enever fairies are sad they wear
white. And this year, which was long ago, was the year men were
tearing down all the old zigzag rail fences. Now those old zigzag rail
fences were beautiful for the fairies because a hundred fairies could
sit on one rail and thousands and thousands of them could sit on the
zigzags and sing pla-sizzy pla-sizzy, softer than an eye-wink, softer
than a baby's thumb, all on a moonlight summer night. And they found
out that year was going to be the last year of the zigzag rail fences.
It made them sorry and sad, and when they are sorry and sad they wear
white. So they picked the wonderful white morning glories running
along the zigzag rail fences and made them into little wristlets and
wore those wristlets the next year to show they were sorry and sad."

Of course, all this helps you to know how the corn fairies look in the
evening, the night time and the moonlight. Now we shall see how they
look in the day time.

In the day time the corn fairies have their overalls of corn gold
cloth on. And they walk among the corn rows and climb the corn stalks
and fix things in the leaves and stalks and ears of the corn. They
help it to grow.

Each one carries on the left shoulder a mouse brush to brush away the
field mice. And over the right shoulder each one has a cricket broom
to sweep away the crickets. The brush is a whisk brush to brush away
mice that get foolish. And the broom is to sweep away crickets that
get foolish.

Around the middle of each corn fairy is a yellow-belly belt. And stuck
in this belt is a purple moon shaft hammer. Whenever the wind blows
strong and nearly blows the corn down, then the fairies run out and
take their purple moon shaft hammers out of their yellow-belly belts
and nail down nails to keep the corn from blowing down. When a rain
storm is blowing up terrible and driving all kinds of terribles across
the cornfield, then you can be sure of one thing. Running like the
wind among the corn rows are the fairies, jerking their purple moon
shaft hammers out of their belts and nailing nails down to keep the
corn standing up so it will grow and be ripe and beautiful when the
harvest moon comes again in the fall.

Spink and Skabootch ask where the corn fairies get the nails. The
answer to Spink and Skabootch is, "Next week you will learn all about
where the corn fairies get the nails to nail down the corn if you will
keep your faces washed and your ears washed till next week.