UNDER a marvellous sky, blue as a turquoise, out of which poured the warm golden sunshine, once upon a time there lay a great ocean. Sometimes this ocean was like a mirror, reflecting the sky above it, and again it washed in gentle waves the shores of a beautiful country.

In this wonderful land the days were very long, lasting for months, and when the nights came they were equally long, and even more beautiful than the days. Everything there enchanted the eye. The flowers, the grass, the fruits were all lovelier and finer and more delicious than in any other spot in the world. And in the midst of this wonderful land a king and a queen reigned over a charming people.

Now the King of the fairies often visited these people, for at that time, so many, many years ago, the fairies and the mortals mixed together; and one day the fairy King, to show his great affection for them, decided to give these people a magnificent present. So he selected the very handsomest jewel in his crown, which was so superb that all the diamonds and pearls and rubies in the world put together could not equal it in value, and presented it to them. Its lustre and brilliancy were so great that it shone out over the whole world, and even the poorest could see its light and enjoy it. The fairy King impressed upon the King and Queen of the mortals that they must value it above all their possessions, and that no earthly hand must ever touch it. He would place it upon the roof of one of their palaces, and there it should stand as a guiding star for all the world. For it should be so placed that its reflection in the sky above would be exactly in the north, and its reflected light, like a brilliant little star, would shine directly over the palace treasury. The people of the earth were delighted with the magnificent gift, and promised faithfully to guard it carefully and never move it from the spot where the fairy. King should place it.

Now this city was filled with splendid palaces, built of solid gold and silver, and studded with many rare and precious stones. In the handsomest and costliest of all these buildings was placed the great treasure. All day long its jewelled rays shone out, so that no matter where the fairies might be, they had no difficulty in returning. But at night, when all its glowing light was thrown up into the sky, to guide the sailors and save them from shipwreck, they could not always tell the spot, for there were millions of stars in the heavens and they were all so much alike. Then the fairy King gave them a sure guide: one night, as darkness fell upon the earth, there crept up over the hills seven brilliant little stars all a-glitter with fire and silver, and two of them pointed toward another tiny sparkling one hanging exactly over the palace treasury. This star has ever since stood like a sentinel in the heavens, shedding its dazzling rays directly down upon the palace containing the priceless stone, and showing the way home to every little wandering fairy.

For a long time the people of the earth were faithful to the promise made to the fairy King and gloried in the possession of the jewel; and often they would spend hours upon the roof of the palace, delighting in the flashing gem. Among them sometimes came Queen Gertrude, who was a very beautiful woman. Her large brown eyes would linger lovingly upon the brilliant gem, and once when a saucy little handmaiden whispered, "How gloriously the jewel would shine in your sun-kissed locks," the Queen trembled with pleasure.

Alas! the little handmaiden had sown the seed of temptation, and the seed grew and grew in the heart of the Queen. At night she would let down her glorious auburn hair, which fell to her knee, and would twine her pearls and jewels in it, but each time she would say to herself, "None of my jewels are like the fairy's. If I could only wear his for one night!"

Day by day the desire grew stronger, until she could no longer resist it, and one night when every one was sleeping she stole the golden key from under her husband's pillow and slipped out of the palace alone. She soon reached the treasure house, and, unlocking it, crept softly up the stairs. Once upon the roof, she hesitated, it seemed such a dreadful thing to do; but one look at the shining gem, and the temptation was too great—she stretched out her hand and grasped it. But just as she lifted it, a terrible noise like thunder broke upon her, and the palace shook like a leaf. In her fright she dropped the jewel, and it rolled away upon the roof, and was no longer directly in the north. The terrible noise awakened the city, and in a few moments the streets were filled with people. In their midst appeared the fairy King, and at sight of him the frightened Queen clung to her husband for protection.

Stern and angry, the fairy King spoke: "See how you have valued the mark of my especial favor! This jewel is contentment but never again shall you enjoy it upon the earth, because you have broken your promise. You shall be banished from this glorious land where I shall hide it, but always and forever you shall long for it and seek it. That shall be your punishment."

Then a beautiful young fairy in a dress made of silver and sunshine, sparkling like dew on the roses, ran forward and threw herself at the fairy King's feet.

"Oh, Your Majesty," she implored, "be not too hasty in your dreadful decision. The people of the earth are ignorant of the great value and blessing of this jewel. True, they have been ungrateful, but do not on that account condemn them forever to lose it. No matter how severe your sentence may be, let them at least have the hope of redeeming the jewel some day."

The King looked down tenderly upon the fairy, for she was his own daughter and favorite child, and gradually the frown disappeared from his forehead.

"You are soon to be married, my child," he said. "I will give you this precious gem as a wedding present, and you may, if you choose, finally restore it to the ungrateful mortals who have so carelessly lost it. But I make one condition in trusting it to you: you shall not give it to them or let them redeem it for a thousand years! That length of time shall they suffer. In this beautiful spot upon the earth you may live with your husband and ten thousand fairies, and carefully guard your treasure. For should this priceless jewel be taken from you, or you in your tenderness of heart give it back to the mortals before the thousand years shall have expired, I condemn you, with your husband and your followers, to dissolve and fade away into moonshine and mist."

So saying, the King lifted his daughter to his heart and tenderly embraced her. Soon afterwards the little princess was married to the handsomest prince in the fairy realm, and with her faithful followers she took charge of the wonderful jewel.

But the earth King with his Queen and all their subjects had been banished, and had gone weeping out of the beautiful country they so loved. The fairy King ordered the fairies to fan the waters of the ocean with their wings, making them colder and colder, until finally they froze so hard that no mortal could ever cross them. Then they wove a most beautiful, wonderful, sparkling mass together, white and soft as thistle down, and called it snow, piling it in glistening heaps around their country. Lastly they spun a glittering curtain of gossamer web, brilliant as the sun, and hung it around their city, thus blinding any one who saw it except a fairy.

Thus wrapped in its spotless mantle of snow, Fairyland awaited any invasion of the mortals. Many years went by, and the people of the world were discontented and unhappy, for they were always regretting the lost jewel and the wonderful land where it lay hidden. The fairies, however, occasionally came and visited the innocent little earth children, and one night one of them whispered in a dream all about the beautiful jewel.

Little Sten, the boy to whom she told it, was very young, but that wonderful dream he never forgot. He thought of the jewel and the wondrous land through all his childhood, and through all his youth he planned to seek and discover it. When grown to manhood his eloquence persuaded others to believe he could reach it, and they determined to help him to find it.

A ship was built, small and strong, and of the best possible material. Twelve sturdy men were chosen to accompany him, and the boat was provided with food to last for five years. For it would be a long journey, they well knew, and Sten had determined he would not return until he had discovered the land and found the beautiful jewel.

The handsome ship sailed merrily away through the northern seas, on toward the unknown land. For days and weeks it sailed, drifting with the ice currents and carefully steering at night in the direction of the bright little star in the north, hanging like a lantern over the treasure house. Big icebergs drifted by, and often nearly crushed the ship; and it was getting colder and colder.

They saw seals, and great walruses with long ivory tusks. The walruses pressed and huddled together in such masses that sometimes the sailors thought they were solid islands, and when the boat came near them they would throw themselves into the ocean, with loud bellows and roars, splashing the water tremendously.

Strange birds flew past, and some white sea gulls settled down ,upon the ship, making their mournful cries and seeming to warn the sailors to turn back before they were lost in these cold desolate regions. The sailors listened, and thought of their warm fires and comfortable homes, and begged their captain to return. Reindeer trotted by and stopped sometimes on the shore to watch. Polar bears in their long white coats climbed clumsily over the ice to look with astonishment at the strangers, but the mother bears were uneasy and timid, and made haste to find their little babies and hide them in ice holes, where just their baby heads peeped out, showing their bright, shining eyes.

Presently the northern lights shot up in millions of glittering rays, until the whole heavens seemed to tremble with their glory. Everything was very strange, and the men again begged their captain to return home, but he would not listen to their prayers. Finally, after weeks and months upon the waters, they saw gleaming in the distance the dazzling snow-peaks of fairyland, and over the tops of the white mountains a shining curtain of light. But the ice was everywhere, and at last the ship could not move an inch farther. She was fast in the ice, and it seemed that she must be crushed. There was no life anywhere, except on board the ship, for even the polar bears were not so far north. The captain now began to wish he had turned back when he could.

But the fairies took pity on the foolish sailors, and one night while the men slept they carried the ship for miles across the ice fields and placed it in the open sea, and when the sailors awoke they found their boat pointed homeward and lying on the calm blue waters of the ocean.

So Sten and his expedition failed to reach the Northern Land; but the next year another started, only again to meet with defeat, for though the fairies' battles are not fought like ours, no mortal can overcome these sprites. Nearly every year the world sends out a ship to seek that wondrous land in the far north where the priceless jewel lies hidden; but none ever succeed, for men are blinded with the snow and driven back by the ice barriers, which are the weapons used by the fairies.

Some day soon, for a thousand years is but a day in fairyland, when mortals least expect it, the tender-hearted fairy Princess in robes of shining light, with her husband and their whole court, will pull down those barriers of ice and snow. The ice will float away, and the snow will melt, and the beautiful Princess will come forth from her wondrous land with the precious jewel, and with generous hands will give it again into the keeping of the world. Then at last the brilliant jewel will really belong to the people of the earth, and the glorious land wherein it lies will again be opened to the world, yielding its rich beauties to mortal eyes forever.