THE WISE FAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 273, 24 December 1909, Page 3

THE WISE FAIRY.

A CHRISTMAS TALE FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. It was the day before Christmas. Tom was home for the holidays, a little taller, a good deal stouter, and much wis'er than over —almost, than anybody. Of course, it was very jolly to eome home, and all that sort of thing, but Tom soon -began to grow dissatisfied. Things were too slow, awfully slow, lie complained to his brothers and sisters several times a day—a fact which did not make them any happier, though neither Bill nor Babs had a notion of what he meant by "slow"—but they guessed by his looks and tones that lie meant something which was not at all nice.

He 'bad spent the morning mooning about the house, glancing at Christinas _ pictures and cramming himself with ' whatever he could lay hands on in the shape of swci'tstull's and fruit, and now after dinner he was lying at full length , on the sofa, grumbling because things at home were so slow. Hill s'at in the window wondering whether the cart which he could see coming down the road would stop with a hamper of good things at their door, liabs was playing with the kitten o:i the nig. Klsie sat at the piano softly playing "Home, Sweet Home" to herself in order to shut out the sound of Tom's grumbling. "Precious dull place ! call it." said Tom. ''Sweet; sweet home." .said the keys. "All! you should see Wilkins juniors' place —his father's no end of a swell, and lives in a great castle.'' "He it ever so humble, There's no place like home" chimed in the piano. "Oh, do stop that!" cried Tom; but before the keys could answer, thenmother came in and said, "Now, yon votui" lazvbones, go out for a good strolf t.hi.s Wright afternoon. Yes, you, too," she said to Tom, who looked straight things at her. "You'll be as fat as a Christmas goose if you go on like this." So, having put on their wraps and gloves, they all started for the wooil close by their house, <tf which they never got tired. "I wish," said Bill .presently, "something would happen. Wouldn v it be jollv to meet a fairy?" - "••'fairy, indeed!" said Tom; "there ain't any fairies, s'illy." "There ay—there is—l mean, there | are," said Hill, "f blow then; are." i ''Nonsense! It's only little kissI inaininv kids like von that believe in fairies," said Tom. ! "Hotter be that than a fat goose,'' i piped somebody. E "Who said that?" cried Tom, furi- , ously. i "I don't know," said Klsie, ooking r .startled; "I didn't." 1 "Nor did I 1." s'aid Bill, c Thev walked on awhile, silent and 1 wondering, along a path that they did

not remember ever to have seen before. "But T tell you,' continued Tom, "there are no fairies." "Oh, what a whopper! 11a! ha! hn!" said a (|iieev little vloice. as if it came out of the liollv Jmslies that ined the path; and ill a i moment there stepped out front the

:, bushes the funniest ittle fellow vou ever • Baw « " . 11 He was dressed in bright gi'ci'u with i'gold stripes and buttons; ami lie jad a | little cane ill his liniid; his eve.- seemed f to dance with fun and good-humor, and i at the moment he hud a smile that : went right across his from ear to i car. "'ticusc my jokes," he said, bow- ; ing to Elsie, "but really, boy-folk and I girl-folk are such fun, especially the ! knowing ones." "Excuse me," said Tom, "who are you?" .What are you? What do you . mean?" . ' "Oh, stop!" said the little apparition, putting liis lingers in his ears. "Don't i (go on asking so many <iucstions all at once; ii makes nie bad. 1 liad such a sickener of questions when I was young, in an examination, while a' lot of grown ups, as ought, to have known i-'.l-v, sit and asked us young ones | i -(in; all day long; I've not got over it yet!" r "Well, but," said Tom, "you can surely tell us your liauie'i" | "Yes, 1 think 1 can,'' was the answer; . "my name is Snap, and now dun't ask any more questions just yet, but come along with me, and we'll see what we ■ 'shall see."

So they went on together merrily enough. By and by El«le said, "Snap, may I ask you a qucs.io.i no » "Oh, yes," he said, "ask away." "Vou spoke of examination," she said; "did you go to school, then?" "Certainly!" "And learnt addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division?" "Xot at school, of course, though, for I went to school to forget them." "What do you mean?" she asked. "Well,' he said, "the subtraction 1 learnt was taking some apples from a garden next door; tlien i added sonw more from another garden; next I went on to division, and shared an apple with my litte brother—l ate the outer part and lie had the core." "Did you go through the multiplication table?" as'ked Bill.

"Not quite through it, but very nearly, for the master laid me on his table, and oh! didn't me multiply, up to abo»t twelve times nine, I guess, more, till I quite forgot the addition and subtraction 1 had learned." "Queer sort of a school I call that," said Tom.

"Just splendid," said snap. "But now, let's jo<f on, and I will show you some things m Fairyland that visitors from your country don't often see." As he spoke they saw a great house just in front of them, all saining like silver. "Oh! what a lovely place! That must be the Queen., of the Fairies' Palace," tbcv said.

Snap smiled. "No our Queen does not live there. That's the House of tile Silver School."

"School!" they cried, in surprise. "Yes, that's one of our Schools ot Forgetting, where young fairies go to learn to forget son.e things they learned much too soon and too well." "Such as' addition, etc.?" asked Bill, will :i twinkle in his eye. :.iap nodded. "Shall have a peep?" I So they went up to the great broad ■silver steps, in between massive silver [inillars, through a door of silvered oak, '.into a great room full of fairy chilJdren, aU busy at their lessons—some (doing one thing, others another. [ But what struck Tom most of all was their curious way of spelling, Tom hims'elf had a curious way of spelling some words, but he had never spelt like these.

Teacher: "Who can spell 'liappyj?" One cried, "R-I-C-II." "No." Another said, "G-O-O-D." "Ri'ght," said the master. "Once again, all together, G-O-O-D—happy." "Now spell 'miserable,'" "B-A-D.' "Right," said the teacher. "Now, all together, B-A-D—miserable.'.' "Well," said Tom, as lie came away, "if tlint doesn't beat all."

"I think It really does," said Elsie; "but it's quite right, all the same." 1 Going on a little farther, they Saw something so grand Uiat it nearly took their breath away. It was a Palace of pure gold. They had never dreamt of anything so splendid. "Here it is at last!" they said—"the Queen of the Fairies'.houso!" "Nonsense!" said Snap, drily; "our Queen doesn't live there; that's the College where the growinip fairies go to learn to forget." ' "Forget what?" "Oh, all the rubbish they hear talked down in your country about money. Here they get nothing but gold—gold chairs, gold tables, gold plates, gold knives', gold beds, gold sheets, and gold quilts —gold cvqrything, till they get sick of it and learn to forget they ever craved for it. But come along." "Look there." They looked. "I say!"

said Tom. "Oh!' said Babs. "Whew!'" said Bill. "How lovely!" said Elsie. And it was lowly, for it was the Dome of Diamonds —a whole palace built of jewels—the pillars were of ruby, the doors of pearl, the walls and roof shone with diamonds.

"What is it?—is it heaven?'' asked Elsie. I Snap burst out laughing. ''That's t«e High School for Girls," he sai l "For girls?" ' "Yes—where the girl fairies learn to forget their love of finery. At first , some of them think such a lot about ' jewels' and finery, and that sort of thing, that they get to be selfish, ugly, 1 disagreeable fairies, and then they are 1 sent to the Dome of Diamonds, mid ' they s,'ce and hear so much of tiiem * that they soon learn to forget that tlicy ' ever, cared for such' trash." 1 "I say, Elsie," whispered Tom, "just ] one term in there wouldn't do somebody I know any harm, would it?" | Poor Elsie blushed scarlet, but she i said nothing, for Balis was shouting, "Look! Look!" And there right .in front of them was : a big castle with great walls on every side, and they could only see it througn the tars of a very big guild®! gate. "That," said Snap, "is generally called Castle Grumpey—really, it's what you call a sort of gaol—where' the very wicked fairy people are put." "Are there any wicket fairies?" asked Babs. "Oh, yes," said Snap. "What do they do?" asked Hill, who liked stories about pirates and highway robbers and frighteners. "Oh, all sorts' of bad tilings," said Snap. "Some grumble, others are stuck, lip, others are always idle, others bully fairies smaller than themselves. Oh, it's dreadful to think 6? it," he said; "X feel quite ashamed," "And are they severely punished?" asked Elsie. "Very," he said. "Hard labor?" asked Tom. "WnrSe than (.hilt—much," he said; "hard idleness. They arc not allowed to do or give anything—or help anyone. Thcv sit all (lay listening to others grumbling, .till oh! tlicy long anil long to bc'alloweil to do, and give, and help," "Is grumbling against the law?" asked Bill, "I should think so," sniil Snap. "Tom," sniil Ulsic, sl.vly. "you must be careful while you are here!" ■'.Vow look at that," said Snap. "What do you think of that?" pointing to a little housi\witli no silver, gold, or diamonds about it. but lboking very neat and clean. "You don't think the Queen lives there, do you?"' s'urelv not," they said; "that's no bigger or grander than our house at home! it's cry like ouf house!"

"Ah, well, come ill," said Snap. They went, and tlicj; were surprised to find the inside still more like home—the same sort of rooms, the same sort of J furniture. It was so like that Hlsicj said to herself, "No, no, the Queen ca"i not live here." In one room silt a gentleman very like their own father. In another room tlfl'v saw a lady exactly like their mother, busy at work, #.nd with her were two girls very like Elsie and liabs. -"That's Sunbeam," said Snap, "and the little one is Sing Song." frpseiitly a boy the very image of Tom came in, his arms fi)U of holly branches. He sang as he entered the loom;

flare's mistletoe and holly, |. T-Pt one and all he jolly, 1-iet's banish melancholy, Now we're ;ill at home, l''ollu\vlng him came a boy the. very picture of Bill, lugging u young fir-tree to make a Christmas-tree. He made a bow. and sang to a merry tune these words': Should you liml your tea's not nice, Listen to my sage advice: Put more sugar in Hie cup, > Stir, and stir—then drink it up. For here's a fact, so please you take it, J Your tea is what yon like to miik.p it.i ,f Encore! JSncore!" sholited Snap. I The boy smiled, then went on: l ' Should you find youv home is slow, Here's a hint before vou go: I Put more sugar in tlie cup, ] Stir, and stir—then drink it up, I

' For 'tis a fact, so please you take it, j Home is what you like to maike it. "That's* right!" cried Sunbeam. I; 'Tis not what Santa Glaus brings 'Tis not mince pies and sweet things, Jt is the tuue the heart sings That makes a "home sweet home." Then Sing Song chimed in: Up in the steeple, ding, ding, dong, |

The merry bells ring, the merry bells Ting; And ill the heart of little Sing Song The merry bells ring, the merry bells ring.

Tom and Elsie and Bulls could hardly keep still for pleasure. "Snap," tliey cried, "this is the jolliest little pla(fr| we've seen in Fairyland. What is it, Snap?" ''This," said the fairy, "is the best place in Fairyland, for this is home—the Queens home—your home if vou like."

"Oil, bravo!" said Tom. "Let's have another song. I'll lead oil'.'

But a hand at tiiis moment was laid on Tom's arm, and, looking up he saw his' mother standing lieside him. "You've lii-en dreaming, Tom," she said.

"1 don't know quite," he answered j "hut I've seen such odd things, and oh, I've heard sucli lovely singing.

"Was it anything like this?" asked Elsie, as she again strummed "Home, Sweet Home" on the key*. "Yes, yes," cried Tom, " "that's it. Let's all s'ing that"—and thev did.