high hats on their heads. They jumped upon the box and
one of them caught the reins in his hands.

"Now one thing more, my dear," said the fairy to Cinderella; "run into
the garden again and bring the six lizards you will find under a big
stone by the wall." When the lizards were brought, the fairy touched
them too and, in a twinkling, they jumped up from the ground and stood
beside the carriage doors, three on one side and three on the
other,--six little footmen, with six little green coats on their backs
and six little red hats in their hands, all ready to help Cinderella
into her wonderful carriage.

Another touch of the old woman's wand and Cinderella herself stood
dressed in a gown as blue as the blue sky above and all covered from
top to toe with shining silver stars. She was just going to step into
the carriage and drive away when, looking down, she saw that her feet
were quite bare, she had no shoes on. The fairy saw too. She smiled
and took a pair of little slippers from her pocket. They were all made
of glass and they were such tiny, tiny slippers that, when Cinderella
had put them on, she looked the most beautiful maiden in the whole wide
world. "Take good care of them, my dear," said the old woman. "If you
want to be happy be careful how you use those little shoes. Now go,
child, but there is one thing you must remember,--when the clock
strikes twelve you must be at home again in this very room. If you are
not, all your beautiful things will vanish and you will be left alone
just a poor little, ragged cinder-maid."

Cinderella promised to remember. She thanked the fairy and drove
quickly away. At last she reached the big house where the Prince was
giving the party. There was music and dancing in the great hall, but
when Cinderella walked in, everybody stopped dancing and looked at her.
They said, "What a pretty girl! Who is she? Where did she come from?
She must be a princess to wear such wonderful clothes! She has on such
a fine dress, she must surely be a princess!" When the Prince saw her,
he asked her to dance with him and, after that, he would dance with no
one else. But Cinderella remembered what the fairy had told her and,
just before midnight, she slipped away and was safe in the kitchen at
home when the clock struck twelve. No one had seen her leave the great
hall. No one had seen her drive away, but the Prince missed her the
moment she was gone and had the great house searche