summoned a council of all the
immortals of the world to meet with me here in Burzee this night. If
they obey, and harken unto my words, Claus will drive his reindeer for
countless ages yet to come."

At midnight there was a wondrous scene in the ancient Forest of Burzee,
where for the first time in many centuries the rulers of the immortals
who inhabit the earth were gathered together.

There was the Queen of the Water Sprites, whose beautiful form was as
clear as crystal but continually dripped water on the bank of moss
where she sat. And beside her was the King of the Sleep Fays, who
carried a wand from the end of which a fine dust fell all around, so
that no mortal could keep awake long enough to see him, as mortal eyes
were sure to close in sleep as soon as the dust filled them. And next
to him sat the Gnome King, whose people inhabit all that region under
the earth's surface, where they guard the precious metals and the jewel
stones that lie buried in rock and ore. At his right hand stood the
King of the Sound Imps, who had wings on his feet, for his people are
swift to carry all sounds that are made. When they are busy they carry
the sounds but short distances, for there are many of them; but
sometimes they speed with the sounds to places miles and miles away
from where they are made. The King of the Sound Imps had an anxious
and careworn face, for most people have no consideration for his Imps
and, especially the boys and girls, make a great many unnecessary
sounds which the Imps are obliged to carry when they might be better
employed.

The next in the circle of immortals was the King of the Wind Demons,
slender of frame, restless and uneasy at being confined to one place
for even an hour. Once in a while he would leave his place and circle
around the glade, and each time he did this the Fairy Queen was obliged
to untangle the flowing locks of her golden hair and tuck them back of
her pink ears. But she did not complain, for it was not often that the
King of the Wind Demons came into the heart of the Forest. After the
Fairy Queen, whose home you know was in old Burzee, came the King of
the Light Elves, with his two Princes, Flash and Twilight, at his back.
He never went anywhere without his Princes, for they were so
mischievous that he dared not let them wander alone.

Prince Flash bore a lightning-bolt in his right hand and a horn of
gunpowder in his left, and his bright eyes roved constantly around