They
were hurrying, bustling, busy, but in good order and at perfect
understanding with each other. If one stopped to exchange 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.
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