Chapter 2

After a while it grew near to a bush and put its weak little vine around it, hoping to get off the ground.

"What do you mean by trying to cling to me?" said the bush. "I have all I can do to take care of myself."

So the poor little Morning-glory dropped back to the ground. By and by it grew long enough to reach a tree and slowly it climbed up the big trunk until it came to the branches.

"Now I shall be able to see the world," it thought. "This tree is big and will shelter me, and I can climb to the very top."

As soon as the big tree saw what was happening it told the little Morning-glory it would not have it climbing about its branches, because it would spoil its leaves.

"What are you doing in our woods?" asked the tree. "You should be growing in a garden, on an arbor or up the side of some little house. How came you here?"

The poor little Glory had to tell how it ran away from its mother with the breeze and was left alone in the woods all winter.

"Please don't send me back to the ground. I cannot see a thing there and I am so lonely," pleaded the little Morning-glory.

"I am sorry for you," said the tree, "but I cannot have my leaves spoiled on any account. I'll tell you what I will do, but you must be satisfied and never ask for more liberty. If you do, back you go to the ground."

The poor little Morning-glory was so lonely and sad it was ready to promise anything to get off the ground.

"You should stay where you are, but you cannot grow up any higher. If you do I shall grow my twigs and leaves about you and crush you," said the tree.

So the little Morning-glory had to promise to stay on the trunk of the tree and never grow any higher, but it sighed for its mother vine, and, because it could not climb, never grew any big blossoms, but tiny little flowers which sighed because they could not stretch out their vines and grow. But the tree kept the little Glory to its promise and not a vine could get above the trunk.

And then one day when the days grew cold and the Morning-glory vine was going to sleep for the winter, the runaway Glory was heard to say to the other blossoms: "Children, be careful of the breeze and what he may tell you next summer. I may not be here to care for you, but he will surely come and tempt you to go along with him. He is fickle and will carry you far, far away and then drop you in a place perhaps worse than this, for we do not belong here, but in a garden with other flowers. I ran away from my mother vine one day, and this is where the breeze left me; so cling to the big tree as long as you bloom, for here you are safe at least, even if you do not live and bloom in a garden." And then she went to sleep.

THE PEACOCK BUTTERFLIES

Plain little Miss Butterfly sat on a bush one day, when along came Mr. Peacock, with his tail full spread.

"Oh--oh!" sighed little Miss Butterfly. "How handsome he is! If only I could have a dress like the colors of Mr. Peacock's tail all the other butterflies in the world would envy me.

"But here am I, only a plain little creature, with no color to boast of, while all my cousins have gorgeously colored gowns. Oh, how I do wish he would give me two feathers from his tail that I might have them made into a gown!"

And then this plain little Butterfly, because she was so plain and had no beauty to speak about, began to think about handsome Mr. Peacock. "I wonder if he is vain?" she said out loud.

"Vain! Of course he is. There is no one in the world so vain as he," said a Bee, who was sipping honey near by.

Miss Butterfly did not ask any questions, and Mr. Bee was too busy to say more. But when he flew away Miss Butterfly began to think, and the more she thought the stronger became her intention to fly over to the Peacock and speak to him.

Over she went, alighting on a flower near him.

"Mr. Peacock," she said, "I wonder you never have wished to see yourself, you are so handsome."

"I have," replied Mr. Peacock; "often I have gazed into the pond and beheld my handsome self."

"Oh, that is not at all what I mean," said Miss Butterfly. "Suppose you were to see the very pattern of your beautiful tail flying all about you. Then you could look at your beauty as it really is."

"I do not see at all what you mean," said Mr. Peacock, who was not very quick at thinking.

"I mean if you would give me two tips from your beautiful tail I could have a handsomer gown than any other butterfly in the world," said the little flatterer, "and besides that, you would no longer hear the yellow-and-black and those brown-and-black butterflies say that they were the handsomest creatures in the garden. I should outshine them all."

Mr. Peacock stood up and strutted about, and all the time little Miss Butterfly flew close to him and flattered him.

"Oh, how jealous they would be if I had a dress like your beautiful tail, for there are no colors in the world so gorgeous, and they would call me the Peacock Butterfly! Think of that! You would have the most beautiful butterfly in the world named for you, Mr. Peacock!"

Mr. Peacock could not resist this flattery. He told her she could choose the two tips she best liked and have some one to pull them out.

It did not take Miss Butterfly a minute to fly to the tree near by where Mr. Woodpecker was at work and ask his help, for she knew he did not bother butterflies. His work was to find small insects.

Before the end of the summer the garden folk saw Miss Butterfly, but not plain little Butterfly now, for she wore the most gorgeous gown in the garden, of blue and black, and the next year all the other butterflies were jealous of the Peacock Butterflies, who wore the handsomest gowns in the world.

Mr. Peacock struts more than ever every time he sees one of the handsome creatures he helped to dress, but no one knows that it was due to the flattery of plain little Miss Butterfly that the family name was created.

THE REVENGE OF THE GNOMES

The Fairies decided to give a party one night, and invited the Goblins, but they did not ask the Gnomes, because they did not think of them.

The Gnomes live so deep in the earth that the Fairies seldom meet them, and so they really forgot and did not in the least intend to slight them. But the Gnomes heard the Goblins talking about the party one night and they were very angry because they were not asked also.

The woods were very beautiful, and some of the trees were wearing their red and yellow leaves, for it was late in the summer. When the moon came out the green and red and yellow made a pretty picture, and the Fairies were delighted with the setting for their party.

The Fairy Queen had a new carriage made from a petal of a white lily and drawn by two butterflies. The Fairies all had new dresses of pink rose petals and they had the fireflies in all the bushes and trees where they looked like so many tiny electric lights.

Their table was spread on a big rock; the rabbits were to wait on the table because their coats were white, and squirrels were to do the cooking in a little hollow. The table cloth was spun by a spider and was so beautiful that the Queen, when she saw it, thought it was a shame to cover it with dishes, so she had the rabbits put the food on a rock behind a tree and leave the beautiful cloth so the Goblins could see it.

But when the Goblins arrived they looked at the table with dismay. "Are not they going to have anything to eat?" they asked one another, seating themselves at the table and looking with anxious eye.

Not a word did they say to the Queen about the beautiful cloth, and she found that it was quite wasted on the greedy little Goblins.

There were so many Goblins that the Fairies were obliged to spread a table on the ground for themselves, and when the rabbits appeared with the food the Goblins jumped up and helped themselves before the rabbits could serve them.

At last the Queen, seeing that it was of no use to have waiters for the Goblins, told the rabbits to put the ice cream and cake and lemonade and all the nice things on the table and let the Goblins help themselves.

The bad Goblins spoiled the beautiful cloth the spider had taken so much trouble to weave; they spilled the lemonade and they crumbled the cake and the poor Queen was in despair.

The Goblins, not getting the food quick enough to suit them, had climbed on the table, which, you remember, was spread on a rock. Now, this rock did not have any moss on it, and it happened that it was one of the doors to the home of the Gnomes.

The Gnomes are little brown men and they hide under the leaves and sticks that are so near the color of themselves that they cannot be seen, so they had been watching all that went on at the party, and, when they saw the Goblins on top of one of their rocks, part of their number hurried into the earth and opened the stone where the Goblins were.

Some of the Goblins were quick enough to escape, but most of them went into the ground, and all the cake and candy and ice cream with them.

The Queen and her Fairies jumped up and looked around. Everything was changed and the Fairies shivered as they looked.

The trees were brown and the bushes and the leaves were falling from the trees, making the ground look as though it had a brown carpet over it.

The air was frosty and the poor little Fairies looked about in amazement at the dreary scene before them. The Goblins that escaped were running around and calling on the Queen to help them rescue their brothers.

"It is all your fault," they told her. "If you had asked the Gnomes to your party this would not have happened. Now you must help us to get our brothers out of the power of those bad Gnomes.

"What shall I do?" asked the poor Queen. She felt that her party had been a failure and thought if she had asked the Gnomes it could not have been worse.

Just then a Goblin came running toward them. He had been sent by the Gnomes. They told him to say that his brothers would all be held prisoners until the Fairies sent them all the ice cream they wanted.

The Fairies and the Goblins hurried to the kitchen in the hollow, but it was empty. The squirrels and the rabbits had hurried off when they felt the frosty air and saw everything turning brown.

"What is to be done?" asked the Goblins, "You ought to help us," they told the Queen again. "If we had not come to your party we should not have gotten into trouble."

The Queen could not resist replying to this remark the second time. "If your brothers and you had not climbed on the table, but kept your seats, as well-behaved Goblins should, you would not have been in need of help.

"We must go to work," she said to her Fairies. "Fold your wings and pin up your skirts. We must make ice cream for those wicked Gnomes."

They worked all night, and just before it was light the Goblins carried ice cream in nut shells to the rocks of the Gnomes, and by and by the captured Goblins came out and joined their comrades.

"We lost our supper," said the Goblins to the Fairies, "and you should give us our breakfast. We are hungry. If it had not been for your party we should not have lost our supper."

This was more than the poor tired Queen and her Fairies could bear. They took their wands from under their wings and, waving them, they flew toward the Gnomes.

Little sparks darted from the wands, and every time a spark touched a Goblin it left a little red mark, and at the same time it pricked them.

Such tumbling and scampering you never saw as the Goblins tried to get away, and when a Goblin that had a red spot on his face meets a Fairy he hides or runs, for he knows that she will point him out as one of the greedy Goblins who tried to make the Fairies cook their breakfast for them.

THE LITTLE CHINA SHEPHERDESS

On the parlor mantel of a farmhouse stood little China Shepherdess. In one hand she held a gilt crook and with the other she shaded her eyes and gazed far away. Probably she was looking for her sheep. Her dress was of red and green, and it was trimmed with gilt. Her boots were also gilt.

On the other end of the mantel stood a little china Flute Player. He was dressed in red and white, and his flute was gilt and his boots were red. He held his flute to his lips in a very jaunty manner, but his eyes were on the little Shepherdess. He had been in love with her for a long time, but never a look did she give him.

China Cat stood near the Flute Player, and one day she heard him sigh.

"Why do you sigh?" she asked him. He shook his head, but did not answer. "I know," said the Cat; "you are in love with the Shepherdess, and she will not look at you. Now, let me tell you how to manage. First, you must stop looking at her. She knows that you are always gazing in her direction."

The Flute Player shook his head again and said, "I cannot help looking at her, she is so pretty and I love her so dearly."

"But you must," said China Cat. "There is the Flower Girl on the center table. Look at her and play your jolliest tune and see what happens."

So the little Flute Player took China Cat's advice and began to play a lively air. He smiled at the little Flower Girl, who smiled in return and made him a curtsey. Then she began to dance, keeping time to his music. The Flute Player commenced to dance as he played, and China Cat moved her head from side to side. The little Shepherdess tapped on the mantel with her gilt boot and looked toward the Flute Player. But he was gazing at the Flower Girl, and for the first time she thought him rather good to look at.

"I cannot see what there is about that Flower Girl to attract him," said the Shepherdess; "she hasn't a bit of color about her; she is as white as a piece of cloth; even her flowers are white."

By and by the little Shepherdess began to dance and she moved toward the end of the mantel where the Flute Player stood. China Cat rubbed against the Flute Player's leg.

"Look," she said, "but be careful she does not catch you; the Shepherdess is coming this way."

His heart beat very fast, but he kept on playing and fixed his eyes on the little Flower Girl. But the Shepherdess did not come any nearer than the middle of the mantel, and not once did she look at him. By and by it was dark and the Flute Player could not see the Flower Girl, so he stopped playing and his heart was heavy again.

China Cat, however, was bound to make a match between the Shepherdess and the Flute Player, and she walked over to the little Shepherdess and asked, "Don't you think that he plays well?"

"Who?" asked the artful little Shepherdess.

"The handsome Flute Player," said China Cat.

"Oh, I have not thought much about it," answered the Shepherdess.

"Wouldn't you like to hear him play again?" said China Cat. "It would cheer us up, the room is so dark."

Just then the moonlight streamed in the window and lighted the room. The little Shepherdess looked into the distance again and said she thought it would be nice to hear the music. So China Cat trotted over to the Flute Player.

"She wants to hear you play," she said, "and I think you can win her."

The Flute Player began playing soft music and walking toward the little Shepherdess. The music was so sweet and sad that by the time he reached her side she was wiping her eyes. He stole one arm around her waist and told her not to cry, that he would play a jolly tune for her.

"No, those are the tunes you play for the Flower Girl," she said, hanging her head. "I do not want you to play them for me."

"I did not play any tunes for the Flower Girl," he said, "they were all for you."

"But you looked at her all the time," said the now humble little Shepherdess.

"I was thinking of you," he replied. "Let us sit on the end of the mantel and I will play to you. What would you like to hear?"

"Play something sad," said the little Shepherdess, for, like all girls, she wanted to cry when she was happiest.

"There," said the Cat, curling herself up for a nap, "I am glad that is settled. She never would have given in if he had not looked at the Flower Girl. These girls are queer creatures," she said, closing her eyes.

HOW THE BUTTERCUP GREW YELLOW

Long, long ago it is told that the flowers were all white and that each received its color by some magic power.

The little Daisy, with its yellow eye, received its golden center when the angry elves pelted the little Fairies with sunbeams.

The Daisy grew to be very proud of her yellow eye and thought it showed off to perfection her pure white rim. One day she was looking about the field where she grew and saw the little White Cups growing all about her in abundance.

"There is too much white in this field," she told the other Daisies. "Our beautiful white borders would show off much better if the White Cups were golden."

"But perhaps the White Cups do not wish to become golden," said her sisters.

"Oh, but we do, dear Daisies," said the White Cups all in chorus; "we have always wanted to be a beautiful yellow like your eyes, but we thought you would not like to have us that color, as we have to live in the same field."

"Oh yes, we would," said the Daisy, "and I am sure the fields will look much more beautiful with you a golden color than white; besides that, we shall be seen to better advantage; so both of us will gain by the change."

"But who will help us to change our color?" asked the White Cups.

The daisy thought a long time, and at length she said: "You might get the Goblins to color you, but the thing is to get them to do it. They are such queer little fellows that if they thought they were bothering the Fairies they would do it quick enough; but if we ask them to make you yellow that we all may look more beautiful they would only laugh and run off."

"Why can't we make them think they would make the Fairies angry if they made us golden?" asked the White Cups; "I am sure we can find a way."

"That would be the very thing," said the Daisy, "but what do you propose to do?"

"We will ask the Fairies when they come into the fields to-night for their frolic," said the White Cups.

That night when the Fairies came flying over the field the White Cups called to them and told them what they wanted.

"Oh, that will be beautiful," said the Fairy Queen, "and we can fool the Goblins easy enough, as you shall see."

The Fairy Queen called her Fairies around her and whispered so low that the field flowers could not hear what she said, but they heard the Fairies laugh as they flew away, and each alighted on a little White Cup and began to sing.

"We love you, little White Cup, Our Lady of the Field; We will watch o'er you and keep you and from all danger shield; You are prettier than the Daisy with her yellow eye so bright, You are like a waxen blossom in the pale moonlight."

Over and over they sang the verse as they leaned over and kissed the little Cups, and by and by from out of the woods came the Goblins, hopping and jumping like leaves before the wind.

"Here they are," they said, when they saw the Fairies. "Listen and hear what they are singing."

When they heard the Fairies' pretty love song to the little White Cup the Goblins kicked up their heels and laughed, each laying a tiny finger beside his nose as he winked at his brother.

Off they scampered to the woods again, and the Fairies kept on singing their song, while the Daisy watched with its yellow eye, wondering how her cousin, the White Cup, would be made the color for which she had wished.

By and by the Goblins came back, but this time they carried bags over their shoulders and they crept carefully through the grass.

The Fairies saw them all the time, but of course they pretended not to, and when the Goblins were quite near the Queen said:

"Come, my children; leave your best-loved flower for to-night. To-morrow you shall come again."

As they were flying away they glanced back, and in the moonlight they saw the Goblins hard at work over each little White Cup.

When the morning sun awoke he opened wide his eyes, for all over the field among the Daisies he beheld little Golden Cups nodding gaily at their cousins with the golden eyes.

The next night when the Fairies came flying through the fields they saw the Yellow Cups. "You are more beautiful than ever," they said to the Golden Cups, "and we will call you our Golden Cups, but you must be known as the Buttercups or the Goblins will discover our trick and make you white again."

The Buttercups thanked the Fairies and told them they would be glad to be their cups whenever they gave a banquet and that never would they let the Goblins know the Fairies had fooled them.

So they bloom among the Daisies in the fields and are called Buttercups, but they know to the Fairies they are the little Golden Cups, and the Goblins wonder why the Fairies always seem so happy when they fly near the Buttercup and find it changed.

The Fairies are too wise to let the Goblins know how they fooled them and gained for the Buttercups the very color that they wanted, but it is rather hard sometimes not to tell them when the little Goblins scamper about and try to upset their plans.

The Fairy Queen has taught them that "Silence is golden," and they know their Queen is always right.

WAS IT THE FIELD FAIRY?

Jack and his sister Nina were two little orphans who had to beg from door to door for their food and a place to sleep.

One day a man named Simon told them if they would work for him he would give them a home.

Jack and Nina thought Simon must be a very kind-hearted man to offer them a home, so they worked just as hard as they could to repay him.

But in this they were mistaken, for Simon was a very greedy, hard-hearted man and only offered to take the children that he might get their work for nothing.

Jack did all the chores about the farm and Nina took care of the house, although they were both much too small to do such hard work.

In return Simon gave them a place to sleep on the floor of the attic and very little to eat.

If he had Nina cook meat for his dinner he would sit by the stove and watch that she did not eat any of it, and when he had eaten all the meat he would leave the bones and gristle for poor little Jack and Nina, who were half starved.

One day Simon told Jack he was going to sell the big Brindle Cow to the butcher and that he was to drive her the next day to the town, a few miles away.

Jack and Nina were very fond of Brindle Cow and wept bitterly when they heard this. They begged Simon not to let the butcher have her, but he told them he would not listen to any such silly chatter and for Jack to be off the next morning bright and early.

Nina put her arms around Brindle Cow and cried when Jack was ready to lead her away and watched them down the road; but her tears blinded her so she could not see far, and she went back to get Simon's breakfast with a sad heart.

When Jack came to the woods he led Brindle Cow to a stream to drink, and while he sat on the bank, waiting, he was surprised to see a Fairy slip out of a lily as it opened.

"I thought you were never coming," said the little creature.

Jack thought it was to him she was speaking, and while he tried to find his tongue, which clung to his mouth, he was so surprised, Brindle Cow answered.

"We had to wait for daylight, you know," she said.

"Yes, I know; but the sun will soon be up, and I must get home before that," said the Fairy. "Now what can I do for you?"

"Save my life! I am on the way to the butcher now," replied Brindle Cow.

"You told me that day I did not eat the field flower in which you were sleeping that you would help me if ever I was in need of help," said Brindle Cow.