"Well and good," said the fairy. "It's to the south I've been. First
there's all this island that we're on, down to the place with the
grass and the iron chain around it. Then there's the bay, with the
ships. Then there's another island, with hills and trees, and then
there's the sea, and a long shore, all sand, and hundreds of houses,
big and little, where people live. And that's all."
Another fairy said: "I went farther to the west than this, but not
much farther till I came to a great river. Of course I couldn't be
crossin' the runnin' water, so I went round the mouth of it and then
kept on. The country was all flat for a good way, and bars of iron
everywhere, laid two and two, so many of them that I didn't dare rest
anywhere, and there were towns and plenty of people, and then at long
last I came to hills."
I suppose you know, without my telling you, that fairies cannot bear
to cross running water, any more than they can bear to touch iron, and
that was why this fairy had to go around the mouth of the Hudson River
instead of going across it.
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