"And how big is the Moon?" asked Sweet-One-Darling. "Is it as big as
this room?"

"Oh, very, very much bigger," said the Dream-Fairies.

"I guess it must be as big as a house," suggested Sweet-One-Darling.

"Bigger than a house," answered Gleam-o'-the-Murk.

"Oh, my!" exclaimed Sweet-One-Darling, and she began to suspect that the
Dream-Fairies were fooling her.

But that night the Dream-Fairies took Sweet-One-Darling with them to the
Moon! You don't believe it, eh? Well, you wait until you 've heard all
about it, and then, may be, you not only will believe it, but will want
to go there, too.

The Dream-Fairies lifted Sweet-One-Darling carefully out of her cradle;
then their wings went "whir-r-r, whir-r-r"--you 've heard a green fly
buzzing against a window-pane, have n't you? That was the kind of
whirring noise the Dream-Fairies' wings made, with the pleasing
difference that the Dream-Fairies' wings produced a soft, soothing music.
The cricket under the honeysuckle by the window heard this music and saw
the Dream-Fairies carrying Sweet-One-Darling away. "Be sure to bring her
back again," said the cricket, for he was a sociable little fellow and
was very fond of little children.

You can depend upon it that Sweet-One-Darling had a delightful time
riding through the cool night air in the arms of those Dream-Fairies; it
was a good deal like being a bird, only the Dream-Fairies flew very much
faster than any bird can fly. As they sped along they told
Sweet-One-Darling all about the wonderful things they saw and everything
was new to Sweet-One-Darling, for she had never made any journeys before
except in the little basket-carriage which Good-Old-Soul, her nurse,
propelled every sunny morning up and down the street. Pretty soon they
came to a beautiful river, which looked as if it were molten silver; but
it was n't molten silver; it was a river of moonbeams.

"We will take a sail now," said Gleam-o'-the-Murk. "This river leads
straight to the Moon, and it is well worth navigating."

So they all got into a boat that had a sail made out of ten thousand and
ten baby-spiders' webs, and away they sailed as merrily as you please.
Sweet-One-Darling put her feet over the side of the boat and tried to
trail them in the river, but the moonbeams tickled her so that she could
n't stand it very long. And what do you think? When she pulled her feet
back into the boat she found them covered with dimples. She did n't