170 - WHISPERS FROM FAIRYLAND. [ur

‘Dear child!’ she said, ‘who could resist such an
advocate? Yet there- are things beyond the power
of even a fairy. A lost home and a broken heart are
neither of them things easy to restore, and our home
is gone for ever. Still we must not be unjust and
punish your grandfather as if he had intentionally
done us this evil. Let him look to the notes he
_ placed in his desk last night, and he will find enough
to save him from the calamity he dreads. But be
wise in time. Your old home is not destroyed like
the home of the Silver Fairies. Return there—be con-
tent—and all may still be well with you.’

She spoke, and as the last words left her mouth
her figure became gradually more and more indistinct
and presently faded away entirely out of the sight of
the two mortals. Her speech, however, had rekindled
hope in the bosom of Simon Ricketts. Recovering
himself from his state of despondency, he turned to
his granddaughter, and having tenderly kissed her,
then and there made a solemn vow to get quit of his
new house and all its contingent expenses with as
little delay as possible, and to return forthwith to his
former home, and the old Den. Martha Pattison
raised a feeble remonstrance on being informed of
this determination, but on finding Simon quite re-
solved on the change, and warmly supported by his
granddaughter, she wisely submitted to that which
could not be avoided.

I am glad to say that on examining his desk,
Simon found that the notes which he had so luckily
stowed away were sufficient to pay off every farthing
of debt which he owed, and to leave a balance over