servants, Sunshine, Fresh-air,
Water, and Rest, can work miracles, as you will see. Souls and bodies
need their help, and they never fail to do good if people will only come
to them and believe in their power."

"I am so glad, for mamma is often ill, and loves to come to the hills
and rest. Shall I see her soon? Can I go and tell her all I have
learned, or must I stay till she comes?" asked May, longing to run and
skip, she felt so well with the fairy water bubbling in her veins.

"Go and tell the news, and lead the others up. You will not see me, but
I am here; and my servants will do their work faithfully, for all who
are patient and brave. Farewell, dear child, no harm will come to you,
and your friends are waiting to help you down. But do not forget when
you are in the valley, or you will never find the fairy spring again."

Then the spirit vanished like mist, and May ran away, singing like a
bird, and skipping like a little goat, so proud and happy she felt as if
she could fly like a thistle-down. The path seemed very easy now, and
her feet were never tired. Her good friends joined her by the way, and
they had a merry journey back to the valley. There May thanked them and
hastened to tell all she had seen and heard and done. Few believed her;
most people said, "The child fell asleep and dreamed it." A few invalids
looked up and sighed to be there, but had no courage to climb so far. A
poet said he would go at once, and set off; so did a man who had lost
his wife and little children, and was very sad. May's mother believed
every word, and went hand in hand with the happy child along the path
that grew wider and smoother with every pair of feet that passed.

The wood-creatures nodded at May, and rejoiced to see the party go; but
there was no need of them now, so they kept out of sight, and only the
child and the poet saw them. Every one enjoyed the journey, for each
hour they felt better; and when at last they reached the spring, and May
filled her little cup for them to drink the sweet water, every one
tasted and believed, for health and happiness came to them with a single
draught.

The sad man smiled, and said he felt so near to heaven and his lost
children up there that he should stay. The poet began to sing the
loveliest songs he ever made, and pale mamma looked like a rose, as she
lay on the star-flowers, breathing the pure air, and basking in the
sunshine. May was the spirit of the spring for them, and wa