At the Back of the North Wind | Page 9

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