little silver plum-extractor.  With it a child could extract all the fattest raisins from her piece of mince-pie or portion of rice pudding without having to bother with the uninteresting remainder and being reprimanded; for the ingenious little instrument was invisible to adults.  All the other presents were marked “For Sara, with our congratulations, because she is older than the Snoodle.”  But this one was marked, in a round, childish hand, “For my dear Sara—­because she is older than me.”

But the grand surprise came when, near the last, four Gunki hurried in bearing a large chest, which they placed at Sara’s feet.  “It came by the Gahoppigas Express, Miss, with no message,” they explained.  And when Sara opened it she found that it was full of butterfly money—­the loveliest pieces of gold and silver that the frittilaries and papilios had collected from their own wings.  Just inside the lid was a lily leaf bearing the inscription,

               “For Sara, from a grateful Nation,
                Because she is older than the Snoodle.”

Sara distributed handfuls of the beautiful little coins among them and again they cheered her for her generosity.  Sara felt that she really did not deserve the cheering, however, as she seemed to have as many as ever—­even after she had filled Mrs. Snimmy’s apron and a shoe apiece for each Gunkus.

When the excitement over the money had subsided a little, Pirlaps announced; “The Banquet is now ready!” and again offering Sara his arm, he led her at the head of another procession three times around the fountain; and the third time, as before, there beside the cake was the banquet table—­all spread and loaded down and glittering.  Of course it was quite a long table, with a good many covers; there had to be one for each of Avrillia’s children and for every one of the Gunki.  The covers were very thin (being made of cobweb, of course) still, having so many, spread one on top of the other, made the table quite high, so that there were step-ladders instead of chairs.  As there was a step-ladder for each guest, and as they were made of gold and silver, arranged alternately, the effect was very unique and elaborate.

Sara, being the guest of honor, was assigned the most inconspicuous place, three step-ladders south of the centre.  When they were seated, and Sara’s mouth was fairly watering at the sight of all the fairy delicacies the table displayed, Pirlaps, as master of ceremonies, rose and said, “You understand, Sara, that, on occasions like this, the guest of honor eats nothing but Toast.”

Now, just imagine how disappointed Sara was!  She really was having a hard time to wink back the tears, when Avrillia, who often understood more than the others, leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Wait till you taste it, Sara!”

Avrillia’s eyes sparkled so that Sara was quite reassured; besides, she suddenly remembered the butterfly butter, and how her distress had been turned into rapture on that occasion.  And when Avrillia added, “Besides, you have Birdsong wine with it!” she felt as happy as ever, and quite confident that there would be some delightful surprise about it.