Page 10

Soon they came to a grassy hill rising up from the seashore. Just ahead in the gloom stood a tall, gray stone catherdal.

"What's that?" cried Diamond.

"A very good place for you to wait," said North Wind. She settled down gently on the roof and went through an open doorway into a tall tower. Inside she set Diamond on his feet. They stood at the top of a stone stairway that twisted away below them into the blackness. Diamond reached up for North Wind's hand. She took it and led him down and down and around and around, then opened a door and went out into a narrow balcony that ran around the wall of the central part of the church. The balcony had no railing.

Diamond gasped and clutched North Wind's hand.

"Why are you trembling, little Diamond?" she asked.

"It's so deep down below," he said, "I - I'm afraid."

North Wind rose into the sky.

"It is rather deep," she said. "But you were a hundred times higher out in the sky just a moment ago."

The balcony has no railing!

"Yes, but somehow I can't feel comfortable."

"If you were to fall, I would be down after you and catch you before a watch could tick," she said.

"I still don't like it, though," he said. And the next instant he was screaming, "Oh, oh, oh!" because suddenly North Wind had let go of his hand and disappeared in the darkness. He crouched low on the ledge, shaking. He heard her voice somewhere ahead. "Come after me."

But he couldn't move. The next moment he felt a gentle, cool breeze on his face, blowing on him in little puffs. With each puff Diamond felt his faintness blowing away, and his fear with it. Soon he stood up. The little puffs kept blowing in his face. Now he began walking, then marching steadily. His fear was gone. His little steps echoed hugely in the gaping stone chasm below.

He came to a wooden door and went down another stairway. At the bottom stood North Wind. She held him close, kissing him on the forehead.

"Because I wanted you to walk alone," she said.

"But the wind is what made me brave."

"Yes, I know. You had to be taught courage. And you couldn't know what it was without feeling it. But don't you think you would try to be brave yourself next time?"

"Yes, I do," he said. "But trying isn't much."

"Yes, it is, a great deal, for it's a beginning. And a beginning is the greatest thing of all. Now I must be going. I will be back for you, and you will be home before morning."

And she was gone.

Now Diamond looked around him. High above on the walls were great stained glass windows. The moon had risen, peering out now and then from behind the storm clouds. In the moonlight the faces of the Apostles in the windows seemed to come to life. They stared down at Diamond, their bright, piercing eyes following him as he slowly walked down the aisle of the cathedral. The room was so huge! Even his little footsteps boomed like thunder. Toward the front Diamond came upon a thick, musty-smelling rug. He sat down on this, staring up at the Apostles. Finally he lay down and before long closed his eyes.

He began walking...then marching...his fear gone!

He must have slept, because suddenly he woke. Or at least he thought he did. The moon had risen higher, the clouds had passed, and the pale light streamed in through the windows. Diamond thought he heard voices, whisperings. They were coming from high up, in the windows. The Apostles were whispering to one another!

He sat down...staring up at the apostles.

"What do you think, Matthew," came a whisper as deep and huge as the cathedral itself, "do you think North Wind is up to her old tricks again?"

"It must be, Peter," came another voice. "I wonder if she means to leave the little boy here all night."

"Someone really should do something about her, " came a third voice. "She can't expect us to watch him all night. As if we had nothing better to do!"

Now Diamond was angry. He meant to stand up and shout at the Apostles, telling them they had no right to talk about North Wind like that.

But, strangely, he found that he was still lying down and that his eyes were closed. He struggled to open his eyes and sit up. He must have been dreaming after all. No! There were the voices again. But try as he might, Diamond could not open his eyes. He heard the voices fading, fading, fading....