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The Project Gutenberg eBook, At the Back of the North Wind, by Elizabeth
Lewis and George MacDonald, Illustrated by Maria L. Kirk
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: At the Back of the North Wind
Author: Elizabeth Lewis and George MacDonald
Release Date: June 17, 2006 [eBook #18614]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND***
E-text prepared by Joseph R. Hauser, Emmy, and the Project Gutenberg
Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net/)
Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
file which includes the original illustrations.
See 18614-h.htm or 18614-h.zip:
(http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/8/6/1/18614/18614-h/18614-h.htm)
or
(http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/8/6/1/18614/18614-h.zip)
AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND
Eleventh Impression
* * * * *
THE CHILDREN'S CLASSICS
Each beautifully illustrated in color and tastefully bound
BY WASHINGTON IRVING
THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
RIP VAN WINKLE
SELECTED
TALES OF WASHINGTON IRVING'S
ALHAMBRA
BY JOHN RUSKIN
THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER
BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES
SELECTED
HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES
BY MISS MULOCK
THE LITTLE LAME PRINCE
THE ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE
BY EMMA GELLIBRAND
J. COLE
BY JOHANNA SPYRI
MONI THE GOAT BOY
BY OUIDA
MOUFFLOU AND OTHER STORIES
THE NÜRNBERG STOVE
A DOG OF FLANDERS
SELECTED
WONDERLAND STORIES
ALL TIME TALES
BY JONATHAN SWIFT
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
(LILLIPUT LAND)
BY GEORGE MACDONALD
THE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN
THE PRINCESS AND CURDIE
AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND
* * * * *
[Illustration: NORTH WIND, WHO WAS DANCING WITH HIM, ROUND AND ROUND THE
LONG BARE ROOM _Page 111_]
George Macdonald
Stories For Little Folks
AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND
Simplified by
ELIZABETH LEWIS
Author of "The Princess and the Goblin Simplified"
With Six Full Page Illustrations in Color by Maria L. Kirk
[Illustration]
Philadelphia and London
J. B. Lippincott Company
Copyright, 1914
By J. B. Lippincott Company
Electrotyped and Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company
The Washington Square Press, Philadelphia, U.S.A.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. DIAMOND MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE OF NORTH WIND 9
II. DIAMOND'S FIRST TRIP WITH THE NORTH WIND 20
III. NORTH WIND SINKS A SHIP 31
IV. THE LAND AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND 41
V. DIAMOND'S FATHER LOSES HIS EMPLOYMENT 52
VI. DIAMOND LEARNS TO DRIVE A HORSE 62
VII. DIAMOND DRIVES THE CAB 73
VIII. DIAMOND VISITS NANNY 84
IX. THINGS GO HARD WITH DIAMOND'S FAMILY 93
X. DIAMOND IN HIS NEW HOME 102
XI. ANOTHER VISIT FROM NORTH WIND 109
XII. NORTH WIND CARRIES DIAMOND AWAY 119
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
NORTH WIND, WHO WAS DANCING WITH HIM, ROUND AND ROUND
THE LONG BARE ROOM _Frontispiece_
AGAINST THIS HE LAID HIS EAR, AND THEN HE HEARD THE
VOICE QUITE DISTINCTLY 12
IT WAS THE BACK DOOR OF A GARDEN 29
HE WAS SURE IT WAS NORTH WIND, BUT HE THOUGHT SHE MUST
BE DEAD AT LAST 47
WITHIN A MONTH HE WAS ABLE TO SPELL OUT MOST OF THE
VERSES FOR HIMSELF 73
HE FASTENED THE CHEEK-STRAP VERY CAREFULLY 78
AT THE BACK OF THE
NORTH WIND
CHAPTER I
DIAMOND MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE OF NORTH WIND
There was once a little boy named Diamond and he slept in a low room
over a coach house. In fact, his room was just a loft where they kept
hay and straw and oats for the horses. Little Diamond's father was a
coachman and he had named his boy after a favorite horse.
Diamond's father had built him a bed in the loft with boards all around
it, because there was so little room in their own end of the coach
house. So when little Diamond lay there in bed, he could hear the horses
under him munching away in the dark or moving sleepily in their dreams.
His father put old Diamond, the horse after whom he was named, in the
stall under the bed because he was quiet and did not go to sleep
standing, but lay down like a reasonable creature.
Little Diamond sometimes woke in the middle of the night and felt his
bed shaking in the blasts of the north wind. Then he could not help
wondering if the wind should blow the house down and he should fall down
into the manger, whether old Diamond might not eat him up before he knew
him in his night gown. And though old Diamond was quiet all night long,
yet when he woke up he got up like an earthquake. Then little Diamond
knew what o'clock it was, or at least what was to be done next, which
was--to go to sleep again as fast as he could!
Often there was hay at little Diamond's feet as he lay in bed, and hay
at his head, piled up in great heaps to the very roof. Sometimes there
was none at all. That was when they had used it all and had not yet
bought more. Soon they bought more, and then it was only through a
little lane with two or three turnings in it that he could reach his bed
at all.
Sometimes when his mother undressed him in her room and told him to trot
away to bed by himself, he would creep into the heart of the hay first.
There he would lie, thinking how cold it was outside in the wind and how
warm it would be inside his bed; and how he would go to his bed when he
pleased; only he wouldn't just yet; he would get a little colder first.
As he grew colder lying in the hay, his bed seemed to him to grow
warmer. Then at last, he would scramble out of the hay, shoot like an
arrow into his bed, cover himself up, snuggle down, and think what a
happy boy he was!
He had not the least idea that the wind got in at a chink in the wall
and blew about him all night. But the back of his bed was of boards only
an inch thick, and on the other side of them was the north wind. Now
these boards were soft and crumbly, and it happened that a soft part in
them had worn away.
One night after he lay down, little Diamond found that a knot had come
out of one of them and the wind was blowing in upon him. He jumped out
of bed again, got a little wisp of hay, twisted it up and folded it in
the middle. In this way, he made it into a cork and stuck it into the
knot-hole to keep the wind out. But the wind began to blow loudly and
angrily. Just as Diamond was falling asleep, out blew his hay cork and
hit him on the nose!
It was just hard enough to wake him up and let him hear the wind
whistling through the hole. He searched about for his hay cork, found
it, and stuck it in harder. He was just dropping off to sleep once more,
when pop! with an angry whistle behind it, the cork struck him again,
this time on the cheek. Up he rose once more, got some more hay to make
a new cork, and stuck it into the hole as hard as ever he could. But he
was scarcely laid down again, before pop! it came on his forehead. So he
gave it up, drew the bed-clothes over his head, and was soon fast
asleep.
[Illustration: AGAINST THIS HE LAID HIS EAR, AND THEN HE HEARD THE VOICE
QUITE DISTINCTLY]
Next day, little Diamond forgot all about the hole. But his mother found
it when she was making up his bed and pasted a piece of thick brown
paper over it. So when Diamond snuggled down into his bed that night, he
did not think of it at all. But before he dropped asleep, he heard a
queer sound and lifted his head to listen. Was somebody talking to him?
The wind was rising again and beginning to blow and whistle. Was it the
wind? He moved about to find out who or what it was, and at last,
happened to put his hand upon the knot-hole with the paper pasted over
it. Against this he laid his ear and then he heard the voice quite
distinctly.
"What do you mean, little boy, by closing up my window?"
"What window?" asked Diamond.
"You stuffed hay into it three times last night! I had to blow it out
again three times!"
"You can't mean this little hole? It isn't a window. It is a hole in my
bed."
"I did not say _a_ window. I said it was _my_ window!"
"But it can't be a window!" said Diamond. "Windows are holes to see out
of."
"Well, that is just what I made this window for."
"But you are outside," answered Diamond. "You can't want a window."
"You are quite mistaken. Windows are to see out of, you say. Well, I am
in my house, and I want windows to see out of."
"But you have made a window into my bed."
"Well, your mother has three windows into my dancing hall, and you have
three into my garret."
"Dear me!" said Diamond. "Still you can hardly expect me to keep a
window in my bed for you. Now, can you?"
"Come!" said the voice. "You just open that window!"
"Well," said Diamond, "mother says I should be obliging. Still it is
rather hard. You see, the north wind will blow right in my face if I
do!"
"I am the North Wind!" said the voice.
"O-o-oh!" said Diamond. "Then will you promise not to blow in my face if
I open your window?"
"I cannot promise that," said the North Wind.
"But you will give me the tooth-ache. Mother has it already."
"But what is to become of me without a window!" cried the voice.
"I am sure I don't know. All I say is that it will be worse for me than
for you."
"No, it will not," replied the voice. "You shall not be the worse for
it--I promise you that. You will be much the better for it. Just believe
what I say, and do as I tell you."
"Well, I _can_ pull the clothes over my head," said Diamond. So he felt
around with his little sharp nails, got hold of one edge of the paper
and tore it off. In came a long whistling stream of cold that struck his
little naked chest. He scrambled and tumbled in under the bed-clothes
and covered himself up. There was no paper between him and the voice
now, and he felt--not frightened exactly--but a little queer.
"What a strange person this North Wind must be," thought Diamond, "to
live in what they call 'Out-of-Doors,' I suppose, and make windows into
people's beds."
Now the voice began again. He could hear it quite plainly, even with his
head under the bed-clothes. It was still more gentle now, though it was
six times as large and loud as before. And he thought it sounded a
little like his mother's.
"What is your name, little boy?" it asked.
"Diamond," answered Diamond under the bed-clothes.
"What a funny name!"
"It is a very nice name," replied the boy.
"I am not so sure of that," said the voice.
"Well, I am!" returned Diamond. "I think it is a very pretty name."
"Diamond is a useless thing, rather," said the voice.
"That is not true. Diamond is very useful--and as big as two--and so
quiet all night! But doesn't he make a jolly row in the morning, getting
up on his four great legs! It is like thunder!"
"You do not seem to know what a diamond is!" cried the voice.
"Oh, don't I, just! Diamond is a great and good horse, and he sleeps
right under me. He is old Diamond and I am young Diamond. Or, if you
like it better, Mr. North Wind, if you are so particular, he is big
Diamond and I am little Diamond. And I do not know which of us my father
likes best!"
A beautiful laugh, soft and musical, sounded somewhere near him. But the
boy kept his head under the clothes.
"I am not Mr. North Wind," said the voice.
"You told me you were the North Wind," cried Diamond.
"I did not say _Mr._ North Wind," said the voice.
"Well, I _do_ say Mr. for my mother tells me always to be polite."
"Then let me tell you that I do not think it at all polite for you to
say Mr. to me," answered the voice.
"Isn't it? Well, I am sorry then."
"But you ought to know better," said the voice. "You can't think it is
polite to lie there with your head under the bed-clothes and never look
to see what kind of a person you are talking to! I want you to come out
with me."
"I want to go to sleep!" said Diamond.
"Will you take your head out of the bed-clothes?" said the voice a
little angrily.
"No!" said Diamond crossly.
The moment he said the word a fierce blast of wind crashed in the wall
and swept the clothes off him. He started up in a fright. Leaning over
him was the large, beautiful, pale face of a woman. Her dark eyes had
begun to flash a little but the rest of her face was very sweet and
beautiful. What was very strange, though, was that away from her head
streamed out her black hair in every direction like dark clouds. Soon it
fell down about her again and then her face came out of it like the
moon out of the clouds.
"Will you go with me now, little Diamond?" asked the North Wind bending
over him and speaking very gently.
"Yes, yes!" cried Diamond, stretching out his arms toward her. "Yes, I
will go with you, dear North Wind. I am not a bit afraid. I will go!
But," he added, "how shall I get my clothes? They are in mother's room
and the door is locked."
"Oh never mind your clothes. You will not be cold. Nobody is cold with
the North Wind."
"I thought everybody was," said Diamond.
"That is a great mistake. People are not cold when they are _with_ the
North Wind--only when they are against it. Now will you come?"
"Yes, dear North Wind. You are so beautiful I am quite ready to go with
you."
"Ah, but I may not always look beautiful. If you see me with my face all
black, don't be frightened. If you see me flapping wings like bat's
wings, as big as the whole sky, don't be afraid. If you hear me raging,
you must believe that I am just doing my work. Nay, Diamond, if I change
into a serpent or a tiger, you must not let go your hold of me, for it
will be I just the same. And now, come!"
She turned away and went so swiftly that she was gone before Diamond was
more than started. When he finally got down the stairs and out into the
yard, no one did he see. And there he stood with his bare feet on the
hard stones of the paved yard.
"I dare say she is hiding somewhere to see what I will do," said
Diamond. So around the end of the stable he went to see if he could find
her. But at once, sharp as a knife, the wind came against his little
chest and bare legs. And stronger and stronger the wind seemed to blow.
It was _so_ cold! All at once, he remembered that she had said that
people were not cold if they went _with_ the North Wind. So he turned
his back and trotted again toward the yard and sure enough, he began to
feel almost warm once more!
On and on, North Wind blew him and, presently, she seemed to shove him
right against a small door in a wall. It opened and she blew him through
it and out into the very middle of the lawn of the house next door. It
was here that Mr. Coleman lived who was his father's master and who
owned big Diamond. So little Diamond did not feel entirely strange, and
then, too, there was a light in one window that looked friendly. As long
as he could see that, Diamond could not feel quite alone or lonely. But
all at once, the light went almost out. Then indeed, he felt that it
was dreadful to be out in the night alone, when every body else was gone
to bed! That was more than he could bear and it was not strange that he
burst out crying.
Some one in the house heard the sound of his sobbing and came out and
found him there. He was taken into the house and into a room which had a
bright light and a warm fire in it. Beside this, he found Miss Coleman,
the young lady daughter of the house, who was having her long dark hair
brushed out before going to bed. Somehow in that state, she looked just
like the beautiful North Wind that he had been searching for. Without
stopping to think, he ran right into her arms for comfort.
After he was warmed and comforted, they took him back home and knocked
on the door to arouse his mother, to come and get him. She was much
surprised to see him, you may be sure. She carried him up to his bed
again and tucked him snugly in. And there he fell fast asleep.
CHAPTER II
DIAMOND'S FIRST TRIP WITH THE NORTH WIND
Diamond awoke very early the next morning and thought what a curious
dream he had had. But the memory of it grew brighter and brighter until
it did not look altogether like a dream. In fact he began to doubt
whether he had not really been abroad in the wind at night.
All that week it was hard weather. The grass showed white in the morning
with the hoar frost which clung to every blade. As Diamond's shoes were
not good and his mother had not saved up quite enough money to get him
the new pair she so much wanted for him, she would not let him run out.
But at length, she brought home his new shoes. No sooner did she find
that they fitted him, than she told him he might run out into the yard
and amuse himself.
The sun was going down when he flew from the door like a bird from its
cage. A great fire of sunset burned over the top of the gate that led to
the stables. Above the fire in the sky, lay a large lake of green light,
above that a golden cloud, and over that the blue of the wintry heavens.
Diamond thought that next to his own home, he had never seen any place
he would like so much to live in as that sky.
As he wandered about, he came to stand by the little door which opened
upon the lawn of the house next door. That made him remember how the
wind had driven him to this same spot on the night of his dream. So he
thought he would just go in and see if things looked at all as they did
then. But not a flower was to be seen in the beds on the lawn! Even the
brave old chrysanthemums and Christmas roses had passed away before the
frost. What? Yes! There was _one_. He ran and knelt down to look at it.
It was a primrose--a tiny, tiny thing, but perfect in shape--a baby
wonder. As he stooped his face to see it close, a little wind began to
blow. Two or three long leaves that stood up behind the flower shook and
wavered and quivered. But the primrose lay still in the green hollow,
looking up at the sky and not seeming to know at all that the wind was
blowing. It looked like a golden eye that the black wintry earth had
opened to look at the sky with.
That very same night, after Diamond had been asleep for a little, 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 do not hear you blowing."
"No, but you hear me talking. Open the window for I haven't over much
time."
"Yes," said Diamond. "But please, North Wind, where's the use? You left
me all alone last time."
"That was your fault," returned North Wind. "I had work to do and you
kept me waiting."
Diamond was already scratching at the paper like ten mice and, getting
hold of the edge of it, tore it off. The next instant a young girl
glided across the bed and stood on the floor.
"Oh, dear!" said Diamond quite dismayed. "I didn't know--who are you,
please?"
"I am North Wind."
"But you are no bigger than I am!"
"Do you think I care how big or how little I am? And of course, I am
little this evening! Didn't you see me behind the leaves of the
primrose? Didn't you see them blowing? Make haste, now, if you want to
go with me! Dress as fast as you can and I will go and shake the leaves
of the primrose till you come!"
"Don't hurt it!" said Diamond.
North Wind broke out into a little laugh like the breaking of silver
bubbles and was gone in a moment. Diamond saw the gleam of something
vanishing down the stair. He dressed himself as fast as ever he could
and crept out into the yard, through the door in the wall, and away to
the primrose. Behind it stood North Wind leaning over it.
"Come along!" she said jumping up and holding out her hand. She led him
across the garden and with one bound was on top of the wall. Then she
reached down her hand to Diamond. He gave a great spring and stood
beside her.
Another bound, and they stood in the road by the river. It was full tide
and the stars were shining clear in its depths. But they had not walked
beside it far before its surface was covered with ripples and the stars
had vanished. North Wind was now as tall as a full-grown girl. Her hair
was flying about her head and the wind was blowing a breeze down the
river. But she turned aside and went up a narrow lane.
"I have some rather disagreeable work to do to-night," she said. "And
disagreeable work must be looked after first."
So saying, she laid hold of Diamond and began to run, gliding along
faster and faster. She made many turnings and windings. Once they ran
through a hall where they found both the front and back doors open. At
the foot of the stair, North Wind stood still and Diamond, hearing a
great growl, started in terror. There, instead of North Wind, was a huge
wolf by his side! He let go his hold and the wolf bounded up the stair.
The windows of the house rattled and shook and there came the sound of a
fall.
"Surely," thought Diamond, "North Wind can't be eating one of the
children!"
He started to rush up after her, but she met him on the stair, took him
by the hand and hurried him out of the house.
"I hope you haven't eaten a baby, North Wind!" he said very solemnly.
North Wind laughed merrily and went tripping on faster. Her grassy robe
swept and swirled about her steps. Wherever it passed over withered
leaves, they went fleeing and whirling away and running on their edges
all about her feet. "No, I did not eat a baby," she said, "as you would
know if you had not let go of me. I merely scared an ugly nurse who was
calling a child bad names. I flew at her throat and she tumbled over
with a crash. I had to put on a bad shape before she could see me. I put
on a wolf's shape for that is what she is growing to be inside."
They were now climbing the slope of a grassy ascent. At the top, North
Wind stood and turned her face toward London. The stars were still
shining clear and cold overhead. There was not a cloud to be seen.
"Now," said North Wind, "do not let go of me again. I might have lost
you the last time, only I was not in a hurry then. Now I am in a hurry."
As she spoke, she was growing larger and larger. Her head went up and up
toward the stars. As she grew, her hair, longer and longer, lifted
itself from her head and went out in black waves. She put her hands
behind her head and began weaving and knotting her hair together. Then
she took up Diamond in her hands and threw him over her shoulder saying,
"I have made a place for you in my hair. Get in, Diamond."
Diamond soon found the woven nest and crept into it. The next moment he
was rising in the air. North Wind grew towering up to the place of the
clouds. Her hair went streaming out from her till it spread like a mist
over the stars. She flung herself abroad in space. Diamond made a little
place through the woven meshes of her hair and peeped through that, for
he did not dare look over the top of his nest.
The earth was rushing past like a river or a sea below him. Trees and
water and green grass hurried away beneath. Now there was nothing but
the roofs of houses sweeping along like a great torrent of stones and
rocks. Chimneys fell and tiles flew from the roofs. There was a great
roaring for the wind was dashing against London like a stormy sea.
Diamond, of course, at the back of North Wind, was in a calm but he
could hear it. Around and around and around, swept North Wind, her dark
hair rolling and flowing, sweeping the people all into their homes and
the bad smells out of the streets.
Suddenly, Diamond saw a little girl coming along a street. She was
dreadfully blown by the wind, and a broom she was trailing behind her
was very troublesome. It seemed as if the wind had a spite at her! It
kept worrying her and tearing at her rags. She was so lonely there!
"Oh, please, North Wind," cried Diamond, "won't you help that little
girl?"
"I cannot leave my work, Diamond. But you can help her if you like.
Only, I can't wait for you. And mind, the wind will get hold of you
too!"
"But how shall I get home again," cried Diamond, "if you don't wait for
me?"
"Well, you must think of that!" said North Wind.
"Oh," cried Diamond. "I am sure the wind will blow her over! I _must_
help her anyway! Let me go!"
Without a word, North Wind dropped into the street and set him down. The
same moment, he was caught in the coils of the blast and all but swept
away. North Wind vanished. The wind was roaring along the street. The
little girl was scudding before it, her hair flying, while behind her
she dragged her broom with which she swept her crossing. Her little legs
were going as fast as they could, to keep her from falling.
"Stop! stop! little girl!" shouted Diamond, starting in pursuit.
"I can't!" wailed the girl. "The wind won't let me!"
Diamond ran after her and caught hold of her frock but it tore in his
hand. Then he ran fast enough to get in front of her and turning around,
caught her in his arms. Just then, he thought he got a glimpse of North
Wind turning the corner in front of them. They must go with her of
course, and sure enough, when they turned the corner after her, they
found it quite quiet there.
"Now, you must lead me," said Diamond. "You show me the way you must go
to get home and I will take care of you."
So the little girl put her free hand in his and began to lead him. They
went around turning after turning, till they stopped at a cellar-door in
a very dirty lane. There the little girl knocked.
"What an awful place!" said Diamond. "I should not like to live here."
"Oh yes, you would, if you had no where else to go!" answered the girl.
"I only hope they'll let me in."
"Don't they always let you in?" said Diamond.
"No, they don't. And then I have to stay in the street all night and
scud back to my crossing the first thing in the morning. You see they
don't answer, now!"
"Well," said Diamond, "I don't want to get in. I want to go back to my
mother. Come with me and I will take you to my own home."
The little girl thought this would be much better than sitting in the
streets all night. So they started off. The trouble was that Diamond was
not at all sure that he could find the way without North Wind. But the
only thing to do was to try. So they wandered on and on, turning in this
direction and that, without any reason for one way more than another. At
last, they got out of the thick of the houses into a kind of waste
place. By this time, they were both very tired, and Diamond was
inclined to cry. For he said to himself that he had not done the little
girl any good and he had lost his own way home. But in this, he was
wrong for she was far happier in having him with her, and making people
happier is one of the best ways of doing them good.
[Illustration: IT WAS THE BACK DOOR OF A GARDEN]
They sat down and rested themselves a little and then went on. After a
time, they found themselves on a rising ground that sloped rather
steeply on the other side. The moment they reached the top, a gust of
wind seized them and blew them down hill as fast as they could run. Nor
could Diamond stop before he went bang! against one of the doors in a
wall. To his dismay, it burst open. When they came to themselves, they
peeped in. It was the back door of a garden.
"Oh! oh!" cried Diamond after staring for a few moments. "I know this
place--know it well! It is Mr. Coleman's garden and here I am at home
again. Oh, I am so glad! Come in, little girl! Come in with me and my
mother will give you some breakfast."
"No, no! I can't!" said the little girl. "We have been so long coming.
Look up! Don't you see that it is morning now? I must hurry back to my
crossing and sweep it and get money to take home or they will beat me!
I cannot stay. Good-bye, little boy, good-bye!"
She started back at once, ran up the hill and disappeared behind it.
Diamond called after her and called, but she did not even turn round. He
was sorry to see her go but there was no help for it. So when she was
gone quite out of sight, he shut the door of the garden as best he
could, and ran through the kitchen garden to the stables. And wasn't he
glad to get into his own blessed bed again!
CHAPTER III
NORTH WIND SINKS A SHIP
It was some time before he saw North Wind again. He saw the little girl
before that but it was only for a moment. It happened in this way. His
father was taking the horse, Diamond, to have new shoes put on him, and
knowing that little Diamond, like all small boys, liked a ride, he set
him on the horse and taking the bridle led the two Diamonds away.
The blacksmith's shop was some distance away, deeper in London. As they
crossed the angle of a square, Diamond, who was looking about to see if
any one noticed him riding upon the big horse like a man, saw a little
girl sweeping a crossing before a lady and holding out her hand for a
penny. The lady had no penny and the little girl was disappointed.
Diamond could not stand that. He knew the little girl and he knew that
he had a penny in his pocket. He slid off the horse in a sort of tumble
and ran to her, holding out the penny. She did not know him at first,
but when he smiled at her, she did. He stuffed the penny into her hand
and ran back, for he knew his father would not care to wait. After that,
he did not see little Nanny for a long time.
He played often now on the lawn of the house next door--Mr. Coleman's
lawn--as the summer drew near, warm and splendid. One evening, he was
sitting in a little summer-house at the foot of the lawn, before which
was a bed of tulips. They were closed for the night but the wind was
waving them slightly. All at once, out of one of them, there flew a big
buzzing bumblebee.
"There! That's something done!" said a voice--a gentle, merry, childish
voice but _so_ tiny! "I was afraid he would have to stay there all
night."
Diamond looked all about and then he saw the _tiniest_ creature, sliding
down the stem of the tulip.
"Are you the fairy that herds the bees?" he asked kneeling down beside
the tulip bed.
"I am not a fairy," answered the little creature. "You stupid Diamond,
have you never seen me before?"
As she spoke, a moan of wind bent the tulips almost to the ground and
then he recognized North Wind.
"But there!" added the little creature, "I must not stay to chatter. I
have to go and sink a ship to-night."
"Sink a ship!" cried Diamond. "And drown the men and women in it? How
dreadful! Still I cannot believe you are cruel, North Wind!"
"No, I could not be cruel, and yet I must often do what looks cruel to
those who do not know. But the people they say I drown, I only carry
away to the back of the north wind--only I never saw the place."
"But how can you carry them there if you never saw the place? And how is
it that you never saw it?"
"Because it is behind me. You cannot see your own back, you know. But
run along now if you want to go with me to-night. I cannot take you till
you have been to bed and gone to sleep. I'll look about and do something
till you are ready. Do you see that man over there on the river in the
boat who is just floating about? Now watch!"
She flashed like a dragon-fly across the water whose surface rippled and
puckered as she passed. The next moment, the man in the boat glanced
about him and bent to his oars. The boat flew over the rippling water.
The same instant almost, North Wind perched again upon the river wall.
"How did you do that?" asked Diamond.
"I just blew in his face and blew the mist out of him."
"But what for? I don't understand!" said Diamond. Hearing no answer, he
looked down at the wall. North Wind was gone. Away across the river
went a long ripple--what sailors call a cat's paw. The man in the boat
at once put up his sail. The moon was coming to herself on the edge of a
great cloud and the sail began to shine white. Diamond rubbed his eyes
and wondered what it was all about. But he felt that he could not know
more till he had gone to bed, so he turned away and started for home. He
stopped to look out of a window before going to bed. Above the moon, the
clouds were streaming different ways, and the wind was rising as he fell
asleep.
He woke in the middle of the night and the darkness. A terrible noise
was rumbling overhead like the rolling beat of great drums. For a while,
he could not come quite awake. But a second peal of thunder broke over
his head and a great blast of wind followed which tore some tiles off
the roof and, through the hole this made, sent a spout of wind down into
his face. At the same moment, he heard a mighty, yet musical voice say,
"Come up, Diamond! It's all ready. I am waiting for you." Then a
gigantic arm was reached down which drew him up and clasped him against
North Wind's breast.
"Oh, North Wind!" he murmured. But the words vanished from his lips as
he had seen the soap bubbles, that burst too soon, vanish from the
mouth of his pipe. The wind caught them and they were no-where.
At the same moment, a peal of thunder which shook Diamond's heart
against his side boomed out of the heavens; I cannot say, out of the
sky, for there was no sky. Diamond had not seen the lightning for he had
been busy trying to find the face of North Wind. Every moment, the folds
of her garment would sweep across his eyes and blind him. But between
them, he could just catch glimpses of the great glories of her eyes
looking down at him through the rifts of the huge clouds over his head.
"Oh dear North Wind!" cried the boy. "Why do you do like this? Must you
go and sink the ship? It is not like you! Here you are, taking care of a
poor little boy like me, with one arm, and there you are, sinking the
ship with the other! No, no! It can't be like you!"
"Then you must believe that I am cruel," answered the strong voice of
North Wind, sounding about him out of the clouds.
"No, dear North Wind, I can't believe that. I don't believe it. I will
not believe it. How could you know how to put on such a beautiful face
if you did not love me and love all the rest too? No! You may sink as
many ships as you like--though I shall not like to see it!"
"That is quite another thing!" said North Wind.
As she spoke, she gave one spring from the roof and rushed up into the
clouds. As if the clouds knew she had come, they burst into fresh
thunderous light. Diamond seemed to be borne through an ocean of
dazzling flame. The winds were writhing around him like a storm of
serpents. For they were in the midst of the clouds and mists which of
course took the shapes of the wind, eddying, and wreathing, and
whirling, and shooting, and dashing about like gray and black water.
Now it blinded him by smiting him upon the eyes. Now it deafened him by
bellowing in his ears. But he did not mind it. He only gasped at first,
and then laughed, for the arm of North Wind was about him and he felt
quite safe, though he knew that they were sweeping with the speed of the
wind itself toward the sea! But before they reached it, Diamond felt
North Wind's hair beginning to fall down about him.
"Is the storm over, North Wind?" he called out.
"No, Diamond. I am only waiting for a moment to set you down. You will
not like to see the ship sunk and I am going to give you a place to stop
in till I come back. Look!"
With one sweep of her great white arm, she flung yards deep of darkness,
like a great curtain, from before the face of the boy. And lo! it was a
blue night lit up with stars. Where it did not shine with stars, it
shimmered with a milky whiteness of stars except where, just before
them, the gray towers of a cathedral blotted out the sky.
"A good place for you to wait in," said North Wind and swept down upon
the cathedral roof. They went in through an open door in one of the
towers. Diamond found himself at the top of a stone stair which went
twisting away down into the darkness. North Wind held his hand, and
after a little, led him out upon a narrow gallery which ran all around
the central part of the church. Below him, lay the inside of the church
like a great silent gulf hollowed in stone. On and on, they walked along
this narrow gallery till at last they reached a much broader stairway
leading on down and down until at length, it led them down into the
church itself.
There he felt himself clasped in the arms of North Wind who held him
close and kissed him on the forehead. The next moment, she was gone, and
Diamond heard a moaning about the church which grew and grew to a
roaring. The storm was up again and he knew that North Wind's hair was
flying.
The church was dark. Only a little light came through the windows which
were almost all of that precious old stained glass so much lovelier than
the new. There was not enough light in the stars to show the colors in
them. Diamond began to feel his way about the place, and for a little
while went wandering up and down. His pattering foot-steps waked soft
answering echoes in the stone house. It was as if the great cathedral
somehow knew that his little self was there and went on giving back an
answer to every step he took.
At last, he gave a great sigh and said, "I am _so_ tired!" He did not
hear the gentle echo which answered from far away over his head. For at
that moment, he came against the lowest of a few steps that stretched
across the church, and fell down and hurt his arm. He cried a little at
first, and then crawled up the steps on his hands and knees. At the top,
he came to a little bit of carpet on which he lay down. And there he lay
staring at the dull windows that rose nearly a hundred feet above his
head.
The moon was at that moment just on the edge of the horizon. And lo!
with the moon, lovely figures began to dawn in the windows. He lay and
looked at them backward over his head, wondering if they would come
down. He heard a low, soft murmuring as if they were talking to
themselves about him. But his eyes grew tired, and more and more tired.
His eyelids grew so heavy that they _would_ keep tumbling down over his
eyes. He kept lifting them and lifting them. But every time, they were
heavier than the last. It was no use! They were too much for him.
Sometimes before he got them half way up, down they went again. At
length, he gave it up quite, and the moment he gave it up, he was fast
asleep!
When his eyes came wide open again, there were no lovely figures--or
even windows--but a dark heap of hay all about him. The small panes in
the roof of his loft were glimmering blue in the light of the morning.
Old Diamond was coming awake down below in the stable. In a moment more
he was on his feet and shaking himself so that young Diamond's bed
trembled under him.
"He is grand at shaking himself!" said Diamond. "I wish I could shake
myself like that. But then I can wash myself and he can't. What fun it
would be to see old Diamond washing his face with his hoofs and iron
shoes! Wouldn't it be a picture!"
He dressed himself quickly and ran out. Down the stairs he went and
through the little door out upon the lawn of Mr. Coleman's house next
door. He wanted to see how things looked since last night. There was the
little summer-house with the tulip bed before it where he had been
sitting the evening before, crushed to the ground! Over it lay the great
elm tree which the wind had broken across! As he stood looking at it, a
gentleman who was staying at the Coleman house came out upon the lawn.
"Dear me!" said the gentleman. "There has been terrible work here! This
is the North Wind's doing! What a pity! I wish we lived at the back of
it, I am sure!"
"Where is that, sir?" asked Diamond.
"Away in the Hyperborean regions," answered the gentleman. He smiled for
he knew well enough that Diamond would not understand that big word
which means the country away in the far, far north.
"I never heard of that place," returned Diamond.
"No," said the gentleman. "I suppose not. But if this tree had been
there, it would not have been blown down. There is no wind in that
country."
"That must be the place," said Diamond to himself, "where North Wind
said she would take the people whom she sunk with the ship. Next time I
see her, I am going to ask her to take me to see that land, too."
CHAPTER IV
THE LAND AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND
One morning, Diamond's mother did not think he was feeling very well and
when he told her that he had a little headache, she was sure of it. Now
there was an aunt of his living at Sandwich and his mother decided to
send him there for a change. So giving him two pence for spending money,
she packed him off to Sandwich for a visit.
He soon made great friends with an old woman who kept a toy-shop there,
where he spent his two pence. One hot day when he had been walking about
more than he ought and was tired, he went into the toy-shop to rest. The
old woman had gone out but he thought it would be all right for him to