ful in me.-- And she asked me if I was sad. I wonder
whether I am or not.-- No, I am not sad," he decided, "not now."

Meanwhile Maya and the flower-sprite flew through the dense
shrubbery of a garden. The glory of it in the dimmed moonlight
was beyond the power of mortal lips to say. An intoxicatingly
sweet cool breath of dew and slumbering flowers transformed all
things into unutterable blessings. The lilac grapes of the
acacias sparkled in freshness, the June rose-tree looked like a
small blooming heaven hung with red lamps, the white stars of
the jasmine glowed palely, sadly, and poured out their perfume
as if, in this one hour, to make a gift of their all.

Maya was dazed. She pressed the sprite's hand and looked at him.
A light of bliss shone from his eyes.

"Who could have dreamed of this!" whispered the little bee.

Just then she saw something that sent a pang through her.

"Oh," she cried, "look! A star has fallen! It's straying about
and can't find its way back to its place in the sky."

"That's a firefly," said the flower-sprite, without a smile.

Now, in the midst of her amazement, Maya realized for the first
time why the sprite seemed so dear and kind. He never laughed at
her ignorance; on the contrary, he helped her when she went
wrong.

"They are odd little creatures," the sprite continued. "They
carry their own light about with them on warm summer nights and
enliven the dark under the shrubbery where the moonlight doesn't
shine through. So firefly can keep tryst with firefly even in
the dark. Later, when we come to the human beings, you will make
the acquaintance of one of them."

"Why?" asked Maya.

"You'll soon see."

By this time they had reached an arbor completely overgrown with
jasmine and woodbine. They descended almost to the ground. From
close by, within the arbor, came the sound of faint whispering.
The flower-sprite beckoned to a firefly.

"Would you be good enough," he asked, "to give us a little
light? We have to push through these dark leaves here; we want
to get to the inside of the jasmine-arbor."

"But your glow is much brighter than mine."

"I think so, too," put in Maya, more to hide her excitement than
anything else.

"I must wrap myself up in a leaf," explained the sprite, "else
the human beings would see me and be frightened. We sprites
appear to human beings only in their dreams."

"I see," said the firefly. "I am at your service. I will do what
I can.-- Won'