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The next day was very wet too wet to go out, and far too wet to think of disturbing a Sand-fairy so sensitive to water that he still, after thousands of years, felt the pain of once having had his left whisker wetted. It was a long day, and it was not till the afternoon that all the children suddenly decided to write letters to their mother.
Father's gone to Manchuria, and Mother and The Lamb have gone to Madeira because Mother was ill, and don't I just wish that they were both safe home again. Merely from habit, the Sand-fairy began to blow itself out, but it stopped short suddenly. 'I forgot, it said; 'I can't give you any more wishes.
Five minutes before, the children had had no more idea than you had that there was such a thing as a Sand-fairy in the world, and now they were talking to it as though they had known it all their lives. It drew its eyes in and said "How very sunny it is quite like old times! Where do you get your Megatheriums from now?" "What?" said the children all at once.
Do you agree to that? 'Yes, oh yes! said Jane and Anthea. The boys nodded. They did not believe the Sand-fairy could do it. You can always make girls believe things much easier than you can boys. It stretched out its eyes farther than ever, and swelled and swelled and swelled. 'I do hope it won't hurt itself, said Anthea. 'Or crack its skin, Robert said anxiously.
Everyone was very much relieved when the Sand-fairy, after getting so big that it almost filled up the hole in the sand, suddenly let out its breath and went back to its proper size. 'That's all right, it said, panting heavily. 'It'll come easier to-morrow. 'Did it hurt much? asked Anthea. 'Only my poor whisker, thank you, said he, 'but you're a kind and thoughtful child. Good day.
'I'm so sorry, said Anthea gently, and she took off her white pinafore and covered the Sand-fairy up with it, all but its head, its bat's ears, and its eyes that were like a snail's eyes. 'Thank you, it said, 'that's better. What's the wish this morning? 'I don't know, said she; 'that's just it. You see we've been very unlucky, so far. I wanted to talk to you about it.
'I dreamed we found a Sand-fairy in the gravel-pits, and it said it was a Sammyadd, and we might have a new wish every day, and 'But that's what I dreamed, said Robert. 'I was just going to tell you and we had the first wish directly it said so. And I dreamed you girls were donkeys enough to ask for us all to be beautiful as the day, and we jolly well were, and it was perfectly beastly.
And everyone saw the Sand-fairy sitting quite close to them, with the expression which it used as a smile on its hairy face. 'Good-morning, it said; 'I did that quite easily! Everyone wants him now. 'It doesn't matter, said Robert sulkily, because he knew he had been behaving rather like a pig. 'No matter who wants him there's no one here to anyhow.
He had no difficulty in finding the Sand-fairy, for the day was already so hot that it had actually, for the first time, come out of its own accord, and it was sitting in a sort of pool of soft sand, stretching itself, and trimming its whiskers, and turning its snail's eyes round and round. 'Ha! it said when its left eye saw Robert; 'I've been looking out for you. Where are the rest of you?
Five minutes before, the children had had no more idea than you that there was such a thing as a sand-fairy in the world, and now they were talking to it as though they had known it all their lives. It drew its eyes in and said: 'How very sunny it is quite like old times. Where do you get your Megatheriums from now? 'What? said the children all at once.
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