nd I will go with you, oh!

To fairyland, to fairyland,
Who seeks may find the way, oh,
And we shall see the fairies dance
Before the break of day, oh!

[Footnote 6: I am indebted to one William Shakespeare, whose intimate
acquaintance with fairyland none can dispute, for the name
"Pease-Blossom"; to Joseph Rodman Drake for the idea of my story; and
to some of the folk tales which suggested to me one or two of
Pease-Blossom's adventures.]

In the deepest dell of the Enchanted Wood, where the moss grew the
greenest and the violets bloomed the sweetest, the fairies lived.
It was they who kept the brooks and the springs free from dirt or
clog, and tended the wild flowers and watched over the young trees.
And they were friends with all the harmless birds and beasts from
wood's end to wood's end.

But for those creatures that work harm to others, and for the goblins
who delight in mischief they had no love, and every day and every
night a watch was set to drive them from the fairy dell.

Each fay in turn kept guard and all went well till one evening when
Pease-Blossom, the best-loved fairy in the dell, fell asleep at his
post and the goblins stole away the nightingale that sang each night
at the queen's court.

Great was the sorrow in fairyland when this was known.

"I will fly to catch them before they have had time to hide her away,"
cried a fay whose name was Quick-As-Lightning.

"I will go, too," said little Twinkle-Toes.

"And I, three," said Spice-of-Life; "and my good thorn sword with me,
which will make four against them."

But the fairy queen would not consent to this.

"Pease-Blossom in his trust did fail;
And he must seek the nightingale,"

she said; and no sooner had she spoken than the little fay bade his
companions good-bye and hastened out upon his quest alone.

The goblins had left no trace behind them and Pease-Blossom wandered
hither and thither over dewy fells and fields asking of every piping
cricket and brown winged bat he met: "Passed the goblins this way?"

No one could aid him, and he was ready to drop from weariness and
sorrow when the moon came over the hill and called:

"Whither away, Pease-Blossom? Whither away?"

"In quest of the nightingale that the goblins have stolen; but where
they have taken her I cannot find," answered the little fay sadly.

Then said the moon: "Many a nightingale there is in the wide world,
both free and caged, and how may I k