The Fairy Gifts. 97

red and gold. She was calling the harvest-laborers to their
supper by blowing through the horn; and the second son,
coming among the rest, loved her for her sweet smile and
light footstep as she waited on the table.

“«Tt will be love in a cottage,’ said Peter. ‘ They need never
suffer from hunger while they keep the porridge-pot.’

“* Who comes next?’ inquired the squirrel.

“The third and fourth brothers were together in the city of
Paris, one with his silver gridiron and the other with his table-
cloth, which was always covered with dainties. That was a
famous partnership! They had a cook-shop, called a café, with
tables and waiters. Even great noblemen came to taste of the
cakes baked on the gridiron; and where the nobility lead, com-
mon people must follow the fashion, like one sheep after an-
other.

“The fifth son, no less fortunate than his brothers, drew
sweet wine from the tiny cask, and built a warehouse in which
to store his barrels. The fame of his wine went everywhere,
the flavor was so delicate, because it was made from fairy
grapes, and no one could tell the vintage.

“ The sixth son went to the South American pampas, where
he gathered immense flocks, for all he had to do was to blow
through the trumpet, and cattle followed the sound.

“«T would not choose the place of any of them,’ said Peter,
and the squirrel fairy was pleased with this decision. They
left the cottage to visit the Fairies, and in the depths of the
forest the snow had melted away like magic, as if for the tiny
people to hold their sports. The squirrel here became a fairy
lady no longer than one of Peter’s fingers, and her companions,

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