inking for a while and a bright idea came into her
head.

"I will give these jewels to my sisters," she said. "Perhaps they will
be kinder to me."

She waited impatiently until the sisters returned from the dance and
immediately told them. For a moment they were too dazed to speak when
they saw the sparkling precious stones. Then they looked meaningly at
one another and asked how she came by them. Rosy told them of the
words she had sung.

"Ah, we thought so," said the sisters, to her horror. "The jewels are
ours. We hid them in the well for safety. You have stolen them."

In vain Rosy-red protested. Her sisters would not listen. They beat
her severely, told her to hurry off to bed, and then, snatching the
bucket, they hurried off to the well. They lowered the bucket and sang
the words that Rosy-red had sung. At least they thought they sang; but
their voices were harsh. The sleeping jinn awoke again, but he did not
like the croaking sound the sisters made.

"Ha, ha!" he laughed. "I will teach you to disturb my sleep with
hideous noises and shall punish such pranks played on me. Here are
some more croakers," and he filled the bucket with slimy toads and
frogs.

The sisters were so enraged that they ran back home and dragged poor
Rosy-red from her bed.

"You cat, you thief," screamed one.

"You cheat," exclaimed the other. "Off you go. Not another day can you
remain in this house."

Rosy-red was too much taken by surprise to say anything. It was an
outrage to turn her out of her father's house while he was away on a
journey, but the thought came to her that she could hardly be less
happy living alone in the woods.

She had only time to snatch her pretty red slippers, and as soon as
she was out of sight of the house she put them on. It made her feel
less miserable. The sun was now rising and when its rays shone on her
she began to sing. With her old friends, the birds, twittering all
about her, she felt quite happy.

On and on she walked, much farther into the woods than ever before.
When she grew tired there was always a pleasant shady nook where she
could rest; when she became hungry, there were fruit trees in
abundance; and when she was thirsty she always came to a spring of
clear, fresh water. The magic slippers guided her. All day long she
wandered, and when toward evening she noticed her slippers were muddy
she took them off to clean. And then darkness fell. It began to rain
and she grew frightened. S