Page 57 - Child's own book

her service ;* and without staying for an answer, she ran to the
hen-roost, and brought the egg ;
but just as she was presenting it
to the old woman, she turned into
a fine beautiful lad}'! “ Good
woman/’ said the old dame, to
Goody Hearty, “ I have long seen
your iuduBtry, perseverance, and
pious resignation, and I will re­
ward your daughters according to
their merits: the elder shall be
a great queen; the other shall
have a country f a r m w i t h this
she struck the house with her
stick, which immediately disap­
peared, and in its room up came a pretty little snug farm.
“ This, Rosalinda/' said she, tc is your lot. I know I have
given each of you what you like best.”
Having said this, the fairy went away, leaving both mother
and daughters greatly astonished. They went into the farm­
house, and were quite charmed with the neatness of the
furniture : the chairs were only wood, but so bright, you might
see your face in them. The beds were of linen-cloth} as white
as snow. There were forty sheep in the'sheep-pen ; four oxen
and four cows in their stalls; and in the yard all sorts of
poultry— hens, ducks, pigeons, &c. There was also a pretty
garden, well stocked with flowers, fruit, and vegetables. Blanch
saw the fairy*s gift to her sister, without being jealous, and was
wholly taken up with the thoughts of being a queen; when,
all of a sudden, she heard some hunters riding by, and going to
the gate to see them, she appeared so charming in the king’s
eyes, that he resolved to marry' her. When Blanch was a