er
care also.

One day some cousins came from town to see the woodcutter, and his wife.
They brought with them their dinner in a large basket, and a jolly time
they had of it, wandering through the woods, lying on the soft green
grass, and gathering the wild flowers. Finally, hunger drove them back
to the woodcutter's house, and as they sat on the porch eating their
luncheon, they thoughtlessly threw the skins of their oranges and the
banana peelings on the grass in front of them. The woodcutter's wife
said nothing, but she felt sure that such litter and dirt on the fresh
green grass would grieve the wood-fairies who were trying to keep the
forest and all of its surroundings as beautiful as possible. Therefore
when the guests had gone, she quietly picked up all the skins and scraps
of paper and burned them.

This so pleased the wood-fairies, that when her first boy baby came,
they sent him a _loving-cup_ of gold. Around it were circles of diamonds
and pearls and deep red rubies. Of course, the young mother was very
happy, for she knew that such a gift meant her son would some day
possess much money. So she set herself to work to make her yard more
beautiful than it had been before, by planting flower-seeds in a border
by the fence. "If my son is to become a rich man," said she to herself,
"he must learn to love what is beautiful, that he may use his money
wisely." She did not stop when she had made her own yard beautiful, but
soon began scattering more flower-seed down by the spring that the
wood-fairies might have flowers to enjoy while they came to drink.
Before long her kind heart led her to plant other flowers by the dusty
roadside and down in the lonely valley, in order that weary travelers,
as they journeyed along, might see the bright blossoms and smell the
sweet perfume.

This pleased the wood-fairies even more than her thoughtful tidiness
had done, so, when her second boy baby came, they sent him a
_loving-cup_ of pure silver. Around the outside of it were carved
pictures of youths and maidens dancing in a circle on the green grass.
This gift made the mother even happier than the first had done, for she
read in the carving on the cup that her boy would love the open air and
would grow up strong and healthy and her heart grew tender to all things
about her.

She had noticed that some of the ugliest and most neglected weeds often
bore delicate flowers, which, however, soon faded for lack of care. "I
will se