Page:Fairies I have met.djvu/58

FAIRIES I HAVE MET He saw the clouds all about him, each with a bright rim round it, which was the edge of its lining. He went to the nearest one and spoke to the fairies that lived in it.

"Brother fairies," he said, "where can I find silver to make my cloud a lining as beautiful as yours?"

And the fairies answered—

"Go to the sunbeam-fairies. Their silver is the best for lining clouds with."

Then Mist-of-the-Morning went to one cloud after another, and asked all the fairies that lived in them the same question. And they all answered—

"Go to the sunbeam-fairies. Their silver is the very best."

So Mist-of-the-Morning flew away to the nearest sunbeam. It was crowded with fairies, who were all hard at work, for the sunbeam-fairies have more work to do than any others. As they worked they were laughing and singing, for the sunbeam-fairies are always happy.

"Please, kind sunbeam-fairies," said Mist-of-the-Morning, " I want some silver to line my cloud with. It must be the very best silver, and every one says that none but yours is good enough."

Then all the sunbeam fairies shouted out—

"Quite right, little cloud-fairy, quite right! It is waste of time to line a cloud with any silver but ours. Our silver is the very best!"

While they were speaking they all rushed to the end of the sunbeam, and before Mist-of-the-Morning knew what they were going to do, they had cut off a great piece of it. There it lay in a shining heap! Mist-of-the-Morning had 48