On a twinkling night just like this, a little Star named Lulu woke up to see the other Stars twinkling and sparkling all around her. But for some reason her own twinkling wasn’t quite right, it couldn’t be seen. So she dropped down to Earth to see if she could find out the matter. Meanwhile, everyone in the town beneath noticed a Star was missing from the sky, and wondered what had happened to it. Though none could guess, for they couldn’t see poor Lulu sitting in the tree.
Then an old woman passing by saw Lulu sitting there, and asked her what the matter was.
“Oh! the other Stars in the sky wish to know where my Star friend has gone,” said Lulu.
“But I don’t know where to find the Star without its twinkle,” said the old woman.
“Perhaps in yonder house the answer may be found,” said Lulu, pointing with her little hand to a house not far away.
The old woman went there, but found the rooms were empty, and there was no one to ask. So she went to the next house. No one there could tell her, and no one in the next, and the next, and the next after it. Lulu sat still in the tree, wondering how long her Star friend would be away.
When the old woman came to the last house in the street, she saw a pine tree behind the house, which growing in the forest had been cut down and put there. And in a bough of the pine tree a sparrow was making its nest.
“The sparrow may know,” thought the old woman, and waited patiently till the sparrow had finished weaving her nest.
“Do you know where the little Star’s friend has gone?” asked the old woman when the sparrow had finished.
“What the Stars say in the daytime I cannot tell, but perchance their twinkle may come back,” said the sparrow, and looking about her, hopped off to a distant wood.
“But I don’t know where to find that,” said the old woman.
“Within the wood,” chirped a little wren who lived near the edge of it, “is an old Robin Redbreast, and he knows everything.”
So away went the old woman, and while going, met some horses being taken for a drive, but they could tell her nothing. Then she met two dogs, which certainly knew something desiring to hear news of their friend the cat; but where the cat was no one could say. Several men and women with infants in their arms did not think it was worth their while to stop and talk about a Star; but one day, when to amuse themselves they fed the goldfish in their ball, a cat, sitting a little distance off, heard what they were saying.
“You will hear in yonder wood,” said the cat.
Then the horses, dogs, and men and women all went to the wood, and there everyone met the old woman, who asked the old Robin what news he had heard.
“I know where to find the twinkle,” said Robin. Then he told Lulu the Star she would find it in a flower of an ivory colour. Making her nest of moss and dry leaves, the Robin started off to search it.
“Twinkle, twinkle, where are you?” hugged the Robin in the flower. ‘
“Here I come,” replied a tiny voice, “and in a minute I shall be there,” and, sure enough, in a minute up came the twinkle.
That night all the Stars shone out as bright as ever.