vill PREFAGE.

 

Through the rustling leaves in the soft summer
evenings; in the hay-fields after the hay-makers
have gone home, and the old white owl flits slowly
along in her search after the field mice, who are
no longer shielded from her sight by the long grass ;
early in the mornings before the world of man is
astir, and whilst the world of nature is still quiet
and fresh—at such times the Fairy-whispers come
to me ever and again; gentle, pleasant whispers
they are, and they tell such strange things, that I
cannot keep them to myself. So I cast them forth
for my child-friends to read and interpret for them-
selves, and if they cannot understand them all,
only let them tell me so, and I will ask for a full

explanation the very next time I go to Fairyland.