It stopped digging.
"Not a bit," it said; "it was nearly all sand where I lived, and coal grew on trees, and the periwinkles were as big as tea-trays--you find them now; they"re turned into stone. We Sand-fairies used to live on the seash.o.r.e, and the children used to come with their little flint-spades and flint-pails and make castles for us to live in. That"s thousands of years ago, but I hear that children still build castles on the sand.
It"s difficult to break yourself of a habit."
"But why did you stop living in the castles?" asked Robert.
"It"s a sad story," said the Psammead gloomily. "It was because they _would_ build moats to the castles, and the nasty wet bubbling sea used to come in, and of course as soon as a Sand-fairy got wet it caught cold, and generally died. And so there got to be fewer and fewer, and, whenever you found a fairy and had a wish, you used to wish for a Megatherium, and eat twice as much as you wanted, because it might be weeks before you got another wish."
"And did _you_ get wet?" Robert inquired.
The Sand-fairy shuddered. "Only once," it said; "the end of the twelfth hair of my top left whisker--I feel the place still in damp weather. It was only once, but it was quite enough for me. I went away as soon as the sun had dried my poor dear whisker. I scurried away to the back of the beach, and dug myself a house deep in warm dry sand, and there I"ve been ever since. And the sea changed its lodgings afterwards. And now I"m not going to tell you another thing."
"Just one more, please," said the children. "Can you give wishes now?"
"Of course," said it; "didn"t I give you yours a few minutes ago? You said, "I wish you"d come out," and I did."
"Oh, please, mayn"t we have another?"
"Yes, but be quick about it. I"m tired of you."
I daresay you have often thought what you would do if you had three wishes given you, and have despised the old man and his wife in the black-pudding story, and felt certain that if you had the chance you could think of three really useful wishes without a moment"s hesitation.
These children had often talked this matter over, but, now the chance had suddenly come to them, they could not make up their minds.
"Quick," said the Sand-fairy crossly. No one could think of anything, only Anthea did manage to remember a private wish of her own and Jane"s which they had never told the boys. She knew the boys would not care about it--but still it was better than nothing.
"I wish we were all as beautiful as the day," she said in a great hurry.
The children looked at each other, but each could see that the others were not any better-looking than usual. The Psammead pushed out his long eyes, and seemed to be holding its breath and swelling itself out till it was twice as fat and furry as before. Suddenly it let its breath go in a long sigh.
"I"m really afraid I can"t manage it," it said apologetically; "I must be out of practice."
The children were horribly disappointed.
"Oh, _do_ try again!" they said.
"Well," said the Sand-fairy, "the fact is, I was keeping back a little strength to give the rest of you your wishes with. If you"ll be contented with one wish a day among the lot of you I daresay I can screw myself up to it. Do you agree to that?"
"Yes, oh yes!" said Jane and Anthea. The boys nodded. They did not believe the Sand-fairy could do it. You can always make girls believe things much easier than you can boys.
It stretched out its eyes farther than ever, and swelled and swelled and swelled.
"I do hope it won"t hurt itself," said Anthea.
"Or crack its skin," Robert said anxiously.
Everyone was very much relieved when the Sand-fairy, after getting so big that it almost filled up the hole in the sand, suddenly let out its breath and went back to its proper size.
"That"s all right," it said, panting heavily. "It"ll come easier to-morrow."
"Did it hurt much?" said Anthea.
"Only my poor whisker, thank you," said he, "but you"re a kind and thoughtful child. Good day."
It scratched suddenly and fiercely with its hands and feet, and disappeared in the sand.
Then the children looked at each other, and each child suddenly found itself alone with three perfect strangers, all radiantly beautiful.
They stood for some moments in silence. Each thought that its brothers and sisters had wandered off, and that these strange children had stolen up unnoticed while it was watching the swelling form of the Sand-fairy.
Anthea spoke first--
"Excuse me," she said very politely to Jane, who now had enormous blue eyes and a cloud of russet hair, "but have you seen two little boys and a little girl anywhere about?"
"I was just going to ask you that," said Jane. And then Cyril cried--
"Why, it"s _you_! I know the hole in your pinafore! You _are_ Jane, aren"t you? And you"re the Panther; I can see your dirty handkerchief that you forgot to change after you"d cut your thumb! The wish _has_ come off, after all. I say, am I as handsome as you are?"
"If you"re Cyril, I liked you much better as you were before," said Anthea decidedly. "You look like the picture of the young chorister, with your golden hair; you"ll die young, I shouldn"t wonder. And if that"s Robert, he"s like an Italian organ-grinder. His hair"s all black."
"You two girls are like Christmas cards, then--that"s all--silly Christmas cards," said Robert angrily. "And Jane"s hair is simply carrots."
It was indeed of that Venetian tint so much admired by artists.
"Well, it"s no use finding fault with each other," said Anthea; "let"s get the Lamb and lug it home to dinner. The servants will admire us most awfully, you"ll see."
Baby was just waking up when they got to him, and not one of the children but was relieved to find that he at least was not as beautiful as the day, but just the same as usual.
"I suppose he"s too young to have wishes naturally," said Jane. "We shall have to mention him specially next time."
Anthea ran forward and held out her arms.
"Come, then," she said.
The Baby looked at her disapprovingly, and put a sandy pink thumb in his mouth. Anthea was his favourite sister.
"Come, then," she said.
"G"way "long!" said the Baby.
"Come to own p.u.s.s.y," said Jane.
"Wants my Panty," said the Lamb dismally, and his lip trembled.
"Here, come on, Veteran," said Robert, "come and have a yidey on Yobby"s back."
"Yah, narky narky boy," howled the Baby, giving way altogether. Then the children knew the worst. _The Baby did not know them!_
[Ill.u.s.tration: The baby did not know them!]
They looked at each other in despair, and it was terrible to each, in this dire emergency, to meet only the beautiful eyes of perfect strangers, instead of the merry, friendly, commonplace, twinkling, jolly little eyes of its own brothers and sisters.