Her hair was long and
fluffy, and shone like gold, and round her neck she had a string of
big gold beads. Then Alma said, 'Oh, beautiful little girl, what is
your name?' to which the little girl answered:
"'Niebla.'
"'Will you talk to me and play with me?' said Alma.
"'Oh, no,' said Niebla, 'how can I play with a little girl dressed as
you are and with bare feet?'
"For you know poor Alma only wore a little old frock that came down
to her knees, and she had no shoes and stockings on. Then little Niebla
rose up and floated away, away from the bank and down the river, and
at last, when she was quite out of sight in the white mist, Alma began
to cry. When it got very hot she went and sat down, still crying, under
the trees; there were two very big willow-trees growing near the river.
By and by the leaves rustled in the wind and the trees began talking
to each other, and Alma understood everything they said.
"'Is it going to rain, do you think?' said one tree.
"'Yes, I think it will--some day,' said the other.
"'There are no clouds,' said the first tree.
"'No, there are no clouds to-day, but there were some the day before
yesterday,' said the other.
"'Have you got any nests in your branches?' said the first tree.
"'Yes, one,' said the other. 'It was made by a little yellow bird, and
there are five speckled eggs in it.
Pages:
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150