Jill spoke softly lest she should disturb the others, and, as she turned to push up her pillow, she saw Mrs. Minot looking at her with a smile she did not understand.

“Did you speak, ’m?” she asked, smiling back again, without in the least knowing why.

“No, dear.  I was listening and thinking what a pretty little story one could make out of your fairy living alone down there, and only known by her perfume.”

“Tell it, Mamma.  It is time for our story, and that would be a nice one, I guess,” said Jack, who was as fond of stories as when he sat in his mother’s lap and chuckled over the hero of the beanstalk.

“We don’t have fairy tales on Sunday, you know,” began Jill regretfully.

“Call it a parable, and have a moral to it, then it will be all right,” put in Frank, as he shut his big book, having found what he wanted.

“I like stories about saints, and the good and wonderful things they did,” said Jill, who enjoyed the wise and interesting bits Mrs. Minot often found for her in grown-up books, for Jill had thoughtful times, and asked questions which showed that she was growing fast in mind if not in body.

“This is a true story; but I will disguise it a little, and call it ’The Miracle of Saint Lucy,’” began Mrs. Minot, seeing a way to tell her good news and amuse the children likewise.

Frank retired to the easy-chair, that he might sleep if the tale should prove too childish for him.  Jill settled herself among her cushions, and Jack lay flat upon the rug, with his feet up, so that he could admire his red slippers and rest his knee, which ached.

“Once upon a time there was a queen who had two princes.”

“Wasn’t there a princess?” asked Jack, interested at once.

“No; and it was a great sorrow to the queen that she had no little daughter, for the sons were growing up, and she was often very lonely.

“Like Snowdrop’s mother,” whispered Jill.

“Now, don’t keep interrupting, children, or we never shall get on,” said Frank, more anxious to hear about the boys that were than the girl that was not.

“One day, when the princes were out—­ahem! we’ll say hunting—­they found a little damsel lying on the snow, half dead with cold, they thought.  She was the child of a poor woman who lived in the forest—­a wild little thing, always dancing and singing about; as hard to catch as a squirrel, and so fearless she would climb the highest trees, leap broad brooks, or jump off the steep rocks to show her courage.  The boys carried her home to the palace, and the queen was glad to have her.  She had fallen and hurt herself, so she lay in bed week after week, with her mother to take care of her—­”

“That’s you,” whispered Jack, throwing the white carnation at Jill, and she threw back the red one, with her finger on her lips, for the tale was very interesting now.

“She did not suffer much after a time, but she scolded and cried, and could not be resigned, because she was a prisoner.  The queen tried to help her, but she could not do much; the princes were kind, but they had their books and plays, and were away a good deal.  Some friends she had came often to see her, but still she beat her wings against the bars, like a wild bird in a cage, and soon her spirits were all gone, and it was sad to see her.”