Page:The book of Betty Barber (IA bookofbettybarbe00andr).pdf/146

 “But we can’t find the piece of the jacket,” said Ellessdee. “Can’t you really remember on which tree you fastened it?”

Thirteen-fourteenths came tumbling down to the ground, almost on the top of the fairies.

“What?” he cried. “Did you steal the piece of my jacket?”

“Dear, dear,” said Christmas. “He was up a tree, too; now, we didn’t know that.”

“Would you say ‘steal’?” said Easter.

“Scarcely, perhaps,” said Summer.

“Don’t you think you’d say ‘borrowed’?” said Christmas.

At that moment a most remarkable noise echoed through the wood. All the figures jumped, Miss Crimson Lake turned pinker than ever, the fairies rose from their seats, and even Thirteenth-fourteenths looked a bit scared. But Lucy only smiled, she had heard the noise before.

“It’s all right,” she said, “it’s only Father William yawning. He must have fallen asleep; and I’m not surprised, for somehow I feel sleepy myself.”

The three holiday fairies looked at one another rather anxiously.

“Is Father William an old gentleman?” asked Christmas.

Lucy nodded. “He looks very old,” she said, yawning.

“Then don’t you think?” asked Easter.

“I do,” said Summer.

“So do I,” said Christmas.

And then, before the others had realised what they were going to do, with a skip and hop and jump, the three fairies disappeared through the trees.

“So they stole the piece of my jacket, the little scamps,” said the Fraction, “I never did like them.”

“Perhaps, if you had, they never would have taken it,” said Ellessdee, “and they didn’t mean to lose it, I know; they meant to hide it to tease you, and then they forgot on which tree they put it.”

“If three fairies hide one piece of jacket” began Sois.

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