"They're getting the cakes!" cried Tyltyl. "They can touch them!... They're eating, they're eating, they're eating!... Oh, how lovely, how lovely!..." Mytyl began to count imaginary cakes: "I have twelve!..." "And I four times twelve!" said Tyltyl. "But I'll give you some...." And our little friends, dancing, laughing and shrieking with delight, rejoiced so prettily in the other children's happiness that they forgot their own poverty and want. They were soon to have their reward. Suddenly, there came a loud knocking at the door. The startled Children ceased their romp and dared not move a limb. Then the big wooden latch lifted of itself, with a loud creak; the door opened slowly; and in crept a little old woman, dressed all in green, with a red hood over her head. She was hump-backed and lame and had only one eye; her nose and chin almost touched; and she walked leaning on a stick. She was surely a fairy. She hobbled up to the Children and asked, in a snuffling voice: "Have you the grass here that sings or the bird that is blue?" "We have some grass," replied Tyltyl, trembling all over his body, "but it can't sing...." "Tyltyl has a bird," said Mytyl. "But I can't give it away, because it's mine," the little fellow added, quickly. Now wasn't that a capital reason? The Fairy put on her big, round glasses and looked at the bird: "He's not blue enough," she exclaimed. "I must absolutely have the Blue Bird. It's for my little girl, who is very ill.... Do you know what the Blue Bird stands for? No? I thought you didn't; and, as you are good children, I will tell you." The Fairy raised her crooked finger to her long, pointed nose, and whispered, in a mysterious tone: "The Blue Bird stands for happiness; and I want you to understand that my little girl must be happy in order to get well. That is why I now command you to go out into the world and find the Blue Bird for her. You will have to start at once.... Do you know who I am?" The Children exchanged puzzled glances. The fact was that they had never seen a fairy before; and they felt a little scared in her presence. However, Tyltyl soon said politely: "You are rather like our neighbor, Madame Berlingot...." [Illustration: She herself helped Mytyl]