Page 84 - 1923 Hartridge
P. 84
And is dropped back with a flat slap.
To skim through that black silver lac’d water, To feel its chill as it slides over my sleek body,
Noiselessly except for the steady swish and drip.
As my arms flashing and gleaming cut its surface.
To clamber on the slippery deck and shiver in the moonlight.
Is my fancy. The sailboat
Is such a little way Out in the bay
Have You a Little Fairy in Your Home?
Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a great and powerful fairy, named Hippolyta, who thought that the girls of the United States were very unfortunate in their lack of guidance and instruction, so she decided to help some of them by having a school where they could learn to read and write. The idea being firmly settled in her mind, she adjusted her magic wings and set off to fly over the great realm of the United States
to look for a suitable place for her school.
One day she was flying at random near the Atlantic Coast, in the
vicinity of the great city of New York, when she saw, in a quiet and peace ful little hamlet, called Plainfield, a fine big building, just made for a school. So the good fairy alighted and began preparations for her ven
ture. She procured desks and chairs and got some other good fairies to help her teach the children. But where were the little girls to live, for she intended to welcome them from any part of the land.
However, she found an easy solution to this question in a small house which she bought. When this became too small for the girls she flew around until she saw a huge oak-tree with a large comfortable house beneath it. Without hesitating an instant, she bought it, with the country
round, and on the great stone pillar at the entrance she tacked a bright
s
Tiny sign which said “Oakwood,” and this became a woodland home
for her little sprites.
But soon even the big house was not large enough, so the oak-tree let
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