noon
Neither of the children said anything . The Princess and her women lost themselves in the shadowy wood . The gleam here and there of their white dresses was like the wing of tall white birds . The sun sailing toward noon had burnt the color out of the sky into the deep water which could be seen cradling fresh and blue beyond the islets . One by one the pelicans swung seaward , beating their broad wings all in time like the stroke of rowers , going to fish in the clean tides outside of the lagoons . The nests of the flamingoes lay open to the sun except where here and there dozed a brooding mother . `` Do n't you know any not-sad stories ? ''