as so late when she awoke that the sun was quite a
good way up in the sky, and Mrs. Denny was standing by the bed smiling
at her little visitor, and wondering if she would have to make fresh
bread and milk for her, as the bowlful that was ready would be quite
spoilt with waiting so long. Up jumped Lena.

"'Oh, dear Mrs. Denny,' she said, 'I have had such a beautiful, lovely
sleep. And you don't know what funny dreams I had. I dreamt that there
were fairies hidden in all the little crinks of the curtains, and I
heard them talking about me and telling each other that it was the first
time I had slept there, and they wondered if I was a good little girl.
And then I thought I heard one say "if she is good we can please her
well." _Wasn't_ it funny, Mrs. Denny?'

"'Very funny,' said Mrs. Denny, smiling. 'But you know, Miss Lena, I
told you you'd have beautiful sleeps and dreams here, didn't I?'

"'Yes,' said Lena, 'and I'm _so_ hungry, you don't know how hungry I
am.'

"So she jumped up and washed and dressed and said her prayers, and came
down to the kitchen as fresh and bright as a little girl could look. And
Farmer Denny declared, if the roses in the gardens had been in bloom, he
could have thought she had been stealing some for her cheeks--for
already there was certainly more colour in them than when she had
arrived. So the time passed very happily, and Lena did not feel the
least dull either by day or by night.

"It had not been the time of the full moon when she first came, but a
few days later it happened to be so, and as the weather was beautifully
fine just then there were almost no clouds in the sky, and the moon had
it all her own pretty way. One night Lena woke up suddenly--it seemed to
her that she had been asleep a long, long time, and she didn't feel the
least heavy or confused, but quite fresh and brisk as if she had had all
the sleep she needed. And the shining moonlight came pouring in at the
windows in a sort of wide band of light falling right across the bed and
showing out most beautifully the colours and patterns on the
old-fashioned curtains. They looked even brighter than by daylight, and
as Lena lay and looked at them, she saw wonderful new pictures that she
had never noticed before--the sort of pathway between the green branches
and foliage that seemed to lead up to one of the little bowers or
grottos grew more distinct, and as Lena tried to trace it out with her
eyes, she suddenly saw a little