The Fairy in the Mirror

D ID you ever see the Fairies in the Looking-glass?

I know of a little girl who saw them and I will tell you how it happened.

Nettie was a pretty good little girl, but she had a very unpleasant habit of frowning and fretting if everything did not please her, and this was so often and she frowned so much that she was beginning to have two wrinkles between her eye-brows. Now when she looked into the glass with a scowl on her face it made the fairies very unhappy, and they were sorry for her, so they thought they would try to cure her of her fault. The fairies are able to make themselves large or small, and to look like any one they choose. One fairy said to the others, "I think I have a good plan, one that will cure Nettie of her ill-temper; it is this: Whenever Nettie looks into the glass with a cross face, I shall show her my face and I will look exactly as she does, only I will smile instead of frowning, then she cannot help seeing how much more agreeable she is when she is pleasant, and I think in a short time she will be a sweet, amiable little girl."

The very next day Nettie went to the mirror with a scowl on her face, and was surprised to see a little face appear in the glass just like her own, but a bright smile was sparkling in the eyes, and a merry laugh was ready to break from the lips. The little girl looked earnestly at the strange appearance in the mirror, and in a few moments she was smiling at the lovely fairy face. Nettie was so pleased with her little fairy friend that she often looked into the glass, and always had a pleasant laugh with her. Then one day she came as usual to see the lovely fairy face; instead of that, it was cross and frowning. Nettie felt very bad about it and said:

"Oh! dear fairy, why do you look so cross?"

"Nettie," said the fairy, "I wanted to show you how you look when you frown."

"Indeed," said Nettie, "I will never be so cross again, but try to be always kind and pleasant."

After this Nettie's papa and mamma often said to each other: "What a dear little girl our Nettie is getting to be. She never frowns."