FAIRYLAND.
With the woodland fairies I can talk,
I can list their silver lays;
Oh! pleasant in a lonely walk
Is the company of fays.
_Havergal._
The ravine adjoining the castle was a mysterious looking place, dark
with dense underwood, the haunt of wild beasts and the home of
numberless birds, now sending forth awful cries and inspiring songs,
then silent as the grave. A tortuous difficult pathway in the hollow
extended along its length, while one or two animal tracks in the
neighborhood crossed it from side to side. A few grassy spaces here
and there slightly relieved the gloom, while a small stream of water
moved slowly along its base, now forming into pools where little fishes
leaped, then gradually unwinding itself and stealing softly on under a
wealth of branches and green leaves.
Down to that stream Robin wandered alone one beautiful afternoon in
June. He followed its course as best he could till he found it turning
into a deep, dark, eddying pool beside and partly under the steepest
slope of the ravine. The opening underneath the projecting bank,
though large, was almost concealed by overhanging branches. Robin
crawled out on a strong beech branch, brushed aside the leaves and
peered in. It seemed as if it were a water-gateway into the heart of
the great ridge, and had a weird misty look. Robin said to himself,
"Wouldn't it be fine if I got a real peep at some of those brownies and
fairies I hear so much about! Wouldn't mother stare when I got home
and told her!" He therefore waited and imagined and watched, until he
got quite excited at the thought of seeing something wonderful. But
no, nothing came, and he was disappointed, although he only half
believed that anything strange might really appear. His excitement
cooled down, and then after a time he yawned, feeling weary; yet,
retaining a lingering hope, he stretched himself comfortably across two
or three adjoining branches, his face downwards, with one arm and one
leg dangling below, and finally fell asleep. It was not a very
becoming or a very wise act in that riskful, dismal hollow; yet, are
not men themselves but thoughtless boys in bigger shape?
While thus under the blissful spell of Morpheus, Robin heard a noise
that made his heart throb with expectation. He pushed aside the leaves
and looked in. There, sure enough, something was coming out that was
not common. Nearer it came on the surface of the pool. What could it
be? A beautiful little ship, with white sails spread, and manned by
Mississagua sailors dressed in vivid red. The gallant ship sailed
round the pool most gracefully, and Robin's eyes looked down and
followed it with intense interest. When this was done three times all
sails were taken down, then a silver anchor was thrown out, and the
ship stood still. Two Indian sailors stepped forward from the rest,
seized something, swung their arms to and fro for a moment, and then
flung a long ladder of yellow silken ropes right over an overhanging
branch a short distance away from Robin's head.
After a brief pause, a beautiful little lady in white, with a golden
crown upon her head, ascended the ladder and stood erect among the
leaves of the branch. Then the captain of the ship took off his peaked
hat and called for a cheer for their good Queen Celeste of happy and
beautiful Fairyland. And the sailors cheered Her Majesty mightily.
Robin thought her the prettiest creature he had ever seen, and when she
smiled upon him sweetly, he put his hand to his cap politely and smiled
his best in return.
"Art thou the dreamer of dreams?" enquired the Queen with a merry but
dignified look.
"I am," answered Robin with a blush, and wondering what was going to
happen.
"Art thou he that I have heard so much of in my hidden realm?"
"I don't know," said Robin modestly.
"Art thou he that hast so much interest in my people?"
"I am," replied Robin, feeling relieved.
"Art thou Robin of Castle Frank who lovest all animals?"
"I am, your Majesty," answered Robin happily, and at last managing to
address a queen as he ought.
"Wilt thou come with me, and I will show thee wonderful things?"
"I shall, your Gracious Majesty, with great pleasure."
The Queen then raised a jewelled sceptre in her right hand, the captain
of the ship saw it and flashed a signal inward towards the cavern, when
by-and-bye a silver canoe shot out with an Indian chief at the stern,
and halted underneath the branch upon which Robin rested. The boy was
delighted, and without a moment's hesitation he clasped the branch
firmly with both hands and let himself drop as gently as possible into
the boat below. He was hardly seated, with the oars in his hands, when
the white ship passed by, all sails spread, and Queen Celeste sitting
upon a golden throne on deck. Robin followed. There was darkness as
he entered, and he felt bewildered and even eerie. But it was only for
a moment, for the white ship ahead became aglow with many brilliant
colored stars, and, with the silver boat behind, it glided into a land
whose beauty and marvellousness no pen can describe.
The sky was of entrancing azure, lit up by twelve mellow suns, making
perpetual day; the fields were like rich velvet carpets of green; and
the rivers, winding in fantastic shapes, widening into blue lakes and
forming dashing cascades, were pure as crystal. There were also plains
of gold dust, fine as flour, where butterflies enriched their tender
wings; great forests, where birds of gay plumage built peculiar nests
and sang in choirs most glorious songs; high hills, with rocks of red
ruby and blue lazuli, on which gilded reptiles basked and whistled;
lovely valleys full of fragrance and of luscious fruits; cool grottoes,
and sombre ravines; picturesque villages; busy towns, and majestic
castles.
All the animals could speak and sing and dance, and every one was a
pet. Nay more, they were useful. Squirrels ran messages, and
calculated like schoolboys; foxes drew out plans as architects; tigers
drove waggons pulled by zebras; and lions built bridges, which pretty
parrots wreathed with flowers.
Children played and laughed everywhere, dressed in the quaintest and
prettiest styles. None ever quarrelled, except in fun, as kittens do.
There was no time to see all that could be seen, so Robin was wafted
over a part of this wonderful land in a crimson silk balloon, with
Queen Celeste at his side, pointing out what was most interesting, till
his eyes were almost sore with gazing and gazing. Then they descended
into a field of gorgeous flowers, among a number of animal pets that
were leaping, racing, resting and talking. Robin was charmed and
amazed.
"Oh," said he, "if I could only get mine to speak like that I should be
happy, and what is it I would not teach them to do?"
The Queen was delighted because her guest was delighted.
Then Robin turned to her and said with a smile full of entreaty:
"Will your Majesty not aid me? Please help me, at least with my pretty
black squirrels I love so much."
"It shall be done," said the Queen, with a gracious smile, and she
raised her sceptre and touched his forehead.
"But thou art hungry," she added, "and thou must not leave my land
without tasting of my delicacies."
As Celeste said this she plucked a great flower full of nectar, and
handed it to him to eat. Robin did so, and the effect and odor were so
delightfully soothing that he fell into a deep sleep.
Queen Celeste then gave orders, through a glossy black squirrel, to
have Robin conveyed with great gentleness to another part of her
dominions. Six brownie giants appeared promptly with a flying machine
shaped like a Bird of Paradise. They placed him inside its body, on a
bed of down and softest silk, as if he had been a child again. Then
the chief brownie, dressed like an admiral, mounted the neck of the
machine, touched a spring, and the Bird of Paradise rose high into the
blue sky, flew softly over lakes and forests and prairies, then over a
high mountain of emerald, and at last down through a dense mist into a
picturesque spot, the very image of that on which Castle Frank stood on
the ridge of the great ravine. The machine descended gently into the
castle enclosure amidst a crowd of pets. The brownie touched another
spring, when the Bird of Paradise deposited Robin in the soft, green
grass, as if a new-laid egg in a nest.
The brownie quietly arranged everything and then quickly left with the
flying machine. He had scarcely gone when Robin was awakened by the
sound of whispering, and, slightly opening his eyes, he saw his black
squirrels around, warning each other not to disturb their master. He
was overjoyed to hear that they had received the gift of speech, and in
his heart he praised the Fairy Queen for her kindness and marvellous
skill. But he could not understand how she managed to transfer him to
where he was. It seemed only a moment before when he was talking to
her among the flowers of Fairyland, and now he was among his pets in
the garden of Castle Frank.