The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-09-21

Just as she was saying that, she
heard little rustic and patter behind
her, like child walking and running.
But when she looked around, she
could see no one; only something
like pair of birds was futtering and
jumping along the path. When it
drew nearer, what did she see but
her own old red shoes coming along
quite by themselves, exactly as if
they had pair of little feet in theml
Now, nobody is ever surprised at
anything in dreamland, and Double
darling thought it the most natural
thing in the world to see her shoes
come hopping and skipping after
her. She was just going to tell them
they need not have taken the trouble
to follow her, for she had not soiled
her new shoes a bit, when, without
taking the slightest notice of her,
patter, pat, patter, they rustled by,
sprung on one great, green lily-leaf,
and luttered over the rest, touching
here and there, as if they were scamp
ering over bridge.
Without ever waiting to think
about it Doubledarling sprung after
them. The great, green leaves swayed
and trembled as if they were aston
ished to find child running over
them; but she flashed across almost
before they knew it, landing in a
moment right among the flower beds,
which from the other side had looked
SO like white and scarlet and rose
colored fame.
The old red shoes never stopped,
although Doubledarling sprang al
most into them; but they flew on up
garden walk, until they came to
great, round slope of green turf, high
in the center and falling smoothly on
every side to the flower beds.
Right across the turf battered the
shoes, and right after them battered
the little girl, until she found herself
standing before the loveliest little old
lady in the world, over whom she had
nearly tun. bled in her haste to recover
her shoes, which were standing So
berly beside her now, looking as in
nocent as if they had never gone
alone in their lives. Doubledarling
had never-even in dreamland-seen
anything like the little old lady. Her
face and hands were as yellow as a
buttercup, and crossed and veined all
over with the finest little wrinkles,
like veins in fowerleaf. Her hair
was as fine and white as the silver
silk in the pod of the milk-week; and
she wore a sort of vest or bodice,
which looked as if it were made from
the brown fiat seeds of the milk wee /
Tapped over one another like the
scales of fish.
All the rest of the dress was soft
and cobwebby, except the beautiful
brown bodice and high cap like
helmet, which was set over the mass
of fluffy silvery hair, drawn away
from the gold-yellow face. The he'll
met was green and white, or, rather,
it was white, with ruffled edges of
green, and just one or two little
splashes of pink; and right on the
top it curved into little green hook,
as if the old lady hung it up by that
when she took it off. Although
Doubledalling had nearly tumbled
over her, the fairly looked first at the
shoes, and said to them:
"How do you do?"
And the shoes rose up on their toes
and bowed, and answered:
Very we'll, | thank you," just as if
they had talked all their lives
Then she leo ed at Douledarling.
"Hey day." said she; here is child
out of Wakelandl" and smiled at her
quite kindly. "Sit dow, my dear"
she added, until l get through with
my work, and then we will play to-
gether."
At that, Doubledarling sank down
on the grass at the fairy's feet, and
soon all the space was covered with
pairs of shoes that came and ranged
themselves in rows behind the little
old red shoes. All the small ones
came skipping as lightly as sparrows;
and once in while pair that was
nearly full-grown came tumbling over
each other in a great frolic; but most
of the full -grown shoes crawled along
quite YEARLY, very close together,
first one little hitch and then another
as if they had gone very long jour
ney and were glad it was near its
end.
When they all were settled in their
places and there seemed to be no more
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