s.

_The Margots_

Another Breton name for the fairies is _les Margots la fee_, a title
which is chiefly employed in several districts of the Cotes-du-Nord,
principally in the _arrondissements_ of Saint-Brieuc and Loudeac, to
describe those fairies who have their abode in large rocks and on the
wild and extensive moorlands which are so typical of the country.
These, unlike the _fees houles_, are able to render themselves
invisible at pleasure. Like human beings, they are subject to
maladies, and are occasionally glad to accept mortal succour. They
return kindness for kindness, but are vindictive enemies to those who
attempt to harm them.

But fairy vindictiveness is not lavished upon those unwitting mortals
who do them harm alone. If one chances to succeed in a task set by the
immortals of the forest, one is in danger of death, as the following
story shows.

_The Boy who Served the Fairies_

A poor little fellow was one day gathering faggots in the forest when
a gay, handsomely dressed gentleman passed him, and, noticing the
lad's ragged and forlorn condition, said to him: "What are you doing
there, my boy?"

"I am looking for wood, sir," replied the boy. "If I did not do so we
should have no fire at home."

"You are very poor at home, then?" asked the gentleman.

"So poor," said the lad, "that sometimes we only eat once a day, and
often go supperless to bed."

[Illustration: THE POOR BOY AND THE THREE FAIRY DAMSELS]

"That is a sad tale," said the gentleman. "If you will promise to
meet me here within a month I will give you some money, which will
help your parents and feed and clothe your small brothers and
sisters."

Prompt to the day and the hour, the boy kept the tryst in the forest
glade, at the very spot where he had met the gentleman. But though he
looked anxiously on every side he could see no signs of his friend. In
his anxiety he pushed farther into the forest, and came to the borders
of a pond, where three damsels were preparing to bathe. One was
dressed in white, another in grey, and the third in blue. The boy
pulled off his cap, gave them good-day, and asked politely if they had
not seen a gentleman in the neighbourhood. The maiden who was dressed
in white told him where the gentleman was to be found, and pointed out
a road by which he might arrive at his castle.

"He will ask you," said she, "to become his servant, and if you accept
he will wish you to eat. The first time that he pres