Bessy thought if ever fairy appeared to mortal child, it would be on such a night as this. And now, to crown all, just at the end of the lane appeared a light, moving backward and forward. First it would bob down, and then up quite high among the bushes.
At last Bessy could bear it no longer, and made up her mind to solve the mystery. So she stepped out of the window on the porch, and then, softly over the grass, for she was afraid Ann would hear her and call her back. She said to herself, "If it should be a fairy glow-worm lighting the fairies to their dancing ground, Ann would frighten them away, she is so big and heavy."
So down the path she went on tiptoe. Hardly daring to breathe, she pushed open the gate, and looked down the lane.
Bessy thought the light had disappeared. But by-and-by it came again, moving in the same strange manner. Although she trembled a great deal, she went bravely on. It was only a short lane leading to the main road, and shut in on one side by a large clump of trees. It was at the foot of one of these trees that the light seemed to be standing now.
At first Bessy crept softly on, keeping it in sight. How dark it had grown! The light shone from the bushes like a fallen star. When Bessy was within a few feet of the light, she was astonished to see a face peering out of the darkness, its eyes fixed on her with anything but a pleasant expression. The light went out, and Bessy, wishing she was safe at home, turned to scamper back, when a heavy hand was laid on her shoulder, and the light flashed in her face.
She now saw it was a lantern carried by a very small and disagreeable old woman dressed in black, and her head covered with a red handkerchief. In one hand she held the lantern, and under her arm was a crooked stick.
Now when Bessy saw the stick, she was sure it was a fairy godmother, for the old woman was exactly like the description of the fairy in her new book. The ugly black stick was her wand. So she whispered, timidly,
"Are you a fairy godmother?"
"A what?" growled the old woman.
"A fairy godmother," repeated Bessy.