.

"And hullo from me, too!" cried Frisk-and-Glitter, the other
visitor--the one in the butterfly-silk suit.

"You have come earlier than usual," suggested Sweet-One-Darling.

"No, indeed," answered Frisk-and-Glitter; "this is the accustomed hour,
but the day has been so happy that it has passed quickly. For that
reason you should be glad to see me, for I bring dreams of the day--the
beautiful golden day, with its benediction of sunlight, its grace of
warmth, and its wealth of mirth and play."

"And _I_," said Gleam-o'-the-Murk, "_I_ bring dreams, too. But _my_
dreams are of the night, and they are full of the gentle, soothing
music of the winds, of the pines, and of the crickets! and they are
full of fair visions in which you shall see the things of Fairyland and
of Dreamland and of all the mysterious countries that compose the vast
world of Somewhere away out beyond the silvery mist of Night."

"Dear me!" cried Sweet-One-Darling. "I should never be able to make a
choice between you two, for both of you are equally acceptable. I am
sure I should love to have the pleasant play of the daytime brought
back to me, and I am quite as sure that I want to see all the pretty
sights that are unfolded by the dreams which Gleam-o'-the-Murk brings."

Sweet-One-Darling was so distressed that her cunning little underlip
drooped and quivered perceptibly. She feared that her indecision would
forfeit her the friendship of both the Dream-Fairies.

"You have no need to feel troubled," said Frisk-and-Glitter, "for you
are not expected to make any choice between us. We have our own way of
determining the question, as you shall presently understand."

Then the Dream-Fairies explained that whenever they came of an evening
to bring their dreams to a little child they seated themselves on the
child's eyelids and tried to rock them down. Gleam-o'-the-Murk would
sit and rock upon one eyelid and Frisk-and-Glitter would sit and rock
on the other. If Gleam-o'-the-Murk's eyelid closed first the child
would dream the dreams Gleam-o'-the-Murk brought it; if
Frisk-and-Glitter's eyelid closed first, why, then, of course, the
child dreamt the dreams Frisk-and-Glitter brought. It would be hard to
conceive of an arrangement more amicable.

"But suppose," suggested Sweet-One-Darling, "suppose both eyelids close
at the same instant? Which one of you fairies has his own way, _then_?"

"Ah, in that event," said they, "neither of us wins, and