150 WHISPERS FROM FAIRYLAND. [iI

 

for so impressed was he with the unbounded wisdom
of Joe Muggins that he required no further counsel
after having taken that worthy’s opinion. So when
the evening had arrived he retired to his den, opened
the piece of furnitur@&nd extracted from the treasure-
drawer a goodly supply of notes, after which he pro-
ceeded to indulge in his usual pipe, and dozed over
it according to habit.

Presently there fell upon his ears the same creaking
sound which he had heard before, but which did not
now surprise him as on the previous occasign. He was
not surprised, either, when the same low, sweet strains
of music broke upon his sense of hearing, and through
his half-opened eyes he saw the piece of furniture open
and the graceful forms of the Silver Fairies come forth.
They seemed, however, to dance more sedately and
with less spirit and animation than at the time of
their first visit, and ere long they stood still as if by
common consent, and a voice sang, in soft and sub-
dued, yet clear tones, a song which sounded strangely
to the old man’s wondering ears :—

‘It chanced upon a summer’s day

The sparrow longed to be a pheasant,
And thought to strut in plumage gay
Could ne’er be anything but pleasant.
What joy! his earnest prayer was heard,
His homely feathers soon rejected,

And, in his new attire, the bird

Could ne’er as sparrow be detected.

But summer passed away, and then
Advancing months gave thoughts more sober
Of dogs and guns, and sporting men,
Who bid a welcome to October,