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_FAIRIES I HAVE MET_
"PLEASE," SHE SAID, "I WANT TO BE A NIGHTINGALE"]
_FAIRIES I HAVE MET_
_BY MRS. RODOLPH STAWELL_
_ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR BY_ _EDMUND DULAC_
_HODDER AND STOUGHTON_ _NEW YORK AND LONDON_
_DEDICATION_
Before Penelope could toddle she lived far away among the oleanders. Thesunbeams who came down to see the oleanders saw Penelope too. She sat onthe grass and played with them, and they loved her very much.
One day the sunbeams were sad.
"Penelope is going to England," they said to each other.
"I am going to England with her," said Sunbeam the First.
"How?" asked the others.
"I shall hide in her hair," said Sunbeam the First.
"Then," said Sunbeam the Second, "I shall go too. I shall hide behindher eyelashes."
"And I," said Sunbeam the Third, "shall hide in her heart."
So Penelope went to England, with one sunbeam in her hair, and one inher eyes, and one in her heart.
When she was old enough to talk she spoke to the sunbeams.
"Shall you always stay in my hair?" she asked Sunbeam the First.
"That is more than I can say," he answered. "Perhaps when you are old Ishall be obliged to go away."
Then Penelope asked Sunbeam the Second--
"Shall you always stay in my eyes?"
"I hope so," said Sunbeam the Second; "but perhaps if you are unhappy Ishall be obliged to go away."
Then the corners of Penelope's mouth began to droop a little.
"Dear Sunbeam," she said to Sunbeam the Third, "shall you be always inmy heart?"
"Yes, if you keep me there," said Sunbeam the Third.
"How can I keep you there?" asked Penelope.
"You must love the fairies," said the sunbeam, "and understand them whenthey speak to you. If you love the fairies even when you are old, Ishall stay in your heart always."
* * * * *
These stories have been written for Penelope, so that she may love thefairies, and keep the sunbeam always in her heart.
_CONTENTS_
PAGE
THE BIRD OF SHADOWS AND THE SUN-BIRD 13
THE SEA-FAIRY AND THE LAND-FAIRY, AND HOW THEY QUARRELLED 21
PRINCESS ORCHID'S PARTY 31
THE CLOUD THAT HAD NO LINING 41
THE FAIRIES WHO CHANGED PLACES 51
THE MAKING OF THE OPAL 59
THE BIG SPIDER'S DIAMONDS 69
A LITTLE GIRL IN A BOOK 77
THE FAIRY WHO WAS LOOKING FOR A HOME 85
THE BOX OF DREAMS 95
THE FAIRY WHO HAD ONLY ONE WING 103
THE LITTLE BOY FROM TOWN 111
_ILLUSTRATIONS_
THE BIRD OF SHADOWS AND THE SUN-BIRD "Please," she said, "I want to be a nightingale" _Frontispiece_
TO FACE PAGE
THE SEA-FAIRY AND THE LAND-FAIRY He held out the little shell in the beam of coloured light 24
PRINCESS ORCHID'S PARTY She smiled at him very graciously when he was introduced to her 36
THE CLOUD THAT HAD NO LINING And because the silver of the moonshine-fairies is very light he was able to carry a great deal of it 46
THE FAIRIES WHO CHANGED PLACES Drop-of-Crystal was too busy to speak 54
THE MAKING OF THE OPAL Of course the Dear Princess ... wore the great opal on the day that she was married 68
THE BIG SPIDER'S DIAMONDS The web and the diamonds and the Big Spider himself all fell to the ground 74
A LITTLE GIRL IN A BOOK The other people in the book looked at her in surprise 82