A MAGIC ROSE.

A MAGIC ROSE.

“Well, here you are again,” she said. “You must have wings. I don’t see how else you could get about as you do. I really am tired of you;” and, giving the fan a fling, she threw it over the wall.

“Ha! ha! You can’t get rid of me that way,” said some one. “You’ll have to give me a rose now.”

“Who on earth is that?” said Tina. And a little girl appeared on the other side of the wall.

“I suppose you came out of the fan?” said Tina.

“Of course,” said she. “You had no business to throw the fan away; and now you will have to give me a rose for it.”

Tina turned and took a rose from the bush by her side. “What are you going to do with it?” she said.

“You will see,” she said.

“That’s what they all say,” said Tina; “and I should think I did see.”

The little girl laughed, and said: “I had better not tell you what is coming, but you have been with the Flower Children long enough;” and saying this, she touched Tina with the rose, and in another moment she was on the other side of the wall.

The ground was rough and stony, and hard to walk upon.

“This isn’t a bit nice,” said she. “You might have taken a better path.”

“You can’t expect to have things always pleasant,” said the little girl. “Remember, this is where you threw the fan.”

Tina was silent, and went on stumbling over the rocks.

They soon came to a muddy ditch; the little girl sprang over it, and stood on the other side waiting for Tina; but although she tried and tried, she could not get over it.

“What am I to do?” she said.

“Say you are sorry you threw the fan over the wall,” said the little girl.

“I am sorry,” said Tina.

The little girl leaned over and touched her with the rose, and at once she was on the other side.

They went on, picking their way through the mud, till they came to a large hole in the side of a hill. There was a heavy stone rolled up in front of it.

[Dog]

The little girl took the rose, and lightly tapped with it, saying:

“Kitty-cat! Kitty-cat!Some one is here;Two times, or three times,You need have no fear.”

“Kitty-cat! Kitty-cat!Some one is here;Two times, or three times,You need have no fear.”

“Kitty-cat! Kitty-cat!Some one is here;Two times, or three times,You need have no fear.”

“Kitty-cat! Kitty-cat!

Some one is here;

Two times, or three times,

You need have no fear.”

The heavy stone was rolled away, and they went into what seemed a long, winding passage. It grew darker and darker as they went on.

“Take care,” said the little girl. “Here are some steps.”

They went down two or three steps, and came to a big stone door.

The little girl touched it two or three times with the rose, saying:

“Kitty-cat! Kitty-cat!Open the door;Two knocks, or three knocks,Have brought you before.”

“Kitty-cat! Kitty-cat!Open the door;Two knocks, or three knocks,Have brought you before.”

“Kitty-cat! Kitty-cat!Open the door;Two knocks, or three knocks,Have brought you before.”

“Kitty-cat! Kitty-cat!

Open the door;

Two knocks, or three knocks,

Have brought you before.”

The door swung open, and they stepped into a large room, or rather hall.

On a big rug, in front of a door, lay a large dog, with two or three kittens crawling over him.

“Is Kitty-cat ready for us?” asked the little girl.

“Yes,” said the big dog, in a gruff voice. “She has just taken her nap.”

“Can we go in?” said she.

“Knock, and see,” was the reply.

The little girl knocked with the rose, and said:

“Kitty-cat! Kitty-cat!Are you at home?Open the door, please,And see who has come.”

“Kitty-cat! Kitty-cat!Are you at home?Open the door, please,And see who has come.”

“Kitty-cat! Kitty-cat!Are you at home?Open the door, please,And see who has come.”

“Kitty-cat! Kitty-cat!

Are you at home?

Open the door, please,

And see who has come.”

The door slowly opened—they went in. It closed after them, and Tina saw that they were in a large room. There seemed to be no one there at first; but, on looking around, she saw a large Maltese cat, sitting on a velvet cushion in front ofthe fire. She had a gold crown on her head, and around her neck a fine collar embroidered with pearls.

The two girls went softly up to her. She waved her paw toward a lounge on one side, and they sat down.

For some time nothing was said, and they all sat looking at the fire.

Then the cat turned her green eyes toward Tina, and said, “So you couldn’t get over the ditch?”

“How do you know?” said she.

“How do I know anything?” said the cat. “Look in the fire.”

Tina looked, and saw the most wonderful sights, just as if they were really there. All that had just passed was plainly before her. She even saw herself standing by the ditch, and waiting to have the stone doors opened.

“This is very strange,” she thought. Just then the cat got up, stretched herself, and walked over to where Tina was sitting. She jumped up on the lounge and put her paw in Tina’s lap.

[Girl]

Tina looked around for the little girl, but she was gone, and only the rose was lying where she had been sitting.

Tina picked up the rose, but the cat took it from her, saying, “You must not have that till you go. Now it is time for me to take another nap; so you can go to your room.” And, holding the rose in her paw, she gave Tina a tap with it, and she at once found that she was in her own room at home.

“Well, I am glad to get back,” she said. “I wonder if everything is all right?”

She looked about her for her toys. She only saw a few of them, and at the same time she heard something scratching and growling over by the window. She ran quickly to see, and there found a black cat wound up in her favorite toys, kicking and scratching, and making a great fuss.

“Oh, dear!” she began to cry, “you haveruined my things, you nasty, mean cat!” The cat sat up on its hind legs, every hair bristling.

“Don’t you call me that!” it said. “What did you do to the fan? Remember where you are.”

“I am in my own room,” said Tina.

“Oh, you think so,” said the cat. “Well, perhaps you will find out you are mistaken. It is my room, I’ll have you to know.”

“It isn’t,” said Tina.

“It is,” said the cat.

“I am going to tell my mamma,” sobbed Tina; and she ran to the door.

But the cat was there before her, and began waltzing around on its hind legs, crying, “Where is the rose? How are you going to get out without the rose?”

And Tina found she could not get by the cat. She made a rush at it and gave it a knock. Instantly the room was full of cats. They snarled and glared at Tina, so that she was frightened nearly to death.

She began to wring her hands and look for some way to get out, but the cats were all around her.

In the midst of the noise and fuss, in came the cat with the crown and collar. Two little white kittens were holding up her tail; and another one held a silver waiter, with the rose lying on it. A large black cat brought up the rear with the velvet cushion.

“What is the matter?” asked the queen cat.

Then all the cats began to point at Tina, and to talk at once.

She stood there crying, hardly knowing what to do, when a thought struck her, and she ran forward and snatched the rose from the silver waiter.

In an instant she was standing outside of the stone castle.

“Now, where am I to go?” said she. “I would like to get away from here as fast as I can. I am afraid the cats will come after me.”

[Horse]

She looked around, and saw a stable. “I wonder if there is a horse in there?” she said. “I might get on his back, if there is, and get away.”

She went up to the door, and touched it with the rose, but it did not open.

“Oh, dear! if I could only think of something to say,” she said.

She stood there looking at the rose, and lifted it to her lips without thinking. As soon as she had done it, she found herself saying:

“Horse, horse, open the door,I never wished you so much before.Take me away,Horsey, I pray,Horse, horse, open the door!”

“Horse, horse, open the door,I never wished you so much before.Take me away,Horsey, I pray,Horse, horse, open the door!”

“Horse, horse, open the door,I never wished you so much before.Take me away,Horsey, I pray,Horse, horse, open the door!”

“Horse, horse, open the door,

I never wished you so much before.

Take me away,

Horsey, I pray,

Horse, horse, open the door!”

The door flew open, and there stood a horse. Tina climbed up on his back, touched him with the rose, and he trotted out. The door swung to, and they set off down the road.

“How glad I am to get out of there, and yet I thought I was in my own room,” said Tina.

“I wonder where the horse will take me?”

The horse pricked up his ears and jogged along in a very sleepy sort of a way, and Tina began to get sleepy too.

She felt herself nodding, nodding, when all at once the horse kicked up his heels, and over Tina went, right into a snow-bank.

She sat up rubbing her eyes, and looked around for the horse, but he was nowhere in sight. The rose too was gone, but there by her side was the fan.

[Girl]

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