The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-02-26

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: formed face. Then her papa and mani
ma appeared. They cried bitterly over
. the misfortune that had befallen their
child, and W ndered how it had hap
pcned, But Tessie, you see, could tell
them nothing, though she tried her best
to speak. Her little dog "Dot" ran away
in alright; and some little friends who
came to spend the LAY were sent away
without even seeing her,
"Tess will starve to death unless some
thing is done for her. said her papa. So
he went out and soon came back with
the doctor.
Il shall have to cut out mouth for
her." he said. 81 never saw-neyer heard
of such wonderful case Exhibit her.
She will bring you in thousands OF doll
ars. Everybody would want to see a
little girl without mouth. Won't do
it, ehY Very well I'll come around this
evening and fix her up as natural as life,
No; | haven't any idea how it happened
"A dispensation Of Providence, | sup
pose"
Tessie knew it was no such thing, that
it WAS her bad fairy who had disigured
her, but she could not contradict the
doctor, though she wanted to do so. 1t
was a gloomy day for the child. She
could not sit still and endure her mothers
looks. The nurse was undesirable, be-
cause she had said: "The bad fairy had
got hold of her, Mrs. Wood, for being
saucv to YOU" and she could not quietly
think of what the doctor was going to DO
to her face that evening. Wandering
from room to room, with no heart for
playing, and always remembering why
she had been punished she finally
thought of way to tell why her mouth
had disappeared. Getting pencil and
a piece of white paper she labored along
time with them, AND produced the fol
lowing message:
"dcuR Muther i AM VERY Sorry
That i SPOKE 50 TO You Which,
cAusEd My BAD fARRy to STOP up
My MOUTH up WILL NEVER DO so
no MORE TEssiE."
When this was finished, Tessie, who
was completely tired out with crying,
went to her little room, lay down upon
the bed and wondered first, if the doctor
would hurt her much, aud, second II she
eyer again would be bad girl. 1t was
while she was thinking over these things
and listening at the same time to her
mother singing in the next room i'll low
voice u little song, which was Tessie's
| favorite, that she saw something which,
at first looked like bird, come floating
in through the open window. 1t came
directly toward her, and Jessie beheld
with astonishment a wee woman with a
face like her mothers when she was
happy, with u loug dress Of trailing gold
en- mist, and wings of Il clear blue, and
so thin that she could see through them.
81 am your good fairy" said the
sprite, as she alighted on Tessie's hand,
"and | am so sure that you have been
punished enough that'f have come to
uado what my ugly aunt, your bad
fairy, did, and to prevent the doctor
from doing what he said he would do
In return, my dear, l want you always
to be polite and sweet tempered, aud
never to be impudent to your parents.
| Will you promise me thatw
Little as was the fairy, Tessie heard
every word plainly, and gave the promise
asked for by noddIng her head.
Then the fairy flew up and touched
the spot where Tessie's mouth had been
saying:
II forgive my little girl; and if she
ever wants me she must ask for me, Pen
itence, to come TO her. | am always
close to you, though you may not see
me. Now, good-by," and with that was
gone.
At first, so quickly had it all hap
pened, Tessie could not comprehend the
matter. After a moment, however, she
put her hand to her face and touched
the restored lips aud teeth. She laughed,
she talked, she sang. Tnen, in her great
10Y, she ran to tell her mamma and papa
that it would not be necessary for the
doctor to come, with his saws, knives
and pincers.
They were at breakfast This she
could not understand, because accord
ing to her calendar of time, it should be
supper-time. But she did not pay any
attention to that, but burst out with
"Oh, papa, and mamma, I've got my
mouth back again. Amt you glad!
And the doctor'll not have to saw Tessie's
face open-ain't you gladder?"
OF course they did not understand
what she meant. Then she told the story
of her fairies.
"Why, that's all a dream, my child.
You never lost your mouth" her papa
declared, kissing the cherry-ripe lips
turned up to his face. "You eat too
much turkey for.dinner last night, and
behaved so badly that your conscience
worried YOU in your sleep. guess that's
it."
| Her mother said her dream ought to
be u lesson to her against permitting her
bad temper to master her.
Bat wuen the nurse came in and Tes-
sic told her the story, Mary declared
that tie fairies had come, as she said they
) would, and that Tessie would have to lie
very careful in future that she behaved
in such a way that the bad fairy could
not get her revenge.