entreat them to come for me, but I know not how to send a
letter. There is certainly no post office here. I have no way to send
my letter to you; but I cannot speak to any one in this silent castle,
and it is a pleasure to write. If I direct it to all the children in
the world, perhaps one of them may some day come here and find it. I
shall not seal my letter, because there is no sealing wax here, and no
seal. I think the lady never writes letters to any one; but sometimes
she writes and throws her paper into the fire. There it shrivels up in
a moment, and the fire burns, or rather glitters, just as before. O,
that fire! It seems more like a keen frost than a fire, and I never
dare to approach it. I never look at it except in the mirrors.

In an old, dark cabinet, curiously carved, standing near the fire, are
a few books, some large and some very small. They are bound in black
leather, and clasped with jewels. I take them down, but cannot unclasp
them. Sometimes the old man comes in and reads aloud to the lady. Then
she turns her face from the fire, a little towards him. Ah, that is
pleasant. His voice is like the summer wind, and I sit beside him to
drink it in, but cannot understand his words. Yet they have a strange
power over me, and I often weep as I do by the mother's statue. He
sometimes looks mildly down upon me, and has even spoken to me; but I
did not understand what he wished to say.

One day, when he left the room, I followed him, very timidly, with
softest steps. He passed slowly through the great halls, and down a
dark staircase, which I had never before seen. Yet it was not
altogether dark; but the light was different from the clear, silvery
light that shines through the upper halls. I heard a heavy door open
and close, and all was hushed. I could not find the door, and after
groping a long while for it, I went back to the ivory room, and cried