ble, with Queen Mab at the head of it, and
behind her chair the Lord Chamberlain, who carries a dandelion on which
he blows when her Majesty wants to know the time.

[Illustration: Linkmen running in front carrying winter cherries]

The table-cloth varies according to the seasons, and in May it is made
of chestnut blossom. The way the fairy servants do is this: The men,
scores of them, climb up the trees and shake the branches, and the
blossom falls like snow. Then the lady servants sweep it together by
whisking their skirts until it is exactly like a tablecloth, and that
is how they get their tablecloth.

They have real glasses and real wine of three kinds, namely, blackthorn
wine, berberris wine, and cowslip wine, and the Queen pours out, but
the bottles are so heavy that she just pretends to pour out. There is
bread-and-butter to begin with, of the size of a threepenny bit; and
cakes to end with, and they are so small that they have no crumbs. The
fairies sit round on mushrooms, and at first they are well-behaved and
always cough off the table, and so on, but after a bit they are not so
well-behaved and stick their fingers into the butter, which is got from
the roots of old trees, and the really horrid ones crawl over the
tablecloth chasing sugar or other delicacies with their tongues. When
the Queen sees them doing this she signs to the servants to wash up and
put away, and then everybody adjourns to the dance, the Queen walking
in front while the Lord Chamberlain walks behind her, carrying two
little pots, one of which contains the juice of wallflower and the
other the juice of Solomon's Seal. Wallflower juice is good for
reviving dancers who fall to the ground in a fit, and Solomon's Seal
juice is for bruises. They bruise very easily, and when Peter plays
faster and faster they foot it till they fall down in fits. For, as
you know without my telling you, Peter Pan is the fairies' orchestra.
He sits in the middle of the ring, and they would never dream of having
a smart dance nowadays without him. 'P. P.' is written on the corner
of the invitation-cards sent out by all really good families. They are
grateful little people, too, and at the princess's coming-of-age ball
(they come of age on their second birthday and have a birthday every
month) they gave him the wish of his heart.

[Illustration: When her Majesty wants to know the time]

The way it was done was this. The Queen ordered him to kneel, and