38 The Catskill Fairies.

“ What is it for?” asked Job.

“ These threads make children’s dreams,” replied Puff. “ Of
course there must be a great supply of dream-thread on Christ-
mas-eve for the children of America alone.”

Another group was clustered on the handle of the tongs.
These were clad in pale satin.

”

“We are the Fairies of the Mountain Laurel,” they said.
“You will find us in June on the overhanging banks, where
the ferns and mosses drape the rocks, and the rivulets flow ~
down hill. Then we live in our lovely pink houses; but when
our flowers fade we hide beneath the leaves.”

“T know you right well, and how glad I am to see you in
the spring,” said Job.

On the window-sill, where Jack Frost had made the panes
like ground glass, a number of delicate forms rested, their robes
of snow-flakes, and their helmets of gleaming ice.

“ We are the Winter Fairies, and dare not approach the fire,”
they murmured. “ We live in marble palaces made by our
king, and there are no jewels so splendid as the icicles with
which we hang our halls.”

“We are the Summer Fairies,” said a race that had sprung
from the burning log. They were so radiant that one could
not look at them long; they changed in hue from emerald
green to red and purple, and the flame shone through them.
The Summer Fairies were as unlike Queen Puff’s court as
possible, for their faces were brown, their hair dark like the >
Indians’.

“Where is the Fairy of the Waterfall?” inquired the cat.
“She was to bring Job’s gift.”