, and lay on the ground under
the rose-bush; and the poor little fairy burst into tears, for she knew
that daylight always spoiled dreams, and these were very lovely ones.

Her shining wings were tangled in the web, her hands were chained, and
her feet were helpless; so she had to lie still and wait for the day
time which, after all, came too soon.

As soon as the sun was up, Mrs. Spider came out of her den; and when she
saw the fairy she was very glad, for she thought she had caught a new
kind of fly.

"If you please, Mrs. Spider," cried the fairy quickly, "I am only a
little fairy, and flew into your web last night on my way home to
fairyland."

"A fairy!" said Mrs. Spider crossly, for she was disappointed; "I
suppose you are the one who helps the flies to get away from me. You see
well enough then!"

"I help them because they are in trouble," answered the fairy gently.

"So are you, now," snapped the spider, "But the flies won't help you."

"But perhaps you will," pleaded the fairy.

"Perhaps I won't," said the spider, going back into her house and
leaving the little fairy, who felt very sorrowful.

Her tears fell like dew drops on the spider web, and the sun shone on
them, and made them as bright as the fairy queen's diamonds.

The fairy began to think of the queen and the court, and the bundle of
dreams; and she wondered who would do the work if she never got free.
The fairy queen had always trusted her, and had sent her on many
errands.

Once she had been sent to free a mocking-bird that had been shut in a
cage. She remembered how he sang in his cage, although he was longing
for his green tree tops.

She smiled through her tears when she thought of this, and said to
herself:--

"I can be singing, too! It is better than crying."

Then she began to sing one of her fairy songs:--

"_Oh! listen well, and I will tell,
Of the land where the fairies dwell;
The lily bells ring clear and sweet,
And grass grows green beneath your feet
In the land where the fairies dwell,
In the land where the fairies dwell_."

Now though the fairy did not know it, Mrs. Spider was very fond of
music; and when she heard the sweet song, she came out to listen. The
little fairy did not see her, so she sang on:--

"_Grasshoppers gay, by night and day,
Keep ugly goblins far away
From the land where the fairies dwell,
From the land where the fairies dwell_."

Mrs. Spider came a lit