38 THE FAIRY-FOLK OF THE BLUE HILL.

exuberance of their spirits was somewhat ex-
hausted, when they bent their tiny faces over
the water and gazed into its clear depths.

For a time no one spoke, until one of their
band, the most dimpled and roguish-looking of
them all, the most nimble of foot and graceful
in the dance, Toto the Slim, thus addressed his
comrades : —

“ Brothers mine, the nets of the hunter lie
at the bottom of this lake, as ye well know, and
I crave your attention while I relate what
befell this day. Hidden ‘neath yon mossy
stone, footsteps, human footsteps, fell on my
ear, and, peeping cautiously forth, I espied
Wassa, the rover’s maid, with her brother and
sisters. Mindful of the unkind feeling they
bear the hunter’s little maid, I watched them
closely. Drawing the hunter’s nets, they
threw them on the shore, and within the
meshes leapt two shining bass. These fishes
these naughty children s¢oée, my comrades.
Now, I ask ye, brothers mine, shall we allow
this deed to go unpunished? Must the gentle
Mona, she who so loves the fairy folk and is so
loved by them, go without her supper?”

“No, a thousand times no,” cried all the