Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-07

Who was the Fairy Wiseacre? Why
was she never visible when information
was required? These were problems
that ordinarily troubled poor Kitty
greatly.
The little girl lived in the country.
and in the fairyland of nature she
found much that puzzled her, but, un-
fortunately the things which interest
little girls often seem to be matters
of small Importance in the eyes of
older people.
Kitty sat by the window in her white
nightrobe pondering the latest prob
lem. A great brown and yellow moth
that flew past in the moonlight had
set her wondering for the hundredth
time, where do the butterflies go in
winter?"
During the three summers which she
had spent with grandma, Kitty had
admired the lovely winged creatures
that fitted so gayly from flower to
flower. When autumn came and the
blossoms perished under the hand of
Jack Frost, she had watched to see
what the butterflies would do. With
the first frost they mySteriously dis
appeared, to reappear in the spring
just as suddenly as they had vanished.
In her autumn walks she always looked
seldom saw even a dead one. Once
she came upon benumbed yellow
creature, which revived when brought
into a warm room. She fed it upon
sugar and water for "a week, but at
the end of that time Dinah, a pet cat,
disposed of the Waif, of whose pop
ularity she was supposed to be jealous.
"Oh, Fairy Wiseacre, if you could
only tell me all that I want to know!"
sighed the little girl, resting her
drowsy head against the wide sill.
Suddenly the room was illuminated and
from the little bookcase near the door
stepped a dazzling vision. 1t was
fairy, to be sure, but such sedate
and dignifed spritel Her blue eyes
were clear and kind and on her shin
ing head she wore wreath of blue
salvias. Her wand was garlanded with
the same flowers.
81 am here" cried the elf, smiling
down upon the little girl
Mortal child,' continued the fairy,
''I am permitted to visit all your race
at least once Some cannot see me when
I do come, and 1 must whisper my
messages into their ears or spread
them out before their eyes. My return
to them depends upon the reception
that is accorded me. In my visible form
I am permitted to show you what you
have so much wished to kno 7. Come,
for the Monarchs are f1ocking in yonder
f1eld.''
Lifted by some mysterious power,
Kitty floated beside her-new found
friend out over the fragrant garden
flower beds, across the high green
hedge into the field beyond. There the
air was filed with butterflies. They
were coming from every direction, great
tawny fellows marked with black, such
as Kitty had often seen f1uttering
about the milkweed in the pastures and
the woods These alighted on bushes
and trees which were already stripped
of much of their foliage. They gave
the brown twigs and branches the ap-
pearance of being laden with gorgeous
yellow blossoms.
s'What does it mean?" Kitty ven-
tured to ask, and the Fairy Wiseacre
replied, smiling:
fThev are forming into a great trav-
cling company. They know that food
and warmth will soon fail them here,
and so they are flocking to the sunny
southland, just as the birds do. They
will return again when winter is over.
In the tropics they will enjoy happy
life among the blossoms, but they must
travel many days, stopping seldom 70
rest and feed"
While the fairy was speaking Kitty
saw a swarm Of the butterflies rise
and float away, the train extending
as far as the eye could reach. She was
now whisked away to another spot,
where a great flock of yellow butter
flies were assembling.
"These are the Cloudless Sulphur
butterflies" explained Fairy Wiseacre
"Their southwark fight has not been
noticed like that of the Monarch or
Milkweed butterflies. Many other kinds
spend the winter in summer lands,
sometimes meeting with accidents on
the way, such as being blown far out
to ssea The Little Sulphur butterf1leS
once amazed many people in the island
of Bermuda by their unexpected ap-
pearance in that region You see, while
travelling they had been blown there
from the mainland six hundred miles
away"
poor butterhies!" sighed Kitty.
"Yes, it was a pity. But such an ac-
cident was not SO bad as one that hap
pened to a party of Monarch butter
flies one season. AS they were skirting
along the shore of the ocean on their