tulips were the finest In all the country 

 thereabouts, but finally she died, and 

 her cottage went to the next of kin, — 

 a rough fellow who cared not a whit 

 for flowers. He dug up the tulip bed 

 and planted potatoes there, and he 

 did not tend the grave of the widow. 

 But it was not neglected. Even in 

 winter the grass upon it seemed 

 greener than elsewhere, and in spring 

 people came from far and wide to see 

 that narrow plot of ground. Every 

 inch of it was a mass of bloom with 

 gorgeous tulips, — the blossoms that 

 used to wave in her garden. The 

 pixies had gathered up the bulbs 

 thrown out by the heir and planted 

 them for her sake. The reason why 

 the tulip-blooms last a whole month 

 longer than any other blossom is so 

 that the pixie babies shall have their 

 cradles till they grow up, for pixie 

 babies grow fast. At least this is the 

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