her;
and being, as I said, very good-natured, she made Wishie very welcome
to the bone, and began frisking after the leaves upon the
gravel-walk. I am sorry to say, that when Wishie had devoured the
chicken-bone, she did not seem half so much ashamed of her selfish
conduct as she ought to have been; but, seeing a fine plump little
sparrow perch himself upon the branch of an old tree near, she sprung
up the stem after him. Now it was really very greedy of her, but
however she _did_ it, and some wonderful things happened in
consequence. The tree was very old, and the trunk was quite hollow;
but that Wishie did not know; so when she had clambered up to the top
she suddenly found herself on the brink of a frightful abyss--there
seemed a hollow deep down to the very roots of the tree. She peeped
cautiously down to see what she could see, but somehow or other,
whether she overbalanced herself, or whether a bit of the bark gave
way, or how it was I can't tell, but Wishie tipped over, and tumbled
headlong into the hollow of the tree. But as she luckily fell into a
bed of thick moss she was not the worse; and giving herself a shake,
she opened her eyes and looked about her.

Was there ever anything so wonderful? She was in an enormous hall,
supported upon at least two hundred columns of gold, while, between
them, curtains of the richest white silk, fringed with pearls and
diamonds, hung from the roof to the floor, which was spread with a
carpet of azure, covered with flowers in their natural colors,
intermingled with stars of gold and silver. The roof of this wondrous
hall was of fretted gold, and from the centre hung a lamp formed of an
enormous precious stone, which shed forth rays of many-colored hues.
At the upper end of the apartment was a chair of state, over which
fell a drapery of azure velvet, embroidered with pearls in beautiful
devices. But how shall I describe to you the lady who sat in this
gorgeous chair? She was bright and beautiful as a summer's day; her
hair, shining like gold, fell in curls to the very ground; she was
dressed in a robe of azure-blue, a crown of white roses, sprinkled
with diamond dew-drops, rested upon her brow, and in her hand she
carried a long slender bright wand of gold. You may imagine that
Wishie was very much astounded at the sight of all these strange
things; however, the Fairy, in a very soft voice, called to her to
approach nearer. 'Wishie,' said she, 'do you know where you are?'