284 THE GOLD OF FAIRNILEE.

 

CHAPTER IX.
The White Roses.

EANIE sat down beside the well. She

| wished her three wishes: to see Randal,

J to win him back from Fairyland, and to

** help the people in the famine. Then she
knelt on the grass, and looked down into.

the well-water. At first she saw nothing

but the smooth black water, with little waves.
trembling init. Then the water began to grow
bright within, as if-the sun was shining far, far
below. Then it grew as clear as crystal, and
she saw through it, like a glass, into a new
country—a beautiful country with a wide green
plain, and in the midst of the plain a great
castle, with golden flags floating from the tops
of all the towers. Then she heard a curious
whispering noise that thrilled and murmured,
as if the music of all the trees that the wind
blows through the world were in her ears, as.
if the noise of all the waves of every sea, and
the rustling of heather-bells on every hill, and
the singing of all birds were sounding, low
and sweet, far, far away. Then she saw a
great company of knights and ladies, dressed
in green, ride up to the castle; and one knight