and ran back, for he knew his father would not care to wait. After that,
he did not see little Nanny for a long time.

He played often now on the lawn of the house next door--Mr. Coleman's
lawn--as the summer drew near, warm and splendid. One evening, he was
sitting in a little summer-house at the foot of the lawn, before which
was a bed of tulips. They were closed for the night but the wind was
waving them slightly. All at once, out of one of them, there flew a big
buzzing bumblebee.

"There! That's something done!" said a voice--a gentle, merry, childish
voice but _so_ tiny! "I was afraid he would have to stay there all
night."

Diamond looked all about and then he saw the _tiniest_ creature, sliding
down the stem of the tulip.

"Are you the fairy that herds the bees?" he asked kneeling down beside
the tulip bed.

"I am not a fairy," answered the little creature. "You stupid Diamond,
have you never seen me before?"

As she spoke, a moan of wind bent the tulips almost to the ground and
then he recognized North Wind.

"But there!" added the little creature, "I must not stay to chatter. I
have to go and sink a ship to-night."

"Sink a ship!" cried Diamond. "And drown the men and women in it? How