Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-12-21
THE CHRISTMAS FAIRIES.

THE CHRISTMAS FAIRIES.
st. Nicholas.
Aunt Ruth sat thinking. It was only
week before Christmas, and. as vet,
no gift hay baen decided upon for her
pet niece, who lived in distant city.
1t was hard to know what to give
Bess.e--5he seemed so we'll supplied
with everything little girl could want
for comfort Or pleasure. She was such
q good child. and SO unselish, that she
was general tayorite, aud her friends,
young and old, were always sending her
some pretty trinkets, until her own
yoom was a kind Of museum of lovc-to.
kens; every. corner was full, her bur eau
loaded, the table covered, and the walls
adorned in fact, it had almost become a
provero III the family that Whatever
Bessie wished for always came"
NOW sac WAS ten years Old, had de-
clared herself tired Of Christmas trees
ana announced that to hang up o stock
ing for Santa Claus to fl! was TOO child
lsh--she would like to keep Christmas
some new way. This was what Aunt
Ruth was puzzled oyer At last, with
look Of relief, she exclaimed: II have
an idea. I know it will please her"
She immediately weEs to her writing
desk, wrote a long letter to Bessie's ma
ms. and folded nto it a crisp bank-note.
On Christmas morning Bessie opened
her eyes upon bright silver quarter
which lay on her pillow. Beside it was
a nd 4.
dear Bessie: I am one of fifteen sill
yer FAIRIES which are to appear to-day,
with a Christmas greeting from your
Aant Ruth. Take us al together down
TO some big store tomorrow, and we will
turn into whatever small thing you may
wish for''
t<Oh, how nice!' said Bessie. "What
funny auntle! always doing something
different from other people. | don't
quite understand what it all means, b It
/ am glad enough Of this bit Of spending
money, for hadn't one cent Left"
And, wide awake, she Jumped out of
bed and began pulling on her stockings,
when, to her surprise and delight, she
found a shining piece OF silver III the
foot O. each. Two of Aunt Ruttl's fair
les had taken pOss esslou Of her shoes,
another faced her in the washbowl, and
2 wee on4 was in the box beside her.
brush and comb.
These will almost fill 10Y poor, little
empty purse" she thought, as she took
1t from drawer and touched the spring
but there, rigat between the red lin
sings, was the biggest fairy that had yet
appeared!
Such merry time as she had dresa-
Sng that morning! Mamma was called
nm continually. And how they laughed
over every new discovery.
At breakfast, she was served first to a
emall piece of silver coin; another, Just
the same size shone in the bottom of the
glass Of water Bridget brought her. It
was really enchanting--Qui:e like the
story OF Midas she had just been read
ang, only whatever he touched he turned
into gold. She wondered 1.-THE chicken,
potatoes ami rolls would turn into silver
when she tasted them; but, no! Al
though she looked very suspiciousy at
everything on the table, not another
fairy showed itself.
How many times that morning she
counted her ten silver fairies, I cannot
tell. But what fun she had haunting
after the other five upstairs and down
stairs, from attic to cellar, under rugs;
in work-baskets, and every conceivable
place! Searching was in vain, however;
fairy number eleven did not appear I'M.
til dinner-time, when it flew out, most
unexpectedly, as Bessie was unrolling
her napkin, and its silver mate lay
&emptingly among the nuts when the
dessert was brought in.
Bessie spent happy afternoon sitting
an the midst of her many presents, and
planning how to spend her little fortune.
Some OF her fairy pieces should turn in
fS,s q, ir f,f mo- for ~.
ME Davis; many tunes it hae made her
heart ache as she had watched him try.
ing to shovel snow WITH such red hands.
She would carry g. basket full of fairy
cakes, frosted witt. pink and white sugar,
to old colored Susan (she had overheard
her telling the cook that it was many
long day since she had tasted anything
nice); she would change her biggest fairy
into pretty doll for that distressed
looking crippled girl who lived around
in the alley, and would carry out many
other plans Of the same sort.
8 But mamma was calling her to get
ready for walk, and, rather reluctantly,
she turned away from her new treasures
ITO put on her wrappings, aud felt in the
pocket OF her cloak for her gloves. They
were missing, but there she found q
fairy. and another came sticking out
from the bow On her hat, in most COM
ical fashion. *#@ I'LL
That night at supper, little cake was
placed before Bessie's plate, and fairy
peeped.into sight Just in timS to be
aaHed from such a fate. How pleasantly
and quickly the evening passed. All the
new things had to be looked at and adj
xnifed over again. There Was one more
41irrt after The, fairy that had nnE made