any little houses along the streets and there was the castle of the
little red princess with more windows than one could count, and more
winding passages than she could walk through.

The castle was full of other busy little people in red who waited on
the princess. They milked her cows, and played with her, and managed
the house-keeping so that she did not have to do a bit of work. She
was the only one, though, in the whole kingdom who did not work.

As the little red princess looked from her highest window she saw her
subjects hurrying to and fro. They were always bringing sand for
building, whole lines of them, and putting up new houses, and making
better roads. Sentinels watched the gates of the city, and hundreds of
workers in red brought in food from the meadow.

If one could have heard so tiny a person as the little red princess
speak, she would have said,

"Why should I work when I have so many subjects to wait upon me? I was
intended to look pretty, and sit in my doorway, and keep the whole
kingdom working for me!"

One day something wonderful happened. The little red princess felt a
strange pricking on her shoulders. When she turned her tiny head about
to see what was the matter, she found out that she had a beautiful
pair of wee, gossamer wings!

If any of the little red workers of the kingdom had been in doubt as
to whether their princess were a real princess or not, they were sure
now. Hadn't she wings? They waited on the princess more carefully than
ever for fear she might hurt herself. And they declared a holiday for
her to try her wings when they would stop work and go with her
outside of the kingdom.

The little red princess was very much excited indeed about her flight.
She had never been outside in all her life, and she went at the head
of a procession, all the workers dancing and running along beside her.

Oh, how wonderful she found it in the meadow! The wind in the grass
was like a forest wind to her. The sun dazzled her. Now she knew that
the blue flower was not at the top of things. Far, far above it was
more blue, and yellow sunlight, that she thought was gold, shone all
for her because she was a princess!

She spread her wings! Up, up she flew! The others who had no wings
watched her and clapped their hands as she rose in the bright air. It
was not such a very long flight, not much higher than a tall parasol
of Queen Anne's lace, but it was like flying into the clouds to the
little r