“’Alice’isbest，“saidJeremy，sighing。“Youknowitbetterthantheothers。“Hecurledhimselfintoacornerofthewindow-seat。
Fromhispositiontherehehadafineview。Immediatelybelowhimwasthegarden，whiteandgreyunderthegreysky，thebrokenfountainstandinguplikeasnowmaninthemiddleofit。Thesnowhadceasedtofallandagreatstillnessheldtheworld。
Beyondthelittleirongateofthegardenthatalwayssneezed“Tishoo“whenyouclosedit，wasthetopofOrangeStreet；thendownthehillontherightwasthetowerofhisfather’schurch；exactlyoppositethegatewastheroadthatledtotheOrchards，andontherightofthatwasthePolchesterHighSchoolforYoungLadies，heldingreatcontemptbyJeremy，themorethatHelenwouldshortlybeaday-boarderthere，wouldscreamwiththeothergirls，and，worstofall，wouldsoonbeseenwalkingwithherarmroundanothergirl’sneck，chatteringandeatingsweets……
Thewholeworldseemeddeserted。Nocolour，nomovement，nosound。
Hesighedoncemore——“I’dliketoeatjamandjam——lotsofit，“hethought。“Itwouldbefuntobesick。“
Maryarrivedandswungherselfupontothewindow-seat。
“It’sthe’LookingGlass’one。Ihopeyoudon’tmind，“shesaidapprehensively。
“Oh，it’sallright，“heallowed。Heflungaglancebacktothelightednursery。Itseemedbycontrastwiththatgreyworldoutsidetoblazewithcolour；thered-paintedshipsonthewallpaper，thebrightlightsandshadowsof“TheChargeoftheLightBrigade，“thesalmonfrontsofthedoll’shouse，thegreenandredofthevillageonthefloorwiththeflowerytrees，thebluetablecloth，theshiningbrasscoal-scuttleallaliveandsparklingintheflamesandshadowsofthefire，caughtandheldbythefinegoldofthehigherfender。Beyondthatdeadwhite——soonitwouldbedark，thecurtainswouldbedrawn，andstilltherewouldbenothingtodo。Hesighedagain。
“It’sanicebitabouttheshop，“saidMary。Jeremysaidnothing，soshebegan。Shestartedatarun：
“ShelookedattheQueen，whoseemedtohave’“——sniff，sniff-“’sud-
den-lysuddenlywra-wra-w-r-a-p-p-e-dwrapped——’“
“Wrapped？“askedJeremy。
“Idon’tknow，“saidMary，rubbinghernose，“whatitmeans，butperhapswe’llseepresently，herselfupinw-o-o-lwool。’Alicerubbedhereyesandlookedagainshecouldn’t——’“
“’Lookedagainshecouldn’t’？“askedJeremy。“Itshouldbe，’shecouldn’tlookagain。’“
“Oh，there’sastop，“saidMary。“Ididn’tsee。After’again’
there’sastop。’Shecouldn’tmakeoutwhathadhappenedatall——’“
“Ican’teither，“saidJeremycrossly。“ItwouldbebetterperhapsifIreaditmyself。“
“Itwillbeallrightinaminute，“saidMaryconfidently。“’Wassheinashop？Andwasthatreally——wasitreallyashipthatwassittingonthecounter？’“shefinishedwitharun。
“Awhat？“askedJeremy。
“Aship——“
“Aship！Howcoulditsitonacounter？“heasked。
“Ohno，it’sasheep。HowsillyIam！“Maryexclaimed。
“Youdoreadbadly，“heagreedfrankly。“Inevercanunderstandnothing。“AnditwasatthatverymomentthathesawtheDog。
II
Hehadbeenstaringdownintothegardenwithagazehalfabstracted，halfspeculative，listeningwithoneeartoMary，withtheothertothestirofthefire，theheavybeatoftheclockandtherustlingsofMarthathecanary。
Hewatchedthesnowyexpanseofgarden，theblackgate，theroadbeyond。Avastwaveofpalegreylight，theheraldofapproachingdusk，sweptthehorizon，thesnowyroofs，thestreets，andJeremyfeltsomecontactwiththestrangeair，themysteriousomensthatthefirstsnowsofthewinterspreadabouttheland。Hewatchedasthoughhewerewaitingforsomethingtohappen。
ThecreaturecameupveryslowlyoverthecrestofOrangeStreet。Nooneelsewasinsight，nocart，nohorse，noweather-beatenwayfarer。Atfirstthedogwasonlyalittleblacksmudgeagainstthesnow；then，ashearrivedattheColes’garden-gate，Jeremycouldseehimverydistinctly。Hewas，itappeared，quitealone；hehadbeen，itwasevident，badlybeatenbythestorm。Intendedbynaturetobearoughandhairydog，henowappearedbeforeGodandmenashiveringbatteredcreature，drippingandwind-tossed，bedraggledandbewildered。Andyet，eveninthatfirstdistantglimpse，Jeremydiscernedafineindependence。Hewasashortstumpydog，innowaydesignedfordignifiedattitudesandpatronisingsuperiority；nevertheless，ashenowwanderedslowlyupthestreet，hisnosewasintheairandhesaidtothewholeworld：“Thestormmayhavedoneitsbesttodefeatme——ithasfailed。IamasIwas。I
askcharityofnoman。Iknowwhatisduetome。“
ItwasthisthatattractedJeremy；hehadhimselffeltthusafteraslipperingfromhisfather，oridioticpunishmentsfromtheJampot，andtheuninvitedconsolationsofMaryorHelenuponsuchoccasionshadbeenresentedwithsofierceabitternessthathisreputationforsulkinesshadbeensoundlyestablishedwithallhiscircle。
Marywasreading……！“’anoldSheep，sittinginanarm-chair，knitting，andeverynowandthenleavingofftolookatherthroughagreatpairofspec-t-a-c-lesspectacles！’“
Hetouchedherarmandwhispered：
“Isay，Mary，stopaminute——lookatthatdogdownthere。“
Theybothstareddownintothegarden。Thedoghadstoppedatthegate；itsniffedatthebars，sniffedatthewallbeyond，thenveryslowlybutwithrealdignitycontinueditswayuptheroad。
“Poorthing，“saidJeremy。“ItISinamess。“Thentotheirastonishmentthedogturnedbackand，saunteringdowntheroadagainasthoughithadnothingalldaytodobuttowanderabout，andasthoughitwerenotwet，shiveringandhungry，itoncemoresmeltthegate。
“Oh，“saidMaryandJeremytogether。
“It’slikeMother，“saidJeremy，“whenshe’sgoingtoseesomeoneandisn’tsurewhetherit’stherighthouse。“
Then，mostmarvellousofunexpectedclimaxes，thedogsuddenlybegantosqueezeitselfbetweenthebottombarofthegateandtheground。
Theintervalwasfortunatelyalargeone；amomentlatertheanimalwasintheColes’garden。
ThemotivesthatledJeremytobehaveashedidareuncertain。Itmayhavebeensomethingtodowiththegeneralboredomoftheafternoon，itmayhavebeenthathefeltpityforthebedraggledaspectoftheanimal——mostprobablereasonofall，wasthatdevil-
may-careindependenceflungupfromtheroad，asitwere，expresslyathimself。
ThedogobviouslydidnotfeelanygreatrespectfortheColehousehold。Hewanderedaboutthegarden，sniffingandsmellingexactlyasthoughthewholeplacebelongedtohim，andaridiculousstumpoftail，unsubduedbytheweather，gavehimtheludicrousdignityofaMalvolio。
“I’mgoingdown，“whisperedJeremy，flingingacautiousglanceatHelenwhowasabsorbedinhersewing。
Mary’seyesgrewwidewithhorrorandadmiration。“You’renotgoingout，“shewhispered。“Inthesnow。Oh，Jeremy。TheyWILLbeangry。“
“Idon’tcare，“whisperedJeremybackagain。“Theycanbe。“
Indeed，beforeMary’sfrightenedwhisperhehadnotintendedtodomorethancreepdownintothepantryandwatchthedogatcloserange；nowitwasasthoughMaryhadchallengedhim。Heknewthatitwasthemostwickedthingthathecoulddo——togooutintothesnowwithoutacoatandinhisslippers。Hemighteven，accordingtoAuntAmy，dieofit，butasdeathatpresentmeantnomoretohimthanapositionofimportanceandaquantityofred-currantjellyandchicken，THATprospectdidnotdeterhim。HelefttheroomsoquietlythatHelendidnotevenlifthereyes。
Thenuponthelandinghewaitedandlistened。Thehousehadallthelightedtremblingduskofthesnowyafternoon；therewasnosoundsavethetickingoftheclocks。HemightcomeupontheJampotatanymoment，butthiswasjustthehourwhenshelikedtodrinkhercupofteainthekitchen；heknewfromdeepandconstantstudyeverymovementofherday。Fortunefavouredhim。Hereachedwithouttroublethelittledarkcorkscrewservants’staircase。Downthishecrept，andfoundhimselfbesidethelittlegardener’sdoor。Althoughheretherewasonlysnow-litdusk，hefeltforthehandleofthelock，foundit，turnedit，andwas，atonce，overthesteps，intothegarden。
Here，withavengeance，hefeltthefullromanceanddangerofhisenterprise。Itwashorriblycold；hehadbeeninthenurseryfortwowholedays，wrappedupandwarm，andnowthesnowyworldseemedtoleapupathimanddraghimdownasthoughintoanicywell。
Mysteriousshadowshoveredoverthegarden；thefountainpointeddarklyagainstthesky，andhecouldfeelfromthefeatherytouchesuponhisfacethatthesnowhadbeguntofallagain。
Hemovedforwardafewsteps；thehousewassodarkbehindhim，theworldsodimanduncertaininfrontofhim，thatforamomenthisheartfailedhim。Hemighthavetosearchthewholegardenforthedog。
Thenheheardasniff，feltsomethingwetagainsthisleg——hehadalmoststeppedupontheanimal。Hebentdownandstrokeditswetcoat。Thedogstoodquitestill，thenmovedforwardtowardsthehouse，sniffedatthesteps，atlastwalkedcalmlythroughtheopendoorasthoughthehousebelongedtohim。Jeremyfollowed，closedthedoorbehindhim；thentheretheywereinthelittledarkpassagewiththeboy’sheartbeatinglikeadrum，histeethchattering，andaterribletemptationtosneezehoveringaroundhim。Lethimreachthenurseryandestablishtheanimalthereandallmightbewell，butletthembediscovered，coldandshivering，inthepassage，andoutthedogwouldbeflung。Heknewsoexactlywhatwouldhappen。Hecouldhearthevoicesinthekitchen。Heknewthattheyweresittingwarmtherebythefire，butthatatanymomentJampotmightthinkgoodtoclimbthestairsandsee“whatmischieftheychildrenwereupto。“Everythingdependeduponthedog。Didhebarkorwhine，outintothenighthemustgoagain，probablytodieinthecold。ButJeremy，theleastsentimentalofthatmostsentimentalracetheEnglish，wastoointentuponhisthreatenedsneezetopaymuchattentiontotheseawfulpossibilities。
Hetookoffhisslippersandbegantoclimbthestairs，thedogclosebehindhim，verygraveanddignified，inspiteofthelittletrailofsnowandwaterthatheleftinhistrack。Thenurserydoorwasreached，pushedsoftlyopen，andthestartledgazeofMaryandHelenfellwide-eyedupontheadventurerandhisprize。