“Oh, please, please do!” cried Isabella. “I am so sorry that they are unhappy.”
“Very well, then,” said the fairy. “For Isabella’s sake, I shall take their gifts back, but only on one condition—that they promise to be kind and polite from now on.”
“Oh, we promise! We promise!” cried both stepsisters at once.
“Unless you keep your promise,” said the fairy, “the snakes and toads will come from your mouths again.” And the fairy disappeared as suddenly as she had come.
But the snakes and toads did not come again, for the stepsisters and their mother were very kind to every one ever after, and Isabella lived a happy life from that day.
* * * * * *
“They just had to keep their promise, didn’t they?” commented Mary Frances. “I am glad they did, for I do not like people to break promises.”
“Neither do I,” agreed the Story Lady; “and that reminds me of one of our favorite stories—Coralie and the Magic Necklace.”
“Oh,” said Mary Frances, “but I like a story with magic in it.”
“Very well,” said the Story Lady, “I will tell you the story.”