THE star fairies live in those jewelled homes we see twinkling in the sky every night, shining out like diamonds. No mortal could dwell in them, for their blaze of light is so dazzling it would blind and kill us at once. But the earth is so far away that simply their sparkle reaches us, and does not even frighten us but only makes us wonder at their great beauty.

The star fairies are very busy, for they have many things to do to help make all the pretty things there are in our own world. They mix the bright colors and paint all the beautiful flowers around us. The lovely pink roses you see would never be so beautiful if they were painted by mortal hand. Think of all the work there must be in painting even one flower, and then think of all the flowers in the world. It must keep thousands of fairies busy all the time. And how hard it must be to choose the colors — yellow for the buttercups, blue for the violets, purple for the pansies. Do you think any mortal could ever get the perfect tints the fairies do I When they selected green for the trees and the grass they picked out the very nicest color that could be thought of to make the forests and fields so cool and pleasant. They also paint the stripes in the rainbow, and they love that work, for those delicate colors are their especial delight. And they also stain the sky that rich deep blue we see in the big ceiling overhead.

But besides all these duties, they have another much more important than any I have yet told you about, and compared to it the painting of the flowers and the grass and the rainbow and the sky seems a very small duty indeed. Their real work is the care of the little children in the world. As soon as a child is born it is given a star fairy to guide and to watch over it through life, and a new star is hung up in the sky to show how pleased the queen of the star fairies is to welcome it. Do you know the easiest way to learn the number of children born into the world? Choose some fine clear night and then count the stars overhead. If you succeed in doing this, you will easily learn the exact number of little ones in the world.

Well, once upon a time in a beautiful kingdom upon the earth there dwelt a king and a queen who had one lovely girl baby. She grew up to be a beautiful young maiden, and her hair was as black as night, while her skin was as white as milk. Her cheeks were pink as the lining of a seashell, and her lips were like cherries. She was called the loveliest princess in the world. Now a young prince in the fairy star realm had been given charge of this girl baby when she was born, and as she grew up he had carefully guarded and protected her. As he watched her become daily more beautiful, it is not to be wondered at that when she was grown to be a young woman he had fallen in love with her.

But every one knows a fairy cannot wed a mortal, at any rate our fairy had never before heard of such a thing. His heart beat jealously at the thought of his earthly sweetheart marrying any one besides himself; and as she had many suitors he feared each day might bring a welcome lover. Once in the long ago a fairy had loved an earth maiden, but his love had only brought unhappiness, for in showing himself to her he had been accompanied by such dazzling flames of golden light that no mortal could stand it, and the maiden had died, overcome by the brilliancy of her fairy lover.

Now the star fairy loved this maiden too much to risk her life by appearing before her in fairy form, so he opened his sparkling wings and flew back to the starry realm to tell his queen of his unhappy state of mind. Perhaps she would in her wisdom be able to suggest a way. With his long graceful wings he soon reached the star palaces, and found the fairy queen and her court. They were busily engaged mixing the colors for a lovely rainbow they intended to paint in the sky the next day.

The queen was holding the precious caskets which contained the delicate colors. Those soft tints in the sky cannot be imitated, and even the star fairies regard them as very precious. They are easily lost, and for safe keeping they are carefully stored in the palace treasury, and only the queen is allowed to take them out. Each color is incased in a costly box made of gold or silver or precious wood, all inlaid with glittering diamonds and rubies, and these boxes are kept in a large room with lofty ceilings.

The fairies held their breath while the queen passed with her precious treasures. Then, with jewelled brushes, they carefully and tenderly dipped out the dainty colors they wished to use. The young prince waited until the sacred ceremony was over  and the treasures had again been safely locked in the star palace. Then bowing his head to Her Majesty he told his love story, how the dainty little earth maiden was more to him than any of his race, how for one tender look of her beautiful eyes he would be willing to die, and how he could no longer exist without her.

The queen and her court listened sadly to his story, and the queen entreated him to try to forget his love for the earth maiden and remain with them in the star world. Mortals were not meant to wed with fairies, she said, and the marriage even if it could occur would bring only unhappiness. But the star prince's heart was bound up in the brown-eyed princess of the earth, her silken tresses were more to him than all the jewels of fairyland, and he would not listen.

At last the queen sadly admitted there was a way for him to marry his earth maiden. She had the power to make him a mortal, but only for a short while, and for every year of happiness spent upon the earth as a mortal, he must serve in fairyland one hundred years of bondage. Ten years meant one thousand of bondage, and twenty years of earthly joy was the most she had the power to grant.

The fairy prince turned pale when he heard the great test his love would be given, but he never hesitated, and bravely answered.

"Give me but the earth maiden for my bride," he said, "and for that happiness I am willing to suffer anything. But whatever form my penalty takes, O Queen, grant me my last request as a star fairy. In serving these long, long years of bondage leave me still my wings! Do not take away from me those signs of my royal blood, and when I am again changed from a mortal to my fairy form restore to me at least my wings."

The queen granted the request, and then giving him her hand to kiss, she told him he could come upon the earth and reign as king for twenty years.

Full of joy he thanked her and prepared to return at once to the earth. Thousands of star fairies determined to go with him, and give him a brilliant journey. Sailing through the sky, their thousands of flashing wings made a wonderful glow in the heavens, and then appeared for the first time those strange Northern Lights, which the wise men have so often since talked about and wondered over. For, as they flew, their long shining skirts trailed behind them, and floating mysteriously through the sky, great streamers of light were seen. Sometimes they shot up in a pure white and silver light, then they changed to a pale pink or orange, then died away to a delicate green. It was the flowing garments of the fairies, long and cloud-like, and their brilliant jewels and necklaces with their golden wands that lit up the heavens. They were doing honor and bidding good-bye to their beloved brother.

The queen had given the star fairy the form of a very handsome young man and she had provided a rich and powerful kingdom for him to rule over, so that he had no trouble in meeting his earth maiden and declaring his love for her. When the father of the maiden saw a powerful and wealthy young king come to woo his daughter, he did not object to the marriage, and as for the princess, when she heard the handsome young man say how much he loved her, she quickly fell in love with him.

So the marriage was celebrated with great splendor, and the Northern Lights again appeared in the heavens. The young king and his beautiful queen lived most happily and ruled their kingdom most wisely for many years. The star fairy was happier than he ever dreamed of being, for he found his earth maiden more precious to him every day.

In spite of all his happiness, however, the fairy suffered pain in the thought that each day brought him closer to separation from those he loved so dearly. The time must come, sooner or later, when he would have to leave his wife and children, and return to the star land, and the pain in his heart grew with each year that passed. At last the twenty years had nearly gone, and as his wife had noticed for a long time his increasing sadness she decided to ask him the cause. Of late, too, those wonderful shifting curtains of light in the North had appeared more often and more brightly, and after each of these appearances, her husband had seemed more unhappy. What could it mean?

One evening while they sat together watching those beautiful signals she questioned him, and he opened his heart and told her his secret, concealing nothing from her. She was of course very much surprised to learn he was a star fairy, but her only thought was how dreadful it would be to have to lose him, for she loved him dearly, and she begged him to persuade his fairy queen to let them be together in his exile. He kissed her tenderly and promised to do as she wished, and the days went by, and at last his summons came.

It was a clear and lovely evening. A slim crescent of the moon hung over the earth and the heavens were studded with the jewelled homes of the fairies. Never had they shone so brilliantly. They looked like fire, and their long rays darting down glowed like streams of light on the water. The star fairy and his wife sat together watching the night, and it seemed to them they heard soft music, but it was only the beating of the waves on the white sand.

At last in the far distance they saw a faint light shimmer and fade away again. The queen crept closer to her husband's arms, for she knew the light was the fluttering wing of a star fairy. Perhaps it was a signal. Stronger and nearer came the lights, and presently they saw amid all this splendor of opal and red and silver the fairy queen herself. Her gown was silver and gold, and on her forehead glittered one beautiful flashing star. She had softened her brilliancy a little to suit mortal eyes, and she was seated in a lovely rose upheld by butterflies.

"The desire of your heart shall be granted, unselfish soul," she said to the queen, "and if you have the courage to share your husband's days of bondage your love will give him an immortal soul. A mortal can never become a star fairy, but it is possible by some great sacrifice on the part of a mortal to provide a star fairy with a soul. But for two thousand years you must both wander upon the earth in the form I shall provide. After that, if your courage does not fail, you will again have your beautiful bodies and live together with immortal souls in a star palace of your own choosing."

Thus saying, the fairy queen was slowly borne away in her rose car by the butterflies, and in a few moments she had disappeared in the fleecy clouds. Looking down, the king and queen discovered that they had already assumed their new forms, for they were two beautiful snow-white birds.

Thus had the queen kept her promise to the star prince, and restored his wings, and thus the beautiful birds appeared for the first time upon the earth. Since then they have increased and multiplied, and now they fill the woods with life and music. If you go to-day into those shaded woods where crystal streams flow over rocks and moss, and where flowers and ferns form a soft carpet for your feet, you will find the birds in every variety of color. Many of them wear the rainbow-tinted dresses of their fairy cousins in the stars. In these beautiful forests, if you sit and listen to the songs the birds sing they will tell you the reason they exist —a great and boundless love.