And just then—oh, in fact, right after Susie finished speaking, what should she hear but a voice singing. Yes, a voice singing; a sweet, silvery voice, and this is what it sang. Of course, I can't sing this in a sweet, silvery voice, but I'll do the best I can. Now this is the song:
"If any one is seeking
A fairy for to see,
If they will kindly glance up
Into this chestnut tree
They'll see what they are seeking,
I'm truly telling you,
For I'm a little fairy
All dressed in baby-blue."
Then, you may believe me or not, if Susie didn't look up into the tree, and there, in a hole where the Owl school teacher once lived, was a really and truly-ruly fairy. Honest. Susie knew at once it was a fairy that she saw because the little creature was colored baby blue, you know, the shade they put on babies, and she had gauzy wings, with stars on them, and carried a magic wand which also had a star on it, did the little blue creature. Still, the little rabbit girl wanted to make sure, so she asked: "Are you a fairy?"
"I am," replied the little creature in blue. "Can you kindly tell me how much two and two are?"
"Four," answered Susie.
"Is it really?"
"Of course. You ought to know that," spoke Susie proudly, for she was at the head of her arithmetic class.
"Ought I?" asked the fairy with a sigh. "Well, I suppose I had, but I haven't been to school in ever so long—not since I was a wee bit of a child, and that's ever and ever so many years ago, when I was no bigger than that," and she pointed to something in the air.
"Bigger than what?" asked Susie, who didn't see anything.
"Than that speck of star dust," went on the blue fairy. "It's so small you can't see it. But no matter. Because you were so kind as to tell me how much two and two are, I will give you three wishes."