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I country ?” said Ellie, who was no longer
afraid of her.
“ There,” said the little woman, and she
pointed to the setting sun. “There;
don’t you see my castle? You can just
gee its turrets ?”
Ellie looked, and laughed. “I sec no
castle, only the clouds—purple, and gold,
and crimson—piled around the setting
sun. and little flecks of fleecy white and
gold all around.”
“Is that all ?” said the little woman ;
| “why common eyes can see that;” and
ghe laid her hands upon Elbe’s eyes.
“ Now look.”
And as Ellie looked to where the old
woman pointed, she saw, instead of the
f clouds of evening, a wonderful landscape.
Mountains and huge rocks rose in irregu
: lar and grand confusion ; the white snow
rested on the peaks of the highest moun
tains, and at the base of the nearest, a
; magnificent palace, fit for the dwelling
place of a queen, was built of purple and
gold stones. In front of the palace stretch-
I ed out a beautiful lawn, on which a whole
flock of snow-white lambs were playing.
I can give you no idea of the beautiful
scene. Ellie looked, and held her breath
i with delight, while her eyes seemed to
I grow rounder and rounder at the marvel
lous sight.
“Suppose,” said the old woman, who
seemed to be shrinking all away, she had
grown so very small; “suppose that, as
. you say you are rather crowded at home,
; instead of my going with you, you should
go with me, wouldn’t you like to visit my
castle and see my flock of sheep ?”
“ Oh, I would like it very much,” said
I Ellie; “but how can we get there? It
I is far away across those mountains, and
l we have no wings, and the sun has set,
| and I couldn’t stay, you know.”
“Why not ?” said the little woman.
“ Because,” said Ellie, “ Mother would
be uneasy, and then the lamb, you know,
I and Charlie’s books. I promised to take
■ them home.”
“Where are they?” said the little wo
i man.
Ellie looked around with a puzzled air.
1 Both lamb and books had disappeared.
“ Perhaps;” she said hesitatingly ; “ per
haps Mary took them.”
“Perhaps so,” said the little woman,
sand then she laughed so long and so mer
t rily that Ellie was obliged to laugh too,
* for such a rippling, musical laugh can
■ seldom be heard in our sad, sorrowful
|; world.
“Now, Ellie,” said the little woman;
H “ since Mary has taken the lamb and the
gbooks, you will go with me, and mother
■ shall not be worried. J will bring you
BURKE’S WEEKLY.
back in good time. Come close to me ;
I’m lame, you know,” and again the mu
sical laugh rippled out. “ So, that is it—
now let me put my arm around your neck
and —now —”
In a moment Ellie saw a pair of exqui
site little wings unfold from the old wo
man’s shoulders, and in another, felt her
self rising from the earth, but she was not
in the least afraid. It was delightful.
Away they flew over the green wheat
fields, over the soft, blue hills, straight
on, into the clear light, and never stopped
until they reached the beautiful castle,
which reared its battlements where the
sun sets.
Ellie looked for the little woman ; she
was gone, but in her place was the most
wonderfully beautiful little lady—so beau
tiful that Ellie had never been able to
imagine anything so lovely. Her green
stuff dress was now the softest, richest
tissue, and trimmed with golden wheat
sheaves. It was so light and so delicate
that no silk-worm of the earth could have
spun it. Her gipsey hat had given place
to a coronet of diamonds, and the wide
cap border was displaced by rose buds,
fashioned of pearls. In her hand she
held a fan made of butterfly feathers.
She was so wonderfully beautiful that
Ellie knew in a moment that the Queen
of Fairyland was before her.
“ Come, Ellie,” said the Queen, “my
little people are expecting you. They
have long noticed and loved you, and
they all knew that I was going to the
earth for you this evening. Qome, I will
show you my palace and my flowers.”
And Elbe saw the Queen’s garden, fill
ed with red and white roses, and the blue
violets were growing everywhere, per
fuming the air with their delicate breath,
and sweet honeysuckles and starry jas
mines crept up among the purple and
gold stones of the castle, and all the flow
ers were more beautiful than any Ellie
had ever seen or imagined ; and the snowy
lambs, with gold collars around their
necks, frisked around their mistress, and
rubbed up against her soft hands.
“Now look down,” said the Fairy, and
Ellie looked and saw what seemed a great
big beautiful soap bubble, only ten thou
sand times bigger, and close by it another,
but much smaller ; and in the light of the
setting sun both these beautiful balls
looked as if they were made of fretted
gold; and the Fairy pointed to the lar
gest ball and said —
“Elbe, that is the earth : there is your
home. This is Fairyland ; only the pure,
the loving, the true can come here and
enjoy all this beauty ; and it is because I
have found you to be good and kind that
I have brought you here. Now come
with me, my little people are expecting
you.”
[CONCLtTDKD IN OUU NEXT.]
Stretch a Little. —A little girl and
her brother were on their way to the
grocer’s one wintry morning. The ground
was white with frost, and the wind was
very sharp. They were both poorly
dressed, but the little girl had a sort of
coat over her, ivhich she seemed to have
outgrown. As they walked briskly along,
she drew her little companion close up to
her, saying:
“Come under my coat, Johnny.”
“ It isn’t big enough for both,” he re
plied.
“ I think I can stretch it a little,” she
said.
And they were soon as close together
and as warm as two birds in the same
nest. How many shivering bodies, and
heavy hearts, and weeping eyes there are
in the world, just because people do not
stretch their comforts a little beyond
themselves.
A Wise Old Fable. —A yellowhammer
and a nightingale were suspended in their
cages at the outside of a window. The
nightingale began to warble, and a child
was smitten with admiration of his mel
ody. “ Which of the birds,” said he,
“ sings so sweetly ?” “ I will show you
them,” answered the father, “ and you
may guess.” The boy fixed his eyes on
the yellowhammer. “ This must be the
one. How beautifully painted are his
feathers! The other, you may see, is
good for nothing.” “ The vulgar,” said
the father, “judge precisely after the
same manner; they form their ojnnion
of men by the outside, and are generally
wrong, as you are now.”
A Good Recommendation, —A young
man, seeking employment, w T ent to one of
our large cities, and on inquiring at a cer
tain counting-room if they wished a clerk,
was. told they did not. On mentioning
the recommendations he had, one of
which was from a highly respectable citi
zen, the merchant desired to see them. In
turning over his carpet-bag to find the
letters, a book rolled out on the floor.
“ What book is that?” said the merchant.
“It is the Bible, sir,” was the reply.
“ And what are you going to do with that
book in New York ?” The lad looked
seriously into the merchant’s face and
replied, “I promised my mother I would
read it every day, and I shall do it!”
The merchant immediately engaged his
services, and in due time ho became a
partner in the firm.
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