"Will it please your majesty to make me as handsome as my sister Rose?" The queen smiled. "I will grant your request," said she, "if you will promise to fulfil all the conditions I propose." Marion eagerly promised that she would. "The Immortal Fountain," replied the queen, “is on the top of a high, steep hill; at four different places Fairies are stationed around it, who guard it with their wands. None can pass them except those who obeys my orders. Go home now: for one week speak no ungentle word to your sister; at the end of that time, come again to the grotto." Marion went home light of heart. Rose was in the garden, watering the flowers; and the first thing Marion observed, was that her sister's sunny hair had suddenly grown as long and beautiful as it had ever been. The sight made her angry; and she was just about to snatch the water-pot from her hand with an angry expression, when she remembered the Fairy, and passed into the castle in silence. The end of the week arrived, and Marion had faithfully kept her promise. Again she went to the grotto. The queen was feasting when she entered the hall. The bees brought honey-comb and deposited it on the small rose-colored shells, which adorned the crystal table; gaudy butterflies floated about the head of the queen, and fanned her with their wings; the cucullo, and the lantern-fly stood at her side, to afford her light; a large diamond beetle formed her sptendid footstool, and when she had supped, a dew-drop, on the petal of a violet, was brought for her royal fingers. When Marion entered, the diamond sparkles on the wings of the fairies faded, as they always did in the presence of anything not perfectly good; and in a few moments all the queen's attendants vanished, singing as they went : The Fairy Queen Hath rarely seen Creatures of earthly mould, Within her door, On pearly floor, Inlaid with shining gold. "Mortal! hast thou fulfilled thy promise?" asked the queen. "I have," replied the maiden. "Then follow me." Marion did as she was directed, and away they went over beds of violets and mignionette. The birds warbled above their heads, butterflies cooled the air, and the gurgling of many fountains came with a refreshing sound. Presently, they came to the hill, on the top of which was the Immortal Fountain. Its foot was surrounded by a band of Fairies, clothed in green gossamer, with their ivory wands crossed, to bar the ascent. The queen waved her wand over them, and immediately they stretched their thin wings and flew away. The hill was steep, and far, far up they went; and the air became more and more fragrant, and more and more distinctly they heard the sound of waters falling in music. At length they were stopt by a band of Fairies clothed in blue, with their silver wands crossed. "Here," said the queen, "our journey must end. You can go no farther until you have fulfilled the orders I shall give you. Go home now; for one month, do by your sister in all respects as you would wish her to do by you, were you Rose and she Marion." Marion promised, and departed. She found the task harder than the first had been. She could not help speaking; but when Rose asked her for any of her playthings, she found it difficult to give them gently and affectionately, instead of pushing them along. When Rose talked to her, she wanted to go away in silence; and when a pocket-mirror was found in her sister's room, broken into a thousand pieces, she felt sorely tempted to conceal that she did the mischief. But she was so anxious to be made beautiful, that she did as she would be done by. All the household remarked how Marion had changed. "I love her dearly," said Rose," she is so good and amiable." "So do I," said a dozen voices. Marion blushed deeply, and her eyes sparkled with pleasure. "How pleasant it is to be loved,” thought she. At the end of the month, she went to the grotto. The Fairies in blue lowered their silver wands and flew away. They travelled on-the path grew steeper and steeper; but the fragrance of the atmosphere was redoubled; and more distinctly came the sound of the waters falling in music. Their course was staid by a troop of Fairies in rain-bow robes, and silver wands tipped with gold. In face and form, they were far more beautiful than anything Marion had yet seen. Here we must pause," said the queen; boundary you cannot yet pass." "this 'Why not?" asked the impatient Marion. "Because those must be very pure, who pass the rainbow Fairies,” replied the queen. "Am I not very pure ?" said the maiden; "all the folks in the castle tell me how good I have grown." "Mortal eyes see only the outside," answered the queen, "but those who pass the rainbow Fairies must be pure in thought, as well as in action. Return home for three months never indulge an envious or wicked thought. You shall then have a sight of the Immortal Fountain." Marion was sad at heart; for she knew how many envious thoughts and wrong wishes she had suffered to gain power over her. At the end of three months, she again visited the Palace of Beauty. The queen did not smile when she saw her; but in silence led the way to the Immortal Fountain. The green Fairies and the blue Fairies flew away, as they approached; but the rainbow Fairies bowed low to the queen, and kept their gold-tipped wands firmly crossed. Marion saw that the silver specks on their wings grew dim; and she burst into tears. "I knew," said the queen, "that you could not pass this boundary. Envy has been in your heart, and you have not driven it away. Your sister has been ill, and in your heart you wished that she might die, or rise from the bed of sickness deprived of her beauty Be not dis 2 couraged you have been several years indulging in wrong feelings; and you must not wonder that it takes many months to drive them away." Marion was very sad as she wended her way homeward. When Rose asked her what was the matter, she told her she wanted to be very good, but she could not. "When I want to be good, I read my Bible and pray," said Rose; "and I find God helps me to be good." Then Marion prayed that God would help her to be pure in thought; and when wicked feelings rose in her heart, she read her Bible, and they went away. When she again visited the Palace of Beauty, the queen smiled, and touched her playfully with the wand, then led her away to the Immortal Fountain. The silver specks on the wings of the rain-bow Fairies shone bright, as she approached them, and they lowered their wands, and sung as they flew away : Mortal, pass on, Till the goal is won- Is the will of the queen- And now every footstep was on flowers, that yielded beneath their feet, as if their pathway had been upon a cloud. The delicious fragrance could almost be felt, yet it did not oppress the senses with its heaviness; and loud, clear and liquid, came the sound of the waters as they fell in music. And now the cascade is seen leaping and sparkling over crystal rocks-a rainbow arch rests above it, like a perpetual halo; the spray falls in pearls, and forms |