Adventures of Bud and Petal

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22344, 15 February 1936, Page 4 (Supplement)

Adventures of Bud and Petal

( ] By ALTHEA FAHEY—Chapter 111. ' Q

Wonders of

THE twins were delighted with the idea of seeing the wonders of Starland, and after promising, to return in the evening, the trio bade au revoir to the Guardian of the Stars and set off to see the sights of Starland. They walked through t.he city, and Petal was delighted at the sight of the pretty moon-ray frocks of the fairy girls; "but," she said to Fleetwing, "why do ' the Star Fairies look so aloof, so proud?" "You remember i told you that the Silence of the Ages is kept in Starland," answered Fleetwing. "Star fairies are very dignified; they are the opposite to the gay happy fairies we saw in Rainbow City. The traditions of Starland are as old as time and Rainbow City is young compared with Starland; it has only been in existence since the Flood." The streets in the City of Starland are very wide and it is the duty of the young Star Fairies before they are old enough to take up the responsibilty of polishing stars, to keep the streets clean; as you may have guessed all the roads are made of Star Dust and you know how dust flies about. As the twins and Fairy Fleetwing came to the outskirts of the City, they saw before them the turrets of a castle. "Who lives there?" asked Bud. "That," said Fleetwing, "is the castle of Venus." "Who is Venus?" asked Petal, "Venus," answered Fairy Fleetwing, "is the Goddess of Love and Beauty, she is the mother of Cupid. The Greeks called her Aphrodite. Everything that is beautiful is to be found in her castle. Aphrodite, as the Greeks call her, is Love; she guides all the love thoughts in the hearts of humans." As the twins and Fleetwing came to the entrance gate of the Castle Venus, they saw that the grounds were gloriously beautiful. Flowers blossomed everywhere, fountains played and fairy minstrels played sweet music.

The castle was built entirely of star crystal and dazzled the eyes of all who beheld it. The Castle Venus is so bright that wo mortals can see it in the sky and we know it as the planet Venus. Just beyond the castle of Venus, the travellers came to the palace of Saturn. "I have often heard of Saturn," said Bud. "What does he do?" "Saturn," said Fairy Fleetwing, "is the Greek God of Seed-sowing. He it is who guards the seeds planted in the earth, who attends to their wants and causes them to grow." As the trio passed by the home Saturn they saw that all along its walls and all about the palace was very neat and orderly, but not at all like the Castle Venus. "Saturn works hard and has no time for frivolities," said Fairy Fleetwing. "I am sure you have all 'heard about the planet Saturn." After passing the castle of Saturn, the travellers met Orion and his dog

Sirius on their way to the city, but; as they appeared to be in a great hurry, Fleetwing did not stop them. "What a splendid dog," said Bud. "Who is his master? Is ho some Greek God too?" "That is Orion so greatly loved by the beautiful huntress Diana," answered Fairy Fleetwing. Diana accidentally killed him whilst hunting one day and in sorrow she placed him and his dog Sirius in the sky to shine as stars." "Starland is a wonderful place," said Bud. "I had no idea that such great and interesting people lived hero." I suppose the great Mars lives here too" "Yes." said Fairy Fleetwing. "We are coming to his palace now. After walking some distance, the trio came upon a great heavy-looking palace made of huge meteors. Here all the soldiers of Starland live. "May we go in?" asked Bud. "Oh, no," cried Petal. "I'm afraid it all looks so warlike." "Don't be afraid," said Fairy Fleetwing. "Even the great Mars is friendly with King Oberon and we are quite safe." The soldiers of the guard knew King Oberon's secretary, and so the three had no difficulty in entering the castle, but they did not stay long there. Everything was so sombre and warlike that poor little Petal was quite miserable, so Fleetwing did not linger. "Mars," he said to the twins, controls the fortunes of war and guides the plans and thoughts in the minds of the mortal War Lords, the Generals, and Admirals, and he it is who guides all their battles." When the twins and Fairy Fleetwing came out of the Castle of Mars, they found that evening had come, so they hastened back to the home of the Guardian of the Stars. They found him waiting for them and they lost no time in leaving for the great palace of the Queen of the Night. I wonder if you have guessed who this Great Queen is? Of course you have, we have all seen her palace shining in the sky so often, so big and stately, the moon that is the home of this great and beautiful Queen. (To be continued)