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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. 15