By Mrs. Annie G. Freeman
One sunny summer afternoon Margaret sat reading beneath the shade of an old apple tree. Before her stretched a charming view but on her face was a troubled, dissatisfied look.
“Oh, dear,” she sighed. “Even this book is stupid. It is the dullest, most stupid day that I ever saw.”
“Stupid day?” said a tiny voice. There on the rock before her sat the daintiest little golden-haired fairy that she had ever seen. The fairy’s feet were resting on a woodbine vine that was creeping up the wall, and her wings were as delicate as those of a butterfly.
“What makes such a bright day as this stupid?”
“Oh, I suppose it is myself,” said the discontented girl.
“I believe it is,” said the fairy. “Now I will take you with me to the Palace of Time and you shall choose a day that suits you better. Come.”
Over green meadows, through pleasant pastures, beside babbling brooks that sparkled and played in the sunshine, the fairy led. At last they came to the Palace of Time. The fairy led the way up the long hall to the throne on which Time sat, and told her errand.
“Take the little friend to the Hall of Days,” he said, “and give her the day that pleases her best.”
How delighted the maiden was! Wouldn’t you be if a fairy should take you out of a stupid day and promise you the day that pleased you most? She just skipped along, her feet scarcely touching the ground in her joy. 106 In a great room filled with all kinds of bright lights, they stopped.