“Why is she crying?” said Merrimeg again.
“She’s Winnie, and I’m Florrie,” said the one who had just spoken, “and this one’s Pennie. Don’t you know who we are?”
“We’re the starlight fairies,” said Florrie. “_Now_ do you know?”
“I thought everybody knew,” said Florrie. “Every evening at dark we fly along the sky up there and hang out the stars. Haven’t you ever seen us?”
“I suppose they can’t see us from down here, and we’ve never been away from the stars before.”
“I wish we’d never come,” said Winnie, crying again.
“I’ll tell you,” said Pennie. “To-night we were hanging out the stars, and Winnie--poor Winnie!”
“I didn’t mean to,” sobbed Winnie. “I didn’t mean to!”
“She dropped one of her stars,” said Pennie.
“It’s gone!” sobbed Winnie. “And I can’t go back without it!”
“It fell and fell and fell and fell,” said Florrie, “and then we couldn’t see it any more. It dropped down here, somewhere near here, we’re sure of it.”
“Do you see up there?” said Pennie. “Up there where there’s a wide dark space between the stars?” She pointed to the sky, directly overhead. There was a space there, about as big as a blanket, without any star.
“That’s where the star belongs,” said Pennie.
“We’ll never find it!” said Winnie, putting her face down on Florrie’s shoulder.
“I’m sure we shall,” said Florrie, “if Merrimeg will only help us. We don’t know anything about this dreadful earth place, but she knows.”
“Can’t I put on my clothes first?” said Merrimeg.
“There’s no time,” said Pennie. “Suppose daylight should come before we find it? What _would_ we do?”
“Let’s go, then,” said Florrie; and she moved away lightly down the street, drawing Winnie along by the hand, their wings waving gently in the air.
A thought came into Merrimeg’s mind. She would take them to the gnomes’ house, and the two brothers would surely tell them how to find the star.
“I’ll take you,” said she, pushing on ahead towards the woods beyond the village. She was used to going barefoot, and she didn’t mind the rough ground. It was a warm night, and she soon forgot that she was only in her nightgown.
“It’s so gloomy,” said Winnie, in a whisper. “I don’t like these strange earth places. I wish we were at home among the stars.”
“We’ll be home before morning, never fear,” said Florrie.