little lady was stretching out both her arms, for she was a Dancer, and
was lifting up one leg so high in the air that the Tin-soldier couldn't
find it anywhere, and thought that she, too, had only one leg.

'That's the wife for me!' he thought; 'but she is so grand, and lives in
a castle, whilst I have only a box with four-and-twenty others. This is
no place for her! But I must make her acquaintance.' Then he stretched
himself out behind a snuff-box that lay on the table; from thence he
could watch the dainty little lady, who continued to stand on one leg
without losing her balance.

When the night came all the other tin-soldiers went into their box,
and the people of the house went to bed. Then the toys began to play at
visiting, dancing, and fighting. The tin-soldiers rattled in their box,
for they wanted to be out too, but they could not raise the lid. The
nut-crackers played at leap-frog, and the slate-pencil ran about the
slate; there was such a noise that the canary woke up and began to talk
to them, in poetry too! The only two who did not stir from their places
were the Tin-soldier and the little Dancer. She remained on tip-toe,
with both arms outstretched; he stood steadfastly on his one leg, never
moving his eyes from her face.

The clock struck twelve, and crack! off flew the lid of the snuff-box;
but there was no snuff inside, only a little black imp--that was the
beauty of it.

'Hullo, Tin-soldier!' said the imp. 'Don't look at things that aren't
intended for the likes of you!'

But the Tin-soldier took no notice, and seemed not to hear.

'Very well, wait till to-morrow!' said the imp.

When it was morning, and the children had got up, the Tin-soldier was
put in the window; and whether it was the wind or the little black imp,
I don't know, but all at once the window flew open and out fell the
little Tin-soldier, head over heels, from the third-storey window! That
was a terrible fall, I can tell you! He landed on his head with his leg
in the air, his gun being wedged between two paving-stones.

The nursery-maid and the little boy came down at once to look for him,
but, though they were so near him that they almost trod on him, they did
not notice him. If the Tin-soldier had only called out 'Here I am!' they
must have found him; but he did not think it fitting for him to cry out,
because he had on his uniform.

Soon it began to drizzle; then the drops came faster, and there was a
regular down-pour.