The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1922-03-30
FAIRIES
BY IRENE BEERS

Betty Lou did so, rejecting that
Aunt Louise was a most unsatisfac-
tory storyteller of late. She would
pause and stare into the fire as though
she saw the fire fairies themselves,
quite oblivious Of her small niece. Dur
Ing the progress Of being undressed
and put to bed, Betty Lou recalled the
| Joyous times she used to have with
Aunt Louise-special trips to the won
derland Of dolls, jars of barley candy
and the jolllest automobile rides. OF
course, those were mostly In Mr.. Har-
risOn's roadster, when tucked In be-
tween him and Aunt Louise, the car
tore over miles Of country road. And
once there had been picnicI Betty
Lou sighed rapturQusly over the mem
DRY Of 1t, and. signing, fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Louise Birch, the best
beloved aunt, sat frowning at the blue
and red fire fairies, dancing impudent-
~ over the crumbling log.
"And they lived happily ever after"
she murmured. Yes, will write to
Wallie and put 1t In the fire. At least
1t will be a safety valve for my feel
ings. He'll never see It, so I'll Just
write exactly as 1 feel 1t is seven
weeks today that 1t happened. Surely
he must have known there was some
reason why didn't keep that engage
ment-only he's too stubborn to ask
for an explanation She reached
back to the table for her writing case
I'll write couple of letters first and
save Wallie's till last"
1t was late when at last letter,
whimsically addressed to Wallace in
care Of the fire fairies, lay sealed on
the little pile Of letters, and Louise
rose to crush a piece Of paper to
enliven the fire. 1t may have been
the semi-darkness Of the fire-lit room,
or the binding tears In her brown
eyes, or perhaps the fire fairies them
selves that saved Wallace's letter from
the flames. At any rate. when she
reached down fumbling hand and.
with bitter little laugh. tossed a let
ter on the leaping fire, the envelope
was addressed to Mrs. Lawrence Cur
It's, and made no mention Of fire fair
les.
kind of a. post-mortem for Wal
lie," she managed between sobs, and
without glance at the other letters,
she went YEARLY to bed, determined
to rout all thought of Wallace from
her mind.
Mother forbade Betty Lou to so
much as tip-toe into Aunt Louise's
room. The home Of the fire fairies
Of Aunt Louise's stories drew her over
to the fireplace. There stood the big
armchair where she and Aunt Louise
had sat when the latter told of the
adventures of the forgotten prln-
cess-and living on the cushion was
a little pile of letters, all sealed and
addressed, waiting for stamps.
Guess Aunt Louise wants these
mailed" remarked Betty, lingering
them curiously. "She'd let me stick
the stamps on and put 'em in the
box II she was awake P'haps
they're awful important. I'd better
mail EN-"
"Now what do you think of that!"
she expostulated as she laboriOusly
deciphered ITO Wallace, in care of the
Fire Fairies" "Aunt Louise does be-
lieve in fairies. told Billy so Fire
fairies don't bother with mail The
postman brings letters. She must
have forgotten-Oh, goody, goody
I'll write the address myself. / can
print most as good as Billy n he's
nine"
Without further ado, she pumped
wrinkllngs of her small forehead she
printed the well-known address, for
Wallace lived right next door, except
now, In the summer, when he was at
the seashore. Now that Betty Lou
considered, 1t seemed funny that he
had not been to see them all sum-
mer, and 1t was September now. He
used to spend lots of time at their
house. and once she had heard nurse
tell cook that she guessed Mr.. Wal |
lace was Miss Louise's beau.
Betty Lou mentioned this at the |
ldbiV, anu iiOihCi itpllcu ludt Sne |
must not mention Mr.. Wallace while
Aunt Louise was there.
The next night there was no "good |
night story for Betty Lou. Aunt
Louise seemed to have forgotten all
about the fire fairies. although she
had entrusted them with a very i'm
portant letter. But as Betty Lou
could have assured you. the FIRE fair
les never forget II you believe in
them. They ny up the chimney,
abroad In the world and bring you
your hearts desire. Didn't Betty
Lou have a new fairy tale book with
colored picturesi Hadn't Aunt Louise
kissed her small niece and told her
that fairies really livedf For that
afternoon Betty Lou had seen Mr.
race up the drive and catch
ing Aunt Louise in his arms, kiss her
And wasn't she to call him "Uncle
UoIlv9n