But John did not answer. He shook his head stubbornly. Suddenly Shaun had an idea.
He said, "I must show you then." He put his two hands on the boy's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "To-morrow," he said, "when you go to meet her at the lake you must wear the red petticoat!"
John looked frightened.
He cried, "Och, father, she'll not be talking to me at all—and I in girl's clothes!"
Shaun said, "Sure, that is just what she will do. She'll know you well. She'll talk to you. Then you will believe at last that she is no fairy!"
The morning came. John dressed as usual in his red petticoat. He took the books that Marjorie had sent him and ran to the lake. He was there with the first birds. He was there with the sleepy sun.
The sleepy sun was just waking up. But John O'Day had been awake for many hours. He had been so very much awake with his thoughts.
He thought and thought about Marjorie. He wondered and wondered whether Marjorie would recognize him. If she should speak to him, he would know that she really was a girl. He would know that she was not a fairy.
If she passed him by, he would be sure that she was a real fairy. Oh, he felt so sure that she was a fairy!
But at the same time he wondered just a little bit why she tried to make him believe she was not. Was it because the Good People do not want folks to be talking about them?