chy, send at once to the nearest hosier's and buy me a
plain collar-stud, and kindly ask Mary to get back as quickly as
possible. I am expecting the cab every moment."

"It is at the door, sir," said Mrs. Putchy; "and I don't know, I'm sure,
where Mary will be able to get a collar-stud for you to-day. This is
Thursday, you know, sir, early closing day."

Too true. It was indeed _most_ unfortunate. In my neighbourhood all the
shops close at two o'clock Thursdays, and it would have been as easy to
buy a collar-stud as an elephant at Kensington just then.

What was to be done?

A sudden inspiration struck me.

I ran across to the study, and undoing my desk, I found a little
yellow-covered book attached to a golden chain which I had picked up
just after my friend Shin Shira had vanished the last time he had
visited me.

It was the book which the fairies had given him, and contained
directions as to what to do when in any difficulty. I hurriedly turned
to the letter C, intending to look for "collar-stud"--but, to my great
disappointment, there was no such word to be found.

"Of course not," I suddenly thought; "the people who live in the land
from which Shin Shira comes don't wear such things," and I let my mind
wander back to my little friend with his yellow silk costume and turban.

"Hullo! though," I exclaimed a moment later, "what's this?"

My eyes had caught the words "_To obtain your wishes_" at the top of one
of the pages.

I hastily read what followed, and gathered from what was written that
_anybody_ could have at least _two_ wishes granted by the fairies if he
only went about it in the right way and followed the given directions
closely. It appeared that one must hop round three times, first on one
foot and then on the other, repeating the following words aloud, and
wishing very hard--

"Fairies! fairies! grant my wishes,
You can do so if you will,
Birds and beasts and little fishes
One and all obey you still.
Fairies! Please to show me how
You can grant my wishes _now_."

Of course _I_ immediately wished for a collar-stud, and I was just
hopping round on my right leg for the third time, having begun with the
left one, when Mrs. Putchy entered the room.

She looked rather surprised at seeing me engaged in what must have
seemed to her rather an extraordinary occupation, but she is so used to
strange things happening with me that she made no remark, except to
poi