ow till they came to a clump of
trees, and, behind this, where the snow was nice and white, and nobody
could see them, they set to work to make their little man.

The old husband insisted that it must be very small, and the old wife
agreed that it should be almost as small as a new-born babe. Kneeling
down in the snow, they fashioned the little body in next to no time. Now
there remained only the head to finish. Two fat handfuls of snow for the
cheeks and face, and a big one on top for the head. Then they put on a
wee dab for the nose and poked two holes, one on each side, for the
eyes.

It was soon done, and they were already standing back looking at it, and
laughing and clapping their hands like children. Then suddenly they
stopped. What had happened? A very strange thing indeed! Out of the two
holes they saw looking at them two wistful blue eyes. Then the face of
the little snow man was no longer white. The cheeks became rounded and
smooth and radiant, and two rosy lips began to smile up at them. A
breath of wind brushed the snow from the head, and it all fell down
round the shoulders in flaxen ringlets escaping from a white fur cap. At
the same time some snow, loosened from the little body, fell down and
took the shape of a pretty white garment. Then, suddenly, before they
could open and shut their mouths, their snow mannikin was gone, and in
his place stood the daintiest, prettiest little maiden they had ever
seen.

They gave each other a look out of the corners of their eyes, and
scratched their heads in wonderment. But it was as true as true. There
stood the little girl, all pink and white before them. She was really
alive, for she ran to them; and, when they stooped down to lift her up,
she put one arm round the old wife's neck and the other round the old
man's, and gave them each a hug and a kiss.

They laughed and cried for joy; then, suddenly remembering how real some
dreams can seem, they pinched each other in turn. Still they were not
sure, for the pinches might have been a part of the dream. So, in fear
lest they might wake and spoil the whole thing, they wrapped the little
girl up quickly and hastened back home.

On the way they met the children, still playing round their snow man;
and the snowballs with which they pelted them in the back were very
real; but there again, the snowballs might have belonged to the dream.
But when they were inside the house, and saw the inglenook, with the
soup in the p