ful
Green Fairy ever seen, with wings and with two trains; and as it came
out and looked shyly around, trembling with new life, Mother Carey
whispered, "Go to the butternut grove and see what awaits you there."

So away she went. Oh, how easy and glorious it is to fly! She could
remember how once she used to crawl everywhere. And through the soft
sweet night she flew, as she was told, straight to the butternut grove.
As she came near she saw many green fairies--a great crowd of
them--gathered in the moonlight, and dancing round and round in
fluttering circles, swooping about and chasing each other, or hiding in
the leaves. They did not feast, for these fairies never eat, and they
drink only honey from flowers. But there was a spirit of great joy over
them all. And there were some there with longer head plumes than those
she wore. They seemed stronger and one of them came with a glad greeting
to the new Green Dancer and though she flew away, she was bursting with
joy that he should single her out. He pursued her till he caught her,
and hand in hand they danced together in the moonlight. She was happier
than she had known it was possible to be, and danced all night--that
wonderful wedding dance. But she was very tired when morning was near,
and high in the tree she slept so soundly that she never noticed that
many seed pearls that were clustered on the lining of her robe had got
loose and rolled into the crevices of the trunk. There they lay until
Mother Carey came to touch them with her magic wand, so each became a
crawler-dwarf, then a bundle-baby, and at last a dancing fairy.

But the Green Dancer did not know that--she knew only that it was a
glorious thing to be alive, and fly, and to dance in the moonlight.

* * * * *

You must never fail to watch under the butternut tree on mid-summer
nights, for it is quite possible that you may see the wedding dance of
the Luna Greenie and her sisters with the long-trained robes.

TALE 31

The Wicked Hoptoad and the Little Yellow Dragon

[Illustration: The Wicked Hoptoad and the Little Yellow Dragon]

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little Yellow Dragon, who lived
a happy and innocent life on the high banks of a prattling stream. The
Dragon himself was dumb but he loved a merry noise, and nothing
pleased him more than the prattling of the water. Sometimes this
pleasant little Dragon went up stream, where it was noisy, and sometimes