But they were all
in another room, as I found out after, waiting and listening. There
was the fairy-man and a fairy-woman and all the people of the house,
and some of the neighbors.
"But if I'd seen them all I dunno if I could have done other than I
did, the power, whatever it was, was on me that strong. And I took the
pipes and played. It was soft I played at first, and then the music
got the better of me and I went on more and louder, and I played tunes
and tunes. I could play as well then as I can now, and so the other
fairies, that had been without me for some time, must have heard me
playing, for soon I heard the rustle and the whisper and the patter of
their coming, and then they gathered round me, and I had been left
there lonely for so long that I kept on playing, to keep them with me.
"It was then the fairy-man and the fairy-woman began talking, and I
heard every word they said, as no doubt they meant I should. 'What'll
we do with the little beast at all?' says she.
"'We'll do something that's not too unpleasant at first,' says he.
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