MERRIMEG was asleep in her little bed, and Merrimeg’s mother was asleep in her big bed. It was late at night, and everybody in the village was asleep. All the houses were dark, and the stars were shining overhead.
Merrimeg woke up, and listened. She thought she heard a sound as if someone were crying.
She got up out of bed in her white nightgown, and tiptoed over to her mother and looked at her. Her mother was fast asleep, but she still heard the sound of crying.
She decided that it must be outside in the street, so she opened the front door and peeped out.
In the street before the door were three beautiful children, and one of them was crying.
[52]They were all of about the same size as Merrimeg, and they were dressed in long dark blue gowns, fine as spider webs, which rippled around them in the cool air. They were barefoot and bareheaded. Each one had long black hair streaming down to her waist, and a pair of great wide wings standing out straight from her shoulders, like the wings of an enormous butterfly, all blue and silver.
One of the children had her arms about the one who was crying. They all looked up at Merrimeg as she opened the door.
“You’re Merrimeg, aren’t you?” said the one who had her arms about the other.
Merrimeg stepped out into the street under the stars.
“Yes,” said she. “What is she crying about? Are you lost?”
“You’d—better—tell her—who we are, Pennie,” said the one who had been crying, choking back her sobs.
“We aren’t lost,” said the one who hadn’t yet spoken. “We’re looking for our star.”
[53]“We’ve lost it,” said the one who had been crying, breaking out into sobs again.
“Don’t cry, Winnie,” said the one who had her arms about her. “She’ll help us find it, I know she will.”
“Why is she crying?” said Merrimeg again.
“She’s Winnie, and I’m Florrie,” said the one who had just spoken, “and this one’s Pennie. Don’t you know who we are?”
“No,” said Merrimeg.
“We’re the starlight fairies,” said Florrie. “Now do you know?”
“No,” said Merrimeg.
“I thought everybody knew,” said Florrie. “Every evening at dark we fly along the sky up there and hang out the stars. Haven’t you ever seen us?”
“No,” said Merrimeg.
“I suppose they can’t see us from down here, and we’ve never been away from the stars before.”
“I wish we’d never come,” said Winnie, crying again.
[54]“I’ll tell you,” said Pennie. “To-night we were hanging out the stars, and Winnie—poor Winnie!”
“I didn’t mean to,” sobbed Winnie. “I didn’t mean to!”
“What did she do?” said Merrimeg.
“She dropped one of her stars,” said Pennie.
“It’s gone!” sobbed Winnie. “And I can’t go back without it!”
“It fell and fell and fell and fell,” said Florrie, “and then we couldn’t see it any more. It dropped down here, somewhere near here, we’re sure of it.”
“Do you see up there?” said Pennie. “Up there where there’s a wide dark space between the stars?” She pointed to the sky, directly overhead. There was a space there, about as big as a blanket, without any star.
“Yes, I see,” said Merrimeg.
“That’s where the star belongs,” said Pennie.
“We’ll never find it!” said Winnie, putting her face down on Florrie’s shoulder.
“I’m sure we shall,” said Florrie, “if Merrimeg[55] will only help us. We don’t know anything about this dreadful earth place, but she knows.”
“Will you help us?” said Pennie.
“If I can,” said Merrimeg.
“Then come along,” said Pennie.
“Can’t I put on my clothes first?” said Merrimeg.
“There’s no time,” said Pennie. “Suppose daylight should come before we find it? What would we do?”
“Let’s go, then,” said Florrie; and she moved away lightly down the street, drawing Winnie along by the hand, their wings waving gently in the air.
“Where shall we go?” said Pennie.
A thought came into Merrimeg’s mind. She would take them to the gnomes’ house, and the two brothers would surely tell them how to find the star.
“I’ll take you,” said she, pushing on ahead towards the woods beyond the village. She was used to going barefoot, and she didn’t mind the[56] rough ground. It was a warm night, and she soon forgot that she was only in her nightgown.
They went into the woods.
“It’s so gloomy,” said Winnie, in a whisper. “I don’t like these strange earth places. I wish we were at home among the stars.”
“We’ll be home before morning, never fear,” said Florrie.
They stopped beside the pool where Merrimeg had once tried to wash the black from her face. The trees were wide apart here, and Merrimeg, looking up, could see the bare spot in the sky directly overhead, where the lost star belonged.
“Where are you taking us?” said Pennie.
“I’m taking you to the gnomes’ house,” said Merrimeg. “We’ll soon be there. It’s two gnomes who’ve been very good to me; I know where they live. They’re the ones to help us.”
“Is one of them named Malkin?” said Florrie.
“And the other one Nibby?” said Pennie.
[57]“Yes,” said Merrimeg.
[58]
 
“LOOK!” SHE CRIED
 
[59]“Then it’s no use,” said Pennie. “We’ve been there already.”
“They were asleep,” said Florrie, “and we woke them up, and they didn’t like it a bit. They wouldn’t get up for any foolish old star,—that’s what they said. But they told us about you, and that’s how we came to hunt you up. But the horrid gnomes wouldn’t do a thing for us; they wouldn’t even get up.”
“They’re not horrid,” said Merrimeg. “Oh dear, I don’t know what we’re going to do now.”
She looked down sadly into the dark water of the pool, trying to think what to do next. She gave a little jump of surprise, and looked harder. Far, far down, away down deep under the water of the pool,——
She saw a star.
“Look!” she cried, and pointed her finger at it.
The starlight fairies leaned over, and looked down into the pool.
“That’s it!” cried Florrie.
[60]“It’s my star!” cried Winnie.
“It’s our lost star!” cried Pennie. “Dropped down from the sky to the bottom of this pool.”
“Then,” said Merrimeg, “you’d better go down and get it.”
“Oh no! oh no! oh no!” cried the three fairies together.
“We mustn’t get our wings wet!” said Pennie.
“We’d never be able to fly home if our wings got wet,” said Winnie.
“But you have no wings,” said Florrie to Merrimeg.
“No, she has no wings,” said Pennie.
“She shall go down for our star,” said Winnie. “You will, won’t you?”
“The water’s deep and dark,” said Merrimeg.
“But you have no wings,” said Florrie.
“The water’s cold and gloomy,” said Merrimeg.
“But you have no wings,” said Pennie.
“I wonder if I could do it,” said Merrimeg.
[61]“Oh please!” cried Winnie. “Oh dearest Merrimeg, please get my star.”
“I’ll see how deep it is,” said Merrimeg, and she threw a stone into the middle of the pool. The water rippled away as the stone sank, and the star could not be seen any longer.
“Oh!” cried Winnie. “Now you’ve sent my star away! It’s gone!”
But the water became quiet in a moment, and there was the star again, shining bright at the bottom of the pool.
At that instant, they heard a splash in the water, and a shrill voice, like the voice of an angry boy, cried out:
“Who breaks my glass? Who breaks my glass?”
“What can that be?” whispered Merrimeg.
“I don’t know,” said Florrie. “Throw another stone, and perhaps we’ll hear it again.”
Merrimeg tossed another stone into the pool, and when the ripples had died away they heard the same voice again. This time it said:
[62]“Who strikes my children? Who strikes my children?”
“Throw another,” whispered Pennie, and Merrimeg cast in another stone.
This time there was a loud wail, and the voice cried:
“My children! My children! I’m coming! I’m coming!”
Then there was a splash, and nothing more. They waited a long time, but they heard nothing more.
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