A Friend in Need. IOI

ther, so he plunged into the stream, wished himself a fish, and
slid away from under the rider, leaving him floundering in
deep water.

“* Perhaps that will teach him a lesson, said Peter, watching
the farmer climb the bank again.

“Then he swam to the opposite shore, and became a boy,
with his green belt around his waist.

“Presently he came to a house, where all was silent except
the cackling of the fowls in the barn-yard. The door stood
wide open, and on the step lay the dog winking lazily in the sun.
Peter boldly entered, and in the corner he found a young girl
sitting alone, with a pile of flax on the floor and her spinning-
wheel before her.

“* Why do you stay in the dark corner?’ asked Peter.

“* Because every one has gone to the county fair, and left me
alone, sobbed the girl. ‘My mistress said I could not leave
until my work was done, and she very well knew that I could
not finish it before nightfall. Oh! I want to see the fat cattle
and the big vegetables, the bedquilts and prize bread, so much!

“ Peter just stepped forward and kissed her on both eyelids,
and she fell asleep.

“*T want the Fairies,’ whispered the boy.

“ Through the window they fluttered like a cloud of brilliant
butterflies. No need to tell them what to do; for Pucker set to
work on the wheel, which whizzed around without making the
least noise, and the threads were wound off by no less nimble
fingers. Fairy Grim, having no drunken men to trip up, began
to sort the flax, and Fairy Gull dressed the sleeping girl by

changing her cotton gown to cashmere, and twining bright rb-