The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-04-11
A FAIRY TALE.
emily Judge \

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Ding dong. ding dong,o rang the elfin
bells; then the woods were silent .tDing
/ dong! ding dongi" clearly out again they
rang, ard far away could be heard the
rush of light wings and the tinkle of
fairy laughter. Soon down the moonlight,
path rushed troop of fairies. and as
| they came nearer The swirling, dancing
| figures showed first green, then silver,
and at their head few lovely elf whose
| golden hair seemed to be caught with dia-
monds that sparkled in the moons glow
| and made her lovelier even than her sister
elves.
| They all halted under an elm and waited
for the next call Its midsummer eve
whispered one elf to another. IF NOR
tai sees US tonight he can demand a
| present or stay with us always"
. Ding, dong, ding dong. ding," As
the LIST echo died away the fairies look
ed uneasy. for the peculiar ding. dong.
! ding.' meant A mortal cornesi" ST.
! lently they fitted behind bush and rock
and hid under mushrooms and peoples.
and soon not vestige of fairy could
| be seen.
Il want my cart, I want my cartr'
And the fairies made themselves smaller
as an old man tottered along, wailing
that he wanted his cart. A sharp ring
from the eifin bell made the old man
start and stop Then, shaking his head,
he muttered: For moment 1 thought
l was boy again and heard the fairy
bell. but-what foolishnesst--there are no
fairies And he tottered on, while the
fairies sang:
He has eyes. he has eyes,
But he cannot see,
and one fairy stepped out and looked at
him, but he never saw her.
In few moments the sound of gallop-
ing horse grew nearer. and into sight
dashed a snow white pony, with a gay
cavalier on his back. whoa" cried the
man, lets rest here" and, jumping to
the ground, he stopped to little stream
near by and. filing the hollow of his
hand. cried: ITO the fairest fair. and
drank the draught.
The fairy bell rang out, but the man did
not hear it. His pony turned and laid his
wet muZzle on the mans hand. and look
ed him in the face. "Ha, ha"' cried the
man. What thinkest thou. my sweet
Elf? Twas ever said thou sawest the
fairies Nay, nay, my little pony, there
are no fairies and he mounted and rode
away. little knowing that his pony Elf
could see every little fairy hidden under
bush and bower Scarcely had the sound
Of the ponys hoofs ceased to beat on
the air when lady, alone, and walking
slowly, paused under the elm
What a lovely spot,' said she; ''if one
only believed in fairies one could easily
see them here" AT this a little ELF stole
forward and commenced to dance on the
elastic sward, just where a moonbeam
shone through the trees. The lady started,
leaned forward and watched the pretty
creature for a moment. Her eyes grew
bright, her lips parted, the soft rose color
flushed in her cheeks, as she stood and
looked; then tossing back her hair, she
said: What tricks the moonlight plays
us. I thought l saw fairy! Midsum-
mer eve Madness The bell rang out.
she started, then laughed, and walked on.
but as she passed where the fairy had
danced in the light of the moonbeam she
snilingly said 1T seemed so real but
then, every one knows there are no fai
ries," and passed out into the world and
lost her chance of knowing fairyland.
After she had gone the bell rang ding,
dong. ding, dong" and out rushed the
fairies:
Now left, now right.
In the moons bright light,
We wind in our magic maze.
Sweet rang the tiny voices. and so busy
were they that they never noticed small
boy and girl who had stolen up and were
looking at them with wide open eyes. AS
the Queen Elf danced by the boy he
caught her dress and said: Let us play
with you. What is your name?" The
fairy said: My name is Maybell. and
these are all my people, oh" said the
little girl, what a pretty name. and
where did you get those lovely, sparkling
damonds?" The boy said Sister.
those are not diamonds. Then. what
are they?" said the girl, but the boy
shook his head and did not answer.
Come and dance with us,' cried the
fairies. Both children danced and played,
until suddenly the elfin bell rang ding.
dong," and all the fairies stopped and
stood as though ready to fly away. From
among them came a fairy wearing a black
cloak and with a wand in his hand. my
name is Phooka," said he, 'and May
bell our queen, desires me to tell you
that it is now almost the hour when
fairies must disappear, and as it is mid
summer eve you, having seen us. are en-
titled to take away present. but first
you must tell us what you think these
sparkling gems are that shine in our
queens hair" The girl said promptly:
''Diamondsi'
''Why?'' said Phooka.
Because they shine" replied she, and
the chorus of fairy voices rang out:
She has eyes. she has eyes,
But she cannot see,
What VIII you take away with you?
said Phooka. That necklace" cried the
girl, pointing to the one the Queen wore.
The Queen took it off and the girl hung it
around her neck and admired its shining
beauty. The boy looked long at the
Queen. then said: Queen Maybell, the
gems look like diamonds, but as 1 gaze
at them l see the trees and the sky and
the tiny stream reflected there, and I
think they must be lovely dew-drops."
And the bells rang out with merry
chime.
Just then the first rays of the sun stain
ed the blue sky with pink. and in an in
slant the fairies had disappeared, leaving
the boy and girl looking at each other.
WAS it a dream?' said the girl. NO"
replied he. .'for there is your necklace. -
But even as they looked at it the fairy
gift faded away. The boy said nothing.
but one OF the dewdrops had fallen in his
hand, and he had hidden 1t next his heart.
where no light could strike 1t. and all
through his life. when he heard people
doubt the existence of fairies. he would
take 1t out and look at the sparkling dew
drop, and then he knew he had once
danced with the elves in the moonlight
under the spreading greenwood tree"