There he sat upon the stool for a long time without daring to
move, for he did not know what might happen to him next. There he
sat and sat, and by-and-by his ears got cold in the night air,
and then he noticed for the first time that he had lost his head
gear, and bethought himself of the feather cap in his pocket. So
out he drew it and clapped it upon his head, and then--lo and
behold!--he found he had become as invisible as thin air--not
a shred or a hair of him could be seen. "Well!" said he, "here is
another wonder, but I am safe now at any rate." And up he got to
find some place not so cool as where he sat.

He stepped in at an open window, and there he found himself in a
beautiful room, hung with cloth of silver and blue, and with
chairs and tables of white and gold; dozens and scores of
waxlights shone like so many stars, and lit every crack and
cranny as bright as day, and there at one end of the room upon a
couch, with her eyelids closed and fast asleep, lay the prettiest
princess that ever the sun shone upon. The soldier stood and
looked and looked at her, and looked and looked at her, until his
heart melted within him like soft butter, and then he kissed her.

"Who is that?" said the princess, starting up, wide-awake, but
not a soul could she see, because the soldier had the feather cap
upon his head.

"It is I," said he, "and I am King of the Wind, and ten times
greater than the greatest of kings here below. One day I saw you
walking in your garden and fell in love with you, and now I have
come to ask you if you will marry me and be my wife?"