Teddy went on and on through the forges, and in every one of them were
little dwarfs hammering away on links.

When he came to the last forge of all, they were just finishing a link,
and as they threw it into a tank of water a cloud of steam rose, almost
hiding them from view. They were so busy that they paid no attention to
Teddy when he spoke. "Make haste! Make haste!" they cried to each other.
"It is growing late and she will soon be here."

In a great hurry the dwarfs caught up the link from the water and laid
it on the anvil again, and then they all stood back from it. Every noise
has ceased through all the forges, and the dwarfs were waiting in
breathless stillness as though for something to happen.

Suddenly, in the silence, Teddy heard a faint tinkling as though of
icicles struck lightly together, and at the same moment he saw that a
woman all in white had entered the forge down at the other end. Her
dress shone with all different colors, just as icicles do when they hang
in the sunlight, and as the light of the fire caught it here and there,
it almost looked as though it were on fire. Her hair was very black, and
she wore a crown.

She stepped up to the anvil that was in the forge and laid her hand upon
it. She was too far away for Teddy to see what she did, but there was a
clink as of something breaking, and a low wail arose from the dwarfs
that stood near by. Then she passed on to the next anvil, and to the
next, and to the next, and at each one she paused and touched the link
that lay upon it, and always at that there was a clink, and a wail arose
from the dwarfs.