"You have chosen well," said the Oldest Fairy of All. "You are fitted to
help me in my work. That is the Plant of Knowledge; its crystal
blossoms are called the Flowers of Understanding, and its fruit is Love.
By it alone can war be made to cease."

She pointed far below. "I have planted it upon the earth in many spots,"
she said. "Here and there it has flourished and spread, and its fruit
has sweetened all the air. But, alas!" her eyes grew sad, "too often it
has been trampled under foot and killed, and war has broken out afresh.
If only men would care for it and let it grow the world would soon be
wrapped in peace."

"Can we not plant more and more until it spreads across the world in
spite of all neglect?" asked Fairy Tenderheart.

The Oldest Fairy shook her head. "I have done my best," she said; "but
while men tramp it down it cannot spread across the world. Even when it
has grown well it cannot do the good it ought to do: a nation which has
eaten of its Fruit of Love and has learned to scorn the littleness of
war is yet forced by that same Love to fight, that it may rescue a weak
and helpless country from the greedy clutches of those who have refused
to let my dear plant bloom. In the end it shall spread, no doubt, and
my work shall be complete; but the time is long, the time is long."

She mused, and Fairy Tenderheart gazed thoughtfully upon the earth.
Presently she raised her eyes, and they were bright with hope.

[Illustration: "In the children's gardens ... they planted the seeds."]

"See where a group of children gathers round your precious plant!" she
said. "How eagerly they stretch their hands towards it, and how they
look into its flashing flowers. They will never tread it in the mud, for
they have seen its splendour. Let me take seeds to all the children's
gardens in the world. The Children! They will welcome your Plant of
Knowledge with its Flowers of Understanding, and when they have tasted
its Fruit of Love they will grow up scorning war, and the world will
live in peace."

The Oldest Fairy laughed with joy. "Oh, little sister, you have come to
help indeed!" she said. "You are right. The Children! It is to them we
must take our plant. Come, let us gather seeds and start at once."

They gathered the golden seeds and carried them swiftly down. In the
children's gardens across the world they planted them, and everywhere
the children ran to gaze at the wonder of the springing plants, and to
watch th