with him
upon a black cloud, while the storm blew and howled as if it were
singing songs of olden time. They flew over woods and lakes, over sea
and land; below them roared the wild wind; wolves howled, and the snow
crackled; over them flew the black, screaming crows, and above all shone
the moon, clear and bright--and so Kay passed through the long, long
winter's night, and by day he slept at the feet of the Snow Queen.

THIRD STORY

THE ENCHANTED FLOWER GARDEN

But how fared little Gerda in Kay's absence?

What had become of him no one knew, nor could any one give the slightest
information, excepting the boys, who said that he had tied his sledge to
another very large one, which had driven through the street and out at
the town gate. No one knew where it went. Many tears were shed for him,
and little Gerda wept bitterly for a long time. She said she knew he
must be dead, that he was drowned in the river which flowed close by
the school. The long winter days were very dreary. But at last spring
came with warm sunshine.

"Kay is dead and gone," said little Gerda.

"I don't believe it," said the sunshine.

"He is dead and gone," she said to the sparrows.

"We don't believe it," they replied, and at last little Gerda began to
doubt it herself.

"I will put on my new red shoes," she said one morning, "those that Kay
has never seen, and then I will go down to the river and ask for him."

It was quite early when she kissed her old grandmother, who was still
asleep; then she put on her red shoes and went, quite alone, out of the
town gate, toward the river.

"Is it true that you have taken my little playmate away from me?" she
said to the river. "I will give you my red shoes if you will give him
back to me."

And it seemed as if the waves nodded to her in a strange manner. Then
she took off her red shoes, which she liked better than anything else,
and threw them both into the river, but they fell near the bank, and
the little waves carried them back to land just as if the river would
not take from her what she loved best, because it could not give her
back little Kay.

But she thought the shoes had not been thrown out far enough. Then she
crept into a boat that lay among the reeds, and threw the shoes again
from the farther end of the boat into the water; but it was not
fastened, and her movement sent it gliding away from the land. When she
saw this she hastened to reach the end of the boat, but before she