Project Gutenberg's The Little House in the Fairy Wood, by Ethel Cook Eliot

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Title: The Little House in the Fairy Wood

Author: Ethel Cook Eliot

Release Date: December 15, 2003 [EBook #10463]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD ***

Produced by Hilary Caws-Elwitt, in memory of Margaret
Devereux Lippitt Rorison

THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD

by

ETHEL COOK ELIOT

TO TORKA AND NORTHWIND

CONTENTS

I. MAGIC IN A MIST
II. THE BRIGHT HOUSE
III. FIRELIGHT
IV. THE GOSSIP
V. WORLD STORIES
VI. AT THE HEART OF A TREE
VII. TREE MOTHER AND THE DROWSY BOAT
VIII. A WITCH AT THE WINDOW
IX. THE WIND HUNT
X. ON THE GRAY WALL
XI. THE BEAUTIFUL WICKED WITCH
XII. IVRA'S BIRTHDAY
XIII. NORA'S GRANDCHILDREN
XIV. SPRING COMES
XV. SPRING WANDERING
XVI. OVER THE TREE TOPS
XVII. THE JUNE MOON
XVIII. THE DEEPEST PLACE IN THE WOOD
XIX. MORE MAGIC IN A MIST

CHAPTER I

MAGIC IN A MIST

That morning began no differently from any morning, though it was to be
the beginning of all things new for Eric. He was awakened early by Mrs.
Freg's rough hand shaking him by the arm, and her rough voice in his
ears: "Get up, lazy-bones! _All_ you boys pile out, this very minute!
It's six o'clock already!" Then she reached over Eric and shook the
other two boys in the bed with him, repeating and repeating "Wake up,
wake up! It's six o'clock already!" When she was sure the three boys in
the bed were awake and miserable, she crossed the room with a hurried,
heavy tread and clumped, clumped down the stairs into the kitchen.

Though it happened just that way every morning, and it had happened so
this morning, this day was to be very different from any other in Eric's
life. But Eric could not know that; so he crawled farther down under the
few bedclothes he had managed to keep to himself, and shut his eyes
again just for a minute.

The night had been a cold one, and the other two boys in the bed,
because they were older and stronger, had managed to keep most of the
bedding wrapped tightly around them, while little Eric shivered on the
very