"What shall we talk about, tonight?" Grandfather asked when the children rosy from their baths were on their hassocks in the cozy Study of the big stone house.

"Fairies!" Ardath said with eager anticipation in her voice.

"Do you believe in fairies, Grandfather?" Arthur asked. Ardath did not ask because she thought that Grandfather knew all about fairies.

"Yes, I believe in fairies, Arthur. Do you? Grandfather asked his great-grandson.

"Arthur nodded his head. If Grandfather believed in fairies, he would believe in fairies even if he had not been sure that he believed in them before this moment.

"That is a subject we could talk about many evenings. There are any different kinds of fairies." Grandfather considered then asked Ardath.

"Let's talk about the pretty ones, with little silver wings." The little girl's eyes sparkled like the dewy grass at sunrise.

"That is the type of fairy most children think about, if they think about fairies at all. They are elementals of the air and are known as sylphs." Grandfather explained as he went to the mantel over the fireplace and took down a small metal bowl.

He took the lid off and poured some brown powder into the small bowl from an amber glass jar. Then he lighted a match and held it to the powder. When he replaced the lid, a fine curl of smoke came from the bowl through a tiny opening in the lid.

Arthur had followed Grandfather to the fireplace. "Why did you make a fire in the little bowl?" he asked. Ardath had stayed on her hassock, but she watched Grandfather with keen interest.

"If we want to talk about fairies, we should have some in the room with us. This is the way we invite them." Grandfather informed both children although only Arthur had asked the question. He knew Ardath wanted to know, too. Even though she was silent, her eyes were wide with wonder.

"Don't you think we should invite fairies to be with us, Ardath?" Grandfather was watching Ardath as he asked the question.

It was more than Ardath had expected that fairies might come into the room. "Yes, we should invite them." she said with enthusiasm. With just a trace of doubt, she added, "Do you really think they will come to us?"

"We can hope they will. This is an incense burner. The incense is very fragrant. Fairies live on fragrance, you know." Grandfather said, as though they already knew it.

"Do the fairies live in the garden on the fragrance of the flowers?" Ardath was quick to make the comparison.

"Yes, fairies live in the garden on the fragrance of flowers, especially the fragrance of roses." Grandfather confirmed. Ardath guessed it was the reason Grandfather had so many roses in his garden.

The children sniffed in the fragrance coming from the thin curls of smoke through the lid of the incense burner.

"Uhm-mm! It smells like violets." Ardath concluded. Ardath recognized the scent of violet because that was the scent of her mother's favorite perfume.

"You are right, Ardath. Your sense of smell reports to you, accurately. But, there is another odor with which you may not be familiar. It is sandalwood. All fairies enjoy it, so we entice them with it." Grandfather seemed to know as much about fairies as Ardath thought he know.

Grandfather took a deep breath of the fragrance, then both children breathed deeply with many "uhm-mms" and "ah-hhs".

Ardath got a bright idea. "Grandfather!", she exclaimed because the idea seemed to come to her so suddenly. "Did some fairies come along in the room with the fragrance of the sweet rocket I brought in, tonight?"

"To invite them, is the reason we bring fresh flowers into the house." Grandfather said, noting that Ardath was thinking very well for a five year old."Are there really fairies in the room, now" Ardath looked about her. If they were in the room, she wanted to be sure to see them. Arthur looked about, too, but more doubtfully.

"Yes, there are fairies in the room, now." Grandfather assured both children.

"Do you see them?" Both children asked the same question, at once.

"Those who are very, very good and very, very wise, are able to see fairies anytime they want to see them." Grandfather did not say he saw them, but Ardath was hopeful.

"Do you think I'm good enough to see fairies Grandfather?" Ardath asked, earnestly.

"I think you are a good young lady, Ardath." Grandfather said. "But no one is so good that they can't be better."

Arthur didn't ask if Grandfather thought he was good. He remembered several times during the day when he should have been better. Both of the children wanted to be better than they had ever been so that they could see fairies.

When Grandfather said it was time to go upstairs for prayers, Ardath was most reluctant to leave the room. She thought if she could stay awhile longer, she may be able to see the fairies, but Grandfather told her that they would follow her, if she really loved them.

Grandfather and the children repeated prayers they had prayed on other evenings and said special prayers for the safe return of Father and Mother from their New York business trip.

When Grandfather left them, he said, "May fairies fair guard your sleep and dreams, sweet dreams bring you."

Ardath fell asleep with bright thoughts of fairies. They seemed to be flitting above her almost like the twinkling lights of the "lightning bugs" in the garden.

Arthur was asleep so soon no one could have known if he had had even one thought about fairies.
|Top|