(When they got up to the attic, Johnsy was asleep. Sue pulled down the shade to cover the window and motioned Mr. Behrman into the next room. When they got there, they looked fearfully out the window at the ivy with only one leaf left. They looked at each other for a moment, saying nothing. A cold, steady rain was still falling, mingled with snow. Mr. Behrman, in his old blue shirt, sat on an upturned kettle as an old miner, pretending to be an ice-maker.)

When Sue had signaled that Johnsy was asleep, Mr. Behrman immediately put up the ladder and climbed the ivy wall. He mixed his paints and began to paint the last leaf in the cold rain and snow of winter.