to the dyes placed in the soil by the Ryls, which are drawn through
the little veins in the roots and the body of the plants, as they
reach maturity. The Ryls are a busy people, for their flowers bloom
and fade continually, but they are merry and light-hearted and are
very popular with the other immortals.

Next came the Knooks, whose duty it is to watch over the beasts of the
world, both gentle and wild. The Knooks have a hard time of it, since
many of the beasts are ungovernable and rebel against restraint. But
they know how to manage them, after all, and you will find that
certain laws of the Knooks are obeyed by even the most ferocious
animals. Their anxieties make the Knooks look old and worn and
crooked, and their natures are a bit rough from associating with wild
creatures continually; yet they are most useful to humanity and to the
world in general, as their laws are the only laws the forest beasts
recognize except those of the Master Woodsman.

Then there were the Fairies, the guardians of mankind, who were much
interested in the adoption of Claus because their own laws forbade
them to become familiar with their human charges. There are instances
on record where the Fairies have shown themselves to human beings, and
have even conversed with them; but they are supposed to guard the
lives of mankind unseen and unknown, and if they favor some people
more than others it is because these have won such distinction fairly,
as the Fairies are very just and impartial. But the idea of adopting
a child of men had never occurred to them because it was in every way
opposed to their laws; so their curiosity was intense to behold the
little stranger adopted by Necile and her sister nymphs.

Claus looked upon the immortals who thronged around him with fearless