Friendly Fairies

"I really do not mean to be cross, but I just can't help it sometimes!" Marjorie said.

"Oh, but indeed you can help it, Marjorie!" the elf solemnly said as he shook his tiny finger at her nose. "And I am going to tell you how. First of all, when you awaken in the morning you must say to yourself, 'Oh what a lovely, happy day this is going to be!' then raise your arms above your head and take three long, deep breaths. Jump out of bed quickly, always remembering to put your toes on the floor first.

"For," continued Merry Chuckle, "Old Witchy Crosspatch is always waiting for children to get out of bed backwards. And when they do, she catches them by the heels and turns everything topsy-turvy all day long; but when you get out of bed toes first, I'll be there to start you on a pleasant day and Witchy Crosspatch will have to return to Make-Believe Land and hide her head!" "Sure enough, I did crawl out of bed backwards this morning!" Marjorie said.

"I know you did, my dear!" Merry Chuckle giggled. "And every time you do old Witchy Crosspatch makes everything seem disagreeable!"

"But I hate to run errands, Mister Chuckle!" cried Marjorie. "The old road is so dreadfully long and tiresome!"

"But the longer the road the more happiness you can find along the way, my dear!" Merry Chuckle replied, quick as a wink, his little eyes twinkling brightly. "If you look up at the blue sky and the beautiful sunshine and sing with the birds as you run along you'll find the road seems too short and you'll be back before you notice it. Just try it and see."

So Marjorie looked up the road with a smile and, sure enough, it did not seem so far to the store, and when she turned around, she was sitting upon the stone alone. The little elf had suddenly disappeared. Marjorie picked up her basket and skipped down the road singing at the top of her voice and before she had time to think about how far it was she was back home telling Mamma all about the queer little elf from Make-Believe Land.

"You haven't been away long enough to stop and talk with anyone on the road!" laughed Mamma. "Are you sure you have not been dreaming?" Marjorie wondered if it really had only been a dream, but the next morning when the golden sunshine peeped through her bedroom curtains, Marjorie did as Merry Chuckle had told her the day before. First of all she woke up and cried, "Oh what a lovely day this is going to be!" Then she took three long, deep breaths and then she jumped out of bed quickly, right on her toes. And, sure enough, old Witchy Crosspatch had to go back to Make-Believe Land and hide her head, so Marjorie spent a lovely, happy day with Merry Chuckle.

"I hope all children will hear of my recipe for a joyous day," said Merry Chuckle, "so that each day for them can be filled with sunshine and happiness!"

GRANDFATHER SKEETER-HAWK'S STORY

It was a beautiful day in the late summer. Tommy Grasshopper, Johnny Cricket and Willy Ladybug were playing on a high bank of the river, and watching the little fish jumping after tiny flies and bugs that fell upon the surface of the stream.

"Let's go up higher so that we can see them better," Willy Ladybug said.

"Yes, let's climb up on the tall reeds so that we can look right down in the water," Johnny Cricket said. "But we must be very careful and not fall, for the fish would soon swallow us, and that would not be very much fun!" he laughed.

So Tommy Grasshopper and Johnny Cricket caught hold of Willy Ladybug's four little hands and helped him to climb up the tall reeds, for Willy was not as old as the other Bug Boys, and might fall in the water if they did not help him.

From the tall reeds the three Bug Boys could look down in the water and see the pretty little sun fish and the long slim pickerel darting around and turning their shiny sides so that the sun would reflect its rays on them, just as if they were looking glasses.

The Bug Boys watched the fish until they grew tired, and they were just starting down the tall reed when a great big dragon fly flew upon the top of the reed and called to them.

Of course all the Bug Boys knew old Gran'pa Skeeterhawk—for it was he—so the three returned to the reed and sat down again to pass the time of day with Gran'pa.

Presently Willy Ladybug saw a strange fish in the water.

"What kind of a fish is that, Gran'pa Skeeterhawk?" he asked.

"That's a catfish!" Gran'pa replied. "Queer looking fish, the catfish are; they do most of their feeding at night since Omasko, the elk, flattened their heads."

"Dear me! Are their heads flat?" Johnny Cricket asked.

"Flat as a pancake!" Gran'pa Skeeterhawk replied, and then told them this story:

"I've heard my Gran'pa tell that once the catfish had heads that were shaped like sunfish," Gran'pa Skeeterhawk said, "and they thought that they were not only the most beautiful fish but the fiercest fighters in the world, although they would always swim away as fast as they could whenever anything came near them. You see, they really were not even a teeney, weeney bit brave.

"But when the catfish got by themselves and they thought there was no one else to overhear them, they would make up fairy tales of wonderful adventures they had gone through, and fierce monsters they had destroyed. One would say 'I wish I were large enough to drag home the enormous giant eel I killed today. He was sixteen feet long, and weighed five hundred pounds.' Another would say, 'Pooh, that is nothing! Why, you ought to see an Indian who tried to catch me in a net! Why, I not only pulled him in the water and dragged him all over the bottom, but I made him promise he would never disturb any of the catfish tribe after this!'

"Just then a little bird flew over the water and his shadow so startled the boastful catfish, they buried themselves in the mud at the bottom of the stream.

"After a while," Grand'pa Skeeterhawk continued, "They got up courage to peek out of the mud, and as they saw nothing to frighten them, they formed in a circle and told more tales of their fighting qualities.

"One old catfish who had been the leader because he could tell the biggest tales and hide under the mud quicker than any of the others finally said: 'We are the best fish in the water, as you all know, so I think it will be a good plan to fight everything that comes near the water from the land!'

"'Shall we fight the big hawk who wades in the water and catches some of us?' asked a little kitten fish.

"'Kitten fish should be seen and not heard!' the old chief catfish answered quickly. I do not believe we should harm the hawk. He is not large enough. I was thinking of the large beast who comes wading along the shores and eats the grasses that grow beneath the surface. You know he has to raise his head every once-in-a-while in order to breathe, so if we should all hang on to him we could pull him under the water.'

"So the catfish, although they were so frightened that their fins grew stiff, decided that they would follow their chief, for they expected he would be the first to hide under the mud when the big beast came.

"Finally old Omasko, the elk, came down to the river to feed, and the old chief catfish swam out and pulled on Omasko's whiskers, and all the other catfish cried: 'See how brave and fearless the mighty catfish are!' and they all swam out and pulled Omasko's whiskers, too. This made Omasko very angry, for he never harmed any fish in his life.

"He began jumping and pawing with his heavy hoofs, and smashed all the catfish down in the mud and when they finally came out again, which was not until two or three days later, their heads were as flat as they are now!

"That is why all catfish have flat heads," Grandfather Skeeterhawk finished.

"It served them right for being so boastful!" Johnny Cricket said.

"It served them right for trying to harm someone who never harmed them!" Gran'pa Skeeterhawk replied, as he darted up in the air and flew over the tall cat-tails.

CROW TALK

"Caw, Caw, Caw," one old crow cried as he faced the other two crows. "Caw?" asked the second old crow as he plumed his feathers and screwed his head around to get a better view of the little boy lying under the tree.

"Caw-AAAAH! Ca—aaaaw!" replied the first crow.

"Those crows must be talking to each other!" Dickie Dorn thought to himself, as he lay upon his back under the big oak tree and watched the three crows.

The third crow now cried, "Awww! Ca-ca-caw!"

Dickie jumped up and ran down the hill to where Granny lived. It was a tiny little house, not much larger than a piano box, but it was plenty large enough for Granny, for Granny was only two feet high. Some people even thought Granny was a witch.

Of course Dickie knew that Granny was not a witch, for Granny was very good and kind. So Dickie knocked at Granny's tiny front door.

"Come in!" Granny cried. "Good morning, Dickie!" she said, as Dickie crawled into the tiny living room.

When Dickie took a seat upon a tiny sofa he did not know just how to ask Granny for what he wanted, so he twiddled his thumbs.

"Why do you twiddle your thumbs, Dickie?" Granny asked, as she smiled through her glasses at him.

"I was wondering what the three crows were talking of!" Dickie replied. Granny went to her tiny cupboard and brought out a little bottle of purple fluid. She dropped three drops of this into a tiny spoon and held it to Dickie.

"Am I to take it, Granny?"

"Yes, my dear, and you will be able to understand what the three crows are talking about."

Dickie swallowed the purple fluid, for he was very anxious to return to the big oak tree and listen to the crows. Granny watched him for a few moments with her eyes full of twinkles, then she told him to run along to the tree.

And Dickie thanked Granny and ran as fast as he could to the tree where the three crows were still talking.