horse was; for his
father wanted to enjoy the pleasure of his surprise when he found it
out. He got in with his mother without looking at the horse, and his
father having put up Diamond's carpet-bag and his mother's little trunk,
got upon the box himself and drove off; and Diamond was quite proud of
riding home in his father's own carriage. But when he got to the mews,
he could not help being a little dismayed at first; and if he had never
been to the back of the north wind, I am afraid he would have cried a
little. But instead of that, he said to himself it was a fine thing all
the old furniture was there. And instead of helping his mother to be
miserable at the change, he began to find out all the advantages of the
place; for every place has some advantages, and they are always
better worth knowing than the disadvantages. Certainly the weather was
depressing, for a thick, dull, persistent rain was falling by the time
they reached home. But happily the weather is very changeable; and
besides, there was a good fire burning in the room, which their
neighbour with the drunken husband had attended to for them; and the
tea-things were put out, and the kettle was boiling on the fire. And
with a good fire, and tea and bread and butter, things cannot be said to
be miserable.

Diamond's father and mother were, notwithstanding, rather miserable, and
Diamond began to feel a kind of darkness beginning to spread over his
own mind. But the same moment he said to himself, "This will never do.
I can't give in to this. I've been to the back of the north wind. Things
go right there, and so I must try to get things to go right here. I've
got to fight the miserable things. They shan't make me miserable if I
can help it." I do not mean that he thought these very words. They are
perhaps too grown-up for him to have thought, but they represent the
kind of thing that was in his heart and his head. And when heart and
head go together, nothing can stand before them.

"What nice bread and butter this is!" said Diamond.

"I'm glad you like it, my dear" said his father. "I bought the butter
myself at the little shop round the corner."

"It's very nice, thank you, father. Oh, there's baby waking! I'll take
him."

"Sit still, Diamond," said his mother. "Go on with your bread and
butter. You're not strong enough to lift him yet."

So she took the baby herself, and set him on her knee. Then Diamond
began to amuse him, and went on till the littl