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About twenty years ago, it was impossible to walk the streets without having an advertisement thrust into your hand, of a doctor "who was arrived at the knowledge of the 'Green and Red Dragon, and had discovered the female fern-seed." Nobody ever knew what this meant; but the "Green and Red Dragon" so amused the people, that the doctor lived very comfortably upon them.

How shall I tell without her help where I am or whither I go? 'She will be half way to the top of her hill by midnight. 'An' thou speak by the card, then is it time that Marquis and I were going. 'Here, take thee some fern-seed in thy pouch, that thou may walk invisible, said the old woman.

"And I'm glad you are thankful, for we want you to do something for us." "What can it be?" inquired Toinette, wondering. "You must know," went on Thistle, "that there is no dainty in the world which we elves enjoy like a bowl of fern-seed broth. But it has to be cooked over a real fire, and we dare not go near fire, you know, lest our wings scorch. So we seldom get any fern-seed broth.

It is suggested by Sir James Frazer in his Golden Bough that, in the chilly air of the upper world, this prince from a warmer clime may be attracted by the warmth of the mustard. It is believed in many parts of Europe that treasures can be found on St. John’s Eve by means of the fern-seed.

Brand was told by an inhabitant of Heston, in Middlesex, that when he was a young man he was often present at the ceremony of catching the fern-seed at midnight, on the eve of St. John Baptist. The attempt was frequently unsuccessful, for the seed was to fall into a plate of its own accord, and that too without shaking the plate.

I have the receipt of fern-seed, man, and walk invisible. Besides, you would not have me quit you in this lane, where there is no turn to right or left?" The stranger proceeded at the same pace with him, keeping cautiously on his bridle hand, as if to secure that advantage in case of a struggle. But his language did not intimate the least apprehension.

Thus, on the principle of like by like, fern-seed is supposed to discover gold because it is itself golden; and for a similar reason it enriches its possessor with an unfailing supply of gold. But while the fern-seed is described as golden, it is equally described as glowing and fiery.

Sometimes the fern-seed is supposed to bloom on Christmas night, and whoever catches it will become very rich. In Styria they say that by gathering fern-seed on Christmas night you can force the devil to bring you a bag of money.

So he took them off, and as he shook them the fern-seed dropped out, and he was no longer invisible. There are numerous stories of this kind; and, according to Dr. Kuhn, one method for obtaining the fern-seed was, at the summer solstice, to shoot at the sun when it had attained its midday height.

A movement among the ferns attracted Adrian, and he stepped down the decline across the pine-roots to behold heavy Benson below; shaking fern-seed and spidery substances off his crumpled skin. "Is that you, Mr. Hadrian?" called Benson, starting, as he puffed, and exercised his handkerchief. "Is it you, Benson, who have had the audacity to spy upon these Mysteries?"