d Sally for Ingleside, and
taking care that no one should see her enter,--she was ever careful
about that,--like a rabbit she plunged through a thin spot in the hedge,
and was soon on her rocky seat well up by the wall.

In a few minutes there was a sound of voices in the garden, and the
rustle of soft gowns above her head. It was plain that Lionel Grandison,
his sister Lucretia, and their cousin, Rosamond Earlscourt, had entered
the arbor. A little light talk there was, then Lionel's rich, pleasant
voice took up the Fairy tale:

"The days and the weeks flew by as if on wings of the wind, a soft,
sweet wind! No pleasure was wanting in Fairy Town. There was no work, no
worry, no rain, no cold, no great heat. The flowers gave food to the
child the same as to the bees and the birds. She sipped the clover-like
syrup of sweet-pea blossoms, tasted and liked the bitter-sweet of the
pond-lily, loved the orris flavor of mignonette which she drank from the
cup of the fairy-bell. She drew in the nectar of honeysuckle, and tasted
the Paradise flavor of the rose. A syrup that seemed as if from the
Garden of Eden was made from spicy pinks, white violets, and
valley-lilies, mixed with morning dew.

"After feasting until she was tired there came four white doves,
harnessed to a light, silvery carriage, made of snowball flowers. Light
as air the child flew into the sweet, soft carriage, and was borne along
above the flowers and bushes, but the doves did not fly too high, for
fear of alarming the merry child.

"When the soft twilight of Fairy Town came gently down, there appeared a
bed made of the feathers of the swan, so pure and white, the child
feared to lie down upon it. But the Fairy playfully tossed her on the
downy bed, then smiled to see how lovely it all appeared to the little
one that nestled down, and was all ready for rest after the delights of
Fairy Town.

"But the days passed on and on, and lo! who could believe it? The child
grew tired,--tired of the sweetness, the rest, the dove-drives, the
do-nothing, care-nothing ease of Fairy Town!

"At first she could not believe so strange a thing was possible, and
feared lest she was only stupid and ungrateful. But, alas! the downy,
flowery, too easy life became more and more tiresome until, in trouble
and distress, she went to the Fairy with a look in her eyes that the
wise Fairy understood. Yet she asked kindly:

"'What is it, dear?'

"'Ah, good Fairy, I fear that I am b