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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:34:34 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:34:34 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10463-0.txt b/10463-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..92d26a8 --- /dev/null +++ b/10463-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3779 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10463 *** + +THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD + +by + +ETHEL COOK ELIOT + + + TO TORKA AND NORTHWIND + + +CONTENTS + + I. MAGIC IN A MIST + II. THE BRIGHT HOUSE + III. FIRELIGHT + IV. THE GOSSIP + V. WORLD STORIES + VI. AT THE HEART OF A TREE + VII. TREE MOTHER AND THE DROWSY BOAT + VIII. A WITCH AT THE WINDOW + IX. THE WIND HUNT + X. ON THE GRAY WALL + XI. THE BEAUTIFUL WICKED WITCH + XII. IVRA'S BIRTHDAY + XIII. NORA'S GRANDCHILDREN + XIV. SPRING COMES + XV. SPRING WANDERING + XVI. OVER THE TREE TOPS + XVII. THE JUNE MOON + XVIII. THE DEEPEST PLACE IN THE WOOD + XIX. MORE MAGIC IN A MIST + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MAGIC IN A MIST + + +That morning began no differently from any morning, though it was to be +the beginning of all things new for Eric. He was awakened early by Mrs. +Freg's rough hand shaking him by the arm, and her rough voice in his +ears: "Get up, lazy-bones! _All_ you boys pile out, this very minute! +It's six o'clock already!" Then she reached over Eric and shook the +other two boys in the bed with him, repeating and repeating "Wake up, +wake up! It's six o'clock already!" When she was sure the three boys in +the bed were awake and miserable, she crossed the room with a hurried, +heavy tread and clumped, clumped down the stairs into the kitchen. + +Though it happened just that way every morning, and it had happened so +this morning, this day was to be very different from any other in Eric's +life. But Eric could not know that; so he crawled farther down under the +few bedclothes he had managed to keep to himself, and shut his eyes +again just for a minute. + +The night had been a cold one, and the other two boys in the bed, +because they were older and stronger, had managed to keep most of the +bedding wrapped tightly around them, while little Eric shivered on the +very edge. So he had not slept at all in the way little boys of nine +usually sleep,--that is, when they have a bed to themselves, and their +mother has left a kiss with them. When he had slept, he had dreamed he +was wading in icy puddles out in the street. + +But it was only a minute that he huddled there, trying to come really +awake, and then he sprang out, and without thought of a bath, was into +his clothes in a minute. The two older boys followed him more slowly, +yawning, growling, and quarreling. + +Breakfast was served in the kitchen by Mrs. Freg. The room was bare and +ugly like the rest of the house, and the food was far from satisfying. +As the older boys got most of the bedding for themselves, so they got +most of the breakfast, while Mr. and Mrs. Freg laughed at them, and +praised them for fine, hearty boys who knew what they wanted and would +get it. + +"You will succeed in the world, both of you," said Mrs. Freg with +mother-pride gleaming in her eyes, when they had managed to seize and +divide between them little Eric's steaming cup of coffee,--the only hot +thing he had hoped for that morning. + +"Will I be a success, too?" asked Eric in a faint but hopeful voice. + +"You!" said the harsh woman. "You, young man, had better be thankful to +work on at the canning instead of starving in the streets. That's the +fate of most orphans. Success indeed! Now hurry along, all of you. It's +quarter to seven." + +But right here is where the day began to differ from other days. Eric +did not hurry along. He threw down his spoon and cried, "I'd just as +soon starve in the streets, and wade in its icy puddles, too, as live +here with you and your nasty boys and work in that old canning factory! +I just wonder how you'd feel if I went out this morning and never, never +came back! I'd like to do that!" + +Mrs. Freg laughed, and her laugh was not a nice mother-laugh at all, for +she was not Eric's mother, and had never pretended that she was. + +"Why, little spitfire, it wouldn't matter a bit except to make one less +mouth to feed. But you won't be so silly as that. You don't want to +starve." + +"All right," said little Eric, snatching his cap from its peg. "You said +it wouldn't matter to you. You won't see me again, any of you. I hate +you all, and everything in the world. I hate you. You've made me hate +you hard!" + +Then he suddenly ran out into the street. + +In a minute he was in a flood of people, men, women and children moving +towards the canning factory, a big brick building on the outskirts of +the city. Eric had worked in that factory from the day he was seven. +There is no need to tell you what he did there, for this is not the +story of the canning factory Eric,--the queer, hating Eric who had waked +up that morning. + +But how he did hate! His eyes were full of hating tears, and they were +running down his face, making horrid white streaks on his dirty cheeks. +He was hating so hard that he did not even care if people saw his tears. +He lifted his face straight up and dropped his arms straight down at his +side and walked right along, no matter how fast the tears came. + +Now he had often hated before, but never quite like this. Before, it had +been a frightened hate, a gnawing, hurting thing deep down in his heart. +But to-day it was a flaring hate, a burning thing right up in his head. +It was big, too, because it included everything that he knew, Mrs. Freg, +her boys, the street, the people jostling him, and hottest and wildest +of all the canning factory. How terrible to go in there in the morning, +when the sun was only just up, and not to come out again until it was +quite down! Eric knew little about play, but he did know that if he +could only be let stay out in the sunshine he would find things to do +there. If they'd only let him try it once! + +So he walked along in the direction the others were going, the hating +tears in his eyes and on his face. But no one laughed at him, and no one +asked him what was the matter, even the other children. For he was not +crying in the usual way with little boys. He was walking along with his +head up. So people did not bother him. + +He had reached the outskirts of the town, and was almost in the shadow +of the big, cruel factory, when the Magic began to work. For there was +magic in this day that had started so badly. It was only waiting for +Eric to see it before it would take hold of him and carry him away into +happiness. It had waited for him at the door of the dull, bare little +house that had never been home to him, but his tears would not let him +see it. So it had followed along beside him all the way to the factory, +waiting for him to feel, even if he could not see. And he did +feel,--just in time to let the Magic work. + +He felt that the day that had begun so freezingly was warm, strangely +warm. He wiped the tears from his eyes away to the side of his face with +his sleeve, and looked about. The sun was very bright, but in a mild, +pleasant way. And a tree on the other side of the street was showering +softly, softly, softly, yellow autumn leaves, until they covered the +cobblestones all around. Eric did not think about being late. The Magic +was pulling him now. He went across and stood under the tree, and felt +the leaves showering on his head and shoulders, and caught a few in his +hands. + +All the people passed, and soon the last one was hidden behind the heavy +factory door. Eric gave the door a glance or two, but did not go. Over +the roof of the factory he saw the tops of tall trees waving. He had +never looked so high above the factory before. But he knew there was a +wood on the other side, a wood he had always been too tired to think of +exploring, even on holidays. Now he saw the tops of the tall trees +beckoning him in a golden mist. "The mist is the yellow leaves they're +dropping," thought Eric. With every beckon the golden mist of leaves +grew brighter and brighter, until he could not see the beckoning any +more, but only the mist. Still he knew the beckoning was going on behind +the mist. + +"If I'm to live in the streets at night," he thought to himself, +"there's no need to live in the factory by day. I'll just go and see +what those trees want of me." + +Very slowly, with little firm steps, he went by the factory door, and +then around under its windows to the wood at the back. + +It was Indian Summer. That was why the golden leaves were showering in a +mist, and why the sun was so warm. + +Eric dropped his ragged coat and cap on the edge of the wood,--it was so +warm,--and went in. + +A little girl had been watching him from her place at one of the factory +windows where she was sorting cans. She had seen him before, working at +the factory, day after day, and they had played together sometimes in +the noon half hour. Now she wondered what he was doing out there. Had +they sent him, perhaps, to do a different kind of work that could only +be done in the woods? But as he walked away in under the trees farther +and farther, the golden mist that was over the wood drew in about him; +and although she leaned far forward over the cans at a great risk of +knocking over dozens and setting them rolling,--he was lost in it. It +had dropped down behind him like a curtain. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE BRIGHT HOUSE + + +Eric knew nothing of the little girl and her thoughts. He was walking in +a golden mist, but he could see quite perfectly, and even far ahead down +long tree aisles. At first the trees did not grow very close together, +and there was little underbrush. Several narrow paths started off in +different directions,--straight little paths made by people who knew +where they were going. But Eric did not know where he was going, so he +struck off in a place where there was no sign of a path. Soon the trees +drew closer and closer together, until their branches locked fingers +overhead and shook the yellow leaves down for each other. The leaves +showered softly and steadily. Eric's feet rustled loudly in them. + +Soon he stopped and took off his worn shoes and stockings. He left them +where he took them off and went on, barefoot. Now that he was only in +his shirt and trousers he began to run and leap. He leapt for the +drifting leaves, and he ran farther and farther into the happy +stillness. + +The trees crowded and crowded, and the mist of leaves grew brighter and +brighter. No birds sang, for they had all flown away for the winter, and +there were no flowers. But the drifting leaves hid the bareness, and +magic covered everything. + +After Eric had run and leapt and waded in the crackling pools of leaves +for a long time, he grew hungry. "But there is no food here," he +thought; "and anyway it doesn't matter. It's much better to be hungry +here than in the dirty streets." + +He decided to go to sleep and forget about it. So he lay down in the +leaves. They fell over him, a steady, gentle shower, and he slept long, +and without dreaming anything. + +But when he woke he was cold. And worse than that, the golden mist had +faded. It was almost twilight. The light was cold and still and gray. +While he slept Indian Summer had vanished and its magic with it. + +Now no matter how fast Eric ran, or how high he jumped, he was chilly +through and through. But he did not think of trying to find the way out +of the wood. The streets would be as cold as the forest, and never, +never, never, if he starved and froze, was he going back to that house +in the village where he had lived but never belonged. So he went on +until the gray light faded, and the soft rustle of falling leaves +changed to the noise of wind scraping in bare branches. When he was very +cold, and ready to lie down and sleep again to forget, he came quite +suddenly on an opening in the trees. In the dim light he saw a little +garden closed in with a hedge of baby evergreens. The wind was rustling +through the stalks of dead flowers in the garden. But in the middle of +it was a little low house, and the windows and doors were glowing like +new, warm flowers. + +Yes, it was a house and a garden away there in the wood, but no path led +to it through the forest, and there was a strangeness about it as about +no house or garden Eric had ever seen. + +Although no path led through the wood to the house, a path did run +through the garden to the low door stone. Eric went up it and stood +looking in at the door, which was open. + +The glow of the house came from a leaping, jolly fire in a big stone +fire-place, and from half a dozen squat candles set in brackets around +the walls. It was the one lovely room that Eric had ever seen. It was so +large that he knew it must occupy the whole of the little house. But in +spite of all the brightness, the comers were dim and far. + +There were two strange people there, or they were strange to Eric +because they were so different from any people he had ever known. One +was a young woman who sat sewing cross-legged on a settle at the side of +the fire-place. About her the strangest thing was her hair. It was not +like most women's,--long and twisted up on her head. It was short, and +curled back above her ears and across her forehead like flower-petals. +It was the color of the candle-flames. But her face was brown, and her +neck and long hands were brown, as though she had lived a long time in +the sun. Her eyes that were lifted and scarcely watching the work in her +hands, were very quiet and gray. + +She was watching and talking to a little girl who was skipping back and +forth between a rough tea-table set near the fire and an open +cupboard-door in the wall. She was carrying dishes to the table, and now +and then stopping to stir something good-smelling which hung over the +fire in a pewter pot, with a strong bent twig for a handle. + +The child was strange in a very different way from her mother. The +mother, one could see, was merry in spite of her quiet eyes. But the +child was pale. Her face was pale and little and round. Her hair was +pale, too, the color of ashes, and braided in two smooth little braids +hanging half way down her back. She moved with almost as much swiftness +as the fire-shadows, and as softly too. + +Both mother and daughter were dressed in rough brown smocks, with narrow +green belts falling loosely,--strange garments to Eric. And their feet +were bare. + +But stranger than the house, stranger than the people in it, was the +fact that the mother was talking to the little girl just as people of +the same age talk to each other; and though Eric was shaking with cold +and aching with hunger, he could still wonder deeply at that. + +"It's a long way 'round by the big pine," she was saying; "but you see I +am home in time for supper. Suppose I had not come until after dark. +What would you have done, Ivra?" + +The little girl stopped in her busy-ness to stand on one foot and think +a second. "Why, I'd have put the supper over the fire, lighted the +candles, and run out to meet you." + +"Oh, but you wouldn't know which way to run. I might come from any +direction." + +"I'd follow the wind," cried Ivra, lifting her serious face and rising +to her tiptoes, one arm outstretched, as though she were going to follow +the wind right then and there. + +It was at that minute they noticed the door had blown open, and that a +little boy was standing in it, looking at them. + +But they neither stared nor exclaimed. Ivra ran to him, her arms still +outstretched in the flying gesture, and drew him in. His dirty face was +streaked with tears, and his legs and feet were blue with the cold. They +knew it was not question-time, but comfort-time, so the mother folded an +arm about him, and Ivra skipped more rapidly than ever between the +cupboard and the table. Almost at once supper was ready, and the table +set for three. As the last thing, Ivra brought all the candles and set +them in the middle of the table. They sat down,--Eric with his back to +the fire. It warmed him through and through, but their friendly faces +warmed him more. + +Very little was said, but when the meal was nearly over Ivra asked him +how long he was going to stay with them. Immediately he stopped eating +and dropped his spoon. His eyes filled with tears. He had utterly +forgotten about his plight until then,--how he was homeless, workless +and bound to starve and freeze sooner or later. Ivra's mother saw the +misery in his face and quietly spoke, "We hope for a long time. As long +as you want to, anyway. Three in a wood will be merrier than two in a +wood. . . . If you like me I will be your mother." + +Ivra clapped her hands. "Stay always," she cried. "I will be your +playmate. There will be many playmates besides, too, and I will help you +find them." + +Eric glowed. The hatred that had been flaring in his head suddenly +faded, and the heavy thing that had been his heart for as long as he +could remember, became light as thistledown. He looked at the mother and +the kindness in her eyes made him tremble. "I will stay and be your +child," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FIRELIGHT + + +When supper was done the three put away the supper things, carried the +table back to its place in the corner, and set the candles in their +brackets about the walls. Then almost at once the mother said it was +bath-time and bed-time. + +Bath-time! Baths had been rare in Eric's life, and when they did happen +were unhappy adventures,--cold water in a hand basin in the kitchen +sink, a scratchy sponge, and a towel too small. So if Mrs. Freg had said +"bath-time and bed-time" to him now, he might have run away. But if +Ivra's mother said it, it must be. She was _his_ mother too, now, and he +loved her and thought her beautifully strange. + +A surprise was waiting for him. The bath was a deep basin set in the +wall. There was a fountain in it that one had only to turn on to have +the basin fill with clear water. Eric slipped out of his ragged shirt +and trousers and climbed up into it. The fountain came splashing down on +his dusty, shaggy head, falling in rivulets down his back and breast. He +was like a bird taking a bath; there was such happy splashing and +dipping. + +But no bird had ever the gentle soft drying, or was wrapped in such a +warm night gown as the mother found for Eric. It was one of Ivra's night +gowns, but quite large enough. Then she tucked him into a narrow couch +far from the fire. It was the first time Eric could ever remember having +slept alone. + +Ivra was already in a bed against the opposite wall. Before the mother +got into hers, which was open and ready for her, she blew out all the +candles and opened the door and windows. + +"Good night, my lambs," she said, and a very few minutes afterwards Eric +could see by the firelight that his mother and playmate were asleep. + +How cold the wind felt as it blew over his face! But how warm and snug +his body was, there in the soft, clean night gown between the light, +warm blankets! How fine to be there so warm in bed while his cheeks grew +red in the cold air and burned deliciously. How could he ever sleep? He +was too happy! + +He looked at the fire. And then he looked harder. It was not a fire at +all, but a young girl, all bright and golden, sitting with her head +drowsily bent forward on her knees and her arms wrapped close about her +legs. But as he watched she slowly lifted her bright head, and looked +quietly about the room. Then she gradually and beautilully rose and +stepped out of the fireplace onto the floor. Slowly she moved across to +the mother's couch and stood still as though looking down at her. Slowly +she bent and drew the bed-clothes higher about her shoulders, and kissed +the flower-petal hair curled back on the pillow. + +She moved then to Ivra's couch, still slowly and very beautifully, and +Eric could see her smile at the little one huddled there, half on her +face, one arm thrown up over her head. Gently the fire-girl rolled her +into a relaxed position on her side, tucked in the flung arm, and kissed +the closed eyelids. + +Then she stood a minute, looking away, Eric did not know where. But his +heart began to ache with wonder and longing. Would she come to him +too--or was he only a stranger? + +He lay still, watching her from his dark corner. At last she stopped +looking away, and came across the floor to him. She brought all the +brightness of the room with her, and her feet made no sound on the +boards. When she stood above him he shut his eyes, though he wanted very +much to look up into her face. She bent down and her hands smoothed his +covers, warmed his pillow and lay still for a minute like sunlight on +his cheek. + +When he opened his eyes again, she had gone back to the fireplace, all +her brightness with her, and was resting there, a drowsy, golden girl, +her head bent forward on her knees and her slim arms wrapped close about +her legs. + +Eric lay and watched her for many sleepy minutes while her light fell +dimmer and dimmer, lower and lower. When it was just a tiny flicker he +dropped to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE GOSSIP + + +He slept long and deeply, for when he woke he felt rested. But he did not +open his eyes. "It must be time for Mrs. Freg to shake me," he was +thinking. "Until she does I'll just stay as I am and pretend it wasn't a +dream, but real." For although he remembered very well all that had +happened to him yesterday, he could not believe it was true. + +So he lay still in his snug bed, wondering that Mrs. Freg's boys had +left him so much of the bed-clothes. "How fine to have a little time to +pretend a dream!" he said to himself. But Mrs. Freg did not come and did +not come, until at last he opened his eyes, just in wonderment. "It must +be six o'clock!" + +When he saw where he was, and that the dream was true, his heart almost +stood still for joy. He was indeed far away in the woods, safe and snug +and warm in this bright house, and Mrs. Freg could never reach him here. +And he would not go to the canning factory that day, nor the next, nor +the next, nor ever again. The new mother had said so. His happiness +brought him up in bed wide awake, and then he got out. He had not +learned to bound out yet, but that came. + +The fire was burning merrily. All was in order, the beds made and pushed +back against the wall, the hearth swept, and some clusters of bright red +berries arranged above the fireplace. But where were Ivra and +Helma?--Ivra had called her mother "Helma" last night, and so it was +that Eric already called her and thought of her. There was not the +tiniest sign of them. + +Oh, but yes. There on the floor near the hearth lay a little brown +sandal, one of its strings pulled out and making a curlycue on the +floor. That must belong to Ivra. The fire, the red berries, and the +little, worn sandal, seemed to be wishing Eric a good morning and a +happy day. There was plenty of mush in the pot swinging over the fire, +and on the table drawn up to it, a wooden spoon, a bowl, and a jug of +rich cream. So they had not forgotten him. They had only let him sleep +as long as he would. They must have stolen about like mice, getting +breakfast, clearing up, and tidying the room; and then closed the door +very softly behind them when they went out. + +And wonder of wonders! After yesterday's Indian Summer, outside it was a +wild winter day. Gusts of snow were hurling against all the windows of +the house, and blowing a fine spray under the door. Eric with his face +against a windowpane could see only as far as the evergreen hedge +because the trees beyond were wreathed in whirling snowclouds. The dead +flowers in the garden were hidden under the blowing snow. The little +straight walk up to the door was lost in it, and the footprints Ivra and +Helma must have made when they went away were hidden too. + +Something red blew against the hedge. For a minute Eric thought it was a +big bird. But it found the opening and came through, and then he saw it +was a little old woman. She came briskly up to the house, a red cape +blowing about her, sometimes right up over her head, for because of the +jug she was carrying she could not hold it down. She walked in without +stopping to knock and was as surprised to see Eric there as he was to +see her. But she got over it at once. + +"Good morning," she said cheerfully, going across the room, whisking a +pitcher out of the cupboard and emptying her jug of milk into it. "This +is the milk for them, and it's as much as ever that I got here with it. +The wind is in a fine mood-pushed me here and there all the way through +the wood, and tried to steal my cape from me, say nothing of Helma's +milk! Perhaps some of the Wind Creatures wanted them, or it might be old +Tree Man himself, looking for a winter cape for his daughter. But I +said, 'No, no. The milk is for Helma and little Ivra! I take it to them +every morning and I'll take it this morning whether or no, so pull all +you like--cape or milk you'll not get. The cape has a good clasp, and +I've a good hold of the jug. Pull away!" + +Here the old woman--the pitcher put away, and the cupboard door +closed--dropped down on the settle and waited for Eric to speak. She was +a jolly little old woman, one could see at a glance. Her face was the +color of a good red apple, and just as round and shiny. Her eyes were +beady black, bright and quick, and surrounded by a hundred finest +wrinkles, that all the smiles of her life had made. Her mouth was pursed +up like a button, out of which her words came shooting, quick and bright +and merry. + +Eric stood looking at her, not thinking to say anything. So after the +briefest pause she went on, peeping into the pot. + +"I see you have some mush here, so as I've come all the way from the +farm and am ready for a second breakfast after my tussle with the wind, +I'll share it with you. Or perhaps you have had yours already." + +"No, no," cried Eric, suddenly remembering how hungry he was and hoping +she would not take it all. "I have just waked up." + +"So. Then we'll breakfast together," and away she flew to the cupboard +again and brought out a second bowl and spoon. Then she stirred the mush +round and round a few times and dished it up. Eric noticed that she +divided it exactly evenly. She flooded both bowls with cream, and +together they sat down to it. What a good breakfast that was, and how +fast the little old woman talked! + +But in spite of all her talking and flying around she had looked Eric up +and down and through and through, and made up her mind what kind of a +person he was. What she saw was a pale little boy of nine in a ragged +shirt and trousers, and barefooted. His hair was shaggy and unbrushed +but tossed back from a wide brow. His mouth was sullen. But she forgot +all about shabby clothes, unbrushed hair, and sullen mouth when she came +to his eyes. They were wide and clear, and returned the old woman's keen +glance with a gaze of steady interest. Sullen and pale, but +clear-eyed--she liked the little stranger. And so she went on talking. + +"I bring them milk every day. It's a long way here from my farm, but not +too far when it's for them. Helma's gone into the village, hasn't she? +When I came to Little Pine Hill this morning the snow stopped whirling +for a minute, and I caught a glimpse of her a-striding across the +fields. It's a fine way of walking she has--like the bravest of Forest +People! When I reached the Tree Man's the wind didn't stop for me, but I +spied that child, Ivra, just where I knew she'd be,--racing and chasing +and dancing with the Snow Witches out at the edge of the wood. 'It's a +pity she can't go with her mother,' I said to myself when I saw her, +'and not be wasting her time like that. The Snow Witches are no good to +any one. But--'" + +Eric interrupted there, having finished his mush and pricking up his +cars at the mention of witches. + +"Are they really witches?" he cried. "And have you seen them yourself?" + +"What else would they be?" asked the old woman. "They're the creatures +that come out in windy, snowy weather, to dance in the open fields and +run along country roads. Ordinary people are afraid of them and stay +indoors when they're about. Their streaming white hair has a way of +lashing your face as they rush by, and then they never look where +they're going. They care nothing about running into you and knocking the +breath out of you. Then, they're so cruel to children!" + +"But Ivra isn't afraid of them!" wondered Eric. + +"Not she," said the old woman. "She runs _with_ them instead of away +from them. When I saw them back there they had all taken hands and were +leaping in a circle around her. She was jumping and dancing in the +center as wild and lawless as they, and just as high, too. . . . But it's a +pity she isn't with her mother all the same, going on decent errands in +the village. Only of course it's not her fault, poor child! She daren't +go into the village." + +"Why _daren't_ she?" asked Eric. + +"_How_ dare she?" cried the old woman. "She'd be seen, for she's only +part fairy, of course. But hush, hush!" + +She clapped her hands over her mouth. "What am I telling you,--one of +the secrets of the forest, and you a stranger here? You must forget it +all. Ivra's a good child. Now don't ask me any more questions, or I +might tell you more." + +But Eric had begun to wonder. What did it mean, that Ivra was part +fairy? And why wasn't it safe for her to be seen in the village? And +were there really witches, and was she playing with them out there in +the wild day? + +The old woman was talking on, but he heard no more. + +Then the door blew open in a snowy gust of wind, and there stood Helma, +the mother, her arms full of bundles, her cheeks ruddy from the wind, +and her short hair crisp and blown. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +WORLD STORIES + + +Now Eric learned that the old woman's name was Nora, for that was what +Helma called her, and seemed glad to find her there. She stayed on only +long enough to see what Helma had brought in her bundles, and then +started out for the farm, drawing her red cape closely about her this +time, and not blowing much as she walked briskly to the gap in the +hedge. Once through she disappeared quickly in the high drifting snow. +Hardly had she gone her way when Ivra came from another, jumping the +hedge and reaching the door in three bounds. + +Helma had bought a good deal of thick brown cloth in the village and a +strip of brown leather. It was all for Eric. She had noticed his lack of +shoes and stockings last night, and that his worn clothes were much too +poor and thin for winter in the forest. To-day, while she sewed for him, +he would have to stay in. That was a pity, for it is such fun out in a +storm. By night, though, all would be finished. + +"And that is good!" exclaimed Ivra. "For to-night the Tree Man has asked +us to a party. We're going to roast chestnuts and play games, and +there's to be a surprise, too. The Tree Girl called it all out to me as +I passed just now. She put only her head through the door, for the snow +came so suddenly it caught her without a single white frock,--only a +bonnet. But that was pretty. It has five points like a star, mother." + +"The Tree Girl," said Eric. "What a queer name! But how did she know +about me to ask me too? Did she ask me?" + +"I told her about you. And of course she asked you. You are my +playmate!" + +Helma pulled a table to the settle and sat down with all the brown cloth +before her, a work-basket, and shears. But first she measured Eric for +his new clothes. + +"You may make the leggins, if you want to," she said to Ivra, "and when +you come to a hard place tell me and I will help. You may even measure +them yourself.... We're the only Forest People, Eric, who wear anything +but white in the winter. Most Forest People like to be the color of +their world. They often laugh at us. But I like brown. Ivra makes me +think of a brown, blown leaf, and now here will be two of them! You can +blow together all over the forest." + +Eric's eyes swam in sudden, happy tears, but he only said, "_Nora_ wore +red." + +"Oh, she's not one of us," laughed Helma. "But she's lived close to us +so long, she is able to see us. We aren't afraid of her. She's a good +neighbor." + +But why might they be afraid of such a nice old woman, Eric wondered. He +was to learn sometime, and much beside, for this was the beginning of +new things for him, and his mother, Helma, and Ivra were strange people. +But how he loved them! + +"Now that we are settled at our work, and nothing to interrupt, what +shall it be?" asked Helma. She and Ivra were sewing briskly, one in each +corner of the settle. Eric was stretched on the floor, looking now into +the blaze, and now up at the windows where the snow tapped and swirled; +for to-day,--Helma had said,--was to be a rest day for him. It was the +first rest day he could remember, and how _good_ it was! To know he +could lie there with no cans to sort or label for hours, and no Mrs. +Freg to boss him about when work was over! There were to be no more cans +for him forever, and no more Mrs. Freg. Helma had said that quite +firmly. He believed her and was so happy that he trembled. And so, it +being true that never again should he go back to that unchildlike life +that had frightened him so, and tired him so, all the breaths he drew +felt like sighs of relief, and he turned his shaggy little head on his +arm, crooked under it, and watched Helma's flying brown fingers with +glad eyes. + +"What shall it be?" asked Helma. + +"Oh, World Stories, please," said Ivra, drawing her feet up under her as +she bent over her sewing. + +"Eric probably knows very few of the World Stories," said Helma. "So +sometime I shall have to go back to the beginning and tell them all over +for him." + +"And I'll stay and hear them over again too!" cried Ivra, dropping her +work to clasp her hands. "I love to hear stories over." + +"Why, better than that, you might tell them yourself. Would you like +that?" + +"Oh, yes--if I can. Do you suppose I can, mother Helma? I shall begin at +the very beginning, way back before men were in the world at all, or +fairies even. He'd like to hear about the big animals. And you will +listen, mother, to see that I get it all right?" + +Now these World Stories of Helma's were wonderful stories, but all true. +They began way back when the Earth was young. There were stories about +the Earth itself, how it hung in space and turned, making day and night. +When the strange, great animals that by-and-by appeared on the Earth and +have since gone from it first came into the stories, and then, later, +the floods and glaciers, and at last the first man,--any child might +have listened with delight and wonder. Ivra had listened so ever since +she was a tiny girl, old enough to understand at all. And with man, and +the wonderful happenings that came along with him, Ivra had begged for +the stories day and night, and never could have enough of them. For then +in a great procession came the stories of cities and nations, of great +men and women, of explorations and adventures. They led in turn to +stories of languages and writing, of painting and geometry, of music and +of life. The names of these things may not promise good stories to you, +but that is only because you do not know them as stories. If you could +listen to Helma telling them, by the fire, or out in the starlight, deep +in the wood, or swinging in a tree-top,--then no other stories you might +ever hear would satisfy you quite. So perhaps it is as well you do not +know now just where Helma's little house is standing deep in the wood +under the snow. + +Ivra always said that the nicest thing about the stories was the +interruptions. Helma never minded them, and she answered all the +questions Ivra asked. She answered them by making things that Ivra could +see with her own eyes, by drawing pictures on the ground or in the +ashes, building with earth or snow, playing with wind and water, and in +a hundred other ways. Sometimes the answer to a question would take up +the playtime of a whole day. + +But now Eric was to hear his first story, World Story or any other kind. +Can you imagine how it would feel if to-day you were to hear the first +story of your life? + +"All ready?" asked Helma. + +The silence in the room said plainer than words that all was ready for +the World Story. This time it was a story about a man named Saint +Francis, and a story after Eric's own heart. + +Almost as fast as the story went the work of Helma's fingers. But Ivra +was neither so swift nor so skilled, and the leggins were dropped many +times from forgetful hands because all her thoughts were gone away +following the story. + +Yet somehow the leggins got done, and the jacket and trousers got done, +and even a little round cap, and all before dusk. For a finishing touch +Helma sewed two soft little brown feathers she had picked up in the snow +one on either side of the cap,--which gave Eric, small as they were and +soft as they were, a look of flying. + +Then nothing remained but the sandals, and because Eric was well rested +by then, he was allowed to help at them. They were cut from the strip of +brown leather, and Helma showed Eric how to shape them and sew them +himself. So after supper he stood attired, all in brown, a pale, happy +child, ready for his first party. + +Ivra and Eric were to go to the Tree Man's party alone, for Helma was +going far away from the wood to spend the evening with a comrade. It was +to be a very long walk for her, for she put on her heaviest sandals and +pulled the hood of her cloak up over her hair. + +She walked with the children as far as Little Pine Hill. It was a low +hill, bare of trees, except for a dwarfed pine on the top. In summer the +slope was slippery with the needles of the little pine, but now it was +several inches deep in snow. It was bright starlight, and far away down +an avenue of trees, Eric saw shining open fields, and beyond them the +lights of the town. + +There Helma said good-by. Eric looking up at her in the starlight saw +her hair like pale firelight under her dark hood and her eyes so calm +and friendly. He clung to her hand for a minute. + +"Have a good time," she told them. Ivra leapt away and Eric after her. +Helma stood watching until their little forms had flickered out of sight +among tree-shadows. Then she sped down the starlit avenue towards the +open fields and the town. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AT THE HEART OF A TREE + + +Ivra and Eric ran until the stars were almost lost to them under the snow +roof of the forest. Once Eric stopped to tie his sandal-string which had +loosened and was bothering him. Then the stillness of the world startled +him. + +He cried to Ivra to wait, and she came back to his side. "Don't be +frightened," she comforted. "There are Forest People near us. They would +walk with us, for some of them are going to the party too, but they are +afraid of you. That's why they've drawn their white hoods over their +heads and keep away. Once we are inside the Tree Man's, though, it will +be all right. They'll come in too, and not be afraid any more." + +"But why are they afraid of me?" asked Eric, tugging at his +sandal-string. "No one else has ever been afraid of me. Even Juno, Mrs. +Freg's cat, who was afraid of 'most every one, liked me and jumped into +my lap. Why are the Forest People afraid?" + +"Well, they are Forest People, you see, and you are an Earth Child. +Mother and I weren't afraid of you, of course, because,--we aren't +exactly Forest People." + +Ivra paused and the silence came back. Eric looked up at her. + +"Are you cold?" he asked. + +"No, no." But she began to jump up and down and knock her heels together +to get warm. Eric still struggled with his lacings. Ivra stopped jumping +and went down on her knees in the snow to straighten them out for him. +Eric's fingers were awkward with knots, and besides, now, they were numb +with the cold. But Ivra had everything right in a minute. She crossed +the strings over his instep and tied them snugly above his ankle almost +before he could think. Then they ran on. In starlit spaces Eric caught +glimpses of hurrying figures, so swift and light he could not tell +whether they walked or flew. Their cloaks sparkled white in starlight +until he was not sure but they might be starbeams, and not Forest People +at all. + +One suddenly started up just at his elbow, and was away like the wind. +Ivra began to run and to call after it. "Wild Star! Silly Wild Star! +It's only I, Ivra, and my playmate. Wait for us!" + +Eric followed her, running as fast as he could, but the snow held him +back, and all the trees in the forest seemed to gather to stand in his +way. Ivra came back to him, laughing. "They are so afraid of you! No one +will come near us until the Tree Man is there to protect him." + +Soon they came to a big beech-tree standing in an open space with +smaller beeches making a circle around it. The starlight showed, +strangely, a narrow door in the trunk. Ivra pushed it open and Eric +followed in after her, wondering at going into a tree. + +They were on a flight of stairs lighted by starlight from a window +somewhere high up. At the head of the flight they came to a door, and +through the crack beneath it streamed a warmer light than starlight. +Ivra opened that door gayly, and through it with her, Eric went to his +first party. + +It was the jolliest room in all the world. The firelight and candlelight +did not reach so far as the walls, but left them in soft darkness. So +Eric had the feeling that the room was really much too large to be +inside of a tree. But in spite of its bigness, it was very cozy. The +fireplace was in the middle of the floor, just a great hollowed boulder, +heaped with crackling twigs. + +The candles, red, green, yellow, brown and orange, stood circlewise on a +table by which the Tree Man sat, carving a doll out of a stick. A +workbasket on the table was overflowing with bright threads and pieces +of queer cloth. + +Eric saw these things because just for a minute he was too shy to look +at the people in the room. Almost at once he had to look at the Tree +Man, however, for he came and shook him by the shoulders. Eric had been +shaken by the shoulders before, so he shrank away. But this was very +different from Mrs. Freg's shakings. The Tree Man was chuckling, not +scolding, and the dark eyes that Eric looked up above the long white +beard to find were friendly and wise. + +"Do not fear us, little Earth Child," he said. "It is we that have cause +to fear you. You have only to blink your eyes, pretend to be knowing, +and we are nothing. But your eyes are so wide and so clear, we trust +you. Ivra told us there was not the tiniest shadow in them, not even the +shadow of leaf. Only hunger. But we're not afraid of hunger. Come, have +a good time at the party." + +Then the Tree Girl, the Tree Man's daughter, came to him. She was shy, +and shook all her soft brown hair about her cheeks. A circle of little +yellow leaves kept her hair from her eyes, which, in spite of her +bashfulness, were steady and kind like her father's. "I am glad you are +here." she said. From that minute Eric felt at home in the tree. + +Eric and Ivra were the first of the guests. The others perhaps had been +too scared to come. But soon knock after knock sounded at the door, and +in flocked the Forest People who had been invited. + +First came the Bird Fairies, five of them together, merry and good +little creatures as ever lived in the wood. They had arrived only that +day from their summer homes in the far north, 'way up among the +snow-barrens. They always spent the winter in this wood, living in the +empty birds' nests and spending their time making up songs to teach the +birds that would come back in the spring. Bird Fairies cannot sing a +note themselves, nor carry an air, but they make up fine songs for the +spring birds, who while they can sing with beautiful voices really have +but few ideas. + +They are fluffy, cuddly, swift little creatures, tiny and quiet. One +might think them of little account just at first, but not for long. For +they are the farthest-traveled of all the Forest People, except the Wind +Creatures only. Now they were fluttering in, and off came their white +cloaks and forth they hopped in bright colors, little feet twinkling and +pattering, little wings lifting and wavering. They gathered around the +Tree Man, nestling in a row on his shoulder, running up and down his +arms, giving all of the news of their long journey into his ear. He +chuckled and chuckled and soon sat down by the table again, nodding his +head with delight at the tales they were telling him. + +Meanwhile, another group entered,--the Forest Children. The Forest +Children are little girls and boys who live all by themselves in moss +houses deep in the thickest of the forest, and know nothing of mothers, +nurses or schools. They came tumbling, cheering, and skipping in, curls +bobbing, eyes shining. When their white cloaks were taken off with the +help of the Tree Girl and Ivra, it was plain to see that they had no +mothers. Their frocks were torn and stained, and half their +sandal-strings untied and flapping. The Tree Girl sighed as she patted +the bobbing curls into some order, tied the laces and straightened a +buckle here and there. + +Now the room was musical with sound. + +The last guest arrived, Wild Star, who had run away from Eric in the +forest. He was a Wind Creature. Wind Creatures are growing-up girls and +boys who live near the edge of the forest. Like all fairies, they can +only be seen by Earth People on a day that is clearer than a day should +be, or by people like Eric who have no shadows in their eyes. + +Wild Star dropped his bright white cloak as he entered. His wings were +purple, the color of early morning, high and pointed. But they clapped +themselves neatly down his back to avoid the ceiling. He was a beautiful +boy, wild and starry, and that is how he got his name. Wind Creatures +are strong and swift, a little too wide-awake and far-traveled to be +very intimate with the Forest People. But Wild Star, though he was as +swift and strong as any, often came to the Tree Man's, and often played +with the Forest Children in their moss village for days together. He +loved the Tree Man, and now he sat down cross legged by him, and laid +his bright cheeck against his knee. + +So the party began. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +TREE MOTHER AND THE DROWSY BOAT + + +"Let's play hide-and-go-seek," cried the Forest Children, for that is +always their favorite game. + +Up jumped Wild Star, down fluttered the Bird Fairies, in crowded the +Forest Children, and the Tree Man counted out for them. He pointed his +finger at each in turn while he said this verse, which he made up on the +spot: + + "Sticks are racing in the flood-- + Trees are racing in the wood-- + In the tree-tops winds are racing-- + In the sky-tops clouds are chasing. + In the tree-heart snug and warm, + We hear nothing of the storm. + + When we play at hide-and-seek, + It is _you_ must count the sheep." + +At "you" the finger pointed at Eric, and it meant that he was to be +"It." + +"Put your head here on my knee. Shut your eyes and count one hundred +sheep jumping over a stone wall, not too fast," explained the Tree Man. +"While you're counting the others hide. Anywhere in this room, and +anywhere on the stairs. Out-doors is no fair." + +"But _where_ are the sheep?" asked Eric, "and how can I count them with +my eyes shut?" + +Every one suddenly looked puzzled. The Forest Children's eyes grew wide +with wondering. The Bird Fairies fluttered uneasily. The Tree Girl +seemed dazed. Wild Star said, "Why, we never thought of that,--where +_are_ they?" + +But Ivra laughed and ran to Eric. She took his hand and said, "The sheep +are inside your own head. Just shut your eyes and try to see them. It is +very easy. The wall is low, and there's a place where the stones are +beginning to roll down. The sheep go over there, one by one." + +Eric shut his eyes and put his head down on the Tree Man's knee. And it +began to happen just as Ivra had said. There was a green hill-pasture, a +little gray stone wall slanting across it, and sheep, one by one, +jumping where the wall was broken down, following their leader. He +counted one hundred of them and then stopped although a dear little lamb +was trotting down the hill, trailing the procession. He wanted to see if +the lamb would be able to jump the wall too. But the Tree Man had said +one hundred, so he stopped and opened his eyes. + +Things were strange. The Tree Man was nothing but an old stump. The room +felt very cold and it was bare. The fire in the boulder had gone out. +But he heard a soft fluttering somewhere and took heart. The Bird +Fairies! They might be hiding high, having wings. He went all around the +room, looking up into the dusk. At last, there they were in row on a +beam, their wings spread over their eyes. + +"Bird Fairies, I spy!" cried Eric, and ran towards the stump. But wings +are swifter than feet, and the Bird Fairies reached the goal first. + +He found Ivra at the top of the second flight of stairs, curled up in a +shadow. + +"I spy!" and he ran just as fast as he could down the stairs. He was +ahead of her to the door, and thought he would surely win. But she +passed him in the room and touched the stump first. + +The Tree Girl, of all places, was kneeling behind the stump. Of course +she touched it the minute Eric spied her, and so she was safe. + +The Forest Children were hiding, some in the hall behind the door, some +on the stairs, one under the table. And everyone of them beat him to the +goal and touched it first. + +"Now there's only Wild Star," Ivra cried. "You must catch him, Eric, or +else you'll have to be 'It' again!" + +Wild Star was outside, up in the top of the tree in the starlight. Eric +discovered him by seeing one of the tips of his purple wings which was +caught in a crack of the sky door. "I spy!" he called, and pulled the +wing-tip to let Wild Star know he was found. + +But of course Wild Star passed him like a flash, his strong wings +beating down. + +Tears of vexation welled in Eric's eyes. One thing he had gained though. +Because he had found them all, even though he could not run so fast as +they, the Tree Man had come back, and sat there in the place of the +stump, and all was warm and bright again. The Tree Man had only wanted +to prove for himself that Eric could see Wild Star, the Bird Fairies, +and the others without Ivra to point them out to him. But he felt +satisfied now that Eric's eyes were really clear, and that he would +never hurt any of them by looking through them or pretending that they +did not exist. + +"Wild Star is It now," he said. "For he didn't play fair, going outside +like that." + +"Oh, I forgot outside was no fair," cried Wild Star, laughing. + +So this time Eric hid with the others, while Wild Star counted sheep. + +He ran wildly all round the room trying to find a hiding-place. But +everywhere there was someone ahead of him. At last he came back to the +Tree Man himself with Wild Star counting sheep at his knee. + +"Ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven," counted Wild Star. "Oh dear! Oh +dear!" Eric whispered to himself in despair. + +Ivra was hiding behind the Tree Man, and so she jumped out and pulled +Eric back to hide with her. + +"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!" + +Wild Star started up, and never thinking to look behind the Tree Man +went circling the room in swift flight. He saw Ivra and Eric as he flew +over their heads, of course, and they laughed and touched the Tree Man +first. + +But he caught most of the others, even the Forest Children who are so +swift and clever. + +After that, almost everyone had to take his turn at being It. + +When the merry game came to an end at last, they gathered around the +boulder fireplace. The twigs were glowing embers now and looked like +myriads of golden flower-buds. Then the Forest Children began clamoring +for a World Story. So Ivra climbed up on the Tree Man's knee and tipping +her head back against his chest, looked into the fire and told one of +Helma's World Stories. It was the story of a glacier. That may not sound +like a very interesting story to you, but if you could hear Ivra tell it +in all its wonder just as Helma had told it to her, you would never ask +for a better story. No, you would ask for that one over and over again, +as the Forest Children did the minute she was through. + +But instead of telling that one over, Ivra told another, a little story +about some eggs and a brood of chickens. And they wanted _that_ over. +But there must be an end to everything, and so the Tree Girl brought out +a bowl of beechnuts, and they forgot the stories, and ate as much as +they wanted. There were apples, too, big and red and cold cheeked. +Everyone was hungry. + +When all were satisfied, there was sudden whispering among the guests. +The Bird Fairies fluttered and hummed with excitement. The Forest +Children's eyes began to shine expectantly. Ivra, who still sat on the +Tree Man's knee, spoke what they were all thinking. "The surprise," she +said to the Tree Man. "You know you promised us a surprise to-night. Is +it time for it yet?" + +"Yes," said the Tree Man. "It is. _High_ time! Come, put on your cloaks. +It's a cold night." + +"But the surprise!" they all cried at once. "We don't want to go home +until we have had the surprise!" + +"Oh, the surprise is up in the branches. My mother is there with her +air-boat, waiting to take you all home." + +The Forest Children clapped their hands and jumped up and down until +their sandal-laces that were not already loose and flapping came undone +and flapped too. Wild Star sprang towards the stairs, his face alight, +Ivra slipped down from the Tree Man's knee and ran to Eric. + +"The Tree Mother! The dear, beautiful Tree Mother! We are to see her and +ride with her!" she cried. + +Then she dashed away for her cloak. The Forest Children, with the Tree +Girl's help, were tumbling into theirs, wrong-end-to mostly, ripping off +buckles in their hurry. + +"The Tree Mother! The dear Tree Mother!" their little teeth chattered in +ecstasy. + +When all were ready they crowded up the straight starlit stairs. At the +top they crawled out through the sky door, one by one, into the +branches. Eric followed Ivra, and saw a great black moth-like thing +poised in air by the tree's top. But it was hollowed like a boat and a +shadowy woman was standing upright in it. A dark cloak covered her, but +the hood had fallen back, and her face in the starlight was very +beautiful and very young, younger even than Helma's, whose face Eric had +thought all that day too young and glad to be a mother's. How could this +be the Tree Man's mother, he wondered,--the Tree Girl's grandmother! +Then he saw that her hair was white, whiter than all the snow that lay +in the forest. + +It was very cold kneeling there and clinging in the tip of the great +beech-tree. The forest below was still and dark. But the air and the +wintry star-filled sky were bright with a blue, cold light. After the +warmth at the heart of the tree, the cold was almost unbearable. Eric +longed to wave his arms about, and jump up and down to get warm, but he +had to cling, still and motionless, to the branches to keep from +falling. + +At last Ivra whispered "It's our turn now," and taking Eric's hand, she +made him jump with her right out into cold space. For one awful instant +he thought they were both falling down, down to the ground. But they had +only dropped into the air-boat. The Tree Mother leaned forward and +pulled a blanket over them. Her eyes as she did it, looked straight into +Eric's. They were dark, and deep as the forest shadows. He began to +speak to tell her who he was, for her look was questioning. But she put +her finger to her lips. Then he noticed for the first time that every +one was silent. Even the Tree Man and his daughter who stood in the tree +top waving good-by spoke no words, only nodded and waved. The last Bird +Fairy fluttered noiselessly in. Eric lay back under the warm blanket, +snuggled against Ivra. A Bird Fairy nestled into the palm of each of his +hands. All was still and warm. The air-boat slipped away high and higher +over the tree-tops and on and on. + +On a cold, starlit night, nestled in feathery warmth, to sail over the +dark tree-tops, high and higher and on and on--that is a wonderful +thing. And when the Tree Mother stands above you, wrapped in her dark +cloak with her face shining under her cloudy white hair, now and then +bending to tuck the blanket more snugly about you--what could be more +blissful? + +Very soon Eric became drowsy against his will. His eyelids dropped like +curtains shutting out the stars. But he roused when the boat stopped, +hovered, and sank down like a bird until it rested on the crusted snow +in the middle of a tiny village of tiny moss houses; only now, of +course, the houses were covered with snow, and looked like baby Eskimo +huts. The Forest Children crept sleepily out of the boat, kissing the +Tree Mother good-by as though in a dream. Not a word was spoken. There +was the creak of their little feet on the cold snow,--that was all. Each +child went alone into his little house. They were lighted and looked +warm through the doors, and Tree Mother nodded as though that were well. +But before the air-boat had risen out of sight, the lights were all out, +and the Forest Children sound asleep, snuggled into their moss beds. + +From then on stops were frequent, and Eric woke at each one. At every +Bird Fairy nest at which they stopped, the Tree Mother leaned from the +boat and scooped the crusted snow out of the nest. Then when the Bird +Fairy was settled down, she powdered the snow with her fingers until it +was soft, and heaped it over the little creature, who was already +asleep. + +Wild Star was left in the tip of the tallest tree in the forest. There +he lay without covering, his face up to the cold sky, his arms flung +back above his head, his wings folded tight. He half opened his +slumbrous eyes on the Tree Mother as the boat floated away, but before +the smile in them faded he was asleep. + +There was straight, sure, even flying then to Helma's little house, set +in its snowy garden,--and down they sank to the door stone. The Tree +Mother carried Ivra, who was fast asleep, in in her arms. The fire leapt +when they entered, until the walls and floor danced with light. The Tree +Mother undressed Ivra, who never once opened her eyes, and tucked her +into bed. Then she helped Eric, who was fumbling and missing buttons in +a sleepy way. But he was awake enough to kiss her good-night. And that +was the end of everything until morning. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A WITCH AT THE WINDOW + + +When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma. Her bed had +not been slept in. They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder +at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes. The room +was strange and lonely without her. The fire had died in the night. They +sat up in their beds and talked about it. + +"She always comes back before bedtime," said Ivra. "She has never stayed +away before." + +Eric said, "Perhaps that is why the Tree Mother brought you in and +undressed you--perhaps she knew our mother had not come back. She looked +wise, as though she knew everything." + +"She does know everything,--at least everything in the forest. But did +she bring me in, right here in her arms, Eric!" + +"And undressed you while you were sound asleep." + +Ivra laughed with delight, and clasped her hands. "Truly, truly? The +dear Tree Mother undressed me? Are you sure? Did she kiss me +good-night?--" But suddenly she grew solemn. "Yes, she knew that mother +was not here. She only takes care of those who have no one else. Well, +we will have to wait for mother, that is all. She will surely come this +morning." + +But she did not come that morning, nor that day, nor for many days. You +shall hear it all. + +The children laid the fire, together,--shivering but hopeful. Ivra got +the breakfast, teaching Eric, so that next time he could help. They +chattered and played a good deal, and really had quite a merry time over +it. It was only at first that Ivra was solemn over Helma's +disappearance. Soon her good sense told her that Helma loved them both, +and nothing could keep her long from her children. + +After breakfast they washed and put away the dishes. Then they tidied +the room. They hurried over it a little, perhaps, for it was a bright +winter day, and all the forest was waiting to be played in. Before they +ran out, they put a log on the fire that it took both of them to lift. +If Helma should come back while they were away, she must find a warm +house. Ivra skipped back after they were outside to set out a bowl and +spoon for her, and stand the cream jug beside them. + +Then away they fled, running and jumping in the frosty morning air. Ivra +taught Eric some games that could be played by two alone. They were +running games, climbing games, hiding games, jumping games. Ivra was +swift and strong and unafraid. Her cheeks reddened like apples in the +cold. She was a fine playfellow. + +Not until they were hungry did they think of home. Then they ran, hand +in hand at last, jumping the garden hedge like deer, their hearts +beating with the expectation of running straight into Helma's arms. But +no Helma was there. Nora had come with the milk, left it, eaten the rest +of the porridge, and gone away again without waiting for a word with any +one. The children wished she had stayed. They needed some one to talk +with about their mother. Of course they knew she would come back, all in +her good time. Ivra made Eric understand that. But the room seemed even +emptier without her than it had in the morning. They cheered each other +as best they could, drank a lot of the fresh milk and ate some nuts. +They wanted to get away into the forest again and forget the empty +house, so they did not try to cook anything. + +They played hard all the afternoon. Towards twilight it grew warmer and +began to snow, great wet flakes. They ran home, leaping the hedge again. +The house was still empty. Helma was not there. + +They stirred up the fire, and sat down on the floor in front of it to +talk over what they should do. Then it happened,--the strange, the +beautiful, the frightful thing! Eric saw a face at the window. It was so +perfectly beautiful, that face, that he wanted to shut his eyes against +it. It almost hurt. It was the face of a young woman, very pale, but +when her eyes met Eric's they filled with dancing laughter. Her hair +under her peaked, white hood glistened blue-black like a river in the +snow. She lifted a small white hand and tapped on the window pane, +nodding to him merrily. + +Ivra turned at the sound of the little fingers on the glass. When she +saw the face, she started to her feet with a frightened cry, and rushing +to the door, drew the bolt. + +"She can't get in. She can't get in, Eric. Don't be afraid. We are +safe." But the poor little girl did not believe her own words. She was +trembling. + +"Why, I'm not afraid," said Eric, running to the window. The merry eyes +drew him. Now her mouth danced into smiles with her eyes. She made +pretty signs to him to open the window and let her in. + +But Ivra pulled him back. "Don't you know? It's the Beautiful Wicked +Witch!" she whispered. + +But Eric was impatient. "How can she be wicked when she's so beautiful!" +he exclaimed. He was so little used to beautiful people in his life that +now he was fascinated and delighted. + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch looked at Ivra then, and Ivra saw how her +eyes were dancing, great black eyes full of splendor and fun. She caught +her breath. She laughed back at the Beautiful Wicked Witch. She could +not help herself. But her hands flew to her mouth to stop the laugh. + +"Shut your eyes, Eric. That must be best, not to look at her at all. +That is what mother did when she came before. She bolted the door and +then we sat down in front of the fire and never looked at the window +once, while she told me a long, lovely World Story about Psyche and her +little playmate Eros. Then when we had forgotten all about the Beautiful +Wicked Witch, we looked at the window by accident and she was gone. +Come, I'll tell you a World Story now, the same one." + +But Eric hardly heard what she was saying. He moved nearer and nearer to +the window. Ivra followed him, charmed by the laughing face there too. +Then together they unbolted the windowpane and opened it outward. The +Beautiful Wicked Witch stepped in. + +"How silly to be afraid of me, children," she laughed. "I have only come +to play with you." + +"Oh goody!" cried both of the children together. For now that she was in +the room all their fear and wonder had vanished. + +It was dusk, and so they lighted all the candles and poked the fire, +before they turned to entertain their guest. But the candles did not +burn very well, very faintly and flickeringly,--and the fire fell lower +and lower, instead of growing higher and higher as they nursed it. + +"Don't mind about that," laughed the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "There's +enough light from the window for us to play together in. We won't bother +with the stubborn old fire and the silly little copy-cat candles. Come, +what shall we play?" + +But the children had been playing hard all day, and their bodies were +tired. "Oh, tell us a story instead of playing," begged Ivra. "This is +the time when mother tells her very best stories." + +"Well, I am not mother," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch; "but I will +tell you the best stories I can. Come sit near the window where the +light is stronger. That fire will never burn while I am here. I am +brighter than it, and the old thing is jealous." + +The children laughed at her joke. But it was true,--she was very bright. +Her eyes seemed to light the room, or perhaps it was her gown, like an +opal fire, blue and pink and purple, changing and glowing, and made of +the softest silk. + +Ivra nestled close to her knee where she could stroke the gleaming silk. +Eric sprawled on the floor at her feet, his face upturned to hers. + +Then she told them a story. It was not like any of Helma's World +Stories, but the children liked it. It was all about a gorgeous bird she +had at home in her tree-house. She told how she had heard it singing one +morning in early spring, high up in the branches of her tree, and how +she had watched it day after day flying back and forth in the forest, +its yellow breast flashing among the green leaves. It had a long golden +bill, and its tail was black as jet; and its wings were the softest gray +in the world with a feather of jet in either one. Its song was the +clearest, the highest, the purest of all the bird songs in the forest. +It was a wonderful bird, and she wanted it for her own. + +Then she told the children how she had set traps for it, and how it had +escaped every time. But at last she had made a dear little cage, all +woven of spring flowers and leaves, and put food in it. Still the bird +escaped, pulling the food out with its long bill and never getting +inside the door. And finally she told them how she did capture that +wild, shy bird by learning its song and singing it sitting in her +tree-house with the window open, until the bird heard and came flying in +wonder to find what other bird was calling it. Then she had closed the +window and the bird was hers. It hung now in the pretty cage in her +prettiest room, and sometimes sang in the middle of the night. + +Eric liked the story, and all the better because it was a true story. +And the Beautiful Wicked Witch said he could see the bird himself if he +would come to her house. He could stroke its bright breast, and it would +sing perhaps. Then there were other things caged in her house, cunning +little animals, and some big ones, worth any boy's seeing. + +But Ivra answered for Eric, shaking her head hard. "No, no. Mother +doesn't want us to visit you." + +But Eric said, "May I open the cage door and the window and see the bird +flash away? I should like that." + +"No. Well, perhaps," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "Will you come +then?" + +"I can't, I suppose, if Mother Helma doesn't want me to. Are you sure +she doesn't, Ivra?" + +Ivra was sure. + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch laughed then. "Of course, if you _tell_ her +she won't let you come. But if you came without telling, how could she +mind?" + +"That sounds true,--but someway it can't be," said Ivra. And that seemed +to end it. + +But after a little the Beautiful Wicked Witch began another story. This +one was about a frock she had made, a wonderful thing all of cobwebs and +violet petals, with tiniest rosebuds around the neck. If Ivra were to +slip that frock over her head, and unbraid her funny little pigtails, +she would look as pretty as any fairy in the world. + +Ivra was not too young to want to be pretty. If she would only go to the +Beautiful Wicked Witch's house, she could try on that dress, and wear it +for one whole day if she liked. Ivra clasped her hands. But then she +thought, and asked a question. "Could I play in it, and run and climb? +Would I be as free as in this little old brown smock?" + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch raised her hands in horror. "My cobweb frock! +Why, it would be ruined! It would be in shreds! How can you even think +of treating it so!" + +So Ivra shook her head until her funny little pigtails flopped from side +to side. "I don't want to wear it then for even a minute. What fun would +there be?" + +"Well, think about it anyway," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch, and rose +to go away. "It's the fir, you know, beyond the white birch." + +"Thank you for the stories," said the children. + +"Good-by," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "Perhaps Eric will remember +and come. It's a gorgeous bird, and I haven't said he couldn't free it." + +Then she slipped out into the snow flakes, turning to give them one +dancing look over her shoulder before the door swung to. + +Up flamed the candles, clear high flames when she was gone, and the fire +crackled again, and took on new life, reaching higher and higher. + +They got their supper together rather silently. But just before going to +sleep Ivra roused herself to say, "Let's promise each other we won't go +to the Beautiful Wicked Witch's fir until mother comes home,--and we can +tell her how jolly the Witch is, and what good stories she told us." + +"I don't want to go anyway," answered Eric, "unless I can free the +bird."--But you see, he had not promised. + +After a while, "Did you notice how pale her face was when she wasn't +laughing?" asked Eric. + +"Yes, and not so beautiful then. Mother may come in the night, and we +never know it till morning!" + +Soon they were asleep, a tired, but happy little girl and boy. + +I think the Tree Mother sank down in her air-boat to look in at them and +open the door wide, which they had forgotten, so they would have fresh +air all night; but it was dark, and the room was shadowy, so perhaps it +was only the wind. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE WIND HUNT + + +After all, Mother Helma was not there the next morning,--nor the next, +nor the next. She did not come back for days and days and days. Much +happened before she returned, and much happened after. I will tell you. + +During the days the children roamed the forest looking for their mother. +They asked every one they could find whether he had seen her. The Tree +Man, his daughter, the Bird Fairies, and the Forest Children, not one of +them had seen or heard of her since she went away. But they all said +with one accord that she would surely come back in her own time. It was +not wise to go seeking her so. She loved them. She would return. + +"Wait and be patient," they said. "Time will bring Helma." + +But they were Forest People, who live long, long lives, and see far. +Eric was an Earth Child, and Ivra was not all a Forest Child. So they +found it hard to be wise and wait and do nothing but trust Helma and +know she would return. + +So they went wandering all the day. They did not go home for meals, +even, after a while, but ate with the Tree Man and his daughter or the +Forest Children. Sometimes as they walked through the forest, looking +all about, even up into the trees for their mother, they would suddenly +burst into play. "Tag," Ivra would cry, tapping Eric on the shoulder, +and away she would fly, he after her, in a race that grew merrier and +merrier as it ran on. Ivra darted and twisted away when Eric thought he +had her, rolling down little hills on the snow crust, climbing trees, +jumping brooks until he was lucky enough to catch her by one of her +pigtails at last, or snatch her flying skirt. "Tag!" Then away he sped, +and the game would go on for a happy while. + +But sooner or later they always stopped running, stopped laughing, and +remembered why they were wandering the wood alone. Then they would call +for Helma. Ivra's voice was shrill and sweet, and rang through the bare +woods like a birdsong. Eric's wavered a little uncertainly, as though he +doubted whether Helma knew it well enough to answer. "Helma, Helma, +Helma! Ohh Helma! Helmaa-a!" + +No Helma answered. Sometimes a Forest Child came running to say, "We +haven't seen her yet, Ivra. But we are watching." The Bird Fairies +fluttered at the call and nodded their little heads uneasily. Children's +voices calling for their mother was a sad sound, and made the kindly +little creatures restless. One or two of them would fly to nestle in +Ivra's neck and whisper, "Give her time. Do not hurry her so. She will +come back." + +But the children were losing faith. They went calling, seeking and +playing through the woods all the hours of daylight. At night Ivra told +Eric World Stories, World Story after World Story until sleep made them +forget. + +The fifth morning of their search dawned blue and clear and windy. + +"The Wind Creatures will be happy to-day," said Ivra when she opened her +eyes and heard the wind pushing at all the windows of the house and saw +the blue morning sky. "Wild Star will be circling the world." + +"Why, then he will see Helma somewhere!" cried Eric. + +Ivra sprang from her bed. "Eric, how splendid! We must go with him! Why +didn't I think of it at the very first!" + +They did not stop for breakfast, but were into their coats and ready for +the day's search in a twinkling. Neither of them had bothered to undress +the night before. Ivra's hair had gone unbrushed for two days. Things +like that are apt to slip when one's mother is away. So her little +pigtails were no longer smooth and glossy, but frowsy and loose, and the +rest of her hair was ruffled until it looked something like the Bird +Fairies' soft plumage. Eric's head, too, was shaggier than ever, and a +smudge from firebuilding had darkened one of his cheeks since the +morning before. They had not bathed in the "bird bath" since Helma had +gone away. They never seemed to have time, or else they were too sleepy. + +Now they no more thought of baths than they thought of breakfast. Eric +followed Ivra, who knew all the ways in the forest, to the spot where +Wild Star was most likely to be, if he was to be found at all on such a +windy, perfect day. They ran earnestly, never slackening to skip or +play. And soon they came in sight of some giant cedar trees near the +edge of the forest. There were several Wind Creatures standing there, +laughing in shrill, glad voices, pointing with their arms, and flapping +their purple wings. Wind Creatures are growing-up boys and girls with +fairy-hearts and strong, never-tiring purple wings, remember. Wild Star +was among them. + +But before the children had come up to them, the Wind Creatures suddenly +joined hands,--as they do just before flying,--and started running down +the sloping hill that ended the forest. + +For a minute Ivra was in despair. "Now they are gone for the day to +circle the world, and I shall never find mother," she thought. But she +did not waste any more breath running. She stopped short and lifted her +voice, clear and insistent, "Wild Star! Wild Star! I need you! Don't run +away. Wild Star!" + +The Wind Creatures had reached the foot of the hill, running swiftly +hand in hand, and their wings were already lifted for flying. But Wild +Star, at the sound of Ivra's voice, leaned back suddenly on the hands he +was holding, almost throwing his comrades on their faces, and breaking +the line. He turned right about, swinging the others with him, and came +leaping and running back. + +"What is the matter, little comrade?" he asked. "What is the matter?" + +"In all your flying 'round the world, Wild Star, you must have seen my +mother Helma. She is lost. Oh, can't you tell us where she is?" + +"Yes, of course. But I didn't know she was lost. I thought she was +visiting Earth-friends." + +"Truly, truly?" Ivra's eyes shone with joy, and Eric grabbed his cap +from his head and threw it up in the air shouting, "Hurrah!" + +"Oh, will you bring her to us right away?" Ivra begged. + +Wild Star looked doubtful. "Perhaps she wouldn't want to come." + +Ivra laughed merrily at that. "Then take us to her," she said, "and you +will see how she wants to come when we ask her." + +"Give us your hands, then!" + +They held out their hands. Ivra's was grasped by Wild Star's and Eric's +by another Wind Creature. With their free hands they clasped each +other's. So the four started running down the hill, while the rest of +the Wind Creatures flew off over their heads. + +Wild Star and his comrade ran faster and faster, until Eric wondered how +it was that he and Ivra were ever keeping up with them. Soon he realized +that his feet were scarcely touching the ground. At the foot of the hill +stood a little group of birches, and they were running right upon it. He +did not see how they could either turn out or stop themselves at that +speed. Almost as soon as he had seen the birches, though, they were +beyond them. They had not turned out, they had jumped right over the +birches, and they were much higher than Eric's head! They were running +so swiftly now that only their toes ever touched the ground,--if _they_ +did. + +What fun it was to run like that, the wind at their backs, and the Wind +Creatures drawing them strongly forward faster and faster and faster +until they were really flying just above the snow. + +Across white fields they skimmed,--over fences and frozen streams, +bushes and banks, through orchards and meadows, on, on, on, until they +came to the town. + +There Ivra pulled back for a minute, and the Wind Creatures slowed down. +Eric knew why Ivra was afraid of the town. She had told him all about it +while they played in the wood. Helma, her mother, was a human, but she +hated the town and loved the fairies and their ways. That was why she +had run away to live by herself in the wood. But Ivra was neither fairy +nor human; she was both. + +Now the fairies are afraid of humans because humans look right through +them and do not see them. That upsets the fairies and makes them +uncomfortable. Of course Helma and Eric were exceptions, for because +they had no shadows in their eyes they could see them and play with +them. So the fairies accepted those two as one of themselves. Ivra was +different. Because she was only half fairy, any human could see her +whether his eyes were shadowed or not if he would only look hard enough. +The dreadful part was that when a human did see her, he was likely not +to believe in her. He would just think he was day-dreaming, and that the +little girl with the soft eyes, the ash-colored pigtails, and the quick +feet was just a piece of his day-dream. Not to be seen is bad enough. +But it is much worse to be seen and not believed in. That was why Ivra +was afraid of the town. People saw her there and either rubbed their +eyes and looked another way, or laughed. + +But now she was going for her mother, and she could bear anything, even +that. She did not hold back long. They ran past the canning factory, and +Eric did not give a glance to it. A little girl looking out over a pile +of cans saw him, however, and wondered at his warm suit of brown cloth, +his leggins, sandals and the cap with wings. She remembered him in rags. +She saw Ivra too, and did not rub her eyes and think her a dream. But +she did not call to any one in the factory or point, for she knew _they_ +would think it a dream. + +Through the crooked narrow streets, past the crooked narrow houses,--one +of them Mrs. Freg's,--they sped faster than the wind! On, on, on,--up +the wide avenue through the "residential section" where big houses eyed +them from proud terraces,--out into the country again they raced. + +There they came to a high gray stone wall, blocking their way, and stood +still. + +"You must climb," said Wild Star. "She is in there." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ON THE GRAY WALL + + +It was a very high wall that hid their mother, and at first glance it +seemed impossible that they could ever climb it. But Ivra did not stop +to wonder. She ran up and down, hunting for a foothold. At last she +reached the end of the wall and disappeared around the corner. Eric and +the Wind Creatures followed. When they came up to her she had already +found a place where the stones were laid a bit unevenly, one on the +other, and was half way to the top, clinging with toes and fingers. + +"Bravo!" cried the Wind Creatures. Eric went up after her, often +slipping back and bruising and scratching his hands and knees, but as +resolute as his playmate. At last they gained the top. The Wind +Creatures had flown up and were waiting for them there, sitting +cross-legged with their purple wings folded down their backs. + +The wall enclosed the garden of a very rich family. It was a formal +garden with straight walks, trellises, fountains, benches and neat +flower beds laid out in squares and circles, now piled high with +blossoming snow. + +Just as the children reached the top of the wall, the door into the +garden from the stern gray mansion behind it opened and through it came +three people. First was a very tall lady all wrapped up in furs,--tails +and heads of the poor animals that had been slain to make them hanging +from her shoulders and down her back. Even the children could see that +her face was sour in spite of all its smiling. Then came a young man in +a stiff, funny hat, carrying a cane, beating up the snow flowers with it +as he passed the flower beds. And behind them walked--Helma, with her +gaze on the ground. That is why they did not know her at first, that and +her very strange clothes. She was dressed all in velvet and fur, and her +arms up to her elbows were hidden in a huge white muff. She swayed as +she walked on weird little high heels and the toes of her boots drew out +to long points, almost like a goblin's. Her hat was a velvet affair, so +awkward and heavy it seemed to weigh down her head, and her candleflame +hair was smothered under it. Is it any wonder that they did not know her +like that! + +But when she walked close under the wall and they heard her voice they +knew her, and the Wind Creatures had to hold Ivra from jumping down and +throwing herself into her arms. "Wait," they whispered. + +From their high place on the wall they could look down on the heads of +the three people, and hear all they were saying. They had never learned +that it is not fair to listen that way. + +From all Helma said they could plainly see she was a prisoner. She was +pleading with the old woman. She was saying, "No, never, never, never, +in a thousand days and years will I ever be happy here. My place is in +the forest. Oh, how these heels bother!" + +"Silly girl!" cried the old woman, smiling more than ever, and looking +more disagreeable than ever at the same time. "Your place is where you +were born-in a fine house and wearing clothes like other people. Heels +indeed! Did you expect them to do any thing else but bother? Mine have +bothered for sixty years, but you haven't heard _me_ complain." + +"Neither would I," Helma said, "if I didn't know about other kinds of +shoes that don't hurt. Those sandals I wore when you caught me didn't +hurt. Why can't I wear those, at least when I walk in the garden?" + +"Well, you might," began the old woman, a little more kindly, and +smiling less, "if you promise always to put on the high heels before +coming into the drawing room--" + +"No," said the young man sharply. "Let her once into the garden in her +sandals and she'll climb the wall and be off. I say that we give her no +chance to escape. After she has been to a hundred or so balls and worn +these beautiful and appropriate clothes long enough she'll be glad of +her luck, and nothing could drag her into the forest. Believe me!" + +Now Helma stopped pleading, and laughed at the young man. "Do you think +high heels, or even a hat that weighs down my head like this horrid one +can keep me much longer from my little daughter, and that dear new +little boy? What they are doing without me all this time--I wonder!" She +stopped laughing to sigh. + +The old woman took her hand not unkindly. "My poor, dear girl," she +said, "how many times must I tell you it is only a dream, that house in +the woods and the little girl and boy? They aren't really there at all, +you know. You have dreamed them. Come, cheer up. Be a brave girl. We +have parties and good times enough here, if you will only get into the +spirit of them, to make up for all your forest foolishness." + +Helma answered in a low even voice, that showed well enough how sure she +was of the truth of what she was saying--"No, they are realer than you. +Ivra is realer than all the people in that mansion put together, +cousins, uncles, aunts, guests, servants and all. She is my little fairy +daughter." + +"No," said the young man. + +The wings of the Wind Creatures on the top of the wall rustled just then +in a gust of cold north wind. Helma threw up her head as at a familiar +sound, and her eyes slowly lifted to the faces of the children looking +down. For a minute she looked steadily at them without believing, and +then it was as though her pale face suddenly burst into song. But the +old woman and the young man were not looking at her and so they noticed +nothing. The young man said, "The neighbors have talked about us enough +already for all your queer ideas and doings. So you'll wear no sandals, +no, nor sleep with your skylight open, as you're always asking, nor go +one step outside the wall until you have come to your senses and are +more like other people. So there!" + +But Helma laughed, her head thrown back, so that the children could look +into her happy eyes and see the glow of her short hair under her +grotesque hat. + +"Keep your keys, cousin," she said, "and your old skylight keep shut +tight as tight. I shall find a way out. But my children must be patient, +and Ivra must teach Eric to keep his face and body clean. They must not +forget meal-times, and when anything goes wrong, or they think it is +going wrong, they must ask the Tree Man's advice. I will find a way to +them soon. They must keep happy and wait." + +She said all that slowly and distinctly, her eyes smiling into theirs. + +"What silly talk," laughed the sour old lady. "Just as though you were +making a speech. Well, it must be luncheon time now, and high time we +were changing our frocks. Wear your gray velvet, Helma, and don't forget +to put on stockings to match. There's to be strawberry ice to-day,--and +goose to begin with of course. Cook says she has never seen a +tenderer--" + +The old lady went on talking about the wonderful luncheon they were to +have until they were out of hearing. But the children on the gray wall +could see that Helma was going in differently from the way she had come +out. Her head was high, and she stepped out in her funny high heeled +boots as though she were walking in sandals. At the little door into the +mansion she turned and waved her queer great muff to the children and +the Wind Creatures, and they heard her laugh. + +But when she was gone, and the door was shut and locked--they heard the +great key scrape--Eric turned joyfully to Ivra. She was staring intently +at the closed door, her face very pale. Suddenly she buried her head in +her arms and burst into sobs, hoarse, jerky sobs, the first and the last +time Eric was ever to hear her cry. Eric and the Wind Children sat +cross-legged and waited. Soon she stopped and wiped her face on her +sleeve. + +"She is locked in, but she _will_ find a way home," she said, almost +laughing. "How glad and how surprised she was to see us! It was almost +as though she had begun to believe all their talk about dreams, until +she heard the Wind Creatures' wings!" + +The Wind Creatures took them back to the forest. Under the giant cedars +they said good-by and left them. The children went straight to the Tree +Man's to tell him the news. He gave them deep bowls of warm milk to +drink, and took off their sandals so that their toes might spread and +warm in front of the fire. + +Then the Tree Girl begged for a story, and Ivra told a World Story about +the rivers,--how they go in search of their mother, the ocean, day and +night, around mountains and through mountains, and across whole +continents, and never stop until they find her,--and of the myriad +presents they carry to her,--of the things they see and the things they +do, as they flow searching. + +It was a long story. And almost before the end the little story teller +had fallen asleep with her head tipped back against the Tree Man's +chest. + +They spent that night in the tree, and that was good, for a storm had +risen outside, and it was bitter cold in the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE BEAUTIFUL WICKED WITCH + + +The next morning before Eric woke Ivra slipped away to play with the +Forest Children. + +"On such wild days as this they usually play indoors, for they're little +things and the Snow Witches love to tease them," said the Tree Man. + +"Perhaps she'll be telling them World Stories," thought Eric, and so he +decided to go to the little moss village, too, for though Ivra had told +him dozens of World Stories by now, he always wanted to hear more. So +after breakfast with the Tree Man and his pretty, shy daughter, he ran +out in search of Ivra. + +It was indeed a cold morning, blustering and raw. Eric felt chilled +almost as soon as he was out of doors. Very soon he lost his way, for he +had not been in the forest long enough to grow familiar with landmarks. +Just when he was beginning to be a bit hopeless and pinched with the +cold he came to the big fir where the Beautiful Wicked Witch lived. It +stood green and comforting among all the bare trees of winter. + +Eric stopped to look, for now he remembered the Beautiful Wicked Witch +and the bird she had caged in there. He saw a door in the tree trunk +ajar, and swinging to and fro with tiny tinkling music. He peeped in, +and between the swingings caught glimpses of little blue and yellow +flowers arranged in tight bunches in hanging vases. He could smell their +sweetness even out there in the cold air. + +Then high up in the tree trunk a window opened, and he heard the bird +singing. The Beautiful Wicked Witch's face appeared at the window, +looking down at him. Her black eyes were sparkling and she nodded +good-morning to him as though he were a prince, or at least a grown-up. +He could not help nodding back. He liked her very much, she was so +beautiful and so friendly. + +"Come in and get warm," she called, "and I'll show you my pretty bird." + +Eric remembered Ivra's warnings, but he wanted to go in so much that he +found himself doing it. The door tinkled louder music when he touched +it, and he pushed his way through, as a bee pushes his way into a +flower. + +The Witch came running twinklingly down a spiral stairway. She kissed +his mouth, took off his winged cap and coat, threw them somewhere out of +sight, and then he had time to look at her well. + +Her gown was green satin, the color of the fir boughs, and her little +sandals were green satin, too. A green fir frond bound her forehead; and +her black hair hung loose, soft and electric to her waist. Eric had +never seen a prettier person in the world, nor one more kind. + +She took his two hands and began to whirl in a happy dance. Eric danced, +too, for joy and good comradeship. Round and round the room they whirled +until their breath was spent. + +Then the Beautiful Wicked Witch took him up the spiral staircase to show +him the bird. Up and up they went, until they came to a little room high +in the tree. The floor was carpeted with yellow satin, and yellow +curtains hung at the window. Deep blue mirrors lined the walls, and they +reflected Eric and the Beautiful Wicked Witch dozens of times over. + +The pretty bird cage, all made of flowers and leaves, hung in the very +middle of the room. Eric stood by it a long time. He put his fingers +through the bars, and stroked the bird's soft feathers. But the gorgeous +bird paid no attention to him, and did not sing. + +"Why doesn't it hop about?" he asked the Beautiful Wicked Witch. + +The Witch frowned and pouted. "It ought to, I'm sure. I like to see it +hopping. But it would rather sulk. It thinks all the time about the +forest, and its mate who is out there somewhere. Sometimes it sings, +though. Its voice is wonderful." + +"Oh, let's open the cage and free him," cried Eric. + +But the Beautiful Wicked Witch seized his hand. "No, no, _no_! It is +_mine_. I have caged it in my pretty cage. And it fits into the room, +don't you think?" + +"I don't know what you mean," said Eric. + +"Why, you fit into it, too," said the Witch, looking hard at him. "Your +yellow hair and blue eyes match the yellow and blue flowers. Would you +like me to make a pretty cage for you and put you into it?" + +"No, no!" Eric was suddenly afraid of the Beautiful Wicked Witch. + +But she laughed at his fear, and danced a little dance, humming to +herself, around the room. Then Eric noticed other cages. The walls were +lined with them. Some hung from the ceiling, and some stood in corners. +In every cage was a bird or animal. The one standing nearest to him held +a pretty gray squirrel, running 'round and 'round on a wheel. He stopped +every now and then to peer out through the bars with quick, bright eyes. +In the cage next was a tiny brown field mouse. But he had given up +running and playing long ago, and was huddled in the farthest and +darkest corner of his cage, his little beady eyes open and watchful. + +Eric walked around the room, looking at all the poor little animals and +birds. One and all peered through their bars with watchful and fearful +eyes. Eric remembered himself in the canning factory and pitied them +more than he could ever have done had he not once been a caged little +creature too. How he longed to open their doors and the window, and see +them scamper and fly away! + +But the Witch had stopped her dancing by the bird cage in the middle of +the room, and her little hands were between the bars stroking the bright +bird-breast. She was saying, "Sing for us, bird. Sing your nicest song +for us. Little Eric wants to hear it." + +The bird began to beat its wings and breast against the bars. Again and +again its bright breast struck the door. But it did not fly open. + +"It does not want to sing," laughed the Beautiful Wicked Witch; "but it +must. Sing, bird, sing! It does you no good to struggle. You can't get +away. Sing, sing!" + +Then the bird sang. Its song was truly wonderful, high and clear, as +Eric had heard it from outside. But now that he could see the bird caged +he did not like the song so well. It was all too sad. + +Eric wanted to go away then, out of the tree, and never, never see the +Witch again. He would find Ivra and the Forest Children and forget all +about these cages. So he said good-by to the Witch and ran down the +spiral staircase. But he could not find the door out. He went round and +round the wall, but there was no sign of a door. It was indeed as though +a flower had let him in and then closed its petals tight. + +The little posies swung in their cases, the bird sang up stairs, and the +Beautiful Wicked Witch played and danced, and laughed at all his +searching. She would do nothing to help him find the door. + +All that day he wandered up stairs and down stairs, or stood at the +window looking down through the green fir branches to the free +forest-floor. Once the Witch offered to tell him stories. But he wanted +no stories of caged things, and those were all the stories she knew. The +Witch did not mind his short answers and dark face. She seemed perfectly +able to have a good time with herself, and needed no comrades. + +At last night fell. The rooms blossomed with candlelight. In the yellow +room up stairs the Beautiful Wicked Witch paraded back and forth before +the mirrors, loving her own reflection, smiling at herself, courtesying, +frowning, looking back over her shoulder,--lifting her hair to let it +fall again in electric waves. Eric stood by the window, thoroughly weary +of his search and loneliness, and watched her. The bird sat in the cage +and watched her. All the little bright eyes of animals watched her. The +candles burned steadily. + +How Eric longed for Ivra now, and their own big friendly room. He +imagined Ivra in the room there all alone getting her supper over the +fire, bathing in the fountain bath, opening the windows, and at last +falling softly to sleep before the firelight faded. + +Oh, if there were only a window open here! How hot it was, and how +over-sweetly scented! The Beautiful Wicked Witch went on posing and +preening before the mirrors, and seemed to have forgotten all about her +new little prisoner. + +So he pulled back the yellow satin curtain, and looked out. It was +clear, cold starlight. He pressed his face against the window pane and +stared down into the shadows beneath the fir. And there, standing erect +in the shadow, her face lifted like a pale little moon, stood Ivra. + +She saw him, but did not wave. She only nodded, as though she knew now +what she had come to make sure of. She stood still for a few minutes, +until Eric almost thought she was frozen in the cold. But at last she +moved and disappeared under the fir. + +Music tinkled through the house. The Beautiful Wicked Witch poised on +her toes, surprisedly looking into the reflection of her own eyes. + +"Some one has come in, for that was the door," she said. "It opens +inward with music." + +Eric's heart stood still. Had Ivra come into the Witch's house, Ivra who +was so afraid of the Witch? He ran down the stairs and the Witch +followed him. Yes, Ivra stood there in the middle of the warm, +flower-hung room, like a little cold star beam. + +But she did not look at the quaint flowers in their golden vases. And +when the Witch ran to her and kissed her she did not even look at her. +She looked only at Eric, and her eyes said, "I have come to free you." + +"Oh, so you did want to try on the pretty frock after all," cried the +Witch, and drew her up the stairs. Eric followed to the yellow room. +"No," said Ivra. But the Witch brought it out and tried to slip it over +her head. It was sheerest gossamer web, and shimmered like moonlight. +And the little rosebuds seemed to make it belong to Ivra. + +Eric forgot all about being a prisoner, and forgot the little caged +creatures around the wall. He was delighted with the frock being pushed +down on Ivra's shoulders. "How beautiful you'll be!" he cried. But Ivra +wriggled away from it and stood clear. Her rudely made brown frock and +worn sandals looked odd in that satin room. "I didn't come to see the +frock," she said, shaking her head till her pigtails bobbed. "I came to +get Eric." + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch laughed. "Get him if you can," she said. Then +she turned her back on the children and began to braid her black hair +among the mirrors. + +They went to the window and waited there, watching her. + +"The door doesn't open out,--only in, I think," Eric whispered. "So we +can't get out." + +"Mother has told me how it would be," Ivra whispered back. "We'll have +to wait until she's asleep and then find a way." + +Then Ivra sat down on the floor and began to rock back and forth and +sing a lullaby. It was a lullaby her mother had sung to her all her +babyhood, Ivra sang in a very little voice, almost a murmur only, but by +listening Eric and the Beautiful Wicked Witch could catch the words. She +sang the same words over and over and over. + + Night is in the forest, + Tree Mother is nigh. + By-abye, by-abye-bye. + + Sleep is in the forest-- + His feathers brush your eye. + By-abye, by-abye-bye. + + Mother's arms are holding you, + Forest dreams are folding you. + By-abye, by-abye--bye. + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch sat down before the mirrors after a while, +still watching her reflection, but listening to the song, too. Her head +gradually sank lower and lower, first resting chin in hand and at last +right down on her arm stretched along the floor. Her face lay turned +towards the children, and they saw the mirth slowly fade in her great +black eyes, the lids drop lower and lower,--and then she was asleep +suddenly. Now she looked almost as young as themselves, and like a pale +child who has fallen to sleep at its play. + +But the children did not stop to look at her. Once they were sure she +was asleep they were off searching for the door. Up and down the stairs +and all around the rooms they ran on tiptoes. But it was no use, and at +last they came back to the window. + +"We must jump," whispered Ivra. + +Eric looked down, and wondered. It was a long way to the ground! + +"The snow is soft beneath the crust," Ivra said. "It will only cut us a +little." + +"Let's take the bird," Eric said. Ivra ran to it, and opened the cage +door. It hopped onto her finger eagerly, and she held its bill so that +it would not sing. + +Eric opened the window. "I'll jump first," he whispered. + +But Ivra said, "Oh, let's hold hands and jump together." + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch felt the cold night air from the window on +her face, and stirred in her sleep. Her eyelids quivered. So the +children did not wait a minute more. They climbed up onto the window +sill, Ivra still holding the bird. "One, two, three," she whispered, and +they jumped. + +Out and down they went like two shooting stars and plunked through the +snowcrust. They were up in a second. Their wrists and elbows were a +little bruised and cut, but they were not really hurt at all. But +strange and strange, the bird had fluttered near Ivra's hand for that +second, and then flew straight back up and into the open window. It had +been caged so long it did not really want its freedom after all. Eric +cried out with regret. + +But Ivra seized his hand, and they ran home together through the cold, +starlit forest. Before they leapt the hedge into their own garden Eric +saw the firelight blossoming in the windows. But he stood still outside +the door, after Ivra had gone in, for a time, breathing the cold air and +the clear silence right down into his toes. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +IVRA'S BIRTHDAY + + +"To-morrow is the shortest day in the year," Ivra told Eric one night +after they were in bed. He did not answer, for he was very sleepy. But +after a minute she spoke again. "It's my birthday too!" + +Then he opened his eyes and sat up, for her voice sounded very queer and +far away. He saw that she too was sitting up, her hands folded under her +chin. "Mother always had a party for me," she said. "Such fun!" + +"Perhaps one will happen to-morrow even with her away," Eric comforted. +"Oh, goody! I do hope so!" + +"Perhaps. Anyway I'm going to pretend there's a party waiting for me +to-morrow. You pretend too, Eric, and then even if it doesn't come true +we will have had the pretending at least." + +Eric agreed to pretend. It was one of his favorite games. And very soon +the two children nestled down under their covers and drifted into sleep +and dreams of a party. + +They were roused early in the morning by something tapping lightly on +the doors and windows. Eric was out of bed first, and saw the Wind +Creatures, half a dozen or more of them, looking in and beckoning. Their +purple wings gleamed gold in the early morning sun. Wild Star was +standing in the open door. + +"Happy birthday!" he cried and tossed a snow ball into Ivra's bed. She +popped to her knees, laughing and rosy with sleep. But then she was +grave in a minute. "There's to be no party, Wild Star," she said. +"Mother's not back yet. Are you all here for that?" + +"Yes, we're here for that, and there is to be a party, an all day one +too. Your Forest Friends have seen to that." + +The children were radiant with joy. And Ivra whispered to Eric, "We had +our pretending, too!" + +The Wind Creatures would not come in to breakfast, for of course they do +not like in-doors at all, and besides, they need very little food. So +they played in the garden while the children dressed and ate. Very soon +the children were done, though, and came leaping out ready for a day's +joy. + +The Wind Creatures led them then out through the forest. The Tree Girl +was watching for them at her door. It was plain to be seen, when she +joined them, that she carried something in her arms very secretly under +her white cloak. But no one mentioned it. Ivra knew it must be a +surprise for her birthday. Where the party was to be no one told her, +and she did not ask. She liked surprises. + +They came to the Forest Children's little moss village. The youngest +Forest Child of all was the only one up so early. He was busily breaking +dead twigs from bushes to build his morning fire and making up a little +rhymeless song about Ivra's birthday as he worked. + + This is her birthday, + Spring's little daughter-- + Spring's little daughter-- + This is her birthday. + + Wake now, wake now, + All you Forest Children, + Wake for her birthday + And tie your sandals on. + +When he saw them he cried, "Hurrah! Happy birthday, Ivra!" + +At his cry all the little windows in the little moss houses opened and +there were the tousled heads of the Forest Children, their eyes blinking +sleepily against the gilded morning light. + +"Thank you, thank you," Ivra cried back to the youngest Forest Child. +"Hurry and follow." + +Before they had gone on their way five minutes more the Forest Children +were up with them, tugging at buckles and sandal strings as they ran, +begging not to be left behind. Soon they came to Big Pine Hill, a hill +deep in the forest with no trees but a giant pine at the top. The Wind +Creatures had built a slide there by brushing away the snow and leaving +a broad track of shining blue ice. Up under the pine were sleds enough +for every one, made all of woven hemlock branches. They needed no +runners for the ice was so slippery and the hill so steep _anything_ +would go down it fast enough. Ivra's Forest Friends must have worked all +the day before to make those sleds--and now her shining face and clasped +hands were reward enough. + +She was the first to try the hill. She threw herself on her sled and +down she flashed. At the bottom she tumbled off, and still on her knees +shouted up to Eric and the others at the top, "Oh, it's splendid! Come +on!" + +Then the hill was covered with speeding sleds. The Bird Fairies had none +of their own, for they were so little they might have come to harm on +that hill. But they had just as good a time for all of that, catching +rides with the others, clinging to shoulders or heads or feet as it +happened. + +Every one was there, even the Snow Witches who had not been invited. +They came whirling and dancing through the forest almost as soon as the +sliding had begun. Ivra gave them glad welcome in spite of their rough +ways and stinging hair. For she, the only one of all who were there, +liked them very well and had made them her comrades often and often on +windy winter days. And they, who cared for nobody, cared for her. "She +is not like anybody," they explained it to each other. "_She is a great +little girl_." + +But they would not take Ivra's sled as she wanted them to. They had not +come to spoil her fun. Instead they raced down the hill behind her or +before her, pushing and pulling, their stinging hair in her face. But +that only made her cheeks very red, and she did not mind them at all. +Then she tried sliding down on her feet, with the long line of witches +pushing from behind, their hands on each other's shoulders. That was the +best fun of all, and almost always ended in a tumble before the bottom +was reached. Though the others avoided the witches as much as they could +they admired Ivra for such hardy comrading. + +Before noon every one was very hungry. Then the littlest Forest Child +said, "Follow me. The Tree Girl has gone ahead." + +It was true, she had slipped away when no one noticed. + +The littlest Forest Child led them away to a little valley-place where +hemlock boughs had been spread to make a floor and raised on three sides +to make a shelter. When they had come close enough for Ivra to see what +it was perched so big and white in the middle of the hemlock floor she +stopped and sighed with joy while she clasped her hands. + +It was a beautiful frosted birthday cake with nine brave candles of all +colors and burning steadily, just the kind of cake her mother had always +baked for her birthdays.--Only last year there had been eight candles. +She had not hoped for this final delight. She ran quickly forward and +was the first to kneel down by it. The Tree Girl was there waiting, and +now Ivra knew it was the cake that she had been carrying so secretly +under her cloak. + +The Snow Witches did not follow into that shelter. They have a great +fear of shelters, you must know, for when forced into them they quickly +lose their fierceness, and their fierceness is their greatest pride. But +before they left the party one of them came close to Eric, so close that +tears were whipped into his eyes and quickly froze on his lashes. "Take +this to your little comrade," shes said, thrusting a box made of pine +cones into his hands. "It's for her to keep her paper dolls in. We +witches made it." + +Then all the witches went screeching and swirling away through the +forest, and Ivra, Eric and the others settled down to the business of +eating the birthday cake. + +But first the Tree Girl, who is very sensible, insisted that they eat +some nuts and apples. Indeed, she would allow no one a bite of the +wonderful cake until he had eaten at least one apple and twenty nuts. + +Before Ivra cut the cake the others blew out the candles, one after +another, and made her a wish in turn for every candle. The Tree Girl +wished her a bright new year, the Bird Fairies that her mother would +soon return, the Wind Creatures that she would keep her gay heart +forever, the Forest Children that she would become the most famous story +teller in the Forest World. + +And then it was Eric's turn. He had never been to a birthday party +before, and never had he made a wish for some one else. So he was a +little puzzled. But at last he had an idea and cried, "I wish that your +hair will grow golden and curly before to-morrow morning." All +princesses Ivra had ever told him about had curly golden hair, and +though she had never said it, Eric had suspected for some time that Ivra +would like that kind of hair herself. Then he puffed his cheeks and blew +out his candle, a fat green one. Ivra laughed. + +"The Snow Witches would never let me keep curly hair," she said. "They'd +whip it straight in an hour." + +That reminded Eric of the pine cone box and he gave it to her and told +her about it. She was almost as delighted with that as with the cake. + +What a wonderful cake it was! Such food Eric had never dreamed of, and +he was a great dreamer! The frosting was over an inch thick. + +Then, of course, Ivra must tell them stories. All the Forest People +loved her stories. They built a fire to keep from freezing. The Wind +Creatures sat a little way off where it was cool enough for their +comfort, but not too far to hear Ivra's clear voice. This time she told +all she knew about the birthday of this Earth, one of the most magical +and splendid and strange of her stories. + +But it was the shortest day in the year, Ivra's birthday, and night fell +all too soon. Then the Tree Girl, who seldom forgot to be sensible, said +they had better go home. The littlest Forest Child was already asleep, +curled close by the fire. They roused him gently. Good-nights were +called and a few minutes after, the shelter was deserted, and the fire +out. And by starlight could be seen many footprints leading away in the +white snow out into all parts of the Forest. + +Eric and Ivra walked toward home hand in hand. They had to pass the +morning's slide on the way. When they came in sight of it they began to +walk more quickly and quietly and to look intently. The blue ice shone +bluer than ever in starlight, but more than the ice shone. Shining +_people_ were using the sleds and the hill was covered with them. + +"Why, they must be Star People," Ivra cried excitedly. + +When they were quite near they stood to watch. + +The strange Star folk were very silent, never calling and laughing as +those who had slid there in the morning had done. Two, a little boy and +a young girl, came spinning down on the same sled and stopped so near +that Ivra and Eric might have touched them by leaning forward. But the +Star-two must have thought the Forest-two shadows, for they paid no +attention to them at all. + +Now that they were so near Eric could see that their hair was blue, like +the shadows on snow, and their faces a beautiful shining white. Their +straight short garments were blue like shadows, too, and their arms, +legs and feet were bare. But they did not seem conscious of the cold. +Eric did not hear them speak, but they looked at each other as though +they _were_ speaking, and then suddenly the little boy laughed merrily, +as though the young girl had just told him something very amusing. + +Soon the girl turned and ran away up the hill. But the little boy was as +quick as she and threw himself on the sled while she never slackened her +pace, but drew him straight and fast up the steep slope. + +"I have never seen them before," Ivra whispered to Eric. "But mother has +told me of them. They don't talk as we do you see. They don't _have_ to. +They know each other's thoughts. They almost never leave their Stars. Do +you think--perhaps, to-night they saw our slide shining, and wondered so +much about it they had to come down? Even mother has never seen them. +It was Tree Mother told her." + +Eric was very silent, for he had never seen such beautiful people. The +little boy had had a face like a star, and great shining eyes. The young +girl had been clear like the day, and without smiling her face had been +brimmed with happiness. + +But now he felt Ivra trembling. She whispered again, "You know, Eric, it +is wonderful for us to see them like this. Some day, mother says, we may +get to be like them!" + +"And speak without words?" Eric asked wondering. + +"Yes, and more than that. We may be as _alive_ as they. Now we're only +Forest people, and not all _that_ even--almost dreams. They are _real_!" + +Then she took his hand and drew him away. "I cannot look any more," she +said; "can you? They are too beautiful!" + +Eric put his fingers to his eyes as he walked. "Yes, it's hard to see +the ground now. My eyes ache a little." + +But how the children wished their mother were waiting for them in the +little house to hear the tale! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +NORA'S GRANDCHILDREN + + +One afternoon Eric and Ivra started out for the Forest Children's moss +village to play with them. But when they got there they found all the +little houses deserted: not a Forest Child was to be found. They must +have gone into some other part of the forest to play. So Ivra and Eric +wandered on and on, a little lonely, a little tired of just each other +for comrades, till at last they came to the very edge of the +forest,--and there was Nora's farm, a rambling red brick house, with a +barn twice its size behind it. Down in the pasture by the house half a +dozen Snow Witches were dancing in a circle, now near, now far, all over +the pasture, and sometimes right up to the farm-house windows. + +Ivra clapped her hands and bounded forward. Eric did not follow. He +stood to watch. When the Snow Witches saw Ivra running to them they +rushed to meet her. For a minute she was lost in a cloud of blown snow, +and then there she was dancing in their circle back and forth across the +pasture, and then away, away, away! But before she frolicked quite out +of sight she turned to look for her playfellow, and beckoned to him. + +"Come on," she called. "We're going to slide on the brook below the +cornfield." + +But Eric did not follow. He did not like the Snow Witches. And just as +Ivra and the Witches drifted out of sight, he thought he heard the +Forest Children laughing. The sound came from the barn. So Eric ran to +the door. It was a big sliding door, and now stood open on a crack just +large enough for a child to slip through. Eric went in. + +The barn was tremendously big, a great dusty place full of the smell of +hay. Ahead of him were two stalls, with a horse in one. But Eric was +most interested in the empty stall, for it was from there the laughter +seemed to come. He stood looking and listening, and then right down +through the ceiling of the stall shot a child, and landed laughing and +squealing in the hay in the manger. She sat up, saw Eric and stared. She +was a little girl about his own age, freckle-faced, snub-nosed and +red-haired. She had the jolliest, the nicest face in the world. + +Eric opened his mouth to say, "Hello," but kept it open, silent in +amazement, for another child had shot through the ceiling and landed +beside the girl. This was a boy. He was red-headed, too, freckle-faced +and snub-nosed. He looked even jollier than the girl. + +Before Eric had closed his mouth on his amazement, "Whoop!" and down +came another boy. This boy was red-haired, freckle-faced and snub-nosed, +and he looked jollier than the other two put together, if that were +possible, for his red hair curled in saucy, tight little ringlets, and +his mouth was wide with smiles. + +It was this last one who said, "Hello, who are you?" + +"Eric,--who are you?" + +"Nora's grandchildren, of course. Come up. We're having sport." + +The three children ran across the barn to a ladder and scrambled up and +disappeared through a trap door at the top. Eric followed. The attic was +full of hay in mountains and little hills,--hay and hay and hay. He +followed the children around the biggest mountain, through a tunnel--and +there they vanished! + +He found the hole in the stable ceiling and looked down. Not very far +below him was the manger full of hay and red-headed children. "Look out +down there! Whoop!" cried Eric, and dropped, landing among them. + +Then the four laughed heartily together and ran across the barn again, +up the ladder, around the hay mountain and dropped down the hole. They +did that dozens of times until they were tired of it. + +Then they played hide-and-go-seek in the hay country, and after that +Blind Man's Buff in the barn below. The little girl was Blind Man first. +They tied a red handkerchief tight over her eyes. Then they ran about, +dodging her, calling her, laughing at her groping hands and hesitating +steps. But after a few minutes she became accustomed to the darkness and +ran and jumped about after them until they had to be very wary and swift +indeed. Soon she caught Eric and then he was Blind Man. + +By and by they played tag, just plain tag, and Eric liked that best of +all. Back and forth across the great room they raced,--up the ladder, +over the hay, through the hole into the stable, round and round, in and +out, up and down until they were too tired and hot for any more. + +Then they lay up in the hay where there was a little window, looking far +out across the meadows. + +Eric saw Ivra out there in the first field, wandering around alone and +now and then looking up at the barn. She must have heard their shouts +and laughter. He pointed her out to the other children. "That is my +playmate out there," he said. "Let's open the window and call to her to +come up. She'll tell us stories." + +The children looked out eagerly. "But there's nobody there," they said. + +Eric laughed. "No, look!" He pointed with his finger. "Over there by the +white birch. Look! She sees us." He waved. "Quick, help me open the +window." + +He could not find the catch. The window was draped with cobwebs and +dusty with the dust of years. It looked as though it had never been +opened. + +The little red-headed girl put her hand on his arm. She was laughing. +"Don't be silly," she said. "There's no one by the white birch. You're +imagining." + +"Why, look! Of course she's there!" Eric was impatient. "She's moving +now, waving to us. Of course you see her!" + +"Yes," said the jolliest of the boys. "We do see it--faintly. We've seen +it before too,--a kind of a shadow on the snow. But father says it's +nothing to mind. Imaginings. Nothing real, just spots in our eyes or +something." + +Then Eric remembered all that Ivra had told him. She was half fairy. +People could see her if they looked hard enough. But they were not apt +to believe their own eyes when they had looked. That was dreadful for +her. She had not said so, but he had guessed it from her face when she +told him. Well, well, now he understood a little better. These were +Earth Children, with shadows in their eyes. Ivra could never be their +playmate. + +But _he_ could see her well enough because his eyes were clear. And +presently he would run out to her and they would go home together. But +just now it was jolly and cozy here in the barn, and these Earth +Children were good fun. He hoped she would wait for him, but if she did +not he would find his way alone easily enough. + +"You don't really believe in it, do you?" the red-headed girl was +asking. "If you do,--better not. Grown-ups will laugh at you." + +"Nora, your grandmother, won't laugh," said Eric. "She knows Ivra well +enough, and Helma, too." + +"Oh, yes," said the jolliest boy. "But she is queer. We love her, and +she's a fine grandmother, I can tell you. And she tells the best +stories. But she's queer just the same, and she can't fool us." + +"Let's go in and get some cookies from her," said the other boy. "They +must be done by now." + +So up they hopped, and without another look towards the shadow out on +the snow by the white birch, jumped down the hole, and ran out of the +barn into the kitchen. + +Nora was there knitting by a table, two big pans of cookies just out of +the oven cooling in front of her. + +How good they smelled! Eric had never tasted hot ginger cookies before, +and when Nora gave him one, a big round one all for his own, he almost +danced with delight. He perched on the edge of the table and ate that +one and many another before he was done. + +"This boy, grandma," began the red-headed girl. + +"His name is Eric," interrupted Nora, handing him another cookie. "I +know him very well." + +"Well, he saw It while we were looking out of the barn window! And he +said It was real and his playmate, and he wanted to call It in to tell +us stories!" + +"Don't say 'It,'" said Nora. "Her name is 'Ivra.' But of course you +can't play with her. She isn't an Earth Child. She's a fairy. So don't +say anything about it to your father when he comes home to-night. It +would make him cross." + +"But it doesn't make you cross," laughed the jolliest boy. "And so won't +you tell us some stories about it now. You know,--the little house in +the wood, the Tree Man, the Forest Children, Helma, Ivra and all the +rest of it." + +"Do tell us a story," begged the other two. + +So Nora put down her knitting, and taking the cat on her lap, a great +sleepy white fellow who had been purring by the stove, she began to tell +them stories. + +She told stories about Helma and Ivra, the Wind Creatures, the Snow +Witches and many more. The children listened eagerly, clapping their +hands now and then, and at the end of every story asking for more. + +But Eric was lost in wonder. The children thought the stories were not +true,--just fairy stories told them by a grandmother. And Nora had +evidently long ago given up expecting them to believe. Her black eyes +twinkled knowingly when they met Eric's puzzled ones. + +And all the time Eric had only to turn his head to see Ivra walking out +there around in the field, looking at the farm house, waiting for him. +But gradually, as the stories went on the little figure out there grew +more and more to look like just a blue shadow on the snow, paler and +paler. Finally he had to strain his eyes to see it at all. + +Then he jumped down from the table and said he must go home. His heart +was beating a little wildly. For he was afraid Ivra might fade away from +him altogether. These red-headed children were fine playfellows. He +liked them,--oh, so much! He wished he could stay and play with them +for--a week. Yes. But he must go now. That blue shadow on the snow +seemed lonely. + +"Take her some cookies," said Nora, filling his pockets. The children +laughed at the top of their voices. "Yes, take some cookies to the +fairy. But you can eat them yourself and pretend it is the fairy eating +them," they cried. + +Nora laughed with them, and so after a minute Eric joined in. But he and +Nora looked at each other through their laughter and nodded +understanding. + +When Ivra saw him at last come out of the farm house door, she didn't +wait longer, but ran away into the wood. He overtook her a long way in, +walking rapidly. + +"Did you have a good time with the witches?" he asked. + +"Why didn't you come, too?" she said + +"Oh, it was too cold. Nora's grandchildren are awfully good fun. We +played hide-and-go-seek, just as we played it at the Tree Man's party." + +"Did they laugh at me?" + +" . . . No, they laughed at me. They thought I was a funny boy." + +"To have me for a playmate?" + +Then Eric began to think that Ivra was not very happy. Perhaps she had +been lonely. + +"You're always running off with the Snow Witches," he said. "But I won't +play with Nora's grandchildren any more unless they'll let you play too. +I won't, truly!" + +Ivra laughed. And it was like spring coming into winter. "Yes, play with +them all you like! I love them, too. I've often watched them. The +littlest boy, the one with the funny curls, laughs at me and stares and +stares. But the other two . . . they just give me a glance and then forget +all about me. They don't think I'm real. But they are awfully jolly. You +play with them and when you tell me about it afterwards I'll pretend I +was there playing too." + +Then the two clasped hands and went skipping home. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +SPRING COMES + + +One morning when Ivra woke up she knew spring had come before her eyes +were open. But Eric had to go outdoors to make sure. He was sure enough +when he smelled the ground, a good earth smell. Snow still clung to the +garden in spots here and there, but the warm sun promised it would not +be for long. Something in the sky, something in the air, a smell of +earth, and a stirring in his own heart told him it was true. Spring had +come! + +Ivra had felt and known it before her eyes were open, and now that they +were open, those eyes of hers looked like two blue spring flowers just +awake. She hopped about in the garden poking and prodding the earth with +a stick, looking for her violets, her anemones, her star flowers. Not a +green leaf was pushing through yet, but oh, how soon there would be! + +Suddenly she stopped and stood still looking away into the forest. Then +she ran to Eric on the door stone. She cried, "Mother will come now. +Don't you feel it? She will come with the spring!" + +Eric did feel it. For there was magic in the day. The magic came to him +in the air, in the smell of the earth, in the new warm wind and said, +"Everything is yours that you want. Joy is coming." And Mother Helma was +what he wanted. So he felt sure she was on the way. + +"She must have found the key,--or do you suppose she climbed the gray +wall?" wondered Ivra. + +"Shall we go to meet her?" asked Eric. + +"No, no. We must get the house clean and ready for her. We must hurry." + +And then such a house-cleaning was begun as you or I have never seen. +The Forest Children had been up at dawn to greet the spring, and now +they came running to tell Ivra and Eric about it. When they heard that +Helma was at last coming back and the house was to be cleaned they +wanted to help. First it was decided to wash the floor. Pail after pail +of water from the fountain they splashed on it. Streamlets of water +flowed into the fireplace and out over the door stone. Out and in ran +the Forest Children trying to help, and with every step making foot +prints on the wet floor, muddy little foot prints, dozens of them and +finally hundreds of them. + +Then the windows were washed. And because the Forest Children could not +run on those they were made bright and clear. But soon the Forest +Children pressed their faces against the panes to watch for Helma, and +as the minutes passed breath-clouds formed there, spreading and +deepening until the glass sparkled no more. But no one noticed. No one +cared. For now they were shining up the dishes, polishing them with +cloths, and setting them in neat rows in the cupboard. + +Then Wild Star appeared, his hands full of spring flowers that he had +found deep in the forest in the sunniest and most protected place, the +very first spring flowers. "Helma must have gotten past that wall, now +it's spring," he said; "and here are some flowers to greet her. See, I +left the roots on, the way she likes them. Let's plant them by the door +stone." + +They dug up the earth with their hands, Forest Children's hands, Wild +Star's hands, Eric's and Ivra's,--and planted the flowers all about the +door stone. Then Wild Star flew away a little languidly. + +Ivra looked after him. "He'll soon find the deepest, darkest, coolest +place," she said, "make himself a nest of smooth leaves and dream away +the summer. Fall and winter are his flying times. We shall see him at no +more parties for a while." + +"And the Snow Witches? What will become of them?" asked Eric. + +"They will get into hollows of old trees and under rocks, draw in their +skirts and their hair, curl up and sleep." + +"Good news!" thought Eric. But he did not say it for he knew Ivra liked +the Snow Witches almost best of all to play with and would miss them. + +Now the Tree Girl came through the gap in the hedge. She was wearing a +green frock, green sandals, and pussy willow buds made a wreath in her +hair. + +"Spring, spring!" she cried as she came up the path. "We heard the sap +running in our tree all night. Father has gone on a spring wandering, +and I shall stay within tree no longer for a while." + +"We know, we know!" crowed Ivra. "_I_ knew before my eyes were open this +morning. Eric had to smell the ground first. Imagine! We have been +cleaning house. Mother will surely come now. Don't _you_ feel it?" + +The Tree Girl lifted her face up in the new warm wind. Her soft hair +floated feather-like. "Yes, I feel it. She is on the way. Spring brings +everything." + +A bird flashed from the trees. It lighted on the hedge for a second and +was away again. But Eric had had time to recognize the beautiful bird he +had seen caged in the Witch's fir. + +"The caged bird!" he cried to Ivra. "It is free! It is flying away." + +The Bird Fairies were flying away, too. They were going to meet the +birds corning up from the south and teach them their songs as they flew. +They came to say good-by to the children. + +"Look for us next winter," they called back, as they fluttered off in a +silvery cloud. + +And finally, at high noon, just as Ivra had known she would since early +morning, Helma came,--running through the forest, jumping the hedge, and +gathering Ivra and Eric into her arms. + +They three knelt on the ground by the spring flowers embracing each +other for a long, long minute. + +"Did you find the key to that gate?" Eric asked when his breath came +back, "Or did they let you come at last." + +"I didn't have to find the key, and they didn't let me come. They would +never have done that. But the minute I had on a light spring frock I +found I could climb the wall easily enough, and so I came running all +the way. And now they shall never get me back behind doors again. I am +free! I am as free as you, my children!" + +She held them off and looked into their eyes. + +She was dressed in a brown silk gown, all torn and stained from her +wall-climbing and rush through the bushes. Her feet were bare, for she +had kicked off her funny high-heeled city boots the minute she had +reached the forest. Her hair had grown to her shoulders and looked more +like flower petals than ever. But her face was not brown and serene, as +Eric had first seen it. It was pale and wild. + +"They don't believe in you, children," she said. "They don't believe in +me, not the me that I am. And from morning to night they made me a +slave. They made me wear such ugly, hurting things, and then they made +me dance! Every night we danced in hot rooms and ate strange bad-tasting +food. They called dancing like that a _party_. But I could only remember +our forest parties, and our dancing here under the cool moon. + +"The only glimpse of the forest I had was your Snow Witches, Ivra. +Sometimes I saw them from my bedroom window, 'way out in the fields, +whirling and scudding in mad games. And then at last one morning some +Wind Creatures flew by, above the garden wall! But when I called Wild +Star back and tried to ask him about you, children, as he perched on the +wall, they came rushing into the garden and dragged me away. They said +it was time for luncheon, and I must change my frock. But let us forget. +I am here! It is spring!" + +She jumped up and stood just as the Tree Girl had stood earlier that +morning, her face lifted in the wind. Slowly that face grew calm and +warm color flooded it. + +"How nicely cleaned the house is!" she exclaimed when at last they went +in. For she did not see the tracks on the floor nor the clouded windows. +All she saw was that the children had worked there to make it fit for +her home-coming. + +Ivra was proud and glad that she noticed. "I have made you a spring +frock too," she said, bringing it out. "And Eric has made you some +sandals. He makes fine sandals now!" + +The frock was a brown smock with a narrow green belt. + +The sandals were well made, and very soft and light. + +Helma stripped off the tattered silk frock, the funny thing with its +long sleeves and stiff lace collar, and hid it away out of sight. On +went the new smock over her head in a twinkling. She stepped into the +sandals. And there was their mother, the Helma Eric had first seen. + +"The garden now, we must see about that," she said in her old quiet way. +Then they went out into the garden, and Helma began to plan just where +there should plant seeds and just what must be done. The children clung +to her hands, looking up into her face, and would not let her take a +step away from them. When she stood still they leaned against her, one +against either side, and wound their arms about her. + +In mid-afternoon, Spring came--not the spring of the year, but Spring +himself, the person the season is named for. He was a tall young man, +with a radiant face, and fair curls lifting in a cloud from his head. +Where he walked the earth sprang up in green grass after his bare feet, +and flowers followed him like a procession. Helma ran to him, swifter +than the children, and he kissed her lips. He lifted Ivra nigh on his +shoulder for one minute where she thought she looked away over the +treetops hundreds of miles to the blue ocean. But it may have been only +his eyes, which were very blue, that shee was looking into. + +With him came two Earth Giants. They were huge brown fellows with +rolling muscles and kind, sleepy eyes. They crouched down at the opening +in the hedge and waited for Spring to go on with them. + +"Shall we plant the garden, Helma?" asked Spring. + +"Yes, yes," cried the children, and Helma said, "Yes, yes," as eagerly +as they. + +So the Earth Giants came in and plowed it all up with their +hands,--hands twenty times as large as an Earth Man's! When they were +done, the garden was a rich golden color, and right for planting. Then +Helma pointed out to Spring where she wanted the seeds to be, violets +here, roses there, lilies there, pansies there and daisies there. Spring +gave some seeds to the children and sowed some himself. Helma sat on the +door stone and joyously directed the work. + +By twilight the garden was done, and Spring went away with his Earth +Giants. + +As he went out through the forest, flowers and green grass followed +him--and the next morning even the dullest Earth Person would know that +Spring had come. + +As for Helma and Ivra and Eric, the house would not hold their joy, and +so they dragged out their beds and slept that night in the new-plowed, +sweet-smelling garden. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SPRING WANDERING + + +"There goes another," said Helma as she stood in the door the very next +morning after her return. "The littlest Forest Child that was, and all +by himself. He seems rather small to go spring-wandering alone." + +"He likes to go alone," Ivra answered. She was setting the table for +breakfast, and Eric was helping her. "'Most always he's playing or +wandering off by himself somewhere." + +Helma stood watching the little fellow until he had vanished amid the +delicate green of the forest morning. Then she tossed back her hair with +a shake of her head and cried gayly, "Let's go wandering ourselves, +pets. It's good to be home, but we have all our lives for that now. +Let's adventure!" + +The children were overjoyed. They did not want to wait for breakfast. +But Helma thought they had better, for no one knew where, when or how +their next meal would be. Of course, though, it was hard to eat. You +know yourself how you feel about food when you are going on an +adventure. However the bowls of cereal were swallowed somehow. Then the +stoutest sandals were strapped on, and the three were ready to set out. + +First they went to Nora's farm and before they had waited many minutes +in the shadow of the trees on the edge of the field Nora came from the +door carrying their jug of milk. They ran to meet her and tell her not +to leave any more milk until they should come back. How glad the old +woman was to see Helma. "I thought spring would bring you," she said. +"Spring frees everything." + +Then Helma, Ivra and Eric were off for their spring wandering. It seemed +as though every one else was wandering, too, for they could hardly walk +a mile without meeting some friend or stranger Forest Person. All gave +them greeting, whether stranger or friend, and all looked very glad that +Helma was in the forest again, for good news travels fast there, and +even the strangers knew of her home-coming. + +In a secret wooded valley, walking softly to hear the birds and the +thousand little other songs of earth, they suddenly came upon a strange +and thrilling sight. A party of little girls and boys all in bright +colored frocks, purple, orange, green, blue, yellow, were putting the +finishing touches on an air-boat they were making. It was built of +delicate leaved branches and decorated with wild flowers. A great anchor +of dog-tooth violets hung over the sides and kept it on the ground. + +When they saw Helma and the children coming so silently toward them they +jumped into the boat and crowded there looking like a bunch of larger +spring flowers. Then they drew in the anchor rapidly. But the little +girl sitting high in the back, the one in the torn yellow dress and with +blowing cloud-dark hair, cried, "Oh, no fear, it's Ivra and her mother +and the clear-eyed Earth Child. Want to come, Ivra? We're off spring +wandering among the white clouds." + +Ivra shook her head and called, "Not unless three of us can come." + +"Too full for that," called down the yellow-frocked one, for now the +boat had lifted softly almost to the tree tops. "Your Earth Child would +weigh us down. So hail and farewell. Good wandering!" + +So the three on the ground stood looking up and waving and calling back, +"Good wandering!" until the green boat had drifted away and away and was +lost in the spring sky. But for a long time after, there floated down to +them in the valley far laughter and glad cries. + +The spring nights were cold, and so at twilight they made themselves a +shelter of boughs. They slept as soon as it was night and woke and were +off at the break of dawn. Helma carried sweet chocolate in her pockets, +and forest friends and strangers offered them from their store all along +the way. Sometimes when they were tired or warm with walking they would +climb into the top of some tall tree, and there swinging among the cool +new leaves, Helma began telling them her World Stories again, while the +children looked off over the trembling forest roof and watched for +homing birds. + +But when the hemlock and fir trees began to crowd out the maples and +oaks, Helma said quietly one day, "We are nearing the sea." "The sea," +cried Eric almost wild with sudden delight. "Shall we see it? Shall we +swim in it? Oh, I have never seen it!" + +"Oh, I saw it from Spring's shoulder," Ivra cried--she really thought +she had--"But mother, mother, what a wonderful surprise you had for us!" + +They began to run in their eagerness. But Helma held them back. "It's a +day's journey yet," she said. And so they walked as patiently as they +could down a long, long slope through dark firs and hemlocks. + +It was noon of the following day when they finally came to the sea. They +had struggled through a thick undergrowth of thorned bushes where the +great arms of the firs shut out everything ahead. Then suddenly they +were out of it, in the open, on the shore with the waves almost lapping +their toes. It was high tide. The blue sea stretched away to the blue +sky. + +Eric's legs gave way under him, and he knelt on the white sand, just +looking and looking at the bigness of it, the splendor of it, the color +of it, and listening to the music of it. Ivra ran right out into the +foam brought in by the breakers, up to her waist, where she splashed the +water with her palms until her hair and face were drenched with salt +spray. Helma stood looking away to foreign countries which she could +almost see. + +But they were not left long to themselves. The heads of a little girl +and boy and a young woman appeared over the crest of a great wave, and +the three were swept up to the shore. They grabbed Ivra and drew her +along with them as they passed, laughing musically. Ivra did not like it +at first, and sprang away from them the minute she could shake herself +free. But when she saw their merry faces and heard them laugh, she +returned shyly. + +The children were about Eric's and Ivra's ages, and the young woman was +their mother. The children's names were Nan and Dan, and the woman's +name was Sally. But though they had Earth names they were of the +fairy-kind,--called in the Forest "Blue Water People." + +Just peer into a clear pool or stream, almost any bright day, and you +will be pretty sure to see one of them looking up at you. They are the +sauciest and most mischievous of all fairies. Only stare at them a +little, and they will mock you to your face with smiles and pouts, and +will not go away as long as you stay. For they have no fear of you or +any Earth People. They follow their streams right into towns and cities, +under bridges and over dams. You are as likely to find one in your city +park as in the Forest. + +Helma spoke to Sally, while the children eyed each other curiously. She +said, "How happy you Blue Water People must be now Spring has freed you +at last!" + +Sally dropped down on the beach, her dark hair flung like a shadow on +the sand. Her laughing face looked straight up into the sky. She +stretched her arms above her head. + +"He came just in time. Another day--and we would have had to break +through the ice ourselves. Truly. We've never had such a long winter. +Why, a _month_ ago we began to look for Spring. We lay with our faces +pressed against the cold ice for hours at a time, watching. We could +just see light through, and shadows now and then." + +"And then I saw him first," cried Dan, who was listening to his mother. + +"No, I!" cried Nan. + +"No, no," Sallv laughed. "I heard him, singing, a long way off. And I +called you children away from your game of shells. When his foot touched +the ice we danced in circles of joy, and tapped messages through to him +with our fingers. The ice vanished under his feet, and our stream rushed +hither away to the sea. We came with it, and waved him hail and farewell +as we poured down. Who can stop at home in spring-time? And we had been +ice-bound so long!" + +"And now we're here," boasted Dan, "I'm going to swim across the sea +to-morrow,--or the next day!" + +"You're too little for that. Calm water is best, or little rushing +streams," warned Sally. + +"What is it like across the sea?" asked Eric. "Another world?" + +"I'll tell you about it in the next story," promised Helma. "And then +when I have told you, Eric, you may want to go across yourself and see +the wonders." + +Eric drew a deep breath. "Yes, you and Ivra and I. In a boat." He +pointed to a white sail far out stuck up like a feather slantwise in the +water. + +Ivra clapped her hands. + +But Helma shook her head. "When you go, it must be alone, Ivra and I +belong to the Forest." + +"Why, then I don't want to go, ever." Eric shook the thought from him +like water. + +"Well, let's swim across now," Dan shouted, and ran into the waves, +falling flat as soon as he was deep enough and swimming fast away. The +other children followed him, ready for a frolic. You or I would have +found that water very cold, but these were hardy children; and one of +them all winter had made comrades of the Snow Witches, remember. + +They waded out to the surf and plunged through it, head first. They took +hands and floated in a circle beyond, rising and falling in the even +motion of the rollers. Nan was very mischievous, and soon succeeded in +pushing Eric out, under where the waves broke. When he looked up +suddenly and saw the great watery roof hanging over him, he was +terrified but he did not scream. People who comraded with Ivra could not +do that. He shut his eyes tight, and then thundering down came the +water-roof, and a second after, up bobbed Eric like a cork, choking and +sputtering. They were laughing at him, even Ivra. The minute the salt +water was out of his eyes he laughed, too, and tried to push Nan into +the surf. But she was too quick for him, and slipped away, farther out +to sea. + +Then began a game of water tag. Eric, because he was not such a good +swimmer as the others, was It most of the time. But Ivra had to take a +few turns as well. It was impossible to catch the other two. They moved +in the water as reflected light moves along a wall, not really swimming +at all, but flashing from spot to spot. + +Helma and Sally lay on the sand in the spring sunshine and talked about +their children. + +"Nan and Dan tear their clothes so," sighed Sally, "I could spend all my +time mending." + +"I must make little Eric some new clothes," said Helma. "I hope I have +cloth enough at home." + +"Nan is naughty, but she is a darling," laughed Sally as Eric was pushed +under the surf. + +Helma waited to see that he came up smiling and then said, "Ivra and +Eric never quarrel. They play together from morn till night like two +squirrels." + + . . . They all had lunch together on the shore. The Blue Water Children +instead of eating smelled some spring flowers which Sally had found. +That is the way they always take their nourishment. Helma turned some +little cakes of chocolate out of her pockets, and though at first it +seemed like a small luncheon, when it was all eaten they felt satisfied. + +All the afternoon the children played up and down the beach. They found +a smooth round pink sea-shell which they used for a ball. Eric was the +best at throwing. It made him happy and proud to excel in something at +last. He taught them how to play base ball, which he had once watched +Mrs. Freg's boys playing on Sundays in the back yard. They used a piece +of drift wood for a bat, and when the shell got accidentally batted into +the sea the Blue Water Children fielded it like fishes. + +When they were tired of ball, the Blue Water Children drew lines on the +sand for "hop scotch,"--a game they had sometimes watched city children +playing in a park,--and taught Ivra and Eric about that. + +Then they built a castle of sand, and walled it in with sea shells. +Helma showed them how to make the moat and the bridge, and Sally and she +took turns and made up a story about the castle and told it to them. + +Towards evening some Earth People came by, near to the shore, in a +little steam launch. There were men and women and several children in +it. They crowded into the side of the boat towards the shore to stare +curiously at Helma and Eric. They could not see the others, of course. +Helma with her free, bright hair and bare feet looked very strange to +them. And they could not understand what Eric was doing with his arms +held straight out at each side. He was between Dan and Nan, holding +their hands, and standing to watch. But the Earth People looked right +through the Blue Water Children, or thought they were shadows perhaps. + +One of the men put his hands to his mouth like a megaphone and called to +Helma, asking her if she did not want to be picked up. They thought her +being there in that wild place with a little boy, alone, and barefooted, +very singular. They thought she might have been shipwrecked. But Helma +shook her head, and so they had to take their wonder away with them. The +boat swept by. + +Ivra ran out into the waves waist deep to watch the strange thing. She +had never seen a steam launch before, or anything like it. A baby, held +in his nurse's arms, caught sight of her and waved tiny dimpled hands, +calling and cooing. She saw his sparkling eyes, his light fuzzy hair, +his little white dress and socks. She ran farther into the water, waving +back to him and throwing him dozens of kisses. But no one else in the +boat saw her, and after a minute the baby's attention turned to a sea +gull flying overhead. + +Ivra returned to shore, her face shining. There had been no doubt of +it--the baby had seen her at once, and had had no doubts. He had laughed +and reached his hands to her. The little Fairy Child almost hugged +herself with delight. . . . + +They built themselves shelters of drift wood when night fell. Eric's was +just large enough for him to crawl into and lie still. One whole side of +it was open to the sea. Soft fir boughs made his bed, and Helma had left +a kiss with him. But he did not sleep for a long while. He lay on his +side looking out over the star-sprinkled water and up at the +star-flowering sky. And he could not have told how or from where the +command had come, but he knew as he looked that he must cross that sea +and go into the new world beyond it and see all things for himself. +World Stories were good. But they were not enough. + +How he was to go, or how live when he got there--he did not once think +of that. Just that he _was_ to go filled his whole mind. He forgot that +he had said he would not go without Helma and Ivra. He did not think of +them at all. He just lay still listening to the sea's command to go +beyond and beyond. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +OVER THE TREE TOPS + + +He was waked by Ivra's joyous cries just at dawn, and rolled out of his +shelter, rubbing his eyes and stretching his arms and legs. But as soon +as his eyes were well open he jumped up and uttered a cry of joy +himself. For hanging just above the water on the edge of the sea was a +great blue sea-shell air-boat with blue sails; and the Tree Mother stood +in it, talking to Helma and Ivra who had run down to the water's edge. + +The boat and the sails were blue. Tree Mother's gown was blue. The sea +and the sky were blue. Tiny white caps feathered the water. Tiny white +clouds feathered the sky. And Tree Mother's hair was whiter and more +feathery than either. Her eyes were dark like the Tree Man's, only +keener and softer, both. And in spite of her being a grandmother her +face was brown and golden like a young out-of-door girl's, and she was +slim and quick and more than beautiful. Eric stood beside Ivra, his face +lifted up to the Tree Mother's, aglow and quivering. + +"She is going to take us home," Ivra said softly. + +Then Tree Mother turned the boat, and it drifted in and down on the +sand. The children and Helma climbed in. The Tree Mother said very +little on the long ride, but her presence was enough. The three were +almost trembling for joy, for the Tree Mother's companionship is rare, +and one of the splendidest things that can happen to a Forest Person. + +The minute they were in the boat, it shot up and away towards home. + +"Where are the Blue Water Children?" Eric cried, suddenly remembering +their playmates of yesterday. + +"Have you been playing with Blue Water Children?" asked Tree Mother. +"They are gypsy-folk and you never know where you will find them next. +They are probably miles away by now." + +"Faster, faster, Tree Mother," begged Ivra, who was hanging over the +side of the boat and losing herself in joy with the motion and height. + +"Faster?" said the Tree Mother. "Then take care! Hold on!" + +The boat shot forward with a sudden rush. The spring air changed from +cool feathers to a sharp wing beating their faces. Eric and Ivra slipped +to the floor and lay on their backs. They dared not sit up for fear of +being swept overboard. They could see nothing but the sky from where +they lay, but they loved the speed, and clapped their hands, and Ivra +cried, "Faster, faster!" + +The Tree Mother laughed. "These are brave children," she thought. "Shut +your eyes then," she said, "and don't try too hard to breathe." + +They swept on more swiftly than a wild-goose, so swiftly that soon the +children could neither hear, speak nor see. And then at last they were +traveling so fast that it felt as though the boat were standing +perfectly still in a cold dark place. + +Gradually light began to leak through their shut eyelids, the wing of +the wind beat away from them, and the boat rocked slower and slower in +warm, spring-scented air. But in that brief time, they had traveled +many, many miles. + +Now when the children leaned over the side, they saw that they were +sailing slowly over their own Forest. The tree tops were like a restless +green sea just a little beneath them. They flew low enough to hear bird +calls and the voices of the streams. + +It was then they suddenly noticed that the littlest of the Forest +Children was there curled up fast asleep at Tree Mother's feet. Ivra +cried to him in surprise, and he woke slowly, stretching his little +brown legs, shaking his curly head, and lifting a sleepy face. He was +puzzled at seeing others beside Tree Mother in the boat. He had been +riding and awake with her all night up near the stars, and had dropped +to sleep as the stars faded. + +She bent now and took his hand. "I picked these wanderers up at dawn," +she said, "and now we are all going back together. We are well on the +way." + +They had left the forest roof and were sailing over open country,--a +short cut, Tree Mother explained. + +"Oh, look," cried Ivra excitedly, almost tumbling over the edge in her +endeavor to see better, "isn't that the gray wall off there?" + +Yes, it was the gray wall, the gray wall that had prisoned their mother +all winter. The boat went slower and slower as they neared it and then +almost hung still over the garden. The garden was full of people, having +some kind of a party, for many little tables were set there with silver +and glass that shone brilliantly in the sun. Servants were hurrying back +and forth carrying trays and their gilt buttons sparkled almost as much +as the silver. + +But how strange were the people! Eric and Ivra and the littlest Forest +Child laughed aloud. They were standing about so straight and stiff, +holding their cups and saucers, and their voices rising up to the +air-boat in confusion sounded like a hundred parrots. + +"Why don't they sit down on the grass to eat?" wondered the littlest +Forest Child. "And why don't they wash their feet in the fountain? They +look so very hot and walk as though it hurt!" + +"Sitting on the grass and washing their feet in the fountain is against +the law there," Helma said. + +But neither Ivra nor the littlest Forest Child knew what "against the +law" meant. Eric knew, however, for he had lived nine years, remember, +where most everything a little boy wanted _was_ against the law. + +"But why do they stay?" Eric asked. + +Helma looked a little grave. "Why did you stay, dear, for nine long +years?" + +He thought a minute. "I hadn't seen the magic beckoning," he answered +then. + +"Neither have they," she said, "and perhaps never will, for their eyes +are getting dimmer all the time." + +"But how can they _help_ seeing it?" cried the littlest Forest Child. +"See, all around the garden!" + +It was true. All around the garden the tall trees stood and beckoned +with their high fingers, beckoned away and away with promise of magic +beyond magic. But the people in the garden never lifted their eyes to +see it. They were looking intently into their tea cups as though it +might be there magic was waiting. + +"They are prisoners," said Tree Mother, "just as you were, Helma, with +this one difference. You were locked in, but they have locked themselves +in and carry their keys like precious things next their hearts." + +Helma sighed and laughed at once. Then she leaned far out and tossed a +daffodil she was carrying down on the heads in the garden, shaking her +short, flower petal hair as she did it--she had cut it before starting +on the adventure--in a free, glad way. + +No one looked up to see where the flower had dropped from. The people +down there were not interested in offerings from the heavens. So the +boat sailed on. Away and away over the canning factory they drifted, +where the little girl looked out from her window and up, and waved her +hands. "What are you waving at like that?" a man asked who was working +near. "Oh, just a white summer cloud," she said. For she knew very well +he did not want the truth. And I might as well tell you here that that +pale little girl was a prisoner who had not turned the lock herself, and +did not carry the key next her heart. Others had done that before she +was born. And she had seen the beckoning in spite of the lock and now +was only waiting a little while to answer it. + +The children were glad to find the forest roof beneath them again. It +was noon when they sank down in the garden at their own white door +stone. Tree Mother left them there and flew away with the littlest +Forest Child, the one who liked to wander alone by himself. + +Nora was in the house when they ran in. She had cleaned it with a +different cleaning from what it had had for Helma's first return. There +were no little foot prints on the floor now, and the window panes shone +like clear pools in sunlight. Three dishes of early strawberries and +three deep bowls of cream were standing on the table before the open +door. And then besides there was a big loaf of golden-brown bread. + +"I thought you would be hungry," said Nora, pointing to the feast. + +They were hungry indeed, for they had had nothing at all to eat since +yesterday's lunch of chocolate. They very soon finished the strawberries +and cream, and a jug of milk besides. + +"You are a good neighbor, Nora," Helma said gratefully. + +All Nora wanted in return for her labor and kindness was the story of +their adventure. She listened eagerly to every word. "I shall tell this +to my grandchildren," she said when the story was done, "and they will +think it just a fairy tale. They'll never believe it's fairy truth! Oh, +if they would only stop pretending to be so wise they themselves might +some time get the chance of a ride over the tree tops with Tree Mother. +But they never will. Come play with them again sometime, Eric. They +often talk about you." + +"I'll come to-day and bring Ivra if they'll play with her, too!" + +But Nora shook her head as she went away. "They don't believe in Ivra. +How could they play with her? Their grandmother can teach them nothing. +But they'll like the story of this adventure none the less for not +believing it." + +When she was gone the three took the dishes into the house and washed +them. Then they went out and worked in the garden until dusk. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE JUNE MOON + + +Now every day Eric was becoming acquainted with strange Forest People: +those who had hidden away from winter in trees, and those who were +wandering up from the south along with the birds, and Blue Water People, +of course, all along the Forest streams. The Forest teemed with new +playmates for him and Ivra. + +Hide-and-go-seek was still the favorite game. And now it was more fun to +be "It" than to be hiding almost, for one was likely to come upon +strangers peeping out of tree hollows, swimming under water, or swinging +in the tree tops, any minute. When the person who was "It" came across +one of these strangers he would simply say, "I spy, and you're It." Then +he would draw the stranger away to the goal, where he usually joined the +game and was as much at home as though he had been playing in it from +the very first. + +The day that Eric found Wild Thyme so was the best of all,--or rather +she was the best of all. And that was strange, for when he first spied +her he did not like her at all. Her dress was a purple slip just to her +knees, with a big rent in the skirt. Her hair was short and bushy and +dark. And her face was soberer than most Forest People's faces. She was +sitting out at the edge of the Forest on a flat rock, her chin in her +hands, and she did not look eager to make friends with any one. + +But he cried, "I spy! You're It!" just the same. She did not lift her +eyes. She only said, "You must catch me first. I am Wild Thyme, and that +will be hard!" + +Eric laughed, for she was not a yard away from him. And he sprang +forward as he laughed. But she was quicker than he. She had been at +perfect rest on the rock, her chin in her hands, and not looking at him, +but the instant he jumped she was off like a flash, a purple streak +across the field. + +But Eric did not let his surprise delay him. He ran after her just as +fast as he could, and that was very, very fast, for running with Ivra +had taught him to run faster than most Earth Children ever dream of +running. Soon, Wild Thyme slowed down a little, and faced him, running +backward, her bushy hair raised from her head in the wind of her +running, her little brown face and great purple eyes gleaming +mischievously. Eric sprang for her. She dodged. He sprang again. She +dodged again. He cried out in vexation and sprang again, straight and +sure. He caught her by her bushy hair as she turned to fly. + +And a strange thing happened to him in that second, the second he caught +her hair. Instead of Wild Thyme and the sunny field, he was looking at +the sea. He was standing on the shore, looking away and away, almost to +foreign lands. Now ever since that spring night on the shore he had been +thinking of the sea and longing with all his might to cross it and see +foreign lands for himself. Only that had seemed impossible, and +something he must surely wait till he was grown up to do. But now, in a +flash, as his fingers closed on Wild Thyme's hair, he knew that he could +indeed do that, and anything else he really set his heart on. + +No girl, even a fairy, likes to have her hair pulled. So Wild Thyme was +angry. She pinched Eric's arm with all her strength. Then _he_ was +angry. And so they stood holding each other, he her by the hair, and she +him by the arm, staring hotly into each other's faces. But slowly they +relaxed, and becoming their own natural selves again, broke into +laughter. + +"You'll play with us, won't you?" Eric asked. + +"Of course," she said, "and I _am_ It!" And away they ran to find the +others, Ivra, the Tree Girl, the Forest Children, and Dan and Nan. When +those saw who it was Eric had captured they ran to meet her, shouting +gayly, "Wild Thyme! Goody! Goody! Hello, Wild Thyme!" They seemed to +have known her always. She and Ivra threw their arms about each other's +shoulders and danced away to the goal. + +Wild Thyme was a wonderful playfellow. She was so wild, so free, so +strong, so mischievous. And when the game was ended she invited them to +a dance that very night. "It's to be around the Tree Man's Tree," she +said. "And all come--come when the moon rises." + + + . . . Perhaps Eric's good times in the Forest reached their very height +that June night of the dance. He had never been to a dance before, and +just at first he did not think there would be much fun in it. But Ivra +wanted him to go, and offered to show him about the dances. So they ran +away from the others to the edge of the field where Eric had discovered +Wild Thyme, and there on the even, grassy ground Ivra showed him how to +dance. It was very easy,--not at all like the dances Earth Children +dance. It was much more fun, and much livelier. The dances were just +whirling and skipping and jumping, each dancer by himself, but all in a +circle. Eric liked it as well as though it had been a new game. + +Late that afternoon Helma and Ivra and Eric gathered ferns and flowers +to deck themselves for the evening. They put them on over the stream, +which was the only mirror in the Forest. + +Helma made a girdle of brakes for herself, and a dandelion wreath for +her hair. She wove a dear little cap of star flowers for Ivra, and a +chain of them for her neck. Eric crowned himself with bloodroot and +contrived grass sandals for his feet. But the sandals, of course, wore +through before the end of the first dance and fell off. + +They had a splendid supper of raspberries and cream, which they sat on +the door stone to eat, and then told stories to each other, while they +waited for the moon to rise. It came early, big and round and yellow, +shining through the trees, flooding the aisles of the Forest with silver +light until they looked like still streams, and the trees like masts of +great ships standing in them. + +Then the three hurried away to the Tree Man's. They ran hand in hand +through the forest aisles, their faces as bright to each other as in +daylight. But before they even came in sight of the tree they heard +music. + +"Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmm, thrummmmmmmmmmmm." Very soft, very +insistent, very simple and strangely thrilling. When they came to the +tree, there were the Forest Children, who had come early, whirling +around in a circle, and the Tree Girl in the center of the circle making +music with a tiny instrument she held in one hand and touched with the +fingers of the other. + +Soon Forest People began arriving from every direction. There were the +Blue Water Children, bright pebbles around their necks, and white sea +shells in their blue hair. The Forest Children were crowned with +maidenhair fern. The Tree Girl was the most beautiful of all in her +silver cobweb frock and her cloudy hair. The Tree Man stood still in the +shadow, but his long white beard gleamed out, and his deep eyes. Wild +Thyme wore a rope of the flower that is named for her around her neck, +but there was a new rent in her purple frock and her legs were scratched +as though she had remembered her dance only the last minute and come +plunging the shortest way through bushes, which was true. + +Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm. + +Every one except the Tree Man was dancing, bewitched in the moonlight, +all over the grassy space around the great tree. The grass was cool and +refreshing under Eric's bare feet, and he often dug his bare toes into +the soft earth at its roots as he leapt or ran just to make sure he was +on earth at all. For he felt as though he were swimming in moonlight, or +at least treading it. + +Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm. + +When the Tree Girl's music stopped between dances, then it would go on +in Eric's head. It was just the sound of the night after all. Once Eric +noticed that the Beautiful Wicked Witch was dancing next to him in the +circle but he was not afraid of her there with the others, and in bright +moonlight. And she was plotting no ill. Her face was sparkling with +delight and she had utterly forgotten herself in the dance. + +When the great moon hung just above them, and shadows were few and far +between, the Tree Mother came walking through the Forest, quieter and +more beautiful than the moon. Wild Thyme ran to her and laid her bushy +head against her breast. For Wild Thyme only of all the Forest People +loved her without awe. The Tree Mother put her hand on Wild Thyme's head +and stood to watch the dancing. Her robe gleamed like frost, and her +hair was a pool of light above her head. + +Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmm. + +Wild Thyme jumped back into the dance and the Tree Mother stood alone. +But although she stood as still as a moonbeam under the tree, she made +Eric think of dancing more than all the others put together. It was her +eyes. The thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm was in them, and the rest +of that night Eric felt as though the music-instrument the Tree Girl was +swinging was silent, and that all the music flowed from Tree Mother. + +But Eric, after all, was only an Earth Child, and his legs got very +tired in spite of the music and the moonlight. So at last he slipped out +of the circle, and stumbling with weariness and sleepiness went to Tree +Mother. She picked him up in her arms, and the minute his head touched +her shoulder he was sound asleep, the music at last hushed in his head. + +When he woke it was summer dawn. The birds were flitting above in the +tree-boughs and making high singing. He was alone, lying beneath a +silver birch, his head among the star flowers. + +He knew that Helma and Ivra had not wanted to wake him, but had gone +home when the moon set, and were waiting breakfast for him there now. So +he jumped up and ran home through the dew. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE DEEPEST PLACE IN THE WOOD + + +It was on the hottest day of all the hot days of summer that Eric found +the deepest place in the Forest. He wandered into it while he was +looking for Wild Thyme. Ivra had been no good to him that day. She was +usually ready to play in any weather; but on this, the hottest day of +the year, she stayed indoors, where it was a little cooler, and lying on +the settle she drew paper dolls on birch bark, and afterwards cut them +out. Yes, even fairy children love paper dolls and Ivra loved them more +than most. Eric wanted her to go swimming in the stream, but he teased +her to in vain, for she was entranced with the dolls and would hardly +lift her eyes from them. + +Helma was swinging in a vine swing she had made for herself high in a +tree above the garden. One of the Little People was perched on a leaf +just over her head, and they were chattering together like equals. Their +eager voices floated down to Eric standing disconsolate near the door +stone. But Helma usually knew when her children were in trouble, no +matter how tiny the trouble, and so before Eric had stood there long or +dug up more than a bushel of earth with his bare toes, she leaned over +the nest and called to him. + +"Why don't you go and play with Wild Thyme? She doesn't mind the heat. +Every one else is staying quiet till sundown." + +Wild Thyme was a happy thought, and Eric walked away in search of her. +But she was in the very last place he would have thought to look on such +a scorching day, and that is how he missed her. She was lying full +length on the hot burnt grass in the field at the Forest's edge, loving +the heat and sunshine, which covered her like a mantle. If Eric had seen +her it is probable he would not have known her or stopped to look twice. +He would have thought her just a little patch of the flower that is +named for her. + +So he wandered on and on, looking high and low and all about for her, +and he went deeper and deeper into the Forest. The deeper he went the +cooler it became, for the forest roof kept out the sunshine. The light +grew dimmer and dimmer too. Eric had never been so far in before and +everything was strange to him. + +He saw no Forest People except a little brown goblin who peered at him +from some underbrush and then scuttled away into the darkness of denser +brush. Eric had never seen a goblin before, but he had no fear of +goblins, and so this one did not bother him at all. He heard others +scuttling and squeaking, and one threw a chunk of gray moss at him. He +stopped and picked it up and threw it back with a laugh in the direction +it had come from. + +"Come out and play, why don't you?" he called. "I know where there's a +fine swimming pool." But there was no answer to his invitation. Instead +there was sudden and utter silence. He was disappointed, for he did want +a playmate, and he had almost given up looking for Wild Thyme. + +After walking for a long while he came at last to one of the windings of +the Forest stream, and gratefully stepped into the shallow, clear water, +dark with shadows. His feet were burning, and his head was hot. So he +drank a long drink of the cold, delicious water, ducked his head, and +finally washed his face. Then he waded on with no purpose in mind now +but just to keep his feet in the water. + +It was so he came to the deepest place; where not even Ivra had ever +been. It was almost cool there, and more like twilight than early +afternoon. And right in the deepest place, in a nest of smooth leaves, +with his feet in the water, lay Wild Star. When Eric first caught sight +of him he thought he was asleep, for his wings were lying on the leaves +half folded and dropped, and his knees were higher than his head. But +when Eric went close enough to see his eyes he knew that he was very +wide awake, for they were wide open, watchful and intent,--and purple +like the early morning. Such wide-awake eyes were startling in such a +sleepy, still place. Eric expected him to spread his wings in a flash +and dart away. But the wings stayed half open, purple shadows on the +leaves, and Wild Star did not even raise his head. Only his eyes greeted +Eric. + +But Eric knew without words that Wild Star was glad to see him. So he +stepped up out of the water and stretched himself on a mound of silvery +moss near by. With his chin resting in his palms and his elbows +supporting, he faced the Wind Creature, his clear blue eyes open to the +intent purple ones. + +It was Wild Star who spoke first. + +"I thought, little Eric, you would have crossed the sea before this, and +be out of the Forest. I expected to find you next fall on the other side +of the world." + +Eric was amazed, for he had not said one word of his dream about that to +any one. "How did you know I wanted to go?" he cried. + +"Oh, you are an Earth Child, after all, and I knew you would want to be +going on, as soon as you saw the sea." + +"But _why_ do I want to go on?" asked Eric, his face clouding with the +puzzle of it. "I am so happy here, and Helma is my mother now. There +can't be another mother across the sea for me. And if there were I +wouldn't want her,--not after Helma! No, Helma is my only mother, and +Ivra is my comrade. And still I want to leave them,--and go on and away +over there. It is very funny." + +"No," said Wild Star. "It isn't funny. You are a growing Earth Child, +not a fairy. It is your own kind calling you. It is the music of your +human life." + +"I don't know what you mean," said Eric. + +"It is like this: you know when you begin to sing a song, you go on and +on to the end without thinking about it at all. It is the theme that +carries you. Well, a human life is made like a song,--it carries itself +along. You do not stop to think why. It can't stop in the middle, on one +chord, for long. Yours now is resting, on a chord of happiness. But soon +it will go on again. You want it to. Life in the Forest, though, isn't +like that. Here it is music without any theme, like the music we dance +to. Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmm. But there is more than that to an +Earth Child's life. It runs on like this stream. The stream is happy +here in the Forest, too, but it goes on seeking the sea just the same." + +There was a long stillness while Eric looked down into the green depths +of the water. At last he asked, "But how could I ever get across the +sea? And when I got there how could I get back?" + +"Time enough to think about getting back when you are there," laughed +Wild Star. "But as to getting there, Helma is the one to tell you that. +She has been an Earth Child, too, you know. She felt just as you did, +that spring night on the shore. She has felt it many times. It is only +Ivra that keeps her in the Forest. Ivra docs not belong out in the world +of humans, and Helma will never leave her. But she will understand +your longing. All you have to do is tell her." + +Eric clapped his hands, a habit he had caught from Ivra. "Oh, I shall +cross in a ship," he cried, "and see all the foreign lands. And when I +come back, think of the World Stories I shall have to tell Helma and +Ivra!" + +He sprang up in his joy, and felt as though he had wings on his +shoulders like Wild Star, and had only to spread them out to go beating +around the world. For a second the Wind Creature and the Earth Child +looked very much alike. And indeed, the only difference was that Wild +Star had to wait for the wind, and Eric need wait for no wind or no +season. His wings were _inside of his head_, but they were as strong as +Wild Star's. And he had only to spread them and lift them to go anywhere +he wanted. + +Now he wanted to get back to Helma and tell her all about it. Wild Star +pointed him the shortest way, and off he ran, jumping the stream and the +moss beds beyond, and disappearing into the underbrush. + +"I'll look for you next time the other side of the world!" Wild Star +shouted after him. + +It was twilight when he reached home. Helma and Ivra were sitting on the +door stone, hand in hand. They made room for Eric. But he did not +snuggle up. He stayed erect, his face lifted towards the first dim +stars, and told Helma all about his wanting to go away from them out +through the Forest and across the sea, and all that Wild Star had said +about music and Earth People's lives. And he told her, too, of the +vision of success he had had when he caught Wild Thyme that first day by +her bushy hair. + +Helma listened quietly, and said nothing for many minutes after he was +through. But at last she spoke, putting a hushing hand on Eric's +dreamful head. + +"I understand," she said. "I knew you would want to go on sometime. And +I have a friend across there who will help us. He has a school for boys +and I got to know him very well behind the gray stone wall. He asked me +about the Forest and you children. And he said that Eric sometime would +surely want to go back to humans, and when he did he would help him. He +understands boys. It is to him you had better go, Eric, and when you are +really ready I will tell you how, and start you on your way." + +Eric sighed with contentment, and leaned his head against Helma's +shoulder. + +But Ivra stayed at her mother's other side, as still and silent as a +shadow. Soon the fireflies began their nightly dance in the garden. But +Ivra did not go darting after them as usual to make their dance the +swifter. And Eric's head was too full of dreams and his eyes too full of +visions of the sea to notice them at all. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MORE MAGIC IN A MIST + + +Indian summer had come round again before Eric really made up his mind to +go. The flowers were asleep in the garden, and there was a steady, +gentle shower of yellow leaves down the Forest. That morning when he +woke the little house seemed suspended in a golden mist. As he stood in +the doorway he felt as though it might drift away up over the trees and +into space any minute. But after a little he knew it was not Helma's +little forest house that was to go swinging away into space and +adventure,--it was himself. And suddenly he wanted to go _then_,--to the +sea and over and beyond. He called the news in to Helma and Ivra, who +were still within doors. Helma came swiftly out to him. + +"The trees are beckoning again, mother," he cried. "The way they did a +year ago when I first came here. Now it is just as Wild Star said. The +music is beginning to go on. There's magic out to-day. Oh, what made +Wild Star know so much?" + +"Sit down," said Helma. She took his hand and drew him down beside her +on the door stone. Then she held it firmly while very slowly and +distinctly, but once only, she gave him directions about how to go, +where to go and what to do, so that he might follow the magic. + +Eric sat and listened attentively, in spite of the high beating of his +heart, and the magic working in his head. As soon as she was done, he +wanted to go right away that minute. For even in his happiness he knew +that saying good-by to all his friends in the Forest would be too sad a +task. They did not say good-by when they went on long adventures, or +followed summer south. They simply disappeared one day, and those who +stayed behind forgot them until next season. So Eric would do as they. + +Only last week Helma had made him a warm brown suit for the coming +winter. The new strong sandals on his feet he had made himself. His cap +was new, too, and Helma had stuck two new little brown feathers in it as +in the old one; so he still had a look of flying. There was really +nothing to delay his departure further. Helma called to Ivra, and she +came out slowly. There was no need to explain things to her, for she had +heard everything. + +Helma lifted Eric's chin in her palms and looked long and earnestly at +the child she was letting go away from her all alone out into the queer +world of Earth People. She picked him up in her strong arms then, as +though he were a very little boy, and kissed him. She ran with him to +the opening in the hedge and set him down there, laughing. + +"Run along now 'round the world," she said. "And when you come back +bring a hundred new World Stories with you!" + +Eric laughed too, and promised and stood on tiptoes to kiss her again. +He stroked her short flower petal hair, and kissed her cool brown cheek +over and over. But he did not cling to her. And he did not say another +word, but ran to catch up with Ivra who was to walk with him until noon +and had gone on ahead. + +The children did not scuffle through the banks of leaves, or jump and +run and burst into play as they were used to doing. They walked steadily +forward, saying very little, neither hurrying nor delaying their steps. +Once when Eric's sandal came untied Ivra knelt to fix it, for she was +still more skillful with knots than he. + +But when the sun showed that it was noon, Ivra's steps grew slower and +slower, dragged and dragged, until at last she stood still in a billow +of leaves. + +"I have to go back now," she said. + +In a flash all the magic swept out of the day for Eric. He knew he could +never say good-by to Ivra, so he stayed silent, looking ahead into the +fluttering, golden forest. But even as he looked the trees began to +beckon with their high fingers, and 'way away, down long avenues of +trees he _almost_ glimpsed the sea. + +Ivra threw her arms about his neck and kissed him. "Good-by, comrade," +was all she said. + +He kissed her cheeks. "I'll come back," he promised. But before he had +gone many steps he turned to see her again. She was standing in the +billow of leaves, a lonely-looking little girl, her face paler than it +had been even on that day of the wind-hunt. He wanted to run back to her +and tell her he would be her playmate always, and never leave the +Forest. But he wanted, too, to go on and across the sea and into foreign +lands. He stayed irresolute. + +And then quite suddenly, standing just behind Ivra, he saw Tree Mother. +She was not looking at him at all, but at Ivra, and her eyes were kind +stars. When Ivra turned to go home she must walk right into Tree +Mother's arms and against her breast. So Eric was happy again, Ivra +could not be lonely with dear Tree Mother. Perhaps she would take her up +in her air-boat high above the falling leaves, where she could look down +on the magic. He waved, calling, "Remember me to the Snow Witches when +they come." That was not because he really wanted to be remembered to +them but because he knew that Ivra liked them best of all, and it +would please her. + +She nodded and waved too, and threw him a kiss. Then a shower of +fluttering leaves came between the playmates. + +When it was clear again Eric had run on out of sight, and was lost to +Ivra in the Forest. On and on and on through the showers of golden +leaves he went, magic at his elbow and around him, and beckoning ahead +of him. And after long walking and many thoughts, at last he did see the +sea, gleaming blue and white sparkles between the golden trees. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little House in the Fairy Wood +by Ethel Cook Eliot + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10463 *** diff --git a/10463-h.zip b/10463-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a77ae4e --- /dev/null +++ b/10463-h.zip diff --git a/10463-h/10463-h.htm b/10463-h/10463-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..66e9b8a --- /dev/null +++ b/10463-h/10463-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4240 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Little House In The Fairy Wood, by Ethel Cook Eliot. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%;} + .center {text-align: center;} + // --> + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Little House in the Fairy Wood, by Ethel Cook Eliot + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Little House in the Fairy Wood + +Author: Ethel Cook Eliot + +Release Date: February 21, 2004 [EBook #10463] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD *** + + + + +Produced by Hilary Caws-Elwitt; images courtesy Rachel Newman +(rachelpages.com) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1>THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD</h1> +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>ETHEL COOK ELIOT</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h3>TO TORKA AND NORTHWIND</h3> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>I. MAGIC IN A MIST</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>II. THE BRIGHT HOUSE</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>III. FIRELIGHT</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>IV. THE GOSSIP</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>V. WORLD STORIES</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>VI. AT THE HEART OF A TREE</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>VII. TREE MOTHER AND THE DROWSY BOAT</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>VIII. A WITCH AT THE WINDOW</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>IX. THE WIND HUNT</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>X. ON THE GRAY WALL</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>XI. THE BEAUTIFUL WICKED WITCH</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>XII. IVRA'S BIRTHDAY</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>XIII. NORA'S GRANDCHILDREN</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>XIV. SPRING COMES</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>XV. SPRING WANDERING</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>XVI. OVER THE TREE TOPS</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>XVII. THE JUNE MOON</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>XVIII. THE DEEPEST PLACE IN THE WOOD</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>XIX. MORE MAGIC IN A MIST</b></a><br /> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a><h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h2>MAGIC IN A MIST</h2> + +<p>That morning began no differently from any morning, though it was to be +the beginning of all things new for Eric. He was awakened early by Mrs. +Freg's rough hand shaking him by the arm, and her rough voice in his +ears: "Get up, lazy-bones! <i>All</i> you boys pile out, this very minute! +It's six o'clock already!" Then she reached over Eric and shook the +other two boys in the bed with him, repeating and repeating "Wake up, +wake up! It's six o'clock already!" When she was sure the three boys in +the bed were awake and miserable, she crossed the room with a hurried, +heavy tread and clumped, clumped down the stairs into the kitchen.</p> + +<p>Though it happened just that way every morning, and it had happened so +this morning, this day was to be very different from any other in Eric's +life. But Eric could not know that; so he crawled farther down under the +few bedclothes he had managed to keep to himself, and shut his eyes +again just for a minute.</p> + +<p>The night had been a cold one, and the other two boys in the bed, +because they were older and stronger, had managed to keep most of the +bedding wrapped tightly around them, while little Eric shivered on the +very edge. So he had not slept at all in the way little boys of nine +usually sleep,—that is, when they have a bed to themselves, and their +mother has left a kiss with them. When he had slept, he had dreamed he +was wading in icy puddles out in the street.</p> + +<p>But it was only a minute that he huddled there, trying to come really +awake, and then he sprang out, and without thought of a bath, was into +his clothes in a minute. The two older boys followed him more slowly, +yawning, growling, and quarreling.</p> + +<p>Breakfast was served in the kitchen by Mrs. Freg. The room was bare and +ugly like the rest of the house, and the food was far from satisfying. +As the older boys got most of the bedding for themselves, so they got +most of the breakfast, while Mr. and Mrs. Freg laughed at them, and +praised them for fine, hearty boys who knew what they wanted and would +get it.</p> + +<p>"You will succeed in the world, both of you," said Mrs. Freg with +mother-pride gleaming in her eyes, when they had managed to seize and +divide between them little Eric's steaming cup of coffee,—the only hot +thing he had hoped for that morning.</p> + +<p>"Will I be a success, too?" asked Eric in a faint but hopeful voice.</p> + +<p>"You!" said the harsh woman. "You, young man, had better be thankful to +work on at the canning instead of starving in the streets. That's the +fate of most orphans. Success indeed! Now hurry along, all of you. It's +quarter to seven."</p> + +<p>But right here is where the day began to differ from other days. Eric +did not hurry along. He threw down his spoon and cried, "I'd just as +soon starve in the streets, and wade in its icy puddles, too, as live +here with you and your nasty boys and work in that old canning factory! +I just wonder how you'd feel if I went out this morning and never, never +came back! I'd like to do that!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Freg laughed, and her laugh was not a nice mother-laugh at all, for +she was not Eric's mother, and had never pretended that she was.</p> + +<p>"Why, little spitfire, it wouldn't matter a bit except to make one less +mouth to feed. But you won't be so silly as that. You don't want to +starve."</p> + +<p>"All right," said little Eric, snatching his cap from its peg. "You said +it wouldn't matter to you. You won't see me again, any of you. I hate +you all, and everything in the world. I hate you. You've made me hate +you hard!"</p> + +<p>Then he suddenly ran out into the street.</p> + +<p>In a minute he was in a flood of people, men, women and children moving +towards the canning factory, a big brick building on the outskirts of +the city. Eric had worked in that factory from the day he was seven. +There is no need to tell you what he did there, for this is not the +story of the canning factory Eric,—the queer, hating Eric who had waked +up that morning.</p> + +<p>But how he did hate! His eyes were full of hating tears, and they were +running down his face, making horrid white streaks on his dirty cheeks. +He was hating so hard that he did not even care if people saw his tears. +He lifted his face straight up and dropped his arms straight down at his +side and walked right along, no matter how fast the tears came.</p> + +<p>Now he had often hated before, but never quite like this. Before, it had +been a frightened hate, a gnawing, hurting thing deep down in his heart. +But to-day it was a flaring hate, a burning thing right up in his head. +It was big, too, because it included everything that he knew, Mrs. Freg, +her boys, the street, the people jostling him, and hottest and wildest +of all the canning factory. How terrible to go in there in the morning, +when the sun was only just up, and not to come out again until it was +quite down! Eric knew little about play, but he did know that if he +could only be let stay out in the sunshine he would find things to do +there. If they'd only let him try it once!</p> + +<p>So he walked along in the direction the others were going, the hating +tears in his eyes and on his face. But no one laughed at him, and no one +asked him what was the matter, even the other children. For he was not +crying in the usual way with little boys. He was walking along with his +head up. So people did not bother him.</p> + +<p>He had reached the outskirts of the town, and was almost in the shadow +of the big, cruel factory, when the Magic began to work. For there was +magic in this day that had started so badly. It was only waiting for +Eric to see it before it would take hold of him and carry him away into +happiness. It had waited for him at the door of the dull, bare little +house that had never been home to him, but his tears would not let him +see it. So it had followed along beside him all the way to the factory, +waiting for him to feel, even if he could not see. And he did +feel,—just in time to let the Magic work.</p> + +<p>He felt that the day that had begun so freezingly was warm, strangely +warm. He wiped the tears from his eyes away to the side of his face with +his sleeve, and looked about. The sun was very bright, but in a mild, +pleasant way. And a tree on the other side of the street was showering +softly, softly, softly, yellow autumn leaves, until they covered the +cobblestones all around. Eric did not think about being late. The Magic +was pulling him now. He went across and stood under the tree, and felt +the leaves showering on his head and shoulders, and caught a few in his +hands.</p> + +<p>All the people passed, and soon the last one was hidden behind the heavy +factory door. Eric gave the door a glance or two, but did not go. Over +the roof of the factory he saw the tops of tall trees waving. He had +never looked so high above the factory before. But he knew there was a +wood on the other side, a wood he had always been too tired to think of +exploring, even on holidays. Now he saw the tops of the tall trees +beckoning him in a golden mist. "The mist is the yellow leaves they're +dropping," thought Eric. With every beckon the golden mist of leaves +grew brighter and brighter, until he could not see the beckoning any +more, but only the mist. Still he knew the beckoning was going on behind +the mist.</p> + +<p>"If I'm to live in the streets at night," he thought to himself, +"there's no need to live in the factory by day. I'll just go and see +what those trees want of me."</p> + +<p>Very slowly, with little firm steps, he went by the factory door, and +then around under its windows to the wood at the back.</p> + +<p>It was Indian Summer. That was why the golden leaves were showering in a +mist, and why the sun was so warm.</p> + +<p>Eric dropped his ragged coat and cap on the edge of the wood,—it was so +warm,—and went in.</p> + +<p>A little girl had been watching him from her place at one of the factory +windows where she was sorting cans. She had seen him before, working at +the factory, day after day, and they had played together sometimes in +the noon half hour. Now she wondered what he was doing out there. Had +they sent him, perhaps, to do a different kind of work that could only +be done in the woods? But as he walked away in under the trees farther +and farther, the golden mist that was over the wood drew in about him; +and although she leaned far forward over the cans at a great risk of +knocking over dozens and setting them rolling,—he was lost in it. It +had dropped down behind him like a curtain.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h2>THE BRIGHT HOUSE</h2> + +<p>Eric knew nothing of the little girl and her thoughts. He was walking in +a golden mist, but he could see quite perfectly, and even far ahead down +long tree aisles. At first the trees did not grow very close together, +and there was little underbrush. Several narrow paths started off in +different directions,—straight little paths made by people who knew +where they were going. But Eric did not know where he was going, so he +struck off in a place where there was no sign of a path. Soon the trees +drew closer and closer together, until their branches locked fingers +overhead and shook the yellow leaves down for each other. The leaves +showered softly and steadily. Eric's feet rustled loudly in them.</p> + +<p>Soon he stopped and took off his worn shoes and stockings. He left them +where he took them off and went on, barefoot. Now that he was only in +his shirt and trousers he began to run and leap. He leapt for the +drifting leaves, and he ran farther and farther into the happy +stillness.</p> + +<p>The trees crowded and crowded, and the mist of leaves grew brighter and +brighter. No birds sang, for they had all flown away for the winter, and +there were no flowers. But the drifting leaves hid the bareness, and +magic covered everything.</p> + +<p>After Eric had run and leapt and waded in the crackling pools of leaves +for a long time, he grew hungry. "But there is no food here," he +thought; "and anyway it doesn't matter. It's much better to be hungry +here than in the dirty streets."</p> + +<p>He decided to go to sleep and forget about it. So he lay down in the +leaves. They fell over him, a steady, gentle shower, and he slept long, +and without dreaming anything.</p> + +<p>But when he woke he was cold. And worse than that, the golden mist had +faded. It was almost twilight. The light was cold and still and gray. +While he slept Indian Summer had vanished and its magic with it.</p> + +<p>Now no matter how fast Eric ran, or how high he jumped, he was chilly +through and through. But he did not think of trying to find the way out +of the wood. The streets would be as cold as the forest, and never, +never, never, if he starved and froze, was he going back to that house +in the village where he had lived but never belonged. So he went on +until the gray light faded, and the soft rustle of falling leaves +changed to the noise of wind scraping in bare branches. When he was very +cold, and ready to lie down and sleep again to forget, he came quite +suddenly on an opening in the trees. In the dim light he saw a little +garden closed in with a hedge of baby evergreens. The wind was rustling +through the stalks of dead flowers in the garden. But in the middle of +it was a little low house, and the windows and doors were glowing like +new, warm flowers.</p> + +<p>Yes, it was a house and a garden away there in the wood, but no path led +to it through the forest, and there was a strangeness about it as about +no house or garden Eric had ever seen.</p> + +<p>Although no path led through the wood to the house, a path did run +through the garden to the low door stone. Eric went up it and stood +looking in at the door, which was open.</p> + +<p>The glow of the house came from a leaping, jolly fire in a big stone +fire-place, and from half a dozen squat candles set in brackets around +the walls. It was the one lovely room that Eric had ever seen. It was so +large that he knew it must occupy the whole of the little house. But in +spite of all the brightness, the comers were dim and far.</p> + +<p>There were two strange people there, or they were strange to Eric +because they were so different from any people he had ever known. One +was a young woman who sat sewing cross-legged on a settle at the side of +the fire-place. About her the strangest thing was her hair. It was not +like most women's,—long and twisted up on her head. It was short, and +curled back above her ears and across her forehead like flower-petals. +It was the color of the candle-flames. But her face was brown, and her +neck and long hands were brown, as though she had lived a long time in +the sun. Her eyes that were lifted and scarcely watching the work in her +hands, were very quiet and gray.</p> + +<p>She was watching and talking to a little girl who was skipping back and +forth between a rough tea-table set near the fire and an open +cupboard-door in the wall. She was carrying dishes to the table, and now +and then stopping to stir something good-smelling which hung over the +fire in a pewter pot, with a strong bent twig for a handle.</p> + +<p>The child was strange in a very different way from her mother. The +mother, one could see, was merry in spite of her quiet eyes. But the +child was pale. Her face was pale and little and round. Her hair was +pale, too, the color of ashes, and braided in two smooth little braids +hanging half way down her back. She moved with almost as much swiftness +as the fire-shadows, and as softly too.</p> + +<p>Both mother and daughter were dressed in rough brown smocks, with narrow +green belts falling loosely,—strange garments to Eric. And their feet +were bare.</p> + +<p>But stranger than the house, stranger than the people in it, was the +fact that the mother was talking to the little girl just as people of +the same age talk to each other; and though Eric was shaking with cold +and aching with hunger, he could still wonder deeply at that.</p> + +<p>"It's a long way 'round by the big pine," she was saying; "but you see I +am home in time for supper. Suppose I had not come until after dark. +What would you have done, Ivra?"</p> + +<p>The little girl stopped in her busy-ness to stand on one foot and think +a second. "Why, I'd have put the supper over the fire, lighted the +candles, and run out to meet you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you wouldn't know which way to run. I might come from any +direction."</p> + +<p>"I'd follow the wind," cried Ivra, lifting her serious face and rising +to her tiptoes, one arm outstretched, as though she were going to follow +the wind right then and there.</p> + +<p>It was at that minute they noticed the door had blown open, and that a +little boy was standing in it, looking at them.</p> + +<p>But they neither stared nor exclaimed. Ivra ran to him, her arms still +outstretched in the flying gesture, and drew him in. His dirty face was +streaked with tears, and his legs and feet were blue with the cold. They +knew it was not question-time, but comfort-time, so the mother folded an +arm about him, and Ivra skipped more rapidly than ever between the +cupboard and the table. Almost at once supper was ready, and the table +set for three. As the last thing, Ivra brought all the candles and set +them in the middle of the table. They sat down,—Eric with his back to +the fire. It warmed him through and through, but their friendly faces +warmed him more.</p> + +<p>Very little was said, but when the meal was nearly over Ivra asked him +how long he was going to stay with them. Immediately he stopped eating +and dropped his spoon. His eyes filled with tears. He had utterly +forgotten about his plight until then,—how he was homeless, workless +and bound to starve and freeze sooner or later. Ivra's mother saw the +misery in his face and quietly spoke, "We hope for a long time. As long +as you want to, anyway. Three in a wood will be merrier than two in a +wood.... If you like me I will be your mother."</p> + +<p>Ivra clapped her hands. "Stay always," she cried. "I will be your +playmate. There will be many playmates besides, too, and I will help you +find them."</p> + +<p>Eric glowed. The hatred that had been flaring in his head suddenly +faded, and the heavy thing that had been his heart for as long as he +could remember, became light as thistledown. He looked at the mother and +the kindness in her eyes made him tremble. "I will stay and be your +child," he said.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h2>FIRELIGHT</h2> + +<p>When supper was done the three put away the supper things, carried the +table back to its place in the corner, and set the candles in their +brackets about the walls. Then almost at once the mother said it was +bath-time and bed-time.</p> + +<p>Bath-time! Baths had been rare in Eric's life, and when they did happen +were unhappy adventures,—cold water in a hand basin in the kitchen +sink, a scratchy sponge, and a towel too small. So if Mrs. Freg had said +"bath-time and bed-time" to him now, he might have run away. But if +Ivra's mother said it, it must be. She was <i>his</i> mother too, now, and he +loved her and thought her beautifully strange.</p> + +<p>A surprise was waiting for him. The bath was a deep basin set in the +wall. There was a fountain in it that one had only to turn on to have +the basin fill with clear water. Eric slipped out of his ragged shirt +and trousers and climbed up into it. The fountain came splashing down on +his dusty, shaggy head, falling in rivulets down his back and breast. He +was like a bird taking a bath; there was such happy splashing and +dipping.</p> + +<p>But no bird had ever the gentle soft drying, or was wrapped in such a +warm night gown as the mother found for Eric. It was one of Ivra's night +gowns, but quite large enough. Then she tucked him into a narrow couch +far from the fire. It was the first time Eric could ever remember having +slept alone.</p> + +<p>Ivra was already in a bed against the opposite wall. Before the mother +got into hers, which was open and ready for her, she blew out all the +candles and opened the door and windows.</p> + +<p>"Good night, my lambs," she said, and a very few minutes afterwards Eric +could see by the firelight that his mother and playmate were asleep.</p> + +<p>How cold the wind felt as it blew over his face! But how warm and snug +his body was, there in the soft, clean night gown between the light, +warm blankets! How fine to be there so warm in bed while his cheeks grew +red in the cold air and burned deliciously. How could he ever sleep? He +was too happy!</p> + +<p>He looked at the fire. And then he looked harder. It was not a fire at +all, but a young girl, all bright and golden, sitting with her head +drowsily bent forward on her knees and her arms wrapped close about her +legs. But as he watched she slowly lifted her bright head, and looked +quietly about the room. Then she gradually and beautilully rose and +stepped out of the fireplace onto the floor. Slowly she moved across to +the mother's couch and stood still as though looking down at her. Slowly +she bent and drew the bed-clothes higher about her shoulders, and kissed +the flower-petal hair curled back on the pillow.</p> + +<p>She moved then to Ivra's couch, still slowly and very beautifully, and +Eric could see her smile at the little one huddled there, half on her +face, one arm thrown up over her head. Gently the fire-girl rolled her +into a relaxed position on her side, tucked in the flung arm, and kissed +the closed eyelids.</p> + +<p>Then she stood a minute, looking away, Eric did not know where. But his +heart began to ache with wonder and longing. Would she come to him +too—or was he only a stranger?</p> + +<p>He lay still, watching her from his dark corner. At last she stopped +looking away, and came across the floor to him. She brought all the +brightness of the room with her, and her feet made no sound on the +boards. When she stood above him he shut his eyes, though he wanted very +much to look up into her face. She bent down and her hands smoothed his +covers, warmed his pillow and lay still for a minute like sunlight on +his cheek.</p> + +<p>When he opened his eyes again, she had gone back to the fireplace, all +her brightness with her, and was resting there, a drowsy, golden girl, +her head bent forward on her knees and her slim arms wrapped close about +her legs.</p> + +<p>Eric lay and watched her for many sleepy minutes while her light fell +dimmer and dimmer, lower and lower. When it was just a tiny flicker he +dropped to sleep.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h2>THE GOSSIP</h2> + +<p>He slept long and deeply, for when he woke he felt rested. But he did not +open his eyes. "It must be time for Mrs. Freg to shake me," he was +thinking. "Until she does I'll just stay as I am and pretend it wasn't a +dream, but real." For although he remembered very well all that had +happened to him yesterday, he could not believe it was true.</p> + +<p>So he lay still in his snug bed, wondering that Mrs. Freg's boys had +left him so much of the bed-clothes. "How fine to have a little time to +pretend a dream!" he said to himself. But Mrs. Freg did not come and did +not come, until at last he opened his eyes, just in wonderment. "It must +be six o'clock!"</p> + +<p>When he saw where he was, and that the dream was true, his heart almost +stood still for joy. He was indeed far away in the woods, safe and snug +and warm in this bright house, and Mrs. Freg could never reach him here. +And he would not go to tne canning factory that day, nor the next, nor +the next, nor ever again. The new mother had said so. His happiness +brought him up in bed wide awake, and then he got out. He had not +learned to bound out yet, but that came.</p> + +<p>The fire was burning merrily. All was in order, the beds made and pushed +back against the wall, the hearth swept, and some clusters of bright red +berries arranged above the fireplace. But where were Ivra and +Helma?—Ivra had called her mother "Helma" last night, and so it was +that Eric already called her and thought of her. There was not the +tiniest sign of them.</p> + +<p>Oh, but yes. There on the floor near the hearth lay a little brown +sandal, one of its strings pulled out and making a curlycue on the +floor. That must belong to Ivra. The fire, the red berries, and the +little, worn sandal, seemed to be wishing Eric a good morning and a +happy day. There was plenty of mush in the pot swinging over the fire, +and on the table drawn up to it, a wooden spoon, a bowl, and a jug of +rich cream. So they had not forgotten him. They had only let him sleep +as long as he would. They must have stolen about like mice, getting +breakfast, clearing up, and tidying the room; and then closed the door +very softly behind them when they went out.</p> + +<p>And wonder of wonders! After yesterday's Indian Summer, outside it was a +wild winter day. Gusts of snow were hurling against all the windows of +the house, and blowing a fine spray under the door. Eric with his face +against a windowpane could see only as far as the evergreen hedge +because the trees beyond were wreathed in whirling snowclouds. The dead +flowers in the garden were hidden under the blowing snow. The little +straight walk up to the door was lost in it, and the footprints Ivra and +Helma must have made when they went away were hidden too.</p> + +<p>Something red blew against the hedge. For a minute Eric thought it was a +big bird. But it found the opening and came through, and then he saw it +was a little old woman. She came briskly up to the house, a red cape +blowing about her, sometimes right up over her head, for because of the +jug she was carrying she could not hold it down. She walked in without +stopping to knock and was as surprised to see Eric there as he was to +see her. But she got over it at once.</p> + +<p>"Good morning," she said cheerfully, going across the room, whisking a +pitcher out of the cupboard and emptying her jug of milk into it. "This +is the milk for them, and it's as much as ever that I got here with it. +The wind is in a fine mood—pushed me here and there all the way through +the wood, and tried to steal my cape from me, say nothing of Helma's +milk! Perhaps some of the Wind Creatures wanted them, or it might be old +Tree Man himself, looking for a winter cape for his daughter. But I +said, 'No, no. The milk is for Helma and little Ivra! I take it to them +every morning and I'll take it this morning whether or no, so pull all +you like—cape or milk you'll not get. The cape has a good clasp, and +I've a good hold of the jug. Pull away!"</p> + +<p>Here the old woman—the pitcher put away, and the cupboard door +closed—dropped down on the settle and waited for Eric to speak. She was +a jolly little old woman, one could see at a glance. Her face was the +color of a good red apple, and just as round and shiny. Her eyes were +beady black, bright and quick, and surrounded by a hundred finest +wrinkles, that all the smiles of her life had made. Her mouth was pursed +up like a button, out of which her words came shooting, quick and bright +and merry.</p> + +<p>Eric stood looking at her, not thinking to say anything. So after the +briefest pause she went on, peeping into the pot.</p> + +<p>"I see you have some mush here, so as I've come all the way from the +farm and am ready for a second breakfast after my tussle with the wind, +I'll share it with you. Or perhaps you have had yours already."</p> + +<p>"No, no," cried Eric, suddenly remembering how hungry he was and hoping +she would not take it all. "I have just waked up."</p> + +<p>"So. Then we'll breakfast together," and away she flew to the cupboard +again and brought out a second bowl and spoon. Then she stirred the mush +round and round a few times and dished it up. Eric noticed that she +divided it exactly evenly. She flooded both bowls with cream, and +together they sat down to it. What a good breakfast that was, and how +fast the little old woman talked!</p> + +<p>But in spite of all her talking and flying around she had looked Eric up +and down and through and through, and made up her mind what kind of a +person he was. What she saw was a pale little boy of nine in a ragged +shirt and trousers, and barefooted. His hair was shaggy and unbrushed +but tossed back from a wide brow. His mouth was sullen. But she forgot +all about shabby clothes, unbrushed hair, and sullen mouth when she came +to his eyes. They were wide and clear, and returned the old woman's keen +glance with a gaze of steady interest. Sullen and pale, but +clear-eyed—she liked the little stranger. And so she went on talking.</p> + +<p>"I bring them milk every day. It's a long way here from my farm, but not +too far when it's for them. Helma's gone into the village, hasn't she? +When I came to Little Pine Hill this morning the snow stopped whirling +for a minute, and I caught a glimpse of her a-striding across the +fields. It's a fine way of walking she has—like the bravest of Forest +People! When I reached the Tree Man's the wind didn't stop for me, but I +spied that child, Ivra, just where I knew she'd be,—racing and chasing +and dancing with the Snow Witches out at the edge of the wood. 'It's a +pity she can't go with her mother,' I said to myself when I saw her, +'and not be wasting her time like that. The Snow Witches are no good to +any one. But—'"</p> + +<p>Eric interrupted there, having finished his mush and pricking up his +cars at the mention of witches.</p> + +<p>"Are they really witches?" he cried. "And have you seen them yourself?"</p> + +<p>"What else would they be?" asked the old woman. "They're the creatures +that come out in windy, snowy weather, to dance in the open fields and +run along country roads. Ordinary people are afraid of them and stay +indoors when they're about. Their streaming white hair has a way of +lashing your face as they rush by, and then they never look where +they're going. They care nothing about running into you and knocking the +breath out of you. Then, they're so cruel to children!"</p> + +<p>"But Ivra isn't afraid of them!" wondered Eric.</p> + +<p>"Not she," said the old woman. "She runs <i>with</i> them instead of away +from them. When I saw them back there they had all taken hands and were +leaping in a circle around her. She was jumping and dancing in the +center as wild and lawless as they, and just as high, too.... But it's a +pity she isn't with her mother all the same, going on decent errands in +the village. Only of course it's not her fault, poor child! She daren't +go into the village."</p> + +<p>"Why <i>daren't</i> she?" asked Eric.</p> + +<p>"<i>How</i> dare she?" cried the old woman. "She'd be seen, for she's only +part fairy, of course. But hush, hush!"</p> + +<p>She clapped her hands over her mouth. "What am I telling you,—one of +the secrets of the forest, and you a stranger here? You must forget it +all. Ivra's a good child. Now don't ask me any more questions, or I +might tell you more."</p> + +<p>But Eric had begun to wonder. What did it mean, that Ivra was part +fairy? And why wasn't it safe for her to be seen in the village? And +were there really witches, and was she playing with them out there in +the wild day?</p> + +<p>The old woman was talking on, but he heard no more.</p> + +<p>Then the door blew open in a snowy gust of wind, and there stood Helma, +the mother, her arms full of bundles, her cheeks ruddy from the wind, +and her short hair crisp and blown.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a><h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h2>WORLD STORIES</h2> + +<p>Now Eric learned that the old woman's name was Nora, for that was what +Helma called her, and seemed glad to find her there. She stayed on only +long enough to see what Helma had brought in her bundles, and then +started out for the farm, drawing her red cape closely about her this +time, and not blowing much as she walked briskly to the gap in the +hedge. Once through she disappeared quickly in the high drifting snow. +Hardly had she gone her way when Ivra came from another, jumping the +hedge and reaching the door in three bounds.</p> + +<p>Helma had bought a good deal of thick brown cloth in the village and a +strip of brown leather. It was all for Eric. She had noticed his lack of +shoes and stockings last night, and that his worn clothes were much too +poor and thin for winter in the forest. To-day, while she sewed for him, +he would have to stay in. That was a pity, for it is such fun out in a +storm. By night, though, all would be finished.</p> + +<p>"And that is good!" exclaimed Ivra. "For to-night the Tree Man has asked +us to a party. We're going to roast chestnuts and play games, and +there's to be a surprise, too. The Tree Girl called it all out to me as +I passed just now. She put only her head through the door, for the snow +came so suddenly it caught her without a single white frock,—only a +bonnet. But that was pretty. It has five points like a star, mother."</p> + +<p>"The Tree Girl," said Eric. "What a queer name! But how did she know +about me to ask me too? Did she ask me?"</p> + +<p>"I told her about you. And of course she asked you. You are my +playmate!"</p> + +<p>Helma pulled a table to the settle and sat down with all the brown cloth +before her, a work-basket, and shears. But first she measured Eric for +his new clothes.</p> + +<p>"You may make the leggins, if you want to," she said to Ivra, "and when +you come to a hard place tell me and I will help. You may even measure +them yourself.... We're the only Forest People, Eric, who wear anything +but white in the winter. Most Forest People like to be the color of +their world. They often laugh at us. But I like brown. Ivra makes me +think of a brown, blown leaf, and now here will be two of them! You can +blow together all over the forest."</p> + +<p>Eric's eyes swam in sudden, happy tears, but he only said, "<i>Nora</i> wore +red."</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's not one of us," laughed Helma. "But she's lived close to us +so long, she is able to see us. We aren't afraid of her. She's a good +neighbor."</p> + +<p>But why might they be afraid of such a nice old woman, Eric wondered. He +was to learn sometime, and much beside, for this was the beginning of +new things for him, and his mother, Helma, and Ivra were strange people. +But how he loved them!</p> + +<p>"Now that we are settled at our work, and nothing to interrupt, what +shall it be?" asked Helma. She and Ivra were sewing briskly, one in each +corner of the settle. Eric was stretched on the floor, looking now into +the blaze, and now up at the windows where the snow tapped and swirled; +for to-day,—Helma had said,—was to be a rest day for him. It was the +first rest day he could remember, and how <i>good</i> it was! To know he +could lie there with no cans to sort or label for hours, and no Mrs. +Freg to boss him about when work was over! There were to be no more cans +for him forever, and no more Mrs. Freg. Helma had said that quite +firmly. He believed her and was so happy that he trembled. And so, it +being true that never again should he go back to that unchildlike life +that had frightened him so, and tired him so, all the breaths he drew +felt like sighs of relief, and he turned his shaggy little head on his +arm, crooked under it, and watched Helma's flying brown fingers with +glad eyes.</p> + +<p>"What shall it be?" asked Helma.</p> + +<p>"Oh, World Stories, please," said Ivra, drawing her feet up under her as +she bent over her sewing.</p> + +<p>"Eric probably knows very few of the World Stories," said Helma. "So +sometime I shall have to go back to the beginning and tell them all over +for him."</p> + +<p>"And I'll stay and hear them over again too!" cried Ivra, dropping her +work to clasp her hands. "I love to hear stories over."</p> + +<p>"Why, better than that, you might tell them yourself. Would you like +that?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes—if I can. Do you suppose I can, mother Helma? I shall begin at +the very beginning, way back before men were in the world at all, or +fairies even. He'd like to hear about the big animals. And you will +listen, mother, to see that I get it all right?"</p> + +<p>Now these World Stories of Helma's were wonderful stories, but all true. +They began way back when the Earth was young. There were stories about +the Earth itself, how it hung in space and turned, making day and night. +When the strange, great animals that by-and-by appeared on the Earth and +have since gone from it first came into the stories, and then, later, +the floods and glaciers, and at last the first man,—any child might +have listened with delight and wonder. Ivra had listened so ever since +she was a tiny girl, old enough to understand at all. And with man, and +the wonderful happenings that came along with him, Ivra had begged for +the stories day and night, and never could have enough of them. For then +in a great procession came the stories of cities and nations, of great +men and women, of explorations and adventures. They led in turn to +stories of languages and writing, of painting and geometry, of music and +of life. The names of these things may not promise good stories to you, +but that is only because you do not know them as stories. If you could +listen to Helma telling them, by the fire, or out in the starlight, deep +in the wood, or swinging in a tree-top,—then no other stories you might +ever hear would satisfy you quite. So perhaps it is as well you do not +know now just where Helma's little house is standing deep in the wood +under the snow.</p> + +<p>Ivra always said that the nicest thing about the stories was the +interruptions. Helma never minded them, and she answered all the +questions Ivra asked. She answered them by making things that Ivra could +see with her own eyes, by drawing pictures on the ground or in the +ashes, building with earth or snow, playing with wind and water, and in +a hundred other ways. Sometimes the answer to a question would take up +the playtime of a whole day.</p> + +<p>But now Eric was to hear his first story, World Story or any other kind. +Can you imagine how it would feel if to-day you were to hear the first +story of your life?</p> + +<p>"All ready?" asked Helma.</p> + +<p>The silence in the room said plainer than words that all was ready for +the World Story. This time it was a story about a man named Saint +Francis, and a story after Eric's own heart.</p> + +<p>Almost as fast as the story went the work of Helma's fingers. But Ivra +was neither so swift nor so skilled, and the leggins were dropped many +times from forgetful hands because all her thoughts were gone away +following the story.</p> + +<p>Yet somehow the leggins got done, and the jacket and trousers got done, +and even a little round cap, and all before dusk. For a finishing touch +Helma sewed two soft little brown feathers she had picked up in the snow +one on either side of the cap,—which gave Eric, small as they were and +soft as they were, a look of flying.</p> + +<p>Then nothing remained but the sandals, and because Eric was well rested +by then, he was allowed to help at them. They were cut from the strip of +brown leather, and Helma showed Eric how to shape them and sew them +himself. So after supper he stood attired, all in brown, a pale, happy +child, ready for his first party.</p> + +<p>Ivra and Eric were to go to the Tree Man's party alone, for Helma was +going far away from the wood to spend the evening with a comrade. It was +to be a very long walk for her, for she put on her heaviest sandals and +pulled the hood of her cloak up over her hair.</p> + +<p>She walked with the children as far as Little Pine Hill. It was a low +hill, bare of trees, except for a dwarfed pine on the top. In summer the +slope was slippery with the needles of the little pine, but now it was +several inches deep in snow. It was bright starlight, and far away down +an avenue of trees, Eric saw shining open fields, and beyond them the +lights of the town.</p> + +<p>There Helma said good-by. Eric looking up at her in the starlight saw +her hair like pale firelight under her dark hood and her eyes so calm +and friendly. He clung to her hand for a minute.</p> + +<p>"Have a good time," she told them. Ivra leapt away and Eric after her. +Helma stood watching until their little forms had flickered out of sight +among tree-shadows. Then she sped down the starlit avenue towards the +open fields and the town. </p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a><h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h2>AT THE HEART OF A TREE</h2> + +<p>Ivra and Eric ran until the stars were almost lost to them under the snow +roof of the forest. Once Eric stopped to tie his sandal-string which had +loosened and was bothering him. Then the stillness of the world startled +him.</p> + +<p>He cried to Ivra to wait, and she came back to his side. "Don't be +frightened," she comforted. "There are Forest People near us. They would +walk with us, for some of them are going to the party too, but they are +afraid of you. That's why they've drawn their white hoods over their +heads and keep away. Once we are inside the Tree Man's, though, it will +be all right. They'll come in too, and not be afraid any more."</p> + +<p>"But why are they afraid of me?" asked Eric, tugging at his +sandal-string. "No one else has ever been afraid of me. Even Juno, Mrs. +Freg's cat, who was afraid of 'most every one, liked me and jumped into +my lap. Why are the Forest People afraid?"</p> + +<p>"Well, they are Forest People, you see, and you are an Earth Child. +Mother and I weren't afraid of you, of course, because,—we aren't +exactly Forest People."</p> + +<p>Ivra paused and the silence came back. Eric looked up at her.</p> + +<p>"Are you cold?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No, no." But she began to jump up and down and knock her heels together +to get warm. Eric still struggled with his lacings. Ivra stopped jumping +and went down on her knees in the snow to straighten them out for him. +Eric's fingers were awkward with knots, and besides, now, they were numb +with the cold. But Ivra had everything right in a minute. She crossed +the strings over his instep and tied them snugly above his ankle almost +before he could think. Then they ran on. In starlit spaces Eric caught +glimpses of hurrying figures, so swift and light he could not tell +whether they walked or flew. Their cloaks sparkled white in starlight +until he was not sure but they might be starbeams, and not Forest People +at all.</p> + +<p>One suddenly started up just at his elbow, and was away like the wind. +Ivra began to run and to call after it. "Wild Star! Silly Wild Star! +It's only I, Ivra, and my playmate. Wait for us!"</p> + +<p>Eric followed her, running as fast as he could, but the snow held him +back, and all the trees in the forest seemed to gather to stand in his +way. Ivra came back to him, laughing. "They are so afraid of you! No one +will come near us until the Tree Man is there to protect him."</p> + +<p>Soon they came to a big beech-tree standing in an open space with +smaller beeches making a circle around it. The starlight showed, +strangely, a narrow door in the trunk. Ivra pushed it open and Eric +followed in after her, wondering at going into a tree.</p> + +<p>They were on a flight of stairs lighted by starlight from a window +somewhere high up. At the head of the flight they came to a door, and +through the crack beneath it streamed a warmer light than starlight. +Ivra opened that door gayly, and through it with her, Eric went to his +first party.</p> + +<p>It was the jolliest room in all the world. The firelight and candlelight +did not reach so far as the walls, but left them in soft darkness. So +Eric had the feeling that the room was really much too large to be +inside of a tree. But in spite of its bigness, it was very cozy. The +fireplace was in the middle of the floor, just a great hollowed boulder, +heaped with crackling twigs.</p> + +<p>The candles, red, green, yellow, brown and orange, stood circlewise on a +table by which the Tree Man sat, carving a doll out of a stick. A +workbasket on the table was overflowing with bright threads and pieces +of queer cloth.</p> + +<p>Eric saw these things because just for a minute he was too shy to look +at the people in the room. Almost at once he had to look at the Tree +Man, however, for he came and shook him by the shoulders. Eric had been +shaken by the shoulders before, so he shrank away. But this was very +different from Mrs. Freg's shakings. The Tree Man was chuckling, not +scolding, and the dark eyes that Eric looked up above the long white +beard to find were friendly and wise.</p> + +<p>"Do not fear us, little Earth Child," he said. "It is we that have cause +to fear you. You have only to blink your eyes, pretend to be knowing, +and we are nothing. But your eyes are so wide and so clear, we trust +you. Ivra told us there was not the tiniest shadow in them, not even the +shadow of leaf. Only hunger. But we're not afraid of hunger. Come, have +a good time at the party."</p> + +<p>Then the Tree Girl, the Tree Man's daughter, came to him. She was shy, +and shook all her soft brown hair about her cheeks. A circle of little +yellow leaves kept her hair from her eyes, which, in spite of her +bashfulness, were steady and kind like her father's. "I am glad you are +here." she said. From that minute Eric felt at home in the tree.</p> + +<p>Eric and Ivra were the first of the guests. The others perhaps had been +too scared to come. But soon knock after knock sounded at the door, and +in flocked the Forest People who had been invited.</p> + +<p>First came the Bird Fairies, five of them together, merry and good +little creatures as ever lived in the wood. They had arrived only that +day from their summer homes in the far north, 'way up among the +snow-barrens. They always spent the winter in this wood, living in the +empty birds' nests and spending their time making up songs to teach the +birds that would come back in the spring. Bird Fairies cannot sing a +note themselves, nor carry an air, but they make up fine songs for the +spring birds, who while they can sing with beautiful voices really have +but few ideas.</p> + +<p>They are fluffy, cuddly, swift little creatures, tiny and quiet. One +might think them of little account just at first, but not for long. For +they are the farthest-traveled of all the Forest People, except the Wind +Creatures only. Now they were fluttering in, and off came their white +cloaks and forth they hopped in bright colors, little feet twinkling and +pattering, little wings lifting and wavering. They gathered around the +Tree Man, nestling in a row on his shoulder, running up and down his +arms, giving all of the news of their long journey into his ear. He +chuckled and chuckled and soon sat down by the table again, nodding his +head with delight at the tales they were telling him.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, another group entered,—the Forest Children. The Forest +Children are little girls and boys who live all by themselves in moss +houses deep in the thickest of the forest, and know nothing of mothers, +nurses or schools. They came tumbling, cheering, and skipping in, curls +bobbing, eyes shining. When their white cloaks were taken off with the +help of the Tree Girl and Ivra, it was plain to see that they had no +mothers. Their frocks were torn and stained, and half their +sandal-strings untied and flapping. The Tree Girl sighed as she patted +the bobbing curls into some order, tied the laces and straightened a +buckle here and there.</p> + +<p>Now the room was musical with sound.</p> + +<p>The last guest arrived, Wild Star, who had run away from Eric in the +forest. He was a Wind Creature. Wind Creatures are growing-up girls and +boys who live near the edge of the forest. Like all fairies, they can +only be seen by Earth People on a day that is clearer than a day should +be, or by people like Eric who have no shadows in their eyes.</p> + +<p>Wild Star dropped his bright white cloak as he entered. His wings were +purple, the color of early morning, high and pointed. But they clapped +themselves neatly down his back to avoid the ceiling. He was a beautiful +boy, wild and starry, and that is how he got his name. Wind Creatures +are strong and swift, a little too wide-awake and far-traveled to be +very intimate with the Forest People. But Wild Star, though he was as +swift and strong as any, often came to the Tree Man's, and often played +with the Forest Children in their moss village for days together. He +loved the Tree Man, and now he sat down cross legged by him, and laid +his bright cheeck against his knee.</p> + +<p>So the party began.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h2>TREE MOTHER AND THE DROWSY BOAT</h2> + +<p>"Let's play hide-and-go-seek," cried the Forest Children, for that is +always their favorite game.</p> + +<p>Up jumped Wild Star, down fluttered the Bird Fairies, in crowded the +Forest Children, and the Tree Man counted out for them. He pointed his +finger at each in turn while he said this verse, which he made up on the +spot:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Sticks are racing in the flood—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Trees are racing in the wood— </span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In the tree-tops winds are racing— </span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the sky-tops clouds are chasing. </span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In the tree-heart snug and warm, </span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We hear nothing of the storm. </span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When we play at hide-and-seek, </span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is <i>you</i> must count the sheep."</span><br /> + +<p>At "you" the finger pointed at Eric, and it meant that he was to be +"It."</p> + +<p>"Put your head here on my knee. Shut your eyes and count one hundred +sheep jumping over a stone wall, not too fast," explained the Tree Man. +"While you're counting the others hide. Anywhere in this room, and +anywhere on the stairs. Out-doors is no fair."</p> + +<p>"But <i>where</i> are the sheep?" asked Eric, "and how can I count them with +my eyes shut?"</p> + +<p>Every one suddenly looked puzzled. The Forest Children's eyes grew wide +with wondering. The Bird Fairies fluttered uneasily. The Tree Girl +seemed dazed. Wild Star said, "Why, we never thought of that,—where +<i>are</i> they?"</p> + +<p>But Ivra laughed and ran to Eric. She took his hand and said, "The sheep +are inside your own head. Just shut your eyes and try to see them. It is +very easy. The wall is low, and there's a place where the stones are +beginning to roll down. The sheep go over there, one by one."</p> + +<p>Eric shut his eyes and put his head down on the Tree Man's knee. And it +began to happen just as Ivra had said. There was a green hill-pasture, a +little gray stone wall slanting across it, and sheep, one by one, +jumping where the wall was broken down, following their leader. He +counted one hundred of them and then stopped although a dear little lamb +was trotting down the hill, trailing the procession. He wanted to see if +the lamb would be able to jump the wall too. But the Tree Man had said +one hundred, so he stopped and opened his eyes.</p> + +<p>Things were strange. The Tree Man was nothing but an old stump. The room +felt very cold and it was bare. The fire in the boulder had gone out. +But he heard a soft fluttering somewhere and took heart. The Bird +Fairies! They might be hiding high, having wings. He went all around the +room, looking up into the dusk. At last, there they were in row on a +beam, their wings spread over their eyes.</p> + +<p>"Bird Fairies, I spy!" cried Eric, and ran towards the stump. But wings +are swifter than feet, and the Bird Fairies reached the goal first.</p> + +<p>He found Ivra at the top of the second flight of stairs, curled up in a +shadow.</p> + +<p>"I spy!" and he ran just as fast as he could down the stairs. He was +ahead of her to the door, and thought he would surely win. But she +passed him in the room and touched the stump first.</p> + +<p>The Tree Girl, of all places, was kneeling behind the stump. Of course +she touched it the minute Eric spied her, and so she was safe.</p> + +<p>The Forest Children were hiding, some in the hall behind the door, some +on the stairs, one under the table. And everyone of them beat him to the +goal and touched it first.</p> + +<p>"Now there's only Wild Star," Ivra cried. "You must catch him, Eric, or +else you'll have to be 'It' again!"</p> + +<p>Wild Star was outside, up in the top of the tree in the starlight. Eric +discovered him by seeing one of the tips of his purple wings which was +caught in a crack of the sky door. "I spy!" he called, and pulled the +wing-tip to let Wild Star know he was found.</p> + +<p>But of course Wild Star passed him like a flash, his strong wings +beating down.</p> + +<p>Tears of vexation welled in Eric's eyes. One thing he had gained though. +Because he had found them all, even though he could not run so fast as +they, the Tree Man had come back, and sat there in the place of the +stump, and all was warm and bright again. The Tree Man had only wanted +to prove for himself that Eric could see Wild Star, the Bird Fairies, +and the others without Ivra to point them out to him. But he felt +satisfied now that Eric's eyes were really clear, and that he would +never hurt any of them by looking through them or pretending that they +did not exist.</p> + +<p>"Wild Star is It now," he said. "For he didn't play fair, going outside +like that."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I forgot outside was no fair," cried Wild Star, laughing.</p> + +<p>So this time Eric hid with the others, while Wild Star counted sheep.</p> + +<p>He ran wildly all round the room trying to find a hiding-place. But +everywhere there was someone ahead of him. At last he came back to the +Tree Man himself with Wild Star counting sheep at his knee.</p> + +<p>"Ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven," counted Wild Star. "Oh dear! Oh +dear!" Eric whispered to himself in despair.</p> + +<p>Ivra was hiding behind the Tree Man, and so she jumped out and pulled +Eric back to hide with her.</p> + +<p>"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!"</p> + +<p>Wild Star started up, and never thinking to look behind the Tree Man +went circling the room in swift flight. He saw Ivra and Eric as he flew +over their heads, of course, and they laughed and touched the Tree Man +first.</p> + +<p>But he caught most of the others, even the Forest Children who are so +swift and clever.</p> + +<p>After that, almost everyone had to take his turn at being It.</p> + +<p>When the merry game came to an end at last, they gathered around the +boulder fireplace. The twigs were glowing embers now and looked like +myriads of golden flower-buds. Then the Forest Children began clamoring +for a World Story. So Ivra climbed up on the Tree Man's knee and tipping +her head back against his chest, looked into the fire and told one of +Helma's World Stories. It was the story of a glacier. That may not sound +like a very interesting story to you, but if you could hear Ivra tell it +in all its wonder just as Helma had told it to her, you would never ask +for a better story. No, you would ask for that one over and over again, +as the Forest Children did the minute she was through.</p> + +<p>But instead of telling that one over, Ivra told another, a little story +about some eggs and a brood of chickens. And they wanted <i>that</i> over. +But there must be an end to everything, and so the Tree Girl brought out +a bowl of beechnuts, and they forgot the stories, and ate as much as +they wanted. There were apples, too, big and red and cold cheeked. +Everyone was hungry.</p> + +<p>When all were satisfied, there was sudden whispering among the guests. +The Bird Fairies fluttered and hummed with excitement. The Forest +Children's eyes began to shine expectantly. Ivra, who still sat on the +Tree Man's knee, spoke what they were all thinking. "The surprise," she +said to the Tree Man. "You know you promised us a surprise to-night. Is +it time for it yet?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Tree Man. "It is. <i>High</i> time! Come, put on your cloaks. +It's a cold night."</p> + +<p>"But the surprise!" they all cried at once. "We don't want to go home +until we have had the surprise!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, the surprise is up in the branches. My mother is there with her +air-boat, waiting to take you all home."</p> + +<p>The Forest Children clapped their hands and jumped up and down until +their sandal-laces that were not already loose and flapping came undone +and flapped too. Wild Star sprang towards the stairs, his face alight, +Ivra slipped down from the Tree Man's knee and ran to Eric.</p> + +<p>"The Tree Mother! The dear, beautiful Tree Mother! We are to see her and +ride with her!" she cried.</p> + +<p>Then she dashed away for her cloak. The Forest Children, with the Tree +Girl's help, were tumbling into theirs, wrong-end-to mostly, ripping off +buckles in their hurry.</p> + +<p>"The Tree Mother! The dear Tree Mother!" their little teeth chattered in +ecstasy.</p> + +<p>When all were ready they crowded up the straight starlit stairs. At the +top they crawled out through the sky door, one by one, into the +branches. Eric followed Ivra, and saw a great black moth-like thing +poised in air by the tree's top. But it was hollowed like a boat and a +shadowy woman was standing upright in it. A dark cloak covered her, but +the hood had fallen back, and her face in the starlight was very +beautiful and very young, younger even than Helma's, whose face Eric had +thought all that day too young and glad to be a mother's. How could this +be the Tree Man's mother, he wondered,—the Tree Girl's grandmother! +Then he saw that her hair was white, whiter than all the snow that lay +in the forest.</p> + +<p>It was very cold kneeling there and clinging in the tip of the great +beech-tree. The forest below was still and dark. But the air and the +wintry star-filled sky were bright with a blue, cold light. After the +warmth at the heart of the tree, the cold was almost unbearable. Eric +longed to wave his arms about, and jump up and down to get warm, but he +had to cling, still and motionless, to the branches to keep from +falling.</p> + +<p>At last Ivra whispered "It's our turn now," and taking Eric's hand, she +made him jump with her right out into cold space. For one awful instant +he thought they were both falling down, down to the ground. But they had +only dropped into the air-boat. The Tree Mother leaned forward and +pulled a blanket over them. Her eyes as she did it, looked straight into +Eric's. They were dark, and deep as the forest shadows. He began to +speak to tell her who he was, for her look was questioning. But she put +her finger to her lips. Then he noticed for the first time that every +one was silent. Even the Tree Man and his daughter who stood in the tree +top waving good-by spoke no words, only nodded and waved. The last Bird +Fairy fluttered noiselessly in. Eric lay back under the warm blanket, +snuggled against Ivra. A Bird Fairy nestled into the palm of each of his +hands. All was still and warm. The air-boat slipped away high and higher +over the tree-tops and on and on.</p> + +<p>On a cold, starlit night, nestled in feathery warmth, to sail over the +dark tree-tops, high and higher and on and on—that is a wonderful +thing. And when the Tree Mother stands above you, wrapped in her dark +cloak with her face shining under her cloudy white hair, now and then +bending to tuck the blanket more snugly about you—what could be more +blissful?</p> + +<p class="center"><img src="treemother.jpg" height="480" width="362" title="" alt="" /></p> + +<p>Very soon Eric became drowsy against his will. His eyelids dropped like +curtains shutting out the stars. But he roused when the boat stopped, +hovered, and sank down like a bird until it rested on the crusted snow +in the middle of a tiny village of tiny moss houses; only now, of +course, the houses were covered with snow, and looked like baby Eskimo +huts. The Forest Children crept sleepily out of the boat, kissing the +Tree Mother good-by as though in a dream. Not a word was spoken. There +was the creak of their little feet on the cold snow,—that was all. Each +child went alone into his little house. They were lighted and looked +warm through the doors, and Tree Mother nodded as though that were well. +But before the air-boat had risen out of sight, the lights were all out, +and the Forest Children sound asleep, snuggled into their moss beds.</p> + +<p>From then on stops were frequent, and Eric woke at each one. At every +Bird Fairy nest at which they stopped, the Tree Mother leaned from the +boat and scooped the crusted snow out of the nest. Then when the Bird +Fairy was settled down, she powdered the snow with her fingers until it +was soft, and heaped it over the little creature, who was already +asleep.</p> + +<p>Wild Star was left in the tip of the tallest tree in the forest. There +he lay without covering, his face up to the cold sky, his arms flung +back above his head, his wings folded tight. He half opened his +slumbrous eyes on the Tree Mother as the boat floated away, but before +the smile in them faded he was asleep.</p> + +<p>There was straight, sure, even flying then to Helma's little house, set +in its snowy garden,—and down they sank to the door stone. The Tree +Mother carried Ivra, who was fast asleep, in in her arms. The fire leapt +when they entered, until the walls and floor danced with light. The Tree +Mother undressed Ivra, who never once opened her eyes, and tucked her +into bed. Then she helped Eric, who was fumbling and missing buttons in +a sleepy way. But he was awake enough to kiss her good-night. And that +was the end of everything until morning.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h2>A WITCH AT THE WINDOW</h2> + +<p>When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma. Her bed had +not been slept in. They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder +at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes. The room +was strange and lonely without her. The fire had died in the night. They +sat up in their beds and talked about it.</p> + +<p>"She always comes back before bedtime," said Ivra. "She has never stayed +away before."</p> + +<p>Eric said, "Perhaps that is why the Tree Mother brought you in and +undressed you—perhaps she knew our mother had not come back. She looked +wise, as though she knew everything."</p> + +<p>"She does know everything,—at least everything in the forest. But did +she bring me in, right here in her arms, Eric!"</p> + +<p>"And undressed you while you were sound asleep."</p> + +<p>Ivra laughed with delight, and clasped her hands. "Truly, truly? The +dear Tree Mother undressed me? Are you sure? Did she kiss me +good-night?—" But suddenly she grew solemn. "Yes, she knew that mother +was not here. She only takes care of those who have no one else. Well, +we will have to wait for mother, that is all. She will surely come this +morning."</p> + +<p>But she did not come that morning, nor that day, nor for many days. You +shall hear it all.</p> + +<p>The children laid the fire, together,—shivering but hopeful. Ivra got +the breakfast, teaching Eric, so that next time he could help. They +chattered and played a good deal, and really had quite a merry time over +it. It was only at first that Ivra was solemn over Helma's +disappearance. Soon her good sense told her that Helma loved them both, +and nothing could keep her long from her children.</p> + +<p>After breakfast they washed and put away the dishes. Then they tidied +the room. They hurried over it a little, perhaps, for it was a bright +winter day, and all the forest was waiting to be played in. Before they +ran out, they put a log on the fire that it took both of them to lift. +If Helma should come back while they were away, she must find a warm +house. Ivra skipped back after they were outside to set out a bowl and +spoon for her, and stand the cream jug beside them.</p> + +<p>Then away they fled, running and jumping in the frosty morning air. Ivra +taught Eric some games that could be played by two alone. They were +running games, climbing games, hiding games, jumping games. Ivra was +swift and strong and unafraid. Her cheeks reddened like apples in the +cold. She was a fine playfellow.</p> + +<p>Not until they were hungry did they think of home. Then they ran, hand +in hand at last, jumping the garden hedge like deer, their hearts +beating with the expectation of running straight into Helma's arms. But +no Helma was there. Nora had come with the milk, left it, eaten the rest +of the porridge, and gone away again without waiting for a word with any +one. The children wished she had stayed. They needed some one to talk +with about their mother. Of course they knew she would come back, all in +her good time. Ivra made Eric understand that. But the room seemed even +emptier without her than it had in the morning. They cheered each other +as best they could, drank a lot of the fresh milk and ate some nuts. +They wanted to get away into the forest again and forget the empty +house, so they did not try to cook anything.</p> + +<p>They played hard all the afternoon. Towards twilight it grew warmer and +began to snow, great wet flakes. They ran home, leaping the hedge again. +The house was still empty. Helma was not there.</p> + +<p>They stirred up the fire, and sat down on the floor in front of it to +talk over what they should do. Then it happened,—the strange, the +beautiful, the frightful thing! Eric saw a face at the window. It was so +perfectly beautiful, that face, that he wanted to shut his eyes against +it. It almost hurt. It was the face of a young woman, very pale, but +when her eyes met Eric's they filled with dancing laughter. Her hair +under her peaked, white hood glistened blue-black like a river in the +snow. She lifted a small white hand and tapped on the window pane, +nodding to him merrily.</p> + +<p>Ivra turned at the sound of the little fingers on the glass. When she +saw the face, she started to her feet with a frightened cry, and rushing +to the door, drew the bolt.</p> + +<p>"She can't get in. She can't get in, Eric. Don't be afraid. We are +safe." But the poor little girl did not believe her own words. She was +trembling.</p> + +<p>"Why, I'm not afraid," said Eric, running to the window. The merry eyes +drew him. Now her mouth danced into smiles with her eyes. She made +pretty signs to him to open the window and let her in.</p> + +<p>But Ivra pulled him back. "Don't you know? It's the Beautiful Wicked +Witch!" she whispered.</p> + +<p>But Eric was impatient. "How can she be wicked when she's so beautiful!" +he exclaimed. He was so little used to beautiful people in his life that +now he was fascinated and delighted.</p> + +<p>The Beautiful Wicked Witch looked at Ivra then, and Ivra saw how her +eyes were dancing, great black eyes full of splendor and fun. She caught +her breath. She laughed back at the Beautiful Wicked Witch. She could +not help herself. But her hands flew to her mouth to stop the laugh.</p> + +<p>"Shut your eyes, Eric. That must be best, not to look at her at all. +That is what mother did when she came before. She bolted the door and +then we sat down in front of the fire and never looked at the window +once, while she told me a long, lovely World Story about Psyche and her +little playmate Eros. Then when we had forgotten all about the Beautiful +Wicked Witch, we looked at the window by accident and she was gone. +Come, I'll tell you a World Story now, the same one."</p> + +<p>But Eric hardly heard what she was saying. He moved nearer and nearer to +the window. Ivra followed him, charmed by the laughing face there too. +Then together they unbolted the windowpane and opened it outward. The +Beautiful Wicked Witch stepped in.</p> + +<p>"How silly to be afraid of me, children," she laughed. "I have only come +to play with you."</p> + +<p>"Oh goody!" cried both of the children together. For now that she was in +the room all their fear and wonder had vanished.</p> + +<p>It was dusk, and so they lighted all the candles and poked the fire, +before they turned to entertain their guest. But the candles did not +burn very well, very faintly and flickeringly,—and the fire fell lower +and lower, instead of growing higher and higher as they nursed it.</p> + +<p>"Don't mind about that," laughed the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "There's +enough light from the window for us to play together in. We won't bother +with the stubborn old fire and the silly little copy-cat candles. Come, +what shall we play?"</p> + +<p>But the children had been playing hard all day, and their bodies were +tired. "Oh, tell us a story instead of playing," begged Ivra. "This is +the time when mother tells her very best stories."</p> + +<p>"Well, I am not mother," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch; "but I will +tell you the best stories I can. Come sit near the window where the +light is stronger. That fire will never burn while I am here. I am +brighter than it, and the old thing is jealous."</p> + +<p>The children laughed at her joke. But it was true,—she was very bright. +Her eyes seemed to light the room, or perhaps it was her gown, like an +opal fire, blue and pink and purple, changing and glowing, and made of +the softest silk.</p> + +<p>Ivra nestled close to her knee where she could stroke the gleaming silk. +Eric sprawled on the floor at her feet, his face upturned to hers.</p> + +<p>Then she told them a story. It was not like any of Helma's World +Stories, but the children liked it. It was all about a gorgeous bird she +had at home in her tree-house. She told how she had heard it singing one +morning in early spring, high up in the branches of her tree, and how +she had watched it day after day flying back and forth in the forest, +its yellow breast flashing among the green leaves. It had a long golden +bill, and its tail was black as jet; and its wings were the softest gray +in the world with a feather of jet in either one. Its song was the +clearest, the highest, the purest of all the bird songs in the forest. +It was a wonderful bird, and she wanted it for her own.</p> + +<p>Then she told the children how she had set traps for it, and how it had +escaped every time. But at last she had made a dear little cage, all +woven of spring flowers and leaves, and put food in it. Still the bird +escaped, pulling the food out with its long bill and never getting +inside the door. And finally she told them how she did capture that +wild, shy bird by learning its song and singing it sitting in her +tree-house with the window open, until the bird heard and came flying in +wonder to find what other bird was calling it. Then she had closed the +window and the bird was hers. It hung now in the pretty cage in her +prettiest room, and sometimes sang in the middle of the night.</p> + +<p>Eric liked the story, and all the better because it was a true story. +And the Beautiful Wicked Witch said he could see the bird himself if he +would come to her house. He could stroke its bright breast, and it would +sing perhaps. Then there were other things caged in her house, cunning +little animals, and some big ones, worth any boy's seeing.</p> + +<p>But Ivra answered for Eric, shaking her head hard. "No, no. Mother +doesn't want us to visit you."</p> + +<p>But Eric said, "May I open the cage door and the window and see the bird +flash away? I should like that."</p> + +<p>"No. Well, perhaps," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "Will you come +then?"</p> + +<p>"I can't, I suppose, if Mother Helma doesn't want me to. Are you sure +she doesn't, Ivra?"</p> + +<p>Ivra was sure.</p> + +<p>The Beautiful Wicked Witch laughed then. "Of course, if you <i>tell</i> her +she won't let you come. But if you came without telling, how could she +mind?"</p> + +<p>"That sounds true,—but someway it can't be," said Ivra. And that seemed +to end it.</p> + +<p>But after a little the Beautiful Wicked Witch began another story. This +one was about a frock she had made, a wonderful thing all of cobwebs and +violet petals, with tiniest rosebuds around the neck. If Ivra were to +slip that frock over her head, and unbraid her funny little pigtails, +she would look as pretty as any fairy in the world.</p> + +<p>Ivra was not too young to want to be pretty. If she would only go to the +Beautiful Wicked Witch's house, she could try on that dress, and wear it +for one whole day if she liked. Ivra clasped her hands. But then she +thought, and asked a question. "Could I play in it, and run and climb? +Would I be as free as in this little old brown smock?"</p> + +<p>The Beautiful Wicked Witch raised her hands in horror. "My cobweb frock! +Why, it would be ruined! It would be in shreds! How can you even think +of treating it so!"</p> + +<p>So Ivra shook her head until her funny little pigtails flopped from side +to side. "I don't want to wear it then for even a minute. What fun would +there be?"</p> + +<p>"Well, think about it anyway," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch, and rose +to go away. "It's the fir, you know, beyond the white birch."</p> + +<p>"Thank you for the stories," said the children.</p> + +<p>"Good-by," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "Perhaps Eric will remember +and come. It's a gorgeous bird, and I haven't said he couldn't free it."</p> + +<p>Then she slipped out into the snow flakes, turning to give them one +dancing look over her shoulder before the door swung to.</p> + +<p>Up flamed the candles, clear high flames when she was gone, and the fire +crackled again, and took on new life, reaching higher and higher.</p> + +<p>They got their supper together rather silently. But just before going to +sleep Ivra roused herself to say, "Let's promise each other we won't go +to the Beautiful Wicked Witch's fir until mother comes home,—and we can +tell her how jolly the Witch is, and what good stories she told us."</p> + +<p>"I don't want to go anyway," answered Eric, "unless I can free the +bird."—But you see, he had not promised.</p> + +<p>After a while, "Did you notice how pale her face was when she wasn't +laughing?" asked Eric.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and not so beautiful then. Mother may come in the night, and we +never know it till morning!"</p> + +<p>Soon they were asleep, a tired, but happy little girl and boy.</p> + +<p>I think the Tree Mother sank down in her air-boat to look in at them and +open the door wide, which they had forgotten, so they would have fresh +air all night; but it was dark, and the room was shadowy, so perhaps it +was only the wind.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a><h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h2>THE WIND HUNT</h2> + +<p>After all, Mother Helma was not there the next morning,—nor the next, +nor the next. She did not come back for days and days and days. Much +happened before she returned, and much happened after. I will tell you.</p> + +<p>During the days the children roamed the forest looking for their mother. +They asked every one they could find whether he had seen her. The Tree +Man, his daughter, the Bird Fairies, and the Forest Children, not one of +them had seen or heard of her since she went away. But they all said +with one accord that she would surely come back in her own time. It was +not wise to go seeking her so. She loved them. She would return.</p> + +<p>"Wait and be patient," they said. "Time will bring Helma."</p> + +<p>But they were Forest People, who live long, long lives, and see far. +Eric was an Earth Child, and Ivra was not all a Forest Child. So they +found it hard to be wise and wait and do nothing but trust Helma and +know she would return.</p> + +<p>So they went wandering all the day. They did not go home for meals, +even, after a while, but ate with the Tree Man and his daughter or the +Forest Children. Sometimes as they walked through the forest, looking +all about, even up into the trees for their mother, they would suddenly +burst into play. "Tag," Ivra would cry, tapping Eric on the shoulder, +and away she would fly, he after her, in a race that grew merrier and +merrier as it ran on. Ivra darted and twisted away when Eric thought he +had her, rolling down little hills on the snow crust, climbing trees, +jumping brooks until he was lucky enough to catch her by one of her +pigtails at last, or snatch her flying skirt. "Tag!" Then away he sped, +and the game would go on for a happy while.</p> + +<p>But sooner or later they always stopped running, stopped laughing, and +remembered why they were wandering the wood alone. Then they would call +for Helma. Ivra's voice was shrill and sweet, and rang through the bare +woods like a birdsong. Eric's wavered a little uncertainly, as though he +doubted whether Helma knew it well enough to answer. "Helma, Helma, +Helma! Ohh Helma! Helmaa-a!"</p> + +<p>No Helma answered. Sometimes a Forest Child came running to say, "We +haven't seen her yet, Ivra. But we are watching." The Bird Fairies +fluttered at the call and nodded their little heads uneasily. Children's +voices calling for their mother was a sad sound, and made the kindly +little creatures restless. One or two of them would fly to nestle in +Ivra's neck and whisper, "Give her time. Do not hurry her so. She will +come back."</p> + +<p>But the children were losing faith. They went calling, seeking and +playing through the woods all the hours of daylight. At night Ivra told +Eric World Stories, World Story after World Story until sleep made them +forget.</p> + +<p>The fifth morning of their search dawned blue and clear and windy.</p> + +<p>"The Wind Creatures will be happy to-day," said Ivra when she opened her +eyes and heard the wind pushing at all the windows of the house and saw +the blue morning sky. "Wild Star will be circling the world."</p> + +<p>"Why, then he will see Helma somewhere!" cried Eric.</p> + +<p>Ivra sprang from her bed. "Eric, how splendid! We must go with him! Why +didn't I think of it at the very first!"</p> + +<p>They did not stop for breakfast, but were into their coats and ready for +the day's search in a twinkling. Neither of them had bothered to undress +the night before. Ivra's hair had gone unbrushed for two days. Things +like that are apt to slip when one's mother is away. So her little +pigtails were no longer smooth and glossy, but frowsy and loose, and the +rest of her hair was ruffled until it looked something like the Bird +Fairies' soft plumage. Eric's head, too, was shaggier than ever, and a +smudge from firebuilding had darkened one of his cheeks since the +morning before. They had not bathed in the "bird bath" since Helma had +gone away. They never seemed to have time, or else they were too sleepy.</p> + +<p>Now they no more thought of baths than they thought of breakfast. Eric +followed Ivra, who knew all the ways in the forest, to the spot where +Wild Star was most likely to be, if he was to be found at all on such a +windy, perfect day. They ran earnestly, never slackening to skip or +play. And soon they came in sight of some giant cedar trees near the +edge of the forest. There were several Wind Creatures standing there, +laughing in shrill, glad voices, pointing with their arms, and flapping +their purple wings. Wind Creatures are growing-up boys and girls with +fairy-hearts and strong, never-tiring purple wings, remember. Wild Star +was among them.</p> + +<p>But before the children had come up to them, the Wind Creatures suddenly +joined hands,—as they do just before flying,—and started running down +the sloping hill that ended the forest.</p> + +<p>For a minute Ivra was in despair. "Now they are gone for the day to +circle the world, and I shall never find mother," she thought. But she +did not waste any more breath running. She stopped short and lifted her +voice, clear and insistent, "Wild Star! Wild Star! I need you! Don't run +away. Wild Star!"</p> + +<p>The Wind Creatures had reached the foot of the hill, running swiftly +hand in hand, and their wings were already lifted for flying. But Wild +Star, at the sound of Ivra's voice, leaned back suddenly on the hands he +was holding, almost throwing his comrades on their faces, and breaking +the line. He turned right about, swinging the others with him, and came +leaping and running back.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, little comrade?" he asked. "What is the matter?"</p> + +<p>"In all your flying 'round the world, Wild Star, you must have seen my +mother Helma. She is lost. Oh, can't you tell us where she is?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course. But I didn't know she was lost. I thought she was +visiting Earth-friends."</p> + +<p>"Truly, truly?" Ivra's eyes shone with joy, and Eric grabbed his cap +from his head and threw it up in the air shouting, "Hurrah!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, will you bring her to us right away?" Ivra begged.</p> + +<p>Wild Star looked doubtful. "Perhaps she wouldn't want to come."</p> + +<p>Ivra laughed merrily at that. "Then take us to her," she said, "and you +will see how she wants to come when we ask her."</p> + +<p>"Give us your hands, then!"</p> + +<p>They held out their hands. Ivra's was grasped by Wild Star's and Eric's +by another Wind Creature. With their free hands they clasped each +other's. So the four started running down the hill, while the rest of +the Wind Creatures flew off over their heads.</p> + +<p>Wild Star and his comrade ran faster and faster, until Eric wondered how +it was that he and Ivra were ever keeping up with them. Soon he realized +that his feet were scarcely touching the ground. At the foot of the hill +stood a little group of birches, and they were running right upon it. He +did not see how they could either turn out or stop themselves at that +speed. Almost as soon as he had seen the birches, though, they were +beyond them. They had not turned out, they had jumped right over the +birches, and they were much higher than Eric's head! They were running +so swiftly now that only their toes ever touched the ground,—if <i>they</i> +did.</p> + +<p>What fun it was to run like that, the wind at their backs, and the Wind +Creatures drawing them strongly forward faster and faster and faster +until they were really flying just above the snow.</p> + +<p>Across white fields they skimmed,—over fences and frozen streams, +bushes and banks, through orchards and meadows, on, on, on, until they +came to the town.</p> + +<p>There Ivra pulled back for a minute, and the Wind Creatures slowed down. +Eric knew why Ivra was afraid of the town. She had told him all about it +while they played in the wood. Helma, her mother, was a human, but she +hated the town and loved the fairies and their ways. That was why she +had run away to live by herself in the wood. But Ivra was neither fairy +nor human; she was both.</p> + +<p>Now the fairies are afraid of humans because humans look right through +them and do not see them. That upsets the fairies and makes them +uncomfortable. Of course Helma and Eric were exceptions, for because +they had no shadows in their eyes they could see them and play with +them. So the fairies accepted those two as one of themselves. Ivra was +different. Because she was only half fairy, any human could see her +whether his eyes were shadowed or not if he would only look hard enough. +The dreadful part was that when a human did see her, he was likely not +to believe in her. He would just think he was day-dreaming, and that the +little girl with the soft eyes, the ash-colored pigtails, and the quick +feet was just a piece of his day-dream. Not to be seen is bad enough. +But it is much worse to be seen and not believed in. That was why Ivra +was afraid of the town. People saw her there and either rubbed their +eyes and looked another way, or laughed.</p> + +<p>But now she was going for her mother, and she could bear anything, even +that. She did not hold back long. They ran past the canning factory, and +Eric did not give a glance to it. A little girl looking out over a pile +of cans saw him, however, and wondered at his warm suit of brown cloth, +his leggins, sandals and the cap with wings. She remembered him in rags. +She saw Ivra too, and did not rub her eyes and think her a dream. But +she did not call to any one in the factory or point, for she knew <i>they</i> +would think it a dream.</p> + +<p>Through the crooked narrow streets, past the crooked narrow houses,—one +of them Mrs. Freg's,—they sped faster than the wind! On, on, on,—up +the wide avenue through the "residential section" where big houses eyed +them from proud terraces,—out into the country again they raced.</p> + +<p>There they came to a high gray stone wall, blocking their way, and stood +still.</p> + +<p>"You must climb," said Wild Star. "She is in there."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_X"></a><h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h2>ON THE GRAY WALL</h2> + +<p>It was a very high wall that hid their mother, and at first glance it +seemed impossible that they could ever climb it. But Ivra did not stop +to wonder. She ran up and down, hunting for a foothold. At last she +reached the end of the wall and disappeared around the corner. Eric and +the Wind Creatures followed. When they came up to her she had already +found a place where the stones were laid a bit unevenly, one on the +other, and was half way to the top, clinging with toes and fingers.</p> + +<p>"Bravo!" cried the Wind Creatures. Eric went up after her, often +slipping back and bruising and scratching his hands and knees, but as +resolute as his playmate. At last they gained the top. The Wind +Creatures had flown up and were waiting for them there, sitting +cross-legged with their purple wings folded down their backs.</p> + +<p>The wall enclosed the garden of a very rich family. It was a formal +garden with straight walks, trellises, fountains, benches and neat +flower beds laid out in squares and circles, now piled high with +blossoming snow.</p> + +<p>Just as the children reached the top of the wall, the door into the +garden from the stern gray mansion behind it opened and through it came +three people. First was a very tall lady all wrapped up in furs,—tails +and heads of the poor animals that had been slain to make them hanging +from her shoulders and down her back. Even the children could see that +her face was sour in spite of all its smiling. Then came a young man in +a stiff, funny hat, carrying a cane, beating up the snow flowers with it +as he passed the flower beds. And behind them walked—Helma, with her +gaze on the ground. That is why they did not know her at first, that and +her very strange clothes. She was dressed all in velvet and fur, and her +arms up to her elbows were hidden in a huge white muff. She swayed as +she walked on weird little high heels and the toes of her boots drew out +to long points, almost like a goblin's. Her hat was a velvet affair, so +awkward and heavy it seemed to weigh down her head, and her candleflame +hair was smothered under it. Is it any wonder that they did not know her +like that!</p> + +<p>But when she walked close under the wall and they heard her voice they +knew her, and the Wind Creatures had to hold Ivra from jumping down and +throwing herself into her arms. "Wait," they whispered.</p> + +<p>From their high place on the wall they could look down on the heads of +the three people, and hear all they were saying. They had never learned +that it is not fair to listen that way.</p> + +<p>From all Helma said they could plainly see she was a prisoner. She was +pleading with the old woman. She was saying, "No, never, never, never, +in a thousand days and years will I ever be happy here. My place is in +the forest. Oh, how these heels bother!"</p> + +<p>"Silly girl!" cried the old woman, smiling more than ever, and looking +more disagreeable than ever at the same time. "Your place is where you +were born—in a fine house and wearing clothes like other people. Heels +indeed! Did you expect them to do any thing else but bother? Mine have +bothered for sixty years, but you haven't heard <i>me</i> complain."</p> + +<p>"Neither would I," Helma said, "if I didn't know about other kinds of +shoes that don't hurt. Those sandals I wore when you caught me didn't +hurt. Why can't I wear those, at least when I walk in the garden?"</p> + +<p>"Well, you might," began the old woman, a little more kindly, and +smiling less, "if you promise always to put on the high heels before +coming into the drawing room—"</p> + +<p>"No," said the young man sharply. "Let her once into the garden in her +sandals and she'll climb the wall and be off. I say that we give her no +chance to escape. After she has been to a hundred or so balls and worn +these beautiful and appropriate clothes long enough she'll be glad of +her luck, and nothing could drag her into the forest. Believe me!"</p> + +<p>Now Helma stopped pleading, and laughed at the young man. "Do you think +high heels, or even a hat that weighs down my head like this horrid one +can keep me much longer from my little daughter, and that dear new +little boy? What they are doing without me all this time—I wonder!" She +stopped laughing to sigh.</p> + +<p>The old woman took her hand not unkindly. "My poor, dear girl," she +said, "how many times must I tell you it is only a dream, that house in +the woods and the little girl and boy? They aren't really there at all, +you know. You have dreamed them. Come, cheer up. Be a brave girl. We +have parties and good times enough here, if you will only get into the +spirit of them, to make up for all your forest foolishness."</p> + +<p>Helma answered in a low even voice, that showed well enough how sure she +was of the truth of what she was saying—"No, they are realer than you. +Ivra is realer than all the people in that mansion put together, +cousins, uncles, aunts, guests, servants and all. She is my little fairy +daughter."</p> + +<p>"No," said the young man.</p> + +<p>The wings of the Wind Creatures on the top of the wall rustled just then +in a gust of cold north wind. Helma threw up her head as at a familiar +sound, and her eyes slowly lifted to the faces of the children looking +down. For a minute she looked steadily at them without believing, and +then it was as though her pale face suddenly burst into song. But the +old woman and the young man were not looking at her and so they noticed +nothing. The young man said, "The neighbors have talked about us enough +already for all your queer ideas and doings. So you'll wear no sandals, +no, nor sleep with your skylight open, as you're always asking, nor go +one step outside the wall until you have come to your senses and are +more like other people. So there!"</p> + +<p>But Helma laughed, her head thrown back, so that the children could look +into her happy eyes and see the glow of her short hair under her +grotesque hat.</p> + +<p>"Keep your keys, cousin," she said, "and your old skylight keep shut +tight as tight. I shall find a way out. But my children must be patient, +and Ivra must teach Eric to keep his face and body clean. They must not +forget meal-times, and when anything goes wrong, or they think it is +going wrong, they must ask the Tree Man's advice. I will find a way to +them soon. They must keep happy and wait."</p> + +<p>She said all that slowly and distinctly, her eyes smiling into theirs.</p> + +<p>"What silly talk," laughed the sour old lady. "Just as though you were +making a speech. Well, it must be luncheon time now, and high time we +were changing our frocks. Wear your gray velvet, Helma, and don't forget +to put on stockings to match. There's to be strawberry ice to-day,—and +goose to begin with of course. Cook says she has never seen a +tenderer—"</p> + +<p>The old lady went on talking about the wonderful luncheon they were to +have until they were out of hearing. But the children on the gray wall +could see that Helma was going in differently from the way she had come +out. Her head was high, and she stepped out in her funny high heeled +boots as though she were walking in sandals. At the little door into the +mansion she turned and waved her queer great muff to the children and +the Wind Creatures, and they heard her laugh.</p> + +<p>But when she was gone, and the door was shut and locked—they heard the +great key scrape—Eric turned joyfully to Ivra. She was staring intently +at the closed door, her face very pale. Suddenly she buried her head in +her arms and burst into sobs, hoarse, jerky sobs, the first and the last +time Eric was ever to hear her cry. Eric and the Wind Children sat +cross-legged and waited. Soon she stopped and wiped her face on her +sleeve.</p> + +<p>"She is locked in, but she <i>will</i> find a way home," she said, almost +laughing. "How glad and how surprised she was to see us! It was almost +as though she had begun to believe all their talk about dreams, until +she heard the Wind Creatures' wings!"</p> + +<p>The Wind Creatures took them back to the forest. Under the giant cedars +they said good-by and left them. The children went straight to the Tree +Man's to tell him the news. He gave them deep bowls of warm milk to +drink, and took off their sandals so that their toes might spread and +warm in front of the fire.</p> + +<p>Then the Tree Girl begged for a story, and Ivra told a World Story about +the rivers,—how they go in search of their mother, the ocean, day and +night, around mountains and through mountains, and across whole +continents, and never stop until they find her,—and of the myriad +presents they carry to her,—of the things they see and the things they +do, as they flow searching.</p> + +<p>It was a long story. And almost before the end the little story teller +had fallen asleep with her head tipped back against the Tree Man's +chest.</p> + +<p>They spent that night in the tree, and that was good, for a storm had +risen outside, and it was bitter cold in the forest.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h2>THE BEAUTIFUL WICKED WITCH</h2> + +<p>The next morning before Eric woke Ivra slipped away to play with the +Forest Children.</p> + +<p>"On such wild days as this they usually play indoors, for they're little +things and the Snow Witches love to tease them," said the Tree Man.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she'll be telling them World Stories," thought Eric, and so he +decided to go to the little moss village, too, for though Ivra had told +him dozens of World Stories by now, he always wanted to hear more. So +after breakfast with the Tree Man and his pretty, shy daughter, he ran +out in search of Ivra.</p> + +<p>It was indeed a cold morning, blustering and raw. Eric felt chilled +almost as soon as he was out of doors. Very soon he lost his way, for he +had not been in the forest long enough to grow familiar with landmarks. +Just when he was beginning to be a bit hopeless and pinched with the +cold he came to the big fir where the Beautiful Wicked Witch lived. It +stood green and comforting among all the bare trees of winter.</p> + +<p>Eric stopped to look, for now he remembered the Beautiful Wicked Witch +and the bird she had caged in there. He saw a door in the tree trunk +ajar, and swinging to and fro with tiny tinkling music. He peeped in, +and between the swingings caught glimpses of little blue and yellow +flowers arranged in tight bunches in hanging vases. He could smell their +sweetness even out there in the cold air.</p> + +<p>Then high up in the tree trunk a window opened, and he heard the bird +singing. The Beautiful Wicked Witch's face appeared at the window, +looking down at him. Her black eyes were sparkling and she nodded +good-morning to him as though he were a prince, or at least a grown-up. +He could not help nodding back. He liked her very much, she was so +beautiful and so friendly.</p> + +<p>"Come in and get warm," she called, "and I'll show you my pretty bird."</p> + +<p>Eric remembered Ivra's warnings, but he wanted to go in so much that he +found himself doing it. The door tinkled louder music when he touched +it, and he pushed his way through, as a bee pushes his way into a +flower.</p> + +<p>The Witch came running twinklingly down a spiral stairway. She kissed +his mouth, took off his winged cap and coat, threw them somewhere out of +sight, and then he had time to look at her well.</p> + +<p>Her gown was green satin, the color of the fir boughs, and her little +sandals were green satin, too. A green fir frond bound her forehead; and +her black hair hung loose, soft and electric to her waist. Eric had +never seen a prettier person in the world, nor one more kind.</p> + +<p>She took his two hands and began to whirl in a happy dance. Eric danced, +too, for joy and good comradeship. Round and round the room they whirled +until their breath was spent.</p> + +<p>Then the Beautiful Wicked Witch took him up the spiral staircase to show +him the bird. Up and up they went, until they came to a little room high +in the tree. The floor was carpeted with yellow satin, and yellow +curtains hung at the window. Deep blue mirrors lined the walls, and they +reflected Eric and the Beautiful Wicked Witch dozens of times over.</p> + +<p>The pretty bird cage, all made of flowers and leaves, hung in the very +middle of the room. Eric stood by it a long time. He put his fingers +through the bars, and stroked the bird's soft feathers. But the gorgeous +bird paid no attention to him, and did not sing.</p> + +<p>"Why doesn't it hop about?" he asked the Beautiful Wicked Witch.</p> + +<p>The Witch frowned and pouted. "It ought to, I'm sure. I like to see it +hopping. But it would rather sulk. It thinks all the time about the +forest, and its mate who is out there somewhere. Sometimes it sings, +though. Its voice is wonderful."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's open the cage and free him," cried Eric.</p> + +<p>But the Beautiful Wicked Witch seized his hand. "No, no, <i>no</i>! It is +<i>mine</i>. I have caged it in my pretty cage. And it fits into the room, +don't you think?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you mean," said Eric.</p> + +<p>"Why, you fit into it, too," said the Witch, looking hard at him. "Your +yellow hair and blue eyes match the yellow and blue flowers. Would you +like me to make a pretty cage for you and put you into it?"</p> + +<p>"No, no!" Eric was suddenly afraid of the Beautiful Wicked Witch.</p> + +<p>But she laughed at his fear, and danced a little dance, humming to +herself, around the room. Then Eric noticed other cages. The walls were +lined with them. Some hung from the ceiling, and some stood in corners. +In every cage was a bird or animal. The one standing nearest to him held +a pretty gray squirrel, running 'round and 'round on a wheel. He stopped +every now and then to peer out through the bars with quick, bright eyes. +In the cage next was a tiny brown field mouse. But he had given up +running and playing long ago, and was huddled in the farthest and +darkest corner of his cage, his little beady eyes open and watchful.</p> + +<p>Eric walked around the room, looking at all the poor little animals and +birds. One and all peered through their bars with watchful and fearful +eyes. Eric remembered himself in the canning factory and pitied them +more than he could ever have done had he not once been a caged little +creature too. How he longed to open their doors and the window, and see +them scamper and fly away!</p> + +<p>But the Witch had stopped her dancing by the bird cage in the middle of +the room, and her little hands were between the bars stroking the bright +bird-breast. She was saying, "Sing for us, bird. Sing your nicest song +for us. Little Eric wants to hear it."</p> + +<p>The bird began to beat its wings and breast against the bars. Again and +again its bright breast struck the door. But it did not fly open.</p> + +<p>"It does not want to sing," laughed the Beautiful Wicked Witch; "but it +must. Sing, bird, sing! It does you no good to struggle. You can't get +away. Sing, sing!"</p> + +<p>Then the bird sang. Its song was truly wonderful, high and clear, as +Eric had heard it from outside. But now that he could see the bird caged +he did not like the song so well. It was all too sad.</p> + +<p>Eric wanted to go away then, out of the tree, and never, never see the +Witch again. He would find Ivra and the Forest Children and forget all +about these cages. So he said good-by to the Witch and ran down the +spiral staircase. But he could not find the door out. He went round and +round the wall, but there was no sign of a door. It was indeed as though +a flower had let him in and then closed its petals tight.</p> + +<p>The little posies swung in their cases, the bird sang up stairs, and the +Beautiful Wicked Witch played and danced, and laughed at all his +searching. She would do nothing to help him find the door.</p> + +<p>All that day he wandered up stairs and down stairs, or stood at the +window looking down through the green fir branches to the free +forest-floor. Once the Witch offered to tell him stories. But he wanted +no stories of caged things, and those were all the stories she knew. The +Witch did not mind his short answers and dark face. She seemed perfectly +able to have a good time with herself, and needed no comrades.</p> + +<p>At last night fell. The rooms blossomed with candlelight. In the yellow +room up stairs the Beautiful Wicked Witch paraded back and forth before +the mirrors, loving her own reflection, smiling at herself, courtesying, +frowning, looking back over her shoulder,—lifting her hair to let it +fall again in electric waves. Eric stood by the window, thoroughly weary +of his search and loneliness, and watched her. The bird sat in the cage +and watched her. All the little bright eyes of animals watched her. The +candles burned steadily.</p> + +<p>How Eric longed for Ivra now, and their own big friendly room. He +imagined Ivra in the room there all alone getting her supper over the +fire, bathing in the fountain bath, opening the windows, and at last +falling softly to sleep before the firelight faded.</p> + +<p>Oh, if there were only a window open here! How hot it was, and how +over-sweetly scented! The Beautiful Wicked Witch went on posing and +preening before the mirrors, and seemed to have forgotten all about her +new little prisoner.</p> + +<p>So he pulled back the yellow satin curtain, and looked out. It was +clear, cold starlight. He pressed his face against the window pane and +stared down into the shadows beneath the fir. And there, standing erect +in the shadow, her face lifted like a pale little moon, stood Ivra.</p> + +<p>She saw him, but did not wave. She only nodded, as though she knew now +what she had come to make sure of. She stood still for a few minutes, +until Eric almost thought she was frozen in the cold. But at last she +moved and disappeared under the fir.</p> + +<p>Music tinkled through the house. The Beautiful Wicked Witch poised on +her toes, surprisedly looking into the reflection of her own eyes.</p> + +<p>"Some one has come in, for that was the door," she said. "It opens +inward with music."</p> + +<p>Eric's heart stood still. Had Ivra come into the Witch's house, Ivra who +was so afraid of the Witch? He ran down the stairs and the Witch +followed him. Yes, Ivra stood there in the middle of the warm, +flower-hung room, like a little cold star beam.</p> + +<p>But she did not look at the quaint flowers in their golden vases. And +when the Witch ran to her and kissed her she did not even look at her. +She looked only at Eric, and her eyes said, "I have come to free you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, so you did want to try on the pretty frock after all," cried the +Witch, and drew her up the stairs. Eric followed to the yellow room. +"No," said Ivra. But the Witch brought it out and tried to slip it over +her head. It was sheerest gossamer web, and shimmered like moonlight. +And the little rosebuds seemed to make it belong to Ivra.</p> + +<p>Eric forgot all about being a prisoner, and forgot the little caged +creatures around the wall. He was delighted with the frock being pushed +down on Ivra's shoulders. "How beautiful you'll be!" he cried. But Ivra +wriggled away from it and stood clear. Her rudely made brown frock and +worn sandals looked odd in that satin room. "I didn't come to see the +frock," she said, shaking her head till her pigtails bobbed. "I came to +get Eric."</p> + +<p>The Beautiful Wicked Witch laughed. "Get him if you can," she said. Then +she turned her back on the children and began to braid her black hair +among the mirrors.</p> + +<p>They went to the window and waited there, watching her.</p> + +<p>"The door doesn't open out,—only in, I think," Eric whispered. "So we +can't get out."</p> + +<p>"Mother has told me how it would be," Ivra whispered back. "We'll have +to wait until she's asleep and then find a way."</p> + +<p>Then Ivra sat down on the floor and began to rock back and forth and +sing a lullaby. It was a lullaby her mother had sung to her all her +babyhood, Ivra sang in a very little voice, almost a murmur only, but by +listening Eric and the Beautiful Wicked Witch could catch the words. She +sang the same words over and over and over.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Night is in the forest,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tree Mother is nigh.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By-abye, by-abye-bye.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sleep is in the forest—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His feathers brush your eye.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By-abye, by-abye-bye.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mother's arms are holding you,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Forest dreams are folding you.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By-abye, by-abye—bye.</span><br /> + +<p>The Beautiful Wicked Witch sat down before the mirrors after a while, +still watching her reflection, but listening to the song, too. Her head +gradually sank lower and lower, first resting chin in hand and at last +right down on her arm stretched along the floor. Her face lay turned +towards the children, and they saw the mirth slowly fade in her great +black eyes, the lids drop lower and lower,—and then she was asleep +suddenly. Now she looked almost as young as themselves, and like a pale +child who has fallen to sleep at its play.</p> + +<p>But the children did not stop to look at her. Once they were sure she +was asleep they were off searching for the door. Up and down the stairs +and all around the rooms they ran on tiptoes. But it was no use, and at +last they came back to the window.</p> + +<p>"We must jump," whispered Ivra.</p> + +<p>Eric looked down, and wondered. It was a long way to the ground!</p> + +<p>"The snow is soft beneath the crust," Ivra said. "It will only cut us a +little."</p> + +<p>"Let's take the bird," Eric said. Ivra ran to it, and opened the cage +door. It hopped onto her finger eagerly, and she held its bill so that +it would not sing.</p> + +<p>Eric opened the window. "I'll jump first," he whispered.</p> + +<p>But Ivra said, "Oh, let's hold hands and jump together."</p> + +<p>The Beautiful Wicked Witch felt the cold night air from the window on +her face, and stirred in her sleep. Her eyelids quivered. So the +children did not wait a minute more. They climbed up onto the window +sill, Ivra still holding the bird. "One, two, three," she whispered, and +they jumped.</p> + +<p>Out and down they went like two shooting stars and plunked through the +snowcrust. They were up in a second. Their wrists and elbows were a +little bruised and cut, but they were not really hurt at all. But +strange and strange, the bird had fluttered near Ivra's hand for that +second, and then flew straight back up and into the open window. It had +been caged so long it did not really want its freedom after all. Eric +cried out with regret.</p> + +<p>But Ivra seized his hand, and they ran home together through the cold, +starlit forest. Before they leapt the hedge into their own garden Eric +saw the firelight blossoming in the windows. But he stood still outside +the door, after Ivra had gone in, for a time, breathing the cold air and +the clear silence right down into his toes.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h2>IVRA'S BIRTHDAY</h2> + +<p>"To-morrow is the shortest day in the year," Ivra told Eric one night +after they were in bed. He did not answer, for he was very sleepy. But +after a minute she spoke again. "It's my birthday too!"</p> + +<p>Then he opened his eyes and sat up, for her voice sounded very queer and +far away. He saw that she too was sitting up, her hands folded under her +chin. "Mother always had a party for me," she said. "Such fun!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps one will happen to-morrow even with her away," Eric comforted. +"Oh, goody! I do hope so!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps. Anyway I'm going to pretend there's a party waiting for me +to-morrow. You pretend too, Eric, and then even if it doesn't come true +we will have had the pretending at least."</p> + +<p>Eric agreed to pretend. It was one of his favorite games. And very soon +the two children nestled down under their covers and drifted into sleep +and dreams of a party.</p> + +<p>They were roused early in the morning by something tapping lightly on +the doors and windows. Eric was out of bed first, and saw the Wind +Creatures, half a dozen or more of them, looking in and beckoning. Their +purple wings gleamed gold in the early morning sun. Wild Star was +standing in the open door.</p> + +<p>"Happy birthday!" he cried and tossed a snow ball into Ivra's bed. She +popped to her knees, laughing and rosy with sleep. But then she was +grave in a minute. "There's to be no party, Wild Star," she said. +"Mother's not back yet. Are you all here for that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we're here for that, and there is to be a party, an all day one +too. Your Forest Friends have seen to that."</p> + +<p>The children were radiant with joy. And Ivra whispered to Eric, "We had +our pretending, too!"</p> + +<p>The Wind Creatures would not come in to breakfast, for of course they do +not like in-doors at all, and besides, they need very little food. So +they played in the garden while the children dressed and ate. Very soon +the children were done, though, and came leaping out ready for a day's +joy.</p> + +<p>The Wind Creatures led them then out through the forest. The Tree Girl +was watching for them at her door. It was plain to be seen, when she +joined them, that she carried something in her arms very secretly under +her white cloak. But no one mentioned it. Ivra knew it must be a +surprise for her birthday. Where the party was to be no one told her, +and she did not ask. She liked surprises.</p> + +<p>They came to the Forest Children's little moss village. The youngest +Forest Child of all was the only one up so early. He was busily breaking +dead twigs from bushes to build his morning fire and making up a little +rhymeless song about Ivra's birthday as he worked.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This is her birthday,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Spring's little daughter—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Spring's little daughter—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This is her birthday.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Wake now, wake now,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">All you Forest Children,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Wake for her birthday</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And tie your sandals on.</span><br /> + +<p>When he saw them he cried, "Hurrah! Happy birthday, Ivra!"</p> + +<p>At his cry all the little windows in the little moss houses opened and +there were the tousled heads of the Forest Children, their eyes blinking +sleepily against the gilded morning light.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, thank you," Ivra cried back to the youngest Forest Child. +"Hurry and follow."</p> + +<p>Before they had gone on their way five minutes more the Forest Children +were up with them, tugging at buckles and sandal strings as they ran, +begging not to be left behind. Soon they came to Big Pine Hill, a hill +deep in the forest with no trees but a giant pine at the top. The Wind +Creatures had built a slide there by brushing away the snow and leaving +a broad track of shining blue ice. Up under the pine were sleds enough +for every one, made all of woven hemlock branches. They needed no +runners for the ice was so slippery and the hill so steep <i>anything</i> +would go down it fast enough. Ivra's Forest Friends must have worked all +the day before to make those sleds—and now her shining face and clasped +hands were reward enough.</p> + +<p>She was the first to try the hill. She threw herself on her sled and +down she flashed. At the bottom she tumbled off, and still on her knees +shouted up to Eric and the others at the top, "Oh, it's splendid! Come +on!"</p> + +<p>Then the hill was covered with speeding sleds. The Bird Fairies had none +of their own, for they were so little they might have come to harm on +that hill. But they had just as good a time for all of that, catching +rides with the others, clinging to shoulders or heads or feet as it +happened.</p> + +<p>Every one was there, even the Snow Witches who had not been invited. +They came whirling and dancing through the forest almost as soon as the +sliding had begun. Ivra gave them glad welcome in spite of their rough +ways and stinging hair. For she, the only one of all who were there, +liked them very well and had made them her comrades often and often on +windy winter days. And they, who cared for nobody, cared for her. "She +is not like anybody," they explained it to each other. "<i>She is a great +little girl</i>."</p> + +<p>But they would not take Ivra's sled as she wanted them to. They had not +come to spoil her fun. Instead they raced down the hill behind her or +before her, pushing and pulling, their stinging hair in her face. But +that only made her cheeks very red, and she did not mind them at all. +Then she tried sliding down on her feet, with the long line of witches +pushing from behind, their hands on each other's shoulders. That was the +best fun of all, and almost always ended in a tumble before the bottom +was reached. Though the others avoided the witches as much as they could +they admired Ivra for such hardy comrading.</p> + +<p>Before noon every one was very hungry. Then the littlest Forest Child +said, "Follow me. The Tree Girl has gone ahead."</p> + +<p>It was true, she had slipped away when no one noticed.</p> + +<p>The littlest Forest Child led them away to a little valley-place where +hemlock boughs had been spread to make a floor and raised on three sides +to make a shelter. When they had come close enough for Ivra to see what +it was perched so big and white in the middle of the hemlock floor she +stopped and sighed with joy while she clasped her hands.</p> + +<p>It was a beautiful frosted birthday cake with nine brave candles of all +colors and burning steadily, just the kind of cake her mother had always +baked for her birthdays.—Only last year there had been eight candles. +She had not hoped for this final delight. She ran quickly forward and +was the first to kneel down by it. The Tree Girl was there waiting, and +now Ivra knew it was the cake that she had been carrying so secretly +under her cloak.</p> + +<p>The Snow Witches did not follow into that shelter. They have a great +fear of shelters, you must know, for when forced into them they quickly +lose their fierceness, and their fierceness is their greatest pride. But +before they left the party one of them came close to Eric, so close that +tears were whipped into his eyes and quickly froze on his lashes. "Take +this to your little comrade," shes said, thrusting a box made of pine +cones into his hands. "It's for her to keep her paper dolls in. We +witches made it."</p> + +<p>Then all the witches went screeching and swirling away through the +forest, and Ivra, Eric and the others settled down to the business of +eating the birthday cake.</p> + +<p>But first the Tree Girl, who is very sensible, insisted that they eat +some nuts and apples. Indeed, she would allow no one a bite of the +wonderful cake until he had eaten at least one apple and twenty nuts.</p> + +<p>Before Ivra cut the cake the others blew out the candles, one after +another, and made her a wish in turn for every candle. The Tree Girl +wished her a bright new year, the Bird Fairies that her mother would +soon return, the Wind Creatures that she would keep her gay heart +forever, the Forest Children that she would become the most famous story +teller in the Forest World.</p> + +<p>And then it was Eric's turn. He had never been to a birthday party +before, and never had he made a wish for some one else. So he was a +little puzzled. But at last he had an idea and cried, "I wish that your +hair will grow golden and curly before to-morrow morning." All +princesses Ivra had ever told him about had curly golden hair, and +though she had never said it, Eric had suspected for some time that Ivra +would like that kind of hair herself. Then he puffed his cheeks and blew +out his candle, a fat green one. Ivra laughed.</p> + +<p>"The Snow Witches would never let me keep curly hair," she said. "They'd +whip it straight in an hour."</p> + +<p>That reminded Eric of the pine cone box and he gave it to her and told +her about it. She was almost as delighted with that as with the cake.</p> + +<p>What a wonderful cake it was! Such food Eric had never dreamed of, and +he was a great dreamer! The frosting was over an inch thick.</p> + +<p>Then, of course, Ivra must tell them stories. All the Forest People +loved her stories. They built a fire to keep from freezing. The Wind +Creatures sat a little way off where it was cool enough for their +comfort, but not too far to hear Ivra's clear voice. This time she told +all she knew about the birthday of this Earth, one of the most magical +and splendid and strange of her stories.</p> + +<p>But it was the shortest day in the year, Ivra's birthday, and night fell +all too soon. Then the Tree Girl, who seldom forgot to be sensible, said +they had better go home. The littlest Forest Child was already asleep, +curled close by the fire. They roused him gently. Good-nights were +called and a few minutes after, the shelter was deserted, and the fire +out. And by starlight could be seen many footprints leading away in the +white snow out into all parts of the Forest.</p> + +<p>Eric and Ivra walked toward home hand in hand. They had to pass the +morning's slide on the way. When they came in sight of it they began to +walk more quickly and quietly and to look intently. The blue ice shone +bluer than ever in starlight, but more than the ice shone. Shining +<i>people</i> were using the sleds and the hill was covered with them.</p> + +<p>"Why, they must be Star People," Ivra cried excitedly.</p> + +<p>When they were quite near they stood to watch.</p> + +<p>The strange Star folk were very silent, never calling and laughing as +those who had slid there in the morning had done. Two, a little boy and +a young girl, came spinning down on the same sled and stopped so near +that Ivra and Eric might have touched them by leaning forward. But the +Star-two must have thought the Forest-two shadows, for they paid no +attention to them at all.</p> + +<p>Now that they were so near Eric could see that their hair was blue, like +the shadows on snow, and their faces a beautiful shining white. Their +straight short garments were blue like shadows, too, and their arms, +legs and feet were bare. But they did not seem conscious of the cold. +Eric did not hear them speak, but they looked at each other as though +they <i>were</i> speaking, and then suddenly the little boy laughed merrily, +as though the young girl had just told him something very amusing.</p> + +<p>Soon the girl turned and ran away up the hill. But the little boy was as +quick as she and threw himself on the sled while she never slackened her +pace, but drew him straight and fast up the steep slope.</p> + +<p>"I have never seen them before," Ivra whispered to Eric. "But mother has +told me of them. They don't talk as we do you see. They don't <i>have</i> to. +They know each other's thoughts. They almost never leave their Stars. Do +you think—perhaps, to-night they saw our slide shining, and wondered so +much about it they had to come down? Even mother has never seen them. +It was Tree Mother told her."</p> + +<p>Eric was very silent, for he had never seen such beautiful people. The +little boy had had a face like a star, and great shining eyes. The young +girl had been clear like the day, and without smiling her face had been +brimmed with happiness.</p> + +<p>But now he felt Ivra trembling. She whispered again, "You know, Eric, it +is wonderful for us to see them like this. Some day, mother says, we may +get to be like them!"</p> + +<p>"And speak without words?" Eric asked wondering.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and more than that. We may be as <i>alive</i> as they. Now we're only +Forest people, and not all <i>that</i> even—almost dreams. They are <i>real</i>!"</p> + +<p>Then she took his hand and drew him away. "I cannot look any more," she +said; "can you? They are too beautiful!"</p> + +<p>Eric put his fingers to his eyes as he walked. "Yes, it's hard to see +the ground now. My eyes ache a little."</p> + +<p>But how the children wished their mother were waiting for them in the +little house to hear the tale!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h2>NORA'S GRANDCHILDREN</h2> + +<p>One afternoon Eric and Ivra started out for the Forest Children's moss +village to play with them. But when they got there they found all the +little houses deserted: not a Forest Child was to be found. They must +have gone into some other part of the forest to play. So Ivra and Eric +wandered on and on, a little lonely, a little tired of just each other +for comrades, till at last they came to the very edge of the +forest,—and there was Nora's farm, a rambling red brick house, with a +barn twice its size behind it. Down in the pasture by the house half a +dozen Snow Witches were dancing in a circle, now near, now far, all over +the pasture, and sometimes right up to the farm-house windows.</p> + +<p>Ivra clapped her hands and bounded forward. Eric did not follow. He +stood to watch. When the Snow Witches saw Ivra running to them they +rushed to meet her. For a minute she was lost in a cloud of blown snow, +and then there she was dancing in their circle back and forth across the +pasture, and then away, away, away! But before she frolicked quite out +of sight she turned to look for her playfellow, and beckoned to him.</p> + +<p>"Come on," she called. "We're going to slide on the brook below the +cornfield."</p> + +<p>But Eric did not follow. He did not like the Snow Witches. And just as +Ivra and the Witches drifted out of sight, he thought he heard the +Forest Children laughing. The sound came from the barn. So Eric ran to +the door. It was a big sliding door, and now stood open on a crack just +large enough for a child to slip through. Eric went in.</p> + +<p>The barn was tremendously big, a great dusty place full of the smell of +hay. Ahead of him were two stalls, with a horse in one. But Eric was +most interested in the empty stall, for it was from there the laughter +seemed to come. He stood looking and listening, and then right down +through the ceiling of the stall shot a child, and landed laughing and +squealing in the hay in the manger. She sat up, saw Eric and stared. She +was a little girl about his own age, freckle-faced, snub-nosed and +red-haired. She had the jolliest, the nicest face in the world.</p> + +<p>Eric opened his mouth to say, "Hello," but kept it open, silent in +amazement, for another child had shot through the ceiling and landed +beside the girl. This was a boy. He was red-headed, too, freckle-faced +and snub-nosed. He looked even jollier than the girl.</p> + +<p>Before Eric had closed his mouth on his amazement, "Whoop!" and down +came another boy. This boy was red-haired, freckle-faced and snub-nosed, +and he looked jollier than the other two put together, if that were +possible, for his red hair curled in saucy, tight little ringlets, and +his mouth was wide with smiles.</p> + +<p>It was this last one who said, "Hello, who are you?"</p> + +<p>"Eric,—who are you?"</p> + +<p>"Nora's grandchildren, of course. Come up. We're having sport."</p> + +<p>The three children ran across the barn to a ladder and scrambled up and +disappeared through a trap door at the top. Eric followed. The attic was +full of hay in mountains and little hills,—hay and hay and hay. He +followed the children around the biggest mountain, through a tunnel—and +there they vanished!</p> + +<p>He found the hole in the stable ceiling and looked down. Not very far +below him was the manger full of hay and red-headed children. "Look out +down there! Whoop!" cried Eric, and dropped, landing among them.</p> + +<p>Then the four laughed heartily together and ran across the barn again, +up the ladder, around the hay mountain and dropped down the hole. They +did that dozens of times until they were tired of it.</p> + +<p>Then they played hide-and-go-seek in the hay country, and after that +Blind Man's Buff in the barn below. The little girl was Blind Man first. +They tied a red handkerchief tight over her eyes. Then they ran about, +dodging her, calling her, laughing at her groping hands and hesitating +steps. But after a few minutes she became accustomed to the darkness and +ran and jumped about after them until they had to be very wary and swift +indeed. Soon she caught Eric and then he was Blind Man.</p> + +<p>By and by they played tag, just plain tag, and Eric liked that best of +all. Back and forth across the great room they raced,—up the ladder, +over the hay, through the hole into the stable, round and round, in and +out, up and down until they were too tired and hot for any more.</p> + +<p>Then they lay up in the hay where there was a little window, looking far +out across the meadows.</p> + +<p>Eric saw Ivra out there in the first field, wandering around alone and +now and then looking up at the barn. She must have heard their shouts +and laughter. He pointed her out to the other children. "That is my +playmate out there," he said. "Let's open the window and call to her to +come up. She'll tell us stories."</p> + +<p>The children looked out eagerly. "But there's nobody there," they said.</p> + +<p>Eric laughed. "No, look!" He pointed with his finger. "Over there by the +white birch. Look! She sees us." He waved. "Quick, help me open the +window."</p> + +<p>He could not find the catch. The window was draped with cobwebs and +dusty with the dust of years. It looked as though it had never been +opened.</p> + +<p>The little red-headed girl put her hand on his arm. She was laughing. +"Don't be silly," she said. "There's no one by the white birch. You're +imagining."</p> + +<p>"Why, look! Of course she's there!" Eric was impatient. "She's moving +now, waving to us. Of course you see her!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the jolliest of the boys. "We do see it—faintly. We've seen +it before too,—a kind of a shadow on the snow. But father says it's +nothing to mind. Imaginings. Nothing real, just spots in our eyes or +something."</p> + +<p>Then Eric remembered all that Ivra had told him. She was half fairy. +People could see her if they looked hard enough. But they were not apt +to believe their own eyes when they had looked. That was dreadful for +her. She had not said so, but he had guessed it from her face when she +told him. Well, well, now he understood a little better. These were +Earth Children, with shadows in their eyes. Ivra could never be their +playmate.</p> + +<p>But <i>he</i> could see her well enough because his eyes were clear. And +presently he would run out to her and they would go home together. But +just now it was jolly and cozy here in the barn, and these Earth +Children were good fun. He hoped she would wait for him, but if she did +not he would find his way alone easily enough.</p> + +<p>"You don't really believe in it, do you?" the red-headed girl was +asking. "If you do,—better not. Grown-ups will laugh at you."</p> + +<p>"Nora, your grandmother, won't laugh," said Eric. "She knows Ivra well +enough, and Helma, too."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," said the jolliest boy. "But she is queer. We love her, and +she's a fine grandmother, I can tell you. And she tells the best +stories. But she's queer just the same, and she can't fool us."</p> + +<p>"Let's go in and get some cookies from her," said the other boy. "They +must be done by now."</p> + +<p>So up they hopped, and without another look towards the shadow out on +the snow by the white birch, jumped down the hole, and ran out of the +barn into the kitchen.</p> + +<p>Nora was there knitting by a table, two big pans of cookies just out of +the oven cooling in front of her.</p> + +<p>How good they smelled! Eric had never tasted hot ginger cookies before, +and when Nora gave him one, a big round one all for his own, he almost +danced with delight. He perched on the edge of the table and ate that +one and many another before he was done.</p> + +<p>"This boy, grandma," began the red-headed girl.</p> + +<p>"His name is Eric," interrupted Nora, handing him another cookie. "I +know him very well."</p> + +<p>"Well, he saw It while we were looking out of the barn window! And he +said It was real and his playmate, and he wanted to call It in to tell +us stories!"</p> + +<p>"Don't say 'It,'" said Nora. "Her name is 'Ivra.' But of course you +can't play with her. She isn't an Earth Child. She's a fairy. So don't +say anything about it to your father when he comes home to-night. It +would make him cross."</p> + +<p>"But it doesn't make you cross," laughed the jolliest boy. "And so won't +you tell us some stories about it now. You know,—the little house in +the wood, the Tree Man, the Forest Children, Helma, Ivra and all the +rest of it."</p> + +<p>"Do tell us a story," begged the other two.</p> + +<p>So Nora put down her knitting, and taking the cat on her lap, a great +sleepy white fellow who had been purring by the stove, she began to tell +them stories.</p> + +<p>She told stories about Helma and Ivra, the Wind Creatures, the Snow +Witches and many more. The children listened eagerly, clapping their +hands now and then, and at the end of every story asking for more.</p> + +<p>But Eric was lost in wonder. The children thought the stories were not +true,—just fairy stories told them by a grandmother. And Nora had +evidently long ago given up expecting them to believe. Her black eyes +twinkled knowingly when they met Eric's puzzled ones.</p> + +<p>And all the time Eric had only to turn his head to see Ivra walking out +there around in the field, looking at the farm house, waiting for him. +But gradually, as the stories went on the little figure out there grew +more and more to look like just a blue shadow on the snow, paler and +paler. Finally he had to strain his eyes to see it at all.</p> + +<p>Then he jumped down from the table and said he must go home. His heart +was beating a little wildly. For he was afraid Ivra might fade away from +him altogether. These red-headed children were fine playfellows. He +liked them,—oh, so much! He wished he could stay and play with them +for—a week. Yes. But he must go now. That blue shadow on the snow +seemed lonely.</p> + +<p>"Take her some cookies," said Nora, filling his pockets. The children +laughed at the top of their voices. "Yes, take some cookies to the +fairy. But you can eat them yourself and pretend it is the fairy eating +them," they cried.</p> + +<p>Nora laughed with them, and so after a minute Eric joined in. But he and +Nora looked at each other through their laughter and nodded +understanding.</p> + +<p>When Ivra saw him at last come out of the farm house door, she didn't +wait longer, but ran away into the wood. He overtook her a long way in, +walking rapidly.</p> + +<p>"Did you have a good time with the witches?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you come, too?" she said</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was too cold. Nora's grandchildren are awfully good fun. We +played hide-and-go-seek, just as we played it at the Tree Man's party."</p> + +<p>"Did they laugh at me?"</p> + +<p>" ... No, they laughed at me. They thought I was a funny boy."</p> + +<p>"To have me for a playmate?"</p> + +<p>Then Eric began to think that Ivra was not very happy. Perhaps she had +been lonely.</p> + +<p>"You're always running off with the Snow Witches," he said. "But I won't +play with Nora's grandchildren any more unless they'll let you play too. +I won't, truly!"</p> + +<p>Ivra laughed. And it was like spring coming into winter. "Yes, play with +them all you like! I love them, too. I've often watched them. The +littlest boy, the one with the funny curls, laughs at me and stares and +stares. But the other two ... they just give me a glance and then forget +all about me. They don't think I'm real. But they are awfully jolly. You +play with them and when you tell me about it afterwards I'll pretend I +was there playing too."</p> + +<p>Then the two clasped hands and went skipping home.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h2>SPRING COMES</h2> + +<p>One morning when Ivra woke up she knew spring had come before her eyes +were open. But Eric had to go outdoors to make sure. He was sure enough +when he smelled the ground, a good earth smell. Snow still clung to the +garden in spots here and there, but the warm sun promised it would not +be for long. Something in the sky, something in the air, a smell of +earth, and a stirring in his own heart told him it was true. Spring had +come!</p> + +<p>Ivra had felt and known it before her eyes were open, and now that they +were open, those eyes of hers looked like two blue spring flowers just +awake. She hopped about in the garden poking and prodding the earth with +a stick, looking for her violets, her anemones, her star flowers. Not a +green leaf was pushing through yet, but oh, how soon there would be!</p> + +<p>Suddenly she stopped and stood still looking away into the forest. Then +she ran to Eric on the door stone. She cried, "Mother will come now. +Don't you feel it? She will come with the spring!"</p> + +<p>Eric did feel it. For there was magic in the day. The magic came to him +in the air, in the smell of the earth, in the new warm wind and said, +"Everything is yours that you want. Joy is coming." And Mother Helma was +what he wanted. So he felt sure she was on the way.</p> + +<p>"She must have found the key,—or do you suppose she climbed the gray +wall?" wondered Ivra.</p> + +<p>"Shall we go to meet her?" asked Eric.</p> + +<p>"No, no. We must get the house clean and ready for her. We must hurry."</p> + +<p>And then such a house-cleaning was begun as you or I have never seen. +The Forest Children had been up at dawn to greet the spring, and now +they came running to tell Ivra and Eric about it. When they heard that +Helma was at last coming back and the house was to be cleaned they +wanted to help. First it was decided to wash the floor. Pail after pail +of water from the fountain they splashed on it. Streamlets of water +flowed into the fireplace and out over the door stone. Out and in ran +the Forest Children trying to help, and with every step making foot +prints on the wet floor, muddy little foot prints, dozens of them and +finally hundreds of them.</p> + +<p>Then the windows were washed. And because the Forest Children could not +run on those they were made bright and clear. But soon the Forest +Children pressed their faces against the panes to watch for Helma, and +as the minutes passed breath-clouds formed there, spreading and +deepening until the glass sparkled no more. But no one noticed. No one +cared. For now they were shining up the dishes, polishing them with +cloths, and setting them in neat rows in the cupboard.</p> + +<p>Then Wild Star appeared, his hands full of spring flowers that he had +found deep in the forest in the sunniest and most protected place, the +very first spring flowers. "Helma must have gotten past that wall, now +it's spring," he said; "and here are some flowers to greet her. See, I +left the roots on, the way she likes them. Let's plant them by the door +stone."</p> + +<p>They dug up the earth with their hands, Forest Children's hands, Wild +Star's hands, Eric's and Ivra's,—and planted the flowers all about the +door stone. Then Wild Star flew away a little languidly.</p> + +<p>Ivra looked after him. "He'll soon find the deepest, darkest, coolest +place," she said, "make himself a nest of smooth leaves and dream away +the summer. Fall and winter are his flying times. We shall see him at no +more parties for a while."</p> + +<p>"And the Snow Witches? What will become of them?" asked Eric.</p> + +<p>"They will get into hollows of old trees and under rocks, draw in their +skirts and their hair, curl up and sleep."</p> + +<p>"Good news!" thought Eric. But he did not say it for he knew Ivra liked +the Snow Witches almost best of all to play with and would miss them.</p> + +<p>Now the Tree Girl came through the gap in the hedge. She was wearing a +green frock, green sandals, and pussy willow buds made a wreath in her +hair.</p> + +<p>"Spring, spring!" she cried as she came up the path. "We heard the sap +running in our tree all night. Father has gone on a spring wandering, +and I shall stay within tree no longer for a while."</p> + +<p>"We know, we know!" crowed Ivra. "<i>I</i> knew before my eyes were open this +morning. Eric had to smell the ground first. Imagine! We have been +cleaning house. Mother will surely come now. Don't <i>you</i> feel it?"</p> + +<p>The Tree Girl lifted her face up in the new warm wind. Her soft hair +floated feather-like. "Yes, I feel it. She is on the way. Spring brings +everything."</p> + +<p>A bird flashed from the trees. It lighted on the hedge for a second and +was away again. But Eric had had time to recognize the beautiful bird he +had seen caged in the Witch's fir.</p> + +<p>"The caged bird!" he cried to Ivra. "It is free! It is flying away."</p> + +<p>The Bird Fairies were flying away, too. They were going to meet the +birds corning up from the south and teach them their songs as they flew. +They came to say good-by to the children.</p> + +<p>"Look for us next winter," they called back, as they fluttered off in a +silvery cloud.</p> + +<p>And finally, at high noon, just as Ivra had known she would since early +morning, Helma came,—running through the forest, jumping the hedge, and +gathering Ivra and Eric into her arms.</p> + +<p>They three knelt on the ground by the spring flowers embracing each +other for a long, long minute.</p> + +<p>"Did you find the key to that gate?" Eric asked when his breath came +back, "Or did they let you come at last."</p> + +<p>"I didn't have to find the key, and they didn't let me come. They would +never have done that. But the minute I had on a light spring frock I +found I could climb the wall easily enough, and so I came running all +the way. And now they shall never get me back behind doors again. I am +free! I am as free as you, my children!"</p> + +<p>She held them off and looked into their eyes.</p> + +<p>She was dressed in a brown silk gown, all torn and stained from her +wall-climbing and rush through the bushes. Her feet were bare, for she +had kicked off her funny high-heeled city boots the minute she had +reached the forest. Her hair had grown to her shoulders and looked more +like flower petals than ever. But her face was not brown and serene, as +Eric had first seen it. It was pale and wild.</p> + +<p>"They don't believe in you, children," she said. "They don't believe in +me, not the me that I am. And from morning to night they made me a +slave. They made me wear such ugly, hurting things, and then they made +me dance! Every night we danced in hot rooms and ate strange bad-tasting +food. They called dancing like that a <i>party</i>. But I could only remember +our forest parties, and our dancing here under the cool moon.</p> + +<p>"The only glimpse of the forest I had was your Snow Witches, Ivra. +Sometimes I saw them from my bedroom window, 'way out in the fields, +whirling and scudding in mad games. And then at last one morning some +Wind Creatures flew by, above the garden wall! But when I called Wild +Star back and tried to ask him about you, children, as he perched on the +wall, they came rushing into the garden and dragged me away. They said +it was time for luncheon, and I must change my frock. But let us forget. +I am here! It is spring!"</p> + +<p>She jumped up and stood just as the Tree Girl had stood earlier that +morning, her face lifted in the wind. Slowly that face grew calm and +warm color flooded it.</p> + +<p>"How nicely cleaned the house is!" she exclaimed when at last they went +in. For she did not see the tracks on the floor nor the clouded windows. +All she saw was that the children had worked there to make it fit for +her home-coming.</p> + +<p>Ivra was proud and glad that she noticed. "I have made you a spring +frock too," she said, bringing it out. "And Eric has made you some +sandals. He makes fine sandals now!"</p> + +<p>The frock was a brown smock with a narrow green belt.</p> + +<p>The sandals were well made, and very soft and light.</p> + +<p>Helma stripped off the tattered silk frock, the funny thing with its +long sleeves and stiff lace collar, and hid it away out of sight. On +went the new smock over her head in a twinkling. She stepped into the +sandals. And there was their mother, the Helma Eric had first seen.</p> + +<p>"The garden now, we must see about that," she said in her old quiet way. +Then they went out into the garden, and Helma began to plan just where +there should plant seeds and just what must be done. The children clung +to her hands, looking up into her face, and would not let her take a +step away from them. When she stood still they leaned against her, one +against either side, and wound their arms about her.</p> + +<p>In mid-afternoon, Spring came—not the spring of the year, but Spring +himself, the person the season is named for. He was a tall young man, +with a radiant face, and fair curls lifting in a cloud from his head. +Where he walked the earth sprang up in green grass after his bare feet, +and flowers followed him like a procession. Helma ran to him, swifter +than the children, and he kissed her lips. He lifted Ivra nigh on his +shoulder for one minute where she thought she looked away over the +treetops hundreds of miles to the blue ocean. But it may have been only +his eyes, which were very blue, that shee was looking into.</p> + +<p>With him came two Earth Giants. They were huge brown fellows with +rolling muscles and kind, sleepy eyes. They crouched down at the opening +in the hedge and waited for Spring to go on with them.</p> + +<p>"Shall we plant the garden, Helma?" asked Spring.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," cried the children, and Helma said, "Yes, yes," as eagerly +as they.</p> + +<p>So the Earth Giants came in and plowed it all up with their +hands,—hands twenty times as large as an Earth Man's! When they were +done, the garden was a rich golden color, and right for planting. Then +Helma pointed out to Spring where she wanted the seeds to be, violets +here, roses there, lilies there, pansies there and daisies there. Spring +gave some seeds to the children and sowed some himself. Helma sat on the +door stone and joyously directed the work.</p> + +<p>By twilight the garden was done, and Spring went away with his Earth +Giants.</p> + +<p>As he went out through the forest, flowers and green grass followed +him—and the next morning even the dullest Earth Person would know that +Spring had come.</p> + +<p>As for Helma and Ivra and Eric, the house would not hold their joy, and +so they dragged out their beds and slept that night in the new-plowed, +sweet-smelling garden.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h2>SPRING WANDERING</h2> + +<p>"There goes another," said Helma as she stood in the door the very next +morning after her return. "The littlest Forest Child that was, and all +by himself. He seems rather small to go spring-wandering alone."</p> + +<p>"He likes to go alone," Ivra answered. She was setting the table for +breakfast, and Eric was helping her. "'Most always he's playing or +wandering off by himself somewhere."</p> + +<p>Helma stood watching the little fellow until he had vanished amid the +delicate green of the forest morning. Then she tossed back her hair with +a shake of her head and cried gayly, "Let's go wandering ourselves, +pets. It's good to be home, but we have all our lives for that now. +Let's adventure!"</p> + +<p>The children were overjoyed. They did not want to wait for breakfast. +But Helma thought they had better, for no one knew where, when or how +their next meal would be. Of course, though, it was hard to eat. You +know yourself how you feel about food when you are going on an +adventure. However the bowls of cereal were swallowed somehow. Then the +stoutest sandals were strapped on, and the three were ready to set out.</p> + +<p>First they went to Nora's farm and before they had waited many minutes +in the shadow of the trees on the edge of the field Nora came from the +door carrying their jug of milk. They ran to meet her and tell her not +to leave any more milk until they should come back. How glad the old +woman was to see Helma. "I thought spring would bring you," she said. +"Spring frees everything."</p> + +<p>Then Helma, Ivra and Eric were off for their spring wandering. It seemed +as though every one else was wandering, too, for they could hardly walk +a mile without meeting some friend or stranger Forest Person. All gave +them greeting, whether stranger or friend, and all looked very glad that +Helma was in the forest again, for good news travels fast there, and +even the strangers knew of her home-coming.</p> + +<p>In a secret wooded valley, walking softly to hear the birds and the +thousand little other songs of earth, they suddenly came upon a strange +and thrilling sight. A party of little girls and boys all in bright +colored frocks, purple, orange, green, blue, yellow, were putting the +finishing touches on an air-boat they were making. It was built of +delicate leaved branches and decorated with wild flowers. A great anchor +of dog-tooth violets hung over the sides and kept it on the ground.</p> + +<p>When they saw Helma and the children coming so silently toward them they +jumped into the boat and crowded there looking like a bunch of larger +spring flowers. Then they drew in the anchor rapidly. But the little +girl sitting high in the back, the one in the torn yellow dress and with +blowing cloud-dark hair, cried, "Oh, no fear, it's Ivra and her mother +and the clear-eyed Earth Child. Want to come, Ivra? We're off spring +wandering among the white clouds."</p> + +<p>Ivra shook her head and called, "Not unless three of us can come."</p> + +<p>"Too full for that," called down the yellow-frocked one, for now the +boat had lifted softly almost to the tree tops. "Your Earth Child would +weigh us down. So hail and farewell. Good wandering!"</p> + +<p>So the three on the ground stood looking up and waving and calling back, +"Good wandering!" until the green boat had drifted away and away and was +lost in the spring sky. But for a long time after, there floated down to +them in the valley far laughter and glad cries.</p> + +<p>The spring nights were cold, and so at twilight they made themselves a +shelter of boughs. They slept as soon as it was night and woke and were +off at the break of dawn. Helma carried sweet chocolate in her pockets, +and forest friends and strangers offered them from their store all along +the way. Sometimes when they were tired or warm with walking they would +climb into the top of some tall tree, and there swinging among the cool +new leaves, Helma began telling them her World Stories again, while the +children looked off over the trembling forest roof and watched for +homing birds.</p> + +<p>But when the hemlock and fir trees began to crowd out the maples and +oaks, Helma said quietly one day, "We are nearing the sea." "The sea," +cried Eric almost wild with sudden delight. "Shall we see it? Shall we +swim in it? Oh, I have never seen it!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I saw it from Spring's shoulder," Ivra cried—she really thought +she had—"But mother, mother, what a wonderful surprise you had for us!"</p> + +<p>They began to run in their eagerness. But Helma held them back. "It's a +day's journey yet," she said. And so they walked as patiently as they +could down a long, long slope through dark firs and hemlocks.</p> + +<p>It was noon of the following day when they finally came to the sea. They +had struggled through a thick undergrowth of thorned bushes where the +great arms of the firs shut out everything ahead. Then suddenly they +were out of it, in the open, on the shore with the waves almost lapping +their toes. It was high tide. The blue sea stretched away to the blue +sky.</p> + +<p>Eric's legs gave way under him, and he knelt on the white sand, just +looking and looking at the bigness of it, the splendor of it, the color +of it, and listening to the music of it. Ivra ran right out into the +foam brought in by the breakers, up to her waist, where she splashed the +water with her palms until her hair and face were drenched with salt +spray. Helma stood looking away to foreign countries which she could +almost see.</p> + +<p>But they were not left long to themselves. The heads of a little girl +and boy and a young woman appeared over the crest of a great wave, and +the three were swept up to the shore. They grabbed Ivra and drew her +along with them as they passed, laughing musically. Ivra did not like it +at first, and sprang away from them the minute she could shake herself +free. But when she saw their merry faces and heard them laugh, she +returned shyly.</p> + +<p>The children were about Eric's and Ivra's ages, and the young woman was +their mother. The children's names were Nan and Dan, and the woman's +name was Sally. But though they had Earth names they were of the +fairy-kind,—called in the Forest "Blue Water People."</p> + +<p>Just peer into a clear pool or stream, almost any bright day, and you +will be pretty sure to see one of them looking up at you. They are the +sauciest and most mischievous of all fairies. Only stare at them a +little, and they will mock you to your face with smiles and pouts, and +will not go away as long as you stay. For they have no fear of you or +any Earth People. They follow their streams right into towns and cities, +under bridges and over dams. You are as likely to find one in your city +park as in the Forest.</p> + +<p>Helma spoke to Sally, while the children eyed each other curiously. She +said, "How happy you Blue Water People must be now Spring has freed you +at last!"</p> + +<p>Sally dropped down on the beach, her dark hair flung like a shadow on +the sand. Her laughing face looked straight up into the sky. She +stretched her arms above her head.</p> + +<p>"He came just in time. Another day—and we would have had to break +through the ice ourselves. Truly. We've never had such a long winter. +Why, a <i>month</i> ago we began to look for Spring. We lay with our faces +pressed against the cold ice for hours at a time, watching. We could +just see light through, and shadows now and then."</p> + +<p>"And then I saw him first," cried Dan, who was listening to his mother.</p> + +<p>"No, I!" cried Nan.</p> + +<p>"No, no," Sallv laughed. "I heard him, singing, a long way off. And I +called you children away from your game of shells. When his foot touched +the ice we danced in circles of joy, and tapped messages through to him +with our fingers. The ice vanished under his feet, and our stream rushed +hither away to the sea. We came with it, and waved him hail and farewell +as we poured down. Who can stop at home in spring-time? And we had been +ice-bound so long!"</p> + +<p>"And now we're here," boasted Dan, "I'm going to swim across the sea +to-morrow,—or the next day!"</p> + +<p>"You're too little for that. Calm water is best, or little rushing +streams," warned Sally.</p> + +<p>"What is it like across the sea?" asked Eric. "Another world?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you about it in the next story," promised Helma. "And then +when I have told you, Eric, you may want to go across yourself and see +the wonders."</p> + +<p>Eric drew a deep breath. "Yes, you and Ivra and I. In a boat." He +pointed to a white sail far out stuck up like a feather slantwise in the +water.</p> + +<p>Ivra clapped her hands.</p> + +<p>But Helma shook her head. "When you go, it must be alone, Ivra and I +belong to the Forest."</p> + +<p>"Why, then I don't want to go, ever." Eric shook the thought from him +like water.</p> + +<p>"Well, let's swim across now," Dan shouted, and ran into the waves, +falling flat as soon as he was deep enough and swimming fast away. The +other children followed him, ready for a frolic. You or I would have +found that water very cold, but these were hardy children; and one of +them all winter had made comrades of the Snow Witches, remember.</p> + +<p>They waded out to the surf and plunged through it, head first. They took +hands and floated in a circle beyond, rising and falling in the even +motion of the rollers. Nan was very mischievous, and soon succeeded in +pushing Eric out, under where the waves broke. When he looked up +suddenly and saw the great watery roof hanging over him, he was +terrified but he did not scream. People who comraded with Ivra could not +do that. He shut his eyes tight, and then thundering down came the +water-roof, and a second after, up bobbed Eric like a cork, choking and +sputtering. They were laughing at him, even Ivra. The minute the salt +water was out of his eyes he laughed, too, and tried to push Nan into +the surf. But she was too quick for him, and slipped away, farther out +to sea.</p> + +<p>Then began a game of water tag. Eric, because he was not such a good +swimmer as the others, was It most of the time. But Ivra had to take a +few turns as well. It was impossible to catch the other two. They moved +in the water as reflected light moves along a wall, not really swimming +at all, but flashing from spot to spot.</p> + +<p>Helma and Sally lay on the sand in the spring sunshine and talked about +their children.</p> + +<p>"Nan and Dan tear their clothes so," sighed Sally, "I could spend all my +time mending."</p> + +<p>"I must make little Eric some new clothes," said Helma. "I hope I have +cloth enough at home."</p> + +<p>"Nan is naughty, but she is a darling," laughed Sally as Eric was pushed +under the surf.</p> + +<p>Helma waited to see that he came up smiling and then said, "Ivra and +Eric never quarrel. They play together from morn till night like two +squirrels."</p> + +<p>... They all had lunch together on the shore. The Blue Water Children +instead of eating smelled some spring flowers which Sally had found. +That is the way they always take their nourishment. Helma turned some +little cakes of chocolate out of her pockets, and though at first it +seemed like a small luncheon, when it was all eaten they felt satisfied.</p> + +<p>All the afternoon the children played up and down the beach. They found +a smooth round pink sea-shell which they used for a ball. Eric was the +best at throwing. It made him happy and proud to excel in something at +last. He taught them how to play base ball, which he had once watched +Mrs. Freg's boys playing on Sundays in the back yard. They used a piece +of drift wood for a bat, and when the shell got accidentally batted into +the sea the Blue Water Children fielded it like fishes.</p> + +<p>When they were tired of ball, the Blue Water Children drew lines on the +sand for "hop scotch,"—a game they had sometimes watched city children +playing in a park,—and taught Ivra and Eric about that.</p> + +<p>Then they built a castle of sand, and walled it in with sea shells. +Helma showed them how to make the moat and the bridge, and Sally and she +took turns and made up a story about the castle and told it to them.</p> + +<p>Towards evening some Earth People came by, near to the shore, in a +little steam launch. There were men and women and several children in +it. They crowded into the side of the boat towards the shore to stare +curiously at Helma and Eric. They could not see the others, of course. +Helma with her free, bright hair and bare feet looked very strange to +them. And they could not understand what Eric was doing with his arms +held straight out at each side. He was between Dan and Nan, holding +their hands, and standing to watch. But the Earth People looked right +through the Blue Water Children, or thought they were shadows perhaps.</p> + +<p>One of the men put his hands to his mouth like a megaphone and called to +Helma, asking her if she did not want to be picked up. They thought her +being there in that wild place with a little boy, alone, and barefooted, +very singular. They thought she might have been shipwrecked. But Helma +shook her head, and so they had to take their wonder away with them. The +boat swept by.</p> + +<p>Ivra ran out into the waves waist deep to watch the strange thing. She +had never seen a steam launch before, or anything like it. A baby, held +in his nurse's arms, caught sight of her and waved tiny dimpled hands, +calling and cooing. She saw his sparkling eyes, his light fuzzy hair, +his little white dress and socks. She ran farther into the water, waving +back to him and throwing him dozens of kisses. But no one else in the +boat saw her, and after a minute the baby's attention turned to a sea +gull flying overhead.</p> + +<p>Ivra returned to shore, her face shining. There had been no doubt of +it—the baby had seen her at once, and had had no doubts. He had laughed +and reached his hands to her. The little Fairy Child almost hugged +herself with delight....</p> + +<p>They built themselves shelters of drift wood when night fell. Eric's was +just large enough for him to crawl into and lie still. One whole side of +it was open to the sea. Soft fir boughs made his bed, and Helma had left +a kiss with him. But he did not sleep for a long while. He lay on his +side looking out over the star-sprinkled water and up at the +star-flowering sky. And he could not have told how or from where the +command had come, but he knew as he looked that he must cross that sea +and go into the new world beyond it and see all things for himself. +World Stories were good. But they were not enough.</p> + +<p>How he was to go, or how live when he got there—he did not once think +of that. Just that he <i>was</i> to go filled his whole mind. He forgot that +he had said he would not go without Helma and Ivra. He did not think of +them at all. He just lay still listening to the sea's command to go +beyond and beyond.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h2>OVER THE TREE TOPS</h2> + +<p>He was waked by Ivra's joyous cries just at dawn, and rolled out of his +shelter, rubbing his eyes and stretching his arms and legs. But as soon +as his eyes were well open he jumped up and uttered a cry of joy +himself. For hanging just above the water on the edge of the sea was a +great blue sea-shell air-boat with blue sails; and the Tree Mother stood +in it, talking to Helma and Ivra who had run down to the water's edge.</p> + +<p>The boat and the sails were blue. Tree Mother's gown was blue. The sea +and the sky were blue. Tiny white caps feathered the water. Tiny white +clouds feathered the sky. And Tree Mother's hair was whiter and more +feathery than either. Her eyes were dark like the Tree Man's, only +keener and softer, both. And in spite of her being a grandmother her +face was brown and golden like a young out-of-door girl's, and she was +slim and quick and more than beautiful. Eric stood beside Ivra, his face +lifted up to the Tree Mother's, aglow and quivering.</p> + +<p>"She is going to take us home," Ivra said softly.</p> + +<p>Then Tree Mother turned the boat, and it drifted in and down on the +sand. The children and Helma climbed in. The Tree Mother said very +little on the long ride, but her presence was enough. The three were +almost trembling for joy, for the Tree Mother's companionship is rare, +and one of the splendidest things that can happen to a Forest Person.</p> + +<p>The minute they were in the boat, it shot up and away towards home.</p> + +<p>"Where are the Blue Water Children?" Eric cried, suddenly remembering +their playmates of yesterday.</p> + +<p>"Have you been playing with Blue Water Children?" asked Tree Mother. +"They are gypsy-folk and you never know where you will find them next. +They are probably miles away by now."</p> + +<p>"Faster, faster, Tree Mother," begged Ivra, who was hanging over the +side of the boat and losing herself in joy with the motion and height.</p> + +<p>"Faster?" said the Tree Mother. "Then take care! Hold on!"</p> + +<p>The boat shot forward with a sudden rush. The spring air changed from +cool feathers to a sharp wing beating their faces. Eric and Ivra slipped +to the floor and lay on their backs. They dared not sit up for fear of +being swept overboard. They could see nothing but the sky from where +they lay, but they loved the speed, and clapped their hands, and Ivra +cried, "Faster, faster!"</p> + +<p>The Tree Mother laughed. "These are brave children," she thought. "Shut +your eyes then," she said, "and don't try too hard to breathe."</p> + +<p>They swept on more swiftly than a wild-goose, so swiftly that soon the +children could neither hear, speak nor see. And then at last they were +traveling so fast that it felt as though the boat were standing +perfectly still in a cold dark place.</p> + +<p>Gradually light began to leak through their shut eyelids, the wing of +the wind beat away from them, and the boat rocked slower and slower in +warm, spring-scented air. But in that brief time, they had traveled +many, many miles.</p> + +<p>Now when the children leaned over the side, they saw that they were +sailing slowly over their own Forest. The tree tops were like a restless +green sea just a little beneath them. They flew low enough to hear bird +calls and the voices of the streams.</p> + +<p>It was then they suddenly noticed that the littlest of the Forest +Children was there curled up fast asleep at Tree Mother's feet. Ivra +cried to him in surprise, and he woke slowly, stretching his little +brown legs, shaking his curly head, and lifting a sleepy face. He was +puzzled at seeing others beside Tree Mother in the boat. He had been +riding and awake with her all night up near the stars, and had dropped +to sleep as the stars faded.</p> + +<p>She bent now and took his hand. "I picked these wanderers up at dawn," +she said, "and now we are all going back together. We are well on the +way."</p> + +<p>They had left the forest roof and were sailing over open country,—a +short cut, Tree Mother explained.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look," cried Ivra excitedly, almost tumbling over the edge in her +endeavor to see better, "isn't that the gray wall off there?"</p> + +<p>Yes, it was the gray wall, the gray wall that had prisoned their mother +all winter. The boat went slower and slower as they neared it and then +almost hung still over the garden. The garden was full of people, having +some kind of a party, for many little tables were set there with silver +and glass that shone brilliantly in the sun. Servants were hurrying back +and forth carrying trays and their gilt buttons sparkled almost as much +as the silver.</p> + +<p>But how strange were the people! Eric and Ivra and the littlest Forest +Child laughed aloud. They were standing about so straight and stiff, +holding their cups and saucers, and their voices rising up to the +air-boat in confusion sounded like a hundred parrots.</p> + +<p>"Why don't they sit down on the grass to eat?" wondered the littlest +Forest Child. "And why don't they wash their feet in the fountain? They +look so very hot and walk as though it hurt!"</p> + +<p>"Sitting on the grass and washing their feet in the fountain is against +the law there," Helma said.</p> + +<p>But neither Ivra nor the littlest Forest Child knew what "against the +law" meant. Eric knew, however, for he had lived nine years, remember, +where most everything a little boy wanted <i>was</i> against the law.</p> + +<p>"But why do they stay?" Eric asked.</p> + +<p>Helma looked a little grave. "Why did you stay, dear, for nine long +years?"</p> + +<p>He thought a minute. "I hadn't seen the magic beckoning," he answered +then.</p> + +<p>"Neither have they," she said, "and perhaps never will, for their eyes +are getting dimmer all the time."</p> + +<p>"But how can they <i>help</i> seeing it?" cried the littlest Forest Child. +"See, all around the garden!"</p> + +<p>It was true. All around the garden the tall trees stood and beckoned +with their high fingers, beckoned away and away with promise of magic +beyond magic. But the people in the garden never lifted their eyes to +see it. They were looking intently into their tea cups as though it +might be there magic was waiting.</p> + +<p>"They are prisoners," said Tree Mother, "just as you were, Helma, with +this one difference. You were locked in, but they have locked themselves +in and carry their keys like precious things next their hearts."</p> + +<p>Helma sighed and laughed at once. Then she leaned far out and tossed a +daffodil she was carrying down on the heads in the garden, shaking her +short, flower petal hair as she did it—she had cut it before starting +on the adventure—in a free, glad way.</p> + +<p>No one looked up to see where the flower had dropped from. The people +down there were not interested in offerings from the heavens. So the +boat sailed on. Away and away over the canning factory they drifted, +where the little girl looked out from her window and up, and waved her +hands. "What are you waving at like that?" a man asked who was working +near. "Oh, just a white summer cloud," she said. For she knew very well +he did not want the truth. And I might as well tell you here that that +pale little girl was a prisoner who had not turned the lock herself, and +did not carry the key next her heart. Others had done that before she +was born. And she had seen the beckoning in spite of the lock and now +was only waiting a little while to answer it.</p> + +<p>The children were glad to find the forest roof beneath them again. It +was noon when they sank down in the garden at their own white door +stone. Tree Mother left them there and flew away with the littlest +Forest Child, the one who liked to wander alone by himself.</p> + +<p>Nora was in the house when they ran in. She had cleaned it with a +different cleaning from what it had had for Helma's first return. There +were no little foot prints on the floor now, and the window panes shone +like clear pools in sunlight. Three dishes of early strawberries and +three deep bowls of cream were standing on the table before the open +door. And then besides there was a big loaf of golden-brown bread.</p> + +<p>"I thought you would be hungry," said Nora, pointing to the feast.</p> + +<p>They were hungry indeed, for they had had nothing at all to eat since +yesterday's lunch of chocolate. They very soon finished the strawberries +and cream, and a jug of milk besides.</p> + +<p>"You are a good neighbor, Nora," Helma said gratefully.</p> + +<p>All Nora wanted in return for her labor and kindness was the story of +their adventure. She listened eagerly to every word. "I shall tell this +to my grandchildren," she said when the story was done, "and they will +think it just a fairy tale. They'll never believe it's fairy truth! Oh, +if they would only stop pretending to be so wise they themselves might +some time get the chance of a ride over the tree tops with Tree Mother. +But they never will. Come play with them again sometime, Eric. They +often talk about you."</p> + +<p>"I'll come to-day and bring Ivra if they'll play with her, too!"</p> + +<p>But Nora shook her head as she went away. "They don't believe in Ivra. +How could they play with her? Their grandmother can teach them nothing. +But they'll like the story of this adventure none the less for not +believing it."</p> + +<p>When she was gone the three took the dishes into the house and washed +them. Then they went out and worked in the garden until dusk.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h2>THE JUNE MOON</h2> + +<p>Now every day Eric was becoming acquainted with strange Forest People: +those who had hidden away from winter in trees, and those who were +wandering up from the south along with the birds, and Blue Water People, +of course, all along the Forest streams. The Forest teemed with new +playmates for him and Ivra.</p> + +<p>Hide-and-go-seek was still the favorite game. And now it was more fun to +be "It" than to be hiding almost, for one was likely to come upon +strangers peeping out of tree hollows, swimming under water, or swinging +in the tree tops, any minute. When the person who was "It" came across +one of these strangers he would simply say, "I spy, and you're It." Then +he would draw the stranger away to the goal, where he usually joined the +game and was as much at home as though he had been playing in it from +the very first.</p> + +<p>The day that Eric found Wild Thyme so was the best of all,—or rather +she was the best of all. And that was strange, for when he first spied +her he did not like her at all. Her dress was a purple slip just to her +knees, with a big rent in the skirt. Her hair was short and bushy and +dark. And her face was soberer than most Forest People's faces. She was +sitting out at the edge of the Forest on a flat rock, her chin in her +hands, and she did not look eager to make friends with any one.</p> + +<p>But he cried, "I spy! You're It!" just the same. She did not lift her +eyes. She only said, "You must catch me first. I am Wild Thyme, and that +will be hard!"</p> + +<p>Eric laughed, for she was not a yard away from him. And he sprang +forward as he laughed. But she was quicker than he. She had been at +perfect rest on the rock, her chin in her hands, and not looking at him, +but the instant he jumped she was off like a flash, a purple streak +across the field.</p> + +<p>But Eric did not let his surprise delay him. He ran after her just as +fast as he could, and that was very, very fast, for running with Ivra +had taught him to run faster than most Earth Children ever dream of +running. Soon, Wild Thyme slowed down a little, and faced him, running +backward, her bushy hair raised from her head in the wind of her +running, her little brown face and great purple eyes gleaming +mischievously. Eric sprang for her. She dodged. He sprang again. She +dodged again. He cried out in vexation and sprang again, straight and +sure. He caught her by her bushy hair as she turned to fly.</p> + +<p>And a strange thing happened to him in that second, the second he caught +her hair. Instead of Wild Thyme and the sunny field, he was looking at +the sea. He was standing on the shore, looking away and away, almost to +foreign lands. Now ever since that spring night on the shore he had been +thinking of the sea and longing with all his might to cross it and see +foreign lands for himself. Only that had seemed impossible, and +something he must surely wait till he was grown up to do. But now, in a +flash, as his fingers closed on Wild Thyme's hair, he knew that he could +indeed do that, and anything else he really set his heart on.</p> + +<p>No girl, even a fairy, likes to have her hair pulled. So Wild Thyme was +angry. She pinched Eric's arm with all her strength. Then <i>he</i> was +angry. And so they stood holding each other, he her by the hair, and she +him by the arm, staring hotly into each other's faces. But slowly they +relaxed, and becoming their own natural selves again, broke into +laughter.</p> + +<p>"You'll play with us, won't you?" Eric asked.</p> + +<p>"Of course," she said, "and I <i>am</i> It!" And away they ran to find the +others, Ivra, the Tree Girl, the Forest Children, and Dan and Nan. When +those saw who it was Eric had captured they ran to meet her, shouting +gayly, "Wild Thyme! Goody! Goody! Hello, Wild Thyme!" They seemed to +have known her always. She and Ivra threw their arms about each other's +shoulders and danced away to the goal.</p> + +<p>Wild Thyme was a wonderful playfellow. She was so wild, so free, so +strong, so mischievous. And when the game was ended she invited them to +a dance that very night. "It's to be around the Tree Man's Tree," she +said. "And all come—come when the moon rises."</p> + + +<p>... Perhaps Eric's good times in the Forest reached their very height +that June night of the dance. He had never been to a dance before, and +just at first he did not think there would be much fun in it. But Ivra +wanted him to go, and offered to show him about the dances. So they ran +away from the others to the edge of the field where Eric had discovered +Wild Thyme, and there on the even, grassy ground Ivra showed him how to +dance. It was very easy,—not at all like the dances Earth Children +dance. It was much more fun, and much livelier. The dances were just +whirling and skipping and jumping, each dancer by himself, but all in a +circle. Eric liked it as well as though it had been a new game.</p> + +<p>Late that afternoon Helma and Ivra and Eric gathered ferns and flowers +to deck themselves for the evening. They put them on over the stream, +which was the only mirror in the Forest.</p> + +<p>Helma made a girdle of brakes for herself, and a dandelion wreath for +her hair. She wove a dear little cap of star flowers for Ivra, and a +chain of them for her neck. Eric crowned himself with bloodroot and +contrived grass sandals for his feet. But the sandals, of course, wore +through before the end of the first dance and fell off.</p> + +<p>They had a splendid supper of raspberries and cream, which they sat on +the door stone to eat, and then told stories to each other, while they +waited for the moon to rise. It came early, big and round and yellow, +shining through the trees, flooding the aisles of the Forest with silver +light until they looked like still streams, and the trees like masts of +great ships standing in them.</p> + +<p>Then the three hurried away to the Tree Man's. They ran hand in hand +through the forest aisles, their faces as bright to each other as in +daylight. But before they even came in sight of the tree they heard +music.</p> + +<p>"Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmm, thrummmmmmmmmmmm." Very soft, very +insistent, very simple and strangely thrilling. When they came to the +tree, there were the Forest Children, who had come early, whirling +around in a circle, and the Tree Girl in the center of the circle making +music with a tiny instrument she held in one hand and touched with the +fingers of the other.</p> + +<p>Soon Forest People began arriving from every direction. There were the +Blue Water Children, bright pebbles around their necks, and white sea +shells in their blue hair. The Forest Children were crowned with +maidenhair fern. The Tree Girl was the most beautiful of all in her +silver cobweb frock and her cloudy hair. The Tree Man stood still in the +shadow, but his long white beard gleamed out, and his deep eyes. Wild +Thyme wore a rope of the flower that is named for her around her neck, +but there was a new rent in her purple frock and her legs were scratched +as though she had remembered her dance only the last minute and come +plunging the shortest way through bushes, which was true.</p> + +<p>Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm.</p> + +<p>Every one except the Tree Man was dancing, bewitched in the moonlight, +all over the grassy space around the great tree. The grass was cool and +refreshing under Eric's bare feet, and he often dug his bare toes into +the soft earth at its roots as he leapt or ran just to make sure he was +on earth at all. For he felt as though he were swimming in moonlight, or +at least treading it.</p> + +<p class="center"><img src="bewitched.jpg" height="480" width="365" title="" alt="" /></p> + +<p>Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm.</p> + +<p>When the Tree Girl's music stopped between dances, then it would go on +in Eric's head. It was just the sound of the night after all. Once Eric +noticed that the Beautiful Wicked Witch was dancing next to him in the +circle but he was not afraid of her there with the others, and in bright +moonlight. And she was plotting no ill. Her face was sparkling with +delight and she had utterly forgotten herself in the dance.</p> + +<p>When the great moon hung just above them, and shadows were few and far +between, the Tree Mother came walking through the Forest, quieter and +more beautiful than the moon. Wild Thyme ran to her and laid her bushy +head against her breast. For Wild Thyme only of all the Forest People +loved her without awe. The Tree Mother put her hand on Wild Thyme's head +and stood to watch the dancing. Her robe gleamed like frost, and her +hair was a pool of light above her head.</p> + +<p>Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmm.</p> + +<p>Wild Thyme jumped back into the dance and the Tree Mother stood alone. +But although she stood as still as a moonbeam under the tree, she made +Eric think of dancing more than all the others put together. It was her +eyes. The thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm was in them, and the rest +of that night Eric felt as though the music-instrument the Tree Girl was +swinging was silent, and that all the music flowed from Tree Mother.</p> + +<p>But Eric, after all, was only an Earth Child, and his legs got very +tired in spite of the music and the moonlight. So at last he slipped out +of the circle, and stumbling with weariness and sleepiness went to Tree +Mother. She picked him up in her arms, and the minute his head touched +her shoulder he was sound asleep, the music at last hushed in his head.</p> + +<p>When he woke it was summer dawn. The birds were flitting above in the +tree-boughs and making high singing. He was alone, lying beneath a +silver birch, his head among the star flowers.</p> + +<p>He knew that Helma and Ivra had not wanted to wake him, but had gone +home when the moon set, and were waiting breakfast for him there now. So +he jumped up and ran home through the dew.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h2>THE DEEPEST PLACE IN THE WOOD</h2> + +<p>It was on the hottest day of all the hot days of summer that Eric found +the deepest place in the Forest. He wandered into it while he was +looking for Wild Thyme. Ivra had been no good to him that day. She was +usually ready to play in any weather; but on this, the hottest day of +the year, she stayed indoors, where it was a little cooler, and lying on +the settle she drew paper dolls on birch bark, and afterwards cut them +out. Yes, even fairy children love paper dolls and Ivra loved them more +than most. Eric wanted her to go swimming in the stream, but he teased +her to in vain, for she was entranced with the dolls and would hardly +lift her eyes from them.</p> + +<p>Helma was swinging in a vine swing she had made for herself high in a +tree above the garden. One of the Little People was perched on a leaf +just over her head, and they were chattering together like equals. Their +eager voices floated down to Eric standing disconsolate near the door +stone. But Helma usually knew when her children were in trouble, no +matter how tiny the trouble, and so before Eric had stood there long or +dug up more than a bushel of earth with his bare toes, she leaned over +the nest and called to him.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you go and play with Wild Thyme? She doesn't mind the heat. +Every one else is staying quiet till sundown."</p> + +<p>Wild Thyme was a happy thought, and Eric walked away in search of her. +But she was in the very last place he would have thought to look on such +a scorching day, and that is how he missed her. She was lying full +length on the hot burnt grass in the field at the Forest's edge, loving +the heat and sunshine, which covered her like a mantle. If Eric had seen +her it is probable he would not have known her or stopped to look twice. +He would have thought her just a little patch of the flower that is +named for her.</p> + +<p>So he wandered on and on, looking high and low and all about for her, +and he went deeper and deeper into the Forest. The deeper he went the +cooler it became, for the forest roof kept out the sunshine. The light +grew dimmer and dimmer too. Eric had never been so far in before and +everything was strange to him.</p> + +<p>He saw no Forest People except a little brown goblin who peered at him +from some underbrush and then scuttled away into the darkness of denser +brush. Eric had never seen a goblin before, but he had no fear of +goblins, and so this one did not bother him at all. He heard others +scuttling and squeaking, and one threw a chunk of gray moss at him. He +stopped and picked it up and threw it back with a laugh in the direction +it had come from.</p> + +<p>"Come out and play, why don't you?" he called. "I know where there's a +fine swimming pool." But there was no answer to his invitation. Instead +there was sudden and utter silence. He was disappointed, for he did want +a playmate, and he had almost given up looking for Wild Thyme.</p> + +<p>After walking for a long while he came at last to one of the windings of +the Forest stream, and gratefully stepped into the shallow, clear water, +dark with shadows. His feet were burning, and his head was hot. So he +drank a long drink of the cold, delicious water, ducked his head, and +finally washed his face. Then he waded on with no purpose in mind now +but just to keep his feet in the water.</p> + +<p>It was so he came to the deepest place; where not even Ivra had ever +been. It was almost cool there, and more like twilight than early +afternoon. And right in the deepest place, in a nest of smooth leaves, +with his feet in the water, lay Wild Star. When Eric first caught sight +of him he thought he was asleep, for his wings were lying on the leaves +half folded and dropped, and his knees were higher than his head. But +when Eric went close enough to see his eyes he knew that he was very +wide awake, for they were wide open, watchful and intent,—and purple +like the early morning. Such wide-awake eyes were startling in such a +sleepy, still place. Eric expected him to spread his wings in a flash +and dart away. But the wings stayed half open, purple shadows on the +leaves, and Wild Star did not even raise his head. Only his eyes greeted +Eric.</p> + +<p class="center"><img src="wildstar.jpg" height="480" width="362" alt="" title="" /></p> + +<p>But Eric knew without words that Wild Star was glad to see him. So he +stepped up out of the water and stretched himself on a mound of silvery +moss near by. With his chin resting in his palms and his elbows +supporting, he faced the Wind Creature, his clear blue eyes open to the +intent purple ones.</p> + +<p>It was Wild Star who spoke first.</p> + +<p>"I thought, little Eric, you would have crossed the sea before this, and +be out of the Forest. I expected to find you next fall on the other side +of the world."</p> + +<p>Eric was amazed, for he had not said one word of his dream about that to +any one. "How did you know I wanted to go?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you are an Earth Child, after all, and I knew you would want to be +going on, as soon as you saw the sea."</p> + +<p>"But <i>why</i> do I want to go on?" asked Eric, his face clouding with the +puzzle of it. "I am so happy here, and Helma is my mother now. There +can't be another mother across the sea for me. And if there were I +wouldn't want her,—not after Helma! No, Helma is my only mother, and +Ivra is my comrade. And still I want to leave them,—and go on and away +over there. It is very funny."</p> + +<p>"No," said Wild Star. "It isn't funny. You are a growing Earth Child, +not a fairy. It is your own kind calling you. It is the music of your +human life."</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you mean," said Eric.</p> + +<p>"It is like this: you know when you begin to sing a song, you go on and +on to the end without thinking about it at all. It is the theme that +carries you. Well, a human life is made like a song,—it carries itself +along. You do not stop to think why. It can't stop in the middle, on one +chord, for long. Yours now is resting, on a chord of happiness. But soon +it will go on again. You want it to. Life in the Forest, though, isn't +like that. Here it is music without any theme, like the music we dance +to. Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmm. But there is more than that to an +Earth Child's life. It runs on like this stream. The stream is happy +here in the Forest, too, but it goes on seeking the sea just the same."</p> + +<p>There was a long stillness while Eric looked down into the green depths +of the water. At last he asked, "But how could I ever get across the +sea? And when I got there how could I get back?"</p> + +<p>"Time enough to think about getting back when you are there," laughed +Wild Star. "But as to getting there, Helma is the one to tell you that. +She has been an Earth Child, too, you know. She felt just as you did, +that spring night on the shore. She has felt it many times. It is only +Ivra that keeps her in the Forest. Ivra docs not belong out in the world +of humans, and Helma will never leave her. But she will understand +your longing. All you have to do is tell her."</p> + +<p>Eric clapped his hands, a habit he had caught from Ivra. "Oh, I shall +cross in a ship," he cried, "and see all the foreign lands. And when I +come back, think of the World Stories I shall have to tell Helma and +Ivra!"</p> + +<p>He sprang up in his joy, and felt as though he had wings on his +shoulders like Wild Star, and had only to spread them out to go beating +around the world. For a second the Wind Creature and the Earth Child +looked very much alike. And indeed, the only difference was that Wild +Star had to wait for the wind, and Eric need wait for no wind or no +season. His wings were <i>inside of his head</i>, but they were as strong as +Wild Star's. And he had only to spread them and lift them to go anywhere +he wanted.</p> + +<p>Now he wanted to get back to Helma and tell her all about it. Wild Star +pointed him the shortest way, and off he ran, jumping the stream and the +moss beds beyond, and disappearing into the underbrush.</p> + +<p>"I'll look for you next time the other side of the world!" Wild Star +shouted after him.</p> + +<p>It was twilight when he reached home. Helma and Ivra were sitting on the +door stone, hand in hand. They made room for Eric. But he did not +snuggle up. He stayed erect, his face lifted towards the first dim +stars, and told Helma all about his wanting to go away from them out +through the Forest and across the sea, and all that Wild Star had said +about music and Earth People's lives. And he told her, too, of the +vision of success he had had when he caught Wild Thyme that first day by +her bushy hair.</p> + +<p>Helma listened quietly, and said nothing for many minutes after he was +through. But at last she spoke, putting a hushing hand on Eric's +dreamful head.</p> + +<p>"I understand," she said. "I knew you would want to go on sometime. And +I have a friend across there who will help us. He has a school for boys +and I got to know him very well behind the gray stone wall. He asked me +about the Forest and you children. And he said that Eric sometime would +surely want to go back to humans, and when he did he would help him. He +understands boys. It is to him you had better go, Eric, and when you are +really ready I will tell you how, and start you on your way."</p> + +<p>Eric sighed with contentment, and leaned his head against Helma's +shoulder.</p> + +<p>But Ivra stayed at her mother's other side, as still and silent as a +shadow. Soon the fireflies began their nightly dance in the garden. But +Ivra did not go darting after them as usual to make their dance the +swifter. And Eric's head was too full of dreams and his eyes too full of +visions of the sea to notice them at all.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h2>MORE MAGIC IN A MIST</h2> + +<p>Indian summer had come round again before Eric really made up his mind to +go. The flowers were asleep in the garden, and there was a steady, +gentle shower of yellow leaves down the Forest. That morning when he +woke the little house seemed suspended in a golden mist. As he stood in +the doorway he felt as though it might drift away up over the trees and +into space any minute. But after a little he knew it was not Helma's +little forest house that was to go swinging away into space and +adventure,—it was himself. And suddenly he wanted to go <i>then</i>,—to the +sea and over and beyond. He called the news in to Helma and Ivra, who +were still within doors. Helma came swiftly out to him.</p> + +<p>"The trees are beckoning again, mother," he cried. "The way they did a +year ago when I first came here. Now it is just as Wild Star said. The +music is beginning to go on. There's magic out to-day. Oh, what made +Wild Star know so much?"</p> + +<p>"Sit down," said Helma. She took his hand and drew him down beside her +on the door stone. Then she held it firmly while very slowly and +distinctly, but once only, she gave him directions about how to go, +where to go and what to do, so that he might follow the magic.</p> + +<p>Eric sat and listened attentively, in spite of the high beating of his +heart, and the magic working in his head. As soon as she was done, he +wanted to go right away that minute. For even in his happiness he knew +that saying good-by to all his friends in the Forest would be too sad a +task. They did not say good-by when they went on long adventures, or +followed summer south. They simply disappeared one day, and those who +stayed behind forgot them until next season. So Eric would do as they.</p> + +<p>Only last week Helma had made him a warm brown suit for the coming +winter. The new strong sandals on his feet he had made himself. His cap +was new, too, and Helma had stuck two new little brown feathers in it as +in the old one; so he still had a look of flying. There was really +nothing to delay his departure further. Helma called to Ivra, and she +came out slowly. There was no need to explain things to her, for she had +heard everything.</p> + +<p>Helma lifted Eric's chin in her palms and looked long and earnestly at +the child she was letting go away from her all alone out into the queer +world of Earth People. She picked him up in her strong arms then, as +though he were a very little boy, and kissed him. She ran with him to +the opening in the hedge and set him down there, laughing.</p> + +<p>"Run along now 'round the world," she said. "And when you come back +bring a hundred new World Stories with you!"</p> + +<p>Eric laughed too, and promised and stood on tiptoes to kiss her again. +He stroked her short flower petal hair, and kissed her cool brown cheek +over and over. But he did not cling to her. And he did not say another +word, but ran to catch up with Ivra who was to walk with him until noon +and had gone on ahead.</p> + +<p>The children did not scuffle through the banks of leaves, or jump and +run and burst into play as they were used to doing. They walked steadily +forward, saying very little, neither hurrying nor delaying their steps. +Once when Eric's sandal came untied Ivra knelt to fix it, for she was +still more skillful with knots than he.</p> + +<p>But when the sun showed that it was noon, Ivra's steps grew slower and +slower, dragged and dragged, until at last she stood still in a billow +of leaves.</p> + +<p>"I have to go back now," she said.</p> + +<p>In a flash all the magic swept out of the day for Eric. He knew he could +never say good-by to Ivra, so he stayed silent, looking ahead into the +fluttering, golden forest. But even as he looked the trees began to +beckon with their high fingers, and 'way away, down long avenues of +trees he <i>almost</i> glimpsed the sea.</p> + +<p>Ivra threw her arms about his neck and kissed him. "Good-by, comrade," +was all she said.</p> + +<p>He kissed her cheeks. "I'll come back," he promised. But before he had +gone many steps he turned to see her again. She was standing in the +billow of leaves, a lonely-looking little girl, her face paler than it +had been even on that day of the wind-hunt. He wanted to run back to her +and tell her he would be her playmate always, and never leave the +Forest. But he wanted, too, to go on and across the sea and into foreign +lands. He stayed irresolute.</p> + +<p>And then quite suddenly, standing just behind Ivra, he saw Tree Mother. +She was not looking at him at all, but at Ivra, and her eyes were kind +stars. When Ivra turned to go home she must walk right into Tree +Mother's arms and against her breast. So Eric was happy again, Ivra +could not be lonely with dear Tree Mother. Perhaps she would take her up +in her air-boat high above the falling leaves, where she could look down +on the magic. He waved, calling, "Remember me to the Snow Witches when +they come." That was not because he really wanted to be remembered to +them but because he knew that Ivra liked them best of all, and it +would please her.</p> + +<p>She nodded and waved too, and threw him a kiss. Then a shower of +fluttering leaves came between the playmates.</p> + +<p>When it was clear again Eric had run on out of sight, and was lost to +Ivra in the Forest. On and on and on through the showers of golden +leaves he went, magic at his elbow and around him, and beckoning ahead +of him. And after long walking and many thoughts, at last he did see the +sea, gleaming blue and white sparkles between the golden trees.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little House in the Fairy Wood +by Ethel Cook Eliot + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD *** + +***** This file should be named 10463-h.htm or 10463-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/4/6/10463/ + +Produced by Hilary Caws-Elwitt; images courtesy Rachel Newman +(rachelpages.com) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Little House in the Fairy Wood + +Author: Ethel Cook Eliot + +Release Date: December 15, 2003 [EBook #10463] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD *** + + + + +Produced by Hilary Caws-Elwitt, in memory of Margaret +Devereux Lippitt Rorison + + + + + +THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD + +by + +ETHEL COOK ELIOT + + + TO TORKA AND NORTHWIND + + +CONTENTS + + I. MAGIC IN A MIST + II. THE BRIGHT HOUSE + III. FIRELIGHT + IV. THE GOSSIP + V. WORLD STORIES + VI. AT THE HEART OF A TREE + VII. TREE MOTHER AND THE DROWSY BOAT + VIII. A WITCH AT THE WINDOW + IX. THE WIND HUNT + X. ON THE GRAY WALL + XI. THE BEAUTIFUL WICKED WITCH + XII. IVRA'S BIRTHDAY + XIII. NORA'S GRANDCHILDREN + XIV. SPRING COMES + XV. SPRING WANDERING + XVI. OVER THE TREE TOPS + XVII. THE JUNE MOON + XVIII. THE DEEPEST PLACE IN THE WOOD + XIX. MORE MAGIC IN A MIST + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MAGIC IN A MIST + + +That morning began no differently from any morning, though it was to be +the beginning of all things new for Eric. He was awakened early by Mrs. +Freg's rough hand shaking him by the arm, and her rough voice in his +ears: "Get up, lazy-bones! _All_ you boys pile out, this very minute! +It's six o'clock already!" Then she reached over Eric and shook the +other two boys in the bed with him, repeating and repeating "Wake up, +wake up! It's six o'clock already!" When she was sure the three boys in +the bed were awake and miserable, she crossed the room with a hurried, +heavy tread and clumped, clumped down the stairs into the kitchen. + +Though it happened just that way every morning, and it had happened so +this morning, this day was to be very different from any other in Eric's +life. But Eric could not know that; so he crawled farther down under the +few bedclothes he had managed to keep to himself, and shut his eyes +again just for a minute. + +The night had been a cold one, and the other two boys in the bed, +because they were older and stronger, had managed to keep most of the +bedding wrapped tightly around them, while little Eric shivered on the +very edge. So he had not slept at all in the way little boys of nine +usually sleep,--that is, when they have a bed to themselves, and their +mother has left a kiss with them. When he had slept, he had dreamed he +was wading in icy puddles out in the street. + +But it was only a minute that he huddled there, trying to come really +awake, and then he sprang out, and without thought of a bath, was into +his clothes in a minute. The two older boys followed him more slowly, +yawning, growling, and quarreling. + +Breakfast was served in the kitchen by Mrs. Freg. The room was bare and +ugly like the rest of the house, and the food was far from satisfying. +As the older boys got most of the bedding for themselves, so they got +most of the breakfast, while Mr. and Mrs. Freg laughed at them, and +praised them for fine, hearty boys who knew what they wanted and would +get it. + +"You will succeed in the world, both of you," said Mrs. Freg with +mother-pride gleaming in her eyes, when they had managed to seize and +divide between them little Eric's steaming cup of coffee,--the only hot +thing he had hoped for that morning. + +"Will I be a success, too?" asked Eric in a faint but hopeful voice. + +"You!" said the harsh woman. "You, young man, had better be thankful to +work on at the canning instead of starving in the streets. That's the +fate of most orphans. Success indeed! Now hurry along, all of you. It's +quarter to seven." + +But right here is where the day began to differ from other days. Eric +did not hurry along. He threw down his spoon and cried, "I'd just as +soon starve in the streets, and wade in its icy puddles, too, as live +here with you and your nasty boys and work in that old canning factory! +I just wonder how you'd feel if I went out this morning and never, never +came back! I'd like to do that!" + +Mrs. Freg laughed, and her laugh was not a nice mother-laugh at all, for +she was not Eric's mother, and had never pretended that she was. + +"Why, little spitfire, it wouldn't matter a bit except to make one less +mouth to feed. But you won't be so silly as that. You don't want to +starve." + +"All right," said little Eric, snatching his cap from its peg. "You said +it wouldn't matter to you. You won't see me again, any of you. I hate +you all, and everything in the world. I hate you. You've made me hate +you hard!" + +Then he suddenly ran out into the street. + +In a minute he was in a flood of people, men, women and children moving +towards the canning factory, a big brick building on the outskirts of +the city. Eric had worked in that factory from the day he was seven. +There is no need to tell you what he did there, for this is not the +story of the canning factory Eric,--the queer, hating Eric who had waked +up that morning. + +But how he did hate! His eyes were full of hating tears, and they were +running down his face, making horrid white streaks on his dirty cheeks. +He was hating so hard that he did not even care if people saw his tears. +He lifted his face straight up and dropped his arms straight down at his +side and walked right along, no matter how fast the tears came. + +Now he had often hated before, but never quite like this. Before, it had +been a frightened hate, a gnawing, hurting thing deep down in his heart. +But to-day it was a flaring hate, a burning thing right up in his head. +It was big, too, because it included everything that he knew, Mrs. Freg, +her boys, the street, the people jostling him, and hottest and wildest +of all the canning factory. How terrible to go in there in the morning, +when the sun was only just up, and not to come out again until it was +quite down! Eric knew little about play, but he did know that if he +could only be let stay out in the sunshine he would find things to do +there. If they'd only let him try it once! + +So he walked along in the direction the others were going, the hating +tears in his eyes and on his face. But no one laughed at him, and no one +asked him what was the matter, even the other children. For he was not +crying in the usual way with little boys. He was walking along with his +head up. So people did not bother him. + +He had reached the outskirts of the town, and was almost in the shadow +of the big, cruel factory, when the Magic began to work. For there was +magic in this day that had started so badly. It was only waiting for +Eric to see it before it would take hold of him and carry him away into +happiness. It had waited for him at the door of the dull, bare little +house that had never been home to him, but his tears would not let him +see it. So it had followed along beside him all the way to the factory, +waiting for him to feel, even if he could not see. And he did +feel,--just in time to let the Magic work. + +He felt that the day that had begun so freezingly was warm, strangely +warm. He wiped the tears from his eyes away to the side of his face with +his sleeve, and looked about. The sun was very bright, but in a mild, +pleasant way. And a tree on the other side of the street was showering +softly, softly, softly, yellow autumn leaves, until they covered the +cobblestones all around. Eric did not think about being late. The Magic +was pulling him now. He went across and stood under the tree, and felt +the leaves showering on his head and shoulders, and caught a few in his +hands. + +All the people passed, and soon the last one was hidden behind the heavy +factory door. Eric gave the door a glance or two, but did not go. Over +the roof of the factory he saw the tops of tall trees waving. He had +never looked so high above the factory before. But he knew there was a +wood on the other side, a wood he had always been too tired to think of +exploring, even on holidays. Now he saw the tops of the tall trees +beckoning him in a golden mist. "The mist is the yellow leaves they're +dropping," thought Eric. With every beckon the golden mist of leaves +grew brighter and brighter, until he could not see the beckoning any +more, but only the mist. Still he knew the beckoning was going on behind +the mist. + +"If I'm to live in the streets at night," he thought to himself, +"there's no need to live in the factory by day. I'll just go and see +what those trees want of me." + +Very slowly, with little firm steps, he went by the factory door, and +then around under its windows to the wood at the back. + +It was Indian Summer. That was why the golden leaves were showering in a +mist, and why the sun was so warm. + +Eric dropped his ragged coat and cap on the edge of the wood,--it was so +warm,--and went in. + +A little girl had been watching him from her place at one of the factory +windows where she was sorting cans. She had seen him before, working at +the factory, day after day, and they had played together sometimes in +the noon half hour. Now she wondered what he was doing out there. Had +they sent him, perhaps, to do a different kind of work that could only +be done in the woods? But as he walked away in under the trees farther +and farther, the golden mist that was over the wood drew in about him; +and although she leaned far forward over the cans at a great risk of +knocking over dozens and setting them rolling,--he was lost in it. It +had dropped down behind him like a curtain. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE BRIGHT HOUSE + + +Eric knew nothing of the little girl and her thoughts. He was walking in +a golden mist, but he could see quite perfectly, and even far ahead down +long tree aisles. At first the trees did not grow very close together, +and there was little underbrush. Several narrow paths started off in +different directions,--straight little paths made by people who knew +where they were going. But Eric did not know where he was going, so he +struck off in a place where there was no sign of a path. Soon the trees +drew closer and closer together, until their branches locked fingers +overhead and shook the yellow leaves down for each other. The leaves +showered softly and steadily. Eric's feet rustled loudly in them. + +Soon he stopped and took off his worn shoes and stockings. He left them +where he took them off and went on, barefoot. Now that he was only in +his shirt and trousers he began to run and leap. He leapt for the +drifting leaves, and he ran farther and farther into the happy +stillness. + +The trees crowded and crowded, and the mist of leaves grew brighter and +brighter. No birds sang, for they had all flown away for the winter, and +there were no flowers. But the drifting leaves hid the bareness, and +magic covered everything. + +After Eric had run and leapt and waded in the crackling pools of leaves +for a long time, he grew hungry. "But there is no food here," he +thought; "and anyway it doesn't matter. It's much better to be hungry +here than in the dirty streets." + +He decided to go to sleep and forget about it. So he lay down in the +leaves. They fell over him, a steady, gentle shower, and he slept long, +and without dreaming anything. + +But when he woke he was cold. And worse than that, the golden mist had +faded. It was almost twilight. The light was cold and still and gray. +While he slept Indian Summer had vanished and its magic with it. + +Now no matter how fast Eric ran, or how high he jumped, he was chilly +through and through. But he did not think of trying to find the way out +of the wood. The streets would be as cold as the forest, and never, +never, never, if he starved and froze, was he going back to that house +in the village where he had lived but never belonged. So he went on +until the gray light faded, and the soft rustle of falling leaves +changed to the noise of wind scraping in bare branches. When he was very +cold, and ready to lie down and sleep again to forget, he came quite +suddenly on an opening in the trees. In the dim light he saw a little +garden closed in with a hedge of baby evergreens. The wind was rustling +through the stalks of dead flowers in the garden. But in the middle of +it was a little low house, and the windows and doors were glowing like +new, warm flowers. + +Yes, it was a house and a garden away there in the wood, but no path led +to it through the forest, and there was a strangeness about it as about +no house or garden Eric had ever seen. + +Although no path led through the wood to the house, a path did run +through the garden to the low door stone. Eric went up it and stood +looking in at the door, which was open. + +The glow of the house came from a leaping, jolly fire in a big stone +fire-place, and from half a dozen squat candles set in brackets around +the walls. It was the one lovely room that Eric had ever seen. It was so +large that he knew it must occupy the whole of the little house. But in +spite of all the brightness, the comers were dim and far. + +There were two strange people there, or they were strange to Eric +because they were so different from any people he had ever known. One +was a young woman who sat sewing cross-legged on a settle at the side of +the fire-place. About her the strangest thing was her hair. It was not +like most women's,--long and twisted up on her head. It was short, and +curled back above her ears and across her forehead like flower-petals. +It was the color of the candle-flames. But her face was brown, and her +neck and long hands were brown, as though she had lived a long time in +the sun. Her eyes that were lifted and scarcely watching the work in her +hands, were very quiet and gray. + +She was watching and talking to a little girl who was skipping back and +forth between a rough tea-table set near the fire and an open +cupboard-door in the wall. She was carrying dishes to the table, and now +and then stopping to stir something good-smelling which hung over the +fire in a pewter pot, with a strong bent twig for a handle. + +The child was strange in a very different way from her mother. The +mother, one could see, was merry in spite of her quiet eyes. But the +child was pale. Her face was pale and little and round. Her hair was +pale, too, the color of ashes, and braided in two smooth little braids +hanging half way down her back. She moved with almost as much swiftness +as the fire-shadows, and as softly too. + +Both mother and daughter were dressed in rough brown smocks, with narrow +green belts falling loosely,--strange garments to Eric. And their feet +were bare. + +But stranger than the house, stranger than the people in it, was the +fact that the mother was talking to the little girl just as people of +the same age talk to each other; and though Eric was shaking with cold +and aching with hunger, he could still wonder deeply at that. + +"It's a long way 'round by the big pine," she was saying; "but you see I +am home in time for supper. Suppose I had not come until after dark. +What would you have done, Ivra?" + +The little girl stopped in her busy-ness to stand on one foot and think +a second. "Why, I'd have put the supper over the fire, lighted the +candles, and run out to meet you." + +"Oh, but you wouldn't know which way to run. I might come from any +direction." + +"I'd follow the wind," cried Ivra, lifting her serious face and rising +to her tiptoes, one arm outstretched, as though she were going to follow +the wind right then and there. + +It was at that minute they noticed the door had blown open, and that a +little boy was standing in it, looking at them. + +But they neither stared nor exclaimed. Ivra ran to him, her arms still +outstretched in the flying gesture, and drew him in. His dirty face was +streaked with tears, and his legs and feet were blue with the cold. They +knew it was not question-time, but comfort-time, so the mother folded an +arm about him, and Ivra skipped more rapidly than ever between the +cupboard and the table. Almost at once supper was ready, and the table +set for three. As the last thing, Ivra brought all the candles and set +them in the middle of the table. They sat down,--Eric with his back to +the fire. It warmed him through and through, but their friendly faces +warmed him more. + +Very little was said, but when the meal was nearly over Ivra asked him +how long he was going to stay with them. Immediately he stopped eating +and dropped his spoon. His eyes filled with tears. He had utterly +forgotten about his plight until then,--how he was homeless, workless +and bound to starve and freeze sooner or later. Ivra's mother saw the +misery in his face and quietly spoke, "We hope for a long time. As long +as you want to, anyway. Three in a wood will be merrier than two in a +wood. . . . If you like me I will be your mother." + +Ivra clapped her hands. "Stay always," she cried. "I will be your +playmate. There will be many playmates besides, too, and I will help you +find them." + +Eric glowed. The hatred that had been flaring in his head suddenly +faded, and the heavy thing that had been his heart for as long as he +could remember, became light as thistledown. He looked at the mother and +the kindness in her eyes made him tremble. "I will stay and be your +child," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FIRELIGHT + + +When supper was done the three put away the supper things, carried the +table back to its place in the corner, and set the candles in their +brackets about the walls. Then almost at once the mother said it was +bath-time and bed-time. + +Bath-time! Baths had been rare in Eric's life, and when they did happen +were unhappy adventures,--cold water in a hand basin in the kitchen +sink, a scratchy sponge, and a towel too small. So if Mrs. Freg had said +"bath-time and bed-time" to him now, he might have run away. But if +Ivra's mother said it, it must be. She was _his_ mother too, now, and he +loved her and thought her beautifully strange. + +A surprise was waiting for him. The bath was a deep basin set in the +wall. There was a fountain in it that one had only to turn on to have +the basin fill with clear water. Eric slipped out of his ragged shirt +and trousers and climbed up into it. The fountain came splashing down on +his dusty, shaggy head, falling in rivulets down his back and breast. He +was like a bird taking a bath; there was such happy splashing and +dipping. + +But no bird had ever the gentle soft drying, or was wrapped in such a +warm night gown as the mother found for Eric. It was one of Ivra's night +gowns, but quite large enough. Then she tucked him into a narrow couch +far from the fire. It was the first time Eric could ever remember having +slept alone. + +Ivra was already in a bed against the opposite wall. Before the mother +got into hers, which was open and ready for her, she blew out all the +candles and opened the door and windows. + +"Good night, my lambs," she said, and a very few minutes afterwards Eric +could see by the firelight that his mother and playmate were asleep. + +How cold the wind felt as it blew over his face! But how warm and snug +his body was, there in the soft, clean night gown between the light, +warm blankets! How fine to be there so warm in bed while his cheeks grew +red in the cold air and burned deliciously. How could he ever sleep? He +was too happy! + +He looked at the fire. And then he looked harder. It was not a fire at +all, but a young girl, all bright and golden, sitting with her head +drowsily bent forward on her knees and her arms wrapped close about her +legs. But as he watched she slowly lifted her bright head, and looked +quietly about the room. Then she gradually and beautilully rose and +stepped out of the fireplace onto the floor. Slowly she moved across to +the mother's couch and stood still as though looking down at her. Slowly +she bent and drew the bed-clothes higher about her shoulders, and kissed +the flower-petal hair curled back on the pillow. + +She moved then to Ivra's couch, still slowly and very beautifully, and +Eric could see her smile at the little one huddled there, half on her +face, one arm thrown up over her head. Gently the fire-girl rolled her +into a relaxed position on her side, tucked in the flung arm, and kissed +the closed eyelids. + +Then she stood a minute, looking away, Eric did not know where. But his +heart began to ache with wonder and longing. Would she come to him +too--or was he only a stranger? + +He lay still, watching her from his dark corner. At last she stopped +looking away, and came across the floor to him. She brought all the +brightness of the room with her, and her feet made no sound on the +boards. When she stood above him he shut his eyes, though he wanted very +much to look up into her face. She bent down and her hands smoothed his +covers, warmed his pillow and lay still for a minute like sunlight on +his cheek. + +When he opened his eyes again, she had gone back to the fireplace, all +her brightness with her, and was resting there, a drowsy, golden girl, +her head bent forward on her knees and her slim arms wrapped close about +her legs. + +Eric lay and watched her for many sleepy minutes while her light fell +dimmer and dimmer, lower and lower. When it was just a tiny flicker he +dropped to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE GOSSIP + + +He slept long and deeply, for when he woke he felt rested. But he did not +open his eyes. "It must be time for Mrs. Freg to shake me," he was +thinking. "Until she does I'll just stay as I am and pretend it wasn't a +dream, but real." For although he remembered very well all that had +happened to him yesterday, he could not believe it was true. + +So he lay still in his snug bed, wondering that Mrs. Freg's boys had +left him so much of the bed-clothes. "How fine to have a little time to +pretend a dream!" he said to himself. But Mrs. Freg did not come and did +not come, until at last he opened his eyes, just in wonderment. "It must +be six o'clock!" + +When he saw where he was, and that the dream was true, his heart almost +stood still for joy. He was indeed far away in the woods, safe and snug +and warm in this bright house, and Mrs. Freg could never reach him here. +And he would not go to the canning factory that day, nor the next, nor +the next, nor ever again. The new mother had said so. His happiness +brought him up in bed wide awake, and then he got out. He had not +learned to bound out yet, but that came. + +The fire was burning merrily. All was in order, the beds made and pushed +back against the wall, the hearth swept, and some clusters of bright red +berries arranged above the fireplace. But where were Ivra and +Helma?--Ivra had called her mother "Helma" last night, and so it was +that Eric already called her and thought of her. There was not the +tiniest sign of them. + +Oh, but yes. There on the floor near the hearth lay a little brown +sandal, one of its strings pulled out and making a curlycue on the +floor. That must belong to Ivra. The fire, the red berries, and the +little, worn sandal, seemed to be wishing Eric a good morning and a +happy day. There was plenty of mush in the pot swinging over the fire, +and on the table drawn up to it, a wooden spoon, a bowl, and a jug of +rich cream. So they had not forgotten him. They had only let him sleep +as long as he would. They must have stolen about like mice, getting +breakfast, clearing up, and tidying the room; and then closed the door +very softly behind them when they went out. + +And wonder of wonders! After yesterday's Indian Summer, outside it was a +wild winter day. Gusts of snow were hurling against all the windows of +the house, and blowing a fine spray under the door. Eric with his face +against a windowpane could see only as far as the evergreen hedge +because the trees beyond were wreathed in whirling snowclouds. The dead +flowers in the garden were hidden under the blowing snow. The little +straight walk up to the door was lost in it, and the footprints Ivra and +Helma must have made when they went away were hidden too. + +Something red blew against the hedge. For a minute Eric thought it was a +big bird. But it found the opening and came through, and then he saw it +was a little old woman. She came briskly up to the house, a red cape +blowing about her, sometimes right up over her head, for because of the +jug she was carrying she could not hold it down. She walked in without +stopping to knock and was as surprised to see Eric there as he was to +see her. But she got over it at once. + +"Good morning," she said cheerfully, going across the room, whisking a +pitcher out of the cupboard and emptying her jug of milk into it. "This +is the milk for them, and it's as much as ever that I got here with it. +The wind is in a fine mood-pushed me here and there all the way through +the wood, and tried to steal my cape from me, say nothing of Helma's +milk! Perhaps some of the Wind Creatures wanted them, or it might be old +Tree Man himself, looking for a winter cape for his daughter. But I +said, 'No, no. The milk is for Helma and little Ivra! I take it to them +every morning and I'll take it this morning whether or no, so pull all +you like--cape or milk you'll not get. The cape has a good clasp, and +I've a good hold of the jug. Pull away!" + +Here the old woman--the pitcher put away, and the cupboard door +closed--dropped down on the settle and waited for Eric to speak. She was +a jolly little old woman, one could see at a glance. Her face was the +color of a good red apple, and just as round and shiny. Her eyes were +beady black, bright and quick, and surrounded by a hundred finest +wrinkles, that all the smiles of her life had made. Her mouth was pursed +up like a button, out of which her words came shooting, quick and bright +and merry. + +Eric stood looking at her, not thinking to say anything. So after the +briefest pause she went on, peeping into the pot. + +"I see you have some mush here, so as I've come all the way from the +farm and am ready for a second breakfast after my tussle with the wind, +I'll share it with you. Or perhaps you have had yours already." + +"No, no," cried Eric, suddenly remembering how hungry he was and hoping +she would not take it all. "I have just waked up." + +"So. Then we'll breakfast together," and away she flew to the cupboard +again and brought out a second bowl and spoon. Then she stirred the mush +round and round a few times and dished it up. Eric noticed that she +divided it exactly evenly. She flooded both bowls with cream, and +together they sat down to it. What a good breakfast that was, and how +fast the little old woman talked! + +But in spite of all her talking and flying around she had looked Eric up +and down and through and through, and made up her mind what kind of a +person he was. What she saw was a pale little boy of nine in a ragged +shirt and trousers, and barefooted. His hair was shaggy and unbrushed +but tossed back from a wide brow. His mouth was sullen. But she forgot +all about shabby clothes, unbrushed hair, and sullen mouth when she came +to his eyes. They were wide and clear, and returned the old woman's keen +glance with a gaze of steady interest. Sullen and pale, but +clear-eyed--she liked the little stranger. And so she went on talking. + +"I bring them milk every day. It's a long way here from my farm, but not +too far when it's for them. Helma's gone into the village, hasn't she? +When I came to Little Pine Hill this morning the snow stopped whirling +for a minute, and I caught a glimpse of her a-striding across the +fields. It's a fine way of walking she has--like the bravest of Forest +People! When I reached the Tree Man's the wind didn't stop for me, but I +spied that child, Ivra, just where I knew she'd be,--racing and chasing +and dancing with the Snow Witches out at the edge of the wood. 'It's a +pity she can't go with her mother,' I said to myself when I saw her, +'and not be wasting her time like that. The Snow Witches are no good to +any one. But--'" + +Eric interrupted there, having finished his mush and pricking up his +cars at the mention of witches. + +"Are they really witches?" he cried. "And have you seen them yourself?" + +"What else would they be?" asked the old woman. "They're the creatures +that come out in windy, snowy weather, to dance in the open fields and +run along country roads. Ordinary people are afraid of them and stay +indoors when they're about. Their streaming white hair has a way of +lashing your face as they rush by, and then they never look where +they're going. They care nothing about running into you and knocking the +breath out of you. Then, they're so cruel to children!" + +"But Ivra isn't afraid of them!" wondered Eric. + +"Not she," said the old woman. "She runs _with_ them instead of away +from them. When I saw them back there they had all taken hands and were +leaping in a circle around her. She was jumping and dancing in the +center as wild and lawless as they, and just as high, too. . . . But it's a +pity she isn't with her mother all the same, going on decent errands in +the village. Only of course it's not her fault, poor child! She daren't +go into the village." + +"Why _daren't_ she?" asked Eric. + +"_How_ dare she?" cried the old woman. "She'd be seen, for she's only +part fairy, of course. But hush, hush!" + +She clapped her hands over her mouth. "What am I telling you,--one of +the secrets of the forest, and you a stranger here? You must forget it +all. Ivra's a good child. Now don't ask me any more questions, or I +might tell you more." + +But Eric had begun to wonder. What did it mean, that Ivra was part +fairy? And why wasn't it safe for her to be seen in the village? And +were there really witches, and was she playing with them out there in +the wild day? + +The old woman was talking on, but he heard no more. + +Then the door blew open in a snowy gust of wind, and there stood Helma, +the mother, her arms full of bundles, her cheeks ruddy from the wind, +and her short hair crisp and blown. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +WORLD STORIES + + +Now Eric learned that the old woman's name was Nora, for that was what +Helma called her, and seemed glad to find her there. She stayed on only +long enough to see what Helma had brought in her bundles, and then +started out for the farm, drawing her red cape closely about her this +time, and not blowing much as she walked briskly to the gap in the +hedge. Once through she disappeared quickly in the high drifting snow. +Hardly had she gone her way when Ivra came from another, jumping the +hedge and reaching the door in three bounds. + +Helma had bought a good deal of thick brown cloth in the village and a +strip of brown leather. It was all for Eric. She had noticed his lack of +shoes and stockings last night, and that his worn clothes were much too +poor and thin for winter in the forest. To-day, while she sewed for him, +he would have to stay in. That was a pity, for it is such fun out in a +storm. By night, though, all would be finished. + +"And that is good!" exclaimed Ivra. "For to-night the Tree Man has asked +us to a party. We're going to roast chestnuts and play games, and +there's to be a surprise, too. The Tree Girl called it all out to me as +I passed just now. She put only her head through the door, for the snow +came so suddenly it caught her without a single white frock,--only a +bonnet. But that was pretty. It has five points like a star, mother." + +"The Tree Girl," said Eric. "What a queer name! But how did she know +about me to ask me too? Did she ask me?" + +"I told her about you. And of course she asked you. You are my +playmate!" + +Helma pulled a table to the settle and sat down with all the brown cloth +before her, a work-basket, and shears. But first she measured Eric for +his new clothes. + +"You may make the leggins, if you want to," she said to Ivra, "and when +you come to a hard place tell me and I will help. You may even measure +them yourself.... We're the only Forest People, Eric, who wear anything +but white in the winter. Most Forest People like to be the color of +their world. They often laugh at us. But I like brown. Ivra makes me +think of a brown, blown leaf, and now here will be two of them! You can +blow together all over the forest." + +Eric's eyes swam in sudden, happy tears, but he only said, "_Nora_ wore +red." + +"Oh, she's not one of us," laughed Helma. "But she's lived close to us +so long, she is able to see us. We aren't afraid of her. She's a good +neighbor." + +But why might they be afraid of such a nice old woman, Eric wondered. He +was to learn sometime, and much beside, for this was the beginning of +new things for him, and his mother, Helma, and Ivra were strange people. +But how he loved them! + +"Now that we are settled at our work, and nothing to interrupt, what +shall it be?" asked Helma. She and Ivra were sewing briskly, one in each +corner of the settle. Eric was stretched on the floor, looking now into +the blaze, and now up at the windows where the snow tapped and swirled; +for to-day,--Helma had said,--was to be a rest day for him. It was the +first rest day he could remember, and how _good_ it was! To know he +could lie there with no cans to sort or label for hours, and no Mrs. +Freg to boss him about when work was over! There were to be no more cans +for him forever, and no more Mrs. Freg. Helma had said that quite +firmly. He believed her and was so happy that he trembled. And so, it +being true that never again should he go back to that unchildlike life +that had frightened him so, and tired him so, all the breaths he drew +felt like sighs of relief, and he turned his shaggy little head on his +arm, crooked under it, and watched Helma's flying brown fingers with +glad eyes. + +"What shall it be?" asked Helma. + +"Oh, World Stories, please," said Ivra, drawing her feet up under her as +she bent over her sewing. + +"Eric probably knows very few of the World Stories," said Helma. "So +sometime I shall have to go back to the beginning and tell them all over +for him." + +"And I'll stay and hear them over again too!" cried Ivra, dropping her +work to clasp her hands. "I love to hear stories over." + +"Why, better than that, you might tell them yourself. Would you like +that?" + +"Oh, yes--if I can. Do you suppose I can, mother Helma? I shall begin at +the very beginning, way back before men were in the world at all, or +fairies even. He'd like to hear about the big animals. And you will +listen, mother, to see that I get it all right?" + +Now these World Stories of Helma's were wonderful stories, but all true. +They began way back when the Earth was young. There were stories about +the Earth itself, how it hung in space and turned, making day and night. +When the strange, great animals that by-and-by appeared on the Earth and +have since gone from it first came into the stories, and then, later, +the floods and glaciers, and at last the first man,--any child might +have listened with delight and wonder. Ivra had listened so ever since +she was a tiny girl, old enough to understand at all. And with man, and +the wonderful happenings that came along with him, Ivra had begged for +the stories day and night, and never could have enough of them. For then +in a great procession came the stories of cities and nations, of great +men and women, of explorations and adventures. They led in turn to +stories of languages and writing, of painting and geometry, of music and +of life. The names of these things may not promise good stories to you, +but that is only because you do not know them as stories. If you could +listen to Helma telling them, by the fire, or out in the starlight, deep +in the wood, or swinging in a tree-top,--then no other stories you might +ever hear would satisfy you quite. So perhaps it is as well you do not +know now just where Helma's little house is standing deep in the wood +under the snow. + +Ivra always said that the nicest thing about the stories was the +interruptions. Helma never minded them, and she answered all the +questions Ivra asked. She answered them by making things that Ivra could +see with her own eyes, by drawing pictures on the ground or in the +ashes, building with earth or snow, playing with wind and water, and in +a hundred other ways. Sometimes the answer to a question would take up +the playtime of a whole day. + +But now Eric was to hear his first story, World Story or any other kind. +Can you imagine how it would feel if to-day you were to hear the first +story of your life? + +"All ready?" asked Helma. + +The silence in the room said plainer than words that all was ready for +the World Story. This time it was a story about a man named Saint +Francis, and a story after Eric's own heart. + +Almost as fast as the story went the work of Helma's fingers. But Ivra +was neither so swift nor so skilled, and the leggins were dropped many +times from forgetful hands because all her thoughts were gone away +following the story. + +Yet somehow the leggins got done, and the jacket and trousers got done, +and even a little round cap, and all before dusk. For a finishing touch +Helma sewed two soft little brown feathers she had picked up in the snow +one on either side of the cap,--which gave Eric, small as they were and +soft as they were, a look of flying. + +Then nothing remained but the sandals, and because Eric was well rested +by then, he was allowed to help at them. They were cut from the strip of +brown leather, and Helma showed Eric how to shape them and sew them +himself. So after supper he stood attired, all in brown, a pale, happy +child, ready for his first party. + +Ivra and Eric were to go to the Tree Man's party alone, for Helma was +going far away from the wood to spend the evening with a comrade. It was +to be a very long walk for her, for she put on her heaviest sandals and +pulled the hood of her cloak up over her hair. + +She walked with the children as far as Little Pine Hill. It was a low +hill, bare of trees, except for a dwarfed pine on the top. In summer the +slope was slippery with the needles of the little pine, but now it was +several inches deep in snow. It was bright starlight, and far away down +an avenue of trees, Eric saw shining open fields, and beyond them the +lights of the town. + +There Helma said good-by. Eric looking up at her in the starlight saw +her hair like pale firelight under her dark hood and her eyes so calm +and friendly. He clung to her hand for a minute. + +"Have a good time," she told them. Ivra leapt away and Eric after her. +Helma stood watching until their little forms had flickered out of sight +among tree-shadows. Then she sped down the starlit avenue towards the +open fields and the town. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AT THE HEART OF A TREE + + +Ivra and Eric ran until the stars were almost lost to them under the snow +roof of the forest. Once Eric stopped to tie his sandal-string which had +loosened and was bothering him. Then the stillness of the world startled +him. + +He cried to Ivra to wait, and she came back to his side. "Don't be +frightened," she comforted. "There are Forest People near us. They would +walk with us, for some of them are going to the party too, but they are +afraid of you. That's why they've drawn their white hoods over their +heads and keep away. Once we are inside the Tree Man's, though, it will +be all right. They'll come in too, and not be afraid any more." + +"But why are they afraid of me?" asked Eric, tugging at his +sandal-string. "No one else has ever been afraid of me. Even Juno, Mrs. +Freg's cat, who was afraid of 'most every one, liked me and jumped into +my lap. Why are the Forest People afraid?" + +"Well, they are Forest People, you see, and you are an Earth Child. +Mother and I weren't afraid of you, of course, because,--we aren't +exactly Forest People." + +Ivra paused and the silence came back. Eric looked up at her. + +"Are you cold?" he asked. + +"No, no." But she began to jump up and down and knock her heels together +to get warm. Eric still struggled with his lacings. Ivra stopped jumping +and went down on her knees in the snow to straighten them out for him. +Eric's fingers were awkward with knots, and besides, now, they were numb +with the cold. But Ivra had everything right in a minute. She crossed +the strings over his instep and tied them snugly above his ankle almost +before he could think. Then they ran on. In starlit spaces Eric caught +glimpses of hurrying figures, so swift and light he could not tell +whether they walked or flew. Their cloaks sparkled white in starlight +until he was not sure but they might be starbeams, and not Forest People +at all. + +One suddenly started up just at his elbow, and was away like the wind. +Ivra began to run and to call after it. "Wild Star! Silly Wild Star! +It's only I, Ivra, and my playmate. Wait for us!" + +Eric followed her, running as fast as he could, but the snow held him +back, and all the trees in the forest seemed to gather to stand in his +way. Ivra came back to him, laughing. "They are so afraid of you! No one +will come near us until the Tree Man is there to protect him." + +Soon they came to a big beech-tree standing in an open space with +smaller beeches making a circle around it. The starlight showed, +strangely, a narrow door in the trunk. Ivra pushed it open and Eric +followed in after her, wondering at going into a tree. + +They were on a flight of stairs lighted by starlight from a window +somewhere high up. At the head of the flight they came to a door, and +through the crack beneath it streamed a warmer light than starlight. +Ivra opened that door gayly, and through it with her, Eric went to his +first party. + +It was the jolliest room in all the world. The firelight and candlelight +did not reach so far as the walls, but left them in soft darkness. So +Eric had the feeling that the room was really much too large to be +inside of a tree. But in spite of its bigness, it was very cozy. The +fireplace was in the middle of the floor, just a great hollowed boulder, +heaped with crackling twigs. + +The candles, red, green, yellow, brown and orange, stood circlewise on a +table by which the Tree Man sat, carving a doll out of a stick. A +workbasket on the table was overflowing with bright threads and pieces +of queer cloth. + +Eric saw these things because just for a minute he was too shy to look +at the people in the room. Almost at once he had to look at the Tree +Man, however, for he came and shook him by the shoulders. Eric had been +shaken by the shoulders before, so he shrank away. But this was very +different from Mrs. Freg's shakings. The Tree Man was chuckling, not +scolding, and the dark eyes that Eric looked up above the long white +beard to find were friendly and wise. + +"Do not fear us, little Earth Child," he said. "It is we that have cause +to fear you. You have only to blink your eyes, pretend to be knowing, +and we are nothing. But your eyes are so wide and so clear, we trust +you. Ivra told us there was not the tiniest shadow in them, not even the +shadow of leaf. Only hunger. But we're not afraid of hunger. Come, have +a good time at the party." + +Then the Tree Girl, the Tree Man's daughter, came to him. She was shy, +and shook all her soft brown hair about her cheeks. A circle of little +yellow leaves kept her hair from her eyes, which, in spite of her +bashfulness, were steady and kind like her father's. "I am glad you are +here." she said. From that minute Eric felt at home in the tree. + +Eric and Ivra were the first of the guests. The others perhaps had been +too scared to come. But soon knock after knock sounded at the door, and +in flocked the Forest People who had been invited. + +First came the Bird Fairies, five of them together, merry and good +little creatures as ever lived in the wood. They had arrived only that +day from their summer homes in the far north, 'way up among the +snow-barrens. They always spent the winter in this wood, living in the +empty birds' nests and spending their time making up songs to teach the +birds that would come back in the spring. Bird Fairies cannot sing a +note themselves, nor carry an air, but they make up fine songs for the +spring birds, who while they can sing with beautiful voices really have +but few ideas. + +They are fluffy, cuddly, swift little creatures, tiny and quiet. One +might think them of little account just at first, but not for long. For +they are the farthest-traveled of all the Forest People, except the Wind +Creatures only. Now they were fluttering in, and off came their white +cloaks and forth they hopped in bright colors, little feet twinkling and +pattering, little wings lifting and wavering. They gathered around the +Tree Man, nestling in a row on his shoulder, running up and down his +arms, giving all of the news of their long journey into his ear. He +chuckled and chuckled and soon sat down by the table again, nodding his +head with delight at the tales they were telling him. + +Meanwhile, another group entered,--the Forest Children. The Forest +Children are little girls and boys who live all by themselves in moss +houses deep in the thickest of the forest, and know nothing of mothers, +nurses or schools. They came tumbling, cheering, and skipping in, curls +bobbing, eyes shining. When their white cloaks were taken off with the +help of the Tree Girl and Ivra, it was plain to see that they had no +mothers. Their frocks were torn and stained, and half their +sandal-strings untied and flapping. The Tree Girl sighed as she patted +the bobbing curls into some order, tied the laces and straightened a +buckle here and there. + +Now the room was musical with sound. + +The last guest arrived, Wild Star, who had run away from Eric in the +forest. He was a Wind Creature. Wind Creatures are growing-up girls and +boys who live near the edge of the forest. Like all fairies, they can +only be seen by Earth People on a day that is clearer than a day should +be, or by people like Eric who have no shadows in their eyes. + +Wild Star dropped his bright white cloak as he entered. His wings were +purple, the color of early morning, high and pointed. But they clapped +themselves neatly down his back to avoid the ceiling. He was a beautiful +boy, wild and starry, and that is how he got his name. Wind Creatures +are strong and swift, a little too wide-awake and far-traveled to be +very intimate with the Forest People. But Wild Star, though he was as +swift and strong as any, often came to the Tree Man's, and often played +with the Forest Children in their moss village for days together. He +loved the Tree Man, and now he sat down cross legged by him, and laid +his bright cheeck against his knee. + +So the party began. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +TREE MOTHER AND THE DROWSY BOAT + + +"Let's play hide-and-go-seek," cried the Forest Children, for that is +always their favorite game. + +Up jumped Wild Star, down fluttered the Bird Fairies, in crowded the +Forest Children, and the Tree Man counted out for them. He pointed his +finger at each in turn while he said this verse, which he made up on the +spot: + + "Sticks are racing in the flood-- + Trees are racing in the wood-- + In the tree-tops winds are racing-- + In the sky-tops clouds are chasing. + In the tree-heart snug and warm, + We hear nothing of the storm. + + When we play at hide-and-seek, + It is _you_ must count the sheep." + +At "you" the finger pointed at Eric, and it meant that he was to be +"It." + +"Put your head here on my knee. Shut your eyes and count one hundred +sheep jumping over a stone wall, not too fast," explained the Tree Man. +"While you're counting the others hide. Anywhere in this room, and +anywhere on the stairs. Out-doors is no fair." + +"But _where_ are the sheep?" asked Eric, "and how can I count them with +my eyes shut?" + +Every one suddenly looked puzzled. The Forest Children's eyes grew wide +with wondering. The Bird Fairies fluttered uneasily. The Tree Girl +seemed dazed. Wild Star said, "Why, we never thought of that,--where +_are_ they?" + +But Ivra laughed and ran to Eric. She took his hand and said, "The sheep +are inside your own head. Just shut your eyes and try to see them. It is +very easy. The wall is low, and there's a place where the stones are +beginning to roll down. The sheep go over there, one by one." + +Eric shut his eyes and put his head down on the Tree Man's knee. And it +began to happen just as Ivra had said. There was a green hill-pasture, a +little gray stone wall slanting across it, and sheep, one by one, +jumping where the wall was broken down, following their leader. He +counted one hundred of them and then stopped although a dear little lamb +was trotting down the hill, trailing the procession. He wanted to see if +the lamb would be able to jump the wall too. But the Tree Man had said +one hundred, so he stopped and opened his eyes. + +Things were strange. The Tree Man was nothing but an old stump. The room +felt very cold and it was bare. The fire in the boulder had gone out. +But he heard a soft fluttering somewhere and took heart. The Bird +Fairies! They might be hiding high, having wings. He went all around the +room, looking up into the dusk. At last, there they were in row on a +beam, their wings spread over their eyes. + +"Bird Fairies, I spy!" cried Eric, and ran towards the stump. But wings +are swifter than feet, and the Bird Fairies reached the goal first. + +He found Ivra at the top of the second flight of stairs, curled up in a +shadow. + +"I spy!" and he ran just as fast as he could down the stairs. He was +ahead of her to the door, and thought he would surely win. But she +passed him in the room and touched the stump first. + +The Tree Girl, of all places, was kneeling behind the stump. Of course +she touched it the minute Eric spied her, and so she was safe. + +The Forest Children were hiding, some in the hall behind the door, some +on the stairs, one under the table. And everyone of them beat him to the +goal and touched it first. + +"Now there's only Wild Star," Ivra cried. "You must catch him, Eric, or +else you'll have to be 'It' again!" + +Wild Star was outside, up in the top of the tree in the starlight. Eric +discovered him by seeing one of the tips of his purple wings which was +caught in a crack of the sky door. "I spy!" he called, and pulled the +wing-tip to let Wild Star know he was found. + +But of course Wild Star passed him like a flash, his strong wings +beating down. + +Tears of vexation welled in Eric's eyes. One thing he had gained though. +Because he had found them all, even though he could not run so fast as +they, the Tree Man had come back, and sat there in the place of the +stump, and all was warm and bright again. The Tree Man had only wanted +to prove for himself that Eric could see Wild Star, the Bird Fairies, +and the others without Ivra to point them out to him. But he felt +satisfied now that Eric's eyes were really clear, and that he would +never hurt any of them by looking through them or pretending that they +did not exist. + +"Wild Star is It now," he said. "For he didn't play fair, going outside +like that." + +"Oh, I forgot outside was no fair," cried Wild Star, laughing. + +So this time Eric hid with the others, while Wild Star counted sheep. + +He ran wildly all round the room trying to find a hiding-place. But +everywhere there was someone ahead of him. At last he came back to the +Tree Man himself with Wild Star counting sheep at his knee. + +"Ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven," counted Wild Star. "Oh dear! Oh +dear!" Eric whispered to himself in despair. + +Ivra was hiding behind the Tree Man, and so she jumped out and pulled +Eric back to hide with her. + +"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!" + +Wild Star started up, and never thinking to look behind the Tree Man +went circling the room in swift flight. He saw Ivra and Eric as he flew +over their heads, of course, and they laughed and touched the Tree Man +first. + +But he caught most of the others, even the Forest Children who are so +swift and clever. + +After that, almost everyone had to take his turn at being It. + +When the merry game came to an end at last, they gathered around the +boulder fireplace. The twigs were glowing embers now and looked like +myriads of golden flower-buds. Then the Forest Children began clamoring +for a World Story. So Ivra climbed up on the Tree Man's knee and tipping +her head back against his chest, looked into the fire and told one of +Helma's World Stories. It was the story of a glacier. That may not sound +like a very interesting story to you, but if you could hear Ivra tell it +in all its wonder just as Helma had told it to her, you would never ask +for a better story. No, you would ask for that one over and over again, +as the Forest Children did the minute she was through. + +But instead of telling that one over, Ivra told another, a little story +about some eggs and a brood of chickens. And they wanted _that_ over. +But there must be an end to everything, and so the Tree Girl brought out +a bowl of beechnuts, and they forgot the stories, and ate as much as +they wanted. There were apples, too, big and red and cold cheeked. +Everyone was hungry. + +When all were satisfied, there was sudden whispering among the guests. +The Bird Fairies fluttered and hummed with excitement. The Forest +Children's eyes began to shine expectantly. Ivra, who still sat on the +Tree Man's knee, spoke what they were all thinking. "The surprise," she +said to the Tree Man. "You know you promised us a surprise to-night. Is +it time for it yet?" + +"Yes," said the Tree Man. "It is. _High_ time! Come, put on your cloaks. +It's a cold night." + +"But the surprise!" they all cried at once. "We don't want to go home +until we have had the surprise!" + +"Oh, the surprise is up in the branches. My mother is there with her +air-boat, waiting to take you all home." + +The Forest Children clapped their hands and jumped up and down until +their sandal-laces that were not already loose and flapping came undone +and flapped too. Wild Star sprang towards the stairs, his face alight, +Ivra slipped down from the Tree Man's knee and ran to Eric. + +"The Tree Mother! The dear, beautiful Tree Mother! We are to see her and +ride with her!" she cried. + +Then she dashed away for her cloak. The Forest Children, with the Tree +Girl's help, were tumbling into theirs, wrong-end-to mostly, ripping off +buckles in their hurry. + +"The Tree Mother! The dear Tree Mother!" their little teeth chattered in +ecstasy. + +When all were ready they crowded up the straight starlit stairs. At the +top they crawled out through the sky door, one by one, into the +branches. Eric followed Ivra, and saw a great black moth-like thing +poised in air by the tree's top. But it was hollowed like a boat and a +shadowy woman was standing upright in it. A dark cloak covered her, but +the hood had fallen back, and her face in the starlight was very +beautiful and very young, younger even than Helma's, whose face Eric had +thought all that day too young and glad to be a mother's. How could this +be the Tree Man's mother, he wondered,--the Tree Girl's grandmother! +Then he saw that her hair was white, whiter than all the snow that lay +in the forest. + +It was very cold kneeling there and clinging in the tip of the great +beech-tree. The forest below was still and dark. But the air and the +wintry star-filled sky were bright with a blue, cold light. After the +warmth at the heart of the tree, the cold was almost unbearable. Eric +longed to wave his arms about, and jump up and down to get warm, but he +had to cling, still and motionless, to the branches to keep from +falling. + +At last Ivra whispered "It's our turn now," and taking Eric's hand, she +made him jump with her right out into cold space. For one awful instant +he thought they were both falling down, down to the ground. But they had +only dropped into the air-boat. The Tree Mother leaned forward and +pulled a blanket over them. Her eyes as she did it, looked straight into +Eric's. They were dark, and deep as the forest shadows. He began to +speak to tell her who he was, for her look was questioning. But she put +her finger to her lips. Then he noticed for the first time that every +one was silent. Even the Tree Man and his daughter who stood in the tree +top waving good-by spoke no words, only nodded and waved. The last Bird +Fairy fluttered noiselessly in. Eric lay back under the warm blanket, +snuggled against Ivra. A Bird Fairy nestled into the palm of each of his +hands. All was still and warm. The air-boat slipped away high and higher +over the tree-tops and on and on. + +On a cold, starlit night, nestled in feathery warmth, to sail over the +dark tree-tops, high and higher and on and on--that is a wonderful +thing. And when the Tree Mother stands above you, wrapped in her dark +cloak with her face shining under her cloudy white hair, now and then +bending to tuck the blanket more snugly about you--what could be more +blissful? + +Very soon Eric became drowsy against his will. His eyelids dropped like +curtains shutting out the stars. But he roused when the boat stopped, +hovered, and sank down like a bird until it rested on the crusted snow +in the middle of a tiny village of tiny moss houses; only now, of +course, the houses were covered with snow, and looked like baby Eskimo +huts. The Forest Children crept sleepily out of the boat, kissing the +Tree Mother good-by as though in a dream. Not a word was spoken. There +was the creak of their little feet on the cold snow,--that was all. Each +child went alone into his little house. They were lighted and looked +warm through the doors, and Tree Mother nodded as though that were well. +But before the air-boat had risen out of sight, the lights were all out, +and the Forest Children sound asleep, snuggled into their moss beds. + +From then on stops were frequent, and Eric woke at each one. At every +Bird Fairy nest at which they stopped, the Tree Mother leaned from the +boat and scooped the crusted snow out of the nest. Then when the Bird +Fairy was settled down, she powdered the snow with her fingers until it +was soft, and heaped it over the little creature, who was already +asleep. + +Wild Star was left in the tip of the tallest tree in the forest. There +he lay without covering, his face up to the cold sky, his arms flung +back above his head, his wings folded tight. He half opened his +slumbrous eyes on the Tree Mother as the boat floated away, but before +the smile in them faded he was asleep. + +There was straight, sure, even flying then to Helma's little house, set +in its snowy garden,--and down they sank to the door stone. The Tree +Mother carried Ivra, who was fast asleep, in in her arms. The fire leapt +when they entered, until the walls and floor danced with light. The Tree +Mother undressed Ivra, who never once opened her eyes, and tucked her +into bed. Then she helped Eric, who was fumbling and missing buttons in +a sleepy way. But he was awake enough to kiss her good-night. And that +was the end of everything until morning. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A WITCH AT THE WINDOW + + +When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma. Her bed had +not been slept in. They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder +at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes. The room +was strange and lonely without her. The fire had died in the night. They +sat up in their beds and talked about it. + +"She always comes back before bedtime," said Ivra. "She has never stayed +away before." + +Eric said, "Perhaps that is why the Tree Mother brought you in and +undressed you--perhaps she knew our mother had not come back. She looked +wise, as though she knew everything." + +"She does know everything,--at least everything in the forest. But did +she bring me in, right here in her arms, Eric!" + +"And undressed you while you were sound asleep." + +Ivra laughed with delight, and clasped her hands. "Truly, truly? The +dear Tree Mother undressed me? Are you sure? Did she kiss me +good-night?--" But suddenly she grew solemn. "Yes, she knew that mother +was not here. She only takes care of those who have no one else. Well, +we will have to wait for mother, that is all. She will surely come this +morning." + +But she did not come that morning, nor that day, nor for many days. You +shall hear it all. + +The children laid the fire, together,--shivering but hopeful. Ivra got +the breakfast, teaching Eric, so that next time he could help. They +chattered and played a good deal, and really had quite a merry time over +it. It was only at first that Ivra was solemn over Helma's +disappearance. Soon her good sense told her that Helma loved them both, +and nothing could keep her long from her children. + +After breakfast they washed and put away the dishes. Then they tidied +the room. They hurried over it a little, perhaps, for it was a bright +winter day, and all the forest was waiting to be played in. Before they +ran out, they put a log on the fire that it took both of them to lift. +If Helma should come back while they were away, she must find a warm +house. Ivra skipped back after they were outside to set out a bowl and +spoon for her, and stand the cream jug beside them. + +Then away they fled, running and jumping in the frosty morning air. Ivra +taught Eric some games that could be played by two alone. They were +running games, climbing games, hiding games, jumping games. Ivra was +swift and strong and unafraid. Her cheeks reddened like apples in the +cold. She was a fine playfellow. + +Not until they were hungry did they think of home. Then they ran, hand +in hand at last, jumping the garden hedge like deer, their hearts +beating with the expectation of running straight into Helma's arms. But +no Helma was there. Nora had come with the milk, left it, eaten the rest +of the porridge, and gone away again without waiting for a word with any +one. The children wished she had stayed. They needed some one to talk +with about their mother. Of course they knew she would come back, all in +her good time. Ivra made Eric understand that. But the room seemed even +emptier without her than it had in the morning. They cheered each other +as best they could, drank a lot of the fresh milk and ate some nuts. +They wanted to get away into the forest again and forget the empty +house, so they did not try to cook anything. + +They played hard all the afternoon. Towards twilight it grew warmer and +began to snow, great wet flakes. They ran home, leaping the hedge again. +The house was still empty. Helma was not there. + +They stirred up the fire, and sat down on the floor in front of it to +talk over what they should do. Then it happened,--the strange, the +beautiful, the frightful thing! Eric saw a face at the window. It was so +perfectly beautiful, that face, that he wanted to shut his eyes against +it. It almost hurt. It was the face of a young woman, very pale, but +when her eyes met Eric's they filled with dancing laughter. Her hair +under her peaked, white hood glistened blue-black like a river in the +snow. She lifted a small white hand and tapped on the window pane, +nodding to him merrily. + +Ivra turned at the sound of the little fingers on the glass. When she +saw the face, she started to her feet with a frightened cry, and rushing +to the door, drew the bolt. + +"She can't get in. She can't get in, Eric. Don't be afraid. We are +safe." But the poor little girl did not believe her own words. She was +trembling. + +"Why, I'm not afraid," said Eric, running to the window. The merry eyes +drew him. Now her mouth danced into smiles with her eyes. She made +pretty signs to him to open the window and let her in. + +But Ivra pulled him back. "Don't you know? It's the Beautiful Wicked +Witch!" she whispered. + +But Eric was impatient. "How can she be wicked when she's so beautiful!" +he exclaimed. He was so little used to beautiful people in his life that +now he was fascinated and delighted. + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch looked at Ivra then, and Ivra saw how her +eyes were dancing, great black eyes full of splendor and fun. She caught +her breath. She laughed back at the Beautiful Wicked Witch. She could +not help herself. But her hands flew to her mouth to stop the laugh. + +"Shut your eyes, Eric. That must be best, not to look at her at all. +That is what mother did when she came before. She bolted the door and +then we sat down in front of the fire and never looked at the window +once, while she told me a long, lovely World Story about Psyche and her +little playmate Eros. Then when we had forgotten all about the Beautiful +Wicked Witch, we looked at the window by accident and she was gone. +Come, I'll tell you a World Story now, the same one." + +But Eric hardly heard what she was saying. He moved nearer and nearer to +the window. Ivra followed him, charmed by the laughing face there too. +Then together they unbolted the windowpane and opened it outward. The +Beautiful Wicked Witch stepped in. + +"How silly to be afraid of me, children," she laughed. "I have only come +to play with you." + +"Oh goody!" cried both of the children together. For now that she was in +the room all their fear and wonder had vanished. + +It was dusk, and so they lighted all the candles and poked the fire, +before they turned to entertain their guest. But the candles did not +burn very well, very faintly and flickeringly,--and the fire fell lower +and lower, instead of growing higher and higher as they nursed it. + +"Don't mind about that," laughed the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "There's +enough light from the window for us to play together in. We won't bother +with the stubborn old fire and the silly little copy-cat candles. Come, +what shall we play?" + +But the children had been playing hard all day, and their bodies were +tired. "Oh, tell us a story instead of playing," begged Ivra. "This is +the time when mother tells her very best stories." + +"Well, I am not mother," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch; "but I will +tell you the best stories I can. Come sit near the window where the +light is stronger. That fire will never burn while I am here. I am +brighter than it, and the old thing is jealous." + +The children laughed at her joke. But it was true,--she was very bright. +Her eyes seemed to light the room, or perhaps it was her gown, like an +opal fire, blue and pink and purple, changing and glowing, and made of +the softest silk. + +Ivra nestled close to her knee where she could stroke the gleaming silk. +Eric sprawled on the floor at her feet, his face upturned to hers. + +Then she told them a story. It was not like any of Helma's World +Stories, but the children liked it. It was all about a gorgeous bird she +had at home in her tree-house. She told how she had heard it singing one +morning in early spring, high up in the branches of her tree, and how +she had watched it day after day flying back and forth in the forest, +its yellow breast flashing among the green leaves. It had a long golden +bill, and its tail was black as jet; and its wings were the softest gray +in the world with a feather of jet in either one. Its song was the +clearest, the highest, the purest of all the bird songs in the forest. +It was a wonderful bird, and she wanted it for her own. + +Then she told the children how she had set traps for it, and how it had +escaped every time. But at last she had made a dear little cage, all +woven of spring flowers and leaves, and put food in it. Still the bird +escaped, pulling the food out with its long bill and never getting +inside the door. And finally she told them how she did capture that +wild, shy bird by learning its song and singing it sitting in her +tree-house with the window open, until the bird heard and came flying in +wonder to find what other bird was calling it. Then she had closed the +window and the bird was hers. It hung now in the pretty cage in her +prettiest room, and sometimes sang in the middle of the night. + +Eric liked the story, and all the better because it was a true story. +And the Beautiful Wicked Witch said he could see the bird himself if he +would come to her house. He could stroke its bright breast, and it would +sing perhaps. Then there were other things caged in her house, cunning +little animals, and some big ones, worth any boy's seeing. + +But Ivra answered for Eric, shaking her head hard. "No, no. Mother +doesn't want us to visit you." + +But Eric said, "May I open the cage door and the window and see the bird +flash away? I should like that." + +"No. Well, perhaps," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "Will you come +then?" + +"I can't, I suppose, if Mother Helma doesn't want me to. Are you sure +she doesn't, Ivra?" + +Ivra was sure. + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch laughed then. "Of course, if you _tell_ her +she won't let you come. But if you came without telling, how could she +mind?" + +"That sounds true,--but someway it can't be," said Ivra. And that seemed +to end it. + +But after a little the Beautiful Wicked Witch began another story. This +one was about a frock she had made, a wonderful thing all of cobwebs and +violet petals, with tiniest rosebuds around the neck. If Ivra were to +slip that frock over her head, and unbraid her funny little pigtails, +she would look as pretty as any fairy in the world. + +Ivra was not too young to want to be pretty. If she would only go to the +Beautiful Wicked Witch's house, she could try on that dress, and wear it +for one whole day if she liked. Ivra clasped her hands. But then she +thought, and asked a question. "Could I play in it, and run and climb? +Would I be as free as in this little old brown smock?" + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch raised her hands in horror. "My cobweb frock! +Why, it would be ruined! It would be in shreds! How can you even think +of treating it so!" + +So Ivra shook her head until her funny little pigtails flopped from side +to side. "I don't want to wear it then for even a minute. What fun would +there be?" + +"Well, think about it anyway," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch, and rose +to go away. "It's the fir, you know, beyond the white birch." + +"Thank you for the stories," said the children. + +"Good-by," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "Perhaps Eric will remember +and come. It's a gorgeous bird, and I haven't said he couldn't free it." + +Then she slipped out into the snow flakes, turning to give them one +dancing look over her shoulder before the door swung to. + +Up flamed the candles, clear high flames when she was gone, and the fire +crackled again, and took on new life, reaching higher and higher. + +They got their supper together rather silently. But just before going to +sleep Ivra roused herself to say, "Let's promise each other we won't go +to the Beautiful Wicked Witch's fir until mother comes home,--and we can +tell her how jolly the Witch is, and what good stories she told us." + +"I don't want to go anyway," answered Eric, "unless I can free the +bird."--But you see, he had not promised. + +After a while, "Did you notice how pale her face was when she wasn't +laughing?" asked Eric. + +"Yes, and not so beautiful then. Mother may come in the night, and we +never know it till morning!" + +Soon they were asleep, a tired, but happy little girl and boy. + +I think the Tree Mother sank down in her air-boat to look in at them and +open the door wide, which they had forgotten, so they would have fresh +air all night; but it was dark, and the room was shadowy, so perhaps it +was only the wind. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE WIND HUNT + + +After all, Mother Helma was not there the next morning,--nor the next, +nor the next. She did not come back for days and days and days. Much +happened before she returned, and much happened after. I will tell you. + +During the days the children roamed the forest looking for their mother. +They asked every one they could find whether he had seen her. The Tree +Man, his daughter, the Bird Fairies, and the Forest Children, not one of +them had seen or heard of her since she went away. But they all said +with one accord that she would surely come back in her own time. It was +not wise to go seeking her so. She loved them. She would return. + +"Wait and be patient," they said. "Time will bring Helma." + +But they were Forest People, who live long, long lives, and see far. +Eric was an Earth Child, and Ivra was not all a Forest Child. So they +found it hard to be wise and wait and do nothing but trust Helma and +know she would return. + +So they went wandering all the day. They did not go home for meals, +even, after a while, but ate with the Tree Man and his daughter or the +Forest Children. Sometimes as they walked through the forest, looking +all about, even up into the trees for their mother, they would suddenly +burst into play. "Tag," Ivra would cry, tapping Eric on the shoulder, +and away she would fly, he after her, in a race that grew merrier and +merrier as it ran on. Ivra darted and twisted away when Eric thought he +had her, rolling down little hills on the snow crust, climbing trees, +jumping brooks until he was lucky enough to catch her by one of her +pigtails at last, or snatch her flying skirt. "Tag!" Then away he sped, +and the game would go on for a happy while. + +But sooner or later they always stopped running, stopped laughing, and +remembered why they were wandering the wood alone. Then they would call +for Helma. Ivra's voice was shrill and sweet, and rang through the bare +woods like a birdsong. Eric's wavered a little uncertainly, as though he +doubted whether Helma knew it well enough to answer. "Helma, Helma, +Helma! Ohh Helma! Helmaa-a!" + +No Helma answered. Sometimes a Forest Child came running to say, "We +haven't seen her yet, Ivra. But we are watching." The Bird Fairies +fluttered at the call and nodded their little heads uneasily. Children's +voices calling for their mother was a sad sound, and made the kindly +little creatures restless. One or two of them would fly to nestle in +Ivra's neck and whisper, "Give her time. Do not hurry her so. She will +come back." + +But the children were losing faith. They went calling, seeking and +playing through the woods all the hours of daylight. At night Ivra told +Eric World Stories, World Story after World Story until sleep made them +forget. + +The fifth morning of their search dawned blue and clear and windy. + +"The Wind Creatures will be happy to-day," said Ivra when she opened her +eyes and heard the wind pushing at all the windows of the house and saw +the blue morning sky. "Wild Star will be circling the world." + +"Why, then he will see Helma somewhere!" cried Eric. + +Ivra sprang from her bed. "Eric, how splendid! We must go with him! Why +didn't I think of it at the very first!" + +They did not stop for breakfast, but were into their coats and ready for +the day's search in a twinkling. Neither of them had bothered to undress +the night before. Ivra's hair had gone unbrushed for two days. Things +like that are apt to slip when one's mother is away. So her little +pigtails were no longer smooth and glossy, but frowsy and loose, and the +rest of her hair was ruffled until it looked something like the Bird +Fairies' soft plumage. Eric's head, too, was shaggier than ever, and a +smudge from firebuilding had darkened one of his cheeks since the +morning before. They had not bathed in the "bird bath" since Helma had +gone away. They never seemed to have time, or else they were too sleepy. + +Now they no more thought of baths than they thought of breakfast. Eric +followed Ivra, who knew all the ways in the forest, to the spot where +Wild Star was most likely to be, if he was to be found at all on such a +windy, perfect day. They ran earnestly, never slackening to skip or +play. And soon they came in sight of some giant cedar trees near the +edge of the forest. There were several Wind Creatures standing there, +laughing in shrill, glad voices, pointing with their arms, and flapping +their purple wings. Wind Creatures are growing-up boys and girls with +fairy-hearts and strong, never-tiring purple wings, remember. Wild Star +was among them. + +But before the children had come up to them, the Wind Creatures suddenly +joined hands,--as they do just before flying,--and started running down +the sloping hill that ended the forest. + +For a minute Ivra was in despair. "Now they are gone for the day to +circle the world, and I shall never find mother," she thought. But she +did not waste any more breath running. She stopped short and lifted her +voice, clear and insistent, "Wild Star! Wild Star! I need you! Don't run +away. Wild Star!" + +The Wind Creatures had reached the foot of the hill, running swiftly +hand in hand, and their wings were already lifted for flying. But Wild +Star, at the sound of Ivra's voice, leaned back suddenly on the hands he +was holding, almost throwing his comrades on their faces, and breaking +the line. He turned right about, swinging the others with him, and came +leaping and running back. + +"What is the matter, little comrade?" he asked. "What is the matter?" + +"In all your flying 'round the world, Wild Star, you must have seen my +mother Helma. She is lost. Oh, can't you tell us where she is?" + +"Yes, of course. But I didn't know she was lost. I thought she was +visiting Earth-friends." + +"Truly, truly?" Ivra's eyes shone with joy, and Eric grabbed his cap +from his head and threw it up in the air shouting, "Hurrah!" + +"Oh, will you bring her to us right away?" Ivra begged. + +Wild Star looked doubtful. "Perhaps she wouldn't want to come." + +Ivra laughed merrily at that. "Then take us to her," she said, "and you +will see how she wants to come when we ask her." + +"Give us your hands, then!" + +They held out their hands. Ivra's was grasped by Wild Star's and Eric's +by another Wind Creature. With their free hands they clasped each +other's. So the four started running down the hill, while the rest of +the Wind Creatures flew off over their heads. + +Wild Star and his comrade ran faster and faster, until Eric wondered how +it was that he and Ivra were ever keeping up with them. Soon he realized +that his feet were scarcely touching the ground. At the foot of the hill +stood a little group of birches, and they were running right upon it. He +did not see how they could either turn out or stop themselves at that +speed. Almost as soon as he had seen the birches, though, they were +beyond them. They had not turned out, they had jumped right over the +birches, and they were much higher than Eric's head! They were running +so swiftly now that only their toes ever touched the ground,--if _they_ +did. + +What fun it was to run like that, the wind at their backs, and the Wind +Creatures drawing them strongly forward faster and faster and faster +until they were really flying just above the snow. + +Across white fields they skimmed,--over fences and frozen streams, +bushes and banks, through orchards and meadows, on, on, on, until they +came to the town. + +There Ivra pulled back for a minute, and the Wind Creatures slowed down. +Eric knew why Ivra was afraid of the town. She had told him all about it +while they played in the wood. Helma, her mother, was a human, but she +hated the town and loved the fairies and their ways. That was why she +had run away to live by herself in the wood. But Ivra was neither fairy +nor human; she was both. + +Now the fairies are afraid of humans because humans look right through +them and do not see them. That upsets the fairies and makes them +uncomfortable. Of course Helma and Eric were exceptions, for because +they had no shadows in their eyes they could see them and play with +them. So the fairies accepted those two as one of themselves. Ivra was +different. Because she was only half fairy, any human could see her +whether his eyes were shadowed or not if he would only look hard enough. +The dreadful part was that when a human did see her, he was likely not +to believe in her. He would just think he was day-dreaming, and that the +little girl with the soft eyes, the ash-colored pigtails, and the quick +feet was just a piece of his day-dream. Not to be seen is bad enough. +But it is much worse to be seen and not believed in. That was why Ivra +was afraid of the town. People saw her there and either rubbed their +eyes and looked another way, or laughed. + +But now she was going for her mother, and she could bear anything, even +that. She did not hold back long. They ran past the canning factory, and +Eric did not give a glance to it. A little girl looking out over a pile +of cans saw him, however, and wondered at his warm suit of brown cloth, +his leggins, sandals and the cap with wings. She remembered him in rags. +She saw Ivra too, and did not rub her eyes and think her a dream. But +she did not call to any one in the factory or point, for she knew _they_ +would think it a dream. + +Through the crooked narrow streets, past the crooked narrow houses,--one +of them Mrs. Freg's,--they sped faster than the wind! On, on, on,--up +the wide avenue through the "residential section" where big houses eyed +them from proud terraces,--out into the country again they raced. + +There they came to a high gray stone wall, blocking their way, and stood +still. + +"You must climb," said Wild Star. "She is in there." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ON THE GRAY WALL + + +It was a very high wall that hid their mother, and at first glance it +seemed impossible that they could ever climb it. But Ivra did not stop +to wonder. She ran up and down, hunting for a foothold. At last she +reached the end of the wall and disappeared around the corner. Eric and +the Wind Creatures followed. When they came up to her she had already +found a place where the stones were laid a bit unevenly, one on the +other, and was half way to the top, clinging with toes and fingers. + +"Bravo!" cried the Wind Creatures. Eric went up after her, often +slipping back and bruising and scratching his hands and knees, but as +resolute as his playmate. At last they gained the top. The Wind +Creatures had flown up and were waiting for them there, sitting +cross-legged with their purple wings folded down their backs. + +The wall enclosed the garden of a very rich family. It was a formal +garden with straight walks, trellises, fountains, benches and neat +flower beds laid out in squares and circles, now piled high with +blossoming snow. + +Just as the children reached the top of the wall, the door into the +garden from the stern gray mansion behind it opened and through it came +three people. First was a very tall lady all wrapped up in furs,--tails +and heads of the poor animals that had been slain to make them hanging +from her shoulders and down her back. Even the children could see that +her face was sour in spite of all its smiling. Then came a young man in +a stiff, funny hat, carrying a cane, beating up the snow flowers with it +as he passed the flower beds. And behind them walked--Helma, with her +gaze on the ground. That is why they did not know her at first, that and +her very strange clothes. She was dressed all in velvet and fur, and her +arms up to her elbows were hidden in a huge white muff. She swayed as +she walked on weird little high heels and the toes of her boots drew out +to long points, almost like a goblin's. Her hat was a velvet affair, so +awkward and heavy it seemed to weigh down her head, and her candleflame +hair was smothered under it. Is it any wonder that they did not know her +like that! + +But when she walked close under the wall and they heard her voice they +knew her, and the Wind Creatures had to hold Ivra from jumping down and +throwing herself into her arms. "Wait," they whispered. + +From their high place on the wall they could look down on the heads of +the three people, and hear all they were saying. They had never learned +that it is not fair to listen that way. + +From all Helma said they could plainly see she was a prisoner. She was +pleading with the old woman. She was saying, "No, never, never, never, +in a thousand days and years will I ever be happy here. My place is in +the forest. Oh, how these heels bother!" + +"Silly girl!" cried the old woman, smiling more than ever, and looking +more disagreeable than ever at the same time. "Your place is where you +were born-in a fine house and wearing clothes like other people. Heels +indeed! Did you expect them to do any thing else but bother? Mine have +bothered for sixty years, but you haven't heard _me_ complain." + +"Neither would I," Helma said, "if I didn't know about other kinds of +shoes that don't hurt. Those sandals I wore when you caught me didn't +hurt. Why can't I wear those, at least when I walk in the garden?" + +"Well, you might," began the old woman, a little more kindly, and +smiling less, "if you promise always to put on the high heels before +coming into the drawing room--" + +"No," said the young man sharply. "Let her once into the garden in her +sandals and she'll climb the wall and be off. I say that we give her no +chance to escape. After she has been to a hundred or so balls and worn +these beautiful and appropriate clothes long enough she'll be glad of +her luck, and nothing could drag her into the forest. Believe me!" + +Now Helma stopped pleading, and laughed at the young man. "Do you think +high heels, or even a hat that weighs down my head like this horrid one +can keep me much longer from my little daughter, and that dear new +little boy? What they are doing without me all this time--I wonder!" She +stopped laughing to sigh. + +The old woman took her hand not unkindly. "My poor, dear girl," she +said, "how many times must I tell you it is only a dream, that house in +the woods and the little girl and boy? They aren't really there at all, +you know. You have dreamed them. Come, cheer up. Be a brave girl. We +have parties and good times enough here, if you will only get into the +spirit of them, to make up for all your forest foolishness." + +Helma answered in a low even voice, that showed well enough how sure she +was of the truth of what she was saying--"No, they are realer than you. +Ivra is realer than all the people in that mansion put together, +cousins, uncles, aunts, guests, servants and all. She is my little fairy +daughter." + +"No," said the young man. + +The wings of the Wind Creatures on the top of the wall rustled just then +in a gust of cold north wind. Helma threw up her head as at a familiar +sound, and her eyes slowly lifted to the faces of the children looking +down. For a minute she looked steadily at them without believing, and +then it was as though her pale face suddenly burst into song. But the +old woman and the young man were not looking at her and so they noticed +nothing. The young man said, "The neighbors have talked about us enough +already for all your queer ideas and doings. So you'll wear no sandals, +no, nor sleep with your skylight open, as you're always asking, nor go +one step outside the wall until you have come to your senses and are +more like other people. So there!" + +But Helma laughed, her head thrown back, so that the children could look +into her happy eyes and see the glow of her short hair under her +grotesque hat. + +"Keep your keys, cousin," she said, "and your old skylight keep shut +tight as tight. I shall find a way out. But my children must be patient, +and Ivra must teach Eric to keep his face and body clean. They must not +forget meal-times, and when anything goes wrong, or they think it is +going wrong, they must ask the Tree Man's advice. I will find a way to +them soon. They must keep happy and wait." + +She said all that slowly and distinctly, her eyes smiling into theirs. + +"What silly talk," laughed the sour old lady. "Just as though you were +making a speech. Well, it must be luncheon time now, and high time we +were changing our frocks. Wear your gray velvet, Helma, and don't forget +to put on stockings to match. There's to be strawberry ice to-day,--and +goose to begin with of course. Cook says she has never seen a +tenderer--" + +The old lady went on talking about the wonderful luncheon they were to +have until they were out of hearing. But the children on the gray wall +could see that Helma was going in differently from the way she had come +out. Her head was high, and she stepped out in her funny high heeled +boots as though she were walking in sandals. At the little door into the +mansion she turned and waved her queer great muff to the children and +the Wind Creatures, and they heard her laugh. + +But when she was gone, and the door was shut and locked--they heard the +great key scrape--Eric turned joyfully to Ivra. She was staring intently +at the closed door, her face very pale. Suddenly she buried her head in +her arms and burst into sobs, hoarse, jerky sobs, the first and the last +time Eric was ever to hear her cry. Eric and the Wind Children sat +cross-legged and waited. Soon she stopped and wiped her face on her +sleeve. + +"She is locked in, but she _will_ find a way home," she said, almost +laughing. "How glad and how surprised she was to see us! It was almost +as though she had begun to believe all their talk about dreams, until +she heard the Wind Creatures' wings!" + +The Wind Creatures took them back to the forest. Under the giant cedars +they said good-by and left them. The children went straight to the Tree +Man's to tell him the news. He gave them deep bowls of warm milk to +drink, and took off their sandals so that their toes might spread and +warm in front of the fire. + +Then the Tree Girl begged for a story, and Ivra told a World Story about +the rivers,--how they go in search of their mother, the ocean, day and +night, around mountains and through mountains, and across whole +continents, and never stop until they find her,--and of the myriad +presents they carry to her,--of the things they see and the things they +do, as they flow searching. + +It was a long story. And almost before the end the little story teller +had fallen asleep with her head tipped back against the Tree Man's +chest. + +They spent that night in the tree, and that was good, for a storm had +risen outside, and it was bitter cold in the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE BEAUTIFUL WICKED WITCH + + +The next morning before Eric woke Ivra slipped away to play with the +Forest Children. + +"On such wild days as this they usually play indoors, for they're little +things and the Snow Witches love to tease them," said the Tree Man. + +"Perhaps she'll be telling them World Stories," thought Eric, and so he +decided to go to the little moss village, too, for though Ivra had told +him dozens of World Stories by now, he always wanted to hear more. So +after breakfast with the Tree Man and his pretty, shy daughter, he ran +out in search of Ivra. + +It was indeed a cold morning, blustering and raw. Eric felt chilled +almost as soon as he was out of doors. Very soon he lost his way, for he +had not been in the forest long enough to grow familiar with landmarks. +Just when he was beginning to be a bit hopeless and pinched with the +cold he came to the big fir where the Beautiful Wicked Witch lived. It +stood green and comforting among all the bare trees of winter. + +Eric stopped to look, for now he remembered the Beautiful Wicked Witch +and the bird she had caged in there. He saw a door in the tree trunk +ajar, and swinging to and fro with tiny tinkling music. He peeped in, +and between the swingings caught glimpses of little blue and yellow +flowers arranged in tight bunches in hanging vases. He could smell their +sweetness even out there in the cold air. + +Then high up in the tree trunk a window opened, and he heard the bird +singing. The Beautiful Wicked Witch's face appeared at the window, +looking down at him. Her black eyes were sparkling and she nodded +good-morning to him as though he were a prince, or at least a grown-up. +He could not help nodding back. He liked her very much, she was so +beautiful and so friendly. + +"Come in and get warm," she called, "and I'll show you my pretty bird." + +Eric remembered Ivra's warnings, but he wanted to go in so much that he +found himself doing it. The door tinkled louder music when he touched +it, and he pushed his way through, as a bee pushes his way into a +flower. + +The Witch came running twinklingly down a spiral stairway. She kissed +his mouth, took off his winged cap and coat, threw them somewhere out of +sight, and then he had time to look at her well. + +Her gown was green satin, the color of the fir boughs, and her little +sandals were green satin, too. A green fir frond bound her forehead; and +her black hair hung loose, soft and electric to her waist. Eric had +never seen a prettier person in the world, nor one more kind. + +She took his two hands and began to whirl in a happy dance. Eric danced, +too, for joy and good comradeship. Round and round the room they whirled +until their breath was spent. + +Then the Beautiful Wicked Witch took him up the spiral staircase to show +him the bird. Up and up they went, until they came to a little room high +in the tree. The floor was carpeted with yellow satin, and yellow +curtains hung at the window. Deep blue mirrors lined the walls, and they +reflected Eric and the Beautiful Wicked Witch dozens of times over. + +The pretty bird cage, all made of flowers and leaves, hung in the very +middle of the room. Eric stood by it a long time. He put his fingers +through the bars, and stroked the bird's soft feathers. But the gorgeous +bird paid no attention to him, and did not sing. + +"Why doesn't it hop about?" he asked the Beautiful Wicked Witch. + +The Witch frowned and pouted. "It ought to, I'm sure. I like to see it +hopping. But it would rather sulk. It thinks all the time about the +forest, and its mate who is out there somewhere. Sometimes it sings, +though. Its voice is wonderful." + +"Oh, let's open the cage and free him," cried Eric. + +But the Beautiful Wicked Witch seized his hand. "No, no, _no_! It is +_mine_. I have caged it in my pretty cage. And it fits into the room, +don't you think?" + +"I don't know what you mean," said Eric. + +"Why, you fit into it, too," said the Witch, looking hard at him. "Your +yellow hair and blue eyes match the yellow and blue flowers. Would you +like me to make a pretty cage for you and put you into it?" + +"No, no!" Eric was suddenly afraid of the Beautiful Wicked Witch. + +But she laughed at his fear, and danced a little dance, humming to +herself, around the room. Then Eric noticed other cages. The walls were +lined with them. Some hung from the ceiling, and some stood in corners. +In every cage was a bird or animal. The one standing nearest to him held +a pretty gray squirrel, running 'round and 'round on a wheel. He stopped +every now and then to peer out through the bars with quick, bright eyes. +In the cage next was a tiny brown field mouse. But he had given up +running and playing long ago, and was huddled in the farthest and +darkest corner of his cage, his little beady eyes open and watchful. + +Eric walked around the room, looking at all the poor little animals and +birds. One and all peered through their bars with watchful and fearful +eyes. Eric remembered himself in the canning factory and pitied them +more than he could ever have done had he not once been a caged little +creature too. How he longed to open their doors and the window, and see +them scamper and fly away! + +But the Witch had stopped her dancing by the bird cage in the middle of +the room, and her little hands were between the bars stroking the bright +bird-breast. She was saying, "Sing for us, bird. Sing your nicest song +for us. Little Eric wants to hear it." + +The bird began to beat its wings and breast against the bars. Again and +again its bright breast struck the door. But it did not fly open. + +"It does not want to sing," laughed the Beautiful Wicked Witch; "but it +must. Sing, bird, sing! It does you no good to struggle. You can't get +away. Sing, sing!" + +Then the bird sang. Its song was truly wonderful, high and clear, as +Eric had heard it from outside. But now that he could see the bird caged +he did not like the song so well. It was all too sad. + +Eric wanted to go away then, out of the tree, and never, never see the +Witch again. He would find Ivra and the Forest Children and forget all +about these cages. So he said good-by to the Witch and ran down the +spiral staircase. But he could not find the door out. He went round and +round the wall, but there was no sign of a door. It was indeed as though +a flower had let him in and then closed its petals tight. + +The little posies swung in their cases, the bird sang up stairs, and the +Beautiful Wicked Witch played and danced, and laughed at all his +searching. She would do nothing to help him find the door. + +All that day he wandered up stairs and down stairs, or stood at the +window looking down through the green fir branches to the free +forest-floor. Once the Witch offered to tell him stories. But he wanted +no stories of caged things, and those were all the stories she knew. The +Witch did not mind his short answers and dark face. She seemed perfectly +able to have a good time with herself, and needed no comrades. + +At last night fell. The rooms blossomed with candlelight. In the yellow +room up stairs the Beautiful Wicked Witch paraded back and forth before +the mirrors, loving her own reflection, smiling at herself, courtesying, +frowning, looking back over her shoulder,--lifting her hair to let it +fall again in electric waves. Eric stood by the window, thoroughly weary +of his search and loneliness, and watched her. The bird sat in the cage +and watched her. All the little bright eyes of animals watched her. The +candles burned steadily. + +How Eric longed for Ivra now, and their own big friendly room. He +imagined Ivra in the room there all alone getting her supper over the +fire, bathing in the fountain bath, opening the windows, and at last +falling softly to sleep before the firelight faded. + +Oh, if there were only a window open here! How hot it was, and how +over-sweetly scented! The Beautiful Wicked Witch went on posing and +preening before the mirrors, and seemed to have forgotten all about her +new little prisoner. + +So he pulled back the yellow satin curtain, and looked out. It was +clear, cold starlight. He pressed his face against the window pane and +stared down into the shadows beneath the fir. And there, standing erect +in the shadow, her face lifted like a pale little moon, stood Ivra. + +She saw him, but did not wave. She only nodded, as though she knew now +what she had come to make sure of. She stood still for a few minutes, +until Eric almost thought she was frozen in the cold. But at last she +moved and disappeared under the fir. + +Music tinkled through the house. The Beautiful Wicked Witch poised on +her toes, surprisedly looking into the reflection of her own eyes. + +"Some one has come in, for that was the door," she said. "It opens +inward with music." + +Eric's heart stood still. Had Ivra come into the Witch's house, Ivra who +was so afraid of the Witch? He ran down the stairs and the Witch +followed him. Yes, Ivra stood there in the middle of the warm, +flower-hung room, like a little cold star beam. + +But she did not look at the quaint flowers in their golden vases. And +when the Witch ran to her and kissed her she did not even look at her. +She looked only at Eric, and her eyes said, "I have come to free you." + +"Oh, so you did want to try on the pretty frock after all," cried the +Witch, and drew her up the stairs. Eric followed to the yellow room. +"No," said Ivra. But the Witch brought it out and tried to slip it over +her head. It was sheerest gossamer web, and shimmered like moonlight. +And the little rosebuds seemed to make it belong to Ivra. + +Eric forgot all about being a prisoner, and forgot the little caged +creatures around the wall. He was delighted with the frock being pushed +down on Ivra's shoulders. "How beautiful you'll be!" he cried. But Ivra +wriggled away from it and stood clear. Her rudely made brown frock and +worn sandals looked odd in that satin room. "I didn't come to see the +frock," she said, shaking her head till her pigtails bobbed. "I came to +get Eric." + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch laughed. "Get him if you can," she said. Then +she turned her back on the children and began to braid her black hair +among the mirrors. + +They went to the window and waited there, watching her. + +"The door doesn't open out,--only in, I think," Eric whispered. "So we +can't get out." + +"Mother has told me how it would be," Ivra whispered back. "We'll have +to wait until she's asleep and then find a way." + +Then Ivra sat down on the floor and began to rock back and forth and +sing a lullaby. It was a lullaby her mother had sung to her all her +babyhood, Ivra sang in a very little voice, almost a murmur only, but by +listening Eric and the Beautiful Wicked Witch could catch the words. She +sang the same words over and over and over. + + Night is in the forest, + Tree Mother is nigh. + By-abye, by-abye-bye. + + Sleep is in the forest-- + His feathers brush your eye. + By-abye, by-abye-bye. + + Mother's arms are holding you, + Forest dreams are folding you. + By-abye, by-abye--bye. + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch sat down before the mirrors after a while, +still watching her reflection, but listening to the song, too. Her head +gradually sank lower and lower, first resting chin in hand and at last +right down on her arm stretched along the floor. Her face lay turned +towards the children, and they saw the mirth slowly fade in her great +black eyes, the lids drop lower and lower,--and then she was asleep +suddenly. Now she looked almost as young as themselves, and like a pale +child who has fallen to sleep at its play. + +But the children did not stop to look at her. Once they were sure she +was asleep they were off searching for the door. Up and down the stairs +and all around the rooms they ran on tiptoes. But it was no use, and at +last they came back to the window. + +"We must jump," whispered Ivra. + +Eric looked down, and wondered. It was a long way to the ground! + +"The snow is soft beneath the crust," Ivra said. "It will only cut us a +little." + +"Let's take the bird," Eric said. Ivra ran to it, and opened the cage +door. It hopped onto her finger eagerly, and she held its bill so that +it would not sing. + +Eric opened the window. "I'll jump first," he whispered. + +But Ivra said, "Oh, let's hold hands and jump together." + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch felt the cold night air from the window on +her face, and stirred in her sleep. Her eyelids quivered. So the +children did not wait a minute more. They climbed up onto the window +sill, Ivra still holding the bird. "One, two, three," she whispered, and +they jumped. + +Out and down they went like two shooting stars and plunked through the +snowcrust. They were up in a second. Their wrists and elbows were a +little bruised and cut, but they were not really hurt at all. But +strange and strange, the bird had fluttered near Ivra's hand for that +second, and then flew straight back up and into the open window. It had +been caged so long it did not really want its freedom after all. Eric +cried out with regret. + +But Ivra seized his hand, and they ran home together through the cold, +starlit forest. Before they leapt the hedge into their own garden Eric +saw the firelight blossoming in the windows. But he stood still outside +the door, after Ivra had gone in, for a time, breathing the cold air and +the clear silence right down into his toes. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +IVRA'S BIRTHDAY + + +"To-morrow is the shortest day in the year," Ivra told Eric one night +after they were in bed. He did not answer, for he was very sleepy. But +after a minute she spoke again. "It's my birthday too!" + +Then he opened his eyes and sat up, for her voice sounded very queer and +far away. He saw that she too was sitting up, her hands folded under her +chin. "Mother always had a party for me," she said. "Such fun!" + +"Perhaps one will happen to-morrow even with her away," Eric comforted. +"Oh, goody! I do hope so!" + +"Perhaps. Anyway I'm going to pretend there's a party waiting for me +to-morrow. You pretend too, Eric, and then even if it doesn't come true +we will have had the pretending at least." + +Eric agreed to pretend. It was one of his favorite games. And very soon +the two children nestled down under their covers and drifted into sleep +and dreams of a party. + +They were roused early in the morning by something tapping lightly on +the doors and windows. Eric was out of bed first, and saw the Wind +Creatures, half a dozen or more of them, looking in and beckoning. Their +purple wings gleamed gold in the early morning sun. Wild Star was +standing in the open door. + +"Happy birthday!" he cried and tossed a snow ball into Ivra's bed. She +popped to her knees, laughing and rosy with sleep. But then she was +grave in a minute. "There's to be no party, Wild Star," she said. +"Mother's not back yet. Are you all here for that?" + +"Yes, we're here for that, and there is to be a party, an all day one +too. Your Forest Friends have seen to that." + +The children were radiant with joy. And Ivra whispered to Eric, "We had +our pretending, too!" + +The Wind Creatures would not come in to breakfast, for of course they do +not like in-doors at all, and besides, they need very little food. So +they played in the garden while the children dressed and ate. Very soon +the children were done, though, and came leaping out ready for a day's +joy. + +The Wind Creatures led them then out through the forest. The Tree Girl +was watching for them at her door. It was plain to be seen, when she +joined them, that she carried something in her arms very secretly under +her white cloak. But no one mentioned it. Ivra knew it must be a +surprise for her birthday. Where the party was to be no one told her, +and she did not ask. She liked surprises. + +They came to the Forest Children's little moss village. The youngest +Forest Child of all was the only one up so early. He was busily breaking +dead twigs from bushes to build his morning fire and making up a little +rhymeless song about Ivra's birthday as he worked. + + This is her birthday, + Spring's little daughter-- + Spring's little daughter-- + This is her birthday. + + Wake now, wake now, + All you Forest Children, + Wake for her birthday + And tie your sandals on. + +When he saw them he cried, "Hurrah! Happy birthday, Ivra!" + +At his cry all the little windows in the little moss houses opened and +there were the tousled heads of the Forest Children, their eyes blinking +sleepily against the gilded morning light. + +"Thank you, thank you," Ivra cried back to the youngest Forest Child. +"Hurry and follow." + +Before they had gone on their way five minutes more the Forest Children +were up with them, tugging at buckles and sandal strings as they ran, +begging not to be left behind. Soon they came to Big Pine Hill, a hill +deep in the forest with no trees but a giant pine at the top. The Wind +Creatures had built a slide there by brushing away the snow and leaving +a broad track of shining blue ice. Up under the pine were sleds enough +for every one, made all of woven hemlock branches. They needed no +runners for the ice was so slippery and the hill so steep _anything_ +would go down it fast enough. Ivra's Forest Friends must have worked all +the day before to make those sleds--and now her shining face and clasped +hands were reward enough. + +She was the first to try the hill. She threw herself on her sled and +down she flashed. At the bottom she tumbled off, and still on her knees +shouted up to Eric and the others at the top, "Oh, it's splendid! Come +on!" + +Then the hill was covered with speeding sleds. The Bird Fairies had none +of their own, for they were so little they might have come to harm on +that hill. But they had just as good a time for all of that, catching +rides with the others, clinging to shoulders or heads or feet as it +happened. + +Every one was there, even the Snow Witches who had not been invited. +They came whirling and dancing through the forest almost as soon as the +sliding had begun. Ivra gave them glad welcome in spite of their rough +ways and stinging hair. For she, the only one of all who were there, +liked them very well and had made them her comrades often and often on +windy winter days. And they, who cared for nobody, cared for her. "She +is not like anybody," they explained it to each other. "_She is a great +little girl_." + +But they would not take Ivra's sled as she wanted them to. They had not +come to spoil her fun. Instead they raced down the hill behind her or +before her, pushing and pulling, their stinging hair in her face. But +that only made her cheeks very red, and she did not mind them at all. +Then she tried sliding down on her feet, with the long line of witches +pushing from behind, their hands on each other's shoulders. That was the +best fun of all, and almost always ended in a tumble before the bottom +was reached. Though the others avoided the witches as much as they could +they admired Ivra for such hardy comrading. + +Before noon every one was very hungry. Then the littlest Forest Child +said, "Follow me. The Tree Girl has gone ahead." + +It was true, she had slipped away when no one noticed. + +The littlest Forest Child led them away to a little valley-place where +hemlock boughs had been spread to make a floor and raised on three sides +to make a shelter. When they had come close enough for Ivra to see what +it was perched so big and white in the middle of the hemlock floor she +stopped and sighed with joy while she clasped her hands. + +It was a beautiful frosted birthday cake with nine brave candles of all +colors and burning steadily, just the kind of cake her mother had always +baked for her birthdays.--Only last year there had been eight candles. +She had not hoped for this final delight. She ran quickly forward and +was the first to kneel down by it. The Tree Girl was there waiting, and +now Ivra knew it was the cake that she had been carrying so secretly +under her cloak. + +The Snow Witches did not follow into that shelter. They have a great +fear of shelters, you must know, for when forced into them they quickly +lose their fierceness, and their fierceness is their greatest pride. But +before they left the party one of them came close to Eric, so close that +tears were whipped into his eyes and quickly froze on his lashes. "Take +this to your little comrade," shes said, thrusting a box made of pine +cones into his hands. "It's for her to keep her paper dolls in. We +witches made it." + +Then all the witches went screeching and swirling away through the +forest, and Ivra, Eric and the others settled down to the business of +eating the birthday cake. + +But first the Tree Girl, who is very sensible, insisted that they eat +some nuts and apples. Indeed, she would allow no one a bite of the +wonderful cake until he had eaten at least one apple and twenty nuts. + +Before Ivra cut the cake the others blew out the candles, one after +another, and made her a wish in turn for every candle. The Tree Girl +wished her a bright new year, the Bird Fairies that her mother would +soon return, the Wind Creatures that she would keep her gay heart +forever, the Forest Children that she would become the most famous story +teller in the Forest World. + +And then it was Eric's turn. He had never been to a birthday party +before, and never had he made a wish for some one else. So he was a +little puzzled. But at last he had an idea and cried, "I wish that your +hair will grow golden and curly before to-morrow morning." All +princesses Ivra had ever told him about had curly golden hair, and +though she had never said it, Eric had suspected for some time that Ivra +would like that kind of hair herself. Then he puffed his cheeks and blew +out his candle, a fat green one. Ivra laughed. + +"The Snow Witches would never let me keep curly hair," she said. "They'd +whip it straight in an hour." + +That reminded Eric of the pine cone box and he gave it to her and told +her about it. She was almost as delighted with that as with the cake. + +What a wonderful cake it was! Such food Eric had never dreamed of, and +he was a great dreamer! The frosting was over an inch thick. + +Then, of course, Ivra must tell them stories. All the Forest People +loved her stories. They built a fire to keep from freezing. The Wind +Creatures sat a little way off where it was cool enough for their +comfort, but not too far to hear Ivra's clear voice. This time she told +all she knew about the birthday of this Earth, one of the most magical +and splendid and strange of her stories. + +But it was the shortest day in the year, Ivra's birthday, and night fell +all too soon. Then the Tree Girl, who seldom forgot to be sensible, said +they had better go home. The littlest Forest Child was already asleep, +curled close by the fire. They roused him gently. Good-nights were +called and a few minutes after, the shelter was deserted, and the fire +out. And by starlight could be seen many footprints leading away in the +white snow out into all parts of the Forest. + +Eric and Ivra walked toward home hand in hand. They had to pass the +morning's slide on the way. When they came in sight of it they began to +walk more quickly and quietly and to look intently. The blue ice shone +bluer than ever in starlight, but more than the ice shone. Shining +_people_ were using the sleds and the hill was covered with them. + +"Why, they must be Star People," Ivra cried excitedly. + +When they were quite near they stood to watch. + +The strange Star folk were very silent, never calling and laughing as +those who had slid there in the morning had done. Two, a little boy and +a young girl, came spinning down on the same sled and stopped so near +that Ivra and Eric might have touched them by leaning forward. But the +Star-two must have thought the Forest-two shadows, for they paid no +attention to them at all. + +Now that they were so near Eric could see that their hair was blue, like +the shadows on snow, and their faces a beautiful shining white. Their +straight short garments were blue like shadows, too, and their arms, +legs and feet were bare. But they did not seem conscious of the cold. +Eric did not hear them speak, but they looked at each other as though +they _were_ speaking, and then suddenly the little boy laughed merrily, +as though the young girl had just told him something very amusing. + +Soon the girl turned and ran away up the hill. But the little boy was as +quick as she and threw himself on the sled while she never slackened her +pace, but drew him straight and fast up the steep slope. + +"I have never seen them before," Ivra whispered to Eric. "But mother has +told me of them. They don't talk as we do you see. They don't _have_ to. +They know each other's thoughts. They almost never leave their Stars. Do +you think--perhaps, to-night they saw our slide shining, and wondered so +much about it they had to come down? Even mother has never seen them. +It was Tree Mother told her." + +Eric was very silent, for he had never seen such beautiful people. The +little boy had had a face like a star, and great shining eyes. The young +girl had been clear like the day, and without smiling her face had been +brimmed with happiness. + +But now he felt Ivra trembling. She whispered again, "You know, Eric, it +is wonderful for us to see them like this. Some day, mother says, we may +get to be like them!" + +"And speak without words?" Eric asked wondering. + +"Yes, and more than that. We may be as _alive_ as they. Now we're only +Forest people, and not all _that_ even--almost dreams. They are _real_!" + +Then she took his hand and drew him away. "I cannot look any more," she +said; "can you? They are too beautiful!" + +Eric put his fingers to his eyes as he walked. "Yes, it's hard to see +the ground now. My eyes ache a little." + +But how the children wished their mother were waiting for them in the +little house to hear the tale! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +NORA'S GRANDCHILDREN + + +One afternoon Eric and Ivra started out for the Forest Children's moss +village to play with them. But when they got there they found all the +little houses deserted: not a Forest Child was to be found. They must +have gone into some other part of the forest to play. So Ivra and Eric +wandered on and on, a little lonely, a little tired of just each other +for comrades, till at last they came to the very edge of the +forest,--and there was Nora's farm, a rambling red brick house, with a +barn twice its size behind it. Down in the pasture by the house half a +dozen Snow Witches were dancing in a circle, now near, now far, all over +the pasture, and sometimes right up to the farm-house windows. + +Ivra clapped her hands and bounded forward. Eric did not follow. He +stood to watch. When the Snow Witches saw Ivra running to them they +rushed to meet her. For a minute she was lost in a cloud of blown snow, +and then there she was dancing in their circle back and forth across the +pasture, and then away, away, away! But before she frolicked quite out +of sight she turned to look for her playfellow, and beckoned to him. + +"Come on," she called. "We're going to slide on the brook below the +cornfield." + +But Eric did not follow. He did not like the Snow Witches. And just as +Ivra and the Witches drifted out of sight, he thought he heard the +Forest Children laughing. The sound came from the barn. So Eric ran to +the door. It was a big sliding door, and now stood open on a crack just +large enough for a child to slip through. Eric went in. + +The barn was tremendously big, a great dusty place full of the smell of +hay. Ahead of him were two stalls, with a horse in one. But Eric was +most interested in the empty stall, for it was from there the laughter +seemed to come. He stood looking and listening, and then right down +through the ceiling of the stall shot a child, and landed laughing and +squealing in the hay in the manger. She sat up, saw Eric and stared. She +was a little girl about his own age, freckle-faced, snub-nosed and +red-haired. She had the jolliest, the nicest face in the world. + +Eric opened his mouth to say, "Hello," but kept it open, silent in +amazement, for another child had shot through the ceiling and landed +beside the girl. This was a boy. He was red-headed, too, freckle-faced +and snub-nosed. He looked even jollier than the girl. + +Before Eric had closed his mouth on his amazement, "Whoop!" and down +came another boy. This boy was red-haired, freckle-faced and snub-nosed, +and he looked jollier than the other two put together, if that were +possible, for his red hair curled in saucy, tight little ringlets, and +his mouth was wide with smiles. + +It was this last one who said, "Hello, who are you?" + +"Eric,--who are you?" + +"Nora's grandchildren, of course. Come up. We're having sport." + +The three children ran across the barn to a ladder and scrambled up and +disappeared through a trap door at the top. Eric followed. The attic was +full of hay in mountains and little hills,--hay and hay and hay. He +followed the children around the biggest mountain, through a tunnel--and +there they vanished! + +He found the hole in the stable ceiling and looked down. Not very far +below him was the manger full of hay and red-headed children. "Look out +down there! Whoop!" cried Eric, and dropped, landing among them. + +Then the four laughed heartily together and ran across the barn again, +up the ladder, around the hay mountain and dropped down the hole. They +did that dozens of times until they were tired of it. + +Then they played hide-and-go-seek in the hay country, and after that +Blind Man's Buff in the barn below. The little girl was Blind Man first. +They tied a red handkerchief tight over her eyes. Then they ran about, +dodging her, calling her, laughing at her groping hands and hesitating +steps. But after a few minutes she became accustomed to the darkness and +ran and jumped about after them until they had to be very wary and swift +indeed. Soon she caught Eric and then he was Blind Man. + +By and by they played tag, just plain tag, and Eric liked that best of +all. Back and forth across the great room they raced,--up the ladder, +over the hay, through the hole into the stable, round and round, in and +out, up and down until they were too tired and hot for any more. + +Then they lay up in the hay where there was a little window, looking far +out across the meadows. + +Eric saw Ivra out there in the first field, wandering around alone and +now and then looking up at the barn. She must have heard their shouts +and laughter. He pointed her out to the other children. "That is my +playmate out there," he said. "Let's open the window and call to her to +come up. She'll tell us stories." + +The children looked out eagerly. "But there's nobody there," they said. + +Eric laughed. "No, look!" He pointed with his finger. "Over there by the +white birch. Look! She sees us." He waved. "Quick, help me open the +window." + +He could not find the catch. The window was draped with cobwebs and +dusty with the dust of years. It looked as though it had never been +opened. + +The little red-headed girl put her hand on his arm. She was laughing. +"Don't be silly," she said. "There's no one by the white birch. You're +imagining." + +"Why, look! Of course she's there!" Eric was impatient. "She's moving +now, waving to us. Of course you see her!" + +"Yes," said the jolliest of the boys. "We do see it--faintly. We've seen +it before too,--a kind of a shadow on the snow. But father says it's +nothing to mind. Imaginings. Nothing real, just spots in our eyes or +something." + +Then Eric remembered all that Ivra had told him. She was half fairy. +People could see her if they looked hard enough. But they were not apt +to believe their own eyes when they had looked. That was dreadful for +her. She had not said so, but he had guessed it from her face when she +told him. Well, well, now he understood a little better. These were +Earth Children, with shadows in their eyes. Ivra could never be their +playmate. + +But _he_ could see her well enough because his eyes were clear. And +presently he would run out to her and they would go home together. But +just now it was jolly and cozy here in the barn, and these Earth +Children were good fun. He hoped she would wait for him, but if she did +not he would find his way alone easily enough. + +"You don't really believe in it, do you?" the red-headed girl was +asking. "If you do,--better not. Grown-ups will laugh at you." + +"Nora, your grandmother, won't laugh," said Eric. "She knows Ivra well +enough, and Helma, too." + +"Oh, yes," said the jolliest boy. "But she is queer. We love her, and +she's a fine grandmother, I can tell you. And she tells the best +stories. But she's queer just the same, and she can't fool us." + +"Let's go in and get some cookies from her," said the other boy. "They +must be done by now." + +So up they hopped, and without another look towards the shadow out on +the snow by the white birch, jumped down the hole, and ran out of the +barn into the kitchen. + +Nora was there knitting by a table, two big pans of cookies just out of +the oven cooling in front of her. + +How good they smelled! Eric had never tasted hot ginger cookies before, +and when Nora gave him one, a big round one all for his own, he almost +danced with delight. He perched on the edge of the table and ate that +one and many another before he was done. + +"This boy, grandma," began the red-headed girl. + +"His name is Eric," interrupted Nora, handing him another cookie. "I +know him very well." + +"Well, he saw It while we were looking out of the barn window! And he +said It was real and his playmate, and he wanted to call It in to tell +us stories!" + +"Don't say 'It,'" said Nora. "Her name is 'Ivra.' But of course you +can't play with her. She isn't an Earth Child. She's a fairy. So don't +say anything about it to your father when he comes home to-night. It +would make him cross." + +"But it doesn't make you cross," laughed the jolliest boy. "And so won't +you tell us some stories about it now. You know,--the little house in +the wood, the Tree Man, the Forest Children, Helma, Ivra and all the +rest of it." + +"Do tell us a story," begged the other two. + +So Nora put down her knitting, and taking the cat on her lap, a great +sleepy white fellow who had been purring by the stove, she began to tell +them stories. + +She told stories about Helma and Ivra, the Wind Creatures, the Snow +Witches and many more. The children listened eagerly, clapping their +hands now and then, and at the end of every story asking for more. + +But Eric was lost in wonder. The children thought the stories were not +true,--just fairy stories told them by a grandmother. And Nora had +evidently long ago given up expecting them to believe. Her black eyes +twinkled knowingly when they met Eric's puzzled ones. + +And all the time Eric had only to turn his head to see Ivra walking out +there around in the field, looking at the farm house, waiting for him. +But gradually, as the stories went on the little figure out there grew +more and more to look like just a blue shadow on the snow, paler and +paler. Finally he had to strain his eyes to see it at all. + +Then he jumped down from the table and said he must go home. His heart +was beating a little wildly. For he was afraid Ivra might fade away from +him altogether. These red-headed children were fine playfellows. He +liked them,--oh, so much! He wished he could stay and play with them +for--a week. Yes. But he must go now. That blue shadow on the snow +seemed lonely. + +"Take her some cookies," said Nora, filling his pockets. The children +laughed at the top of their voices. "Yes, take some cookies to the +fairy. But you can eat them yourself and pretend it is the fairy eating +them," they cried. + +Nora laughed with them, and so after a minute Eric joined in. But he and +Nora looked at each other through their laughter and nodded +understanding. + +When Ivra saw him at last come out of the farm house door, she didn't +wait longer, but ran away into the wood. He overtook her a long way in, +walking rapidly. + +"Did you have a good time with the witches?" he asked. + +"Why didn't you come, too?" she said + +"Oh, it was too cold. Nora's grandchildren are awfully good fun. We +played hide-and-go-seek, just as we played it at the Tree Man's party." + +"Did they laugh at me?" + +" . . . No, they laughed at me. They thought I was a funny boy." + +"To have me for a playmate?" + +Then Eric began to think that Ivra was not very happy. Perhaps she had +been lonely. + +"You're always running off with the Snow Witches," he said. "But I won't +play with Nora's grandchildren any more unless they'll let you play too. +I won't, truly!" + +Ivra laughed. And it was like spring coming into winter. "Yes, play with +them all you like! I love them, too. I've often watched them. The +littlest boy, the one with the funny curls, laughs at me and stares and +stares. But the other two . . . they just give me a glance and then forget +all about me. They don't think I'm real. But they are awfully jolly. You +play with them and when you tell me about it afterwards I'll pretend I +was there playing too." + +Then the two clasped hands and went skipping home. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +SPRING COMES + + +One morning when Ivra woke up she knew spring had come before her eyes +were open. But Eric had to go outdoors to make sure. He was sure enough +when he smelled the ground, a good earth smell. Snow still clung to the +garden in spots here and there, but the warm sun promised it would not +be for long. Something in the sky, something in the air, a smell of +earth, and a stirring in his own heart told him it was true. Spring had +come! + +Ivra had felt and known it before her eyes were open, and now that they +were open, those eyes of hers looked like two blue spring flowers just +awake. She hopped about in the garden poking and prodding the earth with +a stick, looking for her violets, her anemones, her star flowers. Not a +green leaf was pushing through yet, but oh, how soon there would be! + +Suddenly she stopped and stood still looking away into the forest. Then +she ran to Eric on the door stone. She cried, "Mother will come now. +Don't you feel it? She will come with the spring!" + +Eric did feel it. For there was magic in the day. The magic came to him +in the air, in the smell of the earth, in the new warm wind and said, +"Everything is yours that you want. Joy is coming." And Mother Helma was +what he wanted. So he felt sure she was on the way. + +"She must have found the key,--or do you suppose she climbed the gray +wall?" wondered Ivra. + +"Shall we go to meet her?" asked Eric. + +"No, no. We must get the house clean and ready for her. We must hurry." + +And then such a house-cleaning was begun as you or I have never seen. +The Forest Children had been up at dawn to greet the spring, and now +they came running to tell Ivra and Eric about it. When they heard that +Helma was at last coming back and the house was to be cleaned they +wanted to help. First it was decided to wash the floor. Pail after pail +of water from the fountain they splashed on it. Streamlets of water +flowed into the fireplace and out over the door stone. Out and in ran +the Forest Children trying to help, and with every step making foot +prints on the wet floor, muddy little foot prints, dozens of them and +finally hundreds of them. + +Then the windows were washed. And because the Forest Children could not +run on those they were made bright and clear. But soon the Forest +Children pressed their faces against the panes to watch for Helma, and +as the minutes passed breath-clouds formed there, spreading and +deepening until the glass sparkled no more. But no one noticed. No one +cared. For now they were shining up the dishes, polishing them with +cloths, and setting them in neat rows in the cupboard. + +Then Wild Star appeared, his hands full of spring flowers that he had +found deep in the forest in the sunniest and most protected place, the +very first spring flowers. "Helma must have gotten past that wall, now +it's spring," he said; "and here are some flowers to greet her. See, I +left the roots on, the way she likes them. Let's plant them by the door +stone." + +They dug up the earth with their hands, Forest Children's hands, Wild +Star's hands, Eric's and Ivra's,--and planted the flowers all about the +door stone. Then Wild Star flew away a little languidly. + +Ivra looked after him. "He'll soon find the deepest, darkest, coolest +place," she said, "make himself a nest of smooth leaves and dream away +the summer. Fall and winter are his flying times. We shall see him at no +more parties for a while." + +"And the Snow Witches? What will become of them?" asked Eric. + +"They will get into hollows of old trees and under rocks, draw in their +skirts and their hair, curl up and sleep." + +"Good news!" thought Eric. But he did not say it for he knew Ivra liked +the Snow Witches almost best of all to play with and would miss them. + +Now the Tree Girl came through the gap in the hedge. She was wearing a +green frock, green sandals, and pussy willow buds made a wreath in her +hair. + +"Spring, spring!" she cried as she came up the path. "We heard the sap +running in our tree all night. Father has gone on a spring wandering, +and I shall stay within tree no longer for a while." + +"We know, we know!" crowed Ivra. "_I_ knew before my eyes were open this +morning. Eric had to smell the ground first. Imagine! We have been +cleaning house. Mother will surely come now. Don't _you_ feel it?" + +The Tree Girl lifted her face up in the new warm wind. Her soft hair +floated feather-like. "Yes, I feel it. She is on the way. Spring brings +everything." + +A bird flashed from the trees. It lighted on the hedge for a second and +was away again. But Eric had had time to recognize the beautiful bird he +had seen caged in the Witch's fir. + +"The caged bird!" he cried to Ivra. "It is free! It is flying away." + +The Bird Fairies were flying away, too. They were going to meet the +birds corning up from the south and teach them their songs as they flew. +They came to say good-by to the children. + +"Look for us next winter," they called back, as they fluttered off in a +silvery cloud. + +And finally, at high noon, just as Ivra had known she would since early +morning, Helma came,--running through the forest, jumping the hedge, and +gathering Ivra and Eric into her arms. + +They three knelt on the ground by the spring flowers embracing each +other for a long, long minute. + +"Did you find the key to that gate?" Eric asked when his breath came +back, "Or did they let you come at last." + +"I didn't have to find the key, and they didn't let me come. They would +never have done that. But the minute I had on a light spring frock I +found I could climb the wall easily enough, and so I came running all +the way. And now they shall never get me back behind doors again. I am +free! I am as free as you, my children!" + +She held them off and looked into their eyes. + +She was dressed in a brown silk gown, all torn and stained from her +wall-climbing and rush through the bushes. Her feet were bare, for she +had kicked off her funny high-heeled city boots the minute she had +reached the forest. Her hair had grown to her shoulders and looked more +like flower petals than ever. But her face was not brown and serene, as +Eric had first seen it. It was pale and wild. + +"They don't believe in you, children," she said. "They don't believe in +me, not the me that I am. And from morning to night they made me a +slave. They made me wear such ugly, hurting things, and then they made +me dance! Every night we danced in hot rooms and ate strange bad-tasting +food. They called dancing like that a _party_. But I could only remember +our forest parties, and our dancing here under the cool moon. + +"The only glimpse of the forest I had was your Snow Witches, Ivra. +Sometimes I saw them from my bedroom window, 'way out in the fields, +whirling and scudding in mad games. And then at last one morning some +Wind Creatures flew by, above the garden wall! But when I called Wild +Star back and tried to ask him about you, children, as he perched on the +wall, they came rushing into the garden and dragged me away. They said +it was time for luncheon, and I must change my frock. But let us forget. +I am here! It is spring!" + +She jumped up and stood just as the Tree Girl had stood earlier that +morning, her face lifted in the wind. Slowly that face grew calm and +warm color flooded it. + +"How nicely cleaned the house is!" she exclaimed when at last they went +in. For she did not see the tracks on the floor nor the clouded windows. +All she saw was that the children had worked there to make it fit for +her home-coming. + +Ivra was proud and glad that she noticed. "I have made you a spring +frock too," she said, bringing it out. "And Eric has made you some +sandals. He makes fine sandals now!" + +The frock was a brown smock with a narrow green belt. + +The sandals were well made, and very soft and light. + +Helma stripped off the tattered silk frock, the funny thing with its +long sleeves and stiff lace collar, and hid it away out of sight. On +went the new smock over her head in a twinkling. She stepped into the +sandals. And there was their mother, the Helma Eric had first seen. + +"The garden now, we must see about that," she said in her old quiet way. +Then they went out into the garden, and Helma began to plan just where +there should plant seeds and just what must be done. The children clung +to her hands, looking up into her face, and would not let her take a +step away from them. When she stood still they leaned against her, one +against either side, and wound their arms about her. + +In mid-afternoon, Spring came--not the spring of the year, but Spring +himself, the person the season is named for. He was a tall young man, +with a radiant face, and fair curls lifting in a cloud from his head. +Where he walked the earth sprang up in green grass after his bare feet, +and flowers followed him like a procession. Helma ran to him, swifter +than the children, and he kissed her lips. He lifted Ivra nigh on his +shoulder for one minute where she thought she looked away over the +treetops hundreds of miles to the blue ocean. But it may have been only +his eyes, which were very blue, that shee was looking into. + +With him came two Earth Giants. They were huge brown fellows with +rolling muscles and kind, sleepy eyes. They crouched down at the opening +in the hedge and waited for Spring to go on with them. + +"Shall we plant the garden, Helma?" asked Spring. + +"Yes, yes," cried the children, and Helma said, "Yes, yes," as eagerly +as they. + +So the Earth Giants came in and plowed it all up with their +hands,--hands twenty times as large as an Earth Man's! When they were +done, the garden was a rich golden color, and right for planting. Then +Helma pointed out to Spring where she wanted the seeds to be, violets +here, roses there, lilies there, pansies there and daisies there. Spring +gave some seeds to the children and sowed some himself. Helma sat on the +door stone and joyously directed the work. + +By twilight the garden was done, and Spring went away with his Earth +Giants. + +As he went out through the forest, flowers and green grass followed +him--and the next morning even the dullest Earth Person would know that +Spring had come. + +As for Helma and Ivra and Eric, the house would not hold their joy, and +so they dragged out their beds and slept that night in the new-plowed, +sweet-smelling garden. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SPRING WANDERING + + +"There goes another," said Helma as she stood in the door the very next +morning after her return. "The littlest Forest Child that was, and all +by himself. He seems rather small to go spring-wandering alone." + +"He likes to go alone," Ivra answered. She was setting the table for +breakfast, and Eric was helping her. "'Most always he's playing or +wandering off by himself somewhere." + +Helma stood watching the little fellow until he had vanished amid the +delicate green of the forest morning. Then she tossed back her hair with +a shake of her head and cried gayly, "Let's go wandering ourselves, +pets. It's good to be home, but we have all our lives for that now. +Let's adventure!" + +The children were overjoyed. They did not want to wait for breakfast. +But Helma thought they had better, for no one knew where, when or how +their next meal would be. Of course, though, it was hard to eat. You +know yourself how you feel about food when you are going on an +adventure. However the bowls of cereal were swallowed somehow. Then the +stoutest sandals were strapped on, and the three were ready to set out. + +First they went to Nora's farm and before they had waited many minutes +in the shadow of the trees on the edge of the field Nora came from the +door carrying their jug of milk. They ran to meet her and tell her not +to leave any more milk until they should come back. How glad the old +woman was to see Helma. "I thought spring would bring you," she said. +"Spring frees everything." + +Then Helma, Ivra and Eric were off for their spring wandering. It seemed +as though every one else was wandering, too, for they could hardly walk +a mile without meeting some friend or stranger Forest Person. All gave +them greeting, whether stranger or friend, and all looked very glad that +Helma was in the forest again, for good news travels fast there, and +even the strangers knew of her home-coming. + +In a secret wooded valley, walking softly to hear the birds and the +thousand little other songs of earth, they suddenly came upon a strange +and thrilling sight. A party of little girls and boys all in bright +colored frocks, purple, orange, green, blue, yellow, were putting the +finishing touches on an air-boat they were making. It was built of +delicate leaved branches and decorated with wild flowers. A great anchor +of dog-tooth violets hung over the sides and kept it on the ground. + +When they saw Helma and the children coming so silently toward them they +jumped into the boat and crowded there looking like a bunch of larger +spring flowers. Then they drew in the anchor rapidly. But the little +girl sitting high in the back, the one in the torn yellow dress and with +blowing cloud-dark hair, cried, "Oh, no fear, it's Ivra and her mother +and the clear-eyed Earth Child. Want to come, Ivra? We're off spring +wandering among the white clouds." + +Ivra shook her head and called, "Not unless three of us can come." + +"Too full for that," called down the yellow-frocked one, for now the +boat had lifted softly almost to the tree tops. "Your Earth Child would +weigh us down. So hail and farewell. Good wandering!" + +So the three on the ground stood looking up and waving and calling back, +"Good wandering!" until the green boat had drifted away and away and was +lost in the spring sky. But for a long time after, there floated down to +them in the valley far laughter and glad cries. + +The spring nights were cold, and so at twilight they made themselves a +shelter of boughs. They slept as soon as it was night and woke and were +off at the break of dawn. Helma carried sweet chocolate in her pockets, +and forest friends and strangers offered them from their store all along +the way. Sometimes when they were tired or warm with walking they would +climb into the top of some tall tree, and there swinging among the cool +new leaves, Helma began telling them her World Stories again, while the +children looked off over the trembling forest roof and watched for +homing birds. + +But when the hemlock and fir trees began to crowd out the maples and +oaks, Helma said quietly one day, "We are nearing the sea." "The sea," +cried Eric almost wild with sudden delight. "Shall we see it? Shall we +swim in it? Oh, I have never seen it!" + +"Oh, I saw it from Spring's shoulder," Ivra cried--she really thought +she had--"But mother, mother, what a wonderful surprise you had for us!" + +They began to run in their eagerness. But Helma held them back. "It's a +day's journey yet," she said. And so they walked as patiently as they +could down a long, long slope through dark firs and hemlocks. + +It was noon of the following day when they finally came to the sea. They +had struggled through a thick undergrowth of thorned bushes where the +great arms of the firs shut out everything ahead. Then suddenly they +were out of it, in the open, on the shore with the waves almost lapping +their toes. It was high tide. The blue sea stretched away to the blue +sky. + +Eric's legs gave way under him, and he knelt on the white sand, just +looking and looking at the bigness of it, the splendor of it, the color +of it, and listening to the music of it. Ivra ran right out into the +foam brought in by the breakers, up to her waist, where she splashed the +water with her palms until her hair and face were drenched with salt +spray. Helma stood looking away to foreign countries which she could +almost see. + +But they were not left long to themselves. The heads of a little girl +and boy and a young woman appeared over the crest of a great wave, and +the three were swept up to the shore. They grabbed Ivra and drew her +along with them as they passed, laughing musically. Ivra did not like it +at first, and sprang away from them the minute she could shake herself +free. But when she saw their merry faces and heard them laugh, she +returned shyly. + +The children were about Eric's and Ivra's ages, and the young woman was +their mother. The children's names were Nan and Dan, and the woman's +name was Sally. But though they had Earth names they were of the +fairy-kind,--called in the Forest "Blue Water People." + +Just peer into a clear pool or stream, almost any bright day, and you +will be pretty sure to see one of them looking up at you. They are the +sauciest and most mischievous of all fairies. Only stare at them a +little, and they will mock you to your face with smiles and pouts, and +will not go away as long as you stay. For they have no fear of you or +any Earth People. They follow their streams right into towns and cities, +under bridges and over dams. You are as likely to find one in your city +park as in the Forest. + +Helma spoke to Sally, while the children eyed each other curiously. She +said, "How happy you Blue Water People must be now Spring has freed you +at last!" + +Sally dropped down on the beach, her dark hair flung like a shadow on +the sand. Her laughing face looked straight up into the sky. She +stretched her arms above her head. + +"He came just in time. Another day--and we would have had to break +through the ice ourselves. Truly. We've never had such a long winter. +Why, a _month_ ago we began to look for Spring. We lay with our faces +pressed against the cold ice for hours at a time, watching. We could +just see light through, and shadows now and then." + +"And then I saw him first," cried Dan, who was listening to his mother. + +"No, I!" cried Nan. + +"No, no," Sallv laughed. "I heard him, singing, a long way off. And I +called you children away from your game of shells. When his foot touched +the ice we danced in circles of joy, and tapped messages through to him +with our fingers. The ice vanished under his feet, and our stream rushed +hither away to the sea. We came with it, and waved him hail and farewell +as we poured down. Who can stop at home in spring-time? And we had been +ice-bound so long!" + +"And now we're here," boasted Dan, "I'm going to swim across the sea +to-morrow,--or the next day!" + +"You're too little for that. Calm water is best, or little rushing +streams," warned Sally. + +"What is it like across the sea?" asked Eric. "Another world?" + +"I'll tell you about it in the next story," promised Helma. "And then +when I have told you, Eric, you may want to go across yourself and see +the wonders." + +Eric drew a deep breath. "Yes, you and Ivra and I. In a boat." He +pointed to a white sail far out stuck up like a feather slantwise in the +water. + +Ivra clapped her hands. + +But Helma shook her head. "When you go, it must be alone, Ivra and I +belong to the Forest." + +"Why, then I don't want to go, ever." Eric shook the thought from him +like water. + +"Well, let's swim across now," Dan shouted, and ran into the waves, +falling flat as soon as he was deep enough and swimming fast away. The +other children followed him, ready for a frolic. You or I would have +found that water very cold, but these were hardy children; and one of +them all winter had made comrades of the Snow Witches, remember. + +They waded out to the surf and plunged through it, head first. They took +hands and floated in a circle beyond, rising and falling in the even +motion of the rollers. Nan was very mischievous, and soon succeeded in +pushing Eric out, under where the waves broke. When he looked up +suddenly and saw the great watery roof hanging over him, he was +terrified but he did not scream. People who comraded with Ivra could not +do that. He shut his eyes tight, and then thundering down came the +water-roof, and a second after, up bobbed Eric like a cork, choking and +sputtering. They were laughing at him, even Ivra. The minute the salt +water was out of his eyes he laughed, too, and tried to push Nan into +the surf. But she was too quick for him, and slipped away, farther out +to sea. + +Then began a game of water tag. Eric, because he was not such a good +swimmer as the others, was It most of the time. But Ivra had to take a +few turns as well. It was impossible to catch the other two. They moved +in the water as reflected light moves along a wall, not really swimming +at all, but flashing from spot to spot. + +Helma and Sally lay on the sand in the spring sunshine and talked about +their children. + +"Nan and Dan tear their clothes so," sighed Sally, "I could spend all my +time mending." + +"I must make little Eric some new clothes," said Helma. "I hope I have +cloth enough at home." + +"Nan is naughty, but she is a darling," laughed Sally as Eric was pushed +under the surf. + +Helma waited to see that he came up smiling and then said, "Ivra and +Eric never quarrel. They play together from morn till night like two +squirrels." + + . . . They all had lunch together on the shore. The Blue Water Children +instead of eating smelled some spring flowers which Sally had found. +That is the way they always take their nourishment. Helma turned some +little cakes of chocolate out of her pockets, and though at first it +seemed like a small luncheon, when it was all eaten they felt satisfied. + +All the afternoon the children played up and down the beach. They found +a smooth round pink sea-shell which they used for a ball. Eric was the +best at throwing. It made him happy and proud to excel in something at +last. He taught them how to play base ball, which he had once watched +Mrs. Freg's boys playing on Sundays in the back yard. They used a piece +of drift wood for a bat, and when the shell got accidentally batted into +the sea the Blue Water Children fielded it like fishes. + +When they were tired of ball, the Blue Water Children drew lines on the +sand for "hop scotch,"--a game they had sometimes watched city children +playing in a park,--and taught Ivra and Eric about that. + +Then they built a castle of sand, and walled it in with sea shells. +Helma showed them how to make the moat and the bridge, and Sally and she +took turns and made up a story about the castle and told it to them. + +Towards evening some Earth People came by, near to the shore, in a +little steam launch. There were men and women and several children in +it. They crowded into the side of the boat towards the shore to stare +curiously at Helma and Eric. They could not see the others, of course. +Helma with her free, bright hair and bare feet looked very strange to +them. And they could not understand what Eric was doing with his arms +held straight out at each side. He was between Dan and Nan, holding +their hands, and standing to watch. But the Earth People looked right +through the Blue Water Children, or thought they were shadows perhaps. + +One of the men put his hands to his mouth like a megaphone and called to +Helma, asking her if she did not want to be picked up. They thought her +being there in that wild place with a little boy, alone, and barefooted, +very singular. They thought she might have been shipwrecked. But Helma +shook her head, and so they had to take their wonder away with them. The +boat swept by. + +Ivra ran out into the waves waist deep to watch the strange thing. She +had never seen a steam launch before, or anything like it. A baby, held +in his nurse's arms, caught sight of her and waved tiny dimpled hands, +calling and cooing. She saw his sparkling eyes, his light fuzzy hair, +his little white dress and socks. She ran farther into the water, waving +back to him and throwing him dozens of kisses. But no one else in the +boat saw her, and after a minute the baby's attention turned to a sea +gull flying overhead. + +Ivra returned to shore, her face shining. There had been no doubt of +it--the baby had seen her at once, and had had no doubts. He had laughed +and reached his hands to her. The little Fairy Child almost hugged +herself with delight. . . . + +They built themselves shelters of drift wood when night fell. Eric's was +just large enough for him to crawl into and lie still. One whole side of +it was open to the sea. Soft fir boughs made his bed, and Helma had left +a kiss with him. But he did not sleep for a long while. He lay on his +side looking out over the star-sprinkled water and up at the +star-flowering sky. And he could not have told how or from where the +command had come, but he knew as he looked that he must cross that sea +and go into the new world beyond it and see all things for himself. +World Stories were good. But they were not enough. + +How he was to go, or how live when he got there--he did not once think +of that. Just that he _was_ to go filled his whole mind. He forgot that +he had said he would not go without Helma and Ivra. He did not think of +them at all. He just lay still listening to the sea's command to go +beyond and beyond. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +OVER THE TREE TOPS + + +He was waked by Ivra's joyous cries just at dawn, and rolled out of his +shelter, rubbing his eyes and stretching his arms and legs. But as soon +as his eyes were well open he jumped up and uttered a cry of joy +himself. For hanging just above the water on the edge of the sea was a +great blue sea-shell air-boat with blue sails; and the Tree Mother stood +in it, talking to Helma and Ivra who had run down to the water's edge. + +The boat and the sails were blue. Tree Mother's gown was blue. The sea +and the sky were blue. Tiny white caps feathered the water. Tiny white +clouds feathered the sky. And Tree Mother's hair was whiter and more +feathery than either. Her eyes were dark like the Tree Man's, only +keener and softer, both. And in spite of her being a grandmother her +face was brown and golden like a young out-of-door girl's, and she was +slim and quick and more than beautiful. Eric stood beside Ivra, his face +lifted up to the Tree Mother's, aglow and quivering. + +"She is going to take us home," Ivra said softly. + +Then Tree Mother turned the boat, and it drifted in and down on the +sand. The children and Helma climbed in. The Tree Mother said very +little on the long ride, but her presence was enough. The three were +almost trembling for joy, for the Tree Mother's companionship is rare, +and one of the splendidest things that can happen to a Forest Person. + +The minute they were in the boat, it shot up and away towards home. + +"Where are the Blue Water Children?" Eric cried, suddenly remembering +their playmates of yesterday. + +"Have you been playing with Blue Water Children?" asked Tree Mother. +"They are gypsy-folk and you never know where you will find them next. +They are probably miles away by now." + +"Faster, faster, Tree Mother," begged Ivra, who was hanging over the +side of the boat and losing herself in joy with the motion and height. + +"Faster?" said the Tree Mother. "Then take care! Hold on!" + +The boat shot forward with a sudden rush. The spring air changed from +cool feathers to a sharp wing beating their faces. Eric and Ivra slipped +to the floor and lay on their backs. They dared not sit up for fear of +being swept overboard. They could see nothing but the sky from where +they lay, but they loved the speed, and clapped their hands, and Ivra +cried, "Faster, faster!" + +The Tree Mother laughed. "These are brave children," she thought. "Shut +your eyes then," she said, "and don't try too hard to breathe." + +They swept on more swiftly than a wild-goose, so swiftly that soon the +children could neither hear, speak nor see. And then at last they were +traveling so fast that it felt as though the boat were standing +perfectly still in a cold dark place. + +Gradually light began to leak through their shut eyelids, the wing of +the wind beat away from them, and the boat rocked slower and slower in +warm, spring-scented air. But in that brief time, they had traveled +many, many miles. + +Now when the children leaned over the side, they saw that they were +sailing slowly over their own Forest. The tree tops were like a restless +green sea just a little beneath them. They flew low enough to hear bird +calls and the voices of the streams. + +It was then they suddenly noticed that the littlest of the Forest +Children was there curled up fast asleep at Tree Mother's feet. Ivra +cried to him in surprise, and he woke slowly, stretching his little +brown legs, shaking his curly head, and lifting a sleepy face. He was +puzzled at seeing others beside Tree Mother in the boat. He had been +riding and awake with her all night up near the stars, and had dropped +to sleep as the stars faded. + +She bent now and took his hand. "I picked these wanderers up at dawn," +she said, "and now we are all going back together. We are well on the +way." + +They had left the forest roof and were sailing over open country,--a +short cut, Tree Mother explained. + +"Oh, look," cried Ivra excitedly, almost tumbling over the edge in her +endeavor to see better, "isn't that the gray wall off there?" + +Yes, it was the gray wall, the gray wall that had prisoned their mother +all winter. The boat went slower and slower as they neared it and then +almost hung still over the garden. The garden was full of people, having +some kind of a party, for many little tables were set there with silver +and glass that shone brilliantly in the sun. Servants were hurrying back +and forth carrying trays and their gilt buttons sparkled almost as much +as the silver. + +But how strange were the people! Eric and Ivra and the littlest Forest +Child laughed aloud. They were standing about so straight and stiff, +holding their cups and saucers, and their voices rising up to the +air-boat in confusion sounded like a hundred parrots. + +"Why don't they sit down on the grass to eat?" wondered the littlest +Forest Child. "And why don't they wash their feet in the fountain? They +look so very hot and walk as though it hurt!" + +"Sitting on the grass and washing their feet in the fountain is against +the law there," Helma said. + +But neither Ivra nor the littlest Forest Child knew what "against the +law" meant. Eric knew, however, for he had lived nine years, remember, +where most everything a little boy wanted _was_ against the law. + +"But why do they stay?" Eric asked. + +Helma looked a little grave. "Why did you stay, dear, for nine long +years?" + +He thought a minute. "I hadn't seen the magic beckoning," he answered +then. + +"Neither have they," she said, "and perhaps never will, for their eyes +are getting dimmer all the time." + +"But how can they _help_ seeing it?" cried the littlest Forest Child. +"See, all around the garden!" + +It was true. All around the garden the tall trees stood and beckoned +with their high fingers, beckoned away and away with promise of magic +beyond magic. But the people in the garden never lifted their eyes to +see it. They were looking intently into their tea cups as though it +might be there magic was waiting. + +"They are prisoners," said Tree Mother, "just as you were, Helma, with +this one difference. You were locked in, but they have locked themselves +in and carry their keys like precious things next their hearts." + +Helma sighed and laughed at once. Then she leaned far out and tossed a +daffodil she was carrying down on the heads in the garden, shaking her +short, flower petal hair as she did it--she had cut it before starting +on the adventure--in a free, glad way. + +No one looked up to see where the flower had dropped from. The people +down there were not interested in offerings from the heavens. So the +boat sailed on. Away and away over the canning factory they drifted, +where the little girl looked out from her window and up, and waved her +hands. "What are you waving at like that?" a man asked who was working +near. "Oh, just a white summer cloud," she said. For she knew very well +he did not want the truth. And I might as well tell you here that that +pale little girl was a prisoner who had not turned the lock herself, and +did not carry the key next her heart. Others had done that before she +was born. And she had seen the beckoning in spite of the lock and now +was only waiting a little while to answer it. + +The children were glad to find the forest roof beneath them again. It +was noon when they sank down in the garden at their own white door +stone. Tree Mother left them there and flew away with the littlest +Forest Child, the one who liked to wander alone by himself. + +Nora was in the house when they ran in. She had cleaned it with a +different cleaning from what it had had for Helma's first return. There +were no little foot prints on the floor now, and the window panes shone +like clear pools in sunlight. Three dishes of early strawberries and +three deep bowls of cream were standing on the table before the open +door. And then besides there was a big loaf of golden-brown bread. + +"I thought you would be hungry," said Nora, pointing to the feast. + +They were hungry indeed, for they had had nothing at all to eat since +yesterday's lunch of chocolate. They very soon finished the strawberries +and cream, and a jug of milk besides. + +"You are a good neighbor, Nora," Helma said gratefully. + +All Nora wanted in return for her labor and kindness was the story of +their adventure. She listened eagerly to every word. "I shall tell this +to my grandchildren," she said when the story was done, "and they will +think it just a fairy tale. They'll never believe it's fairy truth! Oh, +if they would only stop pretending to be so wise they themselves might +some time get the chance of a ride over the tree tops with Tree Mother. +But they never will. Come play with them again sometime, Eric. They +often talk about you." + +"I'll come to-day and bring Ivra if they'll play with her, too!" + +But Nora shook her head as she went away. "They don't believe in Ivra. +How could they play with her? Their grandmother can teach them nothing. +But they'll like the story of this adventure none the less for not +believing it." + +When she was gone the three took the dishes into the house and washed +them. Then they went out and worked in the garden until dusk. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE JUNE MOON + + +Now every day Eric was becoming acquainted with strange Forest People: +those who had hidden away from winter in trees, and those who were +wandering up from the south along with the birds, and Blue Water People, +of course, all along the Forest streams. The Forest teemed with new +playmates for him and Ivra. + +Hide-and-go-seek was still the favorite game. And now it was more fun to +be "It" than to be hiding almost, for one was likely to come upon +strangers peeping out of tree hollows, swimming under water, or swinging +in the tree tops, any minute. When the person who was "It" came across +one of these strangers he would simply say, "I spy, and you're It." Then +he would draw the stranger away to the goal, where he usually joined the +game and was as much at home as though he had been playing in it from +the very first. + +The day that Eric found Wild Thyme so was the best of all,--or rather +she was the best of all. And that was strange, for when he first spied +her he did not like her at all. Her dress was a purple slip just to her +knees, with a big rent in the skirt. Her hair was short and bushy and +dark. And her face was soberer than most Forest People's faces. She was +sitting out at the edge of the Forest on a flat rock, her chin in her +hands, and she did not look eager to make friends with any one. + +But he cried, "I spy! You're It!" just the same. She did not lift her +eyes. She only said, "You must catch me first. I am Wild Thyme, and that +will be hard!" + +Eric laughed, for she was not a yard away from him. And he sprang +forward as he laughed. But she was quicker than he. She had been at +perfect rest on the rock, her chin in her hands, and not looking at him, +but the instant he jumped she was off like a flash, a purple streak +across the field. + +But Eric did not let his surprise delay him. He ran after her just as +fast as he could, and that was very, very fast, for running with Ivra +had taught him to run faster than most Earth Children ever dream of +running. Soon, Wild Thyme slowed down a little, and faced him, running +backward, her bushy hair raised from her head in the wind of her +running, her little brown face and great purple eyes gleaming +mischievously. Eric sprang for her. She dodged. He sprang again. She +dodged again. He cried out in vexation and sprang again, straight and +sure. He caught her by her bushy hair as she turned to fly. + +And a strange thing happened to him in that second, the second he caught +her hair. Instead of Wild Thyme and the sunny field, he was looking at +the sea. He was standing on the shore, looking away and away, almost to +foreign lands. Now ever since that spring night on the shore he had been +thinking of the sea and longing with all his might to cross it and see +foreign lands for himself. Only that had seemed impossible, and +something he must surely wait till he was grown up to do. But now, in a +flash, as his fingers closed on Wild Thyme's hair, he knew that he could +indeed do that, and anything else he really set his heart on. + +No girl, even a fairy, likes to have her hair pulled. So Wild Thyme was +angry. She pinched Eric's arm with all her strength. Then _he_ was +angry. And so they stood holding each other, he her by the hair, and she +him by the arm, staring hotly into each other's faces. But slowly they +relaxed, and becoming their own natural selves again, broke into +laughter. + +"You'll play with us, won't you?" Eric asked. + +"Of course," she said, "and I _am_ It!" And away they ran to find the +others, Ivra, the Tree Girl, the Forest Children, and Dan and Nan. When +those saw who it was Eric had captured they ran to meet her, shouting +gayly, "Wild Thyme! Goody! Goody! Hello, Wild Thyme!" They seemed to +have known her always. She and Ivra threw their arms about each other's +shoulders and danced away to the goal. + +Wild Thyme was a wonderful playfellow. She was so wild, so free, so +strong, so mischievous. And when the game was ended she invited them to +a dance that very night. "It's to be around the Tree Man's Tree," she +said. "And all come--come when the moon rises." + + + . . . Perhaps Eric's good times in the Forest reached their very height +that June night of the dance. He had never been to a dance before, and +just at first he did not think there would be much fun in it. But Ivra +wanted him to go, and offered to show him about the dances. So they ran +away from the others to the edge of the field where Eric had discovered +Wild Thyme, and there on the even, grassy ground Ivra showed him how to +dance. It was very easy,--not at all like the dances Earth Children +dance. It was much more fun, and much livelier. The dances were just +whirling and skipping and jumping, each dancer by himself, but all in a +circle. Eric liked it as well as though it had been a new game. + +Late that afternoon Helma and Ivra and Eric gathered ferns and flowers +to deck themselves for the evening. They put them on over the stream, +which was the only mirror in the Forest. + +Helma made a girdle of brakes for herself, and a dandelion wreath for +her hair. She wove a dear little cap of star flowers for Ivra, and a +chain of them for her neck. Eric crowned himself with bloodroot and +contrived grass sandals for his feet. But the sandals, of course, wore +through before the end of the first dance and fell off. + +They had a splendid supper of raspberries and cream, which they sat on +the door stone to eat, and then told stories to each other, while they +waited for the moon to rise. It came early, big and round and yellow, +shining through the trees, flooding the aisles of the Forest with silver +light until they looked like still streams, and the trees like masts of +great ships standing in them. + +Then the three hurried away to the Tree Man's. They ran hand in hand +through the forest aisles, their faces as bright to each other as in +daylight. But before they even came in sight of the tree they heard +music. + +"Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmm, thrummmmmmmmmmmm." Very soft, very +insistent, very simple and strangely thrilling. When they came to the +tree, there were the Forest Children, who had come early, whirling +around in a circle, and the Tree Girl in the center of the circle making +music with a tiny instrument she held in one hand and touched with the +fingers of the other. + +Soon Forest People began arriving from every direction. There were the +Blue Water Children, bright pebbles around their necks, and white sea +shells in their blue hair. The Forest Children were crowned with +maidenhair fern. The Tree Girl was the most beautiful of all in her +silver cobweb frock and her cloudy hair. The Tree Man stood still in the +shadow, but his long white beard gleamed out, and his deep eyes. Wild +Thyme wore a rope of the flower that is named for her around her neck, +but there was a new rent in her purple frock and her legs were scratched +as though she had remembered her dance only the last minute and come +plunging the shortest way through bushes, which was true. + +Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm. + +Every one except the Tree Man was dancing, bewitched in the moonlight, +all over the grassy space around the great tree. The grass was cool and +refreshing under Eric's bare feet, and he often dug his bare toes into +the soft earth at its roots as he leapt or ran just to make sure he was +on earth at all. For he felt as though he were swimming in moonlight, or +at least treading it. + +Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm. + +When the Tree Girl's music stopped between dances, then it would go on +in Eric's head. It was just the sound of the night after all. Once Eric +noticed that the Beautiful Wicked Witch was dancing next to him in the +circle but he was not afraid of her there with the others, and in bright +moonlight. And she was plotting no ill. Her face was sparkling with +delight and she had utterly forgotten herself in the dance. + +When the great moon hung just above them, and shadows were few and far +between, the Tree Mother came walking through the Forest, quieter and +more beautiful than the moon. Wild Thyme ran to her and laid her bushy +head against her breast. For Wild Thyme only of all the Forest People +loved her without awe. The Tree Mother put her hand on Wild Thyme's head +and stood to watch the dancing. Her robe gleamed like frost, and her +hair was a pool of light above her head. + +Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmm. + +Wild Thyme jumped back into the dance and the Tree Mother stood alone. +But although she stood as still as a moonbeam under the tree, she made +Eric think of dancing more than all the others put together. It was her +eyes. The thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm was in them, and the rest +of that night Eric felt as though the music-instrument the Tree Girl was +swinging was silent, and that all the music flowed from Tree Mother. + +But Eric, after all, was only an Earth Child, and his legs got very +tired in spite of the music and the moonlight. So at last he slipped out +of the circle, and stumbling with weariness and sleepiness went to Tree +Mother. She picked him up in her arms, and the minute his head touched +her shoulder he was sound asleep, the music at last hushed in his head. + +When he woke it was summer dawn. The birds were flitting above in the +tree-boughs and making high singing. He was alone, lying beneath a +silver birch, his head among the star flowers. + +He knew that Helma and Ivra had not wanted to wake him, but had gone +home when the moon set, and were waiting breakfast for him there now. So +he jumped up and ran home through the dew. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE DEEPEST PLACE IN THE WOOD + + +It was on the hottest day of all the hot days of summer that Eric found +the deepest place in the Forest. He wandered into it while he was +looking for Wild Thyme. Ivra had been no good to him that day. She was +usually ready to play in any weather; but on this, the hottest day of +the year, she stayed indoors, where it was a little cooler, and lying on +the settle she drew paper dolls on birch bark, and afterwards cut them +out. Yes, even fairy children love paper dolls and Ivra loved them more +than most. Eric wanted her to go swimming in the stream, but he teased +her to in vain, for she was entranced with the dolls and would hardly +lift her eyes from them. + +Helma was swinging in a vine swing she had made for herself high in a +tree above the garden. One of the Little People was perched on a leaf +just over her head, and they were chattering together like equals. Their +eager voices floated down to Eric standing disconsolate near the door +stone. But Helma usually knew when her children were in trouble, no +matter how tiny the trouble, and so before Eric had stood there long or +dug up more than a bushel of earth with his bare toes, she leaned over +the nest and called to him. + +"Why don't you go and play with Wild Thyme? She doesn't mind the heat. +Every one else is staying quiet till sundown." + +Wild Thyme was a happy thought, and Eric walked away in search of her. +But she was in the very last place he would have thought to look on such +a scorching day, and that is how he missed her. She was lying full +length on the hot burnt grass in the field at the Forest's edge, loving +the heat and sunshine, which covered her like a mantle. If Eric had seen +her it is probable he would not have known her or stopped to look twice. +He would have thought her just a little patch of the flower that is +named for her. + +So he wandered on and on, looking high and low and all about for her, +and he went deeper and deeper into the Forest. The deeper he went the +cooler it became, for the forest roof kept out the sunshine. The light +grew dimmer and dimmer too. Eric had never been so far in before and +everything was strange to him. + +He saw no Forest People except a little brown goblin who peered at him +from some underbrush and then scuttled away into the darkness of denser +brush. Eric had never seen a goblin before, but he had no fear of +goblins, and so this one did not bother him at all. He heard others +scuttling and squeaking, and one threw a chunk of gray moss at him. He +stopped and picked it up and threw it back with a laugh in the direction +it had come from. + +"Come out and play, why don't you?" he called. "I know where there's a +fine swimming pool." But there was no answer to his invitation. Instead +there was sudden and utter silence. He was disappointed, for he did want +a playmate, and he had almost given up looking for Wild Thyme. + +After walking for a long while he came at last to one of the windings of +the Forest stream, and gratefully stepped into the shallow, clear water, +dark with shadows. His feet were burning, and his head was hot. So he +drank a long drink of the cold, delicious water, ducked his head, and +finally washed his face. Then he waded on with no purpose in mind now +but just to keep his feet in the water. + +It was so he came to the deepest place; where not even Ivra had ever +been. It was almost cool there, and more like twilight than early +afternoon. And right in the deepest place, in a nest of smooth leaves, +with his feet in the water, lay Wild Star. When Eric first caught sight +of him he thought he was asleep, for his wings were lying on the leaves +half folded and dropped, and his knees were higher than his head. But +when Eric went close enough to see his eyes he knew that he was very +wide awake, for they were wide open, watchful and intent,--and purple +like the early morning. Such wide-awake eyes were startling in such a +sleepy, still place. Eric expected him to spread his wings in a flash +and dart away. But the wings stayed half open, purple shadows on the +leaves, and Wild Star did not even raise his head. Only his eyes greeted +Eric. + +But Eric knew without words that Wild Star was glad to see him. So he +stepped up out of the water and stretched himself on a mound of silvery +moss near by. With his chin resting in his palms and his elbows +supporting, he faced the Wind Creature, his clear blue eyes open to the +intent purple ones. + +It was Wild Star who spoke first. + +"I thought, little Eric, you would have crossed the sea before this, and +be out of the Forest. I expected to find you next fall on the other side +of the world." + +Eric was amazed, for he had not said one word of his dream about that to +any one. "How did you know I wanted to go?" he cried. + +"Oh, you are an Earth Child, after all, and I knew you would want to be +going on, as soon as you saw the sea." + +"But _why_ do I want to go on?" asked Eric, his face clouding with the +puzzle of it. "I am so happy here, and Helma is my mother now. There +can't be another mother across the sea for me. And if there were I +wouldn't want her,--not after Helma! No, Helma is my only mother, and +Ivra is my comrade. And still I want to leave them,--and go on and away +over there. It is very funny." + +"No," said Wild Star. "It isn't funny. You are a growing Earth Child, +not a fairy. It is your own kind calling you. It is the music of your +human life." + +"I don't know what you mean," said Eric. + +"It is like this: you know when you begin to sing a song, you go on and +on to the end without thinking about it at all. It is the theme that +carries you. Well, a human life is made like a song,--it carries itself +along. You do not stop to think why. It can't stop in the middle, on one +chord, for long. Yours now is resting, on a chord of happiness. But soon +it will go on again. You want it to. Life in the Forest, though, isn't +like that. Here it is music without any theme, like the music we dance +to. Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmm. But there is more than that to an +Earth Child's life. It runs on like this stream. The stream is happy +here in the Forest, too, but it goes on seeking the sea just the same." + +There was a long stillness while Eric looked down into the green depths +of the water. At last he asked, "But how could I ever get across the +sea? And when I got there how could I get back?" + +"Time enough to think about getting back when you are there," laughed +Wild Star. "But as to getting there, Helma is the one to tell you that. +She has been an Earth Child, too, you know. She felt just as you did, +that spring night on the shore. She has felt it many times. It is only +Ivra that keeps her in the Forest. Ivra docs not belong out in the world +of humans, and Helma will never leave her. But she will understand +your longing. All you have to do is tell her." + +Eric clapped his hands, a habit he had caught from Ivra. "Oh, I shall +cross in a ship," he cried, "and see all the foreign lands. And when I +come back, think of the World Stories I shall have to tell Helma and +Ivra!" + +He sprang up in his joy, and felt as though he had wings on his +shoulders like Wild Star, and had only to spread them out to go beating +around the world. For a second the Wind Creature and the Earth Child +looked very much alike. And indeed, the only difference was that Wild +Star had to wait for the wind, and Eric need wait for no wind or no +season. His wings were _inside of his head_, but they were as strong as +Wild Star's. And he had only to spread them and lift them to go anywhere +he wanted. + +Now he wanted to get back to Helma and tell her all about it. Wild Star +pointed him the shortest way, and off he ran, jumping the stream and the +moss beds beyond, and disappearing into the underbrush. + +"I'll look for you next time the other side of the world!" Wild Star +shouted after him. + +It was twilight when he reached home. Helma and Ivra were sitting on the +door stone, hand in hand. They made room for Eric. But he did not +snuggle up. He stayed erect, his face lifted towards the first dim +stars, and told Helma all about his wanting to go away from them out +through the Forest and across the sea, and all that Wild Star had said +about music and Earth People's lives. And he told her, too, of the +vision of success he had had when he caught Wild Thyme that first day by +her bushy hair. + +Helma listened quietly, and said nothing for many minutes after he was +through. But at last she spoke, putting a hushing hand on Eric's +dreamful head. + +"I understand," she said. "I knew you would want to go on sometime. And +I have a friend across there who will help us. He has a school for boys +and I got to know him very well behind the gray stone wall. He asked me +about the Forest and you children. And he said that Eric sometime would +surely want to go back to humans, and when he did he would help him. He +understands boys. It is to him you had better go, Eric, and when you are +really ready I will tell you how, and start you on your way." + +Eric sighed with contentment, and leaned his head against Helma's +shoulder. + +But Ivra stayed at her mother's other side, as still and silent as a +shadow. Soon the fireflies began their nightly dance in the garden. But +Ivra did not go darting after them as usual to make their dance the +swifter. And Eric's head was too full of dreams and his eyes too full of +visions of the sea to notice them at all. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MORE MAGIC IN A MIST + + +Indian summer had come round again before Eric really made up his mind to +go. The flowers were asleep in the garden, and there was a steady, +gentle shower of yellow leaves down the Forest. That morning when he +woke the little house seemed suspended in a golden mist. As he stood in +the doorway he felt as though it might drift away up over the trees and +into space any minute. But after a little he knew it was not Helma's +little forest house that was to go swinging away into space and +adventure,--it was himself. And suddenly he wanted to go _then_,--to the +sea and over and beyond. He called the news in to Helma and Ivra, who +were still within doors. Helma came swiftly out to him. + +"The trees are beckoning again, mother," he cried. "The way they did a +year ago when I first came here. Now it is just as Wild Star said. The +music is beginning to go on. There's magic out to-day. Oh, what made +Wild Star know so much?" + +"Sit down," said Helma. She took his hand and drew him down beside her +on the door stone. Then she held it firmly while very slowly and +distinctly, but once only, she gave him directions about how to go, +where to go and what to do, so that he might follow the magic. + +Eric sat and listened attentively, in spite of the high beating of his +heart, and the magic working in his head. As soon as she was done, he +wanted to go right away that minute. For even in his happiness he knew +that saying good-by to all his friends in the Forest would be too sad a +task. They did not say good-by when they went on long adventures, or +followed summer south. They simply disappeared one day, and those who +stayed behind forgot them until next season. So Eric would do as they. + +Only last week Helma had made him a warm brown suit for the coming +winter. The new strong sandals on his feet he had made himself. His cap +was new, too, and Helma had stuck two new little brown feathers in it as +in the old one; so he still had a look of flying. There was really +nothing to delay his departure further. Helma called to Ivra, and she +came out slowly. There was no need to explain things to her, for she had +heard everything. + +Helma lifted Eric's chin in her palms and looked long and earnestly at +the child she was letting go away from her all alone out into the queer +world of Earth People. She picked him up in her strong arms then, as +though he were a very little boy, and kissed him. She ran with him to +the opening in the hedge and set him down there, laughing. + +"Run along now 'round the world," she said. "And when you come back +bring a hundred new World Stories with you!" + +Eric laughed too, and promised and stood on tiptoes to kiss her again. +He stroked her short flower petal hair, and kissed her cool brown cheek +over and over. But he did not cling to her. And he did not say another +word, but ran to catch up with Ivra who was to walk with him until noon +and had gone on ahead. + +The children did not scuffle through the banks of leaves, or jump and +run and burst into play as they were used to doing. They walked steadily +forward, saying very little, neither hurrying nor delaying their steps. +Once when Eric's sandal came untied Ivra knelt to fix it, for she was +still more skillful with knots than he. + +But when the sun showed that it was noon, Ivra's steps grew slower and +slower, dragged and dragged, until at last she stood still in a billow +of leaves. + +"I have to go back now," she said. + +In a flash all the magic swept out of the day for Eric. He knew he could +never say good-by to Ivra, so he stayed silent, looking ahead into the +fluttering, golden forest. But even as he looked the trees began to +beckon with their high fingers, and 'way away, down long avenues of +trees he _almost_ glimpsed the sea. + +Ivra threw her arms about his neck and kissed him. "Good-by, comrade," +was all she said. + +He kissed her cheeks. "I'll come back," he promised. But before he had +gone many steps he turned to see her again. She was standing in the +billow of leaves, a lonely-looking little girl, her face paler than it +had been even on that day of the wind-hunt. He wanted to run back to her +and tell her he would be her playmate always, and never leave the +Forest. But he wanted, too, to go on and across the sea and into foreign +lands. He stayed irresolute. + +And then quite suddenly, standing just behind Ivra, he saw Tree Mother. +She was not looking at him at all, but at Ivra, and her eyes were kind +stars. When Ivra turned to go home she must walk right into Tree +Mother's arms and against her breast. So Eric was happy again, Ivra +could not be lonely with dear Tree Mother. Perhaps she would take her up +in her air-boat high above the falling leaves, where she could look down +on the magic. He waved, calling, "Remember me to the Snow Witches when +they come." That was not because he really wanted to be remembered to +them but because he knew that Ivra liked them best of all, and it +would please her. + +She nodded and waved too, and threw him a kiss. Then a shower of +fluttering leaves came between the playmates. + +When it was clear again Eric had run on out of sight, and was lost to +Ivra in the Forest. On and on and on through the showers of golden +leaves he went, magic at his elbow and around him, and beckoning ahead +of him. And after long walking and many thoughts, at last he did see the +sea, gleaming blue and white sparkles between the golden trees. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little House in the Fairy Wood +by Ethel Cook Eliot + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD *** + +***** This file should be named 10463.txt or 10463.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/4/6/10463/ + +Produced by Hilary Caws-Elwitt, in memory of Margaret +Devereux Lippitt Rorison + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b1c6540 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10463 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10463) diff --git a/old/10463-h.zip b/old/10463-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a77ae4e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10463-h.zip diff --git a/old/10463-h/10463-h.htm b/old/10463-h/10463-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..66e9b8a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10463-h/10463-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4240 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Little House In The Fairy Wood, by Ethel Cook Eliot. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%;} + .center {text-align: center;} + // --> + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Little House in the Fairy Wood, by Ethel Cook Eliot + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Little House in the Fairy Wood + +Author: Ethel Cook Eliot + +Release Date: February 21, 2004 [EBook #10463] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD *** + + + + +Produced by Hilary Caws-Elwitt; images courtesy Rachel Newman +(rachelpages.com) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1>THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD</h1> +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>ETHEL COOK ELIOT</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h3>TO TORKA AND NORTHWIND</h3> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>I. MAGIC IN A MIST</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>II. THE BRIGHT HOUSE</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>III. FIRELIGHT</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>IV. THE GOSSIP</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>V. WORLD STORIES</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>VI. AT THE HEART OF A TREE</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>VII. TREE MOTHER AND THE DROWSY BOAT</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>VIII. A WITCH AT THE WINDOW</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>IX. THE WIND HUNT</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>X. ON THE GRAY WALL</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>XI. THE BEAUTIFUL WICKED WITCH</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>XII. IVRA'S BIRTHDAY</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>XIII. NORA'S GRANDCHILDREN</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>XIV. SPRING COMES</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>XV. SPRING WANDERING</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>XVI. OVER THE TREE TOPS</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>XVII. THE JUNE MOON</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>XVIII. THE DEEPEST PLACE IN THE WOOD</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>XIX. MORE MAGIC IN A MIST</b></a><br /> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a><h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h2>MAGIC IN A MIST</h2> + +<p>That morning began no differently from any morning, though it was to be +the beginning of all things new for Eric. He was awakened early by Mrs. +Freg's rough hand shaking him by the arm, and her rough voice in his +ears: "Get up, lazy-bones! <i>All</i> you boys pile out, this very minute! +It's six o'clock already!" Then she reached over Eric and shook the +other two boys in the bed with him, repeating and repeating "Wake up, +wake up! It's six o'clock already!" When she was sure the three boys in +the bed were awake and miserable, she crossed the room with a hurried, +heavy tread and clumped, clumped down the stairs into the kitchen.</p> + +<p>Though it happened just that way every morning, and it had happened so +this morning, this day was to be very different from any other in Eric's +life. But Eric could not know that; so he crawled farther down under the +few bedclothes he had managed to keep to himself, and shut his eyes +again just for a minute.</p> + +<p>The night had been a cold one, and the other two boys in the bed, +because they were older and stronger, had managed to keep most of the +bedding wrapped tightly around them, while little Eric shivered on the +very edge. So he had not slept at all in the way little boys of nine +usually sleep,—that is, when they have a bed to themselves, and their +mother has left a kiss with them. When he had slept, he had dreamed he +was wading in icy puddles out in the street.</p> + +<p>But it was only a minute that he huddled there, trying to come really +awake, and then he sprang out, and without thought of a bath, was into +his clothes in a minute. The two older boys followed him more slowly, +yawning, growling, and quarreling.</p> + +<p>Breakfast was served in the kitchen by Mrs. Freg. The room was bare and +ugly like the rest of the house, and the food was far from satisfying. +As the older boys got most of the bedding for themselves, so they got +most of the breakfast, while Mr. and Mrs. Freg laughed at them, and +praised them for fine, hearty boys who knew what they wanted and would +get it.</p> + +<p>"You will succeed in the world, both of you," said Mrs. Freg with +mother-pride gleaming in her eyes, when they had managed to seize and +divide between them little Eric's steaming cup of coffee,—the only hot +thing he had hoped for that morning.</p> + +<p>"Will I be a success, too?" asked Eric in a faint but hopeful voice.</p> + +<p>"You!" said the harsh woman. "You, young man, had better be thankful to +work on at the canning instead of starving in the streets. That's the +fate of most orphans. Success indeed! Now hurry along, all of you. It's +quarter to seven."</p> + +<p>But right here is where the day began to differ from other days. Eric +did not hurry along. He threw down his spoon and cried, "I'd just as +soon starve in the streets, and wade in its icy puddles, too, as live +here with you and your nasty boys and work in that old canning factory! +I just wonder how you'd feel if I went out this morning and never, never +came back! I'd like to do that!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Freg laughed, and her laugh was not a nice mother-laugh at all, for +she was not Eric's mother, and had never pretended that she was.</p> + +<p>"Why, little spitfire, it wouldn't matter a bit except to make one less +mouth to feed. But you won't be so silly as that. You don't want to +starve."</p> + +<p>"All right," said little Eric, snatching his cap from its peg. "You said +it wouldn't matter to you. You won't see me again, any of you. I hate +you all, and everything in the world. I hate you. You've made me hate +you hard!"</p> + +<p>Then he suddenly ran out into the street.</p> + +<p>In a minute he was in a flood of people, men, women and children moving +towards the canning factory, a big brick building on the outskirts of +the city. Eric had worked in that factory from the day he was seven. +There is no need to tell you what he did there, for this is not the +story of the canning factory Eric,—the queer, hating Eric who had waked +up that morning.</p> + +<p>But how he did hate! His eyes were full of hating tears, and they were +running down his face, making horrid white streaks on his dirty cheeks. +He was hating so hard that he did not even care if people saw his tears. +He lifted his face straight up and dropped his arms straight down at his +side and walked right along, no matter how fast the tears came.</p> + +<p>Now he had often hated before, but never quite like this. Before, it had +been a frightened hate, a gnawing, hurting thing deep down in his heart. +But to-day it was a flaring hate, a burning thing right up in his head. +It was big, too, because it included everything that he knew, Mrs. Freg, +her boys, the street, the people jostling him, and hottest and wildest +of all the canning factory. How terrible to go in there in the morning, +when the sun was only just up, and not to come out again until it was +quite down! Eric knew little about play, but he did know that if he +could only be let stay out in the sunshine he would find things to do +there. If they'd only let him try it once!</p> + +<p>So he walked along in the direction the others were going, the hating +tears in his eyes and on his face. But no one laughed at him, and no one +asked him what was the matter, even the other children. For he was not +crying in the usual way with little boys. He was walking along with his +head up. So people did not bother him.</p> + +<p>He had reached the outskirts of the town, and was almost in the shadow +of the big, cruel factory, when the Magic began to work. For there was +magic in this day that had started so badly. It was only waiting for +Eric to see it before it would take hold of him and carry him away into +happiness. It had waited for him at the door of the dull, bare little +house that had never been home to him, but his tears would not let him +see it. So it had followed along beside him all the way to the factory, +waiting for him to feel, even if he could not see. And he did +feel,—just in time to let the Magic work.</p> + +<p>He felt that the day that had begun so freezingly was warm, strangely +warm. He wiped the tears from his eyes away to the side of his face with +his sleeve, and looked about. The sun was very bright, but in a mild, +pleasant way. And a tree on the other side of the street was showering +softly, softly, softly, yellow autumn leaves, until they covered the +cobblestones all around. Eric did not think about being late. The Magic +was pulling him now. He went across and stood under the tree, and felt +the leaves showering on his head and shoulders, and caught a few in his +hands.</p> + +<p>All the people passed, and soon the last one was hidden behind the heavy +factory door. Eric gave the door a glance or two, but did not go. Over +the roof of the factory he saw the tops of tall trees waving. He had +never looked so high above the factory before. But he knew there was a +wood on the other side, a wood he had always been too tired to think of +exploring, even on holidays. Now he saw the tops of the tall trees +beckoning him in a golden mist. "The mist is the yellow leaves they're +dropping," thought Eric. With every beckon the golden mist of leaves +grew brighter and brighter, until he could not see the beckoning any +more, but only the mist. Still he knew the beckoning was going on behind +the mist.</p> + +<p>"If I'm to live in the streets at night," he thought to himself, +"there's no need to live in the factory by day. I'll just go and see +what those trees want of me."</p> + +<p>Very slowly, with little firm steps, he went by the factory door, and +then around under its windows to the wood at the back.</p> + +<p>It was Indian Summer. That was why the golden leaves were showering in a +mist, and why the sun was so warm.</p> + +<p>Eric dropped his ragged coat and cap on the edge of the wood,—it was so +warm,—and went in.</p> + +<p>A little girl had been watching him from her place at one of the factory +windows where she was sorting cans. She had seen him before, working at +the factory, day after day, and they had played together sometimes in +the noon half hour. Now she wondered what he was doing out there. Had +they sent him, perhaps, to do a different kind of work that could only +be done in the woods? But as he walked away in under the trees farther +and farther, the golden mist that was over the wood drew in about him; +and although she leaned far forward over the cans at a great risk of +knocking over dozens and setting them rolling,—he was lost in it. It +had dropped down behind him like a curtain.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h2>THE BRIGHT HOUSE</h2> + +<p>Eric knew nothing of the little girl and her thoughts. He was walking in +a golden mist, but he could see quite perfectly, and even far ahead down +long tree aisles. At first the trees did not grow very close together, +and there was little underbrush. Several narrow paths started off in +different directions,—straight little paths made by people who knew +where they were going. But Eric did not know where he was going, so he +struck off in a place where there was no sign of a path. Soon the trees +drew closer and closer together, until their branches locked fingers +overhead and shook the yellow leaves down for each other. The leaves +showered softly and steadily. Eric's feet rustled loudly in them.</p> + +<p>Soon he stopped and took off his worn shoes and stockings. He left them +where he took them off and went on, barefoot. Now that he was only in +his shirt and trousers he began to run and leap. He leapt for the +drifting leaves, and he ran farther and farther into the happy +stillness.</p> + +<p>The trees crowded and crowded, and the mist of leaves grew brighter and +brighter. No birds sang, for they had all flown away for the winter, and +there were no flowers. But the drifting leaves hid the bareness, and +magic covered everything.</p> + +<p>After Eric had run and leapt and waded in the crackling pools of leaves +for a long time, he grew hungry. "But there is no food here," he +thought; "and anyway it doesn't matter. It's much better to be hungry +here than in the dirty streets."</p> + +<p>He decided to go to sleep and forget about it. So he lay down in the +leaves. They fell over him, a steady, gentle shower, and he slept long, +and without dreaming anything.</p> + +<p>But when he woke he was cold. And worse than that, the golden mist had +faded. It was almost twilight. The light was cold and still and gray. +While he slept Indian Summer had vanished and its magic with it.</p> + +<p>Now no matter how fast Eric ran, or how high he jumped, he was chilly +through and through. But he did not think of trying to find the way out +of the wood. The streets would be as cold as the forest, and never, +never, never, if he starved and froze, was he going back to that house +in the village where he had lived but never belonged. So he went on +until the gray light faded, and the soft rustle of falling leaves +changed to the noise of wind scraping in bare branches. When he was very +cold, and ready to lie down and sleep again to forget, he came quite +suddenly on an opening in the trees. In the dim light he saw a little +garden closed in with a hedge of baby evergreens. The wind was rustling +through the stalks of dead flowers in the garden. But in the middle of +it was a little low house, and the windows and doors were glowing like +new, warm flowers.</p> + +<p>Yes, it was a house and a garden away there in the wood, but no path led +to it through the forest, and there was a strangeness about it as about +no house or garden Eric had ever seen.</p> + +<p>Although no path led through the wood to the house, a path did run +through the garden to the low door stone. Eric went up it and stood +looking in at the door, which was open.</p> + +<p>The glow of the house came from a leaping, jolly fire in a big stone +fire-place, and from half a dozen squat candles set in brackets around +the walls. It was the one lovely room that Eric had ever seen. It was so +large that he knew it must occupy the whole of the little house. But in +spite of all the brightness, the comers were dim and far.</p> + +<p>There were two strange people there, or they were strange to Eric +because they were so different from any people he had ever known. One +was a young woman who sat sewing cross-legged on a settle at the side of +the fire-place. About her the strangest thing was her hair. It was not +like most women's,—long and twisted up on her head. It was short, and +curled back above her ears and across her forehead like flower-petals. +It was the color of the candle-flames. But her face was brown, and her +neck and long hands were brown, as though she had lived a long time in +the sun. Her eyes that were lifted and scarcely watching the work in her +hands, were very quiet and gray.</p> + +<p>She was watching and talking to a little girl who was skipping back and +forth between a rough tea-table set near the fire and an open +cupboard-door in the wall. She was carrying dishes to the table, and now +and then stopping to stir something good-smelling which hung over the +fire in a pewter pot, with a strong bent twig for a handle.</p> + +<p>The child was strange in a very different way from her mother. The +mother, one could see, was merry in spite of her quiet eyes. But the +child was pale. Her face was pale and little and round. Her hair was +pale, too, the color of ashes, and braided in two smooth little braids +hanging half way down her back. She moved with almost as much swiftness +as the fire-shadows, and as softly too.</p> + +<p>Both mother and daughter were dressed in rough brown smocks, with narrow +green belts falling loosely,—strange garments to Eric. And their feet +were bare.</p> + +<p>But stranger than the house, stranger than the people in it, was the +fact that the mother was talking to the little girl just as people of +the same age talk to each other; and though Eric was shaking with cold +and aching with hunger, he could still wonder deeply at that.</p> + +<p>"It's a long way 'round by the big pine," she was saying; "but you see I +am home in time for supper. Suppose I had not come until after dark. +What would you have done, Ivra?"</p> + +<p>The little girl stopped in her busy-ness to stand on one foot and think +a second. "Why, I'd have put the supper over the fire, lighted the +candles, and run out to meet you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you wouldn't know which way to run. I might come from any +direction."</p> + +<p>"I'd follow the wind," cried Ivra, lifting her serious face and rising +to her tiptoes, one arm outstretched, as though she were going to follow +the wind right then and there.</p> + +<p>It was at that minute they noticed the door had blown open, and that a +little boy was standing in it, looking at them.</p> + +<p>But they neither stared nor exclaimed. Ivra ran to him, her arms still +outstretched in the flying gesture, and drew him in. His dirty face was +streaked with tears, and his legs and feet were blue with the cold. They +knew it was not question-time, but comfort-time, so the mother folded an +arm about him, and Ivra skipped more rapidly than ever between the +cupboard and the table. Almost at once supper was ready, and the table +set for three. As the last thing, Ivra brought all the candles and set +them in the middle of the table. They sat down,—Eric with his back to +the fire. It warmed him through and through, but their friendly faces +warmed him more.</p> + +<p>Very little was said, but when the meal was nearly over Ivra asked him +how long he was going to stay with them. Immediately he stopped eating +and dropped his spoon. His eyes filled with tears. He had utterly +forgotten about his plight until then,—how he was homeless, workless +and bound to starve and freeze sooner or later. Ivra's mother saw the +misery in his face and quietly spoke, "We hope for a long time. As long +as you want to, anyway. Three in a wood will be merrier than two in a +wood.... If you like me I will be your mother."</p> + +<p>Ivra clapped her hands. "Stay always," she cried. "I will be your +playmate. There will be many playmates besides, too, and I will help you +find them."</p> + +<p>Eric glowed. The hatred that had been flaring in his head suddenly +faded, and the heavy thing that had been his heart for as long as he +could remember, became light as thistledown. He looked at the mother and +the kindness in her eyes made him tremble. "I will stay and be your +child," he said.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h2>FIRELIGHT</h2> + +<p>When supper was done the three put away the supper things, carried the +table back to its place in the corner, and set the candles in their +brackets about the walls. Then almost at once the mother said it was +bath-time and bed-time.</p> + +<p>Bath-time! Baths had been rare in Eric's life, and when they did happen +were unhappy adventures,—cold water in a hand basin in the kitchen +sink, a scratchy sponge, and a towel too small. So if Mrs. Freg had said +"bath-time and bed-time" to him now, he might have run away. But if +Ivra's mother said it, it must be. She was <i>his</i> mother too, now, and he +loved her and thought her beautifully strange.</p> + +<p>A surprise was waiting for him. The bath was a deep basin set in the +wall. There was a fountain in it that one had only to turn on to have +the basin fill with clear water. Eric slipped out of his ragged shirt +and trousers and climbed up into it. The fountain came splashing down on +his dusty, shaggy head, falling in rivulets down his back and breast. He +was like a bird taking a bath; there was such happy splashing and +dipping.</p> + +<p>But no bird had ever the gentle soft drying, or was wrapped in such a +warm night gown as the mother found for Eric. It was one of Ivra's night +gowns, but quite large enough. Then she tucked him into a narrow couch +far from the fire. It was the first time Eric could ever remember having +slept alone.</p> + +<p>Ivra was already in a bed against the opposite wall. Before the mother +got into hers, which was open and ready for her, she blew out all the +candles and opened the door and windows.</p> + +<p>"Good night, my lambs," she said, and a very few minutes afterwards Eric +could see by the firelight that his mother and playmate were asleep.</p> + +<p>How cold the wind felt as it blew over his face! But how warm and snug +his body was, there in the soft, clean night gown between the light, +warm blankets! How fine to be there so warm in bed while his cheeks grew +red in the cold air and burned deliciously. How could he ever sleep? He +was too happy!</p> + +<p>He looked at the fire. And then he looked harder. It was not a fire at +all, but a young girl, all bright and golden, sitting with her head +drowsily bent forward on her knees and her arms wrapped close about her +legs. But as he watched she slowly lifted her bright head, and looked +quietly about the room. Then she gradually and beautilully rose and +stepped out of the fireplace onto the floor. Slowly she moved across to +the mother's couch and stood still as though looking down at her. Slowly +she bent and drew the bed-clothes higher about her shoulders, and kissed +the flower-petal hair curled back on the pillow.</p> + +<p>She moved then to Ivra's couch, still slowly and very beautifully, and +Eric could see her smile at the little one huddled there, half on her +face, one arm thrown up over her head. Gently the fire-girl rolled her +into a relaxed position on her side, tucked in the flung arm, and kissed +the closed eyelids.</p> + +<p>Then she stood a minute, looking away, Eric did not know where. But his +heart began to ache with wonder and longing. Would she come to him +too—or was he only a stranger?</p> + +<p>He lay still, watching her from his dark corner. At last she stopped +looking away, and came across the floor to him. She brought all the +brightness of the room with her, and her feet made no sound on the +boards. When she stood above him he shut his eyes, though he wanted very +much to look up into her face. She bent down and her hands smoothed his +covers, warmed his pillow and lay still for a minute like sunlight on +his cheek.</p> + +<p>When he opened his eyes again, she had gone back to the fireplace, all +her brightness with her, and was resting there, a drowsy, golden girl, +her head bent forward on her knees and her slim arms wrapped close about +her legs.</p> + +<p>Eric lay and watched her for many sleepy minutes while her light fell +dimmer and dimmer, lower and lower. When it was just a tiny flicker he +dropped to sleep.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h2>THE GOSSIP</h2> + +<p>He slept long and deeply, for when he woke he felt rested. But he did not +open his eyes. "It must be time for Mrs. Freg to shake me," he was +thinking. "Until she does I'll just stay as I am and pretend it wasn't a +dream, but real." For although he remembered very well all that had +happened to him yesterday, he could not believe it was true.</p> + +<p>So he lay still in his snug bed, wondering that Mrs. Freg's boys had +left him so much of the bed-clothes. "How fine to have a little time to +pretend a dream!" he said to himself. But Mrs. Freg did not come and did +not come, until at last he opened his eyes, just in wonderment. "It must +be six o'clock!"</p> + +<p>When he saw where he was, and that the dream was true, his heart almost +stood still for joy. He was indeed far away in the woods, safe and snug +and warm in this bright house, and Mrs. Freg could never reach him here. +And he would not go to tne canning factory that day, nor the next, nor +the next, nor ever again. The new mother had said so. His happiness +brought him up in bed wide awake, and then he got out. He had not +learned to bound out yet, but that came.</p> + +<p>The fire was burning merrily. All was in order, the beds made and pushed +back against the wall, the hearth swept, and some clusters of bright red +berries arranged above the fireplace. But where were Ivra and +Helma?—Ivra had called her mother "Helma" last night, and so it was +that Eric already called her and thought of her. There was not the +tiniest sign of them.</p> + +<p>Oh, but yes. There on the floor near the hearth lay a little brown +sandal, one of its strings pulled out and making a curlycue on the +floor. That must belong to Ivra. The fire, the red berries, and the +little, worn sandal, seemed to be wishing Eric a good morning and a +happy day. There was plenty of mush in the pot swinging over the fire, +and on the table drawn up to it, a wooden spoon, a bowl, and a jug of +rich cream. So they had not forgotten him. They had only let him sleep +as long as he would. They must have stolen about like mice, getting +breakfast, clearing up, and tidying the room; and then closed the door +very softly behind them when they went out.</p> + +<p>And wonder of wonders! After yesterday's Indian Summer, outside it was a +wild winter day. Gusts of snow were hurling against all the windows of +the house, and blowing a fine spray under the door. Eric with his face +against a windowpane could see only as far as the evergreen hedge +because the trees beyond were wreathed in whirling snowclouds. The dead +flowers in the garden were hidden under the blowing snow. The little +straight walk up to the door was lost in it, and the footprints Ivra and +Helma must have made when they went away were hidden too.</p> + +<p>Something red blew against the hedge. For a minute Eric thought it was a +big bird. But it found the opening and came through, and then he saw it +was a little old woman. She came briskly up to the house, a red cape +blowing about her, sometimes right up over her head, for because of the +jug she was carrying she could not hold it down. She walked in without +stopping to knock and was as surprised to see Eric there as he was to +see her. But she got over it at once.</p> + +<p>"Good morning," she said cheerfully, going across the room, whisking a +pitcher out of the cupboard and emptying her jug of milk into it. "This +is the milk for them, and it's as much as ever that I got here with it. +The wind is in a fine mood—pushed me here and there all the way through +the wood, and tried to steal my cape from me, say nothing of Helma's +milk! Perhaps some of the Wind Creatures wanted them, or it might be old +Tree Man himself, looking for a winter cape for his daughter. But I +said, 'No, no. The milk is for Helma and little Ivra! I take it to them +every morning and I'll take it this morning whether or no, so pull all +you like—cape or milk you'll not get. The cape has a good clasp, and +I've a good hold of the jug. Pull away!"</p> + +<p>Here the old woman—the pitcher put away, and the cupboard door +closed—dropped down on the settle and waited for Eric to speak. She was +a jolly little old woman, one could see at a glance. Her face was the +color of a good red apple, and just as round and shiny. Her eyes were +beady black, bright and quick, and surrounded by a hundred finest +wrinkles, that all the smiles of her life had made. Her mouth was pursed +up like a button, out of which her words came shooting, quick and bright +and merry.</p> + +<p>Eric stood looking at her, not thinking to say anything. So after the +briefest pause she went on, peeping into the pot.</p> + +<p>"I see you have some mush here, so as I've come all the way from the +farm and am ready for a second breakfast after my tussle with the wind, +I'll share it with you. Or perhaps you have had yours already."</p> + +<p>"No, no," cried Eric, suddenly remembering how hungry he was and hoping +she would not take it all. "I have just waked up."</p> + +<p>"So. Then we'll breakfast together," and away she flew to the cupboard +again and brought out a second bowl and spoon. Then she stirred the mush +round and round a few times and dished it up. Eric noticed that she +divided it exactly evenly. She flooded both bowls with cream, and +together they sat down to it. What a good breakfast that was, and how +fast the little old woman talked!</p> + +<p>But in spite of all her talking and flying around she had looked Eric up +and down and through and through, and made up her mind what kind of a +person he was. What she saw was a pale little boy of nine in a ragged +shirt and trousers, and barefooted. His hair was shaggy and unbrushed +but tossed back from a wide brow. His mouth was sullen. But she forgot +all about shabby clothes, unbrushed hair, and sullen mouth when she came +to his eyes. They were wide and clear, and returned the old woman's keen +glance with a gaze of steady interest. Sullen and pale, but +clear-eyed—she liked the little stranger. And so she went on talking.</p> + +<p>"I bring them milk every day. It's a long way here from my farm, but not +too far when it's for them. Helma's gone into the village, hasn't she? +When I came to Little Pine Hill this morning the snow stopped whirling +for a minute, and I caught a glimpse of her a-striding across the +fields. It's a fine way of walking she has—like the bravest of Forest +People! When I reached the Tree Man's the wind didn't stop for me, but I +spied that child, Ivra, just where I knew she'd be,—racing and chasing +and dancing with the Snow Witches out at the edge of the wood. 'It's a +pity she can't go with her mother,' I said to myself when I saw her, +'and not be wasting her time like that. The Snow Witches are no good to +any one. But—'"</p> + +<p>Eric interrupted there, having finished his mush and pricking up his +cars at the mention of witches.</p> + +<p>"Are they really witches?" he cried. "And have you seen them yourself?"</p> + +<p>"What else would they be?" asked the old woman. "They're the creatures +that come out in windy, snowy weather, to dance in the open fields and +run along country roads. Ordinary people are afraid of them and stay +indoors when they're about. Their streaming white hair has a way of +lashing your face as they rush by, and then they never look where +they're going. They care nothing about running into you and knocking the +breath out of you. Then, they're so cruel to children!"</p> + +<p>"But Ivra isn't afraid of them!" wondered Eric.</p> + +<p>"Not she," said the old woman. "She runs <i>with</i> them instead of away +from them. When I saw them back there they had all taken hands and were +leaping in a circle around her. She was jumping and dancing in the +center as wild and lawless as they, and just as high, too.... But it's a +pity she isn't with her mother all the same, going on decent errands in +the village. Only of course it's not her fault, poor child! She daren't +go into the village."</p> + +<p>"Why <i>daren't</i> she?" asked Eric.</p> + +<p>"<i>How</i> dare she?" cried the old woman. "She'd be seen, for she's only +part fairy, of course. But hush, hush!"</p> + +<p>She clapped her hands over her mouth. "What am I telling you,—one of +the secrets of the forest, and you a stranger here? You must forget it +all. Ivra's a good child. Now don't ask me any more questions, or I +might tell you more."</p> + +<p>But Eric had begun to wonder. What did it mean, that Ivra was part +fairy? And why wasn't it safe for her to be seen in the village? And +were there really witches, and was she playing with them out there in +the wild day?</p> + +<p>The old woman was talking on, but he heard no more.</p> + +<p>Then the door blew open in a snowy gust of wind, and there stood Helma, +the mother, her arms full of bundles, her cheeks ruddy from the wind, +and her short hair crisp and blown.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a><h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h2>WORLD STORIES</h2> + +<p>Now Eric learned that the old woman's name was Nora, for that was what +Helma called her, and seemed glad to find her there. She stayed on only +long enough to see what Helma had brought in her bundles, and then +started out for the farm, drawing her red cape closely about her this +time, and not blowing much as she walked briskly to the gap in the +hedge. Once through she disappeared quickly in the high drifting snow. +Hardly had she gone her way when Ivra came from another, jumping the +hedge and reaching the door in three bounds.</p> + +<p>Helma had bought a good deal of thick brown cloth in the village and a +strip of brown leather. It was all for Eric. She had noticed his lack of +shoes and stockings last night, and that his worn clothes were much too +poor and thin for winter in the forest. To-day, while she sewed for him, +he would have to stay in. That was a pity, for it is such fun out in a +storm. By night, though, all would be finished.</p> + +<p>"And that is good!" exclaimed Ivra. "For to-night the Tree Man has asked +us to a party. We're going to roast chestnuts and play games, and +there's to be a surprise, too. The Tree Girl called it all out to me as +I passed just now. She put only her head through the door, for the snow +came so suddenly it caught her without a single white frock,—only a +bonnet. But that was pretty. It has five points like a star, mother."</p> + +<p>"The Tree Girl," said Eric. "What a queer name! But how did she know +about me to ask me too? Did she ask me?"</p> + +<p>"I told her about you. And of course she asked you. You are my +playmate!"</p> + +<p>Helma pulled a table to the settle and sat down with all the brown cloth +before her, a work-basket, and shears. But first she measured Eric for +his new clothes.</p> + +<p>"You may make the leggins, if you want to," she said to Ivra, "and when +you come to a hard place tell me and I will help. You may even measure +them yourself.... We're the only Forest People, Eric, who wear anything +but white in the winter. Most Forest People like to be the color of +their world. They often laugh at us. But I like brown. Ivra makes me +think of a brown, blown leaf, and now here will be two of them! You can +blow together all over the forest."</p> + +<p>Eric's eyes swam in sudden, happy tears, but he only said, "<i>Nora</i> wore +red."</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's not one of us," laughed Helma. "But she's lived close to us +so long, she is able to see us. We aren't afraid of her. She's a good +neighbor."</p> + +<p>But why might they be afraid of such a nice old woman, Eric wondered. He +was to learn sometime, and much beside, for this was the beginning of +new things for him, and his mother, Helma, and Ivra were strange people. +But how he loved them!</p> + +<p>"Now that we are settled at our work, and nothing to interrupt, what +shall it be?" asked Helma. She and Ivra were sewing briskly, one in each +corner of the settle. Eric was stretched on the floor, looking now into +the blaze, and now up at the windows where the snow tapped and swirled; +for to-day,—Helma had said,—was to be a rest day for him. It was the +first rest day he could remember, and how <i>good</i> it was! To know he +could lie there with no cans to sort or label for hours, and no Mrs. +Freg to boss him about when work was over! There were to be no more cans +for him forever, and no more Mrs. Freg. Helma had said that quite +firmly. He believed her and was so happy that he trembled. And so, it +being true that never again should he go back to that unchildlike life +that had frightened him so, and tired him so, all the breaths he drew +felt like sighs of relief, and he turned his shaggy little head on his +arm, crooked under it, and watched Helma's flying brown fingers with +glad eyes.</p> + +<p>"What shall it be?" asked Helma.</p> + +<p>"Oh, World Stories, please," said Ivra, drawing her feet up under her as +she bent over her sewing.</p> + +<p>"Eric probably knows very few of the World Stories," said Helma. "So +sometime I shall have to go back to the beginning and tell them all over +for him."</p> + +<p>"And I'll stay and hear them over again too!" cried Ivra, dropping her +work to clasp her hands. "I love to hear stories over."</p> + +<p>"Why, better than that, you might tell them yourself. Would you like +that?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes—if I can. Do you suppose I can, mother Helma? I shall begin at +the very beginning, way back before men were in the world at all, or +fairies even. He'd like to hear about the big animals. And you will +listen, mother, to see that I get it all right?"</p> + +<p>Now these World Stories of Helma's were wonderful stories, but all true. +They began way back when the Earth was young. There were stories about +the Earth itself, how it hung in space and turned, making day and night. +When the strange, great animals that by-and-by appeared on the Earth and +have since gone from it first came into the stories, and then, later, +the floods and glaciers, and at last the first man,—any child might +have listened with delight and wonder. Ivra had listened so ever since +she was a tiny girl, old enough to understand at all. And with man, and +the wonderful happenings that came along with him, Ivra had begged for +the stories day and night, and never could have enough of them. For then +in a great procession came the stories of cities and nations, of great +men and women, of explorations and adventures. They led in turn to +stories of languages and writing, of painting and geometry, of music and +of life. The names of these things may not promise good stories to you, +but that is only because you do not know them as stories. If you could +listen to Helma telling them, by the fire, or out in the starlight, deep +in the wood, or swinging in a tree-top,—then no other stories you might +ever hear would satisfy you quite. So perhaps it is as well you do not +know now just where Helma's little house is standing deep in the wood +under the snow.</p> + +<p>Ivra always said that the nicest thing about the stories was the +interruptions. Helma never minded them, and she answered all the +questions Ivra asked. She answered them by making things that Ivra could +see with her own eyes, by drawing pictures on the ground or in the +ashes, building with earth or snow, playing with wind and water, and in +a hundred other ways. Sometimes the answer to a question would take up +the playtime of a whole day.</p> + +<p>But now Eric was to hear his first story, World Story or any other kind. +Can you imagine how it would feel if to-day you were to hear the first +story of your life?</p> + +<p>"All ready?" asked Helma.</p> + +<p>The silence in the room said plainer than words that all was ready for +the World Story. This time it was a story about a man named Saint +Francis, and a story after Eric's own heart.</p> + +<p>Almost as fast as the story went the work of Helma's fingers. But Ivra +was neither so swift nor so skilled, and the leggins were dropped many +times from forgetful hands because all her thoughts were gone away +following the story.</p> + +<p>Yet somehow the leggins got done, and the jacket and trousers got done, +and even a little round cap, and all before dusk. For a finishing touch +Helma sewed two soft little brown feathers she had picked up in the snow +one on either side of the cap,—which gave Eric, small as they were and +soft as they were, a look of flying.</p> + +<p>Then nothing remained but the sandals, and because Eric was well rested +by then, he was allowed to help at them. They were cut from the strip of +brown leather, and Helma showed Eric how to shape them and sew them +himself. So after supper he stood attired, all in brown, a pale, happy +child, ready for his first party.</p> + +<p>Ivra and Eric were to go to the Tree Man's party alone, for Helma was +going far away from the wood to spend the evening with a comrade. It was +to be a very long walk for her, for she put on her heaviest sandals and +pulled the hood of her cloak up over her hair.</p> + +<p>She walked with the children as far as Little Pine Hill. It was a low +hill, bare of trees, except for a dwarfed pine on the top. In summer the +slope was slippery with the needles of the little pine, but now it was +several inches deep in snow. It was bright starlight, and far away down +an avenue of trees, Eric saw shining open fields, and beyond them the +lights of the town.</p> + +<p>There Helma said good-by. Eric looking up at her in the starlight saw +her hair like pale firelight under her dark hood and her eyes so calm +and friendly. He clung to her hand for a minute.</p> + +<p>"Have a good time," she told them. Ivra leapt away and Eric after her. +Helma stood watching until their little forms had flickered out of sight +among tree-shadows. Then she sped down the starlit avenue towards the +open fields and the town. </p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a><h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h2>AT THE HEART OF A TREE</h2> + +<p>Ivra and Eric ran until the stars were almost lost to them under the snow +roof of the forest. Once Eric stopped to tie his sandal-string which had +loosened and was bothering him. Then the stillness of the world startled +him.</p> + +<p>He cried to Ivra to wait, and she came back to his side. "Don't be +frightened," she comforted. "There are Forest People near us. They would +walk with us, for some of them are going to the party too, but they are +afraid of you. That's why they've drawn their white hoods over their +heads and keep away. Once we are inside the Tree Man's, though, it will +be all right. They'll come in too, and not be afraid any more."</p> + +<p>"But why are they afraid of me?" asked Eric, tugging at his +sandal-string. "No one else has ever been afraid of me. Even Juno, Mrs. +Freg's cat, who was afraid of 'most every one, liked me and jumped into +my lap. Why are the Forest People afraid?"</p> + +<p>"Well, they are Forest People, you see, and you are an Earth Child. +Mother and I weren't afraid of you, of course, because,—we aren't +exactly Forest People."</p> + +<p>Ivra paused and the silence came back. Eric looked up at her.</p> + +<p>"Are you cold?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No, no." But she began to jump up and down and knock her heels together +to get warm. Eric still struggled with his lacings. Ivra stopped jumping +and went down on her knees in the snow to straighten them out for him. +Eric's fingers were awkward with knots, and besides, now, they were numb +with the cold. But Ivra had everything right in a minute. She crossed +the strings over his instep and tied them snugly above his ankle almost +before he could think. Then they ran on. In starlit spaces Eric caught +glimpses of hurrying figures, so swift and light he could not tell +whether they walked or flew. Their cloaks sparkled white in starlight +until he was not sure but they might be starbeams, and not Forest People +at all.</p> + +<p>One suddenly started up just at his elbow, and was away like the wind. +Ivra began to run and to call after it. "Wild Star! Silly Wild Star! +It's only I, Ivra, and my playmate. Wait for us!"</p> + +<p>Eric followed her, running as fast as he could, but the snow held him +back, and all the trees in the forest seemed to gather to stand in his +way. Ivra came back to him, laughing. "They are so afraid of you! No one +will come near us until the Tree Man is there to protect him."</p> + +<p>Soon they came to a big beech-tree standing in an open space with +smaller beeches making a circle around it. The starlight showed, +strangely, a narrow door in the trunk. Ivra pushed it open and Eric +followed in after her, wondering at going into a tree.</p> + +<p>They were on a flight of stairs lighted by starlight from a window +somewhere high up. At the head of the flight they came to a door, and +through the crack beneath it streamed a warmer light than starlight. +Ivra opened that door gayly, and through it with her, Eric went to his +first party.</p> + +<p>It was the jolliest room in all the world. The firelight and candlelight +did not reach so far as the walls, but left them in soft darkness. So +Eric had the feeling that the room was really much too large to be +inside of a tree. But in spite of its bigness, it was very cozy. The +fireplace was in the middle of the floor, just a great hollowed boulder, +heaped with crackling twigs.</p> + +<p>The candles, red, green, yellow, brown and orange, stood circlewise on a +table by which the Tree Man sat, carving a doll out of a stick. A +workbasket on the table was overflowing with bright threads and pieces +of queer cloth.</p> + +<p>Eric saw these things because just for a minute he was too shy to look +at the people in the room. Almost at once he had to look at the Tree +Man, however, for he came and shook him by the shoulders. Eric had been +shaken by the shoulders before, so he shrank away. But this was very +different from Mrs. Freg's shakings. The Tree Man was chuckling, not +scolding, and the dark eyes that Eric looked up above the long white +beard to find were friendly and wise.</p> + +<p>"Do not fear us, little Earth Child," he said. "It is we that have cause +to fear you. You have only to blink your eyes, pretend to be knowing, +and we are nothing. But your eyes are so wide and so clear, we trust +you. Ivra told us there was not the tiniest shadow in them, not even the +shadow of leaf. Only hunger. But we're not afraid of hunger. Come, have +a good time at the party."</p> + +<p>Then the Tree Girl, the Tree Man's daughter, came to him. She was shy, +and shook all her soft brown hair about her cheeks. A circle of little +yellow leaves kept her hair from her eyes, which, in spite of her +bashfulness, were steady and kind like her father's. "I am glad you are +here." she said. From that minute Eric felt at home in the tree.</p> + +<p>Eric and Ivra were the first of the guests. The others perhaps had been +too scared to come. But soon knock after knock sounded at the door, and +in flocked the Forest People who had been invited.</p> + +<p>First came the Bird Fairies, five of them together, merry and good +little creatures as ever lived in the wood. They had arrived only that +day from their summer homes in the far north, 'way up among the +snow-barrens. They always spent the winter in this wood, living in the +empty birds' nests and spending their time making up songs to teach the +birds that would come back in the spring. Bird Fairies cannot sing a +note themselves, nor carry an air, but they make up fine songs for the +spring birds, who while they can sing with beautiful voices really have +but few ideas.</p> + +<p>They are fluffy, cuddly, swift little creatures, tiny and quiet. One +might think them of little account just at first, but not for long. For +they are the farthest-traveled of all the Forest People, except the Wind +Creatures only. Now they were fluttering in, and off came their white +cloaks and forth they hopped in bright colors, little feet twinkling and +pattering, little wings lifting and wavering. They gathered around the +Tree Man, nestling in a row on his shoulder, running up and down his +arms, giving all of the news of their long journey into his ear. He +chuckled and chuckled and soon sat down by the table again, nodding his +head with delight at the tales they were telling him.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, another group entered,—the Forest Children. The Forest +Children are little girls and boys who live all by themselves in moss +houses deep in the thickest of the forest, and know nothing of mothers, +nurses or schools. They came tumbling, cheering, and skipping in, curls +bobbing, eyes shining. When their white cloaks were taken off with the +help of the Tree Girl and Ivra, it was plain to see that they had no +mothers. Their frocks were torn and stained, and half their +sandal-strings untied and flapping. The Tree Girl sighed as she patted +the bobbing curls into some order, tied the laces and straightened a +buckle here and there.</p> + +<p>Now the room was musical with sound.</p> + +<p>The last guest arrived, Wild Star, who had run away from Eric in the +forest. He was a Wind Creature. Wind Creatures are growing-up girls and +boys who live near the edge of the forest. Like all fairies, they can +only be seen by Earth People on a day that is clearer than a day should +be, or by people like Eric who have no shadows in their eyes.</p> + +<p>Wild Star dropped his bright white cloak as he entered. His wings were +purple, the color of early morning, high and pointed. But they clapped +themselves neatly down his back to avoid the ceiling. He was a beautiful +boy, wild and starry, and that is how he got his name. Wind Creatures +are strong and swift, a little too wide-awake and far-traveled to be +very intimate with the Forest People. But Wild Star, though he was as +swift and strong as any, often came to the Tree Man's, and often played +with the Forest Children in their moss village for days together. He +loved the Tree Man, and now he sat down cross legged by him, and laid +his bright cheeck against his knee.</p> + +<p>So the party began.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h2>TREE MOTHER AND THE DROWSY BOAT</h2> + +<p>"Let's play hide-and-go-seek," cried the Forest Children, for that is +always their favorite game.</p> + +<p>Up jumped Wild Star, down fluttered the Bird Fairies, in crowded the +Forest Children, and the Tree Man counted out for them. He pointed his +finger at each in turn while he said this verse, which he made up on the +spot:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Sticks are racing in the flood—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Trees are racing in the wood— </span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In the tree-tops winds are racing— </span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the sky-tops clouds are chasing. </span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In the tree-heart snug and warm, </span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We hear nothing of the storm. </span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When we play at hide-and-seek, </span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is <i>you</i> must count the sheep."</span><br /> + +<p>At "you" the finger pointed at Eric, and it meant that he was to be +"It."</p> + +<p>"Put your head here on my knee. Shut your eyes and count one hundred +sheep jumping over a stone wall, not too fast," explained the Tree Man. +"While you're counting the others hide. Anywhere in this room, and +anywhere on the stairs. Out-doors is no fair."</p> + +<p>"But <i>where</i> are the sheep?" asked Eric, "and how can I count them with +my eyes shut?"</p> + +<p>Every one suddenly looked puzzled. The Forest Children's eyes grew wide +with wondering. The Bird Fairies fluttered uneasily. The Tree Girl +seemed dazed. Wild Star said, "Why, we never thought of that,—where +<i>are</i> they?"</p> + +<p>But Ivra laughed and ran to Eric. She took his hand and said, "The sheep +are inside your own head. Just shut your eyes and try to see them. It is +very easy. The wall is low, and there's a place where the stones are +beginning to roll down. The sheep go over there, one by one."</p> + +<p>Eric shut his eyes and put his head down on the Tree Man's knee. And it +began to happen just as Ivra had said. There was a green hill-pasture, a +little gray stone wall slanting across it, and sheep, one by one, +jumping where the wall was broken down, following their leader. He +counted one hundred of them and then stopped although a dear little lamb +was trotting down the hill, trailing the procession. He wanted to see if +the lamb would be able to jump the wall too. But the Tree Man had said +one hundred, so he stopped and opened his eyes.</p> + +<p>Things were strange. The Tree Man was nothing but an old stump. The room +felt very cold and it was bare. The fire in the boulder had gone out. +But he heard a soft fluttering somewhere and took heart. The Bird +Fairies! They might be hiding high, having wings. He went all around the +room, looking up into the dusk. At last, there they were in row on a +beam, their wings spread over their eyes.</p> + +<p>"Bird Fairies, I spy!" cried Eric, and ran towards the stump. But wings +are swifter than feet, and the Bird Fairies reached the goal first.</p> + +<p>He found Ivra at the top of the second flight of stairs, curled up in a +shadow.</p> + +<p>"I spy!" and he ran just as fast as he could down the stairs. He was +ahead of her to the door, and thought he would surely win. But she +passed him in the room and touched the stump first.</p> + +<p>The Tree Girl, of all places, was kneeling behind the stump. Of course +she touched it the minute Eric spied her, and so she was safe.</p> + +<p>The Forest Children were hiding, some in the hall behind the door, some +on the stairs, one under the table. And everyone of them beat him to the +goal and touched it first.</p> + +<p>"Now there's only Wild Star," Ivra cried. "You must catch him, Eric, or +else you'll have to be 'It' again!"</p> + +<p>Wild Star was outside, up in the top of the tree in the starlight. Eric +discovered him by seeing one of the tips of his purple wings which was +caught in a crack of the sky door. "I spy!" he called, and pulled the +wing-tip to let Wild Star know he was found.</p> + +<p>But of course Wild Star passed him like a flash, his strong wings +beating down.</p> + +<p>Tears of vexation welled in Eric's eyes. One thing he had gained though. +Because he had found them all, even though he could not run so fast as +they, the Tree Man had come back, and sat there in the place of the +stump, and all was warm and bright again. The Tree Man had only wanted +to prove for himself that Eric could see Wild Star, the Bird Fairies, +and the others without Ivra to point them out to him. But he felt +satisfied now that Eric's eyes were really clear, and that he would +never hurt any of them by looking through them or pretending that they +did not exist.</p> + +<p>"Wild Star is It now," he said. "For he didn't play fair, going outside +like that."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I forgot outside was no fair," cried Wild Star, laughing.</p> + +<p>So this time Eric hid with the others, while Wild Star counted sheep.</p> + +<p>He ran wildly all round the room trying to find a hiding-place. But +everywhere there was someone ahead of him. At last he came back to the +Tree Man himself with Wild Star counting sheep at his knee.</p> + +<p>"Ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven," counted Wild Star. "Oh dear! Oh +dear!" Eric whispered to himself in despair.</p> + +<p>Ivra was hiding behind the Tree Man, and so she jumped out and pulled +Eric back to hide with her.</p> + +<p>"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!"</p> + +<p>Wild Star started up, and never thinking to look behind the Tree Man +went circling the room in swift flight. He saw Ivra and Eric as he flew +over their heads, of course, and they laughed and touched the Tree Man +first.</p> + +<p>But he caught most of the others, even the Forest Children who are so +swift and clever.</p> + +<p>After that, almost everyone had to take his turn at being It.</p> + +<p>When the merry game came to an end at last, they gathered around the +boulder fireplace. The twigs were glowing embers now and looked like +myriads of golden flower-buds. Then the Forest Children began clamoring +for a World Story. So Ivra climbed up on the Tree Man's knee and tipping +her head back against his chest, looked into the fire and told one of +Helma's World Stories. It was the story of a glacier. That may not sound +like a very interesting story to you, but if you could hear Ivra tell it +in all its wonder just as Helma had told it to her, you would never ask +for a better story. No, you would ask for that one over and over again, +as the Forest Children did the minute she was through.</p> + +<p>But instead of telling that one over, Ivra told another, a little story +about some eggs and a brood of chickens. And they wanted <i>that</i> over. +But there must be an end to everything, and so the Tree Girl brought out +a bowl of beechnuts, and they forgot the stories, and ate as much as +they wanted. There were apples, too, big and red and cold cheeked. +Everyone was hungry.</p> + +<p>When all were satisfied, there was sudden whispering among the guests. +The Bird Fairies fluttered and hummed with excitement. The Forest +Children's eyes began to shine expectantly. Ivra, who still sat on the +Tree Man's knee, spoke what they were all thinking. "The surprise," she +said to the Tree Man. "You know you promised us a surprise to-night. Is +it time for it yet?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Tree Man. "It is. <i>High</i> time! Come, put on your cloaks. +It's a cold night."</p> + +<p>"But the surprise!" they all cried at once. "We don't want to go home +until we have had the surprise!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, the surprise is up in the branches. My mother is there with her +air-boat, waiting to take you all home."</p> + +<p>The Forest Children clapped their hands and jumped up and down until +their sandal-laces that were not already loose and flapping came undone +and flapped too. Wild Star sprang towards the stairs, his face alight, +Ivra slipped down from the Tree Man's knee and ran to Eric.</p> + +<p>"The Tree Mother! The dear, beautiful Tree Mother! We are to see her and +ride with her!" she cried.</p> + +<p>Then she dashed away for her cloak. The Forest Children, with the Tree +Girl's help, were tumbling into theirs, wrong-end-to mostly, ripping off +buckles in their hurry.</p> + +<p>"The Tree Mother! The dear Tree Mother!" their little teeth chattered in +ecstasy.</p> + +<p>When all were ready they crowded up the straight starlit stairs. At the +top they crawled out through the sky door, one by one, into the +branches. Eric followed Ivra, and saw a great black moth-like thing +poised in air by the tree's top. But it was hollowed like a boat and a +shadowy woman was standing upright in it. A dark cloak covered her, but +the hood had fallen back, and her face in the starlight was very +beautiful and very young, younger even than Helma's, whose face Eric had +thought all that day too young and glad to be a mother's. How could this +be the Tree Man's mother, he wondered,—the Tree Girl's grandmother! +Then he saw that her hair was white, whiter than all the snow that lay +in the forest.</p> + +<p>It was very cold kneeling there and clinging in the tip of the great +beech-tree. The forest below was still and dark. But the air and the +wintry star-filled sky were bright with a blue, cold light. After the +warmth at the heart of the tree, the cold was almost unbearable. Eric +longed to wave his arms about, and jump up and down to get warm, but he +had to cling, still and motionless, to the branches to keep from +falling.</p> + +<p>At last Ivra whispered "It's our turn now," and taking Eric's hand, she +made him jump with her right out into cold space. For one awful instant +he thought they were both falling down, down to the ground. But they had +only dropped into the air-boat. The Tree Mother leaned forward and +pulled a blanket over them. Her eyes as she did it, looked straight into +Eric's. They were dark, and deep as the forest shadows. He began to +speak to tell her who he was, for her look was questioning. But she put +her finger to her lips. Then he noticed for the first time that every +one was silent. Even the Tree Man and his daughter who stood in the tree +top waving good-by spoke no words, only nodded and waved. The last Bird +Fairy fluttered noiselessly in. Eric lay back under the warm blanket, +snuggled against Ivra. A Bird Fairy nestled into the palm of each of his +hands. All was still and warm. The air-boat slipped away high and higher +over the tree-tops and on and on.</p> + +<p>On a cold, starlit night, nestled in feathery warmth, to sail over the +dark tree-tops, high and higher and on and on—that is a wonderful +thing. And when the Tree Mother stands above you, wrapped in her dark +cloak with her face shining under her cloudy white hair, now and then +bending to tuck the blanket more snugly about you—what could be more +blissful?</p> + +<p class="center"><img src="treemother.jpg" height="480" width="362" title="" alt="" /></p> + +<p>Very soon Eric became drowsy against his will. His eyelids dropped like +curtains shutting out the stars. But he roused when the boat stopped, +hovered, and sank down like a bird until it rested on the crusted snow +in the middle of a tiny village of tiny moss houses; only now, of +course, the houses were covered with snow, and looked like baby Eskimo +huts. The Forest Children crept sleepily out of the boat, kissing the +Tree Mother good-by as though in a dream. Not a word was spoken. There +was the creak of their little feet on the cold snow,—that was all. Each +child went alone into his little house. They were lighted and looked +warm through the doors, and Tree Mother nodded as though that were well. +But before the air-boat had risen out of sight, the lights were all out, +and the Forest Children sound asleep, snuggled into their moss beds.</p> + +<p>From then on stops were frequent, and Eric woke at each one. At every +Bird Fairy nest at which they stopped, the Tree Mother leaned from the +boat and scooped the crusted snow out of the nest. Then when the Bird +Fairy was settled down, she powdered the snow with her fingers until it +was soft, and heaped it over the little creature, who was already +asleep.</p> + +<p>Wild Star was left in the tip of the tallest tree in the forest. There +he lay without covering, his face up to the cold sky, his arms flung +back above his head, his wings folded tight. He half opened his +slumbrous eyes on the Tree Mother as the boat floated away, but before +the smile in them faded he was asleep.</p> + +<p>There was straight, sure, even flying then to Helma's little house, set +in its snowy garden,—and down they sank to the door stone. The Tree +Mother carried Ivra, who was fast asleep, in in her arms. The fire leapt +when they entered, until the walls and floor danced with light. The Tree +Mother undressed Ivra, who never once opened her eyes, and tucked her +into bed. Then she helped Eric, who was fumbling and missing buttons in +a sleepy way. But he was awake enough to kiss her good-night. And that +was the end of everything until morning.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h2>A WITCH AT THE WINDOW</h2> + +<p>When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma. Her bed had +not been slept in. They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder +at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes. The room +was strange and lonely without her. The fire had died in the night. They +sat up in their beds and talked about it.</p> + +<p>"She always comes back before bedtime," said Ivra. "She has never stayed +away before."</p> + +<p>Eric said, "Perhaps that is why the Tree Mother brought you in and +undressed you—perhaps she knew our mother had not come back. She looked +wise, as though she knew everything."</p> + +<p>"She does know everything,—at least everything in the forest. But did +she bring me in, right here in her arms, Eric!"</p> + +<p>"And undressed you while you were sound asleep."</p> + +<p>Ivra laughed with delight, and clasped her hands. "Truly, truly? The +dear Tree Mother undressed me? Are you sure? Did she kiss me +good-night?—" But suddenly she grew solemn. "Yes, she knew that mother +was not here. She only takes care of those who have no one else. Well, +we will have to wait for mother, that is all. She will surely come this +morning."</p> + +<p>But she did not come that morning, nor that day, nor for many days. You +shall hear it all.</p> + +<p>The children laid the fire, together,—shivering but hopeful. Ivra got +the breakfast, teaching Eric, so that next time he could help. They +chattered and played a good deal, and really had quite a merry time over +it. It was only at first that Ivra was solemn over Helma's +disappearance. Soon her good sense told her that Helma loved them both, +and nothing could keep her long from her children.</p> + +<p>After breakfast they washed and put away the dishes. Then they tidied +the room. They hurried over it a little, perhaps, for it was a bright +winter day, and all the forest was waiting to be played in. Before they +ran out, they put a log on the fire that it took both of them to lift. +If Helma should come back while they were away, she must find a warm +house. Ivra skipped back after they were outside to set out a bowl and +spoon for her, and stand the cream jug beside them.</p> + +<p>Then away they fled, running and jumping in the frosty morning air. Ivra +taught Eric some games that could be played by two alone. They were +running games, climbing games, hiding games, jumping games. Ivra was +swift and strong and unafraid. Her cheeks reddened like apples in the +cold. She was a fine playfellow.</p> + +<p>Not until they were hungry did they think of home. Then they ran, hand +in hand at last, jumping the garden hedge like deer, their hearts +beating with the expectation of running straight into Helma's arms. But +no Helma was there. Nora had come with the milk, left it, eaten the rest +of the porridge, and gone away again without waiting for a word with any +one. The children wished she had stayed. They needed some one to talk +with about their mother. Of course they knew she would come back, all in +her good time. Ivra made Eric understand that. But the room seemed even +emptier without her than it had in the morning. They cheered each other +as best they could, drank a lot of the fresh milk and ate some nuts. +They wanted to get away into the forest again and forget the empty +house, so they did not try to cook anything.</p> + +<p>They played hard all the afternoon. Towards twilight it grew warmer and +began to snow, great wet flakes. They ran home, leaping the hedge again. +The house was still empty. Helma was not there.</p> + +<p>They stirred up the fire, and sat down on the floor in front of it to +talk over what they should do. Then it happened,—the strange, the +beautiful, the frightful thing! Eric saw a face at the window. It was so +perfectly beautiful, that face, that he wanted to shut his eyes against +it. It almost hurt. It was the face of a young woman, very pale, but +when her eyes met Eric's they filled with dancing laughter. Her hair +under her peaked, white hood glistened blue-black like a river in the +snow. She lifted a small white hand and tapped on the window pane, +nodding to him merrily.</p> + +<p>Ivra turned at the sound of the little fingers on the glass. When she +saw the face, she started to her feet with a frightened cry, and rushing +to the door, drew the bolt.</p> + +<p>"She can't get in. She can't get in, Eric. Don't be afraid. We are +safe." But the poor little girl did not believe her own words. She was +trembling.</p> + +<p>"Why, I'm not afraid," said Eric, running to the window. The merry eyes +drew him. Now her mouth danced into smiles with her eyes. She made +pretty signs to him to open the window and let her in.</p> + +<p>But Ivra pulled him back. "Don't you know? It's the Beautiful Wicked +Witch!" she whispered.</p> + +<p>But Eric was impatient. "How can she be wicked when she's so beautiful!" +he exclaimed. He was so little used to beautiful people in his life that +now he was fascinated and delighted.</p> + +<p>The Beautiful Wicked Witch looked at Ivra then, and Ivra saw how her +eyes were dancing, great black eyes full of splendor and fun. She caught +her breath. She laughed back at the Beautiful Wicked Witch. She could +not help herself. But her hands flew to her mouth to stop the laugh.</p> + +<p>"Shut your eyes, Eric. That must be best, not to look at her at all. +That is what mother did when she came before. She bolted the door and +then we sat down in front of the fire and never looked at the window +once, while she told me a long, lovely World Story about Psyche and her +little playmate Eros. Then when we had forgotten all about the Beautiful +Wicked Witch, we looked at the window by accident and she was gone. +Come, I'll tell you a World Story now, the same one."</p> + +<p>But Eric hardly heard what she was saying. He moved nearer and nearer to +the window. Ivra followed him, charmed by the laughing face there too. +Then together they unbolted the windowpane and opened it outward. The +Beautiful Wicked Witch stepped in.</p> + +<p>"How silly to be afraid of me, children," she laughed. "I have only come +to play with you."</p> + +<p>"Oh goody!" cried both of the children together. For now that she was in +the room all their fear and wonder had vanished.</p> + +<p>It was dusk, and so they lighted all the candles and poked the fire, +before they turned to entertain their guest. But the candles did not +burn very well, very faintly and flickeringly,—and the fire fell lower +and lower, instead of growing higher and higher as they nursed it.</p> + +<p>"Don't mind about that," laughed the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "There's +enough light from the window for us to play together in. We won't bother +with the stubborn old fire and the silly little copy-cat candles. Come, +what shall we play?"</p> + +<p>But the children had been playing hard all day, and their bodies were +tired. "Oh, tell us a story instead of playing," begged Ivra. "This is +the time when mother tells her very best stories."</p> + +<p>"Well, I am not mother," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch; "but I will +tell you the best stories I can. Come sit near the window where the +light is stronger. That fire will never burn while I am here. I am +brighter than it, and the old thing is jealous."</p> + +<p>The children laughed at her joke. But it was true,—she was very bright. +Her eyes seemed to light the room, or perhaps it was her gown, like an +opal fire, blue and pink and purple, changing and glowing, and made of +the softest silk.</p> + +<p>Ivra nestled close to her knee where she could stroke the gleaming silk. +Eric sprawled on the floor at her feet, his face upturned to hers.</p> + +<p>Then she told them a story. It was not like any of Helma's World +Stories, but the children liked it. It was all about a gorgeous bird she +had at home in her tree-house. She told how she had heard it singing one +morning in early spring, high up in the branches of her tree, and how +she had watched it day after day flying back and forth in the forest, +its yellow breast flashing among the green leaves. It had a long golden +bill, and its tail was black as jet; and its wings were the softest gray +in the world with a feather of jet in either one. Its song was the +clearest, the highest, the purest of all the bird songs in the forest. +It was a wonderful bird, and she wanted it for her own.</p> + +<p>Then she told the children how she had set traps for it, and how it had +escaped every time. But at last she had made a dear little cage, all +woven of spring flowers and leaves, and put food in it. Still the bird +escaped, pulling the food out with its long bill and never getting +inside the door. And finally she told them how she did capture that +wild, shy bird by learning its song and singing it sitting in her +tree-house with the window open, until the bird heard and came flying in +wonder to find what other bird was calling it. Then she had closed the +window and the bird was hers. It hung now in the pretty cage in her +prettiest room, and sometimes sang in the middle of the night.</p> + +<p>Eric liked the story, and all the better because it was a true story. +And the Beautiful Wicked Witch said he could see the bird himself if he +would come to her house. He could stroke its bright breast, and it would +sing perhaps. Then there were other things caged in her house, cunning +little animals, and some big ones, worth any boy's seeing.</p> + +<p>But Ivra answered for Eric, shaking her head hard. "No, no. Mother +doesn't want us to visit you."</p> + +<p>But Eric said, "May I open the cage door and the window and see the bird +flash away? I should like that."</p> + +<p>"No. Well, perhaps," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "Will you come +then?"</p> + +<p>"I can't, I suppose, if Mother Helma doesn't want me to. Are you sure +she doesn't, Ivra?"</p> + +<p>Ivra was sure.</p> + +<p>The Beautiful Wicked Witch laughed then. "Of course, if you <i>tell</i> her +she won't let you come. But if you came without telling, how could she +mind?"</p> + +<p>"That sounds true,—but someway it can't be," said Ivra. And that seemed +to end it.</p> + +<p>But after a little the Beautiful Wicked Witch began another story. This +one was about a frock she had made, a wonderful thing all of cobwebs and +violet petals, with tiniest rosebuds around the neck. If Ivra were to +slip that frock over her head, and unbraid her funny little pigtails, +she would look as pretty as any fairy in the world.</p> + +<p>Ivra was not too young to want to be pretty. If she would only go to the +Beautiful Wicked Witch's house, she could try on that dress, and wear it +for one whole day if she liked. Ivra clasped her hands. But then she +thought, and asked a question. "Could I play in it, and run and climb? +Would I be as free as in this little old brown smock?"</p> + +<p>The Beautiful Wicked Witch raised her hands in horror. "My cobweb frock! +Why, it would be ruined! It would be in shreds! How can you even think +of treating it so!"</p> + +<p>So Ivra shook her head until her funny little pigtails flopped from side +to side. "I don't want to wear it then for even a minute. What fun would +there be?"</p> + +<p>"Well, think about it anyway," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch, and rose +to go away. "It's the fir, you know, beyond the white birch."</p> + +<p>"Thank you for the stories," said the children.</p> + +<p>"Good-by," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "Perhaps Eric will remember +and come. It's a gorgeous bird, and I haven't said he couldn't free it."</p> + +<p>Then she slipped out into the snow flakes, turning to give them one +dancing look over her shoulder before the door swung to.</p> + +<p>Up flamed the candles, clear high flames when she was gone, and the fire +crackled again, and took on new life, reaching higher and higher.</p> + +<p>They got their supper together rather silently. But just before going to +sleep Ivra roused herself to say, "Let's promise each other we won't go +to the Beautiful Wicked Witch's fir until mother comes home,—and we can +tell her how jolly the Witch is, and what good stories she told us."</p> + +<p>"I don't want to go anyway," answered Eric, "unless I can free the +bird."—But you see, he had not promised.</p> + +<p>After a while, "Did you notice how pale her face was when she wasn't +laughing?" asked Eric.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and not so beautiful then. Mother may come in the night, and we +never know it till morning!"</p> + +<p>Soon they were asleep, a tired, but happy little girl and boy.</p> + +<p>I think the Tree Mother sank down in her air-boat to look in at them and +open the door wide, which they had forgotten, so they would have fresh +air all night; but it was dark, and the room was shadowy, so perhaps it +was only the wind.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a><h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h2>THE WIND HUNT</h2> + +<p>After all, Mother Helma was not there the next morning,—nor the next, +nor the next. She did not come back for days and days and days. Much +happened before she returned, and much happened after. I will tell you.</p> + +<p>During the days the children roamed the forest looking for their mother. +They asked every one they could find whether he had seen her. The Tree +Man, his daughter, the Bird Fairies, and the Forest Children, not one of +them had seen or heard of her since she went away. But they all said +with one accord that she would surely come back in her own time. It was +not wise to go seeking her so. She loved them. She would return.</p> + +<p>"Wait and be patient," they said. "Time will bring Helma."</p> + +<p>But they were Forest People, who live long, long lives, and see far. +Eric was an Earth Child, and Ivra was not all a Forest Child. So they +found it hard to be wise and wait and do nothing but trust Helma and +know she would return.</p> + +<p>So they went wandering all the day. They did not go home for meals, +even, after a while, but ate with the Tree Man and his daughter or the +Forest Children. Sometimes as they walked through the forest, looking +all about, even up into the trees for their mother, they would suddenly +burst into play. "Tag," Ivra would cry, tapping Eric on the shoulder, +and away she would fly, he after her, in a race that grew merrier and +merrier as it ran on. Ivra darted and twisted away when Eric thought he +had her, rolling down little hills on the snow crust, climbing trees, +jumping brooks until he was lucky enough to catch her by one of her +pigtails at last, or snatch her flying skirt. "Tag!" Then away he sped, +and the game would go on for a happy while.</p> + +<p>But sooner or later they always stopped running, stopped laughing, and +remembered why they were wandering the wood alone. Then they would call +for Helma. Ivra's voice was shrill and sweet, and rang through the bare +woods like a birdsong. Eric's wavered a little uncertainly, as though he +doubted whether Helma knew it well enough to answer. "Helma, Helma, +Helma! Ohh Helma! Helmaa-a!"</p> + +<p>No Helma answered. Sometimes a Forest Child came running to say, "We +haven't seen her yet, Ivra. But we are watching." The Bird Fairies +fluttered at the call and nodded their little heads uneasily. Children's +voices calling for their mother was a sad sound, and made the kindly +little creatures restless. One or two of them would fly to nestle in +Ivra's neck and whisper, "Give her time. Do not hurry her so. She will +come back."</p> + +<p>But the children were losing faith. They went calling, seeking and +playing through the woods all the hours of daylight. At night Ivra told +Eric World Stories, World Story after World Story until sleep made them +forget.</p> + +<p>The fifth morning of their search dawned blue and clear and windy.</p> + +<p>"The Wind Creatures will be happy to-day," said Ivra when she opened her +eyes and heard the wind pushing at all the windows of the house and saw +the blue morning sky. "Wild Star will be circling the world."</p> + +<p>"Why, then he will see Helma somewhere!" cried Eric.</p> + +<p>Ivra sprang from her bed. "Eric, how splendid! We must go with him! Why +didn't I think of it at the very first!"</p> + +<p>They did not stop for breakfast, but were into their coats and ready for +the day's search in a twinkling. Neither of them had bothered to undress +the night before. Ivra's hair had gone unbrushed for two days. Things +like that are apt to slip when one's mother is away. So her little +pigtails were no longer smooth and glossy, but frowsy and loose, and the +rest of her hair was ruffled until it looked something like the Bird +Fairies' soft plumage. Eric's head, too, was shaggier than ever, and a +smudge from firebuilding had darkened one of his cheeks since the +morning before. They had not bathed in the "bird bath" since Helma had +gone away. They never seemed to have time, or else they were too sleepy.</p> + +<p>Now they no more thought of baths than they thought of breakfast. Eric +followed Ivra, who knew all the ways in the forest, to the spot where +Wild Star was most likely to be, if he was to be found at all on such a +windy, perfect day. They ran earnestly, never slackening to skip or +play. And soon they came in sight of some giant cedar trees near the +edge of the forest. There were several Wind Creatures standing there, +laughing in shrill, glad voices, pointing with their arms, and flapping +their purple wings. Wind Creatures are growing-up boys and girls with +fairy-hearts and strong, never-tiring purple wings, remember. Wild Star +was among them.</p> + +<p>But before the children had come up to them, the Wind Creatures suddenly +joined hands,—as they do just before flying,—and started running down +the sloping hill that ended the forest.</p> + +<p>For a minute Ivra was in despair. "Now they are gone for the day to +circle the world, and I shall never find mother," she thought. But she +did not waste any more breath running. She stopped short and lifted her +voice, clear and insistent, "Wild Star! Wild Star! I need you! Don't run +away. Wild Star!"</p> + +<p>The Wind Creatures had reached the foot of the hill, running swiftly +hand in hand, and their wings were already lifted for flying. But Wild +Star, at the sound of Ivra's voice, leaned back suddenly on the hands he +was holding, almost throwing his comrades on their faces, and breaking +the line. He turned right about, swinging the others with him, and came +leaping and running back.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, little comrade?" he asked. "What is the matter?"</p> + +<p>"In all your flying 'round the world, Wild Star, you must have seen my +mother Helma. She is lost. Oh, can't you tell us where she is?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course. But I didn't know she was lost. I thought she was +visiting Earth-friends."</p> + +<p>"Truly, truly?" Ivra's eyes shone with joy, and Eric grabbed his cap +from his head and threw it up in the air shouting, "Hurrah!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, will you bring her to us right away?" Ivra begged.</p> + +<p>Wild Star looked doubtful. "Perhaps she wouldn't want to come."</p> + +<p>Ivra laughed merrily at that. "Then take us to her," she said, "and you +will see how she wants to come when we ask her."</p> + +<p>"Give us your hands, then!"</p> + +<p>They held out their hands. Ivra's was grasped by Wild Star's and Eric's +by another Wind Creature. With their free hands they clasped each +other's. So the four started running down the hill, while the rest of +the Wind Creatures flew off over their heads.</p> + +<p>Wild Star and his comrade ran faster and faster, until Eric wondered how +it was that he and Ivra were ever keeping up with them. Soon he realized +that his feet were scarcely touching the ground. At the foot of the hill +stood a little group of birches, and they were running right upon it. He +did not see how they could either turn out or stop themselves at that +speed. Almost as soon as he had seen the birches, though, they were +beyond them. They had not turned out, they had jumped right over the +birches, and they were much higher than Eric's head! They were running +so swiftly now that only their toes ever touched the ground,—if <i>they</i> +did.</p> + +<p>What fun it was to run like that, the wind at their backs, and the Wind +Creatures drawing them strongly forward faster and faster and faster +until they were really flying just above the snow.</p> + +<p>Across white fields they skimmed,—over fences and frozen streams, +bushes and banks, through orchards and meadows, on, on, on, until they +came to the town.</p> + +<p>There Ivra pulled back for a minute, and the Wind Creatures slowed down. +Eric knew why Ivra was afraid of the town. She had told him all about it +while they played in the wood. Helma, her mother, was a human, but she +hated the town and loved the fairies and their ways. That was why she +had run away to live by herself in the wood. But Ivra was neither fairy +nor human; she was both.</p> + +<p>Now the fairies are afraid of humans because humans look right through +them and do not see them. That upsets the fairies and makes them +uncomfortable. Of course Helma and Eric were exceptions, for because +they had no shadows in their eyes they could see them and play with +them. So the fairies accepted those two as one of themselves. Ivra was +different. Because she was only half fairy, any human could see her +whether his eyes were shadowed or not if he would only look hard enough. +The dreadful part was that when a human did see her, he was likely not +to believe in her. He would just think he was day-dreaming, and that the +little girl with the soft eyes, the ash-colored pigtails, and the quick +feet was just a piece of his day-dream. Not to be seen is bad enough. +But it is much worse to be seen and not believed in. That was why Ivra +was afraid of the town. People saw her there and either rubbed their +eyes and looked another way, or laughed.</p> + +<p>But now she was going for her mother, and she could bear anything, even +that. She did not hold back long. They ran past the canning factory, and +Eric did not give a glance to it. A little girl looking out over a pile +of cans saw him, however, and wondered at his warm suit of brown cloth, +his leggins, sandals and the cap with wings. She remembered him in rags. +She saw Ivra too, and did not rub her eyes and think her a dream. But +she did not call to any one in the factory or point, for she knew <i>they</i> +would think it a dream.</p> + +<p>Through the crooked narrow streets, past the crooked narrow houses,—one +of them Mrs. Freg's,—they sped faster than the wind! On, on, on,—up +the wide avenue through the "residential section" where big houses eyed +them from proud terraces,—out into the country again they raced.</p> + +<p>There they came to a high gray stone wall, blocking their way, and stood +still.</p> + +<p>"You must climb," said Wild Star. "She is in there."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_X"></a><h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h2>ON THE GRAY WALL</h2> + +<p>It was a very high wall that hid their mother, and at first glance it +seemed impossible that they could ever climb it. But Ivra did not stop +to wonder. She ran up and down, hunting for a foothold. At last she +reached the end of the wall and disappeared around the corner. Eric and +the Wind Creatures followed. When they came up to her she had already +found a place where the stones were laid a bit unevenly, one on the +other, and was half way to the top, clinging with toes and fingers.</p> + +<p>"Bravo!" cried the Wind Creatures. Eric went up after her, often +slipping back and bruising and scratching his hands and knees, but as +resolute as his playmate. At last they gained the top. The Wind +Creatures had flown up and were waiting for them there, sitting +cross-legged with their purple wings folded down their backs.</p> + +<p>The wall enclosed the garden of a very rich family. It was a formal +garden with straight walks, trellises, fountains, benches and neat +flower beds laid out in squares and circles, now piled high with +blossoming snow.</p> + +<p>Just as the children reached the top of the wall, the door into the +garden from the stern gray mansion behind it opened and through it came +three people. First was a very tall lady all wrapped up in furs,—tails +and heads of the poor animals that had been slain to make them hanging +from her shoulders and down her back. Even the children could see that +her face was sour in spite of all its smiling. Then came a young man in +a stiff, funny hat, carrying a cane, beating up the snow flowers with it +as he passed the flower beds. And behind them walked—Helma, with her +gaze on the ground. That is why they did not know her at first, that and +her very strange clothes. She was dressed all in velvet and fur, and her +arms up to her elbows were hidden in a huge white muff. She swayed as +she walked on weird little high heels and the toes of her boots drew out +to long points, almost like a goblin's. Her hat was a velvet affair, so +awkward and heavy it seemed to weigh down her head, and her candleflame +hair was smothered under it. Is it any wonder that they did not know her +like that!</p> + +<p>But when she walked close under the wall and they heard her voice they +knew her, and the Wind Creatures had to hold Ivra from jumping down and +throwing herself into her arms. "Wait," they whispered.</p> + +<p>From their high place on the wall they could look down on the heads of +the three people, and hear all they were saying. They had never learned +that it is not fair to listen that way.</p> + +<p>From all Helma said they could plainly see she was a prisoner. She was +pleading with the old woman. She was saying, "No, never, never, never, +in a thousand days and years will I ever be happy here. My place is in +the forest. Oh, how these heels bother!"</p> + +<p>"Silly girl!" cried the old woman, smiling more than ever, and looking +more disagreeable than ever at the same time. "Your place is where you +were born—in a fine house and wearing clothes like other people. Heels +indeed! Did you expect them to do any thing else but bother? Mine have +bothered for sixty years, but you haven't heard <i>me</i> complain."</p> + +<p>"Neither would I," Helma said, "if I didn't know about other kinds of +shoes that don't hurt. Those sandals I wore when you caught me didn't +hurt. Why can't I wear those, at least when I walk in the garden?"</p> + +<p>"Well, you might," began the old woman, a little more kindly, and +smiling less, "if you promise always to put on the high heels before +coming into the drawing room—"</p> + +<p>"No," said the young man sharply. "Let her once into the garden in her +sandals and she'll climb the wall and be off. I say that we give her no +chance to escape. After she has been to a hundred or so balls and worn +these beautiful and appropriate clothes long enough she'll be glad of +her luck, and nothing could drag her into the forest. Believe me!"</p> + +<p>Now Helma stopped pleading, and laughed at the young man. "Do you think +high heels, or even a hat that weighs down my head like this horrid one +can keep me much longer from my little daughter, and that dear new +little boy? What they are doing without me all this time—I wonder!" She +stopped laughing to sigh.</p> + +<p>The old woman took her hand not unkindly. "My poor, dear girl," she +said, "how many times must I tell you it is only a dream, that house in +the woods and the little girl and boy? They aren't really there at all, +you know. You have dreamed them. Come, cheer up. Be a brave girl. We +have parties and good times enough here, if you will only get into the +spirit of them, to make up for all your forest foolishness."</p> + +<p>Helma answered in a low even voice, that showed well enough how sure she +was of the truth of what she was saying—"No, they are realer than you. +Ivra is realer than all the people in that mansion put together, +cousins, uncles, aunts, guests, servants and all. She is my little fairy +daughter."</p> + +<p>"No," said the young man.</p> + +<p>The wings of the Wind Creatures on the top of the wall rustled just then +in a gust of cold north wind. Helma threw up her head as at a familiar +sound, and her eyes slowly lifted to the faces of the children looking +down. For a minute she looked steadily at them without believing, and +then it was as though her pale face suddenly burst into song. But the +old woman and the young man were not looking at her and so they noticed +nothing. The young man said, "The neighbors have talked about us enough +already for all your queer ideas and doings. So you'll wear no sandals, +no, nor sleep with your skylight open, as you're always asking, nor go +one step outside the wall until you have come to your senses and are +more like other people. So there!"</p> + +<p>But Helma laughed, her head thrown back, so that the children could look +into her happy eyes and see the glow of her short hair under her +grotesque hat.</p> + +<p>"Keep your keys, cousin," she said, "and your old skylight keep shut +tight as tight. I shall find a way out. But my children must be patient, +and Ivra must teach Eric to keep his face and body clean. They must not +forget meal-times, and when anything goes wrong, or they think it is +going wrong, they must ask the Tree Man's advice. I will find a way to +them soon. They must keep happy and wait."</p> + +<p>She said all that slowly and distinctly, her eyes smiling into theirs.</p> + +<p>"What silly talk," laughed the sour old lady. "Just as though you were +making a speech. Well, it must be luncheon time now, and high time we +were changing our frocks. Wear your gray velvet, Helma, and don't forget +to put on stockings to match. There's to be strawberry ice to-day,—and +goose to begin with of course. Cook says she has never seen a +tenderer—"</p> + +<p>The old lady went on talking about the wonderful luncheon they were to +have until they were out of hearing. But the children on the gray wall +could see that Helma was going in differently from the way she had come +out. Her head was high, and she stepped out in her funny high heeled +boots as though she were walking in sandals. At the little door into the +mansion she turned and waved her queer great muff to the children and +the Wind Creatures, and they heard her laugh.</p> + +<p>But when she was gone, and the door was shut and locked—they heard the +great key scrape—Eric turned joyfully to Ivra. She was staring intently +at the closed door, her face very pale. Suddenly she buried her head in +her arms and burst into sobs, hoarse, jerky sobs, the first and the last +time Eric was ever to hear her cry. Eric and the Wind Children sat +cross-legged and waited. Soon she stopped and wiped her face on her +sleeve.</p> + +<p>"She is locked in, but she <i>will</i> find a way home," she said, almost +laughing. "How glad and how surprised she was to see us! It was almost +as though she had begun to believe all their talk about dreams, until +she heard the Wind Creatures' wings!"</p> + +<p>The Wind Creatures took them back to the forest. Under the giant cedars +they said good-by and left them. The children went straight to the Tree +Man's to tell him the news. He gave them deep bowls of warm milk to +drink, and took off their sandals so that their toes might spread and +warm in front of the fire.</p> + +<p>Then the Tree Girl begged for a story, and Ivra told a World Story about +the rivers,—how they go in search of their mother, the ocean, day and +night, around mountains and through mountains, and across whole +continents, and never stop until they find her,—and of the myriad +presents they carry to her,—of the things they see and the things they +do, as they flow searching.</p> + +<p>It was a long story. And almost before the end the little story teller +had fallen asleep with her head tipped back against the Tree Man's +chest.</p> + +<p>They spent that night in the tree, and that was good, for a storm had +risen outside, and it was bitter cold in the forest.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h2>THE BEAUTIFUL WICKED WITCH</h2> + +<p>The next morning before Eric woke Ivra slipped away to play with the +Forest Children.</p> + +<p>"On such wild days as this they usually play indoors, for they're little +things and the Snow Witches love to tease them," said the Tree Man.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she'll be telling them World Stories," thought Eric, and so he +decided to go to the little moss village, too, for though Ivra had told +him dozens of World Stories by now, he always wanted to hear more. So +after breakfast with the Tree Man and his pretty, shy daughter, he ran +out in search of Ivra.</p> + +<p>It was indeed a cold morning, blustering and raw. Eric felt chilled +almost as soon as he was out of doors. Very soon he lost his way, for he +had not been in the forest long enough to grow familiar with landmarks. +Just when he was beginning to be a bit hopeless and pinched with the +cold he came to the big fir where the Beautiful Wicked Witch lived. It +stood green and comforting among all the bare trees of winter.</p> + +<p>Eric stopped to look, for now he remembered the Beautiful Wicked Witch +and the bird she had caged in there. He saw a door in the tree trunk +ajar, and swinging to and fro with tiny tinkling music. He peeped in, +and between the swingings caught glimpses of little blue and yellow +flowers arranged in tight bunches in hanging vases. He could smell their +sweetness even out there in the cold air.</p> + +<p>Then high up in the tree trunk a window opened, and he heard the bird +singing. The Beautiful Wicked Witch's face appeared at the window, +looking down at him. Her black eyes were sparkling and she nodded +good-morning to him as though he were a prince, or at least a grown-up. +He could not help nodding back. He liked her very much, she was so +beautiful and so friendly.</p> + +<p>"Come in and get warm," she called, "and I'll show you my pretty bird."</p> + +<p>Eric remembered Ivra's warnings, but he wanted to go in so much that he +found himself doing it. The door tinkled louder music when he touched +it, and he pushed his way through, as a bee pushes his way into a +flower.</p> + +<p>The Witch came running twinklingly down a spiral stairway. She kissed +his mouth, took off his winged cap and coat, threw them somewhere out of +sight, and then he had time to look at her well.</p> + +<p>Her gown was green satin, the color of the fir boughs, and her little +sandals were green satin, too. A green fir frond bound her forehead; and +her black hair hung loose, soft and electric to her waist. Eric had +never seen a prettier person in the world, nor one more kind.</p> + +<p>She took his two hands and began to whirl in a happy dance. Eric danced, +too, for joy and good comradeship. Round and round the room they whirled +until their breath was spent.</p> + +<p>Then the Beautiful Wicked Witch took him up the spiral staircase to show +him the bird. Up and up they went, until they came to a little room high +in the tree. The floor was carpeted with yellow satin, and yellow +curtains hung at the window. Deep blue mirrors lined the walls, and they +reflected Eric and the Beautiful Wicked Witch dozens of times over.</p> + +<p>The pretty bird cage, all made of flowers and leaves, hung in the very +middle of the room. Eric stood by it a long time. He put his fingers +through the bars, and stroked the bird's soft feathers. But the gorgeous +bird paid no attention to him, and did not sing.</p> + +<p>"Why doesn't it hop about?" he asked the Beautiful Wicked Witch.</p> + +<p>The Witch frowned and pouted. "It ought to, I'm sure. I like to see it +hopping. But it would rather sulk. It thinks all the time about the +forest, and its mate who is out there somewhere. Sometimes it sings, +though. Its voice is wonderful."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's open the cage and free him," cried Eric.</p> + +<p>But the Beautiful Wicked Witch seized his hand. "No, no, <i>no</i>! It is +<i>mine</i>. I have caged it in my pretty cage. And it fits into the room, +don't you think?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you mean," said Eric.</p> + +<p>"Why, you fit into it, too," said the Witch, looking hard at him. "Your +yellow hair and blue eyes match the yellow and blue flowers. Would you +like me to make a pretty cage for you and put you into it?"</p> + +<p>"No, no!" Eric was suddenly afraid of the Beautiful Wicked Witch.</p> + +<p>But she laughed at his fear, and danced a little dance, humming to +herself, around the room. Then Eric noticed other cages. The walls were +lined with them. Some hung from the ceiling, and some stood in corners. +In every cage was a bird or animal. The one standing nearest to him held +a pretty gray squirrel, running 'round and 'round on a wheel. He stopped +every now and then to peer out through the bars with quick, bright eyes. +In the cage next was a tiny brown field mouse. But he had given up +running and playing long ago, and was huddled in the farthest and +darkest corner of his cage, his little beady eyes open and watchful.</p> + +<p>Eric walked around the room, looking at all the poor little animals and +birds. One and all peered through their bars with watchful and fearful +eyes. Eric remembered himself in the canning factory and pitied them +more than he could ever have done had he not once been a caged little +creature too. How he longed to open their doors and the window, and see +them scamper and fly away!</p> + +<p>But the Witch had stopped her dancing by the bird cage in the middle of +the room, and her little hands were between the bars stroking the bright +bird-breast. She was saying, "Sing for us, bird. Sing your nicest song +for us. Little Eric wants to hear it."</p> + +<p>The bird began to beat its wings and breast against the bars. Again and +again its bright breast struck the door. But it did not fly open.</p> + +<p>"It does not want to sing," laughed the Beautiful Wicked Witch; "but it +must. Sing, bird, sing! It does you no good to struggle. You can't get +away. Sing, sing!"</p> + +<p>Then the bird sang. Its song was truly wonderful, high and clear, as +Eric had heard it from outside. But now that he could see the bird caged +he did not like the song so well. It was all too sad.</p> + +<p>Eric wanted to go away then, out of the tree, and never, never see the +Witch again. He would find Ivra and the Forest Children and forget all +about these cages. So he said good-by to the Witch and ran down the +spiral staircase. But he could not find the door out. He went round and +round the wall, but there was no sign of a door. It was indeed as though +a flower had let him in and then closed its petals tight.</p> + +<p>The little posies swung in their cases, the bird sang up stairs, and the +Beautiful Wicked Witch played and danced, and laughed at all his +searching. She would do nothing to help him find the door.</p> + +<p>All that day he wandered up stairs and down stairs, or stood at the +window looking down through the green fir branches to the free +forest-floor. Once the Witch offered to tell him stories. But he wanted +no stories of caged things, and those were all the stories she knew. The +Witch did not mind his short answers and dark face. She seemed perfectly +able to have a good time with herself, and needed no comrades.</p> + +<p>At last night fell. The rooms blossomed with candlelight. In the yellow +room up stairs the Beautiful Wicked Witch paraded back and forth before +the mirrors, loving her own reflection, smiling at herself, courtesying, +frowning, looking back over her shoulder,—lifting her hair to let it +fall again in electric waves. Eric stood by the window, thoroughly weary +of his search and loneliness, and watched her. The bird sat in the cage +and watched her. All the little bright eyes of animals watched her. The +candles burned steadily.</p> + +<p>How Eric longed for Ivra now, and their own big friendly room. He +imagined Ivra in the room there all alone getting her supper over the +fire, bathing in the fountain bath, opening the windows, and at last +falling softly to sleep before the firelight faded.</p> + +<p>Oh, if there were only a window open here! How hot it was, and how +over-sweetly scented! The Beautiful Wicked Witch went on posing and +preening before the mirrors, and seemed to have forgotten all about her +new little prisoner.</p> + +<p>So he pulled back the yellow satin curtain, and looked out. It was +clear, cold starlight. He pressed his face against the window pane and +stared down into the shadows beneath the fir. And there, standing erect +in the shadow, her face lifted like a pale little moon, stood Ivra.</p> + +<p>She saw him, but did not wave. She only nodded, as though she knew now +what she had come to make sure of. She stood still for a few minutes, +until Eric almost thought she was frozen in the cold. But at last she +moved and disappeared under the fir.</p> + +<p>Music tinkled through the house. The Beautiful Wicked Witch poised on +her toes, surprisedly looking into the reflection of her own eyes.</p> + +<p>"Some one has come in, for that was the door," she said. "It opens +inward with music."</p> + +<p>Eric's heart stood still. Had Ivra come into the Witch's house, Ivra who +was so afraid of the Witch? He ran down the stairs and the Witch +followed him. Yes, Ivra stood there in the middle of the warm, +flower-hung room, like a little cold star beam.</p> + +<p>But she did not look at the quaint flowers in their golden vases. And +when the Witch ran to her and kissed her she did not even look at her. +She looked only at Eric, and her eyes said, "I have come to free you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, so you did want to try on the pretty frock after all," cried the +Witch, and drew her up the stairs. Eric followed to the yellow room. +"No," said Ivra. But the Witch brought it out and tried to slip it over +her head. It was sheerest gossamer web, and shimmered like moonlight. +And the little rosebuds seemed to make it belong to Ivra.</p> + +<p>Eric forgot all about being a prisoner, and forgot the little caged +creatures around the wall. He was delighted with the frock being pushed +down on Ivra's shoulders. "How beautiful you'll be!" he cried. But Ivra +wriggled away from it and stood clear. Her rudely made brown frock and +worn sandals looked odd in that satin room. "I didn't come to see the +frock," she said, shaking her head till her pigtails bobbed. "I came to +get Eric."</p> + +<p>The Beautiful Wicked Witch laughed. "Get him if you can," she said. Then +she turned her back on the children and began to braid her black hair +among the mirrors.</p> + +<p>They went to the window and waited there, watching her.</p> + +<p>"The door doesn't open out,—only in, I think," Eric whispered. "So we +can't get out."</p> + +<p>"Mother has told me how it would be," Ivra whispered back. "We'll have +to wait until she's asleep and then find a way."</p> + +<p>Then Ivra sat down on the floor and began to rock back and forth and +sing a lullaby. It was a lullaby her mother had sung to her all her +babyhood, Ivra sang in a very little voice, almost a murmur only, but by +listening Eric and the Beautiful Wicked Witch could catch the words. She +sang the same words over and over and over.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Night is in the forest,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tree Mother is nigh.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By-abye, by-abye-bye.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sleep is in the forest—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His feathers brush your eye.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By-abye, by-abye-bye.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mother's arms are holding you,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Forest dreams are folding you.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By-abye, by-abye—bye.</span><br /> + +<p>The Beautiful Wicked Witch sat down before the mirrors after a while, +still watching her reflection, but listening to the song, too. Her head +gradually sank lower and lower, first resting chin in hand and at last +right down on her arm stretched along the floor. Her face lay turned +towards the children, and they saw the mirth slowly fade in her great +black eyes, the lids drop lower and lower,—and then she was asleep +suddenly. Now she looked almost as young as themselves, and like a pale +child who has fallen to sleep at its play.</p> + +<p>But the children did not stop to look at her. Once they were sure she +was asleep they were off searching for the door. Up and down the stairs +and all around the rooms they ran on tiptoes. But it was no use, and at +last they came back to the window.</p> + +<p>"We must jump," whispered Ivra.</p> + +<p>Eric looked down, and wondered. It was a long way to the ground!</p> + +<p>"The snow is soft beneath the crust," Ivra said. "It will only cut us a +little."</p> + +<p>"Let's take the bird," Eric said. Ivra ran to it, and opened the cage +door. It hopped onto her finger eagerly, and she held its bill so that +it would not sing.</p> + +<p>Eric opened the window. "I'll jump first," he whispered.</p> + +<p>But Ivra said, "Oh, let's hold hands and jump together."</p> + +<p>The Beautiful Wicked Witch felt the cold night air from the window on +her face, and stirred in her sleep. Her eyelids quivered. So the +children did not wait a minute more. They climbed up onto the window +sill, Ivra still holding the bird. "One, two, three," she whispered, and +they jumped.</p> + +<p>Out and down they went like two shooting stars and plunked through the +snowcrust. They were up in a second. Their wrists and elbows were a +little bruised and cut, but they were not really hurt at all. But +strange and strange, the bird had fluttered near Ivra's hand for that +second, and then flew straight back up and into the open window. It had +been caged so long it did not really want its freedom after all. Eric +cried out with regret.</p> + +<p>But Ivra seized his hand, and they ran home together through the cold, +starlit forest. Before they leapt the hedge into their own garden Eric +saw the firelight blossoming in the windows. But he stood still outside +the door, after Ivra had gone in, for a time, breathing the cold air and +the clear silence right down into his toes.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h2>IVRA'S BIRTHDAY</h2> + +<p>"To-morrow is the shortest day in the year," Ivra told Eric one night +after they were in bed. He did not answer, for he was very sleepy. But +after a minute she spoke again. "It's my birthday too!"</p> + +<p>Then he opened his eyes and sat up, for her voice sounded very queer and +far away. He saw that she too was sitting up, her hands folded under her +chin. "Mother always had a party for me," she said. "Such fun!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps one will happen to-morrow even with her away," Eric comforted. +"Oh, goody! I do hope so!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps. Anyway I'm going to pretend there's a party waiting for me +to-morrow. You pretend too, Eric, and then even if it doesn't come true +we will have had the pretending at least."</p> + +<p>Eric agreed to pretend. It was one of his favorite games. And very soon +the two children nestled down under their covers and drifted into sleep +and dreams of a party.</p> + +<p>They were roused early in the morning by something tapping lightly on +the doors and windows. Eric was out of bed first, and saw the Wind +Creatures, half a dozen or more of them, looking in and beckoning. Their +purple wings gleamed gold in the early morning sun. Wild Star was +standing in the open door.</p> + +<p>"Happy birthday!" he cried and tossed a snow ball into Ivra's bed. She +popped to her knees, laughing and rosy with sleep. But then she was +grave in a minute. "There's to be no party, Wild Star," she said. +"Mother's not back yet. Are you all here for that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we're here for that, and there is to be a party, an all day one +too. Your Forest Friends have seen to that."</p> + +<p>The children were radiant with joy. And Ivra whispered to Eric, "We had +our pretending, too!"</p> + +<p>The Wind Creatures would not come in to breakfast, for of course they do +not like in-doors at all, and besides, they need very little food. So +they played in the garden while the children dressed and ate. Very soon +the children were done, though, and came leaping out ready for a day's +joy.</p> + +<p>The Wind Creatures led them then out through the forest. The Tree Girl +was watching for them at her door. It was plain to be seen, when she +joined them, that she carried something in her arms very secretly under +her white cloak. But no one mentioned it. Ivra knew it must be a +surprise for her birthday. Where the party was to be no one told her, +and she did not ask. She liked surprises.</p> + +<p>They came to the Forest Children's little moss village. The youngest +Forest Child of all was the only one up so early. He was busily breaking +dead twigs from bushes to build his morning fire and making up a little +rhymeless song about Ivra's birthday as he worked.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This is her birthday,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Spring's little daughter—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Spring's little daughter—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This is her birthday.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Wake now, wake now,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">All you Forest Children,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Wake for her birthday</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And tie your sandals on.</span><br /> + +<p>When he saw them he cried, "Hurrah! Happy birthday, Ivra!"</p> + +<p>At his cry all the little windows in the little moss houses opened and +there were the tousled heads of the Forest Children, their eyes blinking +sleepily against the gilded morning light.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, thank you," Ivra cried back to the youngest Forest Child. +"Hurry and follow."</p> + +<p>Before they had gone on their way five minutes more the Forest Children +were up with them, tugging at buckles and sandal strings as they ran, +begging not to be left behind. Soon they came to Big Pine Hill, a hill +deep in the forest with no trees but a giant pine at the top. The Wind +Creatures had built a slide there by brushing away the snow and leaving +a broad track of shining blue ice. Up under the pine were sleds enough +for every one, made all of woven hemlock branches. They needed no +runners for the ice was so slippery and the hill so steep <i>anything</i> +would go down it fast enough. Ivra's Forest Friends must have worked all +the day before to make those sleds—and now her shining face and clasped +hands were reward enough.</p> + +<p>She was the first to try the hill. She threw herself on her sled and +down she flashed. At the bottom she tumbled off, and still on her knees +shouted up to Eric and the others at the top, "Oh, it's splendid! Come +on!"</p> + +<p>Then the hill was covered with speeding sleds. The Bird Fairies had none +of their own, for they were so little they might have come to harm on +that hill. But they had just as good a time for all of that, catching +rides with the others, clinging to shoulders or heads or feet as it +happened.</p> + +<p>Every one was there, even the Snow Witches who had not been invited. +They came whirling and dancing through the forest almost as soon as the +sliding had begun. Ivra gave them glad welcome in spite of their rough +ways and stinging hair. For she, the only one of all who were there, +liked them very well and had made them her comrades often and often on +windy winter days. And they, who cared for nobody, cared for her. "She +is not like anybody," they explained it to each other. "<i>She is a great +little girl</i>."</p> + +<p>But they would not take Ivra's sled as she wanted them to. They had not +come to spoil her fun. Instead they raced down the hill behind her or +before her, pushing and pulling, their stinging hair in her face. But +that only made her cheeks very red, and she did not mind them at all. +Then she tried sliding down on her feet, with the long line of witches +pushing from behind, their hands on each other's shoulders. That was the +best fun of all, and almost always ended in a tumble before the bottom +was reached. Though the others avoided the witches as much as they could +they admired Ivra for such hardy comrading.</p> + +<p>Before noon every one was very hungry. Then the littlest Forest Child +said, "Follow me. The Tree Girl has gone ahead."</p> + +<p>It was true, she had slipped away when no one noticed.</p> + +<p>The littlest Forest Child led them away to a little valley-place where +hemlock boughs had been spread to make a floor and raised on three sides +to make a shelter. When they had come close enough for Ivra to see what +it was perched so big and white in the middle of the hemlock floor she +stopped and sighed with joy while she clasped her hands.</p> + +<p>It was a beautiful frosted birthday cake with nine brave candles of all +colors and burning steadily, just the kind of cake her mother had always +baked for her birthdays.—Only last year there had been eight candles. +She had not hoped for this final delight. She ran quickly forward and +was the first to kneel down by it. The Tree Girl was there waiting, and +now Ivra knew it was the cake that she had been carrying so secretly +under her cloak.</p> + +<p>The Snow Witches did not follow into that shelter. They have a great +fear of shelters, you must know, for when forced into them they quickly +lose their fierceness, and their fierceness is their greatest pride. But +before they left the party one of them came close to Eric, so close that +tears were whipped into his eyes and quickly froze on his lashes. "Take +this to your little comrade," shes said, thrusting a box made of pine +cones into his hands. "It's for her to keep her paper dolls in. We +witches made it."</p> + +<p>Then all the witches went screeching and swirling away through the +forest, and Ivra, Eric and the others settled down to the business of +eating the birthday cake.</p> + +<p>But first the Tree Girl, who is very sensible, insisted that they eat +some nuts and apples. Indeed, she would allow no one a bite of the +wonderful cake until he had eaten at least one apple and twenty nuts.</p> + +<p>Before Ivra cut the cake the others blew out the candles, one after +another, and made her a wish in turn for every candle. The Tree Girl +wished her a bright new year, the Bird Fairies that her mother would +soon return, the Wind Creatures that she would keep her gay heart +forever, the Forest Children that she would become the most famous story +teller in the Forest World.</p> + +<p>And then it was Eric's turn. He had never been to a birthday party +before, and never had he made a wish for some one else. So he was a +little puzzled. But at last he had an idea and cried, "I wish that your +hair will grow golden and curly before to-morrow morning." All +princesses Ivra had ever told him about had curly golden hair, and +though she had never said it, Eric had suspected for some time that Ivra +would like that kind of hair herself. Then he puffed his cheeks and blew +out his candle, a fat green one. Ivra laughed.</p> + +<p>"The Snow Witches would never let me keep curly hair," she said. "They'd +whip it straight in an hour."</p> + +<p>That reminded Eric of the pine cone box and he gave it to her and told +her about it. She was almost as delighted with that as with the cake.</p> + +<p>What a wonderful cake it was! Such food Eric had never dreamed of, and +he was a great dreamer! The frosting was over an inch thick.</p> + +<p>Then, of course, Ivra must tell them stories. All the Forest People +loved her stories. They built a fire to keep from freezing. The Wind +Creatures sat a little way off where it was cool enough for their +comfort, but not too far to hear Ivra's clear voice. This time she told +all she knew about the birthday of this Earth, one of the most magical +and splendid and strange of her stories.</p> + +<p>But it was the shortest day in the year, Ivra's birthday, and night fell +all too soon. Then the Tree Girl, who seldom forgot to be sensible, said +they had better go home. The littlest Forest Child was already asleep, +curled close by the fire. They roused him gently. Good-nights were +called and a few minutes after, the shelter was deserted, and the fire +out. And by starlight could be seen many footprints leading away in the +white snow out into all parts of the Forest.</p> + +<p>Eric and Ivra walked toward home hand in hand. They had to pass the +morning's slide on the way. When they came in sight of it they began to +walk more quickly and quietly and to look intently. The blue ice shone +bluer than ever in starlight, but more than the ice shone. Shining +<i>people</i> were using the sleds and the hill was covered with them.</p> + +<p>"Why, they must be Star People," Ivra cried excitedly.</p> + +<p>When they were quite near they stood to watch.</p> + +<p>The strange Star folk were very silent, never calling and laughing as +those who had slid there in the morning had done. Two, a little boy and +a young girl, came spinning down on the same sled and stopped so near +that Ivra and Eric might have touched them by leaning forward. But the +Star-two must have thought the Forest-two shadows, for they paid no +attention to them at all.</p> + +<p>Now that they were so near Eric could see that their hair was blue, like +the shadows on snow, and their faces a beautiful shining white. Their +straight short garments were blue like shadows, too, and their arms, +legs and feet were bare. But they did not seem conscious of the cold. +Eric did not hear them speak, but they looked at each other as though +they <i>were</i> speaking, and then suddenly the little boy laughed merrily, +as though the young girl had just told him something very amusing.</p> + +<p>Soon the girl turned and ran away up the hill. But the little boy was as +quick as she and threw himself on the sled while she never slackened her +pace, but drew him straight and fast up the steep slope.</p> + +<p>"I have never seen them before," Ivra whispered to Eric. "But mother has +told me of them. They don't talk as we do you see. They don't <i>have</i> to. +They know each other's thoughts. They almost never leave their Stars. Do +you think—perhaps, to-night they saw our slide shining, and wondered so +much about it they had to come down? Even mother has never seen them. +It was Tree Mother told her."</p> + +<p>Eric was very silent, for he had never seen such beautiful people. The +little boy had had a face like a star, and great shining eyes. The young +girl had been clear like the day, and without smiling her face had been +brimmed with happiness.</p> + +<p>But now he felt Ivra trembling. She whispered again, "You know, Eric, it +is wonderful for us to see them like this. Some day, mother says, we may +get to be like them!"</p> + +<p>"And speak without words?" Eric asked wondering.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and more than that. We may be as <i>alive</i> as they. Now we're only +Forest people, and not all <i>that</i> even—almost dreams. They are <i>real</i>!"</p> + +<p>Then she took his hand and drew him away. "I cannot look any more," she +said; "can you? They are too beautiful!"</p> + +<p>Eric put his fingers to his eyes as he walked. "Yes, it's hard to see +the ground now. My eyes ache a little."</p> + +<p>But how the children wished their mother were waiting for them in the +little house to hear the tale!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h2>NORA'S GRANDCHILDREN</h2> + +<p>One afternoon Eric and Ivra started out for the Forest Children's moss +village to play with them. But when they got there they found all the +little houses deserted: not a Forest Child was to be found. They must +have gone into some other part of the forest to play. So Ivra and Eric +wandered on and on, a little lonely, a little tired of just each other +for comrades, till at last they came to the very edge of the +forest,—and there was Nora's farm, a rambling red brick house, with a +barn twice its size behind it. Down in the pasture by the house half a +dozen Snow Witches were dancing in a circle, now near, now far, all over +the pasture, and sometimes right up to the farm-house windows.</p> + +<p>Ivra clapped her hands and bounded forward. Eric did not follow. He +stood to watch. When the Snow Witches saw Ivra running to them they +rushed to meet her. For a minute she was lost in a cloud of blown snow, +and then there she was dancing in their circle back and forth across the +pasture, and then away, away, away! But before she frolicked quite out +of sight she turned to look for her playfellow, and beckoned to him.</p> + +<p>"Come on," she called. "We're going to slide on the brook below the +cornfield."</p> + +<p>But Eric did not follow. He did not like the Snow Witches. And just as +Ivra and the Witches drifted out of sight, he thought he heard the +Forest Children laughing. The sound came from the barn. So Eric ran to +the door. It was a big sliding door, and now stood open on a crack just +large enough for a child to slip through. Eric went in.</p> + +<p>The barn was tremendously big, a great dusty place full of the smell of +hay. Ahead of him were two stalls, with a horse in one. But Eric was +most interested in the empty stall, for it was from there the laughter +seemed to come. He stood looking and listening, and then right down +through the ceiling of the stall shot a child, and landed laughing and +squealing in the hay in the manger. She sat up, saw Eric and stared. She +was a little girl about his own age, freckle-faced, snub-nosed and +red-haired. She had the jolliest, the nicest face in the world.</p> + +<p>Eric opened his mouth to say, "Hello," but kept it open, silent in +amazement, for another child had shot through the ceiling and landed +beside the girl. This was a boy. He was red-headed, too, freckle-faced +and snub-nosed. He looked even jollier than the girl.</p> + +<p>Before Eric had closed his mouth on his amazement, "Whoop!" and down +came another boy. This boy was red-haired, freckle-faced and snub-nosed, +and he looked jollier than the other two put together, if that were +possible, for his red hair curled in saucy, tight little ringlets, and +his mouth was wide with smiles.</p> + +<p>It was this last one who said, "Hello, who are you?"</p> + +<p>"Eric,—who are you?"</p> + +<p>"Nora's grandchildren, of course. Come up. We're having sport."</p> + +<p>The three children ran across the barn to a ladder and scrambled up and +disappeared through a trap door at the top. Eric followed. The attic was +full of hay in mountains and little hills,—hay and hay and hay. He +followed the children around the biggest mountain, through a tunnel—and +there they vanished!</p> + +<p>He found the hole in the stable ceiling and looked down. Not very far +below him was the manger full of hay and red-headed children. "Look out +down there! Whoop!" cried Eric, and dropped, landing among them.</p> + +<p>Then the four laughed heartily together and ran across the barn again, +up the ladder, around the hay mountain and dropped down the hole. They +did that dozens of times until they were tired of it.</p> + +<p>Then they played hide-and-go-seek in the hay country, and after that +Blind Man's Buff in the barn below. The little girl was Blind Man first. +They tied a red handkerchief tight over her eyes. Then they ran about, +dodging her, calling her, laughing at her groping hands and hesitating +steps. But after a few minutes she became accustomed to the darkness and +ran and jumped about after them until they had to be very wary and swift +indeed. Soon she caught Eric and then he was Blind Man.</p> + +<p>By and by they played tag, just plain tag, and Eric liked that best of +all. Back and forth across the great room they raced,—up the ladder, +over the hay, through the hole into the stable, round and round, in and +out, up and down until they were too tired and hot for any more.</p> + +<p>Then they lay up in the hay where there was a little window, looking far +out across the meadows.</p> + +<p>Eric saw Ivra out there in the first field, wandering around alone and +now and then looking up at the barn. She must have heard their shouts +and laughter. He pointed her out to the other children. "That is my +playmate out there," he said. "Let's open the window and call to her to +come up. She'll tell us stories."</p> + +<p>The children looked out eagerly. "But there's nobody there," they said.</p> + +<p>Eric laughed. "No, look!" He pointed with his finger. "Over there by the +white birch. Look! She sees us." He waved. "Quick, help me open the +window."</p> + +<p>He could not find the catch. The window was draped with cobwebs and +dusty with the dust of years. It looked as though it had never been +opened.</p> + +<p>The little red-headed girl put her hand on his arm. She was laughing. +"Don't be silly," she said. "There's no one by the white birch. You're +imagining."</p> + +<p>"Why, look! Of course she's there!" Eric was impatient. "She's moving +now, waving to us. Of course you see her!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the jolliest of the boys. "We do see it—faintly. We've seen +it before too,—a kind of a shadow on the snow. But father says it's +nothing to mind. Imaginings. Nothing real, just spots in our eyes or +something."</p> + +<p>Then Eric remembered all that Ivra had told him. She was half fairy. +People could see her if they looked hard enough. But they were not apt +to believe their own eyes when they had looked. That was dreadful for +her. She had not said so, but he had guessed it from her face when she +told him. Well, well, now he understood a little better. These were +Earth Children, with shadows in their eyes. Ivra could never be their +playmate.</p> + +<p>But <i>he</i> could see her well enough because his eyes were clear. And +presently he would run out to her and they would go home together. But +just now it was jolly and cozy here in the barn, and these Earth +Children were good fun. He hoped she would wait for him, but if she did +not he would find his way alone easily enough.</p> + +<p>"You don't really believe in it, do you?" the red-headed girl was +asking. "If you do,—better not. Grown-ups will laugh at you."</p> + +<p>"Nora, your grandmother, won't laugh," said Eric. "She knows Ivra well +enough, and Helma, too."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," said the jolliest boy. "But she is queer. We love her, and +she's a fine grandmother, I can tell you. And she tells the best +stories. But she's queer just the same, and she can't fool us."</p> + +<p>"Let's go in and get some cookies from her," said the other boy. "They +must be done by now."</p> + +<p>So up they hopped, and without another look towards the shadow out on +the snow by the white birch, jumped down the hole, and ran out of the +barn into the kitchen.</p> + +<p>Nora was there knitting by a table, two big pans of cookies just out of +the oven cooling in front of her.</p> + +<p>How good they smelled! Eric had never tasted hot ginger cookies before, +and when Nora gave him one, a big round one all for his own, he almost +danced with delight. He perched on the edge of the table and ate that +one and many another before he was done.</p> + +<p>"This boy, grandma," began the red-headed girl.</p> + +<p>"His name is Eric," interrupted Nora, handing him another cookie. "I +know him very well."</p> + +<p>"Well, he saw It while we were looking out of the barn window! And he +said It was real and his playmate, and he wanted to call It in to tell +us stories!"</p> + +<p>"Don't say 'It,'" said Nora. "Her name is 'Ivra.' But of course you +can't play with her. She isn't an Earth Child. She's a fairy. So don't +say anything about it to your father when he comes home to-night. It +would make him cross."</p> + +<p>"But it doesn't make you cross," laughed the jolliest boy. "And so won't +you tell us some stories about it now. You know,—the little house in +the wood, the Tree Man, the Forest Children, Helma, Ivra and all the +rest of it."</p> + +<p>"Do tell us a story," begged the other two.</p> + +<p>So Nora put down her knitting, and taking the cat on her lap, a great +sleepy white fellow who had been purring by the stove, she began to tell +them stories.</p> + +<p>She told stories about Helma and Ivra, the Wind Creatures, the Snow +Witches and many more. The children listened eagerly, clapping their +hands now and then, and at the end of every story asking for more.</p> + +<p>But Eric was lost in wonder. The children thought the stories were not +true,—just fairy stories told them by a grandmother. And Nora had +evidently long ago given up expecting them to believe. Her black eyes +twinkled knowingly when they met Eric's puzzled ones.</p> + +<p>And all the time Eric had only to turn his head to see Ivra walking out +there around in the field, looking at the farm house, waiting for him. +But gradually, as the stories went on the little figure out there grew +more and more to look like just a blue shadow on the snow, paler and +paler. Finally he had to strain his eyes to see it at all.</p> + +<p>Then he jumped down from the table and said he must go home. His heart +was beating a little wildly. For he was afraid Ivra might fade away from +him altogether. These red-headed children were fine playfellows. He +liked them,—oh, so much! He wished he could stay and play with them +for—a week. Yes. But he must go now. That blue shadow on the snow +seemed lonely.</p> + +<p>"Take her some cookies," said Nora, filling his pockets. The children +laughed at the top of their voices. "Yes, take some cookies to the +fairy. But you can eat them yourself and pretend it is the fairy eating +them," they cried.</p> + +<p>Nora laughed with them, and so after a minute Eric joined in. But he and +Nora looked at each other through their laughter and nodded +understanding.</p> + +<p>When Ivra saw him at last come out of the farm house door, she didn't +wait longer, but ran away into the wood. He overtook her a long way in, +walking rapidly.</p> + +<p>"Did you have a good time with the witches?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you come, too?" she said</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was too cold. Nora's grandchildren are awfully good fun. We +played hide-and-go-seek, just as we played it at the Tree Man's party."</p> + +<p>"Did they laugh at me?"</p> + +<p>" ... No, they laughed at me. They thought I was a funny boy."</p> + +<p>"To have me for a playmate?"</p> + +<p>Then Eric began to think that Ivra was not very happy. Perhaps she had +been lonely.</p> + +<p>"You're always running off with the Snow Witches," he said. "But I won't +play with Nora's grandchildren any more unless they'll let you play too. +I won't, truly!"</p> + +<p>Ivra laughed. And it was like spring coming into winter. "Yes, play with +them all you like! I love them, too. I've often watched them. The +littlest boy, the one with the funny curls, laughs at me and stares and +stares. But the other two ... they just give me a glance and then forget +all about me. They don't think I'm real. But they are awfully jolly. You +play with them and when you tell me about it afterwards I'll pretend I +was there playing too."</p> + +<p>Then the two clasped hands and went skipping home.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h2>SPRING COMES</h2> + +<p>One morning when Ivra woke up she knew spring had come before her eyes +were open. But Eric had to go outdoors to make sure. He was sure enough +when he smelled the ground, a good earth smell. Snow still clung to the +garden in spots here and there, but the warm sun promised it would not +be for long. Something in the sky, something in the air, a smell of +earth, and a stirring in his own heart told him it was true. Spring had +come!</p> + +<p>Ivra had felt and known it before her eyes were open, and now that they +were open, those eyes of hers looked like two blue spring flowers just +awake. She hopped about in the garden poking and prodding the earth with +a stick, looking for her violets, her anemones, her star flowers. Not a +green leaf was pushing through yet, but oh, how soon there would be!</p> + +<p>Suddenly she stopped and stood still looking away into the forest. Then +she ran to Eric on the door stone. She cried, "Mother will come now. +Don't you feel it? She will come with the spring!"</p> + +<p>Eric did feel it. For there was magic in the day. The magic came to him +in the air, in the smell of the earth, in the new warm wind and said, +"Everything is yours that you want. Joy is coming." And Mother Helma was +what he wanted. So he felt sure she was on the way.</p> + +<p>"She must have found the key,—or do you suppose she climbed the gray +wall?" wondered Ivra.</p> + +<p>"Shall we go to meet her?" asked Eric.</p> + +<p>"No, no. We must get the house clean and ready for her. We must hurry."</p> + +<p>And then such a house-cleaning was begun as you or I have never seen. +The Forest Children had been up at dawn to greet the spring, and now +they came running to tell Ivra and Eric about it. When they heard that +Helma was at last coming back and the house was to be cleaned they +wanted to help. First it was decided to wash the floor. Pail after pail +of water from the fountain they splashed on it. Streamlets of water +flowed into the fireplace and out over the door stone. Out and in ran +the Forest Children trying to help, and with every step making foot +prints on the wet floor, muddy little foot prints, dozens of them and +finally hundreds of them.</p> + +<p>Then the windows were washed. And because the Forest Children could not +run on those they were made bright and clear. But soon the Forest +Children pressed their faces against the panes to watch for Helma, and +as the minutes passed breath-clouds formed there, spreading and +deepening until the glass sparkled no more. But no one noticed. No one +cared. For now they were shining up the dishes, polishing them with +cloths, and setting them in neat rows in the cupboard.</p> + +<p>Then Wild Star appeared, his hands full of spring flowers that he had +found deep in the forest in the sunniest and most protected place, the +very first spring flowers. "Helma must have gotten past that wall, now +it's spring," he said; "and here are some flowers to greet her. See, I +left the roots on, the way she likes them. Let's plant them by the door +stone."</p> + +<p>They dug up the earth with their hands, Forest Children's hands, Wild +Star's hands, Eric's and Ivra's,—and planted the flowers all about the +door stone. Then Wild Star flew away a little languidly.</p> + +<p>Ivra looked after him. "He'll soon find the deepest, darkest, coolest +place," she said, "make himself a nest of smooth leaves and dream away +the summer. Fall and winter are his flying times. We shall see him at no +more parties for a while."</p> + +<p>"And the Snow Witches? What will become of them?" asked Eric.</p> + +<p>"They will get into hollows of old trees and under rocks, draw in their +skirts and their hair, curl up and sleep."</p> + +<p>"Good news!" thought Eric. But he did not say it for he knew Ivra liked +the Snow Witches almost best of all to play with and would miss them.</p> + +<p>Now the Tree Girl came through the gap in the hedge. She was wearing a +green frock, green sandals, and pussy willow buds made a wreath in her +hair.</p> + +<p>"Spring, spring!" she cried as she came up the path. "We heard the sap +running in our tree all night. Father has gone on a spring wandering, +and I shall stay within tree no longer for a while."</p> + +<p>"We know, we know!" crowed Ivra. "<i>I</i> knew before my eyes were open this +morning. Eric had to smell the ground first. Imagine! We have been +cleaning house. Mother will surely come now. Don't <i>you</i> feel it?"</p> + +<p>The Tree Girl lifted her face up in the new warm wind. Her soft hair +floated feather-like. "Yes, I feel it. She is on the way. Spring brings +everything."</p> + +<p>A bird flashed from the trees. It lighted on the hedge for a second and +was away again. But Eric had had time to recognize the beautiful bird he +had seen caged in the Witch's fir.</p> + +<p>"The caged bird!" he cried to Ivra. "It is free! It is flying away."</p> + +<p>The Bird Fairies were flying away, too. They were going to meet the +birds corning up from the south and teach them their songs as they flew. +They came to say good-by to the children.</p> + +<p>"Look for us next winter," they called back, as they fluttered off in a +silvery cloud.</p> + +<p>And finally, at high noon, just as Ivra had known she would since early +morning, Helma came,—running through the forest, jumping the hedge, and +gathering Ivra and Eric into her arms.</p> + +<p>They three knelt on the ground by the spring flowers embracing each +other for a long, long minute.</p> + +<p>"Did you find the key to that gate?" Eric asked when his breath came +back, "Or did they let you come at last."</p> + +<p>"I didn't have to find the key, and they didn't let me come. They would +never have done that. But the minute I had on a light spring frock I +found I could climb the wall easily enough, and so I came running all +the way. And now they shall never get me back behind doors again. I am +free! I am as free as you, my children!"</p> + +<p>She held them off and looked into their eyes.</p> + +<p>She was dressed in a brown silk gown, all torn and stained from her +wall-climbing and rush through the bushes. Her feet were bare, for she +had kicked off her funny high-heeled city boots the minute she had +reached the forest. Her hair had grown to her shoulders and looked more +like flower petals than ever. But her face was not brown and serene, as +Eric had first seen it. It was pale and wild.</p> + +<p>"They don't believe in you, children," she said. "They don't believe in +me, not the me that I am. And from morning to night they made me a +slave. They made me wear such ugly, hurting things, and then they made +me dance! Every night we danced in hot rooms and ate strange bad-tasting +food. They called dancing like that a <i>party</i>. But I could only remember +our forest parties, and our dancing here under the cool moon.</p> + +<p>"The only glimpse of the forest I had was your Snow Witches, Ivra. +Sometimes I saw them from my bedroom window, 'way out in the fields, +whirling and scudding in mad games. And then at last one morning some +Wind Creatures flew by, above the garden wall! But when I called Wild +Star back and tried to ask him about you, children, as he perched on the +wall, they came rushing into the garden and dragged me away. They said +it was time for luncheon, and I must change my frock. But let us forget. +I am here! It is spring!"</p> + +<p>She jumped up and stood just as the Tree Girl had stood earlier that +morning, her face lifted in the wind. Slowly that face grew calm and +warm color flooded it.</p> + +<p>"How nicely cleaned the house is!" she exclaimed when at last they went +in. For she did not see the tracks on the floor nor the clouded windows. +All she saw was that the children had worked there to make it fit for +her home-coming.</p> + +<p>Ivra was proud and glad that she noticed. "I have made you a spring +frock too," she said, bringing it out. "And Eric has made you some +sandals. He makes fine sandals now!"</p> + +<p>The frock was a brown smock with a narrow green belt.</p> + +<p>The sandals were well made, and very soft and light.</p> + +<p>Helma stripped off the tattered silk frock, the funny thing with its +long sleeves and stiff lace collar, and hid it away out of sight. On +went the new smock over her head in a twinkling. She stepped into the +sandals. And there was their mother, the Helma Eric had first seen.</p> + +<p>"The garden now, we must see about that," she said in her old quiet way. +Then they went out into the garden, and Helma began to plan just where +there should plant seeds and just what must be done. The children clung +to her hands, looking up into her face, and would not let her take a +step away from them. When she stood still they leaned against her, one +against either side, and wound their arms about her.</p> + +<p>In mid-afternoon, Spring came—not the spring of the year, but Spring +himself, the person the season is named for. He was a tall young man, +with a radiant face, and fair curls lifting in a cloud from his head. +Where he walked the earth sprang up in green grass after his bare feet, +and flowers followed him like a procession. Helma ran to him, swifter +than the children, and he kissed her lips. He lifted Ivra nigh on his +shoulder for one minute where she thought she looked away over the +treetops hundreds of miles to the blue ocean. But it may have been only +his eyes, which were very blue, that shee was looking into.</p> + +<p>With him came two Earth Giants. They were huge brown fellows with +rolling muscles and kind, sleepy eyes. They crouched down at the opening +in the hedge and waited for Spring to go on with them.</p> + +<p>"Shall we plant the garden, Helma?" asked Spring.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," cried the children, and Helma said, "Yes, yes," as eagerly +as they.</p> + +<p>So the Earth Giants came in and plowed it all up with their +hands,—hands twenty times as large as an Earth Man's! When they were +done, the garden was a rich golden color, and right for planting. Then +Helma pointed out to Spring where she wanted the seeds to be, violets +here, roses there, lilies there, pansies there and daisies there. Spring +gave some seeds to the children and sowed some himself. Helma sat on the +door stone and joyously directed the work.</p> + +<p>By twilight the garden was done, and Spring went away with his Earth +Giants.</p> + +<p>As he went out through the forest, flowers and green grass followed +him—and the next morning even the dullest Earth Person would know that +Spring had come.</p> + +<p>As for Helma and Ivra and Eric, the house would not hold their joy, and +so they dragged out their beds and slept that night in the new-plowed, +sweet-smelling garden.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h2>SPRING WANDERING</h2> + +<p>"There goes another," said Helma as she stood in the door the very next +morning after her return. "The littlest Forest Child that was, and all +by himself. He seems rather small to go spring-wandering alone."</p> + +<p>"He likes to go alone," Ivra answered. She was setting the table for +breakfast, and Eric was helping her. "'Most always he's playing or +wandering off by himself somewhere."</p> + +<p>Helma stood watching the little fellow until he had vanished amid the +delicate green of the forest morning. Then she tossed back her hair with +a shake of her head and cried gayly, "Let's go wandering ourselves, +pets. It's good to be home, but we have all our lives for that now. +Let's adventure!"</p> + +<p>The children were overjoyed. They did not want to wait for breakfast. +But Helma thought they had better, for no one knew where, when or how +their next meal would be. Of course, though, it was hard to eat. You +know yourself how you feel about food when you are going on an +adventure. However the bowls of cereal were swallowed somehow. Then the +stoutest sandals were strapped on, and the three were ready to set out.</p> + +<p>First they went to Nora's farm and before they had waited many minutes +in the shadow of the trees on the edge of the field Nora came from the +door carrying their jug of milk. They ran to meet her and tell her not +to leave any more milk until they should come back. How glad the old +woman was to see Helma. "I thought spring would bring you," she said. +"Spring frees everything."</p> + +<p>Then Helma, Ivra and Eric were off for their spring wandering. It seemed +as though every one else was wandering, too, for they could hardly walk +a mile without meeting some friend or stranger Forest Person. All gave +them greeting, whether stranger or friend, and all looked very glad that +Helma was in the forest again, for good news travels fast there, and +even the strangers knew of her home-coming.</p> + +<p>In a secret wooded valley, walking softly to hear the birds and the +thousand little other songs of earth, they suddenly came upon a strange +and thrilling sight. A party of little girls and boys all in bright +colored frocks, purple, orange, green, blue, yellow, were putting the +finishing touches on an air-boat they were making. It was built of +delicate leaved branches and decorated with wild flowers. A great anchor +of dog-tooth violets hung over the sides and kept it on the ground.</p> + +<p>When they saw Helma and the children coming so silently toward them they +jumped into the boat and crowded there looking like a bunch of larger +spring flowers. Then they drew in the anchor rapidly. But the little +girl sitting high in the back, the one in the torn yellow dress and with +blowing cloud-dark hair, cried, "Oh, no fear, it's Ivra and her mother +and the clear-eyed Earth Child. Want to come, Ivra? We're off spring +wandering among the white clouds."</p> + +<p>Ivra shook her head and called, "Not unless three of us can come."</p> + +<p>"Too full for that," called down the yellow-frocked one, for now the +boat had lifted softly almost to the tree tops. "Your Earth Child would +weigh us down. So hail and farewell. Good wandering!"</p> + +<p>So the three on the ground stood looking up and waving and calling back, +"Good wandering!" until the green boat had drifted away and away and was +lost in the spring sky. But for a long time after, there floated down to +them in the valley far laughter and glad cries.</p> + +<p>The spring nights were cold, and so at twilight they made themselves a +shelter of boughs. They slept as soon as it was night and woke and were +off at the break of dawn. Helma carried sweet chocolate in her pockets, +and forest friends and strangers offered them from their store all along +the way. Sometimes when they were tired or warm with walking they would +climb into the top of some tall tree, and there swinging among the cool +new leaves, Helma began telling them her World Stories again, while the +children looked off over the trembling forest roof and watched for +homing birds.</p> + +<p>But when the hemlock and fir trees began to crowd out the maples and +oaks, Helma said quietly one day, "We are nearing the sea." "The sea," +cried Eric almost wild with sudden delight. "Shall we see it? Shall we +swim in it? Oh, I have never seen it!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I saw it from Spring's shoulder," Ivra cried—she really thought +she had—"But mother, mother, what a wonderful surprise you had for us!"</p> + +<p>They began to run in their eagerness. But Helma held them back. "It's a +day's journey yet," she said. And so they walked as patiently as they +could down a long, long slope through dark firs and hemlocks.</p> + +<p>It was noon of the following day when they finally came to the sea. They +had struggled through a thick undergrowth of thorned bushes where the +great arms of the firs shut out everything ahead. Then suddenly they +were out of it, in the open, on the shore with the waves almost lapping +their toes. It was high tide. The blue sea stretched away to the blue +sky.</p> + +<p>Eric's legs gave way under him, and he knelt on the white sand, just +looking and looking at the bigness of it, the splendor of it, the color +of it, and listening to the music of it. Ivra ran right out into the +foam brought in by the breakers, up to her waist, where she splashed the +water with her palms until her hair and face were drenched with salt +spray. Helma stood looking away to foreign countries which she could +almost see.</p> + +<p>But they were not left long to themselves. The heads of a little girl +and boy and a young woman appeared over the crest of a great wave, and +the three were swept up to the shore. They grabbed Ivra and drew her +along with them as they passed, laughing musically. Ivra did not like it +at first, and sprang away from them the minute she could shake herself +free. But when she saw their merry faces and heard them laugh, she +returned shyly.</p> + +<p>The children were about Eric's and Ivra's ages, and the young woman was +their mother. The children's names were Nan and Dan, and the woman's +name was Sally. But though they had Earth names they were of the +fairy-kind,—called in the Forest "Blue Water People."</p> + +<p>Just peer into a clear pool or stream, almost any bright day, and you +will be pretty sure to see one of them looking up at you. They are the +sauciest and most mischievous of all fairies. Only stare at them a +little, and they will mock you to your face with smiles and pouts, and +will not go away as long as you stay. For they have no fear of you or +any Earth People. They follow their streams right into towns and cities, +under bridges and over dams. You are as likely to find one in your city +park as in the Forest.</p> + +<p>Helma spoke to Sally, while the children eyed each other curiously. She +said, "How happy you Blue Water People must be now Spring has freed you +at last!"</p> + +<p>Sally dropped down on the beach, her dark hair flung like a shadow on +the sand. Her laughing face looked straight up into the sky. She +stretched her arms above her head.</p> + +<p>"He came just in time. Another day—and we would have had to break +through the ice ourselves. Truly. We've never had such a long winter. +Why, a <i>month</i> ago we began to look for Spring. We lay with our faces +pressed against the cold ice for hours at a time, watching. We could +just see light through, and shadows now and then."</p> + +<p>"And then I saw him first," cried Dan, who was listening to his mother.</p> + +<p>"No, I!" cried Nan.</p> + +<p>"No, no," Sallv laughed. "I heard him, singing, a long way off. And I +called you children away from your game of shells. When his foot touched +the ice we danced in circles of joy, and tapped messages through to him +with our fingers. The ice vanished under his feet, and our stream rushed +hither away to the sea. We came with it, and waved him hail and farewell +as we poured down. Who can stop at home in spring-time? And we had been +ice-bound so long!"</p> + +<p>"And now we're here," boasted Dan, "I'm going to swim across the sea +to-morrow,—or the next day!"</p> + +<p>"You're too little for that. Calm water is best, or little rushing +streams," warned Sally.</p> + +<p>"What is it like across the sea?" asked Eric. "Another world?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you about it in the next story," promised Helma. "And then +when I have told you, Eric, you may want to go across yourself and see +the wonders."</p> + +<p>Eric drew a deep breath. "Yes, you and Ivra and I. In a boat." He +pointed to a white sail far out stuck up like a feather slantwise in the +water.</p> + +<p>Ivra clapped her hands.</p> + +<p>But Helma shook her head. "When you go, it must be alone, Ivra and I +belong to the Forest."</p> + +<p>"Why, then I don't want to go, ever." Eric shook the thought from him +like water.</p> + +<p>"Well, let's swim across now," Dan shouted, and ran into the waves, +falling flat as soon as he was deep enough and swimming fast away. The +other children followed him, ready for a frolic. You or I would have +found that water very cold, but these were hardy children; and one of +them all winter had made comrades of the Snow Witches, remember.</p> + +<p>They waded out to the surf and plunged through it, head first. They took +hands and floated in a circle beyond, rising and falling in the even +motion of the rollers. Nan was very mischievous, and soon succeeded in +pushing Eric out, under where the waves broke. When he looked up +suddenly and saw the great watery roof hanging over him, he was +terrified but he did not scream. People who comraded with Ivra could not +do that. He shut his eyes tight, and then thundering down came the +water-roof, and a second after, up bobbed Eric like a cork, choking and +sputtering. They were laughing at him, even Ivra. The minute the salt +water was out of his eyes he laughed, too, and tried to push Nan into +the surf. But she was too quick for him, and slipped away, farther out +to sea.</p> + +<p>Then began a game of water tag. Eric, because he was not such a good +swimmer as the others, was It most of the time. But Ivra had to take a +few turns as well. It was impossible to catch the other two. They moved +in the water as reflected light moves along a wall, not really swimming +at all, but flashing from spot to spot.</p> + +<p>Helma and Sally lay on the sand in the spring sunshine and talked about +their children.</p> + +<p>"Nan and Dan tear their clothes so," sighed Sally, "I could spend all my +time mending."</p> + +<p>"I must make little Eric some new clothes," said Helma. "I hope I have +cloth enough at home."</p> + +<p>"Nan is naughty, but she is a darling," laughed Sally as Eric was pushed +under the surf.</p> + +<p>Helma waited to see that he came up smiling and then said, "Ivra and +Eric never quarrel. They play together from morn till night like two +squirrels."</p> + +<p>... They all had lunch together on the shore. The Blue Water Children +instead of eating smelled some spring flowers which Sally had found. +That is the way they always take their nourishment. Helma turned some +little cakes of chocolate out of her pockets, and though at first it +seemed like a small luncheon, when it was all eaten they felt satisfied.</p> + +<p>All the afternoon the children played up and down the beach. They found +a smooth round pink sea-shell which they used for a ball. Eric was the +best at throwing. It made him happy and proud to excel in something at +last. He taught them how to play base ball, which he had once watched +Mrs. Freg's boys playing on Sundays in the back yard. They used a piece +of drift wood for a bat, and when the shell got accidentally batted into +the sea the Blue Water Children fielded it like fishes.</p> + +<p>When they were tired of ball, the Blue Water Children drew lines on the +sand for "hop scotch,"—a game they had sometimes watched city children +playing in a park,—and taught Ivra and Eric about that.</p> + +<p>Then they built a castle of sand, and walled it in with sea shells. +Helma showed them how to make the moat and the bridge, and Sally and she +took turns and made up a story about the castle and told it to them.</p> + +<p>Towards evening some Earth People came by, near to the shore, in a +little steam launch. There were men and women and several children in +it. They crowded into the side of the boat towards the shore to stare +curiously at Helma and Eric. They could not see the others, of course. +Helma with her free, bright hair and bare feet looked very strange to +them. And they could not understand what Eric was doing with his arms +held straight out at each side. He was between Dan and Nan, holding +their hands, and standing to watch. But the Earth People looked right +through the Blue Water Children, or thought they were shadows perhaps.</p> + +<p>One of the men put his hands to his mouth like a megaphone and called to +Helma, asking her if she did not want to be picked up. They thought her +being there in that wild place with a little boy, alone, and barefooted, +very singular. They thought she might have been shipwrecked. But Helma +shook her head, and so they had to take their wonder away with them. The +boat swept by.</p> + +<p>Ivra ran out into the waves waist deep to watch the strange thing. She +had never seen a steam launch before, or anything like it. A baby, held +in his nurse's arms, caught sight of her and waved tiny dimpled hands, +calling and cooing. She saw his sparkling eyes, his light fuzzy hair, +his little white dress and socks. She ran farther into the water, waving +back to him and throwing him dozens of kisses. But no one else in the +boat saw her, and after a minute the baby's attention turned to a sea +gull flying overhead.</p> + +<p>Ivra returned to shore, her face shining. There had been no doubt of +it—the baby had seen her at once, and had had no doubts. He had laughed +and reached his hands to her. The little Fairy Child almost hugged +herself with delight....</p> + +<p>They built themselves shelters of drift wood when night fell. Eric's was +just large enough for him to crawl into and lie still. One whole side of +it was open to the sea. Soft fir boughs made his bed, and Helma had left +a kiss with him. But he did not sleep for a long while. He lay on his +side looking out over the star-sprinkled water and up at the +star-flowering sky. And he could not have told how or from where the +command had come, but he knew as he looked that he must cross that sea +and go into the new world beyond it and see all things for himself. +World Stories were good. But they were not enough.</p> + +<p>How he was to go, or how live when he got there—he did not once think +of that. Just that he <i>was</i> to go filled his whole mind. He forgot that +he had said he would not go without Helma and Ivra. He did not think of +them at all. He just lay still listening to the sea's command to go +beyond and beyond.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h2>OVER THE TREE TOPS</h2> + +<p>He was waked by Ivra's joyous cries just at dawn, and rolled out of his +shelter, rubbing his eyes and stretching his arms and legs. But as soon +as his eyes were well open he jumped up and uttered a cry of joy +himself. For hanging just above the water on the edge of the sea was a +great blue sea-shell air-boat with blue sails; and the Tree Mother stood +in it, talking to Helma and Ivra who had run down to the water's edge.</p> + +<p>The boat and the sails were blue. Tree Mother's gown was blue. The sea +and the sky were blue. Tiny white caps feathered the water. Tiny white +clouds feathered the sky. And Tree Mother's hair was whiter and more +feathery than either. Her eyes were dark like the Tree Man's, only +keener and softer, both. And in spite of her being a grandmother her +face was brown and golden like a young out-of-door girl's, and she was +slim and quick and more than beautiful. Eric stood beside Ivra, his face +lifted up to the Tree Mother's, aglow and quivering.</p> + +<p>"She is going to take us home," Ivra said softly.</p> + +<p>Then Tree Mother turned the boat, and it drifted in and down on the +sand. The children and Helma climbed in. The Tree Mother said very +little on the long ride, but her presence was enough. The three were +almost trembling for joy, for the Tree Mother's companionship is rare, +and one of the splendidest things that can happen to a Forest Person.</p> + +<p>The minute they were in the boat, it shot up and away towards home.</p> + +<p>"Where are the Blue Water Children?" Eric cried, suddenly remembering +their playmates of yesterday.</p> + +<p>"Have you been playing with Blue Water Children?" asked Tree Mother. +"They are gypsy-folk and you never know where you will find them next. +They are probably miles away by now."</p> + +<p>"Faster, faster, Tree Mother," begged Ivra, who was hanging over the +side of the boat and losing herself in joy with the motion and height.</p> + +<p>"Faster?" said the Tree Mother. "Then take care! Hold on!"</p> + +<p>The boat shot forward with a sudden rush. The spring air changed from +cool feathers to a sharp wing beating their faces. Eric and Ivra slipped +to the floor and lay on their backs. They dared not sit up for fear of +being swept overboard. They could see nothing but the sky from where +they lay, but they loved the speed, and clapped their hands, and Ivra +cried, "Faster, faster!"</p> + +<p>The Tree Mother laughed. "These are brave children," she thought. "Shut +your eyes then," she said, "and don't try too hard to breathe."</p> + +<p>They swept on more swiftly than a wild-goose, so swiftly that soon the +children could neither hear, speak nor see. And then at last they were +traveling so fast that it felt as though the boat were standing +perfectly still in a cold dark place.</p> + +<p>Gradually light began to leak through their shut eyelids, the wing of +the wind beat away from them, and the boat rocked slower and slower in +warm, spring-scented air. But in that brief time, they had traveled +many, many miles.</p> + +<p>Now when the children leaned over the side, they saw that they were +sailing slowly over their own Forest. The tree tops were like a restless +green sea just a little beneath them. They flew low enough to hear bird +calls and the voices of the streams.</p> + +<p>It was then they suddenly noticed that the littlest of the Forest +Children was there curled up fast asleep at Tree Mother's feet. Ivra +cried to him in surprise, and he woke slowly, stretching his little +brown legs, shaking his curly head, and lifting a sleepy face. He was +puzzled at seeing others beside Tree Mother in the boat. He had been +riding and awake with her all night up near the stars, and had dropped +to sleep as the stars faded.</p> + +<p>She bent now and took his hand. "I picked these wanderers up at dawn," +she said, "and now we are all going back together. We are well on the +way."</p> + +<p>They had left the forest roof and were sailing over open country,—a +short cut, Tree Mother explained.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look," cried Ivra excitedly, almost tumbling over the edge in her +endeavor to see better, "isn't that the gray wall off there?"</p> + +<p>Yes, it was the gray wall, the gray wall that had prisoned their mother +all winter. The boat went slower and slower as they neared it and then +almost hung still over the garden. The garden was full of people, having +some kind of a party, for many little tables were set there with silver +and glass that shone brilliantly in the sun. Servants were hurrying back +and forth carrying trays and their gilt buttons sparkled almost as much +as the silver.</p> + +<p>But how strange were the people! Eric and Ivra and the littlest Forest +Child laughed aloud. They were standing about so straight and stiff, +holding their cups and saucers, and their voices rising up to the +air-boat in confusion sounded like a hundred parrots.</p> + +<p>"Why don't they sit down on the grass to eat?" wondered the littlest +Forest Child. "And why don't they wash their feet in the fountain? They +look so very hot and walk as though it hurt!"</p> + +<p>"Sitting on the grass and washing their feet in the fountain is against +the law there," Helma said.</p> + +<p>But neither Ivra nor the littlest Forest Child knew what "against the +law" meant. Eric knew, however, for he had lived nine years, remember, +where most everything a little boy wanted <i>was</i> against the law.</p> + +<p>"But why do they stay?" Eric asked.</p> + +<p>Helma looked a little grave. "Why did you stay, dear, for nine long +years?"</p> + +<p>He thought a minute. "I hadn't seen the magic beckoning," he answered +then.</p> + +<p>"Neither have they," she said, "and perhaps never will, for their eyes +are getting dimmer all the time."</p> + +<p>"But how can they <i>help</i> seeing it?" cried the littlest Forest Child. +"See, all around the garden!"</p> + +<p>It was true. All around the garden the tall trees stood and beckoned +with their high fingers, beckoned away and away with promise of magic +beyond magic. But the people in the garden never lifted their eyes to +see it. They were looking intently into their tea cups as though it +might be there magic was waiting.</p> + +<p>"They are prisoners," said Tree Mother, "just as you were, Helma, with +this one difference. You were locked in, but they have locked themselves +in and carry their keys like precious things next their hearts."</p> + +<p>Helma sighed and laughed at once. Then she leaned far out and tossed a +daffodil she was carrying down on the heads in the garden, shaking her +short, flower petal hair as she did it—she had cut it before starting +on the adventure—in a free, glad way.</p> + +<p>No one looked up to see where the flower had dropped from. The people +down there were not interested in offerings from the heavens. So the +boat sailed on. Away and away over the canning factory they drifted, +where the little girl looked out from her window and up, and waved her +hands. "What are you waving at like that?" a man asked who was working +near. "Oh, just a white summer cloud," she said. For she knew very well +he did not want the truth. And I might as well tell you here that that +pale little girl was a prisoner who had not turned the lock herself, and +did not carry the key next her heart. Others had done that before she +was born. And she had seen the beckoning in spite of the lock and now +was only waiting a little while to answer it.</p> + +<p>The children were glad to find the forest roof beneath them again. It +was noon when they sank down in the garden at their own white door +stone. Tree Mother left them there and flew away with the littlest +Forest Child, the one who liked to wander alone by himself.</p> + +<p>Nora was in the house when they ran in. She had cleaned it with a +different cleaning from what it had had for Helma's first return. There +were no little foot prints on the floor now, and the window panes shone +like clear pools in sunlight. Three dishes of early strawberries and +three deep bowls of cream were standing on the table before the open +door. And then besides there was a big loaf of golden-brown bread.</p> + +<p>"I thought you would be hungry," said Nora, pointing to the feast.</p> + +<p>They were hungry indeed, for they had had nothing at all to eat since +yesterday's lunch of chocolate. They very soon finished the strawberries +and cream, and a jug of milk besides.</p> + +<p>"You are a good neighbor, Nora," Helma said gratefully.</p> + +<p>All Nora wanted in return for her labor and kindness was the story of +their adventure. She listened eagerly to every word. "I shall tell this +to my grandchildren," she said when the story was done, "and they will +think it just a fairy tale. They'll never believe it's fairy truth! Oh, +if they would only stop pretending to be so wise they themselves might +some time get the chance of a ride over the tree tops with Tree Mother. +But they never will. Come play with them again sometime, Eric. They +often talk about you."</p> + +<p>"I'll come to-day and bring Ivra if they'll play with her, too!"</p> + +<p>But Nora shook her head as she went away. "They don't believe in Ivra. +How could they play with her? Their grandmother can teach them nothing. +But they'll like the story of this adventure none the less for not +believing it."</p> + +<p>When she was gone the three took the dishes into the house and washed +them. Then they went out and worked in the garden until dusk.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h2>THE JUNE MOON</h2> + +<p>Now every day Eric was becoming acquainted with strange Forest People: +those who had hidden away from winter in trees, and those who were +wandering up from the south along with the birds, and Blue Water People, +of course, all along the Forest streams. The Forest teemed with new +playmates for him and Ivra.</p> + +<p>Hide-and-go-seek was still the favorite game. And now it was more fun to +be "It" than to be hiding almost, for one was likely to come upon +strangers peeping out of tree hollows, swimming under water, or swinging +in the tree tops, any minute. When the person who was "It" came across +one of these strangers he would simply say, "I spy, and you're It." Then +he would draw the stranger away to the goal, where he usually joined the +game and was as much at home as though he had been playing in it from +the very first.</p> + +<p>The day that Eric found Wild Thyme so was the best of all,—or rather +she was the best of all. And that was strange, for when he first spied +her he did not like her at all. Her dress was a purple slip just to her +knees, with a big rent in the skirt. Her hair was short and bushy and +dark. And her face was soberer than most Forest People's faces. She was +sitting out at the edge of the Forest on a flat rock, her chin in her +hands, and she did not look eager to make friends with any one.</p> + +<p>But he cried, "I spy! You're It!" just the same. She did not lift her +eyes. She only said, "You must catch me first. I am Wild Thyme, and that +will be hard!"</p> + +<p>Eric laughed, for she was not a yard away from him. And he sprang +forward as he laughed. But she was quicker than he. She had been at +perfect rest on the rock, her chin in her hands, and not looking at him, +but the instant he jumped she was off like a flash, a purple streak +across the field.</p> + +<p>But Eric did not let his surprise delay him. He ran after her just as +fast as he could, and that was very, very fast, for running with Ivra +had taught him to run faster than most Earth Children ever dream of +running. Soon, Wild Thyme slowed down a little, and faced him, running +backward, her bushy hair raised from her head in the wind of her +running, her little brown face and great purple eyes gleaming +mischievously. Eric sprang for her. She dodged. He sprang again. She +dodged again. He cried out in vexation and sprang again, straight and +sure. He caught her by her bushy hair as she turned to fly.</p> + +<p>And a strange thing happened to him in that second, the second he caught +her hair. Instead of Wild Thyme and the sunny field, he was looking at +the sea. He was standing on the shore, looking away and away, almost to +foreign lands. Now ever since that spring night on the shore he had been +thinking of the sea and longing with all his might to cross it and see +foreign lands for himself. Only that had seemed impossible, and +something he must surely wait till he was grown up to do. But now, in a +flash, as his fingers closed on Wild Thyme's hair, he knew that he could +indeed do that, and anything else he really set his heart on.</p> + +<p>No girl, even a fairy, likes to have her hair pulled. So Wild Thyme was +angry. She pinched Eric's arm with all her strength. Then <i>he</i> was +angry. And so they stood holding each other, he her by the hair, and she +him by the arm, staring hotly into each other's faces. But slowly they +relaxed, and becoming their own natural selves again, broke into +laughter.</p> + +<p>"You'll play with us, won't you?" Eric asked.</p> + +<p>"Of course," she said, "and I <i>am</i> It!" And away they ran to find the +others, Ivra, the Tree Girl, the Forest Children, and Dan and Nan. When +those saw who it was Eric had captured they ran to meet her, shouting +gayly, "Wild Thyme! Goody! Goody! Hello, Wild Thyme!" They seemed to +have known her always. She and Ivra threw their arms about each other's +shoulders and danced away to the goal.</p> + +<p>Wild Thyme was a wonderful playfellow. She was so wild, so free, so +strong, so mischievous. And when the game was ended she invited them to +a dance that very night. "It's to be around the Tree Man's Tree," she +said. "And all come—come when the moon rises."</p> + + +<p>... Perhaps Eric's good times in the Forest reached their very height +that June night of the dance. He had never been to a dance before, and +just at first he did not think there would be much fun in it. But Ivra +wanted him to go, and offered to show him about the dances. So they ran +away from the others to the edge of the field where Eric had discovered +Wild Thyme, and there on the even, grassy ground Ivra showed him how to +dance. It was very easy,—not at all like the dances Earth Children +dance. It was much more fun, and much livelier. The dances were just +whirling and skipping and jumping, each dancer by himself, but all in a +circle. Eric liked it as well as though it had been a new game.</p> + +<p>Late that afternoon Helma and Ivra and Eric gathered ferns and flowers +to deck themselves for the evening. They put them on over the stream, +which was the only mirror in the Forest.</p> + +<p>Helma made a girdle of brakes for herself, and a dandelion wreath for +her hair. She wove a dear little cap of star flowers for Ivra, and a +chain of them for her neck. Eric crowned himself with bloodroot and +contrived grass sandals for his feet. But the sandals, of course, wore +through before the end of the first dance and fell off.</p> + +<p>They had a splendid supper of raspberries and cream, which they sat on +the door stone to eat, and then told stories to each other, while they +waited for the moon to rise. It came early, big and round and yellow, +shining through the trees, flooding the aisles of the Forest with silver +light until they looked like still streams, and the trees like masts of +great ships standing in them.</p> + +<p>Then the three hurried away to the Tree Man's. They ran hand in hand +through the forest aisles, their faces as bright to each other as in +daylight. But before they even came in sight of the tree they heard +music.</p> + +<p>"Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmm, thrummmmmmmmmmmm." Very soft, very +insistent, very simple and strangely thrilling. When they came to the +tree, there were the Forest Children, who had come early, whirling +around in a circle, and the Tree Girl in the center of the circle making +music with a tiny instrument she held in one hand and touched with the +fingers of the other.</p> + +<p>Soon Forest People began arriving from every direction. There were the +Blue Water Children, bright pebbles around their necks, and white sea +shells in their blue hair. The Forest Children were crowned with +maidenhair fern. The Tree Girl was the most beautiful of all in her +silver cobweb frock and her cloudy hair. The Tree Man stood still in the +shadow, but his long white beard gleamed out, and his deep eyes. Wild +Thyme wore a rope of the flower that is named for her around her neck, +but there was a new rent in her purple frock and her legs were scratched +as though she had remembered her dance only the last minute and come +plunging the shortest way through bushes, which was true.</p> + +<p>Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm.</p> + +<p>Every one except the Tree Man was dancing, bewitched in the moonlight, +all over the grassy space around the great tree. The grass was cool and +refreshing under Eric's bare feet, and he often dug his bare toes into +the soft earth at its roots as he leapt or ran just to make sure he was +on earth at all. For he felt as though he were swimming in moonlight, or +at least treading it.</p> + +<p class="center"><img src="bewitched.jpg" height="480" width="365" title="" alt="" /></p> + +<p>Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm.</p> + +<p>When the Tree Girl's music stopped between dances, then it would go on +in Eric's head. It was just the sound of the night after all. Once Eric +noticed that the Beautiful Wicked Witch was dancing next to him in the +circle but he was not afraid of her there with the others, and in bright +moonlight. And she was plotting no ill. Her face was sparkling with +delight and she had utterly forgotten herself in the dance.</p> + +<p>When the great moon hung just above them, and shadows were few and far +between, the Tree Mother came walking through the Forest, quieter and +more beautiful than the moon. Wild Thyme ran to her and laid her bushy +head against her breast. For Wild Thyme only of all the Forest People +loved her without awe. The Tree Mother put her hand on Wild Thyme's head +and stood to watch the dancing. Her robe gleamed like frost, and her +hair was a pool of light above her head.</p> + +<p>Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmm.</p> + +<p>Wild Thyme jumped back into the dance and the Tree Mother stood alone. +But although she stood as still as a moonbeam under the tree, she made +Eric think of dancing more than all the others put together. It was her +eyes. The thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm was in them, and the rest +of that night Eric felt as though the music-instrument the Tree Girl was +swinging was silent, and that all the music flowed from Tree Mother.</p> + +<p>But Eric, after all, was only an Earth Child, and his legs got very +tired in spite of the music and the moonlight. So at last he slipped out +of the circle, and stumbling with weariness and sleepiness went to Tree +Mother. She picked him up in her arms, and the minute his head touched +her shoulder he was sound asleep, the music at last hushed in his head.</p> + +<p>When he woke it was summer dawn. The birds were flitting above in the +tree-boughs and making high singing. He was alone, lying beneath a +silver birch, his head among the star flowers.</p> + +<p>He knew that Helma and Ivra had not wanted to wake him, but had gone +home when the moon set, and were waiting breakfast for him there now. So +he jumped up and ran home through the dew.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h2>THE DEEPEST PLACE IN THE WOOD</h2> + +<p>It was on the hottest day of all the hot days of summer that Eric found +the deepest place in the Forest. He wandered into it while he was +looking for Wild Thyme. Ivra had been no good to him that day. She was +usually ready to play in any weather; but on this, the hottest day of +the year, she stayed indoors, where it was a little cooler, and lying on +the settle she drew paper dolls on birch bark, and afterwards cut them +out. Yes, even fairy children love paper dolls and Ivra loved them more +than most. Eric wanted her to go swimming in the stream, but he teased +her to in vain, for she was entranced with the dolls and would hardly +lift her eyes from them.</p> + +<p>Helma was swinging in a vine swing she had made for herself high in a +tree above the garden. One of the Little People was perched on a leaf +just over her head, and they were chattering together like equals. Their +eager voices floated down to Eric standing disconsolate near the door +stone. But Helma usually knew when her children were in trouble, no +matter how tiny the trouble, and so before Eric had stood there long or +dug up more than a bushel of earth with his bare toes, she leaned over +the nest and called to him.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you go and play with Wild Thyme? She doesn't mind the heat. +Every one else is staying quiet till sundown."</p> + +<p>Wild Thyme was a happy thought, and Eric walked away in search of her. +But she was in the very last place he would have thought to look on such +a scorching day, and that is how he missed her. She was lying full +length on the hot burnt grass in the field at the Forest's edge, loving +the heat and sunshine, which covered her like a mantle. If Eric had seen +her it is probable he would not have known her or stopped to look twice. +He would have thought her just a little patch of the flower that is +named for her.</p> + +<p>So he wandered on and on, looking high and low and all about for her, +and he went deeper and deeper into the Forest. The deeper he went the +cooler it became, for the forest roof kept out the sunshine. The light +grew dimmer and dimmer too. Eric had never been so far in before and +everything was strange to him.</p> + +<p>He saw no Forest People except a little brown goblin who peered at him +from some underbrush and then scuttled away into the darkness of denser +brush. Eric had never seen a goblin before, but he had no fear of +goblins, and so this one did not bother him at all. He heard others +scuttling and squeaking, and one threw a chunk of gray moss at him. He +stopped and picked it up and threw it back with a laugh in the direction +it had come from.</p> + +<p>"Come out and play, why don't you?" he called. "I know where there's a +fine swimming pool." But there was no answer to his invitation. Instead +there was sudden and utter silence. He was disappointed, for he did want +a playmate, and he had almost given up looking for Wild Thyme.</p> + +<p>After walking for a long while he came at last to one of the windings of +the Forest stream, and gratefully stepped into the shallow, clear water, +dark with shadows. His feet were burning, and his head was hot. So he +drank a long drink of the cold, delicious water, ducked his head, and +finally washed his face. Then he waded on with no purpose in mind now +but just to keep his feet in the water.</p> + +<p>It was so he came to the deepest place; where not even Ivra had ever +been. It was almost cool there, and more like twilight than early +afternoon. And right in the deepest place, in a nest of smooth leaves, +with his feet in the water, lay Wild Star. When Eric first caught sight +of him he thought he was asleep, for his wings were lying on the leaves +half folded and dropped, and his knees were higher than his head. But +when Eric went close enough to see his eyes he knew that he was very +wide awake, for they were wide open, watchful and intent,—and purple +like the early morning. Such wide-awake eyes were startling in such a +sleepy, still place. Eric expected him to spread his wings in a flash +and dart away. But the wings stayed half open, purple shadows on the +leaves, and Wild Star did not even raise his head. Only his eyes greeted +Eric.</p> + +<p class="center"><img src="wildstar.jpg" height="480" width="362" alt="" title="" /></p> + +<p>But Eric knew without words that Wild Star was glad to see him. So he +stepped up out of the water and stretched himself on a mound of silvery +moss near by. With his chin resting in his palms and his elbows +supporting, he faced the Wind Creature, his clear blue eyes open to the +intent purple ones.</p> + +<p>It was Wild Star who spoke first.</p> + +<p>"I thought, little Eric, you would have crossed the sea before this, and +be out of the Forest. I expected to find you next fall on the other side +of the world."</p> + +<p>Eric was amazed, for he had not said one word of his dream about that to +any one. "How did you know I wanted to go?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you are an Earth Child, after all, and I knew you would want to be +going on, as soon as you saw the sea."</p> + +<p>"But <i>why</i> do I want to go on?" asked Eric, his face clouding with the +puzzle of it. "I am so happy here, and Helma is my mother now. There +can't be another mother across the sea for me. And if there were I +wouldn't want her,—not after Helma! No, Helma is my only mother, and +Ivra is my comrade. And still I want to leave them,—and go on and away +over there. It is very funny."</p> + +<p>"No," said Wild Star. "It isn't funny. You are a growing Earth Child, +not a fairy. It is your own kind calling you. It is the music of your +human life."</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you mean," said Eric.</p> + +<p>"It is like this: you know when you begin to sing a song, you go on and +on to the end without thinking about it at all. It is the theme that +carries you. Well, a human life is made like a song,—it carries itself +along. You do not stop to think why. It can't stop in the middle, on one +chord, for long. Yours now is resting, on a chord of happiness. But soon +it will go on again. You want it to. Life in the Forest, though, isn't +like that. Here it is music without any theme, like the music we dance +to. Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmm. But there is more than that to an +Earth Child's life. It runs on like this stream. The stream is happy +here in the Forest, too, but it goes on seeking the sea just the same."</p> + +<p>There was a long stillness while Eric looked down into the green depths +of the water. At last he asked, "But how could I ever get across the +sea? And when I got there how could I get back?"</p> + +<p>"Time enough to think about getting back when you are there," laughed +Wild Star. "But as to getting there, Helma is the one to tell you that. +She has been an Earth Child, too, you know. She felt just as you did, +that spring night on the shore. She has felt it many times. It is only +Ivra that keeps her in the Forest. Ivra docs not belong out in the world +of humans, and Helma will never leave her. But she will understand +your longing. All you have to do is tell her."</p> + +<p>Eric clapped his hands, a habit he had caught from Ivra. "Oh, I shall +cross in a ship," he cried, "and see all the foreign lands. And when I +come back, think of the World Stories I shall have to tell Helma and +Ivra!"</p> + +<p>He sprang up in his joy, and felt as though he had wings on his +shoulders like Wild Star, and had only to spread them out to go beating +around the world. For a second the Wind Creature and the Earth Child +looked very much alike. And indeed, the only difference was that Wild +Star had to wait for the wind, and Eric need wait for no wind or no +season. His wings were <i>inside of his head</i>, but they were as strong as +Wild Star's. And he had only to spread them and lift them to go anywhere +he wanted.</p> + +<p>Now he wanted to get back to Helma and tell her all about it. Wild Star +pointed him the shortest way, and off he ran, jumping the stream and the +moss beds beyond, and disappearing into the underbrush.</p> + +<p>"I'll look for you next time the other side of the world!" Wild Star +shouted after him.</p> + +<p>It was twilight when he reached home. Helma and Ivra were sitting on the +door stone, hand in hand. They made room for Eric. But he did not +snuggle up. He stayed erect, his face lifted towards the first dim +stars, and told Helma all about his wanting to go away from them out +through the Forest and across the sea, and all that Wild Star had said +about music and Earth People's lives. And he told her, too, of the +vision of success he had had when he caught Wild Thyme that first day by +her bushy hair.</p> + +<p>Helma listened quietly, and said nothing for many minutes after he was +through. But at last she spoke, putting a hushing hand on Eric's +dreamful head.</p> + +<p>"I understand," she said. "I knew you would want to go on sometime. And +I have a friend across there who will help us. He has a school for boys +and I got to know him very well behind the gray stone wall. He asked me +about the Forest and you children. And he said that Eric sometime would +surely want to go back to humans, and when he did he would help him. He +understands boys. It is to him you had better go, Eric, and when you are +really ready I will tell you how, and start you on your way."</p> + +<p>Eric sighed with contentment, and leaned his head against Helma's +shoulder.</p> + +<p>But Ivra stayed at her mother's other side, as still and silent as a +shadow. Soon the fireflies began their nightly dance in the garden. But +Ivra did not go darting after them as usual to make their dance the +swifter. And Eric's head was too full of dreams and his eyes too full of +visions of the sea to notice them at all.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h2>MORE MAGIC IN A MIST</h2> + +<p>Indian summer had come round again before Eric really made up his mind to +go. The flowers were asleep in the garden, and there was a steady, +gentle shower of yellow leaves down the Forest. That morning when he +woke the little house seemed suspended in a golden mist. As he stood in +the doorway he felt as though it might drift away up over the trees and +into space any minute. But after a little he knew it was not Helma's +little forest house that was to go swinging away into space and +adventure,—it was himself. And suddenly he wanted to go <i>then</i>,—to the +sea and over and beyond. He called the news in to Helma and Ivra, who +were still within doors. Helma came swiftly out to him.</p> + +<p>"The trees are beckoning again, mother," he cried. "The way they did a +year ago when I first came here. Now it is just as Wild Star said. The +music is beginning to go on. There's magic out to-day. Oh, what made +Wild Star know so much?"</p> + +<p>"Sit down," said Helma. She took his hand and drew him down beside her +on the door stone. Then she held it firmly while very slowly and +distinctly, but once only, she gave him directions about how to go, +where to go and what to do, so that he might follow the magic.</p> + +<p>Eric sat and listened attentively, in spite of the high beating of his +heart, and the magic working in his head. As soon as she was done, he +wanted to go right away that minute. For even in his happiness he knew +that saying good-by to all his friends in the Forest would be too sad a +task. They did not say good-by when they went on long adventures, or +followed summer south. They simply disappeared one day, and those who +stayed behind forgot them until next season. So Eric would do as they.</p> + +<p>Only last week Helma had made him a warm brown suit for the coming +winter. The new strong sandals on his feet he had made himself. His cap +was new, too, and Helma had stuck two new little brown feathers in it as +in the old one; so he still had a look of flying. There was really +nothing to delay his departure further. Helma called to Ivra, and she +came out slowly. There was no need to explain things to her, for she had +heard everything.</p> + +<p>Helma lifted Eric's chin in her palms and looked long and earnestly at +the child she was letting go away from her all alone out into the queer +world of Earth People. She picked him up in her strong arms then, as +though he were a very little boy, and kissed him. She ran with him to +the opening in the hedge and set him down there, laughing.</p> + +<p>"Run along now 'round the world," she said. "And when you come back +bring a hundred new World Stories with you!"</p> + +<p>Eric laughed too, and promised and stood on tiptoes to kiss her again. +He stroked her short flower petal hair, and kissed her cool brown cheek +over and over. But he did not cling to her. And he did not say another +word, but ran to catch up with Ivra who was to walk with him until noon +and had gone on ahead.</p> + +<p>The children did not scuffle through the banks of leaves, or jump and +run and burst into play as they were used to doing. They walked steadily +forward, saying very little, neither hurrying nor delaying their steps. +Once when Eric's sandal came untied Ivra knelt to fix it, for she was +still more skillful with knots than he.</p> + +<p>But when the sun showed that it was noon, Ivra's steps grew slower and +slower, dragged and dragged, until at last she stood still in a billow +of leaves.</p> + +<p>"I have to go back now," she said.</p> + +<p>In a flash all the magic swept out of the day for Eric. He knew he could +never say good-by to Ivra, so he stayed silent, looking ahead into the +fluttering, golden forest. But even as he looked the trees began to +beckon with their high fingers, and 'way away, down long avenues of +trees he <i>almost</i> glimpsed the sea.</p> + +<p>Ivra threw her arms about his neck and kissed him. "Good-by, comrade," +was all she said.</p> + +<p>He kissed her cheeks. "I'll come back," he promised. But before he had +gone many steps he turned to see her again. She was standing in the +billow of leaves, a lonely-looking little girl, her face paler than it +had been even on that day of the wind-hunt. He wanted to run back to her +and tell her he would be her playmate always, and never leave the +Forest. But he wanted, too, to go on and across the sea and into foreign +lands. He stayed irresolute.</p> + +<p>And then quite suddenly, standing just behind Ivra, he saw Tree Mother. +She was not looking at him at all, but at Ivra, and her eyes were kind +stars. When Ivra turned to go home she must walk right into Tree +Mother's arms and against her breast. So Eric was happy again, Ivra +could not be lonely with dear Tree Mother. Perhaps she would take her up +in her air-boat high above the falling leaves, where she could look down +on the magic. He waved, calling, "Remember me to the Snow Witches when +they come." That was not because he really wanted to be remembered to +them but because he knew that Ivra liked them best of all, and it +would please her.</p> + +<p>She nodded and waved too, and threw him a kiss. Then a shower of +fluttering leaves came between the playmates.</p> + +<p>When it was clear again Eric had run on out of sight, and was lost to +Ivra in the Forest. On and on and on through the showers of golden +leaves he went, magic at his elbow and around him, and beckoning ahead +of him. And after long walking and many thoughts, at last he did see the +sea, gleaming blue and white sparkles between the golden trees.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little House in the Fairy Wood +by Ethel Cook Eliot + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD *** + +***** This file should be named 10463-h.htm or 10463-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/4/6/10463/ + +Produced by Hilary Caws-Elwitt; images courtesy Rachel Newman +(rachelpages.com) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Little House in the Fairy Wood + +Author: Ethel Cook Eliot + +Release Date: December 15, 2003 [EBook #10463] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD *** + + + + +Produced by Hilary Caws-Elwitt, in memory of Margaret +Devereux Lippitt Rorison + + + + + +THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD + +by + +ETHEL COOK ELIOT + + + TO TORKA AND NORTHWIND + + +CONTENTS + + I. MAGIC IN A MIST + II. THE BRIGHT HOUSE + III. FIRELIGHT + IV. THE GOSSIP + V. WORLD STORIES + VI. AT THE HEART OF A TREE + VII. TREE MOTHER AND THE DROWSY BOAT + VIII. A WITCH AT THE WINDOW + IX. THE WIND HUNT + X. ON THE GRAY WALL + XI. THE BEAUTIFUL WICKED WITCH + XII. IVRA'S BIRTHDAY + XIII. NORA'S GRANDCHILDREN + XIV. SPRING COMES + XV. SPRING WANDERING + XVI. OVER THE TREE TOPS + XVII. THE JUNE MOON + XVIII. THE DEEPEST PLACE IN THE WOOD + XIX. MORE MAGIC IN A MIST + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MAGIC IN A MIST + + +That morning began no differently from any morning, though it was to be +the beginning of all things new for Eric. He was awakened early by Mrs. +Freg's rough hand shaking him by the arm, and her rough voice in his +ears: "Get up, lazy-bones! _All_ you boys pile out, this very minute! +It's six o'clock already!" Then she reached over Eric and shook the +other two boys in the bed with him, repeating and repeating "Wake up, +wake up! It's six o'clock already!" When she was sure the three boys in +the bed were awake and miserable, she crossed the room with a hurried, +heavy tread and clumped, clumped down the stairs into the kitchen. + +Though it happened just that way every morning, and it had happened so +this morning, this day was to be very different from any other in Eric's +life. But Eric could not know that; so he crawled farther down under the +few bedclothes he had managed to keep to himself, and shut his eyes +again just for a minute. + +The night had been a cold one, and the other two boys in the bed, +because they were older and stronger, had managed to keep most of the +bedding wrapped tightly around them, while little Eric shivered on the +very edge. So he had not slept at all in the way little boys of nine +usually sleep,--that is, when they have a bed to themselves, and their +mother has left a kiss with them. When he had slept, he had dreamed he +was wading in icy puddles out in the street. + +But it was only a minute that he huddled there, trying to come really +awake, and then he sprang out, and without thought of a bath, was into +his clothes in a minute. The two older boys followed him more slowly, +yawning, growling, and quarreling. + +Breakfast was served in the kitchen by Mrs. Freg. The room was bare and +ugly like the rest of the house, and the food was far from satisfying. +As the older boys got most of the bedding for themselves, so they got +most of the breakfast, while Mr. and Mrs. Freg laughed at them, and +praised them for fine, hearty boys who knew what they wanted and would +get it. + +"You will succeed in the world, both of you," said Mrs. Freg with +mother-pride gleaming in her eyes, when they had managed to seize and +divide between them little Eric's steaming cup of coffee,--the only hot +thing he had hoped for that morning. + +"Will I be a success, too?" asked Eric in a faint but hopeful voice. + +"You!" said the harsh woman. "You, young man, had better be thankful to +work on at the canning instead of starving in the streets. That's the +fate of most orphans. Success indeed! Now hurry along, all of you. It's +quarter to seven." + +But right here is where the day began to differ from other days. Eric +did not hurry along. He threw down his spoon and cried, "I'd just as +soon starve in the streets, and wade in its icy puddles, too, as live +here with you and your nasty boys and work in that old canning factory! +I just wonder how you'd feel if I went out this morning and never, never +came back! I'd like to do that!" + +Mrs. Freg laughed, and her laugh was not a nice mother-laugh at all, for +she was not Eric's mother, and had never pretended that she was. + +"Why, little spitfire, it wouldn't matter a bit except to make one less +mouth to feed. But you won't be so silly as that. You don't want to +starve." + +"All right," said little Eric, snatching his cap from its peg. "You said +it wouldn't matter to you. You won't see me again, any of you. I hate +you all, and everything in the world. I hate you. You've made me hate +you hard!" + +Then he suddenly ran out into the street. + +In a minute he was in a flood of people, men, women and children moving +towards the canning factory, a big brick building on the outskirts of +the city. Eric had worked in that factory from the day he was seven. +There is no need to tell you what he did there, for this is not the +story of the canning factory Eric,--the queer, hating Eric who had waked +up that morning. + +But how he did hate! His eyes were full of hating tears, and they were +running down his face, making horrid white streaks on his dirty cheeks. +He was hating so hard that he did not even care if people saw his tears. +He lifted his face straight up and dropped his arms straight down at his +side and walked right along, no matter how fast the tears came. + +Now he had often hated before, but never quite like this. Before, it had +been a frightened hate, a gnawing, hurting thing deep down in his heart. +But to-day it was a flaring hate, a burning thing right up in his head. +It was big, too, because it included everything that he knew, Mrs. Freg, +her boys, the street, the people jostling him, and hottest and wildest +of all the canning factory. How terrible to go in there in the morning, +when the sun was only just up, and not to come out again until it was +quite down! Eric knew little about play, but he did know that if he +could only be let stay out in the sunshine he would find things to do +there. If they'd only let him try it once! + +So he walked along in the direction the others were going, the hating +tears in his eyes and on his face. But no one laughed at him, and no one +asked him what was the matter, even the other children. For he was not +crying in the usual way with little boys. He was walking along with his +head up. So people did not bother him. + +He had reached the outskirts of the town, and was almost in the shadow +of the big, cruel factory, when the Magic began to work. For there was +magic in this day that had started so badly. It was only waiting for +Eric to see it before it would take hold of him and carry him away into +happiness. It had waited for him at the door of the dull, bare little +house that had never been home to him, but his tears would not let him +see it. So it had followed along beside him all the way to the factory, +waiting for him to feel, even if he could not see. And he did +feel,--just in time to let the Magic work. + +He felt that the day that had begun so freezingly was warm, strangely +warm. He wiped the tears from his eyes away to the side of his face with +his sleeve, and looked about. The sun was very bright, but in a mild, +pleasant way. And a tree on the other side of the street was showering +softly, softly, softly, yellow autumn leaves, until they covered the +cobblestones all around. Eric did not think about being late. The Magic +was pulling him now. He went across and stood under the tree, and felt +the leaves showering on his head and shoulders, and caught a few in his +hands. + +All the people passed, and soon the last one was hidden behind the heavy +factory door. Eric gave the door a glance or two, but did not go. Over +the roof of the factory he saw the tops of tall trees waving. He had +never looked so high above the factory before. But he knew there was a +wood on the other side, a wood he had always been too tired to think of +exploring, even on holidays. Now he saw the tops of the tall trees +beckoning him in a golden mist. "The mist is the yellow leaves they're +dropping," thought Eric. With every beckon the golden mist of leaves +grew brighter and brighter, until he could not see the beckoning any +more, but only the mist. Still he knew the beckoning was going on behind +the mist. + +"If I'm to live in the streets at night," he thought to himself, +"there's no need to live in the factory by day. I'll just go and see +what those trees want of me." + +Very slowly, with little firm steps, he went by the factory door, and +then around under its windows to the wood at the back. + +It was Indian Summer. That was why the golden leaves were showering in a +mist, and why the sun was so warm. + +Eric dropped his ragged coat and cap on the edge of the wood,--it was so +warm,--and went in. + +A little girl had been watching him from her place at one of the factory +windows where she was sorting cans. She had seen him before, working at +the factory, day after day, and they had played together sometimes in +the noon half hour. Now she wondered what he was doing out there. Had +they sent him, perhaps, to do a different kind of work that could only +be done in the woods? But as he walked away in under the trees farther +and farther, the golden mist that was over the wood drew in about him; +and although she leaned far forward over the cans at a great risk of +knocking over dozens and setting them rolling,--he was lost in it. It +had dropped down behind him like a curtain. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE BRIGHT HOUSE + + +Eric knew nothing of the little girl and her thoughts. He was walking in +a golden mist, but he could see quite perfectly, and even far ahead down +long tree aisles. At first the trees did not grow very close together, +and there was little underbrush. Several narrow paths started off in +different directions,--straight little paths made by people who knew +where they were going. But Eric did not know where he was going, so he +struck off in a place where there was no sign of a path. Soon the trees +drew closer and closer together, until their branches locked fingers +overhead and shook the yellow leaves down for each other. The leaves +showered softly and steadily. Eric's feet rustled loudly in them. + +Soon he stopped and took off his worn shoes and stockings. He left them +where he took them off and went on, barefoot. Now that he was only in +his shirt and trousers he began to run and leap. He leapt for the +drifting leaves, and he ran farther and farther into the happy +stillness. + +The trees crowded and crowded, and the mist of leaves grew brighter and +brighter. No birds sang, for they had all flown away for the winter, and +there were no flowers. But the drifting leaves hid the bareness, and +magic covered everything. + +After Eric had run and leapt and waded in the crackling pools of leaves +for a long time, he grew hungry. "But there is no food here," he +thought; "and anyway it doesn't matter. It's much better to be hungry +here than in the dirty streets." + +He decided to go to sleep and forget about it. So he lay down in the +leaves. They fell over him, a steady, gentle shower, and he slept long, +and without dreaming anything. + +But when he woke he was cold. And worse than that, the golden mist had +faded. It was almost twilight. The light was cold and still and gray. +While he slept Indian Summer had vanished and its magic with it. + +Now no matter how fast Eric ran, or how high he jumped, he was chilly +through and through. But he did not think of trying to find the way out +of the wood. The streets would be as cold as the forest, and never, +never, never, if he starved and froze, was he going back to that house +in the village where he had lived but never belonged. So he went on +until the gray light faded, and the soft rustle of falling leaves +changed to the noise of wind scraping in bare branches. When he was very +cold, and ready to lie down and sleep again to forget, he came quite +suddenly on an opening in the trees. In the dim light he saw a little +garden closed in with a hedge of baby evergreens. The wind was rustling +through the stalks of dead flowers in the garden. But in the middle of +it was a little low house, and the windows and doors were glowing like +new, warm flowers. + +Yes, it was a house and a garden away there in the wood, but no path led +to it through the forest, and there was a strangeness about it as about +no house or garden Eric had ever seen. + +Although no path led through the wood to the house, a path did run +through the garden to the low door stone. Eric went up it and stood +looking in at the door, which was open. + +The glow of the house came from a leaping, jolly fire in a big stone +fire-place, and from half a dozen squat candles set in brackets around +the walls. It was the one lovely room that Eric had ever seen. It was so +large that he knew it must occupy the whole of the little house. But in +spite of all the brightness, the comers were dim and far. + +There were two strange people there, or they were strange to Eric +because they were so different from any people he had ever known. One +was a young woman who sat sewing cross-legged on a settle at the side of +the fire-place. About her the strangest thing was her hair. It was not +like most women's,--long and twisted up on her head. It was short, and +curled back above her ears and across her forehead like flower-petals. +It was the color of the candle-flames. But her face was brown, and her +neck and long hands were brown, as though she had lived a long time in +the sun. Her eyes that were lifted and scarcely watching the work in her +hands, were very quiet and gray. + +She was watching and talking to a little girl who was skipping back and +forth between a rough tea-table set near the fire and an open +cupboard-door in the wall. She was carrying dishes to the table, and now +and then stopping to stir something good-smelling which hung over the +fire in a pewter pot, with a strong bent twig for a handle. + +The child was strange in a very different way from her mother. The +mother, one could see, was merry in spite of her quiet eyes. But the +child was pale. Her face was pale and little and round. Her hair was +pale, too, the color of ashes, and braided in two smooth little braids +hanging half way down her back. She moved with almost as much swiftness +as the fire-shadows, and as softly too. + +Both mother and daughter were dressed in rough brown smocks, with narrow +green belts falling loosely,--strange garments to Eric. And their feet +were bare. + +But stranger than the house, stranger than the people in it, was the +fact that the mother was talking to the little girl just as people of +the same age talk to each other; and though Eric was shaking with cold +and aching with hunger, he could still wonder deeply at that. + +"It's a long way 'round by the big pine," she was saying; "but you see I +am home in time for supper. Suppose I had not come until after dark. +What would you have done, Ivra?" + +The little girl stopped in her busy-ness to stand on one foot and think +a second. "Why, I'd have put the supper over the fire, lighted the +candles, and run out to meet you." + +"Oh, but you wouldn't know which way to run. I might come from any +direction." + +"I'd follow the wind," cried Ivra, lifting her serious face and rising +to her tiptoes, one arm outstretched, as though she were going to follow +the wind right then and there. + +It was at that minute they noticed the door had blown open, and that a +little boy was standing in it, looking at them. + +But they neither stared nor exclaimed. Ivra ran to him, her arms still +outstretched in the flying gesture, and drew him in. His dirty face was +streaked with tears, and his legs and feet were blue with the cold. They +knew it was not question-time, but comfort-time, so the mother folded an +arm about him, and Ivra skipped more rapidly than ever between the +cupboard and the table. Almost at once supper was ready, and the table +set for three. As the last thing, Ivra brought all the candles and set +them in the middle of the table. They sat down,--Eric with his back to +the fire. It warmed him through and through, but their friendly faces +warmed him more. + +Very little was said, but when the meal was nearly over Ivra asked him +how long he was going to stay with them. Immediately he stopped eating +and dropped his spoon. His eyes filled with tears. He had utterly +forgotten about his plight until then,--how he was homeless, workless +and bound to starve and freeze sooner or later. Ivra's mother saw the +misery in his face and quietly spoke, "We hope for a long time. As long +as you want to, anyway. Three in a wood will be merrier than two in a +wood. . . . If you like me I will be your mother." + +Ivra clapped her hands. "Stay always," she cried. "I will be your +playmate. There will be many playmates besides, too, and I will help you +find them." + +Eric glowed. The hatred that had been flaring in his head suddenly +faded, and the heavy thing that had been his heart for as long as he +could remember, became light as thistledown. He looked at the mother and +the kindness in her eyes made him tremble. "I will stay and be your +child," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FIRELIGHT + + +When supper was done the three put away the supper things, carried the +table back to its place in the corner, and set the candles in their +brackets about the walls. Then almost at once the mother said it was +bath-time and bed-time. + +Bath-time! Baths had been rare in Eric's life, and when they did happen +were unhappy adventures,--cold water in a hand basin in the kitchen +sink, a scratchy sponge, and a towel too small. So if Mrs. Freg had said +"bath-time and bed-time" to him now, he might have run away. But if +Ivra's mother said it, it must be. She was _his_ mother too, now, and he +loved her and thought her beautifully strange. + +A surprise was waiting for him. The bath was a deep basin set in the +wall. There was a fountain in it that one had only to turn on to have +the basin fill with clear water. Eric slipped out of his ragged shirt +and trousers and climbed up into it. The fountain came splashing down on +his dusty, shaggy head, falling in rivulets down his back and breast. He +was like a bird taking a bath; there was such happy splashing and +dipping. + +But no bird had ever the gentle soft drying, or was wrapped in such a +warm night gown as the mother found for Eric. It was one of Ivra's night +gowns, but quite large enough. Then she tucked him into a narrow couch +far from the fire. It was the first time Eric could ever remember having +slept alone. + +Ivra was already in a bed against the opposite wall. Before the mother +got into hers, which was open and ready for her, she blew out all the +candles and opened the door and windows. + +"Good night, my lambs," she said, and a very few minutes afterwards Eric +could see by the firelight that his mother and playmate were asleep. + +How cold the wind felt as it blew over his face! But how warm and snug +his body was, there in the soft, clean night gown between the light, +warm blankets! How fine to be there so warm in bed while his cheeks grew +red in the cold air and burned deliciously. How could he ever sleep? He +was too happy! + +He looked at the fire. And then he looked harder. It was not a fire at +all, but a young girl, all bright and golden, sitting with her head +drowsily bent forward on her knees and her arms wrapped close about her +legs. But as he watched she slowly lifted her bright head, and looked +quietly about the room. Then she gradually and beautilully rose and +stepped out of the fireplace onto the floor. Slowly she moved across to +the mother's couch and stood still as though looking down at her. Slowly +she bent and drew the bed-clothes higher about her shoulders, and kissed +the flower-petal hair curled back on the pillow. + +She moved then to Ivra's couch, still slowly and very beautifully, and +Eric could see her smile at the little one huddled there, half on her +face, one arm thrown up over her head. Gently the fire-girl rolled her +into a relaxed position on her side, tucked in the flung arm, and kissed +the closed eyelids. + +Then she stood a minute, looking away, Eric did not know where. But his +heart began to ache with wonder and longing. Would she come to him +too--or was he only a stranger? + +He lay still, watching her from his dark corner. At last she stopped +looking away, and came across the floor to him. She brought all the +brightness of the room with her, and her feet made no sound on the +boards. When she stood above him he shut his eyes, though he wanted very +much to look up into her face. She bent down and her hands smoothed his +covers, warmed his pillow and lay still for a minute like sunlight on +his cheek. + +When he opened his eyes again, she had gone back to the fireplace, all +her brightness with her, and was resting there, a drowsy, golden girl, +her head bent forward on her knees and her slim arms wrapped close about +her legs. + +Eric lay and watched her for many sleepy minutes while her light fell +dimmer and dimmer, lower and lower. When it was just a tiny flicker he +dropped to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE GOSSIP + + +He slept long and deeply, for when he woke he felt rested. But he did not +open his eyes. "It must be time for Mrs. Freg to shake me," he was +thinking. "Until she does I'll just stay as I am and pretend it wasn't a +dream, but real." For although he remembered very well all that had +happened to him yesterday, he could not believe it was true. + +So he lay still in his snug bed, wondering that Mrs. Freg's boys had +left him so much of the bed-clothes. "How fine to have a little time to +pretend a dream!" he said to himself. But Mrs. Freg did not come and did +not come, until at last he opened his eyes, just in wonderment. "It must +be six o'clock!" + +When he saw where he was, and that the dream was true, his heart almost +stood still for joy. He was indeed far away in the woods, safe and snug +and warm in this bright house, and Mrs. Freg could never reach him here. +And he would not go to the canning factory that day, nor the next, nor +the next, nor ever again. The new mother had said so. His happiness +brought him up in bed wide awake, and then he got out. He had not +learned to bound out yet, but that came. + +The fire was burning merrily. All was in order, the beds made and pushed +back against the wall, the hearth swept, and some clusters of bright red +berries arranged above the fireplace. But where were Ivra and +Helma?--Ivra had called her mother "Helma" last night, and so it was +that Eric already called her and thought of her. There was not the +tiniest sign of them. + +Oh, but yes. There on the floor near the hearth lay a little brown +sandal, one of its strings pulled out and making a curlycue on the +floor. That must belong to Ivra. The fire, the red berries, and the +little, worn sandal, seemed to be wishing Eric a good morning and a +happy day. There was plenty of mush in the pot swinging over the fire, +and on the table drawn up to it, a wooden spoon, a bowl, and a jug of +rich cream. So they had not forgotten him. They had only let him sleep +as long as he would. They must have stolen about like mice, getting +breakfast, clearing up, and tidying the room; and then closed the door +very softly behind them when they went out. + +And wonder of wonders! After yesterday's Indian Summer, outside it was a +wild winter day. Gusts of snow were hurling against all the windows of +the house, and blowing a fine spray under the door. Eric with his face +against a windowpane could see only as far as the evergreen hedge +because the trees beyond were wreathed in whirling snowclouds. The dead +flowers in the garden were hidden under the blowing snow. The little +straight walk up to the door was lost in it, and the footprints Ivra and +Helma must have made when they went away were hidden too. + +Something red blew against the hedge. For a minute Eric thought it was a +big bird. But it found the opening and came through, and then he saw it +was a little old woman. She came briskly up to the house, a red cape +blowing about her, sometimes right up over her head, for because of the +jug she was carrying she could not hold it down. She walked in without +stopping to knock and was as surprised to see Eric there as he was to +see her. But she got over it at once. + +"Good morning," she said cheerfully, going across the room, whisking a +pitcher out of the cupboard and emptying her jug of milk into it. "This +is the milk for them, and it's as much as ever that I got here with it. +The wind is in a fine mood-pushed me here and there all the way through +the wood, and tried to steal my cape from me, say nothing of Helma's +milk! Perhaps some of the Wind Creatures wanted them, or it might be old +Tree Man himself, looking for a winter cape for his daughter. But I +said, 'No, no. The milk is for Helma and little Ivra! I take it to them +every morning and I'll take it this morning whether or no, so pull all +you like--cape or milk you'll not get. The cape has a good clasp, and +I've a good hold of the jug. Pull away!" + +Here the old woman--the pitcher put away, and the cupboard door +closed--dropped down on the settle and waited for Eric to speak. She was +a jolly little old woman, one could see at a glance. Her face was the +color of a good red apple, and just as round and shiny. Her eyes were +beady black, bright and quick, and surrounded by a hundred finest +wrinkles, that all the smiles of her life had made. Her mouth was pursed +up like a button, out of which her words came shooting, quick and bright +and merry. + +Eric stood looking at her, not thinking to say anything. So after the +briefest pause she went on, peeping into the pot. + +"I see you have some mush here, so as I've come all the way from the +farm and am ready for a second breakfast after my tussle with the wind, +I'll share it with you. Or perhaps you have had yours already." + +"No, no," cried Eric, suddenly remembering how hungry he was and hoping +she would not take it all. "I have just waked up." + +"So. Then we'll breakfast together," and away she flew to the cupboard +again and brought out a second bowl and spoon. Then she stirred the mush +round and round a few times and dished it up. Eric noticed that she +divided it exactly evenly. She flooded both bowls with cream, and +together they sat down to it. What a good breakfast that was, and how +fast the little old woman talked! + +But in spite of all her talking and flying around she had looked Eric up +and down and through and through, and made up her mind what kind of a +person he was. What she saw was a pale little boy of nine in a ragged +shirt and trousers, and barefooted. His hair was shaggy and unbrushed +but tossed back from a wide brow. His mouth was sullen. But she forgot +all about shabby clothes, unbrushed hair, and sullen mouth when she came +to his eyes. They were wide and clear, and returned the old woman's keen +glance with a gaze of steady interest. Sullen and pale, but +clear-eyed--she liked the little stranger. And so she went on talking. + +"I bring them milk every day. It's a long way here from my farm, but not +too far when it's for them. Helma's gone into the village, hasn't she? +When I came to Little Pine Hill this morning the snow stopped whirling +for a minute, and I caught a glimpse of her a-striding across the +fields. It's a fine way of walking she has--like the bravest of Forest +People! When I reached the Tree Man's the wind didn't stop for me, but I +spied that child, Ivra, just where I knew she'd be,--racing and chasing +and dancing with the Snow Witches out at the edge of the wood. 'It's a +pity she can't go with her mother,' I said to myself when I saw her, +'and not be wasting her time like that. The Snow Witches are no good to +any one. But--'" + +Eric interrupted there, having finished his mush and pricking up his +cars at the mention of witches. + +"Are they really witches?" he cried. "And have you seen them yourself?" + +"What else would they be?" asked the old woman. "They're the creatures +that come out in windy, snowy weather, to dance in the open fields and +run along country roads. Ordinary people are afraid of them and stay +indoors when they're about. Their streaming white hair has a way of +lashing your face as they rush by, and then they never look where +they're going. They care nothing about running into you and knocking the +breath out of you. Then, they're so cruel to children!" + +"But Ivra isn't afraid of them!" wondered Eric. + +"Not she," said the old woman. "She runs _with_ them instead of away +from them. When I saw them back there they had all taken hands and were +leaping in a circle around her. She was jumping and dancing in the +center as wild and lawless as they, and just as high, too. . . . But it's a +pity she isn't with her mother all the same, going on decent errands in +the village. Only of course it's not her fault, poor child! She daren't +go into the village." + +"Why _daren't_ she?" asked Eric. + +"_How_ dare she?" cried the old woman. "She'd be seen, for she's only +part fairy, of course. But hush, hush!" + +She clapped her hands over her mouth. "What am I telling you,--one of +the secrets of the forest, and you a stranger here? You must forget it +all. Ivra's a good child. Now don't ask me any more questions, or I +might tell you more." + +But Eric had begun to wonder. What did it mean, that Ivra was part +fairy? And why wasn't it safe for her to be seen in the village? And +were there really witches, and was she playing with them out there in +the wild day? + +The old woman was talking on, but he heard no more. + +Then the door blew open in a snowy gust of wind, and there stood Helma, +the mother, her arms full of bundles, her cheeks ruddy from the wind, +and her short hair crisp and blown. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +WORLD STORIES + + +Now Eric learned that the old woman's name was Nora, for that was what +Helma called her, and seemed glad to find her there. She stayed on only +long enough to see what Helma had brought in her bundles, and then +started out for the farm, drawing her red cape closely about her this +time, and not blowing much as she walked briskly to the gap in the +hedge. Once through she disappeared quickly in the high drifting snow. +Hardly had she gone her way when Ivra came from another, jumping the +hedge and reaching the door in three bounds. + +Helma had bought a good deal of thick brown cloth in the village and a +strip of brown leather. It was all for Eric. She had noticed his lack of +shoes and stockings last night, and that his worn clothes were much too +poor and thin for winter in the forest. To-day, while she sewed for him, +he would have to stay in. That was a pity, for it is such fun out in a +storm. By night, though, all would be finished. + +"And that is good!" exclaimed Ivra. "For to-night the Tree Man has asked +us to a party. We're going to roast chestnuts and play games, and +there's to be a surprise, too. The Tree Girl called it all out to me as +I passed just now. She put only her head through the door, for the snow +came so suddenly it caught her without a single white frock,--only a +bonnet. But that was pretty. It has five points like a star, mother." + +"The Tree Girl," said Eric. "What a queer name! But how did she know +about me to ask me too? Did she ask me?" + +"I told her about you. And of course she asked you. You are my +playmate!" + +Helma pulled a table to the settle and sat down with all the brown cloth +before her, a work-basket, and shears. But first she measured Eric for +his new clothes. + +"You may make the leggins, if you want to," she said to Ivra, "and when +you come to a hard place tell me and I will help. You may even measure +them yourself.... We're the only Forest People, Eric, who wear anything +but white in the winter. Most Forest People like to be the color of +their world. They often laugh at us. But I like brown. Ivra makes me +think of a brown, blown leaf, and now here will be two of them! You can +blow together all over the forest." + +Eric's eyes swam in sudden, happy tears, but he only said, "_Nora_ wore +red." + +"Oh, she's not one of us," laughed Helma. "But she's lived close to us +so long, she is able to see us. We aren't afraid of her. She's a good +neighbor." + +But why might they be afraid of such a nice old woman, Eric wondered. He +was to learn sometime, and much beside, for this was the beginning of +new things for him, and his mother, Helma, and Ivra were strange people. +But how he loved them! + +"Now that we are settled at our work, and nothing to interrupt, what +shall it be?" asked Helma. She and Ivra were sewing briskly, one in each +corner of the settle. Eric was stretched on the floor, looking now into +the blaze, and now up at the windows where the snow tapped and swirled; +for to-day,--Helma had said,--was to be a rest day for him. It was the +first rest day he could remember, and how _good_ it was! To know he +could lie there with no cans to sort or label for hours, and no Mrs. +Freg to boss him about when work was over! There were to be no more cans +for him forever, and no more Mrs. Freg. Helma had said that quite +firmly. He believed her and was so happy that he trembled. And so, it +being true that never again should he go back to that unchildlike life +that had frightened him so, and tired him so, all the breaths he drew +felt like sighs of relief, and he turned his shaggy little head on his +arm, crooked under it, and watched Helma's flying brown fingers with +glad eyes. + +"What shall it be?" asked Helma. + +"Oh, World Stories, please," said Ivra, drawing her feet up under her as +she bent over her sewing. + +"Eric probably knows very few of the World Stories," said Helma. "So +sometime I shall have to go back to the beginning and tell them all over +for him." + +"And I'll stay and hear them over again too!" cried Ivra, dropping her +work to clasp her hands. "I love to hear stories over." + +"Why, better than that, you might tell them yourself. Would you like +that?" + +"Oh, yes--if I can. Do you suppose I can, mother Helma? I shall begin at +the very beginning, way back before men were in the world at all, or +fairies even. He'd like to hear about the big animals. And you will +listen, mother, to see that I get it all right?" + +Now these World Stories of Helma's were wonderful stories, but all true. +They began way back when the Earth was young. There were stories about +the Earth itself, how it hung in space and turned, making day and night. +When the strange, great animals that by-and-by appeared on the Earth and +have since gone from it first came into the stories, and then, later, +the floods and glaciers, and at last the first man,--any child might +have listened with delight and wonder. Ivra had listened so ever since +she was a tiny girl, old enough to understand at all. And with man, and +the wonderful happenings that came along with him, Ivra had begged for +the stories day and night, and never could have enough of them. For then +in a great procession came the stories of cities and nations, of great +men and women, of explorations and adventures. They led in turn to +stories of languages and writing, of painting and geometry, of music and +of life. The names of these things may not promise good stories to you, +but that is only because you do not know them as stories. If you could +listen to Helma telling them, by the fire, or out in the starlight, deep +in the wood, or swinging in a tree-top,--then no other stories you might +ever hear would satisfy you quite. So perhaps it is as well you do not +know now just where Helma's little house is standing deep in the wood +under the snow. + +Ivra always said that the nicest thing about the stories was the +interruptions. Helma never minded them, and she answered all the +questions Ivra asked. She answered them by making things that Ivra could +see with her own eyes, by drawing pictures on the ground or in the +ashes, building with earth or snow, playing with wind and water, and in +a hundred other ways. Sometimes the answer to a question would take up +the playtime of a whole day. + +But now Eric was to hear his first story, World Story or any other kind. +Can you imagine how it would feel if to-day you were to hear the first +story of your life? + +"All ready?" asked Helma. + +The silence in the room said plainer than words that all was ready for +the World Story. This time it was a story about a man named Saint +Francis, and a story after Eric's own heart. + +Almost as fast as the story went the work of Helma's fingers. But Ivra +was neither so swift nor so skilled, and the leggins were dropped many +times from forgetful hands because all her thoughts were gone away +following the story. + +Yet somehow the leggins got done, and the jacket and trousers got done, +and even a little round cap, and all before dusk. For a finishing touch +Helma sewed two soft little brown feathers she had picked up in the snow +one on either side of the cap,--which gave Eric, small as they were and +soft as they were, a look of flying. + +Then nothing remained but the sandals, and because Eric was well rested +by then, he was allowed to help at them. They were cut from the strip of +brown leather, and Helma showed Eric how to shape them and sew them +himself. So after supper he stood attired, all in brown, a pale, happy +child, ready for his first party. + +Ivra and Eric were to go to the Tree Man's party alone, for Helma was +going far away from the wood to spend the evening with a comrade. It was +to be a very long walk for her, for she put on her heaviest sandals and +pulled the hood of her cloak up over her hair. + +She walked with the children as far as Little Pine Hill. It was a low +hill, bare of trees, except for a dwarfed pine on the top. In summer the +slope was slippery with the needles of the little pine, but now it was +several inches deep in snow. It was bright starlight, and far away down +an avenue of trees, Eric saw shining open fields, and beyond them the +lights of the town. + +There Helma said good-by. Eric looking up at her in the starlight saw +her hair like pale firelight under her dark hood and her eyes so calm +and friendly. He clung to her hand for a minute. + +"Have a good time," she told them. Ivra leapt away and Eric after her. +Helma stood watching until their little forms had flickered out of sight +among tree-shadows. Then she sped down the starlit avenue towards the +open fields and the town. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AT THE HEART OF A TREE + + +Ivra and Eric ran until the stars were almost lost to them under the snow +roof of the forest. Once Eric stopped to tie his sandal-string which had +loosened and was bothering him. Then the stillness of the world startled +him. + +He cried to Ivra to wait, and she came back to his side. "Don't be +frightened," she comforted. "There are Forest People near us. They would +walk with us, for some of them are going to the party too, but they are +afraid of you. That's why they've drawn their white hoods over their +heads and keep away. Once we are inside the Tree Man's, though, it will +be all right. They'll come in too, and not be afraid any more." + +"But why are they afraid of me?" asked Eric, tugging at his +sandal-string. "No one else has ever been afraid of me. Even Juno, Mrs. +Freg's cat, who was afraid of 'most every one, liked me and jumped into +my lap. Why are the Forest People afraid?" + +"Well, they are Forest People, you see, and you are an Earth Child. +Mother and I weren't afraid of you, of course, because,--we aren't +exactly Forest People." + +Ivra paused and the silence came back. Eric looked up at her. + +"Are you cold?" he asked. + +"No, no." But she began to jump up and down and knock her heels together +to get warm. Eric still struggled with his lacings. Ivra stopped jumping +and went down on her knees in the snow to straighten them out for him. +Eric's fingers were awkward with knots, and besides, now, they were numb +with the cold. But Ivra had everything right in a minute. She crossed +the strings over his instep and tied them snugly above his ankle almost +before he could think. Then they ran on. In starlit spaces Eric caught +glimpses of hurrying figures, so swift and light he could not tell +whether they walked or flew. Their cloaks sparkled white in starlight +until he was not sure but they might be starbeams, and not Forest People +at all. + +One suddenly started up just at his elbow, and was away like the wind. +Ivra began to run and to call after it. "Wild Star! Silly Wild Star! +It's only I, Ivra, and my playmate. Wait for us!" + +Eric followed her, running as fast as he could, but the snow held him +back, and all the trees in the forest seemed to gather to stand in his +way. Ivra came back to him, laughing. "They are so afraid of you! No one +will come near us until the Tree Man is there to protect him." + +Soon they came to a big beech-tree standing in an open space with +smaller beeches making a circle around it. The starlight showed, +strangely, a narrow door in the trunk. Ivra pushed it open and Eric +followed in after her, wondering at going into a tree. + +They were on a flight of stairs lighted by starlight from a window +somewhere high up. At the head of the flight they came to a door, and +through the crack beneath it streamed a warmer light than starlight. +Ivra opened that door gayly, and through it with her, Eric went to his +first party. + +It was the jolliest room in all the world. The firelight and candlelight +did not reach so far as the walls, but left them in soft darkness. So +Eric had the feeling that the room was really much too large to be +inside of a tree. But in spite of its bigness, it was very cozy. The +fireplace was in the middle of the floor, just a great hollowed boulder, +heaped with crackling twigs. + +The candles, red, green, yellow, brown and orange, stood circlewise on a +table by which the Tree Man sat, carving a doll out of a stick. A +workbasket on the table was overflowing with bright threads and pieces +of queer cloth. + +Eric saw these things because just for a minute he was too shy to look +at the people in the room. Almost at once he had to look at the Tree +Man, however, for he came and shook him by the shoulders. Eric had been +shaken by the shoulders before, so he shrank away. But this was very +different from Mrs. Freg's shakings. The Tree Man was chuckling, not +scolding, and the dark eyes that Eric looked up above the long white +beard to find were friendly and wise. + +"Do not fear us, little Earth Child," he said. "It is we that have cause +to fear you. You have only to blink your eyes, pretend to be knowing, +and we are nothing. But your eyes are so wide and so clear, we trust +you. Ivra told us there was not the tiniest shadow in them, not even the +shadow of leaf. Only hunger. But we're not afraid of hunger. Come, have +a good time at the party." + +Then the Tree Girl, the Tree Man's daughter, came to him. She was shy, +and shook all her soft brown hair about her cheeks. A circle of little +yellow leaves kept her hair from her eyes, which, in spite of her +bashfulness, were steady and kind like her father's. "I am glad you are +here." she said. From that minute Eric felt at home in the tree. + +Eric and Ivra were the first of the guests. The others perhaps had been +too scared to come. But soon knock after knock sounded at the door, and +in flocked the Forest People who had been invited. + +First came the Bird Fairies, five of them together, merry and good +little creatures as ever lived in the wood. They had arrived only that +day from their summer homes in the far north, 'way up among the +snow-barrens. They always spent the winter in this wood, living in the +empty birds' nests and spending their time making up songs to teach the +birds that would come back in the spring. Bird Fairies cannot sing a +note themselves, nor carry an air, but they make up fine songs for the +spring birds, who while they can sing with beautiful voices really have +but few ideas. + +They are fluffy, cuddly, swift little creatures, tiny and quiet. One +might think them of little account just at first, but not for long. For +they are the farthest-traveled of all the Forest People, except the Wind +Creatures only. Now they were fluttering in, and off came their white +cloaks and forth they hopped in bright colors, little feet twinkling and +pattering, little wings lifting and wavering. They gathered around the +Tree Man, nestling in a row on his shoulder, running up and down his +arms, giving all of the news of their long journey into his ear. He +chuckled and chuckled and soon sat down by the table again, nodding his +head with delight at the tales they were telling him. + +Meanwhile, another group entered,--the Forest Children. The Forest +Children are little girls and boys who live all by themselves in moss +houses deep in the thickest of the forest, and know nothing of mothers, +nurses or schools. They came tumbling, cheering, and skipping in, curls +bobbing, eyes shining. When their white cloaks were taken off with the +help of the Tree Girl and Ivra, it was plain to see that they had no +mothers. Their frocks were torn and stained, and half their +sandal-strings untied and flapping. The Tree Girl sighed as she patted +the bobbing curls into some order, tied the laces and straightened a +buckle here and there. + +Now the room was musical with sound. + +The last guest arrived, Wild Star, who had run away from Eric in the +forest. He was a Wind Creature. Wind Creatures are growing-up girls and +boys who live near the edge of the forest. Like all fairies, they can +only be seen by Earth People on a day that is clearer than a day should +be, or by people like Eric who have no shadows in their eyes. + +Wild Star dropped his bright white cloak as he entered. His wings were +purple, the color of early morning, high and pointed. But they clapped +themselves neatly down his back to avoid the ceiling. He was a beautiful +boy, wild and starry, and that is how he got his name. Wind Creatures +are strong and swift, a little too wide-awake and far-traveled to be +very intimate with the Forest People. But Wild Star, though he was as +swift and strong as any, often came to the Tree Man's, and often played +with the Forest Children in their moss village for days together. He +loved the Tree Man, and now he sat down cross legged by him, and laid +his bright cheeck against his knee. + +So the party began. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +TREE MOTHER AND THE DROWSY BOAT + + +"Let's play hide-and-go-seek," cried the Forest Children, for that is +always their favorite game. + +Up jumped Wild Star, down fluttered the Bird Fairies, in crowded the +Forest Children, and the Tree Man counted out for them. He pointed his +finger at each in turn while he said this verse, which he made up on the +spot: + + "Sticks are racing in the flood-- + Trees are racing in the wood-- + In the tree-tops winds are racing-- + In the sky-tops clouds are chasing. + In the tree-heart snug and warm, + We hear nothing of the storm. + + When we play at hide-and-seek, + It is _you_ must count the sheep." + +At "you" the finger pointed at Eric, and it meant that he was to be +"It." + +"Put your head here on my knee. Shut your eyes and count one hundred +sheep jumping over a stone wall, not too fast," explained the Tree Man. +"While you're counting the others hide. Anywhere in this room, and +anywhere on the stairs. Out-doors is no fair." + +"But _where_ are the sheep?" asked Eric, "and how can I count them with +my eyes shut?" + +Every one suddenly looked puzzled. The Forest Children's eyes grew wide +with wondering. The Bird Fairies fluttered uneasily. The Tree Girl +seemed dazed. Wild Star said, "Why, we never thought of that,--where +_are_ they?" + +But Ivra laughed and ran to Eric. She took his hand and said, "The sheep +are inside your own head. Just shut your eyes and try to see them. It is +very easy. The wall is low, and there's a place where the stones are +beginning to roll down. The sheep go over there, one by one." + +Eric shut his eyes and put his head down on the Tree Man's knee. And it +began to happen just as Ivra had said. There was a green hill-pasture, a +little gray stone wall slanting across it, and sheep, one by one, +jumping where the wall was broken down, following their leader. He +counted one hundred of them and then stopped although a dear little lamb +was trotting down the hill, trailing the procession. He wanted to see if +the lamb would be able to jump the wall too. But the Tree Man had said +one hundred, so he stopped and opened his eyes. + +Things were strange. The Tree Man was nothing but an old stump. The room +felt very cold and it was bare. The fire in the boulder had gone out. +But he heard a soft fluttering somewhere and took heart. The Bird +Fairies! They might be hiding high, having wings. He went all around the +room, looking up into the dusk. At last, there they were in row on a +beam, their wings spread over their eyes. + +"Bird Fairies, I spy!" cried Eric, and ran towards the stump. But wings +are swifter than feet, and the Bird Fairies reached the goal first. + +He found Ivra at the top of the second flight of stairs, curled up in a +shadow. + +"I spy!" and he ran just as fast as he could down the stairs. He was +ahead of her to the door, and thought he would surely win. But she +passed him in the room and touched the stump first. + +The Tree Girl, of all places, was kneeling behind the stump. Of course +she touched it the minute Eric spied her, and so she was safe. + +The Forest Children were hiding, some in the hall behind the door, some +on the stairs, one under the table. And everyone of them beat him to the +goal and touched it first. + +"Now there's only Wild Star," Ivra cried. "You must catch him, Eric, or +else you'll have to be 'It' again!" + +Wild Star was outside, up in the top of the tree in the starlight. Eric +discovered him by seeing one of the tips of his purple wings which was +caught in a crack of the sky door. "I spy!" he called, and pulled the +wing-tip to let Wild Star know he was found. + +But of course Wild Star passed him like a flash, his strong wings +beating down. + +Tears of vexation welled in Eric's eyes. One thing he had gained though. +Because he had found them all, even though he could not run so fast as +they, the Tree Man had come back, and sat there in the place of the +stump, and all was warm and bright again. The Tree Man had only wanted +to prove for himself that Eric could see Wild Star, the Bird Fairies, +and the others without Ivra to point them out to him. But he felt +satisfied now that Eric's eyes were really clear, and that he would +never hurt any of them by looking through them or pretending that they +did not exist. + +"Wild Star is It now," he said. "For he didn't play fair, going outside +like that." + +"Oh, I forgot outside was no fair," cried Wild Star, laughing. + +So this time Eric hid with the others, while Wild Star counted sheep. + +He ran wildly all round the room trying to find a hiding-place. But +everywhere there was someone ahead of him. At last he came back to the +Tree Man himself with Wild Star counting sheep at his knee. + +"Ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven," counted Wild Star. "Oh dear! Oh +dear!" Eric whispered to himself in despair. + +Ivra was hiding behind the Tree Man, and so she jumped out and pulled +Eric back to hide with her. + +"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!" + +Wild Star started up, and never thinking to look behind the Tree Man +went circling the room in swift flight. He saw Ivra and Eric as he flew +over their heads, of course, and they laughed and touched the Tree Man +first. + +But he caught most of the others, even the Forest Children who are so +swift and clever. + +After that, almost everyone had to take his turn at being It. + +When the merry game came to an end at last, they gathered around the +boulder fireplace. The twigs were glowing embers now and looked like +myriads of golden flower-buds. Then the Forest Children began clamoring +for a World Story. So Ivra climbed up on the Tree Man's knee and tipping +her head back against his chest, looked into the fire and told one of +Helma's World Stories. It was the story of a glacier. That may not sound +like a very interesting story to you, but if you could hear Ivra tell it +in all its wonder just as Helma had told it to her, you would never ask +for a better story. No, you would ask for that one over and over again, +as the Forest Children did the minute she was through. + +But instead of telling that one over, Ivra told another, a little story +about some eggs and a brood of chickens. And they wanted _that_ over. +But there must be an end to everything, and so the Tree Girl brought out +a bowl of beechnuts, and they forgot the stories, and ate as much as +they wanted. There were apples, too, big and red and cold cheeked. +Everyone was hungry. + +When all were satisfied, there was sudden whispering among the guests. +The Bird Fairies fluttered and hummed with excitement. The Forest +Children's eyes began to shine expectantly. Ivra, who still sat on the +Tree Man's knee, spoke what they were all thinking. "The surprise," she +said to the Tree Man. "You know you promised us a surprise to-night. Is +it time for it yet?" + +"Yes," said the Tree Man. "It is. _High_ time! Come, put on your cloaks. +It's a cold night." + +"But the surprise!" they all cried at once. "We don't want to go home +until we have had the surprise!" + +"Oh, the surprise is up in the branches. My mother is there with her +air-boat, waiting to take you all home." + +The Forest Children clapped their hands and jumped up and down until +their sandal-laces that were not already loose and flapping came undone +and flapped too. Wild Star sprang towards the stairs, his face alight, +Ivra slipped down from the Tree Man's knee and ran to Eric. + +"The Tree Mother! The dear, beautiful Tree Mother! We are to see her and +ride with her!" she cried. + +Then she dashed away for her cloak. The Forest Children, with the Tree +Girl's help, were tumbling into theirs, wrong-end-to mostly, ripping off +buckles in their hurry. + +"The Tree Mother! The dear Tree Mother!" their little teeth chattered in +ecstasy. + +When all were ready they crowded up the straight starlit stairs. At the +top they crawled out through the sky door, one by one, into the +branches. Eric followed Ivra, and saw a great black moth-like thing +poised in air by the tree's top. But it was hollowed like a boat and a +shadowy woman was standing upright in it. A dark cloak covered her, but +the hood had fallen back, and her face in the starlight was very +beautiful and very young, younger even than Helma's, whose face Eric had +thought all that day too young and glad to be a mother's. How could this +be the Tree Man's mother, he wondered,--the Tree Girl's grandmother! +Then he saw that her hair was white, whiter than all the snow that lay +in the forest. + +It was very cold kneeling there and clinging in the tip of the great +beech-tree. The forest below was still and dark. But the air and the +wintry star-filled sky were bright with a blue, cold light. After the +warmth at the heart of the tree, the cold was almost unbearable. Eric +longed to wave his arms about, and jump up and down to get warm, but he +had to cling, still and motionless, to the branches to keep from +falling. + +At last Ivra whispered "It's our turn now," and taking Eric's hand, she +made him jump with her right out into cold space. For one awful instant +he thought they were both falling down, down to the ground. But they had +only dropped into the air-boat. The Tree Mother leaned forward and +pulled a blanket over them. Her eyes as she did it, looked straight into +Eric's. They were dark, and deep as the forest shadows. He began to +speak to tell her who he was, for her look was questioning. But she put +her finger to her lips. Then he noticed for the first time that every +one was silent. Even the Tree Man and his daughter who stood in the tree +top waving good-by spoke no words, only nodded and waved. The last Bird +Fairy fluttered noiselessly in. Eric lay back under the warm blanket, +snuggled against Ivra. A Bird Fairy nestled into the palm of each of his +hands. All was still and warm. The air-boat slipped away high and higher +over the tree-tops and on and on. + +On a cold, starlit night, nestled in feathery warmth, to sail over the +dark tree-tops, high and higher and on and on--that is a wonderful +thing. And when the Tree Mother stands above you, wrapped in her dark +cloak with her face shining under her cloudy white hair, now and then +bending to tuck the blanket more snugly about you--what could be more +blissful? + +Very soon Eric became drowsy against his will. His eyelids dropped like +curtains shutting out the stars. But he roused when the boat stopped, +hovered, and sank down like a bird until it rested on the crusted snow +in the middle of a tiny village of tiny moss houses; only now, of +course, the houses were covered with snow, and looked like baby Eskimo +huts. The Forest Children crept sleepily out of the boat, kissing the +Tree Mother good-by as though in a dream. Not a word was spoken. There +was the creak of their little feet on the cold snow,--that was all. Each +child went alone into his little house. They were lighted and looked +warm through the doors, and Tree Mother nodded as though that were well. +But before the air-boat had risen out of sight, the lights were all out, +and the Forest Children sound asleep, snuggled into their moss beds. + +From then on stops were frequent, and Eric woke at each one. At every +Bird Fairy nest at which they stopped, the Tree Mother leaned from the +boat and scooped the crusted snow out of the nest. Then when the Bird +Fairy was settled down, she powdered the snow with her fingers until it +was soft, and heaped it over the little creature, who was already +asleep. + +Wild Star was left in the tip of the tallest tree in the forest. There +he lay without covering, his face up to the cold sky, his arms flung +back above his head, his wings folded tight. He half opened his +slumbrous eyes on the Tree Mother as the boat floated away, but before +the smile in them faded he was asleep. + +There was straight, sure, even flying then to Helma's little house, set +in its snowy garden,--and down they sank to the door stone. The Tree +Mother carried Ivra, who was fast asleep, in in her arms. The fire leapt +when they entered, until the walls and floor danced with light. The Tree +Mother undressed Ivra, who never once opened her eyes, and tucked her +into bed. Then she helped Eric, who was fumbling and missing buttons in +a sleepy way. But he was awake enough to kiss her good-night. And that +was the end of everything until morning. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A WITCH AT THE WINDOW + + +When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma. Her bed had +not been slept in. They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder +at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes. The room +was strange and lonely without her. The fire had died in the night. They +sat up in their beds and talked about it. + +"She always comes back before bedtime," said Ivra. "She has never stayed +away before." + +Eric said, "Perhaps that is why the Tree Mother brought you in and +undressed you--perhaps she knew our mother had not come back. She looked +wise, as though she knew everything." + +"She does know everything,--at least everything in the forest. But did +she bring me in, right here in her arms, Eric!" + +"And undressed you while you were sound asleep." + +Ivra laughed with delight, and clasped her hands. "Truly, truly? The +dear Tree Mother undressed me? Are you sure? Did she kiss me +good-night?--" But suddenly she grew solemn. "Yes, she knew that mother +was not here. She only takes care of those who have no one else. Well, +we will have to wait for mother, that is all. She will surely come this +morning." + +But she did not come that morning, nor that day, nor for many days. You +shall hear it all. + +The children laid the fire, together,--shivering but hopeful. Ivra got +the breakfast, teaching Eric, so that next time he could help. They +chattered and played a good deal, and really had quite a merry time over +it. It was only at first that Ivra was solemn over Helma's +disappearance. Soon her good sense told her that Helma loved them both, +and nothing could keep her long from her children. + +After breakfast they washed and put away the dishes. Then they tidied +the room. They hurried over it a little, perhaps, for it was a bright +winter day, and all the forest was waiting to be played in. Before they +ran out, they put a log on the fire that it took both of them to lift. +If Helma should come back while they were away, she must find a warm +house. Ivra skipped back after they were outside to set out a bowl and +spoon for her, and stand the cream jug beside them. + +Then away they fled, running and jumping in the frosty morning air. Ivra +taught Eric some games that could be played by two alone. They were +running games, climbing games, hiding games, jumping games. Ivra was +swift and strong and unafraid. Her cheeks reddened like apples in the +cold. She was a fine playfellow. + +Not until they were hungry did they think of home. Then they ran, hand +in hand at last, jumping the garden hedge like deer, their hearts +beating with the expectation of running straight into Helma's arms. But +no Helma was there. Nora had come with the milk, left it, eaten the rest +of the porridge, and gone away again without waiting for a word with any +one. The children wished she had stayed. They needed some one to talk +with about their mother. Of course they knew she would come back, all in +her good time. Ivra made Eric understand that. But the room seemed even +emptier without her than it had in the morning. They cheered each other +as best they could, drank a lot of the fresh milk and ate some nuts. +They wanted to get away into the forest again and forget the empty +house, so they did not try to cook anything. + +They played hard all the afternoon. Towards twilight it grew warmer and +began to snow, great wet flakes. They ran home, leaping the hedge again. +The house was still empty. Helma was not there. + +They stirred up the fire, and sat down on the floor in front of it to +talk over what they should do. Then it happened,--the strange, the +beautiful, the frightful thing! Eric saw a face at the window. It was so +perfectly beautiful, that face, that he wanted to shut his eyes against +it. It almost hurt. It was the face of a young woman, very pale, but +when her eyes met Eric's they filled with dancing laughter. Her hair +under her peaked, white hood glistened blue-black like a river in the +snow. She lifted a small white hand and tapped on the window pane, +nodding to him merrily. + +Ivra turned at the sound of the little fingers on the glass. When she +saw the face, she started to her feet with a frightened cry, and rushing +to the door, drew the bolt. + +"She can't get in. She can't get in, Eric. Don't be afraid. We are +safe." But the poor little girl did not believe her own words. She was +trembling. + +"Why, I'm not afraid," said Eric, running to the window. The merry eyes +drew him. Now her mouth danced into smiles with her eyes. She made +pretty signs to him to open the window and let her in. + +But Ivra pulled him back. "Don't you know? It's the Beautiful Wicked +Witch!" she whispered. + +But Eric was impatient. "How can she be wicked when she's so beautiful!" +he exclaimed. He was so little used to beautiful people in his life that +now he was fascinated and delighted. + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch looked at Ivra then, and Ivra saw how her +eyes were dancing, great black eyes full of splendor and fun. She caught +her breath. She laughed back at the Beautiful Wicked Witch. She could +not help herself. But her hands flew to her mouth to stop the laugh. + +"Shut your eyes, Eric. That must be best, not to look at her at all. +That is what mother did when she came before. She bolted the door and +then we sat down in front of the fire and never looked at the window +once, while she told me a long, lovely World Story about Psyche and her +little playmate Eros. Then when we had forgotten all about the Beautiful +Wicked Witch, we looked at the window by accident and she was gone. +Come, I'll tell you a World Story now, the same one." + +But Eric hardly heard what she was saying. He moved nearer and nearer to +the window. Ivra followed him, charmed by the laughing face there too. +Then together they unbolted the windowpane and opened it outward. The +Beautiful Wicked Witch stepped in. + +"How silly to be afraid of me, children," she laughed. "I have only come +to play with you." + +"Oh goody!" cried both of the children together. For now that she was in +the room all their fear and wonder had vanished. + +It was dusk, and so they lighted all the candles and poked the fire, +before they turned to entertain their guest. But the candles did not +burn very well, very faintly and flickeringly,--and the fire fell lower +and lower, instead of growing higher and higher as they nursed it. + +"Don't mind about that," laughed the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "There's +enough light from the window for us to play together in. We won't bother +with the stubborn old fire and the silly little copy-cat candles. Come, +what shall we play?" + +But the children had been playing hard all day, and their bodies were +tired. "Oh, tell us a story instead of playing," begged Ivra. "This is +the time when mother tells her very best stories." + +"Well, I am not mother," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch; "but I will +tell you the best stories I can. Come sit near the window where the +light is stronger. That fire will never burn while I am here. I am +brighter than it, and the old thing is jealous." + +The children laughed at her joke. But it was true,--she was very bright. +Her eyes seemed to light the room, or perhaps it was her gown, like an +opal fire, blue and pink and purple, changing and glowing, and made of +the softest silk. + +Ivra nestled close to her knee where she could stroke the gleaming silk. +Eric sprawled on the floor at her feet, his face upturned to hers. + +Then she told them a story. It was not like any of Helma's World +Stories, but the children liked it. It was all about a gorgeous bird she +had at home in her tree-house. She told how she had heard it singing one +morning in early spring, high up in the branches of her tree, and how +she had watched it day after day flying back and forth in the forest, +its yellow breast flashing among the green leaves. It had a long golden +bill, and its tail was black as jet; and its wings were the softest gray +in the world with a feather of jet in either one. Its song was the +clearest, the highest, the purest of all the bird songs in the forest. +It was a wonderful bird, and she wanted it for her own. + +Then she told the children how she had set traps for it, and how it had +escaped every time. But at last she had made a dear little cage, all +woven of spring flowers and leaves, and put food in it. Still the bird +escaped, pulling the food out with its long bill and never getting +inside the door. And finally she told them how she did capture that +wild, shy bird by learning its song and singing it sitting in her +tree-house with the window open, until the bird heard and came flying in +wonder to find what other bird was calling it. Then she had closed the +window and the bird was hers. It hung now in the pretty cage in her +prettiest room, and sometimes sang in the middle of the night. + +Eric liked the story, and all the better because it was a true story. +And the Beautiful Wicked Witch said he could see the bird himself if he +would come to her house. He could stroke its bright breast, and it would +sing perhaps. Then there were other things caged in her house, cunning +little animals, and some big ones, worth any boy's seeing. + +But Ivra answered for Eric, shaking her head hard. "No, no. Mother +doesn't want us to visit you." + +But Eric said, "May I open the cage door and the window and see the bird +flash away? I should like that." + +"No. Well, perhaps," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "Will you come +then?" + +"I can't, I suppose, if Mother Helma doesn't want me to. Are you sure +she doesn't, Ivra?" + +Ivra was sure. + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch laughed then. "Of course, if you _tell_ her +she won't let you come. But if you came without telling, how could she +mind?" + +"That sounds true,--but someway it can't be," said Ivra. And that seemed +to end it. + +But after a little the Beautiful Wicked Witch began another story. This +one was about a frock she had made, a wonderful thing all of cobwebs and +violet petals, with tiniest rosebuds around the neck. If Ivra were to +slip that frock over her head, and unbraid her funny little pigtails, +she would look as pretty as any fairy in the world. + +Ivra was not too young to want to be pretty. If she would only go to the +Beautiful Wicked Witch's house, she could try on that dress, and wear it +for one whole day if she liked. Ivra clasped her hands. But then she +thought, and asked a question. "Could I play in it, and run and climb? +Would I be as free as in this little old brown smock?" + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch raised her hands in horror. "My cobweb frock! +Why, it would be ruined! It would be in shreds! How can you even think +of treating it so!" + +So Ivra shook her head until her funny little pigtails flopped from side +to side. "I don't want to wear it then for even a minute. What fun would +there be?" + +"Well, think about it anyway," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch, and rose +to go away. "It's the fir, you know, beyond the white birch." + +"Thank you for the stories," said the children. + +"Good-by," said the Beautiful Wicked Witch. "Perhaps Eric will remember +and come. It's a gorgeous bird, and I haven't said he couldn't free it." + +Then she slipped out into the snow flakes, turning to give them one +dancing look over her shoulder before the door swung to. + +Up flamed the candles, clear high flames when she was gone, and the fire +crackled again, and took on new life, reaching higher and higher. + +They got their supper together rather silently. But just before going to +sleep Ivra roused herself to say, "Let's promise each other we won't go +to the Beautiful Wicked Witch's fir until mother comes home,--and we can +tell her how jolly the Witch is, and what good stories she told us." + +"I don't want to go anyway," answered Eric, "unless I can free the +bird."--But you see, he had not promised. + +After a while, "Did you notice how pale her face was when she wasn't +laughing?" asked Eric. + +"Yes, and not so beautiful then. Mother may come in the night, and we +never know it till morning!" + +Soon they were asleep, a tired, but happy little girl and boy. + +I think the Tree Mother sank down in her air-boat to look in at them and +open the door wide, which they had forgotten, so they would have fresh +air all night; but it was dark, and the room was shadowy, so perhaps it +was only the wind. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE WIND HUNT + + +After all, Mother Helma was not there the next morning,--nor the next, +nor the next. She did not come back for days and days and days. Much +happened before she returned, and much happened after. I will tell you. + +During the days the children roamed the forest looking for their mother. +They asked every one they could find whether he had seen her. The Tree +Man, his daughter, the Bird Fairies, and the Forest Children, not one of +them had seen or heard of her since she went away. But they all said +with one accord that she would surely come back in her own time. It was +not wise to go seeking her so. She loved them. She would return. + +"Wait and be patient," they said. "Time will bring Helma." + +But they were Forest People, who live long, long lives, and see far. +Eric was an Earth Child, and Ivra was not all a Forest Child. So they +found it hard to be wise and wait and do nothing but trust Helma and +know she would return. + +So they went wandering all the day. They did not go home for meals, +even, after a while, but ate with the Tree Man and his daughter or the +Forest Children. Sometimes as they walked through the forest, looking +all about, even up into the trees for their mother, they would suddenly +burst into play. "Tag," Ivra would cry, tapping Eric on the shoulder, +and away she would fly, he after her, in a race that grew merrier and +merrier as it ran on. Ivra darted and twisted away when Eric thought he +had her, rolling down little hills on the snow crust, climbing trees, +jumping brooks until he was lucky enough to catch her by one of her +pigtails at last, or snatch her flying skirt. "Tag!" Then away he sped, +and the game would go on for a happy while. + +But sooner or later they always stopped running, stopped laughing, and +remembered why they were wandering the wood alone. Then they would call +for Helma. Ivra's voice was shrill and sweet, and rang through the bare +woods like a birdsong. Eric's wavered a little uncertainly, as though he +doubted whether Helma knew it well enough to answer. "Helma, Helma, +Helma! Ohh Helma! Helmaa-a!" + +No Helma answered. Sometimes a Forest Child came running to say, "We +haven't seen her yet, Ivra. But we are watching." The Bird Fairies +fluttered at the call and nodded their little heads uneasily. Children's +voices calling for their mother was a sad sound, and made the kindly +little creatures restless. One or two of them would fly to nestle in +Ivra's neck and whisper, "Give her time. Do not hurry her so. She will +come back." + +But the children were losing faith. They went calling, seeking and +playing through the woods all the hours of daylight. At night Ivra told +Eric World Stories, World Story after World Story until sleep made them +forget. + +The fifth morning of their search dawned blue and clear and windy. + +"The Wind Creatures will be happy to-day," said Ivra when she opened her +eyes and heard the wind pushing at all the windows of the house and saw +the blue morning sky. "Wild Star will be circling the world." + +"Why, then he will see Helma somewhere!" cried Eric. + +Ivra sprang from her bed. "Eric, how splendid! We must go with him! Why +didn't I think of it at the very first!" + +They did not stop for breakfast, but were into their coats and ready for +the day's search in a twinkling. Neither of them had bothered to undress +the night before. Ivra's hair had gone unbrushed for two days. Things +like that are apt to slip when one's mother is away. So her little +pigtails were no longer smooth and glossy, but frowsy and loose, and the +rest of her hair was ruffled until it looked something like the Bird +Fairies' soft plumage. Eric's head, too, was shaggier than ever, and a +smudge from firebuilding had darkened one of his cheeks since the +morning before. They had not bathed in the "bird bath" since Helma had +gone away. They never seemed to have time, or else they were too sleepy. + +Now they no more thought of baths than they thought of breakfast. Eric +followed Ivra, who knew all the ways in the forest, to the spot where +Wild Star was most likely to be, if he was to be found at all on such a +windy, perfect day. They ran earnestly, never slackening to skip or +play. And soon they came in sight of some giant cedar trees near the +edge of the forest. There were several Wind Creatures standing there, +laughing in shrill, glad voices, pointing with their arms, and flapping +their purple wings. Wind Creatures are growing-up boys and girls with +fairy-hearts and strong, never-tiring purple wings, remember. Wild Star +was among them. + +But before the children had come up to them, the Wind Creatures suddenly +joined hands,--as they do just before flying,--and started running down +the sloping hill that ended the forest. + +For a minute Ivra was in despair. "Now they are gone for the day to +circle the world, and I shall never find mother," she thought. But she +did not waste any more breath running. She stopped short and lifted her +voice, clear and insistent, "Wild Star! Wild Star! I need you! Don't run +away. Wild Star!" + +The Wind Creatures had reached the foot of the hill, running swiftly +hand in hand, and their wings were already lifted for flying. But Wild +Star, at the sound of Ivra's voice, leaned back suddenly on the hands he +was holding, almost throwing his comrades on their faces, and breaking +the line. He turned right about, swinging the others with him, and came +leaping and running back. + +"What is the matter, little comrade?" he asked. "What is the matter?" + +"In all your flying 'round the world, Wild Star, you must have seen my +mother Helma. She is lost. Oh, can't you tell us where she is?" + +"Yes, of course. But I didn't know she was lost. I thought she was +visiting Earth-friends." + +"Truly, truly?" Ivra's eyes shone with joy, and Eric grabbed his cap +from his head and threw it up in the air shouting, "Hurrah!" + +"Oh, will you bring her to us right away?" Ivra begged. + +Wild Star looked doubtful. "Perhaps she wouldn't want to come." + +Ivra laughed merrily at that. "Then take us to her," she said, "and you +will see how she wants to come when we ask her." + +"Give us your hands, then!" + +They held out their hands. Ivra's was grasped by Wild Star's and Eric's +by another Wind Creature. With their free hands they clasped each +other's. So the four started running down the hill, while the rest of +the Wind Creatures flew off over their heads. + +Wild Star and his comrade ran faster and faster, until Eric wondered how +it was that he and Ivra were ever keeping up with them. Soon he realized +that his feet were scarcely touching the ground. At the foot of the hill +stood a little group of birches, and they were running right upon it. He +did not see how they could either turn out or stop themselves at that +speed. Almost as soon as he had seen the birches, though, they were +beyond them. They had not turned out, they had jumped right over the +birches, and they were much higher than Eric's head! They were running +so swiftly now that only their toes ever touched the ground,--if _they_ +did. + +What fun it was to run like that, the wind at their backs, and the Wind +Creatures drawing them strongly forward faster and faster and faster +until they were really flying just above the snow. + +Across white fields they skimmed,--over fences and frozen streams, +bushes and banks, through orchards and meadows, on, on, on, until they +came to the town. + +There Ivra pulled back for a minute, and the Wind Creatures slowed down. +Eric knew why Ivra was afraid of the town. She had told him all about it +while they played in the wood. Helma, her mother, was a human, but she +hated the town and loved the fairies and their ways. That was why she +had run away to live by herself in the wood. But Ivra was neither fairy +nor human; she was both. + +Now the fairies are afraid of humans because humans look right through +them and do not see them. That upsets the fairies and makes them +uncomfortable. Of course Helma and Eric were exceptions, for because +they had no shadows in their eyes they could see them and play with +them. So the fairies accepted those two as one of themselves. Ivra was +different. Because she was only half fairy, any human could see her +whether his eyes were shadowed or not if he would only look hard enough. +The dreadful part was that when a human did see her, he was likely not +to believe in her. He would just think he was day-dreaming, and that the +little girl with the soft eyes, the ash-colored pigtails, and the quick +feet was just a piece of his day-dream. Not to be seen is bad enough. +But it is much worse to be seen and not believed in. That was why Ivra +was afraid of the town. People saw her there and either rubbed their +eyes and looked another way, or laughed. + +But now she was going for her mother, and she could bear anything, even +that. She did not hold back long. They ran past the canning factory, and +Eric did not give a glance to it. A little girl looking out over a pile +of cans saw him, however, and wondered at his warm suit of brown cloth, +his leggins, sandals and the cap with wings. She remembered him in rags. +She saw Ivra too, and did not rub her eyes and think her a dream. But +she did not call to any one in the factory or point, for she knew _they_ +would think it a dream. + +Through the crooked narrow streets, past the crooked narrow houses,--one +of them Mrs. Freg's,--they sped faster than the wind! On, on, on,--up +the wide avenue through the "residential section" where big houses eyed +them from proud terraces,--out into the country again they raced. + +There they came to a high gray stone wall, blocking their way, and stood +still. + +"You must climb," said Wild Star. "She is in there." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ON THE GRAY WALL + + +It was a very high wall that hid their mother, and at first glance it +seemed impossible that they could ever climb it. But Ivra did not stop +to wonder. She ran up and down, hunting for a foothold. At last she +reached the end of the wall and disappeared around the corner. Eric and +the Wind Creatures followed. When they came up to her she had already +found a place where the stones were laid a bit unevenly, one on the +other, and was half way to the top, clinging with toes and fingers. + +"Bravo!" cried the Wind Creatures. Eric went up after her, often +slipping back and bruising and scratching his hands and knees, but as +resolute as his playmate. At last they gained the top. The Wind +Creatures had flown up and were waiting for them there, sitting +cross-legged with their purple wings folded down their backs. + +The wall enclosed the garden of a very rich family. It was a formal +garden with straight walks, trellises, fountains, benches and neat +flower beds laid out in squares and circles, now piled high with +blossoming snow. + +Just as the children reached the top of the wall, the door into the +garden from the stern gray mansion behind it opened and through it came +three people. First was a very tall lady all wrapped up in furs,--tails +and heads of the poor animals that had been slain to make them hanging +from her shoulders and down her back. Even the children could see that +her face was sour in spite of all its smiling. Then came a young man in +a stiff, funny hat, carrying a cane, beating up the snow flowers with it +as he passed the flower beds. And behind them walked--Helma, with her +gaze on the ground. That is why they did not know her at first, that and +her very strange clothes. She was dressed all in velvet and fur, and her +arms up to her elbows were hidden in a huge white muff. She swayed as +she walked on weird little high heels and the toes of her boots drew out +to long points, almost like a goblin's. Her hat was a velvet affair, so +awkward and heavy it seemed to weigh down her head, and her candleflame +hair was smothered under it. Is it any wonder that they did not know her +like that! + +But when she walked close under the wall and they heard her voice they +knew her, and the Wind Creatures had to hold Ivra from jumping down and +throwing herself into her arms. "Wait," they whispered. + +From their high place on the wall they could look down on the heads of +the three people, and hear all they were saying. They had never learned +that it is not fair to listen that way. + +From all Helma said they could plainly see she was a prisoner. She was +pleading with the old woman. She was saying, "No, never, never, never, +in a thousand days and years will I ever be happy here. My place is in +the forest. Oh, how these heels bother!" + +"Silly girl!" cried the old woman, smiling more than ever, and looking +more disagreeable than ever at the same time. "Your place is where you +were born-in a fine house and wearing clothes like other people. Heels +indeed! Did you expect them to do any thing else but bother? Mine have +bothered for sixty years, but you haven't heard _me_ complain." + +"Neither would I," Helma said, "if I didn't know about other kinds of +shoes that don't hurt. Those sandals I wore when you caught me didn't +hurt. Why can't I wear those, at least when I walk in the garden?" + +"Well, you might," began the old woman, a little more kindly, and +smiling less, "if you promise always to put on the high heels before +coming into the drawing room--" + +"No," said the young man sharply. "Let her once into the garden in her +sandals and she'll climb the wall and be off. I say that we give her no +chance to escape. After she has been to a hundred or so balls and worn +these beautiful and appropriate clothes long enough she'll be glad of +her luck, and nothing could drag her into the forest. Believe me!" + +Now Helma stopped pleading, and laughed at the young man. "Do you think +high heels, or even a hat that weighs down my head like this horrid one +can keep me much longer from my little daughter, and that dear new +little boy? What they are doing without me all this time--I wonder!" She +stopped laughing to sigh. + +The old woman took her hand not unkindly. "My poor, dear girl," she +said, "how many times must I tell you it is only a dream, that house in +the woods and the little girl and boy? They aren't really there at all, +you know. You have dreamed them. Come, cheer up. Be a brave girl. We +have parties and good times enough here, if you will only get into the +spirit of them, to make up for all your forest foolishness." + +Helma answered in a low even voice, that showed well enough how sure she +was of the truth of what she was saying--"No, they are realer than you. +Ivra is realer than all the people in that mansion put together, +cousins, uncles, aunts, guests, servants and all. She is my little fairy +daughter." + +"No," said the young man. + +The wings of the Wind Creatures on the top of the wall rustled just then +in a gust of cold north wind. Helma threw up her head as at a familiar +sound, and her eyes slowly lifted to the faces of the children looking +down. For a minute she looked steadily at them without believing, and +then it was as though her pale face suddenly burst into song. But the +old woman and the young man were not looking at her and so they noticed +nothing. The young man said, "The neighbors have talked about us enough +already for all your queer ideas and doings. So you'll wear no sandals, +no, nor sleep with your skylight open, as you're always asking, nor go +one step outside the wall until you have come to your senses and are +more like other people. So there!" + +But Helma laughed, her head thrown back, so that the children could look +into her happy eyes and see the glow of her short hair under her +grotesque hat. + +"Keep your keys, cousin," she said, "and your old skylight keep shut +tight as tight. I shall find a way out. But my children must be patient, +and Ivra must teach Eric to keep his face and body clean. They must not +forget meal-times, and when anything goes wrong, or they think it is +going wrong, they must ask the Tree Man's advice. I will find a way to +them soon. They must keep happy and wait." + +She said all that slowly and distinctly, her eyes smiling into theirs. + +"What silly talk," laughed the sour old lady. "Just as though you were +making a speech. Well, it must be luncheon time now, and high time we +were changing our frocks. Wear your gray velvet, Helma, and don't forget +to put on stockings to match. There's to be strawberry ice to-day,--and +goose to begin with of course. Cook says she has never seen a +tenderer--" + +The old lady went on talking about the wonderful luncheon they were to +have until they were out of hearing. But the children on the gray wall +could see that Helma was going in differently from the way she had come +out. Her head was high, and she stepped out in her funny high heeled +boots as though she were walking in sandals. At the little door into the +mansion she turned and waved her queer great muff to the children and +the Wind Creatures, and they heard her laugh. + +But when she was gone, and the door was shut and locked--they heard the +great key scrape--Eric turned joyfully to Ivra. She was staring intently +at the closed door, her face very pale. Suddenly she buried her head in +her arms and burst into sobs, hoarse, jerky sobs, the first and the last +time Eric was ever to hear her cry. Eric and the Wind Children sat +cross-legged and waited. Soon she stopped and wiped her face on her +sleeve. + +"She is locked in, but she _will_ find a way home," she said, almost +laughing. "How glad and how surprised she was to see us! It was almost +as though she had begun to believe all their talk about dreams, until +she heard the Wind Creatures' wings!" + +The Wind Creatures took them back to the forest. Under the giant cedars +they said good-by and left them. The children went straight to the Tree +Man's to tell him the news. He gave them deep bowls of warm milk to +drink, and took off their sandals so that their toes might spread and +warm in front of the fire. + +Then the Tree Girl begged for a story, and Ivra told a World Story about +the rivers,--how they go in search of their mother, the ocean, day and +night, around mountains and through mountains, and across whole +continents, and never stop until they find her,--and of the myriad +presents they carry to her,--of the things they see and the things they +do, as they flow searching. + +It was a long story. And almost before the end the little story teller +had fallen asleep with her head tipped back against the Tree Man's +chest. + +They spent that night in the tree, and that was good, for a storm had +risen outside, and it was bitter cold in the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE BEAUTIFUL WICKED WITCH + + +The next morning before Eric woke Ivra slipped away to play with the +Forest Children. + +"On such wild days as this they usually play indoors, for they're little +things and the Snow Witches love to tease them," said the Tree Man. + +"Perhaps she'll be telling them World Stories," thought Eric, and so he +decided to go to the little moss village, too, for though Ivra had told +him dozens of World Stories by now, he always wanted to hear more. So +after breakfast with the Tree Man and his pretty, shy daughter, he ran +out in search of Ivra. + +It was indeed a cold morning, blustering and raw. Eric felt chilled +almost as soon as he was out of doors. Very soon he lost his way, for he +had not been in the forest long enough to grow familiar with landmarks. +Just when he was beginning to be a bit hopeless and pinched with the +cold he came to the big fir where the Beautiful Wicked Witch lived. It +stood green and comforting among all the bare trees of winter. + +Eric stopped to look, for now he remembered the Beautiful Wicked Witch +and the bird she had caged in there. He saw a door in the tree trunk +ajar, and swinging to and fro with tiny tinkling music. He peeped in, +and between the swingings caught glimpses of little blue and yellow +flowers arranged in tight bunches in hanging vases. He could smell their +sweetness even out there in the cold air. + +Then high up in the tree trunk a window opened, and he heard the bird +singing. The Beautiful Wicked Witch's face appeared at the window, +looking down at him. Her black eyes were sparkling and she nodded +good-morning to him as though he were a prince, or at least a grown-up. +He could not help nodding back. He liked her very much, she was so +beautiful and so friendly. + +"Come in and get warm," she called, "and I'll show you my pretty bird." + +Eric remembered Ivra's warnings, but he wanted to go in so much that he +found himself doing it. The door tinkled louder music when he touched +it, and he pushed his way through, as a bee pushes his way into a +flower. + +The Witch came running twinklingly down a spiral stairway. She kissed +his mouth, took off his winged cap and coat, threw them somewhere out of +sight, and then he had time to look at her well. + +Her gown was green satin, the color of the fir boughs, and her little +sandals were green satin, too. A green fir frond bound her forehead; and +her black hair hung loose, soft and electric to her waist. Eric had +never seen a prettier person in the world, nor one more kind. + +She took his two hands and began to whirl in a happy dance. Eric danced, +too, for joy and good comradeship. Round and round the room they whirled +until their breath was spent. + +Then the Beautiful Wicked Witch took him up the spiral staircase to show +him the bird. Up and up they went, until they came to a little room high +in the tree. The floor was carpeted with yellow satin, and yellow +curtains hung at the window. Deep blue mirrors lined the walls, and they +reflected Eric and the Beautiful Wicked Witch dozens of times over. + +The pretty bird cage, all made of flowers and leaves, hung in the very +middle of the room. Eric stood by it a long time. He put his fingers +through the bars, and stroked the bird's soft feathers. But the gorgeous +bird paid no attention to him, and did not sing. + +"Why doesn't it hop about?" he asked the Beautiful Wicked Witch. + +The Witch frowned and pouted. "It ought to, I'm sure. I like to see it +hopping. But it would rather sulk. It thinks all the time about the +forest, and its mate who is out there somewhere. Sometimes it sings, +though. Its voice is wonderful." + +"Oh, let's open the cage and free him," cried Eric. + +But the Beautiful Wicked Witch seized his hand. "No, no, _no_! It is +_mine_. I have caged it in my pretty cage. And it fits into the room, +don't you think?" + +"I don't know what you mean," said Eric. + +"Why, you fit into it, too," said the Witch, looking hard at him. "Your +yellow hair and blue eyes match the yellow and blue flowers. Would you +like me to make a pretty cage for you and put you into it?" + +"No, no!" Eric was suddenly afraid of the Beautiful Wicked Witch. + +But she laughed at his fear, and danced a little dance, humming to +herself, around the room. Then Eric noticed other cages. The walls were +lined with them. Some hung from the ceiling, and some stood in corners. +In every cage was a bird or animal. The one standing nearest to him held +a pretty gray squirrel, running 'round and 'round on a wheel. He stopped +every now and then to peer out through the bars with quick, bright eyes. +In the cage next was a tiny brown field mouse. But he had given up +running and playing long ago, and was huddled in the farthest and +darkest corner of his cage, his little beady eyes open and watchful. + +Eric walked around the room, looking at all the poor little animals and +birds. One and all peered through their bars with watchful and fearful +eyes. Eric remembered himself in the canning factory and pitied them +more than he could ever have done had he not once been a caged little +creature too. How he longed to open their doors and the window, and see +them scamper and fly away! + +But the Witch had stopped her dancing by the bird cage in the middle of +the room, and her little hands were between the bars stroking the bright +bird-breast. She was saying, "Sing for us, bird. Sing your nicest song +for us. Little Eric wants to hear it." + +The bird began to beat its wings and breast against the bars. Again and +again its bright breast struck the door. But it did not fly open. + +"It does not want to sing," laughed the Beautiful Wicked Witch; "but it +must. Sing, bird, sing! It does you no good to struggle. You can't get +away. Sing, sing!" + +Then the bird sang. Its song was truly wonderful, high and clear, as +Eric had heard it from outside. But now that he could see the bird caged +he did not like the song so well. It was all too sad. + +Eric wanted to go away then, out of the tree, and never, never see the +Witch again. He would find Ivra and the Forest Children and forget all +about these cages. So he said good-by to the Witch and ran down the +spiral staircase. But he could not find the door out. He went round and +round the wall, but there was no sign of a door. It was indeed as though +a flower had let him in and then closed its petals tight. + +The little posies swung in their cases, the bird sang up stairs, and the +Beautiful Wicked Witch played and danced, and laughed at all his +searching. She would do nothing to help him find the door. + +All that day he wandered up stairs and down stairs, or stood at the +window looking down through the green fir branches to the free +forest-floor. Once the Witch offered to tell him stories. But he wanted +no stories of caged things, and those were all the stories she knew. The +Witch did not mind his short answers and dark face. She seemed perfectly +able to have a good time with herself, and needed no comrades. + +At last night fell. The rooms blossomed with candlelight. In the yellow +room up stairs the Beautiful Wicked Witch paraded back and forth before +the mirrors, loving her own reflection, smiling at herself, courtesying, +frowning, looking back over her shoulder,--lifting her hair to let it +fall again in electric waves. Eric stood by the window, thoroughly weary +of his search and loneliness, and watched her. The bird sat in the cage +and watched her. All the little bright eyes of animals watched her. The +candles burned steadily. + +How Eric longed for Ivra now, and their own big friendly room. He +imagined Ivra in the room there all alone getting her supper over the +fire, bathing in the fountain bath, opening the windows, and at last +falling softly to sleep before the firelight faded. + +Oh, if there were only a window open here! How hot it was, and how +over-sweetly scented! The Beautiful Wicked Witch went on posing and +preening before the mirrors, and seemed to have forgotten all about her +new little prisoner. + +So he pulled back the yellow satin curtain, and looked out. It was +clear, cold starlight. He pressed his face against the window pane and +stared down into the shadows beneath the fir. And there, standing erect +in the shadow, her face lifted like a pale little moon, stood Ivra. + +She saw him, but did not wave. She only nodded, as though she knew now +what she had come to make sure of. She stood still for a few minutes, +until Eric almost thought she was frozen in the cold. But at last she +moved and disappeared under the fir. + +Music tinkled through the house. The Beautiful Wicked Witch poised on +her toes, surprisedly looking into the reflection of her own eyes. + +"Some one has come in, for that was the door," she said. "It opens +inward with music." + +Eric's heart stood still. Had Ivra come into the Witch's house, Ivra who +was so afraid of the Witch? He ran down the stairs and the Witch +followed him. Yes, Ivra stood there in the middle of the warm, +flower-hung room, like a little cold star beam. + +But she did not look at the quaint flowers in their golden vases. And +when the Witch ran to her and kissed her she did not even look at her. +She looked only at Eric, and her eyes said, "I have come to free you." + +"Oh, so you did want to try on the pretty frock after all," cried the +Witch, and drew her up the stairs. Eric followed to the yellow room. +"No," said Ivra. But the Witch brought it out and tried to slip it over +her head. It was sheerest gossamer web, and shimmered like moonlight. +And the little rosebuds seemed to make it belong to Ivra. + +Eric forgot all about being a prisoner, and forgot the little caged +creatures around the wall. He was delighted with the frock being pushed +down on Ivra's shoulders. "How beautiful you'll be!" he cried. But Ivra +wriggled away from it and stood clear. Her rudely made brown frock and +worn sandals looked odd in that satin room. "I didn't come to see the +frock," she said, shaking her head till her pigtails bobbed. "I came to +get Eric." + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch laughed. "Get him if you can," she said. Then +she turned her back on the children and began to braid her black hair +among the mirrors. + +They went to the window and waited there, watching her. + +"The door doesn't open out,--only in, I think," Eric whispered. "So we +can't get out." + +"Mother has told me how it would be," Ivra whispered back. "We'll have +to wait until she's asleep and then find a way." + +Then Ivra sat down on the floor and began to rock back and forth and +sing a lullaby. It was a lullaby her mother had sung to her all her +babyhood, Ivra sang in a very little voice, almost a murmur only, but by +listening Eric and the Beautiful Wicked Witch could catch the words. She +sang the same words over and over and over. + + Night is in the forest, + Tree Mother is nigh. + By-abye, by-abye-bye. + + Sleep is in the forest-- + His feathers brush your eye. + By-abye, by-abye-bye. + + Mother's arms are holding you, + Forest dreams are folding you. + By-abye, by-abye--bye. + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch sat down before the mirrors after a while, +still watching her reflection, but listening to the song, too. Her head +gradually sank lower and lower, first resting chin in hand and at last +right down on her arm stretched along the floor. Her face lay turned +towards the children, and they saw the mirth slowly fade in her great +black eyes, the lids drop lower and lower,--and then she was asleep +suddenly. Now she looked almost as young as themselves, and like a pale +child who has fallen to sleep at its play. + +But the children did not stop to look at her. Once they were sure she +was asleep they were off searching for the door. Up and down the stairs +and all around the rooms they ran on tiptoes. But it was no use, and at +last they came back to the window. + +"We must jump," whispered Ivra. + +Eric looked down, and wondered. It was a long way to the ground! + +"The snow is soft beneath the crust," Ivra said. "It will only cut us a +little." + +"Let's take the bird," Eric said. Ivra ran to it, and opened the cage +door. It hopped onto her finger eagerly, and she held its bill so that +it would not sing. + +Eric opened the window. "I'll jump first," he whispered. + +But Ivra said, "Oh, let's hold hands and jump together." + +The Beautiful Wicked Witch felt the cold night air from the window on +her face, and stirred in her sleep. Her eyelids quivered. So the +children did not wait a minute more. They climbed up onto the window +sill, Ivra still holding the bird. "One, two, three," she whispered, and +they jumped. + +Out and down they went like two shooting stars and plunked through the +snowcrust. They were up in a second. Their wrists and elbows were a +little bruised and cut, but they were not really hurt at all. But +strange and strange, the bird had fluttered near Ivra's hand for that +second, and then flew straight back up and into the open window. It had +been caged so long it did not really want its freedom after all. Eric +cried out with regret. + +But Ivra seized his hand, and they ran home together through the cold, +starlit forest. Before they leapt the hedge into their own garden Eric +saw the firelight blossoming in the windows. But he stood still outside +the door, after Ivra had gone in, for a time, breathing the cold air and +the clear silence right down into his toes. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +IVRA'S BIRTHDAY + + +"To-morrow is the shortest day in the year," Ivra told Eric one night +after they were in bed. He did not answer, for he was very sleepy. But +after a minute she spoke again. "It's my birthday too!" + +Then he opened his eyes and sat up, for her voice sounded very queer and +far away. He saw that she too was sitting up, her hands folded under her +chin. "Mother always had a party for me," she said. "Such fun!" + +"Perhaps one will happen to-morrow even with her away," Eric comforted. +"Oh, goody! I do hope so!" + +"Perhaps. Anyway I'm going to pretend there's a party waiting for me +to-morrow. You pretend too, Eric, and then even if it doesn't come true +we will have had the pretending at least." + +Eric agreed to pretend. It was one of his favorite games. And very soon +the two children nestled down under their covers and drifted into sleep +and dreams of a party. + +They were roused early in the morning by something tapping lightly on +the doors and windows. Eric was out of bed first, and saw the Wind +Creatures, half a dozen or more of them, looking in and beckoning. Their +purple wings gleamed gold in the early morning sun. Wild Star was +standing in the open door. + +"Happy birthday!" he cried and tossed a snow ball into Ivra's bed. She +popped to her knees, laughing and rosy with sleep. But then she was +grave in a minute. "There's to be no party, Wild Star," she said. +"Mother's not back yet. Are you all here for that?" + +"Yes, we're here for that, and there is to be a party, an all day one +too. Your Forest Friends have seen to that." + +The children were radiant with joy. And Ivra whispered to Eric, "We had +our pretending, too!" + +The Wind Creatures would not come in to breakfast, for of course they do +not like in-doors at all, and besides, they need very little food. So +they played in the garden while the children dressed and ate. Very soon +the children were done, though, and came leaping out ready for a day's +joy. + +The Wind Creatures led them then out through the forest. The Tree Girl +was watching for them at her door. It was plain to be seen, when she +joined them, that she carried something in her arms very secretly under +her white cloak. But no one mentioned it. Ivra knew it must be a +surprise for her birthday. Where the party was to be no one told her, +and she did not ask. She liked surprises. + +They came to the Forest Children's little moss village. The youngest +Forest Child of all was the only one up so early. He was busily breaking +dead twigs from bushes to build his morning fire and making up a little +rhymeless song about Ivra's birthday as he worked. + + This is her birthday, + Spring's little daughter-- + Spring's little daughter-- + This is her birthday. + + Wake now, wake now, + All you Forest Children, + Wake for her birthday + And tie your sandals on. + +When he saw them he cried, "Hurrah! Happy birthday, Ivra!" + +At his cry all the little windows in the little moss houses opened and +there were the tousled heads of the Forest Children, their eyes blinking +sleepily against the gilded morning light. + +"Thank you, thank you," Ivra cried back to the youngest Forest Child. +"Hurry and follow." + +Before they had gone on their way five minutes more the Forest Children +were up with them, tugging at buckles and sandal strings as they ran, +begging not to be left behind. Soon they came to Big Pine Hill, a hill +deep in the forest with no trees but a giant pine at the top. The Wind +Creatures had built a slide there by brushing away the snow and leaving +a broad track of shining blue ice. Up under the pine were sleds enough +for every one, made all of woven hemlock branches. They needed no +runners for the ice was so slippery and the hill so steep _anything_ +would go down it fast enough. Ivra's Forest Friends must have worked all +the day before to make those sleds--and now her shining face and clasped +hands were reward enough. + +She was the first to try the hill. She threw herself on her sled and +down she flashed. At the bottom she tumbled off, and still on her knees +shouted up to Eric and the others at the top, "Oh, it's splendid! Come +on!" + +Then the hill was covered with speeding sleds. The Bird Fairies had none +of their own, for they were so little they might have come to harm on +that hill. But they had just as good a time for all of that, catching +rides with the others, clinging to shoulders or heads or feet as it +happened. + +Every one was there, even the Snow Witches who had not been invited. +They came whirling and dancing through the forest almost as soon as the +sliding had begun. Ivra gave them glad welcome in spite of their rough +ways and stinging hair. For she, the only one of all who were there, +liked them very well and had made them her comrades often and often on +windy winter days. And they, who cared for nobody, cared for her. "She +is not like anybody," they explained it to each other. "_She is a great +little girl_." + +But they would not take Ivra's sled as she wanted them to. They had not +come to spoil her fun. Instead they raced down the hill behind her or +before her, pushing and pulling, their stinging hair in her face. But +that only made her cheeks very red, and she did not mind them at all. +Then she tried sliding down on her feet, with the long line of witches +pushing from behind, their hands on each other's shoulders. That was the +best fun of all, and almost always ended in a tumble before the bottom +was reached. Though the others avoided the witches as much as they could +they admired Ivra for such hardy comrading. + +Before noon every one was very hungry. Then the littlest Forest Child +said, "Follow me. The Tree Girl has gone ahead." + +It was true, she had slipped away when no one noticed. + +The littlest Forest Child led them away to a little valley-place where +hemlock boughs had been spread to make a floor and raised on three sides +to make a shelter. When they had come close enough for Ivra to see what +it was perched so big and white in the middle of the hemlock floor she +stopped and sighed with joy while she clasped her hands. + +It was a beautiful frosted birthday cake with nine brave candles of all +colors and burning steadily, just the kind of cake her mother had always +baked for her birthdays.--Only last year there had been eight candles. +She had not hoped for this final delight. She ran quickly forward and +was the first to kneel down by it. The Tree Girl was there waiting, and +now Ivra knew it was the cake that she had been carrying so secretly +under her cloak. + +The Snow Witches did not follow into that shelter. They have a great +fear of shelters, you must know, for when forced into them they quickly +lose their fierceness, and their fierceness is their greatest pride. But +before they left the party one of them came close to Eric, so close that +tears were whipped into his eyes and quickly froze on his lashes. "Take +this to your little comrade," shes said, thrusting a box made of pine +cones into his hands. "It's for her to keep her paper dolls in. We +witches made it." + +Then all the witches went screeching and swirling away through the +forest, and Ivra, Eric and the others settled down to the business of +eating the birthday cake. + +But first the Tree Girl, who is very sensible, insisted that they eat +some nuts and apples. Indeed, she would allow no one a bite of the +wonderful cake until he had eaten at least one apple and twenty nuts. + +Before Ivra cut the cake the others blew out the candles, one after +another, and made her a wish in turn for every candle. The Tree Girl +wished her a bright new year, the Bird Fairies that her mother would +soon return, the Wind Creatures that she would keep her gay heart +forever, the Forest Children that she would become the most famous story +teller in the Forest World. + +And then it was Eric's turn. He had never been to a birthday party +before, and never had he made a wish for some one else. So he was a +little puzzled. But at last he had an idea and cried, "I wish that your +hair will grow golden and curly before to-morrow morning." All +princesses Ivra had ever told him about had curly golden hair, and +though she had never said it, Eric had suspected for some time that Ivra +would like that kind of hair herself. Then he puffed his cheeks and blew +out his candle, a fat green one. Ivra laughed. + +"The Snow Witches would never let me keep curly hair," she said. "They'd +whip it straight in an hour." + +That reminded Eric of the pine cone box and he gave it to her and told +her about it. She was almost as delighted with that as with the cake. + +What a wonderful cake it was! Such food Eric had never dreamed of, and +he was a great dreamer! The frosting was over an inch thick. + +Then, of course, Ivra must tell them stories. All the Forest People +loved her stories. They built a fire to keep from freezing. The Wind +Creatures sat a little way off where it was cool enough for their +comfort, but not too far to hear Ivra's clear voice. This time she told +all she knew about the birthday of this Earth, one of the most magical +and splendid and strange of her stories. + +But it was the shortest day in the year, Ivra's birthday, and night fell +all too soon. Then the Tree Girl, who seldom forgot to be sensible, said +they had better go home. The littlest Forest Child was already asleep, +curled close by the fire. They roused him gently. Good-nights were +called and a few minutes after, the shelter was deserted, and the fire +out. And by starlight could be seen many footprints leading away in the +white snow out into all parts of the Forest. + +Eric and Ivra walked toward home hand in hand. They had to pass the +morning's slide on the way. When they came in sight of it they began to +walk more quickly and quietly and to look intently. The blue ice shone +bluer than ever in starlight, but more than the ice shone. Shining +_people_ were using the sleds and the hill was covered with them. + +"Why, they must be Star People," Ivra cried excitedly. + +When they were quite near they stood to watch. + +The strange Star folk were very silent, never calling and laughing as +those who had slid there in the morning had done. Two, a little boy and +a young girl, came spinning down on the same sled and stopped so near +that Ivra and Eric might have touched them by leaning forward. But the +Star-two must have thought the Forest-two shadows, for they paid no +attention to them at all. + +Now that they were so near Eric could see that their hair was blue, like +the shadows on snow, and their faces a beautiful shining white. Their +straight short garments were blue like shadows, too, and their arms, +legs and feet were bare. But they did not seem conscious of the cold. +Eric did not hear them speak, but they looked at each other as though +they _were_ speaking, and then suddenly the little boy laughed merrily, +as though the young girl had just told him something very amusing. + +Soon the girl turned and ran away up the hill. But the little boy was as +quick as she and threw himself on the sled while she never slackened her +pace, but drew him straight and fast up the steep slope. + +"I have never seen them before," Ivra whispered to Eric. "But mother has +told me of them. They don't talk as we do you see. They don't _have_ to. +They know each other's thoughts. They almost never leave their Stars. Do +you think--perhaps, to-night they saw our slide shining, and wondered so +much about it they had to come down? Even mother has never seen them. +It was Tree Mother told her." + +Eric was very silent, for he had never seen such beautiful people. The +little boy had had a face like a star, and great shining eyes. The young +girl had been clear like the day, and without smiling her face had been +brimmed with happiness. + +But now he felt Ivra trembling. She whispered again, "You know, Eric, it +is wonderful for us to see them like this. Some day, mother says, we may +get to be like them!" + +"And speak without words?" Eric asked wondering. + +"Yes, and more than that. We may be as _alive_ as they. Now we're only +Forest people, and not all _that_ even--almost dreams. They are _real_!" + +Then she took his hand and drew him away. "I cannot look any more," she +said; "can you? They are too beautiful!" + +Eric put his fingers to his eyes as he walked. "Yes, it's hard to see +the ground now. My eyes ache a little." + +But how the children wished their mother were waiting for them in the +little house to hear the tale! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +NORA'S GRANDCHILDREN + + +One afternoon Eric and Ivra started out for the Forest Children's moss +village to play with them. But when they got there they found all the +little houses deserted: not a Forest Child was to be found. They must +have gone into some other part of the forest to play. So Ivra and Eric +wandered on and on, a little lonely, a little tired of just each other +for comrades, till at last they came to the very edge of the +forest,--and there was Nora's farm, a rambling red brick house, with a +barn twice its size behind it. Down in the pasture by the house half a +dozen Snow Witches were dancing in a circle, now near, now far, all over +the pasture, and sometimes right up to the farm-house windows. + +Ivra clapped her hands and bounded forward. Eric did not follow. He +stood to watch. When the Snow Witches saw Ivra running to them they +rushed to meet her. For a minute she was lost in a cloud of blown snow, +and then there she was dancing in their circle back and forth across the +pasture, and then away, away, away! But before she frolicked quite out +of sight she turned to look for her playfellow, and beckoned to him. + +"Come on," she called. "We're going to slide on the brook below the +cornfield." + +But Eric did not follow. He did not like the Snow Witches. And just as +Ivra and the Witches drifted out of sight, he thought he heard the +Forest Children laughing. The sound came from the barn. So Eric ran to +the door. It was a big sliding door, and now stood open on a crack just +large enough for a child to slip through. Eric went in. + +The barn was tremendously big, a great dusty place full of the smell of +hay. Ahead of him were two stalls, with a horse in one. But Eric was +most interested in the empty stall, for it was from there the laughter +seemed to come. He stood looking and listening, and then right down +through the ceiling of the stall shot a child, and landed laughing and +squealing in the hay in the manger. She sat up, saw Eric and stared. She +was a little girl about his own age, freckle-faced, snub-nosed and +red-haired. She had the jolliest, the nicest face in the world. + +Eric opened his mouth to say, "Hello," but kept it open, silent in +amazement, for another child had shot through the ceiling and landed +beside the girl. This was a boy. He was red-headed, too, freckle-faced +and snub-nosed. He looked even jollier than the girl. + +Before Eric had closed his mouth on his amazement, "Whoop!" and down +came another boy. This boy was red-haired, freckle-faced and snub-nosed, +and he looked jollier than the other two put together, if that were +possible, for his red hair curled in saucy, tight little ringlets, and +his mouth was wide with smiles. + +It was this last one who said, "Hello, who are you?" + +"Eric,--who are you?" + +"Nora's grandchildren, of course. Come up. We're having sport." + +The three children ran across the barn to a ladder and scrambled up and +disappeared through a trap door at the top. Eric followed. The attic was +full of hay in mountains and little hills,--hay and hay and hay. He +followed the children around the biggest mountain, through a tunnel--and +there they vanished! + +He found the hole in the stable ceiling and looked down. Not very far +below him was the manger full of hay and red-headed children. "Look out +down there! Whoop!" cried Eric, and dropped, landing among them. + +Then the four laughed heartily together and ran across the barn again, +up the ladder, around the hay mountain and dropped down the hole. They +did that dozens of times until they were tired of it. + +Then they played hide-and-go-seek in the hay country, and after that +Blind Man's Buff in the barn below. The little girl was Blind Man first. +They tied a red handkerchief tight over her eyes. Then they ran about, +dodging her, calling her, laughing at her groping hands and hesitating +steps. But after a few minutes she became accustomed to the darkness and +ran and jumped about after them until they had to be very wary and swift +indeed. Soon she caught Eric and then he was Blind Man. + +By and by they played tag, just plain tag, and Eric liked that best of +all. Back and forth across the great room they raced,--up the ladder, +over the hay, through the hole into the stable, round and round, in and +out, up and down until they were too tired and hot for any more. + +Then they lay up in the hay where there was a little window, looking far +out across the meadows. + +Eric saw Ivra out there in the first field, wandering around alone and +now and then looking up at the barn. She must have heard their shouts +and laughter. He pointed her out to the other children. "That is my +playmate out there," he said. "Let's open the window and call to her to +come up. She'll tell us stories." + +The children looked out eagerly. "But there's nobody there," they said. + +Eric laughed. "No, look!" He pointed with his finger. "Over there by the +white birch. Look! She sees us." He waved. "Quick, help me open the +window." + +He could not find the catch. The window was draped with cobwebs and +dusty with the dust of years. It looked as though it had never been +opened. + +The little red-headed girl put her hand on his arm. She was laughing. +"Don't be silly," she said. "There's no one by the white birch. You're +imagining." + +"Why, look! Of course she's there!" Eric was impatient. "She's moving +now, waving to us. Of course you see her!" + +"Yes," said the jolliest of the boys. "We do see it--faintly. We've seen +it before too,--a kind of a shadow on the snow. But father says it's +nothing to mind. Imaginings. Nothing real, just spots in our eyes or +something." + +Then Eric remembered all that Ivra had told him. She was half fairy. +People could see her if they looked hard enough. But they were not apt +to believe their own eyes when they had looked. That was dreadful for +her. She had not said so, but he had guessed it from her face when she +told him. Well, well, now he understood a little better. These were +Earth Children, with shadows in their eyes. Ivra could never be their +playmate. + +But _he_ could see her well enough because his eyes were clear. And +presently he would run out to her and they would go home together. But +just now it was jolly and cozy here in the barn, and these Earth +Children were good fun. He hoped she would wait for him, but if she did +not he would find his way alone easily enough. + +"You don't really believe in it, do you?" the red-headed girl was +asking. "If you do,--better not. Grown-ups will laugh at you." + +"Nora, your grandmother, won't laugh," said Eric. "She knows Ivra well +enough, and Helma, too." + +"Oh, yes," said the jolliest boy. "But she is queer. We love her, and +she's a fine grandmother, I can tell you. And she tells the best +stories. But she's queer just the same, and she can't fool us." + +"Let's go in and get some cookies from her," said the other boy. "They +must be done by now." + +So up they hopped, and without another look towards the shadow out on +the snow by the white birch, jumped down the hole, and ran out of the +barn into the kitchen. + +Nora was there knitting by a table, two big pans of cookies just out of +the oven cooling in front of her. + +How good they smelled! Eric had never tasted hot ginger cookies before, +and when Nora gave him one, a big round one all for his own, he almost +danced with delight. He perched on the edge of the table and ate that +one and many another before he was done. + +"This boy, grandma," began the red-headed girl. + +"His name is Eric," interrupted Nora, handing him another cookie. "I +know him very well." + +"Well, he saw It while we were looking out of the barn window! And he +said It was real and his playmate, and he wanted to call It in to tell +us stories!" + +"Don't say 'It,'" said Nora. "Her name is 'Ivra.' But of course you +can't play with her. She isn't an Earth Child. She's a fairy. So don't +say anything about it to your father when he comes home to-night. It +would make him cross." + +"But it doesn't make you cross," laughed the jolliest boy. "And so won't +you tell us some stories about it now. You know,--the little house in +the wood, the Tree Man, the Forest Children, Helma, Ivra and all the +rest of it." + +"Do tell us a story," begged the other two. + +So Nora put down her knitting, and taking the cat on her lap, a great +sleepy white fellow who had been purring by the stove, she began to tell +them stories. + +She told stories about Helma and Ivra, the Wind Creatures, the Snow +Witches and many more. The children listened eagerly, clapping their +hands now and then, and at the end of every story asking for more. + +But Eric was lost in wonder. The children thought the stories were not +true,--just fairy stories told them by a grandmother. And Nora had +evidently long ago given up expecting them to believe. Her black eyes +twinkled knowingly when they met Eric's puzzled ones. + +And all the time Eric had only to turn his head to see Ivra walking out +there around in the field, looking at the farm house, waiting for him. +But gradually, as the stories went on the little figure out there grew +more and more to look like just a blue shadow on the snow, paler and +paler. Finally he had to strain his eyes to see it at all. + +Then he jumped down from the table and said he must go home. His heart +was beating a little wildly. For he was afraid Ivra might fade away from +him altogether. These red-headed children were fine playfellows. He +liked them,--oh, so much! He wished he could stay and play with them +for--a week. Yes. But he must go now. That blue shadow on the snow +seemed lonely. + +"Take her some cookies," said Nora, filling his pockets. The children +laughed at the top of their voices. "Yes, take some cookies to the +fairy. But you can eat them yourself and pretend it is the fairy eating +them," they cried. + +Nora laughed with them, and so after a minute Eric joined in. But he and +Nora looked at each other through their laughter and nodded +understanding. + +When Ivra saw him at last come out of the farm house door, she didn't +wait longer, but ran away into the wood. He overtook her a long way in, +walking rapidly. + +"Did you have a good time with the witches?" he asked. + +"Why didn't you come, too?" she said + +"Oh, it was too cold. Nora's grandchildren are awfully good fun. We +played hide-and-go-seek, just as we played it at the Tree Man's party." + +"Did they laugh at me?" + +" . . . No, they laughed at me. They thought I was a funny boy." + +"To have me for a playmate?" + +Then Eric began to think that Ivra was not very happy. Perhaps she had +been lonely. + +"You're always running off with the Snow Witches," he said. "But I won't +play with Nora's grandchildren any more unless they'll let you play too. +I won't, truly!" + +Ivra laughed. And it was like spring coming into winter. "Yes, play with +them all you like! I love them, too. I've often watched them. The +littlest boy, the one with the funny curls, laughs at me and stares and +stares. But the other two . . . they just give me a glance and then forget +all about me. They don't think I'm real. But they are awfully jolly. You +play with them and when you tell me about it afterwards I'll pretend I +was there playing too." + +Then the two clasped hands and went skipping home. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +SPRING COMES + + +One morning when Ivra woke up she knew spring had come before her eyes +were open. But Eric had to go outdoors to make sure. He was sure enough +when he smelled the ground, a good earth smell. Snow still clung to the +garden in spots here and there, but the warm sun promised it would not +be for long. Something in the sky, something in the air, a smell of +earth, and a stirring in his own heart told him it was true. Spring had +come! + +Ivra had felt and known it before her eyes were open, and now that they +were open, those eyes of hers looked like two blue spring flowers just +awake. She hopped about in the garden poking and prodding the earth with +a stick, looking for her violets, her anemones, her star flowers. Not a +green leaf was pushing through yet, but oh, how soon there would be! + +Suddenly she stopped and stood still looking away into the forest. Then +she ran to Eric on the door stone. She cried, "Mother will come now. +Don't you feel it? She will come with the spring!" + +Eric did feel it. For there was magic in the day. The magic came to him +in the air, in the smell of the earth, in the new warm wind and said, +"Everything is yours that you want. Joy is coming." And Mother Helma was +what he wanted. So he felt sure she was on the way. + +"She must have found the key,--or do you suppose she climbed the gray +wall?" wondered Ivra. + +"Shall we go to meet her?" asked Eric. + +"No, no. We must get the house clean and ready for her. We must hurry." + +And then such a house-cleaning was begun as you or I have never seen. +The Forest Children had been up at dawn to greet the spring, and now +they came running to tell Ivra and Eric about it. When they heard that +Helma was at last coming back and the house was to be cleaned they +wanted to help. First it was decided to wash the floor. Pail after pail +of water from the fountain they splashed on it. Streamlets of water +flowed into the fireplace and out over the door stone. Out and in ran +the Forest Children trying to help, and with every step making foot +prints on the wet floor, muddy little foot prints, dozens of them and +finally hundreds of them. + +Then the windows were washed. And because the Forest Children could not +run on those they were made bright and clear. But soon the Forest +Children pressed their faces against the panes to watch for Helma, and +as the minutes passed breath-clouds formed there, spreading and +deepening until the glass sparkled no more. But no one noticed. No one +cared. For now they were shining up the dishes, polishing them with +cloths, and setting them in neat rows in the cupboard. + +Then Wild Star appeared, his hands full of spring flowers that he had +found deep in the forest in the sunniest and most protected place, the +very first spring flowers. "Helma must have gotten past that wall, now +it's spring," he said; "and here are some flowers to greet her. See, I +left the roots on, the way she likes them. Let's plant them by the door +stone." + +They dug up the earth with their hands, Forest Children's hands, Wild +Star's hands, Eric's and Ivra's,--and planted the flowers all about the +door stone. Then Wild Star flew away a little languidly. + +Ivra looked after him. "He'll soon find the deepest, darkest, coolest +place," she said, "make himself a nest of smooth leaves and dream away +the summer. Fall and winter are his flying times. We shall see him at no +more parties for a while." + +"And the Snow Witches? What will become of them?" asked Eric. + +"They will get into hollows of old trees and under rocks, draw in their +skirts and their hair, curl up and sleep." + +"Good news!" thought Eric. But he did not say it for he knew Ivra liked +the Snow Witches almost best of all to play with and would miss them. + +Now the Tree Girl came through the gap in the hedge. She was wearing a +green frock, green sandals, and pussy willow buds made a wreath in her +hair. + +"Spring, spring!" she cried as she came up the path. "We heard the sap +running in our tree all night. Father has gone on a spring wandering, +and I shall stay within tree no longer for a while." + +"We know, we know!" crowed Ivra. "_I_ knew before my eyes were open this +morning. Eric had to smell the ground first. Imagine! We have been +cleaning house. Mother will surely come now. Don't _you_ feel it?" + +The Tree Girl lifted her face up in the new warm wind. Her soft hair +floated feather-like. "Yes, I feel it. She is on the way. Spring brings +everything." + +A bird flashed from the trees. It lighted on the hedge for a second and +was away again. But Eric had had time to recognize the beautiful bird he +had seen caged in the Witch's fir. + +"The caged bird!" he cried to Ivra. "It is free! It is flying away." + +The Bird Fairies were flying away, too. They were going to meet the +birds corning up from the south and teach them their songs as they flew. +They came to say good-by to the children. + +"Look for us next winter," they called back, as they fluttered off in a +silvery cloud. + +And finally, at high noon, just as Ivra had known she would since early +morning, Helma came,--running through the forest, jumping the hedge, and +gathering Ivra and Eric into her arms. + +They three knelt on the ground by the spring flowers embracing each +other for a long, long minute. + +"Did you find the key to that gate?" Eric asked when his breath came +back, "Or did they let you come at last." + +"I didn't have to find the key, and they didn't let me come. They would +never have done that. But the minute I had on a light spring frock I +found I could climb the wall easily enough, and so I came running all +the way. And now they shall never get me back behind doors again. I am +free! I am as free as you, my children!" + +She held them off and looked into their eyes. + +She was dressed in a brown silk gown, all torn and stained from her +wall-climbing and rush through the bushes. Her feet were bare, for she +had kicked off her funny high-heeled city boots the minute she had +reached the forest. Her hair had grown to her shoulders and looked more +like flower petals than ever. But her face was not brown and serene, as +Eric had first seen it. It was pale and wild. + +"They don't believe in you, children," she said. "They don't believe in +me, not the me that I am. And from morning to night they made me a +slave. They made me wear such ugly, hurting things, and then they made +me dance! Every night we danced in hot rooms and ate strange bad-tasting +food. They called dancing like that a _party_. But I could only remember +our forest parties, and our dancing here under the cool moon. + +"The only glimpse of the forest I had was your Snow Witches, Ivra. +Sometimes I saw them from my bedroom window, 'way out in the fields, +whirling and scudding in mad games. And then at last one morning some +Wind Creatures flew by, above the garden wall! But when I called Wild +Star back and tried to ask him about you, children, as he perched on the +wall, they came rushing into the garden and dragged me away. They said +it was time for luncheon, and I must change my frock. But let us forget. +I am here! It is spring!" + +She jumped up and stood just as the Tree Girl had stood earlier that +morning, her face lifted in the wind. Slowly that face grew calm and +warm color flooded it. + +"How nicely cleaned the house is!" she exclaimed when at last they went +in. For she did not see the tracks on the floor nor the clouded windows. +All she saw was that the children had worked there to make it fit for +her home-coming. + +Ivra was proud and glad that she noticed. "I have made you a spring +frock too," she said, bringing it out. "And Eric has made you some +sandals. He makes fine sandals now!" + +The frock was a brown smock with a narrow green belt. + +The sandals were well made, and very soft and light. + +Helma stripped off the tattered silk frock, the funny thing with its +long sleeves and stiff lace collar, and hid it away out of sight. On +went the new smock over her head in a twinkling. She stepped into the +sandals. And there was their mother, the Helma Eric had first seen. + +"The garden now, we must see about that," she said in her old quiet way. +Then they went out into the garden, and Helma began to plan just where +there should plant seeds and just what must be done. The children clung +to her hands, looking up into her face, and would not let her take a +step away from them. When she stood still they leaned against her, one +against either side, and wound their arms about her. + +In mid-afternoon, Spring came--not the spring of the year, but Spring +himself, the person the season is named for. He was a tall young man, +with a radiant face, and fair curls lifting in a cloud from his head. +Where he walked the earth sprang up in green grass after his bare feet, +and flowers followed him like a procession. Helma ran to him, swifter +than the children, and he kissed her lips. He lifted Ivra nigh on his +shoulder for one minute where she thought she looked away over the +treetops hundreds of miles to the blue ocean. But it may have been only +his eyes, which were very blue, that shee was looking into. + +With him came two Earth Giants. They were huge brown fellows with +rolling muscles and kind, sleepy eyes. They crouched down at the opening +in the hedge and waited for Spring to go on with them. + +"Shall we plant the garden, Helma?" asked Spring. + +"Yes, yes," cried the children, and Helma said, "Yes, yes," as eagerly +as they. + +So the Earth Giants came in and plowed it all up with their +hands,--hands twenty times as large as an Earth Man's! When they were +done, the garden was a rich golden color, and right for planting. Then +Helma pointed out to Spring where she wanted the seeds to be, violets +here, roses there, lilies there, pansies there and daisies there. Spring +gave some seeds to the children and sowed some himself. Helma sat on the +door stone and joyously directed the work. + +By twilight the garden was done, and Spring went away with his Earth +Giants. + +As he went out through the forest, flowers and green grass followed +him--and the next morning even the dullest Earth Person would know that +Spring had come. + +As for Helma and Ivra and Eric, the house would not hold their joy, and +so they dragged out their beds and slept that night in the new-plowed, +sweet-smelling garden. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SPRING WANDERING + + +"There goes another," said Helma as she stood in the door the very next +morning after her return. "The littlest Forest Child that was, and all +by himself. He seems rather small to go spring-wandering alone." + +"He likes to go alone," Ivra answered. She was setting the table for +breakfast, and Eric was helping her. "'Most always he's playing or +wandering off by himself somewhere." + +Helma stood watching the little fellow until he had vanished amid the +delicate green of the forest morning. Then she tossed back her hair with +a shake of her head and cried gayly, "Let's go wandering ourselves, +pets. It's good to be home, but we have all our lives for that now. +Let's adventure!" + +The children were overjoyed. They did not want to wait for breakfast. +But Helma thought they had better, for no one knew where, when or how +their next meal would be. Of course, though, it was hard to eat. You +know yourself how you feel about food when you are going on an +adventure. However the bowls of cereal were swallowed somehow. Then the +stoutest sandals were strapped on, and the three were ready to set out. + +First they went to Nora's farm and before they had waited many minutes +in the shadow of the trees on the edge of the field Nora came from the +door carrying their jug of milk. They ran to meet her and tell her not +to leave any more milk until they should come back. How glad the old +woman was to see Helma. "I thought spring would bring you," she said. +"Spring frees everything." + +Then Helma, Ivra and Eric were off for their spring wandering. It seemed +as though every one else was wandering, too, for they could hardly walk +a mile without meeting some friend or stranger Forest Person. All gave +them greeting, whether stranger or friend, and all looked very glad that +Helma was in the forest again, for good news travels fast there, and +even the strangers knew of her home-coming. + +In a secret wooded valley, walking softly to hear the birds and the +thousand little other songs of earth, they suddenly came upon a strange +and thrilling sight. A party of little girls and boys all in bright +colored frocks, purple, orange, green, blue, yellow, were putting the +finishing touches on an air-boat they were making. It was built of +delicate leaved branches and decorated with wild flowers. A great anchor +of dog-tooth violets hung over the sides and kept it on the ground. + +When they saw Helma and the children coming so silently toward them they +jumped into the boat and crowded there looking like a bunch of larger +spring flowers. Then they drew in the anchor rapidly. But the little +girl sitting high in the back, the one in the torn yellow dress and with +blowing cloud-dark hair, cried, "Oh, no fear, it's Ivra and her mother +and the clear-eyed Earth Child. Want to come, Ivra? We're off spring +wandering among the white clouds." + +Ivra shook her head and called, "Not unless three of us can come." + +"Too full for that," called down the yellow-frocked one, for now the +boat had lifted softly almost to the tree tops. "Your Earth Child would +weigh us down. So hail and farewell. Good wandering!" + +So the three on the ground stood looking up and waving and calling back, +"Good wandering!" until the green boat had drifted away and away and was +lost in the spring sky. But for a long time after, there floated down to +them in the valley far laughter and glad cries. + +The spring nights were cold, and so at twilight they made themselves a +shelter of boughs. They slept as soon as it was night and woke and were +off at the break of dawn. Helma carried sweet chocolate in her pockets, +and forest friends and strangers offered them from their store all along +the way. Sometimes when they were tired or warm with walking they would +climb into the top of some tall tree, and there swinging among the cool +new leaves, Helma began telling them her World Stories again, while the +children looked off over the trembling forest roof and watched for +homing birds. + +But when the hemlock and fir trees began to crowd out the maples and +oaks, Helma said quietly one day, "We are nearing the sea." "The sea," +cried Eric almost wild with sudden delight. "Shall we see it? Shall we +swim in it? Oh, I have never seen it!" + +"Oh, I saw it from Spring's shoulder," Ivra cried--she really thought +she had--"But mother, mother, what a wonderful surprise you had for us!" + +They began to run in their eagerness. But Helma held them back. "It's a +day's journey yet," she said. And so they walked as patiently as they +could down a long, long slope through dark firs and hemlocks. + +It was noon of the following day when they finally came to the sea. They +had struggled through a thick undergrowth of thorned bushes where the +great arms of the firs shut out everything ahead. Then suddenly they +were out of it, in the open, on the shore with the waves almost lapping +their toes. It was high tide. The blue sea stretched away to the blue +sky. + +Eric's legs gave way under him, and he knelt on the white sand, just +looking and looking at the bigness of it, the splendor of it, the color +of it, and listening to the music of it. Ivra ran right out into the +foam brought in by the breakers, up to her waist, where she splashed the +water with her palms until her hair and face were drenched with salt +spray. Helma stood looking away to foreign countries which she could +almost see. + +But they were not left long to themselves. The heads of a little girl +and boy and a young woman appeared over the crest of a great wave, and +the three were swept up to the shore. They grabbed Ivra and drew her +along with them as they passed, laughing musically. Ivra did not like it +at first, and sprang away from them the minute she could shake herself +free. But when she saw their merry faces and heard them laugh, she +returned shyly. + +The children were about Eric's and Ivra's ages, and the young woman was +their mother. The children's names were Nan and Dan, and the woman's +name was Sally. But though they had Earth names they were of the +fairy-kind,--called in the Forest "Blue Water People." + +Just peer into a clear pool or stream, almost any bright day, and you +will be pretty sure to see one of them looking up at you. They are the +sauciest and most mischievous of all fairies. Only stare at them a +little, and they will mock you to your face with smiles and pouts, and +will not go away as long as you stay. For they have no fear of you or +any Earth People. They follow their streams right into towns and cities, +under bridges and over dams. You are as likely to find one in your city +park as in the Forest. + +Helma spoke to Sally, while the children eyed each other curiously. She +said, "How happy you Blue Water People must be now Spring has freed you +at last!" + +Sally dropped down on the beach, her dark hair flung like a shadow on +the sand. Her laughing face looked straight up into the sky. She +stretched her arms above her head. + +"He came just in time. Another day--and we would have had to break +through the ice ourselves. Truly. We've never had such a long winter. +Why, a _month_ ago we began to look for Spring. We lay with our faces +pressed against the cold ice for hours at a time, watching. We could +just see light through, and shadows now and then." + +"And then I saw him first," cried Dan, who was listening to his mother. + +"No, I!" cried Nan. + +"No, no," Sallv laughed. "I heard him, singing, a long way off. And I +called you children away from your game of shells. When his foot touched +the ice we danced in circles of joy, and tapped messages through to him +with our fingers. The ice vanished under his feet, and our stream rushed +hither away to the sea. We came with it, and waved him hail and farewell +as we poured down. Who can stop at home in spring-time? And we had been +ice-bound so long!" + +"And now we're here," boasted Dan, "I'm going to swim across the sea +to-morrow,--or the next day!" + +"You're too little for that. Calm water is best, or little rushing +streams," warned Sally. + +"What is it like across the sea?" asked Eric. "Another world?" + +"I'll tell you about it in the next story," promised Helma. "And then +when I have told you, Eric, you may want to go across yourself and see +the wonders." + +Eric drew a deep breath. "Yes, you and Ivra and I. In a boat." He +pointed to a white sail far out stuck up like a feather slantwise in the +water. + +Ivra clapped her hands. + +But Helma shook her head. "When you go, it must be alone, Ivra and I +belong to the Forest." + +"Why, then I don't want to go, ever." Eric shook the thought from him +like water. + +"Well, let's swim across now," Dan shouted, and ran into the waves, +falling flat as soon as he was deep enough and swimming fast away. The +other children followed him, ready for a frolic. You or I would have +found that water very cold, but these were hardy children; and one of +them all winter had made comrades of the Snow Witches, remember. + +They waded out to the surf and plunged through it, head first. They took +hands and floated in a circle beyond, rising and falling in the even +motion of the rollers. Nan was very mischievous, and soon succeeded in +pushing Eric out, under where the waves broke. When he looked up +suddenly and saw the great watery roof hanging over him, he was +terrified but he did not scream. People who comraded with Ivra could not +do that. He shut his eyes tight, and then thundering down came the +water-roof, and a second after, up bobbed Eric like a cork, choking and +sputtering. They were laughing at him, even Ivra. The minute the salt +water was out of his eyes he laughed, too, and tried to push Nan into +the surf. But she was too quick for him, and slipped away, farther out +to sea. + +Then began a game of water tag. Eric, because he was not such a good +swimmer as the others, was It most of the time. But Ivra had to take a +few turns as well. It was impossible to catch the other two. They moved +in the water as reflected light moves along a wall, not really swimming +at all, but flashing from spot to spot. + +Helma and Sally lay on the sand in the spring sunshine and talked about +their children. + +"Nan and Dan tear their clothes so," sighed Sally, "I could spend all my +time mending." + +"I must make little Eric some new clothes," said Helma. "I hope I have +cloth enough at home." + +"Nan is naughty, but she is a darling," laughed Sally as Eric was pushed +under the surf. + +Helma waited to see that he came up smiling and then said, "Ivra and +Eric never quarrel. They play together from morn till night like two +squirrels." + + . . . They all had lunch together on the shore. The Blue Water Children +instead of eating smelled some spring flowers which Sally had found. +That is the way they always take their nourishment. Helma turned some +little cakes of chocolate out of her pockets, and though at first it +seemed like a small luncheon, when it was all eaten they felt satisfied. + +All the afternoon the children played up and down the beach. They found +a smooth round pink sea-shell which they used for a ball. Eric was the +best at throwing. It made him happy and proud to excel in something at +last. He taught them how to play base ball, which he had once watched +Mrs. Freg's boys playing on Sundays in the back yard. They used a piece +of drift wood for a bat, and when the shell got accidentally batted into +the sea the Blue Water Children fielded it like fishes. + +When they were tired of ball, the Blue Water Children drew lines on the +sand for "hop scotch,"--a game they had sometimes watched city children +playing in a park,--and taught Ivra and Eric about that. + +Then they built a castle of sand, and walled it in with sea shells. +Helma showed them how to make the moat and the bridge, and Sally and she +took turns and made up a story about the castle and told it to them. + +Towards evening some Earth People came by, near to the shore, in a +little steam launch. There were men and women and several children in +it. They crowded into the side of the boat towards the shore to stare +curiously at Helma and Eric. They could not see the others, of course. +Helma with her free, bright hair and bare feet looked very strange to +them. And they could not understand what Eric was doing with his arms +held straight out at each side. He was between Dan and Nan, holding +their hands, and standing to watch. But the Earth People looked right +through the Blue Water Children, or thought they were shadows perhaps. + +One of the men put his hands to his mouth like a megaphone and called to +Helma, asking her if she did not want to be picked up. They thought her +being there in that wild place with a little boy, alone, and barefooted, +very singular. They thought she might have been shipwrecked. But Helma +shook her head, and so they had to take their wonder away with them. The +boat swept by. + +Ivra ran out into the waves waist deep to watch the strange thing. She +had never seen a steam launch before, or anything like it. A baby, held +in his nurse's arms, caught sight of her and waved tiny dimpled hands, +calling and cooing. She saw his sparkling eyes, his light fuzzy hair, +his little white dress and socks. She ran farther into the water, waving +back to him and throwing him dozens of kisses. But no one else in the +boat saw her, and after a minute the baby's attention turned to a sea +gull flying overhead. + +Ivra returned to shore, her face shining. There had been no doubt of +it--the baby had seen her at once, and had had no doubts. He had laughed +and reached his hands to her. The little Fairy Child almost hugged +herself with delight. . . . + +They built themselves shelters of drift wood when night fell. Eric's was +just large enough for him to crawl into and lie still. One whole side of +it was open to the sea. Soft fir boughs made his bed, and Helma had left +a kiss with him. But he did not sleep for a long while. He lay on his +side looking out over the star-sprinkled water and up at the +star-flowering sky. And he could not have told how or from where the +command had come, but he knew as he looked that he must cross that sea +and go into the new world beyond it and see all things for himself. +World Stories were good. But they were not enough. + +How he was to go, or how live when he got there--he did not once think +of that. Just that he _was_ to go filled his whole mind. He forgot that +he had said he would not go without Helma and Ivra. He did not think of +them at all. He just lay still listening to the sea's command to go +beyond and beyond. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +OVER THE TREE TOPS + + +He was waked by Ivra's joyous cries just at dawn, and rolled out of his +shelter, rubbing his eyes and stretching his arms and legs. But as soon +as his eyes were well open he jumped up and uttered a cry of joy +himself. For hanging just above the water on the edge of the sea was a +great blue sea-shell air-boat with blue sails; and the Tree Mother stood +in it, talking to Helma and Ivra who had run down to the water's edge. + +The boat and the sails were blue. Tree Mother's gown was blue. The sea +and the sky were blue. Tiny white caps feathered the water. Tiny white +clouds feathered the sky. And Tree Mother's hair was whiter and more +feathery than either. Her eyes were dark like the Tree Man's, only +keener and softer, both. And in spite of her being a grandmother her +face was brown and golden like a young out-of-door girl's, and she was +slim and quick and more than beautiful. Eric stood beside Ivra, his face +lifted up to the Tree Mother's, aglow and quivering. + +"She is going to take us home," Ivra said softly. + +Then Tree Mother turned the boat, and it drifted in and down on the +sand. The children and Helma climbed in. The Tree Mother said very +little on the long ride, but her presence was enough. The three were +almost trembling for joy, for the Tree Mother's companionship is rare, +and one of the splendidest things that can happen to a Forest Person. + +The minute they were in the boat, it shot up and away towards home. + +"Where are the Blue Water Children?" Eric cried, suddenly remembering +their playmates of yesterday. + +"Have you been playing with Blue Water Children?" asked Tree Mother. +"They are gypsy-folk and you never know where you will find them next. +They are probably miles away by now." + +"Faster, faster, Tree Mother," begged Ivra, who was hanging over the +side of the boat and losing herself in joy with the motion and height. + +"Faster?" said the Tree Mother. "Then take care! Hold on!" + +The boat shot forward with a sudden rush. The spring air changed from +cool feathers to a sharp wing beating their faces. Eric and Ivra slipped +to the floor and lay on their backs. They dared not sit up for fear of +being swept overboard. They could see nothing but the sky from where +they lay, but they loved the speed, and clapped their hands, and Ivra +cried, "Faster, faster!" + +The Tree Mother laughed. "These are brave children," she thought. "Shut +your eyes then," she said, "and don't try too hard to breathe." + +They swept on more swiftly than a wild-goose, so swiftly that soon the +children could neither hear, speak nor see. And then at last they were +traveling so fast that it felt as though the boat were standing +perfectly still in a cold dark place. + +Gradually light began to leak through their shut eyelids, the wing of +the wind beat away from them, and the boat rocked slower and slower in +warm, spring-scented air. But in that brief time, they had traveled +many, many miles. + +Now when the children leaned over the side, they saw that they were +sailing slowly over their own Forest. The tree tops were like a restless +green sea just a little beneath them. They flew low enough to hear bird +calls and the voices of the streams. + +It was then they suddenly noticed that the littlest of the Forest +Children was there curled up fast asleep at Tree Mother's feet. Ivra +cried to him in surprise, and he woke slowly, stretching his little +brown legs, shaking his curly head, and lifting a sleepy face. He was +puzzled at seeing others beside Tree Mother in the boat. He had been +riding and awake with her all night up near the stars, and had dropped +to sleep as the stars faded. + +She bent now and took his hand. "I picked these wanderers up at dawn," +she said, "and now we are all going back together. We are well on the +way." + +They had left the forest roof and were sailing over open country,--a +short cut, Tree Mother explained. + +"Oh, look," cried Ivra excitedly, almost tumbling over the edge in her +endeavor to see better, "isn't that the gray wall off there?" + +Yes, it was the gray wall, the gray wall that had prisoned their mother +all winter. The boat went slower and slower as they neared it and then +almost hung still over the garden. The garden was full of people, having +some kind of a party, for many little tables were set there with silver +and glass that shone brilliantly in the sun. Servants were hurrying back +and forth carrying trays and their gilt buttons sparkled almost as much +as the silver. + +But how strange were the people! Eric and Ivra and the littlest Forest +Child laughed aloud. They were standing about so straight and stiff, +holding their cups and saucers, and their voices rising up to the +air-boat in confusion sounded like a hundred parrots. + +"Why don't they sit down on the grass to eat?" wondered the littlest +Forest Child. "And why don't they wash their feet in the fountain? They +look so very hot and walk as though it hurt!" + +"Sitting on the grass and washing their feet in the fountain is against +the law there," Helma said. + +But neither Ivra nor the littlest Forest Child knew what "against the +law" meant. Eric knew, however, for he had lived nine years, remember, +where most everything a little boy wanted _was_ against the law. + +"But why do they stay?" Eric asked. + +Helma looked a little grave. "Why did you stay, dear, for nine long +years?" + +He thought a minute. "I hadn't seen the magic beckoning," he answered +then. + +"Neither have they," she said, "and perhaps never will, for their eyes +are getting dimmer all the time." + +"But how can they _help_ seeing it?" cried the littlest Forest Child. +"See, all around the garden!" + +It was true. All around the garden the tall trees stood and beckoned +with their high fingers, beckoned away and away with promise of magic +beyond magic. But the people in the garden never lifted their eyes to +see it. They were looking intently into their tea cups as though it +might be there magic was waiting. + +"They are prisoners," said Tree Mother, "just as you were, Helma, with +this one difference. You were locked in, but they have locked themselves +in and carry their keys like precious things next their hearts." + +Helma sighed and laughed at once. Then she leaned far out and tossed a +daffodil she was carrying down on the heads in the garden, shaking her +short, flower petal hair as she did it--she had cut it before starting +on the adventure--in a free, glad way. + +No one looked up to see where the flower had dropped from. The people +down there were not interested in offerings from the heavens. So the +boat sailed on. Away and away over the canning factory they drifted, +where the little girl looked out from her window and up, and waved her +hands. "What are you waving at like that?" a man asked who was working +near. "Oh, just a white summer cloud," she said. For she knew very well +he did not want the truth. And I might as well tell you here that that +pale little girl was a prisoner who had not turned the lock herself, and +did not carry the key next her heart. Others had done that before she +was born. And she had seen the beckoning in spite of the lock and now +was only waiting a little while to answer it. + +The children were glad to find the forest roof beneath them again. It +was noon when they sank down in the garden at their own white door +stone. Tree Mother left them there and flew away with the littlest +Forest Child, the one who liked to wander alone by himself. + +Nora was in the house when they ran in. She had cleaned it with a +different cleaning from what it had had for Helma's first return. There +were no little foot prints on the floor now, and the window panes shone +like clear pools in sunlight. Three dishes of early strawberries and +three deep bowls of cream were standing on the table before the open +door. And then besides there was a big loaf of golden-brown bread. + +"I thought you would be hungry," said Nora, pointing to the feast. + +They were hungry indeed, for they had had nothing at all to eat since +yesterday's lunch of chocolate. They very soon finished the strawberries +and cream, and a jug of milk besides. + +"You are a good neighbor, Nora," Helma said gratefully. + +All Nora wanted in return for her labor and kindness was the story of +their adventure. She listened eagerly to every word. "I shall tell this +to my grandchildren," she said when the story was done, "and they will +think it just a fairy tale. They'll never believe it's fairy truth! Oh, +if they would only stop pretending to be so wise they themselves might +some time get the chance of a ride over the tree tops with Tree Mother. +But they never will. Come play with them again sometime, Eric. They +often talk about you." + +"I'll come to-day and bring Ivra if they'll play with her, too!" + +But Nora shook her head as she went away. "They don't believe in Ivra. +How could they play with her? Their grandmother can teach them nothing. +But they'll like the story of this adventure none the less for not +believing it." + +When she was gone the three took the dishes into the house and washed +them. Then they went out and worked in the garden until dusk. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE JUNE MOON + + +Now every day Eric was becoming acquainted with strange Forest People: +those who had hidden away from winter in trees, and those who were +wandering up from the south along with the birds, and Blue Water People, +of course, all along the Forest streams. The Forest teemed with new +playmates for him and Ivra. + +Hide-and-go-seek was still the favorite game. And now it was more fun to +be "It" than to be hiding almost, for one was likely to come upon +strangers peeping out of tree hollows, swimming under water, or swinging +in the tree tops, any minute. When the person who was "It" came across +one of these strangers he would simply say, "I spy, and you're It." Then +he would draw the stranger away to the goal, where he usually joined the +game and was as much at home as though he had been playing in it from +the very first. + +The day that Eric found Wild Thyme so was the best of all,--or rather +she was the best of all. And that was strange, for when he first spied +her he did not like her at all. Her dress was a purple slip just to her +knees, with a big rent in the skirt. Her hair was short and bushy and +dark. And her face was soberer than most Forest People's faces. She was +sitting out at the edge of the Forest on a flat rock, her chin in her +hands, and she did not look eager to make friends with any one. + +But he cried, "I spy! You're It!" just the same. She did not lift her +eyes. She only said, "You must catch me first. I am Wild Thyme, and that +will be hard!" + +Eric laughed, for she was not a yard away from him. And he sprang +forward as he laughed. But she was quicker than he. She had been at +perfect rest on the rock, her chin in her hands, and not looking at him, +but the instant he jumped she was off like a flash, a purple streak +across the field. + +But Eric did not let his surprise delay him. He ran after her just as +fast as he could, and that was very, very fast, for running with Ivra +had taught him to run faster than most Earth Children ever dream of +running. Soon, Wild Thyme slowed down a little, and faced him, running +backward, her bushy hair raised from her head in the wind of her +running, her little brown face and great purple eyes gleaming +mischievously. Eric sprang for her. She dodged. He sprang again. She +dodged again. He cried out in vexation and sprang again, straight and +sure. He caught her by her bushy hair as she turned to fly. + +And a strange thing happened to him in that second, the second he caught +her hair. Instead of Wild Thyme and the sunny field, he was looking at +the sea. He was standing on the shore, looking away and away, almost to +foreign lands. Now ever since that spring night on the shore he had been +thinking of the sea and longing with all his might to cross it and see +foreign lands for himself. Only that had seemed impossible, and +something he must surely wait till he was grown up to do. But now, in a +flash, as his fingers closed on Wild Thyme's hair, he knew that he could +indeed do that, and anything else he really set his heart on. + +No girl, even a fairy, likes to have her hair pulled. So Wild Thyme was +angry. She pinched Eric's arm with all her strength. Then _he_ was +angry. And so they stood holding each other, he her by the hair, and she +him by the arm, staring hotly into each other's faces. But slowly they +relaxed, and becoming their own natural selves again, broke into +laughter. + +"You'll play with us, won't you?" Eric asked. + +"Of course," she said, "and I _am_ It!" And away they ran to find the +others, Ivra, the Tree Girl, the Forest Children, and Dan and Nan. When +those saw who it was Eric had captured they ran to meet her, shouting +gayly, "Wild Thyme! Goody! Goody! Hello, Wild Thyme!" They seemed to +have known her always. She and Ivra threw their arms about each other's +shoulders and danced away to the goal. + +Wild Thyme was a wonderful playfellow. She was so wild, so free, so +strong, so mischievous. And when the game was ended she invited them to +a dance that very night. "It's to be around the Tree Man's Tree," she +said. "And all come--come when the moon rises." + + + . . . Perhaps Eric's good times in the Forest reached their very height +that June night of the dance. He had never been to a dance before, and +just at first he did not think there would be much fun in it. But Ivra +wanted him to go, and offered to show him about the dances. So they ran +away from the others to the edge of the field where Eric had discovered +Wild Thyme, and there on the even, grassy ground Ivra showed him how to +dance. It was very easy,--not at all like the dances Earth Children +dance. It was much more fun, and much livelier. The dances were just +whirling and skipping and jumping, each dancer by himself, but all in a +circle. Eric liked it as well as though it had been a new game. + +Late that afternoon Helma and Ivra and Eric gathered ferns and flowers +to deck themselves for the evening. They put them on over the stream, +which was the only mirror in the Forest. + +Helma made a girdle of brakes for herself, and a dandelion wreath for +her hair. She wove a dear little cap of star flowers for Ivra, and a +chain of them for her neck. Eric crowned himself with bloodroot and +contrived grass sandals for his feet. But the sandals, of course, wore +through before the end of the first dance and fell off. + +They had a splendid supper of raspberries and cream, which they sat on +the door stone to eat, and then told stories to each other, while they +waited for the moon to rise. It came early, big and round and yellow, +shining through the trees, flooding the aisles of the Forest with silver +light until they looked like still streams, and the trees like masts of +great ships standing in them. + +Then the three hurried away to the Tree Man's. They ran hand in hand +through the forest aisles, their faces as bright to each other as in +daylight. But before they even came in sight of the tree they heard +music. + +"Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmm, thrummmmmmmmmmmm." Very soft, very +insistent, very simple and strangely thrilling. When they came to the +tree, there were the Forest Children, who had come early, whirling +around in a circle, and the Tree Girl in the center of the circle making +music with a tiny instrument she held in one hand and touched with the +fingers of the other. + +Soon Forest People began arriving from every direction. There were the +Blue Water Children, bright pebbles around their necks, and white sea +shells in their blue hair. The Forest Children were crowned with +maidenhair fern. The Tree Girl was the most beautiful of all in her +silver cobweb frock and her cloudy hair. The Tree Man stood still in the +shadow, but his long white beard gleamed out, and his deep eyes. Wild +Thyme wore a rope of the flower that is named for her around her neck, +but there was a new rent in her purple frock and her legs were scratched +as though she had remembered her dance only the last minute and come +plunging the shortest way through bushes, which was true. + +Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm. + +Every one except the Tree Man was dancing, bewitched in the moonlight, +all over the grassy space around the great tree. The grass was cool and +refreshing under Eric's bare feet, and he often dug his bare toes into +the soft earth at its roots as he leapt or ran just to make sure he was +on earth at all. For he felt as though he were swimming in moonlight, or +at least treading it. + +Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm. + +When the Tree Girl's music stopped between dances, then it would go on +in Eric's head. It was just the sound of the night after all. Once Eric +noticed that the Beautiful Wicked Witch was dancing next to him in the +circle but he was not afraid of her there with the others, and in bright +moonlight. And she was plotting no ill. Her face was sparkling with +delight and she had utterly forgotten herself in the dance. + +When the great moon hung just above them, and shadows were few and far +between, the Tree Mother came walking through the Forest, quieter and +more beautiful than the moon. Wild Thyme ran to her and laid her bushy +head against her breast. For Wild Thyme only of all the Forest People +loved her without awe. The Tree Mother put her hand on Wild Thyme's head +and stood to watch the dancing. Her robe gleamed like frost, and her +hair was a pool of light above her head. + +Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmm. + +Wild Thyme jumped back into the dance and the Tree Mother stood alone. +But although she stood as still as a moonbeam under the tree, she made +Eric think of dancing more than all the others put together. It was her +eyes. The thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmmmm was in them, and the rest +of that night Eric felt as though the music-instrument the Tree Girl was +swinging was silent, and that all the music flowed from Tree Mother. + +But Eric, after all, was only an Earth Child, and his legs got very +tired in spite of the music and the moonlight. So at last he slipped out +of the circle, and stumbling with weariness and sleepiness went to Tree +Mother. She picked him up in her arms, and the minute his head touched +her shoulder he was sound asleep, the music at last hushed in his head. + +When he woke it was summer dawn. The birds were flitting above in the +tree-boughs and making high singing. He was alone, lying beneath a +silver birch, his head among the star flowers. + +He knew that Helma and Ivra had not wanted to wake him, but had gone +home when the moon set, and were waiting breakfast for him there now. So +he jumped up and ran home through the dew. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE DEEPEST PLACE IN THE WOOD + + +It was on the hottest day of all the hot days of summer that Eric found +the deepest place in the Forest. He wandered into it while he was +looking for Wild Thyme. Ivra had been no good to him that day. She was +usually ready to play in any weather; but on this, the hottest day of +the year, she stayed indoors, where it was a little cooler, and lying on +the settle she drew paper dolls on birch bark, and afterwards cut them +out. Yes, even fairy children love paper dolls and Ivra loved them more +than most. Eric wanted her to go swimming in the stream, but he teased +her to in vain, for she was entranced with the dolls and would hardly +lift her eyes from them. + +Helma was swinging in a vine swing she had made for herself high in a +tree above the garden. One of the Little People was perched on a leaf +just over her head, and they were chattering together like equals. Their +eager voices floated down to Eric standing disconsolate near the door +stone. But Helma usually knew when her children were in trouble, no +matter how tiny the trouble, and so before Eric had stood there long or +dug up more than a bushel of earth with his bare toes, she leaned over +the nest and called to him. + +"Why don't you go and play with Wild Thyme? She doesn't mind the heat. +Every one else is staying quiet till sundown." + +Wild Thyme was a happy thought, and Eric walked away in search of her. +But she was in the very last place he would have thought to look on such +a scorching day, and that is how he missed her. She was lying full +length on the hot burnt grass in the field at the Forest's edge, loving +the heat and sunshine, which covered her like a mantle. If Eric had seen +her it is probable he would not have known her or stopped to look twice. +He would have thought her just a little patch of the flower that is +named for her. + +So he wandered on and on, looking high and low and all about for her, +and he went deeper and deeper into the Forest. The deeper he went the +cooler it became, for the forest roof kept out the sunshine. The light +grew dimmer and dimmer too. Eric had never been so far in before and +everything was strange to him. + +He saw no Forest People except a little brown goblin who peered at him +from some underbrush and then scuttled away into the darkness of denser +brush. Eric had never seen a goblin before, but he had no fear of +goblins, and so this one did not bother him at all. He heard others +scuttling and squeaking, and one threw a chunk of gray moss at him. He +stopped and picked it up and threw it back with a laugh in the direction +it had come from. + +"Come out and play, why don't you?" he called. "I know where there's a +fine swimming pool." But there was no answer to his invitation. Instead +there was sudden and utter silence. He was disappointed, for he did want +a playmate, and he had almost given up looking for Wild Thyme. + +After walking for a long while he came at last to one of the windings of +the Forest stream, and gratefully stepped into the shallow, clear water, +dark with shadows. His feet were burning, and his head was hot. So he +drank a long drink of the cold, delicious water, ducked his head, and +finally washed his face. Then he waded on with no purpose in mind now +but just to keep his feet in the water. + +It was so he came to the deepest place; where not even Ivra had ever +been. It was almost cool there, and more like twilight than early +afternoon. And right in the deepest place, in a nest of smooth leaves, +with his feet in the water, lay Wild Star. When Eric first caught sight +of him he thought he was asleep, for his wings were lying on the leaves +half folded and dropped, and his knees were higher than his head. But +when Eric went close enough to see his eyes he knew that he was very +wide awake, for they were wide open, watchful and intent,--and purple +like the early morning. Such wide-awake eyes were startling in such a +sleepy, still place. Eric expected him to spread his wings in a flash +and dart away. But the wings stayed half open, purple shadows on the +leaves, and Wild Star did not even raise his head. Only his eyes greeted +Eric. + +But Eric knew without words that Wild Star was glad to see him. So he +stepped up out of the water and stretched himself on a mound of silvery +moss near by. With his chin resting in his palms and his elbows +supporting, he faced the Wind Creature, his clear blue eyes open to the +intent purple ones. + +It was Wild Star who spoke first. + +"I thought, little Eric, you would have crossed the sea before this, and +be out of the Forest. I expected to find you next fall on the other side +of the world." + +Eric was amazed, for he had not said one word of his dream about that to +any one. "How did you know I wanted to go?" he cried. + +"Oh, you are an Earth Child, after all, and I knew you would want to be +going on, as soon as you saw the sea." + +"But _why_ do I want to go on?" asked Eric, his face clouding with the +puzzle of it. "I am so happy here, and Helma is my mother now. There +can't be another mother across the sea for me. And if there were I +wouldn't want her,--not after Helma! No, Helma is my only mother, and +Ivra is my comrade. And still I want to leave them,--and go on and away +over there. It is very funny." + +"No," said Wild Star. "It isn't funny. You are a growing Earth Child, +not a fairy. It is your own kind calling you. It is the music of your +human life." + +"I don't know what you mean," said Eric. + +"It is like this: you know when you begin to sing a song, you go on and +on to the end without thinking about it at all. It is the theme that +carries you. Well, a human life is made like a song,--it carries itself +along. You do not stop to think why. It can't stop in the middle, on one +chord, for long. Yours now is resting, on a chord of happiness. But soon +it will go on again. You want it to. Life in the Forest, though, isn't +like that. Here it is music without any theme, like the music we dance +to. Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmmm. But there is more than that to an +Earth Child's life. It runs on like this stream. The stream is happy +here in the Forest, too, but it goes on seeking the sea just the same." + +There was a long stillness while Eric looked down into the green depths +of the water. At last he asked, "But how could I ever get across the +sea? And when I got there how could I get back?" + +"Time enough to think about getting back when you are there," laughed +Wild Star. "But as to getting there, Helma is the one to tell you that. +She has been an Earth Child, too, you know. She felt just as you did, +that spring night on the shore. She has felt it many times. It is only +Ivra that keeps her in the Forest. Ivra docs not belong out in the world +of humans, and Helma will never leave her. But she will understand +your longing. All you have to do is tell her." + +Eric clapped his hands, a habit he had caught from Ivra. "Oh, I shall +cross in a ship," he cried, "and see all the foreign lands. And when I +come back, think of the World Stories I shall have to tell Helma and +Ivra!" + +He sprang up in his joy, and felt as though he had wings on his +shoulders like Wild Star, and had only to spread them out to go beating +around the world. For a second the Wind Creature and the Earth Child +looked very much alike. And indeed, the only difference was that Wild +Star had to wait for the wind, and Eric need wait for no wind or no +season. His wings were _inside of his head_, but they were as strong as +Wild Star's. And he had only to spread them and lift them to go anywhere +he wanted. + +Now he wanted to get back to Helma and tell her all about it. Wild Star +pointed him the shortest way, and off he ran, jumping the stream and the +moss beds beyond, and disappearing into the underbrush. + +"I'll look for you next time the other side of the world!" Wild Star +shouted after him. + +It was twilight when he reached home. Helma and Ivra were sitting on the +door stone, hand in hand. They made room for Eric. But he did not +snuggle up. He stayed erect, his face lifted towards the first dim +stars, and told Helma all about his wanting to go away from them out +through the Forest and across the sea, and all that Wild Star had said +about music and Earth People's lives. And he told her, too, of the +vision of success he had had when he caught Wild Thyme that first day by +her bushy hair. + +Helma listened quietly, and said nothing for many minutes after he was +through. But at last she spoke, putting a hushing hand on Eric's +dreamful head. + +"I understand," she said. "I knew you would want to go on sometime. And +I have a friend across there who will help us. He has a school for boys +and I got to know him very well behind the gray stone wall. He asked me +about the Forest and you children. And he said that Eric sometime would +surely want to go back to humans, and when he did he would help him. He +understands boys. It is to him you had better go, Eric, and when you are +really ready I will tell you how, and start you on your way." + +Eric sighed with contentment, and leaned his head against Helma's +shoulder. + +But Ivra stayed at her mother's other side, as still and silent as a +shadow. Soon the fireflies began their nightly dance in the garden. But +Ivra did not go darting after them as usual to make their dance the +swifter. And Eric's head was too full of dreams and his eyes too full of +visions of the sea to notice them at all. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MORE MAGIC IN A MIST + + +Indian summer had come round again before Eric really made up his mind to +go. The flowers were asleep in the garden, and there was a steady, +gentle shower of yellow leaves down the Forest. That morning when he +woke the little house seemed suspended in a golden mist. As he stood in +the doorway he felt as though it might drift away up over the trees and +into space any minute. But after a little he knew it was not Helma's +little forest house that was to go swinging away into space and +adventure,--it was himself. And suddenly he wanted to go _then_,--to the +sea and over and beyond. He called the news in to Helma and Ivra, who +were still within doors. Helma came swiftly out to him. + +"The trees are beckoning again, mother," he cried. "The way they did a +year ago when I first came here. Now it is just as Wild Star said. The +music is beginning to go on. There's magic out to-day. Oh, what made +Wild Star know so much?" + +"Sit down," said Helma. She took his hand and drew him down beside her +on the door stone. Then she held it firmly while very slowly and +distinctly, but once only, she gave him directions about how to go, +where to go and what to do, so that he might follow the magic. + +Eric sat and listened attentively, in spite of the high beating of his +heart, and the magic working in his head. As soon as she was done, he +wanted to go right away that minute. For even in his happiness he knew +that saying good-by to all his friends in the Forest would be too sad a +task. They did not say good-by when they went on long adventures, or +followed summer south. They simply disappeared one day, and those who +stayed behind forgot them until next season. So Eric would do as they. + +Only last week Helma had made him a warm brown suit for the coming +winter. The new strong sandals on his feet he had made himself. His cap +was new, too, and Helma had stuck two new little brown feathers in it as +in the old one; so he still had a look of flying. There was really +nothing to delay his departure further. Helma called to Ivra, and she +came out slowly. There was no need to explain things to her, for she had +heard everything. + +Helma lifted Eric's chin in her palms and looked long and earnestly at +the child she was letting go away from her all alone out into the queer +world of Earth People. She picked him up in her strong arms then, as +though he were a very little boy, and kissed him. She ran with him to +the opening in the hedge and set him down there, laughing. + +"Run along now 'round the world," she said. "And when you come back +bring a hundred new World Stories with you!" + +Eric laughed too, and promised and stood on tiptoes to kiss her again. +He stroked her short flower petal hair, and kissed her cool brown cheek +over and over. But he did not cling to her. And he did not say another +word, but ran to catch up with Ivra who was to walk with him until noon +and had gone on ahead. + +The children did not scuffle through the banks of leaves, or jump and +run and burst into play as they were used to doing. They walked steadily +forward, saying very little, neither hurrying nor delaying their steps. +Once when Eric's sandal came untied Ivra knelt to fix it, for she was +still more skillful with knots than he. + +But when the sun showed that it was noon, Ivra's steps grew slower and +slower, dragged and dragged, until at last she stood still in a billow +of leaves. + +"I have to go back now," she said. + +In a flash all the magic swept out of the day for Eric. He knew he could +never say good-by to Ivra, so he stayed silent, looking ahead into the +fluttering, golden forest. But even as he looked the trees began to +beckon with their high fingers, and 'way away, down long avenues of +trees he _almost_ glimpsed the sea. + +Ivra threw her arms about his neck and kissed him. "Good-by, comrade," +was all she said. + +He kissed her cheeks. "I'll come back," he promised. But before he had +gone many steps he turned to see her again. She was standing in the +billow of leaves, a lonely-looking little girl, her face paler than it +had been even on that day of the wind-hunt. He wanted to run back to her +and tell her he would be her playmate always, and never leave the +Forest. But he wanted, too, to go on and across the sea and into foreign +lands. He stayed irresolute. + +And then quite suddenly, standing just behind Ivra, he saw Tree Mother. +She was not looking at him at all, but at Ivra, and her eyes were kind +stars. When Ivra turned to go home she must walk right into Tree +Mother's arms and against her breast. So Eric was happy again, Ivra +could not be lonely with dear Tree Mother. Perhaps she would take her up +in her air-boat high above the falling leaves, where she could look down +on the magic. He waved, calling, "Remember me to the Snow Witches when +they come." That was not because he really wanted to be remembered to +them but because he knew that Ivra liked them best of all, and it +would please her. + +She nodded and waved too, and threw him a kiss. Then a shower of +fluttering leaves came between the playmates. + +When it was clear again Eric had run on out of sight, and was lost to +Ivra in the Forest. On and on and on through the showers of golden +leaves he went, magic at his elbow and around him, and beckoning ahead +of him. And after long walking and many thoughts, at last he did see the +sea, gleaming blue and white sparkles between the golden trees. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little House in the Fairy Wood +by Ethel Cook Eliot + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE FAIRY WOOD *** + +***** This file should be named 10463.txt or 10463.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/4/6/10463/ + +Produced by Hilary Caws-Elwitt, in memory of Margaret +Devereux Lippitt Rorison + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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