AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND

By George Mac Donald

Author of "Dealings with Fairies, " "Ranald Bannerman, " etc. , etc. 

CHAPTER I. THE HAY-LOFT

I HAVE been asked to tell you about the back of the north wind. An oldGreek writer mentions a people who lived there, and were so comfortablethat they could not bear it any longer, and drowned themselves. Mystory is not the same as his. I do not think Herodotus had got the rightaccount of the place. I am going to tell you how it fared with a boy whowent there. 

He lived in a low room over a coach-house; and that was not by any meansat the back of the north wind, as his mother very well knew. For oneside of the room was built only of boards, and the boards were so oldthat you might run a penknife through into the north wind. And then letthem settle between them which was the sharper! I know that when youpulled it out again the wind would be after it like a cat after a mouse, and you would know soon enough you were not at the back of the northwind. Still, this room was not very cold, except when the north windblew stronger than usual: the room I have to do with now was alwayscold, except in summer, when the sun took the matter into his own hands. Indeed, I am not sure whether I ought to call it a room at all; for itwas just a loft where they kept hay and straw and oats for the horses. 

And when little Diamond--but stop: I must tell you that his father, whowas a coachman, had named him after a favourite horse, and his motherhad had no objection:--when little Diamond, then, lay there in bed, hecould hear the horses under him munching away in the dark, or movingsleepily in their dreams. For Diamond's father had built him a bed inthe loft with boards all round it, because they had so little room intheir own end over the coach-house; and Diamond's father put old Diamondin the stall under the bed, because he was a quiet horse, and did notgo to sleep standing, but lay down like a reasonable creature. But, although he was a surprisingly reasonable creature, yet, when youngDiamond woke in the middle of the night, and felt the bed shaking in theblasts of the north wind, he could not help wondering whether, if thewind should blow the house down, and he were to fall through intothe manger, old Diamond mightn't eat him up before he knew him in hisnight-gown. And although old Diamond was very quiet all night long, yetwhen he woke he got up like an earthquake, and then young Diamond knewwhat o'clock it was, or at least what was to be done next, which was--togo to sleep again as fast as he could. 

There was hay at his feet and hay at his head, piled up in great trussesto the very roof. Indeed it was sometimes only through a little lanewith several turnings, which looked as if it had been sawn out for him, that he could reach his bed at all. For the stock of hay was, of course, always in a state either of slow ebb or of sudden flow. Sometimes thewhole space of the loft, with the little panes in the roof for thestars to look in, would lie open before his open eyes as he lay in bed;sometimes a yellow wall of sweet-smelling fibres closed up his view atthe distance of half a yard. Sometimes, when his mother had undressedhim in her room, and told him to trot to bed by himself, he wouldcreep into the heart of the hay, and lie there thinking how cold it wasoutside in the wind, and how warm it was inside there in his bed, andhow he could go to it when he pleased, only he wouldn't just yet; hewould get a little colder first. And ever as he grew colder, his bedwould grow warmer, till at last he would scramble out of the hay, shootlike an arrow into his bed, cover himself up, and snuggle down, thinkingwhat a happy boy he was. He had not the least idea that the wind got inat a chink in the wall, and blew about him all night. For the back ofhis bed was only of boards an inch thick, and on the other side of themwas the north wind. 

Now, as I have already said, these boards were soft and crumbly. To besure, they were tarred on the outside, yet in many places they were morelike tinder than timber. Hence it happened that the soft part havingworn away from about it, little Diamond found one night, after he laydown, that a knot had come out of one of them, and that the wind wasblowing in upon him in a cold and rather imperious fashion. Now he hadno fancy for leaving things wrong that might be set right; so he jumpedout of bed again, got a little strike of hay, twisted it up, folded itin the middle, and, having thus made it into a cork, stuck it into thehole in the wall. But the wind began to blow loud and angrily, and, asDiamond was falling asleep, out blew his cork and hit him on thenose, just hard enough to wake him up quite, and let him hear the windwhistling shrill in the hole. He searched for his hay-cork, found it, stuck it in harder, and was just dropping off once more, when, pop! withan angry whistle behind it, the cork struck him again, this time on thecheek. Up he rose once more, made a fresh stopple of hay, and corked thehole severely. But he was hardly down again before--pop! it came on hisforehead. He gave it up, drew the clothes above his head, and was soonfast asleep. 

Although the next day was very stormy, Diamond forgot all about thehole, for he was busy making a cave by the side of his mother's firewith a broken chair, a three-legged stool, and a blanket, and thensitting in it. His mother, however, discovered it, and pasted a bit ofbrown paper over it, so that, when Diamond had snuggled down the nextnight, he had no occasion to think of it. 

Presently, however, he lifted his head and listened. Who could that betalking to him? The wind was rising again, and getting very loud, andfull of rushes and whistles. He was sure some one was talking--and verynear him, too, it was. But he was not frightened, for he had not yetlearned how to be; so he sat up and hearkened. At last the voice, which, though quite gentle, sounded a little angry, appeared to come from theback of the bed. He crept nearer to it, and laid his ear against thewall. Then he heard nothing but the wind, which sounded very loudindeed. The moment, however, that he moved his head from the wall, heheard the voice again, close to his ear. He felt about with his hand, and came upon the piece of paper his mother had pasted over thehole. Against this he laid his ear, and then he heard the voice quitedistinctly. There was, in fact, a little corner of the paper loose, andthrough that, as from a mouth in the wall, the voice came. 

"What do you mean, little boy--closing up my window?"

"What window?" asked Diamond. 

"You stuffed hay into it three times last night. I had to blow it outagain three times. "

"You can't mean this little hole! It isn't a window; it's a hole in mybed. "

"I did not say it was a window: I said it was my window. "

"But it can't be a window, because windows are holes to see out of. "

"Well, that's just what I made this window for. "

"But you are outside: you can't want a window. "

"You are quite mistaken. Windows are to see out of, you say. Well, I'min my house, and I want windows to see out of it. "

"But you've made a window into my bed. "

"Well, your mother has got three windows into my dancing room, and youhave three into my garret. "

"But I heard father say, when my mother wanted him to make a windowthrough the wall, that it was against the law, for it would look intoMr. Dyves's garden. "

The voice laughed. 

"The law would have some trouble to catch me!" it said. 

"But if it's not right, you know, " said Diamond, "that's no matter. Youshouldn't do it. "

"I am so tall I am above that law, " said the voice. 

"You must have a tall house, then, " said Diamond. 

"Yes; a tall house: the clouds are inside it. "

"Dear me!" said Diamond, and thought a minute. "I think, then, you canhardly expect me to keep a window in my bed for you. Why don't you makea window into Mr. Dyves's bed?"

"Nobody makes a window into an ash-pit, " said the voice, rather sadly. "I like to see nice things out of my windows. "

"But he must have a nicer bed than I have, though mine is very nice--sonice that I couldn't wish a better. "

"It's not the bed I care about: it's what is in it. --But you just openthat window. "

"Well, mother says I shouldn't be disobliging; but it's rather hard. Yousee the north wind will blow right in my face if I do. "

"I am the North Wind. "

"O-o-oh!" said Diamond, thoughtfully. "Then will you promise not to blowon my face if I open your window?"

"I can't promise that. "

"But you'll give me the toothache. Mother's got it already. "

"But what's to become of me without a window?"

"I'm sure I don't know. All I say is, it will be worse for me than foryou. "

"No; it will not. You shall not be the worse for it--I promise you that. You will be much the better for it. Just you believe what I say, and doas I tell you. "

"Well, I can pull the clothes over my head, " said Diamond, and feelingwith his little sharp nails, he got hold of the open edge of the paperand tore it off at once. 

In came a long whistling spear of cold, and struck his little nakedchest. He scrambled and tumbled in under the bedclothes, and coveredhimself up: there was no paper now between him and the voice, and hefelt a little--not frightened exactly--I told you he had not learnedthat yet--but rather queer; for what a strange person this North Windmust be that lived in the great house--"called Out-of-Doors, I suppose, "thought Diamond--and made windows into people's beds! But the voicebegan again; and he could hear it quite plainly, even with his headunder the bed-clothes. It was a still more gentle voice now, althoughsix times as large and loud as it had been, and he thought it sounded alittle like his mother's. 

"What is your name, little boy?" it asked. 

"Diamond, " answered Diamond, under the bed-clothes. 

"What a funny name!"

"It's a very nice name, " returned its owner. 

"I don't know that, " said the voice. 

"Well, I do, " retorted Diamond, a little rudely. 

"Do you know to whom you are speaking!"

"No, " said Diamond. 

And indeed he did not. For to know a person's name is not always to knowthe person's self. 

"Then I must not be angry with you. --You had better look and see, though. "

"Diamond is a very pretty name, " persisted the boy, vexed that it shouldnot give satisfaction. 

"Diamond is a useless thing rather, " said the voice. 

"That's not true. Diamond is very nice--as big as two--and so quiet allnight! And doesn't he make a jolly row in the morning, getting upon hisfour great legs! It's like thunder. "

"You don't seem to know what a diamond is. "

"Oh, don't I just! Diamond is a great and good horse; and he sleepsright under me. He is old Diamond, and I am young Diamond; or, if youlike it better, for you're very particular, Mr. North Wind, he's bigDiamond, and I'm little Diamond; and I don't know which of us my fatherlikes best. "

A beautiful laugh, large but very soft and musical, sounded somewherebeside him, but Diamond kept his head under the clothes. 

"I'm not Mr. North Wind, " said the voice. 

"You told me that you were the North Wind, " insisted Diamond. 

"I did not say Mister North Wind, " said the voice. 

"Well, then, I do; for mother tells me I ought to be polite. "

"Then let me tell you I don't think it at all polite of you to sayMister to me. "

"Well, I didn't know better. I'm very sorry. "

"But you ought to know better. "

"I don't know that. "

"I do. You can't say it's polite to lie there talking--with your headunder the bed-clothes, and never look up to see what kind of person youare talking to. --I want you to come out with me. "

"I want to go to sleep, " said Diamond, very nearly crying, for he didnot like to be scolded, even when he deserved it. 

"You shall sleep all the better to-morrow night. "

"Besides, " said Diamond, "you are out in Mr. Dyves's garden, and I can'tget there. I can only get into our own yard. "

"Will you take your head out of the bed-clothes?" said the voice, just alittle angrily. 

"No!" answered Diamond, half peevish, half frightened. 

The instant he said the word, a tremendous blast of wind crashed in aboard of the wall, and swept the clothes off Diamond. He started up interror. Leaning over him was the large, beautiful, pale face of a woman. Her dark eyes looked a little angry, for they had just begun to flash;but a quivering in her sweet upper lip made her look as if she weregoing to cry. What was the most strange was that away from her headstreamed out her black hair in every direction, so that the darkness inthe hay-loft looked as if it were made of her, hair but as Diamond gazedat her in speechless amazement, mingled with confidence--for the boy wasentranced with her mighty beauty--her hair began to gather itself outof the darkness, and fell down all about her again, till her face lookedout of the midst of it like a moon out of a cloud. From her eyes cameall the light by which Diamond saw her face and her, hair; and that wasall he did see of her yet. The wind was over and gone. 

"Will you go with me now, you little Diamond? I am sorry I was forced tobe so rough with you, " said the lady. 

"I will; yes, I will, " answered Diamond, holding out both his arms. "But, " he added, dropping them, "how shall I get my clothes? They are inmother's room, and the door is locked. "

"Oh, never mind your clothes. You will not be cold. I shall take care ofthat. Nobody is cold with the north wind. "

"I thought everybody was, " said Diamond. 

"That is a great mistake. Most people make it, however. They are coldbecause they are not with the north wind, but without it. "

If Diamond had been a little older, and had supposed himself a good dealwiser, he would have thought the lady was joking. But he was not older, and did not fancy himself wiser, and therefore understood her wellenough. Again he stretched out his arms. The lady's face drew back alittle. 

"Follow me, Diamond, " she said. 

"Yes, " said Diamond, only a little ruefully. 

"You're not afraid?" said the North Wind. 

"No, ma'am; but mother never would let me go without shoes: she neversaid anything about clothes, so I dare say she wouldn't mind that. "

"I know your mother very well, " said the lady. "She is a good woman. I have visited her often. I was with her when you were born. I saw herlaugh and cry both at once. I love your mother, Diamond. "

"How was it you did not know my name, then, ma'am? Please am I to sayma'am to you, ma'am?"

"One question at a time, dear boy. I knew your name quite well, but Iwanted to hear what you would say for it. Don't you remember that daywhen the man was finding fault with your name--how I blew the windowin?"

"Yes, yes, " answered Diamond, eagerly. "Our window opens like a door, right over the coach-house door. And the wind--you, ma'am--came in, andblew the Bible out of the man's hands, and the leaves went all flutter, flutter on the floor, and my mother picked it up and gave it back to himopen, and there----"

"Was your name in the Bible--the sixth stone in the high priest'sbreastplate. "

"Oh!--a stone, was it?" said Diamond. "I thought it had been a horse--Idid. "

"Never mind. A horse is better than a stone any day. Well, you see, Iknow all about you and your mother. "

"Yes. I will go with you. "

"Now for the next question: you're not to call me ma'am. You must callme just my own name--respectfully, you know--just North Wind. "

"Well, please, North Wind, you are so beautiful, I am quite ready to gowith you. "

"You must not be ready to go with everything beautiful all at once, Diamond. "

"But what's beautiful can't be bad. You're not bad, North Wind?"

"No; I'm not bad. But sometimes beautiful things grow bad by doingbad, and it takes some time for their badness to spoil their beauty. So little boys may be mistaken if they go after things because they arebeautiful. "

"Well, I will go with you because you are beautiful and good, too. "

"Ah, but there's another thing, Diamond:--What if I should look uglywithout being bad--look ugly myself because I am making ugly thingsbeautiful?--What then?"

"I don't quite understand you, North Wind. You tell me what then. "

"Well, I will tell you. If you see me with my face all black, don't befrightened. If you see me flapping wings like a bat's, as big as thewhole sky, don't be frightened. If you hear me raging ten times worsethan Mrs. Bill, the blacksmith's wife--even if you see me looking in atpeople's windows like Mrs. Eve Dropper, the gardener's wife--you mustbelieve that I am doing my work. Nay, Diamond, if I change into aserpent or a tiger, you must not let go your hold of me, for my handwill never change in yours if you keep a good hold. If you keep a hold, you will know who I am all the time, even when you look at me and can'tsee me the least like the North Wind. I may look something very awful. Do you understand?"

"Quite well, " said little Diamond. 

"Come along, then, " said North Wind, and disappeared behind the mountainof hay. 

Diamond crept out of bed and followed her. 

CHAPTER II. THE LAWN

WHEN Diamond got round the corner of the hay, for a moment he hesitated. The stair by which he would naturally have gone down to the door wasat the other side of the loft, and looked very black indeed; for it wasfull of North Wind's hair, as she descended before him. And just besidehim was the ladder going straight down into the stable, up which hisfather always came to fetch the hay for Diamond's dinner. Through theopening in the floor the faint gleam of the-stable lantern was enticing, and Diamond thought he would run down that way. 

The stair went close past the loose-box in which Diamond the horselived. When Diamond the boy was half-way down, he remembered that itwas of no use to go this way, for the stable-door was locked. But at thesame moment there was horse Diamond's great head poked out of his boxon to the ladder, for he knew boy Diamond although he was in hisnight-gown, and wanted him to pull his ears for him. This Diamond didvery gently for a minute or so, and patted and stroked his neck too, andkissed the big horse, and had begun to take the bits of straw and hayout of his mane, when all at once he recollected that the Lady NorthWind was waiting for him in the yard. 

"Good night, Diamond, " he said, and darted up the ladder, across theloft, and down the stair to the door. But when he got out into the yard, there was no lady. 

Now it is always a dreadful thing to think there is somebody and findnobody. Children in particular have not made up their minds to it; theygenerally cry at nobody, especially when they wake up at night. But itwas an especial disappointment to Diamond, for his little heart had beenbeating with joy: the face of the North Wind was so grand! To havea lady like that for a friend--with such long hair, too! Why, it waslonger than twenty Diamonds' tails! She was gone. And there he stood, with his bare feet on the stones of the paved yard. 

It was a clear night overhead, and the stars were shining. Orion inparticular was making the most of his bright belt and golden sword. But the moon was only a poor thin crescent. There was just one great, jagged, black and gray cloud in the sky, with a steep side to it like aprecipice; and the moon was against this side, and looked as if she hadtumbled off the top of the cloud-hill, and broken herself in rollingdown the precipice. She did not seem comfortable, for she was lookingdown into the deep pit waiting for her. At least that was what Diamondthought as he stood for a moment staring at her. But he was quite wrong, for the moon was not afraid, and there was no pit she was going downinto, for there were no sides to it, and a pit without sides to it isnot a pit at all. Diamond, however, had not been out so late before inall his life, and things looked so strange about him!--just as if he hadgot into Fairyland, of which he knew quite as much as anybody; for hismother had no money to buy books to set him wrong on the subject. I haveseen this world--only sometimes, just now and then, you know--look asstrange as ever I saw Fairyland. But I confess that I have not yet seenFairyland at its best. I am always going to see it so some time. But ifyou had been out in the face and not at the back of the North Wind, on acold rather frosty night, and in your night-gown, you would have felt itall quite as strange as Diamond did. He cried a little, just a little, he was so disappointed to lose the lady: of course, you, little man, wouldn't have done that! But for my part, I don't mind people crying somuch as I mind what they cry about, and how they cry--whether they cryquietly like ladies and gentlemen, or go shrieking like vulgar emperors, or ill-natured cooks; for all emperors are not gentlemen, and all cooksare not ladies--nor all queens and princesses for that matter, either. 

But it can't be denied that a little gentle crying does one good. It didDiamond good; for as soon as it was over he was a brave boy again. 

"She shan't say it was my fault, anyhow!" said Diamond. "I daresay sheis hiding somewhere to see what I will do. I will look for her. "

So he went round the end of the stable towards the kitchen-garden. Butthe moment he was clear of the shelter of the stable, sharp as a knifecame the wind against his little chest and his bare legs. Still hewould look in the kitchen-garden, and went on. But when he got round theweeping-ash that stood in the corner, the wind blew much stronger, andit grew stronger and stronger till he could hardly fight against it. Andit was so cold! All the flashy spikes of the stars seemed to have gotsomehow into the wind. Then he thought of what the lady had said aboutpeople being cold because they were not with the North Wind. How it wasthat he should have guessed what she meant at that very moment I cannottell, but I have observed that the most wonderful thing in the world ishow people come to understand anything. He turned his back to the wind, and trotted again towards the yard; whereupon, strange to say, it blewso much more gently against his calves than it had blown against hisshins that he began to feel almost warm by contrast. 

You must not think it was cowardly of Diamond to turn his back tothe wind: he did so only because he thought Lady North Wind had saidsomething like telling him to do so. If she had said to him that he musthold his face to it, Diamond would have held his face to it. But themost foolish thing is to fight for no good, and to please nobody. 

Well, it was just as if the wind was pushing Diamond along. If he turnedround, it grew very sharp on his legs especially, and so he thought thewind might really be Lady North Wind, though he could not see her, andhe had better let her blow him wherever she pleased. So she blew andblew, and he went and went, until he found himself standing at a doorin a wall, which door led from the yard into a little belt of shrubbery, flanking Mr. Coleman's house. Mr. Coleman was his father's master, and the owner of Diamond. He opened the door, and went through theshrubbery, and out into the middle of the lawn, still hoping to findNorth Wind. The soft grass was very pleasant to his bare feet, and feltwarm after the stones of the yard; but the lady was nowhere to be seen. Then he began to think that after all he must have done wrong, and shewas offended with him for not following close after her, but staying totalk to the horse, which certainly was neither wise nor polite. 

There he stood in the middle of the lawn, the wind blowing hisnight-gown till it flapped like a loose sail. The stars were very shinyover his head; but they did not give light enough to show that the grasswas green; and Diamond stood alone in the strange night, which lookedhalf solid all about him. He began to wonder whether he was in a dreamor not. It was important to determine this; "for, " thought Diamond, "ifI am in a dream, I am safe in my bed, and I needn't cry. But if I'm notin a dream, I'm out here, and perhaps I had better cry, or, at least, I'm not sure whether I can help it. " He came to the conclusion, however, that, whether he was in a dream or not, there could be no harm in notcrying for a little while longer: he could begin whenever he liked. 

The back of Mr. Coleman's house was to the lawn, and one of thedrawing-room windows looked out upon it. The ladies had not gone to bed;for the light was still shining in that window. But they had no ideathat a little boy was standing on the lawn in his night-gown, or theywould have run out in a moment. And as long as he saw that light, Diamond could not feel quite lonely. He stood staring, not at the greatwarrior Orion in the sky, nor yet at the disconsolate, neglected moongoing down in the west, but at the drawing-room window with the lightshining through its green curtains. He had been in that room once ortwice that he could remember at Christmas times; for the Colemans werekind people, though they did not care much about children. 

All at once the light went nearly out: he could only see a glimmer ofthe shape of the window. Then, indeed, he felt that he was left alone. It was so dreadful to be out in the night after everybody was goneto bed! That was more than he could bear. He burst out crying in goodearnest, beginning with a wail like that of the wind when it is wakingup. 

Perhaps you think this was very foolish; for could he not go home to hisown bed again when he liked? Yes; but it looked dreadful to him to creepup that stair again and lie down in his bed again, and know that NorthWind's window was open beside him, and she gone, and he might never seeher again. He would be just as lonely there as here. Nay, it would bemuch worse if he had to think that the window was nothing but a hole inthe wall. 

At the very moment when he burst out crying, the old nurse who had grownto be one of the family, for she had not gone away when Miss Coleman didnot want any more nursing, came to the back door, which was of glass, toclose the shutters. She thought she heard a cry, and, peering out with ahand on each side of her eyes like Diamond's blinkers, she saw somethingwhite on the lawn. Too old and too wise to be frightened, she opened thedoor, and went straight towards the white thing to see what it was. Andwhen Diamond saw her coming he was not frightened either, thoughMrs. Crump was a little cross sometimes; for there is a good kindof crossness that is only disagreeable, and there is a bad kind ofcrossness that is very nasty indeed. So she came up with her neckstretched out, and her head at the end of it, and her eyes foremost ofall, like a snail's, peering into the night to see what it could be thatwent on glimmering white before her. When she did see, she made agreat exclamation, and threw up her hands. Then without a word, for shethought Diamond was walking in his sleep, she caught hold of him, andled him towards the house. He made no objection, for he was just inthe mood to be grateful for notice of any sort, and Mrs. Crump led himstraight into the drawing-room. 

Now, from the neglect of the new housemaid, the fire in Miss Coleman'sbedroom had gone out, and her mother had told her to brush her hair bythe drawing-room fire--a disorderly proceeding which a mother's wishcould justify. The young lady was very lovely, though not nearly sobeautiful as North Wind; and her hair was extremely long, for it camedown to her knees--though that was nothing at all to North Wind's hair. Yet when she looked round, with her hair all about her, as Diamondentered, he thought for one moment that it was North Wind, and, pullinghis hand from Mrs. Crump's, he stretched out his arms and ran towardsMiss Coleman. She was so pleased that she threw down her brush, andalmost knelt on the floor to receive him in her arms. He saw the nextmoment that she was not Lady North Wind, but she looked so like her hecould not help running into her arms and bursting into tears afresh. Mrs. Crump said the poor child had walked out in his sleep, and Diamondthought she ought to know, and did not contradict her for anything heknew, it might be so indeed. He let them talk on about him, and saidnothing; and when, after their astonishment was over, and Miss Colemanhad given him a sponge-cake, it was decreed that Mrs. Crump should takehim to his mother, he was quite satisfied. 

His mother had to get out of bed to open the door when Mrs. Crumpknocked. She was indeed surprised to see her, boy; and having takenhim in her arms and carried him to his bed, returned and had a longconfabulation with Mrs. Crump, for they were still talking when Diamondfell fast asleep, and could hear them no longer. 

CHAPTER III. OLD DIAMOND

DIAMOND woke very early in the morning, and thought what a curious dreamhe had had. But the memory grew brighter and brighter in his head, untilit did not look altogether like a dream, and he began to doubt whetherhe had not really been abroad in the wind last night. He came to theconclusion that, if he had really been brought home to his mother byMrs. Crump, she would say something to him about it, and that wouldsettle the matter. Then he got up and dressed himself, but, finding thathis father and mother were not yet stirring, he went down the ladder tothe stable. There he found that even old Diamond was not awake yet, forhe, as well as young Diamond, always got up the moment he woke, andnow he was lying as flat as a horse could lie upon his nice trim bed ofstraw. 

"I'll give old Diamond a surprise, " thought the boy; and creeping upvery softly, before the horse knew, he was astride of his back. Thenit was young Diamond's turn to have more of a surprise than he hadexpected; for as with an earthquake, with a rumbling and a rockinghither and thither, a sprawling of legs and heaving as of many backs, young Diamond found himself hoisted up in the air, with both handstwisted in the horse's mane. The next instant old Diamond lashed outwith both his hind legs, and giving one cry of terror young Diamondfound himself lying on his neck, with his arms as far round it as theywould go. But then the horse stood as still as a stone, except that helifted his head gently up to let the boy slip down to his back. Forwhen he heard young Diamond's cry he knew that there was nothing tokick about; for young Diamond was a good boy, and old Diamond was a goodhorse, and the one was all right on the back of the other. 

As soon as Diamond had got himself comfortable on the saddle place, thehorse began pulling at the hay, and the boy began thinking. He had nevermounted Diamond himself before, and he had never got off him withoutbeing lifted down. So he sat, while the horse ate, wondering how he wasto reach the ground. 

But while he meditated, his mother woke, and her first thought was tosee her boy. She had visited him twice during the night, and found himsleeping quietly. Now his bed was empty, and she was frightened. 

"Diamond! Diamond! Where are you, Diamond?" she called out. 

Diamond turned his head where he sat like a knight on his steed inenchanted stall, and cried aloud, --

"Here, mother!"

"Where, Diamond?" she returned. 

"Here, mother, on Diamond's back. "

She came running to the ladder, and peeping down, saw him aloft on thegreat horse. 

"Come down, Diamond, " she said. 

"I can't, " answered Diamond. 

"How did you get up?" asked his mother. 

"Quite easily, " answered he; "but when I got up, Diamond would get uptoo, and so here I am. "

His mother thought he had been walking in his sleep again, and hurrieddown the ladder. She did not much like going up to the horse, for shehad not been used to horses; but she would have gone into a lion's den, not to say a horse's stall, to help her boy. So she went and lifted himoff Diamond's back, and felt braver all her life after. She carried himin her arms up to her room; but, afraid of frightening him at his ownsleep-walking, as she supposed it, said nothing about last night. Beforethe next day was over, Diamond had almost concluded the whole adventurea dream. 

For a week his mother watched him very carefully--going into the loftseveral times a night--as often, in fact, as she woke. Every time shefound him fast asleep. 

All that week it was hard weather. The grass showed white in the morningwith the hoar-frost which clung like tiny comfits to every blade. Andas Diamond's shoes were not good, and his mother had not quite savedup enough money to get him the new pair she so much wanted for him, she would not let him run out. He played all his games over and overindoors, especially that of driving two chairs harnessed to the baby'scradle; and if they did not go very fast, they went as fast as could beexpected of the best chairs in the world, although one of them had onlythree legs, and the other only half a back. 

At length his mother brought home his new shoes, and no sooner did shefind they fitted him than she told him he might run out in the yard andamuse himself for an hour. 

The sun was going down when he flew from the door like a bird from itscage. All the world was new to him. A great fire of sunset burned on thetop of the gate that led from the stables to the house; above the firein the sky lay a large lake of green light, above that a golden cloud, and over that the blue of the wintry heavens. And Diamond thought that, next to his own home, he had never seen any place he would like so muchto live in as that sky. For it is not fine things that make home a niceplace, but your mother and your father. 

As he was looking at the lovely colours, the gates were thrown open, and there was old Diamond and his friend in the carriage, dancing withimpatience to get at their stalls and their oats. And in they came. Diamond was not in the least afraid of his father driving over him, but, careful not to spoil the grand show he made with his fine horses and hismultitudinous cape, with a red edge to every fold, he slipped out of theway and let him dash right on to the stables. To be quite safe he hadto step into the recess of the door that led from the yard to theshrubbery. 

As he stood there he remembered how the wind had driven him to this samespot on the night of his dream. And once more he was almost sure thatit was no dream. At all events, he would go in and see whether thingslooked at all now as they did then. He opened the door, and passedthrough the little belt of shrubbery. Not a flower was to be seen in thebeds on the lawn. Even the brave old chrysanthemums and Christmas roseshad passed away before the frost. What? Yes! There was one! He ran andknelt down to look at it. 

It was a primrose--a dwarfish thing, but perfect in shape--ababy-wonder. As he stooped his face to see it close, a little wind beganto blow, and two or three long leaves that stood up behind the flowershook and waved and quivered, but the primrose lay still in the greenhollow, looking up at the sky, and not seeming to know that the wind wasblowing at all. It was just a one eye that the dull black wintry earthhad opened to look at the sky with. All at once Diamond thought it wassaying its prayers, and he ought not to be staring at it so. He ran tothe stable to see his father make Diamond's bed. Then his father tookhim in his arms, carried him up the ladder, and set him down at thetable where they were going to have their tea. 

"Miss is very poorly, " said Diamond's father. "Mis'ess has been tothe doctor with her to-day, and she looked very glum when she came outagain. I was a-watching of them to see what doctor had said. "

"And didn't Miss look glum too?" asked his mother. 

"Not half as glum as Mis'ess, " returned the coachman. "You see--"

But he lowered his voice, and Diamond could not make out more than aword here and there. For Diamond's father was not only one of the finestof coachmen to look at, and one of the best of drivers, but one ofthe most discreet of servants as well. Therefore he did not talk aboutfamily affairs to any one but his wife, whom he had proved better thanhimself long ago, and was careful that even Diamond should hear nothinghe could repeat again concerning master and his family. 

It was bed-time soon, and Diamond went to bed and fell fast asleep. 

He awoke all at once, in the dark. 

"Open the window, Diamond, " said a voice. 

Now Diamond's mother had once more pasted up North Wind's window. 

"Are you North Wind?" said Diamond: "I don't hear you blowing. "

"No; but you hear me talking. Open the window, for I haven't overmuchtime. "

"Yes, " returned Diamond. "But, please, North Wind, where's the use? Youleft me all alone last time. "

He had got up on his knees, and was busy with his nails once more at thepaper over the hole in the wall. For now that North Wind spoke again, he remembered all that had taken place before as distinctly as if it hadhappened only last night. 

"Yes, but that was your fault, " returned North Wind. "I had work to do;and, besides, a gentleman should never keep a lady waiting. "

"But I'm not a gentleman, " said Diamond, scratching away at the paper. 

"I hope you won't say so ten years after this. "

"I'm going to be a coachman, and a coachman is not a gentleman, "persisted Diamond. 

"We call your father a gentleman in our house, " said North Wind. 

"He doesn't call himself one, " said Diamond. 

"That's of no consequence: every man ought to be a gentleman, and yourfather is one. "

Diamond was so pleased to hear this that he scratched at the paper liketen mice, and getting hold of the edge of it, tore it off. The nextinstant a young girl glided across the bed, and stood upon the floor. 

"Oh dear!" said Diamond, quite dismayed; "I didn't know--who are you, please?"

"I'm North Wind. "

"Are you really?"

"Yes. Make haste. "

"But you're no bigger than me. "

"Do you think I care about how big or how little I am? Didn't you see methis evening? I was less then. "

"No. Where was you?"

"Behind the leaves of the primrose. Didn't you see them blowing?"

"Yes. "

"Make haste, then, if you want to go with me. "

"But you are not big enough to take care of me. I think you are onlyMiss North Wind. "

"I am big enough to show you the way, anyhow. But if you won't come, why, you must stay. "

"I must dress myself. I didn't mind with a grown lady, but I couldn't gowith a little girl in my night-gown. "

"Very well. I'm not in such a hurry as I was the other night. Dressas fast as you can, and I'll go and shake the primrose leaves till youcome. "

"Don't hurt it, " said Diamond. 

North Wind broke out in a little laugh like the breaking of silverbubbles, and was gone in a moment. Diamond saw--for it was a starlitnight, and the mass of hay was at a low ebb now--the gleam of somethingvanishing down the stair, and, springing out of bed, dressed himself asfast as ever he could. Then he crept out into the yard, through thedoor in the wall, and away to the primrose. Behind it stood NorthWind, leaning over it, and looking at the flower as if she had been itsmother. 

"Come along, " she said, jumping up and holding out her hand. 

Diamond took her hand. It was cold, but so pleasant and full of life, itwas better than warm. She led him across the garden. With one bound shewas on the top of the wall. Diamond was left at the foot. 

"Stop, stop!" he cried. "Please, I can't jump like that. "

"You don't try" said North Wind, who from the top looked down a foottaller than before. 

"Give me your hand again, and I will, try" said Diamond. 

She reached down, Diamond laid hold of her hand, gave a great spring, and stood beside her. 

"This is nice!" he said. 

Another bound, and they stood in the road by the river. It was fulltide, and the stars were shining clear in its depths, for it lay still, waiting for the turn to run down again to the sea. They walked along itsside. But they had not walked far before its surface was covered withripples, and the stars had vanished from its bosom. 

And North Wind was now tall as a full-grown girl. Her hair was flyingabout her head, and the wind was blowing a breeze down the river. Butshe turned aside and went up a narrow lane, and as she went her hairfell down around her. 

"I have some rather disagreeable work to do to-night, " she said, "beforeI get out to sea, and I must set about it at once. The disagreeable workmust be looked after first. "

So saying, she laid hold of Diamond and began to run, gliding alongfaster and faster. Diamond kept up with her as well as he could. Shemade many turnings and windings, apparently because it was not quiteeasy to get him over walls and houses. Once they ran through a hallwhere they found back and front doors open. At the foot of the stairNorth Wind stood still, and Diamond, hearing a great growl, started interror, and there, instead of North Wind, was a huge wolf by his side. He let go his hold in dismay, and the wolf bounded up the stair. Thewindows of the house rattled and shook as if guns were firing, and thesound of a great fall came from above. Diamond stood with white facestaring up at the landing. 

"Surely, " he thought, "North Wind can't be eating one of the children!"Coming to himself all at once, he rushed after her with his little fistclenched. There were ladies in long trains going up and down the stairs, and gentlemen in white neckties attending on them, who stared at him, but none of them were of the people of the house, and they said nothing. Before he reached the head of the stair, however, North Wind met him, took him by the hand, and hurried down and out of the house. 

"I hope you haven't eaten a baby, North Wind!" said Diamond, verysolemnly. 

North Wind laughed merrily, and went tripping on faster. Her grassy robeswept and swirled about her steps, and wherever it passed over witheredleaves, they went fleeing and whirling in spirals, and running on theiredges like wheels, all about her feet. 

"No, " she said at last, "I did not eat a baby. You would not have hadto ask that foolish question if you had not let go your hold of me. Youwould have seen how I served a nurse that was calling a child bad names, and telling her she was wicked. She had been drinking. I saw an ugly ginbottle in a cupboard. "

"And you frightened her?" said Diamond. 

"I believe so!" answered North Wind laughing merrily. "I flew at herthroat, and she tumbled over on the floor with such a crash that theyran in. She'll be turned away to-morrow--and quite time, if they knew asmuch as I do. "

"But didn't you frighten the little one?"

"She never saw me. The woman would not have seen me either if she hadnot been wicked. "

"Oh!" said Diamond, dubiously. 

"Why should you see things, " returned North Wind, "that you wouldn'tunderstand or know what to do with? Good people see good things; badpeople, bad things. "

"Then are you a bad thing?"

"No. For you see me, Diamond, dear, " said the girl, and she looked downat him, and Diamond saw the loving eyes of the great lady beaming fromthe depths of her falling hair. 

"I had to make myself look like a bad thing before she could see me. IfI had put on any other shape than a wolf's she would not have seen me, for that is what is growing to be her own shape inside of her. "

"I don't know what you mean, " said Diamond, "but I suppose it's allright. "

They were now climbing the slope of a grassy ascent. It was PrimroseHill, in fact, although Diamond had never heard of it. The moment theyreached the top, North Wind stood and turned her face towards London Thestars were still shining clear and cold overhead. There was not a cloudto be seen. The air was sharp, but Diamond did not find it cold. 

"Now, " said the lady, "whatever you do, do not let my hand go. I mighthave lost you the last time, only I was not in a hurry then: now I am ina hurry. "

Yet she stood still for a moment. 

CHAPTER IV. NORTH WIND

AND as she stood looking towards London, Diamond saw that she wastrembling. 

"Are you cold, North Wind?" he asked. 

"No, Diamond, " she answered, looking down upon him with a smile; "I amonly getting ready to sweep one of my rooms. Those careless, greedy, untidy children make it in such a mess. "

As she spoke he could have told by her voice, if he had not seen withhis eyes, that she was growing larger and larger. Her head went up andup towards the stars; and as she grew, still trembling through all herbody, her hair also grew--longer and longer, and lifted itself from herhead, and went out in black waves. The next moment, however, it fellback around her, and she grew less and less till she was only a tallwoman. Then she put her hands behind her head, and gathered some of herhair, and began weaving and knotting it together. When she had done, shebent down her beautiful face close to his, and said--

"Diamond, I am afraid you would not keep hold of me, and if I were todrop you, I don't know what might happen; so I have been making a placefor you in my hair. Come. "

Diamond held out his arms, for with that grand face looking at him, he believed like a baby. She took him in her hands, threw him over hershoulder, and said, "Get in, Diamond. "

And Diamond parted her hair with his hands, crept between, and feelingabout soon found the woven nest. It was just like a pocket, or likethe shawl in which gipsy women carry their children. North Wind put herhands to her back, felt all about the nest, and finding it safe, said--

"Are you comfortable, Diamond?"

"Yes, indeed, " answered Diamond. 

The next moment he was rising in the air. North Wind grew towering up tothe place of the clouds. Her hair went streaming out from her, till itspread like a mist over the stars. She flung herself abroad in space. 

Diamond held on by two of the twisted ropes which, parted andinterwoven, formed his shelter, for he could not help being a littleafraid. As soon as he had come to himself, he peeped through the wovenmeshes, for he did not dare to look over the top of the nest. The earthwas rushing past like a river or a sea below him. Trees and water andgreen grass hurried away beneath. A great roar of wild animals roseas they rushed over the Zoological Gardens, mixed with a chattering ofmonkeys and a screaming of birds; but it died away in a moment behindthem. And now there was nothing but the roofs of houses, sweeping alonglike a great torrent of stones and rocks. Chimney-pots fell, and tilesflew from the roofs; but it looked to him as if they were left behindby the roofs and the chimneys as they scudded away. There was a greatroaring, for the wind was dashing against London like a sea; but atNorth Wind's back Diamond, of course, felt nothing of it all. He was ina perfect calm. He could hear the sound of it, that was all. 

By and by he raised himself and looked over the edge of his nest. Therewere the houses rushing up and shooting away below him, like a fiercetorrent of rocks instead of water. Then he looked up to the sky, butcould see no stars; they were hidden by the blinding masses of thelady's hair which swept between. He began to wonder whether she wouldhear him if he spoke. He would try. 

"Please, North Wind, " he said, "what is that noise?"

From high over his head came the voice of North Wind, answering him, gently--

"The noise of my besom. I am the old woman that sweeps the cobwebs fromthe sky; only I'm busy with the floor now. "

"What makes the houses look as if they were running away?"

"I am sweeping so fast over them. "

"But, please, North Wind, I knew London was very big, but I didn't knowit was so big as this. It seems as if we should never get away from it. "

"We are going round and round, else we should have left it long ago. "

"Is this the way you sweep, North Wind?"

"Yes; I go round and round with my great besom. "

"Please, would you mind going a little slower, for I want to see thestreets?"

"You won't see much now. "

"Why?"

"Because I have nearly swept all the people home. "

"Oh! I forgot, " said Diamond, and was quiet after that, for he did notwant to be troublesome. 

But she dropped a little towards the roofs of the houses, and Diamondcould see down into the streets. There were very few people about, though. The lamps flickered and flared again, but nobody seemed to wantthem. 

Suddenly Diamond espied a little girl coming along a street. She wasdreadfully blown by the wind, and a broom she was trailing behind herwas very troublesome. It seemed as if the wind had a spite at her--itkept worrying her like a wild beast, and tearing at her rags. She was solonely there!

"Oh! please, North Wind, " he cried, "won't you help that little girl?"

"No, Diamond; I mustn't leave my work. "

"But why shouldn't you be kind to her?"

"I am kind to her. I am sweeping the wicked smells away. "

"But you're kinder to me, dear North Wind. Why shouldn't you be as kindto her as you are to me?"

"There are reasons, Diamond. Everybody can't be done to all the same. Everybody is not ready for the same thing. "

"But I don't see why I should be kinder used than she. "

"Do you think nothing's to be done but what you can see, Diamond, yousilly! It's all right. Of course you can help her if you like. You'vegot nothing particular to do at this moment; I have. "

"Oh! do let me help her, then. But you won't be able to wait, perhaps?"

"No, I can't wait; you must do it yourself. And, mind, the wind will geta hold of you, too. "

"Don't you want me to help her, North Wind?"

"Not without having some idea what will happen. If you break down andcry, that won't be much of a help to her, and it will make a goose oflittle Diamond. "

"I want to go, " said Diamond. "Only there's just one thing--how am I toget home?"

"If you're anxious about that, perhaps you had better go with me. I ambound to take you home again, if you do. "

"There!" cried Diamond, who was still looking after the little girl. "I'm sure the wind will blow her over, and perhaps kill her. Do let mego. "

They had been sweeping more slowly along the line of the street. Therewas a lull in the roaring. 

"Well, though I cannot promise to take you home, " said North Wind, asshe sank nearer and nearer to the tops of the houses, "I can promiseyou it will be all right in the end. You will get home somehow. Have youmade up your mind what to do?"

"Yes; to help the little girl, " said Diamond firmly. 

The same moment North Wind dropt into the street and stood, only a talllady, but with her hair flying up over the housetops. She put her handsto her back, took Diamond, and set him down in the street. The samemoment he was caught in the fierce coils of the blast, and all but blownaway. North Wind stepped back a step, and at once towered in stature tothe height of the houses. A chimney-pot clashed at Diamond's feet. Heturned in terror, but it was to look for the little girl, and when heturned again the lady had vanished, and the wind was roaring along thestreet as if it had been the bed of an invisible torrent. The littlegirl was scudding before the blast, her hair flying too, and behind hershe dragged her broom. Her little legs were going as fast as ever theycould to keep her from falling. Diamond crept into the shelter of adoorway, thinking to stop her; but she passed him like a bird, cryinggently and pitifully. 

"Stop! stop! little girl, " shouted Diamond, starting in pursuit. 

"I can't, " wailed the girl, "the wind won't leave go of me. "

Diamond could run faster than she, and he had no broom. In a few momentshe had caught her by the frock, but it tore in his hand, and away wentthe little girl. So he had to run again, and this time he ran so fastthat he got before her, and turning round caught her in his arms, whendown they went both together, which made the little girl laugh in themidst of her crying. 

"Where are you going?" asked Diamond, rubbing the elbow that had stuckfarthest out. The arm it belonged to was twined round a lamp-post as hestood between the little girl and the wind. 

"Home, " she said, gasping for breath. 

"Then I will go with you, " said Diamond. 

And then they were silent for a while, for the wind blew worse thanever, and they had both to hold on to the lamp-post. 

"Where is your crossing?" asked the girl at length. 

"I don't sweep, " answered Diamond. 

"What do you do, then?" asked she. "You ain't big enough for mostthings. "

"I don't know what I do do, " answered he, feeling rather ashamed. "Nothing, I suppose. My father's Mr. Coleman's coachman. "

"Have you a father?" she said, staring at him as if a boy with a fatherwas a natural curiosity. 

"Yes. Haven't you?" returned Diamond. 

"No; nor mother neither. Old Sal's all I've got. " And she began to cryagain. 

"I wouldn't go to her if she wasn't good to me, " said Diamond. 

"But you must go somewheres. "

"Move on, " said the voice of a policeman behind them. 

"I told you so, " said the girl. "You must go somewheres. They're alwaysat it. "

"But old Sal doesn't beat you, does she?"

"I wish she would. "

"What do you mean?" asked Diamond, quite bewildered. 

"She would if she was my mother. But she wouldn't lie abed a-cuddlin' ofher ugly old bones, and laugh to hear me crying at the door. "

"You don't mean she won't let you in to-night?"

"It'll be a good chance if she does. "

"Why are you out so late, then?" asked Diamond. 

"My crossing's a long way off at the West End, and I had been indulgin'in door-steps and mewses. "

"We'd better have a try anyhow, " said Diamond. "Come along. "

As he spoke Diamond thought he caught a glimpse of North Wind turning acorner in front of them; and when they turned the corner too, they foundit quiet there, but he saw nothing of the lady. 

"Now you lead me, " he said, taking her hand, "and I'll take care ofyou. "

The girl withdrew her hand, but only to dry her eyes with her frock, forthe other had enough to do with her broom. She put it in his again, andled him, turning after turning, until they stopped at a cellar-door in avery dirty lane. There she knocked. 

"I shouldn't like to live here, " said Diamond. 

"Oh, yes, you would, if you had nowhere else to go to, " answered thegirl. "I only wish we may get in. "

"I don't want to go in, " said Diamond. 

"Where do you mean to go, then?"

"Home to my home. "

"Where's that?"

"I don't exactly know. "

"Then you're worse off than I am. "

"Oh no, for North Wind--" began Diamond, and stopped, he hardly knewwhy. 

"What?" said the girl, as she held her ear to the door listening. 

But Diamond did not reply. Neither did old Sal. 

"I told you so, " said the girl. "She is wide awake hearkening. But wedon't get in. "

"What will you do, then?" asked Diamond. 

"Move on, " she answered. 

"Where?"

"Oh, anywheres. Bless you, I'm used to it. "

"Hadn't you better come home with me, then?"

"That's a good joke, when you don't know where it is. Come on. "

"But where?"

"Oh, nowheres in particular. Come on. "

Diamond obeyed. The wind had now fallen considerably. They wandered onand on, turning in this direction and that, without any reason for oneway more than another, until they had got out of the thick of the housesinto a waste kind of place. By this time they were both very tired. Diamond felt a good deal inclined to cry, and thought he had been verysilly to get down from the back of North Wind; not that he would haveminded it if he had done the girl any good; but he thought he had beenof no use to her. He was mistaken there, for she was far happier forhaving Diamond with her than if she had been wandering about alone. Shedid not seem so tired as he was. 

"Do let us rest a bit, " said Diamond. 

"Let's see, " she answered. "There's something like a railway there. Perhaps there's an open arch. "

They went towards it and found one, and, better still, there was anempty barrel lying under the arch. 

"Hallo! here we are!" said the girl. "A barrel's the jolliest bedgoing--on the tramp, I mean. We'll have forty winks, and then go onagain. "

She crept in, and Diamond crept in beside her. They put their arms roundeach other, and when he began to grow warm, Diamond's courage began tocome back. 

"This is jolly!" he said. "I'm so glad!"

"I don't think so much of it, " said the girl. "I'm used to it, Isuppose. But I can't think how a kid like you comes to be out all alonethis time o' night. "

She called him a kid, but she was not really a month older than he was;only she had had to work for her bread, and that so soon makes peopleolder. 

"But I shouldn't have been out so late if I hadn't got down to helpyou, " said Diamond. "North Wind is gone home long ago. "

"I think you must ha' got out o' one o' them Hidget Asylms, " said thegirl. "You said something about the north wind afore that I couldn't getthe rights of. "

So now, for the sake of his character, Diamond had to tell her the wholestory. 

She did not believe a word of it. She said he wasn't such a flat as tobelieve all that bosh. But as she spoke there came a great blast of windthrough the arch, and set the barrel rolling. So they made haste to getout of it, for they had no notion of being rolled over and over as ifthey had been packed tight and wouldn't hurt, like a barrel of herrings. 

"I thought we should have had a sleep, " said Diamond; "but I can't sayI'm very sleepy after all. Come, let's go on again. "

They wandered on and on, sometimes sitting on a door-step, but alwaysturning into lanes or fields when they had a chance. 

They found themselves at last on a rising ground that sloped rathersteeply on the other side. It was a waste kind of spot below, bounded byan irregular wall, with a few doors in it. Outside lay broken things ingeneral, from garden rollers to flower-pots and wine-bottles. But themoment they reached the brow of the rising ground, a gust of windseized them and blew them down hill as fast as they could run. Nor couldDiamond stop before he went bang against one of the doors in the wall. To his dismay it burst open. When they came to themselves they peepedin. It was the back door of a garden. 

"Ah, ah!" cried Diamond, after staring for a few moments, "I thoughtso! North Wind takes nobody in! Here I am in master's garden! I tell youwhat, little girl, you just bore a hole in old Sal's wall, and put yourmouth to it, and say, 'Please, North Wind, mayn't I go out with you?'and then you'll see what'll come. "

"I daresay I shall. But I'm out in the wind too often already to wantmore of it. "

"I said with the North Wind, not in it. "

"It's all one. "

"It's not all one. "

"It is all one. "

"But I know best. "

"And I know better. I'll box your ears, " said the girl. 

Diamond got very angry. But he remembered that even if she did box hisears, he musn't box hers again, for she was a girl, and all that boysmust do, if girls are rude, is to go away and leave them. So he went inat the door. 

"Good-bye, mister" said the girl. 

This brought Diamond to his senses. 

"I'm sorry I was cross, " he said. "Come in, and my mother will give yousome breakfast. "

"No, thank you. I must be off to my crossing. It's morning now. "

"I'm very sorry for you, " said Diamond. 

"Well, it is a life to be tired of--what with old Sal, and so many holesin my shoes. "

"I wonder you're so good. I should kill myself. "

"Oh, no, you wouldn't! When I think of it, I always want to see what'scoming next, and so I always wait till next is over. Well! I supposethere's somebody happy somewheres. But it ain't in them carriages. Ohmy! how they do look sometimes--fit to bite your head off! Good-bye!"

She ran up the hill and disappeared behind it. Then Diamond shut thedoor as he best could, and ran through the kitchen-garden to the stable. And wasn't he glad to get into his own blessed bed again!

CHAPTER V. THE SUMMER-HOUSE

DIAMOND said nothing to his mother about his adventures. He had half anotion that North Wind was a friend of his mother, and that, if she didnot know all about it, at least she did not mind his going anywhere withthe lady of the wind. At the same time he doubted whether he might notappear to be telling stories if he told all, especially as he couldhardly believe it himself when he thought about it in the middle of theday, although when the twilight was once half-way on to night he had nodoubt about it, at least for the first few days after he had been withher. The girl that swept the crossing had certainly refused to believehim. Besides, he felt sure that North Wind would tell him if he ought tospeak. 

It was some time before he saw the lady of the wind again. Indeednothing remarkable took place in Diamond's history until the followingweek. This was what happened then. Diamond the horse wanted new shoes, and Diamond's father took him out of the stable, and was just getting onhis back to ride him to the forge, when he saw his little boy standingby the pump, and looking at him wistfully. Then the coachman took hisfoot out of the stirrup, left his hold of the mane and bridle, cameacross to his boy, lifted him up, and setting him on the horse's back, told him to sit up like a man. He then led away both Diamonds together. 

The boy atop felt not a little tremulous as the great muscles thatlifted the legs of the horse knotted and relaxed against his legs, andhe cowered towards the withers, grasping with his hands the bit of maneworn short by the collar; but when his father looked back at him, saying once more, "Sit up, Diamond, " he let the mane go and sat up, notwithstanding that the horse, thinking, I suppose, that his masterhad said to him, "Come up, Diamond, " stepped out faster. For both theDiamonds were just grandly obedient. And Diamond soon found that, as hewas obedient to his father, so the horse was obedient to him. For he hadnot ridden far before he found courage to reach forward and catch holdof the bridle, and when his father, whose hand was upon it, felt the boypull it towards him, he looked up and smiled, and, well pleased, let gohis hold, and left Diamond to guide Diamond; and the boy soon found thathe could do so perfectly. It was a grand thing to be able to guide agreat beast like that. And another discovery he made was that, in orderto guide the horse, he had in a measure to obey the horse first. If hedid not yield his body to the motions of the horse's body, he could notguide him; he must fall off. 

The blacksmith lived at some distance, deeper into London. As theycrossed the angle of a square, Diamond, who was now quite comfortableon his living throne, was glancing this way and that in a gentle pride, when he saw a girl sweeping a crossing scuddingly before a lady. Thelady was his father's mistress, Mrs. Coleman, and the little girl wasshe for whose sake he had got off North Wind's back. He drew Diamond'sbridle in eager anxiety to see whether her outstretched hand wouldgather a penny from Mrs. Coleman. But she had given one at the lastcrossing, and the hand returned only to grasp its broom. Diamond couldnot bear it. He had a penny in his pocket, a gift of the same lady theday before, and he tumbled off his horse to give it to the girl. Hetumbled off, I say, for he did tumble when he reached the ground. But hegot up in an instant, and ran, searching his pocket as he ran. Shemade him a pretty courtesy when he offered his treasure, but with abewildered stare. She thought first: "Then he was on the back of theNorth Wind after all!" but, looking up at the sound of the horse's feeton the paved crossing, she changed her idea, saying to herself, "NorthWind is his father's horse! That's the secret of it! Why couldn't he sayso?" And she had a mind to refuse the penny. But his smile put it allright, and she not only took his penny but put it in her mouth with a"Thank you, mister. Did they wollop you then?"

"Oh no!" answered Diamond. "They never wollops me. "

"Lor!" said the little girl, and was speechless. 

Meantime his father, looking up, and seeing the horse's back bare, suffered a pang of awful dread, but the next moment catching sight ofhim, took him up and put him on, saying--

"Don't get off again, Diamond. The horse might have put his foot onyou. "

"No, father, " answered the boy, and rode on in majestic safety. 

The summer drew near, warm and splendid. Miss Coleman was a littlebetter in health, and sat a good deal in the garden. One day she sawDiamond peeping through the shrubbery, and called him. He talked to herso frankly that she often sent for him after that, and by degrees itcame about that he had leave to run in the garden as he pleased. Henever touched any of the flowers or blossoms, for he was not like someboys who cannot enjoy a thing without pulling it to pieces, and sopreventing every one from enjoying it after them. 

A week even makes such a long time in a child's life, that Diamond hadbegun once more to feel as if North Wind were a dream of some far-offyear. 

One hot evening, he had been sitting with the young mistress, as theycalled her, in a little summer-house at the bottom of the lawn--awonderful thing for beauty, the boy thought, for a little window in theside of it was made of coloured glass. It grew dusky, and the lady beganto feel chill, and went in, leaving the boy in the summer-house. He satthere gazing out at a bed of tulips, which, although they had closed forthe night, could not go quite asleep for the wind that kept wavingthem about. All at once he saw a great bumble-bee fly out of one of thetulips. 

"There! that is something done, " said a voice--a gentle, merry, childishvoice, but so tiny. "At last it was. I thought he would have had to staythere all night, poor fellow! I did. "

Diamond could not tell whether the voice was near or far away, it was sosmall and yet so clear. He had never seen a fairy, but he had heard ofsuch, and he began to look all about for one. And there was the tiniestcreature sliding down the stem of the tulip!

"Are you the fairy that herds the bees?" he asked, going out of thesummer-house, and down on his knees on the green shore of the tulip-bed. 

"I'm not a fairy, " answered the little creature. 

"How do you know that?"

"It would become you better to ask how you are to know it. "

"You've just told me. "

"Yes. But what's the use of knowing a thing only because you're toldit?"

"Well, how am I to know you are not a fairy? You do look very like one. "

"In the first place, fairies are much bigger than you see me. "

"Oh!" said Diamond reflectively; "I thought they were very little. "

"But they might be tremendously bigger than I am, and yet not very big. Why, I could be six times the size I am, and not be very huge. Besides, a fairy can't grow big and little at will, though the nursery-tales dosay so: they don't know better. You stupid Diamond! have you never seenme before?"

And, as she spoke, a moan of wind bent the tulips almost to the ground, and the creature laid her hand on Diamond's shoulder. In a moment heknew that it was North Wind. 

"I am very stupid, " he said; "but I never saw you so small before, noteven when you were nursing the primrose. "

"Must you see me every size that can be measured before you know me, Diamond?"

"But how could I think it was you taking care of a great stupidbumble-bee?"

"The more stupid he was the more need he had to be taken care of. Whatwith sucking honey and trying to open the door, he was nearly dated; andwhen it opened in the morning to let the sun see the tulip's heart, whatwould the sun have thought to find such a stupid thing lying there--withwings too?"

"But how do you have time to look after bees?"

"I don't look after bees. I had this one to look after. It was hardwork, though. "

"Hard work! Why, you could blow a chimney down, or--or a boy's cap off, "said Diamond. 

"Both are easier than to blow a tulip open. But I scarcely know thedifference between hard and easy. I am always able for what I have todo. When I see my work, I just rush at it--and it is done. But I mustn'tchatter. I have got to sink a ship to-night. "

"Sink a ship! What! with men in it?"

"Yes, and women too. "

"How dreadful! I wish you wouldn't talk so. "

"It is rather dreadful. But it is my work. I must do it. "

"I hope you won't ask me to go with you. "

"No, I won't ask you. But you must come for all that. "

"I won't then. "

"Won't you?" And North Wind grew a tall lady, and looked him in theeyes, and Diamond said--

"Please take me. You cannot be cruel. "

"No; I could not be cruel if I would. I can do nothing cruel, although Ioften do what looks like cruel to those who do not know what I really amdoing. The people they say I drown, I only carry away to--to--to--well, the back of the North Wind--that is what they used to call it long ago, only I never saw the place. "

"How can you carry them there if you never saw it?"

"I know the way. "

"But how is it you never saw it?"

"Because it is behind me. "

"But you can look round. "

"Not far enough to see my own back. No; I always look before me. Infact, I grow quite blind and deaf when I try to see my back. I only mindmy work. "

"But how does it be your work?"

"Ah, that I can't tell you. I only know it is, because when I do it Ifeel all right, and when I don't I feel all wrong. East Wind says--onlyone does not exactly know how much to believe of what she says, for sheis very naughty sometimes--she says it is all managed by a baby; butwhether she is good or naughty when she says that, I don't know. I juststick to my work. It is all one to me to let a bee out of a tulip, or tosweep the cobwebs from the sky. You would like to go with me to-night?"

"I don't want to see a ship sunk. "

"But suppose I had to take you?"

"Why, then, of course I must go. "

"There's a good Diamond. --I think I had better be growing a bit. Onlyyou must go to bed first. I can't take you till you're in bed. That'sthe law about the children. So I had better go and do something elsefirst. "

"Very well, North Wind, " said Diamond. "What are you going to do first, if you please?"

"I think I may tell you. Jump up on the top of the wall, there. "

"I can't. "

"Ah! and I can't help you--you haven't been to bed yet, you see. Comeout to the road with me, just in front of the coach-house, and I willshow you. "

North Wind grew very small indeed, so small that she could not haveblown the dust off a dusty miller, as the Scotch children call a yellowauricula. Diamond could not even see the blades of grass move as sheflitted along by his foot. They left the lawn, went out by the wicketin the-coach-house gates, and then crossed the road to the low wall thatseparated it from the river. 

"You can get up on this wall, Diamond, " said North Wind. 

"Yes; but my mother has forbidden me. "

"Then don't, " said North Wind. 

"But I can see over, " said Diamond. 

"Ah! to be sure. I can't. "

So saying, North Wind gave a little bound, and stood on the top of thewall. She was just about the height a dragon-fly would be, if it stoodon end. 

"You darling!" said Diamond, seeing what a lovely little toy-woman shewas. 

"Don't be impertinent, Master Diamond, " said North Wind. "If there's onething makes me more angry than another, it is the way you humans judgethings by their size. I am quite as respectable now as I shall be sixhours after this, when I take an East Indiaman by the royals, twist herround, and push her under. You have no right to address me in such afashion. "

But as she spoke, the tiny face wore the smile of a great, grand woman. She was only having her own beautiful fun out of Diamond, and truewoman's fun never hurts. 

"But look there!" she resumed. "Do you see a boat with one man in it--agreen and white boat?"

"Yes; quite well. "

"That's a poet. "

"I thought you said it was a bo-at. "

"Stupid pet! Don't you know what a poet is?"

"Why, a thing to sail on the water in. "

"Well, perhaps you're not so far wrong. Some poets do carry people overthe sea. But I have no business to talk so much. The man is a poet. "

"The boat is a boat, " said Diamond. 

"Can't you spell?" asked North Wind. 

"Not very well. "

"So I see. A poet is not a bo-at, as you call it. A poet is a man who isglad of something, and tries to make other people glad of it too. "

"Ah! now I know. Like the man in the sweety-shop. "

"Not very. But I see it is no use. I wasn't sent to tell you, and so Ican't tell you. I must be off. Only first just look at the man. "

"He's not much of a rower" said Diamond--"paddling first with one finand then with the other. "

"Now look here!" said North Wind. 

And she flashed like a dragon-fly across the water, whose surfacerippled and puckered as she passed. The next moment the man in the boatglanced about him, and bent to his oars. The boat flew over the ripplingwater. Man and boat and river were awake. The same instant almost, NorthWind perched again upon the river wall. 

"How did you do that?" asked Diamond. 

"I blew in his face, " answered North Wind. "I don't see how that coulddo it, " said Diamond. "I daresay not. And therefore you will say youdon't believe it could. "

"No, no, dear North Wind. I know you too well not to believe you. "

"Well, I blew in his face, and that woke him up. "

"But what was the good of it?"

"Why! don't you see? Look at him--how he is pulling. I blew the mist outof him. "

"How was that?"

"That is just what I cannot tell you. "

"But you did it. "

"Yes. I have to do ten thousand things without being able to tell how. "

"I don't like that, " said Diamond. 

He was staring after the boat. Hearing no answer, he looked down to thewall. 

North Wind was gone. Away across the river went a long ripple--whatsailors call a cat's paw. The man in the boat was putting up a sail. Themoon was coming to herself on the edge of a great cloud, and the sailbegan to shine white. Diamond rubbed his eyes, and wondered what it wasall about. Things seemed going on around him, and all to understandeach other, but he could make nothing of it. So he put his hands in hispockets, and went in to have his tea. The night was very hot, for thewind had fallen again. 

"You don't seem very well to-night, Diamond, " said his mother. 

"I am quite well, mother, " returned Diamond, who was only puzzled. 

"I think you had better go to bed, " she added. 

"Very well, mother, " he answered. 

He stopped for one moment to look out of the window. Above the moon theclouds were going different ways. Somehow or other this troubled him, but, notwithstanding, he was soon fast asleep. 

He woke in the middle of the night and the darkness. A terrible noisewas rumbling overhead, like the rolling beat of great drums echoingthrough a brazen vault. The roof of the loft in which he lay had noceiling; only the tiles were between him and the sky. For a while hecould not come quite awake, for the noise kept beating him down, so thathis heart was troubled and fluttered painfully. A second peal of thunderburst over his head, and almost choked him with fear. Nor did he recoveruntil the great blast that followed, having torn some tiles off theroof, sent a spout of wind down into his bed and over his face, whichbrought him wide awake, and gave him back his courage. The same momenthe heard a mighty yet musical voice calling him. 

"Come up, Diamond, " it said. "It's all ready. I'm waiting for you. "

He looked out of the bed, and saw a gigantic, powerful, but most lovelyarm--with a hand whose fingers were nothing the less ladylike that theycould have strangled a boa-constrictor, or choked a tigress off itsprey--stretched down through a big hole in the roof. Without a moment'shesitation he reached out his tiny one, and laid it in the grand palmbefore him. 

CHAPTER VI. OUT IN THE STORM

THE hand felt its way up his arm, and, grasping it gently and stronglyabove the elbow, lifted Diamond from the bed. The moment he was throughthe hole in the roof, all the winds of heaven seemed to lay hold uponhim, and buffet him hither and thither. His hair blew one way, hisnight-gown another, his legs threatened to float from under him, andhis head to grow dizzy with the swiftness of the invisible assailant. Cowering, he clung with the other hand to the huge hand which held hisarm, and fear invaded his heart. 

"Oh, North Wind!" he murmured, but the words vanished from his lips ashe had seen the soap-bubbles that burst too soon vanish from the mouthof his pipe. The wind caught them, and they were nowhere. They couldn'tget out at all, but were torn away and strangled. And yet North Windheard them, and in her answer it seemed to Diamond that just because shewas so big and could not help it, and just because her ear and her mouthmust seem to him so dreadfully far away, she spoke to him more tenderlyand graciously than ever before. Her voice was like the bass of a deeporgan, without the groan in it; like the most delicate of violin toneswithout the wail in it; like the most glorious of trumpet-ejaculationswithout the defiance in it; like the sound of falling water withoutthe clatter and clash in it: it was like all of them and neitherof them--all of them without their faults, each of them without itspeculiarity: after all, it was more like his mother's voice thananything else in the world. 

"Diamond, dear, " she said, "be a man. What is fearful to you is not theleast fearful to me. "

"But it can't hurt you, " murmured Diamond, "for you're it. "

"Then if I'm it, and have you in my arms, how can it hurt you?"

"Oh yes! I see, " whispered Diamond. "But it looks so dreadful, and itpushes me about so. "

"Yes, it does, my dear. That is what it was sent for. "

At the same moment, a peal of thunder which shook Diamond's heartagainst the sides of his bosom hurtled out of the heavens: I cannotsay out of the sky, for there was no sky. Diamond had not seen thelightning, for he had been intent on finding the face of North Wind. Every moment the folds of her garment would sweep across his eyes andblind him, but between, he could just persuade himself that he saw greatglories of woman's eyes looking down through rifts in the mountainousclouds over his head. 

He trembled so at the thunder, that his knees failed him, and he sunkdown at North Wind's feet, and clasped her round the column of herankle. She instantly stooped, lifted him from the roof--up--up into herbosom, and held him there, saying, as if to an inconsolable child--

"Diamond, dear, this will never do. "

"Oh yes, it will, " answered Diamond. "I am all right now--quitecomfortable, I assure you, dear North Wind. If you will only let me stayhere, I shall be all right indeed. "

"But you will feel the wind here, Diamond. "

"I don't mind that a bit, so long as I feel your arms through it, "answered Diamond, nestling closer to her grand bosom. 

"Brave boy!" returned North Wind, pressing him closer. 

"No, " said Diamond, "I don't see that. It's not courage at all, so longas I feel you there. "

"But hadn't you better get into my hair? Then you would not feel thewind; you will here. "

"Ah, but, dear North Wind, you don't know how nice it is to feel yourarms about me. It is a thousand times better to have them and the windtogether, than to have only your hair and the back of your neck and nowind at all. "

"But it is surely more comfortable there?"

"Well, perhaps; but I begin to think there are better things than beingcomfortable. "

"Yes, indeed there are. Well, I will keep you in front of me. You willfeel the wind, but not too much. I shall only want one arm to take careof you; the other will be quite enough to sink the ship. "

"Oh, dear North Wind! how can you talk so?"

"My dear boy, I never talk; I always mean what I say. "

"Then you do mean to sink the ship with the other hand?"

"Yes. "

"It's not like you. "

"How do you know that?"

"Quite easily. Here you are taking care of a poor little boy with onearm, and there you are sinking a ship with the other. It can't be likeyou. "

"Ah! but which is me? I can't be two mes, you know. "

"No. Nobody can be two mes. "

"Well, which me is me?"

"Now I must think. There looks to be two. "

"Yes. That's the very point. --You can't be knowing the thing you don'tknow, can you?"

"No. "

"Which me do you know?"

"The kindest, goodest, best me in the world, " answered Diamond, clingingto North Wind. 

"Why am I good to you?"

"I don't know. "

"Have you ever done anything for me?"

"No. "

"Then I must be good to you because I choose to be good to you. "

"Yes. "

"Why should I choose?"

"Because--because--because you like. "

"Why should I like to be good to you?"

"I don't know, except it be because it's good to be good to me. "

"That's just it; I am good to you because I like to be good. "

"Then why shouldn't you be good to other people as well as to me?"

"That's just what I don't know. Why shouldn't I?"

"I don't know either. Then why shouldn't you?"

"Because I am. "

"There it is again, " said Diamond. "I don't see that you are. It looksquite the other thing. "

"Well, but listen to me, Diamond. You know the one me, you say, and thatis good. "

"Yes. "

"Do you know the other me as well?"

"No. I can't. I shouldn't like to. "

"There it is. You don't know the other me. You are sure of one of them?"

"Yes. "

"And you are sure there can't be two mes?"

"Yes. "

"Then the me you don't know must be the same as the me you doknow, --else there would be two mes?"

"Yes. "

"Then the other me you don't know must be as kind as the me you doknow?"

"Yes. "

"Besides, I tell you that it is so, only it doesn't look like it. That Iconfess freely. Have you anything more to object?"

"No, no, dear North Wind; I am quite satisfied. "

"Then I will tell you something you might object. You might say that theme you know is like the other me, and that I am cruel all through. "

"I know that can't be, because you are so kind. "

"But that kindness might be only a pretence for the sake of being morecruel afterwards. "

Diamond clung to her tighter than ever, crying--

"No, no, dear North Wind; I can't believe that. I don't believe it. Iwon't believe it. That would kill me. I love you, and you must love me, else how did I come to love you? How could you know how to put on such abeautiful face if you did not love me and the rest? No. You may sinkas many ships as you like, and I won't say another word. I can't say Ishall like to see it, you know. "

"That's quite another thing, " said North Wind; and as she spoke she gaveone spring from the roof of the hay-loft, and rushed up into the clouds, with Diamond on her left arm close to her heart. And as if the cloudsknew she had come, they burst into a fresh jubilation of thunderouslight. For a few moments, Diamond seemed to be borne up through thedepths of an ocean of dazzling flame; the next, the winds were writhingaround him like a storm of serpents. For they were in the midst ofthe clouds and mists, and they of course took the shapes of the wind, eddying and wreathing and whirling and shooting and dashing about likegrey and black water, so that it was as if the wind itself had takenshape, and he saw the grey and black wind tossing and raving most madlyall about him. Now it blinded him by smiting him upon the eyes; now itdeafened him by bellowing in his ears; for even when the thunder came heknew now that it was the billows of the great ocean of the air dashingagainst each other in their haste to fill the hollow scooped out by thelightning; now it took his breath quite away by sucking it from his bodywith the speed of its rush. But he did not mind it. He only gasped firstand then laughed, for the arm of North Wind was about him, and he wasleaning against her bosom. It is quite impossible for me to describewhat he saw. Did you ever watch a great wave shoot into a windingpassage amongst rocks? If you ever did, you would see that the waterrushed every way at once, some of it even turning back and opposingthe rest; greater confusion you might see nowhere except in a crowd offrightened people. Well, the wind was like that, except that it wentmuch faster, and therefore was much wilder, and twisted and shot andcurled and dodged and clashed and raved ten times more madly thananything else in creation except human passions. Diamond saw the threadsof the lady's hair streaking it all. In parts indeed he could not tellwhich was hair and which was black storm and vapour. It seemed sometimesthat all the great billows of mist-muddy wind were woven out of thecrossing lines of North Wind's infinite hair, sweeping in endlessintertwistings. And Diamond felt as the wind seized on his hair, whichhis mother kept rather long, as if he too was a part of the storm, andsome of its life went out from him. But so sheltered was he by NorthWind's arm and bosom that only at times, in the fiercer onslaught ofsome curl-billowed eddy, did he recognise for a moment how wild was thestorm in which he was carried, nestling in its very core and formativecentre. 

It seemed to Diamond likewise that they were motionless in this centre, and that all the confusion and fighting went on around them. Flash afterflash illuminated the fierce chaos, revealing in varied yellow and blueand grey and dusky red the vapourous contention; peal after peal ofthunder tore the infinite waste; but it seemed to Diamond that NorthWind and he were motionless, all but the hair. It was not so. They weresweeping with the speed of the wind itself towards the sea. 

CHAPTER VII. THE CATHEDRAL

I MUST not go on describing what cannot be described, for nothing ismore wearisome. 

Before they reached the sea, Diamond felt North Wind's hair justbeginning to fall about him. 

"Is the storm over, North Wind?" he called out. 

"No, Diamond. I am only waiting a moment to set you down. You would notlike to see the ship sunk, and I am going to give you a place to stop intill I come back for you. "

"Oh! thank you, " said Diamond. "I shall be sorry to leave you, NorthWind, but I would rather not see the ship go down. And I'm afraid thepoor people will cry, and I should hear them. Oh, dear!"

"There are a good many passengers on board; and to tell the truth, Diamond, I don't care about your hearing the cry you speak of. I amafraid you would not get it out of your little head again for a longtime. "

"But how can you bear it then, North Wind? For I am sure you are kind. Ishall never doubt that again. "

"I will tell you how I am able to bear it, Diamond: I am always hearing, through every noise, through all the noise I am making myself even, thesound of a far-off song. I do not exactly know where it is, or what itmeans; and I don't hear much of it, only the odour of its music, as itwere, flitting across the great billows of the ocean outside this air inwhich I make such a storm; but what I do hear is quite enough to makeme able to bear the cry from the drowning ship. So it would you if youcould hear it. "

"No, it wouldn't, " returned Diamond, stoutly. "For they wouldn't hearthe music of the far-away song; and if they did, it wouldn't do themany good. You see you and I are not going to be drowned, and so we mightenjoy it. "

"But you have never heard the psalm, and you don't know what it is like. Somehow, I can't say how, it tells me that all is right; that it iscoming to swallow up all cries. "

"But that won't do them any good--the people, I mean, " persistedDiamond. 

"It must. It must, " said North Wind, hurriedly. "It wouldn't be the songit seems to be if it did not swallow up all their fear and pain too, andset them singing it themselves with the rest. I am sure it will. And doyou know, ever since I knew I had hair, that is, ever since it beganto go out and away, that song has been coming nearer and nearer. Only Imust say it was some thousand years before I heard it. "

"But how can you say it was coming nearer when you did not hear it?"asked doubting little Diamond. 

"Since I began to hear it, I know it is growing louder, therefore Ijudge it was coming nearer and nearer until I did hear it first. I'm notso very old, you know--a few thousand years only--and I was quite a babywhen I heard the noise first, but I knew it must come from the voicesof people ever so much older and wiser than I was. I can't sing at all, except now and then, and I can never tell what my song is going to be; Ionly know what it is after I have sung it. --But this will never do. Willyou stop here?"

"I can't see anywhere to stop, " said Diamond. "Your hair is all downlike a darkness, and I can't see through it if I knock my eyes into itever so much. "

"Look, then, " said North Wind; and, with one sweep of her great whitearm, she swept yards deep of darkness like a great curtain from beforethe face of the boy. 

And lo! it was a blue night, lit up with stars. Where it did not shinewith stars it shimmered with the milk of the stars, except where, justopposite to Diamond's face, the grey towers of a cathedral blotted outeach its own shape of sky and stars. 

"Oh! what's that?" cried Diamond, struck with a kind of terror, for hehad never seen a cathedral, and it rose before him with an awful realityin the midst of the wide spaces, conquering emptiness with grandeur. 

"A very good place for you to wait in, " said North Wind. "But we shallgo in, and you shall judge for yourself. "

There was an open door in the middle of one of the towers, leading outupon the roof, and through it they passed. Then North Wind set Diamondon his feet, and he found himself at the top of a stone stair, whichwent twisting away down into the darkness for only a little light camein at the door. It was enough, however, to allow Diamond to see thatNorth Wind stood beside him. He looked up to find her face, and saw thatshe was no longer a beautiful giantess, but the tall gracious lady heliked best to see. She took his hand, and, giving him the broad partof the spiral stair to walk on, led him down a good way; then, openinganother little door, led him out upon a narrow gallery that ran allround the central part of the church, on the ledges of the windowsof the clerestory, and through openings in the parts of the wall thatdivided the windows from each other. It was very narrow, and except whenthey were passing through the wall, Diamond saw nothing to keep himfrom falling into the church. It lay below him like a great silent gulfhollowed in stone, and he held his breath for fear as he looked down. 

"What are you trembling for, little Diamond?" said the lady, as shewalked gently along, with her hand held out behind her leading him, forthere was not breadth enough for them to walk side by side. 

"I am afraid of falling down there, " answered Diamond. "It is so deepdown. "

"Yes, rather, " answered North Wind; "but you were a hundred times highera few minutes ago. "

"Ah, yes, but somebody's arm was about me then, " said Diamond, puttinghis little mouth to the beautiful cold hand that had a hold of his. 

"What a dear little warm mouth you've got!" said North Wind. "It is apity you should talk nonsense with it. Don't you know I have a hold ofyou?"

"Yes; but I'm walking on my own legs, and they might slip. I can't trustmyself so well as your arms. "

"But I have a hold of you, I tell you, foolish child. "

"Yes, but somehow I can't feel comfortable. "

"If you were to fall, and my hold of you were to give way, I should bedown after you in a less moment than a lady's watch can tick, and catchyou long before you had reached the ground. "

"I don't like it though, " said Diamond. 

"Oh! oh! oh!" he screamed the next moment, bent double with terror, forNorth Wind had let go her hold of his hand, and had vanished, leavinghim standing as if rooted to the gallery. 

She left the words, "Come after me, " sounding in his ears. 

But move he dared not. In a moment more he would from very terror havefallen into the church, but suddenly there came a gentle breath of coolwind upon his face, and it kept blowing upon him in little puffs, and atevery puff Diamond felt his faintness going away, and his fear with it. Courage was reviving in his little heart, and still the cool wafts ofthe soft wind breathed upon him, and the soft wind was so mighty andstrong within its gentleness, that in a minute more Diamond was marchingalong the narrow ledge as fearless for the time as North Wind herself. 

He walked on and on, with the windows all in a row on one side of him, and the great empty nave of the church echoing to every one of his bravestrides on the other, until at last he came to a little open door, fromwhich a broader stair led him down and down and down, till at last allat once he found himself in the arms of North Wind, who held him closeto her, and kissed him on the forehead. Diamond nestled to her, andmurmured into her bosom, --"Why did you leave me, dear North Wind?"

"Because I wanted you to walk alone, " she answered. 

"But it is so much nicer here!" said Diamond. 

"I daresay; but I couldn't hold a little coward to my heart. It wouldmake me so cold!"

"But I wasn't brave of myself, " said Diamond, whom my older readers willhave already discovered to be a true child in this, that he was given tometaphysics. "It was the wind that blew in my face that made me brave. Wasn't it now, North Wind?"

"Yes: I know that. You had to be taught what courage was. And youcouldn't know what it was without feeling it: therefore it was givenyou. But don't you feel as if you would try to be brave yourself nexttime?"

"Yes, I do. But trying is not much. "

"Yes, it is--a very great deal, for it is a beginning. And a beginningis the greatest thing of all. To try to be brave is to be brave. Thecoward who tries to be brave is before the man who is brave because heis made so, and never had to try. "

"How kind you are, North Wind!"

"I am only just. All kindness is but justice. We owe it. "

"I don't quite understand that. "

"Never mind; you will some day. There is no hurry about understanding itnow. "

"Who blew the wind on me that made me brave?"

"I did. "

"I didn't see you. "

"Therefore you can believe me. "

"Yes, yes; of course. But how was it that such a little breath could beso strong?"

"That I don't know. "

"But you made it strong?"

"No: I only blew it. I knew it would make you strong, just as it did theman in the boat, you remember. But how my breath has that power I cannottell. It was put into it when I was made. That is all I know. But reallyI must be going about my work. "

"Ah! the poor ship! I wish you would stop here, and let the poor shipgo. "

"That I dare not do. Will you stop here till I come back?"

"Yes. You won't be long?"

"Not longer than I can help. Trust me, you shall get home before themorning. "

In a moment North Wind was gone, and the next Diamond heard a moaningabout the church, which grew and grew to a roaring. The storm was upagain, and he knew that North Wind's hair was flying. 

The church was dark. Only a little light came through the windows, whichwere almost all of that precious old stained glass which is so muchlovelier than the new. But Diamond could not see how beautiful theywere, for there was not enough of light in the stars to show the coloursof them. He could only just distinguish them from the walls, He lookedup, but could not see the gallery along which he had passed. He couldonly tell where it was far up by the faint glimmer of the windows ofthe clerestory, whose sills made part of it. The church grew very lonelyabout him, and he began to feel like a child whose mother has forsakenit. Only he knew that to be left alone is not always to be forsaken. 

He began to feel his way about the place, and for a while went wanderingup and down. His little footsteps waked little answering echoes in thegreat house. It wasn't too big to mind him. It was as if the church knewhe was there, and meant to make itself his house. So it went on givingback an answer to every step, until at length Diamond thought he shouldlike to say something out loud, and see what the church would answer. But he found he was afraid to speak. He could not utter a word for fearof the loneliness. Perhaps it was as well that he did not, for the soundof a spoken word would have made him feel the place yet more desertedand empty. But he thought he could sing. He was fond of singing, andat home he used to sing, to tunes of his own, all the nursery rhymes heknew. So he began to try `Hey diddle diddle', but it wouldn't do. Thenhe tried `Little Boy Blue', but it was no better. Neither would `Sing aSong of Sixpence' sing itself at all. Then he tried `Poor old Cockytoo', but he wouldn't do. They all sounded so silly! and he had never thoughtthem silly before. So he was quiet, and listened to the echoes that cameout of the dark corners in answer to his footsteps. 

At last he gave a great sigh, and said, "I'm so tired. " But he did nothear the gentle echo that answered from far away over his head, for atthe same moment he came against the lowest of a few steps that stretchedacross the church, and fell down and hurt his arm. He cried a littlefirst, and then crawled up the steps on his hands and knees. At the tophe came to a little bit of carpet, on which he lay down; and there helay staring at the dull window that rose nearly a hundred feet above hishead. 

Now this was the eastern window of the church, and the moon was at thatmoment just on the edge of the horizon. The next, she was peeping overit. And lo! with the moon, St. John and St. Paul, and the rest of them, began to dawn in the window in their lovely garments. Diamond did notknow that the wonder-working moon was behind, and he thought all thelight was coming out of the window itself, and that the good old menwere appearing to help him, growing out of the night and the darkness, because he had hurt his arm, and was very tired and lonely, and NorthWind was so long in coming. So he lay and looked at them backwards overhis head, wondering when they would come down or what they would donext. They were very dim, for the moonlight was not strong enough forthe colours, and he had enough to do with his eyes trying to make outtheir shapes. So his eyes grew tired, and more and more tired, and hiseyelids grew so heavy that they would keep tumbling down over his eyes. He kept lifting them and lifting them, but every time they were heavierthan the last. It was no use: they were too much for him. Sometimesbefore he had got them half up, down they were again; and at length hegave it up quite, and the moment he gave it up, he was fast asleep. 

CHAPTER VIII. THE EAST WINDOW

THAT Diamond had fallen fast asleep is very evident from the strangethings he now fancied as taking place. For he thought he heard a soundas of whispering up in the great window. He tried to open his eyes, buthe could not. And the whispering went on and grew louder and louder, until he could hear every word that was said. He thought it was theApostles talking about him. But he could not open his eyes. 

"And how comes he to be lying there, St. Peter?" said one. 

"I think I saw him a while ago up in the gallery, under the Nicodemuswindow. Perhaps he has fallen down. 

"What do you think, St. Matthew?"

"I don't think he could have crept here after falling from such aheight. He must have been killed. "

"What are we to do with him? We can't leave him lying there. And wecould not make him comfortable up here in the window: it's rathercrowded already. What do you say, St. Thomas?"

"Let's go down and look at him. "

There came a rustling, and a chinking, for some time, and then there wasa silence, and Diamond felt somehow that all the Apostles were standinground him and looking down on him. And still he could not open his eyes. 

"What is the matter with him, St. Luke?" asked one. 

"There's nothing the matter with him, " answered St. Luke, who musthave joined the company of the Apostles from the next window, one wouldthink. "He's in a sound sleep. "

"I have it, " cried another. "This is one of North Wind's tricks. Shehas caught him up and dropped him at our door, like a withered leaf or afoundling baby. I don't understand that woman's conduct, I must say. Asif we hadn't enough to do with our money, without going taking careof other people's children! That's not what our forefathers builtcathedrals for. "

Now Diamond could not bear to hear such things against North Wind, who, he knew, never played anybody a trick. She was far too busy with her ownwork for that. He struggled hard to open his eyes, but without success. 

"She should consider that a church is not a place for pranks, not tomention that we live in it, " said another. 

"It certainly is disrespectful of her. But she always is disrespectful. What right has she to bang at our windows as she has been doing thewhole of this night? I daresay there is glass broken somewhere. I knowmy blue robe is in a dreadful mess with the rain first and the dustafter. It will cost me shillings to clean it. "

Then Diamond knew that they could not be Apostles, talking like this. They could only be the sextons and vergers and such-like, who got up atnight, and put on the robes of deans and bishops, and called each othergrand names, as the foolish servants he had heard his father tell ofcall themselves lords and ladies, after their masters and mistresses. And he was so angry at their daring to abuse North Wind, that he jumpedup, crying--"North Wind knows best what she is about. She has a goodright to blow the cobwebs from your windows, for she was sent to do it. She sweeps them away from grander places, I can tell you, for I've beenwith her at it. "

This was what he began to say, but as he spoke his eyes came wide open, and behold, there were neither Apostles nor vergers there--not even awindow with the effigies of holy men in it, but a dark heap of hay allabout him, and the little panes in the roof of his loft glimmering bluein the light of the morning. Old Diamond was coming awake down below inthe stable. In a moment more he was on his feet, and shaking himself sothat young Diamond's bed trembled under him. 

"He's grand at shaking himself, " said Diamond. "I wish I could shakemyself like that. But then I can wash myself, and he can't. What funit would be to see Old Diamond washing his face with his hoofs and ironshoes! Wouldn't it be a picture?"

So saying, he got up and dressed himself. Then he went out into thegarden. There must have been a tremendous wind in the night, foralthough all was quiet now, there lay the little summer-house crushedto the ground, and over it the great elm-tree, which the wind had brokenacross, being much decayed in the middle. Diamond almost cried to seethe wilderness of green leaves, which used to be so far up in the blueair, tossing about in the breeze, and liking it best when the wind blewit most, now lying so near the ground, and without any hope of evergetting up into the deep air again. 

"I wonder how old the tree is!" thought Diamond. "It must take a longtime to get so near the sky as that poor tree was. "

"Yes, indeed, " said a voice beside him, for Diamond had spoken the lastwords aloud. 

Diamond started, and looking around saw a clergyman, a brother of Mrs. Coleman, who happened to be visiting her. He was a great scholar, andwas in the habit of rising early. 

"Who are you, my man?" he added. 

"Little Diamond, " answered the boy. 

"Oh! I have heard of you. How do you come to be up so early?"

"Because the sham Apostles talked such nonsense, they waked me up. "

The clergyman stared. Diamond saw that he had better have held histongue, for he could not explain things. 

"You must have been dreaming, my little man, " said he. "Dear! dear!" hewent on, looking at the tree, "there has been terrible work here. Thisis the north wind's doing. What a pity! I wish we lived at the back ofit, I'm sure. "

"Where is that sir?" asked Diamond. 

"Away in the Hyperborean regions, " answered the clergyman, smiling. 

"I never heard of the place, " returned Diamond. 

"I daresay not, " answered the clergyman; "but if this tree had beenthere now, it would not have been blown down, for there is no windthere. "

"But, please, sir, if it had been there, " said Diamond, "we should nothave had to be sorry for it. "

"Certainly not. "

"Then we shouldn't have had to be glad for it, either. "

"You're quite right, my boy, " said the clergyman, looking at him verykindly, as he turned away to the house, with his eyes bent towards theearth. But Diamond thought within himself, "I will ask North Wind nexttime I see her to take me to that country. I think she did speak aboutit once before. "

CHAPTER IX. HOW DIAMOND GOT TO THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND

WHEN Diamond went home to breakfast, he found his father and motheralready seated at the table. They were both busy with their bread andbutter, and Diamond sat himself down in his usual place. His motherlooked up at him, and, after watching him for a moment, said:

"I don't think the boy is looking well, husband. "

"Don't you? Well, I don't know. I think he looks pretty bobbish. How doyou feel yourself, Diamond, my boy?"

"Quite well, thank you, father; at least, I think I've got a littleheadache. "

"There! I told you, " said his father and mother both at once. 

"The child's very poorly" added his mother. 

"The child's quite well, " added his father. 

And then they both laughed. 

"You see, " said his mother, "I've had a letter from my sister atSandwich. "

"Sleepy old hole!" said his father. 

"Don't abuse the place; there's good people in it, " said his mother. 

"Right, old lady, " returned his father; "only I don't believe there aremore than two pair of carriage-horses in the whole blessed place. "

"Well, people can get to heaven without carriages--or coachmen either, husband. Not that I should like to go without my coachman, you know. Butabout the boy?"

"What boy?"

"That boy, there, staring at you with his goggle-eyes. "

"Have I got goggle-eyes, mother?" asked Diamond, a little dismayed. 

"Not too goggle, " said his mother, who was quite proud of her boy'seyes, only did not want to make him vain. 

"Not too goggle; only you need not stare so. "

"Well, what about him?" said his father. 

"I told you I had got a letter. "

"Yes, from your sister; not from Diamond. "

"La, husband! you've got out of bed the wrong leg first this morning, Ido believe. "

"I always get out with both at once, " said his father, laughing. 

"Well, listen then. His aunt wants the boy to go down and see her. "

"And that's why you want to make out that he ain't looking well. "

"No more he is. I think he had better go. "

"Well, I don't care, if you can find the money, " said his father. 

"I'll manage that, " said his mother; and so it was agreed that Diamondshould go to Sandwich. 

I will not describe the preparations Diamond made. You would havethought he had been going on a three months' voyage. Nor will I describethe journey, for our business is now at the place. He was met at thestation by his aunt, a cheerful middle-aged woman, and conveyed insafety to the sleepy old town, as his father called it. And no wonderthat it was sleepy, for it was nearly dead of old age. 

Diamond went about staring with his beautiful goggle-eyes, at the quaintold streets, and the shops, and the houses. Everything looked verystrange, indeed; for here was a town abandoned by its nurse, the sea, like an old oyster left on the shore till it gaped for weariness. Itused to be one of the five chief seaports in England, but it began tohold itself too high, and the consequence was the sea grew less and lessintimate with it, gradually drew back, and kept more to itself, till atlength it left it high and dry: Sandwich was a seaport no more; the seawent on with its own tide-business a long way off, and forgot it. Ofcourse it went to sleep, and had no more to do with ships. That's whatcomes to cities and nations, and boys and girls, who say, "I can dowithout your help. I'm enough for myself. "

Diamond soon made great friends with an old woman who kept a toyshop, for his mother had given him twopence for pocket-money before he left, and he had gone into her shop to spend it, and she got talking to him. She looked very funny, because she had not got any teeth, but Diamondliked her, and went often to her shop, although he had nothing to spendthere after the twopence was gone. 

One afternoon he had been wandering rather wearily about the streetsfor some time. It was a hot day, and he felt tired. As he passed thetoyshop, he stepped in. 

"Please may I sit down for a minute on this box?" he said, thinking theold woman was somewhere in the shop. But he got no answer, and sat downwithout one. Around him were a great many toys of all prices, from apenny up to shillings. All at once he heard a gentle whirring somewhereamongst them. It made him start and look behind him. There were thesails of a windmill going round and round almost close to his ear. Hethought at first it must be one of those toys which are wound up and gowith clockwork; but no, it was a common penny toy, with the windmill atthe end of a whistle, and when the whistle blows the windmill goes. Butthe wonder was that there was no one at the whistle end blowing, andyet the sails were turning round and round--now faster, now slower, nowfaster again. 

"What can it mean?" said Diamond, aloud. 

"It means me, " said the tiniest voice he had ever heard. 

"Who are you, please?" asked Diamond. 

"Well, really, I begin to be ashamed of you, " said the voice. "I wonderhow long it will be before you know me; or how often I might take you inbefore you got sharp enough to suspect me. You are as bad as a baby thatdoesn't know his mother in a new bonnet. "

"Not quite so bad as that, dear North Wind, " said Diamond, "for I didn'tsee you at all, and indeed I don't see you yet, although I recogniseyour voice. Do grow a little, please. "

"Not a hair's-breadth, " said the voice, and it was the smallest voicethat ever spoke. "What are you doing here?"

"I am come to see my aunt. But, please, North Wind, why didn't you comeback for me in the church that night?"

"I did. I carried you safe home. All the time you were dreaming aboutthe glass Apostles, you were lying in my arms. "

"I'm so glad, " said Diamond. "I thought that must be it, only I wantedto hear you say so. Did you sink the ship, then?"

"Yes. "

"And drown everybody?"

"Not quite. One boat got away with six or seven men in it. "

"How could the boat swim when the ship couldn't?"

"Of course I had some trouble with it. I had to contrive a bit, andmanage the waves a little. When they're once thoroughly waked up, I havea good deal of trouble with them sometimes. They're apt to get stupidwith tumbling over each other's heads. That's when they're fairly at it. However, the boat got to a desert island before noon next day. "

"And what good will come of that?"

"I don't know. I obeyed orders. Good bye. "

"Oh! stay, North Wind, do stay!" cried Diamond, dismayed to see thewindmill get slower and slower. 

"What is it, my dear child?" said North Wind, and the windmill beganturning again so swiftly that Diamond could scarcely see it. "What a bigvoice you've got! and what a noise you do make with it? What is it youwant? I have little to do, but that little must be done. "

"I want you to take me to the country at the back of the north wind. "

"That's not so easy, " said North Wind, and was silent for so long thatDiamond thought she was gone indeed. But after he had quite given herup, the voice began again. 

"I almost wish old Herodotus had held his tongue about it. Much he knewof it!"

"Why do you wish that, North Wind?"

"Because then that clergyman would never have heard of it, and set youwanting to go. But we shall see. We shall see. You must go home now, mydear, for you don't seem very well, and I'll see what can be done foryou. Don't wait for me. I've got to break a few of old Goody's toys;she's thinking too much of her new stock. Two or three will do. There!go now. "

Diamond rose, quite sorry, and without a word left the shop, and wenthome. 

It soon appeared that his mother had been right about him, for that sameafternoon his head began to ache very much, and he had to go to bed. 

He awoke in the middle of the night. The lattice window of his room hadblown open, and the curtains of his little bed were swinging about inthe wind. 

"If that should be North Wind now!" thought Diamond. 

But the next moment he heard some one closing the window, and his auntcame to his bedside. She put her hand on his face, and said--

"How's your head, dear?"

"Better, auntie, I think. "

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Oh, yes! I should, please. "

So his aunt gave him some lemonade, for she had been used to nursingsick people, and Diamond felt very much refreshed, and laid his headdown again to go very fast asleep, as he thought. And so he did, butonly to come awake again, as a fresh burst of wind blew the latticeopen a second time. The same moment he found himself in a cloud of NorthWind's hair, with her beautiful face, set in it like a moon, bendingover him. 

"Quick, Diamond!" she said. "I have found such a chance!"

"But I'm not well, " said Diamond. 

"I know that, but you will be better for a little fresh air. You shallhave plenty of that. "

"You want me to go, then?"

"Yes, I do. It won't hurt you. "

"Very well, " said Diamond; and getting out of the bed-clothes, he jumpedinto North Wind's arms. 

"We must make haste before your aunt comes, " said she, as she glided outof the open lattice and left it swinging. 

The moment Diamond felt her arms fold around him he began to feelbetter. It was a moonless night, and very dark, with glimpses of starswhen the clouds parted. 

"I used to dash the waves about here, " said North Wind, "where cows andsheep are feeding now; but we shall soon get to them. There they are. "

And Diamond, looking down, saw the white glimmer of breaking water farbelow him. 

"You see, Diamond, " said North Wind, "it is very difficult for me toget you to the back of the north wind, for that country lies in the verynorth itself, and of course I can't blow northwards. "

"Why not?" asked Diamond. 

"You little silly!" said North Wind. "Don't you see that if I were toblow northwards I should be South Wind, and that is as much as to saythat one person could be two persons?"

"But how can you ever get home at all, then?"

"You are quite right--that is my home, though I never get farther thanthe outer door. I sit on the doorstep, and hear the voices inside. I amnobody there, Diamond. "

"I'm very sorry. "

"Why?"

"That you should be nobody. "

"Oh, I don't mind it. Dear little man! you will be very glad some dayto be nobody yourself. But you can't understand that now, and you hadbetter not try; for if you do, you will be certain to go fancying someegregious nonsense, and making yourself miserable about it. "

"Then I won't, " said Diamond. 

"There's a good boy. It will all come in good time. "

"But you haven't told me how you get to the doorstep, you know. "

"It is easy enough for me. I have only to consent to be nobody, andthere I am. I draw into myself and there I am on the doorstep. But youcan easily see, or you have less sense than I think, that to drag you, you heavy thing, along with me, would take centuries, and I could notgive the time to it. "

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" said Diamond. 

"What for now, pet?"

"That I'm so heavy for you. I would be lighter if I could, but I don'tknow how. "

"You silly darling! Why, I could toss you a hundred miles from me if Iliked. It is only when I am going home that I shall find you heavy. "

"Then you are going home with me?"

"Of course. Did I not come to fetch you just for that?"

"But all this time you must be going southwards. "

"Yes. Of course I am. "

"How can you be taking me northwards, then?"

"A very sensible question. But you shall see. I will get rid of a few ofthese clouds--only they do come up so fast! It's like trying to blow abrook dry. There! What do you see now?"

"I think I see a little boat, away there, down below. "

"A little boat, indeed! Well! She's a yacht of two hundred tons; and thecaptain of it is a friend of mine; for he is a man of good sense, andcan sail his craft well. I've helped him many a time when he littlethought it. I've heard him grumbling at me, when I was doing the verybest I could for him. Why, I've carried him eighty miles a day, againand again, right north. "

"He must have dodged for that, " said Diamond, who had been watching thevessels, and had seen that they went other ways than the wind blew. 

"Of course he must. But don't you see, it was the best I could do? Icouldn't be South Wind. And besides it gave him a share in the business. It is not good at all--mind that, Diamond--to do everything for thoseyou love, and not give them a share in the doing. It's not kind. It'smaking too much of yourself, my child. If I had been South Wind, hewould only have smoked his pipe all day, and made himself stupid. "

"But how could he be a man of sense and grumble at you when you weredoing your best for him?"

"Oh! you must make allowances, " said North Wind, "or you will never dojustice to anybody. --You do understand, then, that a captain may sailnorth----"

"In spite of a north wind--yes, " supplemented Diamond. 

"Now, I do think you must be stupid, my dear" said North Wind. "Supposethe north wind did not blow where would he be then?"

"Why then the south wind would carry him. "

"So you think that when the north wind stops the south wind blows. Nonsense. If I didn't blow, the captain couldn't sail his eighty milesa day. No doubt South Wind would carry him faster, but South Wind issitting on her doorstep then, and if I stopped there would be a deadcalm. So you are all wrong to say he can sail north in spite of me; hesails north by my help, and my help alone. You see that, Diamond?"

"Yes, I do, North Wind. I am stupid, but I don't want to be stupid. "

"Good boy! I am going to blow you north in that little craft, one of thefinest that ever sailed the sea. Here we are, right over it. I shallbe blowing against you; you will be sailing against me; and all will bejust as we want it. The captain won't get on so fast as he would like, but he will get on, and so shall we. I'm just going to put you on board. Do you see in front of the tiller--that thing the man is working, now toone side, now to the other--a round thing like the top of a drum?"

"Yes, " said Diamond. 

"Below that is where they keep their spare sails, and some stores ofthat sort. I am going to blow that cover off. The same moment I willdrop you on deck, and you must tumble in. Don't be afraid, it is of nodepth, and you will fall on sail-cloth. You will find it nice and warmand dry-only dark; and you will know I am near you by every roll andpitch of the vessel. Coil yourself up and go to sleep. The yacht shallbe my cradle and you shall be my baby. "

"Thank you, dear North Wind. I am not a bit afraid, " said Diamond. 

In a moment they were on a level with the bulwarks, and North Wind sentthe hatch of the after-store rattling away over the deck to leeward. Thenext, Diamond found himself in the dark, for he had tumbled through thehole as North Wind had told him, and the cover was replaced over hishead. Away he went rolling to leeward, for the wind began all at once toblow hard. He heard the call of the captain, and the loud trampling ofthe men over his head, as they hauled at the main sheet to get the boomon board that they might take in a reef in the mainsail. Diamond feltabout until he had found what seemed the most comfortable place, andthere he snuggled down and lay. 

Hours after hours, a great many of them, went by; and still Diamondlay there. He never felt in the least tired or impatient, for a strangepleasure filled his heart. The straining of the masts, the creaking ofthe boom, the singing of the ropes, the banging of the blocks as theyput the vessel about, all fell in with the roaring of the wind above, the surge of the waves past her sides, and the thud with which every nowand then one would strike her; while through it all Diamond could hearthe gurgling, rippling, talking flow of the water against her planks, as she slipped through it, lying now on this side, now on that--like asubdued air running through the grand music his North Wind was makingabout him to keep him from tiring as they sped on towards the country atthe back of her doorstep. 

How long this lasted Diamond had no idea. He seemed to fall asleepsometimes, only through the sleep he heard the sounds going on. Atlength the weather seemed to get worse. The confusion and trampling offeet grew more frequent over his head; the vessel lay over more andmore on her side, and went roaring through the waves, which banged andthumped at her as if in anger. All at once arose a terrible uproar. Thehatch was blown off; a cold fierce wind swept in upon him; and a longarm came with it which laid hold of him and lifted him out. The samemoment he saw the little vessel far below him righting herself. She hadtaken in all her sails and lay now tossing on the waves like a sea-birdwith folded wings. A short distance to the south lay a much largervessel, with two or three sails set, and towards it North Wind wascarrying Diamond. It was a German ship, on its way to the North Pole. 

"That vessel down there will give us a lift now, " said North Wind; "andafter that I must do the best I can. "

She managed to hide him amongst the flags of the big ship, which wereall snugly stowed away, and on and on they sped towards the north. Atlength one night she whispered in his ear, "Come on deck, Diamond;" andhe got up at once and crept on deck. Everything looked very strange. Here and there on all sides were huge masses of floating ice, lookinglike cathedrals, and castles, and crags, while away beyond was a bluesea. 

"Is the sun rising or setting?" asked Diamond. 

"Neither or both, which you please. I can hardly tell which myself. Ifhe is setting now, he will be rising the next moment. "

"What a strange light it is!" said Diamond. "I have heard that the sundoesn't go to bed all the summer in these parts. Miss Coleman told methat. I suppose he feels very sleepy, and that is why the light he sendsout looks so like a dream. "

"That will account for it well enough for all practical purposes, " saidNorth Wind. 

Some of the icebergs were drifting northwards; one was passing very nearthe ship. North Wind seized Diamond, and with a single bound lighted onone of them--a huge thing, with sharp pinnacles and great clefts. Thesame instant a wind began to blow from the south. North Wind hurriedDiamond down the north side of the iceberg, stepping by its jags andsplintering; for this berg had never got far enough south to be meltedand smoothed by the summer sun. She brought him to a cave near thewater, where she entered, and, letting Diamond go, sat down as if wearyon a ledge of ice. 

Diamond seated himself on the other side, and for a while was enrapturedwith the colour of the air inside the cave. It was a deep, dazzling, lovely blue, deeper than the deepest blue of the sky. The blue seemed tobe in constant motion, like the blackness when you press your eyeballswith your fingers, boiling and sparkling. But when he looked across toNorth Wind he was frightened; her face was worn and livid. 

"What is the matter with you, dear North Wind?" he said. 

"Nothing much. I feel very faint. But you mustn't mind it, for I canbear it quite well. South Wind always blows me faint. If it were not forthe cool of the thick ice between me and her, I should faint altogether. Indeed, as it is, I fear I must vanish. "

Diamond stared at her in terror, for he saw that her form and face weregrowing, not small, but transparent, like something dissolving, not inwater, but in light. He could see the side of the blue cave through hervery heart. And she melted away till all that was left was a pale face, like the moon in the morning, with two great lucid eyes in it. 

"I am going, Diamond, " she said. 

"Does it hurt you?" asked Diamond. 

"It's very uncomfortable, " she answered; "but I don't mind it, for Ishall come all right again before long. I thought I should be able to gowith you all the way, but I cannot. You must not be frightened though. Just go straight on, and you will come all right. You'll find me on thedoorstep. "

As she spoke, her face too faded quite away, only Diamond thought hecould still see her eyes shining through the blue. When he went closer, however, he found that what he thought her eyes were only two hollows inthe ice. North Wind was quite gone; and Diamond would have cried, if hehad not trusted her so thoroughly. So he sat still in the blue air ofthe cavern listening to the wash and ripple of the water all about thebase of the iceberg, as it sped on and on into the open sea northwards. It was an excellent craft to go with the current, for there was twice asmuch of it below water as above. But a light south wind was blowing too, and so it went fast. 

After a little while Diamond went out and sat on the edge of hisfloating island, and looked down into the ocean beneath him. The whitesides of the berg reflected so much light below the water, that he couldsee far down into the green abyss. Sometimes he fancied he saw the eyesof North Wind looking up at him from below, but the fancy never lastedbeyond the moment of its birth. And the time passed he did not know how, for he felt as if he were in a dream. When he got tired of the greenwater, he went into the blue cave; and when he got tired of the bluecave he went out and gazed all about him on the blue sea, ever sparklingin the sun, which kept wheeling about the sky, never going below thehorizon. But he chiefly gazed northwards, to see whether any land wereappearing. All this time he never wanted to eat. He broke off littlebits of the berg now and then and sucked them, and he thought them verynice. 

At length, one time he came out of his cave, he spied far off on thehorizon, a shining peak that rose into the sky like the top of sometremendous iceberg; and his vessel was bearing him straight towardsit. As it went on the peak rose and rose higher and higher above thehorizon; and other peaks rose after it, with sharp edges and jaggedridges connecting them. Diamond thought this must be the place he wasgoing to; and he was right; for the mountains rose and rose, till he sawthe line of the coast at their feet and at length the iceberg drove intoa little bay, all around which were lofty precipices with snow on theirtops, and streaks of ice down their sides. The berg floated slowly up toa projecting rock. Diamond stepped on shore, and without looking behindhim began to follow a natural path which led windingly towards the topof the precipice. 

When he reached it, he found himself on a broad table of ice, along which he could walk without much difficulty. Before him, at aconsiderable distance, rose a lofty ridge of ice, which shot up intofantastic pinnacles and towers and battlements. The air was very cold, and seemed somehow dead, for there was not the slightest breath of wind. 

In the centre of the ridge before him appeared a gap like the openingof a valley. But as he walked towards it, gazing, and wondering whetherthat could be the way he had to take, he saw that what had appeared agap was the form of a woman seated against the ice front of the ridge, leaning forwards with her hands in her lap, and her hair hanging down tothe ground. 

"It is North Wind on her doorstep, " said Diamond joyfully, and hurriedon. 

He soon came up to the place, and there the form sat, like one ofthe great figures at the door of an Egyptian temple, motionless, withdrooping arms and head. Then Diamond grew frightened, because she didnot move nor speak. He was sure it was North Wind, but he thought shemust be dead at last. Her face was white as the snow, her eyes wereblue as the air in the ice-cave, and her hair hung down straight, likeicicles. She had on a greenish robe, like the colour in the hollows of aglacier seen from far off. 

He stood up before her, and gazed fearfully into her face for a fewminutes before he ventured to speak. At length, with a great effort anda trembling voice, he faltered out--

"North Wind!"

"Well, child?" said the form, without lifting its head. 

"Are you ill, dear North Wind?"

"No. I am waiting. "

"What for?"

"Till I'm wanted. "

"You don't care for me any more, " said Diamond, almost crying now. 

"Yes I do. Only I can't show it. All my love is down at the bottom of myheart. But I feel it bubbling there. "

"What do you want me to do next, dear North Wind?" said Diamond, wishingto show his love by being obedient. 

"What do you want to do yourself?"

"I want to go into the country at your back. "

"Then you must go through me. "

"I don't know what you mean. "

"I mean just what I say. You must walk on as if I were an open door, andgo right through me. "

"But that will hurt you. "

"Not in the least. It will hurt you, though. "

"I don't mind that, if you tell me to do it. "

"Do it, " said North Wind. 

Diamond walked towards her instantly. When he reached her knees, he putout his hand to lay it on her, but nothing was there save an intensecold. He walked on. Then all grew white about him; and the cold stunghim like fire. He walked on still, groping through the whiteness. Itthickened about him. At last, it got into his heart, and he lost allsense. I would say that he fainted--only whereas in common faints allgrows black about you, he felt swallowed up in whiteness. It was when hereached North Wind's heart that he fainted and fell. But as he fell, herolled over the threshold, and it was thus that Diamond got to the backof the north wind. 

CHAPTER X. AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND

I HAVE now come to the most difficult part of my story. And why? BecauseI do not know enough about it. And why should I not know as much aboutthis part as about any other part? For of course I could know nothingabout the story except Diamond had told it; and why should not Diamondtell about the country at the back of the north wind, as well as abouthis adventures in getting there? Because, when he came back, he hadforgotten a great deal, and what he did remember was very hard to tell. Things there are so different from things here! The people there do notspeak the same language for one thing. Indeed, Diamond insisted thatthere they do not speak at all. I do not think he was right, but it maywell have appeared so to Diamond. The fact is, we have different reportsof the place from the most trustworthy people. Therefore we are boundto believe that it appears somewhat different to different people. All, however, agree in a general way about it. 

I will tell you something of what two very different people havereported, both of whom knew more about it, I believe, than Herodotus. One of them speaks from his own experience, for he visited the country;the other from the testimony of a young peasant girl who came back fromit for a month's visit to her friends. The former was a great Italianof noble family, who died more than five hundred years ago; the latter aScotch shepherd who died not forty years ago. 

The Italian, then, informs us that he had to enter that country througha fire so hot that he would have thrown himself into boiling glass tocool himself. This was not Diamond's experience, but then Durante--thatwas the name of the Italian, and it means Lasting, for his books willlast as long as there are enough men in the world worthy of havingthem--Durante was an elderly man, and Diamond was a little boy, and sotheir experience must be a little different. The peasant girl, on theother hand, fell fast asleep in a wood, and woke in the same country. 

In describing it, Durante says that the ground everywhere smelt sweetly, and that a gentle, even-tempered wind, which never blew faster orslower, breathed in his face as he went, making all the leaves point oneway, not so as to disturb the birds in the tops of the trees, but, onthe contrary, sounding a bass to their song. He describes also a littleriver which was so full that its little waves, as it hurried along, bentthe grass, full of red and yellow flowers, through which it flowed. Hesays that the purest stream in the world beside this one would look asif it were mixed with something that did not belong to it, even althoughit was flowing ever in the brown shadow of the trees, and neither sunnor moon could shine upon it. He seems to imply that it is always themonth of May in that country. It would be out of place to describe herethe wonderful sights he saw, for the music of them is in another keyfrom that of this story, and I shall therefore only add from the accountof this traveller, that the people there are so free and so just and sohealthy, that every one of them has a crown like a king and a mitre likea priest. 

The peasant girl--Kilmeny was her name--could not report such grandthings as Durante, for, as the shepherd says, telling her story as Itell Diamond's--

 "Kilmeny had been she knew not where, And Kilmeny had seen what she could not declare; Kilmeny had been where the cock never crew, Where the rain never fell, and the wind never blew. But it seemed as the harp of the sky had rung, And the airs of heaven played round her tongue, When she spoke of the lovely forms she had seen, And a land where sin had never been; A land of love and a land of light, Withouten sun, or moon, or night; Where the river swayed a living stream, And the light a pure and cloudless beam: The land of vision it would seem, And still an everlasting dream. "

The last two lines are the shepherd's own remark, and a matter ofopinion. But it is clear, I think, that Kilmeny must have describedthe same country as Durante saw, though, not having his experience, shecould neither understand nor describe it so well. 

Now I must give you such fragments of recollection as Diamond was ableto bring back with him. 

When he came to himself after he fell, he found himself at the back ofthe north wind. North Wind herself was nowhere to be seen. Neitherwas there a vestige of snow or of ice within sight. The sun too hadvanished; but that was no matter, for there was plenty of a certainstill rayless light. Where it came from he never found out; but hethought it belonged to the country itself. Sometimes he thought it cameout of the flowers, which were very bright, but had no strong colour. He said the river--for all agree that there is a river there--flowednot only through, but over grass: its channel, instead of being rock, stones, pebbles, sand, or anything else, was of pure meadow grass, notover long. He insisted that if it did not sing tunes in people's ears, it sung tunes in their heads, in proof of which I may mention that, inthe troubles which followed, Diamond was often heard singing; and whenasked what he was singing, would answer, "One of the tunes the riverat the back of the north wind sung. " And I may as well say at once thatDiamond never told these things to any one but--no, I had better not saywho it was; but whoever it was told me, and I thought it would be wellto write them for my child-readers. 

He could not say he was very happy there, for he had neither his fathernor mother with him, but he felt so still and quiet and patient andcontented, that, as far as the mere feeling went, it was somethingbetter than mere happiness. Nothing went wrong at the back of the northwind. Neither was anything quite right, he thought. Only everything wasgoing to be right some day. His account disagreed with that of Durante, and agreed with that of Kilmeny, in this, that he protested there was nowind there at all. I fancy he missed it. At all events we could not dowithout wind. It all depends on how big our lungs are whether the windis too strong for us or not. 

When the person he told about it asked him whether he saw anybody heknew there, he answered, "Only a little girl belonging to the gardener, who thought he had lost her, but was quite mistaken, for there she wassafe enough, and was to come back some day, as I came back, if theywould only wait. "

"Did you talk to her, Diamond?"

"No. Nobody talks there. They only look at each other, and understandeverything. "

"Is it cold there?"

"No. "

"Is it hot?"

"No. "

"What is it then?"

"You never think about such things there. "

"What a queer place it must be!"

"It's a very good place. "

"Do you want to go back again?"

"No; I don't think I have left it; I feel it here, somewhere. "

"Did the people there look pleased?"

"Yes--quite pleased, only a little sad. "

"Then they didn't look glad?"

"They looked as if they were waiting to be gladder some day. "

This was how Diamond used to answer questions about that country. Andnow I will take up the story again, and tell you how he got back to thiscountry. 

CHAPTER XI. HOW DIAMOND GOT HOME AGAIN

WHEN one at the back of the north wind wanted to know how things weregoing with any one he loved, he had to go to a certain tree, climb thestem, and sit down in the branches. In a few minutes, if he kept verystill, he would see something at least of what was going on with thepeople he loved. 

One day when Diamond was sitting in this tree, he began to long verymuch to get home again, and no wonder, for he saw his mother crying. Durante says that the people there may always follow their wishes, because they never wish but what is good. Diamond's wish was to gethome, and he would fain follow his wish. 

But how was he to set about it? If he could only see North Wind! But themoment he had got to her back, she was gone altogether from his sight. He had never seen her back. She might be sitting on her doorstep still, looking southwards, and waiting, white and thin and blue-eyed, until shewas wanted. Or she might have again become a mighty creature, withpower to do that which was demanded of her, and gone far away upon manymissions. She must be somewhere, however. He could not go home withouther, and therefore he must find her. She could never have intended toleave him always away from his mother. If there had been any danger ofthat, she would have told him, and given him his choice about going. ForNorth Wind was right honest. How to find North Wind, therefore, occupiedall his thoughts. 

In his anxiety about his mother, he used to climb the tree every day, and sit in its branches. However many of the dwellers there did so, theynever incommoded one another; for the moment one got into the tree, hebecame invisible to every one else; and it was such a wide-spreadingtree that there was room for every one of the people of the countryin it, without the least interference with each other. Sometimes, ongetting down, two of them would meet at the root, and then they wouldsmile to each other more sweetly than at any other time, as much as tosay, "Ah, you've been up there too!"

One day he was sitting on one of the outer branches of the tree, lookingsouthwards after his home. Far away was a blue shining sea, dotted withgleaming and sparkling specks of white. Those were the icebergs. Nearerhe saw a great range of snow-capped mountains, and down below him thelovely meadow-grass of the country, with the stream flowing and flowingthrough it, away towards the sea. As he looked he began to wonder, forthe whole country lay beneath him like a map, and that which was nearhim looked just as small as that which he knew to be miles away. Theridge of ice which encircled it appeared but a few yards off, and nolarger than the row of pebbles with which a child will mark out theboundaries of the kingdom he has appropriated on the sea-shore. Hethought he could distinguish the vapoury form of North Wind, seated ashe had left her, on the other side. Hastily he descended the tree, andto his amazement found that the map or model of the country still lay athis feet. He stood in it. With one stride he had crossed the river; withanother he had reached the ridge of ice; with the third he stepped overits peaks, and sank wearily down at North Wind's knees. For there shesat on her doorstep. The peaks of the great ridge of ice were as loftyas ever behind her, and the country at her back had vanished fromDiamond's view. 

North Wind was as still as Diamond had left her. Her pale face was whiteas the snow, and her motionless eyes were as blue as the caverns in theice. But the instant Diamond touched her, her face began to change likethat of one waking from sleep. Light began to glimmer from the blue ofher eyes. 

A moment more, and she laid her hand on Diamond's head, and beganplaying with his hair. Diamond took hold of her hand, and laid his faceto it. She gave a little start. 

"How very alive you are, child!" she murmured. "Come nearer to me. "

By the help of the stones all around he clambered up beside her, andlaid himself against her bosom. She gave a great sigh, slowly lifted herarms, and slowly folded them about him, until she clasped him close. Yeta moment, and she roused herself, and came quite awake; and the cold ofher bosom, which had pierced Diamond's bones, vanished. 

"Have you been sitting here ever since I went through you, dear NorthWind?" asked Diamond, stroking her hand. 

"Yes, " she answered, looking at him with her old kindness. 

"Ain't you very tired?"

"No; I've often had to sit longer. Do you know how long you have been?"

"Oh! years and years, " answered Diamond. 

"You have just been seven days, " returned North Wind. 

"I thought I had been a hundred years!" exclaimed Diamond. 

"Yes, I daresay, " replied North Wind. "You've been away from here sevendays; but how long you may have been in there is quite another thing. Behind my back and before my face things are so different! They don't goat all by the same rule. "

"I'm very glad, " said Diamond, after thinking a while. 

"Why?" asked North Wind. 

"Because I've been such a long time there, and such a little while awayfrom mother. Why, she won't be expecting me home from Sandwich yet!"

"No. But we mustn't talk any longer. I've got my orders now, and we mustbe off in a few minutes. "

Next moment Diamond found himself sitting alone on the rock. North Windhad vanished. A creature like a great humble-bee or cockchafer flew pasthis face; but it could be neither, for there were no insects amongst theice. It passed him again and again, flying in circles around him, and heconcluded that it must be North Wind herself, no bigger than Tom Thumbwhen his mother put him in the nutshell lined with flannel. But she wasno longer vapoury and thin. She was solid, although tiny. A moment more, and she perched on his shoulder. 

"Come along, Diamond, " she said in his ear, in the smallest and highestof treble voices; "it is time we were setting out for Sandwich. "

Diamond could just see her, by turning his head towards his shoulder asfar as he could, but only with one eye, for his nose came between herand the other. 

"Won't you take me in your arms and carry me?" he said in a whisper, forhe knew she did not like a loud voice when she was small. 

"Ah! you ungrateful boy, " returned North Wind, smiling "how dare youmake game of me? Yes, I will carry you, but you shall walk a bit foryour impertinence first. Come along. "

She jumped from his shoulder, but when Diamond looked for her upon theground, he could see nothing but a little spider with long legs thatmade its way over the ice towards the south. It ran very fast indeed fora spider, but Diamond ran a long way before it, and then waited forit. It was up with him sooner than he had expected, however, and ithad grown a good deal. And the spider grew and grew and went faster andfaster, till all at once Diamond discovered that it was not a spider, but a weasel; and away glided the weasel, and away went Diamond afterit, and it took all the run there was in him to keep up with the weasel. And the weasel grew, and grew, and grew, till all at once Diamond sawthat the weasel was not a weasel but a cat. And away went the cat, andDiamond after it. And when he had run half a mile, he found the catwaiting for him, sitting up and washing her face not to lose time. Andaway went the cat again, and Diamond after it. But the next time he cameup with the cat, the cat was not a cat, but a hunting-leopard. And thehunting-leopard grew to a jaguar, all covered with spots like eyes. And the jaguar grew to a Bengal tiger. And at none of them was Diamondafraid, for he had been at North Wind's back, and he could be afraid ofher no longer whatever she did or grew. And the tiger flew over the snowin a straight line for the south, growing less and less to Diamond'seyes till it was only a black speck upon the whiteness; and then itvanished altogether. And now Diamond felt that he would rather not runany farther, and that the ice had got very rough. Besides, he was nearthe precipices that bounded the sea, so he slackened his pace to a walk, saying aloud to himself:

"When North Wind has punished me enough for making game of her, she willcome back to me; I know she will, for I can't go much farther withouther. "

"You dear boy! It was only in fun. Here I am!" said North Wind's voicebehind him. 

Diamond turned, and saw her as he liked best to see her, standing besidehim, a tall lady. 

"Where's the tiger?" he asked, for he knew all the creatures from apicture book that Miss Coleman had given him. "But, of course, " headded, "you were the tiger. I was puzzled and forgot. I saw it such along way off before me, and there you were behind me. It's so odd, youknow. "

"It must look very odd to you, Diamond: I see that. But it is no moreodd to me than to break an old pine in two. "

"Well, that's odd enough, " remarked Diamond. 

"So it is! I forgot. Well, none of these things are odder to me than itis to you to eat bread and butter. "

"Well, that's odd too, when I think of it, " persisted Diamond. "I shouldjust like a slice of bread and butter! I'm afraid to say how long itis--how long it seems to me, that is--since I had anything to eat. "

"Come then, " said North Wind, stooping and holding out her arms. "Youshall have some bread and butter very soon. I am glad to find you wantsome. "

Diamond held up his arms to meet hers, and was safe upon her bosom. North Wind bounded into the air. Her tresses began to lift and rise andspread and stream and flow and flutter; and with a roar from her hairand an answering roar from one of the great glaciers beside them, whoseslow torrent tumbled two or three icebergs at once into the waves attheir feet, North Wind and Diamond went flying southwards. 

CHAPTER XII. WHO MET DIAMOND AT SANDWICH

As THEY flew, so fast they went that the sea slid away from under themlike a great web of shot silk, blue shot with grey, and green shot withpurple. They went so fast that the stars themselves appeared to sailaway past them overhead, "like golden boats, " on a blue sea turnedupside down. And they went so fast that Diamond himself went the otherway as fast--I mean he went fast asleep in North Wind's arms. 

When he woke, a face was bending over him; but it was not North Wind's;it was his mother's. He put out his arms to her, and she clasped him toher bosom and burst out crying. Diamond kissed her again and again tomake her stop. Perhaps kissing is the best thing for crying, but it willnot always stop it. 

"What is the matter, mother?" he said. 

"Oh, Diamond, my darling! you have been so ill!" she sobbed. 

"No, mother dear. I've only been at the back of the north wind, "returned Diamond. 

"I thought you were dead, " said his mother. 

But that moment the doctor came in. 

"Oh! there!" said the doctor with gentle cheerfulness; "we're betterto-day, I see. "

Then he drew the mother aside, and told her not to talk to Diamond, orto mind what he might say; for he must be kept as quiet as possible. Andindeed Diamond was not much inclined to talk, for he felt very strangeand weak, which was little wonder, seeing that all the time he had beenaway he had only sucked a few lumps of ice, and there could not be muchnourishment in them. 

Now while he is lying there, getting strong again with chicken broth andother nice things, I will tell my readers what had been taking place athis home, for they ought to be told it. 

They may have forgotten that Miss Coleman was in a very poor state ofhealth. Now there were three reasons for this. In the first place, her lungs were not strong. In the second place, there was a gentlemansomewhere who had not behaved very well to her. In the third place, shehad not anything particular to do. These three nots together are enoughto make a lady very ill indeed. Of course she could not help the firstcause; but if the other two causes had not existed, that would have beenof little consequence; she would only have to be a little careful. Thesecond she could not help quite; but if she had had anything to do, and had done it well, it would have been very difficult for any man tobehave badly to her. And for this third cause of her illness, if she hadhad anything to do that was worth doing, she might have borne his badbehaviour so that even that would not have made her ill. It is notalways easy, I confess, to find something to do that is worth doing, butthe most difficult things are constantly being done, and she might havefound something if she had tried. Her fault lay in this, that she hadnot tried. But, to be sure, her father and mother were to blame thatthey had never set her going. Only then again, nobody had told herfather and mother that they ought to set her going in that direction. Soas none of them would find it out of themselves, North Wind had to teachthem. 

We know that North Wind was very busy that night on which she leftDiamond in the cathedral. She had in a sense been blowing throughand through the Colemans' house the whole of the night. First, MissColeman's maid had left a chink of her mistress's window open, thinkingshe had shut it, and North Wind had wound a few of her hairs round thelady's throat. She was considerably worse the next morning. Again, theship which North Wind had sunk that very night belonged to Mr. Coleman. Nor will my readers understand what a heavy loss this was to him untilI have informed them that he had been getting poorer and poorer for sometime. He was not so successful in his speculations as he had been, for he speculated a great deal more than was right, and it was time heshould be pulled up. It is a hard thing for a rich man to grow poor;but it is an awful thing for him to grow dishonest, and some kinds ofspeculation lead a man deep into dishonesty before he thinks what he isabout. Poverty will not make a man worthless--he may be worth a greatdeal more when he is poor than he was when he was rich; but dishonestygoes very far indeed to make a man of no value--a thing to be thrownout in the dust-hole of the creation, like a bit of a broken basin, or adirty rag. So North Wind had to look after Mr. Coleman, and try to makean honest man of him. So she sank the ship which was his last venture, and he was what himself and his wife and the world called ruined. 

Nor was this all yet. For on board that vessel Miss Coleman's lover wasa passenger; and when the news came that the vessel had gone down, andthat all on board had perished, we may be sure she did not thinkthe loss of their fine house and garden and furniture the greatestmisfortune in the world. 

Of course, the trouble did not end with Mr. Coleman and his family. Nobody can suffer alone. When the cause of suffering is most deeplyhidden in the heart, and nobody knows anything about it but the manhimself, he must be a great and a good man indeed, such as few of ushave known, if the pain inside him does not make him behave so as tocause all about him to be more or less uncomfortable. But when a manbrings money-troubles on himself by making haste to be rich, thenmost of the people he has to do with must suffer in the same way withhimself. The elm-tree which North Wind blew down that very night, asif small and great trials were to be gathered in one heap, crushed MissColeman's pretty summer-house: just so the fall of Mr. Coleman crushedthe little family that lived over his coach-house and stable. BeforeDiamond was well enough to be taken home, there was no home for himto go to. Mr. Coleman--or his creditors, for I do not know theparticulars--had sold house, carriage, horses, furniture, andeverything. He and his wife and daughter and Mrs. Crump had gone to livein a small house in Hoxton, where he would be unknown, and whence hecould walk to his place of business in the City. For he was not an oldman, and hoped yet to retrieve his fortunes. Let us hope that he livedto retrieve his honesty, the tail of which had slipped through hisfingers to the very last joint, if not beyond it. 

Of course, Diamond's father had nothing to do for a time, but it wasnot so hard for him to have nothing to do as it was for Miss Coleman. Hewrote to his wife that, if her sister would keep her there till he gota place, it would be better for them, and he would be greatly obligedto her. Meantime, the gentleman who had bought the house had allowed hisfurniture to remain where it was for a little while. 

Diamond's aunt was quite willing to keep them as long as she could. Andindeed Diamond was not yet well enough to be moved with safety. 

When he had recovered so far as to be able to go out, one day his mothergot her sister's husband, who had a little pony-cart, to carry themdown to the sea-shore, and leave them there for a few hours. He hadsome business to do further on at Ramsgate, and would pick them up as hereturned. A whiff of the sea-air would do them both good, she said, andshe thought besides she could best tell Diamond what had happened if shehad him quite to herself. 

CHAPTER XIII. THE SEASIDE

DIAMOND and his mother sat down upon the edge of the rough grass thatbordered the sand. The sun was just far enough past its highest not toshine in their eyes when they looked eastward. A sweet little wind blewon their left side, and comforted the mother without letting her knowwhat it was that comforted her. Away before them stretched the sparklingwaters of the ocean, every wave of which flashed out its own delightback in the face of the great sun, which looked down from the stillnessof its blue house with glorious silent face upon its flashing children. On each hand the shore rounded outwards, forming a little bay. Therewere no white cliffs here, as further north and south, and the place wasrather dreary, but the sky got at them so much the better. Not a house, not a creature was within sight. Dry sand was about their feet, andunder them thin wiry grass, that just managed to grow out of thepoverty-stricken shore. 

"Oh dear!" said Diamond's mother, with a deep sigh, "it's a sad world!"

"Is it?" said Diamond. "I didn't know. "

"How should you know, child? You've been too well taken care of, Itrust. "

"Oh yes, I have, " returned Diamond. "I'm sorry! I thought you were takencare of too. I thought my father took care of you. I will ask him aboutit. I think he must have forgotten. "

"Dear boy!" said his mother, "your father's the best man in the world. "

"So I thought!" returned Diamond with triumph. "I was sure of it!--Well, doesn't he take very good care of you?"

"Yes, yes, he does, " answered his mother, bursting into tears. "Butwho's to take care of him? And how is he to take care of us if he's gotnothing to eat himself?"

"Oh dear!" said Diamond with a gasp; "hasn't he got anything to eat? Oh!I must go home to him. "

"No, no, child. He's not come to that yet. But what's to become of us, Idon't know. "

"Are you very hungry, mother? There's the basket. I thought you putsomething to eat in it. "

"O you darling stupid! I didn't say I was hungry, " returned his mother, smiling through her tears. 

"Then I don't understand you at all, " said Diamond. "Do tell me what'sthe matter. "

"There are people in the world who have nothing to eat, Diamond. "

"Then I suppose they don't stop in it any longer. They--they--what youcall--die--don't they?"

"Yes, they do. How would you like that?"

"I don't know. I never tried. But I suppose they go where they getsomething to eat. "

"Like enough they don't want it, " said his mother, petulantly. 

"That's all right then, " said Diamond, thinking I daresay more than hechose to put in words. 

"Is it though? Poor boy! how little you know about things! Mr. Coleman'slost all his money, and your father has nothing to do, and we shall havenothing to eat by and by. "

"Are you sure, mother?"

"Sure of what?"

"Sure that we shall have nothing to eat. "

"No, thank Heaven! I'm not sure of it. I hope not. "

"Then I can't understand it, mother. There's a piece of gingerbread inthe basket, I know. "

"O you little bird! You have no more sense than a sparrow that pickswhat it wants, and never thinks of the winter and the frost and, thesnow. "

"Ah--yes--I see. But the birds get through the winter, don't they?"

"Some of them fall dead on the ground. "

"They must die some time. They wouldn't like to be birds always. Wouldyou, mother?"

"What a child it is!" thought his mother, but she said nothing. 

"Oh! now I remember, " Diamond went on. "Father told me that day I wentto Epping Forest with him, that the rose-bushes, and the may-bushes, andthe holly-bushes were the bird's barns, for there were the hips, and thehaws, and the holly-berries, all ready for the winter. "

"Yes; that's all very true. So you see the birds are provided for. Butthere are no such barns for you and me, Diamond. "

"Ain't there?"

"No. We've got to work for our bread. "

"Then let's go and work, " said Diamond, getting up. 

"It's no use. We've not got anything to do. "

"Then let's wait. "

"Then we shall starve. "

"No. There's the basket. Do you know, mother, I think I shall call thatbasket the barn. "

"It's not a very big one. And when it's empty--where are we then?"

"At auntie's cupboard, " returned Diamond promptly. 

"But we can't eat auntie's things all up and leave her to starve. "

"No, no. We'll go back to father before that. He'll have found acupboard somewhere by that time. "

"How do you know that?"

"I don't know it. But I haven't got even a cupboard, and I've always hadplenty to eat. I've heard you say I had too much, sometimes. "

"But I tell you that's because I've had a cupboard for you, child. "

"And when yours was empty, auntie opened hers. "

"But that can't go on. "

"How do you know? I think there must be a big cupboard somewhere, out ofwhich the little cupboards are filled, you know, mother. "

"Well, I wish I could find the door of that cupboard, " said his mother. But the same moment she stopped, and was silent for a good while. Icannot tell whether Diamond knew what she was thinking, but I think Iknow. She had heard something at church the day before, which came backupon her--something like this, that she hadn't to eat for tomorrow aswell as for to-day; and that what was not wanted couldn't be missed. So, instead of saying anything more, she stretched out her hand for thebasket, and she and Diamond had their dinner. 

And Diamond did enjoy it. For the drive and the fresh air had made himquite hungry; and he did not, like his mother, trouble himself aboutwhat they should dine off that day week. The fact was he had lived solong without any food at all at the back of the north wind, that he knewquite well that food was not essential to existence; that in fact, undercertain circumstances, people could live without it well enough. 

His mother did not speak much during their dinner. After it was over shehelped him to walk about a little, but he was not able for much and soongot tired. He did not get fretful, though. He was too glad of having thesun and the wind again, to fret because he could not run about. He laydown on the dry sand, and his mother covered him with a shawl. She thensat by his side, and took a bit of work from her pocket. But Diamondfelt rather sleepy, and turned on his side and gazed sleepily over thesand. A few yards off he saw something fluttering. 

"What is that, mother?" he said. 

"Only a bit of paper, " she answered. 

"It flutters more than a bit of paper would, I think, " said Diamond. 

"I'll go and see if you like, " said his mother. "My eyes are none of thebest. "

So she rose and went and found that they were both right, for it was alittle book, partly buried in the sand. But several of its leaves wereclear of the sand, and these the wind kept blowing about in a veryflutterful manner. She took it up and brought it to Diamond. 

"What is it, mother?" he asked. 

"Some nursery rhymes, I think, " she answered. 

"I'm too sleepy, " said Diamond. "Do read some of them to me. "

"Yes, I will, " she said, and began one. --"But this is such nonsense!"she said again. "I will try to find a better one. "

She turned the leaves searching, but three times, with sudden puffs, thewind blew the leaves rustling back to the same verses. 

"Do read that one, " said Diamond, who seemed to be of the same mind asthe wind. "It sounded very nice. I am sure it is a good one. "

So his mother thought it might amuse him, though she couldn't find anysense in it. She never thought he might understand it, although shecould not. 

Now I do not exactly know what the mother read, but this is what Diamondheard, or thought afterwards that he had heard. He was, however, as Ihave said, very sleepy. And when he thought he understood the verses hemay have been only dreaming better ones. This is how they went--

I know a river whose waters run asleep run run ever singing in theshallows dumb in the hollows sleeping so deep and all the swallows thatdip their feathers in the hollows or in the shallows are the merriestswallows of all for the nests they bake with the clay they cake withthe water they shake from their wings that rake the water out of theshallows or the hollows will hold together in any weather and so theswallows are the merriest fellows and have the merriest children andare built so narrow like the head of an arrow to cut the air and go justwhere the nicest water is flowing and the nicest dust is blowing foreach so narrow like head of an arrow is only a barrow to carry themud he makes from the nicest water flowing and the nicest dust that isblowing to build his nest for her he loves best with the nicest cakeswhich the sunshine bakes all for their merry children all so callow withbeaks that follow gaping and hollow wider and wider after their fatheror after their mother the food-provider who brings them a spider or aworm the poor hider down in the earth so there's no dearth for theirbeaks as yellow as the buttercups growing beside the flowing of thesinging river always and ever growing and blowing for fast as the sheepawake or asleep crop them and crop them they cannot stop them but upthey creep and on they go blowing and so with the daisies the littlewhite praises they grow and they blow and they spread out their crownand they praise the sun and when he goes down their praising is done andthey fold up their crown and they sleep every one till over the plainhe's shining amain and they're at it again praising and praising suchlow songs raising that no one hears them but the sun who rears them andthe sheep that bite them are the quietest sheep awake or asleep with themerriest bleat and the little lambs are the merriest lambs they forgetto eat for the frolic in their feet and the lambs and their dams arethe whitest sheep with the woolliest wool and the longest wool and thetrailingest tails and they shine like snow in the grasses that grow bythe singing river that sings for ever and the sheep and the lambs aremerry for ever because the river sings and they drink it and the lambsand their dams are quiet and white because of their diet for what theybite is buttercups yellow and daisies white and grass as green as theriver can make it with wind as mellow to kiss it and shake it as neverwas seen but here in the hollows beside the river where all the swallowsare merriest of fellows for the nests they make with the clay they cakein the sunshine bake till they are like bone as dry in the wind as amarble stone so firm they bind the grass in the clay that dries in thewind the sweetest wind that blows by the river flowing for ever butnever you find whence comes the wind that blows on the hollows and overthe shallows where dip the swallows alive it blows the life as it goesawake or asleep into the river that sings as it flows and the life itblows into the sheep awake or asleep with the woolliest wool and thetrailingest tails and it never fails gentle and cool to wave the wooland to toss the grass as the lambs and the sheep over it pass and tugand bite with their teeth so white and then with the sweep of theirtrailing tails smooth it again and it grows amain and amain it grows andthe wind as it blows tosses the swallows over the hollows and down onthe shallows till every feather doth shake and quiver and all theirfeathers go all together blowing the life and the joy so rife into theswallows that skim the shallows and have the yellowest children for thewind that blows is the life of the river flowing for ever that washesthe grasses still as it passes and feeds the daisies the little whitepraises and buttercups bonny so golden and sunny with butter and honeythat whiten the sheep awake or asleep that nibble and bite and growwhiter than white and merry and quiet on the sweet diet fed by the riverand tossed for ever by the wind that tosses the swallow that crossesover the shallows dipping his wings to gather the water and bake thecake that the wind shall make as hard as a bone as dry as a stone it'sall in the wind that blows from behind and all in the river that flowsfor ever and all in the grasses and the white daisies and the merrysheep awake or asleep and the happy swallows skimming the shallows andit's all in the wind that blows from behind. 

Here Diamond became aware that his mother had stopped reading. 

"Why don't you go on, mother dear?" he asked. 

"It's such nonsense!" said his mother. "I believe it would go on forever. "

"That's just what it did, " said Diamond. 

"What did?" she asked. 

"Why, the river. That's almost the very tune it used to sing. "

His mother was frightened, for she thought the fever was coming onagain. So she did not contradict him. 

"Who made that poem?" asked Diamond. 

"I don't know, " she answered. "Some silly woman for her children, Isuppose--and then thought it good enough to print. "

"She must have been at the back of the north wind some time or other, anyhow, " said Diamond. "She couldn't have got a hold of it anywhereelse. That's just how it went. " And he began to chant bits of it hereand there; but his mother said nothing for fear of making him, worse;and she was very glad indeed when she saw her brother-in-law joggingalong in his little cart. They lifted Diamond in, and got up themselves, and away they went, "home again, home again, home again, " as Diamondsang. But he soon grew quiet, and before they reached Sandwich he wasfast asleep and dreaming of the country at the back of the north wind. 

CHAPTER XIV. OLD DIAMOND

AFTER this Diamond recovered so fast, that in a few days he was quiteable to go home as soon as his father had a place for them to go. Nowhis father having saved a little money, and finding that no situationoffered itself, had been thinking over a new plan. A strange occurrenceit was which turned his thoughts in that direction. He had a friend inthe Bloomsbury region, who lived by letting out cabs and horses to thecabmen. This man, happening to meet him one day as he was returning froman unsuccessful application, said to him:

"Why don't you set up for yourself now--in the cab line, I mean?"

"I haven't enough for that, " answered Diamond's father. 

"You must have saved a goodish bit, I should think. Just come home withme now and look at a horse I can let you have cheap. I bought him only afew weeks ago, thinking he'd do for a Hansom, but I was wrong. He's gotbone enough for a waggon, but a waggon ain't a Hansom. He ain't got goenough for a Hansom. You see parties as takes Hansoms wants to go likethe wind, and he ain't got wind enough, for he ain't so young as he oncewas. But for a four-wheeler as takes families and their luggages, he'sthe very horse. He'd carry a small house any day. I bought him cheap, and I'll sell him cheap. "

"Oh, I don't want him, " said Diamond's father. "A body must have timeto think over an affair of so much importance. And there's the cab too. That would come to a deal of money. "

"I could fit you there, I daresay, " said his friend. "But come and lookat the animal, anyhow. "

"Since I lost my own old pair, as was Mr. Coleman's, " said Diamond'sfather, turning to accompany the cab-master, "I ain't almost got theheart to look a horse in the face. It's a thousand pities to part manand horse. "

"So it is, " returned his friend sympathetically. 

But what was the ex-coachman's delight, when, on going into the stablewhere his friend led him, he found the horse he wanted him to buy wasno other than his own old Diamond, grown very thin and bony andlong-legged, as if they, had been doing what they could to fit him forHansom work!

"He ain't a Hansom horse, " said Diamond's father indignantly. 

"Well, you're right. He ain't handsome, but he's a good un" said hisowner. 

"Who says he ain't handsome? He's one of the handsomest horses agentleman's coachman ever druv, " said Diamond's father; remarking tohimself under his breath--"though I says it as shouldn't"--for he didnot feel inclined all at once to confess that his own old horse couldhave sunk so low. 

"Well, " said his friend, "all I say is--There's a animal for you, asstrong as a church; an'll go like a train, leastways a parly, " he added, correcting himself. 

But the coachman had a lump in his throat and tears in his eyes. For theold horse, hearing his voice, had turned his long neck, and when hisold friend went up to him and laid his hand on his side, he whinniedfor joy, and laid his big head on his master's breast. This settled thematter. The coachman's arms were round the horse's neck in a moment, andhe fairly broke down and cried. The cab-master had never been so fond ofa horse himself as to hug him like that, but he saw in a moment how itwas. And he must have been a good-hearted fellow, for I never heard ofsuch an idea coming into the head of any other man with a horse to sell:instead of putting something on to the price because he was now prettysure of selling him, he actually took a pound off what he had meant toask for him, saying to himself it was a shame to part old friends. 

Diamond's father, as soon as he came to himself, turned and asked howmuch he wanted for the horse. 

"I see you're old friends, " said the owner. 

"It's my own old Diamond. I liked him far the best of the pair, thoughthe other was good. You ain't got him too, have you?"

"No; nothing in the stable to match him there. "

"I believe you, " said the coachman. "But you'll be wanting a long pricefor him, I know. "

"No, not so much. I bought him cheap, and as I say, he ain't for mywork. "

The end of it was that Diamond's father bought old Diamond again, alongwith a four-wheeled cab. And as there were some rooms to be had over thestable, he took them, wrote to his wife to come home, and set up as acabman. 

CHAPTER XV. THE MEWS

IT WAS late in the afternoon when Diamond and his mother and the babyreached London. I was so full of Diamond that I forgot to tell you ababy had arrived in the meantime. His father was waiting for them withhis own cab, but they had not told Diamond who the horse was; for hisfather wanted to enjoy the pleasure of his surprise when he found itout. He got in with his mother without looking at the horse, and hisfather having put up Diamond's carpet-bag and his mother's little trunk, got upon the box himself and drove off; and Diamond was quite proud ofriding home in his father's own carriage. But when he got to the mews, he could not help being a little dismayed at first; and if he had neverbeen to the back of the north wind, I am afraid he would have cried alittle. But instead of that, he said to himself it was a fine thing allthe old furniture was there. And instead of helping his mother to bemiserable at the change, he began to find out all the advantages of theplace; for every place has some advantages, and they are alwaysbetter worth knowing than the disadvantages. Certainly the weather wasdepressing, for a thick, dull, persistent rain was falling by the timethey reached home. But happily the weather is very changeable; andbesides, there was a good fire burning in the room, which theirneighbour with the drunken husband had attended to for them; and thetea-things were put out, and the kettle was boiling on the fire. Andwith a good fire, and tea and bread and butter, things cannot be said tobe miserable. 

Diamond's father and mother were, notwithstanding, rather miserable, andDiamond began to feel a kind of darkness beginning to spread over hisown mind. But the same moment he said to himself, "This will never do. I can't give in to this. I've been to the back of the north wind. Thingsgo right there, and so I must try to get things to go right here. I'vegot to fight the miserable things. They shan't make me miserable if Ican help it. " I do not mean that he thought these very words. They areperhaps too grown-up for him to have thought, but they represent thekind of thing that was in his heart and his head. And when heart andhead go together, nothing can stand before them. 

"What nice bread and butter this is!" said Diamond. 

"I'm glad you like it, my dear" said his father. "I bought the buttermyself at the little shop round the corner. "

"It's very nice, thank you, father. Oh, there's baby waking! I'll takehim. "

"Sit still, Diamond, " said his mother. "Go on with your bread andbutter. You're not strong enough to lift him yet. "

So she took the baby herself, and set him on her knee. Then Diamondbegan to amuse him, and went on till the little fellow was shriekingwith laughter. For the baby's world was his mother's arms; and thedrizzling rain, and the dreary mews, and even his father's troubledface could not touch him. What cared baby for the loss of a hundredsituations? Yet neither father nor mother thought him hard-heartedbecause he crowed and laughed in the middle of their troubles. On thecontrary, his crowing and laughing were infectious. His little heart wasso full of merriment that it could not hold it all, and it ran over intotheirs. Father and mother began to laugh too, and Diamond laughed tillhe had a fit of coughing which frightened his mother, and made them allstop. His father took the baby, and his mother put him to bed. 

But it was indeed a change to them all, not only from Sandwich, but fromtheir old place, instead of the great river where the huge barges withtheir mighty brown and yellow sails went tacking from side to side likelittle pleasure-skiffs, and where the long thin boats shot past witheight and sometimes twelve rowers, their windows now looked out upon adirty paved yard. And there was no garden more for Diamond to run intowhen he pleased, with gay flowers about his feet, and solemn sun-filledtrees over his head. Neither was there a wooden wall at the back ofhis bed with a hole in it for North Wind to come in at when she liked. Indeed, there was such a high wall, and there were so many houses aboutthe mews, that North Wind seldom got into the place at all, except whensomething must be done, and she had a grand cleaning out like otherhousewives; while the partition at the head of Diamond's new bed onlydivided it from the room occupied by a cabman who drank too much beer, and came home chiefly to quarrel with his wife and pinch his children. It was dreadful to Diamond to hear the scolding and the crying. But itcould not make him miserable, because he had been at the back of thenorth wind. 

If my reader find it hard to believe that Diamond should be so good, he must remember that he had been to the back of the north wind. If henever knew a boy so good, did he ever know a boy that had been to theback of the north wind? It was not in the least strange of Diamond tobehave as he did; on the contrary, it was thoroughly sensible of him. 

We shall see how he got on. 

CHAPTER XVI. DIAMOND MAKES A BEGINNING

THE wind blew loud, but Diamond slept a deep sleep, and never heardit. My own impression is that every time when Diamond slept well andremembered nothing about it in the morning, he had been all that nightat the back of the north wind. I am almost sure that was how he wokeso refreshed, and felt so quiet and hopeful all the day. Indeed he saidthis much, though not to me--that always when he woke from such a sleepthere was a something in his mind, he could not tell what--could nottell whether it was the last far-off sounds of the river dying away inthe distance, or some of the words of the endless song his mother hadread to him on the sea-shore. Sometimes he thought it must have beenthe twittering of the swallows--over the shallows, you, know; but it mayhave been the chirping of the dingy sparrows picking up their breakfastin the yard--how can I tell? I don't know what I know, I only know whatI think; and to tell the truth, I am more for the swallows than thesparrows. When he knew he was coming awake, he would sometimes try hardto keep hold of the words of what seemed a new song, one he had notheard before--a song in which the words and the music somehow appearedto be all one; but even when he thought he had got them well fixed inhis mind, ever as he came awaker--as he would say--one line faded awayout of it, and then another, and then another, till at last there wasnothing left but some lovely picture of water or grass or daisies, orsomething else very common, but with all the commonness polished off it, and the lovely soul of it, which people so seldom see, and, alas! yetseldomer believe in, shining out. But after that he would sing theoddest, loveliest little songs to the baby--of his own making, hismother said; but Diamond said he did not make them; they were madesomewhere inside him, and he knew nothing about them till they werecoming out. 

When he woke that first morning he got up at once, saying to himself, "I've been ill long enough, and have given a great deal of trouble; Imust try and be of use now, and help my mother. " When he went into herroom he found her lighting the fire, and his father just getting out ofbed. They had only the one room, besides the little one, not much morethan a closet, in which Diamond slept. He began at once to set thingsto rights, but the baby waking up, he took him, and nursed him tillhis mother had got the breakfast ready. She was looking gloomy, and hisfather was silent; and indeed except Diamond had done all he possiblycould to keep out the misery that was trying to get in at doors andwindows, he too would have grown miserable, and then they would havebeen all miserable together. But to try to make others comfortable isthe only way to get right comfortable ourselves, and that comes partlyof not being able to think so much about ourselves when we are helpingother people. For our Selves will always do pretty well if we don't paythem too much attention. Our Selves are like some little children whowill be happy enough so long as they are left to their own games, butwhen we begin to interfere with them, and make them presents of too niceplaythings, or too many sweet things, they begin at once to fret andspoil. 

"Why, Diamond, child!" said his mother at last, "you're as good to yourmother as if you were a girl--nursing the baby, and toasting the bread, and sweeping up the hearth! I declare a body would think you had beenamong the fairies. "

Could Diamond have had greater praise or greater pleasure? You seewhen he forgot his Self his mother took care of his Self, and loved andpraised his Self. Our own praises poison our Selves, and puff and swellthem up, till they lose all shape and beauty, and become like greattoadstools. But the praises of father or mother do our Selves good, andcomfort them and make them beautiful. They never do them any harm. Ifthey do any harm, it comes of our mixing some of our own praises withthem, and that turns them nasty and slimy and poisonous. 

When his father had finished his breakfast, which he did rather in ahurry, he got up and went down into the yard to get out his horse andput him to the cab. 

"Won't you come and see the cab, Diamond?" he said. 

"Yes, please, father--if mother can spare me a minute, " answeredDiamond. 

"Bless the child! I don't want him, " said his mother cheerfully. 

But as he was following his father out of the door, she called him back. 

"Diamond, just hold the baby one minute. I have something to say to yourfather. "

So Diamond sat down again, took the baby in his lap, and began pokinghis face into its little body, laughing and singing all the while, so that the baby crowed like a little bantam. And what he sang wassomething like this--such nonsense to those that couldn't understand it!but not to the baby, who got all the good in the world out of it:--baby's a-sleeping wake up baby for all the swallows are the merriestfellows and have the yellowest children who would go sleeping andsnore like a gaby disturbing his mother and father and brother and alla-boring their ears with his snoring snoring snoring for himself and noother for himself in particular wake up baby sit up perpendicular harkto the gushing hark to the rushing where the sheep are the woolliest andthe lambs the unruliest and their tails the whitest and their eyes thebrightest and baby's the bonniest and baby's the funniest and baby's theshiniest and baby's the tiniest and baby's the merriest and baby'sthe worriest of all the lambs that plague their dams and mother'sthe whitest of all the dams that feed the lambs that go crop-croppingwithout stop-stopping and father's the best of all the swallows thatbuild their nest out of the shining shallows and he has the merriestchildren that's baby and Diamond and Diamond and baby and baby andDiamond and Diamond and baby--

Here Diamond's knees went off in a wild dance which tossed the babyabout and shook the laughter out of him in immoderate peals. His motherhad been listening at the door to the last few lines of his song, andcame in with the tears in her eyes. She took the baby from him, gave hima kiss, and told him to run to his father. 

By the time Diamond got into the yard, the horse was between the shafts, and his father was looping the traces on. Diamond went round to look atthe horse. The sight of him made him feel very queer. He did not knowmuch about different horses, and all other horses than their own werevery much the same to him. But he could not make it out. This wasDiamond and it wasn't Diamond. Diamond didn't hang his head like that;yet the head that was hanging was very like the one that Diamond usedto hold so high. Diamond's bones didn't show through his skin like that;but the skin they pushed out of shape so was very like Diamond's skin;and the bones might be Diamond's bones, for he had never seen the shapeof them. But when he came round in front of the old horse, and he putout his long neck, and began sniffing at him and rubbing his upper lipand his nose on him, then Diamond saw it could be no other than oldDiamond, and he did just as his father had done before--put his armsround his neck and cried--but not much. 

"Ain't it jolly, father?" he said. "Was there ever anybody so lucky asme? Dear old Diamond!"

And he hugged the horse again, and kissed both his big hairy cheeks. Hecould only manage one at a time, however--the other cheek was so far offon the other side of his big head. 

His father mounted the box with just the same air, as Diamond thought, with which he had used to get upon the coach-box, and Diamond saidto himself, "Father's as grand as ever anyhow. " He had kept his brownlivery-coat, only his wife had taken the silver buttons off and putbrass ones instead, because they did not think it polite to Mr. Colemanin his fallen fortunes to let his crest be seen upon the box of a cab. Old Diamond had kept just his collar; and that had the silver crest uponit still, for his master thought nobody would notice that, and so let itremain for a memorial of the better days of which it reminded him--notunpleasantly, seeing it had been by no fault either of his or of the oldhorse's that they had come down in the world together. 

"Oh, father, do let me drive a bit, " said Diamond, jumping up on the boxbeside him. 

His father changed places with him at once, putting the reins into hishands. Diamond gathered them up eagerly. 

"Don't pull at his mouth, " said his father, "just feel, at it gentlyto let him know you're there and attending to him. That's what I calltalking to him through the reins. "

"Yes, father, I understand, " said Diamond. Then to the horse he said, "Go on Diamond. " And old Diamond's ponderous bulk began at once to moveto the voice of the little boy. 

But before they had reached the entrance of the mews, another voicecalled after young Diamond, which, in his turn, he had to obey, for itwas that of his mother. "Diamond! Diamond!" it cried; and Diamond pulledthe reins, and the horse stood still as a stone. 

"Husband, " said his mother, coming up, "you're never going to trust himwith the reins--a baby like that?"

"He must learn some day, and he can't begin too soon. I see already he'sa born coachman, " said his father proudly. "And I don't see well howhe could escape it, for my father and my grandfather, that's hisgreat-grandfather, was all coachmen, I'm told; so it must come naturalto him, any one would think. Besides, you see, old Diamond's as proud ofhim as we are our own selves, wife. Don't you see how he's turning roundhis ears, with the mouths of them open, for the first word he speaks totumble in? He's too well bred to turn his head, you know. "

"Well, but, husband, I can't do without him to-day. Everything's got tobe done, you know. It's my first day here. And there's that baby!"

"Bless you, wife! I never meant to take him away--only to the bottom ofEndell Street. He can watch his way back. "

"No thank you, father; not to-day, " said Diamond. "Mother wants me. Perhaps she'll let me go another day. "

"Very well, my man, " said his father, and took the reins which Diamondwas holding out to him. 

Diamond got down, a little disappointed of course, and went with hismother, who was too pleased to speak. She only took hold of his hand astight as if she had been afraid of his running away instead of glad thathe would not leave her. 

Now, although they did not know it, the owner of the stables, the sameman who had sold the horse to his father, had been standing just insideone of the stable-doors, with his hands in his pockets, and had heardand seen all that passed; and from that day John Stonecrop took a greatfancy to the little boy. And this was the beginning of what came of it. 

The same evening, just as Diamond was feeling tired of the day's work, and wishing his father would come home, Mr. Stonecrop knocked at thedoor. His mother went and opened it. 

"Good evening, ma'am, " said he. "Is the little master in?"

"Yes, to be sure he is--at your service, I'm sure, Mr. Stonecrop, " saidhis mother. 

"No, no, ma'am; it's I'm at his service. I'm just a-going out with myown cab, and if he likes to come with me, he shall drive my old horsetill he's tired. "

"It's getting rather late for him, " said his mother thoughtfully. "Yousee he's been an invalid. "

Diamond thought, what a funny thing! How could he have been an invalidwhen he did not even know what the word meant? But, of course, hismother was right. 

"Oh, well, " said Mr. Stonecrop, "I can just let him drive throughBloomsbury Square, and then he shall run home again. "

"Very good, sir. And I'm much obliged to you, " said his mother. And Diamond, dancing with delight, got his cap, put his hand in Mr. Stonecrop's, and went with him to the yard where the cab was waiting. He did not think the horse looked nearly so nice as Diamond, nor Mr. Stonecrop nearly so grand as his father; but he was none, the lesspleased. He got up on the box, and his new friend got up beside him. 

"What's the horse's name?" whispered Diamond, as he took the reins fromthe man. 

"It's not a nice name, " said Mr. Stonecrop. "You needn't call him by it. I didn't give it him. He'll go well enough without it. Give the boy awhip, Jack. I never carries one when I drive old----"

He didn't finish the sentence. Jack handed Diamond a whip, with which, by holding it half down the stick, he managed just to flack the haunchesof the horse; and away he went. 

"Mind the gate, " said Mr. Stonecrop; and Diamond did mind the gate, andguided the nameless horse through it in safety, pulling him this way andthat according as was necessary. Diamond learned to drive all the soonerthat he had been accustomed to do what he was told, and could obey thesmallest hint in a moment. Nothing helps one to get on like that. Somepeople don't know how to do what they are told; they have not been usedto it, and they neither understand quickly nor are able to turn whatthey do understand into action quickly. With an obedient mind one learnsthe rights of things fast enough; for it is the law of the universe, andto obey is to understand. 

"Look out!" cried Mr. Stonecrop, as they were turning the corner intoBloomsbury Square. 

It was getting dusky now. A cab was approaching rather rapidly fromthe opposite direction, and Diamond pulling aside, and the other driverpulling up, they only just escaped a collision. Then they knew eachother. 

"Why, Diamond, it's a bad beginning to run into your own father, " criedthe driver. 

"But, father, wouldn't it have been a bad ending to run into your ownson?" said Diamond in return; and the two men laughed heartily. 

"This is very kind of you, I'm sure, Stonecrop, " said his father. 

"Not a bit. He's a brave fellow, and'll be fit to drive on his own hookin a week or two. But I think you'd better let him drive you home now, for his mother don't like his having over much of the night air, and Ipromised not to take him farther than the square. "

"Come along then, Diamond, " said his father, as he brought his cab up tothe other, and moved off the box to the seat beside it. Diamond jumpedacross, caught at the reins, said "Good-night, and thank you, Mr. Stonecrop, " and drove away home, feeling more of a man than he had everyet had a chance of feeling in all his life. Nor did his father find itnecessary to give him a single hint as to his driving. Only I suspectthe fact that it was old Diamond, and old Diamond on his way to hisstable, may have had something to do with young Diamond's success. 

"Well, child, " said his mother, when he entered the room, "you've notbeen long gone. "

"No, mother; here I am. Give me the baby. "

"The baby's asleep, " said his mother. 

"Then give him to me, and I'll lay him down. "

But as Diamond took him, he woke up and began to laugh. For he wasindeed one of the merriest children. And no wonder, for he was as plumpas a plum-pudding, and had never had an ache or a pain that lasted morethan five minutes at a time. Diamond sat down with him and began to singto him. 

baby baby babbing your father's gone a-cabbing to catch a shilling forits pence to make the baby babbing dance for old Diamond's a duck theysay he can swim but the duck of diamonds is baby that's him and of allthe swallows the merriest fellows that bake their cake with the waterthey shake out of the river flowing for ever and make dust into clay onthe shiniest day to build their nest father's the best and mother's thewhitest and her eyes are the brightest of all the dams that watch theirlambs cropping the grass where the waters pass singing for ever and ofall the lambs with the shakingest tails and the jumpingest feet baby'sthe funniest baby's the bonniest and he never wails and he's alwayssweet and Diamond's his nurse and Diamond's his nurse and Diamond's hisnurse

When Diamond's rhymes grew scarce, he always began dancing the baby. Some people wondered that such a child could rhyme as he did, but hisrhymes were not very good, for he was only trying to remember what hehad heard the river sing at the back of the north wind. 

CHAPTER XVII. DIAMOND GOES ON

DIAMOND became a great favourite with all the men about the mews. Somemay think it was not the best place in the world for him to be broughtup in; but it must have been, for there he was. At first, he heard agood many rough and bad words; but he did not like them, and so they didhim little harm. He did not know in the least what they meant, but therewas something in the very sound of them, and in the tone of voice inwhich they were said, which Diamond felt to be ugly. So they did noteven stick to him, not to say get inside him. He never took any noticeof them, and his face shone pure and good in the middle of them, likea primrose in a hailstorm. At first, because his face was so quietand sweet, with a smile always either awake or asleep in his eyes, andbecause he never heeded their ugly words and rough jokes, they said hewasn't all there, meaning that he was half an idiot, whereas he was agreat deal more there than they had the sense to see. And before longthe bad words found themselves ashamed to come out of the men's mouthswhen Diamond was near. The one would nudge the other to remind him thatthe boy was within hearing, and the words choked themselves before theygot any farther. When they talked to him nicely he had always a goodanswer, sometimes a smart one, ready, and that helped much to make themchange their minds about him. 

One day Jack gave him a curry-comb and a brush to try his hand uponold Diamond's coat. He used them so deftly, so gently, and yet sothoroughly, as far as he could reach, that the man could not helpadmiring him. 

"You must make haste and, grow" he said. "It won't do to have a horse'sbelly clean and his back dirty, you know. "

"Give me a leg, " said Diamond, and in a moment he was on the old horse'sback with the comb and brush. He sat on his withers, and reachingforward as he ate his hay, he curried and he brushed, first at one sideof his neck, and then at the other. When that was done he asked for adressing-comb, and combed his mane thoroughly. Then he pushed himself onto his back, and did his shoulders as far down as he could reach. Thenhe sat on his croup, and did his back and sides; then he turned aroundlike a monkey, and attacked his hind-quarters, and combed his tail. Thislast was not so easy to manage, for he had to lift it up, and every nowand then old Diamond would whisk it out of his hands, and once he sentthe comb flying out of the stable door, to the great amusement of themen. But Jack fetched it again, and Diamond began once more, and did notleave off until he had done the whole business fairly well, if not ina first-rate, experienced fashion. All the time the old horse wenton eating his hay, and, but with an occasional whisk of his tail whenDiamond tickled or scratched him, took no notice of the proceeding. But that was all a pretence, for he knew very well who it was thatwas perched on his back, and rubbing away at him with the comb and thebrush. So he was quite pleased and proud, and perhaps said to himselfsomething like this--

"I'm a stupid old horse, who can't brush his own coat; but there's myyoung godson on my back, cleaning me like an angel. "

I won't vouch for what the old horse was thinking, for it is verydifficult to find out what any old horse is thinking. 

"Oh dear!" said Diamond when he had done, "I'm so tired!"

And he laid himself down at full length on old Diamond's back. 

By this time all the men in the stable were gathered about the twoDiamonds, and all much amused. One of them lifted him down, and fromthat time he was a greater favourite than before. And if ever there wasa boy who had a chance of being a prodigy at cab-driving, Diamond wasthat boy, for the strife came to be who should have him out with him onthe box. 

His mother, however, was a little shy of the company for him, andbesides she could not always spare him. Also his father liked to havehim himself when he could; so that he was more desired than enjoyedamong the cabmen. 

But one way and another he did learn to drive all sorts of horses, andto drive them well, and that through the most crowded streets in LondonCity. Of course there was the man always on the box-seat beside him, butbefore long there was seldom the least occasion to take the reinsfrom out of his hands. For one thing he never got frightened, andconsequently was never in too great a hurry. Yet when the moment camefor doing something sharp, he was always ready for it. I must once moreremind my readers that he had been to the back of the north wind. 

One day, which was neither washing-day, nor cleaning-day normarketing-day, nor Saturday, nor Monday--upon which consequently Diamondcould be spared from the baby--his father took him on his own cab. Aftera stray job or two by the way, they drew up in the row upon the standbetween Cockspur Street and Pall Mall. They waited a long time, butnobody seemed to want to be carried anywhere. By and by ladies would begoing home from the Academy exhibition, and then there would be a chanceof a job. 

"Though, to be sure, " said Diamond's father--with what truth I cannotsay, but he believed what he said--"some ladies is very hard, and keepsyou to the bare sixpence a mile, when every one knows that ain't enoughto keep a family and a cab upon. To be sure it's the law; but mayhapthey may get more law than they like some day themselves. "

As it was very hot, Diamond's father got down to have a glass of beerhimself, and give another to the old waterman. He left Diamond on thebox. 

A sudden noise got up, and Diamond looked round to see what was thematter. 

There was a crossing near the cab-stand, where a girl was sweeping. Somerough young imps had picked a quarrel with her, and were now haulingat her broom to get it away from her. But as they did not pull alltogether, she was holding it against them, scolding and entreatingalternately. 

Diamond was off his box in a moment, and running to the help of thegirl. He got hold of the broom at her end and pulled along with her. Butthe boys proceeded to rougher measures, and one of them hit Diamond onthe nose, and made it bleed; and as he could not let go the broom tomind his nose, he was soon a dreadful figure. But presently his fathercame back, and missing Diamond, looked about. He had to look twice, however, before he could be sure that that was his boy in the middleof the tumult. He rushed in, and sent the assailants flying in alldirections. The girl thanked Diamond, and began sweeping as if nothinghad happened, while his father led him away. With the help of old Tom, the waterman, he was soon washed into decency, and his father set him onthe box again, perfectly satisfied with the account he gave of the causeof his being in a fray. 

"I couldn't let them behave so to a poor girl--could I, father?" hesaid. 

"Certainly not, Diamond, " said his father, quite pleased, for Diamond'sfather was a gentleman. 

A moment after, up came the girl, running, with her broom over hershoulder, and calling, "Cab, there! cab!"

Diamond's father turned instantly, for he was the foremost in the rank, and followed the girl. One or two other passing cabs heard the cry, andmade for the place, but the girl had taken care not to call till she wasnear enough to give her friends the first chance. When they reachedthe curbstone--who should it be waiting for the cab but Mrs. And MissColeman! They did not look at the cabman, however. The girl opened thedoor for them; they gave her the address, and a penny; she told thecabman, and away they drove. 

When they reached the house, Diamond's father got down and rang thebell. As he opened the door of the cab, he touched his hat as he hadbeen wont to do. The ladies both stared for a moment, and then exclaimedtogether:

"Why, Joseph! can it be you?"

"Yes, ma'am; yes, miss, " answered he, again touching his hat, with allthe respect he could possibly put into the action. "It's a lucky daywhich I see you once more upon it. "

"Who would have thought it?" said Mrs. Coleman. "It's changed times forboth of us, Joseph, and it's not very often we can have a cab even; butyou see my daughter is still very poorly, and she can't bear the motionof the omnibuses. Indeed we meant to walk a bit first before we took acab, but just at the corner, for as hot as the sun was, a cold wind camedown the street, and I saw that Miss Coleman must not face it. But tothink we should have fallen upon you, of all the cabmen in London! Ididn't know you had got a cab. "

"Well, you see, ma'am, I had a chance of buying the old horse, and Icouldn't resist him. There he is, looking at you, ma'am. Nobody knowsthe sense in that head of his. "

The two ladies went near to pat the horse, and then they noticed Diamondon the box. 

"Why, you've got both Diamonds with you, " said Miss Coleman. "How do youdo, Diamond?"

Diamond lifted his cap, and answered politely. 

"He'll be fit to drive himself before long, " said his father, proudly. "The old horse is a-teaching of him. "

"Well, he must come and see us, now you've found us out. Where do youlive?"

Diamond's father gave the ladies a ticket with his name and addressprinted on it; and then Mrs. Coleman took out her purse, saying:

"And what's your fare, Joseph?"

"No, thank you, ma'am, " said Joseph. "It was your own old horse as tookyou; and me you paid long ago. "

He jumped on his box before she could say another word, and with aparting salute drove off, leaving them on the pavement, with the maidholding the door for them. 

It was a long time now since Diamond had seen North Wind, or eventhought much about her. And as his father drove along, he was thinkingnot about her, but about the crossing-sweeper, and was wondering whatmade him feel as if he knew her quite well, when he could not rememberanything of her. But a picture arose in his mind of a little girlrunning before the wind and dragging her broom after her; and from that, by degrees, he recalled the whole adventure of the night when he gotdown from North Wind's back in a London street. But he could not quitesatisfy himself whether the whole affair was not a dream which he haddreamed when he was a very little boy. Only he had been to the back ofthe north wind since--there could be no doubt of that; for when he wokeevery morning, he always knew that he had been there again. And as hethought and thought, he recalled another thing that had happened thatmorning, which, although it seemed a mere accident, might have somethingto do with what had happened since. His father had intended going on thestand at King's Cross that morning, and had turned into Gray's Inn Laneto drive there, when they found the way blocked up, and upon inquirywere informed that a stack of chimneys had been blown down in the night, and had fallen across the road. They were just clearing the rubbishaway. Diamond's father turned, and made for Charing Cross. 

That night the father and mother had a great deal to talk about. 

"Poor things!" said the mother. "it's worse for them than it is for us. You see they've been used to such grand things, and for them to comedown to a little poky house like that--it breaks my heart to think ofit. "

"I don't know" said Diamond thoughtfully, "whether Mrs. Coleman hadbells on her toes. "

"What do you mean, child?" said his mother. 

"She had rings on her fingers, anyhow, " returned Diamond. 

"Of course she had, as any lady would. What has that to do with it?"

"When we were down at Sandwich, " said Diamond, "you said you would haveto part with your mother's ring, now we were poor. "

"Bless the child; he forgets nothing, " said his mother. "Really, Diamond, a body would need to mind what they say to you. "

"Why?" said Diamond. "I only think about it. "

"That's just why, " said the mother. 

"Why is that why?" persisted Diamond, for he had not yet learned thatgrown-up people are not often so much grown up that they never talk likechildren--and spoilt ones too. 

"Mrs. Coleman is none so poor as all that yet. No, thank Heaven! she'snot come to that. "

"Is it a great disgrace to be poor?" asked Diamond, because of the tonein which his mother had spoken. 

But his mother, whether conscience-stricken I do not know hurried himaway to bed, where after various attempts to understand her, resumed andresumed again in spite of invading sleep, he was conquered at last, andgave in, murmuring over and over to himself, "Why is why?" but gettingno answer to the question. 

CHAPTER XVIII. THE DRUNKEN CABMAN

A FEW nights after this, Diamond woke up suddenly, believing he heardNorth Wind thundering along. But it was something quite different. SouthWind was moaning round the chimneys, to be sure, for she was not veryhappy that night, but it was not her voice that had wakened Diamond. Hervoice would only have lulled him the deeper asleep. It was a loud, angryvoice, now growling like that of a beast, now raving like that of amadman; and when Diamond came a little wider awake, he knew that it wasthe voice of the drunken cabman, the wall of whose room was at the headof his bed. It was anything but pleasant to hear, but he could not helphearing it. At length there came a cry from the woman, and then a screamfrom the baby. Thereupon Diamond thought it time that somebody didsomething, and as himself was the only somebody at hand, he must go andsee whether he could not do something. So he got up and put on part ofhis clothes, and went down the stair, for the cabman's room did not openupon their stair, and he had to go out into the yard, and in at the nextdoor. This, fortunately, the cabman, being drunk, had left open. Bythe time he reached their stair, all was still except the voice of thecrying baby, which guided him to the right door. He opened it softly, and peeped in. There, leaning back in a chair, with his arms hangingdown by his sides, and his legs stretched out before him and supportedon his heels, sat the drunken cabman. His wife lay in her clothes uponthe bed, sobbing, and the baby was wailing in the cradle. It was verymiserable altogether. 

Now the way most people do when they see anything very miserable is toturn away from the sight, and try to forget it. But Diamond began asusual to try to destroy the misery. The little boy was just as much oneof God's messengers as if he had been an angel with a flaming sword, going out to fight the devil. The devil he had to fight just thenwas Misery. And the way he fought him was the very best. Like a wisesoldier, he attacked him first in his weakest point--that was the baby;for Misery can never get such a hold of a baby as of a grown person. Diamond was knowing in babies, and he knew he could do something to makethe baby, happy; for although he had only known one baby as yet, andalthough not one baby is the same as another, yet they are so very muchalike in some things, and he knew that one baby so thoroughly, that hehad good reason to believe he could do something for any other. I haveknown people who would have begun to fight the devil in a very differentand a very stupid way. They would have begun by scolding the idioticcabman; and next they would make his wife angry by saying it must be herfault as well as his, and by leaving ill-bred though well-meant shabbylittle books for them to read, which they were sure to hate the sightof; while all the time they would not have put out a finger to touch thewailing baby. But Diamond had him out of the cradle in a moment, sethim up on his knee, and told him to look at the light. Now all the lightthere was came only from a lamp in the yard, and it was a very dingy andyellow light, for the glass of the lamp was dirty, and the gas was bad;but the light that came from it was, notwithstanding, as certainlylight as if it had come from the sun itself, and the baby knew that, andsmiled to it; and although it was indeed a wretched room which that lamplighted--so dreary, and dirty, and empty, and hopeless!--there in themiddle of it sat Diamond on a stool, smiling to the baby, and the babyon his knees smiling to the lamp. The father of him sat staring atnothing, neither asleep nor awake, not quite lost in stupidity either, for through it all he was dimly angry with himself, he did not knowwhy. It was that he had struck his wife. He had forgotten it, but wasmiserable about it, notwithstanding. And this misery was the voice ofthe great Love that had made him and his wife and the baby and Diamond, speaking in his heart, and telling him to be good. For that great Lovespeaks in the most wretched and dirty hearts; only the tone of its voicedepends on the echoes of the place in which it sounds. On Mount Sinai, it was thunder; in the cabman's heart it was misery; in the soul of St. John it was perfect blessedness. 

By and by he became aware that there was a voice of singing in the room. This, of course, was the voice of Diamond singing to the baby--songafter song, every one as foolish as another to the cabman, for he wastoo tipsy to part one word from another: all the words mixed up in hisear in a gurgle without division or stop; for such was the way he spokehimself, when he was in this horrid condition. But the baby was morethan content with Diamond's songs, and Diamond himself was so contentedwith what the songs were all about, that he did not care a bit about thesongs themselves, if only baby liked them. But they did the cabman goodas well as the baby and Diamond, for they put him to sleep, and thesleep was busy all the time it lasted, smoothing the wrinkles out of histemper. 

At length Diamond grew tired of singing, and began to talk to the babyinstead. And as soon as he stopped singing, the cabman began to wake up. His brain was a little clearer now, his temper a little smoother, and his heart not quite so dirty. He began to listen and he went onlistening, and heard Diamond saying to the baby something like this, forhe thought the cabman was asleep:

"Poor daddy! Baby's daddy takes too much beer and gin, and that makeshim somebody else, and not his own self at all. Baby's daddy would neverhit baby's mammy if he didn't take too much beer. He's very fond ofbaby's mammy, and works from morning to night to get her breakfast anddinner and supper, only at night he forgets, and pays the money away forbeer. And they put nasty stuff in beer, I've heard my daddy say, thatdrives all the good out, and lets all the bad in. Daddy says when a mantakes a drink, there's a thirsty devil creeps into his inside, becausehe knows he will always get enough there. And the devil is always cryingout for more drink, and that makes the man thirsty, and so he drinksmore and more, till he kills himself with it. And then the ugly devilcreeps out of him, and crawls about on his belly, looking for some othercabman to get into, that he may drink, drink, drink. That's what mydaddy says, baby. And he says, too, the only way to make the devil comeout is to give him plenty of cold water and tea and coffee, and nothingat all that comes from the public-house; for the devil can't abide thatkind of stuff, and creeps out pretty soon, for fear of being drownedin it. But your daddy will drink the nasty stuff, poor man! I wish hewouldn't, for it makes mammy cross with him, and no wonder! and thenwhen mammy's cross, he's crosser, and there's nobody in the house totake care of them but baby; and you do take care of them, baby--don'tyou, baby? I know you do. Babies always take care of their fathers andmothers--don't they, baby? That's what they come for--isn't it, baby?And when daddy stops drinking beer and nasty gin with turpentine in it, father says, then mammy will be so happy, and look so pretty! and daddywill be so good to baby! and baby will be as happy as a swallow, whichis the merriest fellow! And Diamond will be so happy too! And whenDiamond's a man, he'll take baby out with him on the box, and teach himto drive a cab. "

He went on with chatter like this till baby was asleep, by which timehe was tired, and father and mother were both wide awake--only ratherconfused--the one from the beer, the other from the blow--and staring, the one from his chair, the other from her bed, at Diamond. But he wasquite unaware of their notice, for he sat half-asleep, with his eyeswide open, staring in his turn, though without knowing it, at thecabman, while the cabman could not withdraw his gaze from Diamond'swhite face and big eyes. For Diamond's face was always rather pale, andnow it was paler than usual with sleeplessness, and the light of thestreet-lamp upon it. At length he found himself nodding, and he knewthen it was time to put the baby down, lest he should let him fall. Sohe rose from the little three-legged stool, and laid the baby in thecradle, and covered him up--it was well it was a warm night, and he didnot want much covering--and then he all but staggered out of the door, he was so tipsy himself with sleep. 

"Wife, " said the cabman, turning towards the bed, "I do somehow believethat wur a angel just gone. Did you see him, wife? He warn't wery big, and he hadn't got none o' them wingses, you know. It wur one o' thembaby-angels you sees on the gravestones, you know. "

"Nonsense, hubby!" said his wife; "but it's just as good. I might saybetter, for you can ketch hold of him when you like. That's littleDiamond as everybody knows, and a duck o' diamonds he is! No woman couldwish for a better child than he be. "

"I ha' heerd on him in the stable, but I never see the brat afore. Come, old girl, let bygones be bygones, and gie us a kiss, and we'll go tobed. "

The cabman kept his cab in another yard, although he had his room inthis. He was often late in coming home, and was not one to take noticeof children, especially when he was tipsy, which was oftener than not. Hence, if he had ever seen Diamond, he did not know him. But his wifeknew him well enough, as did every one else who lived all day in theyard. She was a good-natured woman. It was she who had got the firelighted and the tea ready for them when Diamond and his mother came homefrom Sandwich. And her husband was not an ill-natured man either, andwhen in the morning he recalled not only Diamond's visit, but how hehimself had behaved to his wife, he was very vexed with himself, andgladdened his poor wife's heart by telling her how sorry he was. And fora whole week after, he did not go near the public-house, hard as it wasto avoid it, seeing a certain rich brewer had built one, like a trap tocatch souls and bodies in, at almost every corner he had to pass on hisway home. Indeed, he was never quite so bad after that, though it wassome time before he began really to reform. 

CHAPTER XIX. DIAMOND'S FRIENDS

ONE day when old Diamond was standing with his nose in his bag betweenPall Mall and Cockspur Street, and his master was reading the newspaperon the box of his cab, which was the last of a good many in the row, little Diamond got down for a run, for his legs were getting crampedwith sitting. And first of all he strolled with his hands in his pocketsup to the crossing, where the girl and her broom were to be found in allweathers. Just as he was going to speak to her, a tall gentleman steppedupon the crossing. He was pleased to find it so clean, for the streetswere muddy, and he had nice boots on; so he put his hand in his pocket, and gave the girl a penny. But when she gave him a sweet smile inreturn, and made him a pretty courtesy, he looked at her again, andsaid:

"Where do you live, my child?"

"Paradise Row, " she answered; "next door to the Adam and Eve--down thearea. "

"Whom do you live with?" he asked. 

"My wicked old grannie, " she replied. 

"You shouldn't call your grannie wicked, " said the gentleman. 

"But she is, " said the girl, looking up confidently in his face. "If youdon't believe me, you can come and take a look at her. "

The words sounded rude, but the girl's face looked so simple thatthe gentleman saw she did not mean to be rude, and became still moreinterested in her. 

"Still you shouldn't say so, " he insisted. 

"Shouldn't I? Everybody calls her wicked old grannie--even them that'sas wicked as her. You should hear her swear. There's nothing like it inthe Row. Indeed, I assure you, sir, there's ne'er a one of them can shutmy grannie up once she begins and gets right a-going. You must put herin a passion first, you know. It's no good till you do that--she's soold now. How she do make them laugh, to be sure!"

Although she called her wicked, the child spoke so as plainly toindicate pride in her grannie's pre-eminence in swearing. 

The gentleman looked very grave to hear her, for he was sorry that sucha nice little girl should be in such bad keeping. But he did not knowwhat to say next, and stood for a moment with his eyes on the ground. When he lifted them, he saw the face of Diamond looking up in his. 

"Please, sir, " said Diamond, "her grannie's very cruel to her sometimes, and shuts her out in the streets at night, if she happens to be late. "

"Is this your brother?" asked the gentleman of the girl. 

"No, sir. "

"How does he know your grandmother, then? He does not look like one ofher sort. "

"Oh no, sir! He's a good boy--quite. "

Here she tapped her forehead with her finger in a significant manner. 

"What do you mean by that?" asked the gentleman, while Diamond looked onsmiling. 

"The cabbies call him God's baby, " she whispered. "He's not right in thehead, you know. A tile loose. "

Still Diamond, though he heard every word, and understood it too, kepton smiling. What could it matter what people called him, so long as hedid nothing he ought not to do? And, besides, God's baby was surely thebest of names!

"Well, my little man, and what can you do?" asked the gentleman, turningtowards him--just for the sake of saying something. 

"Drive a cab, " said Diamond. 

"Good; and what else?" he continued; for, accepting what the girl hadsaid, he regarded the still sweetness of Diamond's face as a sign ofsilliness, and wished to be kind to the poor little fellow. 

"Nurse a baby, " said Diamond. 

"Well--and what else?"

"Clean father's boots, and make him a bit of toast for his tea. "

"You're a useful little man, " said the gentleman. "What else can youdo?"

"Not much that I know of, " said Diamond. "I can't curry a horse, exceptsomebody puts me on his back. So I don't count that. "

"Can you read?"

"No. But mother can and father can, and they're going to teach me someday soon. "

"Well, here's a penny for you. "

"Thank you, sir. "

"And when you have learned to read, come to me, and I'll give yousixpence and a book with fine pictures in it. "

"Please, sir, where am I to come?" asked Diamond, who was too much aman of the world not to know that he must have the gentleman's addressbefore he could go and see him. 

"You're no such silly!" thought he, as he put his hand in his pocket, and brought out a card. "There, " he said, "your father will be able toread that, and tell you where to go. "

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir, " said Diamond, and put the card in hispocket. 

The gentleman walked away, but turning round a few paces off, sawDiamond give his penny to the girl, and, walking slower heard him say:

"I've got a father, and mother, and little brother, and you've gotnothing but a wicked old grannie. You may have my penny. "

The girl put it beside the other in her pocket, the only trustworthyarticle of dress she wore. Her grandmother always took care that she hada stout pocket. 

"Is she as cruel as ever?" asked Diamond. 

"Much the same. But I gets more coppers now than I used to, and I canget summats to eat, and take browns enough home besides to keep her fromgrumbling. It's a good thing she's so blind, though. "

"Why?" asked Diamond. 

"'Cause if she was as sharp in the eyes as she used to be, she wouldfind out I never eats her broken wittles, and then she'd know as I mustget something somewheres. "

"Doesn't she watch you, then?"

"O' course she do. Don't she just! But I make believe and drop it in mylap, and then hitch it into my pocket. "

"What would she do if she found you out?"

"She never give me no more. "

"But you don't want it!"

"Yes, I do want it. "

"What do you do with it, then?"

"Give it to cripple Jim. "

"Who's cripple Jim?"

"A boy in the Row. His mother broke his leg when he wur a kid, so he'snever come to much; but he's a good boy, is Jim, and I love Jim dearly. I always keeps off a penny for Jim--leastways as often as I can. --Butthere I must sweep again, for them busses makes no end o' dirt. "

"Diamond! Diamond!" cried his father, who was afraid he might get nogood by talking to the girl; and Diamond obeyed, and got up againupon the box. He told his father about the gentleman, and what he hadpromised him if he would learn to read, and showed him the gentleman'scard. 

"Why, it's not many doors from the Mews!" said his father, giving himback the card. "Take care of it, my boy, for it may lead to something. God knows, in these hard times a man wants as many friends as he's everlikely to get. "

"Haven't you got friends enough, father?" asked Diamond. 

"Well, I have no right to complain; but the more the better, you know. "

"Just let me count, " said Diamond. 

And he took his hands from his pockets, and spreading out the fingers ofhis left hand, began to count, beginning at the thumb. 

"There's mother, first, and then baby, and then me. Next there's oldDiamond--and the cab--no, I won't count the cab, for it never looks atyou, and when Diamond's out of the shafts, it's nobody. Then there's theman that drinks next door, and his wife, and his baby. "

"They're no friends of mine, " said his father. 

"Well, they're friends of mine, " said Diamond. 

His father laughed. 

"Much good they'll do you!" he said. 

"How do you know they won't?" returned Diamond. 

"Well, go on, " said his father. 

"Then there's Jack and Mr. Stonecrop, and, deary me! not to havementioned Mr. Coleman and Mrs. Coleman, and Miss Coleman, and Mrs. Crump. And then there's the clergyman that spoke to me in the gardenthat day the tree was blown down. "

"What's his name!"

"I don't know his name. "

"Where does he live?"

"I don't know. "

"How can you count him, then?"

"He did talk to me, and very kindlike too. "

His father laughed again. 

"Why, child, you're just counting everybody you know. That don't make'em friends. "

"Don't it? I thought it did. Well, but they shall be my friends. I shallmake 'em. "

"How will you do that?"

"They can't help themselves then, if they would. If I choose to be theirfriend, you know, they can't prevent me. Then there's that girl at thecrossing. "

"A fine set of friends you do have, to be sure, Diamond!"

"Surely she's a friend anyhow, father. If it hadn't been for her, youwould never have got Mrs. Coleman and Miss Coleman to carry home. "

His father was silent, for he saw that Diamond was right, and wasashamed to find himself more ungrateful than he had thought. 

"Then there's the new gentleman, " Diamond went on. 

"If he do as he say, " interposed his father. 

"And why shouldn't he? I daresay sixpence ain't too much for him tospare. But I don't quite understand, father: is nobody your friend butthe one that does something for you?"

"No, I won't say that, my boy. You would have to leave out baby then. "

"Oh no, I shouldn't. Baby can laugh in your face, and crow in your ears, and make you feel so happy. Call you that nothing, father?"

The father's heart was fairly touched now. He made no answer to thislast appeal, and Diamond ended off with saying:

"And there's the best of mine to come yet--and that's you, daddy--exceptit be mother, you know. You're my friend, daddy, ain't you? And I'm yourfriend, ain't I?"

"And God for us all, " said his father, and then they were both silentfor that was very solemn. 

CHAPTER XX. DIAMOND LEARNS TO READ

THE question of the tall gentleman as to whether Diamond could read ornot set his father thinking it was high time he could; and as soon asold Diamond was suppered and bedded, he began the task that very night. But it was not much of a task to Diamond, for his father took for hislesson-book those very rhymes his mother had picked up on the sea-shore;and as Diamond was not beginning too soon, he learned very fast indeed. Within a month he was able to spell out most of the verses for himself. 

But he had never come upon the poem he thought he had heard his motherread from it that day. He had looked through and through the bookseveral times after he knew the letters and a few words, fancying hecould tell the look of it, but had always failed to find one more likeit than another. So he wisely gave up the search till he could reallyread. Then he resolved to begin at the beginning, and read them allstraight through. This took him nearly a fortnight. When he had almostreached the end, he came upon the following verses, which took his fancymuch, although they were certainly not very like those he was in searchof. 

LITTLE BOY BLUE

 Little Boy Blue lost his way in a wood. Sing apples and cherries, roses and honey; He said, "I would not go back if I could, It's all so jolly and funny. "

 He sang, "This wood is all my own, Apples and cherries, roses and honey; So here I'll sit, like a king on my throne, All so jolly and funny. "

 A little snake crept out of the tree, Apples and cherries, roses and honey; "Lie down at my feet, little snake, " said he, All so jolly and funny. 

 A little bird sang in the tree overhead, Apples and cherries, roses and honey; "Come and sing your song on my finger instead, All so jolly and funny. "

 The snake coiled up; and the bird flew down, And sang him the song of Birdie Brown. 

 Little Boy Blue found it tiresome to sit, And he thought he had better walk on a bit. 

 So up he got, his way to take, And he said, "Come along, little bird and snake. "

 And waves of snake o'er the damp leaves passed, And the snake went first and Birdie Brown last;

 By Boy Blue's head, with flutter and dart, Flew Birdie Brown with its song in its heart. 

 He came where the apples grew red and sweet: "Tree, drop me an apple down at my feet. "

 He came where the cherries hung plump and red: "Come to my mouth, sweet kisses, " he said. 

 And the boughs bow down, and the apples they dapple The grass, too many for him to grapple. 

 And the cheeriest cherries, with never a miss, Fall to his mouth, each a full-grown kiss. 

 He met a little brook singing a song. He said, "Little brook, you are going wrong. 

 "You must follow me, follow me, follow, I say Do as I tell you, and come this way. "

 And the song-singing, sing-songing forest brook Leaped from its bed and after him took, Followed him, followed. And pale and wan, The dead leaves rustled as the water ran. 

 And every bird high up on the bough, And every creature low down below, He called, and the creatures obeyed the call, Took their legs and their wings and followed him all;

 Squirrels that carried their tails like a sack, Each on his own little humpy brown back;

 Householder snails, and slugs all tails, And butterflies, flutterbies, ships all sails;

 And weasels, and ousels, and mice, and larks, And owls, and rere-mice, and harkydarks, All went running, and creeping, and flowing, After the merry boy fluttering and going;

 The dappled fawns fawning, the fallow-deer following, The swallows and flies, flying and swallowing;

 Cockchafers, henchafers, cockioli-birds, Cockroaches, henroaches, cuckoos in herds. 

 The spider forgot and followed him spinning, And lost all his thread from end to beginning. 

 The gay wasp forgot his rings and his waist, He never had made such undignified haste. 

 The dragon-flies melted to mist with their hurrying. The mole in his moleskins left his barrowing burrowing. 

 The bees went buzzing, so busy and beesy, And the midges in columns so upright and easy. 

 But Little Boy Blue was not content, Calling for followers still as he went, Blowing his horn, and beating his drum, And crying aloud, "Come all of you, come!"

 He said to the shadows, "Come after me;" And the shadows began to flicker and flee, And they flew through the wood all flattering and fluttering, Over the dead leaves flickering and muttering. 

 And he said to the wind, "Come, follow; come, follow, With whistle and pipe, and rustle and hollo. "

 And the wind wound round at his desire, As if he had been the gold cock on the spire. 

 And the cock itself flew down from the church, And left the farmers all in the lurch. 

 They run and they fly, they creep and they come, Everything, everything, all and some. 

 The very trees they tugged at their roots, Only their feet were too fast in their boots, After him leaning and straining and bending, As on through their boles he kept walking and wending, Till out of the wood he burst on a lea, Shouting and calling, "Come after me!"

 And then they rose up with a leafy hiss, And stood as if nothing had been amiss. 

 Little Boy Blue sat down on a stone, And the creatures came round him every one. 

 And he said to the clouds, "I want you there. " And down they sank through the thin blue air. 

 And he said to the sunset far in the West, "Come here; I want you; I know best. "

 And the sunset came and stood up on the wold, And burned and glowed in purple and gold. 

 Then Little Boy Blue began to ponder: "What's to be done with them all, I wonder. "

 Then Little Boy Blue, he said, quite low, "What to do with you all I am sure I don't know. "

 Then the clouds clodded down till dismal it grew; The snake sneaked close; round Birdie Brown flew;

 The brook sat up like a snake on its tail; And the wind came up with a what-will-you wail;

 And all the creatures sat and stared; The mole opened his very eyes and glared;

 And for rats and bats and the world and his wife, Little Boy Blue was afraid of his life. 

 Then Birdie Brown began to sing, And what he sang was the very thing:

 "You have brought us all hither, Little Boy Blue, Pray what do you want us all to do?"

 "Go away! go away!" said Little Boy Blue; "I'm sure I don't want you--get away--do. "

 "No, no; no, no; no, yes, and no, no, " Sang Birdie Brown, "it mustn't be so. 

 "We cannot for nothing come here, and away. Give us some work, or else we stay. "

 "Oh dear! and oh dear!" with sob and with sigh, Said Little Boy Blue, and began to cry. 

 But before he got far, he thought of a thing; And up he stood, and spoke like a king. 

 "Why do you hustle and jostle and bother? Off with you all! Take me back to my mother. "

 The sunset stood at the gates of the west. "Follow me, follow me" came from Birdie Brown's breast. 

 "I am going that way as fast as I can, " Said the brook, as it sank and turned and ran. 

 Back to the woods fled the shadows like ghosts: "If we stay, we shall all be missed from our posts. "

 Said the wind with a voice that had changed its cheer, "I was just going there, when you brought me here. "

 "That's where I live, " said the sack-backed squirrel, And he turned his sack with a swing and a swirl. 

 Said the cock of the spire, "His father's churchwarden. " Said the brook running faster, "I run through his garden. "

 Said the mole, "Two hundred worms--there I caught 'em Last year, and I'm going again next autumn. "

 Said they all, "If that's where you want us to steer for, What in earth or in water did you bring us here for?"

 "Never you mind, " said Little Boy Blue; "That's what I tell you. If that you won't do, "I'll get up at once, and go home without you. I think I will; I begin to doubt you. "

 He rose; and up rose the snake on its tail, And hissed three times, half a hiss, half a wail. 

 Little Boy Blue he tried to go past him; But wherever he turned, sat the snake and faced him. 

 "If you don't get out of my way, " he said, "I tell you, snake, I will break your head. "

 The snake he neither would go nor come; So he hit him hard with the stick of his drum. 

 The snake fell down as if he were dead, And Little Boy Blue set his foot on his head. 

 And all the creatures they marched before him, And marshalled him home with a high cockolorum. 

 And Birdie Brown sang Twirrrr twitter twirrrr twee-- Apples and cherries, roses and honey; Little Boy Blue has listened to me-- All so jolly and funny. 

CHAPTER XXI. SAL'S NANNY

DIAMOND managed with many blunders to read this rhyme to his mother. 

"Isn't it nice, mother?" he said. 

"Yes, it's pretty, " she answered. 

"I think it means something, " returned Diamond. 

"I'm sure I don't know what, " she said. 

"I wonder if it's the same boy--yes, it must be the same--Little BoyBlue, you know. Let me see--how does that rhyme go?

Little Boy Blue, come blow me your horn--

Yes, of course it is--for this one went `blowing his horn and beatinghis drum. ' He had a drum too. 

 Little Boy Blue, come blow me your horn; The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn, He had to keep them out, you know. But he wasn't minding his work. Itgoes--

 Where's the little boy that looks after the sheep? He's under the haystack, fast asleep. 

There, you see, mother! And then, let me see--

 Who'll go and wake him? No, not I; For if I do, he'll be sure to cry. 

So I suppose nobody did wake him. He was a rather cross little boy, I daresay, when woke up. And when he did wake of himself, and saw themischief the cow had done to the corn, instead of running home to hismother, he ran away into the wood and lost himself. Don't you thinkthat's very likely, mother?"

"I shouldn't wonder, " she answered. 

"So you see he was naughty; for even when he lost himself he did notwant to go home. Any of the creatures would have shown him the way if hehad asked it--all but the snake. He followed the snake, you know, and hetook him farther away. I suppose it was a young one of the same serpentthat tempted Adam and Eve. Father was telling us about it last Sunday, you remember. "

"Bless the child!" said his mother to herself; and then added aloud, finding that Diamond did not go on, "Well, what next?"

"I don't know, mother. I'm sure there's a great deal more, but what itis I can't say. I only know that he killed the snake. I suppose that'swhat he had a drumstick for. He couldn't do it with his horn. "

"But surely you're not such a silly as to take it all for true, Diamond?"

"I think it must be. It looks true. That killing of the snake lookstrue. It's what I've got to do so often. "

His mother looked uneasy. Diamond smiled full in her face, and added--

"When baby cries and won't be happy, and when father and you talk aboutyour troubles, I mean. "

This did little to reassure his mother; and lest my reader should havehis qualms about it too, I venture to remind him once more that Diamondhad been to the back of the north wind. 

Finding she made no reply, Diamond went on--

"In a week or so, I shall be able to go to the tall gentleman and tellhim I can read. And I'll ask him if he can help me to understand therhyme. "

But before the week was out, he had another reason for going to Mr. Raymond. 

For three days, on each of which, at one time or other, Diamond's fatherwas on the same stand near the National Gallery, the girl was not at hercrossing, and Diamond got quite anxious about her, fearing she must beill. On the fourth day, not seeing her yet, he said to his father, whohad that moment shut the door of his cab upon a fare--

"Father, I want to go and look after the girl, She can't be well. "

"All right, " said his father. "Only take care of yourself, Diamond. "

So saying he climbed on his box and drove off. 

He had great confidence in his boy, you see, and would trust himanywhere. But if he had known the kind of place in which the girl lived, he would perhaps have thought twice before he allowed him to go alone. Diamond, who did know something of it, had not, however, any fear. Fromtalking to the girl he had a good notion of where about it was, and heremembered the address well enough; so by asking his way some twentytimes, mostly of policemen, he came at length pretty near the place. Thelast policeman he questioned looked down upon him from the summit of sixfeet two inches, and replied with another question, but kindly:

"What do you want there, my small kid? It ain't where you was bred, Iguess. "

"No sir" answered Diamond. "I live in Bloomsbury. "

"That's a long way off, " said the policeman. 

"Yes, it's a good distance, " answered Diamond; "but I find my way aboutpretty well. Policemen are always kind to me. "

"But what on earth do you want here?"

Diamond told him plainly what he was about, and of course the manbelieved him, for nobody ever disbelieved Diamond. People might think hewas mistaken, but they never thought he was telling a story. 

"It's an ugly place, " said the policeman. 

"Is it far off?" asked Diamond. 

"No. It's next door almost. But it's not safe. "

"Nobody hurts me, " said Diamond. 

"I must go with you, I suppose. "

"Oh, no! please not, " said Diamond. "They might think I was going tomeddle with them, and I ain't, you know. "

"Well, do as you please, " said the man, and gave him full directions. 

Diamond set off, never suspecting that the policeman, who was akind-hearted man, with children of his own, was following him close, andwatching him round every corner. As he went on, all at once he thoughthe remembered the place, and whether it really was so, or only thathe had laid up the policeman's instructions well in his mind, he wentstraight for the cellar of old Sal. 

"He's a sharp little kid, anyhow, for as simple as he looks, " said theman to himself. "Not a wrong turn does he take! But old Sal's a rum unfor such a child to pay a morning visit to. She's worse when she's soberthan when she's half drunk. I've seen her when she'd have torn him inpieces. "

Happily then for Diamond, old Sal had gone out to get some gin. Whenhe came to her door at the bottom of the area-stair and knocked, hereceived no answer. He laid his ear to the door, and thought he hearda moaning within. So he tried the door, and found it was not locked! Itwas a dreary place indeed, --and very dark, for the window was below thelevel of the street, and covered with mud, while over the grating whichkept people from falling into the area, stood a chest of drawers, placedthere by a dealer in second-hand furniture, which shut out almost allthe light. And the smell in the place was dreadful. Diamond stood stillfor a while, for he could see next to nothing, but he heard the moaningplainly enough now, When he got used to the darkness, he discovered hisfriend lying with closed eyes and a white suffering face on a heap oflittle better than rags in a corner of the den. He went up to her andspoke; but she made him no answer. Indeed, she was not in the leastaware of his presence, and Diamond saw that he could do nothing for herwithout help. So taking a lump of barley-sugar from his pocket, which hehad bought for her as he came along, and laying it beside her, heleft the place, having already made up his mind to go and see the tallgentleman, Mr. Raymond, and ask him to do something for Sal's Nanny, asthe girl was called. 

By the time he got up the area-steps, three or four women who had seenhim go down were standing together at the top waiting for him. Theywanted his clothes for their children; but they did not follow him downlest Sal should find them there. The moment he appeared, they laid theirhands on him, and all began talking at once, for each wanted to get someadvantage over her neighbours. He told them quite quietly, for he wasnot frightened, that he had come to see what was the matter with Nanny. 

"What do you know about Nanny?" said one of them fiercely. "Wait tillold Sal comes home, and you'll catch it, for going prying into her housewhen she's out. If you don't give me your jacket directly, I'll go andfetch her. "

"I can't give you my jacket, " said Diamond. "It belongs to my father andmother, you know. It's not mine to give. Is it now? You would not thinkit right to give away what wasn't yours--would you now?"

"Give it away! No, that I wouldn't; I'd keep it, " she said, with a roughlaugh. "But if the jacket ain't yours, what right have you to keep it?Here, Cherry, make haste. It'll be one go apiece. "

They all began to tug at the jacket, while Diamond stooped and kept hisarms bent to resist them. Before they had done him or the jacket anyharm, however, suddenly they all scampered away; and Diamond, looking inthe opposite direction, saw the tall policeman coming towards him. 

"You had better have let me come with you, little man, " he said, lookingdown in Diamond's face, which was flushed with his resistance. 

"You came just in the right time, thank you, " returned Diamond. "They'vedone me no harm. "

"They would have if I hadn't been at hand, though. "

"Yes; but you were at hand, you know, so they couldn't. "

Perhaps the answer was deeper in purport than either Diamond or thepoliceman knew. They walked away together, Diamond telling his newfriend how ill poor Nanny was, and that he was going to let the tallgentleman know. The policeman put him in the nearest way for Bloomsbury, and stepping out in good earnest, Diamond reached Mr. Raymond's doorin less than an hour. When he asked if he was at home, the servant, inreturn, asked what he wanted. 

"I want to tell him something. "

"But I can't go and trouble him with such a message as that. "

"He told me to come to him--that is, when I could read--and I can. "

"How am I to know that?"

Diamond stared with astonishment for one moment, then answered:

"Why, I've just told you. That's how you know it. "

But this man was made of coarser grain than the policeman, and, insteadof seeing that Diamond could not tell a lie, he put his answer down asimpudence, and saying, "Do you think I'm going to take your word forit?" shut the door in his face. 

Diamond turned and sat down on the doorstep, thinking with himself thatthe tall gentleman must either come in or come out, and he was thereforein the best possible position for finding him. He had not waited longbefore the door opened again; but when he looked round, it was only theservant once more. 

"Get, away" he said. "What are you doing on the doorstep?"

"Waiting for Mr. Raymond, " answered Diamond, getting up. 

"He's not at home. "

"Then I'll wait till he comes, " returned Diamond, sitting down againwith a smile. 

What the man would have done next I do not know, but a step sounded fromthe hall, and when Diamond looked round yet again, there was the tallgentleman. 

"Who's this, John?" he asked. 

"I don't know, sir. An imperent little boy as will sit on the doorstep. "

"Please sir" said Diamond, "he told me you weren't at home, and I satdown to wait for you. "

"Eh, what!" said Mr. Raymond. "John! John! This won't do. Is it a habitof yours to turn away my visitors? There'll be some one else to turnaway, I'm afraid, if I find any more of this kind of thing. Come in, mylittle man. I suppose you've come to claim your sixpence?"

"No, sir, not that. "

"What! can't you read yet?"

"Yes, I can now, a little. But I'll come for that next time. I came totell you about Sal's Nanny. "

"Who's Sal's Nanny?"

"The girl at the crossing you talked to the same day. "

"Oh, yes; I remember. What's the matter? Has she got run over?"

Then Diamond told him all. 

Now Mr. Raymond was one of the kindest men in London. He sent at once tohave the horse put to the brougham, took Diamond with him, and drove tothe Children's Hospital. There he was well known to everybody, for hewas not only a large subscriber, but he used to go and tell the childrenstories of an afternoon. One of the doctors promised to go and findNanny, and do what could be done--have her brought to the hospital, ifpossible. 

That same night they sent a litter for her, and as she could be of nouse to old Sal until she was better, she did not object to having herremoved. So she was soon lying in the fever ward--for the first time inher life in a nice clean bed. But she knew nothing of the whole affair. She was too ill to know anything. 

CHAPTER XXII. MR. RAYMOND'S RIDDLE

MR. RAYMOND took Diamond home with him, stopping at the Mews to tell hismother that he would send him back soon. Diamond ran in with the messagehimself, and when he reappeared he had in his hand the torn and crumpledbook which North Wind had given him. 

"Ah! I see, " said Mr. Raymond: "you are going to claim your sixpencenow. "

"I wasn't thinking of that so much as of another thing, " said Diamond. "There's a rhyme in this book I can't quite understand. I want you totell me what it means, if you please. "

"I will if I can, " answered Mr. Raymond. "You shall read it to me whenwe get home, and then I shall see. "

Still with a good many blunders, Diamond did read it after a fashion. Mr. Raymond took the little book and read it over again. 

Now Mr. Raymond was a poet himself, and so, although he had never beenat the back of the north wind, he was able to understand the poem prettywell. But before saying anything about it, he read it over aloud, andDiamond thought he understood it much better already. 

"I'll tell you what I think it means, " he then said. "It means thatpeople may have their way for a while, if they like, but it will getthem into such troubles they'll wish they hadn't had it. "

"I know, I know!" said Diamond. "Like the poor cabman next door. Hedrinks too much. "

"Just so, " returned Mr. Raymond. "But when people want to do right, things about them will try to help them. Only they must kill the snake, you know. "

"I was sure the snake had something to do with it, " cried Diamondtriumphantly. 

A good deal more talk followed, and Mr. Raymond gave Diamond hissixpence. 

"What will you do with it?" he asked. 

"Take it home to my mother, " he answered. "She has a teapot--such ablack one!--with a broken spout, and she keeps all her money in it. Itain't much; but she saves it up to buy shoes for me. And there's babycoming on famously, and he'll want shoes soon. And every sixpence issomething--ain't it, sir?"

"To be sure, my man. I hope you'll always make as good a use of yourmoney. "

"I hope so, sir, " said Diamond. 

"And here's a book for you, full of pictures and stories and poems. Iwrote it myself, chiefly for the children of the hospital where I hopeNanny is going. I don't mean I printed it, you know. I made it, " addedMr. Raymond, wishing Diamond to understand that he was the author of thebook. 

"I know what you mean. I make songs myself. They're awfully silly, butthey please baby, and that's all they're meant for. "

"Couldn't you let me hear one of them now?" said Mr. Raymond. 

"No, sir, I couldn't. I forget them as soon as I've done with them. Besides, I couldn't make a line without baby on my knee. We make themtogether, you know. They're just as much baby's as mine. It's he thatpulls them out of me. "

"I suspect the child's a genius, " said the poet to himself, "and that'swhat makes people think him silly. "

Now if any of my child readers want to know what a genius is--shallI try to tell them, or shall I not? I will give them one very shortanswer: it means one who understands things without any other bodytelling him what they mean. God makes a few such now and then to teachthe rest of us. 

"Do you like riddles?" asked Mr. Raymond, turning over the leaves of hisown book. 

"I don't know what a riddle is, " said Diamond. 

"It's something that means something else, and you've got to find outwhat the something else is. "

Mr. Raymond liked the old-fashioned riddle best, and had written afew--one of which he now read. 

 I have only one foot, but thousands of toes; My one foot stands, but never goes. I have many arms, and they're mighty all; And hundreds of fingers, large and small. From the ends of my fingers my beauty grows. I breathe with my hair, and I drink with my toes. I grow bigger and bigger about the waist, And yet I am always very tight laced. None e'er saw me eat--I've no mouth to bite; Yet I eat all day in the full sunlight. In the summer with song I shave and quiver, But in winter I fast and groan and shiver. 

"Do you know what that means, Diamond?" he asked, when he had finished. 

"No, indeed, I don't, " answered Diamond. 

"Then you can read it for yourself, and think over it, and see if youcan find out, " said Mr. Raymond, giving him the book. "And now you hadbetter go home to your mother. When you've found the riddle, you cancome again. "

If Diamond had had to find out the riddle in order to see Mr. Raymondagain, I doubt if he would ever have seen him. 

"Oh then, " I think I hear some little reader say, "he could not havebeen a genius, for a genius finds out things without being told. "

I answer, "Genius finds out truths, not tricks. " And if you do notunderstand that, I am afraid you must be content to wait till you growolder and know more. 

CHAPTER XXIII. THE EARLY BIRD

WHEN Diamond got home he found his father at home already, sitting bythe fire and looking rather miserable, for his head ached and he feltsick. He had been doing night work of late, and it had not agreed withhim, so he had given it up, but not in time, for he had taken somekind of fever. The next day he was forced to keep his bed, and his wifenursed him, and Diamond attended to the baby. If he had not been ill, it would have been delightful to have him at home; and the first dayDiamond sang more songs than ever to the baby, and his father listenedwith some pleasure. But the next he could not bear even Diamond's sweetvoice, and was very ill indeed; so Diamond took the baby into his ownroom, and had no end of quiet games with him there. If he did pullall his bedding on the floor, it did not matter, for he kept baby veryquiet, and made the bed himself again, and slept in it with baby all thenext night, and many nights after. 

But long before his father got well, his mother's savings were all butgone. She did not say a word about it in the hearing of her husband, lest she should distress him; and one night, when she could not helpcrying, she came into Diamond's room that his father might not hearher. She thought Diamond was asleep, but he was not. When he heard hersobbing, he was frightened, and said--

"Is father worse, mother?"

"No, Diamond, " she answered, as well as she could; "he's a good bitbetter. "

"Then what are you crying for, mother?"

"Because my money is almost all gone, " she replied. 

"O mammy, you make me think of a little poem baby and I learned out ofNorth Wind's book to-day. Don't you remember how I bothered you aboutsome of the words?"

"Yes, child, " said his mother heedlessly, thinking only of what sheshould do after to-morrow. 

Diamond began and repeated the poem, for he had a wonderful memory. 

 A little bird sat on the edge of her nest; Her yellow-beaks slept as sound as tops; That day she had done her very best, And had filled every one of their little crops. She had filled her own just over-full, And hence she was feeling a little dull. 

 "Oh, dear!" she sighed, as she sat with her head Sunk in her chest, and no neck at all, While her crop stuck out like a feather bed Turned inside out, and rather small; "What shall I do if things don't reform? I don't know where there's a single worm. 

 "I've had twenty to-day, and the children five each, Besides a few flies, and some very fat spiders: No one will say I don't do as I preach-- I'm one of the best of bird-providers; But where's the use? We want a storm-- I don't know where there's a single worm. "

 "There's five in my crop, " said a wee, wee bird, Which woke at the voice of his mother's pain; "I know where there's five. " And with the word He tucked in his head, and went off again. "The folly of childhood, " sighed his mother, "Has always been my especial bother. "

 The yellow-beaks they slept on and on-- They never had heard of the bogy To-morrow; But the mother sat outside, making her moan-- She'll soon have to beg, or steal, or borrow. For she never can tell the night before, Where she shall find one red worm more. 

 The fact, as I say, was, she'd had too many; She couldn't sleep, and she called it virtue, Motherly foresight, affection, any Name you may call it that will not hurt you, So it was late ere she tucked her head in, And she slept so late it was almost a sin. 

 But the little fellow who knew of five Nor troubled his head about any more, Woke very early, felt quite alive, And wanted a sixth to add to his store: He pushed his mother, the greedy elf, Then thought he had better try for himself. 

 When his mother awoke and had rubbed her eyes, Feeling less like a bird, and more like a mole, She saw him--fancy with what surprise-- Dragging a huge worm out of a hole! 'Twas of this same hero the proverb took form: 'Tis the early bird that catches the worm. 

"There, mother!" said Diamond, as he finished; "ain't it funny?"

"I wish you were like that little bird, Diamond, and could catch wormsfor yourself, " said his mother, as she rose to go and look after herhusband. 

Diamond lay awake for a few minutes, thinking what he could do to catchworms. It was very little trouble to make up his mind, however, andstill less to go to sleep after it. 

CHAPTER XXIV. ANOTHER EARLY BIRD

HE GOT up in the morning as soon as he heard the men moving in the yard. He tucked in his little brother so that he could not tumble out of bed, and then went out, leaving the door open, so that if he should cry hismother might hear him at once. When he got into the yard he found thestable-door just opened. 

"I'm the early bird, I think, " he said to himself. "I hope I shall catchthe worm. "

He would not ask any one to help him, fearing his project might meetwith disapproval and opposition. With great difficulty, but with thehelp of a broken chair he brought down from his bedroom, he managed toput the harness on Diamond. If the old horse had had the least objectionto the proceeding, of course he could not have done it; but even when itcame to the bridle, he opened his mouth for the bit, just as if he hadbeen taking the apple which Diamond sometimes gave him. He fastened thecheek-strap very carefully, just in the usual hole, for fear of chokinghis friend, or else letting the bit get amongst his teeth. It was a jobto get the saddle on; but with the chair he managed it. If old Diamondhad had an education in physics to equal that of the camel, he wouldhave knelt down to let him put it on his back, but that was more thancould be expected of him, and then Diamond had to creep quite under himto get hold of the girth. The collar was almost the worst part of thebusiness; but there Diamond could help Diamond. He held his head verylow till his little master had got it over and turned it round, andthen he lifted his head, and shook it on to his shoulders. The yoke wasrather difficult; but when he had laid the traces over the horse's neck, the weight was not too much for him. He got him right at last, and ledhim out of the stable. 

By this time there were several of the men watching him, but they wouldnot interfere, they were so anxious to see how he would get over thevarious difficulties. They followed him as far as the stable-door, andthere stood watching him again as he put the horse between the shafts, got them up one after the other into the loops, fastened the traces, thebelly-band, the breeching, and the reins. 

Then he got his whip. The moment he mounted the box, the men broke intoa hearty cheer of delight at his success. But they would not let him gowithout a general inspection of the harness; and although they found itright, for not a buckle had to be shifted, they never allowed him to doit for himself again all the time his father was ill. 

The cheer brought his mother to the window, and there she saw her littleboy setting out alone with the cab in the gray of morning. She tugged atthe window, but it was stiff; and before she could open it, Diamond, whowas in a great hurry, was out of the mews, and almost out of the street. She called "Diamond! Diamond!" but there was no answer except from Jack. 

"Never fear for him, ma'am, " said Jack. "It 'ud be only a devil as wouldhurt him, and there ain't so many o' them as some folk 'ud have youbelieve. A boy o' Diamond's size as can 'arness a 'oss t'other Diamond'ssize, and put him to, right as a trivet--if he do upset the keb--'llfall on his feet, ma'am. "

"But he won't upset the cab, will he, Jack?"

"Not he, ma'am. Leastways he won't go for to do it. "

"I know as much as that myself. What do you mean?"

"I mean he's a little likely to do it as the oldest man in the stable. How's the gov'nor to-day, ma'am?"

"A good deal better, thank you, " she answered, closing the window insome fear lest her husband should have been made anxious by the newsof Diamond's expedition. He knew pretty well, however, what his boywas capable of, and although not quite easy was less anxious thanhis mother. But as the evening drew on, the anxiety of both of themincreased, and every sound of wheels made his father raise himself inhis bed, and his mother peep out of the window. 

Diamond had resolved to go straight to the cab-stand where he was bestknown, and never to crawl for fear of getting annoyed by idlers. Beforehe got across Oxford Street, however, he was hailed by a man who wantedto catch a train, and was in too great a hurry to think about thedriver. Having carried him to King's Cross in good time, and got a goodfare in return, he set off again in great spirits, and reached the standin safety. He was the first there after all. 

As the men arrived they all greeted him kindly, and inquired after hisfather. 

"Ain't you afraid of the old 'oss running away with you?" asked one. 

"No, he wouldn't run away with me, " answered Diamond. "He knows I'mgetting the shillings for father. Or if he did he would only run home. "

"Well, you're a plucky one, for all your girl's looks!" said the man;"and I wish ye luck. "

"Thank you, sir, " said Diamond. "I'll do what I can. I came to the oldplace, you see, because I knew you would let me have my turn here. "

In the course of the day one man did try to cut him out, but he was astranger; and the shout the rest of them raised let him see it would notdo, and made him so far ashamed besides, that he went away crawling. 

Once, in a block, a policeman came up to him, and asked him for hisnumber. Diamond showed him his father's badge, saying with a smile:

"Father's ill at home, and so I came out with the cab. There's no fearof me. I can drive. Besides, the old horse could go alone. "

"Just as well, I daresay. You're a pair of 'em. But you are a rum 'unfor a cabby--ain't you now?" said the policeman. "I don't know as Iought to let you go. "

"I ain't done nothing, " said Diamond. "It's not my fault I'm no bigger. I'm big enough for my age. "

"That's where it is, " said the man. "You ain't fit. "

"How do you know that?" asked Diamond, with his usual smile, and turninghis head like a little bird. 

"Why, how are you to get out of this ruck now, when it begins to move?"

"Just you get up on the box, " said Diamond, "and I'll show you. There, that van's a-moving now. Jump up. "

The policeman did as Diamond told him, and was soon satisfied that thelittle fellow could drive. 

"Well, " he said, as he got down again, "I don't know as I should beright to interfere. Good luck to you, my little man!"

"Thank you, sir, " said Diamond, and drove away. 

In a few minutes a gentleman hailed him. 

"Are you the driver of this cab?" he asked. 

"Yes, sir" said Diamond, showing his badge, of which, he was proud. 

"You're the youngest cabman I ever saw. How am I to know you won't breakall my bones?"

"I would rather break all my own, " said Diamond. "But if you're afraid, never mind me; I shall soon get another fare. "

"I'll risk it, " said the gentleman; and, opening the door himself, hejumped in. 

He was going a good distance, and soon found that Diamond got him overthe ground well. Now when Diamond had only to go straight ahead, and hadnot to mind so much what he was about, his thoughts always turned to theriddle Mr. Raymond had set him; and this gentleman looked so clever thathe fancied he must be able to read it for him. He had given up all hopeof finding it out for himself, and he could not plague his father aboutit when he was ill. He had thought of the answer himself, but fancied itcould not be the right one, for to see how it all fitted required someknowledge of physiology. So, when he reached the end of his journey, hegot down very quickly, and with his head just looking in at the window, said, as the gentleman gathered his gloves and newspapers:

"Please, sir, can you tell me the meaning of a riddle?"

"You must tell me the riddle first, " answered the gentleman, amused. 

Diamond repeated the riddle. 

"Oh! that's easy enough, " he returned. "It's a tree. "

"Well, it ain't got no mouth, sure enough; but how then does it eat allday long?"

"It sucks in its food through the tiniest holes in its leaves, " heanswered. "Its breath is its food. And it can't do it except in thedaylight. "

"Thank you, sir, thank you, " returned Diamond. "I'm sorry I couldn'tfind it out myself; Mr. Raymond would have been better pleased with me. "

"But you needn't tell him any one told you. "

Diamond gave him a stare which came from the very back of the northwind, where that kind of thing is unknown. 

"That would be cheating, " he said at last. 

"Ain't you a cabby, then?"

"Cabbies don't cheat. "

"Don't they? I am of a different opinion. "

"I'm sure my father don't. "

"What's your fare, young innocent?"

"Well, I think the distance is a good deal over three miles--that's twoshillings. Only father says sixpence a mile is too little, though wecan't ask for more. "

"You're a deep one. But I think you're wrong. It's over four miles--notmuch, but it is. "

"Then that's half-a-crown, " said Diamond. 

"Well, here's three shillings. Will that do?"

"Thank you kindly, sir. I'll tell my father how good you were tome--first to tell me my riddle, then to put me right about the distance, and then to give me sixpence over. It'll help father to get well again, it will. "

"I hope it may, my man. I shouldn't wonder if you're as good as youlook, after all. "

As Diamond returned, he drew up at a stand he had never been on before:it was time to give Diamond his bag of chopped beans and oats. The mengot about him, and began to chaff him. He took it all good-humouredly, until one of them, who was an ill-conditioned fellow, began to tease oldDiamond by poking him roughly in the ribs, and making general game ofhim. That he could not bear, and the tears came in his eyes. He undidthe nose-bag, put it in the boot, and was just going to mount and driveaway, when the fellow interfered, and would not let him get up. Diamondendeavoured to persuade him, and was very civil, but he would have hisfun out of him, as he said. In a few minutes a group of idle boys hadassembled, and Diamond found himself in a very uncomfortable position. Another cab drew up at the stand, and the driver got off and approachedthe assemblage. 

"What's up here?" he asked, and Diamond knew the voice. It was that ofthe drunken cabman. 

"Do you see this young oyster? He pretends to drive a cab, " said hisenemy. 

"Yes, I do see him. And I sees you too. You'd better leave him alone. Heain't no oyster. He's a angel come down on his own business. You be off, or I'll be nearer you than quite agreeable. "

The drunken cabman was a tall, stout man, who did not look one to takeliberties with. 

"Oh! if he's a friend of yours, " said the other, drawing back. 

Diamond got out the nose-bag again. Old Diamond should have his feed outnow. 

"Yes, he is a friend o' mine. One o' the best I ever had. It's a pityhe ain't a friend o' yourn. You'd be the better for it, but it ain't nofault of hisn. "

When Diamond went home at night, he carried with him one pound oneshilling and sixpence, besides a few coppers extra, which had followedsome of the fares. 

His mother had got very anxious indeed--so much so that she was almostafraid, when she did hear the sound of his cab, to go and look, lestshe should be yet again disappointed, and should break down before herhusband. But there was the old horse, and there was the cab all right, and there was Diamond in the box, his pale face looking triumphant as afull moon in the twilight. 

When he drew up at the stable-door, Jack came out, and after a good manyfriendly questions and congratulations, said:

"You go in to your mother, Diamond. I'll put up the old 'oss. I'll takecare on him. He do deserve some small attention, he do. "

"Thank you, Jack, " said Diamond, and bounded into the house, and intothe arms of his mother, who was waiting him at the top of the stair. 

The poor, anxious woman led him into his own room, sat down on his bed, took him on her lap as if he had been a baby, and cried. 

"How's father?" asked Diamond, almost afraid to ask. 

"Better, my child, " she answered, "but uneasy about you, my dear. "

"Didn't you tell him I was the early bird gone out to catch the worm?"

"That was what put it in your head, was it, you monkey?" said hismother, beginning to get better. 

"That or something else, " answered Diamond, so very quietly that hismother held his head back and stared in his face. 

"Well! of all the children!" she said, and said no more. 

"And here's my worm, " resumed Diamond. 

But to see her face as he poured the shillings and sixpences and penceinto her lap! She burst out crying a second time, and ran with the moneyto her husband. 

And how pleased he was! It did him no end of good. But while he wascounting the coins, Diamond turned to baby, who was lying awake in hiscradle, sucking his precious thumb, and took him up, saying:

"Baby, baby! I haven't seen you for a whole year. "

And then he began to sing to him as usual. And what he sang was this, for he was too happy either to make a song of his own or to sing sense. It was one out of Mr. Raymond's book. 

THE TRUE STORY OF THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE

 Hey, diddle, diddle! The cat and the fiddle! He played such a merry tune, That the cow went mad With the pleasure she had, And jumped right over the moon. But then, don't you see? Before that could be, The moon had come down and listened. The little dog hearkened, So loud that he barkened, "There's nothing like it, there isn't. "

 Hey, diddle, diddle! Went the cat and the fiddle, Hey diddle, diddle, dee, dee! The dog laughed at the sport Till his cough cut him short, It was hey diddle, diddle, oh me! And back came the cow With a merry, merry low, For she'd humbled the man in the moon. The dish got excited, The spoon was delighted, And the dish waltzed away with the spoon. 

 But the man in the moon, Coming back too soon From the famous town of Norwich, Caught up the dish, Said, "It's just what I wish To hold my cold plum-porridge!" Gave the cow a rat-tat, Flung water on the cat, And sent him away like a rocket. Said, "O Moon there you are!" Got into her car, And went off with the spoon in his pocket

 Hey ho! diddle, diddle! The wet cat and wet fiddle, They made such a caterwauling, That the cow in a fright Stood bolt upright Bellowing now, and bawling; And the dog on his tail, Stretched his neck with a wail. But "Ho! ho!" said the man in the moon-- "No more in the South Shall I burn my mouth, For I've found a dish and a spoon. "

CHAPTER XXV. DIAMOND'S DREAM

"THERE, baby!" said Diamond; "I'm so happy that I can only singnonsense. Oh, father, think if you had been a poor man, and hadn't had acab and old Diamond! What should I have done?"

"I don't know indeed what you could have done, " said his father from thebed. 

"We should have all starved, my precious Diamond, " said his mother, whose pride in her boy was even greater than her joy in the shillings. Both of them together made her heart ache, for pleasure can do that aswell as pain. 

"Oh no! we shouldn't, " said Diamond. "I could have taken Nanny'scrossing till she came back; and then the money, instead of going forOld Sal's gin, would have gone for father's beef-tea. I wonder whatNanny will do when she gets well again. Somebody else will be sure tohave taken the crossing by that time. I wonder if she will fight for it, and whether I shall have to help her. I won't bother my head about that. Time enough yet! Hey diddle! hey diddle! hey diddle diddle! I wonderwhether Mr. Raymond would take me to see Nanny. Hey diddle! hey diddle!hey diddle diddle! The baby and fiddle! O, mother, I'm such a silly!But I can't help it. I wish I could think of something else, but there'snothing will come into my head but hey diddle diddle! the cat and thefiddle! I wonder what the angels do--when they're extra happy, youknow--when they've been driving cabs all day and taking home the moneyto their mothers. Do you think they ever sing nonsense, mother?"

"I daresay they've got their own sort of it, " answered his mother, "else they wouldn't be like other people. " She was thinking more of hertwenty-one shillings and sixpence, and of the nice dinner she would getfor her sick husband next day, than of the angels and their nonsense, when she said it. But Diamond found her answer all right. 

"Yes, to be sure, " he replied. "They wouldn't be like other peopleif they hadn't their nonsense sometimes. But it must be very prettynonsense, and not like that silly hey diddle diddle! the cat and thefiddle! I wish I could get it out of my head. I wonder what the angels'nonsense is like. Nonsense is a very good thing, ain't it, mother?--alittle of it now and then; more of it for baby, and not so much forgrown people like cabmen and their mothers? It's like the pepper andsalt that goes in the soup--that's it--isn't it, mother? There's babyfast asleep! Oh, what a nonsense baby it is--to sleep so much! Shall Iput him down, mother?"

Diamond chattered away. What rose in his happy little heart ran outof his mouth, and did his father and mother good. When he went to bed, which he did early, being more tired, as you may suppose, than usual, hewas still thinking what the nonsense could be like which the angelssang when they were too happy to sing sense. But before coming toany conclusion he fell fast asleep. And no wonder, for it must beacknowledged a difficult question. 

That night he had a very curious dream which I think my readers wouldlike to have told them. They would, at least, if they are as fond ofnice dreams as I am, and don't have enough of them of their own. 

He dreamed that he was running about in the twilight in the old garden. He thought he was waiting for North Wind, but she did not come. So hewould run down to the back gate, and see if she were there. He ran andran. It was a good long garden out of his dream, but in his dream ithad grown so long and spread out so wide that the gate he wanted wasnowhere. He ran and ran, but instead of coming to the gate found himselfin a beautiful country, not like any country he had ever been in before. There were no trees of any size; nothing bigger in fact than hawthorns, which were full of may-blossom. The place in which they grew was wildand dry, mostly covered with grass, but having patches of heath. Itextended on every side as far as he could see. But although it was sowild, yet wherever in an ordinary heath you might have expected furzebushes, or holly, or broom, there grew roses--wild and rare--all kinds. On every side, far and near, roses were glowing. There too was thegum-cistus, whose flowers fall every night and come again the nextmorning, lilacs and syringas and laburnums, and many shrubs besides, of which he did not know the names; but the roses were everywhere. Hewandered on and on, wondering when it would come to an end. It was of nouse going back, for there was no house to be seen anywhere. But he wasnot frightened, for you know Diamond was used to things that wererather out of the way. He threw himself down under a rose-bush, and fellasleep. 

He woke, not out of his dream, but into it, thinking he heard a child'svoice, calling "Diamond, Diamond!" He jumped up, but all was still abouthim. The rose-bushes were pouring out their odours in clouds. He couldsee the scent like mists of the same colour as the rose, issuing likea slow fountain and spreading in the air till it joined the thin rosyvapour which hung over all the wilderness. But again came the voicecalling him, and it seemed to come from over his head. He looked up, butsaw only the deep blue sky full of stars--more brilliant, however, thanhe had seen them before; and both sky and stars looked nearer to theearth. 

While he gazed up, again he heard the cry. At the same moment he saw oneof the biggest stars over his head give a kind of twinkle and jump, as if it went out and came in again. He threw himself on his back, and fixed his eyes upon it. Nor had he gazed long before it went out, leaving something like a scar in the blue. But as he went on gazing hesaw a face where the star had been--a merry face, with bright eyes. The eyes appeared not only to see Diamond, but to know that Diamond hadcaught sight of them, for the face withdrew the same moment. Again camethe voice, calling "Diamond, Diamond;" and in jumped the star to itsplace. 

Diamond called as loud as he could, right up into the sky:

"Here's Diamond, down below you. What do you want him to do?"

The next instant many of the stars round about that one went out, andmany voices shouted from the sky, --

"Come up; come up. We're so jolly! Diamond! Diamond!"

This was followed by a peal of the merriest, kindliest laughter, and allthe stars jumped into their places again. 

"How am I to come up?" shouted Diamond. 

"Go round the rose-bush. It's got its foot in it, " said the first voice. 

Diamond got up at once, and walked to the other side of the rose-bush. 

There he found what seemed the very opposite of what he wanted--a stairdown into the earth. It was of turf and moss. It did not seem to promisewell for getting into the sky, but Diamond had learned to look throughthe look of things. The voice must have meant that he was to go downthis stair; and down this stair Diamond went, without waiting to thinkmore about it. 

It was such a nice stair, so cool and soft--all the sides as well as thesteps grown with moss and grass and ferns! Down and down Diamond went--along way, until at last he heard the gurgling and splashing of a littlestream; nor had he gone much farther before he met it--yes, met itcoming up the stairs to meet him, running up just as naturally as ifit had been doing the other thing. Neither was Diamond in the leastsurprised to see it pitching itself from one step to another as itclimbed towards him: he never thought it was odd--and no more it was, there. It would have been odd here. It made a merry tune as it came, andits voice was like the laughter he had heard from the sky. This appearedpromising; and he went on, down and down the stair, and up and up thestream, till at last he came where it hurried out from under a stone, and the stair stopped altogether. And as the stream bubbled up, thestone shook and swayed with its force; and Diamond thought he would tryto lift it. Lightly it rose to his hand, forced up by the stream frombelow; and, by what would have seemed an unaccountable perversion ofthings had he been awake, threatened to come tumbling upon his head. But he avoided it, and when it fell, got upon it. He now saw that theopening through which the water came pouring in was over his head, andwith the help of the stone he scrambled out by it, and found himselfon the side of a grassy hill which rounded away from him in everydirection, and down which came the brook which vanished in the hole. But scarcely had he noticed so much as this before a merry shouting andlaughter burst upon him, and a number of naked little boys came running, every one eager to get to him first. At the shoulders of each flutteredtwo little wings, which were of no use for flying, as they were merebuds; only being made for it they could not help fluttering as if theywere flying. Just as the foremost of the troop reached him, one or twoof them fell, and the rest with shouts of laughter came tumbling overthem till they heaped up a mound of struggling merriment. One afteranother they extricated themselves, and each as he got free threw hisarms round Diamond and kissed him. Diamond's heart was ready to meltwithin him from clear delight. When they had all embraced him, --

"Now let us have some fun, " cried one, and with a shout they allscampered hither and thither, and played the wildest gambols on thegrassy slopes. They kept constantly coming back to Diamond, however, asthe centre of their enjoyment, rejoicing over him as if they had found alost playmate. 

There was a wind on the hillside which blew like the very embodimentof living gladness. It blew into Diamond's heart, and made him so happythat he was forced to sit down and cry. 

"Now let's go and dig for stars, " said one who seemed to be the captainof the troop. 

They all scurried away, but soon returned, one after another, each witha pickaxe on his shoulder and a spade in his hand. As soon as they weregathered, the captain led them in a straight line to another part of thehill. Diamond rose and followed. 

"Here is where we begin our lesson for to-night, " he said. "Scatter anddig. "

There was no more fun. Each went by himself, walking slowly with bentshoulders and his eyes fixed on the ground. Every now and then one wouldstop, kneel down, and look intently, feeling with his hands and partingthe grass. One would get up and walk on again, another spring to hisfeet, catch eagerly at his pickaxe and strike it into the ground onceand again, then throw it aside, snatch up his spade, and commencedigging at the loosened earth. Now one would sorrowfully shovel theearth into the hole again, trample it down with his little bare whitefeet, and walk on. But another would give a joyful shout, and aftermuch tugging and loosening would draw from the hole a lump as big as hishead, or no bigger than his fist; when the under side of it would poursuch a blaze of golden or bluish light into Diamond's eyes that he wasquite dazzled. Gold and blue were the commoner colours: the jubilationwas greater over red or green or purple. And every time a star wasdug up all the little angels dropped their tools and crowded about it, shouting and dancing and fluttering their wing-buds. 

When they had examined it well, they would kneel down one after theother and peep through the hole; but they always stood back to giveDiamond the first look. All that diamond could report, however, was, that through the star-holes he saw a great many things and places andpeople he knew quite well, only somehow they were different--there wassomething marvellous about them--he could not tell what. Every time herose from looking through a star-hole, he felt as if his heart wouldbreak for, joy; and he said that if he had not cried, he did not knowwhat would have become of him. 

As soon as all had looked, the star was carefully fitted in again, alittle mould was strewn over it, and the rest of the heap left as a signthat the star had been discovered. 

At length one dug up a small star of a most lovely colour--a colourDiamond had never seen before. The moment the angel saw what it was, instead of showing it about, he handed it to one of his neighbours, andseated himself on the edge of the hole, saying:

"This will do for me. Good-bye. I'm off. "

They crowded about him, hugging and kissing him; then stood back with asolemn stillness, their wings lying close to their shoulders. The littlefellow looked round on them once with a smile, and then shot himselfheadlong through the star-hole. Diamond, as privileged, threw himselfon the ground to peep after him, but he saw nothing. "It's no use, " saidthe captain. "I never saw anything more of one that went that way. "

"His wings can't be much use, " said Diamond, concerned and fearful, yetcomforted by the calm looks of the rest. 

"That's true, " said the captain. "He's lost them by this time. They alldo that go that way. You haven't got any, you see. "

"No, " said Diamond. "I never did have any. "

"Oh! didn't you?" said the captain. 

"Some people say, " he added, after a pause, "that they come again. Idon't know. I've never found the colour I care about myself. I suppose Ishall some day. "

Then they looked again at the star, put it carefully into its hole, danced around it and over it--but solemnly, and called it by the name ofthe finder. 

"Will you know it again?" asked Diamond. 

"Oh, yes. We never forget a star that's been made a door of. "

Then they went on with their searching and digging. 

Diamond having neither pickaxe nor spade, had the more time to think. 

"I don't see any little girls, " he said at last. 

The captain stopped his shovelling, leaned on his spade, rubbed hisforehead thoughtfully with his left hand--the little angels were allleft-handed--repeated the words "little girls, " and then, as if athought had struck him, resumed his work, saying--

"I think I know what you mean. I've never seen any of them, of course;but I suppose that's the sort you mean. I'm told--but mind I don't sayit is so, for I don't know--that when we fall asleep, a troop of angelsvery like ourselves, only quite different, goes round to all the starswe have discovered, and discovers them after us. I suppose with ourshovelling and handling we spoil them a bit; and I daresay the cloudsthat come up from below make them smoky and dull sometimes. Theysay--mind, I say they say--these other angels take them out one by one, and pass each round as we do, and breathe over it, and rub it withtheir white hands, which are softer than ours, because they don't do anypick-and-spade work, and smile at it, and put it in again: and that iswhat keeps them from growing dark. "

"How jolly!" thought Diamond. "I should like to see them at their worktoo. --When do you go to sleep?" he asked the captain. 

"When we grow sleepy, " answered the captain. "They do say--but mind Isay they say--that it is when those others--what do you call them? Idon't know if that is their name; I am only guessing that may be thesort you mean--when they are on their rounds and come near any troop ofus we fall asleep. They live on the west side of the hill. None of ushave ever been to the top of it yet. "

Even as he spoke, he dropped his spade. He tumbled down beside it, and lay fast asleep. One after the other each of the troop dropped hispickaxe or shovel from his listless hands, and lay fast asleep by hiswork. 

"Ah!" thought Diamond to himself, with delight, "now the girl-angels arecoming, and I, not being an angel, shall not fall asleep like the rest, and I shall see the girl-angels. "

But the same moment he felt himself growing sleepy. He struggled hardwith the invading power. He put up his fingers to his eyelids and pulledthem open. But it was of no use. He thought he saw a glimmer of palerosy light far up the green hill, and ceased to know. 

When he awoke, all the angels were starting up wide awake too. Heexpected to see them lift their tools, but no, the time for play hadcome. They looked happier than ever, and each began to sing where hestood. He had not heard them sing before. 

"Now, " he thought, "I shall know what kind of nonsense the angels singwhen they are merry. They don't drive cabs, I see, but they dig forstars, and they work hard enough to be merry after it. "

And he did hear some of the angels' nonsense; for if it was all sense tothem, it had only just as much sense to Diamond as made good nonsense ofit. He tried hard to set it down in his mind, listening as closely ashe could, now to one, now to another, and now to all together. Butwhile they were yet singing he began, to his dismay, to find that he wascoming awake--faster and faster. And as he came awake, he found that, for all the goodness of his memory, verse after verse of the angels'nonsense vanished from it. He always thought he could keep the last, but as the next began he lost the one before it, and at length awoke, struggling to keep hold of the last verse of all. He felt as if theeffort to keep from forgetting that one verse of the vanishing songnearly killed him. And yet by the time he was wide awake he could not besure of that even. It was something like this:

 White hands of whiteness Wash the stars' faces, Till glitter, glitter, glit, goes their brightness Down to poor places. 

This, however, was so near sense that he thought it could not be reallywhat they did sing. 

CHAPTER XXVI. DIAMOND TAKES A FARE THE WRONG WAY RIGHT

THE next morning Diamond was up almost as early as before. He hadnothing to fear from his mother now, and made no secret of what he wasabout. By the time he reached the stable, several of the men were there. They asked him a good many questions as to his luck the day before, andhe told them all they wanted to know. But when he proceeded to harnessthe old horse, they pushed him aside with rough kindness, called him ababy, and began to do it all for him. So Diamond ran in and had anothermouthful of tea and bread and butter; and although he had never been sotired as he was the night before, he started quite fresh this morning. It was a cloudy day, and the wind blew hard from the north--so hardsometimes that, perched on the box with just his toes touching theground, Diamond wished that he had some kind of strap to fasten himselfdown with lest he should be blown away. But he did not really mind it. 

His head was full of the dream he had dreamed; but it did not make himneglect his work, for his work was not to dig stars but to drive oldDiamond and pick up fares. There are not many people who can think aboutbeautiful things and do common work at the same time. But then there arenot many people who have been to the back of the north wind. 

There was not much business doing. And Diamond felt rather cold, notwithstanding his mother had herself put on his comforter and helpedhim with his greatcoat. But he was too well aware of his dignity toget inside his cab as some do. A cabman ought to be above minding theweather--at least so Diamond thought. At length he was called to aneighbouring house, where a young woman with a heavy box had to be takento Wapping for a coast-steamer. 

He did not find it at all pleasant, so far east and so near the river;for the roughs were in great force. However, there being no block, noteven in Nightingale Lane, he reached the entrance of the wharf, and setdown his passenger without annoyance. But as he turned to go back, someidlers, not content with chaffing him, showed a mind to the fare theyoung woman had given him. They were just pulling him off the box, andDiamond was shouting for the police, when a pale-faced man, in veryshabby clothes, but with the look of a gentleman somewhere about him, came up, and making good use of his stick, drove them off. 

"Now, my little man, " he said, "get on while you can. Don't lose anytime. This is not a place for you. "

But Diamond was not in the habit of thinking only of himself. He sawthat his new friend looked weary, if not ill, and very poor. 

"Won't you jump in, sir?" he said. "I will take you wherever you like. "

"Thank you, my man; but I have no money; so I can't. "

"Oh! I don't want any money. I shall be much happier if you will get in. You have saved me all I had. I owe you a lift, sir. "

"Which way are you going?"

"To Charing Cross; but I don't mind where I go. "

"Well, I am very tired. If you will take me to Charing Cross, I shall begreatly obliged to you. I have walked from Gravesend, and had hardly apenny left to get through the tunnel. "

So saying, he opened the door and got in, and Diamond drove away. 

But as he drove, he could not help fancying he had seen thegentleman--for Diamond knew he was a gentleman--before. Do all he could, however, he could not recall where or when. Meantime his fare, if we maycall him such, seeing he was to pay nothing, whom the relief of beingcarried had made less and less inclined to carry himself, had beenturning over things in his mind, and, as they passed the Mint, called toDiamond, who stopped the horse, got down and went to the window. 

"If you didn't mind taking me to Chiswick, I should be able to pay youwhen we got there. It's a long way, but you shall have the whole farefrom the Docks--and something over. "

"Very well, sir" said Diamond. "I shall be most happy. "

He was just clambering up again, when the gentleman put his head out ofthe window and said--

"It's The Wilderness--Mr. Coleman's place; but I'll direct you when wecome into the neighbourhood. "

It flashed upon Diamond who he was. But he got upon his box to arrangehis thoughts before making any reply. 

The gentleman was Mr. Evans, to whom Miss Coleman was to have beenmarried, and Diamond had seen him several times with her in the garden. I have said that he had not behaved very well to Miss Coleman. He hadput off their marriage more than once in a cowardly fashion, merelybecause he was ashamed to marry upon a small income, and live in ahumble way. When a man thinks of what people will say in such a case, hemay love, but his love is but a poor affair. Mr. Coleman took himinto the firm as a junior partner, and it was in a measure through hisinfluence that he entered upon those speculations which ruined him. Sohis love had not been a blessing. The ship which North Wind had sunk wastheir last venture, and Mr. Evans had gone out with it in the hopeof turning its cargo to the best advantage. He was one of the singleboat-load which managed to reach a desert island, and he had gonethrough a great many hardships and sufferings since then. But he wasnot past being taught, and his troubles had done him no end of good, forthey had made him doubt himself, and begin to think, so that he had cometo see that he had been foolish as well as wicked. For, if he had hadMiss Coleman with him in the desert island, to build her a hut, and huntfor her food, and make clothes for her, he would have thought himselfthe most fortunate of men; and when he was at home, he would not marrytill he could afford a man-servant. Before he got home again, he hadeven begun to understand that no man can make haste to be rich withoutgoing against the will of God, in which case it is the one frightfulthing to be successful. So he had come back a more humble man, andlonging to ask Miss Coleman to forgive him. But he had no idea whatruin had fallen upon them, for he had never made himself thoroughlyacquainted with the firm's affairs. Few speculative people do know theirown affairs. Hence he never doubted he should find matters much as heleft them, and expected to see them all at The Wilderness as before. Butif he had not fallen in with Diamond, he would not have thought of goingthere first. 

What was Diamond to do? He had heard his father and mother dropsome remarks concerning Mr. Evans which made him doubtful of him. Heunderstood that he had not been so considerate as he might have been. So he went rather slowly till he should make up his mind. It was, ofcourse, of no use to drive Mr. Evans to Chiswick. But if he should tellhim what had befallen them, and where they lived now, he might put offgoing to see them, and he was certain that Miss Coleman, at least, mustwant very much to see Mr. Evans. He was pretty sure also that the bestthing in any case was to bring them together, and let them set mattersright for themselves. 

The moment he came to this conclusion, he changed his course fromwestward to northward, and went straight for Mr. Coleman's poor littlehouse in Hoxton. Mr. Evans was too tired and too much occupied with histhoughts to take the least notice of the streets they passed through, and had no suspicion, therefore, of the change of direction. 

By this time the wind had increased almost to a hurricane, and as theyhad often to head it, it was no joke for either of the Diamonds. Thedistance, however, was not great. Before they reached the street whereMr. Coleman lived it blew so tremendously, that when Miss Coleman, whowas going out a little way, opened the door, it dashed against the wallwith such a bang, that she was afraid to venture, and went in again. In five minutes after, Diamond drew up at the door. As soon as he hadentered the street, however, the wind blew right behind them, and whenhe pulled up, old Diamond had so much ado to stop the cab against it, that the breeching broke. Young Diamond jumped off his box, knockedloudly at the door, then turned to the cab and said--before Mr. Evanshad quite begun to think something must be amiss:

"Please, sir, my harness has given away. Would you mind stepping in herefor a few minutes? They're friends of mine. I'll take you where you likeafter I've got it mended. I shan't be many minutes, but you can't standin this wind. "

Half stupid with fatigue and want of food, Mr. Evans yielded to theboy's suggestion, and walked in at the door which the maid held withdifficulty against the wind. She took Mr. Evans for a visitor, as indeedhe was, and showed him into the room on the ground-floor. Diamond, whohad followed into the hall, whispered to her as she closed the door--

"Tell Miss Coleman. It's Miss Coleman he wants to see. "

"I don't know" said the maid. "He don't look much like a gentleman. "

"He is, though; and I know him, and so does Miss Coleman. "

The maid could not but remember Diamond, having seen him when he and hisfather brought the ladies home. So she believed him, and went to do whathe told her. 

What passed in the little parlour when Miss Coleman came down does notbelong to my story, which is all about Diamond. If he had known thatMiss Coleman thought Mr. Evans was dead, perhaps he would have manageddifferently. There was a cry and a running to and fro in the house, andthen all was quiet again. 

Almost as soon as Mr. Evans went in, the wind began to cease, and wasnow still. Diamond found that by making the breeching just a littletighter than was quite comfortable for the old horse he could do verywell for the present; and, thinking it better to let him have his bag inthis quiet place, he sat on the box till the old horse should have eatenhis dinner. In a little while Mr. Evans came out, and asked him to comein. Diamond obeyed, and to his delight Miss Coleman put her arms roundhim and kissed him, and there was payment for him! Not to mention thefive precious shillings she gave him, which he could not refuse becausehis mother wanted them so much at home for his father. He left themnearly as happy as they were themselves. 

The rest of the day he did better, and, although he had not so muchto take home as the day before, yet on the whole the result wassatisfactory. And what a story he had to tell his father and motherabout his adventures, and how he had done, and what was the result! Theyasked him such a multitude of questions! some of which he could answer, and some of which he could not answer; and his father seemed ever somuch better from finding that his boy was already not only useful to hisfamily but useful to other people, and quite taking his place as a manwho judged what was wise, and did work worth doing. 

For a fortnight Diamond went on driving his cab, and keeping his family. He had begun to be known about some parts of London, and people wouldprefer taking his cab because they liked what they heard of him. Onegentleman who lived near the mews engaged him to carry him to theCity every morning at a certain hour; and Diamond was punctual asclockwork--though to effect that required a good deal of care, for hisfather's watch was not much to be depended on, and had to be watcheditself by the clock of St. George's church. Between the two, however, hedid make a success of it. 

After that fortnight, his father was able to go out again. Then Diamondwent to make inquiries about Nanny, and this led to something else. 

CHAPTER XXVII. THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

THE first day his father resumed his work, Diamond went with him asusual. In the afternoon, however, his father, having taken a fare to theneighbourhood, went home, and Diamond drove the cab the rest of theday. It was hard for old Diamond to do all the work, but they couldnot afford to have another horse. They contrived to save him as much aspossible, and fed him well, and he did bravely. 

The next morning his father was so much stronger that Diamond thought hemight go and ask Mr. Raymond to take him to see Nanny. He found him athome. His servant had grown friendly by this time, and showed him inwithout any cross-questioning. Mr. Raymond received him with his usualkindness, consented at once, and walked with him to the Hospital, whichwas close at hand. It was a comfortable old-fashioned house, built inthe reign of Queen Anne, and in her day, no doubt, inhabited by rich andfashionable people: now it was a home for poor sick children, who werecarefully tended for love's sake. There are regions in London where ahospital in every other street might be full of such children, whosefathers and mothers are dead, or unable to take care of them. 

When Diamond followed Mr. Raymond into the room where those children whohad got over the worst of their illness and were growing better lay, hesaw a number of little iron bedsteads, with their heads to the walls, and in every one of them a child, whose face was a story in itself. In some, health had begun to appear in a tinge upon the cheeks, and adoubtful brightness in the eyes, just as out of the cold dreary winterthe spring comes in blushing buds and bright crocuses. In others therewere more of the signs of winter left. Their faces reminded you ofsnow and keen cutting winds, more than of sunshine and soft breezesand butterflies; but even in them the signs of suffering told that thesuffering was less, and that if the spring-time had but arrived, it hadyet arrived. 

Diamond looked all round, but could see no Nanny. He turned to Mr. Raymond with a question in his eyes. 

"Well?" said Mr. Raymond. 

"Nanny's not here, " said Diamond. 

"Oh, yes, she is. "

"I don't see her. "

"I do, though. There she is. "

He pointed to a bed right in front of where Diamond was standing. 

"That's not Nanny, " he said. 

"It is Nanny. I have seen her many times since you have. Illness makes agreat difference. "

"Why, that girl must have been to the back of the north wind!" thoughtDiamond, but he said nothing, only stared; and as he stared, somethingof the old Nanny began to dawn through the face of the new Nanny. Theold Nanny, though a good girl, and a friendly girl, had been rough, blunt in her speech, and dirty in her person. Her face would alwayshave reminded one who had already been to the back of the north windof something he had seen in the best of company, but it had been coarsenotwithstanding, partly from the weather, partly from her living amongstlow people, and partly from having to defend herself: now it was sosweet, and gentle, and refined, that she might have had a lady andgentleman for a father and mother. And Diamond could not help thinkingof words which he had heard in the church the day before: "Surely it isgood to be afflicted;" or something like that. North Wind, somehow orother, must have had to do with her! She had grown from a rough girlinto a gentle maiden. 

Mr. Raymond, however, was not surprised, for he was used to seesuch lovely changes--something like the change which passes upon thecrawling, many-footed creature, when it turns sick and ill, and revivesa butterfly, with two wings instead of many feet. Instead of her havingto take care of herself, kind hands ministered to her, making hercomfortable and sweet and clean, soothing her aching head, and givingher cooling drink when she was thirsty; and kind eyes, the stars of thekingdom of heaven, had shone upon her; so that, what with the fire ofthe fever and the dew of tenderness, that which was coarse in her hadmelted away, and her whole face had grown so refined and sweet thatDiamond did not know her. But as he gazed, the best of the old face, allthe true and good part of it, that which was Nanny herself, dawned uponhim, like the moon coming out of a cloud, until at length, instead ofonly believing Mr. Raymond that this was she, he saw for himself that itwas Nanny indeed--very worn but grown beautiful. 

He went up to her. She smiled. He had heard her laugh, but had neverseen her smile before. 

"Nanny, do you know me?" said Diamond. 

She only smiled again, as if the question was amusing. 

She was not likely to forget him; for although she did not yet knowit was he who had got her there, she had dreamed of him often, and hadtalked much about him when delirious. Nor was it much wonder, for he wasthe only boy except Joe who had ever shown her kindness. 

Meantime Mr. Raymond was going from bed to bed, talking to the littlepeople. Every one knew him, and every one was eager to have a look, anda smile, and a kind word from him. 

Diamond sat down on a stool at the head of Nanny's bed. She laid herhand in his. No one else of her old acquaintance had been near her. 

Suddenly a little voice called aloud--

"Won't Mr. Raymond tell us a story?"

"Oh, yes, please do! please do!" cried several little voices which alsowere stronger than the rest. For Mr. Raymond was in the habit of tellingthem a story when he went to see them, and they enjoyed it far more thanthe other nice things which the doctor permitted him to give them. 

"Very well, " said Mr. Raymond, "I will. What sort of a story shall itbe?"

"A true story, " said one little girl. 

"A fairy tale, " said a little boy. 

"Well, " said Mr. Raymond, "I suppose, as there is a difference, I maychoose. I can't think of any true story just at this moment, so I willtell you a sort of a fairy one. "

"Oh, jolly!" exclaimed the little boy who had called out for a fairytale. 

"It came into my head this morning as I got out of bed, " continued Mr. Raymond; "and if it turns out pretty well, I will write it down, and getsomebody to print it for me, and then you shall read it when you like. "

"Then nobody ever heard it before?" asked one older child. 

"No, nobody. "

"Oh!" exclaimed several, thinking it very grand to have the firsttelling; and I daresay there might be a peculiar freshness about it, because everything would be nearly as new to the story-teller himself asto the listeners. 

Some were only sitting up and some were lying down, so there could notbe the same busy gathering, bustling, and shifting to and fro with whichchildren generally prepare themselves to hear a story; but their faces, and the turning of their heads, and many feeble exclamations of expectedpleasure, showed that all such preparations were making within them. 

Mr. Raymond stood in the middle of the room, that he might turn fromside to side, and give each a share of seeing him. Diamond kept hisplace by Nanny's side, with her hand in his. I do not know how much ofMr. Raymond's story the smaller children understood; indeed, I don'tquite know how much there was in it to be understood, for in such astory every one has just to take what he can get. But they all listenedwith apparent satisfaction, and certainly with great attention. Mr. Raymond wrote it down afterwards, and here it is--somewhat altered nodoubt, for a good story-teller tries to make his stories better everytime he tells them. I cannot myself help thinking that he was somewhatindebted for this one to the old story of The Sleeping Beauty. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. LITTLE DAYLIGHT

NO HOUSE of any pretension to be called a palace is in the least worthyof the name, except it has a wood near it--very near it--and the nearerthe better. Not all round it--I don't mean that, for a palace ought tobe open to the sun and wind, and stand high and brave, with weathercocksglittering and flags flying; but on one side of every palace there mustbe a wood. And there was a very grand wood indeed beside the palace ofthe king who was going to be Daylight's father; such a grand wood, thatnobody yet had ever got to the other end of it. Near the house it waskept very trim and nice, and it was free of brushwood for a long way in;but by degrees it got wild, and it grew wilder, and wilder, and wilder, until some said wild beasts at last did what they liked in it. The kingand his courtiers often hunted, however, and this kept the wild beastsfar away from the palace. 

One glorious summer morning, when the wind and sun were out together, when the vanes were flashing and the flags frolicking against the bluesky, little Daylight made her appearance from somewhere--nobody couldtell where--a beautiful baby, with such bright eyes that she might havecome from the sun, only by and by she showed such lively ways that shemight equally well have come out of the wind. There was great jubilationin the palace, for this was the first baby the queen had had, and thereis as much happiness over a new baby in a palace as in a cottage. 

But there is one disadvantage of living near a wood: you do not knowquite who your neighbours may be. Everybody knew there were in itseveral fairies, living within a few miles of the palace, who always hadhad something to do with each new baby that came; for fairies liveso much longer than we, that they can have business with a good manygenerations of human mortals. The curious houses they lived in were wellknown also, --one, a hollow oak; another, a birch-tree, though nobodycould ever find how that fairy made a house of it; another, a hut ofgrowing trees intertwined, and patched up with turf and moss. But therewas another fairy who had lately come to the place, and nobody even knewshe was a fairy except the other fairies. A wicked old thing she was, always concealing her power, and being as disagreeable as she could, in order to tempt people to give her offence, that she might have thepleasure of taking vengeance upon them. The people about thought she wasa witch, and those who knew her by sight were careful to avoid offendingher. She lived in a mud house, in a swampy part of the forest. 

In all history we find that fairies give their remarkable gifts toprince or princess, or any child of sufficient importance in their eyes, always at the christening. Now this we can understand, because it isan ancient custom amongst human beings as well; and it is not hard toexplain why wicked fairies should choose the same time to do unkindthings; but it is difficult to understand how they should be able todo them, for you would fancy all wicked creatures would be powerless onsuch an occasion. But I never knew of any interference on the part ofthe wicked fairy that did not turn out a good thing in the end. What agood thing, for instance, it was that one princess should sleep for ahundred years! Was she not saved from all the plague of young men whowere not worthy of her? And did she not come awake exactly at the rightmoment when the right prince kissed her? For my part, I cannot helpwishing a good many girls would sleep till just the same fate overtookthem. It would be happier for them, and more agreeable to their friends. 

Of course all the known fairies were invited to the christening. But theking and queen never thought of inviting an old witch. 

For the power of the fairies they have by nature; whereas a witch getsher power by wickedness. The other fairies, however, knowing the dangerthus run, provided as well as they could against accidents from herquarter. But they could neither render her powerless, nor could theyarrange their gifts in reference to hers beforehand, for they could nottell what those might be. 

Of course the old hag was there without being asked. Not to be askedwas just what she wanted, that she might have a sort of reason for doingwhat she wished to do. For somehow even the wickedest of creatures likesa pretext for doing the wrong thing. 

Five fairies had one after the other given the child such gifts as eachcounted best, and the fifth had just stepped back to her place in thesurrounding splendour of ladies and gentlemen, when, mumbling a laughbetween her toothless gums, the wicked fairy hobbled out into the middleof the circle, and at the moment when the archbishop was handing thebaby to the lady at the head of the nursery department of state affairs, addressed him thus, giving a bite or two to every word before she couldpart with it:

"Please your Grace, I'm very deaf: would your Grace mind repeating theprincess's name?"

"With pleasure, my good woman, " said the archbishop, stooping to shoutin her ear: "the infant's name is little Daylight. "

"And little daylight it shall be, " cried the fairy, in the tone of a dryaxle, "and little good shall any of her gifts do her. For I bestow uponher the gift of sleeping all day long, whether she will or not. Ha, ha!He, he! Hi, hi!"

Then out started the sixth fairy, who, of course, the others hadarranged should come after the wicked one, in order to undo as much asshe might. 

"If she sleep all day, " she said, mournfully, "she shall, at least, wakeall night. "

"A nice prospect for her mother and me!" thought the poor king; for theyloved her far too much to give her up to nurses, especially at night, asmost kings and queens do--and are sorry for it afterwards. 

"You spoke before I had done, " said the wicked fairy. "That's againstthe law. It gives me another chance. "

"I beg your pardon, " said the other fairies, all together. 

"She did. I hadn't done laughing, " said the crone. "I had only got toHi, hi! and I had to go through Ho, ho! and Hu, hu! So I decree that ifshe wakes all night she shall wax and wane with its mistress, the moon. And what that may mean I hope her royal parents will live to see. Ho, ho! Hu, hu!"

But out stepped another fairy, for they had been wise enough to keep twoin reserve, because every fairy knew the trick of one. 

"Until, " said the seventh fairy, "a prince comes who shall kiss herwithout knowing it. "

The wicked fairy made a horrid noise like an angry cat, and hobbledaway. She could not pretend that she had not finished her speech thistime, for she had laughed Ho, ho! and Hu, hu!

"I don't know what that means, " said the poor king to the seventh fairy. 

"Don't be afraid. The meaning will come with the thing itself, " saidshe. 

The assembly broke up, miserable enough--the queen, at least, preparedfor a good many sleepless nights, and the lady at the head of thenursery department anything but comfortable in the prospect before her, for of course the queen could not do it all. As for the king, he made uphis mind, with what courage he could summon, to meet the demands of thecase, but wondered whether he could with any propriety require the FirstLord of the Treasury to take a share in the burden laid upon him. 

I will not attempt to describe what they had to go through for sometime. But at last the household settled into a regular system--a veryirregular one in some respects. For at certain seasons the palace rangall night with bursts of laughter from little Daylight, whose heart theold fairy's curse could not reach; she was Daylight still, only a littlein the wrong place, for she always dropped asleep at the first hint ofdawn in the east. But her merriment was of short duration. When the moonwas at the full, she was in glorious spirits, and as beautiful as it waspossible for a child of her age to be. But as the moon waned, she faded, until at last she was wan and withered like the poorest, sickliest childyou might come upon in the streets of a great city in the arms of ahomeless mother. Then the night was quiet as the day, for the littlecreature lay in her gorgeous cradle night and day with hardly a motion, and indeed at last without even a moan, like one dead. At first theyoften thought she was dead, but at last they got used to it, and onlyconsulted the almanac to find the moment when she would begin to revive, which, of course, was with the first appearance of the silver thread ofthe crescent moon. Then she would move her lips, and they would give hera little nourishment; and she would grow better and better and better, until for a few days she was splendidly well. When well, she was alwaysmerriest out in the moonlight; but even when near her worst, she seemedbetter when, in warm summer nights, they carried her cradle out intothe light of the waning moon. Then in her sleep she would smile thefaintest, most pitiful smile. 

For a long time very few people ever saw her awake. As she grew oldershe became such a favourite, however, that about the palace there werealways some who would contrive to keep awake at night, in order to benear her. But she soon began to take every chance of getting away fromher nurses and enjoying her moonlight alone. And thus things went onuntil she was nearly seventeen years of age. Her father and mother hadby that time got so used to the odd state of things that they had ceasedto wonder at them. All their arrangements had reference to the stateof the Princess Daylight, and it is amazing how things contrive toaccommodate themselves. But how any prince was ever to find and deliverher, appeared inconceivable. 

As she grew older she had grown more and more beautiful, with thesunniest hair and the loveliest eyes of heavenly blue, brilliant andprofound as the sky of a June day. But so much more painful and sad wasthe change as her bad time came on. The more beautiful she was in thefull moon, the more withered and worn did she become as the moon waned. At the time at which my story has now arrived, she looked, when the moonwas small or gone, like an old woman exhausted with suffering. This wasthe more painful that her appearance was unnatural; for her hair andeyes did not change. Her wan face was both drawn and wrinkled, and hadan eager hungry look. Her skinny hands moved as if wishing, but unable, to lay hold of something. Her shoulders were bent forward, her chestwent in, and she stooped as if she were eighty years old. At last shehad to be put to bed, and there await the flow of the tide of life. Butshe grew to dislike being seen, still more being touched by any hands, during this season. One lovely summer evening, when the moon lay all butgone upon the verge of the horizon, she vanished from her attendants, and it was only after searching for her a long time in great terror, that they found her fast asleep in the forest, at the foot of a silverbirch, and carried her home. 

A little way from the palace there was a great open glade, covered withthe greenest and softest grass. This was her favourite haunt; for herethe full moon shone free and glorious, while through a vista in thetrees she could generally see more or less of the dying moon as itcrossed the opening. Here she had a little rustic house built for her, and here she mostly resided. None of the court might go there withoutleave, and her own attendants had learned by this time not to beofficious in waiting upon her, so that she was very much at liberty. Whether the good fairies had anything to do with it or not I cannottell, but at last she got into the way of retreating further into thewood every night as the moon waned, so that sometimes they had greattrouble in finding her; but as she was always very angry if shediscovered they were watching her, they scarcely dared to do so. Atlength one night they thought they had lost her altogether. It wasmorning before they found her. Feeble as she was, she had wandered intoa thicket a long way from the glade, and there she lay--fast asleep, ofcourse. 

Although the fame of her beauty and sweetness had gone abroad, yet aseverybody knew she was under a bad spell, no king in the neighbourhoodhad any desire to have her for a daughter-in-law. There were seriousobjections to such a relation. 

About this time in a neighbouring kingdom, in consequence of thewickedness of the nobles, an insurrection took place upon the death ofthe old king, the greater part of the nobility was massacred, andthe young prince was compelled to flee for his life, disguised like apeasant. For some time, until he got out of the country, he sufferedmuch from hunger and fatigue; but when he got into that ruled by theprincess's father, and had no longer any fear of being recognised, hefared better, for the people were kind. He did not abandon his disguise, however. One tolerable reason was that he had no other clothes to puton, and another that he had very little money, and did not know where toget any more. There was no good in telling everybody he met that hewas a prince, for he felt that a prince ought to be able to get on likeother people, else his rank only made a fool of him. He had read ofprinces setting out upon adventure; and here he was out in similar case, only without having had a choice in the matter. He would go on, and seewhat would come of it. 

For a day or two he had been walking through the palace-wood, and hadhad next to nothing to eat, when he came upon the strangest littlehouse, inhabited by a very nice, tidy, motherly old woman. This was oneof the good fairies. The moment she saw him she knew quite well whohe was and what was going to come of it; but she was not at liberty tointerfere with the orderly march of events. She received him with thekindness she would have shown to any other traveller, and gave him breadand milk, which he thought the most delicious food he had ever tasted, wondering that they did not have it for dinner at the palace sometimes. The old woman pressed him to stay all night. When he awoke he was amazedto find how well and strong he felt. She would not take any of the moneyhe offered, but begged him, if he found occasion of continuing in theneighbourhood, to return and occupy the same quarters. 

"Thank you much, good mother, " answered the prince; "but there is littlechance of that. The sooner I get out of this wood the better. "

"I don't know that, " said the fairy. 

"What do you mean?" asked the prince. 

"Why, how should I know?" returned she. 

"I can't tell, " said the prince. 

"Very well, " said the fairy. 

"How strangely you talk!" said the prince. 

"Do I?" said the fairy. 

"Yes, you do, " said the prince. 

"Very well, " said the fairy. 

The prince was not used to be spoken to in this fashion, so he felt alittle angry, and turned and walked away. But this did not offend thefairy. She stood at the door of her little house looking after him tillthe trees hid him quite. Then she said "At last!" and went in. 

The prince wandered and wandered, and got nowhere. The sun sank and sankand went out of sight, and he seemed no nearer the end of the wood thanever. He sat down on a fallen tree, ate a bit of bread the old woman hadgiven him, and waited for the moon; for, although he was not much of anastronomer, he knew the moon would rise some time, because she had risenthe night before. Up she came, slow and slow, but of a good size, prettynearly round indeed; whereupon, greatly refreshed with his piece ofbread, he got up and went--he knew not whither. 

After walking a considerable distance, he thought he was coming to theoutside of the forest; but when he reached what he thought the last ofit, he found himself only upon the edge of a great open space in it, covered with grass. The moon shone very bright, and he thought he hadnever seen a more lovely spot. Still it looked dreary because of itsloneliness, for he could not see the house at the other side. He satdown, weary again, and gazed into the glade. He had not seen so muchroom for several days. 

All at once he spied something in the middle of the grass. What could itbe? It moved; it came nearer. Was it a human creature, gliding across--agirl dressed in white, gleaming in the moonshine? She came nearer andnearer. He crept behind a tree and watched, wondering. It must be somestrange being of the wood--a nymph whom the moonlight and the warmdusky air had enticed from her tree. But when she came close to wherehe stood, he no longer doubted she was human--for he had caught sight ofher sunny hair, and her clear blue eyes, and the loveliest face and formthat he had ever seen. All at once she began singing like a nightingale, and dancing to her own music, with her eyes ever turned towards themoon. She passed close to where he stood, dancing on by the edge of thetrees and away in a great circle towards the other side, until he couldsee but a spot of white in the yellowish green of the moonlit grass. Butwhen he feared it would vanish quite, the spot grew, and became a figureonce more. She approached him again, singing and dancing, and waving herarms over her head, until she had completed the circle. Just oppositehis tree she stood, ceased her song, dropped her arms, and broke outinto a long clear laugh, musical as a brook. Then, as if tired, shethrew herself on the grass, and lay gazing at the moon. The prince wasalmost afraid to breathe lest he should startle her, and she shouldvanish from his sight. As to venturing near her, that never came intohis head. 

She had lain for a long hour or longer, when the prince began again todoubt concerning her. Perhaps she was but a vision of his own fancy. Orwas she a spirit of the wood, after all? If so, he too would haunt thewood, glad to have lost kingdom and everything for the hope of beingnear her. He would build him a hut in the forest, and there he wouldlive for the pure chance of seeing her again. Upon nights like this atleast she would come out and bask in the moonlight, and make his soulblessed. But while he thus dreamed she sprang to her feet, turned herface full to the moon, and began singing as she would draw her down fromthe sky by the power of her entrancing voice. She looked more beautifulthan ever. Again she began dancing to her own music, and danced awayinto the distance. Once more she returned in a similar manner; butalthough he was watching as eagerly as before, what with fatigue andwhat with gazing, he fell fast asleep before she came near him. When heawoke it was broad daylight, and the princess was nowhere. 

He could not leave the place. What if she should come the next night! Hewould gladly endure a day's hunger to see her yet again: he would bucklehis belt quite tight. He walked round the glade to see if he coulddiscover any prints of her feet. But the grass was so short, and hersteps had been so light, that she had not left a single trace behindher. He walked half-way round the wood without seeing anything toaccount for her presence. Then he spied a lovely little house, withthatched roof and low eaves, surrounded by an exquisite garden, withdoves and peacocks walking in it. Of course this must be where thegracious lady who loved the moonlight lived. Forgetting his appearance, he walked towards the door, determined to make inquiries, but as hepassed a little pond full of gold and silver fishes, he caught sight ofhimself and turned to find the door to the kitchen. There he knocked, and asked for a piece of bread. The good-natured cook brought him in, and gave him an excellent breakfast, which the prince found nothing theworse for being served in the kitchen. While he ate, he talked withhis entertainer, and learned that this was the favourite retreat ofthe Princess Daylight. But he learned nothing more, both because he wasafraid of seeming inquisitive, and because the cook did not choose to beheard talking about her mistress to a peasant lad who had begged for hisbreakfast. 

As he rose to take his leave, it occurred to him that he might not beso far from the old woman's cottage as he had thought, and he asked thecook whether she knew anything of such a place, describing it as well ashe could. She said she knew it well enough, adding with a smile--

"It's there you're going, is it?"

"Yes, if it's not far off. "

"It's not more than three miles. But mind what you are about, you know. "

"Why do you say that?"

"If you're after any mischief, she'll make you repent it. "

"The best thing that could happen under the circumstances, " remarked theprince. 

"What do you mean by that?" asked the cook. 

"Why, it stands to reason, " answered the prince "that if you wish to doanything wrong, the best thing for you is to be made to repent of it. "

"I see, " said the cook. "Well, I think you may venture. She's a good oldsoul. "

"Which way does it lie from here?" asked the prince. 

She gave him full instructions; and he left her with many thanks. 

Being now refreshed, however, the prince did not go back to the cottagethat day: he remained in the forest, amusing himself as best he could, but waiting anxiously for the night, in the hope that the princess wouldagain appear. Nor was he disappointed, for, directly the moon rose, hespied a glimmering shape far across the glade. As it drew nearer, he sawit was she indeed--not dressed in white as before: in a pale blue likethe sky, she looked lovelier still. He thought it was that the bluesuited her yet better than the white; he did not know that she wasreally more beautiful because the moon was nearer the full. In fact thenext night was full moon, and the princess would then be at the zenithof her loveliness. 

The prince feared for some time that she was not coming near hishiding-place that night; but the circles in her dance ever widened asthe moon rose, until at last they embraced the whole glade, and shecame still closer to the trees where he was hiding than she had come thenight before. He was entranced with her loveliness, for it was indeed amarvellous thing. All night long he watched her, but dared not go nearher. He would have been ashamed of watching her too, had he not becomealmost incapable of thinking of anything but how beautiful she was. Hewatched the whole night long, and saw that as the moon went down sheretreated in smaller and smaller circles, until at last he could see herno more. 

Weary as he was, he set out for the old woman's cottage, where hearrived just in time for her breakfast, which she shared with him. Hethen went to bed, and slept for many hours. When he awoke the sun wasdown, and he departed in great anxiety lest he should lose a glimpseof the lovely vision. But, whether it was by the machinations of theswamp-fairy, or merely that it is one thing to go and another to returnby the same road, he lost his way. I shall not attempt to describe hismisery when the moon rose, and he saw nothing but trees, trees, trees. 

She was high in the heavens before he reached the glade. Then indeedhis troubles vanished, for there was the princess coming dancing towardshim, in a dress that shone like gold, and with shoes that glimmeredthrough the grass like fireflies. She was of course still more beautifulthan before. Like an embodied sunbeam she passed him, and danced awayinto the distance. 

Before she returned in her circle, the clouds had begun to gather aboutthe moon. The wind rose, the trees moaned, and their lighter branchesleaned all one way before it. The prince feared that the princess wouldgo in, and he should see her no more that night. But she came dancing onmore jubilant than ever, her golden dress and her sunny hair streamingout upon the blast, waving her arms towards the moon, and in theexuberance of her delight ordering the clouds away from off her face. The prince could hardly believe she was not a creature of the elements, after all. 

By the time she had completed another circle, the clouds had gathereddeep, and there were growlings of distant thunder. Just as she passedthe tree where he stood, a flash of lightning blinded him for a moment, and when he saw again, to his horror, the princess lay on the ground. He darted to her, thinking she had been struck; but when she heard himcoming, she was on her feet in a moment. 

"What do you want?" she asked. 

"I beg your pardon. I thought--the lightning" said the prince, hesitating. 

"There's nothing the matter, " said the princess, waving him off ratherhaughtily. 

The poor prince turned and walked towards the wood. 

"Come back, " said Daylight: "I like you. You do what you are told. Areyou good?"

"Not so good as I should like to be, " said the prince. 

"Then go and grow better, " said the princess. 

Again the disappointed prince turned and went. 

"Come back, " said the princess. 

He obeyed, and stood before her waiting. 

"Can you tell me what the sun is like?" she asked. 

"No, " he answered. "But where's the good of asking what you know?"

"But I don't know, " she rejoined. 

"Why, everybody knows. "

"That's the very thing: I'm not everybody. I've never seen the sun. "

"Then you can't know what it's like till you do see it. "

"I think you must be a prince, " said the princess. 

"Do I look like one?" said the prince. 

"I can't quite say that. "

"Then why do you think so?"

"Because you both do what you are told and speak the truth. --Is the sunso very bright?"

"As bright as the lightning. "

"But it doesn't go out like that, does it?"

"Oh, no. It shines like the moon, rises and sets like the moon, is muchthe same shape as the moon, only so bright that you can't look at it fora moment. "

"But I would look at it, " said the princess. 

"But you couldn't, " said the prince. 

"But I could, " said the princess. 

"Why don't you, then?"

"Because I can't. "

"Why can't you?"

"Because I can't wake. And I never shall wake until----"

Here she hid her face in her hands, turned away, and walked in theslowest, stateliest manner towards the house. The prince ventured tofollow her at a little distance, but she turned and made a repellentgesture, which, like a true gentleman-prince, he obeyed at once. Hewaited a long time, but as she did not come near him again, and as thenight had now cleared, he set off at last for the old woman's cottage. 

It was long past midnight when he reached it, but, to his surprise, theold woman was paring potatoes at the door. Fairies are fond of doing oddthings. Indeed, however they may dissemble, the night is always theirday. And so it is with all who have fairy blood in them. 

"Why, what are you doing there, this time of the night, mother?" saidthe prince; for that was the kind way in which any young man in hiscountry would address a woman who was much older than himself. 

"Getting your supper ready, my son, " she answered. 

"Oh, I don't want any supper, " said the prince. 

"Ah! you've seen Daylight, " said she. 

"I've seen a princess who never saw it, " said the prince. 

"Do you like her?" asked the fairy. 

"Oh! don't I?" said the prince. "More than you would believe, mother. "

"A fairy can believe anything that ever was or ever could be, " said theold woman. 

"Then are you a fairy?" asked the prince. 

"Yes, " said she. 

"Then what do you do for things not to believe?" asked the prince. 

"There's plenty of them--everything that never was nor ever could be. "

"Plenty, I grant you, " said the prince. "But do you believe there couldbe a princess who never saw the daylight? Do you believe that now?"

This the prince said, not that he doubted the princess, but that hewanted the fairy to tell him more. She was too old a fairy, however, tobe caught so easily. 

"Of all people, fairies must not tell secrets. Besides, she's aprincess. "

"Well, I'll tell you a secret. I'm a prince. "

"I know that. "

"How do you know it?"

"By the curl of the third eyelash on your left eyelid. "

"Which corner do you count from?"

"That's a secret. "

"Another secret? Well, at least, if I am a prince, there can be no harmin telling me about a princess. "

"It's just the princes I can't tell. "

"There ain't any more of them--are there?" said the prince. 

"What! you don't think you're the only prince in the world, do you?"

"Oh, dear, no! not at all. But I know there's one too many just atpresent, except the princess----"

"Yes, yes, that's it, " said the fairy. 

"What's it?" asked the prince. 

But he could get nothing more out of the fairy, and had to go to bedunanswered, which was something of a trial. 

Now wicked fairies will not be bound by the law which the good fairiesobey, and this always seems to give the bad the advantage over the good, for they use means to gain their ends which the others will not. But itis all of no consequence, for what they do never succeeds; nay, in theend it brings about the very thing they are trying to prevent. Soyou see that somehow, for all their cleverness, wicked fairies aredreadfully stupid, for, although from the beginning of the world theyhave really helped instead of thwarting the good fairies, not one ofthem is a bit wiser for it. She will try the bad thing just as they alldid before her; and succeeds no better of course. 

The prince had so far stolen a march upon the swamp-fairy that shedid not know he was in the neighbourhood until after he had seen theprincess those three times. When she knew it, she consoled herself bythinking that the princess must be far too proud and too modest for anyyoung man to venture even to speak to her before he had seen her sixtimes at least. But there was even less danger than the wicked fairythought; for, however much the princess might desire to be set free, shewas dreadfully afraid of the wrong prince. Now, however, the fairy wasgoing to do all she could. 

She so contrived it by her deceitful spells, that the next night theprince could not by any endeavour find his way to the glade. It wouldtake me too long to tell her tricks. They would be amusing to us, whoknow that they could not do any harm, but they were something other thanamusing to the poor prince. He wandered about the forest till daylight, and then fell fast asleep. The same thing occurred for seven followingdays, during which neither could he find the good fairy's cottage. Afterthe third quarter of the moon, however, the bad fairy thought she mightbe at ease about the affair for a fortnight at least, for there was nochance of the prince wishing to kiss the princess during that period. So the first day of the fourth quarter he did find the cottage, and thenext day he found the glade. For nearly another week he haunted it. Butthe princess never came. I have little doubt she was on the fartheredge of it some part of every night, but at this period she always woreblack, and, there being little or no light, the prince never saw her. Nor would he have known her if he had seen her. How could he havetaken the worn decrepit creature she was now, for the glorious PrincessDaylight?

At last, one night when there was no moon at all, he ventured near thehouse. There he heard voices talking, although it was past midnight; forher women were in considerable uneasiness, because the one whose turn itwas to watch her had fallen asleep, and had not seen which way she went, and this was a night when she would probably wander very far, describinga circle which did not touch the open glade at all, but stretched awayfrom the back of the house, deep into that side of the forest--a partof which the prince knew nothing. When he understood from what they saidthat she had disappeared, and that she must have gone somewhere in thesaid direction, he plunged at once into the wood to see if he could findher. For hours he roamed with nothing to guide him but the vague notionof a circle which on one side bordered on the house, for so much had hepicked up from the talk he had overheard. 

It was getting towards the dawn, but as yet there was no streak of lightin the sky, when he came to a great birch-tree, and sat down weary atthe foot of it. While he sat--very miserable, you may be sure--full offear for the princess, and wondering how her attendants could take it soquietly, he bethought himself that it would not be a bad plan to lighta fire, which, if she were anywhere near, would attract her. This hemanaged with a tinder-box, which the good fairy had given him. It wasjust beginning to blaze up, when he heard a moan, which seemed to comefrom the other side of the tree. He sprung to his feet, but his heartthrobbed so that he had to lean for a moment against the tree before hecould move. When he got round, there lay a human form in a little darkheap on the earth. There was light enough from his fire to show that itwas not the princess. He lifted it in his arms, hardly heavier than achild, and carried it to the flame. The countenance was that of an oldwoman, but it had a fearfully strange look. A black hood concealed herhair, and her eyes were closed. He laid her down as comfortably as hecould, chafed her hands, put a little cordial from a bottle, also thegift of the fairy, into her mouth; took off his coat and wrapped itabout her, and in short did the best he could. In a little while sheopened her eyes and looked at him--so pitifully! The tears rose andflowed from her grey wrinkled cheeks, but she said never a word. Sheclosed her eyes again, but the tears kept on flowing, and her wholeappearance was so utterly pitiful that the prince was near crying too. He begged her to tell him what was the matter, promising to do allhe could to help her; but still she did not speak. He thought she wasdying, and took her in his arms again to carry her to the princess'shouse, where he thought the good-natured cook might be able to dosomething for her. When he lifted her, the tears flowed yet faster, andshe gave such a sad moan that it went to his very heart. 

"Mother, mother!" he said. "Poor mother!" and kissed her on the witheredlips. 

She started; and what eyes they were that opened upon him! But he didnot see them, for it was still very dark, and he had enough to do tomake his way through the trees towards the house. 

Just as he approached the door, feeling more tired than he could haveimagined possible--she was such a little thin old thing--she began tomove, and became so restless that, unable to carry her a moment longer, he thought to lay her on the grass. But she stood upright on her feet. Her hood had dropped, and her hair fell about her. The first gleamof the morning was caught on her face: that face was bright as thenever-aging Dawn, and her eyes were lovely as the sky of darkest blue. The prince recoiled in overmastering wonder. It was Daylight herselfwhom he had brought from the forest! He fell at her feet, nor dared tolook up until she laid her hand upon his head. He rose then. 

"You kissed me when I was an old woman: there! I kiss you when I am ayoung princess, " murmured Daylight. --"Is that the sun coming?"

CHAPTER XXIX. RUBY

THE children were delighted with the story, and made many amusingremarks upon it. Mr. Raymond promised to search his brain for another, and when he had found one to bring it to them. Diamond having takenleave of Nanny, and promised to go and see her again soon, went awaywith him. 

Now Mr. Raymond had been turning over in his mind what he could do bothfor Diamond and for Nanny. He had therefore made some acquaintance withDiamond's father, and had been greatly pleased with him. But he had cometo the resolution, before he did anything so good as he would like todo for them, to put them all to a certain test. So as they walked awaytogether, he began to talk with Diamond as follows:--

"Nanny must leave the hospital soon, Diamond. "

"I'm glad of that, sir. "

"Why? Don't you think it's a nice place?"

"Yes, very. But it's better to be well and doing something, you know, even if it's not quite so comfortable. "

"But they can't keep Nanny so long as they would like. They can't keepher till she's quite strong. There are always so many sick children theywant to take in and make better. And the question is, What will she dowhen they send her out again?"

"That's just what I can't tell, though I've been thinking of it over andover, sir. Her crossing was taken long ago, and I couldn't bear to seeNanny fighting for it, especially with such a poor fellow as has takenit. He's quite lame, sir. "

"She doesn't look much like fighting, now, does she, Diamond?"

"No, sir. She looks too like an angel. Angels don't fight--do they, sir?"

"Not to get things for themselves, at least, " said Mr. Raymond. 

"Besides, " added Diamond, "I don't quite see that she would have anybetter right to the crossing than the boy who has got it. Nobody gave itto her; she only took it. And now he has taken it. "

"If she were to sweep a crossing--soon at least--after the illness shehas had, she would be laid up again the very first wet day, " said Mr. Raymond. 

"And there's hardly any money to be got except on the wet days, "remarked Diamond reflectively. "Is there nothing else she could do, sir?"

"Not without being taught, I'm afraid. "

"Well, couldn't somebody teach her something?"

"Couldn't you teach her, Diamond?"

"I don't know anything myself, sir. I could teach her to dress thebaby; but nobody would give her anything for doing things like that:they are so easy. There wouldn't be much good in teaching her to drivea cab, for where would she get the cab to drive? There ain't fathers andold Diamonds everywhere. At least poor Nanny can't find any of them, Idoubt. "

"Perhaps if she were taught to be nice and clean, and only speak gentlewords. "

"Mother could teach her that, " interrupted Diamond. 

"And to dress babies, and feed them, and take care of them, " Mr. Raymondproceeded, "she might get a place as a nurse somewhere, you know. Peopledo give money for that. "

"Then I'll ask mother, " said Diamond. 

"But you'll have to give her her food then; and your father, not beingstrong, has enough to do already without that. "

"But here's me, " said Diamond: "I help him out with it. When he's tiredof driving, up I get. It don't make any difference to old Diamond. Idon't mean he likes me as well as my father--of course he can't, youknow--nobody could; but he does his duty all the same. It's got to bedone, you know, sir; and Diamond's a good horse--isn't he, sir?"

"From your description I should say certainly; but I have not thepleasure of his acquaintance myself. "

"Don't you think he will go to heaven, sir?"

"That I don't know anything about, " said Mr. Raymond. "I confess Ishould be glad to think so, " he added, smiling thoughtfully. 

"I'm sure he'll get to the back of the north wind, anyhow, " said Diamondto himself; but he had learned to be very careful of saying such thingsaloud. 

"Isn't it rather too much for him to go in the cab all day and everyday?" resumed Mr. Raymond. 

"So father says, when he feels his ribs of a morning. But then he saysthe old horse do eat well, and the moment he's had his supper, downhe goes, and never gets up till he's called; and, for the legs of him, father says that makes no end of a differ. Some horses, sir! they won'tlie down all night long, but go to sleep on their four pins, like ahaystack, father says. I think it's very stupid of them, and so does oldDiamond. But then I suppose they don't know better, and so they can'thelp it. We mustn't be too hard upon them, father says. "

"Your father must be a good man, Diamond. " Diamond looked up in Mr. Raymond's face, wondering what he could mean. 

"I said your father must be a good man, Diamond. "

"Of course, " said Diamond. "How could he drive a cab if he wasn't?"

"There are some men who drive cabs who are not very good, " objected Mr. Raymond. 

Diamond remembered the drunken cabman, and saw that his friend wasright. 

"Ah, but, " he returned, "he must be, you know, with such a horse as oldDiamond. "

"That does make a difference, " said Mr. Raymond. "But it is quite enoughthat he is a good man without our trying to account for it. Now, if youlike, I will give you a proof that I think him a good man. I am goingaway on the Continent for a while--for three months, I believe--and Iam going to let my house to a gentleman who does not want the use ofmy brougham. My horse is nearly as old, I fancy, as your Diamond, butI don't want to part with him, and I don't want him to be idle; fornobody, as you say, ought to be idle; but neither do I want him to beworked very hard. Now, it has come into my head that perhaps your fatherwould take charge of him, and work him under certain conditions. "

"My father will do what's right, " said Diamond. "I'm sure of that. "

"Well, so I think. Will you ask him when he comes home to call and havea little chat with me--to-day, some time?"

"He must have his dinner first, " said Diamond. "No, he's got his dinnerwith him to-day. It must be after he's had his tea. "

"Of course, of course. Any time will do. I shall be at home all day. "

"Very well, sir. I will tell him. You may be sure he will come. Myfather thinks you a very kind gentleman, and I know he is right, for Iknow your very own self, sir. "

Mr. Raymond smiled, and as they had now reached his door, they parted, and Diamond went home. As soon as his father entered the house, Diamondgave him Mr. Raymond's message, and recounted the conversation that hadpreceded it. His father said little, but took thought-sauce to his breadand butter, and as soon as he had finished his meal, rose, saying:

"I will go to your friend directly, Diamond. It would be a grand thingto get a little more money. We do want it. " Diamond accompanied hisfather to Mr. Raymond's door, and there left him. 

He was shown at once into Mr. Raymond's study, where he gazed withsome wonder at the multitude of books on the walls, and thought what alearned man Mr. Raymond must be. 

Presently Mr. Raymond entered, and after saying much the same abouthis old horse, made the following distinct proposal--one notover-advantageous to Diamond's father, but for which he hadreasons--namely, that Joseph should have the use of Mr. Raymond's horsewhile he was away, on condition that he never worked him more than sixhours a day, and fed him well, and that, besides, he should take Nannyhome as soon as she was able to leave the hospital, and provide for heras one of his own children, neither better nor worse--so long, that is, as he had the horse. 

Diamond's father could not help thinking it a pretty close bargain. Heshould have both the girl and the horse to feed, and only six hours'work out of the horse. 

"It will save your own horse, " said Mr. Raymond. 

"That is true, " answered Joseph; "but all I can get by my own horse isonly enough to keep us, and if I save him and feed your horse and thegirl--don't you see, sir?"

"Well, you can go home and think about it, and let me know by the end ofthe week. I am in no hurry before then. "

So Joseph went home and recounted the proposal to his wife, adding thathe did not think there was much advantage to be got out of it. 

"Not much that way, husband, " said Diamond's mother; "but there would bean advantage, and what matter who gets it!"

"I don't see it, " answered her husband. "Mr. Raymond is a gentleman ofproperty, and I don't discover any much good in helping him to save alittle more. He won't easily get one to make such a bargain, and Idon't mean he shall get me. It would be a loss rather than a gain--I dothink--at least if I took less work out of our own horse. "

"One hour would make a difference to old Diamond. But that's not themain point. You must think what an advantage it would be to the poorgirl that hasn't a home to go to!"

"She is one of Diamond's friends, " thought his father. 

"I could be kind to her, you know, " the mother went on, "and teach herhousework, and how to handle a baby; and, besides, she would helpme, and I should be the stronger for it, and able to do an odd bit ofcharing now and then, when I got the chance. "

"I won't hear of that, " said her husband. "Have the girl by all means. I'm ashamed I did not think of both sides of the thing at once. I wonderif the horse is a great eater. To be sure, if I gave Diamond two hours'additional rest, it would be all the better for the old bones of him, and there would be four hours extra out of the other horse. That wouldgive Diamond something to do every day. He could drive old Diamond afterdinner, and I could take the other horse out for six hours after tea, or in the morning, as I found best. It might pay for the keep of both ofthem, --that is, if I had good luck. I should like to oblige Mr. Raymond, though he be rather hard, for he has been very kind to our Diamond, wife. Hasn't he now?"

"He has indeed, Joseph, " said his wife, and there the conversationended. 

Diamond's father went the very next day to Mr. Raymond, and accepted hisproposal; so that the week after having got another stall in the samestable, he had two horses instead of one. Oddly enough, the name of thenew horse was Ruby, for he was a very red chestnut. Diamond's name camefrom a white lozenge on his forehead. Young Diamond said they were richnow, with such a big diamond and such a big ruby. 

CHAPTER XXX. NANNY'S DREAM

NANNY was not fit to be moved for some time yet, and Diamond went to seeher as often as he could. But being more regularly engaged now, seeinghe went out every day for a few hours with old Diamond, and had his babyto mind, and one of the horses to attend to, he could not go so often ashe would have liked. 

One evening, as he sat by her bedside, she said to him:

"I've had such a beautiful dream, Diamond! I should like to tell ityou. "

"Oh! do, " said Diamond; "I am so fond of dreams!"

"She must have been to the back of the north wind, " he said to himself. 

"It was a very foolish dream, you know. But somehow it was so pleasant!What a good thing it is that you believe the dream all the time you arein it!"

My readers must not suppose that poor Nanny was able to say what shemeant so well as I put it down here. She had never been to school, andhad heard very little else than vulgar speech until she came to thehospital. But I have been to school, and although that could never makeme able to dream so well as Nanny, it has made me able to tell her dreambetter than she could herself. And I am the more desirous of doing thisfor her that I have already done the best I could for Diamond's dream, and it would be a shame to give the boy all the advantage. 

"I will tell you all I know about it, " said Nanny. "The day beforeyesterday, a lady came to see us--a very beautiful lady, and verybeautifully dressed. I heard the matron say to her that it was verykind of her to come in blue and gold; and she answered that she knewwe didn't like dull colours. She had such a lovely shawl on, just likeredness dipped in milk, and all worked over with flowers of the samecolour. It didn't shine much, it was silk, but it kept in the shine. When she came to my bedside, she sat down, just where you are sitting, Diamond, and laid her hand on the counterpane. I was sitting up, with mytable before me ready for my tea. Her hand looked so pretty in its blueglove, that I was tempted to stroke it. I thought she wouldn't be angry, for everybody that comes to the hospital is kind. It's only in thestreets they ain't kind. But she drew her hand away, and I almost cried, for I thought I had been rude. Instead of that, however, it was onlythat she didn't like giving me her glove to stroke, for she drew itoff, and then laid her hand where it was before. I wasn't sure, but Iventured to put out my ugly hand. "

"Your hand ain't ugly, Nanny, " said Diamond; but Nanny went on--

"And I stroked it again, and then she stroked mine, --think of that! Andthere was a ring on her finger, and I looked down to see what it waslike. And she drew it off, and put it upon one of my fingers. It was ared stone, and she told me they called it a ruby. "

"Oh, that is funny!" said Diamond. "Our new horse is called Ruby. We'vegot another horse--a red one--such a beauty!"

But Nanny went on with her story. 

"I looked at the ruby all the time the lady was talking to me, --it wasso beautiful! And as she talked I kept seeing deeper and deeper into thestone. At last she rose to go away, and I began to pull the ring offmy finger; and what do you think she said?--'Wear it all night, if youlike. Only you must take care of it. I can't give it you, for some onegave it to me; but you may keep it till to-morrow. ' Wasn't it kind ofher? I could hardly take my tea, I was so delighted to hear it; and Ido think it was the ring that set me dreaming; for, after I had taken mytea, I leaned back, half lying and half sitting, and looked at the ringon my finger. By degrees I began to dream. The ring grew larger andlarger, until at last I found that I was not looking at a red stone, butat a red sunset, which shone in at the end of a long street near whereGrannie lives. I was dressed in rags as I used to be, and I had greatholes in my shoes, at which the nasty mud came through to my feet. Ididn't use to mind it before, but now I thought it horrid. And there wasthe great red sunset, with streaks of green and gold between, standinglooking at me. Why couldn't I live in the sunset instead of in thatdirt? Why was it so far away always? Why did it never come into ourwretched street? It faded away, as the sunsets always do, and at lastwent out altogether. Then a cold wind began to blow, and flutter all myrags about----"

"That was North Wind herself, " said Diamond. 

"Eh?" said Nanny, and went on with her story. 

"I turned my back to it, and wandered away. I did not know where I wasgoing, only it was warmer to go that way. I don't think it was a northwind, for I found myself in the west end at last. But it doesn't matterin a dream which wind it was. "

"I don't know that, " said Diamond. "I believe North Wind can get intoour dreams--yes, and blow in them. Sometimes she has blown me out of adream altogether. "

"I don't know what you mean, Diamond, " said Nanny. 

"Never mind, " answered Diamond. "Two people can't always understand eachother. They'd both be at the back of the north wind directly, and whatwould become of the other places without them?"

"You do talk so oddly!" said Nanny. "I sometimes think they must havebeen right about you. "

"What did they say about me?" asked Diamond. 

"They called you God's baby. "

"How kind of them! But I knew that. "

"Did you know what it meant, though? It meant that you were not right inthe head. "

"I feel all right, " said Diamond, putting both hands to his head, as ifit had been a globe he could take off and set on again. 

"Well, as long as you are pleased I am pleased, " said Nanny. 

"Thank you, Nanny. Do go on with your story. I think I like dreams evenbetter than fairy tales. But they must be nice ones, like yours, youknow. "

"Well, I went on, keeping my back to the wind, until I came to a finestreet on the top of a hill. How it happened I don't know, but the frontdoor of one of the houses was open, and not only the front door, but theback door as well, so that I could see right through the house--andwhat do you think I saw? A garden place with green grass, and the moonshining upon it! Think of that! There was no moon in the street, butthrough the house there was the moon. I looked and there was nobodynear: I would not do any harm, and the grass was so much nicer than themud! But I couldn't think of going on the grass with such dirty shoes: Ikicked them off in the gutter, and ran in on my bare feet, up the steps, and through the house, and on to the grass; and the moment I came intothe moonlight, I began to feel better. "

"That's why North Wind blew you there, " said Diamond. 

"It came of Mr. Raymond's story about Princess Daylight, " returnedNanny. "Well, I lay down upon the grass in the moonlight withoutthinking how I was to get out again. Somehow the moon suited me exactly. There was not a breath of the north wind you talk about; it was quitegone. "

"You didn't want her any more, just then. She never goes where she's notwanted, " said Diamond. "But she blew you into the moonlight, anyhow. "

"Well, we won't dispute about it, " said Nanny: "you've got a tile loose, you know. "

"Suppose I have, " returned Diamond, "don't you see it may let in themoonlight, or the sunlight for that matter?"

"Perhaps yes, perhaps no, " said Nanny. 

"And you've got your dreams, too, Nanny. "

"Yes, but I know they're dreams. "

"So do I. But I know besides they are something more as well. "

"Oh! do you?" rejoined Nanny. "I don't. "

"All right, " said Diamond. "Perhaps you will some day. "

"Perhaps I won't, " said Nanny. 

Diamond held his peace, and Nanny resumed her story. 

"I lay a long time, and the moonlight got in at every tear in myclothes, and made me feel so happy----"

"There, I tell you!" said Diamond. 

"What do you tell me?" returned Nanny. 

"North Wind----"

"It was the moonlight, I tell you, " persisted Nanny, and again Diamondheld his peace. 

"All at once I felt that the moon was not shining so strong. I lookedup, and there was a cloud, all crapey and fluffy, trying to drown thebeautiful creature. But the moon was so round, just like a whole plate, that the cloud couldn't stick to her. She shook it off, and said thereand shone out clearer and brighter than ever. But up came a thickercloud, --and 'You shan't, ' said the moon; and 'I will, ' said thecloud, --but it couldn't: out shone the moon, quite laughing at itsimpudence. I knew her ways, for I've always been used to watch her. She's the only thing worth looking at in our street at night. "

"Don't call it your street, " said Diamond. "You're not going back to it. You're coming to us, you know. "

"That's too good to be true, " said Nanny. 

"There are very few things good enough to be true, " said Diamond; "butI hope this is. Too good to be true it can't be. Isn't true good? andisn't good good? And how, then, can anything be too good to be true?That's like old Sal--to say that. "

"Don't abuse Grannie, Diamond. She's a horrid old thing, she and her ginbottle; but she'll repent some day, and then you'll be glad not to havesaid anything against her. "

"Why?" said Diamond. 

"Because you'll be sorry for her. "

"I am sorry for her now. "

"Very well. That's right. She'll be sorry too. And there'll be an end ofit. "

"All right. You come to us, " said Diamond. 

"Where was I?" said Nanny. 

"Telling me how the moon served the clouds. "

"Yes. But it wouldn't do, all of it. Up came the clouds and the clouds, and they came faster and faster, until the moon was covered up. Youcouldn't expect her to throw off a hundred of them at once--could you?"

"Certainly not, " said Diamond. 

"So it grew very dark; and a dog began to yelp in the house. Ilooked and saw that the door to the garden was shut. Presently it wasopened--not to let me out, but to let the dog in--yelping and bounding. I thought if he caught sight of me, I was in for a biting first, and thepolice after. So I jumped up, and ran for a little summer-house in thecorner of the garden. The dog came after me, but I shut the door in hisface. It was well it had a door--wasn't it?"

"You dreamed of the door because you wanted it, " said Diamond. 

"No, I didn't; it came of itself. It was there, in the true dream. "

"There--I've caught you!" said Diamond. "I knew you believed in thedream as much as I do. "

"Oh, well, if you will lay traps for a body!" said Nanny. "Anyhow, I wassafe inside the summer-house. And what do you think?--There was the moonbeginning to shine again--but only through one of the panes--and thatone was just the colour of the ruby. Wasn't it funny?"

"No, not a bit funny, " said Diamond. 

"If you will be contrary!" said Nanny. 

"No, no, " said Diamond; "I only meant that was the very pane I shouldhave expected her to shine through. "

"Oh, very well!" returned Nanny. 

What Diamond meant, I do not pretend to say. He had curious notionsabout things. 

"And now, " said Nanny, "I didn't know what to do, for the dog keptbarking at the door, and I couldn't get out. But the moon was sobeautiful that I couldn't keep from looking at it through the red pane. And as I looked it got larger and larger till it filled the whole paneand outgrew it, so that I could see it through the other panes; andit grew till it filled them too and the whole window, so that thesummer-house was nearly as bright as day. 

"The dog stopped barking, and I heard a gentle tapping at the door, likethe wind blowing a little branch against it. "

"Just like her, " said Diamond, who thought everything strange andbeautiful must be done by North Wind. 

"So I turned from the window and opened the door; and what do you thinkI saw?"

"A beautiful lady, " said Diamond. 

"No--the moon itself, as big as a little house, and as round as a ball, shining like yellow silver. It stood on the grass--down on the verygrass: I could see nothing else for the brightness of it: And as Istared and wondered, a door opened in the side of it, near the ground, and a curious little old man, with a crooked thing over his shoulder, looked out, and said: 'Come along, Nanny; my lady wants you. We're cometo fetch you. " I wasn't a bit frightened. I went up to the beautifulbright thing, and the old man held down his hand, and I took hold of it, and gave a jump, and he gave me a lift, and I was inside the moon. Andwhat do you think it was like? It was such a pretty little house, withblue windows and white curtains! At one of the windows sat a beautifullady, with her head leaning on her hand, looking out. She seemed rathersad, and I was sorry for her, and stood staring at her. 

"`You didn't think I had such a beautiful mistress as that!' said thequeer little man. `No, indeed!' I answered: `who would have thought it?'`Ah! who indeed? But you see you don't know everything. ' The little manclosed the door, and began to pull at a rope which hung behind it witha weight at the end. After he had pulled a while, he said--`There, thatwill do; we're all right now. ' Then he took me by the hand and opened alittle trap in the floor, and led me down two or three steps, and I sawlike a great hole below me. `Don't be frightened, ' said the tittleman. `It's not a hole. It's only a window. Put your face down andlook through. ' I did as he told me, and there was the garden and thesummer-house, far away, lying at the bottom of the moonlight. `There!'said the little man; `we've brought you off! Do you see the littledog barking at us down there in the garden?' I told him I couldn't seeanything so far. `Can you see anything so small and so far off?' I said. `Bless you, child!' said the little man; `I could pick up a needle outof the grass if I had only a long enough arm. There's one lying by thedoor of the summer-house now. ' I looked at his eyes. They were verysmall, but so bright that I think he saw by the light that went out ofthem. Then he took me up, and up again by a little stair in a corner ofthe room, and through another trapdoor, and there was one great roundwindow above us, and I saw the blue sky and the clouds, and such lots ofstars, all so big and shining as hard as ever they could!"

"The little girl-angels had been polishing them, " said Diamond. 

"What nonsense you do talk!" said Nanny. 

"But my nonsense is just as good as yours, Nanny. When you have done, I'll tell you my dream. The stars are in it--not the moon, though. Shewas away somewhere. Perhaps she was gone to fetch you then. I don'tthink that, though, for my dream was longer ago than yours. She mighthave been to fetch some one else, though; for we can't fancy it's onlyus that get such fine things done for them. But do tell me what camenext. "

Perhaps one of my child-readers may remember whether the moon came downto fetch him or her the same night that Diamond had his dream. I cannottell, of course. I know she did not come to fetch me, though I did thinkI could make her follow me when I was a boy--not a very tiny one either. 

"The little man took me all round the house, and made me look out ofevery window. Oh, it was beautiful! There we were, all up in the air, insuch a nice, clean little house! `Your work will be to keep the windowsbright, ' said the little man. `You won't find it very difficult, for there ain't much dust up here. Only, the frost settles on themsometimes, and the drops of rain leave marks on them. ' `I can easilyclean them inside, ' I said; `but how am I to get the frost and rain offthe outside of them?' `Oh!' he said, `it's quite easy. There are laddersall about. You've only got to go out at the door, and climb about. Thereare a great many windows you haven't seen yet, and some of them lookinto places you don't know anything about. I used to clean them myself, but I'm getting rather old, you see. Ain't I now?' `I can't tell, ' Ianswered. `You see I never saw you when you were younger. ' `Never sawthe man in the moon?' said he. `Not very near, ' I answered, `not to tellhow young or how old he looked. I have seen the bundle of sticks on hisback. ' For Jim had pointed that out to me. Jim was very fond of lookingat the man in the moon. Poor Jim! I wonder he hasn't been to see me. I'mafraid he's ill too. "

"I'll try to find out, " said Diamond, "and let you know. "

"Thank you, " said Nanny. "You and Jim ought to be friends. "

"But what did the man in the moon say, when you told him you had seenhim with the bundle of sticks on his back?"

"He laughed. But I thought he looked offended too. His little noseturned up sharper, and he drew the corners of his mouth down from thetips of his ears into his neck. But he didn't look cross, you know. "

"Didn't he say anything?"

"Oh, yes! He said: `That's all nonsense. What you saw was my bundle ofdusters. I was going to clean the windows. It takes a good many, youknow. Really, what they do say of their superiors down there!' `It'sonly because they don't know better, ' I ventured to say. `Of course, of course, ' said the little man. `Nobody ever does know better. Well, I forgive them, and that sets it all right, I hope. ' `It's very goodof you, ' I said. `No!' said he, `it's not in the least good of me. Icouldn't be comfortable otherwise. ' After this he said nothing for awhile, and I laid myself on the floor of his garret, and stared up andaround at the great blue beautifulness. I had forgotten him almost, when at last he said: `Ain't you done yet?' `Done what?' I asked. `Donesaying your prayers, ' says he. 'I wasn't saying my prayers, ' I answered. `Oh, yes, you were, ' said he, `though you didn't know it! And now I mustshow you something else. '

"He took my hand and led me down the stair again, and through a narrowpassage, and through another, and another, and another. I don't knowhow there could be room for so many passages in such a little house. Theheart of it must be ever so much farther from the sides than they arefrom each other. How could it have an inside that was so independent ofits outside? There's the point. It was funny--wasn't it, Diamond?"

"No, " said Diamond. He was going to say that that was very much the sortof thing at the back of the north wind; but he checked himself and onlyadded, "All right. I don't see it. I don't see why the inside shoulddepend on the outside. It ain't so with the crabs. They creep out oftheir outsides and make new ones. Mr. Raymond told me so. "

"I don't see what that has got to do with it, " said Nanny. 

"Then go on with your story, please, " said Diamond. "What did you cometo, after going through all those winding passages into the heart of themoon?"

"I didn't say they were winding passages. I said they were long andnarrow. They didn't wind. They went by corners. "

"That's worth knowing, " remarked Diamond. "For who knows how soon he mayhave to go there? But the main thing is, what did you come to at last?"

"We came to a small box against the wall of a tiny room. The little mantold me to put my ear against it. I did so, and heard a noise somethinglike the purring of a cat, only not so loud, and much sweeter. `What isit?' I asked. `Don't you know the sound?' returned the little man. `No, 'I answered. `Don't you know the sound of bees?' he said. I had neverheard bees, and could not know the sound of them. `Those are my lady'sbees, ' he went on. I had heard that bees gather honey from the flowers. `But where are the flowers for them?' I asked. `My lady's bees gathertheir honey from the sun and the stars, ' said the little man. `Do letme see them, ' I said. `No. I daren't do that, ' he answered. `I have nobusiness with them. I don't understand them. Besides, they are so brightthat if one were to fly into your eye, it would blind you altogether. '`Then you have seen them?' `Oh, yes! Once or twice, I think. But I don'tquite know: they are so very bright--like buttons of lightning. NowI've showed you all I can to-night, and we'll go back to the room. ' Ifollowed him, and he made me sit down under a lamp that hung from theroof, and gave me some bread and honey. 

"The lady had never moved. She sat with her forehead leaning on herhand, gazing out of the little window, hung like the rest with whitecloudy curtains. From where I was sitting I looked out of it too, but Icould see nothing. Her face was very beautiful, and very white, and verystill, and her hand was as white as the forehead that leaned on it. Idid not see her whole face--only the side of it, for she never moved toturn it full upon me, or even to look at me. 

"How long I sat after I had eaten my bread and honey, I don't know. Thelittle man was busy about the room, pulling a string here, and a stringthere, but chiefly the string at the back of the door. I was thinkingwith some uneasiness that he would soon be wanting me to go out andclean the windows, and I didn't fancy the job. At last he came up to mewith a great armful of dusters. `It's time you set about the windows, 'he said; `for there's rain coming, and if they're quite clean before, then the rain can't spoil them. ' I got up at once. `You needn't beafraid, ' he said. `You won't tumble off. Only you must be careful. Always hold on with one hand while you rub with the other. ' As he spoke, he opened the door. I started back in a terrible fright, for there wasnothing but blue air to be seen under me, like a great water without abottom at all. But what must be must, and to live up here was so muchnicer than down in the mud with holes in my shoes, that I never thoughtof not doing as I was told. The little man showed me how and where tolay hold while I put my foot round the edge of the door on to the firstround of a ladder. `Once you're up, ' he said, `you'll see how you haveto go well enough. ' I did as he told me, and crept out very carefully. Then the little man handed me the bundle of dusters, saying, `I alwayscarry them on my reaping hook, but I don't think you could manage itproperly. You shall have it if you like. ' I wouldn't take it, however, for it looked dangerous. 

"I did the best I could with the dusters, and crawled up to the topof the moon. But what a grand sight it was! The stars were all over myhead, so bright and so near that I could almost have laid hold of them. The round ball to which I clung went bobbing and floating away throughthe dark blue above and below and on every side. It was so beautifulthat all fear left me, and I set to work diligently. I cleaned windowafter window. At length I came to a very little one, in at which Ipeeped. There was the room with the box of bees in it! I laid my ear tothe window, and heard the musical hum quite distinctly. A great longingto see them came upon me, and I opened the window and crept in. The little box had a door like a closet. I opened it--the tiniestcrack--when out came the light with such a sting that I closed it againin terror--not, however, before three bees had shot out into the room, where they darted about like flashes of lightning. Terribly frightened, I tried to get out of the window again, but I could not: there was noway to the outside of the moon but through the door; and that was inthe room where the lady sat. No sooner had I reached the room, than thethree bees, which had followed me, flew at once to the lady, and settledupon her hair. Then first I saw her move. She started, put up her hand, and caught them; then rose and, having held them into the flame of thelamp one after the other, turned to me. Her face was not so sad now asstern. It frightened me much. `Nanny, you have got me into trouble, ' shesaid. `You have been letting out my bees, which it is all I can do tomanage. You have forced me to burn them. It is a great loss, and therewill be a storm. ' As she spoke, the clouds had gathered all about us. Icould see them come crowding up white about the windows. `I am sorry tofind, ' said the lady, `that you are not to be trusted. You must go homeagain--you won't do for us. ' Then came a great clap of thunder, and themoon rocked and swayed. All grew dark about me, and I fell on the floorand lay half-stunned. I could hear everything but could see nothing. `Shall I throw her out of the door, my lady?' said the little man. `No, ' she answered; `she's not quite bad enough for that. I don't thinkthere's much harm in her; only she'll never do for us. She would makedreadful mischief up here. She's only fit for the mud. It's a greatpity. I am sorry for her. Just take that ring off her finger. I am sadlyafraid she has stolen it. ' The little man caught hold of my hand, and Ifelt him tugging at the ring. I tried to speak what was true about it, but, after a terrible effort, only gave a groan. Other things began tocome into my head. Somebody else had a hold of me. The little man wasn'tthere. I opened my eyes at last, and saw the nurse. I had cried out inmy sleep, and she had come and waked me. But, Diamond, for all it wasonly a dream, I cannot help being ashamed of myself yet for opening thelady's box of bees. "

"You wouldn't do it again--would you--if she were to take you back?"said Diamond. 

"No. I don't think anything would ever make me do it again. But where'sthe good? I shall never have the chance. "

"I don't know that, " said Diamond. 

"You silly baby! It was only a dream, " said Nanny. 

"I know that, Nanny, dear. But how can you tell you mayn't dream itagain?"

"That's not a bit likely. "

"I don't know that, " said Diamond. 

"You're always saying that, " said Nanny. "I don't like it. "

"Then I won't say it again--if I don't forget. " said Diamond. "But itwas such a beautiful dream!--wasn't it, Nanny? What a pity you openedthat door and let the bees out! You might have had such a long dream, and such nice talks with the moon-lady. Do try to go again, Nanny. I doso want to hear more. "

But now the nurse came and told him it was time to go; and Diamond went, saying to himself, "I can't help thinking that North Wind had somethingto do with that dream. It would be tiresome to lie there all day and allnight too--without dreaming. Perhaps if she hadn't done that, the moonmight have carried her to the back of the north wind--who knows?"

CHAPTER XXXI. THE NORTH WIND DOTH BLOW

IT WAS a great delight to Diamond when at length Nanny was well enoughto leave the hospital and go home to their house. She was not verystrong yet, but Diamond's mother was very considerate of her, and tookcare that she should have nothing to do she was not quite fit for. IfNanny had been taken straight from the street, it is very probable shewould not have been so pleasant in a decent household, or so easy toteach; but after the refining influences of her illness and the kindtreatment she had had in the hospital, she moved about the house justlike some rather sad pleasure haunting the mind. As she got better, andthe colour came back to her cheeks, her step grew lighter and quicker, her smile shone out more readily, and it became certain that she wouldsoon be a treasure of help. It was great fun to see Diamond teachingher how to hold the baby, and wash and dress him, and often they laughedtogether over her awkwardness. But she had not many such lessons beforeshe was able to perform those duties quite as well as Diamond himself. 

Things however did not go well with Joseph from the very arrival ofRuby. It almost seemed as if the red beast had brought ill luck withhim. The fares were fewer, and the pay less. Ruby's services did indeedmake the week's income at first a little beyond what it used to be, butthen there were two more to feed. After the first month he fell lame, and for the whole of the next Joseph dared not attempt to work him. Icannot say that he never grumbled, for his own health was far from whatit had been; but I can say that he tried to do his best. During allthat month, they lived on very short commons indeed, seldom tasting meatexcept on Sundays, and poor old Diamond, who worked hardest of all, noteven then--so that at the end of it he was as thin as a clothes-horse, while Ruby was as plump and sleek as a bishop's cob. 

Nor was it much better after Ruby was able to work again, for it wasa season of great depression in business, and that is very soon feltamongst the cabmen. City men look more after their shillings, and theirwives and daughters have less to spend. It was besides a wet autumn, andbread rose greatly in price. When I add to this that Diamond's motherwas but poorly, for a new baby was coming, you will see that these werenot very jolly times for our friends in the mews. 

Notwithstanding the depressing influences around him, Joseph was able tokeep a little hope alive in his heart; and when he came home at night, would get Diamond to read to him, and would also make Nanny produce herbook that he might see how she was getting on. For Diamond had taken hereducation in hand, and as she was a clever child, she was very soon ableto put letters and words together. 

Thus the three months passed away, but Mr. Raymond did not return. Joseph had been looking anxiously for him, chiefly with the desire ofgetting rid of Ruby--not that he was absolutely of no use to him, butthat he was a constant weight upon his mind. Indeed, as far as provisionwent, he was rather worse off with Ruby and Nanny than he had beenbefore, but on the other hand, Nanny was a great help in the house, andit was a comfort to him to think that when the new baby did come, Nannywould be with his wife. 

Of God's gifts a baby is of the greatest; therefore it is no wonder thatwhen this one came, she was as heartily welcomed by the little householdas if she had brought plenty with her. Of course she made a greatdifference in the work to be done--far more difference than her sizewarranted, but Nanny was no end of help, and Diamond was as much of asunbeam as ever, and began to sing to the new baby the first moment hegot her in his arms. But he did not sing the same songs to her that hehad sung to his brother, for, he said, she was a new baby and must havenew songs; and besides, she was a sister-baby and not a brother-baby, and of course would not like the same kind of songs. Where thedifference in his songs lay, however, I do not pretend to be able topoint out. One thing I am sure of, that they not only had no small sharein the education of the little girl, but helped the whole family a greatdeal more than they were aware. 

How they managed to get through the long dreary expensive winter, I canhardly say. Sometimes things were better, sometimes worse. But at lastthe spring came, and the winter was over and gone, and that was much. Still, Mr. Raymond did not return, and although the mother would havebeen able to manage without Nanny now, they could not look for a placefor her so long as they had Ruby; and they were not altogether sorry forthis. One week at last was worse than they had yet had. They were almostwithout bread before it was over. But the sadder he saw his father andmother looking, the more Diamond set himself to sing to the two babies. 

One thing which had increased their expenses was that they had beenforced to hire another little room for Nanny. When the second baby came, Diamond gave up his room that Nanny might be at hand to help his mother, and went to hers, which, although a fine place to what she had beenaccustomed to, was not very nice in his eyes. He did not mind the changethough, for was not his mother the more comfortable for it? And wasnot Nanny more comfortable too? And indeed was not Diamond himself morecomfortable that other people were more comfortable? And if there wasmore comfort every way, the change was a happy one. 

CHAPTER XXXII. DIAMOND AND RUBY

IT WAS Friday night, and Diamond, like the rest of the household, hadhad very little to eat that day. The mother would always pay the week'srent before she laid out anything even on food. His father had been verygloomy--so gloomy that he had actually been cross to his wife. It isa strange thing how pain of seeing the suffering of those we love willsometimes make us add to their suffering by being cross with them. Thiscomes of not having faith enough in God, and shows how necessary thisfaith is, for when we lose it, we lose even the kindness which alone cansoothe the suffering. Diamond in consequence had gone to bed very quietand thoughtful--a little troubled indeed. 

It had been a very stormy winter, and even now that the spring had come, the north wind often blew. When Diamond went to his bed, which was ina tiny room in the roof, he heard it like the sea moaning; and when hefell asleep he still heard the moaning. All at once he said to himself, "Am I awake, or am I asleep?" But he had no time to answer the question, for there was North Wind calling him. His heart beat very fast, it wassuch a long time since he had heard that voice. He jumped out of bed, and looked everywhere, but could not see her. "Diamond, come here, " shesaid again and again; but where the here was he could not tell. To besure the room was all but quite dark, and she might be close beside him. 

"Dear North Wind, " said Diamond, "I want so much to go to you, but Ican't tell where. "

"Come here, Diamond, " was all her answer. 

Diamond opened the door, and went out of the room, and down the stairand into the yard. His little heart was in a flutter, for he had longgiven up all thought of seeing her again. Neither now was he to see her. When he got out, a great puff of wind came against him, and in obedienceto it he turned his back, and went as it blew. It blew him right up tothe stable-door, and went on blowing. 

"She wants me to go into the stable, " said Diamond to himself, "but thedoor is locked. "

He knew where the key was, in a certain hole in the wall--far too highfor him to get at. He ran to the place, however: just as he reached itthere came a wild blast, and down fell the key clanging on the stones athis feet. He picked it up, and ran back and opened the stable-door, andwent in. And what do you think he saw?

A little light came through the dusty window from a gas-lamp, sufficientto show him Diamond and Ruby with their two heads up, looking at eachother across the partition of their stalls. The light showed the whitemark on Diamond's forehead, but Ruby's eye shone so bright, that hethought more light came out of it than went in. This is what he saw. 

But what do you think he heard?

He heard the two horses talking to each other--in a strange language, which yet, somehow or other, he could understand, and turn over inhis mind in English. The first words he heard were from Diamond, whoapparently had been already quarrelling with Ruby. 

"Look how fat you are Ruby!" said old Diamond. "You are so plump andyour skin shines so, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. "

"There's no harm in being fat, " said Ruby in a deprecating tone. "No, nor in being sleek. I may as well shine as not. "

"No harm?" retorted Diamond. "Is it no harm to go eating up all poormaster's oats, and taking up so much of his time grooming you, when youonly work six hours--no, not six hours a day, and, as I hear, get alongno faster than a big dray-horse with two tons behind him?--So they tellme. "

"Your master's not mine, " said Ruby. "I must attend to my own master'sinterests, and eat all that is given me, and be sleek and fat as I can, and go no faster than I need. "

"Now really if the rest of the horses weren't all asleep, poorthings--they work till they're tired--I do believe they would get up andkick you out of the stable. You make me ashamed of being a horse. Youdare to say my master ain't your master! That's your gratitude for theway he feeds you and spares you! Pray where would your carcass be if itweren't for him?"

"He doesn't do it for my sake. If I were his own horse, he would work meas hard as he does you. "

"And I'm proud to be so worked. I wouldn't be as fat as you--not for allyou're worth. You're a disgrace to the stable. Look at the horse nextyou. He's something like a horse--all skin and bone. And his masterain't over kind to him either. He put a stinging lash on his whiplast week. But that old horse knows he's got the wife and childrento keep--as well as his drunken master--and he works like a horse. Idaresay he grudges his master the beer he drinks, but I don't believe hegrudges anything else. "

"Well, I don't grudge yours what he gets by me, " said Ruby. 

"Gets!" retorted Diamond. "What he gets isn't worth grudging. It comesto next to nothing--what with your fat and shine. 

"Well, at least you ought to be thankful you're the better for it. Youget a two hours' rest a day out of it. "

"I thank my master for that--not you, you lazy fellow! You go along likea buttock of beef upon castors--you do. "

"Ain't you afraid I'll kick, if you go on like that, Diamond?"

"Kick! You couldn't kick if you tried. You might heave your rump uphalf a foot, but for lashing out--oho! If you did, you'd be down on yourbelly before you could get your legs under you again. It's my belief, once out, they'd stick out for ever. Talk of kicking! Why don't you putone foot before the other now and then when you're in the cab? The abusemaster gets for your sake is quite shameful. No decent horse would bringit on him. Depend upon it, Ruby, no cabman likes to be abused any morethan his fare. But his fares, at least when you are between the shafts, are very much to be excused. Indeed they are. "

"Well, you see, Diamond, I don't want to go lame again. "

"I don't believe you were so very lame after all--there!"

"Oh, but I was. "

"Then I believe it was all your own fault. I'm not lame. I never waslame in all my life. You don't take care of your legs. You never laythem down at night. There you are with your huge carcass crushing downyour poor legs all night long. You don't even care for your own legs--solong as you can eat, eat, and sleep, sleep. You a horse indeed!"

"But I tell you I was lame. "

"I'm not denying there was a puffy look about your off-pastern. But mybelief is, it wasn't even grease--it was fat. "

"I tell you I put my foot on one of those horrid stones they make theroads with, and it gave my ankle such a twist. "

"Ankle indeed! Why should you ape your betters? Horses ain't got anyankles: they're only pasterns. And so long as you don't lift your feetbetter, but fall asleep between every step, you'll run a good chanceof laming all your ankles as you call them, one after another. It's notyour lively horse that comes to grief in that way. I tell you I believeit wasn't much, and if it was, it was your own fault. There! I've done. I'm going to sleep. I'll try to think as well of you as I can. If youwould but step out a bit and run off a little of your fat!" Here Diamondbegan to double up his knees; but Ruby spoke again, and, as youngDiamond thought, in a rather different tone. 

"I say, Diamond, I can't bear to have an honest old horse like you thinkof me like that. I will tell you the truth: it was my own fault that Ifell lame. "

"I told you so, " returned the other, tumbling against the partition ashe rolled over on his side to give his legs every possible privilege intheir narrow circumstances. 

"I meant to do it, Diamond. "

At the words, the old horse arose with a scramble like thunder, shot hisangry head and glaring eye over into Ruby's stall, and said--

"Keep out of my way, you unworthy wretch, or I'll bite you. You a horse!Why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to grow fat. "

"You grease-tub! Oh! my teeth and tail! I thought you were a humbug! Whydid you want to get fat? There's no truth to be got out of you but bycross-questioning. You ain't fit to be a horse. "

"Because once I am fat, my nature is to keep fat for a long time; and Ididn't know when master might come home and want to see me. "

"You conceited, good-for-nothing brute! You're only fit for theknacker's yard. You wanted to look handsome, did you? Hold your tongue, or I'll break my halter and be at you--with your handsome fat!"

"Never mind, Diamond. You're a good horse. You can't hurt me. "

"Can't hurt you! Just let me once try. "

"No, you can't. "

"Why then?"

"Because I'm an angel. "

"What's that?"

"Of course you don't know. "

"Indeed I don't. "

"I know you don't. An ignorant, rude old human horse, like you, couldn'tknow it. But there's young Diamond listening to all we're saying; and heknows well enough there are horses in heaven for angels to ride upon, as well as other animals, lions and eagles and bulls, in more importantsituations. The horses the angels ride, must be angel-horses, else theangels couldn't ride upon them. Well, I'm one of them. "

"You ain't. "

"Did you ever know a horse tell a lie?"

"Never before. But you've confessed to shamming lame. "

"Nothing of the sort. It was necessary I should grow fat, and necessarythat good Joseph, your master, should grow lean. I could have pretendedto be lame, but that no horse, least of all an angel-horse would do. SoI must be lame, and so I sprained my ankle--for the angel-horses haveankles--they don't talk horse-slang up there--and it hurt me very much, I assure you, Diamond, though you mayn't be good enough to be able tobelieve it. "

Old Diamond made no reply. He had lain down again, and a sleepy snort, very like a snore, revealed that, if he was not already asleep, he waspast understanding a word that Ruby was saying. When young Diamond foundthis, he thought he might venture to take up the dropt shuttlecock ofthe conversation. 

"I'm good enough to believe it, Ruby, " he said. 

But Ruby never turned his head, or took any notice of him. I supposehe did not understand more of English than just what the coachman andstableman were in the habit of addressing him with. Finding, however, that his companion made no reply, he shot his head over the partitionand looking down at him said--

"You just wait till to-morrow, and you'll see whether I'm speaking thetruth or not. --I declare the old horse is fast asleep!--Diamond!--No Iwon't. "

Ruby turned away, and began pulling at his hayrack in silence. 

Diamond gave a shiver, and looking round saw that the door of the stablewas open. He began to feel as if he had been dreaming, and after aglance about the stable to see if North Wind was anywhere visible, hethought he had better go back to bed. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. THE PROSPECT BRIGHTENS

THE next morning, Diamond's mother said to his father, "I'm not quitecomfortable about that child again. "

"Which child, Martha?" asked Joseph. "You've got a choice now. "

"Well, Diamond I mean. I'm afraid he's getting into his queer waysagain. He's been at his old trick of walking in his sleep. I saw him runup the stair in the middle of the night. "

"Didn't you go after him, wife?"

"Of course I did--and found him fast asleep in his bed. It's becausehe's had so little meat for the last six weeks, I'm afraid. "

"It may be that. I'm very sorry. But if it don't please God to send usenough, what am I to do, wife?"

"You can't help it, I know, my dear good man, " returned Martha. "Andafter all I don't know. I don't see why he shouldn't get on as well asthe rest of us. There I'm nursing baby all this time, and I get alongpretty well. I'm sure, to hear the little man singing, you wouldn'tthink there was much amiss with him. "

For at that moment Diamond was singing like a lark in the clouds. He hadthe new baby in his arms, while his mother was dressing herself. Josephwas sitting at his breakfast--a little weak tea, dry bread, and verydubious butter--which Nanny had set for him, and which he was enjoyingbecause he was hungry. He had groomed both horses, and had got oldDiamond harnessed ready to put to. 

"Think of a fat angel, Dulcimer!" said Diamond. 

The baby had not been christened yet, but Diamond, in reading his Bible, had come upon the word dulcimer, and thought it so pretty that everafter he called his sister Dulcimer!

"Think of a red, fat angel, Dulcimer!" he repeated; "for Ruby's an angelof a horse, Dulcimer. He sprained his ankle and got fat on purpose. "

"What purpose, Diamond?" asked his father. 

"Ah! that I can't tell. I suppose to look handsome when his mastercomes, " answered Diamond. --"What do you think, Dulcimer? It must be forsome good, for Ruby's an angel. "

"I wish I were rid of him, anyhow, " said his father; "for he weighsheavy on my mind. "

"No wonder, father: he's so fat, " said Diamond. "But you needn't beafraid, for everybody says he's in better condition than when you hadhim. "

"Yes, but he may be as thin as a tin horse before his owner comes. Itwas too bad to leave him on my hands this way. "

"Perhaps he couldn't help it, " suggested Diamond. "I daresay he has somegood reason for it. "

"So I should have said, " returned his father, "if he had not driven sucha hard bargain with me at first. "

"But we don't know what may come of it yet, husband, " said his wife. "Mr. Raymond may give a little to boot, seeing you've had more of thebargain than you wanted or reckoned upon. "

"I'm afraid not: he's a hard man, " said Joseph, as he rose and went toget his cab out. 

Diamond resumed his singing. For some time he carolled snatches ofeverything or anything; but at last it settled down into something likewhat follows. I cannot tell where or how he got it. 

 Where did you come from, baby dear? Out of the everywhere into here. 

 Where did you get your eyes so blue? Out of the sky as I came through. 

 What makes the light in them sparkle and spin? Some of the starry spikes left in. 

 Where did you get that little tear? I found it waiting when I got here. 

 What makes your forehead so smooth and high? A soft hand stroked it as I went by. 

 What makes your cheek like a warm white rose? I saw something better than any one knows. 

 Whence that three-cornered smile of bliss? Three angels gave me at once a kiss. 

 Where did you get this pearly ear? God spoke, and it came out to hear. 

 Where did you get those arms and hands? Love made itself into hooks and bands. 

 Feet, whence did you come, you darling things? From the same box as the cherubs' wings. 

 How did they all just come to be you? God thought about me, and so I grew. 

 But how did you come to us, you dear? God thought about you, and so I am here. 

"You never made that song, Diamond, " said his mother. 

"No, mother. I wish I had. No, I don't. That would be to take it fromsomebody else. But it's mine for all that. "

"What makes it yours?"

"I love it so. "

"Does loving a thing make it yours?"

"I think so, mother--at least more than anything else can. If I didn'tlove baby (which couldn't be, you know) she wouldn't be mine a bit. ButI do love baby, and baby is my very own Dulcimer. "

"The baby's mine, Diamond. "

"That makes her the more mine, mother. "

"How do you make that out?"

"Because you're mine, mother. "

"Is that because you love me?"

"Yes, just because. Love makes the only myness, " said Diamond. 

When his father came home to have his dinner, and change Diamond forRuby, they saw him look very sad, and he told them he had not had a fareworth mentioning the whole morning. 

"We shall all have to go to the workhouse, wife, " he said. 

"It would be better to go to the back of the north wind, " said Diamond, dreamily, not intending to say it aloud. 

"So it would, " answered his father. "But how are we to get there, Diamond?"

"We must wait till we're taken, " returned Diamond. 

Before his father could speak again, a knock came to the door, and inwalked Mr. Raymond with a smile on his face. Joseph got up and receivedhim respectfully, but not very cordially. Martha set a chair for him, but he would not sit down. 

"You are not very glad to see me, " he said to Joseph. "You don't want topart with the old horse. "

"Indeed, sir, you are mistaken there. What with anxiety about him, andbad luck, I've wished I were rid of him a thousand times. It was only tobe for three months, and here it's eight or nine. "

"I'm sorry to hear such a statement, " said Mr. Raymond. "Hasn't he beenof service to you?"

"Not much, not with his lameness"

"Ah!" said Mr. Raymond, hastily--"you've been laming him--have you? Thataccounts for it. I see, I see. "

"It wasn't my fault, and he's all right now. I don't know how ithappened, but--"

"He did it on purpose, " said Diamond. "He put his foot on a stone justto twist his ankle. "

"How do you know that, Diamond?" said his father, turning to him. "Inever said so, for I could not think how it came. "

"I heard it--in the stable, " answered Diamond. 

"Let's have a look at him, " said Mr. Raymond. 

"If you'll step into the yard, " said Joseph, "I'll bring him out. "

They went, and Joseph, having first taken off his harness, walked Rubyinto the middle of the yard. 

"Why, " said Mr. Raymond, "you've not been using him well. "

"I don't know what you mean by that, sir. I didn't expect to hear thatfrom you. He's sound in wind and limb--as sound as a barrel. "

"And as big, you might add. Why, he's as fat as a pig! You don't callthat good usage!"

Joseph was too angry to make any answer. 

"You've not worked him enough, I say. That's not making good use of him. That's not doing as you'd be done by. "

"I shouldn't be sorry if I was served the same, sir. "

"He's too fat, I say. "

"There was a whole month I couldn't work him at all, and he did nothingbut eat his head off. He's an awful eater. I've taken the best part ofsix hours a day out of him since, but I'm always afraid of his coming togrief again, and so I couldn't make the most even of that. I declare toyou, sir, when he's between the shafts, I sit on the box as miserable asif I'd stolen him. He looks all the time as if he was a bottling up ofcomplaints to make of me the minute he set eyes on you again. There!look at him now, squinting round at me with one eye! I declare to you, on my word, I haven't laid the whip on him more than three times. "

"I'm glad to hear it. He never did want the whip. "

"I didn't say that, sir. If ever a horse wanted the whip, he do. He'sbrought me to beggary almost with his snail's pace. I'm very glad you'vecome to rid me of him. "

"I don't know that, " said Mr. Raymond. "Suppose I were to ask you to buyhim of me--cheap. "

"I wouldn't have him in a present, sir. I don't like him. And I wouldn'tdrive a horse that I didn't like--no, not for gold. It can't come togood where there's no love between 'em. "

"Just bring out your own horse, and let me see what sort of a pairthey'd make. "

Joseph laughed rather bitterly as he went to fetch Diamond. 

When the two were placed side by side, Mr. Raymond could hardly keephis countenance, but from a mingling of feelings. Beside the great, red, round barrel, Ruby, all body and no legs, Diamond looked like aclothes-horse with a skin thrown over it. There was hardly a spot ofhim where you could not descry some sign of a bone underneath. Gaunt andgrim and weary he stood, kissing his master, and heeding no one else. 

"You haven't been using him well, " said Mr. Raymond. 

"I must say, " returned Joseph, throwing an arm round his horse's neck, "that the remark had better have been spared, sir. The horse is worththree of the other now. "

"I don't think so. I think they make a very nice pair. If the one's toofat, the other's too lean--so that's all right. And if you won't buy myRuby, I must buy your Diamond. "

"Thank you, sir, " said Joseph, in a tone implying anything but thanks. 

"You don't seem to like the proposal, " said Mr. Raymond. 

"I don't, " returned Joseph. "I wouldn't part with my old Diamond for hisskin as full of nuggets as it is of bones. "

"Who said anything about parting with him?"

"You did now, sir. "

"No; I didn't. I only spoke of buying him to make a pair with Ruby. Wecould pare Ruby and patch Diamond a bit. And for height, they are asnear a match as I care about. Of course you would be the coachman--ifonly you would consent to be reconciled to Ruby. "

Joseph stood bewildered, unable to answer. 

"I've bought a small place in Kent, " continued Mr. Raymond, "and I musthave a pair to my carriage, for the roads are hilly thereabouts. I don'twant to make a show with a pair of high-steppers. I think these willjust do. Suppose, for a week or two, you set yourself to take Ruby downand bring Diamond up. If we could only lay a pipe from Ruby's sides intoDiamond's, it would be the work of a moment. But I fear that wouldn'tanswer. "

A strong inclination to laugh intruded upon Joseph's inclination to cry, and made speech still harder than before. 

"I beg your pardon, sir, " he said at length. "I've been so miserable, and for so long, that I never thought you was only a chaffing of mewhen you said I hadn't used the horses well. I did grumble at you, sir, many's the time in my trouble; but whenever I said anything, my littleDiamond would look at me with a smile, as much as to say: 'I know himbetter than you, father;' and upon my word, I always thought the boymust be right. "

"Will you sell me old Diamond, then?"

"I will, sir, on one condition--that if ever you want to part with himor me, you give me the option of buying him. I could not part with him, sir. As to who calls him his, that's nothing; for, as Diamond says, it'sonly loving a thing that can make it yours--and I do love old Diamond, sir, dearly. "

"Well, there's a cheque for twenty pounds, which I wrote to offer youfor him, in case I should find you had done the handsome thing by Ruby. Will that be enough?"

"It's too much, sir. His body ain't worth it--shoes and all. It's onlyhis heart, sir--that's worth millions--but his heart'll be mine all thesame--so it's too much, sir. "

"I don't think so. It won't be, at least, by the time we've got himfed up again. You take it and welcome. Just go on with your cabbing foranother month, only take it out of Ruby and let Diamond rest; and bythat time I shall be ready for you to go down into the country. "

"Thank you, sir, thank you. Diamond set you down for a friend, sir, themoment he saw you. I do believe that child of mine knows more than otherpeople. "

"I think so, too, " said Mr. Raymond as he walked away. 

He had meant to test Joseph when he made the bargain about Ruby, but hadno intention of so greatly prolonging the trial. He had been taken illin Switzerland, and had been quite unable to return sooner. He went awaynow highly gratified at finding that he had stood the test, and was atrue man. 

Joseph rushed in to his wife who had been standing at the windowanxiously waiting the result of the long colloquy. When she heard thatthe horses were to go together in double harness, she burst forth intoan immoderate fit of laughter. Diamond came up with the baby in his armsand made big anxious eyes at her, saying--

"What is the matter with you, mother dear? Do cry a little. It will doyou good. When father takes ever so small a drop of spirits, he putswater to it. "

"You silly darling!" said his mother; "how could I but laugh at thenotion of that great fat Ruby going side by side with our poor oldDiamond?"

"But why not, mother? With a month's oats, and nothing to do, Diamond'llbe nearer Ruby's size than you will father's. I think it's very good fordifferent sorts to go together. Now Ruby will have a chance of teachingDiamond better manners. "

"How dare you say such a thing, Diamond?" said his father, angrily. "To compare the two for manners, there's no comparison possible. OurDiamond's a gentleman. "

"I don't mean to say he isn't, father; for I daresay some gentlemenjudge their neighbours unjustly. That's all I mean. Diamond shouldn'thave thought such bad things of Ruby. He didn't try to make the best ofhim. "

"How do you know that, pray?"

"I heard them talking about it one night. "

"Who?"

"Why Diamond and Ruby. Ruby's an angel. "

Joseph stared and said no more. For all his new gladness, he was verygloomy as he re-harnessed the angel, for he thought his darling Diamondwas going out of his mind. 

He could not help thinking rather differently, however, when he foundthe change that had come over Ruby. Considering his fat, he exertedhimself amazingly, and got over the ground with incredible speed. Sowilling, even anxious, was he to go now, that Joseph had to hold himquite tight. 

Then as he laughed at his own fancies, a new fear came upon him lest thehorse should break his wind, and Mr. Raymond have good cause to thinkhe had not been using him well. He might even suppose that he had takenadvantage of his new instructions, to let out upon the horse some of hispent-up dislike; whereas in truth, it had so utterly vanished that hefelt as if Ruby, too, had been his friend all the time. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. IN THE COUNTRY

BEFORE the end of the month, Ruby had got respectably thin, and Diamondrespectably stout. They really began to look fit for double harness. 

Joseph and his wife got their affairs in order, and everything ready formigrating at the shortest notice; and they felt so peaceful and happythat they judged all the trouble they had gone through well worthenduring. As for Nanny, she had been so happy ever since she left thehospital, that she expected nothing better, and saw nothing attractivein the notion of the country. At the same time, she had not the leastidea of what the word country meant, for she had never seen anythingabout her but streets and gas-lamps. Besides, she was more attached toJim than to Diamond: Jim was a reasonable being, Diamond in her eyes atbest only an amiable, over-grown baby, whom no amount of expostulationwould ever bring to talk sense, not to say think it. Now that shecould manage the baby as well as he, she judged herself altogether hissuperior. Towards his father and mother, she was all they could wish. 

Diamond had taken a great deal of pains and trouble to find Jim, and hadat last succeeded through the help of the tall policeman, who was gladto renew his acquaintance with the strange child. Jim had moved hisquarters, and had not heard of Nanny's illness till some time after shewas taken to the hospital, where he was too shy to go and inquire abouther. But when at length she went to live with Diamond's family, Jim waswilling enough to go and see her. It was after one of his visits, duringwhich they had been talking of her new prospects, that Nanny expressedto Diamond her opinion of the country. 

"There ain't nothing in it but the sun and moon, Diamond. "

"There's trees and flowers, " said Diamond. 

"Well, they ain't no count, " returned Nanny. 

"Ain't they? They're so beautiful, they make you happy to look at them. "

"That's because you're such a silly. "

Diamond smiled with a far-away look, as if he were gazing through cloudsof green leaves and the vision contented him. But he was thinking withhimself what more he could do for Nanny; and that same evening he wentto find Mr. Raymond, for he had heard that he had returned to town. 

"Ah! how do you do, Diamond?" said Mr. Raymond; "I am glad to see you. "

And he was indeed, for he had grown very fond of him. His opinion of himwas very different from Nanny's. 

"What do you want now, my child?" he asked. 

"I'm always wanting something, sir, " answered Diamond. 

"Well, that's quite right, so long as what you want is right. Everybodyis always wanting something; only we don't mention it in the right placeoften enough. What is it now?"

"There's a friend of Nanny's, a lame boy, called Jim. "

"I've heard of him, " said Mr. Raymond. "Well?"

"Nanny doesn't care much about going to the country, sir. "

"Well, what has that to do with Jim?"

"You couldn't find a corner for Jim to work in--could you, sir?"

"I don't know that I couldn't. That is, if you can show good reason forit. "

"He's a good boy, sir. "

"Well, so much the better for him. "

"I know he can shine boots, sir. "

"So much the better for us. "

"You want your boots shined in the country--don't you, sir?"

"Yes, to be sure. "

"It wouldn't be nice to walk over the flowers with dirty boots--wouldit, sir?"

"No, indeed. "

"They wouldn't like it--would they?"

"No, they wouldn't. "

"Then Nanny would be better pleased to go, sir. "

"If the flowers didn't like dirty boots to walk over them, Nannywouldn't mind going to the country? Is that it? I don't quite see it. "

"No, sir; I didn't mean that. I meant, if you would take Jim with you toclean your boots, and do odd jobs, you know, sir, then Nanny would likeit better. She's so fond of Jim!"

"Now you come to the point, Diamond. I see what you mean, exactly. Iwill turn it over in my mind. Could you bring Jim to see me?"

"I'll try, sir. But they don't mind me much. They think I'm silly, "added Diamond, with one of his sweetest smiles. 

What Mr. Raymond thought, I dare hardly attempt to put down here. Butone part of it was, that the highest wisdom must ever appear folly tothose who do not possess it. 

"I think he would come though--after dark, you know, " Diamond continued. "He does well at shining boots. People's kind to lame boys, you know, sir. But after dark, there ain't so much doing. "

Diamond succeeded in bringing Jim to Mr. Raymond, and the consequencewas that he resolved to give the boy a chance. He provided new clothesfor both him and Nanny; and upon a certain day, Joseph took his wife andthree children, and Nanny and Jim, by train to a certain station in thecounty of Kent, where they found a cart waiting to carry them and theirluggage to The Mound, which was the name of Mr. Raymond's new residence. I will not describe the varied feelings of the party as they went, orwhen they arrived. All I will say is, that Diamond, who is my only care, was full of quiet delight--a gladness too deep to talk about. 

Joseph returned to town the same night, and the next morning drove Rubyand Diamond down, with the carriage behind them, and Mr. Raymond and alady in the carriage. For Mr. Raymond was an old bachelor no longer: hewas bringing his wife with him to live at The Mound. The moment Nannysaw her, she recognised her as the lady who had lent her the ruby-ring. That ring had been given her by Mr. Raymond. 

The weather was very hot, and the woods very shadowy. There were not agreat many wild flowers, for it was getting well towards autumn, and themost of the wild flowers rise early to be before the leaves, becauseif they did not, they would never get a glimpse of the sun for them. Sothey have their fun over, and are ready to go to bed again by the timethe trees are dressed. But there was plenty of the loveliest grass anddaisies about the house, and Diamond's chief pleasure seemed to be tolie amongst them, and breathe the pure air. But all the time, he wasdreaming of the country at the back of the north wind, and trying torecall the songs the river used to sing. For this was more like being atthe back of the north wind than anything he had known since he left it. Sometimes he would have his little brother, sometimes his little sister, and sometimes both of them in the grass with him, and then he felt justlike a cat with her first kittens, he said, only he couldn't purr--allhe could do was to sing. 

These were very different times from those when he used to drive thecab, but you must not suppose that Diamond was idle. He did not do somuch for his mother now, because Nanny occupied his former place; buthe helped his father still, both in the stable and the harness-room, andgenerally went with him on the box that he might learn to drive a pair, and be ready to open the carriage-door. Mr. Raymond advised his fatherto give him plenty of liberty. 

"A boy like that, " he said, "ought not to be pushed. "

Joseph assented heartily, smiling to himself at the idea of pushingDiamond. After doing everything that fell to his share, the boy had awealth of time at his disposal. And a happy, sometimes a merry time itwas. Only for two months or so, he neither saw nor heard anything ofNorth Wind. 

CHAPTER XXXV. I MAKE DIAMOND'S ACQUAINTANCE

MR. RAYMOND'S house was called The Mound, because it stood upon a littlesteep knoll, so smooth and symmetrical that it showed itself at once tobe artificial. It had, beyond doubt, been built for Queen Elizabeth as ahunting tower--a place, namely, from the top of which you could see thecountry for miles on all sides, and so be able to follow with your eyesthe flying deer and the pursuing hounds and horsemen. The mound had beencast up to give a good basement-advantage over the neighbouring heightsand woods. There was a great quarry-hole not far off, brim-full ofwater, from which, as the current legend stated, the materials formingthe heart of the mound--a kind of stone unfit for building--had beendug. The house itself was of brick, and they said the foundations werefirst laid in the natural level, and then the stones and earth of themound were heaped about and between them, so that its great heightshould be well buttressed. 

Joseph and his wife lived in a little cottage a short way from thehouse. It was a real cottage, with a roof of thick thatch, which, inJune and July, the wind sprinkled with the red and white petals it shookfrom the loose topmost sprays of the rose-trees climbing the walls. Atfirst Diamond had a nest under this thatch--a pretty little room withwhite muslin curtains, but afterwards Mr. And Mrs. Raymond wanted tohave him for a page in the house, and his father and mother were quitepleased to have him employed without his leaving them. So he was dressedin a suit of blue, from which his pale face and fair hair came out likethe loveliest blossom, and took up his abode in the house. 

"Would you be afraid to sleep alone, Diamond?" asked his mistress. 

"I don't know what you mean, ma'am, " said Diamond. "I never was afraidof anything that I can recollect--not much, at least. "

"There's a little room at the top of the house--all alone, " shereturned; "perhaps you would not mind sleeping there?"

"I can sleep anywhere, and I like best to be high up. Should I be ableto see out?"

"I will show you the place, " she answered; and taking him by the hand, she led him up and up the oval-winding stair in one of the two towers. 

Near the top they entered a tiny little room, with two windows fromwhich you could see over the whole country. Diamond clapped his handswith delight. 

"You would like this room, then, Diamond?" said his mistress. 

"It's the grandest room in the house, " he answered. "I shall be near thestars, and yet not far from the tops of the trees. That's just what Ilike. "

I daresay he thought, also, that it would be a nice place for NorthWind to call at in passing; but he said nothing of that sort. Below himspread a lake of green leaves, with glimpses of grass here and there atthe bottom of it. As he looked down, he saw a squirrel appear suddenly, and as suddenly vanish amongst the topmost branches. 

"Aha! little squirrel, " he cried, "my nest is built higher than yours. "

"You can be up here with your books as much as you like, " said hismistress. "I will have a little bell hung at the door, which I can ringwhen I want you. Half-way down the stair is the drawing-room. "

So Diamond was installed as page, and his new room got ready for him. 

It was very soon after this that I came to know Diamond. I was then atutor in a family whose estate adjoined the little property belongingto The Mound. I had made the acquaintance of Mr. Raymond in London sometime before, and was walking up the drive towards the house to call uponhim one fine warm evening, when I saw Diamond for the first time. He wassitting at the foot of a great beech-tree, a few yards from the road, with a book on his knees. He did not see me. I walked up behindthe tree, and peeping over his shoulder, saw that he was reading afairy-book. 

"What are you reading?" I said, and spoke suddenly, with the hope ofseeing a startled little face look round at me. Diamond turned hishead as quietly as if he were only obeying his mother's voice, and thecalmness of his face rebuked my unkind desire and made me ashamed of it. 

"I am reading the story of the Little Lady and the Goblin Prince, " saidDiamond. 

"I am sorry I don't know the story, " I returned. "Who is it by?"

"Mr. Raymond made it. "

"Is he your uncle?" I asked at a guess. 

"No. He's my master. "

"What do you do for him?" I asked respectfully. 

"Anything he wishes me to do, " he answered. "I am busy for him now. Hegave me this story to read. He wants my opinion upon it. "

"Don't you find it rather hard to make up your mind?"

"Oh dear no! Any story always tells me itself what I'm to think aboutit. Mr. Raymond doesn't want me to say whether it is a clever story ornot, but whether I like it, and why I like it. I never can tell whatthey call clever from what they call silly, but I always know whether Ilike a story or not. "

"And can you always tell why you like it or not?"

"No. Very often I can't at all. Sometimes I can. I always know, but Ican't always tell why. Mr. Raymond writes the stories, and then triesthem on me. Mother does the same when she makes jam. She's made such alot of jam since we came here! And she always makes me taste it to seeif it'll do. Mother knows by the face I make whether it will or not. "

At this moment I caught sight of two more children approaching. One wasa handsome girl, the other a pale-faced, awkward-looking boy, who limpedmuch on one leg. I withdrew a little, to see what would follow, for theyseemed in some consternation. After a few hurried words, they wentoff together, and I pursued my way to the house, where I was as kindlyreceived by Mr. And Mrs. Raymond as I could have desired. From them Ilearned something of Diamond, and was in consequence the more glad tofind him, when I returned, seated in the same place as before. 

"What did the boy and girl want with you, Diamond?" I asked. 

"They had seen a creature that frightened them. "

"And they came to tell you about it?"

"They couldn't get water out of the well for it. So they wanted me to gowith them. "

"They're both bigger than you. "

"Yes, but they were frightened at it. "

"And weren't you frightened at it?"

"No. "

"Why?"

"Because I'm silly. I'm never frightened at things. "

I could not help thinking of the old meaning of the word silly. 

"And what was it?" I asked. 

"I think it was a kind of an angel--a very little one. It had a longbody and great wings, which it drove about it so fast that they grew athin cloud all round it. It flew backwards and forwards over the well, or hung right in the middle, making a mist of its wings, as if itsbusiness was to take care of the water. "

"And what did you do to drive it away?"

"I didn't drive it away. I knew, whatever the creature was, the wellwas to get water out of. So I took the jug, dipped it in, and drew thewater. "

"And what did the creature do?"

"Flew about. "

"And it didn't hurt you?"

"No. Why should it? I wasn't doing anything wrong. "

"What did your companions say then?"

"They said--`Thank you, Diamond. What a dear silly you are!'"

"And weren't you angry with them?"

"No! Why should I? I should like if they would play with me a little;but they always like better to go away together when their work is over. They never heed me. I don't mind it much, though. The other creaturesare friendly. They don't run away from me. Only they're all so busy withtheir own work, they don't mind me much. "

"Do you feel lonely, then?"

"Oh, no! When nobody minds me, I get into my nest, and look up. And thenthe sky does mind me, and thinks about me. "

"Where is your nest?"

He rose, saying, "I will show you, " and led me to the other side of thetree. 

There hung a little rope-ladder from one of the lower boughs. The boyclimbed up the ladder and got upon the bough. Then he climbed fartherinto the leafy branches, and went out of sight. 

After a little while, I heard his voice coming down out of the tree. 

"I am in my nest now, " said the voice. 

"I can't see you, " I returned. 

"I can't see you either, but I can see the first star peeping out of thesky. I should like to get up into the sky. Don't you think I shall, someday?"

"Yes, I do. Tell me what more you see up there. "

"I don't see anything more, except a few leaves, and the big sky overme. It goes swinging about. The earth is all behind my back. There comesanother star! The wind is like kisses from a big lady. When I get uphere I feel as if I were in North Wind's arms. "

This was the first I heard of North Wind. 

The whole ways and look of the child, so full of quiet wisdom, yet soready to accept the judgment of others in his own dispraise, took holdof my heart, and I felt myself wonderfully drawn towards him. It seemedto me, somehow, as if little Diamond possessed the secret of life, andwas himself what he was so ready to think the lowest living thing--anangel of God with something special to say or do. A gush of reverencecame over me, and with a single goodnight, I turned and left him in hisnest. 

I saw him often after this, and gained so much of his confidence that hetold me all I have told you. I cannot pretend to account for it. I leavethat for each philosophical reader to do after his own fashion. Theeasiest way is that of Nanny and Jim, who said often to each otherthat Diamond had a tile loose. But Mr. Raymond was much of my opinionconcerning the boy; while Mrs. Raymond confessed that she often rang herbell just to have once more the pleasure of seeing the lovely stillnessof the boy's face, with those blue eyes which seemed rather made forother people to look into than for himself to look out of. 

It was plainer to others than to himself that he felt the desertion ofNanny and Jim. They appeared to regard him as a mere toy, except whenthey found he could minister to the scruple of using him--generally withsuccess. They were, however, well-behaved to a wonderful degree; whileI have little doubt that much of their good behaviour was owing to theunconscious influence of the boy they called God's baby. 

One very strange thing is that I could never find out where he got someof his many songs. At times they would be but bubbles blown out of anursery rhyme, as was the following, which I heard him sing one eveningto his little Dulcimer. There were about a score of sheep feeding in apaddock near him, their white wool dyed a pale rose in the light of thesetting sun. Those in the long shadows from the trees were dead white;those in the sunlight were half glorified with pale rose. 

 Little Bo Peep, she lost her sheep, And didn't know where to find them; They were over the height and out of sight, Trailing their tails behind them. 

 Little Bo Peep woke out of her sleep, Jump'd up and set out to find them: "The silly things, they've got no wings, And they've left their trails behind them:

 "They've taken their tails, but they've left their trails, And so I shall follow and find them;" For wherever a tail had dragged a trail, The long grass grew behind them. 

 And day's eyes and butter-cups, cow's lips and crow's feet Were glittering in the sun. She threw down her book, and caught up her crook, And after her sheep did run. 

 She ran, and she ran, and ever as she ran, The grass grew higher and higher; Till over the hill the sun began To set in a flame of fire. 

 She ran on still--up the grassy hill, And the grass grew higher and higher; When she reached its crown, the sun was down, And had left a trail of fire. 

 The sheep and their tails were gone, all gone-- And no more trail behind them! Yes, yes! they were there--long-tailed and fair, But, alas! she could not find them. 

 Purple and gold, and rosy and blue, With their tails all white behind them, Her sheep they did run in the trail of the sun; She saw them, but could not find them. 

 After the sun, like clouds they did run, But she knew they were her sheep: She sat down to cry, and look up at the sky, But she cried herself asleep. 

 And as she slept the dew fell fast, And the wind blew from the sky; And strange things took place that shun the day's face, Because they are sweet and shy. 

 Nibble, nibble, crop! she heard as she woke: A hundred little lambs Did pluck and eat the grass so sweet That grew in the trails of their dams. 

 Little Bo Peep caught up her crook, And wiped the tears that did blind her. And nibble, nibble crop! without a stop! The lambs came eating behind her. 

 Home, home she came, both tired and lame, With three times as many sheep. In a month or more, they'll be as big as before, And then she'll laugh in her sleep. 

 But what would you say, if one fine day, When they've got their bushiest tails, Their grown up game should be just the same, And she have to follow their trails?

 Never weep, Bo Peep, though you lose your sheep, And do not know where to find them; 'Tis after the sun the mothers have run, And there are their lambs behind them. 

I confess again to having touched up a little, but it loses far morein Diamond's sweet voice singing it than it gains by a rhyme here andthere. 

Some of them were out of books Mr. Raymond had given him. These healways knew, but about the others he could seldom tell. Sometimes hewould say, "I made that one. " but generally he would say, "I don't know;I found it somewhere;" or "I got it at the back of the north wind. "

One evening I found him sitting on the grassy slope under the house, with his Dulcimer in his arms and his little brother rolling on thegrass beside them. He was chanting in his usual way, more like the soundof a brook than anything else I can think of. When I went up to them heceased his chant. 

"Do go on, Diamond. Don't mind me, " I said. 

He began again at once. While he sang, Nanny and Jim sat a little wayoff, one hemming a pocket-handkerchief, and the other reading a storyto her, but they never heeded Diamond. This is as near what he sang as Ican recollect, or reproduce rather. 

 What would you see if I took you up To my little nest in the air? You would see the sky like a clear blue cup Turned upside downwards there. 

 What would you do if I took you there To my little nest in the tree? My child with cries would trouble the air, To get what she could but see. 

 What would you get in the top of the tree For all your crying and grief? Not a star would you clutch of all you see-- You could only gather a leaf. 

 But when you had lost your greedy grief, Content to see from afar, You would find in your hand a withering leaf, In your heart a shining star. 

As Diamond went on singing, it grew very dark, and just as he ceasedthere came a great flash of lightning, that blinded us all for a moment. Dulcimer crowed with pleasure; but when the roar of thunder came afterit, the little brother gave a loud cry of terror. Nanny and Jim camerunning up to us, pale with fear. Diamond's face, too, was paler thanusual, but with delight. Some of the glory seemed to have clung to it, and remained shining. 

"You're not frightened--are you, Diamond?" I said. 

"No. Why should I be?" he answered with his usual question, looking upin my face with calm shining eyes. 

"He ain't got sense to be frightened, " said Nanny, going up to him andgiving him a pitying hug. 

"Perhaps there's more sense in not being frightened, Nanny, " I returned. "Do you think the lightning can do as it likes?"

"It might kill you, " said Jim. 

"Oh, no, it mightn't!" said Diamond. 

As he spoke there came another great flash, and a tearing crack. 

"There's a tree struck!" I said; and when we looked round, after theblinding of the flash had left our eyes, we saw a huge bough of thebeech-tree in which was Diamond's nest hanging to the ground like thebroken wing of a bird. 

"There!" cried Nanny; "I told you so. If you had been up there you seewhat would have happened, you little silly!"

"No, I don't, " said Diamond, and began to sing to Dulcimer. All Icould hear of the song, for the other children were going on with theirchatter, was--

 The clock struck one, And the mouse came down. Dickery, dickery, dock!

Then there came a blast of wind, and the rain followed instraight-pouring lines, as if out of a watering-pot. Diamond jumped upwith his little Dulcimer in his arms, and Nanny caught up the littleboy, and they ran for the cottage. Jim vanished with a double shuffle, and I went into the house. 

When I came out again to return home, the clouds were gone, and theevening sky glimmered through the trees, blue, and pale-green towardsthe west, I turned my steps a little aside to look at the strickenbeech. I saw the bough torn from the stem, and that was all the twilightwould allow me to see. While I stood gazing, down from the sky came asound of singing, but the voice was neither of lark nor of nightingale:it was sweeter than either: it was the voice of Diamond, up in his airynest:--

 The lightning and thunder, They go and they come; But the stars and the stillness Are always at home. 

And then the voice ceased. 

"Good-night, Diamond, " I said. 

"Good-night, sir, " answered Diamond. 

As I walked away pondering, I saw the great black top of the beechswaying about against the sky in an upper wind, and heard the murmur asof many dim half-articulate voices filling the solitude around Diamond'snest. 

CHAPTER XXXVI. DIAMOND QUESTIONS NORTH WIND

MY READERS will not wonder that, after this, I did my very best to gainthe friendship of Diamond. Nor did I find this at all difficult, thechild was so ready to trust. Upon one subject alone was he reticent--thestory of his relations with North Wind. I fancy he could not quite makeup his mind what to think of them. At all events it was some little timebefore he trusted me with this, only then he told me everything. IfI could not regard it all in exactly the same light as he did, I was, while guiltless of the least pretence, fully sympathetic, and hewas satisfied without demanding of me any theory of difficult pointsinvolved. I let him see plainly enough, that whatever might be theexplanation of the marvellous experience, I would have given much for asimilar one myself. 

On an evening soon after the thunderstorm, in a late twilight, witha half-moon high in the heavens, I came upon Diamond in the act ofclimbing by his little ladder into the beech-tree. 

"What are you always going up there for, Diamond?" I heard Nanny ask, rather rudely, I thought. 

"Sometimes for one thing, sometimes for another, Nanny, " answeredDiamond, looking skywards as he climbed. 

"You'll break your neck some day, " she said. 

"I'm going up to look at the moon to-night, " he added, without heedingher remark. 

"You'll see the moon just as well down here, " she returned. 

"I don't think so. "

"You'll be no nearer to her up there. "

"Oh, yes! I shall. I must be nearer her, you know. I wish I could dreamas pretty dreams about her as you can, Nanny. "

"You silly! you never have done about that dream. I never dreamed butthat one, and it was nonsense enough, I'm sure. "

"It wasn't nonsense. It was a beautiful dream--and a funny one too, bothin one. "

"But what's the good of talking about it that way, when you know it wasonly a dream? Dreams ain't true. "

"That one was true, Nanny. You know it was. Didn't you come to grief fordoing what you were told not to do? And isn't that true?"

"I can't get any sense into him, " exclaimed Nanny, with an expression ofmild despair. "Do you really believe, Diamond, that there's a house inthe moon, with a beautiful lady and a crooked old man and dusters init?"

"If there isn't, there's something better, " he answered, and vanished inthe leaves over our heads. 

I went into the house, where I visited often in the evenings. When Icame out, there was a little wind blowing, very pleasant after the heatof the day, for although it was late summer now, it was still hot. Thetree-tops were swinging about in it. I took my way past the beech, andcalled up to see if Diamond were still in his nest in its rocking head. 

"Are you there, Diamond?" I said. 

"Yes, sir, " came his clear voice in reply. 

"Isn't it growing too dark for you to get down safely?"

"Oh, no, sir--if I take time to it. I know my way so well, and never letgo with one hand till I've a good hold with the other. "

"Do be careful, " I insisted--foolishly, seeing the boy was as careful ashe could be already. 

"I'm coming, " he returned. "I've got all the moon I want to-night. "

I heard a rustling and a rustling drawing nearer and nearer. Three orfour minutes elapsed, and he appeared at length creeping down his littleladder. I took him in my arms, and set him on the ground. 

"Thank you, sir, " he said. "That's the north wind blowing, isn't it, sir?"

"I can't tell, " I answered. "It feels cool and kind, and I think it maybe. But I couldn't be sure except it were stronger, for a gentle windmight turn any way amongst the trunks of the trees. "

"I shall know when I get up to my own room, " said Diamond. "I think Ihear my mistress's bell. Good-night, sir. "

He ran to the house, and I went home. 

His mistress had rung for him only to send him to bed, for she was verycareful over him and I daresay thought he was not looking well. When hereached his own room, he opened both his windows, one of which looked tothe north and the other to the east, to find how the wind blew. It blewright in at the northern window. Diamond was very glad, for he thoughtperhaps North Wind herself would come now: a real north wind had neverblown all the time since he left London. But, as she always came ofherself, and never when he was looking for her, and indeed almost neverwhen he was thinking of her, he shut the east window, and went to bed. Perhaps some of my readers may wonder that he could go to sleep withsuch an expectation; and, indeed, if I had not known him, I should havewondered at it myself; but it was one of his peculiarities, and seemednothing strange in him. He was so full of quietness that he could goto sleep almost any time, if he only composed himself and let the sleepcome. This time he went fast asleep as usual. 

But he woke in the dim blue night. The moon had vanished. He thought heheard a knocking at his door. "Somebody wants me, " he said to himself, and jumping out of bed, ran to open it. 

But there was no one there. He closed it again, and, the noise stillcontinuing, found that another door in the room was rattling. Itbelonged to a closet, he thought, but he had never been able to open it. The wind blowing in at the window must be shaking it. He would go andsee if it was so. 

The door now opened quite easily, but to his surprise, instead of acloset he found a long narrow room. The moon, which was sinking in thewest, shone in at an open window at the further end. The room waslow with a coved ceiling, and occupied the whole top of the house, immediately under the roof. It was quite empty. The yellow light ofthe half-moon streamed over the dark floor. He was so delighted at thediscovery of the strange, desolate, moonlit place close to his own snuglittle room, that he began to dance and skip about the floor. The windcame in through the door he had left open, and blew about him as hedanced, and he kept turning towards it that it might blow in his face. He kept picturing to himself the many places, lovely and desolate, thehill-sides and farm-yards and tree-tops and meadows, over which it hadblown on its way to The Mound. And as he danced, he grew more and moredelighted with the motion and the wind; his feet grew stronger, and hisbody lighter, until at length it seemed as if he were borne up on theair, and could almost fly. So strong did his feeling become, that atlast he began to doubt whether he was not in one of those preciousdreams he had so often had, in which he floated about on the air atwill. But something made him look up, and to his unspeakable delight, hefound his uplifted hands lying in those of North Wind, who was dancingwith him, round and round the long bare room, her hair now falling tothe floor, now filling the arched ceiling, her eyes shining on him likethinking stars, and the sweetest of grand smiles playing breezily abouther beautiful mouth. She was, as so often before, of the height of arather tall lady. She did not stoop in order to dance with him, but heldhis hands high in hers. When he saw her, he gave one spring, and hisarms were about her neck, and her arms holding him to her bosom. Thesame moment she swept with him through the open window in at whichthe moon was shining, made a circuit like a bird about to alight, andsettled with him in his nest on the top of the great beech-tree. Thereshe placed him on her lap and began to hush him as if he were her ownbaby, and Diamond was so entirely happy that he did not care to speak aword. At length, however, he found that he was going to sleep, andthat would be to lose so much, that, pleasant as it was, he could notconsent. 

"Please, dear North Wind, " he said, "I am so happy that I'm afraid it'sa dream. How am I to know that it's not a dream?"

"What does it matter?" returned North Wind. 

"I should, cry" said Diamond. 

"But why should you cry? The dream, if it is a dream, is a pleasantone--is it not?"

"That's just why I want it to be true. "

"Have you forgotten what you said to Nanny about her dream?"

"It's not for the dream itself--I mean, it's not for the pleasure ofit, " answered Diamond, "for I have that, whether it be a dream or not;it's for you, North Wind; I can't bear to find it a dream, because thenI should lose you. You would be nobody then, and I could not bear that. You ain't a dream, are you, dear North Wind? Do say No, else I shallcry, and come awake, and you'll be gone for ever. I daren't dream aboutyou once again if you ain't anybody. "

"I'm either not a dream, or there's something better that's not a dream, Diamond, " said North Wind, in a rather sorrowful tone, he thought. 

"But it's not something better--it's you I want, North Wind, " hepersisted, already beginning to cry a little. 

She made no answer, but rose with him in her arms and sailed away overthe tree-tops till they came to a meadow, where a flock of sheep wasfeeding. 

"Do you remember what the song you were singing a week ago says aboutBo-Peep--how she lost her sheep, but got twice as many lambs?" askedNorth Wind, sitting down on the grass, and placing him in her lap asbefore. 

"Oh yes, I do, well enough, " answered Diamond; "but I never just quiteliked that rhyme. "

"Why not, child?"

"Because it seems to say one's as good as another, or two new ones arebetter than one that's lost. I've been thinking about it a great deal, and it seems to me that although any one sixpence is as good as anyother sixpence, not twenty lambs would do instead of one sheep whoseface you knew. Somehow, when once you've looked into anybody's eyes, right deep down into them, I mean, nobody will do for that one any more. Nobody, ever so beautiful or so good, will make up for that one goingout of sight. So you see, North Wind, I can't help being frightened tothink that perhaps I am only dreaming, and you are nowhere at all. Dotell me that you are my own, real, beautiful North Wind. "

Again she rose, and shot herself into the air, as if uneasy because shecould not answer him; and Diamond lay quiet in her arms, waitingfor what she would say. He tried to see up into her face, for he wasdreadfully afraid she was not answering him because she could not saythat she was not a dream; but she had let her hair fall all over herface so that he could not see it. This frightened him still more. 

"Do speak, North Wind, " he said at last. 

"I never speak when I have nothing to say, " she replied. 

"Then I do think you must be a real North Wind, and no dream, " saidDiamond. 

"But I'm looking for something to say all the time. "

"But I don't want you to say what's hard to find. If you were to say oneword to comfort me that wasn't true, then I should know you must be adream, for a great beautiful lady like you could never tell a lie. "

"But she mightn't know how to say what she had to say, so that a littleboy like you would understand it, " said North Wind. "Here, let us getdown again, and I will try to tell you what I think. You musn't supposeI am able to answer all your questions, though. There are a great manythings I don't understand more than you do. "

She descended on a grassy hillock, in the midst of a wild furzy common. There was a rabbit-warren underneath, and some of the rabbits came outof their holes, in the moonlight, looking very sober and wise, just likepatriarchs standing in their tent-doors, and looking about them beforegoing to bed. When they saw North Wind, instead of turning round andvanishing again with a thump of their heels, they cantered slowly up toher and snuffled all about her with their long upper lips, which movedevery way at once. That was their way of kissing her; and, as she talkedto Diamond, she would every now and then stroke down their furry backs, or lift and play with their long ears. They would, Diamond thought, haveleaped upon her lap, but that he was there already. 

"I think, " said she, after they had been sitting silent for a while, "that if I were only a dream, you would not have been able to love meso. You love me when you are not with me, don't you?"

"Indeed I do, " answered Diamond, stroking her hand. "I see! I see! Howcould I be able to love you as I do if you weren't there at all, youknow? Besides, I couldn't be able to dream anything half so beautifulall out of my own head; or if I did, I couldn't love a fancy of my ownlike that, could I?"

"I think not. You might have loved me in a dream, dreamily, andforgotten me when you woke, I daresay, but not loved me like a realbeing as you love me. Even then, I don't think you could dream anythingthat hadn't something real like it somewhere. But you've seen me in manyshapes, Diamond: you remember I was a wolf once--don't you?"

"Oh yes--a good wolf that frightened a naughty drunken nurse. "

"Well, suppose I were to turn ugly, would you rather I weren't a dreamthen?"

"Yes; for I should know that you were beautiful inside all the same. Youwould love me, and I should love you all the same. I shouldn't like youto look ugly, you know. But I shouldn't believe it a bit. "

"Not if you saw it?"

"No, not if I saw it ever so plain. "

"There's my Diamond! I will tell you all I know about it then. I don'tthink I am just what you fancy me to be. I have to shape myself variousways to various people. But the heart of me is true. People call meby dreadful names, and think they know all about me. But they don't. Sometimes they call me Bad Fortune, sometimes Evil Chance, sometimesRuin; and they have another name for me which they think the mostdreadful of all. "

"What is that?" asked Diamond, smiling up in her face. 

"I won't tell you that name. Do you remember having to go through me toget into the country at my back?"

"Oh yes, I do. How cold you were, North Wind! and so white, all but yourlovely eyes! My heart grew like a lump of ice, and then I forgot for awhile. "

"You were very near knowing what they call me then. Would you be afraidof me if you had to go through me again?"

"No. Why should I? Indeed I should be glad enough, if it was only to getanother peep of the country at your back. "

"You've never seen it yet. "

"Haven't I, North Wind? Oh! I'm so sorry! I thought I had. What did Isee then?"

"Only a picture of it. The real country at my real back is ever so muchmore beautiful than that. You shall see it one day--perhaps before verylong. "

"Do they sing songs there?"

"Don't you remember the dream you had about the little boys that dug forthe stars?"

"Yes, that I do. I thought you must have had something to do with thatdream, it was so beautiful. "

"Yes; I gave you that dream. "

"Oh! thank you. Did you give Nanny her dream too--about the moon and thebees?"

"Yes. I was the lady that sat at the window of the moon. "

"Oh, thank you. I was almost sure you had something to do with that too. And did you tell Mr. Raymond the story about the Princess Daylight?"

"I believe I had something to do with it. At all events he thought aboutit one night when he couldn't sleep. But I want to ask you whether youremember the song the boy-angels sang in that dream of yours. "

"No. I couldn't keep it, do what I would, and I did try. "

"That was my fault. "

"How could that be, North Wind?"

"Because I didn't know it properly myself, and so I couldn't teach it toyou. I could only make a rough guess at something like what it would be, and so I wasn't able to make you dream it hard enough to remember it. Nor would I have done so if I could, for it was not correct. I made youdream pictures of it, though. But you will hear the very song itselfwhen you do get to the back of----"

"My own dear North Wind, " said Diamond, finishing the sentence for her, and kissing the arm that held him leaning against her. 

"And now we've settled all this--for the time, at least, " said NorthWind. 

"But I can't feel quite sure yet, " said Diamond. 

"You must wait a while for that. Meantime you may be hopeful, andcontent not to be quite sure. Come now, I will take you home again, forit won't do to tire you too much. "

"Oh, no, no. I'm not the least tired, " pleaded Diamond. 

"It is better, though. "

"Very well; if you wish it, " yielded Diamond with a sigh. 

"You are a dear good, boy" said North Wind. "I will come for you againto-morrow night and take you out for a longer time. We shall make alittle journey together, in fact, we shall start earlier, and as themoon will be later, we shall have a little moonlight all the way. "

She rose, and swept over the meadow and the trees. In a few momentsthe Mound appeared below them. She sank a little, and floated in at thewindow of Diamond's room. There she laid him on his bed, covered himover, and in a moment he was lapt in a dreamless sleep. 

CHAPTER XXXVII. ONCE MORE

THE next night Diamond was seated by his open window, with his head onhis hand, rather tired, but so eagerly waiting for the promised visitthat he was afraid he could not sleep. But he started suddenly, andfound that he had been already asleep. He rose, and looking out of thewindow saw something white against his beech-tree. It was North Wind. She was holding by one hand to a top branch. Her hair and her garmentswent floating away behind her over the tree, whose top was swaying aboutwhile the others were still. 

"Are you ready, Diamond?" she asked. 

"Yes, " answered Diamond, "quite ready. "

In a moment she was at the window, and her arms came in and took him. She sailed away so swiftly that he could at first mark nothing but thespeed with which the clouds above and the dim earth below went rushingpast. But soon he began to see that the sky was very lovely, withmottled clouds all about the moon, on which she threw faint colours likethose of mother-of-pearl, or an opal. The night was warm, and in thelady's arms he did not feel the wind which down below was making wavesin the ripe corn, and ripples on the rivers and lakes. At length theydescended on the side of an open earthy hill, just where, from beneath astone, a spring came bubbling out. 

"I am going to take you along this little brook, " said North Wind. "I amnot wanted for anything else to-night, so I can give you a treat. "

She stooped over the stream and holding Diamond down close to thesurface of it, glided along level with its flow as it ran down the hill. And the song of the brook came up into Diamond's ears, and grew andgrew and changed with every turn. It seemed to Diamond to be singing thestory of its life to him. And so it was. It began with a musical tinklewhich changed to a babble and then to a gentle rushing. Sometimes itssong would almost cease, and then break out again, tinkle, babble, andrush, all at once. At the bottom of the hill they came to a small river, into which the brook flowed with a muffled but merry sound. Along thesurface of the river, darkly clear below them in the moonlight, theyfloated; now, where it widened out into a little lake, they would hoverfor a moment over a bed of water-lilies, and watch them swing about, folded in sleep, as the water on which they leaned swayed in thepresence of North Wind; and now they would watch the fishes asleep amongtheir roots below. Sometimes she would hold Diamond over a deep hollowcurving into the bank, that he might look far into the cool stillness. Sometimes she would leave the river and sweep across a clover-field. Thebees were all at home, and the clover was asleep. Then she would returnand follow the river. It grew wider and wider as it went. Now the armiesof wheat and of oats would hang over its rush from the opposite banks;now the willows would dip low branches in its still waters; and now itwould lead them through stately trees and grassy banks into a lovelygarden, where the roses and lilies were asleep, the tender flowersquite folded up, and only a few wide-awake and sending out their life insweet, strong odours. Wider and wider grew the stream, until they cameupon boats lying along its banks, which rocked a little in the flutterof North Wind's garments. Then came houses on the banks, each standingin a lovely lawn, with grand trees; and in parts the river was so highthat some of the grass and the roots of some of the trees were underwater, and Diamond, as they glided through between the stems, could seethe grass at the bottom of the water. Then they would leave the riverand float about and over the houses, one after another--beautiful richhouses, which, like fine trees, had taken centuries to grow. There wasscarcely a light to be seen, and not a movement to be heard: all thepeople in them lay fast asleep. 

"What a lot of dreams they must be dreaming!" said Diamond. 

"Yes, " returned North Wind. "They can't surely be all lies--can they?"

"I should think it depends a little on who dreams them, " suggestedDiamond. 

"Yes, " said North Wind. "The people who think lies, and do lies, arevery likely to dream lies. But the people who love what is true willsurely now and then dream true things. But then something depends onwhether the dreams are home-grown, or whether the seed of them is blownover somebody else's garden-wall. Ah! there's some one awake in thishouse!"

They were floating past a window in which a light was burning. Diamondheard a moan, and looked up anxiously in North Wind's face. 

"It's a lady, " said North Wind. "She can't sleep for pain. "

"Couldn't you do something for her?" said Diamond. 

"No, I can't. But you could. "

"What could I do?"

"Sing a little song to her. "

"She wouldn't hear me. "

"I will take you in, and then she will hear you. "

"But that would be rude, wouldn't it? You can go where you please, ofcourse, but I should have no business in her room. "

"You may trust me, Diamond. I shall take as good care of the lady as ofyou. The window is open. Come. "

By a shaded lamp, a lady was seated in a white wrapper, trying to read, but moaning every minute. North Wind floated behind her chair, set Diamond down, and told him to sing something. He was a littlefrightened, but he thought a while, and then sang:--

 The sun is gone down, And the moon's in the sky; But the sun will come up, And the moon be laid by. 

 The flower is asleep But it is not dead; When the morning shines, It will lift its head. 

 When winter comes, It will die--no, no; It will only hide From the frost and the snow. 

 Sure is the summer, Sure is the sun; The night and the winter Are shadows that run. 

The lady never lifted her eyes from her book, or her head from her hand. 

As soon as Diamond had finished, North Wind lifted him and carried himaway. 

"Didn't the lady hear me?" asked Diamond when they were once morefloating down the river. 

"Oh, yes, she heard you, " answered North Wind. 

"Was she frightened then?"

"Oh, no. "

"Why didn't she look to see who it was?"

"She didn't know you were there. "

"How could she hear me then?"

"She didn't hear you with her ears. "

"What did she hear me with?"

"With her heart. "

"Where did she think the words came from?"

"She thought they came out of the book she was reading. She will searchall through it to-morrow to find them, and won't be able to understandit at all. "

"Oh, what fun!" said Diamond. "What will she do?"

"I can tell you what she won't do: she'll never forget the meaning ofthem; and she'll never be able to remember the words of them. "

"If she sees them in Mr. Raymond's book, it will puzzle her, won't it?"

"Yes, that it will. She will never be able to understand it. "

"Until she gets to the back of the north wind, " suggested Diamond. 

"Until she gets to the back of the north wind, " assented the lady. 

"Oh!" cried Diamond, "I know now where we are. Oh! do let me go into theold garden, and into mother's room, and Diamond's stall. I wonder if thehole is at the back of my bed still. I should like to stay there all therest of the night. It won't take you long to get home from here, willit, North Wind?"

"No, " she answered; "you shall stay as long as you like. "

"Oh, how jolly, " cried Diamond, as North Wind sailed over the house withhim, and set him down on the lawn at the back. 

Diamond ran about the lawn for a little while in the moonlight. He foundpart of it cut up into flower-beds, and the little summer-house with thecoloured glass and the great elm-tree gone. He did not like this, andran into the stable. There were no horses there at all. He ran upstairs. The rooms were empty. The only thing left that he cared about was thehole in the wall where his little bed had stood; and that was not enoughto make him wish to stop. He ran down the stair again, and out upon thelawn. There he threw himself down and began to cry. It was all so drearyand lost!

"I thought I liked the place so much, " said Diamond to himself, "but Ifind I don't care about it. I suppose it's only the people in it thatmake you like a place, and when they're gone, it's dead, and you don'tcare a bit about it. North Wind told me I might stop as long as I liked, and I've stopped longer already. North Wind!" he cried aloud, turninghis face towards the sky. 

The moon was under a cloud, and all was looking dull and dismal. Astar shot from the sky, and fell in the grass beside him. The moment itlighted, there stood North Wind. 

"Oh!" cried Diamond, joyfully, "were you the shooting star?"

"Yes, my child. "

"Did you hear me call you then?"

"Yes. "

"So high up as that?"

"Yes; I heard you quite well. "

"Do take me home. "

"Have you had enough of your old home already?"

"Yes, more than enough. It isn't a home at all now. "

"I thought that would be it, " said North Wind. "Everything, dreaming andall, has got a soul in it, or else it's worth nothing, and we don't carea bit about it. Some of our thoughts are worth nothing, because they'vegot no soul in them. The brain puts them into the mind, not the mindinto the brain. "

"But how can you know about that, North Wind? You haven't got a body. "

"If I hadn't you wouldn't know anything about me. No creature can knowanother without the help of a body. But I don't care to talk about that. It is time for you to go home. "

So saying, North Wind lifted Diamond and bore him away. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND

I DID not see Diamond for a week or so after this, and then he told mewhat I have now told you. I should have been astonished at his beingable even to report such conversations as he said he had had withNorth Wind, had I not known already that some children are profound inmetaphysics. But a fear crosses me, lest, by telling so much aboutmy friend, I should lead people to mistake him for one of thoseconsequential, priggish little monsters, who are always trying to sayclever things, and looking to see whether people appreciate them. When achild like that dies, instead of having a silly book written about him, he should be stuffed like one of those awful big-headed fishes yousee in museums. But Diamond never troubled his head about what peoplethought of him. He never set up for knowing better than others. Thewisest things he said came out when he wanted one to help him with somedifficulty he was in. He was not even offended with Nanny and Jim forcalling him a silly. He supposed there was something in it, though hecould not quite understand what. I suspect however that the other namethey gave him, God's Baby, had some share in reconciling him to it. 

Happily for me, I was as much interested in metaphysics as Diamondhimself, and therefore, while he recounted his conversations with NorthWind, I did not find myself at all in a strange sea, although certainlyI could not always feel the bottom, being indeed convinced that thebottom was miles away. 

"Could it be all dreaming, do you think, sir?" he asked anxiously. 

"I daren't say, Diamond, " I answered. "But at least there is one thingyou may be sure of, that there is a still better love than that of thewonderful being you call North Wind. Even if she be a dream, the dreamof such a beautiful creature could not come to you by chance. "

"Yes, I know, " returned Diamond; "I know. "

Then he was silent, but, I confess, appeared more thoughtful thansatisfied. 

The next time I saw him, he looked paler than usual. 

"Have you seen your friend again?" I asked him. 

"Yes, " he answered, solemnly. 

"Did she take you out with her?"

"No. She did not speak to me. I woke all at once, as I generally do whenI am going to see her, and there she was against the door into the bigroom, sitting just as I saw her sit on her own doorstep, as white assnow, and her eyes as blue as the heart of an iceberg. She looked at me, but never moved or spoke. "

"Weren't you afraid?" I asked. 

"No. Why should I have been?" he answered. "I only felt a little cold. "

"Did she stay long?"

"I don't know. I fell asleep again. I think I have been rather cold eversince though, " he added with a smile. 

I did not quite like this, but I said nothing. 

Four days after, I called again at the Mound. The maid who openedthe door looked grave, but I suspected nothing. When I reached thedrawing-room, I saw Mrs. Raymond had been crying. 

"Haven't you heard?" she said, seeing my questioning looks. 

"I've heard nothing, " I answered. 

"This morning we found our dear little Diamond lying on the floor of thebig attic-room, just outside his own door--fast asleep, as we thought. But when we took him up, we did not think he was asleep. We sawthat----"

Here the kind-hearted lady broke out crying afresh. 

"May I go and see him?" I asked. 

"Yes, " she sobbed. "You know your way to the top of the tower. "

I walked up the winding stair, and entered his room. A lovely figure, aswhite and almost as clear as alabaster, was lying on the bed. I saw atonce how it was. They thought he was dead. I knew that he had gone tothe back of the north wind.