and talked with them.
Demons for you they may be,
But are angels unto me.'

"To which his friend sang in reply, laughing:

"'Only prove that they exist,
And we will no more resist;
Let them come before we go,
With _ha_!_ ha_!_ ha_! and _ho_!_ ho_!_ ho_!'

"And as they sang this, they heard a peal of silvery laughter without,
or, as it seemed, actually singing in the hall and making a chorus with
their voices. And at the instant a servant came and said that two very
beautiful ladies were without, who begged the young Signore to come to
them immediately, and that it was on a matter of life and death.

"So he rose and stepped outside, but he had hardly crossed the threshold
before the stone ceiling of the hall fell in with a tremendous crash, and
just where the young Signore had sat was a great stone weighing many
_quintale_ or hundredweights, so that it was plain that if he had not
been called away, in an instant more he would have been crushed like a
fly under a hammer. As for his two friends, they had broken arms and cut
faces, bearing marks in memory of the day to the end of their lives.

"When the young Signore was without the door and looked for the ladies,
they were gone, and a little boy, who was the only person present,
declared that he had seen them, that they were wonderfully beautiful, and
that, merrily laughing, they had jumped or gone down into the well.

"Therefore it was generally believed by all who heard the tale that it
was the Fairies of the Well, or _Fonte_, who thus saved the life of the
young Signore, who from that day honoured them more devoutly than ever;
nor did his friends any longer doubt that there are spirits of air or
earth, who, when treated with pious reverence, can confer benefits on
their worshippers.

"'For there are fairies all around
Everywhere, and elves abound
Even in our homes unseen:
They go wherever we have been,
And often by the fireside sit,
A-laughing gaily at our wit;
And when the ringing echo falls
Back from the ceiling or the walls,
'Tis not our voices to us thrown
In a reflection, but their own;
For they are near at every turn,
As he who watches soon may learn.'

"And the young Signore, to do honour to the fairies, because they had
saved his life, put them one on either side of his coat-of-arms, as you
may see by the shield which is on the house at the corner of the Via
Calzaioli."