Part 4 (1/2)

Then the moons.h.i.+ne-fairies danced towards him across the sea, with their tiny hands full of silver.

”Take our silver, little cloud-fairy,” they said, ”and line your cloud with it, and dip your wings in it, and scatter it over the earth as you fly, for everything is made more beautiful by our silver.”

Then they poured the silver out of their hands into his, and because the silver of the moons.h.i.+ne-fairies is very light he was able to carry a great deal of it. He filled the pockets of his pretty grey coat with it, and he filled his cap, and took a quant.i.ty of it in his hands. And he said Good-bye to the moons.h.i.+ne-fairies, and flew away up to the clouds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AND BECAUSE THE SILVER OF THE MOONs.h.i.+NE-FAIRIES IS VERY LIGHT HE WAS ABLE TO CARRY A GREAT DEAL OF IT]

When the other cloud-fairies saw the beautiful silver he had brought with him they were delighted. They all set to work to line the cloud with it, spreading it out carefully and making it nice and tidy at the edges. When the lining was finished it looked lovely, and the fairies were much pleased with it. They sat down under the cloud, feeling quite safe from the rain.

But unfortunately their satisfaction did not last long. Presently it began to rain. The fairies smiled and nodded at each other, and agreed that it was very pleasant to be safe from a wetting. Then a big heavy drop fell right through the cloud and lining and all--and another--and another, and soon the fairies were as wet and uncomfortable and cross as if the cloud had never been lined. It was really very annoying.

The truth is that the silver of the moons.h.i.+ne-fairies is rather thin--altogether too thin to keep the rain out, and of very little use for lining clouds with.

”It is really too bad!” cried the poor cloud-fairies, wringing the water out of their nice little grey coats. ”What are we to do? Any one would have thought that such beautiful silver would keep the rain out!”

”Perhaps,” said one of them who liked to be cheerful, ”Mist-of-the-Morning may bring us a better kind of silver even than this.”

So they decided to grumble no more till Mist-of-the-Morning came home.

Now, when Mist-of-the-Morning started out to look for silver he did not fly down to the earth at all.

”Every cloud but ours has a silver lining,” he said to himself; ”so the best way to find the right kind of silver will be to ask the fairies who live in the other clouds.”

He saw the clouds all about him, each with a bright rim round it, which was the edge of its lining. He went to the nearest one and spoke to the fairies that lived in it.

”Brother fairies,” he said, ”where can I find silver to make my cloud a lining as beautiful as yours?”

And the fairies answered--

”Go to the sunbeam-fairies. Their silver is the best for lining clouds with.”

Then Mist-of-the-Morning went to one cloud after another, and asked all the fairies that lived in them the same question. And they all answered--

”Go to the sunbeam-fairies. Their silver is the very best.”

So Mist-of-the-Morning flew away to the nearest sunbeam. It was crowded with fairies, who were all hard at work, for the sunbeam-fairies have more work to do than any others. As they worked they were laughing and singing, for the sunbeam-fairies are always happy.

”Please, kind sunbeam-fairies,” said Mist-of-the-Morning, ”I want some silver to line my cloud with. It must be the very best silver, and every one says that none but yours is good enough.”

Then all the sunbeam-fairies shouted out--

”Quite right, little cloud-fairy, quite right! It is waste of time to line a cloud with any silver but ours. Our silver is the very best!”

While they were speaking they all rushed to the end of the sunbeam, and before Mist-of-the-Morning knew what they were going to do, they had cut off a great piece of it. There it lay in a s.h.i.+ning heap!

Mist-of-the-Morning had to shade his eyes, because its silvery brightness dazzled him.

”Sunbeam silver!” sang the fairies. ”Sunbeam silver is the best of all!”