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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Daisy; or, The Fairy Spectacles, by 
+Caroline Snowden Guild
+
+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: Daisy; or, The Fairy Spectacles
+
+Author: Caroline Snowden Guild
+
+Release Date: July 17, 2011 [EBook #36759]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAISY; OR, THE FAIRY SPECTACLES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Heather Clark and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from scanned images of public domain material
+from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+DAISY;
+
+OR,
+
+THE FAIRY SPECTACLES.
+
+  BY THE AUTHOR OF
+ "VIOLET; A FAIRY STORY."
+
+
+  BOSTON:
+  PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, AND COMPANY.
+  1857.
+
+
+
+
+  Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by
+
+  PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, AND COMPANY,
+
+  In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of
+  Massachusetts.
+
+
+  Stereotyped at the
+  Boston Stereotype Foundry.
+
+
+
+
+PUBLISHERS' ADVERTISEMENT.
+
+
+The universal commendation bestowed upon the exquisite little story of
+"VIOLET," published last year, has led to the issue of this second book,
+by the same author. It will be found to possess the same delightful
+simplicity of style, the same sympathy with nature, the same love of the
+good and the true, which characterized its predecessor. To those parents
+who would bring their children into contact with a mind of perfect
+purity, strong in correct principles, loving and liberal in nature, and
+refined in tastes and sympathies, the publishers commend this little
+volume.
+
+
+
+
+  DAISY;
+  OR THE
+  FAIRY SPECTACLES.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE OLD FAIRY.
+
+
+There was a great forest, once, where you might walk for miles, and
+never hear a sound except the tapping of woodpeckers, the hooting of
+owls, or the low bark of wolves, or the strokes of a woodman's axe.
+
+For on the borders of this wild, solitary place one man had built his
+little house, and lived there. It was very near the trees which he spent
+his time in cutting down; and Peter thought this all he cared about.
+
+But when the summer wore away, and the cold, lonely winter months came
+on, and there was no one to keep his fire burning and the wind from
+sweeping through his home, and no one to smile upon him and comfort him
+when he came back tired from his hard day's work, Peter grew lonely, and
+thought he must find a wife.
+
+So he went to a market town, a whole day's journey off; for he knew it
+was a fair-day, and that all the young women of his acquaintance would
+be there, and many more beside.
+
+At first he looked about for the most beautiful, and asked her if she
+would be his wife; but the beauty tossed her head, and answered, not
+unless he lived in a two-story house, and had carpets on his floors, and
+a wagon in which she could drive to town when she chose.
+
+All this, was very unlike the home of poor Peter, who had nothing in the
+world but his rough little cabin and a barrow in which he wheeled his
+wood.
+
+The next maiden told him he had an ugly scar on his face, and was not
+good looking enough for her; and, besides, his clothes were coarse. The
+next declared that she was afraid of wolves, and would rather marry one
+of the village youths, and live where she could hear the news, and on
+fair-days watch the people come and go.
+
+So Peter started for his lonely home again, with a sadder heart than he
+left it; for there was no chance that he could ever grow handsome or
+rich, and therefore he thought he must always dwell alone; instead of
+the music of kind voices, with which he had hoped to make his evenings
+pleasant, he was still to hear only the cracking of boughs, and hissing
+of snakes, and the barking of wolves.
+
+But suddenly he met in the road some people who seemed more wretched
+than himself--an old, bent woman, clad in rags, and with such an ugly
+face that, strong man as he was, Peter could not look at her without
+trembling, and a girl whom she led, or rather dragged along, through
+the dusty road.
+
+The girl looked as if she had been weeping and was very tired; she did
+not raise her swollen eyes from the ground while Peter talked with her
+companion. The old dame said she was a silly thing, crying her eyes out
+because her mother was dead, when she ought to be thankful to be rid of
+one so old, and sick, and troublesome.
+
+The girl began to cry again, and the woman to scold her loudly. "Just so
+ungrateful people are," she said; "when I have promised to find a place
+where you can live at service, and earn money to buy a new gown, you
+must needs whimper about the old body that's well enough in her grave."
+
+"Perhaps the poor child is lonely," said Peter, who had a kind heart
+under his rough coat, and knew, besides, from his own experience, what a
+hard thing it is to live with no one to love us and be grateful for our
+care.
+
+[Illustration: SHE PUT THE GIRL'S HAND INTO HIS.]
+
+The girl looked up at Peter with her pale, sad face; but her lips
+trembled so that she could not thank him. And he began to think how this
+poor beggar must have a gentle and loving heart, because she had taken
+such good care of her old mother, and, notwithstanding she was so
+troublesome, had been grieved at losing her.
+
+So he made bold to ask once more what he had been refused so many times
+that day, and had never thought to ask again, whether she would marry
+him, and live in his little cabin, and cook his meals, and keep his
+fires burning, and smile and comfort him when he should come home tired
+from his work.
+
+And at these words a bright smile came into the face of the old woman,
+and seemed for an instant to take its ugliness away. She put the girl's
+hand into his, and said to her, "One who can forget his own trouble in
+comforting another will make you a good husband, Susan."
+
+All at once the old woman had disappeared; and Peter and Susan, hand in
+hand, were travelling towards the cabin in the wood. They looked about
+in every direction; but she was gone. Then they looked in each other's
+faces, and seemed to remember that they had seen each other before; at
+least, Peter knew he had always meant to have exactly such a wife as
+Susan, and Susan was sure that, if she had looked through the world, she
+could have found no one so manly, and kind, and generous as Peter.
+
+I may as well tell you a secret, to begin with--that it was no accident
+which led the young woman into Peter's path, but a plan of the old dame.
+And she was not the withered hag she seemed, but the youngest and most
+beautiful fairy that ever entered this earth--the strongest, too, and
+richest, for the earth itself is only a part of her treasure; and should
+she forsake it for a moment, our world would wither like a flower cut
+from its stem, and be blown away with the first wind that came.
+
+But you must find out for yourselves the fairy's name.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE WOODLAND HOME.
+
+
+To Susan Peter's cabin seemed like a palace; for he had taken care that
+it should look clean and pleasant when his new wife came.
+
+It was shaded with the beautiful boughs of the wood; and the door stood
+open, for he had no lock and key. There were inside some comfortable
+seats, and a fireplace, and table, and some wild flowers in a cup; and
+on the floor were patches of sunshine that had crept through the leaves,
+and made the room look only cooler and shadier.
+
+Peter opened a closet, and showed his stores of meal and sugar, and all
+his pans and dishes; and he took from his pocket the stuff for a new
+gown, which he had bought at the fair on purpose for his wife, and
+wheeled from its dark corner an easy chair he had made for her, and hung
+upon the wall a little looking glass, so that she might not forget, he
+said, to keep her hair smooth, and look handsome when he should come
+home at evening.
+
+Poor Susan could hardly believe her own senses: but a few hours ago she
+had been a beggar in the streets, without one friend except the old
+woman that dragged her through the dust and scolded her. Many a night
+they had slept out of doors, with only a thorny hedge for shelter and
+the damp grass for a bed; and if it rained, and they were out, had had
+no fire to dry their shivering limbs; and when they woke up hungry in
+the morning, had no breakfast to cook or eat.
+
+And now the lonely beggar girl was mistress of a house, and the wife of
+a man whom she would not exchange for the whole wide world, and who
+seemed pleased with her, and even proud of her.
+
+So you see, dear children, that it is never worth while to be unhappy
+about our trials, because we do not know what may happen the next
+minute. We never can guess what good fortune is travelling towards us,
+and may, when times seem darkest, be standing outside of our door.
+
+The poor debtor in jail may suddenly hear that he has been made a
+prince; the dear friend that is sick, and seems almost sure to die, may
+arise all the stronger, and the dearer, too, for the illness which
+frightened us; the sad accident that causes such pain, and perhaps
+mutilates us for life, may have kept off from us some more dreadful
+pain--we cannot tell.
+
+But of this we may always be sure, that the good God, who never sleeps
+nor grows tired, loves and watches over us, and sends alike joy and
+sorrow, to make our souls purer, and fitter to live in his beautiful
+home on high.
+
+Susan never was sorry that the strange old dame had put her hand in
+Peter's; for he led her through the pleasantest paths he could find,
+and when the way grew rough, he was so careful of her comfort, and so
+grieved for her, that she almost wished it might never be smooth again.
+
+They were very poor, and worked hard from morning until night, and often
+had not quite clothes enough to wear nor food enough to eat; but they
+were satisfied with a little, and loved each other, and enjoyed their
+quiet, shady home.
+
+Many a time they talked over the strange events of their wedding day,
+and wondered if they had really happened, or were only the recollections
+of a dream; and Susan would declare that she had not yet awakened from
+her dream, and prayed she never might; for the cold, cruel, lonely world
+she always knew before that day had changed to a beautiful, sunny home,
+where she still lived, as merry as a bird.
+
+Susan was not so ignorant as you might think; for before her old mother
+was taken sick, she had lived at service, and though unkindly treated,
+had learned to do many things, and could prepare for Peter little
+comforts of which he never dreamed before.
+
+She had, too, a pleasant voice, and she and her husband sang together of
+evenings; so that it happened, after his wife came, Peter never heard
+the snakes or wolves again.
+
+Ah, and there were more cruel, more fearful snakes and wolves that Susan
+kept away. Suppose she had been ill natured or discontented, and instead
+of enjoying her house, had tormented Peter because it was not a more
+splendid one; and when he came home tired, instead of singing pleasant
+songs to him, had fretted about her little troubles, and they had vexed
+and quarrelled with each other; do you think the far-off voices of
+snakes and wolves outside would have made the poor man's home as doleful
+as those angry, peevish voices within, which no lock could fasten out?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+DAISY.
+
+
+Perhaps by this time you are wondering what has become of the fairy.
+This is exactly what Susan used to wonder; and when, at evening, she
+went out to tell Peter that supper was ready, and it was time for him to
+leave off work, if a leaf fell suddenly down, or a rabbit ran across her
+path, she would start and look about cautiously; for it seemed to her
+the old woman might at any time come creeping along under one of the
+tall arches which the boughs made on every side, or even she might be
+perched among the dusky branches of the trees.
+
+Peter used to laugh at her, and ask if she could find nothing pretty and
+pleasant in all the beautiful wood, that she must be forever searching
+for that ugly face.
+
+But, to tell the truth, when he walked home alone after dark, and the
+wind was dashing the boughs about, and sighing through them, and
+strange-looking shadows came creeping past him, Peter himself would
+quicken his pace, and whistle loudly so as not to hear the sounds that
+came thicker and thicker, and seemed like unearthly voices. He could not
+help a feeling, such as Susan had, that the old fairy was hidden
+somewhere in the wood, and that her dreadful face might look up out of
+the ground, or from behind some shadowy rock.
+
+He did not know what a lovely, smiling face was hidden beneath the
+dame's wrinkles and rags; he did not know that this spirit, he dreaded
+so much, was his best and kindest friend; and that, while he feared to
+meet her, she was always walking by his side, and keeping troubles away,
+and it was even her kind hand that parted the boughs sometimes, to let
+the sunshine stream upon his little home.
+
+It is very foolish to fear any thing, for our fears cannot possibly keep
+danger away; and suppose we should sometimes meet living shadows, and
+dreadful grinning faces, in a lonely place, it is not likely they would
+eat us up; and it is a great deal better and braver for us to laugh back
+at them than to be frightened out of our senses, and run into some real
+danger to escape a fancied one.
+
+The fairy was not to be found by seeking her, but she came at last of
+her own accord. When Peter came home from his work, one night, and
+passed the place where Susan usually met him, she was not there; he
+walked slowly, for it was a beautiful evening, and he did not wish to
+disappoint his wife, who thought more of her walk with him than of her
+supper. No Susan appeared, for all his lingering; and when his own door
+was reached, who should stand there but the old woman, her ugly face
+bright with smiles; and in her arms a little child, as small, and
+helpless, and homely as you would wish to see.
+
+But it belonged to Peter and Susan; and if children are ever so homely,
+their own parents always think them beautiful. You never saw a person so
+pleased as Peter; he hugged his little girl, and danced about with her,
+and went out to the door, when it was light, to look at her face, again
+and again. It seemed to him as if a miracle had been wrought on purpose
+for him; and already he could fancy the little one running about his
+home, building up gardens out of sticks and stones, and singing with a
+voice as musical as her mother's, and even pleasanter, because it would
+sound so childish and innocent.
+
+Of course Susan was pleased with what delighted Peter so much; and
+neither of them minded the little homely face, except once, when Peter
+declared it looked like the old woman herself, and he was afraid it had
+caught her ugliness.
+
+"What's that--what's that?" exclaimed the fairy, whom he supposed to
+have gone away; for he was too happy to think much about _her_. Up she
+started from Susan's easy chair, with her great eyes glittering at him,
+and her wide mouth opening as if she would devour the baby.
+
+"I said she looked like her godmother," answered Peter, holding his
+child a little closer, and moving towards the door to look at its face
+again.
+
+"Then," cried the old dame, "I must christen her. There is nothing rich
+or beautiful about her looks, and it would be foolish to call her by a
+splendid name. She will live in lonely, lowly places, and grow without
+any one's help, and always have a bright, fresh, loving face, that looks
+calmly up to heaven: we must call her Daisy. Take care of her heart,
+now, Peter; and this gift of mine will be a more precious one than ever
+was bestowed upon a queen."
+
+So she fumbled a while in her great pocket, and brought out a pair of
+rusty spectacles, which she offered Peter: but he did not know this, for
+he was looking at Susan; and the fairy laid them upon the little,
+sleeping bosom of the child, and hobbled off into the dark, and was not
+seen in Peter's house again for many a day.
+
+"What folly is the meddlesome old dame about, I wonder?" said Peter to
+himself, taking up the spectacles, and about to throw them away; but the
+child opened her eyes, and took them in her little hand in such a
+knowing way, he must needs have her mother see it.
+
+"Dear soul!" exclaimed Susan; "she will be such a comfort to me, when I
+am here alone all day with my work! What shall we name her? It must be
+something bright and pleasant; and it seems to me there is nothing
+prettier than Daisy."
+
+Now, while Peter and the old woman were talking by the door, Susan had
+been fast asleep, and had not heard what they said.
+
+"The dame has talked you into that fancy," answered Peter. "I should
+call the little one Susan."
+
+"What dame?" asked the wife, in surprise. "You cannot mean that the old
+woman has been here."
+
+If he had ever heard Susan speak an untruth, Peter would have thought
+she was deceiving him now; but he felt that she was good and true, and
+thought, perhaps, after all, she had been so drowsy as to forget the
+dame's visit; so he patiently told about it, spectacles and all.
+
+Susan took them in her hand with some curiosity, and even tried them
+upon Daisy's face; they were large and homely, besides being all over
+rust. While Daisy wore them, the moonlight broke through the boughs
+again, to show her little face, looking so old, and wise, and strange,
+that Susan snatched the spectacles off, and threw them into a drawer,
+where she quite forgot them, and where they lay, growing rustier, for
+years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+GREAT PICTURE BOOKS.
+
+
+You would not suppose that Susan's home could be any different because
+such a poor little thing as Daisy had come into it; but bright and
+pleasant as it was before, it was a hundred times brighter and
+pleasanter now.
+
+The child was so gentle and loving, and so happy and full of life, that
+Susan and Peter felt almost like children themselves, in watching her.
+No matter how tired Peter was at night, he would frolic an hour with
+Daisy, tossing the little thing in the air, lifting her up among the
+boughs till she was hidden from sight. And Susan would leave her work
+any time to admire Daisy's garden, or to dress the wooden doll that
+Peter had made for her.
+
+As for Daisy's self, she was the busiest little soul alive, after she
+once learned to walk; for at first she could only lie and look up at the
+leaves, and the great sky, so far, far off, and see the slow, white
+clouds sail past the tops of the trees, and watch the birds, that hopped
+from branch to branch and looked down at her curiously, wondering if she
+were any thing good to eat.
+
+Daisy would hold up her little hands, to tell them they'd better not
+try, and then the bird would turn it off by singing away as if he had no
+such thought, and watch her as he warbled his gay little song, that
+said, "O Daisy, I'm having a beautiful time; are you?"
+
+Then Daisy would coo, and laugh, and clap her hands, which was her song,
+and which meant, "Yes, indeed; only wait till I can use my feet, and
+have a run with you."
+
+Peter made a rough kind of cradle out of willow twigs, and hung it in a
+tree, so that the fresh, green leaves shaded it, and kept away the
+flies, and fanned Daisy's face, as she lay there swinging, when the day
+was warm, like a little hangbird in her nest.
+
+No wonder the child was always fond of birds, when she began so early to
+live with them and listen to their songs.
+
+But Daisy learned to walk in time; and then she was constantly flying
+about, like the butterflies she loved. For the little girl thought even
+more of butterflies than of birds; they seemed to her like beautiful
+flowers sailing through the air, and making calls upon the other
+flowers, that were fastened down to the earth,--poor things!--as she
+used to be before she learned to walk.
+
+She would pick the flowers sometimes, and toss them into the air to see
+if they didn't fly, and tell them they were silly things to fall back on
+the ground and wilt, when, if they only would not be afraid, they might
+float off, with all their wings, and see a little of the world.
+
+Daisy's hands were always full of flowers; and she brought some to the
+cabin which Susan had never seen before; for the good woman could not
+leave her work long enough to go in such out-of-the-way places as they
+chose to blossom in.
+
+Daisy had no work except to amuse herself; and she never tired of
+trudging under the trees, crowding her way among the tall weeds by the
+river bank, and creeping behind great rocks, or into soft, mossy places
+in the heart of the quiet wood; and here she was sure of finding strange
+and lovely things.
+
+These were the little girl's books; she had no spelling and history like
+yours, but studied the shapes of leaves and clouds, and the sunshine,
+and river, and birds.
+
+She did not know all their names, but could tell you where the swallow
+lived, and where wild honeysuckles grew, and the humming bird hid her
+little eggs, and how many nuts the squirrel was hoarding for winter
+time, and how nicely the ant had cleaned her house for spring, and when
+the winged seeds on the maple tree would change to broad green leaves,
+and the leaves themselves would change to colors as gay as the sunset,
+and then all droop and wither, and leave the bright little stars to wink
+at her through the naked boughs.
+
+The birds all knew Daisy, and were not afraid of her; they would bring
+their young ones about the door, that she might feed them with crumbs
+and seeds. And even the sly little rabbits, that started if a leaf fell,
+came quietly and nibbled grass from Daisy's hands, and let her stroke
+their long, soft ears.
+
+You may wonder that Susan was not afraid the snakes and wolves would
+devour her little girl; but, as I told you before, she never could help
+thinking that the old woman was somewhere in the wood, and remembering
+how she had smiled at looking into the baby's face, thought she would
+not let Daisy come to any harm.
+
+And she was right; for the fairy only lifted her finger when the little
+girl passed, and the wolf that had begun to watch and growl at her would
+crouch back in his den, and fall asleep.
+
+But he would not have frightened Daisy, had he come forth; she did not
+know the name of fear, and, glad to see a new play-fellow, would perhaps
+have climbed on his back, and, patting his mouth so gently with her
+little hand that he forgot to growl, would have told him now he might
+gallop along, and take her home to her mother.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+TROUBLE FOR DAISY.
+
+
+It was fortunate that Susan was so happy while she could be; for the
+poor woman little dreamed how soon her sunny home was to become a sad,
+dark place for her.
+
+Peter used to go forth in the morning, whistling as gayly as any of the
+birds; and Daisy following him, proud enough that she could carry his
+little dinner basket for the short way she went.
+
+She did not know that what was such a heavy load to her was only a
+feather for the strong man to lift, and so delighted in thinking she had
+grown old enough to help her dear father.
+
+Still Peter had to watch his dinner closely; for Daisy would espy some
+beautiful flower or vine looking at her from away off in the shade; and
+down the basket would go, and the little girl was off to take a nearer
+look, and see if she could not break off a branch to carry home to her
+mother.
+
+Sometimes Peter walked so fast, or Daisy staid so long, that they lost
+each other; and then the father made a call that could be heard for
+miles, which frightened all the birds home to their nests, and must have
+startled the old dame herself, wherever she might be lurking in the
+wood.
+
+But the call was music to Daisy; and before many minutes, she would come
+bounding into her father's arms, almost hidden in the waving white
+blossoms with which she had loaded herself.
+
+And all this while, unless Peter himself took care of it, what would
+become of his dinner!
+
+When Susan went to meet her husband at evening, now, Daisy was sure to
+be with her--one moment holding her hand, the next skipping away alone,
+or kneeling to gather bright pebbles and sheets of green moss, to make
+banks and paths in her garden. She fluttered about in the sunshine like
+the butterflies she loved, and was as harmless and gentle.
+
+But, alas! one night, no Peter came to meet them; and though Daisy kept
+thinking she heard his step or his voice, it could only be the fall of
+some dead limb or the hooting of an owl.
+
+The night grew darker, and it lightened so sharply that Daisy clung to
+her mother's skirts, and begged her to hide somewhere under a rock until
+the storm should be past, as the little girl felt almost sure her father
+had done.
+
+But Susan groped her way on, with the wind blowing the branches into
+their faces, and the dead boughs snapping and falling about them, and
+the snakes, that they had never seen before, gliding across the path,
+hissing, and running their forked tongues out with fear.
+
+And at length they found poor Peter, dead, on the ground. The tree
+which he had been cutting down had fallen suddenly, and crushed his head
+so under its great trunk that they only knew him by his clothes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE SWEETEST FLOWER.
+
+
+Small as Daisy was, she saw that her father could never speak to her
+again; she remembered how kind he had always been; how many good times
+they had had together; how, that very morning, he had waited, on his way
+to work, and climbed a tall tree, only to tell her whether the eggs were
+hatched in the blue-jay's nest.
+
+She thought, too, how he had let her go farther than usual, and then
+walked back with her part way, to be sure she was in the right path, and
+how gently he had kissed her at parting, and told her to be a good girl,
+and help her mother.
+
+Ah, she would take care to do that now, and never forget the last words
+which her dear father spoke to her.
+
+When our friends are taken away, we remember every little kind word, or
+look, or smile they ever gave us--things we hardly noticed while they
+were alive; and Daisy could remember only kindness, only smiles and
+pleasant words. She thought no one could ever have had so good a father
+as Peter was to her, and that no little girl could be so lonely and
+wretched as she was now.
+
+Who was there left to call her up in the morning before the birds, and
+to make her garden tools, and swing her in the boughs, and listen to her
+stories at night about the rabbits and flowers? It seemed as if her
+heart would break.
+
+But Daisy had one pleasant thought to comfort her--it seemed like a
+sweet flower that her father had dropped down from his new home in
+paradise, and which she would always wear in her bosom; and perhaps he
+would know her by it when, after a great many years, she should go to
+live with him there.
+
+This dear thought was, that when Peter lived, she had done every thing
+in her power to please him and make him forget his weariness, and that
+he had known of this thoughtfulness, and loved her for it, and had
+always felt younger and happier when she was by his side.
+
+If your brothers and sisters or parents die, whether by accident or
+sickness, are you sure that they would leave you such a comforter as
+Daisy had? Think about it; for when you stand by their coffins, and it
+is too late to change the past, and the cold lips have spoken their last
+word, this little flower will be worth more to you--though no one may
+see it except yourself--than all the treasure in the world.
+
+But if you have been cold and cruel, there will come into your heart,
+instead, when you think of them, a dismal shadow, which all the light of
+the blessed sun cannot drive away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE WOODMAN'S FUNERAL.
+
+
+Daisy did not see the lightning, nor hear the snakes, nor feel the drops
+of rain that began to patter down; she only felt the cold hand that
+would never lead her through the wood again; for when she lifted it, it
+fell back on the ground, dead--dead!
+
+She asked her mother if they were not going home; but Susan said her
+home was with Peter; and if he staid out in the dark wood, she must stay
+there, too. She was frightened, and wild with sorrow, and did not know
+what she was saying, and began, at last, to blame the old woman, who had
+brought her there, she said, to be so happy for a little while, and
+always afterwards lonely and wretched--the old hag!
+
+"What old hag!" said a voice close to Susan's ear, that brought her
+senses back quickly. "Is this all your gratitude, Susan? And are you
+going to kill your child, out here, with the cold and damp, because your
+husband's gone? Come! we must bury him; and then away to your home, and
+don't sit here, abusing your best friend."
+
+Daisy, you know, had never seen the woman, and she had never looked so
+dreadfully as now; she was pale and starved, and her great eyes
+glittered like the eyes of the snakes, and her voice was sharp and
+shrill enough to have frightened one on a pleasanter night than that.
+
+With Peter's axe the fairy sharpened two stout sticks; one of these she
+made Susan take, and there, by the light of the quick flashes of
+lightning, and a little lantern that the woman wore like a brooch on her
+bosom, Daisy watched them dig her father's grave.
+
+The fallen tree was one of the largest in the wood, and the two women
+could not lift it; so they dug the earth away at the side and
+underneath the trunk; and when the place was deep enough, poor Peter's
+body dropped into its grave. While her mother and the fairy were filling
+it over with earth, Daisy went for the moss which she had gathered to
+show her father, and, by the light of the fairy's lamp, picked the
+sweetest flowers, and fragrant grasses, and broad leaves that glistened
+with the rain, and scattered them on the spot.
+
+Then, with one of Susan's and one of Daisy's hands in hers, the old dame
+hurried them out of the wood. They stumbled often over the broken
+boughs, and stepped, before they knew it, on the snakes, that only
+hissed and slid away among the grass. Susan was crying bitterly, and
+their guide kept scolding her, and Daisy heard the wolves growl in their
+dens.
+
+She had heard of great funerals, where there were carriages and nodding
+plumes, and heavy velvet palls, and bells tolling mournfully; but Daisy
+thought it was because her father had been such a good man, that his
+funeral was so much grander.
+
+She knew that all about his grave, and on, on, farther than eye could
+see, the great forest trees were bending and nodding like black plumes,
+and sounds like groans and sighs came from them as they dashed together
+in the wind; the lightning was his funeral torch; and the thunder
+tolled, instead of bells, at Peter's grave; and the black clouds swept
+on like a train of mourners; and the great, quick drops of rain made it
+seem as if all the sky were weeping tears of pity for the little girl.
+
+Ah, and Daisy could not see how the dreadful old woman only seemed such,
+and was, in truth, a good and gentle fairy, who meant still to watch
+over the little orphan with tender care, as she had always done; whose
+soft, white wings, even now, were spread above, to shelter her from the
+cold rain and wind, and whose kind heart was full of pity for that
+little aching heart of hers.
+
+You and I, and all the people we know, walk through the world with this
+same strange fairy; who seems to frown, and scold, and force us on
+through cruel storms, and yet who is really smiling upon us, and
+shielding our shrinking forms with tender care, and leading us gently
+home.
+
+Have you thought yet what can be the fairy's name?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+DAISY'S MISSION.
+
+
+No sooner had Daisy stepped inside of her mother's door, than there came
+such a crash of thunder as she had never heard; and the little house
+shook as if it must surely fall.
+
+The old trees ground their boughs together, and, blown by the wind, the
+night birds dashed with their wet wings against the door; the screech
+owl hooted, for the young were washed out of her nest; and the rain
+leaked under Susan's door sill, ran across the floor, and put out the
+little fire of brushwood which was burning on the hearth.
+
+And Daisy thought of her father, out alone in this fearful night, and
+how the cold rain must be dripping into his grave.
+
+She peeped through the window. The sharp, jagged lightning made the sky
+look as if it were shattering like a dome of glass. She wondered if that
+lightning might not be the light of heaven she had heard about, and
+whether, if the sky should really fall, heaven and earth would be one
+place, and by taking a long, long journey, she could find her father,
+and live with him. And she thought that, for the sake of having him to
+take her by the hand again, she would walk to the end of a hundred
+worlds.
+
+Then the sky seemed to Daisy like a great black bell; and the thunder
+was the tongue of it that tolled so dismally over her father's grave.
+
+She was startled by a bony hand laid upon her shoulder, and looking up,
+heard the old woman say in her sharp, shrill voice, "Come, little girl!
+don't you know I am hungry after all this work? Fly round, and get me
+something to eat."
+
+And when Daisy noticed her poor, starved face, she wondered that she
+had not thought to offer her some food.
+
+So she went to the closet,--the same one which poor Peter had shown to
+his wife with so much pride,--and pointed to bread and a dish of
+milk,--for the shelves were so high that Daisy could not reach
+them,--and drew her mother's easy chair into the dryest place she could
+find, and begged the dame to seat herself.
+
+She did not wait to be asked twice, but hobbled into the chair, and, to
+Daisy's wonder, ate all the bread at a mouthful, and drank the milk at a
+swallow, and then, looking as hungry as ever, asked for more.
+
+So the little girl brought meat, and then some meal, and some dried
+fruit, and even cracked nuts; but the more she brought, the more the
+fairy wanted.
+
+If Daisy had feared any thing, she would have trembled when, at last,
+the old dame fixed her glittering eyes upon her, and began to talk.
+
+"Couldn't you do any better, Daisy, than this," she said, "for your
+mother's friend and yours? Are you not ashamed, when I am so hungry and
+tired, to give me such mean food?"
+
+"I am sorry, if you do not like it," said Daisy; "it is the best we ever
+have."
+
+"Don't tell me that," and the dame began to look angry. "Do you call it
+good food that leaves me thin as I was before, and as hungry, and my
+clothes as ragged, and does not rest or soothe my poor old aching
+bones?"
+
+"If you wait till mother has done crying, she can make a drink out of
+herbs that will stop the aching--I am sure of that," said Daisy, looking
+up in the fairy's face.
+
+"But I want it now; and, O, I am so cold! and she will cry all night.
+Do, Daisy, find me something else to eat."
+
+The poor old woman shivered as she spoke, and tears came into her eyes.
+
+"If it were daytime, I could find you berries and nuts out doors, for
+mother says I have sharp eyes."
+
+"Have you--have you? And could you find my hut? There is a beautiful
+loaf of bread and a flask of medicine on the table. O, dear! this
+dreadful pain again!" and the ugly face grew uglier, as its wrinkles
+seemed all knotting up with agony.
+
+"I am almost sure I could find it, and I am so sorry your bones ache;
+pray, let me try."
+
+"What! go out into the dreadful night, with the owls, and wolves, and
+snakes, and with bats flapping their wings in your face, and the thunder
+rolling and rumbling overhead?"
+
+"None of these things ever hurt me, and I don't believe they will now.
+May I try?"
+
+"Just listen to the wind and rain, and see the lightning cut through the
+darkness like a sword; and think, Daisy, if you should see your father,
+just as he lay in the wood, with his head all crushed."
+
+"My father has gone to heaven," said the little girl; "that is only his
+body out in the woods, just as that is his coat on the wall; and I shall
+see nothing except the nice loaf of bread and the medicine, and think
+only how they will cure your pain."
+
+Without another word, the fairy took the lantern from her bosom, and
+fastening it to Daisy's, led her to the door, and pointed out into the
+black night.
+
+"Who could see to hurt me, when it is so dark!" the little girl
+exclaimed. "Now, tell me which way I shall turn, and see if I am not
+back soon."
+
+"Walk only where the light of the lantern falls." She was saying more;
+but the wind slammed the door suddenly, and Daisy found herself alone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+FAIRY FOOD.
+
+
+The lantern made a little pathway of light, sometimes leading straight
+forward, sometimes turning, running among thick bushes or over the
+rocks; and Daisy went bravely on, never minding the frightened birds
+that fluttered through her light, like moths, nor the sad sigh of the
+wind, nor the dripping trees.
+
+She looked for pleasant things, instead of frightful ones; and let me
+whisper to you, that, with fairy help or without it, we always find, in
+this world, what we are looking for.
+
+The mosses seemed like a green carpet for her feet, and the pebbles like
+shining jewels; and the little flowers looked up at her like friends,
+and seemed to say, "We are smaller and weaker than you are, Daisy; but
+we stay out here every night, and nothing harms us."
+
+And the trees bowed, and folded their leaves above her, as she passed,
+so gently, that she thought they were trying to shelter and take care of
+her.
+
+At length the light paused before a rock; but Daisy could find no house,
+until she parted a clump of bushes, and then saw the entrance to a cave.
+
+She crept in; and as her lantern filled the place with light, she saw
+what a damp, uncomfortable home the old dame had, with only some stones
+for seats, and a table, and a ragged bed, and a smoky corner where she
+built her fire.
+
+There, however, upon the table stood the loaf and flask which Daisy had
+come to find; she took them and hurried away, for it seemed as if the
+old dame's face were looking at her out of the rocky wall on every side.
+
+[Illustration: THE LOAF AND FLASK.]
+
+It was a heavier load for the little girl than her father's basket
+had been; but she had a strong heart, if her hands were weak. She ran
+along, trying to get before the light, that was always just in front of
+her, and singing the merriest songs she knew, so as not to hear the wind
+nor think about the faces on the wall.
+
+She reached home safely, but could not open the door; for the latch was
+high, and the dame had gone fast asleep. Daisy thought she must wait
+until daylight out there in the cold, and sat on the step, feeling
+disappointed and sad enough.
+
+But one of her tame rabbits, awakened, perhaps, more easily than the
+dame, hopped out of his burrow, and nestled in Daisy's lap, and looked
+up at her with his gentle eyes, while she warmed her hands in his fur,
+and did not feel so much alone.
+
+At last the old woman started from her sleep, and wondering what had
+become of Daisy, went to look for her.
+
+She seized the bread with a cry of joy, and breaking a morsel, ate it
+eagerly, as she led Daisy towards the fire, which she had built up
+again.
+
+"Now, see the difference between your food and mine." As the fairy
+spoke, Daisy looked up, and saw, to her surprise, the wrinkles smooth
+away, and a beautiful light break over the old brown face, the wide
+mouth shrink to a little rosy one, all smiles, and pearly teeth inside.
+The fairy's eyes grew brighter than ever; but the dreadful glittering
+look had gone, and they were full of joy, and peace, and love.
+
+"Wait, now, till I take my medicine." Her voice had changed to the
+softest, most silvery one that Daisy ever heard.
+
+And when she had tasted the drink, her poor old crooked hands grew plump
+and white, her bent form straightened, and, what made Daisy wonder more,
+even her clothes began to change.
+
+First they looked cleaner, then not so faded, then the rags disappeared,
+and they seemed new and whole; and then they began to grow soft and
+rich, till the ragged cotton gown was changed to velvet and satin, the
+knotted old turban to delicate lace, that hung heavy with pearls, but
+was not so delicate and beautiful as the golden hair that floated about
+the fairy wherever she moved.
+
+"Poor child!" she said; "you are tired and cold; come, rest with me;"
+and taking Daisy in her arms, began to sing the sweetest songs, that
+seemed to change every thing into music, even the wailing tempest and
+her mother's sobs.
+
+And all the while that tender, loving face bent over her, and the gentle
+hands were smoothing her wet hair, and folding her more closely to the
+fairy's heart.
+
+Upon this pillow our tired Daisy fell asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+DAISY'S DREAMS.
+
+
+Strange and pleasant dreams came to Daisy as she slept; and in all of
+them she could see the beautiful fairy floating over her head, and her
+father walking by her side.
+
+It seemed to her that, as she watched the lightning, the sky really
+broke like a dome of glass, and came shattering down, and that after it
+floated the loveliest forms, and odors and music came pouring down, and
+light which was far clearer, and yet not so dazzling as the light of
+earth.
+
+The clouds came floating towards her, and all their golden edges were
+bright wings, that waved in time with the music; then came falling,
+falling slowly as snow flakes, what seemed little pearly clouds, but
+blossomed into flowers and then changed into sweet faces, that all
+smiled on her as they passed by.
+
+Among these the little girl searched eagerly for her father's face, when
+all at once he took her in his arms, and said, "Ha, my Daisy! is it
+you?" in his own merry, pleasant way.
+
+This startled her so much that she awoke, only to fall asleep again, and
+dream another dream as wonderful.
+
+But at length the morning sun had crept around the side of the cottage,
+found its way through the window, and fell so full on Daisy's face, that
+she could dream only of dazzling, dazzling light, which seemed burning
+into her eyes, and made her open them wide, at length.
+
+And then, alas! how every thing was changed! Her first thought was of
+the fairy; but she had gone, and Daisy had been sleeping in her mother's
+easy chair, and felt cold and lonely as she looked around upon the
+silent room.
+
+No music there, no flowers and angelic faces, and clouds like chariots
+of pearl, with golden wings to hurry them along; no father to take her
+in his arms, and call her his little Daisy.
+
+She closed her eyes, and tried to sleep again, for it seemed to her a
+great deal better to dream than to be awake in such a dreary little
+world as that. But suddenly Daisy thought of her mother, and almost at
+the very moment was aroused by a moan from another part of the room.
+
+She ran to Susan's side, and found her sick, and wretched as she was the
+night before; so Daisy bathed her head, and brought her some fresh water
+from the spring; and when she could not comfort her in any other way,
+began to tell her dreams, how she had seen her father again, and felt
+sure he must be still alive.
+
+As Susan listened, she dried her tears, and kissed Daisy so fondly that
+the little girl no longer wished to be asleep, but was glad that she
+had power to run about, and prattle, and amuse her lonely mother.
+
+For she remembered Peter's last words now, that she must be a good girl,
+and help, not herself, not sit still and have pleasant dreams, but help
+her mother.
+
+And this Daisy felt resolved to do, if only for his sake.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE DAME'S BUNDLE.
+
+
+As soon as her mother smiled once more, Daisy asked her what had become
+of the splendid fairy, and when she would be back again, and how it
+happened that the light and music had gone with her from their home.
+
+Susan had seen no fairy, and could not believe that Daisy was thinking
+of the poor old wrinkled dame. When she told the story of her journey to
+the cave, and the loaf of fairy bread, and the old dame's sudden change,
+the mother stroked Daisy's hair, and said that this was only another of
+her wonderful dreams, and that, instead of going to the rain, the rain
+had come to her, pelting upon the window so hard, it had, perhaps,
+sprinkled her face--that was all; and the light of the fairy was, she
+supposed, the light of the morning sun, that had pried her little sleepy
+lids apart, at last.
+
+Daisy felt bewildered and sorrowful at this, for she did not like to
+give up her new friend; but her mother told her how long she had known
+the dame; how she had put her hand in Peter's, years ago; and afterwards
+put Daisy in his arms, a little thing, no larger than her wooden doll,
+that could only lie in the grass or swing in its nest among the boughs,
+and look up at the sky.
+
+Daisy thought, if she could have such another dear little thing to play
+with, and love, and tell her stories to, she should be contented with
+her home, and willing to wait for her father, and forget the vision of
+the fairy that had folded her so tenderly in her arms.
+
+So she went on asking questions about the dame; and then her mother
+remembered the gift of the iron spectacles. Of course Daisy wished to
+see them; but where they were no one knew. And Susan consoled her by
+saying they were but homely and worthless things.
+
+"All things are worthless unless we make use of them," said the shrill
+voice of the dame, who in her sudden way appeared all at once in the
+room.
+
+"I only wonder that I don't grow tired of helping you," she said; "for
+you give me nothing except ingratitude. Here, take this, and see what
+fault you can find with it."
+
+She tossed a bundle into Susan's arms, put a loaf on the table, and
+pointed Daisy to the rubbish heap outside the door; then frowning
+angrily at Susan, "Pretty extravagance! to make believe you are poor,
+and throw away what is worth more than all the gold on earth. Why didn't
+you make the child wear my gift?"
+
+"She was homely enough, at first, without it," Susan answered; "and
+after she grew better looking, why should I waste my time looking up
+those old rusty spectacles, to make her a fright again?"
+
+"You will have no such trouble with the other one." As the fairy spoke,
+a lovely little face peeped out from the bundle in Susan's arms. "Now,
+tell what I shall give her, with her name."
+
+Susan had never seen such a beautiful child, and, poor as she was, felt
+grateful to the dame for this new gift; but she begged for leave to name
+the little one herself.
+
+"I will call it Peterkin, after my husband. Ah, how the dear man would
+have loved it!" And Susan began to cry.
+
+"Then her name will not match her face; if you want a Peterkin, I will
+bring you one instead of this; but her name must be Maud."
+
+So Susan gave up the name for the sake of the child's good looks, and
+begged the dame to keep her always so beautiful, and to make her rich.
+
+"That's easy enough; you should have asked me, Susan, to make her heart
+rich and beautiful. Yet rich she shall be; and no one in all the earth
+shall have so handsome a face. But, remember, it is on one condition I
+promise--that Maud and Daisy shall always live together, rich or poor;
+that they shall never spend a night apart, until Daisy goes to live with
+her father again."
+
+Susan promised, and was thanking the dame with all her heart, though
+looking at the lovely little face that nestled in her bosom, when Daisy
+flew into the room.
+
+"O mother, mother! I've seen her again, and prettier than she was at
+first. She smiled at me, and stroked my hair, and then went floating off
+among the trees, like all the faces in my dream."
+
+"Then she and the dame are not one; for, look!"
+
+"Look where? Has the dame been here again?"
+
+"To be sure; I was talking with her when you came; and the door has not
+been opened since."
+
+But no old woman was in sight; Daisy looked under the table, and in the
+closet, and every dark corner; but she was not there; and the little
+girl told her mother that she must have been dreaming, now.
+
+But Susan showed her what the dame had brought, and even put the little
+thing in Daisy's arms. It was hardly larger than a bird, and pretty as a
+flower, and as helpless, too.
+
+And Daisy almost forgot the fairy in this new delight; she thought that
+all the visions in the air were not so sweet and lovely as her sister's
+face. She could not look at it enough; and at length taking out from her
+pocket a pair of spectacles, gravely put them on, and looked at her
+sister again.
+
+Susan laughed; she couldn't help it, Daisy looked so drolly. She saw
+that the spectacles were the very ones the dame had brought; for she
+thought there could hardly be another pair so old and rusty in the
+world.
+
+The little girl said she had found them in a dust heap, where Susan
+remembered that she had emptied the rubbish from some old boxes, the day
+before. Daisy had but just cleaned the glasses with her apron, and was
+holding them up to find if they were clear, when she saw, through them,
+the beautiful fairy floating by, and smiling on her as she passed.
+
+She thought, after all, it might have been the glasses that had
+changed the sour old woman into a smiling fairy; but when she looked
+at her sister's sweet little face through them, it was not half so
+beautiful--it seemed cold and hungry, and the smile was gone.
+
+Susan felt very sure that the dame was real, for all about her were the
+care and trouble she had brought; and had she not dragged her on through
+cruel storms, and scolded her when she was trying to do her best? And if
+the beautiful smiling vision was real, why did it always float away?
+
+Susan forgot that the dame, too, floated away when her errands were
+done.
+
+So Daisy did not know but she had been dreaming again, though with her
+eyes wide open; and yet she could not forget how softly she had been
+folded once in the fairy's arms.
+
+Perhaps it was because the little girl believed in her, and was always
+watching and hoping to see her again, that the beautiful bright form
+sometimes floated past her eyes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A LEAF OUT OF DAISY'S BOOK.
+
+
+After a great many days of rain, the storm ceased; and glad enough was
+Daisy, for she had grown tired of staying in the house, or of being
+drenched and almost blown away when she ventured out of doors.
+
+The sun came out, one morning, and did not hide in clouds again, as
+usual, but poured its beautiful beams down on the earth, till the dark
+forest trees seemed touched with gold, and the little drooping flowers
+lifted up their heads once more.
+
+Daisy, as she looked from the cabin window, and saw and heard the raging
+storm, had often wondered what would become of her friends the birds--if
+their nests would not be shaken from the trees, and their little
+unfledged young ones would not shiver with cold. Then, too, the
+butterflies, she feared, would have their bright wings washed away or
+broken; and the flowers would have their petals shaken off, and be
+snapped from their slender stems.
+
+But we are apt to dread a great deal worse things than ever happen to
+us; and though Daisy did find some fallen nests and dead birds scattered
+on the ground, she could see that the storm had done more good than
+harm.
+
+For every bird there were hundreds of insects lying dead--not bees and
+butterflies, but worms and bugs, that bite the flowers, and make them
+shrivel up and fade, and that gnaw the leaves off the trees and all the
+tender buds, and sting and waste the fruit.
+
+The toads were having a feast over the bodies of these little mischief
+makers; and the birds were swinging on the tips of the leafy boughs, and
+singing enough to do your heart good; bees came buzzing about as busily
+as though they meant to make up for all the time they had lost; and a
+beautiful butterfly, floating through the sunshine, settled upon a
+flower at Daisy's feet, and waved his large wings, that looked soft and
+dry as if there had never been a drop of rain.
+
+Then the trees were so bright and clean, with the dust all washed away,
+and fresh as if they had just been made; they waved together with a
+pleasant sound, that Daisy thought was like a song of joy and praise;
+and every little leaf joined in the chorus, far and wide, stirring, and
+skimming, and breathing that low hymn of happiness.
+
+The wood was fragrant, too; and in all its hollows stood bright little
+pools, that reflected the sky, and sparkled back to the sun; the grass
+and flowers had grown whole inches since Daisy saw them last, and the
+mosses were green as emerald.
+
+Quite near the cabin, though hidden from it by the trees, was a wide
+river, that had swollen with the rain, and was rushing on with a sound
+so loud that it shook the leaves, and seemed like a mighty voice calling
+to Daisy from a great way off.
+
+So she found her way to its shore, and saw that the bridge across it had
+been swept away; and as it went foaming and tearing along, whole trees,
+and boats, and rafts were whirling in the tide that was rushing on, on,
+on, she wondered where.
+
+Then the little girl remembered how long she had been away from home,
+and hurried back to tell her mother about the bridge, stopping now and
+then to snatch a flower as she passed. Her hands were full when she
+bounded into the cabin; and she looked as bright, and fresh, and full of
+joy as any thing out doors.
+
+But her mother sat in a corner, feeling very sad, and hardly looked at
+Daisy's flowers, and said it was nothing to her how bright the sun shone
+so long as it never could rest again on Peter's face.
+
+"Why," said Daisy, "I thought father was happy in heaven, and where he
+did not have to work so hard, and there were never any storms, and the
+flowers were prettier than these."
+
+"That is true enough," Susan answered; "but it will not keep us from
+being lonely, and cold, and hungry, too, sometimes."
+
+"But we are not hungry now, and perhaps the queer old dame may bring us
+some more of her bread, or else I'm pretty sure the fairy will take care
+of us. Who feeds the flowers, mother?"
+
+"God."
+
+"What, ours--up in heaven?"
+
+"There is only one God, Daisy; he gives us meat and milk, and gives the
+flowers dew and air."
+
+"Then I suppose they were thinking about him this morning."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because, when I first went out, they seemed as if they were
+dreaming--just as I felt when I dreamed; so that I wondered if they
+hadn't seen the fairy pass, or if their eyes were sharper than ours, and
+they could see faces floating in the air when there were none for us. It
+was damp, at first, and there were great shadows; but presently the
+sunshine poured in every where, and still they kept looking straight up
+into the sky--a whole field of them, down by the river bank; and, do
+see! even these I've brought you are looking up now at our wall as if
+they could see through it. If God can see through walls, can't we, when
+we are looking after him?"
+
+"I don't know but we might, Daisy. You ask strange questions."
+
+"Just answer one more, mother. If the flowers have the same God with us,
+why do they always look so happy, and beautiful, and young? Does he
+think more of them than he does of us?"
+
+"No, child--not half so much. We suffer because God made us wiser than
+the flowers."
+
+"Why, they get trampled on, and beaten in the wind, and have their stems
+broken, and have to stay out doors in the cold all night, (Daisy was
+thinking of her midnight walk,) and sometimes they don't have any
+sunshine for a week: we should call that trouble, and I know what I
+think about it."
+
+"Tell me."
+
+"Why, you see, the flowers are always looking at the sky, and don't mind
+what is happening around them, nor wait to think who may step on their
+pretty faces. Suppose we are wiser; why can't we live as they do,
+mother, and think about God and heaven, instead of always ourselves?"
+
+"I know a little girl who lives very much like them now," said Daisy's
+mother, kissing her. "But, my dear child, how strangely you have looked
+ever since you put on those old spectacles!"
+
+"Why, am I not the same Daisy? Am I changing to a fairy, like the dame?"
+
+"I fear not; they leave a sort of shadow on your face, and make you
+homely. It seems to me, Daisy, I'd throw the old things away."
+
+"O, don't say that--not if they make me like the old woman herself. I
+guess it doesn't matter much how we look down here."
+
+"Down where?"
+
+"Why, on the earth; for you know father was not handsome; and when I saw
+him in heaven, in my dream, O, he had such a beautiful face!"
+
+So Daisy went on prattling about her father until Susan dried her tears;
+for when she thought of Peter now, it was not the poor crushed body in
+the wood, which she had wept about, but the beautiful, smiling angel in
+paradise.
+
+And when cares gathered thicker about her, and want seemed so near that
+Susan grew discouraged, Daisy would bring her flowers; and the mother
+would remember then how they were always looking up to the kind God, and
+so look up herself, and thinking about him, forget her sorrows and her
+cares.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+MAUD.
+
+
+The little Maud grew more beautiful every day; she was fair as a lily,
+except that you might think rose leaves had been crushed to color her
+cheeks. Her bright eyes were shaded by long, silky lashes; and her
+pretty mouth, when it was shut, concealed two rows of delicate, pearly
+teeth. Her hair hung in a cloud of dark-brown curls, touched on the
+edges with a golden tinge.
+
+The old dame took care that her dress should be always fine; and while
+she gave Daisy the coarsest woollen gowns, brought delicate muslins for
+Maud.
+
+But Daisy did not mind this; she was glad to see her beautiful sister
+dressed handsomely; and, besides, how could she crowd through the
+bushes by the river bank, or sit on the ground looking at grass and
+flowers through her spectacles, if her own dresses were so frail?
+
+It was not, after all, so very amusing as Daisy had hoped, to take care
+of Miss Maud, when she began to run about and play. She did not dare to
+go in the wood, for fear of bugs and snakes; she did not like to sail
+chips in the river, and make believe they were boats; she tossed away
+Daisy's wooden doll, and called it a homely thing; she pulled up her
+sister's flowers, and always wanted to go in a different place and do a
+different thing from her.
+
+The little girl found it hard to give up so many pleasures; but she kept
+thinking that Maud would be older soon, and would know better than to be
+so troublesome.
+
+And Maud was no sooner large enough to run about than Daisy wished her
+young again; for she took pains to tread on the prettiest flowers, and
+call them old weeds, and would chase every butterfly that came in sight,
+and tear his wings off, and then laugh because he could not fly; she
+pinched the rabbits' ears until they grew so wild they were almost
+afraid of Daisy, and seemed to have no pleasure except in making those
+about her very uncomfortable.
+
+Yes, Maud had one other pleasure--she loved to sit beside the still
+pools in the wood, that were like mirrors, and watch the reflection of
+her handsome face.
+
+But after this, she was sure to go home peevish and discontented,
+telling her mother and Daisy what a shame it was to live in such a
+lonely place, and have no one admire her beauty; and to be so poor, and
+depend on the charity of "that hag," as she called the dame.
+
+Then she loved to tell Daisy what a common-looking little thing _she_
+was, and how the mark of those ugly spectacles was always on her face,
+and every day it grew more homely and serious, and as if she were a
+daughter of the dame. "As for myself," Maud would end, "I am the child,
+I know, of some great man; the dame has stolen me away from him, I feel
+sure, and then thinks I ought to be grateful because she brings me these
+clothes."
+
+At this, Daisy would look up through her spectacles, and say, meekly,
+"It doesn't matter much who is our father here; for God, up in heaven,
+is the Father of us all, and gives great people their fine houses, just
+as he gives these flowers to you and me; for mother told me so."
+
+Then Maud would toss her head, and ask, "What is mother but an old
+woodcutter's wife, that has worked, perhaps, in my father's kitchen?"
+
+"God doesn't care where we have worked, but how well our work is done,"
+said Daisy.
+
+"O, nonsense! Who ever saw God? I want a father that can build me a fine
+house, all carpeted, and lighted with chandeliers, and full of servants,
+like the houses mother tells us about sometimes."
+
+"Why, Maud, what is this world but a great house that God has built for
+us? All creatures are our servants; the sun and stars are its
+chandeliers; the clouds are its beautiful window frames; and this soft
+moss is the carpet. Look, what dear little flowers grow among it, and
+gaze up as if they were saying, 'Yes--God made us all.'"
+
+"Who wants a house that every one else can enjoy as much as we, and a
+father that is not ashamed to call every dirty beggar his child?"
+
+Daisy thought her home all the pleasanter for this, and loved her
+heavenly Father more, because he had room in his heart for even the
+meanest creature; but she could not make her sister feel as she did, nor
+try, as Daisy tried, to be patient, and gentle, and happy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE SPECTACLES.
+
+
+Ashamed as Maud was of her mother, she found new cause for unhappiness,
+when, one day, Susan died.
+
+"Who is there, now," asked the beauty, "to make my fine dresses, and
+keep them clean, and to pet me, and praise my beauty, and carry me to
+the fair sometimes, so that every one may look at my face, and wish hers
+were half so handsome?"
+
+"Poor, dear mother, your hard work is done," said Daisy, in her gentle
+way, bending over the dead form that Susan had left. "You will never see
+the old dame's face again, nor hear the wolves growl in the wood, nor
+tire yourself with taking care of us."
+
+The corpse's hands were hard and rough, but they had grown so with
+working for her children; and Daisy kissed them tenderly, and filled
+them with fresh flowers, and bore her mother's body far into the still
+wood, and buried it under the same great tree that lay still, like a
+tombstone, across Peter's grave.
+
+Though Daisy was no longer a child, she could not have done this without
+fairy help. All the way, she felt as if other arms than hers were
+bearing her mother's form, and as if new strength were in her own when
+they handled the heavy spade.
+
+As Daisy worked there alone in the wood,--for she could not see the
+fairy, who was helping her,--the little birds sang sweet and tender
+songs, as if they would comfort their friend.
+
+For Daisy had loved her mother dearly, and remembered her loving,
+parental care, and could not but be sorrowful at losing her, even for a
+little while.
+
+Yet she tried to calm her aching heart, because Maud, she knew, would
+need all her care now, and must be served, and entertained, and
+comforted more carefully than ever, so that she might not constantly
+miss her mother, and spend her days in weeping over what could not be
+helped.
+
+The young girl did not think how much more toil, and care, and
+unhappiness was coming to herself; for it was always Daisy's way to ask
+what she could do for others, and not what others might do for her.
+
+And, children, if you want your friends, and God himself, to love you,
+depend upon it there is no way so sure as this--to forget yourselves,
+and think only whom you can serve. It is hard, at first, but becomes a
+pleasure soon, and as easy and natural as, perhaps, it is now for you to
+be selfish.
+
+You must not be discouraged at failing a few times; for it takes a great
+deal of patience to make us saints.
+
+But every step we move in the right way, you know, is one step nearer
+to our home in heaven--the grand and peaceful home that Christ has
+promised us.
+
+We left Daisy in the wood, with the birds singing above her, as she
+finished her pious work; perhaps, with finer ears, we might have heard
+angels singing songs of joy above the holy, patient heart that would not
+even grieve, because another needed all its strength.
+
+But the birds' songs ceased; they fluttered with frightened cries,
+instead; the wind rose, and the boughs began to dash about, and the
+night came on earlier than usual. Daisy saw there was to be another
+fearful storm; and her first thought was of Maud, alone in the lonely
+wood.
+
+How she wished for wings, like the birds, that she might fly home to her
+nest! But, instead, she must plod her way among the underbrush, which
+grew so thick in places, and the wind so tangled together across the
+path, that she went on slowly, hardly knowing whether she were going
+nearer home or deeper into the wood.
+
+"Silly girl, where are your spectacles?" said a voice by Daisy's side;
+and the old woman seized her arm, and dragged her over the rough path,
+as she had done once before.
+
+"There is no need of them, now I have your lamp," said Daisy in a sad
+voice; for she was thinking of dear faces that her eyes would never rest
+upon again.
+
+"That's as much as you know. But you cannot cheat me, Daisy. Have my
+glasses been of so little use that you put them in your pocket, and
+choose rather to look through tears?"
+
+"I did not mean to cry; but how can any one help it when----"
+
+"I know--I know; you needn't tell me of your sorrows, but take out the
+spectacles."
+
+So Daisy did as she was told, and never had the glasses seemed so
+wonderful; for, besides that now the old dame's lamp gave a clearer
+light, something made Daisy lift her eyes, and, instead of two poor
+bodies lying asleep in the storm, she saw a splendid city far, far up
+upon the tops of the tallest trees, and Peter and Susan walking there,
+hand in hand, and smiling upon her as Peter had smiled in her dream.
+
+"Well," said the shrill voice of the dame, "will you give me back my
+glasses now, and keep your tears?"
+
+"O, no!" and Daisy seized the old woman's withered hand, and turned to
+thank her; but she was not there: one moment Daisy felt the pressure of
+a gentle hand in hers, and then the beautiful fairy floated from before
+her sight, far up above the trees, and stood, at last, with her father
+and mother. All three were smiling upon her now, and pointing upwards to
+the trees, whose leaves were broader and more beautiful than any in the
+wood.
+
+But the young girl stumbled, and fell among the thorns, and seemed all
+at once to awake from a dream; for, the dame's lamp gone, her path had
+grown narrow and dark again; and she found it would not do to look any
+more at the city of gold, until she should find her own poor cabin in
+the wood.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE FATHER'S HOUSE.
+
+
+At length Daisy knew that her home was near; for, above all the howling
+of the storm, she heard her sister's sobs and frightened cries.
+
+Very tired she was, and cold, and drenched with rain, and sad, besides,
+for she could not enter the door without thinking of the burden she had
+borne away from it last.
+
+But, instead of rest and comforting words, Maud ran to meet her with
+whining and bitter reproaches, and called her cruel to stay so long, and
+foolish to have gone at all, hard-hearted to neglect her mother's child,
+and would not listen to reason nor excuse, but poured forth the
+wickedness of her heart in harsh and untrue words, or else indulged her
+selfish grief in passionate tears and cries.
+
+Alas! the wolves and snakes that Susan kept away from the cabin had
+entered it now, and our poor Daisy too often felt their fangs at her sad
+heart.
+
+She gave her sister no answering reproaches back, and did not, as she
+well might, say that it was Maud's own fault she had been left alone;
+for she had refused, when Daisy asked her help in making their mother's
+grave.
+
+When we see people foolish and unreasonable, like Maud, we must consider
+that it is a kind of insanity; they don't know what they are saying.
+Now, when crazy people have their wild freaks, the only way to quiet
+them is by gentleness; and we must treat angry people just the same,
+until _their_ freaks pass.
+
+You would not tease a poor crazy man, I hope; and why, then, tease your
+brother or sister when their senses leave them for a little while?
+
+As soon as Maud would listen, Daisy began to tell about the beautiful
+city she saw through her spectacles, and how the dreadful old dame had
+changed to a graceful fairy, and floated up above the trees.
+
+But her sister interrupted her, to ask why she had never told before of
+the wonderful gift in her spectacles, and called her mean for keeping
+them all to herself.
+
+She knew very well that the reason was, Daisy had never found any one to
+believe in what she saw, and that even her mother laughed at her for
+wearing such old things.
+
+Maud snatched them eagerly now from Daisy's hand, but said, at first,
+she could only see the lightning and the rain, and then suddenly dashed
+them on the ground, with a frightened cry.
+
+For she had seemed, all at once, to stand out in a lonely wood, by
+night, and to look through the ground, at her feet, and see as plainly
+as by daylight the dead form of her mother, with the rain drops, that
+pelted every where, dripping upon the flowers which Daisy had put in
+her folded hands.
+
+Maud would not tell this to her sister, but said peevishly, "Your old
+glasses are good for nothing, as I always thought; and you only want me
+to wear them so as to spoil my beauty, and make me as homely as you.
+Tell me again about the place you saw our mother in, though I don't
+believe a word of what you say."
+
+Daisy knew better, and answered, "It was a more beautiful city than any
+we ever thought about in the world. This earth seemed like its cellar,
+it was so dull and cold here after I had seen that glorious light; the
+trees looked in it as if they were made of gold."
+
+"O, you are always talking about light and trees; tell me about the
+people and the houses."
+
+"The houses were so bright, I cannot tell you exactly how they looked;
+the foundations of them were clear, dazzling stones, of every color;
+even the streets were paved with glass; and the walls were gold, and
+the gates great solid pearls!"
+
+"What nonsense, Daisy! Didn't the shop-keeper tell us, at the fair, that
+one little speck of a pearl cost more than my new gown? Now, what of the
+people?"
+
+"You didn't look at the houses, after once seeing them; they had such
+lovely faces, and such a kind, gentle look, I could cry at only thinking
+of them now."
+
+"Don't cry till you've finished your story. Were any of them handsomer
+than the rest? And what kind of dresses did they wear?"
+
+"Their clothes were made of light, I should think; for they were softer
+than spider webs, and kept changing their shape and color as the people
+moved about."
+
+"How could they?"
+
+"Why, all the light poured from one place, that I could not look into;
+and even the heavenly people, when they turned towards it, folded their
+wings before their faces."
+
+"That is where I should build my house."
+
+"O, no, my sister; that is where our heavenly Father has built his
+throne; and it is the light from him that makes the whole city splendid,
+without any sun or moon. You cannot tell what a little, dark speck I
+felt before God: I trembled, and did not know where to turn, when one of
+the people came and took my hand."
+
+"How frightened I should have been! Did he have wings?"
+
+"I can't remember; but he moved--all in the heavenly city move--more
+quickly and more easily than birds. They want to be in a place, and are
+there like a flash of light; and they can see and hear so far, that the
+beautiful man who spoke to me said he saw me kiss our mother's hands,
+and put flowers in them, and carry her into the wood."
+
+"Did he say any thing about me?"
+
+"Yes--that some time you would love him better than any one else. And he
+told me why the people's clothes kept changing: when they went nearer
+our Father, their faces, and every thing they wore, became more splendid
+and lovely, but as they moved away from him, grew darker and coarser;
+and yet, Maud, the commonest of all the people there is beautiful as our
+fairy, and wears as splendid clothes."
+
+"What was the man's name? I hope he was not common, if I must love him."
+
+"No, he was the greatest in heaven; all the men and angels bowed to him,
+and they called him Christ."
+
+"O, I would give every thing to see him; you never shall go through the
+wood alone, Daisy, for fear he will come again when I'm away."
+
+"He could come to our house as well as to the grave. And I'll tell you
+another strange thing about the city, Maud: some of the roads, you know,
+are glass, and some are gold; and there is a beautiful river, like
+crystal, shaded with palm trees, and sweeping on till it is lost in the
+great light."
+
+"I don't see any thing wonderful in that, if the rest of your story be
+true."
+
+"I have not finished: these broad roads ended in narrow paths; and from
+the river trickled tiny streams, that somehow came down over the golden
+walls of the city, and over the clouds, and the tops of trees, into this
+very earth we are standing on."
+
+"O Daisy! are you sure? Could I find one of the paths, and so climb up
+to heaven, and find the beautiful Christ I am to love?"
+
+"Yes, he told me so himself, and pointed to all the people on earth that
+were in those paths; and I saw a brightness about them, and a calm look
+in their faces, such as God's angels have. And then Christ told how all
+who tasted of the streams grew strong; beautiful, and glad; sick people,
+that stepped into them, were healed; and those who washed in the water
+were never unclean again."
+
+And Daisy did not tell, because she feared it might make her sister
+envious and sad, that the Beautiful One had kissed her forehead, and
+said, "Daisy, you have picked many a flower beside these streams, and
+they have soothed your father's weariness, and healed your mother's
+aching heart; and when you come to live with me, and I place them all on
+your head in a wreath that shall never fade, no angel in heaven will
+wear a more beautiful crown."
+
+Daisy looked up at him then, and asked, "But will you take them away
+from my mother? And shall not Maud have some? Only let me live near you,
+and give her the crown."
+
+Christ smiled, and then looked sad, and said, "It will be long before
+your sister is willing to walk in such straight, narrow paths, and dwell
+beside such still waters, as she must in order to find these flowers;
+but you will always be pointing them out to her; and, in the end, she
+will love me better than she loves any one else. I would gladly help
+her, Daisy, for your sake; but only they who love can dwell with me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE WATCHMAN.
+
+
+So tired was Daisy, after all the labor and excitement of the day, that
+as soon as she had finished her story she fell asleep. Maud tried until
+she was tired to arouse her sister, and make her talk some more; but
+Daisy, except for her quiet breathing, was like one dead.
+
+Maud could not sleep; she listened to the howling of the storm, and then
+remembered the grave she had seen through Daisy's spectacles, out there
+in the night; and then her sister's vision of the beautiful, shining
+city, whose people were clothed in light, and thought of the highest
+among them all, the King, who waited for her love.
+
+"He will not care for Daisy, with her wise little face, when once he has
+seen mine," thought Maud. "I shall wear my finest garments, and put on
+my most stately and haughtiest look, to show him I am not like common
+people. I hope he does not know that every thing I have comes from that
+wretched old dame."
+
+Here there sounded a rattling at the door latch, as if some one were
+coming into the cabin. Maud's heart beat loud and fast for fright; she
+imagined that dreadful things were about to happen, and scolded poor
+Daisy, as if she could hear, for pretending to be asleep.
+
+Then came quick flashes of lightning, that made the room like noonday
+for one instant; and then thunder in crashing peals, that sounded more
+dreadful in the silent night; and then a stillness, through which Maud
+could hear the voices of the wolves, and the heavy, pelting drops.
+
+Sometimes she thought the river would swell, and swell, till it flooded
+into the cabin, and drowned them both; sometimes she thought the
+lightning would kill her at a flash, or the wolves would break through
+the slender door, and eat her up, or the wind would blow the cabin down,
+and bury her.
+
+Wasn't it strange that the thought never came to her, as she lay there
+trembling, what a poor, weak thing she was, and how good the fairy had
+been to keep all mischief from her until now?
+
+She did think of the fairy, at length, and resolved to call her help, if
+it were possible. She lighted a lamp, and held it so near Daisy's eyes
+as almost to burn the lashes off; this she found better than shaking or
+scolding, for Daisy started up from her pleasant dreams, and asked where
+she was and what was happening.
+
+"That!" said Maud, as a still sharper flash of lightning ran across the
+sky, and then thunder so loud that it drowned Maud's angry voice.
+
+Daisy covered her face, for the lightning almost blinded her, and then
+first found that she had fallen asleep with the fairy spectacles on.
+
+"Come, selfish girl," said Maud, "look through your old glasses; and if
+they are good for any thing, you can find what has become of the dame,
+and if she is still awake and watching over us."
+
+Then Daisy told how she had been once to the old woman's cave; and if it
+were not for leaving her sister alone, would go again to-night.
+
+Maud would not listen to this at first, but told Daisy that she was
+deceiving her, and only wanted to creep off somewhere and sleep, and
+leave her to be eaten by the wolves. As she spoke, Daisy's face lighted
+all at once with the beautiful smile which Peter saw, the day that she
+was born.
+
+"O Maud, listen, and you will not be afraid," she said in her gentle
+voice. "I seemed to see, just now, the night, and the storm, and our
+cabin, and myself asleep--all as if in a picture. The lightning flashed
+and thunder rolled; the wolves were creeping about the door, and
+sniffing at the threshold, and the cabin rocked in the wind like a
+cradle.
+
+"But just where you are standing, Maud, was an angel bending over me,
+and shading my eyes from the dazzle with her own white wings. She had
+such a quiet, gentle face as I never saw any where except in my vision
+of our Father's house."
+
+"Were her eyes black, or blue like mine? I wonder if Christ ever saw
+her."
+
+"I do not remember the color; but her eyes were full of love, and pity,
+and tenderness; and when I seemed to awake, and look up at her, she
+pointed out into the night."
+
+"And there, I suppose, you will pretend that you saw something else very
+fine--as if I should believe such foolish stories! But talk on, for it
+keeps you awake."
+
+"No, Maud, nothing seemed beautiful after the angel's face; but I saw a
+strong city, with walls, and towers on the walls, and with watchmen
+walking to and fro to keep robbers away. And I saw a great house, as
+large as a hundred of ours, with heavy doors, and bolts, and locks, and
+many servants--strong men, sleeping in their beds, for it was night.
+
+"And in one of the inmost rooms, where all was rich and elegant, and the
+carpet was soft as moss, and the muslin curtains hung like clouds, lay a
+girl about my age, but a great deal more beautiful, asleep."
+
+"Was she handsomer than I?" interrupted Maud.
+
+"I had not time to ask myself; for, as I looked, the door opened softly,
+and two thieves crept in, and snatched the jewels that lay about the
+room, and then, seeing a bracelet on her white arm, went towards the
+bed.
+
+"I was about to scream, when the fairy softly put her hand before my
+mouth, and pointed again.
+
+"As soon as the thief touched her arm, the girl awoke, and shrieked
+aloud; and, when they could not quiet her cries, the men struck at her
+with their sharp knives, and left her dead.
+
+"Then the angel whispered, 'Daisy, there is only one hand that can save;
+there is one eye that watches, over rich and poor, the crowded city and
+the lonely wood, alike. That eye is God's; unless he keep the city, the
+watchman walketh in vain.'
+
+"So, Maud, the angel will take care of us, if we only trust in her."
+
+Maud's fears were quieted so far by Daisy's words, that she urged her
+sister now to go and seek the dame, and leave her there alone.
+
+The truth was, Maud had a feeling that, if poor little Daisy had an
+angel to watch over her, she, who was so much more beautiful, could not
+be left to perish. Perhaps, even the glorious Christ would come; and if
+he did, she would rather not have her sister in the way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE FAIRY'S CAVE.
+
+
+The old dame had built a fire in the corner of her cave, and sat, alone,
+watching the embers.
+
+Presently she heard a sound unlike the storm--a parting of the bushes
+outside, a crackling of dry sticks upon the ground; and, all at once,
+Daisy's bright face appeared, seeming to bring a sunshine into the
+gloomy den.
+
+Daisy was dripping with rain, and felt a little afraid that the dame
+would scold her because her feet made wet tracks on the floor.
+
+But the fairy seemed in a merry mood to-night--perhaps she was glad of
+some one to keep her company. She laughed till the old cave rang again,
+when her visitor told that she had been frightened by the storm; for she
+said it was music in her ears, and ought to be in the ears of every
+one.
+
+So she drew a stool before the fire for Daisy, and, while wringing the
+dampness from her dress, asked what had become of the spectacles.
+
+"O, they are safe enough," answered Daisy. "I know now how much they are
+worth, and what a splendid present you gave me, though it seemed so
+poor. You are very good to us, dame."
+
+"Better than I seem--always better than I seem," she muttered, looking
+into the fire still. "Now, if you think so much of your glasses, put
+them on."
+
+Daisy wiped the water from them on a corner of the fairy's dress, for
+her own was too wet, and did as she was told.
+
+And, down, down miles beneath the cave, she saw fires burning, blazing,
+flashing, flaming about, and filling the whole centre of the earth;
+beside them the lightning was dull, and the old dame's fire seemed
+hardly a spark.
+
+She saw whole acres of granite--the hard stone that lay in pieces about
+the wood, half covered with moss and violets; acres of this were rolling
+and foaming like the river in a storm, melted and boiling in the fiery
+flames.
+
+"Why, in a few minutes, the cave itself, and all the earth, will melt,
+and we shall be burned up," said Daisy, alarmed.
+
+"O, no," laughed the fairy. "The fire was kindled thousands of years
+before you were born; and the granite your violets grow upon has boiled
+like this in its day; but we are not burned yet, and shall not be.
+There's a bridge over the fire."
+
+And, surely enough, when Daisy looked again, she saw great cold ribs of
+rock rising above the flames and above the sea of boiling stone, up and
+out, like arches on every side. Upon this rock the earth was heaped,
+layer above layer, until on its outside countries, and cities, and great
+forests were planted, and fastened together, it seemed, by rivers and
+seas.
+
+In the beds of rivers, in crevices of rock, in depths of the earth, were
+hidden precious stones and metals; and where the rocks rose highest,
+they formed what we call mountains, that buried their soaring heads in
+the sky, and stretched along the earth for many hundred miles.
+
+"What can this rock be made of?" asked Daisy. "Look!" and, to her
+wonder, she saw that it was all little cells, crowded with insects of
+different kinds. She asked the dame how many there were in one piece of
+stone which she picked up, and which was about an inch square.
+
+"About forty-one thousand millions of one kind, and many more of
+another," she answered carelessly.
+
+"You could not make Maud believe that," thought Daisy; and the dame, as
+if seeing into her mind, continued,--
+
+"But it is only the one little world we live in which you have seen thus
+far: look above."
+
+The roof of the cave seemed gone; and Daisy beheld the stars, not far
+off and still, as they had always seemed, but close about her, whirling,
+waltzing, chasing each other in circles, with such tremendous speed that
+it made one dizzy to watch.
+
+And they were no longer little points of light, but worlds like
+ours--many of them larger than our earth, which was whirling too, and
+seemed so small that Daisy hardly noticed it amidst the beaming suns.
+
+There were no handles, no fastenings, no beams, or ropes, or anchors to
+those flying worlds, that dashed along at such mad speed; she wondered
+they did not strike against each other, and shatter, and fall.
+
+"O, no," said the dame; "the Hand which made these worlds can keep them
+in their places. But how many stars do you suppose there are?"
+
+"O, I could not count them in a week."
+
+"No, nor in a lifetime. It takes more than that to count one million;
+and there are more than twenty million worlds."
+
+"There will be no use in telling that to Maud," thought Daisy; "she'll
+never believe me."
+
+And again the fairy saw into her heart, and answered, "Only the pure in
+heart can see God, and believe in him. Maud thinks there is no truth,
+because her weak mind cannot grasp it.
+
+"Now, Daisy, think that all these worlds are God's--made, and watched,
+and loved by him. You see in many of them mountains such as the piece of
+stone you looked into; you see rivers, earth, and sky; and I tell you
+the truth when I say, that all of these are crowded, fuller than you can
+dream, with creatures He has made. And cannot He who made the lightning
+govern it? So, do not fear the howling of the storm again; it is your
+Father's voice."
+
+"How great he is! I am afraid of him!" said Daisy.
+
+"You may well be afraid to offend him, but only that; for God is a
+gentle, loving Father. He feels when the tiniest insect in this stone is
+hurt; and the same mighty Hand that guides the stars, and roofs over the
+fires that might burn up our earth,--the same Hand led you through the
+storm to-night, or, Daisy, you would not have found my cave."
+
+The dame's last words reminded Daisy that she had left her sister alone;
+and though Maud had surprised her by saying that she need not hurry
+back, Maud might have changed her mind, and complain of the very thing
+she asked an hour before.
+
+She flew home, therefore--falling many a time, and wounding her hands
+with the sharp sticks in her path. Great trees were torn up by the
+roots, and came crashing down, in the dark, scattering earth and pebbles
+far and wide; but Daisy walked among them all unharmed, and was not even
+frightened; for she knew some kind hand must be guiding her, and
+thought of the Watchman who never sleeps.
+
+Reaching the cabin, she found Maud in a quiet slumber; and, lying down
+beside her, Daisy was soon dreaming over again all she had seen through
+the spectacles.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+DAISY ALONE.
+
+
+The sisters lived together comfortably enough in the wood, for the old
+dame still supplied their wants; and Daisy grew so accustomed to Maud's
+complaints and reproaches, that she did not mind them so much as at
+first.
+
+Then it was such a joy when, sometimes, Maud would be pleased and
+satisfied, and speak a kind word or two, that her sister forgot all the
+rest.
+
+The fairy had been in the habit, after Susan's death, of taking Maud to
+the fair sometimes, where she could see the people, and choose handsome
+gowns for herself, and hear what was going on in the world.
+
+Meantime Daisy would remain at home, cleaning the house and washing
+Maud's dresses, and baking some nice thing for her to eat when she
+should come home tired from the fair.
+
+You may think this hard for Daisy; but you are mistaken, this time, for
+she was never so merry as when working thus alone. There was no one to
+meddle and complain when she was trying to do her best. Let Maud depart,
+and all was peace in Daisy's home.
+
+Maud seemed to think that Daisy was made for her servant; and when she
+wished to enjoy herself alone, or to do some kind deed,--for other
+people lived, now, in the neighborhood of the cabin,--her sister would
+always interfere, and complain and whine so grievously that Daisy
+yielded to her.
+
+But Maud away, and her work all finished in the house, Daisy would clap
+on her spectacles, and then such a wonderful world as stretched around
+her! Nothing was common, or mean, or dead; all things were full of
+beauty and surprise, when she looked into them.
+
+The insects that stung Maud, and made her so impatient, would settle
+quietly on Daisy's hand, and let her find out how their gauzy,
+glittering wings were made, and see all the strange machinery by which
+they could rise and fly, and the little beating hearts and busy heads
+they had.
+
+Then they would go slowly circling to their homes; and Daisy would
+softly follow, and find how they lived, and what they ate, and what
+became of them in winter time, and all about their young.
+
+The birds, meantime, would come and sing to her about their joy, their
+young, their fairy nests, their homes among the shady summer leaves; the
+poorest worm, the ugliest spider, had something in him curious and
+beautiful.
+
+Then she would study the plants and trees, see the sap rising out of the
+ground, and slowly creeping into every branch and leaf, and the little
+buds come forth, and swell, and burst, at length, into lovely flowers.
+
+She would sit upon the mossy rocks, and think how far down under the
+earth they had been, and how full they might be of living creatures now;
+and then bending over the violets that had grown in their crevices,
+would count their tiny veins, and find how air and sunshine had mixed
+with the sap to color and perfume them.
+
+All these works of his hands made Daisy feel how near the great God was
+to her, and that she could never go where he had not been before, and
+where his eye would not follow her.
+
+And then, amidst her troubles and toils, she had but to think of the
+beautiful city above, where Peter and Susan were waiting for her, where
+the spirits clothed in light would be her teachers and friends, and she
+would see as far, perhaps, as they, and learn more a thousand times than
+even her wonderful spectacles could teach her now.
+
+But, one day, the dame took a fancy in her head that she was too old to
+go to the fair again, and, in future, Daisy must go instead, and take
+care of Maud.
+
+This pleased neither of the sisters; for Daisy now must lose her only
+hours of quiet; and Maud, instead of the old crone who had passed for
+her servant, must appear with the shabby little Daisy, of whose meek,
+serious face, and country manners, she was very much ashamed.
+
+Then there was the mark of the spectacles to attract attention, and make
+every one ask who it could be that had such a wise look on a face so
+young.
+
+But the two sisters started, one morning, for the fair, on the selfsame
+road on which Peter had met his wife, and along which he had led her
+home, to make his cabin such a happy place.
+
+It was not so bad for Maud to have Daisy with her as she had feared; for
+the good natured sister carried all her parcels, found out cool springs
+where they could drink, and pleasant spots where they could sit in the
+cool grass and rest sometimes, instead of hurrying on through the dust,
+as the dame had always done.
+
+Then Daisy had a cheerful heart, and was pleased with every thing she
+met, and so full of her stories and cheerful songs, that the way seemed
+not half so long to Maud as when she went with the dame.
+
+Ah, but Maud didn't think how much shorter and brighter her sister's
+path through life would have been had _she_, instead of her selfish
+temper, a good and gentle heart like that which was cheering her now.
+
+Daisy took her spectacles along, you may be sure; and besides that she
+saw through them many a flower, and bird, and stone, and countless other
+things to which her sister was as good as blind, Maud found them very
+useful at the fair.
+
+For the glasses showed things now exactly as they were--in the rich
+silk, rough places or cotton threads; calicoes, gay enough to the naked
+eye, through these looked faded and shabby. Was any thing shopworn, moth
+eaten, or out of fashion, the spectacles told it as plainly as if they
+had spoken aloud.
+
+And just so, seen through these magical glasses, the people changed. A
+man with a smiling face and pleasant words would appear dishonest and
+cunning, when Daisy put on her spectacles. A maiden with a proud and
+beautiful face looked humbled, all at once, and sad, and dying of a
+broken heart. People that walked about in splendid clothes, and looked
+down on the others, seemed suddenly poor beggars, hiding beneath their
+garments as if they were a mask.
+
+The dame would never carry bundles for Maud, nor allow herself to be
+hurried or contradicted in any way; but Daisy bore all the burdens of
+her own accord, and yielded to Maud's caprices, however foolish they
+might be, if they troubled no one except herself.
+
+But on their way home, something occurred in which Daisy resolved to
+have her own way; and Maud was so angry that she would not walk with her
+sister, and hurrying on, left her far behind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE QUARREL.
+
+
+It was the old dame that caused the sisters' quarrel. A few miles from
+the cabin she appeared, creeping through the dusty road, with a bundle
+of sticks three times as big as herself on her head.
+
+"Pretty well!" exclaimed Maud. "The old creature could not find strength
+enough to walk a little way with me; but she can pick up sticks all day
+for herself, and carry home more than I could even lift."
+
+The dame made no reply; perhaps she did not hear the beauty's words; but
+Maud was so vexed that she brushed roughly past, and upset all her
+sticks, and the poor old dame in the midst of them.
+
+The fairy lifted her wrinkled arm, which was covered with bleeding
+scratches, and shook her finger angrily at Maud, who only laughed, and
+said, "It is good enough for you; take care, next time, how you stand in
+my way. I am the one to be angry, after you've scattered your sharp old
+sticks all over the road to fray my new silk stockings. Come, Daisy,
+make a path for me through them."
+
+Daisy helped the dame to her feet again, and wiped away the dust and
+blood, and bound the arm up with her own handkerchief, and then began
+patiently to pick up all the sticks, and fasten them in a bundle.
+
+She did this while Maud and the fairy were quarrelling and reproaching
+each other. We could often make up for a fault or accident in the time
+which we spend mourning over it and deciding whose was the fault.
+
+Maud, in her heart, was not sorry for what her sister had now done,
+because she feared the fairy, and knew, if she went too far in offending
+her, that she might never appear again; and then Miss Maud would eat
+coarse food, and wear shabby clothes, like her sister Daisy.
+
+Still she pretended to be angry, and scolded Daisy well for undoing what
+she had done, and comforting the old woman when she chose to punish her.
+
+Yet more vexed was she when Daisy took the sticks on her own head; for
+the dame seemed tired and faint, and trembled like a leaf from the
+fright and pain of her fall.
+
+Maud drew herself up haughtily, and asked if she was expected to walk in
+a public road in company with a lame old hag and a fagot girl. Her eyes
+flashed, and the color glowed in her delicate cheeks, as she spoke;
+Daisy thought she had never seen her sister look so beautiful, and even
+took out the glasses that she might look more closely at the handsome
+face.
+
+Alas, what a change! Serpents seemed coiling and hissing about Maud's
+breast; her eyes were like the eyes of a wolf; the color on her cheeks
+made Daisy think of the fires she had seen burning so far down in the
+centre of the earth; and the ivory whiteness of her forehead was the
+dead white of a corpse.
+
+It was not strange that, Maud's beauty gone, her sister grew less
+submissive; for Daisy, even with her spectacles, had found nothing
+except beauty to love in her sister. She thought a lovely heart must be
+hidden somewhere underneath the lovely face.
+
+But now she had looked past the outside, and all was deformed and
+dreadful.
+
+"I should like to know if you mean to answer," said Maud pettishly; "I
+told you either to throw down the sticks, or else I would walk home
+alone."
+
+"I must help the poor dame; and as for our walk, we both know the way,"
+was Daisy's quiet answer.
+
+So they parted; and Daisy began to cheer the dame, who groaned
+dreadfully, by telling of all the fine things at the fair, and the use
+she had made of her spectacles, and how grateful she must always be for
+such a wondrous gift.
+
+It pleased the dame to have her glasses praised; and so she forgot to
+limp and grumble about her wounds, and walked on gayly enough by Daisy's
+side, telling sometimes the wisest, and sometimes the drollest, stories
+she had ever heard.
+
+But their mirth was interrupted by the sound of sobs; and Daisy's quick
+eyes discovered, sitting among the bushes by the way, a little girl, all
+rags and dust, crying as if her heart would break.
+
+"Never mind her; she will get over it soon enough," said the dame.
+
+"I wonder how you would have liked it, had I said that about you, an
+hour ago," thought Daisy, but made no reply, except to turn and ask the
+child what she could do for her.
+
+"O, give me food, for I am starved, and clothes, for I am cold, and
+take me with you, for I am so lonely," sobbed the child.
+
+"Then don't cry any more, but take my hand; and here are some wild
+grapes I picked just now--taste how fresh and sweet they are."
+
+The little girl laughed for joy, with the tears still glistening on her
+face, and soon leaving Daisy's hand, skipped about her, flying hither
+and thither like a butterfly, filling her hands with flowers, and then
+coming back, to look up curiously in the strange old face of the dame.
+
+"You are a good soul, after all," said the fairy, when Daisy returned to
+her side. "See how happy you have made that little wretch!"
+
+"Yes, and how easily, too! O, why do not all people find out what a
+cheap comfort it is to help each other? I think, if they only knew this,
+that every one would grow kind and full of charity."
+
+Daisy did not dream that the child listened, or would understand what
+she was saying; but the little girl, tears springing into her eyes
+again, answered softly, "O, no, not all."
+
+"Why, have you found so many wicked people, my poor child?"
+
+"Perhaps they are not wicked; but they are not kind;" and the girl's
+voice grew sadder. "Some time before you came, a beautiful lady passed;
+she was not dressed like you, but a hundred times handsomer; and I
+thought she would have ever so much to give away; so I asked her for a
+penny to buy bread."
+
+"And did she give you one?" asked Daisy, who saw that the lady must have
+been her sister Maud.
+
+"Not she; she called me names, and pushed me away so roughly that I fell
+into a bunch of nettles; and they stung till it seemed as if bees were
+eating me up. Look there!"
+
+So she held up her poor little arms, that were pinched with poverty, as
+the dame's with age; they were mottled, white and red or purple, with
+the nettle stings; and only looking at them made her cry again.
+
+But Daisy comforted her. "There, I wouldn't mind; she did not mean to
+hurt you. And, besides, you must blame me; for I offended her, and made
+her cross. She is my sister."
+
+"O, dear, then I don't want to go home and live with you; let me go back
+and die, if I must. That lady would beat me, and pull my hair, I know.
+When you met me, I was not crying for hunger, though I was so hungry,
+nor for cold, though my clothes were all worn out, but because she was
+so unkind. Don't make me live with her."
+
+Here the fairy drew the little girl towards her, and whispered, "Daisy
+has to live with her, and be fretted at and worked hard all the time; if
+you go, Maud will have another to torment, and will leave her sister in
+peace sometimes."
+
+Then the tears were dried at once; and the child, taking Daisy's hand,
+said firmly, "Wherever you lead me I will go."
+
+Daisy never knew what made her change her mind, for she had not heard
+the fairy's whisper; but angels in heaven knew it, and saw how, at that
+moment, the child unconsciously stepped into one of the golden paths
+that lead to the beautiful city on high.
+
+For no good deed, no good thought or intention even, is lost. Few,
+perhaps, behold them here; but hosts of the heavenly people may always
+be looking on.
+
+And even if they were not, it is better to be good and kind: the good
+deed brings its own reward; it makes our hearts peaceful; it makes us
+respect ourselves, so that we can look serenely in the face of every
+one, and, if they blame us, answer, "I have done the best I could."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+TWILIGHT.
+
+
+When Maud had gone far enough to lose sight of Daisy and the dame, she
+slackened her pace, and looked about to see how beautiful the path had
+grown.
+
+The trees met in green arches above her head; the road side was
+sprinkled with lovely flowers, fragrant in the evening air; and the
+breeze, stirring freshly, gave motion and a sweet, low sound to every
+thing. Insects were chirping merrily, and stars began to twinkle through
+the boughs.
+
+Even Maud did not feel lonely; she had much to remember about the
+fair--all her purchases, all the compliments she had heard paid to her
+beauty, all Daisy's usefulness, and how sure she would be to make her go
+again.
+
+But the scene about her grew every moment quieter and more beautiful; so
+that, leaving her worldly thoughts, a solemn feeling came over Maud, and
+she began to think of the still more beautiful place which was some time
+to be her home,--
+
+And then of that Glorious One whom she was to love; mean and coarse
+seemed her earthly lovers when she thought of him, and their compliments
+vulgar and idle beside his gracious words.
+
+"Ah, if I could but see this Christ once," thought Maud, "so that I
+might know what would please him, and could always remember him just as
+he really is! It is strange that he does not come when he must know how
+I am longing to behold his face."
+
+And, in truth, Maud had never for an hour forgotten her sister's vision,
+but was constantly thinking what more she could do to make herself
+attractive when the Beautiful One should come.
+
+She would not go out at noon, for fear of tanning her complexion; she
+hardly ate enough to live, because of a fancy that angels have very poor
+appetites; she gave up the sweet smile which she had preserved with so
+much care, and looked serious, and even sad. And the foolish girl made
+it an excuse for not doing her share of the household work, that she
+could not go to heaven with the stains of labor on her hands.
+
+"What more can he require of me?" thought Maud. "Let him but say, and I
+will do any thing to serve this greatest of all the angels--will
+die--will be his slave!"
+
+In the twilight, Maud saw, all at once, beside her a being more
+beautiful than she had even thought her Christ. He was thin and pale; he
+looked tired, and there were drops of blood on his forehead and tears in
+his eyes.
+
+Yet was there something noble and good about him, that seemed grander
+than all the beauty of this earth, and melted the heart of the haughty
+Maud; so that she asked him to come to her cabin for food, and promised
+to make the old dame give him clothes.
+
+He shook his head, and answered, "I have come to you before, naked, and
+hungry, and tired, and sad; but you drove me away."
+
+"O, no, you are mistaken," said Maud; "I never saw you in my life
+before."
+
+"When you refused food and shelter to the poor, old, and wretched, you
+were starving and freezing me."
+
+"How could I know that?" said Maud, a little peevishly. "But, come, take
+my hand, and I will lead you where there is shelter and food."
+
+He drew back from the hand she offered. "I cannot touch these fingers;
+wicked words are written over them."
+
+"No such thing!" said Maud, thoroughly vexed. "There is not a man at the
+fair but would be proud to take my hand. Read the wicked words, if you
+can."
+
+"Waste, weakness, indolence, selfishness, scorn, vanity," he read, as
+if the hand were a book spread out before him.
+
+And then the beautiful being disappeared; and Maud, never dreaming that
+she had spoken with CHRIST, and hearing her sister's voice not far
+behind, hurried on quickly, so as to be in the cabin first.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+THE FAIRY LETTERS.
+
+
+Maud was so tired of being alone, and so anxious, besides, to ask if
+Daisy had seen the stranger who disappeared from her, that she ran good
+naturedly enough to the door, to welcome her sister.
+
+But when she saw the dame's wretched old face, and the little beggar
+whom she had thrust away so scornfully, and Daisy herself bending under
+the heavy load of sticks, Maud's wrath came back again.
+
+"Here I shall have to wait an hour for my supper," she complained,
+"because you chose to lag behind, and tire yourself with bringing
+burdens for other folks. I should like to know where you will put your
+precious friends: not in _our_ house--be very sure of that."
+
+But the dame quickly silenced her by asking, "Who has fed, and clothed,
+and taken care of you and all your kith and kin? Who gave you the gown
+on your back and the beauty in your cheeks? And when you found your
+sister lying half dead by the roadside,--as you would have been but for
+my care,--what were you willing to do for her? O Maud, for shame!"
+
+"She is no sister of mine," answered Maud, making way; however, as she
+spoke, for the beggar to enter her door.
+
+"Ask Daisy," was the dame's reply.
+
+"O Maud, I was so sorry that you left us," Daisy said; "for the
+beautiful man I saw in heaven, whom you are to love, came and spoke to
+me, with a look and words I can never forget in all my life."
+
+"Where was it?" asked the sister eagerly.
+
+"In that part of the road which our father used to call the Church,
+because the trees made such grand arches overhead, and it was so still
+and holy, with the stars looking through the boughs. You remember the
+elm, with the grape vine climbing up among its boughs, and hanging full
+of fruit: I met him there."
+
+"But he could not be half so beautiful as the man I saw in that very
+place," boasted Maud. "I talked with him a while; then I suppose he
+heard you coming, for he went away."
+
+The old dame's bright, sharp eyes were fixed upon her; and Maud cast her
+own eyes down in shame, as Daisy continued,--
+
+"The dame's bundle of wood was very heavy, and this little girl dragged
+so upon my skirts as we toiled on, that I knew she must be tired. I was
+feeling glad that I happened to meet them, because I am both young and
+strong, you know, and used to work, when, as I told you, Christ
+appeared, standing beneath the elm."
+
+[Illustration: AND HE LOOKED INTO MY FACE.]
+
+"How ashamed you must have felt! I suppose he thought you the old dame's
+daughter, or a beggar, perhaps. I'm glad you did not bring him to our
+cabin; how it would look beside his palace in the golden city above!
+What did he say to you?"
+
+"'Blessed, O Daisy, are the merciful,' he said; 'I was hungry, and you
+gave me food; thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was sad, and you cheered
+me; tired, and I rested on your arm.'
+
+"'O, no,' I answered, 'you must be thinking of some one else. I never
+saw you before, except in my vision once.'
+
+"He took my hand, and looked into my face with such a gentle smile that
+I did not feel afraid, and pointed at the wood: 'This burden was not the
+old dame's, but mine; the blood you wiped away was mine; when you fed
+and comforted this little one, you were feeding and comforting me. You
+never can tell how much good you are doing, Daisy; poor girl as you are,
+you may give joy to my Father's angels. Look through your spectacles.'
+
+"So I looked, and there sat the poor little beggar, (see, she has
+fallen asleep from weariness!) moaning and sobbing in the grass, as when
+we found her first; and an angel stood beside her, weeping, too."
+
+"An angel beside _her_?" interrupted Maud.
+
+"Yes, a beautiful angel, with the calm, holy look which they all wear in
+heaven, but I never saw upon this earth; he wept because she had no
+friend; and, just then, I was so fortunate as to come past, and, not
+seeing the angel, I asked her to take my hand, and run along beside me.
+
+"But now I saw that, when the child began to smile, the angel also
+smiled, and lifted his white wings and flew--O, faster than
+lightning--over the tree tops, and past the clouds; and the sky parted
+where he went, until I saw him stand before the throne, in the wonderful
+city above.
+
+"And Christ said, 'He stands there always, watching her, unless she
+needs him here; and when her earthly life is over, he will lead her
+back, to dwell in my Father's house. For the great God is her Father,
+and yours, and mine; she is my sister: should I not feel her grief?'"
+
+Maud's heart fell, for she felt that the being whom she had met must
+also have been Christ, and asked Daisy if he looked sad and tired, and
+had wounds in his hands.
+
+"O, no--what could tire him, Maud? He looked strong, and noble, and
+glad, and seemed, among the dark trees, like a shining light."
+
+"Alas! then it was I who tired him, and made him sorrowful," thought
+Maud; then said, aloud, "But, Daisy, are you sure he took your hand?
+See, it is smeared with the old dame's blood, and soiled with tears you
+wiped from the beggar's face, and stained and roughened with hard work:
+are you sure he touched it?"
+
+"The whole was so strange, that I dare not be sure whether any part of
+it was real," replied Daisy, who was so modest that she did not wish to
+tell all Christ had said.
+
+"_I_ am sure, then," outspoke the dame. "He took her hand, and--listen
+to me, Maud!--he said, 'This blood, these tears, these labor stains,
+will be the brightest jewels you can wear in heaven; have courage, and
+be patient, Daisy--for beautiful words are written here, that never will
+fade away.'"
+
+And when Maud asked what they were, the dame replied sharply, "Exactly
+the opposite of words that are written on somebody's fine hands:
+self-sacrifice, and generosity, and faith, and earnestness, and love.
+Such words as these make Daisy's rough hands beautiful."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+THE FACE AND THE HEART.
+
+
+"Can I give up my beautiful face, and become a poor little drudge, like
+Daisy?" asked Maud of herself. "No, it's a great deal too much trouble.
+I can find plenty of friends at the fair; and so I will forget the sad,
+sweet face that has haunted me all these months."
+
+So Maud never told that she had looked upon Christ; though every time
+Daisy spoke of him, she felt it could be no other.
+
+The winter came on; and the report of Maud's beauty had spread so far,
+that she was invited to balls in the neighboring towns; and she no
+longer walked, for people sent their elegant carriages for her.
+
+The dame took care that she should have dresses and jewels in abundance;
+and Daisy could not but feel proud when she saw her sister look like
+such a splendid lady; though sometimes she would be frightened by seeing
+the eyes of a live snake glittering among Maud's diamonds, and something
+that seemed like the teeth of a wolf glistening among her pearls.
+
+The beauty had many lovers, but she found some fault with each; until,
+one day, the handsomest and gayest man in all the country round asked
+her to marry him.
+
+She refused, at first, because he had not quite so much money as the
+others; but when she saw how many ladies were in love with him, Maud
+felt it would be a fine thing to humble them, and show her own power.
+The old dame could give them money enough; and so she changed her mind,
+and began to make ready for her wedding.
+
+Then you should have seen the splendid things that the old dame brought,
+day after day, and poured on the cabin floor--velvets, and heavy
+brocades, gay ribbons and silks, and costly laces; as for the pearls and
+diamonds, you would think she had found them by handfuls in the river
+bed, there were so many.
+
+Meantime Daisy had come across a very different jewel, though I am not
+sure but it was worth a cabin full of such as Maud's.
+
+Once she was walking with the little beggar girl, whom Daisy called her
+own child now, and named Susan, after her mother; before them, climbing
+the hill side, was a man in a coarse blue frock, who seemed like a
+herdsman.
+
+He was driving his cows, and turning back to look for a stray one, Susan
+chanced to see his face; she broke from Daisy, and with a cry of joy,
+ran into the herdsman's arms.
+
+His name was Joseph; and Daisy learned that, when the little girl's
+mother was sick, Joseph had brought her food, and taken the kindest care
+of her; but his master sent him to buy some cows in a distant town, and
+before he reached home again, Susan's mother did not need any more
+charity, and the poor child herself was cast out into the streets.
+
+They sat on the grass beside Joseph; and Daisy found that, for all his
+coarse dress, he loved beautiful things as well as herself, and had sat
+there, day after day, watching the river and sky, and finding out the
+secrets of the birds, seeing the insects gather in their stores, and the
+rabbits burrow, and listening to the whisper of the leaves.
+
+And, in cold winter nights, he had watched the stars moving on in their
+silent paths, so far above his head, and fancied he could find pictures
+and letters among them, and that they beckoned, and seemed to promise,
+if he would only try, he might come and live with them.
+
+Then, out of some young shoots of elder, Joseph had made a flute; and
+Daisy was enchanted when he played on this, for, besides that she had
+never heard a musical instrument before, he seemed to bring every thing
+she loved around her in his wonderful tunes.
+
+She could almost see the dark pine tops gilded with morning light, and
+the cabin nestling under them; and then the song of a bird, and of many
+birds, trilled out from amidst the boughs, and the little leaves on the
+birch trees trembled as with joy, and her rabbits darted through the
+shade.
+
+Again, she saw the wide river rolling on, the sky reflected in it, and
+the flowers on its banks just lifting their sweet faces to the sun, and
+every thing was wet with dew, and fresh, and silent.
+
+And then he played what was like a storm, with lightning, and huge trees
+crashing down, and the old dame seated before her fire in the cave, and
+Daisy herself creeping alone through the dark, tired, and drenched with
+rain.
+
+Daisy told her new friend that she lived in the wood, and what a
+beautiful sister she had at home, and how she wished that Maud could
+hear his music.
+
+But Joseph seemed contented to play for her, and could not leave his
+cows, he said, to look upon a handsome face; he did not care so much for
+bright eyes and pretty lips as for goodness and gentleness, that would
+make the ugliest face look beautiful to him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+JOSEPH.
+
+
+What with Joseph's music, and all he had to say to them, Daisy and Susan
+sat for hours on the hill side, and promised, at parting, to come very
+soon again.
+
+But they found Maud ready, as usual, to spoil all their pleasure, by
+fretting because they had left her alone, and had not come earlier, and
+a hundred other foolish things.
+
+She wouldn't hear a word about the music, but asked her sister if she
+was not ashamed to talk with a cow boy, and declared that neither she
+nor Susan should go to the hill again.
+
+But it was no strange thing for Maud to change her mind; so, one day,
+she told Daisy she had dreamed about Joseph's music, and must hear it,
+and they would all go that very afternoon.
+
+Daisy was glad, you may be sure; but she had great trouble with her
+sister on the way, for Maud would shriek at an earth worm, and start at
+a fly, and was afraid of bats, and snakes, and owls, and more other
+things than Daisy ever thought of.
+
+Then the sharp sticks cut through her satin boots; and when she sat a
+while to rest, the crickets ate great holes in her new silk gown, and
+mosquitos kept buzzing about her, and little worms dropped down
+sometimes from the boughs.
+
+When any of these things happened, of course poor Daisy had to be
+scolded, as if it were her fault. If a shadow moved, or a bird flew
+quickly past, or a bee buzzed by,--thinking of any one except Miss
+Maud,--the beauty would fancy that a tiger or rattlesnake was making
+ready to spring at her, and suffered a great deal more from fright than
+she would from pain if the creatures she dreaded had really been near,
+and she had allowed them quietly to eat her up.
+
+When, after all this trouble, she found that Joseph wore a coarse blue
+frock, and did not oil his curly hair, and hardly looked at her, while
+he was overjoyed at seeing Daisy again, Maud began to pout, and say she
+must go home.
+
+But Joseph brought a kind of harp he had made from reeds and corn
+stalks; and when he began to play, Maud started, for it was as if she
+stood under the arching trees again, and the Beautiful Being stood
+beside her, with his sad eyes, saying, "O Maud, when you despise my
+little ones, you are despising me."
+
+She thought it must only be a kind of waking dream, however, and tossing
+her head, asked Joseph if he could play any opera airs, and where he
+bought his harp, and who his teacher could have been.
+
+"The trees, and river, and birds, the morning wind and midnight sky,
+sorrow, and joy, and hope have been my teachers," he answered gravely.
+
+"They're an old-fashioned set, then," said Maud. "We haven't had any of
+the tunes you play at our balls this year; and you must find more modern
+teachers, or else be content to take care of your cows."
+
+Joseph heard not her sneers; he was talking with Daisy; and every thing
+he said seemed so noble, and wise, and pure, so unlike the words of Maud
+or of the fretful dame, that Daisy could not help loving him with all
+her heart.
+
+The more she thought of Joseph the less she said of him to Maud; but
+whenever her sister was away, they were sure to meet; and the herdsman
+grew as fond of Daisy as she was of him.
+
+In the long winter evenings, when Maud was away at her balls, she little
+dreamed what pleasant times Daisy had at home. When floating about in
+the dance, to the sound of gay, inspiring music, she thought of her
+sister only to pity her, and did not know that she was listening to
+sweeter music from Joseph's humble harp of reeds.
+
+We often pity people who are a great deal better off than ourselves,
+forgetting that what seems fine to us may be tedious enough to them.
+
+Then it was such a new thing for Daisy to have any one think of _her_
+comfort, and plan pleasant surprises for her, and even admire her
+serious face, and--best of all--appreciate her spectacles.
+
+As soon as Joseph came, he wanted her to put them on, and tell him about
+a hundred things which he had looked at only with his naked eyes. Daisy
+found so often that he had seen rightly and clearly, and had in humblest
+paths picked up most lovely things, and every where found what was best,
+she told him that he must have borrowed the old dame's lantern.
+
+But Joseph said, no, he had only taken care that the lantern in his own
+breast should be free from dust and stains; while that burned clearly,
+there was no use in borrowing another's light.
+
+Maud's lover took her to dances and sleigh rides, and gave her jewels
+and confectionery; Daisy's lover took her to see the old sick mother he
+supported, and to look at his cows in their neat barn, and brought her a
+new apron sometimes from the fair, or a bag of chestnuts which he had
+picked up in the fall.
+
+But Joseph gave the love of a fresh, honest heart; and Daisy thought
+this better than all her sister's bright stones and sugar plums.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE FRESHET.
+
+
+The spring came; and Maud's wedding day was so near that she and Daisy
+went to the town every week to make purchases.
+
+Now, the river which they were obliged to cross always overflowed its
+banks in spring. Although, in summer, Daisy had often walked across it,
+by stepping from stone to stone in the rough bed, it had risen now to a
+height of many feet.
+
+Then, blocks of ice came down from the mountain streams above, and swept
+along bridges, and hay ricks, and drift wood with them, just as happened
+once, you may remember, when Susan was alive.
+
+A new bridge had been built; but it jarred frightfully when the heaped
+blocks of ice came down, or some great tree was dashed against it by the
+rapid stream.
+
+Things were in this state when the two sisters reached home, one day,
+from town. When Maud felt how the bridge jarred, she ran back screaming,
+and told Daisy to go first, and make sure it was safe.
+
+Daisy was not a coward; but this time she did think of her own life for
+once, or rather of Joseph--how he would grieve if she were swept away
+and drowned.
+
+Her heart beat faster than usual; yet she walked on calmly, and soon
+gained the other side. Then she called back for Maud to wait till she
+could find Joseph, and secure his help.
+
+But Maud, always impatient, grew tired of waiting, and mustering all her
+courage, stepped upon the bridge alone.
+
+She had hardly reached the centre when its foundations gave way; and,
+with a great crash and whirl, with the trees, and ice, and drift wood
+whirling after it, the bridge went sweeping down the stream.
+
+So Joseph and Daisy returned only in time to hear Maud's shrieks, which
+sounded louder than the heavy, jolting logs, and creaking beams, and
+grinding ice.
+
+Running across the bridge wildly, she beckoned for Joseph to come to
+her--implored him to trust himself upon the blocks of ice, or else send
+Daisy, and not leave her to perish alone.
+
+There came new drifts of ice from above, jolting against the bridge, and
+throwing Maud from her feet; and so the heavy structure went whirling,
+tossing like a straw upon the stream.
+
+Joseph turned to Daisy. "If I go to her help, we both may slip from the
+unsteady blocks of ice, and drown. Yet I may possibly save her; shall I
+go or stay?"
+
+"Go," she said instantly.
+
+"Then good by, Daisy; perhaps we never shall look in each other's faces
+again."
+
+"Not here, perhaps; but, go."
+
+"What's that?" asked the sharp voice of the dame. "Foolish children!
+Don't you know that, when Maud is drowned, there will be no one to
+separate you, and, as long as she lives, she will not let you be
+married?"
+
+"She is my sister," said Daisy. And Joseph, stepping boldly upon the
+ice, creeping from log to log,--lost now in the branches of a tree,
+dashed into the water, and struggling out again,--found his way to the
+bridge, and threw his strong arm about the form of the fainting Maud.
+
+But here was new trouble; for she declared that she would never venture
+where Joseph had been, not if they both were swept away.
+
+Finding her so unreasonable, the herdsman took Maud, like an infant, in
+his arms, and, though she shrieked and struggled, stepped from the
+bridge just as its straining beams parted, and fell, one by one, among
+the drift wood in the stream.
+
+When Maud stood safely on the shore, she was so glad to find herself
+alive, that she took off every one of her jewels and offered them to
+Joseph.
+
+But the herdsman told her that he did not wish to be paid for what had
+cost him nothing, and had he lost his life, the jewels would have been
+no recompense.
+
+"So you want more, perhaps," said Maud, the haughty look coming again
+into her handsome face. "Well, what shall I give you for risking your
+precious life?"
+
+"Daisy," he answered.
+
+"My sister? Do you dare tell me that she would marry a cowboy?"
+
+"Ask her."
+
+"Yes," said Daisy.
+
+"Nonsense! you will live with me, Daisy, in my new great house; and if
+you marry at all, it will be some rich, elegant man, so that you can
+entertain us when I and my husband wish to visit you."
+
+"I shall marry Joseph or no one," Daisy answered firmly.
+
+"Well, then, Joseph, cross the river on the ice once more, and Daisy
+shall be your wife." Maud thought she had found a way to rid herself of
+the troublesome herdsman; for it seemed to her the dreadful voyage could
+not be made again in safety; and then she half believed that Joseph
+would sooner give up Daisy than try.
+
+But, without a word, he darted upon the ice--slipped, as at first; and
+when Daisy saw him struggling, she flew to his help--slipped where he
+slipped: a tree came sailing down, and struck them both. Maud saw no
+more.
+
+But, all the way home, she heard in her ears the shrill voice of the
+fairy, saying, "I hope you are satisfied, now you have killed them
+both."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE FAIRY'S LAST GIFT.
+
+
+Maud went home to the lonely cabin; there was no one to make a fire, and
+dry her wet clothes, and comfort her. When little Susan heard what had
+happened, she ran away to live with the mother of Joseph; and Maud was
+left alone.
+
+Wearied with fright, and trouble, and remorse, the beauty sank upon her
+bed and fell asleep.
+
+But hardly were her eyes closed, when she seemed in a damp, cellar-like
+place herself, but, looking upward, saw the glorious golden city Daisy
+told her about, with its pearly gates and diamond foundations, and the
+river shaded by beautiful palms, and throngs of angels walking on its
+banks.
+
+The ranks of angels parted, and she saw among them the Beautiful One,
+who had met her in the wood--only he was bright and joyous now, and his
+wounds shone like stars; and--could it be? yes--he was leading Daisy and
+Joseph, not a poor drudge and humble herdsboy now, but, like the other
+angels, clothed in light, crowned with lilies, and Joseph's harp of
+reeds changed to a golden harp, on which he still made music.
+
+She saw two other beautiful ones come forward and embrace her sister:
+one, she felt, was the father she had never seen, and one was Susan, the
+good and humble mother of whom Maud had been ashamed.
+
+Then she awoke, to find herself alone in the cabin, which was damp and
+dark as she had dreamed; and she could only hear the night wind sighing,
+and the voices of the wolves and snakes.
+
+As soon as morning came, she hurried to the river bank, in hopes, thus
+late, to save her sister, or to hear, at least, some news from her. But
+she saw only floating logs and blocks of ice jarring and whirling down
+the river.
+
+And from that hour Maud believed herself a murderer, and would gladly
+have given her own life to forget the dreadful scene, which kept rising
+before her, of the good, gentle sister drowning in the flood, and the
+sound of the dame's shrill voice asking, "Now, are you satisfied?"
+
+But Daisy did not drown. When Joseph saw her danger, though almost dead
+himself, he took fresh courage, and made such bold, brave efforts that
+both he and Daisy reached the shore.
+
+Long, happy days they spent together on the earth. Determined that she
+should have no more trouble with her sister, Joseph took his wife over
+the sea to a pleasant island, where she had a happier, if not so
+splendid a home as Maud.
+
+When he opened the door to show Daisy her beautiful little house, who
+should stand within but the fairy, all dressed in her velvet and
+pearls, and looking as bright as if she too were glad that Daisy's life
+was to be so happy now.
+
+Many a gift the fairy brought them: little Peters, and Susans, and
+Daisies came in her arms, to play before their door, and make the
+cottage merry with their songs, before _our_ Daisy went to wear her
+crown in heaven. And many a pleasant tune Joseph played to his wife and
+children on the home-made harp of reeds, before it was changed to a harp
+of gold, and chimed in with the angels' music, in our Father's home
+above.
+
+When packing her things, to leave the cabin, Maud left Daisy's dresses,
+as they were not fine enough for her, and also some little things which
+her sister had treasured--among them, the spectacles.
+
+But once in her fine new home, and the wedding over, the first things
+she found, hanging in the fringe of her shawl, were Daisy's spectacles.
+
+So she thought how queerly Daisy used to look in them, and put the
+glasses on, to amuse her husband; but what was her surprise to find she
+could see plainly through them now!
+
+And, alas! the first thing they told her was, that this man, for whom
+she had left all her rich suitors, did not love her, but her money;
+despised her because her mother was so poor, and was much fonder of one
+of the ladies whom he had forsaken than of her.
+
+She told him this angrily; but he only laughed, and said she might have
+guessed it without spectacles, and asked how he could love any one who
+thought only of herself.
+
+She hoped he might be jesting, yet his words were soon proved true; for
+he not only neglected, but treated her harshly, and when she was
+saddest, dragged her to the balls which she no longer enjoyed, and
+laughed about her spectacles, which began to leave their mark upon her
+handsome face.
+
+"At least," thought Maud, "I am very rich; there is no end to my
+jewelry. I will find out all its value through the spectacles."
+
+But though there were pearls and diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and
+sapphires, set in heavy gold, they seemed only a handful through the
+glasses; while she saw whole heaps of finer pearls lying neglected under
+the sea, and rubies, and emeralds, and diamonds scattered about on the
+sands, or in the heart of rocks, enough to build a house. Melted along
+the veins of the earth she discovered so much gold, too, that her own
+didn't seem worth keeping; for Maud only valued things when she thought
+others could not have so fine.
+
+Do you remember what the dame said, when she placed the spectacles on
+little Daisy's breast? "Take care of her heart, now, Peter, and this
+gift of mine will be a precious one."
+
+Here was the trouble: Maud, with all her beauty and wealth, had not
+taken care of her heart; and so, when Daisy saw bright, and wise, and
+pleasant things through the glasses, Maud saw only sad and painful ones.
+
+The beauty grew tired of life; her husband was so jealous that he would
+not allow any one to admire her; and she found the palace did not make
+her any happier than the cabin had done, nor did the open country seem
+any brighter than the wood.
+
+For it isn't whether we _live_ in a palace or a cave, but whether our
+hearts are cheerful palaces or gloomy caves, that makes the difference
+between sad lives and merry ones.
+
+So, one day, when the dame appeared with her gifts, Maud said, "O, take
+them away--take back all the beauty, the power, and money you ever
+brought, and give me a heart like Daisy's."
+
+"Pretty likely," said the dame. "You asked for money--you and your
+mother, both; now make the most of it."
+
+But the old woman had hardly left the house when one of Maud's servants
+brought her in, wounded, and weeping bitterly, for a wagon had run over
+her.
+
+"Carry her home to her cave; why did you bring her to me?" said Maud.
+
+But just then she seemed to see the cold, bare cave that Daisy had told
+her about, with nothing except wooden stools and a smoky fireplace--no
+soft bed, no child to watch over and comfort the poor old dame.
+
+So Maud called the servants back, and had the woman placed in her own
+room, and watched with her, and bathed her limbs, and though she was
+fretful, did not once neglect her through a long and tedious illness.
+
+At last, the dame felt well enough to go home, and bade good by to Maud,
+who begged her not to go; "for," she said,--and the tears came into her
+eyes,--"you make me think of dear Daisy, the only one that ever loved
+me, with this selfish heart."
+
+"No, no; I cannot trust you," said the dame, and disappeared.
+
+But she came back, with such a bundle in her arms as she had brought to
+Susan once; and when Maud looked up to thank her, lo! the dame had
+changed to a lovely fairy, with a young, sweet face--the same that Daisy
+used to talk about.
+
+Bending over Maud, she wiped the tears from her face, and put the bundle
+in her arms, and disappeared.
+
+And when the little child learned to love her, Maud forgot her fears and
+cares, her cruel husband and her selfish self, and found how much
+happier it makes us to give joy than to receive it.
+
+The little girl was named Daisy, and grew up not only beautiful and
+rich, but wise and good; she spent her money nobly, and gained the love
+and added to the happiness of all her friends.
+
+But the one whom she made happiest was her own mother--Maud.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+WHAT IT ALL MEANS.
+
+
+Now, dear children, I suppose you have guessed all my riddles, for they
+are not hard ones; but I will tell you the meaning of one or two.
+
+LIFE is the old fairy, that comes sometimes frowning and wretched,
+sometimes smiling and lovely, but always benevolent, always taking
+better care of us than we take of ourselves.
+
+We should be silent, helpless dust, except for Life; and whether we be
+great or humble, rich or poor, she gives us all we have.
+
+Though she may seem to smile on you and frown upon your sister, be sure
+it is not because she loves you best; the fairy may yet change into a
+wrinkled dame, or the dame to a beautiful fairy.
+
+When you remember her, beware how you grieve or slight any one. If you
+are passing some poor beggar in the street, think, "Had I on Daisy's
+spectacles, I should see under all these rags a child of the great God,
+travelling on, as I am travelling, to live with him in the golden city
+above. While this man seems humble to me, angels may bow to him as they
+pass invisibly; for all the titles in this world are not so great as to
+be a child of God."
+
+When you are tempted to vex or laugh at some old woman, think, "Under
+these wrinkles, lo! the great fairy, Life, is hid; and she can curse or
+bless me, as I will."
+
+The old dame's lantern, and the light in his breast by which Joseph saw,
+were Instinct; which, if we could but keep it undimmed by the dust of
+earth, would always light our pathway.
+
+And the fairy bread is Kindness, which alone can comfort the poor and
+sorrowful. They may use what we give in charity, and still be poor and
+sad; but an act of kindness makes them feel that they too are children
+of the same great God, and are therefore happy and rich, though they
+must walk about for a little while in rags.
+
+For they remember how, like us, they have a glorious home awaiting them
+in the city whose streets are gold; and then it doesn't seem so hard
+that they have less than we of the poor gold of earth.
+
+The spectacles are Wisdom, which shows us all things as they are, not as
+they seem--which we may learn, like Daisy, from insects, trees, and
+clouds, or, easier still, from words that the wise have written.
+
+Believe me, this wisdom, which may seem but a tedious thing, will show
+any of you as wonderful visions as those I have told you about.
+
+So, when your lessons are hard, and you long to play, and wonder what's
+the use in books, think, "They are Daisy's wondrous spectacles, that
+change our dull earth into fairy land."
+
+Wearing these, you need never be lonely or afraid, but will feel God's
+strong and loving arm around you in the dreariest place. The sun will
+seem his watchful eye, the wind his breath, the flowers his messages.
+You will know that all good and lovely things are gifts from him.
+
+And you will not forget that the fairy, Life, is still on earth, and, if
+we ask her, will lead us all to the wonderful city which Daisy saw far
+up above the pines--where you, too, may be good and peaceful, like the
+rest, and wear a crown of lilies and a robe of light.
+
+
+
+
+  PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, & COMPANY
+  PUBLISH
+
+
+  PEEP AT "NUMBER FIVE;"
+  Or, A CHAPTER IN THE LIFE OF A CITY PASTOR.
+
+  BY H. TRUSTA,
+  _Author of_ "THE SUNNY SIDE," &c., &c.
+
+  _Twenty-fifth Thousand._
+
+
+  THE TELLTALE;
+  Or, HOME SECRETS TOLD BY OLD TRAVELLERS.
+
+  BY H. TRUSTA,
+  _Author of_ "PEEP AT NUMBER FIVE," "SUNNY SIDE," &c., &c.
+
+  _Tenth Thousand._
+
+
+  THE "LAST LEAF FROM SUNNY SIDE;"
+
+  By H. TRUSTA,
+  _Author of_ "PEEP AT NUMBER FIVE," "TELLTALE," &c., &c.
+
+  _Thirteenth Thousand._
+
+
+  FATHER BRIGHTHOPES;
+  Or, AN OLD CLERGYMAN'S VACATION.
+
+  By PAUL CREYTON.
+
+  _Uniform with "Peep at Number Five," "Last Leaf,"_ &c.
+
+
+  HEARTS AND FACES;
+  Or, HOME LIFE UNVEILED.
+
+  By PAUL CREYTON,
+  _Author of_ "FATHER BRIGHTHOPES," &c.
+
+  _Uniform with the above._
+
+
+
+
+  PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, & CO.
+  PUBLISH THE FOLLOWING JUVENILE WORKS
+
+
+  ESTELLE'S STORIES ABOUT DOGS;
+
+  Containing six beautiful Illustrations; being original Portraits
+  from Life.
+
+  Printed on superfine paper. 16mo, colored engravings, 75 cents; plain,
+  50 cents.
+
+
+  LITTLE MARY;
+  Or, TALKS AND TALES.
+
+  BY H. TRUSTA,
+
+  Author of "SUNNY SIDE," "PEEP AT NUMBER FIVE," &c., &c.
+
+  This little book is charmingly illustrated, and is a very beautiful book.
+  It is made up of short lessons, and was originally written for the
+  practical use of children from five to ten years of age.
+
+
+  LITTLE BLOSSOM'S REWARD;
+  A CHRISTMAS BOOK FOR CHILDREN
+
+  BY MRS. EMILY HARE.
+
+  Beautifully Illustrated from original Designs, and a charming
+  Presentation Book for Young People.
+
+
+
+
+  PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, & CO.
+  PUBLISH THE FOLLOWING JUVENILE WORKS.
+
+  By Francis C. Woodworth.
+
+  EDITOR OF "WOODWORTH'S YOUTH'S CABINET,"
+  AUTHOR OF "THE WILLOW LANE BUDGET," "THE STRAWBERRY GIRL,"
+  "THE MILLER OF OUR VILLAGE," "THEODORE THINKER'S
+  TALES," ETC., ETC.
+
+
+  UNCLE FRANK'S BOYS' AND GIRLS' LIBRARY
+
+  _A Beautiful Series, comprising six volumes, square 12mo, with
+  eight Tinted Engravings in each volume. The following are their
+  titles respectively_:--
+
+    I. THE PEDDLER'S BOY; or, I'll be Somebody.
+   II. THE DIVING BELL; or, Pearls to be sought for.
+  III. THE POOR ORGAN GRINDER, and other Stories.
+   IV. OUR SUE: Her Motto and its Uses.
+    V. MIKE MARBLE: His Crotchets and Oddities.
+   VI. THE WONDERFUL LETTER BAG OF KIT CURIOUS.
+
+
+  "Woodworth is unquestionably and immeasurably the best writer
+  for children that we know of; for he combines a sturdy common
+  sense and varied information with a most childlike and loveful
+  spirit, that finds its way at once to the child's heart. We
+  regard him as one of the truest benefactors of his race; for he
+  is as wise as he is gentle, and never uses his power over the
+  child-heart to instil into it the poison of false teaching, or
+  to cramp it with unlovely bigotry. The publishers have done
+  their part, as well as the author, to make these volumes
+  attractive. Altogether we regard them as one of the pleasantest
+  series of juvenile books extant, both in their literary
+  character and mechanical execution."--_Syracuse (N. Y.) Daily
+  Standard._
+
+
+
+
+  PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, & CO.
+  PUBLISH THE FOLLOWING JUVENILE WORKS
+
+
+  CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS AT CHESTNUT HILL.
+
+  BY COUSIN MARY.
+
+  Containing fine engravings from original Designs, and printed
+  very neatly.
+
+  It will be found to be a charming little book for a present for all
+  seasons.
+
+
+  ESTELLE'S STORIES ABOUT DOGS;
+
+  Containing six beautiful Illustrations; being original Portraits
+  from Life.
+
+  Printed on superfine paper. 16mo, colored engravings, 75 cents;
+  plain, 50 cents.
+
+
+  LITTLE MARY;
+  Or, Talks and Tales.
+
+  BY H. TRUSTA,
+
+  Author of "SUNNY SIDE," "PEEP AT NUMBER FIVE," &c., &c.
+
+  This little book is charmingly illustrated, and is a very beautiful
+  book. It is made up of short lessons, and was originally written for
+  the practical use of children from five to ten years of age.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Daisy; or, The Fairy Spectacles, by 
+Caroline Snowden Guild
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAISY; OR, THE FAIRY SPECTACLES ***
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