Rain Fairies.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXV, Issue 2, 15 July 1905, Page 55

Rain Fairies.

BY DOROTHEA CRAWFORD (Aged 10) “ph, Auntie!” cried Alan, bounding out of the nursery door, and seizing on his aunt when she was half-way downstairs. "One more story, please? There is just time for one before tea. Oh, please!” "You insatiable little tyrant!” laugh ed Aunt Rose, suffering herself to be drawn into the nursery, however. "You had three stories this morning, Alan, and I cannot remember any more.” ".Make one up,” suggested Alan, eoaxiiigly. “You do make up such nice stories, Auntie. Auntie laughed again, and kissed him fondly. “I don’t know what will happen to my head if this wet. weather lasts much longer,” she said, sitting down in the big rocking chair, by the window. Alan curled himself up on the carpet at her feet, and looked up at her expectantly. "I like fairy stories best,” he reminded. “Think something about rain fairies, Aunt Rosie. There are rain fairies, aren't there?” "Why, yes, 1 suppose so. Give me time, pet, and I will do my best.” And the pretty auntie gazed despairingly at the thickly-falling rain-drops, as if seeking inspiration from them. After a . silence of about five minutes, Aunt Rose began: ■‘Once upon a time” (Alan smiled contentedly) "there was a little watersprite, who lived in a big ocean with thousands—nay, millions—of companions very like himself, lie was a verypretty and very tiny little fellow, and lie generally dressed in a suit of seagreen. but. sometimes he changed it for blue.” # "Is that the reason that the sea is sometimes green and sometimes blue?” broke in Alan. "The very reason. There are so many tiny water-sprites that when they change, the colour of their coats they change the colour of the sea also. Well,” continued Auntie, “up to the time of which I speak this little fellow had spent all his life playing in the ocean, riding on the backs of fish, and getting jnto all kinds of harmless mischief. Perhaps he even played with the toes and pulled the curls of the water-babies, of whom we hear in that pretty book of Kingsley's which I read to you last week—” “I liked that,” interrupted Alan, “I ■wish I could find a water-baby, Auntie.” “If there are such things, which I don't doubt,” smiling a little. “This little water-sprite must have known all about them, for he was such a jolly, merry, good-tempered little chap. that, he knew and loved everybody, anil every body knew and loved him. Indeed, he was a favourite with the Queen of the •Sea herself, and had the free run of the palace. Altogether little Dickon (as he was called) was very contented with his home, and had no wish to leave it. One very bright, hot morning, however, when he was riding on the top of a wave, he happened to look up at the sun, and it suddenly struck him what, a very wonderful thing it was. He looked again, and it seemed to him that the lovely blue sky was a much more desirable place than the cool green water. And then he felt very unhappy, for he had never before known what it was to want something which he had not got. The more he thought and looked, the brighter and more beautiful the sun appeared; and presently dozens of little sunsprites gathered round him as he sat. dreamily on the crest of the wave, crying, ‘Come up, come up, little brother, and play with us in the sky. Look at these lovely golden ladders. You •could run up them in a moment.’ And they danced up and down the sunbeams, singing anti tossing their golden curls about, till Dickon was quite dazzled with their beauty. But still he did not quite make up his mind to go. for he remembered a time when he had gone to a submarine school and written in a submarine copybook a sentence which ran very much in this way: “Look before you leap!’ only, perhaps, ‘dive’ or ‘swim' was substituted for ‘leap.’ So the sun sprites sang still more sweetly, pointing up at the sky: ‘Look, there are many of your companions already gone up there! See that white cloud, it is just a crowd of water sprites. Let the Sun be your king, as he is theirs and ours!’ 'The longer the little sprite looked at that fair blue playground with the wonderful shining king in the centre, the safer it seemed to him the leap would bo. And just then a special friend of Dickon's came

hurrying by. and began Io climb one of 1 he sunbeam ladders. ‘Are you tuning up?’ he cried. ‘I am going; I have the Queen’s permission?’” "I will go,” said Dickon, feeling that away from the Sun there would be no happiness for him. ‘Wait for me but a moment,’ and he dived down. down, till he reached the Sea Queen’s Palace. Thousands of sprites wete passing in on the same errand as himself, and though the Queen felt a little sad at losing so many of her children, she answered, ‘Yes, go if you must,’ to their eager request, for she knew that if was no use trying to’ hold them oflee they had felt the call of the Sun. Every day that call was answered by millions of her subjects, but the Sun King could not keep them - they all came back in the end, and with that she had to be content. So the tiny sprites hurried joyfully away, and Dickon among them, and in a few minutes they were scaling the sun-beam-ladders. each -wrapped in a white cloak of water. They climbed and climb ed till they reached the sky, and the sun sprites were very charming companions. They played merrily in the blue air, and were very happy. But by-and-bye a boisterous wind came blustering along and swept the water sprites far inland, where they could no longer see their Al other Ocean when they looked down from their play, but only a brown, parched land, which made them shudder to look at, it was so dry. They wrapped their water-cloaks tightly around them, and began to wish that they had stayed at home. “It is very hot,” Dickon said grumblingly; and “it is very hot.” echoed all the others, beginning to look quite cross, as if it was not their own fault for coming where they might have reasonably expected it to be hot. Even the

merriest of folk get rios® some! hues Mild, like the little gtil who possessed a curl iii a vc» v becoming place, u her they Mie cross they are ••I’m glad it was a lit th* girl.’’ interposed .Alan. “I have known a little boy with a curt in a somewhat similar position.’ remarked Aunt Rose merrily, but a certain little boy who undeniably did possess curls thought it best to take no notice of this observation. “(»o on, please.” he said, and AmVie continued. “The sun-sprites were much surprised at this. It is just comfortable/ they declared cheerily, ‘it is not a bit too hot,’ and neither it was- for them. But it was n great deal too hot for the water-sprites. It affected their tempers, ami they looked so black on discovering that every body did not agree with them — a failing, by-the-byc. which is not altogether confined to water-sprites who are uncomfortable—that tho people down below said, “There will surely bo a thunderstorm soon, that cloud looks so dark.’ “Then the sun-sprites, who did not like to have anything dirty or disagreeable or bad-tempered in their beautiful clean sky, said, ‘You must go away froi here, unless you will look pleasant.’ The naughty water-sprites shouted back. ‘W won’t look pleasant, and wo won’t gc away.’ And the noise of so many lit tie water-sprites shouting at the tops of their little voices was so great that the folks below said, ‘Hark, is not that thunder? Now for the storm.’ “If you will not go away,” said the sun-sprites, “we must make you! It is our business to keep the sky clean; and how can our king shine down to the

people on the earth if you get in the way, looking like that?’ They were peace able little bodies, and did not want a fight if they could help it, “Xo. the water-sprites were certainly not comfortable themselves, where they were, and as they knew that they were making other people uncomfortable, they should have acted like gentlemen, and gone when they were asked. No gentleman ought to stay where he is not wanted. But these obstinate little

sprites simply put on defiant expressions. and prepared to battle for their footing. The sun-sprites gathered together their forces, and a great tight began. in which the forces of the sun were ultimately victorious, because they were both stronger and more numerous. As the water-sprites grew tired, they began to fall down to the earth, a few here and there at first, then thousands and thousands, as the victors pushed them out of the sky. The people rushed to their doors to look out. but the watercloaks made the sprites invisible, and

the\- thought that they were only drops of rain. “Little Dickon fell into a river, ami very glad hr was to be in water again, though it was so muddy that he would have scorned it any other time. The river was running very strongly and swiftly, and Dickon went with it. though he had no idea where it was going to. ‘lt knows itself. I suppose.’ he thought, ‘and 1 will know in the course of time, so for th a, present 1 had better go to sleep.’ To sleep he went, but still the river carried him on. borne

safely and swiftly on its broad brown bosom, till it finally laid him down in the cool green ocean again. When Dickon awakened, he was lying on a bit of lovely pink coral, ami with a whoop of joy he swam oil’ to tel) his friends of his adventures. And now.” said Aunt l?o*e. “here is nurse with your tea. so run along, little rascal, and don’t expect any more stories for at least a week.” “That means to-morrow.” said Alan roguishly: “you said a month this morning. Auntie.”