Invitations were sent to the kings and queens and princes and princesses of many and many a kingdom, and every one was accepted. For seven days before the ball, ships whose sails were of cloth of silver and cloth of gold were continually coming up to the royal wharves. All day long the King’s golden chariots were going and coming between the palace and the shore to bring up the guests. There was music and feasting and merriment of all sorts, and on the evening of the seventh day came the ball. After all were assembled, the King led in the Star Princess. She was dressed in a gown of white, of some wonderful material that glowed like opals in a soft, subdued light and flashed like diamonds when the light was stronger. Her golden hair almost touched the floor, and gleamed like sunshine. Around her waist and her neck were rows and rows of pearls, and above her forehead shone one diamond star. She was so lovely that more than one noble prince said to himself, “She is surely a fairy. No mortal maiden was ever so beautiful.” Among the guests there was one who had not been invited, but who was, nevertheless, the most welcome of all. He was the son of the greatest king in that part of the world, but in his babyhood he had been stolen away by trolls. He had just been rescued and was on his way to take possession of his kingdom. When his ship came near the Island Kingdom, strains of music floated down from the palace, and there at the wharves lay the royal vessels of many and many a sovereign with the royal pennants streaming in the wind. “What does that mean?” the Prince asked. “It must be a great ball,” replied his attendants. “I never went to a ball in my life,” said the Prince; and he added with a grim smile, “We did not have balls in the palace of the trolls.” “Would your Highness wish to attend this one?” suggested his companions, for they, too, had much curiosity to see what was going on in the Island Kingdom. “Of course your Highness knows that there is no court on this side of the world that would not feel honored by your presence.” The end of it was that the Prince, too, moored his vessel at the royal wharves and rode up to the palace in the royal chariot, and received a most royal welcome. He was presented to the Star Princess at once, of course, and from that moment he could not keep his eyes from her. He danced with her again and again. He seized every opportunity to talk with her, and she was very willing to listen. He told her about his having been stolen away by trolls. “But now,” he said, “I have a good ship. The sea is calm, the sun is bright, there is a fair wind, and soon I shall be in my own kingdom.” The Star Princess looked puzzled. “I think I can guess what a ship is,” she said. “It must be a little like a palace; but I don’t know what the sea is or the sun.”