ght on the ground, and put
his fists in his eyes, and began to cry at the very top of his voice,
just like any child in any nursery.

"Whatever is the matter?" exclaimed Sunny.

"Matter?" shouted the little man, who was shaken with sobs from head to
foot. "I was never so happy in my life! I have been longing to cry
for sixteen years."

There had certainly not been so much noise in that wood for sixteen
years. For no sooner did the old man begin to weep, than the trees
began to rustle, and the birds began to sing, and the frogs began to
croak; and over it all came a faint glimmering of white light, as
though the sun were beginning to stretch himself behind the cloud.

"What does it all mean?" demanded Sunny.

"Go on to the palace and see," sobbed the sad little man, and he
pointed out the way to her between his tears. And Sunny set off
running in her wooden shoes as fast as she could go, and there never
was such a clatter as she made when she reached the town and ran
straight through the gates and all along the streets; and on either
side of her the people fell down in heaps, from sheer amazement at
hearing such a noise after sixteen years of silence. So nobody tried
to stop her; and she ran faster and faster and faster, and the light
grew brighter and brighter and brighter, till at last she stood in the
courtyard of the King's palace. There she saw beautiful ladies in
magnificent court dresses creeping about on their bare feet, and
handsome courtiers in elegant costumes walking on tiptoe in carpet
slippers; and there was the Captain of the King's guard drilling the
soldiers in whispers, and there were the soldiers pretending to fire
with guns that had no gunpowder in them; and there was the head
coachman making faces at the stable boy because he could not shout at
him, and there was the stable boy standing on his head because he was
not allowed to whistle. And into the middle of it all came the clatter
of Sunny's wooden shoes, as she ran across the courtyard, and up the
steps, and into the palace; and down dropped the ladies in waiting in
graceful groups, and down dropped the courtiers just anyhow; and all
the soldiers fell down in neat little rows, and the Captain of the
King's guard sat down and looked at them; and the head coachman shouted
as he had wanted to shout at all his stable boys for the last sixteen
years, and the stable boy waved his cap and cried "Hurrah!" And Sunny
went clattering along the