Madeline Brandeis

“ That was the whisper that buzzed all about the village the next day.
Little Eileen, with swollen eyes, told her mother how she had left the lad on the bank of the lake. She told how he had planned to put on the clothing of a boy and call the fairies. She wept as she told how brave he had been and how he had promised to write to her.
[63]
Her mother smiled sadly and said, "Och, the poor lad will never write! Never will Ireland see himself again! Sure, it's lost he is, and he standing by the banks of that lake in the clothing of a man child! For the fairies do be looking for his likes. ”

“ She looked quite different from the tiny golden-haired girl Shaun had known. She was a tall, slender young lady.
Her dimple still became a fairy ripple when she was happy. When she was cross, it still seemed a smudge of dirt.
Marjorie was often cross now. The reason was a strange one. She had too much to make her happy. She had loving parents and a beautiful home. She had many friends who adored her.
[112]
She was very beautiful, too. Everything lovely belonged to Marjorie. Even wealth was hers.
Her father gave her everything she asked for. She had an automobile. ”

“ Then one boy came close to John and cried out, "Arrah, 'tis no fairy, at all, at all! 'Tis an American lady from across the seas!"
John faced the boy. There was a frown on his face.
"You'll not be standing there saying that again!" he said. "'Tis herself is one of the Good People!"
The boy laughed again. "Och, you know well she is no fairy!"
"She is!" yelled John.
"She is not!" shrieked the boy.
John rolled up his sleeves. He hit the boy.
When Marjorie came out of the shop [166] she found her young friend in a fierce battle. She separated the boys and thrust John into the car. ”

“ Dawn O'Day read the letter a few weeks later in Ireland.
This is what it said:
"My Dawn O'Day—
"At last I am leaving the fairy folk. My fingers have grown too clumsy and my arms too big for the dainty likes of the Good People. Those elves, the children of this bright world, do not be wanting Shaun O'Day any more.
"And so, little Eileen, I am coming [97] back to you and Ireland. And in my pocket is silver and gold to buy us a wedding and a cottage. ”

“ Every wee boy's mother feared the leprechaun. And so she dressed her boy in the dress of the girl to trick that sly creature.
Boys were needed badly by the human folk. Why should the fairy folk be taking them away?
Shaun had a good, kind father. He was a fisherman. Shaun's mother was dead.
[37]
But Shaun and his father lived happily enough until one day Shaun's father married again.
He married a woman who had four sons. Grown-up boys they were, and lazy.
Like the Queen in the story of Conn-eda, this woman was unkind. Little love had she for Shaun, and she made him work hard.
Poor little lad! ”

“ There are evil fairies and solitary fairies.
You must always call them the "Good People," for they are easily offended.
But if you believe in them and leave a bit of milk for them upon the window sill, they will bring luck and happiness to you.
Now the fairy that we are going to meet in this story is called the leprechaun, or fairy shoemaker. We are going to meet him, because if it had not been for him, there would be no story at all.
The fairy shoemaker sits under a toadstool making tiny shoes. The word [34] "leprechaun" comes from two Irish words meaning "one shoe." ”

“ Only the rain in Ireland is not willing. The rain does not want photographers to catch the beauty of the country. The rain tries to spoil everything for the poor photographers. But we forgive him because he makes Ireland so green.
Here are the names of the little children who helped me so nicely by coming to Marjorie's birthday party and posing as her guests: Alice and Howard Bucquet, Caroline Kuhns, Barbara and Patrick Ford, Betty and Stephen Kline, Marie Madeleine Brandeis and Dietrich Haupt.
The only grown-up in the story, John's girl-fairy, is Miss Alice White. ”

“ The witch gave the Queen a chess-board and told her to invite Prince Conn-eda to play a game of chess.
The witch said to the Queen, "The loser of this game shall be obliged to [19] obey the orders of the winner. And, you, great Queen, shall win the game! Having won the game, you are to send the Prince Conn-eda upon a dangerous journey. He must seek and bring to you, within a year and a day, three golden apples, a magical black steed, and the Hound of Supernatural Powers. These things are so well guarded that the Prince will surely lose his life in attempting to seek them." ”

“ She will go back to America and always remember the boy who called her a good fairy. She will try really to be a good fairy because of that.
She will not think so much about her [191] self any more. But she will try to give pleasure to others because of the pleasure she finds in doing it.
And as John O'Day grows older, perhaps he will find out the truth about Marjorie. But he will always be wanting to believe that she was a girl fairy, even if he finds that she was not.
He will always want to keep his dreams, because he is Irish.
HE WILL ALWAYS KEEP HIS DREAMS ”

“ She had blamed her rude companions for having insulted the Irish lad. She wanted him back.
But of course Shaun never went back to America. He was too happy in Ireland. You know why he was happy. He had his Dawn O'Day and his little children.
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So he hardly ever thought of the baby Princess in "fairyland." He was too busy working hard to make a living for his family. He had so little money. But it did not make him unhappy. Sometimes it is a good thing when people have to work. It makes them happy.
You see how discontented Marjorie was. ”

“ Policemen on the streets of Dublin wear caps with silver harps on their visors. You know that the harp is the [147] symbol of Ireland, and it is used on the new flag of the Irish Free State.
Dublin is a quaint and ancient city. There are few automobiles on the streets.
One sees many jaunting cars, which are funny little high carts with a seat on each side and big wheels. People sit with their legs hanging over the sides, while the driver sits up on the high box and drives an old thin horse.
A JAUNTING CAR
There are also many bicycles whirling along in Dublin.
Children seem to be everywhere. ”

“ He was very young when he had to labor like a full grown man, while the sons of his stepmother rested or played.
Shaun was always called Shauneen by his father, who loved him dearly. "Shauneen" means "little Shaun." "Een" is the Irish for "little."
[38]
"Oh, Shauneen, lad," said the father, one night after his return from sea, "'tis tired you look, and worn. Faith! Can the school work be so hard?"
Shaun did not tell his father that the wicked stepmother had kept him from [39] school that day. He did not tell his father that she had made him walk upon an errand, miles and miles away. ”

“ School children have to study the Irish language in that part of Ireland called the Free State. The Free State is free from Great Britain and has its own government. It is the southern part of the country, and Dublin is the capital.
The northern part of Ireland is still under the government of England. [146] The County Galway, wherein John's village stood, belongs to the Free State. ”

“ He steals wee Irish boys away from their homes because they do work so well. He makes them work for himself—this mischief-making fairy!
He will not bother with wee girls.
"Wee girls are not so strong as wee boys," says he.
So when you meet Shaun O'Day, you must not be surprised to find him wearing a petticoat! You must not be [35] surprised, because it is the fault of the leprechaun.
You see, Shaun O'Day lived in a very western part of Ireland, in Connemara, where fairies abound. ”

“ So it came about that Shaun changed his home and his work. He left the [83] shop of Pat O'Leary. And a letter came to Dawn O'Day in Ireland.
It said: "So here I am in the house of a fairy Princess. She did wave her wand, and I was brought to live here by her father. 'Tis a good man he is, too. And I love the baby Princess well and do be pleasing her with tales of old Ireland.
"I'm learning the trade of a butler. I'm after serving themselves out of golden goblets and glass plates the color of Ireland's green. The table shines with bright crystal and silver. The food is beautiful to look upon. ”

“ Their oldest is a lanky, freckle-faced [99] lad who wears the cast-off trousers of his father. No more do tall boys wear the petticoats of girls. They are not afraid of the leprechaun when they reach the age of ten or twelve years.
But their mothers still keep them dressed as girls when they are small. And that is why we find John, the second son of Shaun O'Day, in a red petticoat. He looks very much the way Shaun himself had looked at that age.
John had been christened Shaun. But they call him John, because it is to-day in Ireland. Young Shaun was called John O'Day. ”

“ Shaun then drew the boy over to his chair. He took John on his lap.
"Listen, son," he said.
He told the child the same thing that Marjorie had told him. He told John that Marjorie was really a girl from America.
But John replied as he had replied to Marjorie in the car. He said that there [180] could not be a girl so lovely and kind as she. He insisted that Marjorie could only be a fairy!
Several days went by. John told everyone in the village about his trip. He talked of nothing else. He had gone to the lake day after day, but the girl fairy had never appeared. ”

“ It is because the rain fairies love Ireland. They have made it the greenest spot on earth. They do be sprinkling it forever with the drops of their fairy rain.
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Ireland is divided into four provinces. They are Ulster, Leinster, Munster, and Connaught.
In Connaught is the County of Galway. In the County of Galway is the District of Connemara.
In Connemara there is a village that [15] looks out upon a lake. And in that village are wee houses covered with thatched roofs—roofs of straw.
WEE HOUSES COVERED WITH STRAW ROOFS
Inside one of these houses there lived a boy, Shaun O'Day. ”

“ But one man stopped and spoke to the lad. He, too, was an Irishman. He spoke kindly to Shaun.
The boy told him about his trip and the strangeness he felt in this new land. So this Irishman, Pat O'Leary, took Shaun to his shop.
Pat O'Leary was a shoemaker. He had a tiny shop on a side street in the [72] great city. Here he worked at his trade and lived in a dingy room in the back of the shop.
'Twas thus that Shaun O'Day found a home. And 'twas thus that he started to work for a shoemaker. Pat O'Leary was not a fairy shoemaker. But a good fairy was he to the Irish lad. ”

“ Some beg the wealthy people for money. There are many beggars. They crouch beside buildings and on the steps of [148] churches. John and his fair guide visited Phoenix Park in Dublin. After Yellowstone Park in the United States, Phoenix Park is the largest in the world.
LOVELY LAKES IN PHOENIX PARK, DUBLIN
It is very beautiful, too. It has a fine [149] zoo, and lovely lakes, walks, and drives.
PHOENIX PARK, DUBLIN
The Royal Hibernian Military School in Phoenix Park is used by the Free State Irish Speaking Union as a school to teach the Irish language to young men. ”

“ But usually he would go to the shores of the lake and think.
Shaun once found his son thus. He went up to John quietly. He put his hand on the lad's shoulder. John jumped and stood erect, his face white.
"Och, why do you jump with such a great fear, my lad?" asked the father.
John sat down again. He was ashamed. He did not speak.
"Tell me, lad: What is it you fear?" asked the father.
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HE WOULD GO TO THE SHORES OF THE LAKE
Then John told his father how some boy in the village had started a tale. The lad had told how, many years ago, Shaun had been stolen away by the leprechauns. ”

“ Several years have gone by since we started our work together and Marie is a bigger girl—but Ref hasn't changed one bit. Ref hasn't changed any more than my interest in writing these books for you. And I hope that you hope that I'll never change, because I want to keep on writing until we'll have no more countries to write about—unless, of course, some one discovers a new country.
Even if a new country isn't discovered, we'll find foreign children to talk about—maybe the children in Mars! Who knows? Nobody. Not even Marie—and Marie usually knows about most things. ”

“ But Shaun would never again wear a [59] red petticoat. He would never again return to his stepmother.
Even if the fairies did not steal him, he would never return. He would go somewhere. Perhaps to the "New Island"—America! As he was thinking these thoughts, he found himself walking toward the shore. There was a weak light in the sky. [60] The rugged shore was blue in the haze of dawn.
The boy could see a boat. Men were hauling things and making ready to set off for somewhere. Shaun was quick, and before he knew what he had done he had slid into the boat. ”

“ If you fail you must leave your country forever or lose your life."
Conn-eda answered, "Then my order to you is that you sit upon the topmost spire of yonder tower until I return. [22] If I do not return, you may come down at the end of the year and a day."
Conn-eda was troubled and went to consult with a great Druid. The poor Prince had no idea how he was to find these magical treasures.
The great Druid gave the Prince a little, shaggy pony. He bade Conn-eda obey this little horse.
After further instructions from the great Druid, Conn-eda mounted the shaggy steed and set out upon his journey. ”

“ So he did not hear the people talking at night. He still [163] believed his girl fairy was one of the Good People.
One day they were stopping in a small village. Marjorie left John alone with the car and went into a shop to buy some cakes.
A group of little boys came over to the car. Their eyes were very curious, indeed.
They began to talk to John. When they heard his accent they knew at once that he was Irish.
One boy said, "'Tis surely a rich American lady driving the automobile?"
John looked at him in a pitying manner. "And don't you know a fairy when you see one?" he asked. ”