er way to go than this," said the little girl.
"Do you?"
"Yes, I do. Let go of my hand, and I'll show you." She drew her hand
away from Teddy, and very slowly she leaned back against the air as
though it were a pillow, then she gave herself a little push with her
feet, and away she floated so lightly and easily that Teddy could hardly
keep up with her.
"Oh, Ellen!" cried Teddy, "will you teach me to do that?"
"Yes, I will," said Ellen. So she stood up and showed Teddy how to take
a long breath, and how to push himself, and then he found he could do
it quite well, and when Ellen began to float too, they could go along
together hand in hand just as they had before.
Suddenly a thought crossed Teddy's mind, and he cried, "Why, Ellen, I
thought you were lame!"
"So I am," said the little girl.
"But you can run and float."
"Yes, I know, but that's because I'm dreaming."
"Why, no, Ellen, you can't be dreaming," said Teddy, "for I'm here too."
"Well, I don't know," said Ellen, "but I think I'm dreaming, because
I've often dreamed this way before."
Teddy thought of this for a little while, but it was not pleasant to
think that he was in a dream. After a while he said: "Ellen, don't you
know, if you're lame you ought to go to a hospital? My mamma says so,
and my papa says so too."
An ugly expression came into Ellen's face. "That's all you know about
it," she cried. "You don't catch me going to a hospital. Why, I heard of
a girl that went to a hospital and--"
She was interrupted by a soft burst of laughter, and looking about Teddy
saw that he and she had floated right into midst of a group of little
children, who were running along the rainbow bridge. They were all such
pretty little children, with soft shining faces and bare feet, but they
did not quite look like any children that Teddy had ever seen before.
Each little child carried in its hand a bunch of flowers, and they were
such flowers as the little boy had never dreamed of. Some of them moved
on their stalks, opening and closing their petals softly like the wings
of butterflies, some shone like jewels, and some seemed to change and
throb as if with a hidden pulse of life.
Ellen, who had stopped floating, caught Teddy by the coat and hung back
timidly when she saw the children, but Teddy spoke to the one nearest to
him. "Where did you get your flowers?" he asked.
"From the garden at the other end of the rainbow," said the little
child, smi
|