88 THE FAIRY-FOLK OF THE BLUE HILL.

and unseen hands showered on her as she
passed handfuls of shining stones and _ gor-
geously tinted flowers.

At length, the gnomes bearing the couch
paused before a massive wall, and as it gradu-
ally rolled back Mona perceived the starlit
sky above her, and breathed the breath of the
woods she knew and loved so well, while voices
sang: —

“ Farewell, farewell, maiden dear,
Never, never more we fear
Wilt thou enter Fairyland.
But this know, — all of cur band
Watch o’er thee by night and day,
And safely guide thy steps alway.”

As the words of the song died away, Mona
found herself alone before her father’s hut.
Not a gnome of all the hundreds who had sur-
rounded her was to be seen, and the thought
came to her that she had been dreaming; but
her eyes fell on the litter upon which she had
been borne through Fairyland, and in her lap
lay the beautiful flowers and brilliant stones
which had been showered upon her. Eager to
relate to her mother her strange adventures,