ok close after the adventure of his beloved, reached her ear. But
the senses of Matilda were engrossed by the fairies, and to his repeated
calls she gave no answer. And she had good reason. For scarcely had the
little bell rung, when a flash, like a sparkling snake, darted here and
there upon the grass, and out of the quivering light there arose a small
and exceedingly beautiful creature, whom Maud immediately recognised for
the lord of the bell-flower. The little fellow was in Spanish costume.
He wore a doublet of sky-blue butterflies' wings, over which dropped a
magnificent lace collar woven of the gossamer. The delicate feet were
covered with transparent shoes, made of dew-drops.

"Maud stood mute with astonishment, as well at the tiny smallness of the
fairy, as at his truly classical beauty. The little creature was, in his
way, a perfect Adonis.

"'Now, my trembler, art thou resolute to follow me?' whispered the fairy
in a note that came to her like a note of the harmonicon. 'Restore me
the pledge, for we have no time to lose.'

"Maud gave back the bell-flower; the elf seized it in his little
diaphanous alabaster floral hands, waved it three times round his
dazzling head, so that the little bell sent a peal round the hills, and
then threw it upon the ground. It dilated immediately, took the shape of
a galley with masts and yards, although no larger than the moon's disk
as we see it from the earth. In the same instant the elf sat in the
little vessel, which trembled at every step, drew a rush from his
girdle, and steered with it in the air.

"'Now, come, step in!' he called to Maud.

"'In that!' exclaimed the maiden astounded. 'Heaven love you, there's
hardly room for my two feet! Besides, it will tear under me like a
poppy-leaf, for I verily believe it is made of mere air.'

"'Spare your remarks, Miss Pert!' returned the fairy, 'and step in. I
pledge my honour, and will give up my hope of salvation, if this bark of
our master's do not carry thee safely over half the earth ball in less
than no time.'

"It might be that Maud now stood under the mysterious power of a spell,
or that she was urged by an invincible curiosity. Enough: she placed her
feet in the quaking gondola, which swelled aloft like an air-balloon
until it reached the maiden's shoulders. Now the ground sank away, and
Matilda's senses failed her in the dizzy speed with which she was
hurried down into the bowels of the earth. At this precise moment