Story Hour Readers — Book Three

								

Fairy Tree growing at the entrance to the cave.
The king tried to pick some of the leaves, but he could not.
Then he heard the sweet voice of a girl. She was singing,


"Rainbow, Rainbow, speak to me!
Bend your branches, Fairy Tree!"
And Flora came tripping along the grassy path that led to the cave.
The king said, "Fair maiden, if you can pick a leaf or a flower from
this tree, you shall be my queen."
As Flora reached to pick a flower, the tree bowed low, and every leaf
trembled with delight.
The maiden at once presented the flower to the king.
As he took the flower, the king exclaimed,


"To you belongs the Fairy Tree;
Pray be my bride and rule with me."
Flora thought she must be dreaming, but they were married next day,
beneath the branches of the Fairy Tree.
Adapted from "The Lilac Fairy Book" by Andrew Lang

HIAWATHA'S SAILING

Thus the Birch Canoe was builded
In the valley, by the river,
In the bosom of the forest;
And the forest life was in it,
All its mystery and its magic,
All the lightness of the birch tree,
All the toughness of the cedar,
All the larch's supple sinews;
And it floated on the river
Like a yellow leaf in autumn,
Like a yellow water lily.
HENRY W LONGFELLOW

GRAY MOLE AND THE INDIAN

An Indian was once wandering across the prairie. He was tired, and
hungry, and very lonely. He had traveled many miles.
At last he came to a brook, in a meadow at the foot of a hill.
"I will rest here until noon," thought the Indian. He sat down upon the
mossy bank beside the brook.
Presently he heard some one whisper, "Lift me up and carry me with you,
and I will be your friend."
The Indian looked carefully about him, to find who was speaking. He saw
a small, gray animal peeping from out of the moss.
"Ha, ha, Gray Mole!" laughed the Indian. "Why should I carry you?"
"I am far from my island home. If you will carry me to the cliff near
the Place of Breaking Light, I can then reach my burrow safely," replied
Gray Mole.
The Indian placed Gray Mole in his large wampum belt.
"Very well, little friend," he said. "You may travel with me, but I
shall rest here for a time before starting on the journey."
Then, covering himself with his deerskin robe, he lay down upon the
moss. He was soon fast asleep.
At about noon Sun passed overhead. Sun traveled so close to the earth
that his rays scorched and shriveled the deerskin robe.
When the Indian awoke, he found that his deerskin robe had been scorched
and shriveled by Sun. He was furiously angry.
"I will follow Sun and punish him," said the Indian.
Sun had traveled far beyond the meadow and was now fast disappearing
behind the hill. The Indian started to follow.
At last the Indian reached the summit of the hill and could look down
the other side. Sun could no longer be seen. He had hidden in his cave
beyond the Western Sea.
The Indian traveled until he came to the edge of a cliff. The Shining