“Feathers from the feather bed,
Goran’s mittens, warm and red,
And the flower the Queen holds up,
And the cracked blue china cup.
“But the Queen has said
Kindly leave that bed!”
So Gustava had to flop off the bed with a squawk, while Goran handed her her Egg, and then they put the poor Snowman, what was left of him, into Grandmother’s bed, and pulled the eiderdown quilts over him.
“If you please,” said the Snowman in a feeble whisper, “oh, if you please, I’m——”
“I know this is the right thing to do, because it is the way we always treat Snowmen at the Palace,” broke in the Queen. To tell you the truth, she had never seen a Snowman in her life before, but she would never admit that she didn’t know all about everything.
The Snowman looked at them with despairing sky-blue eyes, while his tears poured down, soaking Grandmother’s pillow. He had tried desperately to tell them something, but they would none of them listen. Suddenly Goran knew what it was.