78 The Catskill Fairtes.

dren slept. Beside these white children she laid the Indian
baby, the last of its tribe, and went away as noiselessly as she
came.

“ Fortunately this was a good home for her charge. Next
day as she rested at noon, the loud report of a rifle startled
her, and a wounded mountain- goat came tumbling down into
the valley. She took to her wings in fright; but as she darted
up into the air, the sportsman aimed at her, supposing she was
some strange specimen of bird. Bang! went the weapon, and
she fell. The sportsman hastened to the spot, but found noth-
ing.

“What do you think became of the witch-child? I believe
that King Rapp opened the earth as she sank down, and that
she lives with him in the Rocky Mountains to this day.”

The Summer Fairy glowed and faded in the radiance of the
hearth.

“The witch-child was, the last Indian seen in these hills,”
rustled the other Summer Fairies. “ We must always remain
as the summer of the year, ranking first in the season, even as
the red man came first among human beings here.”

“ Mousey, I think it is your turn to speak,” said the Angora
cat, wickedly, and stretched out a paw to the captive.

The little mouse hopped in fear as it answered :

“Tt is such a strain on my mind to try to think of a story
that I shall have a nervous headache for the rest of my life.”

“Tut! tut! Remember how sharp my teeth are, and how
very unpleasant it is to have one’s head nipped off,” said the
cat.

This made the mouse desperate; never before had it been

.