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by
ELIZABETH
BRENNAN
nI
Malcolm Whyte Collection of
CHILDREN'S
LITERATURECORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARYISMftGU^SATt
tMWR
Cornell University Library
The
original of this
book
is in
the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright
restrictions intext.
the United States on the use of the
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924005526565
THE WIND
FAIRIES
.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE.The Wind"little
Fairies bringsits
something new into the world of the
people." In
many
stories
and
verses, the reader will learn of
the fairies
who
control the different winds
and read of the deeds of and oftheir efforts to
the kind North, South and
West Wind
Fairies
defeat the widked schemings of the bad East
Wind
ones,
who
love to
make
mischief.
Elizabeth Brennan shows a particular aptitude in writing forchildren and her stories and verse, full of fancy and gentle htmiour,will
be read with delight by children of
all ages.
Naomi Heather's
and 52 pen sketches) give the book a charm and wistfulness that make it one which children will treasure.illustrations (8 full colour plates
^^
^-^
aitu^BY
ELIZABETH BRENNANwind ;."
^ ^ ^
For
there are fairies in the. . .
i hear them eeerytehere
ILLUSTRATED BY
NAOMI HEATHER"^MPTROPOLITAN PUBLISHING COMPANY,DUBLINLIMITED,
LONDON
URIS LIBRARYNOV1 S 1985
xJeaicidi
TO THE CHILDRENOF ALL AGES
WHO
STILL BELIEVEIN FAIRIES
KyenlenlsTHE WIND FAIRIES THE EAST WIND FAIRIES' PLOT SANTA'S BEARD THE WEST WIND FAIRIES AND THE LEPRACAUN THE KIND FAIRIES THE LITTLE BROWN FOX ... THE NORTH WIND FAIRIES AND PAT GRANDPA'S RHEUMATICS ... THE WEST WIND FAIRIES AND THE PROFESSOR THE SKY PARLIAMENT AND THEPaga Paea
7
Page 13 Page 17Page 22
THE WEST WIND TOMMIE THE SOUTH WIND THE DUNCE
FAIRIES
ANDPage 57
FAIRIES
AND
THE SOUTH WINDJANE
FAIRIES
AND AND
Page 23 Page 26Page 30
THE EAST WIND SANTA THE LEPRACAUN THE EAST WINDPATTIE
FAIRIES
FAIRIES
AND
Page 35 Page 38
WINDS THE WEST WIND
FAIRIES
ANDPage 43
AT THE SEASIDE THE WEST WIND THE SMUGGLERS
FAIRIES
AND
THE KITE THE WEST WIND FAIRIES THE CLOTHES LINE THE FAIRY RING THE SOUTH WIND FAIRIES THE GHOSTS
ANDPage 45Page 50
ANDPage 62
PAT'S PRAYER THE NORTH WIND FAIRIES HELP THE LEPRACAUN THE WIND FAIRY SHOEMAKER THE WIND FAIRIES' LULLABY ...
wwwwwwwwwwwwwww
LOver thehills
9&ind 3^ait'iesandfar
away
Where
the
moon and
the stars are kept by daycrystal bright
In shining caverns of
Dwell the winds of heaven with*
their
wings of light.
NowTheWith
each of these winds has a fairy trainsunshine and sprinklefairies
To help it spreadsouth wind
rain.
are delicate things
flower-like faces
and rose petal wings.*
Their work
is
to bathe in the spring tune fair.
The sleeping blossoms with Stardust rare And which, when caressed by the soft south Awaken and burst into bloom again.
rain,
The West Wind Fairies are full of fun And cannot at all be relied upon. They frolic about over field and dellTormenting the crops and the farmer*as
weU.
They
tickle the ears
of the sleeping
com
And And
rustle the
wheat in the early dawn.
They shake
ripened fruit from the apple trees
colour with crimson the falling leaves.
The North WindSpreading
Fairies
have plenty to do
firost veils
of a silvery hue
And making
white snowflakes from frozen rainin the clouds again.
Then sewing them up
But the East Wind
Fairies are not so nicesleet
With
their
swords of
and
their spears
of ice
They
love to pinch old people's ears
and nose
And
nip Utde children's soft fingers and toes.
*
They carry a poison concealed in their wings Which they spitefully drop upon growing things. And when pierced by their daggers of sleety grey The poor Utde Mossoms just wither away.
TheThey
others are kindly as fairies should.Fairies are far
But the East Windlike to
from good.show.
make
trouble wherever they go.
And
often they do, as
my stories
will
^^p^^^P^^^P"
L East ^ind S^aifies^LEASEBrowncapsir,"
^IdtheUttle
said
Squirrel, raising his acorn
respectfully,
"might
I
speak
to
your Fairies for a moment please?""Certainly," replied the Southrather gnmipily, "if
Wind
you can
find them.
Here
I
am
with an appointment on
my my
hands with the Sunbeam Elves for fouro'clock,"I haou omcthiit0 to report, tbr," repUd the Brvum SqubrreL
and
I can't start because
Fairies aren't here.
Up
to
some
fresh
mischief,
I'll
be bound."Squirrelreproadifully,
"Oh"your
no, sir," repliedJuries
the
little
Brown
are
never
unkind.
Everyone knows that."alittle
The South Wind couldn't help feeling just "Oh well," he admitted grudgingly, "I dare saypoints.
bit flattered.
they have their goodin trouble
But what's wrong with you Mr. Squirrel? Are yousir," replied the
again?"
"I have something to report,ferring to his oak leaf note
Brown
Squirrel, re-
book in a business-like way.
"Ah," cried the South Wind, "those EastI'U be bound."
Wmd
Fairies again,
The
little
Brown
Squirrel nodded: "Yes, I'm afraid so,
sir,
they are
always making trouble, that crowd."
The South Winddignation.
almost blew himself away, so great was his in-
"I
shall
have to ask the Sky Parliament to pass a new law banishing
them from the seasons altogether," he said angrily. "If I had my way they'd be locked up in the wind cavern jail long ago." "I suppose you have heard of the Animal Red Cross, sir?" enquired
the Squirrel, waving his bushy
tail
in order to balance himself
on the
narrow branch.
The South Wind nodded. "Why yes.are givingforfirst
We often help them when theymeto
aid to the flowers.
Do
they want
do something
them?""Wellsir," said
the Squirrel, "it's like this. I belong to the Squirrelthis
branch of it, and earlyI
morning while on duty down in the hollowsnowdrops lying half dead underneath
came
across a whole line of
^e
big diesmut tree."'Terrible," muttered the South
Wind, fanning himself in order
to
relieve his feelings,
"such goings-on have never been heard of before,
to
my
knowledge."
"They had apparently been stabbed with a frost spear, sir," continued the Brown Squirrel, referring to his leaf note book again. "Itried giving
them
fresh air injections but they wereat
no
use. Woxildsir?"
youof
be so kind as to come and have a look"I'd go now," replied the South
them yourself,
Wind
crossly, "if those Fairies
mine were"Well
here. Is that all
you found Squirrel?"late, I
sir,"
whispered the Squirrel, "last night
received an
S.O.S. from the
man in
the moon.
when he thought no one was when he knows I'm on duty, sir." The South Wind nodded. "Not a badalittle
He sent it down by a shooting star, looking. He often does that kind of thingold fellow the
Moon Man,when hezoeit
too fond of drawing a cloud handkerchief over his face
ought to be doing his duty, butsoon take care of that by blowing
away
again.
Well Squirrel?"
"Hetree
told
me to
look in the hollowsir,"
by the pond,
replied theI
Squirrel,
"and sure enough when
did I discovered a whole pile of hailstoneof
bombs and
frost spears all lying
.iiMrtiiMM.......
ready waiting to be used. If you ask
10
me
sir,
those East
Wind
Fairies are planning
an attack
of some
kind to-night."
"If they do
that,** replied
the South
Wind "we must attack too.up
It*s
the only way to save all the flowers and plants coming
for the spring.
Ah, here come
my
Fairies
now, I see."Fairies floated gracefiilly
The
pretty South
Wind
up on
pufis of
silver thistledown, singing gaily as they
came.
Here we come, here we come. Full of gaiety and fun. Why here's the Squirrel, fresh and That uniform looks nice on him!
trim.
"Hello, Fairies," said the Squirrel, saluting smartly. "I hope I see
youfirst
all
well."
"Comeaidlet
on. Fairies," cried the Southto
work
do down in the
Wind fussily, "we have some hoUow. Jump upon my shoulders andlittle
us be Down
off."
in the hollow the poor
snowdrops were half lying onthey were indeed alFairies tenderly
the ground, deathly pale, and looking
alas, as if
ready dead. Alighting near them the South
Wind
breathed on their waxen petals, and carefully boundspear
up
their frost
warm air. Suddenly the little Brown Squirrel, who was patrolling up and downwounds withsoft,
came dashing excitedly across the grass. "Oh Fairies," he cried, "please come and look at the sky. There is a great big cloud aeroplane floating over from the east. Those Fairiesin the hollow,
are not waiting until to-night to attack the flowers after alL"
"Go
back to yoiu: post. Squirrel," said the Southus.
Wind
rising,
"leave the whole thing to
Come on
Fairies, let us hide
behind
this
group of beechnut
trees
quickly."the wicked East
Theof the
black cloud aeroplane sped quickly towards the hollow, andevil shriek,
then with antrees
Wind
Fairies alighted
on top
and
started to
drop their cold hailstone bombs about in
every direction.
Immediately the South
Wind
Fairies darted out
from
their hiding
II
place,
and breathing warmly upon the hailstones as theyinstantly into soft,
fell,
melted
themrage,
wann
rain.
The enemy
Fairies,frost,
with shouts of
made
to attack
them with
their spears
of
but the South
Wind
Fairies, flying out before
them, breathed a doud of deliciousImmediately the East
perfume right into
their feces.
Wind andall
his
followers began to feel terrible drowsy,ofif
and one by one they
dropped
asleep,
and noddingfield.
their heads, drifted slowly
back again over theat the sky as
meadow and
Uphe
in the apple orchard. Fanner
Plowem looked up
strolled to
and
fro beneath his fragrant apple trees.
"Dear me," he mumbled, "the Wind must be changing again. A good job too. I was afeard that cold East Wind might blight my pears this spring, and then I'd be in a proper mess, I would. The Wind is coming from the south now. Doggone it, but it smells good. Vi'lets and roses and musk all mixed up together, in a manner of speakin'. I likes the South Wind, I do." And down in the hollow, the poor little snowdrops at last began to open their eyes, and after a few more injections of fresh air, said they reaUy felt fine again. Immediately the South Wind Fairies b^an to dance delightedly on top of the beechnut trees, and the echo of their song reached the Utde Brown Squirrel as he tramped away on his beatHurrah, hurrah.
We've driven them away. Their hailstone bombs
And
spears of frost.use.
Won't be much
Because they've lost. Hurrah, Hurrah, Hurrah!
And if you stroll down by the hollow any summer evening,
don't be
surprised if you see a perky litde fellow patrolling the path with a large
chestnut medal swinging importantly from his beechnut belt. Itlitde
is
the
Brown
Squirrel, of course, butall, it isn't
we can
forgive
him
for looking so
proud. AfterCross,
eoery fellow in the squirrel branch of the
Red
who can
boast of a Chestnut medal!
THE END12
The Wind
Fairies
When Snowdrop Armies March up
with Spears of Cireen
'JMV^
}
(ZJanxaSanta sat at
s
OSeai*cinight
home one
Eating cake and frosted cherries
In his room which looked so bright
Hung
about with holly berries.
He wasFor
in a pleasant
moodlog glowing
As he watched the yulehis beardsilky,
had been shampooedsoft,
And was
and flowing.
But the bad
east fairies near
Were annoyed
to see
him happy
So they looked on with a sneer Feeling sour and very snappy.
13
"Silly fool," they hissed with spite,
"Thinks he's
really very
charming.to-night"
We'll do him some
harm*
Wicked words and most alanning.
Later they returned to find Santaslept
so
with
aeast
swagger
They
called in the
badas
wind
Harsh and sharp
any dagger.
*
Then with
razor edge quite bareit
Down the room To where SantaWas
soon was creeping
in his chair
contentedly asleeping.
*
Then
the naughty wind for spite.
Shaved off Santa's beard quite neatly.
And had
disappeared from sight
Ere he could awake completely.*
Oh
it
was an awful shame,
Santa wildly tried to find them
For he knew they were to blame.
Was
the air not chill behind them?
Santa Glaus without a beard!It
was quite against traditionthe poor old fellow feared
And
Folks would eye
him with
suspicion.
14
So he jumped upon
his sleigh
Nearly desperate with worry
For 'twould soon be Christmas day;
He must
get help in a hurry.
*
To the north wind fairies then He revealed his bad position And they felt quite angry whenThey sawSanta's sad condition.
*
So they thought and thought again
OnBut'till
the awful situationtheir thoughts
were
all
in vain
they got an inspiration.
*
Why
not have a beard of snow?set
They couldIt
the
rain
afreeziag
And no one would*
ever
knowpleasing.
would look so neat and
So the north wind came and tossedSnowflakes light as any feather
WhichGlued
the fairies with some frostartistic'ly
together.
*It
looked
soft
and snowy whitetight
Whiter than his own beard surely
While theHoldingit
frost glue gripped
it
in place securely.
15
When
the
sly
east
fairies'
spies
Saw him on his They just staredAt
reindeer goingin
blank surprise
his beard so soft
and flowing!
And
the stars with silver eyes
Viewed the beard with admirationLittleIt
did they realizeimitation!
was only
And
the
moon man
with a sneer.it?
Muttered:
"Blimey, can you beatI
That old Santa QausIs
fear
becoming quite
conceited}"
"Then the naughty wind for tpUe thaved oft Santa's beard. ..."
i6
aifies
am"lOIELLO,**-^*- fully,
la-
vlte
JSepi*(tcaunWindFairies play-
little
Chris Cow," cried the Westare
"why
you not eating the sweet clover from the
meadow?"
"Ohlives
Fairies," replied Chris
Cow
sadly, "thelaid a spell
wicked lepracaun who
imder the hawthorn tree has
cannot give
my
master any more milk.
He
is
a
upon me, and now I bad fellow, that same
lepracaun, and weaves his evil spells while dancing under the harvest
moon."
"Why, Chris Cow,""thereis
cried the
West Windthat.
Fairies
soothingly,
no need
to
worry any more about
To-night the harvest
moon
will
be shining again, and when that wicked lepracaun comes
out to dance under the hawthorn treethe hollow to cast a spell
we
will get the black witch
from
upon
him.
Now
go down to the pretty Bluebelleat the sweet clover as
meadow andlepracaunto
you always do. Leave that bad oldus."Fairies," said Chris
"Thanks
Cow
gratefully, "if
he
is
not stopped thatall
lepracaun will soon have
the ani-
mals in the Bluebell
meadow bewitched.is
Heso."
said
he would, and he always doessays.
what he
That
why we
fear
himin
Wavingflew
their
graceful
wings
farewell, the dainty
West Wind
FairiesThe siach wueh appeared.
away down
to
the tree shaded
17
hollow where the Black Witch lived, and alightmg on a grassynear her cave, ccmimenced to chant:
hill
Oh
Black Witch, with your magic charm.
We
come
to you in great alarm.
Please weave a spell to set cows free.
From
the Lepracaxm under the hawthorn tree!
Immediately they finished singing a loud gust of wind blew out
from the cave, and the Black Witch appeared with hering about her wrinkled face.
dirty hair hang-
"Oh-h-h-h!" she shrieked, waving her arms, "you WestFairies are a nuisance
Wind
always wanting something. Oh my cockroachesCow downin the Blue-
and black-beedes, what has Liam Lepracaun done on you now? Ohh-h-h!"
"Hebell
has cast a wicked spell on poor Chris
meadow,'* replied the West
give her master any
more milk.
Wind Fairies timidly, "and she cannot You must give us something to help her.supposeI'll
Black
Witchplease!" "Oh my bluebotdes andHereis
lizards I
have to," grumbledI'll
the Black Witch dipping into her big cauldron, "if I don'tpeace.
have nodancing
a spell
powder to
cast
upon him while hehis face.
is
under the harvest moon. Wait imtil the
village clock strikes twelve,
and then dart out and fling it right into
Now go away and leaveall
me
alone,
I'll
never get
my
Black Magic book finished with
these
interruptions,
and it has to be back in the witch's library by to-morrow."Fairies a parcel tied
She threw the Wind
up
in a green
bay leaf and
with another shriek, vanished back into her gloomy cave.
"Hurrah!" cried the West Wind Fairies delightedly, "now we canhelp poor Chris
Cow give her
master some more milk again. Let usrising
all
go down to the Bluebell meadow and wait there for the
of the
moon."Thatnight,
down
in the Bluebell
long black shadows over trees
meadow, the Shadow Elves strew and grass, and covered up the sleepingi8
.
.
bluebells withinlace. Just
a mantle of fikny
shadow
before twelve o'clock however, the
Moon Mana
appeared from behind his wisp
of cloud handkerchief, and immediately, with
whoop of
joy, the mischievous
Lepracaunto dance
popped out from between the branches ofthe hawthorn tree andwildly about.
commenced
He
was a
droll looking little
fellow, with a tasselled cap
perched on his
narrow head and pointed shoes on his tinyfeet,
which twinkled brightly
as
he danced.
Me
iea a droll fellow. .
looMng UUla
He was
singing too, and the words of his
song reached the West
Wind
Fairies as they
crouched behind a
curtain of
shadow which the Shadow Elves
had obligingly hung up
for them.
MyAndAnd
nameoh, I
is
Liam Lepracaun,an awful one!
am
I've cast a spell
she can't
upon Chris Cow, give any more
nice
milk now.
WithI
a hi-diddle, hi-diddle dow!to cast another spell.as well.
mean
On
aU the sheep and pigs
There'll be
no wool
for
Farmer
Joe,
iHi
And no
nice, fat pigs for the coimtrylAam Lepracaunu>/fcBi^
he was in danger of melting out the
Thv cheered fhcmceloe* up loUAfew glamt of cloud champagne.
North Wind's snowflakes once
THE END
42
Johnnie whispered: "I hope Cod wont mind."
airies
and' vhe cfxiieSaid the west wind:
"The
kite
compedtion
is
on.
And
these rich boys are certain to win.kite
For theIs
which
his father has
madethin.
little
John
both small and exceedingly
Now these rich boys have toys that poor John hasn't got.AndIfit really
won't matter to them.
we
lift
Johnnie's kite right
up over the
lot
And
thus win him that thirty pounds ten."
43
So the kind west wind
fairies
flew
down
to the dell.
Where
the people were watching the testit
And
catching John's kite asit
fluttered
and
fell.
Raised
right
up above
all
the
rest.
*
And
the people around simply gaped in surprisekite soared
As the
and soared through the
sky.
Why theyTo
hardly could credit the sight of their eyes
behold a kite flying so high.*
And
in
bed
that
same evening when
closing his eyes
Johnnie whispered: "I hopeIf,
God
won't mind.
when
giving
him thanks
for that beautiful prize,
I just save
one small piece for the wind!"
es
K^iotnes ^x^i^neDameup
mSamuelhimselfbefore
FA HA!"
tittered the
bad East Wind"thereis
Fairies delightedly,still
Fusspot's washing
hanging out on the
line wringing wet. Just look at that stuckShirt,
he doesn't look so proud ofall
now withit
his
starch drippingstiffen up.
can get time toall
How"Senwi trou an rigMf " mHtleredthe alv Soet
sad they
look,
and we
like to see
peopleWind Fairg..."thisis
looking sad.
"Ohenough
dearieto
me!" moaned the pyjamaBusy's
suit
dolefully,
make any
respectable suit of pyjamas blush with slKime.
LookandI
at
Dame
washing
up on
the
hiH
dryWind
already,
can just imagine that spiteful
Ned
Nightshirt hugging himselfis
with delight.fool. If
He
hates us pyjamas because he
an old fashionedFaeries;
we
could only send a message to the kind WestI
they would help us
am
sure."
"And my mistress is waiting to use me on the Simday dinner table,"sighed the starched white linen tablecloth, sadly. "I heard her teUing the
maid she
likes
me much
better than those vulgar, coloured ones."
"And what about me," chimedwas supposed to be
in the embroidered bolster case. "I
used for a very important visitor of the master's,
and now look
at
me
drip dripping myit's
life
away before
I
can even
manage
to get dry.all
Oh,
a shame."
"Serves you
right!" muttered the sly East Fairy Spies spitefully,
"you people with starchBesides
in
you are altogether too stuck up and proud.
^we
want
to get our
own back on
old
Dame
Fusspot, she
is
always saying
how much
she dislikes us, the
silly
old fool!"
45
'This
is
the worst of living in a valley," sighed the lace petticoat,
"the winds hardly ever come
down this way. They prefer tobutits
frolic
about
up on the
sunlit hilltc^s, I suppose,little
very hard on us."line:
Suddenly a timid"Please,
voice spoke
up from the end of the
Mr.
Shirt,
might I suggest something?"
Sam
Shirt looked aroimd in surprise.
Nobody
ever took
much
notice of the
humUe
tea-towel hanging so quietly amongst the dusters
and polish dc^hs."Well,in spite oflittle
tea-towel," he said kindly, for he
was
really very kind
all
his stardi,
"what do you want
to say?"
"Only
this,
Mr.
Shirt," piped the tea-towel respectfully, "I think
diat one of us should break loose
from our pegs andthe kind
try to fly as far as
the Buttercup Hill, in order to
tell
West Windwill!"
Fairies about
our sad
plight.
7%ey
will help
us
I know theyreplied the
"Don't be
silly," said
the stuck
up pyjama smt rather haughtily,little
"there isn't enough wind to fly any of us anywhere."
"Not you heavy ones perhaps,""but athelight piece
tea-towel nervously,far with
of doth
like
me
might manage to get thatsee."
hdp of the Breeze Elves;"Then you mean ^wmwill
I
happen to know them, youtea-towel."
go?" asked the Shirt kindly.
"Why that
is
really very noble
of you,
little
"I can't go anyway," said the conceited tennis flannels looking veryimportant,Saturday.
"my master needs megoes,
to play in a very big tennisstay."
match on
Whoever dse
/must
"Nor me dther," chimed in the fully fashioned silk stockings, "my mistress says I am more predous than jewels these days. / can't risk being torn to pieces on those brambles growing on ButtercupHill."
"If you please,
sir,"
piped the
little
tea-towd timidly, "/
am
only
a humble piece of doth used for dryingplenty of others to takeladies or
up the
dishes with.
There are
my
place if I
am
lost.
If none of the other
gentlemen
like to
go I
will gladly
do so
^for
your sake, Mr.
Shirt," she
added
shyly.
46
Thehis life
shirt could not help feeling just a
tiny bit flattered,
and for the
first
time intea-
he began to notice that thesort of a
towel was really quite a pretty little thing,in a
humble
way of course.of you going,'*"thosecruel
"I don't hebushes at
like to think
muttered
doubtfully,
the foot of Buttercup Hill
wouldI
just love to get their
hands on a
helpless piece of cloth like you. Perhaps
had better go instead."
"Ohthing,
no!"
cried the Utde
tea-towelTha Utile Brmeme Btiwj caught hsr up in their tiny amu and bora herawauline.
pittfidly, "please don't
think of such aare
Mr.
Shirt.
You
hx
too im-
portant a person to lose frominstead
Dame
Fusspot's dothes
Let
me
go
I beg of you!"for
Without waiting
him
to reply, she started to struggle with
the pegs that held her, and after a few wriggles, managed to work
her arms loose from their grip, and fluttered damply to the ground.
Then, being verytiny arms
light,
the litde Breeze Elves caught hervalley
up
in theirhills.
and bore her away over the
and up towards the
"Goodbye, Mr.
Shirt!" cried the httle tea-towel faintly, "if I don't
come back please think of me sometimes, won't you?" "Why!" shrieked the wicked East Wind Spies, peeping from behinda ragged cloud, "the tea-towel has broken loose fromits
pegs.
She must
be going to get help for the others from the West WindButtercup Hill.there."
Fairies
on
Come on
Fairies;
we must
stop her before she gets
With a sudden howl of rage theyraced after the poorlittle
rose from their hiding place, and
tea-towel. Seizing her in their cruel
arms theyhill.
dashed her into the
spilsy
thorn bushes growing at the foot of thefrail little
The
sharp thorns tore her
body almost
into shreds but
bravely she tried to rise and drag herself on.
47
Catching her up again the Eastother
Wind
Fairies
blew her into yet ancruelly scratching
dump
of brambles and while these were
still
her to pieces with their long spikes, lifted her up and dashed her againsta prickly hedge, that tore her
woimded doth body almostlittlelittleit,
asunder.
Ronnie Rabbit, playing hide and seek with hisdie side of Buttercup Hill, saw the poor
brothers on
tea-towd fluttering intried tolift it
agony on the ground, and running towardsthe crud thorns that entangled"Itisit.
up from
no
use, litde rabbit," whispered the poor tea-towd faintly,
"I
am dying; I know I
am, but
will
you please hold
paws so that those wicked East Wind
Fairies cannot
me down with yom lift me up again?^'the litde rabbit's
Ronnie Rabbit did as she asked, and with a shriek of rage the East
Wind
Fairies rose
and flew away
again.
They knew
grey paws would be too strong for them!"Please, litde rabbit," whispered the tea-towd with a sigh, "will
you run up to the top of Buttercupif they will
Hill
and ask the West Wind
Fairies
be so kind as to go down into the valley and
hdpit
old
DameShirt,
Fusspot's line of dothes to dry quickly. Especially the kindI hate to see all his
Mr.
proud starch dripping away before
can get timeto whisper
to
stiflfen
up.to
my nameAndlitde
Goodbye litde rabbit, ask the Wind Fairies him whenever they are passing that way."its
fluttering
torn and tattered body in farewell the poor
tea-towd died.Fairies
The West Windwhere
were very angry when they heard of the
tea-towd's fete and immediatdy hurried away
down
into the valley
Dame
Fusspot's clothes line was
still
hanging damply in the
garden.
Blowing and blowing as hard as they could the Westflew in and out through the wet clothes, lifting
Wind
Fairies
them up and throwing
them down, and
twisting
them
in and turning
them
out, until at lastair.
the whole line was fluttering, dry and crisp, in the evening
"You may thank the brave litde tea-towd for this," said the West Wind Fairies to the shirt. "She is now lying dead on the side of Butter48
cup HMl, torn to pieces by the cruel thorns where the East Wind Fairies threw her. She gave her life to help you, Mr. Shirt, and asked us tovrtiisper
her
name
so that
you should
hear.
Never forget
her, because
she didn't forget you. Goodbye!"
"Dear me!"
said
Dameits
Fusspot, as she collected her freshly dried
clothes into a big
wash
basket, "here is
my
nice
little
tea-towel gonelost
and broke loose fromusefulness, so
pegs. Dear, dear, I
would rather haveall
any of the dothes butit
that; it
was worth them
put together for
was!"while hangingstiff
in
And later on that same evening, Dame Fusspot's airing cupboard,and in
and
spotless
the freshly ironed shirt could
not help thinking of the poor Utde tea-towel, lying dead on theside of Buttercup Hill,tospite of the fact that
he was supposedtear.
be dry, he found himself sadly shedding a starchy
'0ar
nwl" taid Dame Pustpot.
THE END
49
(QlteDownThere
cTaififin the Bluebellis
(/Kingmeadow.
a
fairy
ring.
Where
in the silver moonlight.
The
Little
People
sing.
They dance aroimd the
toadstools.
And
chase the lepracauns.all
But they must
be gone again.
Before the daylight dawns.
They
sing
about the rainbow.
And ofThat
the pot of gold.
rests
upon the end oftold!
it.
Or
so
we have been
They dance amongstStrewn by the
the
shadows.Elves,
Shadow
And
play sweet fairy lullabys,
Invented by themselves.
50
AndThe
in the trees around them,fair
Wind
Fairies croon.hillaby.
Another kind of
About the
silvery
moon.toadstools,
So
if
you see some
Down
in the fields this spring,
Don't dare to interfere with them,It is a fairy ring!
51
^L
Seuik
^indandtimidly,
3^airiesike i^nesT mts
"IP^LEASE, South Wind Fairies," ^^^ piped the little brown mouse,"Charles Cricket told
me
to
come
to
you
for help.is
Hedo,"
says
you helpthe
everyone
who
deserving of
it."
"Of course we South Wind Fairiesis
replied
kindly, "but
what
your trouble,
little
brown mouse?"
"I come from the old housein
downbrownnosup-
Primrose Valley,"
said
the
mouse, "but for the past
five yearsit is
body has
lived in
it,
because
posed to be haunted, and indeed Fairies,it"Pteate, South Wind Fairies, tH UUte broion mouse.
really is haimted,
by four ghosts!"Fairies
pipmi
"Oh howthe
stupid people are!" cried
South
Wind
laughing,
"to be frightened away from a house"It's
by a few ghosts!"little
not
v&y
nice for us. Fairies," said the
brown mouse
sadly,if
"we
havoi't tasted a scrap of cheese for the past five years.
Now
yoa could bdp us
to get rid of those interfering old ghosts, every-
thing would be aU right again, I
know
it
wovild."Fairies doubtfrilly,
"But how can we get in?" asked the South Wind"if all the doors
and windows are kept
tightly shut."little
"I could nibble a hole in the wooden window frame," cried the
brown mouse eag&Ay, "and then your Wind couldwithout being seen. Ito
slip in quite easily
am almost certain that if a fresh,it
clean
wind were
blow right tlirough the whole house again,
would frighten those
old ghosts away."
52
.
"The Wind would not be enough to get rid of them," replied the South Wind Fairies, "but we know of a special way for dealing with ghosts, we have often used it before. Now Uttle brown mouse," theyaddedplayftilly,
"suppose you
nm
off
home
to Primrose Valley
and
start nibbling at that
window
frame.
When
the village clock strikes
twelve
we
will
sUp in and wait for those mischievous ghosts to appear.
Howsilly
foolish people are to
be frightened away from a house by a few
ghosts!"little
TheFairies
brown mouse obediently
scurried away,perftraies, the
and havingSouth Windtree in the
collected a
few parcels of delicious flower
blew down into Primrose Valley and hid behind alittle
garden waiting for the
brown mouse
to let
them
in.
But the
little
brown mouse had been working very hard indeedfive
and barely had they been waiting enoughIt
minutes when he had a hole big
for
them
to slip in through.
was a lovely old house, with dark, panelled walls and a beautifruit
ful
broad oaken staircase decorated with bunches of carved
and
flowers.
"Oh what a South Wind Fairies
shame!" cried theindignantly,
"that
such a lovely old house should remainunoccupied for so long!"Just as the village clock struck twelve
however, the leader of the ghost armyfloated into
the room, clad in a very
smart cloak of pale blue vapour.
"Heigh ho!" he yawned, throwinghimself back into one of the armchairs,"it's certainly great
to have this place
to
come backlike
to every night.
How
do
you
my newMade
vapour cloak, fellow
ghosts?that
specially for
me
out ofShe iflnched Mr. Shieary good andhard,.
new spook
vapour, if you please."53
"Speaking for myself, I don't thinkghost with asniff,
"it's
a
litde
much of it,"
^well
replied anotherfor
^too
loud
my
taste,
Mr. Shivery.""If Iill
may
say so,
Mr. Geepy," snapped Mr. Shivery,at all, I
"jealousy
becomes you. What about those awful socks you bought only asuppose? Ghosts inair
few weeks ago. They weren't loudhouses shouldn't throw stones!"
"Now," whispered one of the South Wind Fairies mischievously, "is the time to give them a litde fright. After me. Fairies!" And darting out she pinched Mr. Shivery good and hard on theback of his ghosdy neck.
"Yow-w-w-w!" shrieked Mi.pinched
Shivery, clutching at his neck,
"who
me
like that? If this is
another of your jokes, Mr. Creepy, I
can't say I think
much
of
it!"
"I didn't pinch you Mr. Shivery," cried Mr. Creepy angrily, "you
must be imagining things!""I never imagine things," replied Mr. Shivery, bad temperedly,again
"and someone did pinch^that's
me on the back of the neck.
Don't
let it
happen
all."
He sat down, but barely had he pulledhis
new vapour doak aroimd him, when the mischievous South Wind Fairies crept up and pulled it away again."Listen, Shivery,
Mr. Creepy," roared Mr.almostbesidehimself,jealous because
now "you may be
my newthat'sit
vapour doak becomes
me, buttear
no reason why you should
off
my
back!"
"Ohsnapped
for goodness
sake,
shut
up,""I
Mr.
Creepy
impatiently,
never went near your siUy old doak."ldidn'tpinehvou,"eriedMr.Creepy
DOU't be SUCh a54
fOOl,
MT. SlUVery."
"What-t-t!"is
shrieked
Mr.
Shivery,
"methe
a
fool?
Mewho
known
to be the ghostliest
ghost
in
whole world! Why,
you
"
Mr. Jumpy, coming forward, "if somebody pinched Mr. Shivery's neck and pulled his doak off him, and we didn't do it, then it stands to reason there is someone else in thefor goodness sake!" begged
"Oh
room.
at
The question is ^who is it?" The ghosts all stopped and looked nervously around them, and just that instant, the South Wind Fairies darting out from their hiding"Lookout!" yelled
place attacked the shivering ghosts.
Mr. Spooky,
"it's
those interfering South
Wind
Fairies again!
Make
yourselves invisible, fellow ghosts, and they won't
know where to blow. Don't let them force you out of this lovely house!"
And
draping their vapour cloaks about them the ghosts started toall directions, untilit
dodge about inout had to give
the poor South Wind, almost
worn
up
as a
bad
job.
"Never mind. South Wind,"anotherbelieve
said the fairies consolingly,
"we havethati
way ofme!"
dealing
with them
and they won't escape
And creeping up to where the ghosts had been sitting they sprinkledthe delicious flower perfume about in every direction.
"Heigh ho!" yawned Mr. Shivery appearingstay long after, the fools.I thinkI'll
again.
"So they
didn't
Dear me,
I feel very tired after all that exercise,it's
have forty winks before
time to go."
AndThe
stretching
himself out on the sofa he was soon fast asleep, while the remainder ofthe ghosts,all
yawning, immediately did the same.
delicious
flower perfiime had lulled
them
safely to sleep.
"Hurrah!" cried the South Wind Fairies to the
who had
crept
up
to
where they were hiding,
brown mouse, "now, little brown mouselittle
those naughty old ghosts wiU sleep until daybreak, and once theelves see a ghost at daybreak,
dawn
he can remain a ghost no longer, butforever,
must go back
to ghost land
and disappear
and
this lovely old
house will be once more
free.
Are you not happy,55
little
brown mouse?"
when the dawn dves looked in and saw them asleep in the room, they woke them up by tickling their eyes with splinters of light, and when the ghosts raised their heads and realizedAsfor the ghosts,just
what had happened they were so overcome with shame that they
covered up their heads with their vapour cloaks and fled forever fromthe beautiful old house in Primrose Valley.
And
the
little
more, was justpossibly be.
brown mouse, with plenty of cheese in the larder once about as happy as any little brown mouse could
>^)(ki(i^'T/l
VMIq hrmon mouto
welth
planty of
eheete...
THE END
56
and
(Qontmienice, red apples.tree.
Tommie saw someBut the
Hanging on an appletree stood in
an orchard.
And was
high as high coiild be.
And he
thought, "If there were
fairies.
Passing by this
way
just
now.
Would they
guess I'd like an apple.the bough?
And blow one down from
But of course, there are no
fairies.
Only in SoI
my
story book.
cannot have an apple.bright and red they look!"
Oh how
*
But the West WindThought:
Fairies list'ning.
"Oh what an
awful shame!fairies.
He
does not believe in
But of course
he's not to blame.
57
Maybe we can
help poor
Tommie,too.
And by
helping, teach
him
That, by blowingFairy wishes can
downcome*
the appl^true!"
So the kind WestIn
Fairies, slipping.
amongst the
trees'till
aroimd.loosened.
Teased the apple
it
And
fell
toppling to the ground.
*
"This
is
strange," thought litdeas
Tommie,
"Almost
I
spoke
my
wish,
Down
the apple came atumbling
And dropped
near
me*
with a swish."
"Yes," the West
Windyou'll
Fairies whispered,realize.
"And by
this
That there axe such things
as fairies.
In the wind and trees and skies." *"Just because you cannot see them.
Do
not think they are not there.as
Even
you stand there
staring.
They
are
round you everywhere!"
58
Tommie
gazed in great amazement,speechless
He was
with surprise.Fairies laughing.
While the West Wind
Blew
his hair into his eyes.
J^S*w)'
Tommie gaxtd to graat amatement.
AndRead
that night our litdehis
Tommie,anew.it
story
book"I
And he
thought:
like
better.
Now
I
know
it's all
quite true!"
59
aifiesid am
Ikegoes
^cJiuncethe dunce on his
THEREtheately, "see,
way to school again," whispered South Wind Fairies compassionheis
cryiog as usual be-
cause he has forgotten his lessons already.
Poor dunce!"
"I wishanother
we
could help him," said
fairy,
"he
worksif
so
hard,
and
it is
not his faultagain."his
he forgets his
^ ** ^^i^^ ^^in^^^^'
lessons
"Maybe"
mind
suggested
the
some way," South Wind, rufflingis ill
in
the petals of a rose. "I wonder would
'^^"He u
^J^p^'H'f^^^"usuaL"
our
Wiodis
doctor be able to
tell
us
cryine, as
whatLet us
wroug with him?"
"Whyat once
dear South Wind!" cried theidea!fly off
"what a marvellous
Wind Fairies delightedly, to the Wind Cavern Hospital
and find out."knockedI at his door,
"Well South Wind Fairies," said the Wind doctor rather snappilyas they
"what
is
wrong with you now? Not more
wing trouble,
hope?"
"Oh
no, doctor," piped the South
Wind
Fairies, "there is
nothing
at all the matter with us,
thank you!"
"Just as well," muttered the
Wind
doctor,
temper, "I have
my
hands
full
here at the
who was in a very bad moment with those silly
sunbeam
elves
and
their
sun measles. What did you want to see
me
about. Fairies?"
60
The West Wind
Fairies
and Tommie
J^*^t*ik^0l:The South WindFairies
and Jane
"It's
the
Danny Dunce," South Wind Fairies. "He isabout
repliedreally a
very
good boy,
youis
know.
Doctorhis
Blowem, but whatever
wrong withhis
head he caimot remember
lessons
even after he has learned them verycareftilly.
slipping
Would you oblige us by down to the school and havingcried the
a look at his brain?"
"What!"
Wind
doctor
m-
"Watt, DoctorP" clamoured the South
Wbid Poirfat*.
dignantly, "haven't those boys
enough
doctors of their
own
to examine
them without coimngare half as
to
annoy me?
The
idea.
Have
a look at his brain indeed?"cleveras
"But none of those earth doctorswant you to have a lookat
you
Doctor Blowem," replied the South Wind Fairieshim."
slyly, '*that is
why we
"OhX-ray
all
right,"
gnmibled the Wind doctor, trying to pretend he
was not a
bit flattered
by these compliments, "waitbeoflF."
until I get
my
outfit
and then
we'll
Down
in the schoolroom, the poor dimce
was standing in the
comer as usual, but, as the window stood open, the Wind doctor had no trouble in sUpping up to him and having a good look into his brain."Well, doctor?" clamoured the South
Wind
Fairies, as
he flew outit
through the window again, "whatthing you can cure?"
is
wrong with
his brain? Is
some-
"Ohjections
yes," repUed the
Wind
doctor importantly, "itis
is
a dear case
of cobwebs on the brain. All he wants
a few fresh air and wind in-
and he
will
be brighter than any of the boys.it
He
has a very
good brain indeed; butit
cannot work while the cobwebs are clogging
up.
Now South Wind Fairies, you are members of the Sky Red Cross,me time by giving him the injections yourselves. Watchas
so you can savefor
him coming out of school and follow himFairies, I
he goes down the
hill.
Good-bye now.
must be
off to
my
other cases."
6i
"Whythat!"
this is great!" cried the
South Wind Fairies delightedly,
"cobwebs on the htsml why, we have cured hundreds of cases of
And
hiding behind some beeches growing near the roadside,
they waited for the boys to
come out of school.
Nobody came out with the poor dunce because nobody wanted him, and he set off sadly down the hill on his own. The South Wind Fairies immediately followed on his heels, and flying aroimd his head gave him a whole lot of wind and fresh air injections
through his nose, eyes and ears. "Dear me," thought the poor dunce, "that Wind
certainly feelsI walk.
very good.if it
Why,
I
can actually
feel
my
head clearing as
Oh,
would only
stay that
way
until I learn
my
lessons
and prove to
teacher that I
am
not really such a dimce as he thinks!"
And
it
did, for the
Wind
doctor was right, and the wind injections
completely blew the stuffy old cobwebs out of his brain, and next dayat school, the
dunce not only knew
his lessons,
but actually rose to
the top of his class!
The land South Wind Fairies were delighted, and that evening, down amongst the roses in the valley they gaily began to sing:The dunceis
now a
scholar againy
Because all the cobwebs are gone fromhis brain.
We
gave him
injections
of wind, air
and breeze.
And now
he
is
head of
his class, if you
please!
THE END
62
ana"Hereis
/rane
a rose," the south wind said,little
"To
bring to
Jane,
Who lives all day mid smoke Way down in Muddy Lane.
and dust
She never
sees the trees in spring.all
Or hawthorns
in bud.
In feet she never sees a thing Save grime, and slush and mud.
Now
if
we drop
thisit
crimson rosefell.
Where she canJust think
see
how
thrilled
she'll
beall!"
To
think such flowers exist at
So catching up the
lovely rose.
They
flew to
Muddy
Lane,sill.
And
pausing on Jane's windowlightly
Tapped
on the pane.
63
And Jane looked out and saw And wondered mightily.That anything soexquisite in
the rose.
Muddy Lane
could be.
"Oh
look!" she cried, "its petals redsilver
Are streaked with
dew.this rose,
Oh God,
for sending
me
I really do thank you!
*
NoSo
flower so fair blooms in this world.I
must
just
suppose,pitied
That passing angels
me.
And threw me down
a rose!"
64
"SL Sad 9&'md 3^airiesid am QJanla|Hlessly,
please.
North Windawfiil has
Fairies,"
cried
little
Rupert Robin breath-
"something
happened
down in Muddy Lane. Poor Santa Qaus was going into one of the chimneys, when suddenly those wicked East Wind Fairies crept up and blew all the soot down on top of him. He is stuck in the chimney now and cannotmove. Charlie Cricket, from the hearth,told
t^ififij^'t
The wicked East Wind Fairiea crept up and blew alt the toot down ontop of
Mm.is
meif
to fly over here
and ask yourall
help.
This
Christmas eve,
andall
Santa Claus does not get
his toys out to-night, just thiok
of
the poor children
who
will
be disappointed to-morrow morning!"
"Dear, oh dear!" cried the Northever arelast
Wind
Fairies moumfiilly, Fairies at
"what-
we
to
do with those naughty East Wind
all.
Only
week they shaved oflf poor Santa's beard while he lay asleep, and now they have managed to jam him in a chimney, and on Christmaseve too! Terrible!"
Thanking
little
Rupert Robin for being so kind as to bring the
message, they flew back over the houses in Winter Lane, until theyfinally
came
to
where Santa's beautiful
sleigh
was drawn up on one of
the roof-tops in
Muddy
Lane.
Thethem
sparrow army, imder the
command
of Captain
Sam
Sparrow,
had nobly turned out in order to help Santa, but althoughflew
many of
down
the chimney and tried to peck away the soot that heldit,
him, they were not strong enough to movematters worse.
and only served to make
65
"Hello, North
Wind
Fairies," said the captain, saluting smartly,
"I'm very gjadsort of
to see
you
here.
My men haven't been trained for thisFairies
work I'm
afraid,
but perhaps you can do something."
Flying over the North
Wind
peeped down into the chimney,
where Santa Qaus, in an exceedingly bad temper, was shouting for help.
"Hey, you good-for-nothing pack of fods, up there!" he roared angrily,
"why
don't you do something iostead of just flying around
twittering like a pack of Jackdaws.
Get the sky
police, get the sky
army,
get the sky parliament, get anything only get
me
out of here!"
"Whowetell
are
you
calling aangrily.
Jackdaw, Mr. Santa Glaus?" demanded
one of the sparrows
"You hadat all!"
better keep your
mouth shut or
will refuse to help
you
"If
my mouth
wasn't full of soot," roared Santa Glaus, "I'd soon
you what
I think
of you
^you conceited magpie. AU you're goodnowI
for is
making a noise
like
a crow! Oh-h-h-h!
am after swallowing
another ton of soot! Oh-h-h-h!"
"Now
then Gorporal Sparrow," cried the Gaptain sharply, **you
must not be rudeis
to Santa Glaus.
He
a very important
man andit."
the sky
parliament wouldn't like
"He
has
no
right
to
call
us
Magpies and Grows and Jackdaws,"replied Gorporal
Sparrow
sulkily, "it's
very insulting to the army."
Bidding him hold his tongue, the sparrow captain marshalled his
menand
away from the
chimney pot,
bending over, the leader of the North
Wind
Fairies called out,
"Hello there, Santa Glaus, can you hear me?"
"No," snapped Santa Glaus, "ITfc
am
North Wbid crept gUmtty up to tht pi-c-..
deaf because 1 *.u both
Jw.f U^.^..~
my
ears are full of
/-..,.
66
soot If that
is
the North
Wind
Fairies,
for goodness sake
do something
to help
me. I
am
in an awful state. O-h-h-h-h!"if
"I wonder
there are anysaid
windows
open in the house,"
the North
WindSanta
thoughtfully, "if so I could per"capii
haps manage to squeeze in and blow
spm.
.5 he ."
Qaus back up
the chimney again.
**"" '""" """'it is
What do youidea!" cried
think. Captain
Sparrow?" "I think
a marvellous
the captain admiringly.
"How you
winds manage to
think of the things I don't know."
The North Windtotheir
Fairies immediately flew
round to the frontuntil,
of the house and examined each of the windows carefully,greatdelight,
they
came
across
one of them standing
almost wide open.
Onceblew
inside, the
North Wind crept
silently
up
to the fireplaceuntil,
and
just as
hard as he possibly could up the chimney,
with a
great rattle of soot, and in a very bad temper indeed Santa shot back
up through the chimney
again.
"Ha
ha!" tittered some of the younger sparrows, "he looks exactly
like a nigger."
"Who's a nigger?" roared Santa Qaus, faring at them. "Keep your insulting remarks to yourselves, if you please, sir sparrows. Whowouldn't be a nigger I'd like to know, after spendiog nearly an hour ia
a filthy chinmey.
Oh
goodness gracious, whatlike this.
am
I to do. I
cannot go
on
my
rounds looking
Who
pushed aH that soot down on
top of
me anyhow?"Fairies,
"The East Windafter
of course," replied the Northflying
Windjust
Fairies angrily. "Captain
Sparrow says he saw them
away
you
started shrieking for help."
"Who
shrieked for help?" retorted Santa
Qaus
snappily, "I only
cried out in a gentle sort of voice."
"Hee hee!"
tittered
Corporal Sparrow to his companions, "in a
67
gentle sort of voice indeed!
Why, we heard him
over in the ehn tree
canteen
a good mile away!"have the law on the East
"I'll
Wind
Fairies for this!" roared Santa
QausI'll
furiously, "I'll
have them persecuted, prosecuted and executed!jail!
have them put in die wind cavernlife!
I'll
have them transported
for
I'U have
themto think of
!"
"Yes, yes," broke in the Northfirst
Wind
Fairies soothingly,
"but the
thing to dotiie
is
some way
to
make you
clean again.
We
can see to
punishment of the East Wind Fairies afterwards."flying
"What about some of usClaus from head to foot in
up
into the
douds and
releasing lots
of snow," suggested one of theit
"we could cover Santa and then no one would ever dream hefairies timidly,all this
was so dirty underneath.
It
would be the quickest way."soot
"What!" roared Santa Claus, "go about for hours withsticking to
me? Not
likely! I
may
look like a nigger," he added, glaringI'll
in the direction of the grinning sparrows, "but
be bothered
if
I'm
going to be one!"
"Come, come, now, Santa Claus,"severely,all
cried the
North Wind
Fairiesis
"you have your duty
to do,
you know. Your duty now
to get
your toys out before to-morrow morning. Fairies, will you please
fly
up
into the
douds and rdease
as
much snow
as
you possibly
can.
We
will wait here."
Thehim,
other North
Wind
Fairies obediently flew offsoft,
and Santa Clausall
stood sulkily waiting while theuntil at last
pure snowflakes poured
over
he looked spodessly clean once more."Like asilly
snowman,
I
am now,"
he grumbled.
"Old Sam Snowmansees
down
in farmer Joe's garden, won't
half laugh
when he
me
like this!"if
He wouldyouall
laugh more
he sawsoot,"
covered,
with black, ,
'^iT^' ^^ o Nmt.Uf'J^^
-
*-^
g'*^^" zj
cried the
North Windyoulook
Fairies sharply,,
...
nrhaioi.eoK,.f.udoo.eci.ime..-
why,68
lovcty,
Santa.
Thatone!"
white
coat
suits
you
even
better
than
your
red
"I hope so," muttered Santa Glaus, getting into hisI also
sleigh,
"and
hope
all
the soot will wash
off,
I
don't want to look like a
black nigger for the rest of
my
life!"
He
soared gracefully away over the snowy rooftops and raising his
twig bayonet, the sparrow captain cried:"Fall in, soldiers!
To
the right about turn!
Quick
fly!"
And
saluting smartly, the sparrow
army
flew
away
too.
"Dear me!" muttered Dame Fussy on Christmas morning, "whata lot of sootfell
down
the chimney last night! It must have been theI
wind blewto be sure!"
it
down. I thought
heard
it
blowing hard round aboutit
three o'clock.
Oh
dearie, dearie
me! What an awful mess
has
made
while the
And grumbling crossly, she went away to fetch her dustpan, wicked East Wind Fairies, listening outside, immediatelychant:
began
to
At least we've done Dame Fussy harm.
And caused old Santa great alarm He looked so droll from head to foot.With acoat of
snow and a beard ofHa!
soot!
Ha
But nobody cared about the East
Wind
Fairies just then, for
it
was Christbellst*W?l
mas morning and everywhere thethe snow.
were ringing a joyous message across
Bverywhere the
bells
were
rinfflng.
THE END
69
^L epi'acaunThe WindFairies caught at the Lepracaun's hat
And he cried: "Arrah now,'Tis tormented ye have
get
away out of that!bhron, oh
me,
ma
ma
bhron!
Can't ye go somewhere else an' just leave
me
alone.
*Last night shure ye stoleoflF
me
nice silver last.fast,
But ye'd better return'Twas
it
again very
me
grandfather's own, and ochone! if he knew.
Why
he'd
come back
an'
murder the whole pack of you!*
With
that last I
make shoes
for the
wee Pookas,
too.
For they help
me to make up my sweet Mountain Dew,neglect such important
Would ye have me
wee men,
Why
this
minute they're waitin' below in the Glen.*
So
fairies, I
ask ye, be off wid yourselves.elves.
An' take wid ye too those tormentin' windIf ye don't
why begorrah!me
I'll
give ye a scare.
An' then, be
song, ye had better beware!"
70
LfOW,
Sasi 9(9;darling,"is
J
3^ai'i'ies
ana J^atiiesaidPattie's
Mamma, "hereto post for
the letter I have
written to your daddie that I want you
me. Be sure to hold
it
tightly
so that
it
will not
blow away."andfeeling
Little Pattie took the letter,
very
important
indeed,
hurried
outThey danced round the letter.
through the gate, and down the road tothe post box at the comer.
But
alas!
Those wicked East Windlittle
Fairies
saw
her
coming,
and with a
shriek of delight, cried out: "Hurrah!this
Now weletter
can
work some more mischieflittle
morning. Let us grab theit,
from
Pattie before she can post
and blow
it
away
off over the tree
tops, so that her daddie will never get it!"
And swooping
across the road they grabbed the envelope
from poor
Uttle Pattie's haiid,
and bore
it
away up
into the air.tree, "this will
"Dear me," thought Rupert Robin from a nearbynever do. Litde Pattie givesI just hate to see her being Fairies
me crumbs
first
thing every morning, and
made imhappy.
I
wonder
if the
North Windwere busily
would help her."
He
flew off to the valley, where the Northall
Wind
Fairies
employed blowing
the dead leaves into piles by the roadside.
They
listened to his story with great attention,
and immediately flew backbitterly, be-
with him to the road where poor litde Pattie stood cryingcause she had lost her daddie's Meanwhile the wicked Eastthe top of a tree, wheresinging naughtily:it
letter.
Wind
Fairies
had blown the
letter
ontoit,
stuck on a twig, while they danced aroimd
71
.
Lit-lit-letter
O,to go.
NowTo
you cannot hopetree top
Pat's daddie far away.
But on the
you must
stay.
Lit-Ut-letter
O!
"To the rescue, fairies!""don'tlet
cried the kind
North Wind, darting forward,
them carry
it
away
to the nearby river. One, two, three
^go!"
The wicked East Wind Fairies gave a shriek of fury as they saw the North Wind Fairies approaching, and seizing up the letter they tried to dart away with it behind the clouds. But the North Wind Fairies,scooping up a lot of dust from the roadside, threwit full
into their faces,
and almost blinded, they dropped the envelope and and chokingas they went.
fled
away, sneezing
Immediately the kind NorthFairies pickedletter,
Windofif it,
up poorall
httle Pattie's
and blowingit
the dust
blew
gendy downit
the road
and
dropped
at her feet.it
Withit
a Uttle cry
of joy she picked
up, and runningsafely into
downwere
the road, dropped
the letter box.
The North Wind Fairiesand Rupert Robin,leafless
delighted,
perching himself perkily on atwig, began to cheerily chirp:She piclced U up. .
Once more we've given those East Wind
Sprites,
A couple of really terrible frights.Now dear httle Pattie will give me some crumbs.Andshe does give
me
really
deUdous ones!
Chirp Chirpery, chirpery, chirp.
THE END
72
The daintu Wind
Fairies are
around you.
tHWhen youAndlie
iketravel
(ZJeasiaeto the seaside
down
on the warm, sunny beachthat the dainty
Do you know
Wind
Fairies,
Are around you, almost within
reach.
Because in the holiday season.
They make
all
the wee simshine elves.
Sprinkle oceans and oceans of sunshine.
Which they wouldn't
^if
left to
themselves!
And And WiU
then they collectscatter
lots
of foam flakessea.
them over thelittle
So that each
blue-tinted wavelet
look pretty as pretty can be.
*
OhYou
yes!
When you
go to the seaside.
Just listen, and then, sweet and low.will hear a south
wind
fairy whisper:
"Hello, Uttie children! HeUo!
73
.
CTaifles
and
tlte
fntuggi^efs^EAS. me," said Christy Crab,stopping on his
way over theChrttly Crab benran to icrawt a mcsaogc
rocks on Sandy Beach, "there are those
wicked
smugglers,
makingis
ready to load their boats while everyone else
asleep.
That means
poor Policeman Paddy will get into trouble again for not catchingthem. Oh, deary dear!slow fellow at best, and
Howit
I
wish I could help him! But I
would need
am a someone much cleverer than me
to catch those wicked smugglers.
At that moment the Moon Man appeared from behind a cloud curtain,and beamed down on Christy Crab in a very friendly way. For they
knew each other well by sight, you"Ah!" muttered Christy
see.
excitedly, "there isif
my
old pal, the
Man
Ina
The Moon. Nowway
I
wonder
he could help me. Maybe
if I write
message in the sand with
my
claws,
he
will read it
and think of some
to catch the smugglers so that poor Policeman Pat will not get into
trouble any more. I had better hurry though; thelazy to-night, I notice."
Moon Man
is
very
Andthe
crawling off the rocks in a great bustle, Christy Crab began to
scrawl a message in the soft sand with his very sharp daws. Very soon,
Moon Man, who was
watching him, saw this mysterious message
appear:
74
When
your
Moon
lamps shine on the
silver shore.
The smugglers are going to smuggle some more; And Policeman Pat will have worked in vain. If we let them escape to the sea again.Signed:
Christopher Augustus Charles Crab.
"H'm," murmered the Moon Man, as he read the message, "those smugglers again. I know PoUceman Pat, too. A very nice young fellow. I often keep him company at night when he is on duty along the lonely Coast road. And it seems Christy Crab wants me to help him. Now let
me see He frowned,
"then quite suddenly his frown disappeared and he
smiled so brightly that one of the smugglers cried out in alarm: "Hurry
up there, men. If the moon comes out we are ruined. Everyone what we are doing. Heave Ho! there. Heave Ho!"But the
will see
Moon Man
paid no attention to them.star to the
He was
too busyFairies,
writing an S.O.S.
on a shooting
kind West
Windlater.
who were resting in the clouds up
over the harbour wall.
"Goodness me," cried the West Wind ten minutesnow,I
"Here
comes an S.O.S. from Mortimus Moon. What can be wrong with himwonder."read the messagecareftilly,
They
and
pitied poor
PoUceman Pat
very much.
"We must help him, of course," criedall
the kind
West Windis
Fairies together.
"The
question
^how?"the
"I know!"suddenly.
cried
West Wind
"You fly up to the Moon Man and tell him to start shining for all he is worth, and then I will go down tothe harbour and blow and blow and
blow withstorm on
all
my
might until
I raise
a"Hjthe
the sea that will force those
moon comes out we are mined"
75
wicked smugglers to return to land again. Then, while they are sneaking back to their cave, some of you canfly
out to the storm bell tied to the
buoy and ring
it
so loudly that the whole
town
will hear
and comethe
nmning down just in time to see Policeman Pat capturing smugglers. Now, isn't that a grand idea, fairies?"
The West Windoff to see the
Fairies
were deUghted, and while some of them flew
Moon Man, the remainder hurried down to the cove where the huge storm bell lay at rest on the quiet water. Then the West Windhimself, pushing out his chest importantly, flew off
down
to the water
and commenced to blow upon the
sea, imtil at last it
was heaving and
churning about in a simply frightful way.
"Oh, dear!"those
cried the smugglers in dismay, "this
must be one of
summer storms people aroimd here talk so much about. Oh, dearie me, what are we to do! If we return to shore that interfering old Policeman Pat will surely catch us; and if we continue out to sea in this wind we will certainly be drowned. And now the moon is shining, too.Everything seems to be agaiost us to-night!"
They
all
tried to steady the boat, but the
West Wind gave them no
chance, and before long the wicked smuggler captain decided to put
back to the shore, even thoughImmediately therest
meant being caught by Policeman Pat. of the West Wind Fairies, who were watchingit
them, commenced to push the huge storm
bell,
ringing
it
loudly again
and again from
until at last
the whole town was awakened, and jvimping up
their beds, the people dressed themselves in a
hurry and crowded
downwhat
to the harbour wall in order to seeall
the excitement was about.
Meanwhile, up on the lonely Coast road. Policeman Pat heard all the commotion, and came running
down
to the
cove, where the wicked smugglers were
trying to sneak back
mto
their cave.
He
blew loudly on his whistle, and immedHa bleuloHdttf
on
his icM with the big searchlights fixed to the prow,
quickly up, just in time to see
came chug-chugging Policeman Pat fastening handcuff on
the leader of the smugglers.
"Hurrah!" cried
all
the town's people joyfully, "our brave Policemanlast.
Pat has caught those wicked smugglers at
Now we need
not fear
them any more at night. Hurrah! Hurrah!" And the Lord Mayor, very important in his fine robes, pinned a medal on Policeman Pat because he had been so brave, while the crowdcheered themselves almost hoarse.
And now anyPatis
moonlight night,
if
you watchwinking
closely while
Policeman
patrolling
up and down on the
lonely Coast road,slyly at
you wiU beif
certain to see the
Man
in the
Moon
him, almost as
he were saying:
"Ah!it
My fine fellow!really
I
wonder what would you say
if you
knew who
was that
caught the smugglers for you, after
all!"
THE END
77
J^atsSaid Pat:
J^ifaijerdad's a sailor.
"My
And And
sails
the deep, blue sea.
oh! I hope
Wind
Fairies
Will keep him safe for me.*I like to think they're
watching
WhenAs
stately ships pass by.sails floating
With whiteif
upward.
the ships could fly
*
And
in the winter evenings
WhenI
stormy winds bewail,they'llit
know
watch
my daddie'sgale.
ship
And
guide
through the*
Because,
although there's hundreds
Of fineThe
ships to be had.is:
thing that really matters
I've only got one
Dad!
78
.
Ue
%cAk
miJIke
Cyaifies
kelp
M,epi*acaun
THE mischievoustree
little
Lepracaun"He tetl flat entbe eroutid
was dancing under the Hawthorn
on the
side of Buttercup Hill.joyfully, as
"Hurrah!" he cried
he leaped about in his
tiny, pointed
shoes, "to-night meself an' Willie Will O'
have the best of sport, begob. Between us
The Wisp is goin' we are goin' to leadit
toall
the travellers astray on the bog. Oh-h-h! Won't
be great fan!
Hurrah!"
And waving
his tasselled cap in the air
he commenced to
sing:
Willie Will O'
The Wisp and me,
Down in the lonely bog will be.We'll leadall
the travellers out of their way.
An' leave them aroaming until break of day.Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!
moment, from over the wall of the old ivied house nearby, a huge stone came sailing, and hit the Lepracaun right in the back just as he was finishing his song. He fell flat on the ground, and lay thereAtthatstaring at thesplit in two.
Moon Man who was
laughing so heartily his face almost
"Hee hee," tittered the litde breeze elves as they danced about, "Liam Lepracaun doesn't look so cheeky now, lying stretched on his back, and it's about time somebody put him in his pkce, too." Feeling very angry the Lepracaun jumped to his feet, and looked upat the wall
of the old house, but just as he did so another stone,hit
this
time
from behind him,
him smartiy on the79
shoulder.
Withfor as
a
little
shriek,
Liam tookfeel
to his heelsHill.
and
fled for all
he washim,
worth off over the top of Buttercuphe ran, he could
But even
this didn't save
someone catching
at his heels
from behind,
as if trying to trip
him up.he gasped dodging about, "if you are having a
"Oh, Wind
Fairies!"
game with me please come out where I can see you. Please!" But he knew in his heart it wasn't the Wind Fairies, they never threw stones at anyone. They were not strong enough to lift them from offthe ground.
"What
ails
you, Liam?" asked his friend, Willie Will O'
The Wisp,"you
in surprise, as the Lepracaim
came racing up
to
him
in the Bog,
look fair scared out of your wits."
"Sobelieve
I
am, Willie," replied Liam in a whisper, "so
I
am, begob. An'
me it's
not easy to frighten a Lepracaun, either."
"An' what frightened ye, Liam?" enquired WilUe Will O' The Wisp,almost fliddng himself out in his excitement."It's the old
house on the side of Buttercup Hill," replied theat
Lepracaim panting. "Someone threw stonesat once, Willie,
me from
all
directions
and then pinched
me
nate
little
cap, that I got
from
me great gr^uidfather. Ochone, ochone and ochone! 'Tis disgraced I am this minute, Willie. If the other Lepracauns get to hear about this, I am ruined, an' that's a fact." "Why don't you ask the North Wind Fairies to help you?" suggestedWillie.
"They
are
down
in the valley now, sprinkling snowflakes
about."
"What!" cried Liam Lepracaun.
"Am
I to
be reduced to asking
those interfering North
Windisis,
Fairies to
help me. Bedad, an' thisaffairs
a sad state ofWillie.
entirely,
so
it
But
maybe
you're right, at that. If they can't
help me, no one can."
And"soi'Tm'i^Jita... ,ffJ..."
with a wave of his hand, theraced
Lepracaun80
away
down
into
Primrose Valley, where the NorthIt
Wind
Fairies
were busily working.
was the North Wind himself however, who saw him approaching
first.
"Oh
it's
you,
is it?"
he said snappily. "And what may you be
wanting around here, Liam Lepracaun?""Yerrah, hold yer tongue, will you," retorted the Lepracaun saudly,"sure'tis
as long as this
week
an' next.
Who
said I
wanted anything,
Mr. Windy?"
me Mr. Windy," roared the North Wind, almost dancing with fury, "my name is William, Walter, Wilfred, Wenceslas, Worthing"Don'tcall
ton Wind, and I'd have you remember
it,
you cheeky
httle sprite."
"What!" repUed Liam, throwing upthose
his tioy hands,
"remember
all
names? Begob, Mr. Windy,
sir,
I'd
need a memoryif it
as long as theI'll
Black Witch's broom handle for that. Butgiveit
annoys you sure
up. Will that plaze you, your Windiness?"a grab at him, but the Lepracaun dodged
The North Wind madeaway
just in time, calling out as
he did
so:
"Oh all right, all right, Mr. High and Mighty William Walter WilfredWenceslas Worthington Wind. But I'd rather you had that name than
me, begob. Can
I spake to
your
fairies for
a moment, plaze?"
"What do you want with mysuspiciously.
fairies?"
enquired the North
Wind
"Nothing good,
I'll
be boimd."
"Ah, now, Mr. Windiness, sir, ye misjudge me sadly," replied Liam, shaking his head, "but if ye want to know, the old house on the side ofButtercup Hillis
haunted. Someone threw stones atI
me
from
all sides
to-night, begob.
An'
know our own
fairies
never throw ston."
"It
must be those wickednow;
Pixie Sprites," said the
North Wind
frowning, "they are the wickedest of all wicked fairies. But here come myfairiestell
them
all
about
it."
The North Wind Fairies were very sorry to bear the Lepracaxm's story. They liked the old house on the side of Buttercup Hill and did not want people down in the valley to start believing it was haunted."Youseeit
will
be hard for us
to catch
them," explained the North
8i
Wind
Fairies to the Lepracaun, "those Pixie Sprites can
make them-
selves invisible
even to us."
"Surely," relied
Liam
flicking his feet
about so that his jewelledstill/ee/,
shoes twinkled, "but even if they can't be seen, they can
begob.
Whyall
shouldn't ye freeze
them out by dropping
lots
of snow and frost
over Buttercup Hill?"
"Why
that's a
grand idea, Liam!" exclaimed the Northlet
Wind Fairies
delightedly.
"Come,
us be
oflF
without delay."
They all hurried up to where the old house stood on the side of ButtercupHill, and, whistling for the Frost Elves to bring their silver paint-
pots, the
North Windall
Fairies started to release lots
and
lots
of snow
from the clouds
over the garden, house andit
hill.it
Meanwhile thewovild not melt
Frost Elves paintedtoo soon."Br-r-r-r. .
over with silver frost so that
."
whispered the wicked Pixie Sprites, crouching with
chattering teeth in a
comer of the garden,
"this is terrible, soI
it is.
If
we
stay here
all
night
we
will surely
be frozen.
think. Pixies,it,
weis
had better lookgoing tolast for
for another
home. By the look of
this
snow
weeks and weeks.
Come
along.
Let us be on ourSprites fled
way!"
And
thus, one
by one, the naughty Pixie
awaytheir
over the hillside, leaving the North
Wind
Fairies
clapping
hands joyfully in the old garden. For now, the ivy covered house
on Buttercup
Hill
would be haimted no more."Well,saucily,fairies,"
said
the Lepracaun
"I
be
off
widfor
meself
now,
begob.out offor you,
An' thank ye
helpingtrouble.
meAs
me
little
bit
of
Mr. Wonderful Windy Windigo to the WindBarber,Bs
ness, the next time ye
Cavern"Thuu terrible,loit
askWell
himBs
to
clip
yer
It..."
loug
tougue82
yer
scraggy
beard.
Slan
libhy
fairies!
Until
we meet
again!"
hand, the mischievous litde Lepracaun dartedside, singing perkily as
And waving his away ov^ the hill-
he went:
Mr. Windy Windiness WindIs
one of them windy boys.shriek
Who love toAnd make
and roar and bawl.
a ferocious noise.
He
loves to kick
up
a terrible shindy.
Does our Mr. WiUiam Windiness Windy!
"The
ungrateful litde brat!" roared the North
Windat that
angrily,
"Mr.
Windiness Windy, indeed!"
And even the North Wind
Fairies
had to laugh
ood
THE END
8?
Tic-A-Tac-Tic, Tic-A-Tac-Tic,
Hear him so busily tapping.
On
his
wee
last
Under
a tree.fitting
Cutting and
and rapping.
Tic-A-Tac-Tic, Tic-A-Tac-Tic.Shoes gay and light as a feather.Silver the nails.
Golden the thread.Cloud vapour instead of *leather.
Tic-A-Tac-Tic, Tic-A-Tac-Tic,Laces of sunshine totie
them.
White, pink and blue,Violettoo.
Now who
on earth means84
to
buy them?
Tic-A-Tac-Tic, Tic-A-Tac-Tic
Watch when the moonlight
is falling,
And youFairies
will see,elves.calling.
and
On
this
wee cobbler*
Tic-A-Tac-Tic, Tic-A-Tac-Tic,
Tidy and neat
as aall
Quaker,
WorkingSits
day,
Happy and gay. the Wind Fairy shoemaker.
85
aifies
So-o-oxigh,
so-o-ough,
so-o-oug^.
Over the meadows Over the rooftops*
a-sighing.
Creeping through tree top and bough.acrying.
Cr-o-oon,Softly
cr-o-oon,
cr-o-oon.
and sweetly acreeping.
On by the light of the moon. To where the children are sleeping.*
Dream,Deeply
dream,
dream.'till
and
sweetly
morning,
When, with
the early sunbeam,
Joy will awake with the dawning.
86
No, children, not quite the endl The Wind Fairie* wlU be backagain next year. . .
FRINHEO BYHELY'S LIMITED
DUBLIN
\-mm