Rose had waited a long time for the little sister. She had spoken to her papa and mamma about it months before, and they had said that perhaps some time there would come a little sister for her. Rose thought that Christmas would be a very nice time for the sister to come. But although Santa Claus was very kind and had brought two little kittens to Christine, the Christmas cat, and had brought Alice, her beautiful new doll, to Rose herself, there had been no baby sister in mamma’s stocking nor in papa’s.
Rose was almost tired of waiting. She wanted the little sister so much that one morning, when Kenneth had gone to dig clams with Captain Prout, she cried all by herself out in the woods behind the house,—cried as if her heart would break. Her Aunt Claire found her there, and asked her what was the matter. Then Rose told her all about it.
“Have you asked the fairies to help you?” said Aunt Claire sympathetically. Rose said that she had forgotten to do that.
“Well, I would do so, if I were you,” said Aunt Claire gravely. “One never knows what may happen if you can only get the fairies to help.”
Rose thought over what her auntie had said all that day, and she resolved to ask the fairies to help her at the very first chance she had. She sometimes saw them, when she woke up between dreams at night, and she hoped that very soon she should meet her friends again. It happened sooner than she expected.
That very night, when she had not been asleep very long, she was suddenly awakened by a little silvery laugh. And when she opened her eyes to see what had laughed, there in the moonlight at the foot of her bed stood a beautiful Fairy in a silver dress.
“Why, Rose, what are you crying about?” said the Fairy.
“Was I crying?” said Rose. “I did not know it.”
AWAKENED BY A LITTLE SILVERY LAUGH