d a smile that sent them to bed full of hope
for the future.

_DANDELION._

Down by the sea lived Ben the fisherman, with his wife, and little son,
who was called Dandelion, because he wore yellow pinafores, and had
curly, yellow hair, that covered his head with a golden fuzz. A very
happy family, for Ben was kind and industrious, Hetty, his wife, a
cheerful, busy creature, and Dandelion the jolliest three-year-old baby
who ever made sand-pies and paddled on the beach.

But one day a great trouble came to them. Ben and his fellow-fishermen
sailed blithely away as usual, and Hetty watched the fleet of
white-winged boats out of the bay, thinking how pretty they looked with
the sunshine on them; while Dandelion stood clapping his chubby hands,
and saying, as he always did, 'Daddy tummin' soon.' But Daddy did not
come soon that time; for a great storm arose, and when some of the boats
came scudding home at nightfall, Ben's was not among them. All night the
gale raged, and in the morning, Ben's boat lay empty and broken on the
shore. His mates shook their heads when they saw the wreck, and drew
their rough hands over their eyes; for Ben was a good seaman, and they
knew he never would desert his boat alive. They looked for him far and
wide, but could hear nothing of him, and felt sure that he had perished
in the storm. They tried to comfort poor Hetty, but she would not be
comforted. Her heart seemed broken; and if it had not been for her baby,
her neighbours feared that she would have gone to join Ben in his grave
under the sea. Dandelion didn't understand why every one was so sad, and
why his father stayed away so long; but he never lost his cheerfulness,
never gave up hoping, or stopped saying, with a contented smile, 'Daddy
tummin' soon.' The sunshiny little face was Hetty's only comfort. The
sight of the fuzzy yellow head, bobbing round the house, alone made it
endurable; and the touch of the loving baby hands kept her from the
despair which made her long to end her sorrow in the sea.

People don't believe in fairies now-a-days; nevertheless, good spirits
still exist, and help us in our times of trouble, better even than the
little people we used to read about. One of these household spirits is
called Love, and it took the shape of Dandelion to comfort poor Hetty.
Another is called Labor: a beautiful, happy spirit this is, and it did
its part so well that there was little time for bitter thoughts or vain
regr