THE LITTLE MAID OF THE LIGHTHOUSE.
A tall lighthouse stood far out at sea, on a white rock. Once upon a time a little girl lived there with her father, mother, and two brothers.
There were no children for her to play with, and she could not go to school. But she was never sad and lonely.
She loved her rocky home, with the bright light above it, and the great sea roaring around it. She loved the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the clouds.
On summer mornings, she liked to go out on the rocks and see the sun rise.
Often she made herself a crown of pink morning-glories. She put this on her head, and danced about on the rocks like a flower-fairy.
Sometimes she made chains of gold-colored shells to hang about her neck.
She liked to run into the green water in her bare feet. What fun it was!
She laughed, and sang, and danced about in the waves like a little sea-maid.
The winter seemed very long to the little maid in the lighthouse.
Often, when the windows were covered with frost, she put her pennies against them. Then she blew on the pennies till they were warm.
The warm pennies made holes in the frost, so that the little maid could look out on the deep blue sea.
How happy she was if a ship passed by! She wondered where it came from and where it was going.
Sometimes a sea-bird flew past, high in the sky.
Then she would call out, “Take me to ride with you, sea-bird, between your wide wings!”
Every evening she watched the lighting of the great lantern in the tower of the lighthouse. She was a proud little girl when she was old enough to light it.
Best of all she liked the evenings by the fireside with her books and playthings.
The wind roared, and the waves dashed against the rocks, but she was safe and warm.
When the first warm days of spring came, she made her garden.
She could hardly wait for the dry, brown seeds to grow into the flowers she loved so well.
Sometimes she made boats out of the pieces of wood on the shore.
Then she cut sailor boys out of sea wood, and put them in the boats. With merry shouts she sent them out on the great sea.
Often she sailed shell boats in the pools of water which she found in the rocks.
These pools were filled with wonderful sea plants and animals. She called them the gardens of the sea.
Celia Thaxter was the name of the little maid of the lighthouse.
When she grew to be a woman she went to live on the mainland. But the sea was always singing in her ears like a hollow shell.
She wanted others to know how beautiful it was, so she wrote many poems about the sea.