ious smile, and she
raised her sceptre and touched his forehead.

"But thou art hungry," she added, "and thou must not leave my land
without tasting of my delicacies."

As Celeste said this she plucked a great flower full of nectar, and
handed it to him to eat. Robin did so, and the effect and odor were so
delightfully soothing that he fell into a deep sleep.

Queen Celeste then gave orders, through a glossy black squirrel, to
have Robin conveyed with great gentleness to another part of her
dominions. Six brownie giants appeared promptly with a flying machine
shaped like a Bird of Paradise. They placed him inside its body, on a
bed of down and softest silk, as if he had been a child again. Then
the chief brownie, dressed like an admiral, mounted the neck of the
machine, touched a spring, and the Bird of Paradise rose high into the
blue sky, flew softly over lakes and forests and prairies, then over a
high mountain of emerald, and at last down through a dense mist into a
picturesque spot, the very image of that on which Castle Frank stood on
the ridge of the great ravine. The machine descended gently into the
castle enclosure amidst a crowd of pets. The brownie touched another
spring, when the Bird of Paradise deposited Robin in the soft, green
grass, as if a new-laid egg in a nest.

The brownie quietly arranged everything and then quickly left with the
flying machine. He had scarcely gone when Robin was awakened by the
sound of whispering, and, slightly opening his eyes, he saw his black
squirrels around, warning each other not to disturb their master. He
was overjoyed to hear that they had received the gift of speech, and in
his heart he praised the Fairy Queen for her kindness and marvellous
skill. But he could not understand how she managed to transfer him to
where he was. It seemed only a moment before when he was talking to
her among the flowers of Fairyland, and now he was among his pets in
the garden of Castle Frank.

CHAPTER III.

THE STRANGE SCHOOL CLASS.

Full many a beauteous lesson, too,
Their rosy lips can teach;
Great men would wonder if they knew
How well the fairies preach.
_Havergal._

One day in June, when the sky was as blue as it is in Italy, and when
all the trees and shrubs were dressed in bright green, there was a
curious sight in the Fairy Garden of Castle Frank. Under the shade of
a big apple-tree, and upon a long school-like seat, there sat t