34 THE FAIRY-FOLK OF THE BLUE HILL.

way with indolent people, felt a great dislike to
their hard-working neighbors. The industry
the parents of Mona displayed in felling the
forest trees and uprooting stumps, to prepare
a place in which to plant their seeds, was
much ridiculed by the rover and _ his wife; and
the care and love they bestowed on their one
child and their solicitude to have her grow up
to be a good and useful woman was considered
as “spoiling” her. It never occurred to them
that the mos¢ spoiled children are those who
envy others for having what they have not
themselves.

To return to the rover’s children. After
Mona had cisappeared, Wassa turned her steps
homeward, followed by her brother and sisters.
As they passed the hunter’s pond, Wassa
went to the edge of the water, and, stooping
down, drew in a net that was set in the deep
water. As she landed it on the grass, two
fine bass leapt and struggled to free them-
selves.

Wassa skilfully extricated the fishes, and,
breaking a lithe twig from a tree near by, ran -
it through their gills. Then she threw the
empty net back into the water, and proceeded