“Oh, thank you so much!” said the Snowman. “You have been so kind to me! And I know that you were trying to help me in the house. Forgive me for having been so cross! Will you please forgive me?” And the Snowman looked so anxiously at Goran and the Queen and Nanna and Gustava that they all answered: “Yes, yes, of course we will! And will you please forgive _us_ for nearly melting you?” “And now go in, for this lovely air is cold for you, I know.” “Oh, it is bitter cold!” agreed the Queen. “Brr-rrr! It is bitter cold.” Brr-rr! It was bitter cold! Goran rubbed his eyes. Only a few red embers glowed in the fireplace. How stiff he was! He must have slept in his chair all night, but he could not tell how late it was, for the Clock had stopped. He had forgotten to wind it, he remembered now. There sat the Queen in her chair, but she was just a little card again. Then he remembered the Snowman. He ran out of doors. There the Snowman stood, as roly-poly as ever, with his twig mouth smiling and his sky-blue eyes wide open. He said nothing, but Goran felt they two understood each other. What a night it had been! Could it all have been a dream? But now the night was over, and the storm was over; and, best of all, through the dim twilight he saw on the fjord far below him Neighbor Skylstad’s rowboat, and seated in it, wrapped in her red shawl, his own dear grandmother coming home to him. [Illustration] [Illustration: _The Dream Coach stopped at the Princess’s castle, then by road of stars to Goran’s cottage in Norway next to the palace of the little Emperor, lastly to the house in France where Phillipe visited his Grandparents_] [Illustration] A Bird Cage With tassels of Purple and Pearls The Driver of the Dream Coach paused as he turned over the pages of the great white and gold book in which are kept the names of all those who have ridden or are to be given rides in the brightly painted Coach. “I see,” he said, addressing the little angels who helped him keep these records, “I see the name of the Little Chinese Emperor. And there is a cross opposite his name. Has he been naughty?” he asked. “Has he been picking the sacred lotus flowers of his honorable ancestors? Has he——” “Oh, please,” interrupted one of the smallest angels, “I put that cross there to remind me to tell you something about the Little Emperor. You see he hasn’t been naughty—not exactly—but he’s made a mistake. He doesn’t understand,” said the smallest angel, with his eyes round and serious. “And can I help the Little Emperor understand?” asked the Driver of the Dream Coach. “Of course you can!” cried the smallest angel, beaming brightly. “It’s this way. The Little Chinese Emperor has a friend of mine fastened up in a cage, where he is very sad——” “An angel in a cage?” asked the Driver. “I never heard of such a thing!” “Well, not exactly an angel, a——” But what it was, and how the Driver helped the little angel’s friend—— That you shall hear.