e surprised to find the bed
occupied. 'Pity to lift them hyacinths,' said the one man. 'Duke's
orders,' replied the other, and, having emptied the cart, they dug up
the boarding school and put the poor, terrified things in it in five
rows. Of course, neither the governess nor the girls dare let on that
they were fairies, so they were carted far away to a potting-shed, out
of which they escaped in the night without their shoes, but there was a
great row about it among the parents, and the school was ruined.

As for their houses, it is no use looking for them, because they are
the exact opposite of our houses. You can see our houses by day but
you can't see them by dark. Well, you can see their houses by dark,
but you can't see them by day, for they are the colour of night, and I
never heard of any one yet who could see night in the daytime. This
does not mean that they are black, for night has its colours just as
day has, but ever so much brighter. Their blues and reds and greens
are like ours with a light behind them. The palace is entirely built
of many-coloured glasses, and it is quite the loveliest of all royal
residences, but the queen sometimes complains because the common people
will peep in to see what she is doing. They are very inquisitive folk,
and press quite hard against the glass, and that is why their noses are
mostly snubby. The streets are miles long and very twisty, and have
paths on each side made of bright worsted. The birds used to steal the
worsted for their nests, but a policeman has been appointed to hold on
at the other end.

One of the great differences between the fairies and us is that they
never do anything useful. When the first baby laughed for the first
time, his laugh broke into a million pieces, and they all went skipping
about. That was the beginning of fairies. They look tremendously
busy, you know, as if they had not a moment to spare, but if you were
to ask them what they are doing, they could not tell you in the least.
They are frightfully ignorant, and everything they do is make-believe.
They have a postman, but he never calls except at Christmas with his
little box, and though they have beautiful schools, nothing is taught
in them; the youngest child being chief person is always elected
mistress, and when she has called the roll, they all go out for a walk
and never come back. It is a very noticeable thing that, in fairy
families, the youngest is always chief pers