iner than the finest cobweb, floated around her like a sort of brown
mist; it was very thick and immensely long--nearly five inches! Her
skin was more pure and delicate than the inside of a white geranium
bud; but the palms of her little hands had a faint rose tint, and so
had the tips of her infinitesimal fingers and toes. Her eyes were like
fairy forget-me-nots; and, ah! who can describe that tiniest marvel of
all perfection, her mouth, with its tender curved lips, and teeth no
bigger than grains of white sand. This little lady carried in one hand
a broad frond of green weed, which arched over her head and protected
her from the rays of the sun that fell through the crystal sides of
the vase. Round her neck was hung a necklace of seed pearls that might
have come out of a mussel as large as a millet seed. From the waist
depended a curiously woven girdle made of thread-like sea-grasses of
various colours. There she stood, gazing straight at Oscar with her
wondering blue eyes, and her lips half parted. And Oscar gazed at her,
almost afraid to breathe, lest she should vanish out of his sight. For
he could not yet believe that she was real. He had never even dreamed
of anything like her before. But he was awake, and she still stood
beneath the archway of rock, and he saw many sweet expressions pass
over her face. Yes, she was a real, living little maiden, and she had
come into the world to make Oscar happy; to supply the want he had
felt; to be something that he could love and live for.

Oscar felt so tenderly towards her, and so fearful lest he should do
something to alarm or shock her, that at first he did not venture to
do anything at all. He was so terribly big, he thought, that she must
find him frightful. He longed to show her in some way that there was
nothing in his heart but love and reverence for her. In the midst of
his perplexity, however, the little maiden smiled a smile that was all
the more delightful because the eyes and mouth she smiled with were so
small; and with a light movement she half walked, half floated towards
him, until she stood close to the crystal side of the vase. The tips
of her fingers rested against it, and she looked up at Oscar with a
glance so winning and so confiding that he no longer felt any doubt
about her or about himself. He stooped down and put his lips to his
side of the crystal vase, and they kissed each other through it.

In this way the pledge of friendship between them was g