change a mermaid's nature, which 
 is fickleness itself. She would very soon long 
 to have her tail back again, and to return to her 
 native element. By this time she has com- 
 pletely forgotten you, so believe me it is better 
 to leave her where she is.' 
 
 Ruby was bound to believe that Queen Mab 
 knew better than she did ; but it was not with- 
 out a heavy sigh of regret that she abandoned 
 her promise to the mermaid. At that moment 
 Puck came forward, and announced the arrival 
 of the black rabbit, and opening the door in 
 scuttled the little fellow in such a state of 
 delight that he could not keep still for a 
 moment, but danced about on his hind-legs, 
 
 E
 
 66 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 and then raced round and round the room as 
 hard as he could go, making occasional dives 
 at Puck's legs, and, shocking to relate, scarcely 
 respecting those of Majesty. The Queen 
 laughed very much, and calling him to her 
 stroked his soft fur and pulled his silky ears. 
 The rabbit, however, would not stay on her 
 lap, but jumped off, and ran up to the old 
 woman of the hill, who, unnoticed, had followed 
 him into the state chamber. She spoke not, 
 but looked wistfully at the Queen, who smiled 
 and waved her wand ; when lo ! instead of one 
 rabbit there were now two frisking about, and 
 the second was the most beautiful little white 
 rabbit ever seen. 
 
 ' I changed his little white wife into an old 
 woman,' explained Queen Mab, 'so that she 
 might help to free her husband. Look how 
 pleased they are ; but they will not be quite 
 happy until they get back to their own little 
 hole, so let them out, Puck.' 
 
 The little rabbits squeaked and hopped and 
 kissed each other's noses, and finally trotted out 
 Ruby fancied she heard the black rabbit whisper 
 to his wife, ' I never will eat cabbages any 
 more.'
 
 RUBY. 67 
 
 As soon as they were gone, Queen Mab 
 exclaimed, 'Jewellia!' and the fairy who had 
 hidden her face in her hands when Ruby 
 entered came forward. Her dress was entirely 
 composed of sapphires, which shone with a 
 clear bright light, more like the sky in summer 
 than anything else. Her shoes and wand and 
 crown were composed of deep-hued rubies. 
 
 ' All that remains to be done/ said Queen 
 Mab, 'is to give Ruby her natural colour, 
 and to ask her which she will choose for the 
 future, life in Fairyland, or life in Mortalland.' 
 
 ' Oh, let me be a fairy ! ' cried Ruby, ' and 
 live with you, great Queen.' 
 
 ' So be it. I place her under your care, 
 Jewellia ; she shall keep her original name, and 
 rule over Rubyland. That part of your king- 
 dom you must forfeit as punishment for your 
 conduct to the poor child.' 
 
 The Queen waved her wand and a mirror 
 appeared, in which Ruby saw herself reflected 
 as a pretty little girl with a lovely complexion 
 and golden hair, while her dress, and the wand 
 in her hand, were entirely composed of the 
 stones whose name she bore. She uttered an 
 exclamation of delight, and throwing herself
 
 68 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 before the Queen, kissed her hand in token of 
 allegiance. 
 
 Then said Puck, ' Allow me, most gracious 
 Queen, to wind up this scene by reciting my 
 last piece of poetry, which contains a descrip- 
 tion of your most serene Majesty, and which 
 every one of your faithful subjects will acknow- 
 ledge to be truth itself/ And he commenced 
 
 ' Blue, blue eyes, like a violet 
 
 In the morning, when the dew 
 Leaves on its petals a sparkling 
 
 Like diamonds, and the blue 
 In its depths seems all the deeper 
 
 For the contrast of the two. 
 Bright, red-brown hair, like a chestnut 
 
 Which has been covered by fays 
 With a web of golden streakings, 
 
 Like sunbeams on stormy days. 
 Eyes with a witching sparkle, 
 
 That twink like the morning star, 
 Or gaze with a dewy brightness 
 
 Into the distance far. 
 Hair which, when she is throned 
 
 Upon her mushroom seat, 
 Lies on the ground around her, 
 
 Behind her, beneath her feet. 
 Lips' 
 
 ' Enough, enough, good Puck,' interrupted 
 the Queen, rising from her throne, ' a truce to 
 compliments. What we , desire is not admira- 
 tion but love from each faithful subject The 
 court is dismissed.'
 
 THE SLIPPERY MOUNTAIN.
 
 THE SLIPPERY MOUNTAIN. 
 
 LONG time ago, there 
 lived a wealthy and 
 powerful king called 
 Hoel, who had an 
 only daughter, so 
 beautiful and so ami- 
 able that, in his 
 opinion, no one was 
 worthy of becoming 
 her husband. 
 
 There were many 
 who wished to marry 
 her, but King Hoel 
 
 invari- 
 ably for- 
 bade the 
 banns, 
 sending 
 the suit- 
 ors away 
 with this 
 or that 
 objection; 
 one was 
 too poor, 
 another 
 too ugly, 
 or too 
 short, or 
 too tall. 
 The poor 
 king at
 
 72 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 length grew tired of inventing objections, so 
 he gave out that the first person, whether he 
 were rich or poor, young or old, handsome or 
 ugly, tall or short, who should be able to carry 
 his daughter from the bottom to the top of the 
 high mountain at the foot of which his palace 
 was built should have her for his wife. 
 
 Banishment from the kingdom was to be 
 the penalty paid for failure. 
 
 ' Now,' thought King Hoel, with a sly 
 chuckle, rubbing his hands with satisfaction, 
 ' I have settled the matter nicely. It is quite 
 impossible for any one to climb the mountain, 
 and I shall not lose my child.' 
 
 The mountain was, indeed, of unusual 
 height, and as slippery as glass. Who could 
 possibly perform such a wonderful feat as to 
 carry the Princess to the top ? 
 
 4 Oh dear !' sighed the Princess Florentina, 
 as she gazed at it out of a back window of the 
 palace, ' no one will ever be able to carry me 
 to the top ! Oh dear ! oh dear ! how can 
 papa be so silly?' 
 
 There were, however, no lack of enterprising 
 suitors anxious and willing to attempt the feat ; 
 and the very next morning the Princess was in-
 
 THE SLIPPERY MOUNTAIN. 73 
 
 formed that a gentleman was waiting down- 
 stairs for the purpose, and that he would be 
 very much obliged if she would attire herself 
 in the thinnest garments she possessed, and 
 would forget to put any pomatum on her hair, so 
 as to decrease her weight as much as possible. 
 
 ' Wait a moment,' said the Princess, and a 
 cunning expression was in her eyes ; ' I '11 have 
 a look at the gentleman before obeying his 
 wishes.' So she ran downstairs, and entering a 
 state-room, saw a hideous little monster with a 
 hump on his back, and eyes as green as grass. 
 
 ' Are you ready, Princess ?' he exclaimed, 
 in a gruff, ugly voice. 
 
 ' No. No-o-o-o,' shrieked Florentina. ' Go 
 away, you dreadful creature. You shall not 
 carry me up the mountain. I won't let you 
 try.' 
 
 ' Hush, hush, silly child,' said the King, 
 1 there is no cause for alarm. He won't have 
 breath enough to get halfway up ! Remember 
 I have passed my word that whoever comes 
 shall have the chance/ 
 
 The Princess made no further resistance; 
 but, retiring to her room, opened her ward- 
 robe, and dressed herself in every article of
 
 74 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 clothing she possessed silks, satins, furs, 
 woollen stuffs, and linen. 
 
 Poor thing! all this heap of clothing made 
 her very hot and uncomfortable ; but she 
 thought little of that in her anxiety to increase 
 her weight. Then, calling her maid, she in- 
 sisted on having the contents of three pots of 
 pomatum, and two bottles of thick hair-oil, 
 rubbed on to her head, so that her tresses 
 alone were a considerable weight. 
 
 Not content yet, she had two feather-beds 
 tied securely round her, and then at length 
 consented to let the hideous little dwarf 
 attempt to carry her up the mountain. 
 
 Florentina could not, of course, walk down- 
 stairs enveloped as she was ; her attendants, 
 therefore, gently rolled her down the broad 
 staircase like a barrel of beer, and, being so 
 well protected, it did not hurt her in the least ; 
 in fact she rather liked it. 
 
 But oh ! what a rage the humpbacked suitor 
 was in when he caught sight of her ! 
 
 ' It is not fair, not fair,' he screamed out 
 again and again. ' Take off all those things, 
 madam. How dare you treat me like this ?' 
 ' No, no,' interposed the King, as soon as he
 
 THE SLIPPERY MOUNTAIN. 75 
 
 could speak for laughing at the funny figure 
 his daughter cut. ' There was nothing said 
 about clothing in the agreement, and you can't 
 make her take it off. Ha ! Ha ! Florentina 
 has got her wits about her;' and with that he 
 went off into another fit of laughter, in which 
 all the courtiers joined. The wretched dwarf, 
 seeing that the case was hopeless, caught up 
 the Princess in his arms and began to toil up 
 the mountain with her. And now she began 
 to be frightened, for, dwarf as he was, he 
 seemed endued with the strength of a giant, 
 and the mountain was already half scaled 
 before his breath began to fail. Then, puffing 
 and blowing, he said, in angry tones, ' It is 
 only these feather-beds, and all this nasty- 
 smelling pomatum ; if it were not for these 
 additions I could have carried you to the top 
 in a trice.' 
 
 ' You had much better give it up at once,' 
 said Florentina. 'See how you are slipping 
 about. Now do take my advice,' and while 
 speaking she pressed as heavily as she could 
 against him, so that he lost his footing, and fell 
 back, rolling over and over till he reached the 
 bottom of the mountain.
 
 76 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 Florentina, of course, rolled with him, but 
 beyond a few scratches on her face she was not 
 hurt, being so well protected by her coverings. 
 The king ordered his daughter to retire to her 
 apartments to undress and to rest, for she was 
 very tired ; and having ascertained that the pre- 
 sumptuous dwarf was not killed by his fall, he 
 gave orders for his banishment from the king- 
 dom, and then retired into the palace, devoutly 
 hoping no more suitors would make their 
 appearance for some time to come. If fathers, 
 however, will have lovely daughters, they must 
 expect these daughters to be sought in marriage, 
 and so the number of suitors did not diminish, 
 and the poor Princess 'became very weary of the 
 frequent and unsuccessful attempts to carry her 
 to the top of the mountain, which had become 
 the bugbear of her life. 
 
 One day when, attended by a lady-in-waiting, 
 she was walking in a lovely meadow, gathering 
 flowers and playing with her little dog Snowball, 
 an ugly little figure suddenly sprang from 
 behind a large rock, and catching up the dainty 
 white playfellow ran off with it quickly, uttering 
 hideous yells of delight. The Princess recog- 
 nised her disappointed dwarf suitor whom she
 
 THE SLIPPERY MOUNTAIN. 77 
 
 believed to have been banished from the 
 kingdom, and cried aloud in fear and sorrow, 
 fearing never to see her beloved little Snowball 
 again. 
 
 Her cries however, were heard, and very 
 soon she once more held the poor panting wee 
 dog in her arms. At first she could only kiss 
 and fondle her treasure, then she remembered 
 there must be some one to thank, and looking 
 up she beheld a handsome youth gazing at her 
 apparently overwhelmed by her marvellous 
 beauty. 
 
 ' O thank you, thank you!' was all the 
 Princess could say, for his earnest look filled her 
 with confusion, ' that dreadful dwarf, he ' 
 
 ' Are you the Princess Florentina ?' asked the 
 stranger, as she paused. ' You must be she, no 
 one else could be so wonderfully beautiful.' 
 
 Here the lady-in-waiting uttered a warning 
 ' h'm hem.' 
 
 . 'Yes,' answered Florentina, ' I am that unlucky 
 damsel, who is for ever being dragged up and 
 down a slippery mountain. Life is fast becom- 
 ing a burden to me.' 
 
 ' Oh, lovely maiden, who, having once beheld 
 you, could refrain from trying to win you !'
 
 78 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 exclaimed the youth passionately. 'Still, so 
 great is the love inspired in my heart by even 
 this brief glimpse of you, that sooner than 
 cause you one moment's annoyance I will never 
 see your face again.' 
 
 The Princess blushed and hid her face in 
 Snowball's fluffy coat. The lady-in-waiting 
 drew nearer, and this time gave a loud ' hem.' 
 She did not approve of such behaviour. 
 But neither did Florentina approve of inter- 
 ference, and lifting her face, very rosy now, she 
 faltered out that perhaps it was not impossible 
 she would not so very much mind one 
 more trip up the mountain, if if she was sure 
 of being carried to the top. and then, aggravated 
 by a louder and very fierce ' hem ' from the lady- 
 in-waiting, she added ' by you, kind youth,' and 
 once more buried her face in the friendly 
 Snowball. 
 
 'Oh, lovely Princess!' cried the youth over- 
 joyed, 'your words will give me strength for 
 any ascent ; but that I may not fail I will ask 
 the aid of my fairy godmother ; ' and kissing 
 her hand, in spite of a torrent of ' hems ' from 
 the outraged lady in waiting, he bade her fare- 
 well, with the promise that in three days' time
 
 THE SLIPPERY MOUNTAIN. 79 
 
 he would appear at the palace and carry her to 
 the summit of the mountain. On her return 
 home Florentina told her father all that had 
 happened. King Hoel was very angry to hear 
 that the dwarf had escaped banishment, but 
 he received the rest of her intelligence very 
 calmly, for he had no fear of losing his daugh- 
 ter, so many attempts to scale the mountain 
 having failed. He knew nothing, however, 
 about the fairy godmother, or perhaps he might 
 not have been so easy in his mind. The Prin- 
 cess passed the three days of waiting entirely 
 in her own apartments; and it was remarked 
 that she ate nothing, only drinking a little milk 
 two or three times a day, so that her strength 
 might not quite fail. She was, of course, most 
 anxious to reduce her weight by every possible 
 expedient; and when the important day ar- 
 rived she desired her maid in waiting to bring 
 her the finest and thinnest clothes she pos- 
 sessed, and of these she only put on just what 
 was necessary. 
 
 The King sent word that when she was 
 ready he would pay her a visit in her own 
 apartments. There was a frown on his face 
 when he entered, and it was not decreased by
 
 8o AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 his daughter's appearance. Thin from fasting, 
 and in her scanty apparel, she looked so light 
 and fragile that he trembled lest the brave 
 strong youth with whom he had been speaking 
 should succeed where so many others had 
 failed. 
 
 ' Put on your purple velvet and ermine 
 directly, Florentina,' he commanded. But his 
 daughter shook her head, and her pale deter- 
 mined countenance told him all remonstrance 
 would be useless. Nevertheless he raged and 
 stormed, and attempted to have her heavy 
 robes put on her by force, until he saw that she 
 was really too weak to bear much persecution, 
 and that if he did not wish to lose his daughter 
 altogether he had better let her have her own 
 way. So she was carried downstairs for she 
 was too weak to walk and placed in the arms 
 of her new suitor, whom, it may be said, the 
 King had discovered to be the son of a rich 
 and powerful King, with whom he was con- 
 stantly on the point of making war. The Prince 
 gazed sorrowfully at the lily-pale Florentina, 
 but she smiled up at him, and told him she 
 should recover when the summit of the moun- 
 tain was reached.
 
 THE SLIPPERY MOUNTAIN. 8 1 
 
 ' Have no fear; he answered, ' my fairy god- 
 mother has given me an elixir composed of 
 strength-giving herbs, so that if I feel faint 
 one drop will renew my strength.' 
 
 There was, as usual, a large crowd assembled 
 to witness the ascent, and among it were many 
 who wished the Prince success, for the Princess 
 was much beloved, and the report had gone 
 forth that she favoured this new suitor. There 
 were others, however, who did not share these 
 amiable feelings, and these were the friends of 
 all the unsuccessful suitors. Among the crowd 
 also was the hideous little dwarf, who had been 
 so tricked, as he called it, by the Princess. Of 
 course he was determined to do all he could to 
 spite the lovers, and his wrath was excited to 
 boiling point by Florentina's light and airy 
 costume. There were no heavy velvets, furs, 
 and bearskins now, let alone pomatum and 
 feather-beds. ' He shall never win her, never ! ' 
 he hissed between his little sharp teeth, and his 
 friends echoed the words. 
 
 And now the ascent began, and three parts 
 of the mountain had been scaled easily and 
 gracefully by the Prince. Suddenly his strength 
 seemed failing ; Florentina felt his arms relax- 
 
 F
 
 82 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ing their strong hold, and she entreated him to 
 refresh himself with a few drops of the elixir. 
 At this moment a torrent of hisses led by the 
 dwarf arose from the foot of the mountain ; 
 and cries of ' he is falling,' ' he must fail/ ' Oh 
 you impostor!' were hurled at him, hitting him 
 like so many stones. 
 
 ' Dear one,' he said to the Princess, ' I must 
 not rest, even for a second. If I do, these 
 wicked cries and hisses will increase, and they 
 are already almost too much for me/ So he 
 struggled on and on, feeling as if every step must 
 be his last. The cries and hisses increased, and 
 reached him still, while unhappily he could not 
 hear the cheers and words of encouragement 
 that were also sent after him. Poor Florentina 
 fainted, and it was now quite impossible for 
 him to use his fairy godmother's gift, even could 
 he have ventured to tarry for one moment on 
 the slippery surface. Despair raged in his 
 breast, he seemed to have no strength left; 
 still he struggled on with his beloved burden. 
 One step more and the summit would be 
 gained. 
 
 'Florentina! my Florentina!' was his faint 
 cry, as, his task accomplished, he sank with
 
 THE SLIPPERY MOUNTAIN. 83 
 
 her to the ground, ' at least we die together.' 
 And so it was. They were beyond all help 
 from the elixir now ; their strength was 
 utterly spent, and on the summit of the 
 huge slippery mountain they lay dead in 
 each other's arms. 
 
 An eagle who had watched the ascent, and 
 who grieved over the untimely fate of the un- 
 happy lovers, determined in his kingly heart 
 that they should have a beautiful and fragrant 
 grave. With his beak he gently took from the 
 Prince's breast the bottle of elixir, and, breaking 
 it, poured the contents around. Immediately 
 there sprang up the most beautiful flowers of 
 every shape and hue, and these grew and grew 
 till they formed a floral tomb, in which the 
 bodies of the lovers rested undisturbed. The 
 flowers were so bright and of such size that 
 even the old King could see them from the 
 roof of his palace. And so great were his grief 
 and remorse for his daughter's sad fate, that 
 he knew no peace of mind unless he were 
 watching the flowers ; so he built himself a 
 little room, and gazed at them from morning to 
 night. 
 
 ' Quite mad,' his subjects called him, and
 
 8 4 
 
 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 perhaps he was; at any rate, nobody grieved 
 overmuch, when one day he was found dead 
 kneeling at his little window, whence his poor 
 old eyes had taken their last look at Florentina's 
 beautiful grave.
 
 THE SHRIMP PRINCE.
 
 THE SHRIMP PRINCE. 
 
 EJECTED and de- 
 pressed in mind, an unusually 
 small and shrivelled shrimp was 
 one day hopping about his 
 sandy home. He did not find 
 favour with his relations; his 
 mother, who was a fine well- 
 
 grown shrimp 
 was constantly 
 reproaching 
 him with his 
 miserable shri- 
 velled appear- 
 ance, and was 
 wont to make 
 fun of him in 
 every way. 
 Consequently 
 the poor little 
 fellow shrank 
 more and more 
 into himself,
 
 88 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 and in time learnt to keep his thoughts and 
 fancies to himself. 
 
 1 Oh to be big, to be big ! ' he would sigh 
 over and over again; and his eyes would 
 protrude almost out of their sockets with ad- 
 miration when the transparent prawns passed 
 by, gracefully waving their feelers, little dream- 
 ing of the cruel fate that in all probability 
 awaited them. 
 
 One day, as, devoured by envy, he was 
 gazing after them, a gruff voice close behind 
 him exclaimed 
 
 4 Hullo, youngster, look out, or I shall be the 
 death of you ! ' 
 
 The shrimp gave a bound out of the way of 
 the enormous creature, who, clad as it were in 
 black armour, all arms and legs, had nearly put 
 an end to his existence. It was a lobster, who, 
 notwithstanding his hard shell had a soft heart, 
 and would not willingly have hurt even a 
 shrivelled little shrimp. 
 
 'Why, what 's the matter ?' he said, noticing 
 our poor small friend's mournful looks ; ' I 
 didn't hurt you, did I ? ' 
 
 ' Oh no ; only only I wish I were as big as 
 you.'
 
 THE SHRIMP PRINCE. 89 
 
 ' Why, I might as well wish to be as large as 
 a whale/ answered the lobster, ' and what good 
 would that do ? Come, little shrimp, don't be 
 discontented, you can boast of more legs than I 
 can, though to sure they are rather thin, but 
 still' 
 
 ' Yes,' interrupted the shrimp bitterly, ' I have 
 thirty-two legs, and can't walk with one of them.' 
 
 ' But you can jump famously,' said the 
 lobster consolingly ; ' you have only to curl up 
 your tail, and away you go. Fine gambols 
 you shrimps seem to have. Now, we can't 
 enjoy ourselves that way ; and indeed,' went 
 on the lobster rather dejectedly, * we have some 
 very unpleasant moments in our lives. I have 
 just gone through a great deal.' 
 
 ' Oh, do tell me about it,' cried the shrimp. 
 
 ' Well, a time arrives in our lives when our 
 bodies become too large for our shells. It is 
 not comfortable, I can tell you. We swell and 
 swell, and feel as if we must burst, but no such 
 luck happens. The more we eat the bigger 
 of course we grow, so at last we leave off eat- 
 ing and hide ourselves in some hole or corner. 
 Here we lie panting, and wishing ourselves 
 dead, until by degrees we get thinner, and are
 
 90 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 able once more to breathe in our shells. But 
 we feel we must get rid of these shells, so we 
 wriggle about till at last they begin to split, 
 and with some difficulty we contrive to creep 
 out of them. When I got out of mine the 
 other day I was so weak and tired I could only 
 just crawl and hide myself in a safe place.' 
 
 ' Why did you want to hide ? ' asked the 
 shrimp. 
 
 ' Because my poor soft body would have been 
 a delicate morsel to any one of my brother 
 lobsters, so I took good care to keep out of the 
 way.' 
 
 4 But you have a fine new coat now,' said the 
 shrimp. 
 
 ' Oh yes ; a new one always comes after a 
 little while ; and now that I have gone through 
 some of my troubles I mean to enjoy life a 
 little, if only I can escape being caught by 
 those nasty baskets the wicked fishermen throw 
 into the sea. Come, little shrimp, cheer up ! 
 We all have our troubles, you see, big and small 
 alike. I would advise you to question those you 
 meet before you make up your mind that you 
 are more to be pitied than other people.' 
 
 And with this excellent advice, and a good-
 
 THE SHRIMP PRINCE. 9 1 
 
 natured nod, the lobster marched off, followed by 
 the admiring eyes of the shrimp. But the small 
 creature was still discontented, and still panted 
 to be of greater size and consequence in the 
 sea ; sitting up on his little tail in a melancholy 
 attitude, he covered his eyes with some of his 
 numerous legs. The sound of soft singing 
 roused him, and looking up he saw a lovely 
 mermaid sitting on a rock combing her hair. 
 The shrimp had heard of such a being, but this 
 was the first time his eyes had beheld one. 
 Very soon the mermaid ceased singing and 
 began talking to herself. ' Ah me ! ah me ! 
 Could I but escape from this dreary wet life 
 how happy I should be ! Oh to be a daughter 
 of Earth, to get rid of this tail ! Ah me ! ah 
 me ! why cannot it be !' 
 
 The shrimp listened eagerly to this wail. 
 What this beautiful creature, did she, too, 
 wish to be other than she was ? Surely, then, 
 he had no cause to be ashamed of his aspiring 
 soul. Hitherto he had been derided and 
 mocked by all to whom he had t@4d his sorrows. 
 True, the lobster had spoken kindly, but even 
 he had given him no encouragement. Perhaps, 
 however, this beautiful creature would under-
 
 g2 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 stand him ; and the next moment, with a hop, 
 skip, and a bound he was by her side, making 
 his presence known by chirping in a feeble 
 treble. ' I, too, would be other than I am, 
 for every one laughs at me, because I am 
 only a shrivelled little shrimp.' 
 
 1 Poor wee creature/ said the mermaid kindly. 
 ' And what is it you wish to be a prawn ?' 
 
 ' Until this moment I have panted to be a 
 lobster, but now I feel that would not content 
 me. I would be a herring, a salmon ; no, a 
 whale!' 
 
 To his surprise the mermaid did not laugh. 
 She only said, ' An ugly, fat, black, oily 
 creature, with a throat so small that he can 
 only feed on jelly fishes and similar creatures. 
 No, no, little shrimp, size is not everything. 
 Now, / sigh to be one of another world. To 
 leave for ever this lower atmosphere, and rise to 
 that of earth. I would be a mortal, a princess !' 
 
 ' And I; cried the shrimp, inspired by her 
 beauty and presence, ' I would be a prince !' 
 
 Wishes are sometimes granted ; and, as 
 you know, in fairyland nothing is impossible. 
 In less time than it takes to write the words 
 the mermaid and the shrimp were changed
 
 THE SHRIMP PRINCE. 93 
 
 into a princess and a prince, and found them- 
 selves high and dry in a beautiful city, where 
 everything and every one seemed made for 
 happiness. In that wonderful fashion common 
 to fairyland, they dropped at once into their 
 right places ; and if they had not known to the 
 contrary, might have fancied they had always 
 been a prince and a princess, so neatly did they 
 fit into their present places. 
 
 But there is a ' but ' sometimes, you see, 
 even in fairyland neither the mermaid nor 
 the shrimp could forget their past state. They 
 might, perhaps, have done so, had they never 
 come in contact one with the other, but 
 seeing each other daily made it impossible. 
 
 Not that the mermaid wished to see the 
 prince shrimp daily, she would have given her 
 long back hair with pleasure to any one who 
 would have relieved her from his unwelcome 
 attention ; for he had fallen deeply in love with 
 her, and followed her about with the pertinacity 
 of a shell-fish. This was not the only reason 
 for her dislike ; the true reason was that he, and 
 he alone, knew that she had once possessed a 
 tail, that appendage of which she had always 
 been dreadfully ashamed, and which she now
 
 94 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ardently desired to forget. She need not have 
 been alarmed. The poor prince had no wish 
 to rake up old grievances either for her or for 
 himself: neither would he have vexed or 
 mortified her on any account. 
 
 He was very miserable in his new phase of 
 existence, notwithstanding his present size, and 
 the state and splendour in which he lived. 
 There was no one he loved save the beautiful 
 mermaid, and she did not conceal the dislike 
 and disdain she felt for him. Some things, too, 
 in his new life were very dreadful. He almost 
 fainted at the sight of cooked fish, although it 
 is true that at first he failed to recognise the 
 graceful undulating sole in the flat brown sub- 
 stance brought to table, or the delicate whiting 
 in its contorted form, tail in mouth. But once, 
 when a dish of limp brown shrimps, their poor 
 eyes protruding piteously from the sockets, was 
 placed before him, he screamed aloud, and 
 demanded fiercely who had dared to murder 
 his relations. All present stared in amaze- 
 ment, and thought he had suddenly gone mad, 
 whereupon, recollecting himself, he tried to ex- 
 cuse his vehemence by saying he was not well 
 and did not know what he was saying. No-
 
 THE SHRIMP PRINCE. 95 
 
 body, however, forgot the scene, or another 
 which happened soon after, at a dinner party 
 given by the King. A lobster was placed 
 before the Prince, and he was requested to 
 serve it. Our poor friend turned quite sick at 
 the request, but looking round the table he 
 failed to see the well-known black form, and, 
 much relieved, made a low bow, saying that he 
 could see no lobster on the table. 
 
 ' Why, Prince alive, where are your eyes ?' 
 shouted the old King ; ' what is that just in 
 front of you I should like to know ?' 
 
 1 This, your majesty, this red object, do you 
 mean ? Indeed I cannot say.' 
 
 ' Look at it closer, then,' commanded the 
 King, ' it is time you should know a lobster by 
 sight ;' and he had the dish pushed close under 
 the nose of the poor Prince. Then, indeed, he 
 began to recognise an old acquaintance, but in 
 what a piecemeal condition ! The tail split in 
 two, the claws broken in halves, lying on each 
 side of the dish, and the poor head, a ghastly 
 object, sitting up helplessly in the centre, each 
 finger (feeler, we should say) stiff and rigid. 
 
 The Prince sickened with horror as he took 
 in all the details of the sight before him.
 
 96 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ' Come, come P roared the King, losing patience, 
 ' are these good manners to keep your sovereign 
 waiting? Give me half the tail and a good 
 spoonful out of the head.' Shuddering from 
 head to foot the Prince put forth his hand to 
 seize the lobster's head, when he fancied he 
 saw a resemblance in the face to his friend who 
 had spoken so kindly to him the last day he 
 was in the sea. It was too much. Muttering 
 some inaudible excuse, he jumped up from his 
 chair and rushed headlong from the room. 
 Needless to say he was not again invited to 
 the palace. 
 
 All this caused the poor Prince to be re- 
 garded with cold looks. ' He was so odd,' 
 people said : some laughed at him, others 
 despised him, but nobody liked him. In one 
 respect only did he ever gain applause, and 
 that was at the athletic sports, which took 
 place very often, and which were highly 
 patronised by the King's sons. Here, indeed, 
 our poor shrimp Prince would excel all others 
 in jumping. It was quite extraordinary the 
 height he could go, and the ease with which he 
 vaulted into the air. ' Not gracefully though,' 
 said the spectators. No; that could not be
 
 THE SHRIMP PRINCE. 97 
 
 conceded, for he curled up his legs in the 
 oddest manner imaginable while preparing for 
 the leap, and his back went out and his back 
 went in, in a way that puzzled all the wiseacres 
 extremely ; and a scientific treatise was written 
 in consequence on the formation of the human 
 body and the origin of man, which was cer- 
 tainly not founded on fact as far as the poor 
 shrimp was concerned. This wonderful power 
 of jumping made him almost happy for a little 
 while ; but this feeling did not last long, for 
 after the first astonishment was over nobody 
 ever said a kind word to him or praised his 
 skill. Some turned away with envy, it is true, 
 but they strove to conceal it under a pretence 
 of scorn, and others could not hide their amuse- 
 ment at the funny figure he cut. 
 
 And all this time the dislike of the beautiful 
 mermaid increased daily. He did not even 
 dare to speak to her now, she became so angry 
 at the first word. Meanwhile, all went well 
 with her. She was courted, and feted, and 
 petted to her heart's content, and, so report 
 said, would soon marry the King's eldest son. 
 But before this took place she was very 
 anxious that the shrimp Prince should be 
 
 G
 
 98 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 compelled to leave the kingdom, for she lived 
 in terror lest that little story of her tail should 
 come out. One day, much to his surprise, the 
 King's eldest son invited him, in the most 
 affable manner, to take a ramble with him by 
 the sea-shore. Hitherto he had taken every 
 opportunity of treating him with the utmost scorn 
 and rudeness, so that the shrimp Prince was at a 
 loss to account for this sudden change ; but being 
 of a simple unsuspecting nature, he accepted the 
 invitation with much pleasure. They wandered 
 on for a long distance ; our poor friend so de- 
 lighted at being treated kindly that he took no 
 note of time or place, until it suddenly occurred 
 to him that the sun was sinking fast, and that 
 they were a long way from home. He there- 
 fore proposed to his companion that they 
 should retrace their steps. 
 
 ' Would you know your way back ? ' asked 
 the Prince. 
 
 ' No, indeed/ answered the other. ' I have 
 been so much engrossed by my conversation 
 with you ; and we have wandered in and out so 
 among these sandhills, that I should be in a 
 bad plight if you were not here to act as guide.' 
 
 The Prince gave a short laugh.
 
 THE SHRIMP PRINCE. 99 
 
 ' Deluded creature ! Know that I have 
 brought you here to perish. We are in the 
 midst of treacherous quicksands, the safe pas- 
 sage through which is alone known to me. 
 Hope not to find your way home safely with- 
 out assistance, and that you may cry for in 
 vain. This is your punishment for your pre- 
 sumption in loving my future bride/ and with 
 a mocking laugh the Prince disappeared into 
 the gathering gloom, leaving our poor betrayed 
 shrimp faint and sick with fear. He was afraid 
 to stir lest the treacherous sand should swallow 
 him up. He looked round on the desolate 
 scene, and decided there was no hope of escape 
 for him, and that his fate would be a lingering 
 death from starvation. What would he not 
 have given at that moment to have been a 
 little shrivelled shrimp safe in the briny sea ! 
 
 Salt tears fell from his eyes as he bemoaned 
 his sad fate. He raised his hand to dash them 
 away, and at the same moment was aware of a 
 female form standing before him, and heard a 
 kind voice say, ' Do not be afraid, I will guide 
 you safely to my hut away from these quick- 
 sands. Follow me.' 
 
 Amazed and overjoyed, scarcely believing
 
 IOO AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 he was saved, he followed his guide, being 
 careful to tread in her very footsteps, until at 
 length she stopped in a place where the desola- 
 tion was not quite so great, some coarse grass 
 and a few sea poppies being visible. A faint 
 wreath of smoke attracted his eye, and he 
 found it came from the chimney of a tiny hut 
 which lay at the foot of one of the largest 
 sand-hillocks. 
 
 His guide led the way to the door. ' Come 
 in,' she said. ' You will be safe here from 
 treacherous kindness, though this is but a 
 poor little place.' It was indeed a very poor 
 place, but kept as clean as a new pin. 
 
 ' And do you live here all alone ?' asked the 
 shrimp Prince, for the first time perceiving 
 that his hostess was young and fair. ' How 
 dull and lonely you must be.' 
 
 ' Not at all,' she replied. ' I have plenty to 
 do; and the creatures of the sea are my 
 friends ?' 
 
 ' The creatures of the sea ! Do you mean 
 fishes and lobsters ?' 
 
 ' Yes ; and crabs, prawns, and especially the 
 shrimps. Dear little creatures they are my 
 greatest friends.'
 
 THE SHRIMP PRINCE. IOI 
 
 Our shrimp looked at her in astonishment. 
 
 ' Friends f What can you mean, fair maiden ? 
 how can such insignificant beings be friends to 
 you ?' 
 
 Marina, for so she was called, laughed. 
 ' Ah ! that is my secret ; and I am not sure 
 that I can tell it you ; anyhow we must wait 
 till to-morrow, and now, good night, for it is 
 getting late,' and with this she vanished, leav- 
 ing the Prince a prey to curiosity. Who and 
 what could she be, leading a solitary life in 
 this little hut with sea creatures only for her 
 friends ? There was no sleep for the Prince 
 that night. He tossed and tossed to and fro 
 on his couch, thinking over his adventures ; 
 reviling the King's son, and in his secret 
 soul wishing he were a shrimp again, since 
 Marina would not despise him in that form. 
 At daybreak he rose and wandered down to 
 the seashore. Soon his attention was attracted 
 by the soft tones of his hostess in conversation 
 apparently with some one. Who could it be ? 
 
 Curiosity overpowered him, and hiding him- 
 self cautiously behind the hillocks whence her 
 voice proceeded, he peeped round and beheld 
 a curious scene. Marina was leaning against
 
 IO2 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 the hillock, her small white feet dabbling in a 
 pool of clear water, while round and round 
 them swam myriads of tiny shrimps. How 
 the heart of our poor Prince leaped at sight of 
 them ! Marina's hands were placed together so 
 as to form a cup, which was filled with sea 
 water, and in it, seated erect on her tail, look- 
 ing up into the maiden's face and speaking 
 earnestly, was a large shrimp. 
 
 The Prince nearly betrayed himself, for at 
 the second glance he recognised his own 
 mother! He listened eagerly to her words, 
 and to his astonishment heard her deploring, 
 with salt and bitter tears, the fact of his dis- 
 appearance. 
 
 ' Oh !' she cried, ' I never treated him as I 
 should have done, he was neither so large nor 
 so plump as my other children, and I despised 
 him, called him " shrivelled " and other dread- 
 ful names. Oh dear, oh dear, and he took it to 
 heart, poor darling, and has gone away, and I 
 shall never see him again !' 
 
 Marina tried to console the weeping mother, 
 but to no purpose. 
 
 ' It was doubtless wrong of you to treat him 
 differently from the others/ she said gently,
 
 THE SHRIMP PRINCE. 1 03 
 
 ' for he could not help his appearance ; but do 
 not despair, you may yet find him again. 
 Where do you think he may be ?' 
 
 ' There is a rumour,' answered the shrimp, 
 'that he is enchanted and is somewhere on 
 earth in the guise of a man. Oh if only I could 
 discover him and disenchant him, for I am sure 
 he cannot be happy, he must be longing for his 
 native element, and a gambol with his brothers 
 and sisters!' 
 
 As she spoke, a craving for the sea awoke in 
 the heart of the enchanted shrimp ; his legs 
 ached for a swim, and pined for a good jump 
 untrammelled by man's attire. With a wild 
 desire to be free, he sprang into the air over 
 the hillock and the pool, thereby so startling his 
 poor mother, that she took a flying leap from 
 Marina's hands and disappeared into the sea, 
 followed by the other shrimps. 
 
 Being a fairy, Marina was not startled, she 
 recognised at once her guest, who ashamed 
 of his impulsive behaviour, approached very 
 humbly, begged her pardon, and then made 
 known his identity. He told her of his early life, 
 of the jibes and ill-treatment he had received, 
 of his desire to be something higher than a
 
 104 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 miserable shrivelled shrimp, of his meeting with 
 the beautiful mermaid, and of their subsequent 
 enchantment, finally of her scorn of his unhappy 
 life at court, of all the mortifications he had 
 undergone, and of the treachery of the king's 
 son. 
 
 1 And now/ said Marina, when he had finished, 
 'what is your present wish ? For if it in any 
 way relates to the sea I can grant it ?' 
 
 ' Let me be a shrimp once more/ he cried, 
 1 and return to my mother and brethren.' 
 
 No sooner were the words uttered than he 
 found himself in the pool before him, once more 
 in his right character and in his right element. 
 
 The fairy looked down at him kindly. ' You 
 have chosen wisely/ she said ; ' you are now no 
 longer miserable or shrivelled, a finer shrimp 
 does not swim in the sea. Forget your former 
 unhappiness, and be satisfied with your lot. In 
 any trouble come to me, these sandhills are my 
 home, and no shellfish ever appeals to me in 
 vain.' 
 
 The shrimp thanked her warmly, waved an 
 adieu with his feelers, and soon found himself 
 in the arms of his mother, surrounded by a 
 circle of admiring shrimps listening with breath-
 
 THE SHRIMP PRINCE. IO5 
 
 less attention to his adventures. And with one 
 accord, they hoped devoutly that the scornful 
 mermaid's secret would be discovered, and that 
 she would never marry the king's eldest son. 
 
 ' I care not now,' said our shrimp ; ' she may 
 marry whom she please so long as I am not her 
 husband. Faugh ! She need not have been 
 so alarmed, her tail was her chief attraction in 
 my eyes, I would not have taken her without it 
 at a gift !' 
 
 It is convenient sometimes to change our 
 opinions with time and circumstances.
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH.
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 
 
 HERE Grumblewitch 
 lived is not of much 
 account, but we may 
 fairly imagine it must 
 have been in or near 
 Fairyland, because of 
 the wonderful deeds she performed. 
 
 No one, however, would have called her a 
 fairy. In appearance she was a regular old 
 witch, with bent form, long sharp nose, and 
 small twinkling grey eyes. Add a harsh 
 croaky voice, and you must own that her 
 title of Grumblewitch suited her to a nicety. 
 
 She and her servant Jan lived in a good- 
 sized old-fashioned cottage a little way from
 
 HO AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 the town. It was well known that they lived 
 by their wits, for money they had none. And 
 without doubt these wits must have been very 
 sharp, for the best of everything was to be 
 found at the cottage. The sleekest cattle, the 
 fattest pigs, the best-bred horses belonged to 
 Grumblewitch; so no wonder she was regarded 
 with envy and suspicion by her neighbours. 
 Even her flowers were the admiration of all 
 passers-by. No such lovely roses bloomed 
 elsewhere ; and the pinks might indeed be 
 called pinks of perfection. The neighbours 
 and chance travellers would stand gazing in 
 admiration at her flowers, but not one blossom 
 would she ever give away. ' Be off, be off, 
 don't stand idling here,' were her customary 
 words, shaking her stick at them ; and with a 
 shrug of disappointment, vowing she was the 
 Grossest old witch in the world, they were 
 obliged to go their way. 
 
 Some of them, the most observant, were 
 wont to say that for all their beauty the roses 
 did not look carelessly happy, as roses usually 
 do. They had a beseeching look, one could 
 almost fancy they were holding out invisible 
 arms and crying, ' Take me away ! take me
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. I I I 
 
 away!' and they said that the pinks held their 
 heads so high and grew so straight because they 
 were anxious to grow out of reach of Grumble- 
 witch altogether ; but these were considered 
 mere foolish fancies by the wise and busy. 
 
 How these good people would have opened 
 their eyes had they known the truth with 
 regard to these poor flowers ! For the roses 
 were beautiful princesses, and the pinks nice 
 little dandies, whom Grumblewitch had en- 
 chanted in order to adorn her garden. Every 
 thing about the place was enchanted. The 
 oxen were fat old farmers, the horses men and 
 women, the pigs greedy people of all sizes and 
 ages, and the crows and ravens were dirty 
 smutty chimney-sweeps. 
 
 In short, whenever Grumblewitch wanted 
 anything she would take one of her wicked 
 walks abroad and never return empty-handed. 
 It so happened that the country was, at that 
 time, infested by wild fierce beasts, and when- 
 ever any one was missing it was always 
 supposed that he or she had fallen a prey 
 to these dreadful animals ; but far, far oftener 
 it was Grumblewitch who was the old wolf 
 who carried them off.
 
 I 1 2 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 Every morning she would call to her servant, 
 and say 
 
 'Jan, is anything wanted to-day ?' 
 
 Sometimes Jan would answer 
 
 ' No, mistress, not to-day.' But more often, 
 and especially on market-days, ' Yes, mistress, 
 a score of things or more.' 
 
 One morning when Grumblewitch had made 
 the usual inquiry, the answer was 
 
 ' We want a sieve, mistress, a spoon, a 
 sucking pig, a magpie, and a peacock.' 
 
 ' Very well,' said Grumblewitch, ' you shall 
 have them. The four last are easy enough to 
 procure, the first rather puzzles me/ 
 
 ' Oh, mistress, you '11 find it fast enough/ 
 grinned Jan, 'let you alone for that.' 
 
 Grumblewitch sallied forth dressed in her 
 usual quaint style, and leaning heavily on her 
 stick. 
 
 She went on and on till she came to the 
 market-place. Here she took up her post as 
 far removed from observation as possible, 
 and gave her eyes and ears a good rubbing, 
 so as to see and hear all that was going on. 
 ' Some folks/ she muttered, ' say at times they 
 can't believe their own ears; mercy on us!
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 113 
 
 what a slapping I should give mine if they 
 ever dared to play me false ! ' 
 
 Her eyes were now so wide awake that they 
 could see everything that was passing in the 
 market-place with the greatest accuracy, and 
 her ears were equally sharp. There was a 
 poor sawny youth trying to sell a horse, and 
 being laughed and jeered at unmercifully by 
 the idle ones of the place. Time after time 
 he clambered up painfully on to the horse to 
 show off its paces, but was so frightened at 
 the least movement of the animal that he 
 screamed aloud, and, flinging both arms round 
 the creature's neck, hung on terrified till he 
 was kicked off. 
 
 A grin of satisfaction distorted the old hag's 
 face. ' You '11 do for me,' thought she, and 
 hobbling across th market-place she ventured 
 as near to the kicking animal as she dared, and 
 muttered a few words in her native gibberish. 
 Then giving a loud scream she pretended the 
 horse had kicked her, and fell on the ground 
 rolling over and over. Immediately cries arose 
 of ' poor old thing,' ' pick her up,' ' take care,' 
 ' what has become of the lout ?' And Grumble- 
 witch was soon once more on her feet, while
 
 I 14 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 nothing could be seen of the authors of the 
 accident. The horse had galloped off, but 
 without his rider, and the general inquiry was 
 'Where can he be?' 
 
 Only Grumblewitch could have answered 
 that question, and you may be sure she did not 
 enlighten them. No, she hobbled off, patting 
 her pocket tenderly, for safe in that receptacle 
 was the unfortunate youth in the shape of a 
 long gravy-spoon. ' And that is his proper 
 form,' thought Grumblewitch, 'he will be a 
 great deal more useful thus than he ever 
 was before in his life. Now for my other 
 wants.' 
 
 Presently she heard sounds of merriment 
 which proceeded from a knot of persons some 
 little way off. Her ears being so sharp, 
 Grumblewitch did not need to go any nearer 
 to hear what was being said. 
 
 ' Now then, Talkative Jim,' cried one of the 
 group, ' fire away, that was a capital story about 
 Tom's wife ; can't you tell us one about Tom 
 himself?' Oh yes, Jim was willing enough to 
 oblige his friends ; only of course no one must 
 repeat to Tom what was said, or he should get 
 into trouble, Tom having told him the story as
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 115 
 
 a great secret. All promised secrecy, and 
 applause and laughter followed Jim's recital, 
 and more and more stories were demanded of 
 him until all the secret affairs of his friends 
 as well as his own had leaked out from 
 Talkative Jim. 
 
 ' That 's my man,' thought Grumblewitch 
 exultantly, 'it could not be better. Why, he 
 has only to be shaken a little with a few ques- 
 tions, and everything he knows leaks out of him 
 like water from a sieve. Yes, and a sieve he 
 shall be!' 
 
 Talkative Jim, having finished his stories for 
 the time being, had separated from his com- 
 panions, and was now approaching Grumble- 
 witch. Hobbling a little way to meet him, the 
 transformation was soon effected. A few words 
 muttered, Talkative Jim vanished and the sieve 
 that remained in his place was quickly and 
 quietly tucked under Grumblewitch's capacious 
 cloak. 
 
 Nobody observed what had happened ; the 
 busy market-place was a good field of action for 
 the old hag, as the noise and general bustle 
 allowed her wicked deeds to pass unnoticed. 
 
 Jan was waiting in a quiet corner to carry
 
 I 1 6 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 home the goods. He grinned when his mistress 
 placed the sieve in his hands. ' Ay, ay, you 
 have got the best sieve in the market, sure 
 enough, and why, I declare if this spoon isn't 
 Sawny Joe! Ha, ha, ha! You are a clever 
 one, mistress, and no mistake;' for Jan, it must 
 be told, had a touch of magic about him, and 
 although he could not enchant any one, yet he 
 was able to see through the transformations. 
 ' Take them home carefully, Jan, and then 
 return here, bringing some string with you to 
 tie round the pig's neck/ 
 
 The little pig was easily found in a small 
 greedy child making himself sick with sucking 
 lollipops, and there was not much difficulty with 
 regard to the peacock, with so many vain over- 
 dressed flaunting young women strutting about 
 the market-place. The magpie, however, was 
 a difficulty. There were plenty of chatter- 
 boxes, but the hard task was to catch one by 
 herself. 
 
 'Try "Shrill Bess," or " Noisy Nan," whispered 
 Jan ; ' either would make a first-rate magpie.' 
 
 Very likely ; their shrill voices and never- 
 ending chatter were enough to confirm his 
 opinion, but while the girls were incessantly
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 1 1 7 
 
 gossiping to one person or another nothing 
 could be done. 
 
 Restless as magpies, they were first here, 
 then there, till Grumblewitch grew giddy in 
 following their quick movements. At length 
 fortune favoured her in the shape of a small 
 boy, who appeared on the scene, calling loudly 
 for Noisy Nan, who was wanted at home in- 
 stantly. Grumblewitch at once hobbled off 
 in the direction the girl would take, for she 
 foresaw rightly that it would be some little time 
 before the chatterbox would tear herself away 
 from her companions. Noisy Nan when she 
 did depart took to her heels to make up for 
 lost time, and was running past Grumblewitch, 
 when a few words of gibberish stopped her 
 career and changed her into a magpie. 
 
 In the hurry of the moment, however, one 
 word was forgotten, and the right eye was in 
 consequence left disenchanted. Now Noisy 
 Nan had very small dark twinkling eyes, not 
 unlike those of a magpie, and Grumblewitch 
 did not notice the difference between the right 
 and left eye as she caught her up quickly and 
 hobbled back to the market-place, chuckling 
 hideously over her success. If she had only
 
 I l8 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 known of the omission she would not have been 
 quite so hilarious, for by reason of the enchant- 
 ment being incomplete the magpie could see, 
 hear, and understand all that went on. The 
 girl was naturally so cunning there was not 
 much danger of her being found out, unless, 
 indeed, her chattering tongue betrayed her. 
 That was the danger for Noisy Nan ; however, 
 she determined to be very prudent, and vowed 
 deep vengeance on Grumblewitch all the way 
 home. She nearly betrayed herself on the 
 first appearance of the spoon and the sieve. 
 Sawny Joe and Talkative Jim were old ac- 
 quaintances, and to see them under forms that 
 so exactly suited them set her off into peals of 
 laughter, and caused Grumblewitch and Jan 
 to eye her with quick glances of suspicion. 
 
 'Take care,' quoth Nan to herself; and, 
 checking her laughter, she subsided into the 
 ordinary hoarse cry of a magpie, Ki! ko! ko! 
 ko! 
 
 ' She 's a merry one, she is/ said Jan. ' She '11 
 keep the house alive, she will.' 
 
 As the days went by poor Nan's merriment 
 subsided rapidly. Her new life had been 
 amusing enough at first, so many old ac-
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 119 
 
 quaintances did she discover in disguise; but 
 as they had no remembrance of themselves 
 or of her, all the fun was on her side, and that, 
 as we know, soon grows wearisome. One day, 
 when no one was near, she took up the gravy 
 spoon in her beak and addressed it as Sawny 
 Joe, but to no purpose. Joe was thoroughly 
 enchanted and could only have understood the 
 language of spoons, if indeed there be one. 
 Then Nan tried the peacock, who, as Gaudy 
 Jane, had been an intimate friend of hers, but 
 the creature did not understand one word, and 
 only spread her tail, curved her neck, and 
 strutted about, uttering discordant cries. The 
 same with the pig, the sieve, and other old 
 friends ; all were hopelessly enchanted. 
 
 Nan fancied the roses showed faint signs of 
 intelligence, for they lifted their heads when 
 she addressed them and sighed softly, but that 
 was all. 
 
 Poor Nan! She soon grew tired of her 
 wicker cage, and of Grumblewitch's cracked 
 ugly voice and hideous face. Bitterly did 
 she lament her fate and sigh impatiently for 
 a change : and one day it came. 
 
 Grumblewitch and Jan were both out, and
 
 I 20 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 Nan was safely shut up in her cage, when a 
 wonderful thing happened. A man came leap- 
 ing along over gates, over hedges, over walls, 
 even over small trees until he landed right in 
 the middle of Grumblewitch's garden. ' Ki ! ki ! 
 ki ! ko ! ko ! ko !' chattered Nan noisily, in order 
 to attract his attention. Looking up, he spied 
 her in the cage. ' Undo the door,' she said 
 softly, but the man was so taken aback at 
 being thus addressed by a magpie that he 
 stood petrified with gaping mouth staring at 
 Nan till his eyes almost left their sockets. 
 
 'Idiot!' she exclaimed sharply, 'don't lose 
 time ; open the door of my cage ; I have been 
 enchanted by wicked old Grumblewitch, and 
 in reality I am a very pretty girl. Come, look 
 sharp, or Grumblewitch will be back, and then 
 you will be turned into a bounding ball, as sure 
 as my name is Noisy Nan.' 
 
 This frightened the man, and he opened the 
 door of the cage quickly enough. 
 
 ' Now then,' said Nan, ' hide me in the breast- 
 pocket of your coat, and bound away as fast as 
 you can out of this den of enchantment.' 
 
 Away bounded the man over hedges, ditches, 
 walls, houses, and small trees, until Nan, tired
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 121 
 
 and giddy with the incessant motion, called out 
 to him to stop. 
 
 1 Why, you are not even out of breath,' said 
 Nan admiringly, as she sat on his shoulder and 
 peered at him with her one human eye. 
 
 'Tired!' he scoffed; 'what, with that little 
 bound ? Why, I could leap up to the sun fifty 
 times running, and not be tired.' 
 
 'Hm!' said Nan, 'I hardly believe that; 
 but never mind, go on. Have you anything 
 further extraordinary to tell me ? ' 
 
 1 Oh yes ! I have heard my mother say that 
 the moment I was born I bounded out of the 
 nurse's arms out of the room and out of the 
 house up to the top of the highest tree there- 
 abouts, where for two days a squirrel fed me 
 with nuts.' 
 
 ' Dear me,' said Nan composedly, ' how very 
 cold you must have been ! ' 
 
 ' Oh no ; the leaps had circulated my blood 
 so well that I could not feel cold.' 
 
 ' Indeed ; anything more ?' 
 
 ' Would you like to see me playing leap-frog 
 over a few steeples and church-towers ? ' 
 
 ' Not now, if you please. I know you can 
 leap very well, although I may not believe
 
 122 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 you are quite so wonderful as you make your- 
 self out to be. However, this is the question, 
 and a very serious one for me : Will you help 
 me out of this horrible disguise ?' 
 
 ' If I can/ answered the man, who was good- 
 nature itself; ' but how am I to manage it ?' 
 
 ' By discovering the abode of the only 
 creature who can undo the wicked deeds of 
 Grumblewitch. Fortunately I know of her ex- 
 istence, from having overheard a conversation 
 between Jan and his wicked mistress the other 
 day. From this I learnt that there is a little 
 fairy more powerful even than Grumblewitch, 
 and she alone can disenchant me and all the 
 hapless creatures I have left behind. The 
 name of this fairy is Sleepyfay, and although 
 her power is so great, she is so lazy that she 
 will not give herself any trouble if she can help 
 it. She lives at the top of a high crag, and 
 whenever she does move employs an eagle to 
 carry her on his back. Now, the first thing is 
 to get speech of her.' 
 
 ' Nothing easier,' answered Bounding Jack. 
 ' I know some one who will direct me to her 
 abode. If you will perch on this tree and wait 
 for me, I will go off at once and make inquiries.'
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 123 
 
 Away he bounded, and Nan, hopping on to 
 a leafy bough, promised to await his return. 
 She could not, however, remain stationary long. 
 Peering about, she discovered a nest a little 
 higher up in the tree. Flying to it and peep- 
 ing in, she saw four small newly-fledged birds. 
 
 'How do you do?' said Nan in magpie 
 language ; ' does your mother know you 're 
 out ? ' But the little birds, frightened at the 
 apparition, only huddled closer together, twit- 
 tering faintly with fear. 
 
 ' Little fools,' said Nan ; ' I shan't hurt you. 
 Come out with me and fly about a little/ for 
 being entirely ignorant of the manners and 
 customs of birds, she thought they were able 
 to fly as soon as they left the egg. * Can't 
 fly ! can't fly ! go away, do ! ' twittered the 
 cowering little creatures ; and at that moment, 
 much to their relief, back came the mother 
 bird, a fine grown jackdaw, who flew angrily 
 at Nan offering to fight her if she did not go 
 away that very instant. 
 
 ' Come, come,' chattered Nan, c what harm 
 have I done ? I was only talking pleasantly 
 to these frightened creatures, and offering to 
 take them out for a fly.'
 
 I 24 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ' Fly, indeed ! ' answered the incensed jack- 
 daw ; ' could you fly, pray, when you were only 
 just out of the shell ? Be off with you ! No 
 good ever came yet from a magpie or ever 
 will. Chatter and thieving, that is all you 
 can do.' 
 
 ' Come, come, friend, remember the proverb, 
 " Those who live in glass houses, ' ' but the 
 jackdaw would hear no more, and gave poor 
 Nan so many angry pecks that she thought it 
 prudent to retreat, and flying off retired to her 
 first resting-place to await Bounding Jack's 
 return. 
 
 At length he came, with the good news that 
 he had discovered the abode of Sleepyfay, 
 although he had failed to get speech of her by 
 reason of her being fast asleep. He was told 
 that she was sometimes so long in waking, took 
 so many hours to gape, yawn, stretch herself, 
 and become thoroughly roused from sleep, that it 
 would be useless for him to wait Sometimes 
 when there was urgent business in hand she 
 had to be well shaken before sleep would 
 entirely leave her brain ; and the fear always 
 was lest she should slumber again before her 
 task was over.
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 125 
 
 ' I '11 see to that/ said Nan ; ' my chatter will 
 keep her awake, I flatter myself.' 
 
 ' It ought to,' thought Bounding Jack, whose 
 ears and head ached under it. 
 
 It took a great many bounds to reach the 
 top of the high crag where Sleepyfay dwelt; 
 but at length it was accomplished, and an in- 
 terview demanded by Jack and Nan on the 
 plea of important business. Sleepyfay was 
 scarcely awake, but nevertheless they were 
 admitted to her presence. She was very tiny 
 and very fat, with small twinkling eyes that 
 were always aching for sleep. When Jack 
 and Nan appeared, she was doing her best to 
 wake up. Her attendants were alternately 
 pinching and shaking her, but it was some time 
 before her yawns ceased, and her eyes were 
 prepared to keep open for a minute at a time. 
 
 ' Now then, what is it ?' she cried. ' How I 
 do hate business ! ' 
 
 Thereupon Noisy Nan stepped forward and 
 began her tale. Her shrill tones effectually 
 dispelled any sleepy clouds that might still 
 have hovered about Sleepyfay's brain. The 
 little fairy was wide awake now, and anxious 
 to undo the work of wicked old Grumblewitch.
 
 126 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 She immediately called for her eagle and pre- 
 pared to set forth. Nan was also to have a 
 seat on the eagle's back, and Bounding Jack 
 was to show the way. The quick motion 
 through the air made Sleepyfay very drowsy. 
 Her little fat body curled up, and her eyes 
 disappeared, but Nan was on the watch, and 
 as soon as she perceived the danger began to 
 chatter with such vigour that her sharp shrill 
 tones soon drove sleep to the right-about. 
 And now they were drawing near to the old 
 hag's abode. Nan had forgotten to warn 
 Bounding Jack of venturing too near, lest 
 Grumblewitch should be at home. It so hap- 
 pened that she was, and no sooner had she 
 caught sight of Jack than she determined to 
 turn him into a ball and sell him at the next 
 fair. ' I shall get a long price for him,' she 
 chuckled; and no sooner had imprudent Jack 
 touched her ground than he was converted into 
 a large bouncing india-rubber ball. 
 
 'Hush!' whispered Sleepyfay, as Nan gave 
 vent to a shrill cry of dismay. 'We must 
 be careful not to arouse her suspicions ; ' and 
 she directed the eagle to fly away to a safe 
 place out of sight.
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 127 
 
 ' 1 must wait till night,' she said to Nan. 
 ' It is only when Grumblewitch is asleep that I 
 am stronger than she. Now, you must keep 
 me awake, child, pinch me, peck me, scream 
 at me, whatever you like in short, so that 
 you don't let me sleep.' Nan undertook to 
 do her best, and very hard work it was, and 
 very cruel it seemed to pinch and peck poor 
 little fat soft Sleepy fay, whenever she was 
 comfortably falling into a doze. However, she 
 did it, keeping up such a shrill chatter the while 
 that the eagle, who had always held magpies 
 in supreme detestation, was now more than 
 ever persuaded that the race ought to be exter- 
 minated as quickly as possible. His only 
 consolation was derived from the favourite 
 saying of eagles ' Everything passeth away in 
 time ; ' still it required all his philosophy to bear 
 with the insufferable chatterbox. Unexpected 
 relief came in the shape of a small cock-robin, 
 with a very red breast, who was attracted to 
 the spot by the shrill noise, and knowing no 
 fear approached boldly within a few inches of 
 the eagle's sharp beak. 
 
 ' Why, what is all this row about ? ' he de- 
 manded.
 
 128 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ' Ha ! the very thing,' thought the eagle, a 
 happy thought crossing his mind ; ' now I can 
 stop her chatter for a while ; ' and he com- 
 manded the robin to come nearer, and told 
 Nan to be silent. 
 
 ' If I cease chattering, Sleepyfay will go to 
 sleep/ remonstrated Nan. 
 
 ' Not if the Robin tells us a story,' answered 
 the eagle ; adding politely, ' Your voice and 
 throat must really need some rest, Madam.' 
 
 ' What story can a robin tell, I should like 
 to know,' muttered Nan contemptuously, but 
 she was rather afraid of the eagle, and did not 
 like to make too strong objections. 
 
 ' Don't let me go to sleep,' murmured Sleepy- 
 fay, 'Nan! Nan!' 
 
 ' Madam,' said the eagle before Nan could 
 reply, 'you shall be kept awake. You have 
 often asked me why the robin has a red breast. 
 Now you shall know, for here is a fine cock- 
 robin, who will tell you the story which I never 
 could do.' 
 
 ' Well, I 'm sure, do you call this fair ?' began 
 the robin, inclined to bluster, 'how do you 
 know I can tell a story ? how ' 
 
 'You must obey your King,' said the eagle,
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. " I2Q 
 
 quietly cutting short his remonstrances, and the 
 robin saw there was nothing for it but to obey ; 
 so hopping up to the little Sleepyfay, who, 
 wide awake now, was as eager as a child for 
 the story, he perched by her side, and peering 
 with bright black eyes into her face, began as 
 follows : 
 
 ' This is the tale that has been told to me by 
 my parents, and which I in my turn shall hand 
 down to my children. I don't understand it, 
 and perhaps hardly believe it ; neither will you, 
 I daresay ; and if I tell it you more after the 
 fashion of a poll parrot than in the free and 
 easy language of a robin, it is because I can 
 only tell it you as it was told to me. Well, it 
 is said that the first robin in the world was the 
 only son of a brave warrior, perhaps that fact 
 accounts for our boldness ; he was changed 
 into a bird in this manner. The warrior's son 
 had come to the age when his personal spirit 
 was to enter into him, and his father was 
 anxious he should possess a great good and 
 powerful spirit. This could only come to pass 
 through great endurance and long fasting. The 
 father then led his son into the forest, and after 
 
 many instructions and plenty of good advice he 
 
 i
 
 130 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 left him in a little hut which had been prepared 
 for him, promising to visit him regularly ever}' 
 morning. In the hut was a new mat made of 
 rushes woven by his mother. The young man 
 laid himself upon it and covered his face. He 
 lay still until the next morning, when his father 
 arrived and tried to console him with kind and 
 good words. Day after day passed without 
 food, drink, or change of any kind. It was a 
 dreary weary time for the poor warrior's son ; 
 and on the eighth day his strength failed so 
 much that he lay as one without life. On the 
 ninth day he entreated his father to let him 
 break his fast and try again at another time. 
 ' I have bad dreams, and have no strength to 
 endure any longer/ he cried ; ' let me for once 
 eat and drink.' 
 
 'My son,' said his father, 'you have per- 
 severed for eight days, do not give up now 
 that the worst is over. If you do, all will 
 be lost. Only strive a little longer, and a 
 brave bright spirit will come to you as your 
 reward.' 
 
 The poor son covered his face again, and 
 did not move or utter another word till the 
 eleventh day, when in a faint voice he once
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 13! 
 
 more entreated to be released from his misery. 
 ' What! now when the time has all but passed ?' 
 said his father ; ' no, no, to-morrow I will come 
 early and bring you food. Only be patient 
 a little longer and the victory is won.' The 
 young man made no reply, he seemed even 
 then as one dead. But for the gentle heaving 
 of his breast, you would have said that life had 
 fled. 
 
 Next morning, very early, came his father 
 laden with food. On approaching the hut he 
 heard sounds as of some one talking. Stooping 
 and looking through a small opening, he saw, 
 to his surprise, his son sitting up painting his 
 shoulders and breast with red paint, and 
 muttering to himself, ' My father has slain me. 
 He would not listen to my entreaties. I have, 
 however, been obedient beyond my strength, and 
 so I shall be for ever happy, although the spirit 
 which is come to me is not the one I sought.' 
 
 At this moment the poor old father rushed 
 in, wailing, ' My son, my son, leave me not ! 
 oh leave me not !' But like a bird the lad flew 
 up to the top of the hut, perching on the highest 
 outer pole. And looking up at him his father saw 
 that a bird indeed it was who sat there, for his
 
 132 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 son had assumed the shape of a beautiful robin 
 redbreast Looking down at his father he 
 said, ' Mourn not my change ; I could not 
 gratify your pride as a warrior, but I will 
 cheer you by my songs ; and as I shall always 
 be the friend of man, so will I keep near their 
 dwellings. I am now free from cares and pain. 
 My food is given me by the trees and hedges ; 
 my path is 'in the bright air. Farewell,' and 
 with these words he flew away to the green 
 woods and high trees, leaving his poor old 
 father gazing after him with out-stretched 
 arms, crying piteously, ' My son, my son, why 
 did I not listen to thee ?' 
 
 ' What nonsense,' muttered Nan as the story 
 was ended, ' as if any one could believe such 
 rubbish.' 
 
 ' Why not ?' said Sleepyfay ; and thanking 
 the robin for his tale, she added, ' Surely when 
 everything is so strange around us, this story 
 is not too extraordinary to believe. Come, 
 Nan, don't be sulky, or you shall not regain 
 your proper form; remember you can only 
 do so with my help; and I don't like cross 
 looks.' 
 
 Thus admonished, Nan recovered her good
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 133 
 
 humour, and again the ears of the poor eagle 
 were pierced by her shrill chatter. The robin, 
 glad to be released, was about to fly away, but 
 the eagle entreated him for pity's sake to tell 
 them one more story in order to stop Nan's 
 tongue. ' It is still too early for our work to 
 begin,' he urged, * and my nerves will be ruined 
 by this screeching magpie if she goes on much 
 longer.' 
 
 'Why not tell a story yourself, great king ?' 
 suggested the bold robin. 
 
 The eagle almost consumed him with a flash 
 of anger from his eyes. ' / condescend to such 
 a task ? / waste my kingly breath in such 
 fashion ? Idiot ! your impudence deserves 
 punishment ; but as I wish to make you use- 
 ful I will pardon you. Go, do my bidding.' 
 
 There was nothing for it but obedience. 
 The robin stifled a sigh of regret as he remem- 
 bered the fat juicy worm that was to form his 
 supper at home, and hopping back to Sleepy- 
 fay's side, he plunged into the following story 
 of the ptarmigan : 
 
 ' Does the ptarmigan in its desolate moun- 
 tain haunts ever wonder why it is so unlike 
 other birds ; grey in summer, white in winter,
 
 134 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 with legs, feet, and toes completely and closely 
 feathered down to the very claws ? I know 
 not ; but we other birds have often wondered 
 about it, and quite lately I have heard a 
 legend which professes to account for these 
 peculiarities. 
 
 ' Once upon a time, when the world was very 
 young, a great and powerful queen summoned 
 every bird of the air to appear before her. 
 They came some proudly, others timidly, but 
 all in ignorance of the fate that awaited them, 
 for no sooner had they appeared before the 
 queen than she commanded them to walk 
 through a flaming fire that blazed brightly 
 before them. Not daring to disobey the com- 
 mand, they all plunged boldly into the fire, 
 with one exception, and that was the ptarmigan. 
 Hoping among so many to escape notice, he 
 flew into a tree, and, peering through the 
 leaves, congratulated himself on his wisdom, 
 when he saw that the feet of the other birds in 
 passing through the flames were scorched to 
 the skin, and would always remain so. 
 
 ' The Queen, however, was perfectly aware 
 that one bird had been disobedient, and before 
 long the unfortunate ptarmigan was discovered.
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 135 
 
 Trembling in every limb, he let his wings and 
 tail droop to the ground before the anger 
 expressed in the Queen's face. 
 
 '"Harmless and defenceless, but the most 
 timid among birds shalt thou be, persecuted 
 every hour of thy life, frequenting the tops o 
 mountains and high places for safety, and find- 
 ing none." Such was the sentence its disobedi- 
 ence evoked. Too frightened to utter a sound, 
 the wretched bird cowered before the Queen. 
 Then the little peewit, a friend in need, lifted 
 up its voice, and gave vent to the favourite 
 saying of the peewits : "He that hath no 
 mercy will not find mercy himself." 
 
 ' The Queen was not offended by the little 
 bird's audacity, nay, more, seemed pleased at 
 its brave fidelity. 
 
 1 " Thou art right," she said, "and this mercy 
 will I vouchsafe to the ptarmigan as a slight 
 protection against its foes ; the colour of its 
 plumage shall change according to the seasons, 
 in summer to a brownish grey similar to the 
 mists on the mountain heights ; in winter to 
 white, so that it may be then undistinguishable 
 from the pure undriven snow, and have the 
 chance of escaping death."
 
 136 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ' Thenceforth the motto of the ptarmigan has 
 been this 
 
 '" The further from man the happier I." 
 Almost before the last words had fallen from 
 his beak the robin had soared into the air, so 
 frightened was he lest more' stories should be 
 demanded of him. It was now, however, time 
 to commence work, and Sleepyfay was all 
 eagerness to begin operations. The field of 
 action was soon reached ; all was quiet there, 
 Grumblewitch, Jan, and their victims were 
 enjoying deep unbroken slumbers. The first 
 thing to be done was to throw the old Grumble- 
 witch into a still deeper sleep, and this was 
 accomplished by a few whispered words in her 
 ear. Then began the work of disenchantment, 
 and a curious scene it was. Sleepyfay moved 
 about waving her little fat hands, and muttering 
 in an unknown tongue ; then very soon the place 
 became thickly peopled with human beings. 
 The roses turned into beautiful princesses, the 
 pinks into dandies, the violets into timid little 
 village maidens, and the lilies into stately 
 dames. Only two beds of flowers did Sleepy- 
 fay leave enchanted the peonies and the 
 heartseases. For the peonies were cross, tipsy
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 137 
 
 red-faced old cooks, and the heartseases cruel 
 old stepmothers. So it would have been a pity 
 to have set them at liberty. 
 
 If you turn the heartsease upside down you 
 will see how well it represents a cruel step- 
 mother of the olden times. Now-a-days there 
 is no such thing, of course. Look at this fat 
 portly petal clad in some gaudy colour, here 
 she is ! Now, turn her round, and you will see 
 she has two green points the petals of the 
 calix to her bodice. On each side of her 
 stand her own daughters, who are also dressed 
 very gaily in fashionable gowns of the same 
 colour front and back, and they each have a 
 pretty green point. But now only look at 
 those two poor elder girls in their dingy dresses 
 of brown or dusty purple. How dowdy they 
 are ! How dejected they look ! How weak 
 their backs seem ! Only one point have they 
 between them, poor things, which they are 
 obliged to sew on and cut off alternately. 
 These are the stepdaughters, and very miser- 
 able they look. Now, did not Sleepyfay shew 
 discernment in leaving these two beds of 
 flowers undisturbed ? 
 
 It was now time to turn her attention to
 
 138 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 Bounding Jack and Noisy Nan, who very soon 
 resumed their proper forms, but as soon as 
 Talkative Jim was disenchanted, the uproar 
 became so dreadful that Sleepyfay turning to 
 Jack entreated him as a favour to bound off 
 with the two chatterboxes, and before they 
 knew where they were he had tucked one 
 under each arm and bounded off with them 
 over walls, gates, hedges, and ditches, till a 
 safe distance was gained ; then without waiting 
 to listen to their indignant complaints, he just 
 dropped them upon the ground and bounded 
 away to his own particular country. Sleepyfay 
 was puzzled how to dispose of Jan. At length 
 she decided on turning him into a cringeing ugly 
 cur whose bark should be worse than his bite. 
 And now her task was at length finished, and 
 all power had for ever passed away from 
 Grumblewitch by reason of her having been 
 caught napping. Feeling quite worn out with 
 her exertions, tired little Sleepyfay mounted 
 the eagle's back, and long before reaching 
 home, was in a sound and comfortable slumber. 
 Meanwhile Grumblewitch slept on heavily, 
 notwithstanding that an ill-conditioned cur was 
 barking and snarling at her bedside. And
 
 GRUMBLEWITCH. 1 39 
 
 when at length she slowly and painfully awoke 
 to consciousness, it was to find a scene of 
 devastation indeed ! 
 
 'Jan, Jan, come here,' she cried and then 
 shrieked aloud as her eyes fell on the dog, and 
 she saw it was her old servant. Rushing into 
 the garden she found it a desert save for the red 
 peonies and heartseases who were quarrelling 
 noisily over the events of the night. From 
 them she learnt all that had happened, and 
 knew that Sleepyfay alone could have worked 
 such mischief. 
 
 ' It is all the fault of that magpie ; how could 
 I have been so foolish as to overlook her right 
 eye !' she muttered, hobbling back into the house 
 preparatory to flight, for she dared not stay any 
 longer, fearing that as soon as the day was 
 somewhat advanced the relations and friends ot 
 her late victims would seek for her and fall 
 upon her. So she and Jan sneaked out by the 
 back door and crept along under shelter of high 
 hedges and deep ditches. And to their wan- 
 derings we will leave them, a miserable pair, 
 fit company for each other, but happily unable 
 any longer to work ill to others.
 
 LITTLE MAX AND HIS WINGS.
 
 LITTLE MAX AND HIS WINGS. 
 
 scampered to and fro 
 from dawn till dusk. 
 A tall straight fir with 
 wide-spreading top 
 stood apart from the 
 other trees, close by 
 the cottage where Max 
 dwelt, and took it as it 
 were under its protec- 
 tion. Max had grown 
 to love the tree, and 
 never cared to wander 
 far from its shade and 
 shelter. 
 
 Not only did he love 
 
 the en- 
 trance of a 
 beautiful forest lived 
 little Max ; in it were 
 green glades and 
 grassy slopes where 
 the hares and rabbits
 
 144 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 the tree, but the birds of the air loved it too, 
 better than any tree in the forest ; its branches 
 were ever ready to receive them in fair or foul 
 weather, and would close round them lovingly 
 in either case. 
 
 ' Would that I had wings,' little Max would 
 sigh, looking up at the tree, ' then I too could 
 come to thee.' 
 
 1 Thy wings when they come must carry thee 
 higher, little Max ; wait and see.' It was the 
 eagle who, soaring overhead, heard his wail and 
 answered it thus. 
 
 ' But will they come ? Shall I have wings ?' 
 cried the boy, trembling with hope and joy. 
 ' Oh eagle, eagle ! do not deceive me.' 
 
 'Wait and see; wait and see,' was all the 
 the eagle would say. 
 
 Max threw himself on the grass, sobbing. 
 Then the tree gave a gentle rustle and a dove 
 flew softly down and nestled lovingly by the boy. 
 ' Coo, coo,' she said, and the boy caressed her, 
 but still sobbed on. ' Coo, coo, coo,' so sooth- 
 ingly that at length Max was quieted. ' Dear 
 little dove, stay with me,' he said, and the dove 
 nestled on his shoulder and whispered in his 
 ear till the boy's face grew calm and peaceful
 
 LITTLE MAX AND HIS WINGS. 145 
 
 again. For while she cooed so softly and so 
 sweetly, good and holy thoughts crept into his 
 heart and he felt that they alone could make 
 his wings grow. He was no longer in doubt on 
 the matter, but knew that if he were only good, 
 gentle and obedient, his wish would be gratified. 
 
 His mother's voice called him, the dove with 
 one last loving 'coo' left him, and the boy 
 springing up obeyed the call. 
 
 'Oh, mother, mother!' and rushing into her 
 arms he told her all that was in his heart. 
 The mother trembled as she listened, and 
 clasped her boy closer to her breast. Too 
 well she knew that to her and to his father 
 the wings would mean separation. She knew 
 that if they grew he could no longer stay 
 with them, but must perforce soar upwards. 
 Whither? Ah! that thought she did not 
 follow ; the grief of losing her boy alone filled 
 her mind, 
 
 ' Oh Max ! oh my son ! must you have 
 wings ? must you leave us ?' she cried. 
 
 ' Yes, dear mother, I long for them. Oh, 
 do not grieve ! some day you will see that it 
 must be.' 
 
 'Ah, it all comes of your love for that big
 
 146 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 tree and the birds that visit it They have 
 stolen my boy's heart from me ; ' and the poor 
 mother threw her apron over her face and 
 went crying into the house. Max saw he could 
 not comfort her at present, so he busied him- 
 self in drawing water, collecting wood, and 
 doing many little things to help his mother. 
 His father was a woodcutter, and was out early 
 and late in the forest, and every morning before 
 he left home he told Max to be a good boy, and 
 to do all he could for his mother. 
 
 That same evening, as Max was lying down 
 in his bed, he felt a strange feeling in his 
 shoulders, and putting up his hand found that 
 his wings were indeed growing. His cry of 
 joy and amazement caused his mother to hurry 
 into the room, and then was heard another cry, 
 but this one was full of sadness. She hurried 
 back weeping to her husband, and the two sat 
 over the fire far into the night, for they were 
 too miserable to go to bed, and talked of their 
 boy and the pain of losing him. 
 
 ' Is there no hope, none, none ?' sighed the 
 mother, as she stared into the dying embers. 
 
 ' Yes,' said a voice, but it was not her hus- 
 band who spoke ; a little flame leaped up from
 
 LITTLE MAX AND HIS WINGS. 147 
 
 the fire, and showed them a dwarf seated 
 among the ashes. ' It will be your own fault 
 if you let your boy leave you. Obey me, 
 and his wings will never grow/ 
 
 ' Oh husband, husband, do you hear his 
 words ?' said the mother, trembling half with 
 fear, and clinging to her husband's arm. 
 
 * Yes, Joan, I hear, but I am no friend to the 
 small folk, as you know. Now, sir, begone, if 
 you please, and you, Joan, come to bed.' 
 
 The dwarf laughed hideously. ' Never mind, 
 I can wait, I can wait,' and with that he dis- 
 appeared ; the embers died out suddenly, and 
 the woodcutter and his wife were left in perfect 
 darkness. ' Oh, why did you send him away ?' 
 she cried, ' now we shall lose our boy.' 
 
 ' Better lose him by fair means than keep 
 him by foul means,' answered her husband ; 
 ' that dwarf meant no good, I '11 be bound. 
 Now, come to bed, wife, or I shall be fit for 
 no work to-morrow.' 
 
 But there was no sleep for Joan that night. 
 
 Once or twice she rose, and creeping into the 
 little room where her boy lay, watched him as 
 he slept. The look of peace and happiness on 
 his face ought to have brought balm to her
 
 148 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 troubled heart. Not to-night, however, for the 
 words of the dwarf were still influencing her 
 mind, ' Obey me, and his wings will never 
 grow' And now her husband had sent him 
 off with harsh words, and she could never 
 benefit by his advice. Joan forgot that evil, 
 unhappily, is ever lurking near. 
 
 Next morning Max was up at an early hour, 
 leaping and frisking about like a young kid. 
 
 ' Oh you dear beautiful tree/ he cried aloud, 
 patting the rough bark caressingly, ' I shall 
 soon come to you now ; listen, my wings have 
 begun to grow, and soon, very soon, I shall fly 
 up to you and nestle in your branches as the 
 birds do. Ah ! how beautiful it must be up 
 there,' and he held out his arms lovingly to the 
 tree. 
 
 ' No, no, you must soar higher, higher,' again 
 said the eagle, who, sailing overhead, had 
 caught the boy's words. 
 
 ' Max,' cried his mother in a voice sharp from 
 grief, 'do not stand idling there; I want a 
 hundred things done.' 
 
 ' I come, dear mother,' said the boy, obeying 
 instantly; and Joan kept him so hard at work 
 all day that he had no more time to chatter
 
 LITTLE MAX AND HIS WINGS. 149 
 
 to his dear tree, or even to hear one ' coo ' from 
 the little dove. 
 
 For all that, as soon as her husband had 
 come home Joan told him that she wanted the 
 large tree near the cottage cut down. 
 
 'Mother!' almost screamed Max; and the 
 woodcutter, taking his pipe from his mouth, 
 stared at his wife, wondering if she had taken 
 leave of her senses. ' Cut down the large tree ! ' 
 he said slowly. 
 
 ' Ay, why not ? then Max would not be for 
 ever idling round it chattering rubbish and en- 
 couraging all these birds about the place.' 
 
 ' No, not one would stay if their dear home 
 was taken away,' said Max sorrowfully; 'but 
 mother, mother, you couldn't do it ; oh, it 
 would kill me.' 
 
 'Joan, get supper ready, will you ? I think 
 you have taken leave of your wits to-night, 
 woman.' 
 
 ' Ay, ay, that 's ever the way ; nobody ever 
 thinks of the mother's heart,' she muttered, 
 turning away to obey her husband. 
 
 4 Never fear, Max,' said his father, laying his 
 hand on the boy's shoulder kindly, ' thy tree 
 shall not be felled ; make thy mind easy ; and
 
 150 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 now help thy mother.' This Max gladly 
 did. 
 
 Every night to his great joy he felt his wings 
 were growing more and more, and every night 
 the poor mother would come in, feel them, 
 give a cry of anguish, and turn away sobbing. 
 
 The words of the dwarf never left her mind ; 
 and one day her misery was so great that she 
 determined, if possible, to make him reappear. 
 She said nothing to her husband, but at night, 
 when he was fast asleep and in no fear of 
 waking, she rose quietly, went into the kitchen, 
 and raked together the dying embers. Then 
 gazing into them, all her heart in her eyes, she 
 called earnestly on the little dwarf to appear. 
 
 Her appeal seemed in vain, he did not come ; 
 and in despair she was turning away when a 
 tiny flame shot up, a mocking laugh was heard, 
 and there, on the top bar of the grate, sat the 
 mannikin. And now J oan trembled so much she 
 could not speak. ' Hey ! are you a fool, woman ? 
 Why did you call me out of my first sleep if 
 you have nothing to say? Make haste, the 
 fire is going out, and I must go with it.' 
 
 'You know what I would ask,' gasped Joan; 
 'tell me how to keep my boy with me.'
 
 LITTLE MAX AND HIS WINGS. 151 
 
 ' I thought as much/ chuckled the dwarf 
 maliciously, ' so luckily for you I came provided 
 with the remedy. Here, take this little box, 
 it contains ointment which you must rub on the 
 wings every night when he is asleep. They 
 will soon disappear, ha ! ha !' 
 
 ' Promise me he will not suffer,' entreated 
 Joan, ' that no harm .' 
 
 But the dwarf had disappeared ; the last 
 vestige of red had left the embers, and no 
 answer came to Joan's cry. She went softly 
 into her boy's room, and ascertained he was in 
 a sound happy sleep. Then she opened the 
 little pot. It contained bright red ointment. 
 Some of this she took on her fingers, and 
 trembling so that she could scarcely stand, 
 managed to smear it on his shoulders without 
 waking him. Then without looking at him again 
 she crept back to bed, where she lay frightened 
 and sleepless, thinking of what she had done. 
 
 Next morning Max was up early as usual, 
 drawing water and collecting wood, but his 
 father missed his customary song and merry 
 laugh over his work. 
 
 ' Max, boy, is anything wrong ?' he asked ; 
 for he thought perhaps his mother might have
 
 !52 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 vexed him again about the tree and the birds. 
 ' No father, thank you, only a little pain here/ 
 and he put up his hand to his shoulder ; ' it will 
 soon go off, I daresay ; say nothing to mother.' 
 
 But the pain grew worse as the day went on, 
 and Max, when his work was done, lay languidly 
 at the foot of his beloved tree, and the dove 
 nestled close to him, cooing softly, to comfort 
 him. The boy stroked her feathers and kissed 
 her, but he did not talk about his wings to-day ; 
 he was strangely still and quiet. 
 
 'What ails Max?' asked his father uneasily 
 of Joan when the boy had gone to bed, ' he 
 seems so heavy and unlike himself.' 
 
 She flushed crimson, and busied herself in 
 clearing away supper. ' Indeed I do not know ; 
 he has been rather quieter perhaps, other- 
 wise much the same, it seems to me.' 
 
 That evening Joan again crept into the boy's 
 room. This time when she was rubbing on the 
 ointment he moaned piteously, though he did 
 not wake. The pot almost fell from his mother's 
 hand, and she felt inclined to abandon her pro- 
 ject, but the selfish fear of losing her boy was 
 uppermost, and overcame the better thought. 
 As the days came and went Joan fancied she
 
 LITTLE MAX AND HIS WINGS. 153 
 
 could see a reproachful look in her boy's eyes 
 when they were turned on her ; and his heavy 
 step and changed appearance could not but 
 grieve her heart. She thought, however, he 
 would soon recover, and would not listen to 
 the inner voice which bade her beware. It 
 was rare now for Max to chatter to his dear 
 tree or to the birds. 
 
 The eagle flew restlessly hither and thither, 
 and wondered what was amiss ; and the little 
 dove cooed sorrowfully as she whispered the 
 secret to the tree, for somehow she knew what 
 had happened. 
 
 Joan thought it strange that Max never now 
 spoke of his wings. Surely he must know that 
 they were no longer growing. Ah yes, he knew 
 it well enough ; and more, he knew the reason. 
 
 And this was why he shrank from talking to 
 the tree and to the birds, and did not wish the 
 dove to nestle near his heart. It was such a 
 black terrible secret, and he must keep it to 
 himself. Whenever his father was present he 
 tried to be cheerful and bright as before, but 
 the father saw there was a difference, and often 
 asked what ailed him. ' Is it because his wings 
 are growing?' he would sometimes ask Joan,
 
 J 54 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 who evaded the question as often as she could. 
 There were now no longer any signs of the 
 wings to be seen. The red ointment had 
 scorched them quite away. 
 
 Every day the mother hoped the boy would 
 brighten up, jump, and run about as of old, 
 but as day after day passed and he only 
 grew more and more quiet, she began to ask 
 herself what she had done. Had her wicked 
 selfishness changed her bright beautiful boy into 
 a sickly invalid ? Had she kept him with her 
 only to take all happiness out of his life ? She 
 began to fear so ; and, remorse once awakened, 
 her life became a misery to her. At length she 
 could bear it no longer, and with many tears 
 confessed to her husband what she had done. 
 He was of course very angry with her, and very 
 unhappy as well, so unhappy that sleep was 
 impossible that night, and getting up he went 
 softly into Max's room to see if he were asleep. 
 
 The moon, shining on to the bed, lighted up 
 the poor little fellow's face, which was bathed 
 in tears. 
 
 'Max, my boy, are you in pain ?' asked his 
 father anxiously. 
 
 The boy started, and buried his face in the
 
 LITTLE MAX AND HIS WINGS. 155 
 
 bed-clothes, but his father raised him gently, 
 put the boy's head on his shoulder, and asked 
 him why he was fretting 1 . 
 
 'Oh father, I can't tell you,' was all he 
 would answer. 
 
 'Is it because your wings are no longer 
 growing ? I know all about it, my boy/ 
 
 'Not all!' cried Max with a startled look; 
 ' not about mo ,' here he checked himself. 
 
 ' Yes, my poor boy ; mother has told me all.' 
 
 ' Poor mother ; she is so unhappy/ sighed 
 Max. ' I know she is, and I could not tell her 
 that I knew she had done it ; it was so terrible. 
 Oh take me to mother, I want to kiss her.' 
 
 The mother was already with him. Unable 
 to sleep, she had followed her husband and 
 heard all that had passed. Now her arms 
 were round her boy, her tears fell like rain 
 upon him and washed away all trace of the red 
 ointment from his shoulders. 
 
 Next day Max was well enough to lie under 
 the shade of the tree and listen once more to 
 the song of the birds. 
 
 ' You are coming, you are coming,' shouted 
 the eagle, and the little skylarks took up the 
 cry, warbling it high up into the heavens. The
 
 I 56 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 dove nestled once more near his heart and 
 cooed to him that all would now be well owing 
 to his mother's tears of repentance. 
 
 His wings grew and grew; still he could 
 not tell when he should fly away. 
 
 Joan's eyes were often fixed on him with a 
 wistful yearning look; but she knew her boy 
 must leave her, and she would not now have 
 kept him back. 
 
 Still it almost broke her heart when, going 
 into his room one morning, she found the little 
 bed empty. She glanced round, the window 
 was open, and then she knew what had hap- 
 pened. Uttering a little cry she ran out of 
 doors, thinking he might yet be in sight ; but 
 no Max was visible. 
 
 It was a glorious morning. Never had the 
 sun seemed to her to shine so brightly, and 
 the tree Max's tree that he so loved stood 
 nobler and straighter than ever. The sky was 
 alive with birds, who seemed to have gathered 
 together for a purpose. 
 
 ' Max ! Max !' cried the poor mother, ' have 
 you gone ? Shall I never see you again ? Oh 
 my boy ! my boy !' 
 
 The tree rustled compassionately, and the
 
 LITTLE MAX AND HIS WINGS. 
 
 157 
 
 dove, the radiance of her eyes dimmed as she 
 witnessed the mother's grief, flew into her 
 breast, and it seemed to Joan that the meaning 
 of her soft cooing was this 
 
 ' Where Max has gone all can follow, who 
 keep their hearts white and pure/
 
 DREAM OR NO DREAM.
 
 DREAM OR NO DREAM. 
 
 DON'T understand him one bit,' 
 said the mother, ' he is always 
 trying to perform impossibili- 
 ties/ The neighbour to whom 
 this speech was addressed, a 
 blunt, homely woman, replied, 
 1 Then why are you always 
 putting impossibilities into his 
 head, friend Nancy ?' 
 
 1 1 !' cried Nancy, ' I don't do so, leastways 
 my words wouldn't have that effect on any 
 sensible mortal. No, mark my words, Joan, 
 he 's no child of mine, he 's a changeling ; and 
 I may as well try to wash a blackamoor white 
 as try to change him.' 
 
 ' There now ! Suppose he had heard you 
 
 sav that ?'
 
 l62 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ' Bless you, he did hear me say it the other 
 day, and off he rushed to . poor old Tuesday, 
 the halfwitted black, who sweeps the crossing. 
 He dragged him into the barn yonder, pro- 
 mised him some sweet stuff if he would stand 
 quiet, and then began to scrub him from head 
 to foot with all his might and main ! ' 
 
 ' Well/ laughed Joan, ' didn't I say you put 
 the ideas into his head by your way of speak- 
 ing ? However, old Tuesday's washing did 
 him no harm, I '11 be bound.' 
 
 ' Perhaps not ; but the boy was nearly the 
 death of the old sow tjie other day.' 
 
 ' Indeed ?' 
 
 ' Ay, he heard me say to father, when he 
 was grumbling over old Joe's awkwardness, 
 " Never mind, you can't make a silk purse out 
 of a sow's ear," and what must Hugo do but 
 rush off to the stye with a needle and thread 
 and a pair of scissors, and I do believe if I 
 hadn't run after him he would have chopped 
 off the poor creature's ear in no time. And 
 he's not a cruel boy either. No, no, there's 
 something strange about him ; he is not right 
 in his head, or else he is a changeling. The 
 number of silly things he has tried to do !
 
 DREAM OR NO DREAM. 163 
 
 Why, would you believe it, the other day he 
 went off hunting for a mare's nest ! Did you 
 ever hear of such a boy ?' 
 
 Nancy could not say she had ever before 
 come across so singular a boy ; and the sole 
 advice that she could give his mother was to 
 speak good sensible English and not be so fond 
 of what she called ' queer-fangled proverbs and 
 phrases,' which only set the boy off thinking 
 and wondering. Use, however, is second 
 nature ; and Joan found it difficult to adopt 
 a simpler style of speech. The consequence 
 was, there came a day when she came weep- 
 ing and wailing to Nancy to tell her that 
 the boy had run off, and that this time she 
 should never see him again, for he had gone on 
 a worse wild-goose chase than ever, and had 
 left word that he should not come home till he 
 had bitten a little piece out of the moon. 
 
 Nancy lifted her hands in amazement. ' Is 
 the lad stark staring mad ? What ever could 
 have put that into his head ?' 
 
 'My foolish words, I suppose,' sobbed Joan. 
 ' I was skinning an eel yesterday, and the 
 slippery thing slid through my fingers so often 
 that at last I cried out, " One might as well try
 
 1 64 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 to take hold of the moon with one's teeth as try 
 to hold this creature." Hugo was somewhere 
 near and overheard me ; and now he has gone 
 off to try and get hold of the moon, and I shall 
 never see see him again/ The poor mother 
 threw her apron over her head and sobbed 
 bitterly. 
 
 'Come, cheer up, neighbour,' said Joan, 
 ' you mustn't be so downcast ; maybe he 
 will soon be back again ; he has gone on a 
 fruitless errand, and the boy will soon have the 
 sense to find out so much for himself.' But the 
 poor mother refused to be comforted ; and 
 could she have seen the condition of Hugo at 
 that moment, her feelings of fear and anxiety 
 would have reached despair, for her boy had 
 just been swallowed by a big red bull. 
 
 He had wandered off more with a vague idea 
 of doing something wonderful than with any 
 real idea of reaching the moon. To achieve 
 what others called an impossibility was his am- 
 bition. That he lived in a land also inhabited 
 by fairies and witches he felt certain, although 
 he had very often been assured there were no 
 such creatures. Hugo however knew better: 
 something told him they did exist, although
 
 DREAM OR NO DREAM. 165 
 
 they might not be visible to all eyes. He had 
 not gone far before he saw a fine red bull graz- 
 ing in a meadow. His mother often spoke of 
 a 'cock and bull story;' and he thought it 
 would be a fine opportunity to question the bull 
 on the subject. Again, he had heard her talk 
 of ' taking the bull by the horns ; ' and advancing 
 boldly he seized the animal with both hands 
 and requested he would tell him the story. 
 The bull roared, bellowed, kicked, and butted, 
 but could not get rid of Hugo, who clung on 
 like a vice, although he was often lifted up high 
 in the air, and you would have thought his grasp 
 must have given way. But it did not. At length 
 the bull was inspired with the happy thought of 
 swallowing his tormentor since he could get rid 
 of him in no other way. So opening his huge 
 mouth and tossing his head wildly he managed 
 to catch hold of Hugo's feet and the unfortu- 
 nate boy felt himself being drawn slowly but 
 surely down the bull's throat. He screamed 
 and begged for mercy, but it was too late, and 
 as he slid down the red gulf he fortunately lost 
 consciousness, and knew no more until, waking, 
 he found himself in a pleasant-looking place
 
 l66 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 grass. ' Where am I ?' he exclaimed aloud ; 
 and a feeble little voice answered, ' Inside the 
 big red bull.' ' Who spoke ?' he asked amazed. 
 'Mrs. Manypetalled Daisy' was the answer; 
 and turning his head he saw close at hand a 
 very fine tuft of daisies, with a strong-stemmed 
 matron daisy in the centre. 
 
 ' You, you spoke ? ' he exclaimed in surprise. 
 
 ' Why not ?' answered the daisy ; ' Bull-land 
 is not like the earth you have just left ; though 
 for the matter of that, daisies can speak and 
 be understood there too by some folks.' 
 
 ' Is it long since you left earth ?' asked Hugo. 
 
 ' Yes, some time now ; I was in a fright 
 when the bull swallowed me ; for, of course, I 
 expected to be chopped into little nothings 
 by his huge teeth, and that my poor children 
 would share my fate, but to my surprise he 
 just caught up the plot on which we were grow- 
 ing and slipped us down his throat in the most 
 comfortable manner ; and here you see we have 
 taken root and live much more comfortably, 
 because in greater safety than we did on earth.' 
 
 ' It is very strange,' muttered Hugo, getting 
 up and beginning to walk about, ' I can 
 move about here as well as I could on
 
 DREAM OR NO DREAM. 167 
 
 earth ; and it is just as light and just as large. 
 I wonder what mother would say if she could 
 see me now. She would have to confess I was 
 right when I talked of fairies and suchlike, but 
 I suppose she would never believe me if I told 
 her I had been walking about inside a red bull. 
 Some people are so disbelieving. Well, here I 
 am, there is no mistake about it, and perhaps 
 here I may learn how I am to get hold of the 
 moon. I must try and find out, for I am deter- 
 mined to do something wonderful before I go 
 home.' Hugo wandered on, wondering at each 
 step that Bull-land was so like the earth he had 
 just quitted. To be sure, in one sense it was 
 different, for every tree, plant, and animal could 
 speak to him and he could understand their 
 language. 'Am I the only mortal here?' he 
 thought ; ' it will be rather dull work if that is 
 so ; ' but his mind was soon relieved on that 
 point, for on turning a corner he came upon a 
 bright-looking little house and a pretty garden, 
 where the flowers looked up as he drew near 
 and smiled a welcome. 
 
 ' How happy you all look !' he said. 
 
 'No wonder,' answered the flowers, 'we
 
 1 68 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 such care of us, and we love her so 
 much. 
 
 ' What is her name ?' asked Hugo. 
 
 'We call her Sylvia. Here she comes.' Hugo 
 looked towards the small dwelling and saw a 
 beautiful little creature coming towards him. 
 He had never seen any one so pretty before ; 
 and I am afraid he stared rather rudely at her. 
 She did not seem surprised to see him, but only 
 asked how he had arrived in Bull-land. 
 
 1 The bull swallowed me,' he answered 
 awkwardly. 
 
 ' Poor bull ! he must have been nearly 
 choked/ she said, laughing prettily, and the 
 bell-flowers chimed in softly. 
 
 ' Oh no/ said Hugo ; ' he seemed to be quite 
 accustomed to such large mouthfuls; the discom- 
 fort was all mine, I think. Does he then as a 
 rule only swallow pretty maidens and lovely 
 flowers ? ' 
 
 Sylvia blushed at the compliment, and the 
 white flowers thought it only proper to assume a 
 rosy flush for the moment to show that they 
 also appreciated it. Sylvia answered, ' As far 
 as I know, you and I are the only mortals 
 in Bull-land at present. I have been here a
 
 DREAM OR NO DREAM. 169 
 
 long time, ever since I was quite a child. My 
 cruel stepmother, hearing that the bull swal- 
 lowed little children, put me down in front 
 of him one day, and in a very few minutes I 
 had ceased to trouble her. There was an old 
 woman here then who took care of me and 
 taught me to take care of myself, but one day 
 she disappeared. Two or three people have 
 appeared now and then, but they have not 
 come much in my way. Pray, why did you 
 leave your home ?' 
 
 Hugo grew very red. ' I am afraid you 
 will hardly understand the reason if I tell 
 it you.' Somehow he felt ashamed to tell 
 Sylvia his wild notions. 
 
 ' Try,' laughed the maiden ; ' perhaps you 
 had a cruel stepmother.' 
 
 ' Oh no ; the kindest of mothers.' 
 
 'Indeed! Was she not very much grieved 
 at losing you ? ' 
 
 Hugo hung his head. ' I came away with- 
 out wishing her good-bye.' 
 
 Sylvia said nothing, and Hugo felt her silence 
 meant displeasure. And looking at the flowers, 
 he saw their heads drooping and knew that
 
 I 70 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 'How could you be so cruel ?' at last Sylvia 
 said. 
 
 * I thought she would try and prevent my 
 going; and and I did so want to do some- 
 thing that other people thought impossible.' 
 
 ' Why ? ' asked Sylvia ; but to this question 
 Hugo could give no answer. 
 
 1 Will you tell me what it was you wanted to 
 do so much ?' Hugo hung his head; his eyes 
 were becoming open to the folly of his conduct, 
 and he felt how silly his answer would seem. 
 Still the idea of saying anything but the truth 
 never occurred to him. 
 
 ' I I wanted to to ' a long pause. 
 
 ' Well ? ' said Sylvia encouragingly. 
 
 ' To to take hold of the moon with my teeth,' 
 and Hugo held his crimsoned face still lower. 
 
 The bell-flowers could not restrain from a 
 light ringing laugh; their hearts are always 
 merry, and the idea seemed so absurd to them. 
 Their mistress, however, took the matter more 
 seriously. ' And you left your poor mother for 
 this folly,' she cried, ' never even bidding her 
 good-bye ? I can scarcely believe it. Have 
 you ever thought since of her tears and sorrow ?' 
 
 ' No. You see I I have hardly had much
 
 DREAM OR NO DREAM. IJI 
 
 time for thinking/ stammered out poor Hugo. 
 ' The first thing I did was to take the bull by 
 the horns, and then he swallowed me.' 
 
 ' The only thing he could do to get rid of 
 you, I suppose,' said Sylvia; 'and perhaps on 
 the whole the very best thing that could have 
 happened to you. There are no impossibilities 
 for you to perform here. Come inside my 
 house and I will show you some pictures which 
 ought to touch your heart' 
 
 She led the way inside, and Hugo followed, 
 feeling very much ashamed of himself. The 
 touch of scorn in Sylvia's voice had somehow 
 made him understand the poor part he had 
 played in leaving his mother so unkindly. His 
 eyes seemed suddenly opened, and he began 
 to think how little he had ever done for her, 
 and how much he might have done if he had not 
 always been wrapped up in his foolish dreams. 
 
 Sylvia led him into a darkened room, put him 
 into a chair, and passing her hands lightly over 
 his eyes said, ' You have often, I daresay, 
 heard your mother speak of seeing through a 
 stone wall ; you shall see through a great deal 
 more than that.' She then murmured some 
 words that were unintelligible to Hugo and
 
 172 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 left him alone in the dark. Very soon a 
 picture appeared on the opposite wall and 
 he had not much difficulty in recognising his 
 old home. Yes ! there it was, just as he had 
 left it in the morning, with the old bent apple- 
 tree laden with fruit, standing as sentry in 
 front of it. But who is this weeping woman 
 who comes slowly up to the door, her face 
 buried in her apron ? She turns round and 
 Hugo knows that face of anxiety to belong to 
 his mother. He starts forward to comfort her, 
 but it is only a picture and he cannot touch her 
 figure. She enters the cottage wearily, soon 
 reappearing with a pitcher in her hand, and he 
 knows she is going to the well for water. A 
 voice seems to whisper in his ear, ' Ought she, 
 at her age and in weak health, to have this to 
 do ?' and his conscience tells him he ought to 
 be at her side. Then he sees her return totter- 
 ing under the weight of the full pitcher, and 
 again he springs forward, feeling he must take it 
 from her ; but although the picture has such a 
 life-like appearance, everything fades away as 
 he approaches, and again he falls back, dis- 
 appointed. It was a grief to him to watch her 
 tottering steps and the weary look in her face,
 
 DREAM OR NO DREAM. I 73 
 
 and to remember that everything he had been 
 in the habit of doing for her she must now 
 either do herself or ask help from a neighbour, 
 for his grandfather was too infirm to render 
 any assistance. 
 
 1 What was I thinking about when I went 
 away?' muttered Hugo; 'how could I be so 
 cruel and so childish at the same time ?' 
 
 Sylvia was close to him, although he could 
 not see her, and she heard his words with 
 much satisfaction. She did not spare him one 
 pang. All that his poor old mother did that 
 evening was faithfully represented, and poor 
 Hugo's agony at being compelled to be a passive 
 looker-on, and feel that it was all his fault, was 
 almost too great to bear. It reached its cul- 
 minating point when, supper over, his mother 
 climbed the steep staircase to his own little bed- 
 room, which she busied herself in putting to 
 rights as far as her tears and fatigue would allow. 
 But when he saw her take up a coat he had left 
 behind, and press her lips to it tenderly again 
 and again, while a fresh flood of grief overcame 
 her, he could bear it no longer, and spring- 
 ing forward he called out, 'Mother! mother!' 
 dashing himself against the life-like picture
 
 1 74 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 with such force that he fell to the ground 
 stunned. 
 
 When Hugo again opened his eyes he found 
 himself in a sunny meadow that seemed 
 strangely familiar to him, and looking round 
 perceived, to his great surprise, his old friend 
 the large red bull quietly grazing at a little 
 distance. 
 
 'Why!' he exclaimed, raising himself, and 
 leaning on his elbow to take a better look, 
 ' That is the very bull that swallowed me ! 
 How did I escape from his country, I wonder ?' 
 Then suddenly everything rushed back into 
 his mind, and he started up as he remembered 
 the grief he had seen his mother indulge in 
 over the loss of her son. ' I can't make it out, 
 it is all very wonderful,' he thought, as he ran 
 off home, casting a wistful glance at the bull as 
 he passed, but not daring to go up to him, for 
 he had had quite enough of ' taking the bull by 
 the horns.' ' You look a very ordinary animal 
 feeding away there ; who would think of all the 
 wonderful things that go on inside you ! That 
 Sylvia must have been a fairy. How else 
 could she have shown me those wonderful 
 pictures ? Ah, well ! I suppose I shall never
 
 DREAM OR NO DREAM. 175 
 
 see her again.' His mother was in the kitchen 
 as he entered. At the sound of his voice she 
 turned round and uttered a joyful exclamation. 
 ' You have thought better of it, then, and have 
 come home !' she cried. ' I have been very 
 miserable about you, Hugo.' 
 
 'I know you have, mother, and I am 
 thoroughly ashamed of myself; but all I have 
 gone through, and all I have seen, has quite 
 cured me of my foolish dreams, and I will be a 
 good son to you at last.' 
 
 ' All you have gone through, and all you 
 have seen/ repeated his mother, staring at him; 
 ' what do you mean ? Why, it is only two 
 hours since you went off, and left this note for 
 me/ drawing a crumpled paper from her 
 pocket. 
 
 ' Mother ! Why, it was yesterday morning, 
 or longer still, for there is little count of time 
 where I have been.' And then he told his 
 mother all his adventures. She could not help 
 laughing at his description of how he had liter- 
 ally taken the bull by the horns, and at his 
 belief that he had been walking about inside 
 the animal ; but her mirth turned to tears 
 when he described the pictures Sylvia had
 
 I 76 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 shown him, and the feelings of remorse which 
 had seized him on witnessing his mother's 
 grief. She threw her arms round his neck, 
 and felt that now indeed she had a son instead 
 of a Will-o'-the-Wisp, as she used to call him. 
 ' But, my lad/ she said, ' there are no fairies in 
 the case. Don't you see what has happened 
 to you ? The bull, finding he could get rid of 
 you no other way, gave you a gentle toss, for 
 he is a good-natured animal, and would not 
 hurt you if he could help it. You fell on the 
 soft grass slightly stunned, and went to sleep, 
 and dreamt all this about Sylvia and the pic- 
 tures. Why, it 's only two hours since you left 
 the house ; that ought to convince you/ 
 
 Hugo shook his head ; it was all too real to 
 him to be disposed of in this fashion. Of course 
 it was very strange if, as his mother said, he 
 had only been absent two hours. Still, strange 
 or not, to his last day he would never give up 
 the belief that he had been into Bull-land, and 
 that in that unknown country there dwelt a 
 lovely little creature called Sylvia, who had 
 shown him the error of his ways, and turned 
 him into a good attentive son. However, he 
 did not now, as he would have done formerly,
 
 DREAM OR NO DREAM. 
 
 177 
 
 dispute the subject with his mother ; and when 
 she said to him, ' It was only a dream, lad ; 
 but never mind, it was a rare good one/ he 
 only bent his head and kissed her old withered 
 cheek, saying, * But it shall turn out better 
 than my old dreams, mother ; and you, at any 
 rate, shall have reason to bless Sylvia, fairy or 
 no fairy.'
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR.
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR. 
 
 OWN in the depths of an old 
 German Jew pawnbroker's 
 shop the arm-chair was found. 
 It had white painted legs, and 
 was covered with an old black 
 brocaded silk, patched and 
 frayed in many places. 
 
 A young wife was looking 
 about for a comfortable chair 
 for her husband on his return 
 from work, and the old Jew 
 strongly recommended this 
 chair to her notice. ' You 
 could not find anything better,' 
 he said ; ' see how well stuffed
 
 I 82 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 is. It is worth double the money I ask for it. 
 Buy it, ma'am, you will never repent your bar- 
 gain/ The chair was bought and sent home ; 
 the children flocked round to examine the new 
 purchase, and little Bertha cried out, ' Why, it 
 is like a magpie, black and white !' 
 
 ' Yes, yes, we will call it father's magpie,' 
 cried the two other children. Little did they 
 know what they were doing in giving the 
 chair a nickname. It had come originally 
 from the abode of a wizard ; and oh ! the 
 trouble and anxiety that chair had been to 
 numbers of people. At midnight it had the 
 power of changing its form, if unoccupied, 
 and it was compelled to take that of the 
 bird, beast, or fish whose name it first heard 
 on entering a house. Last time it had been a 
 cat, and as such had committed every kind of 
 depredation and mischief in the dead of night. 
 The milk -jug would be found overturned, its 
 contents gone, tit-bits of meat stolen, plates and 
 glasses mysteriously broken ; and the mistress of 
 the house little knew how true it was when her 
 servants, for want of a culprit, invariably put 
 the blame on ' the cat.' 
 
 At length the mysterious and invisible cat
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR. 183 
 
 ruined the poor people and they were obliged 
 to sell their furniture. Now the chair was to 
 be a magpie, and here was a wide field opened 
 for mischief and destruction. 
 
 * Oh what a comfortable chair ! ' exclaimed 
 the hard-worked master of the house, stretching 
 out his legs and leaning back in it with a sigh 
 of satisfaction. ' How delightfully soft it is ! 
 How well stuffed ! Yes, this is something like 
 a chair.' 
 
 4 Look, father,' cried Elsie, the eldest girl ; 
 'look at this silver thimble. It was given me 
 as a prize for good sewing to-day at school. 
 Isn't it bright and pretty; and see, there is 
 " For a Good Girl " engraved on it.' 
 
 ' And a good girl you are to have earned it,' 
 said her father ; ' come and sit with me in the 
 nice new chair, and I will tell you a story as a 
 further reward.' 
 
 ' Oh, a story ! a story ! Let us hear it too,' 
 cried the other children, Bertha and Willie, 
 running up. 
 
 ' Oh children, let poor father rest, he is so 
 tired/ said their mother. But what child can 
 forego the delights of a story ? 
 
 ' Are you very tired, father,' asked little Willie,
 
 184 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 in a tone which said plainly, ' Oh please say 
 no/ and his father, smiling, gave him the 
 wished-for answer. 
 
 ' The magpie will rest, father,' lisped little 
 Bertha ; ' dear old magpie,' and she patted the 
 arm of the chair with her small fat hand. 
 
 ' Now what story shall I tell you ?' asked 
 father; and one wished for this, and one for 
 another, till it ended in three stories being told 
 instead of one ; then the children were carried 
 off to bed and the parents remained alone. 
 
 ' Now take a nap, you have had a hard day's 
 work/ said the wife ; but her husband said he 
 felt too restless and wide awake very tired, 
 yes ; but not as if he could sleep. So before long 
 they went to bed and the chair was left to 
 begin its new life in its new home. It looked 
 round on its companions and found them 
 humble enough, for these are not grand folks 
 of whom I am telling you, but a hard-working 
 clerk and his wife, and their worldly goods 
 were few, for they had only just enough to 
 live upon, and the money for the new chair 
 had been scraped together the wife best knew 
 how. A plain deal table covered with a red 
 cloth, a few cane-bottomed chairs, an old horse-
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR. 185 
 
 hair couch, and a Dutch clock, formed the furni- 
 ture of the sitting-room. The clock ticked on, 
 it wanted but a few minutes to midnight ; and 
 the chair grew more and more restless. The 
 sober deal table and the simple-minded chairs, 
 to whom it was as some strange exotic, stared 
 in astonishment at its antics. It tilted up one 
 leg after the other, heaved to and fro, shook 
 with ill-concealed impatience, while as the 
 hands of the clock pointed to the hour of 
 twelve, the horse-hair couch imagined a chatter- 
 ing noise to come from it. And now the clock 
 is striking and the room is filled with strange 
 sounds, whirring and fluttering 1 of wings ; and 
 what is the amazement, not to say dread, of 
 the simple-minded furniture when the arm-chair 
 suddenly changes into a huge magpie, which 
 hops up on to the table and begins pluming 
 its feathers and chattering, ' Oh dear, oh dear ! 
 what a poor wretched place my master has sent 
 me to now ! How bare and miserable ! Deal 
 chairs, a Dutch clock ! Ho ! ho ! ho ! This 
 will never do ; and there is nothing to hide. 
 How can any magpie pick up an honest live- 
 lihood in such surroundings ? Not a silver
 
 1 86 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 At this moment something shining on the floor 
 attracted his eye, and down from the table he 
 jumped to hop after his prey. ' A silver 
 thimble! Ah yes, it belongs to that little 
 chattering child. Well, I must take it, there 's 
 no help for it ; she will cry, I suppose, but it 
 can't be helped,' and he hid poor little Elsie's 
 prize under his wing, then hopped about look- 
 ing for some other thing to secrete. In vain 
 did the furniture by groans and creaks try to 
 awaken their master and mistress, they could 
 not make sufficient noise, it is only furniture 
 of a certain age and long pedigree that has the 
 power and privilege of uttering those strange 
 uncanny sounds, which when heard in the dead 
 of night make us draw the bed-clothes closer 
 round us, and perchance hide our heads under 
 them. In vain did the clock try to tick louder ; 
 its dear old voice was too familiar to disturb the 
 sleepers. The magpie had it all its own way, 
 but there was little to have, it thought. Into 
 the kitchen it hopped, picking up every stray 
 crumb it could find, and finishing the modest 
 remains of cheese that had been put aside for 
 the following day. There seemed nothing left 
 
 to thieve for the rHsrnnfenf-erl Hlrrl wVir off-^t-
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR. 187 
 
 hopping several times round the place, at 
 length perched in front of the ashes of the 
 dying fire, and putting its head under its 
 wing, went to sleep till the hour came for it 
 again to assume the form of a chair. In the 
 early morning when the little maid-of-all-work 
 crept down-stairs to light the kitchen fire and 
 dust and sweep out the rooms, there stood the 
 arm-chair, looking as impassive and ready to 
 be sat upon as is the nature of chairs ; who 
 would have dreamt of the antics that had 
 taken place in the night ? 
 
 All went as usual till breakfast was over and 
 father had set off to his work. ' Now, Elsie,' 
 said the mother, ' as it is a holiday at school, 
 you must help me. First we will wash up the 
 breakfast things, and then you shall get your 
 new thimble and do some plain sewing.' 
 
 ' Yes, mother,' said Elsie cheerfully. ' Bertha, 
 will you bring me my thimble, please ? I left it in 
 the sitting-room last night ; then I shall be quite 
 ready to begin as soon as these cups are washed.' 
 
 Little Bertha ran off to do her sister's 
 bidding, but very soon they heard her voice 
 from the next room crying out that there
 
 1 88 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ' Nonsense/ said Elsie, ' it must be there.' 
 
 'Why didn't you put it away carefully in 
 your work-box last night ? ' asked her mother, 
 * that is the place for thimbles.' 
 
 ' Yes, mother, I know ; but I took it to show 
 to father, and then he began to tell us stories, 
 and I put it down in my lap and forgot all 
 about it ; but I am sure it must be on the 
 table or somewhere.' 
 
 'Well, go and look yourself; perhaps it has 
 rolled under the sofa or under the fender.' 
 
 Elsie, Bertha, and even little Willie hunted 
 all over the rooms, but no thimble could be 
 found, and at length Elsie came back with a 
 very crestfallen face to say it was nowhere to 
 be seen ; the consequence was, she had to sew 
 without a thimble, and her poor little finger 
 suffered accordingly, and the idea of her prize 
 being lost cost her some bitter tears. 
 
 When the sewing was over her mother said, 
 ' Now let us get the dinner ready. I will lay 
 the cloth, and you shall bring me the bread, 
 meat, and cheese, Bertha, while Elsie gets the 
 potatoes ready.' 
 
 Little Bertha ran to the cupboard, delighted
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR. 189 
 
 I will fetch the meat' This being done, she 
 ran away for the cheese, but her little feet did not 
 patter back as quickly as her mother wished. 
 
 1 Come, child, make haste, bring the cheese.' 
 
 ' It's gone, there is none left on the dish,' 
 called back Bertha, her head still in the 
 cupboard. 
 
 ' Oh yes, it must be there, but perhaps the 
 shelf is too high for you to reach. I will come.' 
 
 The mother, however, was not more success- 
 ful than the child, for no cheese could be seen. 
 The little servant girl was asked, but she 
 could throw no light on the matter, and so 
 they had to sit down to dinner cheeseless. 
 It so happened that the clerk had had a hard 
 morning's work, and was particularly hungry. 
 The allowance of meat was very modest, not 
 sufficient to stay his hunger ; and unfortunately, 
 Elsie's attention having been at a critical 
 moment called off from the potatoes to the 
 missing cheese, the former were burnt and 
 dried up. 
 
 ' Never mind,' said her father, ' there is 
 some nice cheese in the cupboard, I know ; we 
 must make up with that.' 
 
 The children coloured up and looked at
 
 190 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 their mother, who said sorrowfully, ' Something 
 very strange has happened ; the cheese has 
 disappeared.' 
 
 'Disappeared!' repeated the clerk, striding 
 to the cupboard, < how can a thing disappear ? 
 Do you mean it has been eaten ? ' 
 
 ' Indeed I can't say. I only know I put it 
 away last night, and now it is gone.' 
 
 Oh how hard the clock tried to tick intelli- 
 gibly, and how the deal table and chairs longed 
 to jump upon the wicked offender and stamp 
 it to pieces ! 
 
 ' Now this is really too bad/ said the clerk 
 angrily, he had a hasty temper, ' must I 
 make my dinner off dry bread ? ' 
 
 The children began to cry, but their mother 
 said, ' Of course your father is angry, it is only 
 natural ; he works very hard ; and a hungry 
 man should not be vexed. You, Elsie, made 
 matters worse by spoiling the potatoes ; how- 
 ever, poor child, you have your own little 
 sorrow to bear in losing your thimble, so we 
 must not be hard on you.' 
 
 ' Lost her thimble ? how is that ?' asked her 
 father, somewhat mollified by his wife's speech. 
 
 ' I don 't know, father/ whimpered poor little
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR. IQI 
 
 Elsie, her finger in her mouth. * I left it down 
 here last night, but to-day it is nowhere to be 
 found.' 
 
 'Heart alive!' cried the clerk; 'is there 
 then a thief in the house ?' 
 
 ' Yes, yes, yes/ ticked the clock, straining 
 every nerve to make more noise than usual ; 
 and the horse-hair couch panted and bristled, 
 but failed to attract attention, though indeed it 
 would have been of little use if it had done so, 
 as it could hardly have pointed out the culprit. 
 
 'Why, the place must be bewitched/ grumbled 
 the clerk. ' I must be off to my work ; and I 
 only hope that before I return both cheese 
 and thimble will be found.' 
 
 That night there were no stories told or 
 demanded. The children went to bed earlier 
 than usual ; for Elsie's head ached with crying 
 for the lost thimble ; and little Bertha was 
 tired, and longed to be asleep. The same 
 restless feelings as of the previous night over- 
 came the clerk as he sat in the new arm- 
 chair. At first it seemed so comfortable and 
 restful ; then, as the evening wore on, all the 
 comfort and rest gradually disappeared, and it 
 became impossible to sit still a moment
 
 192 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ' Isn't the chair comfortable ?' asked his 
 wife anxiously, noticing how often he changed 
 his position. 
 
 Yes no. I hardly know whether it is the 
 chair or myself; anyhow, I am very restless, 
 so perhaps it will be better to go to bed ; ' and 
 leaving his newspaper unread, away he went, 
 and his wife, after folding up her work with 
 a sigh, followed. Again, as on the previous 
 night, the chair after many preliminary antics 
 became transformed into a saucy magpie who, 
 with head cocked on one side, perched in front 
 of the clock, chuckling maliciously as it peered 
 up at its grave face. ' Ha ! ha ! ha ! ho ! ha ! 
 he ! no use, old fellow, you can't tell tales of 
 me, try as hard as you may.' Then it turned 
 its thoughts to thieving. There was no more 
 cheese, or indeed much of anything to eat 
 The bird pecked discontentedly at a bone 
 of meat and made a hole in a fresh loaf of 
 bread, then grumbling and chattering flew 
 round and round in search of something to 
 secrete. Silver spoons and forks were there 
 none, and pewter was not attractive. What 
 could be done ? Leaving the lower part of 
 the house, he flew up the staircase, and finding-
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR. 193 
 
 a door ajar hopped into the room. The moon 
 was shining brightly, and its rays fell upon 
 a silver pencil-case, which lay upon the dress- 
 ing-table. The magpie pounced upon it in 
 a moment, and seeing at a glance there was 
 nothing more to steal, hopped quietly out 
 of the room and spent the remainder of 
 the night in sleeping. 
 
 Next morning when the clerk was dressed 
 he looked round as usual for his pencil-case, 
 but it was nowhere to be seen. At the same 
 moment a cry of dismay arose from Elsie, who 
 was in the kitchen helping the small servant 
 to get the breakfast ready. ' Mother, mother, 
 do come and look at the loaf, there is a big 
 hole in it ; who can have done it ? ' 
 
 ' And the bone we had at supper last night 
 picked quite clean,' muttered the poor wife, 
 who ran to the cupboard to see what further 
 mischief had been done. 
 
 ' And when she got there 
 The cupboard was bare,' 
 
 chanted little Bertha, who had been learning 
 Mother Hubbard the day before ; but her 
 father told her rather sharply to be quiet ; he 
 
 nii77lprl ar fVip <;rafp nf affaire: and nnt in a
 
 194 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 humour to listen to nursery rhymes. Break- 
 fast over, he sent the children away, and had a 
 serious talk with his wife. It was clear to him 
 that a thief in the house' there must be, and 
 who could it be but the little servant girl ? 
 There was no one else to suspect, for they 
 were as sure of the children as of themselves. 
 And yet the clerk's wife was loth to think ill of 
 the poor quiet little drudge who had always 
 behaved well, and done her work with a good 
 will. 'Well, but somebody must take the 
 things,' argued the clerk ; ' and who else can it 
 be ? You must question the girl, perhaps she 
 is in some small trouble. Talk to her very 
 kindly, and tell her if she tells the truth she 
 shall not be punished. Now I must be off to 
 my work.' But the poor little maid-of-all- 
 work had nothing to confess ; not a crumb of 
 bread more than was right had she ever taken, 
 and, frightened at being suspected, she sobbed 
 and cried so piteously that her mistress could 
 not believe her anything but innocent Search 
 was made for the pencil-case, but in vain; 
 and nowhere could Elsie's thimble be found. 
 The clerk was late home that day, and when 
 he returned he was very tired ; so, beyond in-
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR. 1 95 
 
 quiring for his pencil-case, he did not refer to 
 what had passed. He went to bed early, put 
 his silver watch under the pillow as usual, but 
 so carelessly that the chain hung down. 
 
 The door was left ajar as usual, for the room 
 was small, and there was no fireplace. This 
 night the clerk's wife took the precaution of 
 locking the cupboard where the food was kept. 
 You can therefore understand that there was 
 less than ever for the magpie to pick and steal 
 down-stairs, and so he once more betook him- 
 self to the upper regions. The clerk was 
 sleeping heavily, and so was his wife ; the 
 moon was again shining brightly, and this time 
 its rays fell on the silver chain which hung 
 from the corner of the pillow. The magpie 
 seized it in its beak, drew out the watch softly, 
 and hopped away with the prey. ' Ke ! ke ! 
 ko !' this was indeed a prize. But now, 
 where shall he hide it ? Small articles, such 
 as thimbles and pencil-cases, are easily dis- 
 posed of; but this is quite another matter. 
 He thought of the horse-hair couch, but the 
 next moment he felt sure the spiteful thing 
 would not help him to hide it, so he must go
 
 196 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 catches his sharp eye; he hops up to it, and, 
 pushing it open, finds himself in the little 
 servant's room. Tired and worn out with 
 crying, she is too sound asleep to hear her 
 enemy enter, and, alas ! poor little girl, she 
 does not even awake when, with a malicious 
 chuckle, he pokes the watch into the pocket of 
 her dress, which hangs over the foot of her bed. 
 ' Ki ! ki ! ko ! that will do nicely.' Wicked 
 bird, he has done enough for one night, and 
 can now go down-stairs and sleep. 
 
 Well, well, well ! There was indeed a com- 
 motion in the morning when the clerk dis- 
 covered his loss, and the watch was found in 
 the maid's room. Storming, fuming, weeping 
 and wailing, there was nothing else to be 
 heard. The poor old sofa agitated its worn- 
 out springs, but could not pant out the truth ; 
 the table and chairs' faint creaks were not intel- 
 ligible, and the clock lifted up its voice in vain. 
 And in the midst of the tumult the false wicked 
 arm-chair sat facing the fire in unruffled 
 serenity. The poor little maid was taken off 
 to prison ; the clerk's wife and the children 
 interceded for her in vain, the clerk was in- 
 exorable. 'Who else could have taken the
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR. 197 
 
 things?' he asked; 'and was not his watch 
 found in the pocket of her dress ? It was 
 nonsense to talk of innocence after that.' The 
 poor little girl cried and begged for mercy, but 
 to no avail, and she was carried off to prison. 
 
 That night the clerk's wife resolved to watch 
 and see if in any way she could gain a clue to the 
 strange mystery, for in her heart she could not 
 think the little servant guilty. Her husband 
 went to bed and she did the same, but she deter- 
 mined to keep awake. The door was ajar as 
 usual. About twelve o'clock she heard a light 
 sound on the staircase, which set her heart beat- 
 ing. Sitting up in bed she threw an old shawl 
 over her shoulders, listening attentively to the 
 sound. It came nearer and nearer, there was a 
 rustle and flutter, the door was pushed open, 
 and something large and dark hopped into the 
 room. The poor woman was terrified nearly 
 out of her senses, but she uttered no sound, wait- 
 ing for what was to come next. As usual the 
 bird hopped up on to the table, and then by the 
 aid of the moon she made out its form and knew 
 it to be a large magpie. Her one thought was 
 to secure it, and creeping noiselessly out of bed 
 she shut-to the door, then called to her hus-
 
 198 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 band, ' Wake, wake ! here is the thief, you 
 must catch him ! ' 
 
 Up started the clerk, calling out, * Where ? 
 who ? what ? Did you say the thief ? Let me 
 catch him, that 's all.' 
 
 The bird was now flying round and round 
 the room trying to make its escape, but the 
 door was shut and there was no chimney. He 
 dashed himself against the window, hoping to 
 break the thin glass and fly away, but before 
 he could repeat the attack the clerk had 
 thrown a heavy shawl over him and he was 
 fast a prisoner. ' Open one of these empty 
 drawers, wife, we must shut him up safe till I 
 am dressed. There, my gentleman, you won't 
 get out of that in a hurry. I don't want 
 to hurt you, so you shan't be smothered, but I 
 must find out your history before I've done with 
 you.' His wife, who had finished dressing, said 
 she would go down-stairs and bring up a large 
 covered basket there was in the sitting-room, 
 as she thought the poor thing would breathe 
 in it better than in the drawer. Accordingly 
 she lighted a candle and went down-stairs. 
 Putting the light on the table she sought for 
 and found the basket, and was on the point of
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR. 199 
 
 leaving the room when something strange 
 struck her in its aspect ; something seemed 
 missing ; at first she could not make out what 
 it was, then suddenly she remembered the new 
 arm-chair. What had become of it ? It had 
 vanished ; not a trace of it remained ! Well, 
 of all the mysteries this was the greatest of all. 
 Hurrying up-stairs with the basket, she sank on 
 to a chair and panted out, ' It 's gone !' 
 
 ' What is gone ?' asked her husband. 
 
 ' The chair, the new arm-chair.' 
 
 The magpie heard and chuckled softly. 
 
 ' Gone ! Nonsense ; what do you mean ? 
 How could a large chair disappear ? ' 
 
 ' It has/ said his wife; 'only go down and look 
 for yourself, you will see I am speaking the truth.' 
 
 Down rushed the clerk, dashed about the 
 room, into the kitchen, back again, turned his 
 eyes round and round the place, but failed to 
 see what he sought. True it was, as his wife 
 had said, the chair was gone. ' Is the house 
 bewitched ?' he gasped out, staring stupidly at 
 the clock's round face, as if expecting an 
 answer; but none coming that he could un- 
 derstand, he rushed up again to his wife in 
 a bewildered state of mind.
 
 2OO AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 The bird was put into the basket, but the 
 clerk's hand got severely pecked during the 
 operation. ' Let us take it down-stairs,' said he, 
 ' and wait there the remainder of the night, for 
 this creature makes such a noise fluttering about 
 I am afraid the children will be awakened.' 
 
 They carried the basket below, placed it on 
 the hearth, and sat down feeling utterly upset 
 and bewildered, and as if all that was pass- 
 ing was a perplexing uncomfortable dream. 
 Whence came this great bird ? They knew 
 he did not belong to any of their neighbours. 
 Where was the chair ? Had that too been 
 stolen ? Impossible, for was not this cunning 
 magpie the thief ? Watches, thimbles, pencil- 
 cases he might well steal and secrete, but a 
 large arm-chair was quite another thing. No ; 
 this was clearly a fresh mystery. ' Oh, why 
 was I so hasty,' thought the poor man, ' as to 
 believe so readily in that poor little girl's guilt, 
 even though my watch was found in her pocket ? 
 How she cried and begged for mercy, poor 
 child, and all the time she was innocent ! ' And 
 he paced up and down the room in an agony of 
 remorse, refusing to listen to the excuses his 
 wife made for him and with which she tried to
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR. 2OI 
 
 comfort him. Meanwhile time was passing ; it 
 was close on dawn and the magpie grew more 
 and more restless as the moment approached 
 when he should again resume the form of the 
 arm-chair. 
 
 Unheard by the clerk and his wife, who were 
 engrossed by their own thoughts, he pecked and 
 pecked at the string that fastened the basket 
 until it was loosened. Then with his head 
 he pushed up the lid and contrived to hop out 
 of his prison. Just then, however, the couple, 
 attracted by the noise, turned and saw what had 
 happened. They rushed forward to seize the 
 cunning bird, but at that moment the clock 
 struck five, the magpie vanished, and the clerk 
 and his wife fell sprawling into the arms of the 
 new arm-chair. ' Wife !' ' Husband !' For a 
 moment or two this was all they could say, so 
 great was their amazement. What magic was 
 at work ? How did the chair get there ? 
 Where was the bird ? Had they after all only 
 been dreaming, walking in their sleep, and was 
 this the waking up ? But no for there stood 
 the basket in front of the hearth with the 
 loosened string hanging down. Suddenly the 
 wife uttered a cry. In trying to rise from her
 
 2O2 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 very undignified position she placed one hand 
 far back on the seat of the chair. Her hand 
 slipped into a hollowed space under the padding 
 and came upon something small and hard. 
 What was her surprise to draw out Elsie's 
 silver thimble ! Then up jumped the clerk. 
 ' Is the chair bewitched ?' he cried, and putting 
 in his hand he drew out his lost pencil-case. 
 Not a word was spoken for a moment or two, 
 while he sat and looked at the pencil-case, she 
 at the thimble. Then the wife turned to her 
 husband and said solemnly, ' There is only one 
 thing to be done, let us take back the chair to 
 the old Jew this very day. In some way it is 
 the cause of all our troubles. We will take it 
 back to the man and tell him what has hap- 
 pened. I should like, however, to make him 
 promise not to sell it to any one again.' 
 
 Oh ! how delighted the clock and chairs 
 and table were to hear this decision. Now 
 they would once more know peaceful times, 
 and be rid of the company of an impostor. 
 As soon as the Court was open the clerk 
 went there, saw the authorities, and cleared the 
 little servant-maid of the accusations against 
 her, brought her home, begged her pardon, and
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR. 203 
 
 then with the help of a neighbour carried the 
 arm-chair back to the Jew's shop. 
 
 'What, do you want me to buy it back 
 already ? ' asked the old man. 
 
 ' I only ask you to take it back/ answered 
 the clerk ; ' I am content to lose by it ; but 
 keep it in my house a night longer I will not,' 
 and he told him what had happened. 
 
 ' Pish ! Stuff and nonsense ! ' scoffed the 
 old Jew. 'YouVe been dreaming, sir, you 
 and your good lady. There is something wrong 
 wid de indigestion ; black bird always come 
 when dat is wrong. It's a pootiful chair; you 
 couldn't have a more pootiful chair, sir. Give 
 him me back if you like, but I make no foolish 
 promise not to shell him again. Old Isaac 
 not such a fool as he looks !' 
 
 And do what he would the clerk could not 
 shake this determination. He could therefore 
 only content himself with the resolve to spread 
 the strange story far and near, so that all those 
 in search of furniture might be spared such 
 cares and troubles as he had undergone through 
 becoming the possessor of 
 
 THE ENCHANTED CHAIR.
 
 UNDER THE APPLE-TREE.
 
 UNDER THE APPLE-TREE. 
 
 EAUTIFUL was 
 the place that the 
 little sparrow had 
 chosen for its nest, 
 beautiful at least 
 in spring, when 
 the apple-tree, the 
 only fruit-tree in 
 the tailor's little 
 garden, stood 
 laden with blos- 
 soms dazzling 
 white as though it had been sprinkled with 
 
 1 This story is adapted from the Danish.
 
 208 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 snow. From the bench under the tree came 
 songs and merry prattle, to which the little 
 sparrow, perched on a bough kissed by the 
 rays of the sun, cocked his head on one side 
 and listened. 
 
 His small sharp eyes were fixed intently on 
 little Gretchen, who, knitting a stocking, sat 
 listening to her mother's tales. She was so 
 industrious; her knitting-needles flashed like 
 shining bayonets in the sun, and only now and 
 then was there a lost stitch, and then it was 
 soon set right again by her mother. 
 
 Little Gretchen was the only child of the 
 poor tailor and his wife. She was the sun of the 
 house, and a bright little sun it was. It never 
 crept behind the clouds. Oh no! it shone 
 upon them and warmed them from morning 
 until night. Even their dreams were tinged 
 with its golden rays. 
 
 Two rosy cheeks, a pair of blue eyes, and 
 golden hair which seemed to take delight in 
 curling round her white neck, a blue frock, and 
 a red kerchief pinned over her chest, such was 
 little Gretchen's picture. 
 
 ' The Lucky Farthing, mother, tell me that, oh 
 do!' She pleaded so prettily that the mother
 
 UNDER THE APPLE-TREE. 2OQ 
 
 could not refuse just this one story more. 
 The sparrow chirped his satisfaction. 
 
 ' Well then,' began her mother, ' one after- 
 noon a little girl was sitting under a great beech- 
 tree by four cross roads eating her solitary 
 meal. It was very frugal, only a morsel of 
 French roll. The weather was cold and 
 gloomy, although it was the middle of summer, 
 and the little girl was cold, for her dress was 
 worn, and she had no stockings on her feet, 
 only a little checked handkerchief tied round 
 her head. The creatures of the wood, the 
 deer with their lively little fawns, passed by her, 
 the squirrels bounded by, and the birds flew 
 from bough to bough, finding shelter under the 
 green leaves. But they did not take any 
 notice of her, poor little solitary being. 
 
 ' And the clouds ? Ah ! perhaps they were 
 sailing towards her home over the sea, over 
 the mountains, to the land of roses, oranges, 
 and rich vineyards, while she sat alone and 
 shivered under the great beech-tree. Sud- 
 denly she heard the sound of voices, and her 
 eyes fell upon a merry party coming towards 
 her. Ah ! perhaps they will give her a copper. 
 She put down her last morsel of bread, and
 
 210 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 picking up her concertina from the grass began 
 to play. 
 
 ' " The little one is very pretty," said a gentle- 
 man, "more 'so than her music. Come, play 
 us something cheerful." 
 
 ' " Tell us your name," cried a little golden- 
 haired girl, with large, merry, friendly eyes. 
 
 1 The small musician shook her head. She 
 did not understand a word, and she went on 
 playing sadly. 
 
 ' " Oh ! that is too tiresome to listen to," said 
 the gentleman, throwing a copper on the grass, 
 and turning away. But the child with the 
 merry friendly eyes took out of her little red 
 silk purse a bright new farthing (it was her 
 lucky farthing) and laid it in her lap. 
 
 ' A smile broke over the little musician's face, 
 and she thanked the giver with her dark gazelle- 
 like eyes. 
 
 ' " Do you know of what she was thinking 
 when she was playing ? " said the little girl to 
 her mother, as she tripped along. 
 
 ' " No, my child, what do you suppose she was 
 thinking about ? " 
 
 ' " She was wishing that her mother was with 
 her, and that she had a doll to come home to,
 
 UNDER THE APPLE-TREE. 2 I I 
 
 when it grew dark in the wood. So I gave 
 her my farthing, for you told me it would 
 bring luck." 
 
 ' The mother kissed her little darling ten- 
 derly, and wished she had taken more notice 
 of the poor Italian, who once more sat alone 
 playing her sad tunes. 
 
 'She had not much skill, but there was a 
 touching expression in her notes. Once more 
 steps approached her, and this time it was a 
 little dark-haired boy with brown cheeks and 
 bare neck who stood before her. Upon one 
 shoulder sat a little monkey, with a red cap on 
 its head, and a brass chain round its neck, while 
 from the other shoulder hung a mandoline. 
 
 ' "Good-day, Marietta." 
 
 ' The little girl sprang up, and her cheeks 
 became warm with the joy that had suddenly 
 found its way to her. For Nicolo, who now 
 stood before her, had come from the same 
 village as herself. He was her best friend and 
 playfellow, and she had not the slightest idea 
 that he had come to this country. 
 
 ' " Father is dead," said Nicolo, " and mother 
 told me I must feed myself, for she had quite 
 enough to do to find bread for all the little
 
 2 I 2 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 ones. So I caught this little creature; and, 
 you may believe me, he makes some fun. 
 Quick, little monkey, one, two, three!" 
 
 ' Down scampered the little monkey, made a 
 bow with his red hat, and while the boy played 
 the mandoline, danced and jumped about, 
 turned a somersault on the grass, and twisted 
 himself round like a top, making Marietta 
 laugh with all her heart. 
 
 ' " Now," said Nicolo, "we will keep together, 
 and by-and-bye we shall get rich, then we will 
 go home and buy rich Carlo's house with the 
 vineyard." 
 
 ' " Yes, let us," and Marietta's eyes shone like 
 brilliant stars. What was there left to wish 
 for ? Had she not lively Nicolo, the monkey, 
 the mandoline, and her own concertina ? Oh ! 
 Marietta was no longer poor or alone. 
 
 1 Many years after this Nicolo and Marietta 
 lived in their own beautiful warm country, he 
 as husband, she as wife. They had their own 
 house and farm, and a cluster pf fine boys and 
 girls. 
 
 'When Marietta sat among her little ones 
 and wished particularly to delight them, she 
 would tell them about their father's and mother's
 
 UNDER THE APPLE-TREE. 2 13 
 
 wanderings in the foreign land. The great 
 hill near the wood where the tents stood in a 
 row, and where the bear danced with a stick 
 while father's little monkey jumped to the 
 sound of the trumpets, all this they knew as 
 well as though they had been there and seen it 
 for themselves. 
 
 ' But above all did they delight in hearing 
 of the great beech-tree by the four cross 
 roads, where mother sat sad and solitary, and 
 of the little girl with the large merry eyes, for 
 from her their mother had received the lucky 
 farthing, the same that now shone on the gold 
 chain round her neck. 
 
 The unknown giver to them was still the 
 little child described by their mother ; they 
 forgot that if alive she must now be a 
 woman ; and when saying their prayers at 
 their mother's knee these words would often 
 fall from their lips : " And God bless the little 
 girl with the large merry eyes." 
 
 ' And now that I have told you your 
 favourite story you must sing me a little song, 
 and then we will go in-doors and make up the 
 fire for father's tea, will you ?' asked the 
 mother of Gretchen.
 
 214 
 
 AMONG THE FAIRIES. 
 
 Little Gretchen nodded her head as though 
 she would shake off her golden curls, and began 
 to sing, 
 
 ' So hear now what the busy bee 
 Can of itself relate : 
 
 Where roses bloom and blush 
 In bright and crimson flush, 
 There sweets and dew I crush. 
 Buzz ! buzz ! 
 
 When tired of transit fleet, 
 And tasting all things sweet, 
 To home I then retreat 
 
 Buzz ! buzz ! 
 
 All beauty is for me, 
 Honey and growth so free, 
 The roses give to me. 
 
 Buzz ! buzz ! 
 
 When roses have gone by, 
 And cold gloom meets the eye, 
 Forgotten here I lie. 
 
 Buzz ! buzz ! 
 
 But who gives thee sweet store, 
 And light within thy door, 
 When roses bloom no more ? 
 Buzz ! buzz !' 
 
 There was something so touching in the 
 child's voice, especially in the last verse, that 
 her mother's eyes filled with tears. Then they 
 rose from the bench and went in-doors. But 
 the sparrow still sat upon the bough with his
 
 UNDER THE APPLE- TREE. 2 I 5 
 
 beak buried in the feathers of his breast and 
 meditated profoundly over the last words 
 
 ' But who gives thee sweet store, 
 And light within thy door, 
 When roses bloom no more ? 
 Buzz ! buzz ! ' 
 
 It perched afterwards upon the eaves, then 
 peeped through the gilded panes into the 
 tailor's little room, and then it knew, as well as 
 the sun's rays, that nothing in the whole wide 
 world, so far at least as his experience went, 
 was half so pretty as the tailor's little Gretchen. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PRINTED 3Y T. AND A. CONSTABLE, PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY 
 AT THE EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS.
 
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