Samuel Benjamin Dickson

“ Up and down and backwards and forwards, in circles and fairy rings they swung and then the heather began to sway and the wild rosebush to bend and the green grass to wave and all the fields danced to the fairy measure. Andy jumped up, threw his brown cap into the air, and crowed like a rooster. He folded his arms then and danced with them, a dance that was a jig and a hornpipe and a reel and a minuet all in one. The big man laughed as though he were ashamed and put away his violin and would play no more. But Andy told him how much he loved music, and what do you think? ”

“ I’m much nicer than most of the fairies; I think I am the nicest fairy there ever was.’
“‘You conceited creature,’ said Winfred. ‘You are not at all nice.’
“The fairy laughed and reached down a tiny foot and kicked Winfred in the nose.
“‘Don’t be stupid,’ she said. ‘I didn’t really mean that. There are other fairies as nice—almost—as I am. And I’m not a creature and I wish you wouldn’t call me one. I’m a fairy and my name is—guess what?’
“‘Christine,’ guessed Winfred.
“‘How silly! Christine is not a fairy name at all. Christines are always fat and good cooks. My name is Merrylip. ”

“ Where did they come from, Loveliness?’
“‘I love you,’ said the Blackbird-with-the-crimson-wings. ‘I have loved you for more than a thousand years, more years than there are buttercups on the hill. And so, with thinking of you and longing to have you love me, how could I help but grow the way you wished?’
“‘Loveliness, Loveliness,’ Smudge whispered, in a very gruff, choky whisper. The man-baby fell from a willow tree and bumped his nose on Smudge’s toe and sat up and laughed. ”

“ Do you know that every single one of them, down to the teeniest, tiniest baby, that you can hardly see, is a world of loveliness all by itself? There is the Rose Star, where gloriously deep red roses, and little shy yellow buds and pink lady-roses grow, and the air is sweeter than the sweetest perfume you can imagine. Then there is the Forget-me-not Star, all covered with the little blue flowers that look like Sister Margaret’s eyes; and the Violet Star, and Pansy Land, and Sun Flower Place (very large and important) [175] and heaps and heaps of other flower stars whose names I have forgotten. ”

“ As soon as he touched her, Winfred began to grow small. You have never seen a boy as small as he became—about so big. Then he climbed up and drew Merrylip’s cape over him and away they went. Up over the very tops of the trees, out across the Castle wall, down into the valley, pop over a stream, high again so as not to bump into a fat old oak, and—before you knew it—they were right above the city. ”

“ We played the nicest games, Martha Mary, and when we were tired I would tell Jane stories just like I tell you. One day a man came to Jane’s house. He stood behind the door and listened to one of my stories. Later he made me tell him others. When I had finished he said that when I was older I would be an author and write books. That became my aspiration. I made up my mind to be an author; not a great one who would try to change the world, but just a simple, quiet one who could tell stories that would make people just a little more happy. ”

“ In ways, Peter is a very wonderful boy. You see, he can carry dewdrops in his pocket (when he doesn’t spill them) and he skips around the garden just before the stars go to bed putting a dewdrop on every flower, just as a mother [11] cat would bathe her kitten. Peter likes his work; he knew that every boy has to do something worth while, so he chose the work that was the most fun. Of course it is fun to bathe flowers. They look so bright and sunshiny when they have their drop of dew, just as your face does when Nurse What-do-you-call-her——”
“Nurse Huggins, please,” said Martha Mary. ”

“ But a burro is different. You can’t just buy them; you have to be born not a prince to have one. I wish I was a train-engineer or a policeman or a farmhand. A prince has so many duties that it is tiresome. When I am King I shall have a whole stable full of burros.’
“‘Then you won’t enjoy them at all,’ said Merrylip. She was really wise for such a small fairy. ‘You’ll get tired of them. People always do when they have finally got what they wanted very much.’
“‘I wouldn’t,’ said Winfred. ”

“ Once, when he thought no one was looking, Flip kissed Jane on the ear, but Edward Lee caught him, and for punishment Flip had to tell a story. He grumbled and said it was too nice a night to spoil with his nonsense, but when Jane said:
“Please, Dear,” he couldn’t help it.
“This is to be a story of the trees,” said Flip.
John sniffed. “You always tell about things that are not alive,” he said. “Father doesn’t. Neither does Captain Mick.”
“But, John,” said Martha Mary, very much surprised, “the trees are alive.” ”

“ They are little fairy creatures, scarcely as large as Martha Mary’s finger-nails, and they live in the soft, silky green centers of eucalyptus blossoms. When a Mother down here on the earth wants a little boy child or girl child very badly, she [177] goes out into the woods and picks a eucalyptus blossom. Then, if she is very wise she opens it, whispers her wish, and lets out the tiny creature inside, who flies away up beyond the clouds in the gentle arms of the Southeast wind, straight to Lady Rumdidoodledum. There, the first thing the little fairy-person sees is a big silver cloud. ”

“ And so, just as the rosebush grows until it is lovely and old and wise enough to be a mother, and then the seed develops in it under the petals and finally wins strength and goes away on the breeze to take root for itself and become a rose child, so the seed was born within the Mother Queen. ”

“ Queen Rosemary, on her throne in the sweetpeas, was pleased, so she forgave Peter for spilling the dewdrops. She told him, though, that whenever he was bad in the future she would tie him up, because she could count on the Southeast Wind to bring rain and do Peter’s work.
“And so you see, whenever the sky grows black and the flowers look sickly and the sun hides, you may know that Peter has been misbehaving and cannot wash the children. But you must not mind, because the rain is sure to come to do his work, and there is always sunshine after the rain.” ”

“ Alfred was winner of the tournament.
“To Guinivere he came, flushed and happy, and kneeled before her. He kissed her hand, offering her, at the same time, his victorious dagger. She smiled and took the weapon, then pinned to Alfred’s sleeve the red ribbon she wore at her heart.
“‘Arise, Sir Conqueror,’ she said. ‘Ask of me [92] what you will and if it be in my power I shall grant it.’
“‘My Lady,’ said Alfred, ‘all things are in your power; the very birds sing when you smile upon them.’
“‘Flatterer,’ said Guinivere. ”

“ Mother Dear’s eyes grew soft in the way they have and she kissed Martha Mary and shook hands with the children, no matter how dirty they were. She told Martha Mary to take them to the violets by the lake and not let them fall in, for some of them were quite small and liable to. Martha Mary promised, then called Edward Lee and John and they brought along Walter, who was now in a sensible frame of mind. John was inclined to be standoffish until Martha Mary, who knew him like a book, told him that the biggest little boy liked men better than women, and then John became quite nice. ”

“ So, of course, there were many flower folks hiding about, for in all of the ten thousand years there [41] had been many children born in the world beyond the valley and you, Butterfly, and everyone else knows that every time a child creature is born in the world beyond the valley there is another flower creature, sometimes a gloriously bold California poppy, more often a rather silly little violet, born in the flower world. As I told you, Smudge, all grey and cold, was sleeping at the sunset end of the valley. As he slept, a bird, somewhere in the trees, piped a morning song. ”

“ Later, Winfred grew to be King, and with his wonderful wish made his people the happiest on earth, for when anything sensible had to be arranged he needed but to wish and it would come true. As a matter of fact, it was fortunate that Merrylip was always there, for often he thought of silly wishes and then Merrylip would pinch his ear and he would not make them. ”

“ So it looked as though Andy would never be rich enough to have his dream. His fairy became unhappy and pale, because music fairies are the frailest, most delicate little things, and lovely melodies are sunshine for them.
“One day Andy was out in the heart of the moor listening to the wind in the purple heather and singing a song that he had made all himself. His fairy was sitting on a wild rosebush listening to the music. I know I have a perfectly awful voice, but this is the song he sang:
“‘The wild rose is my fairy love, my lady love, my pretty love. ”

“ No one said a word, because, you see, when a person is really and truly happy they can’t talk much because of the choky feeling in their throat. But after Martha Mary and Liza had each touched the crumpled rose-leaf hands of the new baby, and looked into its tiny face. ”

“ Every grown-up, no matter how big or important he may be, has just as nice a fairy in charge of his affairs. The fairies of the grown-ups do not show themselves nearly as often as flowers or children fairies. You see, grown-ups have not the time to think of such things. ”

“ One day, as Janice was sitting under a cypress tree, a handsome Knight came down the road, mounted on a splendid black horse. The stranger wore a blue satin jerkin, black knee-breeches, and stockings of blue. There was gold braid on his suit and a golden tassel dangling on his hat. From the brim waved a lovely grey-blue [87] plume. Very straight he rode, and dignified, looking neither to right nor left. As he passed the cottage Janice looked up and saw that the black horse was very tired. ”

“ John might go sailing on the lake Ocean and leave no one to be Captain of the land army. Away the army—Martha Mary, Walter, Edward Lee, and Liza—would go [20] to Flip for sympathy—and Flip’s sympathy would be a story. Best of all were the stories he told in the Runaway Place where the poppies grew, lying on a small stack of hay, with his cap on his toe. There were so many told there that I hardly know which to tell to you first. Perhaps you would like the one about Mr. Moriarity.
“Of course you know,” said Flip, “that every child has a fairy just as there is a fairy for every flower. ”

“ Fong Kee spoke to him in Chinese and he arose and shook hands with John and Mary. Then he struck a metal bell and a Chinese slave girl appeared. He ordered her to bring tea and ginger. Then he turned to John.
“‘I am the old Fong Charles,’ he said. ‘More years I have lived in San Francisco than there are hairs on an old pig’s tail. I welcome you.’
“‘You look pretty old,’ said John. ‘What do you do? Are you a cook?’
“‘No,’ smiled Fong Charles. ‘I am a philosopher. ”

“ Martha Mary, let me tell you about her. In the first place, she is very small for such a grown-up person. She looks no more than fifteen, but she is all of twenty years old. And she is so fine—and really very pretty, Ladykin. She has oodles and oodles of brown hair and the kindest, softest brown eyes and the dearest funny little nose and a strong, mannish jaw. ”

“ When you turn your back and lean down and look between your legs so that everything is upside-down, it looks still larger; almost as big as the sky and just as blue. Right on the shore, tied to a willow tree, is a wonderful green boat with two oars when you wish to go exploring alone, and four if you intend to take a crew with you.
John usually went alone, because crews never know their place and want to be Captain if they are men, or always talk about fairies and husbands and silly trifles if they are women. There is of course only one woman and she is Martha Mary ”

“ You’ll be [144] perfectly happy for two hours—then you’ll want to be a prince again and forget everything else.’
“‘You just say that because you are a girl,’ said Winfred. ‘Girls never understand boys.’
“‘I’ll prove it,’ said Merrylip. ‘Come under my cape.’
“‘I can’t,’ said Winfred. ‘I’m too big.’
“‘That is easy,’ said Merrylip. ‘You must kiss me on my ear, then see what happens.’
“‘Kisses are horrid,’ said Winfred. Still he was not going to take any chances of not having his wish, so he reached up and just put the smallest kind of a kiss on Merrylip’s ear. It tasted like marshmallows. ”

“ But not the least bit for his tail.”
“Oh, oh!” moaned Flip. “Spare me, spare me!”
So they spared him, but made him sing to torture Father. Then it was the most surprising thing. He sang in the softest, nicest voice, a voice that just seemed to fit in with the firelight and the “atmosphere”:
“Way up above the blackest trees that tease the sky at night
A million young star children dance a merry, fairy dance. ”

“ Of course there is Fairy Story Star, too, where Puss in Boots, and Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella, and Jack the Giant Killer, and all the rest of them live. Right near IT is the Grown-Up Book Star, where there are so very many people that they never get time to know each other. But the most important star, outside, of course, of the Music Land Star and the Bird Star where the loveliest of songs come from, and really, even more important than them, is—guess who! Butterfly Dear! ”

“ You know, Chief, I can always think best when someone sings sad, sweet songs.’
“‘It is a good suggestion,’ said the Chief, ‘nothing is as soothing to the mind as sad, sweet songs, unless it be killing people or fighting Indians. Call out our singer, you lazy dogs!’
“They called out Hairslip Charles, the baritone of the gang. He sat on a whisky barrel and sharpened his throat-ripper and sang Ike’s favorite song: the one about the Pigs and little Fishes:
“There was me and Captain Harry in the Port of Monterey.
Sing, you pigs and little fishes in the moonlight. ”

“ Their lances were under their arms; their Ladies’ colors on their sleeves. To the center of the oak lawn they charged where the din of fighting and the crashing of lances against shields became so uproarious that one could scarcely hear the cheers of the spectators. For an hour they fought until Alfred of The Low Country— (that being the name of the Knight who loved Janice) —and Herbert of The Blue Feather, were left. Again and again [90] they charged—lance met shield and shield glanced off lance, till suddenly, Alfred’s horse reared and Knight Alfred slid to the ground. ”

“ Fields and fields and fields of the loveliest wild flowers, all golden and purple and pink, and gardens with red, red roses, and sweet-smelling lilacs climbing over the stone walls, and soft-colored fruit blossoms—there were more flowers than days in a hundred years. ”

“ The delight which children have in the world of fields and flowers, birds and blue skies, finds abundant expression in the stories. In each tale the dramatic feature is well developed and holds the reader’s interest to the end. ”

“ But, of course, the last birthday a person has always seems the nicest. Everyone had presents for her. From Father and Uncle Captain Mick there were oodles of books and ribbons and things for a sewing-basket. John borrowed fifty cents from Levy, the butcher, and bought a perfectly good spy-glass. Martha Mary could use it, he said, to spy out the rest of the family when she wanted company, or Liza when she got lost. ”

“ The wish I wish to you to-day!’
“Then he added: ‘I wish that any wish I make at any time will come true as long as it is sensible.’
“When he stopped, a golden light ran across the waters.
“‘You see,’ said Lovelight, ‘Neptune is smiling. He says he will grant your wish. Try once!’
“‘All right,’ said Winfred. ‘I wish that Merrylip would come back.’
“Almost immediately Merrylip came skipping through the grass, with her golden hair waving in the moonlight. Winfred put his arms about her and kissed her on the nose. ”