And out of the silence is wafted a croon

That murmurs in mellowness under the moon.

Sleep-i-ly, sleep-i-ly, sleep.

At the first verse of this song, the Dragon began to beat time with his good foreleg; then it began to nod a little, and then it yawned very wide and deep, until one could see very far down into its hollow throat. "Dear me!" said the Dragon, "I feel very drowsy this morning. I think I must have a bit of spring fever."

"Play again," whispered Zuzu to the Enchanted Banjo. So the Banjo played again:

Ho, Little Wind, sing it gently and sweet;

Come, hum through the vines till the echoes repeat

The words you are singing,

112

And on through the night

Go swinging and swinging

Away to the light.

Lullaby, lullaby, low and low—

That is the way that the Fairy-songs go,

And that is the way that the sleepy-song sighs

Till the magical spell sets its seal on our eyes.

Lullaby, lullaby, low.

By this time, the Dragon was openly nodding at its post of duty. Its head would fall down, and then it would waken and jerk its head upright again and frown at them as though they had accused it of being asleep when nothing of the sort was true. At last, it laid its head down upon a rock for a pillow and went fast asleep, snoring so loudly that it might have been heard at least the distance of a mile.

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