is the best place in the world, but that
is because he has got a splinter of glass in his heart and a grain of
glass in his eye. They will have to come out first, or he will never be
human again, and the Snow Queen will keep him in her power!'

'But can't you give little Gerda something to take which will give her
power to conquer it all?'

'I can't give her greater power than she already has. Don't you see how
great it is? Don't you see how both man and beast have to serve her? How
she has got on as well as she has on her bare feet? We must not tell her
what power she has; it is in her heart, because she is such a sweet
innocent child. If she can't reach the Snow Queen herself, then we can't
help her. The Snow Queen's gardens begin just two miles from here; you
can carry the little girl as far as that. Put her down by the big bush
standing there in the snow covered with red berries. Don't stand
gossiping, but hurry back to me!' Then the Finn woman lifted Gerda on
the reindeer's back, and it rushed off as hard as it could.

'Oh, I have not got my boots, and I have not got my mittens!' cried
little Gerda.

She soon felt the want of them in that cutting wind, but the reindeer
did not dare to stop. It ran on till it came to the bush with the red
berries. There it put Gerda down, and kissed her on the mouth, while big
shining tears trickled down its face. Then it ran back again as fast as
ever it could. There stood poor little Gerda, without shoes or
gloves, in the middle of freezing icebound Finmark.

She ran forward as quickly as she could. A whole regiment of snow-flakes
came towards her; they did not fall from the sky, for it was quite
clear, with the northern lights shining brightly. No; these snow-flakes
ran along the ground, and the nearer they came the bigger they grew.
Gerda remembered well how big and ingenious they looked under the
magnifying glass. But the size of these was monstrous. They were alive;
they were the Snow Queen's advanced guard, and they took the most
curious shapes. Some looked like big, horrid porcupines, some like
bundles of knotted snakes with their heads sticking out. Others, again,
were like fat little bears with bristling hair, but all were dazzling
white and living snow-flakes.

Then little Gerda said the Lord's Prayer, and the cold was so great that
her breath froze as it came out of her mouth, and she could see it like
a cloud of smoke in front of her. It grew thicker and thicker,