22 THE MAGIC OAK TREE

a good deal of my time has been passed in
studying the Black Art, and I can help
those to whom I wish to be friendly in
more ways than one. You must know that
this bad old fairy has reigned so long in the
forest where she dwells that she has really
forgotten that she is by no means the
most powerful person in the neighbourhood.
There are fairies of a higher class who are
well able to crush and destroy her if they
can only be got to interfere, and it is only
because they despise her so much that they
have let her alone so long. One of the best
and kindest of these is the Fairy of the Falls,
so called because she usually lives among
the rocks on one side of the forest where
there is a beautiful waterfall. If you could
persuade her to help you, all would be well.’

‘But,’ asked the boy when the hedgehog
paused in his speech, ‘how am I to find
this good fairy, and how can I persuade her
to help me if I do find her ?’

‘That is what I am going to tell you,’
replied the hedgehog. ‘You have only got
to walk from this spot in a straight line to
the forest, which you can see quite plainly
from where you stand. Take out your