128 WHISPERS FROM FAIRYLAND, [rit.

 

deeply musing over what had occurred. Towards
evening, however, he had pretty well made up his
mind that some further steps should be taken in order
to realise the advantages promised by the Silver
Fairy’s residence in his house. So, after much consi-
deration, he joined his granddaughter and housekeeper
in the kitchen, and informed them of what had taken
place, to which piece of news the former responded by
opening her eyes very wide, whilst the latter inter-
rupted the narrator more than once by exclamations
of ‘My Goodness!’ ‘ Well, I never!’ and evinced the
greatest surprise and astonishment, which was not un-
natural, as Martha Pattison was a plain and homely
woman, eminently useful in her sphere of drudgery,
but ignorant altogether of fairies and fairyland, having
got on perfectly well all her life without either.
When the first moments of wonder were over, and
Simon had answered, as well as he could, all the
questions which were put to him, he solemnly asked
the advice of the two women as to the best means of
profiting by the presence and goodwill of the Silver
Fairies. Upon this point neither of them seemed to
have any very definite idea. One thing was very
clear. They would certainly be better off in the way
of worldly wealth than they had hitherto been. Upon
this they were all agreed. Simon, as I have already
said, was a well-to-do man; his house was his own,
so were his cows, and he had a bit of money put by
for a rainy day, as he was wont to say. But nobody
yet, that I ever knew, was so well off that he did not
think it would be very nice to be a little more so, and
although I wish I could have told you that the ladies