“And poor little Persephone was lonely down in the dark king’s palace underground. She pined and pined, and would not eat or be comforted. And the poor King was sad, too. He wanted a little girl so badly, you know, and now that he had found one, he could not make her happy. It is a terrible thing not to be able to make people happy!”
218The little girl cuddling close to Catherine, her eyes turning only from the pictured page to Catherine’s face, sighed softly.
Algernon, watching and listening to the story of the tempting pomegranate, suddenly drew a deep breath, and his face lighted up as it always did when a new idea came to him.
“And then Quicksilver hurried her away, past the fierce dog with the three terrible heads, and up to the world again. Such a dry parched world! Not any green grass, not a single, flower. Not a single corn-stalk or spear of wheat. And poor old Mother Ceres sitting at home on her door-step, weary and sad and hopeless, wishing for her own little girl. And what do you think? As Persephone and Quicksilver walked along, pretty fast, you may be sure, for you can think how eager the little girl was to see her dear mother again, all along the sides of the path where they walked, the grass turned green and the flowers began to blossom and nod, and the corn-stalks lifted up their heads and waved new tassels, and the wheat sprang up, and the trees put out fresh leaves, and the birds sang, and the little dried-up brooks began to run and ripple over stones. And Mother Ceres, sitting and looking out over the dry brown world, suddenly saw a green glow over everything and she stood up, very angry, and said: ‘Does the earth disobey me? I said that if the earth should ever grow green again, 219 it should be along the path by which my daughter should come back to my arms.’
“And then a sweet child voice said: ‘Open your arms, dear Mother, for I have come back to you, and all the earth is green and blossoming!’”
The little girl threw her arms around Catherine’s neck and kissed her.
“O, I’m so glad she came back,” she cried. “Tell me about it again.”
Catherine smiled but her eyes were dreamy still. Algernon made his way over to her.
“You found my vocation for me,” he said eagerly, “and now I’ve found yours. We’ll have a story-hour in this library hereafter,–with bars up to keep the grown-ups out! You’re better than the professional I heard at Madison.”
Catherine looked bewildered, but Alice took her hand and squeezed it.