"You have my permission," answered the fairy. "I'm queen of the Forest Fays. But I thought you were looking for the Wishing Stone?"
"Maybe I was," answered Mary Louise. "You see, I thought if I could find it, I'd wish I was home with my dear mother."
"It is not very far from here," said the little fairy. "Follow this path through the trees and by and by you'll come to it. But let me give you some advice. Be sure before you make your wish to say,
"Rose red, rose white,
I will try to do what's right."
"Thank you, I'll remember," answered little Mary Louise, and she turned Dapple Gray down the path to the woody glen.
Well, by and by, after a while, she saw a big white stone. It looked very like a rude stone chair, only of course, it didn't have any nice soft cushion in it like the one my grandmother used.
With a cry of joy little Mary Louise jumped from the saddle. "Now I'll make my wish!" And she sat down in the big stone chair and closed her eyes.
But, oh dear me. She had been in such a hurry that she forgot to say the little fairy verse and when she opened her eyes, there she was in the very same spot.
And, oh, dear me! again. Instead of the Dapple Gray, a little gray squirrel stood in the very spot where the little pony had been.
"If you would have what you would wish
You must obey each rule,
No matter whether in your home
Or in your Grammar School,"