he 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.

[Illustration: Don't Look at Things That Aren't Intended for the Likes
of You!]

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. When it was over, two little street boys came
along.

'Just look!' cried one. 'Here is a Tin-soldier! He shall sail up and
down in a boat!'

[Illustration: Down the Drain]

So they made a little boat out of newspaper, put the Tin-soldier in
it, and made him sail up and down the gutter; both the boys ran along
beside him, clapping their hands. What great waves there were in the
gutter, and what a swift current! The paper-boat tossed up and down,
and in the middle of the stream it went so quick that the Tin-soldier
trembled; but he remained steadfast, showed no emotion, looked
straight in