"Your lid lies out yonder on the floor," said the Cricket.
"That is not the least matter. It would not stay on my head if I had it. Go on with the story, please; I am sorry to have made so much trouble."
"Where was I?" inquired the Wasp.
"The pansy fairy had just disappeared," said the Kettle, who for a wonder remembered the story.
"To be sure," resumed the Wasp briskly. "I skipped with delight at my brighter prospects, and started forward again with renewed courage. I first encountered some of my brothers and sisters, to whom I at once communicated my good fortune. Strange to say they none of them seemed to appreciate my superior advantages.
"'For my part I do not wish to live any longer than the sunlight lasts,' said one; and to this sentiment the others agreed.
"'My ambition leads me further,' I answered, and flew onward, never to see them more.
"I passed over the broad expanse of land, until I saw the sea glittering like a polished mirror in the distance. How I should like to make a voyage! I paused to rest upon a cliff that rose steep and smooth, with the ocean foaming about the base. There were a great number of bird-nests drilled in the surface of the rock, and by peering over the brink I could see the young birds, that were the funniest little balls of white down imaginable. Suddenly a parent bird came swooping home, and hopped into the very nest that I was examining.
"'Don't tumble me into the water,' I cried, clutching at the slippery stone, for the rapid flutter of the bird's wings made me giddy.
"'I will not hurt you,' said the other. 'I have been a long way to-day, and I have really gained little to eat for my trouble. I followed a great ship for hours, and only caught up a few crumbs, after all.'