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Would you like
to hear a story of a little girl whose name is Millie? Well, she was
her mamma's only little girl, and she had no sister or brother, as
you all have. Her dear mamma was very poor. They had no kind papa to
work for them, and so Millie helped her mamma all she could about
the house.
Millie was only a little girl, and could not do very much, and one
sad day her mamma took sick from over-work, and the Doctor, who came
in to see her said he was afraid she would never get well again.
"What will I do if my mamma dies?" cried poor Millie; "who will love
and take care of me then? Oh, she must not die, I will do all I can
to help make her well again, and now, let me see, what shall it be,
what can I do for her first?"
She sat beside her mamma's bed and thought and thought for a long
time. There was her poor mamma, so hot and thirsty, with a burning
fever, trying to sleep, and when Millie saw mamma's so hot and
thirsty, with a burning fever, trying to sleep, and when Millie saw
mamma's red cheeks and dry lips, she said to herself, "something
cool and pretty will make her feel better, I am sure; suppose I run
out into the cool woods and pick mamma a bouquet of wild flowers,
and may be I can find some wild strawberries; they will surely take
her fever away."
With these words she got up very softly out of her chair, so as not
to wake her mamma, went to the well, got a cool glass of water and
placed it beside the bed, then she put on her bonnet, took a basket
out of the closet and hurried to the woods.
How quiet it was in the woods, so quiet, only the sweet birds were
singing, and the little squirrels chattering, and how bright the
flowers looked peeping out from the green leaves among which the
sunbeams played merrily. Here she picked a blue violet, and there a
buttercup, farther on she found a patch of daisies, until at last
she had a lovely bouquet in her hand.
Now, thought, she, I had better look for the strawberries. Her
basket was still empty. Farther and farther she went into the woods,
but could not find one berry; some little children must have been
there in the morning and picked all there were. It was growing late,
the trees were casting deep shadows along the path, but Millie did
not notice it, she was so busy looking for berries. All at once it
was so dark that Millie could not find which way she had come into
the woods. What should she do! Stay in the woods all night, and poor
mamma sick at home? Then she began to cry, and was afraid of the
dark, but when she thought of God, and that he was in the woods, as
well as everywhere else, she got quiet and looked for a mossy bank
to sleep upon.
Yes, there was one right under the large oak tree, and close by was
a pond full of beautiful water-lilies all closed up and asleep. The
large green leaves were swimming upon the water and looked like
large green mats.
Millie had said her prayer, and was just going to sleep, when she
saw a light in the west. It grew brighter and brighter. What could
it be? Not a fire, I am sure. When Millie got up and looked among
the branches of the trees, she saw it was the bright, silver moon.
It looked like a great big head, and made everything so light
around, that Millie could see almost everything; even to a little
blue-bell which was growing close by, but all the little bells were
closed and sound asleep. What was that in the water! It seemed as
though a large white lily was floating toward the shore, and really
it was coming up to where she sat under the tree, and it was opening
out wider and wider, and what in the world was in the center; really
it looked like a tiny elf, and sure enough it was a little fairy
with golden hair, snow-white dress like the water-lily trimmed in
golden yellow, and on her dear little head, she wore a golden crown.
When the lily got up close to the bank, the little fairy sprang out
onto the shore and came tripping up to where Millie was sitting. She
went straight up to the blue-bells, but did not see Millie, took
them by the stalk and rang them. Oh, now they tinkled, so clear and
sweet! Millie had never heard anything so sweet in her life before.
See, what happened! Why, out of every flower and leaf came a lovely
little fairy. Fairies with purple and blue dresses came out of the
violets; yellow out of the buttercups, little green elfs out of the
leaves. How cunning they were and how they skipped up to the fairy
queen, and made a bow to her. When they were all around her, she
said in a little voice like silver: "Now that our moon is out let us
dance and be happy, join in our ring and dance with the moonbeams."
Then they all danced and Millie thought it was the loveliest thing
she had ever seen, and she kept very quiet and did not move, for she
was afraid of frightening them away.
But, O! something came up into her throat and she had to cough and
all the little fairies jumped and turned around, and imagine their
surprise upon seeing a little girl in the woods after dark.
"My little girl," said the queen fairy, "what are you doing out
here? Why are you not in your snug little bed at home?"
"Dear fairy, I came to the woods to look for strawberries for my
mamma, who is sick, and stayed so long that it become so dark I
could not find my way home again. I am very unhappy, but dear little
queen you look sad. What is the matter? I thought fairies were
always happy."
"Yes, we might be happy in this lovely wood if we could only stay
here, but alas! the woodmen come with their axes and chop down the
trees, and plough up the earth which makes all the flowers die and
mosses dry up and then we must leave, and find another home. Will
you kindly help us, and if you see them coming with their axes, tell
them how they take away our homes, and the little girl, (I know you
are a good little gird, and try to help your mamma), now that the
moon is sinking behind the hills, you had better go to sleep, and
to-morrow when you wake up look where the fairies are now dancing,
and you will find something there which will make your mamma well
again."
Millie thanked the fairy, who then went to the blue-bells, rang them
again, when all the little fairies came up to her; she said, "Now
that the moon is sinking we must be away, as a little elf can only
dance in the moonbeams. All said good-night to her and jumped into
their flowers.
Millie then went to sleep, also slept sound until morning when a
little sunbeam shone in her face and woke her up. At first she did
not remember where she was, then she thought of the fairies, and
what the little queen had promised her.
She jumped up, took her basket, went to the spot, and what do you
think she found there? A patch of the largest, reddest strawberries
you ever saw. She put some leaves into her basket, picked the
berries, one by one, and covered them up with the leaves to keep
them fresh and cool.
She found the path, and ran home as fast as she could run. When she
reached home, the door was still closed as she had left, so she went
in softly, found her mamma waiting and watching for her.
Millie told her mamma all about her trip to the woods, how the queen
had told her where she could find something to take to her, and
"here it is, dear mamma, in this little basket." Her mamma was
delighted with the fine strawberries, ate them and soon got well
again.
Every night when Millie and mamma said their prayers, they never
forgot to ask God to keep the woodmen from taking away the home of
the lovely little fairies.
Little Millie
A Fictional Short Story by
Agnes Taylor Ketchum & Ida M. Jorgensen
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