<h1 align="center"><SPAN name="story13">THE FLOWER FAIRIES</SPAN></h1>
<p class="poem2">
"Never tread beneath your feet<br/>
Flowers fair and flowers sweet;<br/>
Touch us tenderly with care<br/>
Flowers sweet and flowers fair."</p>
<p><ANTIMG src="images/O.jpg" alt="O">NE bright sunny morning little Mae went out into the fields to gather a bunch of flowers for her mother. She went happily along, and soon came to a meadow gay with yellow buttercups.</p>
<p>She picked a handful and then ran on, for she could see, just over the next wall, the red blossoms of a field of poppies.</p>
<p>Some of these she gathered and put among her buttercups; but she did not stay long in this field, for she knew that a little farther on there was a stream, beside which grew the pretty blue forget-me-nots of which her mother was so fond.</p>
<p>So Mae gathered a big bunch of these, and now held in her hand buttercups, poppies, and forget-me-nots.</p>
<p>But after a while she began to get tired, so she sat down on the bank to rest, and presently she heard a soft little voice say: "Do you like butter?"</p>
<p>Mae looked quickly around, and saw before her a pretty little lady, with a crown of gold upon her head and dressed all in yellow.</p>
<p>She was very much surprised, but being a polite little girl, replied: "Yes, thank you; and will you please tell me your name?"</p>
<p>"Certainly," said the little lady. "My name is Fairy Yellow, and I am Queen of the buttercups and daffodils, and all the yellow flowers; here come my sisters, Fairy Red and Fairy Blue."</p>
<p>And there they were, two more little ladies, one dressed in red and the other in blue.</p>
<p>"Good morning," said Mae.</p>
<p>"Good morning," said Fairy Red. "I live among the poppies, and all the red flowers belong to me; poppies, and roses, and the holly-berries, and many more besides."</p>
<p>Then Fairy Blue said, "I am mistress of the bluebells, and hare-bells, and forget-me-nots, and all the sweet blue flowers."</p>
<p>"I think you are all very pretty," said Mae, "and I shall always think of you when I look at the flowers; but now I must go home; so good-bye."</p>
<p>"But we are going with you," said the fairies, and to Mae's astonishment each crept into a flower and nestled down comfortably; Fairy Yellow in a buttercup, Fairy Red in a poppy, and Fairy Blue in a forget-me-not.</p>
<p>So Mae gathered up her flowers and set off home, and all the way the fairies sang to her the sweetest songs.</p>
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