He did not like this, and ran into the stable. There were no
horses there at all. He ran upstairs. The rooms were empty.
The only thing left that he cared about was the hole in the wall
where his little bed had stood; and that was not enough to make him
wish to stop. He ran down the stair again, and out upon the lawn.
There he threw himself down and began to cry. It was all so dreary
and lost!

"I thought I liked the place so much," said Diamond to himself,
"but I find I don't care about it. I suppose it's only the people
in it that make you like a place, and when they're gone, it's dead,
and you don't care a bit about it. North Wind told me I might stop
as long as I liked, and I've stopped longer already. North Wind!"
he cried aloud, turning his face towards the sky.

The moon was under a cloud, and all was looking dull and dismal.
A star shot from the sky, and fell in the grass beside him.
The moment it lighted, there stood North Wind.

"Oh!" cried Diamond, joyfully, "were you the shooting star?"

"Yes, my child."

"Did you hear me call you then?"

"Yes."

"So high up as that?"

"Yes; I heard you quite well."