THE fairy appeared, and said:

"Four of the gifts remain. Choose once more;
and oh, remember--time is flying, and only one of
them is precious."

The man considered long, then chose Love; and
did not mark the tears that rose in the fairy's eyes.

After many, many years the man sat by a coffin,
in an empty home. And he communed with him-
self, saying: "One by one they have gone away and
left me; and now she lies here, the dearest and the
last. Desolation after desolation has swept over
me; for each hour of happiness the treacherous
trader, Love, has sold me I have paid a thousand
hours of grief. Out of my heart of hearts I curse
him."

-219-