“Ah, hum!” growled the Great Bear; “so many years as I have kept watch in this sky; and now to be set one side by this upstart of a foreigner! I’ve a great mind to go to sleep and never wake up!”
“Hush!” whispered the Vesper Star gently; “do your duty, and trust God for the rest.”
And lo! that very night there was an end of the Comet’s splendor.
“Adieu, my dull friends,” said he; “I am tired of a quiet life: a little more, and I should fade out entirely!”
Then, with a blaze and a whiz, and a dizzy wheel, he flashed out of the sky; and no one knew whither he went, or whence he came, any more than the path of the quick lightning.
The stars were ashamed of their envy, and went to their old work with a stronger will and a steadier purpose: but to the Vesper Star was given a brighter and sweeter light than to any other, because she had done her work without envy and without repining.
THE WATER-KELPIE.
Once there lived under the earth a race of fairies called gnomes. They were strange little beings, with dull eyes and harsh voices; but they did no harm, and lived in peace.