"Come!" said the voice. "You just open that window!"

"Well," said Diamond, "mother says I should be obliging. Still it is
rather hard. You see, the north wind will blow right in my face if I
do!"

"I am the North Wind!" said the voice.

"O-o-oh!" said Diamond. "Then will you promise not to blow in my face if
I open your window?"

"I cannot promise that," said the North Wind.

"But you will give me the tooth-ache. Mother has it already."

"But what is to become of me without a window!" cried the voice.

"I am sure I don't know. All I say is that it will be worse for me than
for you."

"No, it will not," replied the voice. "You shall not be the worse for
it--I promise you that. You will be much the better for it. Just believe
what I say, and do as I tell you."

"Well, I _can_ pull the clothes over my head," said Diamond. So he felt
around with his little sharp nails, got hold of one edge of the paper
and tore it off. In came a long whistling stream of cold that struck his
little naked chest. He scrambled and tumbled in under the bed-clothes
and covered himself up. There was no paper between him and the voice