xchange greetings with
an acquaintance, to hear a bit of gossip perhaps, or to tell the latest
news, he would pick up his load in a great hurry and start off at a
round trot, as though he meant to make up for lost time. More than one
overburdened worker was eased of a part of his load, some good-natured
comrade adding it to his own. Thousands of bricks and as many loads of
mortar were brought into the city by these industrious people every day,
and their work was done quietly, thoroughly, and with wonderful
quickness and precision.

"All this while there was plenty of indoor work going on; and the
queen's body-guard, the babies' nurses, the attendants on the princes
and princesses, the waiters and tenders, the sweepers and cleaners--all
were as busy as you please. It was a pretty sight to see the nurses
bring the babies out-of-doors for a sun-bath. The plump little
things--some of them wrapped in mantles of white or yellow silk, others
with only their skins to cover them--were laid down in soft spots on the
grass, where they were watched with the tenderest care by their
foster-mothers. If they were hungry, they had but to open their mouths
and there was plenty of food ready for them. If so much as a breath of
wind stirred the grass, or a little cloud obscured the sun, every nurse
snatched a baby and scampered back with it to the nursery, lest it
should take cold.

"At noon the queen, attended by her body-guard, made a royal progress
through the city. She was of a portly presence, had pretty silky hair,
and was dressed plainly in dark velvet. The little princesses wore
ruffles and silk mantillas, of all the colors of the rainbow; but the
queen-mother had far more important business to attend to than the
adornment of her person, and in her self-devotion to her commonwealth
had long ago, of her own free will, laid aside flounces and furbelows.
What a good motherly body she was! and how devoted her subjects were to
her! Every-where she went she was followed by an admiring crowd. No home
was too humble for her to enter, and under each roof she was received
with the liveliest demonstrations of loyalty and delight. The happy
people thronged about her. They skipped, they danced, they embraced
each other in their joy. At times it was hard to restrain them within
proper bounds of respect to the royal person; but the guard well
understood their duties. They watched her every step, shielding and
protecting her with respectful dev