The Fairies decided to give a party one night and invited the Goblins, but they did not ask the Gnomes, because they did not think of them. The Gnomes live so deep in the earth that the Fairies seldom meet them, and so they really forgot and did not in the least intend to slight them. But the Gnomes heard the Goblins talking about the party one night and they were very angry because they were not asked.
The woods were very beautiful, and some of the trees were wearing their red and yellow leaves, for it was late in the summer. When the moon came out, the green and red and yellow made a pretty picture, and the Fairies were delighted with the setting for their party.
The Fairy Queen had a new carriage made from a petal of a white lily and drawn by two butterflies. The Fairies all had new dresses of pink rose petals and they had the fireflies in all the bushes and trees where they looked like so many tiny electric lights. Their table was spread on a big rock, with rabbits to wait on the table because their coats were white, and squirrels to do the cooking in a little hollow.
The tablecloth was spun by a spider and was so beautiful that the Queen, when she saw it, thought it was a shame to cover it with dishes. So she had the rabbits put the food on a rock behind a tree and leave the beautiful cloth so the Goblins could see it. But when the Goblins arrived they looked at the table with dismay. "Are they not going to have anything to eat?" they asked one another, seating themselves and looking around with anxious eyes.
Not a word did the Goblins say to the Queen about the beautiful cloth, and she found it was quite wasted on the greedy little creatures. There were so many Goblins that the Fairies were obliged to spread a table on the ground for themselves, and when the rabbits appeared with the food, the Goblins jumped up and helped themselves before the rabbits could serve them.
At last the Queen, seeing it was no use to have waiters for the Goblins, told the rabbits to put the ice cream and cake and lemonade and all the nice things on the table and let the Goblins help themselves. The bad Goblins spoiled the beautiful cloth the spider had taken so much trouble to weave. They spilled the lemonade and they crumbled the cake, and the poor Queen was in despair.
The Goblins, not getting the food quickly enough, had climbed right on top of the table, which was spread on a rock. Now, this rock did not have any moss on it, and it happened to be one of the doors to the home of the Gnomes. The Gnomes are little brown men who hide under the leaves and sticks that are so near the color of themselves that they cannot be seen, and they had been watching everything that went on at the party.
When the Gnomes saw the Goblins on top of one of their rocks, part of their number hurried into the earth and opened the stone where the Goblins were. Some of the Goblins were quick enough to escape, but most of them went tumbling into the ground, and all the cake and candy and ice cream with them!
The Queen and her Fairies jumped up and looked around. Everything was changed. The trees were brown and the leaves were falling, making the ground look as though it had a brown carpet over it. The air was frosty and the poor little Fairies looked about in amazement at the dreary scene. The Goblins that escaped were running around, calling on the Queen to help them rescue their brothers.
"It is all your fault," the Goblins told her. "If you had asked the Gnomes to your party, this would not have happened!" Just then a Goblin came running toward them. He had been sent by the Gnomes. They said all the captured Goblins would be held prisoners until the Fairies sent them all the ice cream they wanted.
The Fairies and the Goblins hurried to the kitchen in the hollow, but it was empty. The squirrels and rabbits had hurried off when they felt the frosty air. "We must go to work," said the Queen to her Fairies. "Fold your wings and pin up your skirts. We must make ice cream for those wicked Gnomes." They worked all night, and just before dawn the Goblins carried ice cream in nut shells to the rocks of the Gnomes, and by and by the captured Goblins came out and joined their friends.
"We lost our supper," said the Goblins, "and you should give us our breakfast. We are hungry!" This was more than the poor tired Queen and her Fairies could bear. They took their wands from under their wings and, waving them, flew toward the Goblins. Little sparks darted from the wands, and every time a spark touched a Goblin it left a red mark and pricked them. Such tumbling and scampering you never saw! And to this day, when a Goblin with a red spot on his face meets a Fairy, he hides or runs, for he knows she will point him out as one of the greedy Goblins who tried to make the Fairies cook their breakfast.
