Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-13
The Medicine Fairy.
Copyright. 1901, H. Altemus Coz

ALBERT B. PAINE.
The Little Lady is not very weil-she mas
been quite i'll, in fact with doctor ana
two kinds of medicine; one in bottle "ev-
cry two hours and powders every three
hours" The powders are white and chalky,
but the bottle medicine Is bad, very bad; the
Little Lady makes fuss when she takes IT.
The Big Man tries to explain that the
medicine Is to make her well. and that she
ought to be glad to take 1t. Also that 1t
isn't nearly so bad as some thick. black
medicine that he had to take once, when he
was a little boy, and he tells her just how
bad 1t was and how good her medicine is
Then he tastes of 1t and smacks his lips,
but 1t doesn't taste good to the Little Lady
and she still whines and makes fuss every
two hours when the time comes round.
So then the Big Man tells her story.
He says that once upon time there was
another little lady, and she wanted a ring
She wanted it SO bad that she used to
dream about 1t, and once when she got sick
and had to take bad medicine she still used
to dream about the ring and wish she had
it
oh" says the Little Lady. II wish had
a ring!"
every little girl likes ring, and this little
girl kept wishing and dreaming, and making
a fuss about her medicine until one night
when she was asleep there came in her
gold ring that had blue turquoise set with
q pearl on each side
That's just the kind Of a ring I want"
puts in the Little Lady
And just the kind she wanted too" says
the Big Man. But the little fairy man
held 1t up, and Little Girl he said, do you
know what that ring means?' And the little
girl didn't and the fairy man said, Pure
gold Chats what the ring was, Of course);
then he pointed to the stones the blue one
first, and said, Truth Good Lessons and
No Fussing'"
What made him say that?" asks the
Little Lady.
Because he meant that the other little
lady must be good as gold to wear that
ring, and that the blue stone meant true
stories always to tell them, you know
and that one of the pearls meant good les
sons always to have them, you know and
the other pearl meant fussing about
medicine (when you have to take it. you
know, and the little man said, I know
you always tell true stories and have good
lessons; and If you would just take your
medicine pleasantly 1 think I might leave
this ring with you, if you think you'd
like it,
"An'-an did he leave IT." asks the Little
Lady who is Ill.
why, yes, he had to- because. don't Won
see, the other little lady promised all about
the medicine? And he put 1t on her finger
IN her dream, and when she woke I'D next
morning, sure enough there it was and the
very first thing she had to do was to take
her medicine, and when they poured 1t out
In the spoon she swallowed 1t right down -
And will l get ring If promise. too?"
asks the Little Lady.
Just as likely as not" says the Big Man.
Now go to sleep, SO the medicine fairy can
come II he wants to-"
Far in the night the Little LADY half
wakes and calls rather feverishly for a
drink of water, which the Big Man brings
her. He gives her some of the bottle medi
cine. too, which she doesn't want to take
so perhaps the fairy has not come vet
Then pretty soon she is asleep again. and
the Big Man holds one of the little hands IN
his while. "
When the Little Lady wakes early the
next morning she says sleepily:
Tell me about the fairy again He d,dn,+
come last night with-the-" And then. ali
at once. she Is sitting straight I'D in bed
with her hands together and straight out in
front of her, 1t isn't light enough vet to
see much, but she can feel and THE ring,
the ring" cries the Little Lady. He did
come and he brought me the ringi''
And right away the Big Man has To pot
up and turn on the gas. And, sure enough
there are two pearls and blue TURQUOISE
set In pure gold ring! The Little LADY
laughs and Is a great deal better. She
doesn't remember when the medicine fairy
came, but she knows that he did
And when presently she has to take Soma
more OF the bottle medicine she Laughs
again. and doesn't seem to mind 1t the leas
little bit in the worldn