The Audubon Societies 



163 



feed about this flower-bordered piazza. Walking to a bed of nasturtiums, I 

 picked a large bouquet, so large indeed, that it was hard to hold all the flowers 

 I had picked in one hand. 



Half kneeling by the bed, with eyes fixed on the unwieldy bouquet, I was 

 suddenly aware of a fairy just above my hand. It was very beautiful and 

 glittered green and many colors in the sunlight. Holding my breath and 

 making never a move, I still felt sure the beating of my heart would frighten 

 this lovely creature away. But no! it sipped honey from the flowers in my 



^ S. 



HUMMER BROODING YOUNG 



hand and, most wonderful of all, for a brief moment, alighted on my fore- 

 finger. 



When it darted away with a flash and a whirr, I saw that it was a Humming- 

 bird — but that really made little difference. It had seemed just like a fairy, 

 and I have always felt sure, since then, how fairies feel and how they act. 



Of course, the next impulse was to see if I could not attract the Humming- 

 bird again to my hand. So, walking very softly and slowly around a cedar 

 hedge, I found it resting on a low branch, over a bed of blue larkspur. I cannot 

 tell you how much I wished it would come to me a second-time. Drawing 

 nearer step by step, I stopped at last, never taking my eyes off this elf of a 

 bird. 



And now comes the best part of the story, for, just as in a real fairy-story, 

 one's wishes come true, my wish came true then. The little Hummer darted 



