A FIRST GLIMPSE INTO THE WORLD.
[BESSY'S FAIRY GODMOTHER.]
BY JULIA K. HILDRETH.
Little Bessy believed in fairies, although her mother smiled and shook her head when she asked, "Did you ever see a fairy?"
At the time my story begins Bessy sat on the window-sill with a great book open on her knee, straining her eyes to catch the last words of the most delightful story she had ever read. It was all about fairy godmothers, shoes filled with gold, and other wonderful things to be found in such books.
As the light died out of the sky, and a soft purple mist settled down upon the hill-tops, she sighed, and closed her book, for the story was finished.
Bessy's father and mother were away from home, and she was alone that evening. The sound of voices and the rattling of dishes came from the kitchen. The crickets had begun their evening song; the lanes were growing dim and mysterious. Bessy could imagine a fairy head peeping from every tall flower by the garden gate, and the Queen of them all seemed to bow to her from the tall white lily in the pansy bed.