u meet with in the Gardens occur because the fairies have
taken an ill-will to you, and so it behoves you to be careful what you
say about them.

Maimie was one of the kind who like to fix a day for doing things,
but Tony was not that kind, and when she asked him which day he was to
remain behind in the Gardens after Lock-out he merely replied, "Just
some day;" he was quite vague about which day except when she asked
"Will it be to-day?" and then he could always say for certain that it
would not be to-day. So she saw that he was waiting for a real good
chance.

This brings us to an afternoon when the Gardens were white with snow,
and there was ice on the Round Pond, not thick enough to skate on but
at least you could spoil it for to-morrow by flinging stones, and many
bright little boys and girls were doing that.

When Tony and his sister arrived they wanted to go straight to the pond,
but their ayah said they must take a sharp walk first, and as she said
this she glanced at the time-board to see when the Gardens closed that
night. It read half-past five. Poor ayah! she is the one who laughs
continuously because there are so many white children in the world, but
she was not to laugh much more that day.

Well, they went up the Baby Walk and back, and when they returned to the
time-board she was surprised to see that it now read five o'clock for
closing time. But she was unacquainted with the tricky ways of the
fairies, and so did not see (as Maimie and Tony saw at once) that they
had changed the hour because there was to be a ball to-night. She said
there was only time now to walk to the top of the Hump and back, and as
they trotted along with her she little guessed what was thrilling their
little breasts. You see the chance had come of seeing a fairy ball.
Never, Tony felt, could he hope for a better chance.

He had to feel this, for Maimie so plainly felt it for him. Her eager
eyes asked the question, "Is it to-day?" and he gasped and then nodded.
Maimie slipped her hand into Tony's, and hers was hot, but his was cold.
She did a very kind thing; she took off her scarf and gave it to him!
"In case you should feel cold," she whispered. Her face was aglow, but
Tony's was very gloomy.

As they turned on the top of the Hump he whispered to her, "I'm afraid
Nurse would see me, so I sha'n't be able to do it."

Maimie admired him more than ever for being afraid of nothing but their
ayah, when there were so many unknown