Whenever it appeared , the Fairies uttered a general cry of consternation , and plied their little arms and legs with inconceivable activity to rub it out . And whenever they got at Dot again , and showed her to him once more , bright and beautiful , they cheered in the most inspiring manner . They never showed her otherwise than beautiful and bright , for they were Household Spirits to whom falsehood is an annihilation ; and being so , what Dot was there for them , but the one active , beaming , pleasant little creature who had been the light and sun of the Carrier 's Home ? The Fairies were prodigiously excited when they showed her , with the Baby , gossipping among a knot of sage old matrons , and affecting to be wondrous old and matronly herself , and leaning in a staid demure old way upon her husband 's arm , attempting -- she ! such a bud of a little woman -- to convey the idea of having abjured the vanities of the world in general , and of being the sort of person to whom it was no novelty at all to be a mother ; yet , in the same breath , they showed her laughing at the Carrier for being awkward , and pulling up his shirt collar to make him smart , and mincing merrily about that very room to teach him how to dance ! They turned , and stared immensely at him when they showed her with the Blind Girl ; for , though she carried cheerfulness and animation with her wheresoever she went , she bore those influences into Caleb Plummer 's home , heaped up and running over . The Blind Girl 's love for her , and trust in her , and gratitude to her ; her own good busy way of setting Bertha 's thanks aside ; her dexterous little arts for filling up each moment of the visit in doing something useful to the house , and really working hard while feigning to make holiday ; her bountiful provision of those standing delicacies , the Veal and Ham Pie and the bottles of Beer ; her radiant little face arriving at the door , and taking leave ; the wonderful expression in her whole self , from her neat foot to the crown of her head , of being a part of the establishment -- a something necessary to it , which it could n't be without , -- all this the Fairies revelled in , and loved her for . And once again they looked upon him all at once , appealingly , and seemed to say , while some among them nestled in her dress and fondled her , `` Is this the wife who has betrayed your confidence ? '' More than once , or twice , or thrice , in the long thoughtful night , they showed her to him sitting on her favourite seat , with her bent head , her hands clasped on her brow , her falling hair . As he had seen her last . And when they found her thus , they neither turned nor looked upon him , but gathered close round her , and comforted and kissed her , and pressed on one another , to show sympathy and kindness to her , and forgot him altogether . Thus the night passed . The moon went down ; the stars grew pale ; the cold day broke ; the sun rose . The Carrier still sat , musing , in the chimney-corner . He had sat there , with his head upon his hands , all night . All night the faithful Cricket had been Chirp , Chirp , Chirping on the Hearth . All night he had listened to its voice . All night the Household Fairies had been busy with him . All night she had been amiable and blameless in the glass , except when that one shadow fell upon it . He rose up when it was broad day , and washed and dressed himself .
He could n't go about his customary cheerful avocations -- he wanted spirit for them -- but it mattered the less that it was Tackleton 's wedding-day , and he had arranged XXXXX make his rounds by proxy .
As among except for into on than though to while