Chapter 1 PETER BREAKS THROUGH
All children except one grow up They soon know that they will grow up and the way Wendy knew was this One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother I suppose she must have looked rather delightful for Mrs Darling put her hand to her heart and cried Oh why cant you remain like this for ever This was all that passed between them on the subject but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up You always know after you are two Two is the beginning of the end
Of course they lived at 14 their house number on their street and until Wendy came her mother was the chief one She was a lovely lady with a romantic mind and such a sweet mocking mouth Her romantic mind was like the tiny boxes one within the other that come from the puzzling East however many you discover there is always one more and her sweet mocking mouth had one kiss on it that Wendy could never get though there it was perfectly conspicuous in the righthand corner
The way Mr Darling won her was this the many gentlemen who had been boys when she was a girl discovered simultaneously that they loved her and they all ran to her house to propose to her except Mr Darling who took a cab and nipped in first and so he got her He got all of her except the innermost box and the kiss He never knew about the box and in time he gave up trying for the kiss Wendy thought Napoleon could have got it but I can picture him trying and then going off in a passion slamming the door
Mr Darling used to boast to Wendy that her mother not only loved him but respected him He was one of those deep ones who know about stocks and shares Of course no one really knows but he quite seemed to know and he often said stocks were up and shares were down in a way that would have made any woman respect him
Mrs Darling was married in white and at first she kept the books perfectly almost gleefully as if it were a game not so much as a Brussels sprout was missing but by and by whole cauliflowers dropped out and instead of them there were pictures of babies without faces She drew them when she should have been totting up They were Mrs Darlings guesses
Wendy came first then John then Michael
For a week or two after Wendy came it was doubtful whether they would be able to keep her as she was another mouth to feed Mr Darling was frightfully proud of her but he was very honourable and he sat on the edge of Mrs Darlings bed holding her hand and calculating expenses while she looked at him imploringly She wanted to risk it come what might but that was not his way his way was with a pencil and a piece of paper and if she confused him with suggestions he had to begin at the beginning again
Now dont interrupt he would beg of her
I have one pound seventeen here and two and six at the office I can cut off my coffee at the office say ten shillings making two nine and six with your eighteen and three makes three nine seven with five naught naught in my chequebook makes eight nine seven—who is that moving—eight nine seven dot and carry seven—dont speak my own—and the pound you lent to that man who came to the door—quiet child—dot and carry child—there youve done it—did I say nine nine seven yes I said nine nine seven the question is can we try it for a year on nine nine seven
Of course we can George she cried But she was prejudiced in Wendys favour and he was really the grander character of the two
Remember mumps he warned her almost threateningly and off he went again Mumps one pound that is what I have put down but I daresay it will be more like thirty shillings—dont speak—measles one five German measles half a guinea makes two fifteen six—dont waggle your finger—whoopingcough say fifteen shillings—and so on it went and it added up differently each time but at last Wendy just got through with mumps reduced to twelve six and the two kinds of measles treated as one
There was the same excitement over John and Michael had even a narrower squeak but both were kept and soon you might have seen the three of them going in a row to Miss Fulsoms Kindergarten school accompanied by their nurse
Mrs Darling loved to have everything just so and Mr Darling had a passion for being exactly like his neighbours so of course they had a nurse As they were poor owing to the amount of milk the children drank this nurse was a prim Newfoundland dog called Nana who had belonged to no one in particular until the Darlings engaged her She had always thought children important however and the Darlings had become acquainted with her in Kensington Gardens where she spent most of her spare time peeping into perambulators and was much hated by careless nursemaids whom she followed to their homes and complained of to their mistresses She proved to be quite a treasure of a nurse How thorough she was at bathtime and up at any moment of the night if one of her charges made the slightest cry Of course her kennel was in the nursery She had a genius for knowing when a cough is a thing to have no patience with and when it needs stocking around your throat She believed to her last day in oldfashioned remedies like rhubarb leaf and made sounds of contempt over all this newfangled talk about germs and so on It was a lesson in propriety to see her escorting the children to school walking sedately by their side when they were well behaved and butting them back into line if they strayed On Johns footer in England soccer was called football footer for short days she never once forgot his sweater and she usually carried an umbrella in her mouth in case of rain There is a room in the basement of Miss Fulsoms school where the nurses wait They sat on forms while Nana lay on the floor but that was the only difference They affected to ignore her as of an inferior social status to themselves and she despised their light talk She resented visits to the nursery from Mrs Darlings friends but if they did come she first whipped off Michaels pinafore and put him into the one with blue braiding and smoothed out Wendy and made a dash at Johns hair
No nursery could possibly have been conducted more correctly and Mr Darling knew it yet he sometimes wondered uneasily whether the neighbours talked
He had his position in the city to consider
Nana also troubled him in another way He had sometimes a feeling that she did not admire him I know she admires you tremendously George Mrs Darling would assure him and then she would sign to the children to be specially nice to father Lovely dances followed in which the only other servant Liza was sometimes allowed to join Such a midget she looked in her long skirt and maids cap though she had sworn when engaged that she would never see ten again The gaiety of those romps And gayest of all was Mrs Darling who would pirouette so wildly that all you could see of her was the kiss and then if you had dashed at her you might have got it There never was a simpler happier family until the coming of Peter Pan
Mrs Darling first heard of Peter when she was tidying up her childrens minds It is the nightly custom of every good mother after her children are asleep to rummage in their minds and put things straight for next morning repacking into their proper places the many articles that have wandered during the day If you could keep awake but of course you cant you would see your own mother doing this and you would find it very interesting to watch her It is quite like tidying up drawers You would see her on her knees I expect lingering humorously over some of your contents wondering where on earth you had picked this thing up making discoveries sweet and not so sweet pressing this to her cheek as if it were as nice as a kitten and hurriedly stowing that out of sight When you wake in the morning the naughtiness and evil passions with which you went to bed have been folded up small and placed at the bottom of your mind and on the top beautifully aired are spread out your prettier thoughts ready for you to put on
I dont know whether you have ever seen a map of a persons mind Doctors sometimes draw maps of other parts of you and your own map can become intensely interesting but catch them trying to draw a map of a childs mind which is not only confused but keeps going round all the time There are zigzag lines on it just like your temperature on a card and these are probably roads in the island for the Neverland is always more or less an island with astonishing splashes of colour here and there and coral reefs and rakishlooking craft in the offing and savages and lonely lairs and gnomes who are mostly tailors and caves through which a river runs and princes with six elder brothers and a hut fast going to decay and one very small old lady with a hooked nose It would be an easy map if that were all but there is also first day at school religion fathers the round pond needlework murders hangings verbs that take the dative chocolate pudding day getting into braces say ninetynine threepence for pulling out your tooth yourself and so on and either these are part of the island or they are another map showing through and it is all rather confusing especially as nothing will stand still
Of course the Neverlands vary a good deal Johns for instance had a lagoon with flamingoes flying over it at which John was shooting while Michael who was very small had a flamingo with lagoons flying over it John lived in a boat turned upside down on the sands Michael in a wigwam Wendy in a house of leaves deftly sewn together John had no friends Michael had friends at night Wendy had a pet wolf forsaken by its parents but on the whole the Neverlands have a family resemblance and if they stood still in a row you could say of them that they have each others nose and so forth On these magic shores children at play are for ever beaching their coracles simple boat We too have been there we can still hear the sound of the surf though we shall land no more
Of all delectable islands the Neverland is the snuggest and most compact not large and sprawly you know with tedious distances between one adventure and another but nicely crammed When you play at it by day with the chairs and tablecloth it is not in the least alarming but in the two minutes before you go to sleep it becomes very real That is why there are nightlights
Occasionally in her travels through her childrens minds Mrs Darling found things she could not understand and of these quite the most perplexing was the word Peter She knew of no Peter and yet he was here and there in John and Michaels minds while Wendys began to be scrawled all over with him The name stood out in bolder letters than any of the other words and as Mrs Darling gazed she felt that it had an oddly cocky appearance
Yes he is rather cocky Wendy admitted with regret Her mother had been questioning her
But who is he my pet
He is Peter Pan you know mother
At first Mrs Darling did not know but after thinking back into her childhood she just remembered a Peter Pan who was said to live with the fairies There were odd stories about him as that when children died he went part of the way with them so that they should not be frightened She had believed in him at the time but now that she was married and full of sense she quite doubted whether there was any such person
Besides she said to Wendy he would be grown up by this time
Oh no he isnt grown up Wendy assured her confidently and he is just my size She meant that he was her size in both mind and body she didnt know how she knew she just knew it
Mrs Darling consulted Mr Darling but he smiled poohpooh Mark my words he said it is some nonsense Nana has been putting into their heads just the sort of idea a dog would have Leave it alone and it will blow over
But it would not blow over and soon the troublesome boy gave Mrs Darling quite a shock
Children have the strangest adventures without being troubled by them For instance they may remember to mention a week after the event happened that when they were in the wood they had met their dead father and had a game with him It was in this casual way that Wendy one morning made a disquieting revelation Some leaves of a tree had been found on the nursery floor which certainly were not there when the children went to bed and Mrs Darling was puzzling over them when Wendy said with a tolerant smile
I do believe it is that Peter again
Whatever do you mean Wendy
It is so naughty of him not to wipe his feet Wendy said sighing She was a tidy child
She explained in quite a matteroffact way that she thought Peter sometimes came to the nursery in the night and sat on the foot of her bed and played on his pipes to her Unfortunately she never woke so she didnt know how she knew she just knew
What nonsense you talk precious No one can get into the house without knocking
I think he comes in by the window she said
My love it is three floors up
Were not the leaves at the foot of the window mother
It was quite true the leaves had been found very near the window
Mrs Darling did not know what to think for it all seemed so natural to Wendy that you could not dismiss it by saying she had been dreaming
My child the mother cried why did you not tell me of this before
I forgot said Wendy lightly She was in a hurry to get her breakfast
Oh surely she must have been dreaming
But on the other hand there were the leaves Mrs Darling examined them very carefully they were skeleton leaves but she was sure they did not come from any tree that grew in England She crawled about the floor peering at it with a candle for marks of a strange foot She rattled the poker up the chimney and tapped the walls She let down a tape from the window to the pavement and it was a sheer drop of thirty feet without so much as a spout to climb up by
Certainly Wendy had been dreaming
But Wendy had not been dreaming as the very next night showed the night on which the extraordinary adventures of these children may be said to have begun
On the night we speak of all the children were once more in bed It happened to be Nanas evening off and Mrs Darling had bathed them and sung to them till one by one they had let go her hand and slid away into the land of sleep
All were looking so safe and cosy that she smiled at her fears now and sat down tranquilly by the fire to sew
It was something for Michael who on his birthday was getting into shirts The fire was warm however and the nursery dimly lit by three nightlights and presently the sewing lay on Mrs Darlings lap Then her head nodded oh so gracefully She was asleep Look at the four of them Wendy and Michael over there John here and Mrs Darling by the fire There should have been a fourth nightlight
While she slept she had a dream She dreamt that the Neverland had come too near and that a strange boy had broken through from it He did not alarm her for she thought she had seen him before in the faces of many women who have no children Perhaps he is to be found in the faces of some mothers also But in her dream he had rent the film that obscures the Neverland and she saw Wendy and John and Michael peeping through the gap
The dream by itself would have been a trifle but while she was dreaming the window of the nursery blew open and a boy did drop on the floor He was accompanied by a strange light no bigger than your fist which darted about the room like a living thing and I think it must have been this light that wakened Mrs Darling
She started up with a cry and saw the boy and somehow she knew at once that he was Peter Pan If you or I or Wendy had been there we should have seen that he was very like Mrs Darlings kiss He was a lovely boy clad in skeleton leaves and the juices that ooze out of trees but the most entrancing thing about him was that he had all his first teeth When he saw she was a grownup he gnashed the little pearls at her
Chapter 2 THE SHADOW
Mrs Darling screamed and as if in answer to a bell the door opened and Nana entered returned from her evening out She growled and sprang at the boy who leapt lightly through the window Again Mrs Darling screamed this time in distress for him for she thought he was killed and she ran down into the street to look for his little body but it was not there and she looked up and in the black night she could see nothing but what she thought was a shooting star
She returned to the nursery and found Nana with something in her mouth which proved to be the boys shadow As he leapt at the window Nana had closed it quickly too late to catch him but his shadow had not had time to get out slam went the window and snapped it off
You may be sure Mrs Darling examined the shadow carefully but it was quite the ordinary kind
Nana had no doubt of what was the best thing to do with this shadow She hung it out at the window meaning He is sure to come back for it let us put it where he can get it easily without disturbing the children
But unfortunately Mrs Darling could not leave it hanging out at the window it looked so like the washing and lowered the whole tone of the house She thought of showing it to Mr Darling but he was totting up winter greatcoats for John and Michael with a wet towel around his head to keep his brain clear and it seemed a shame to trouble him besides she knew exactly what he would say It all comes of having a dog for a nurse
She decided to roll the shadow up and put it away carefully in a drawer until a fitting opportunity came for telling her husband Ah me
The opportunity came a week later on that nevertobeforgotten Friday Of course it was a Friday
I ought to have been specially careful on a Friday she used to say afterwards to her husband while perhaps Nana was on the other side of her holding her hand
No no Mr Darling always said I am responsible for it all I George Darling did it MEA CULPA MEA CULPA He had had a classical education
They sat thus night after night recalling that fatal Friday till every detail of it was stamped on their brains and came through on the other side like the faces on a bad coinage
If only I had not accepted that invitation to dine at 27 Mrs Darling said
If only I had not poured my medicine into Nanas bowl said Mr Darling
If only I had pretended to like the medicine was what Nanas wet eyes said
My liking for parties George
My fatal gift of humour dearest
My touchiness about trifles dear master and mistress
Then one or more of them would break down altogether Nana at the thought Its true its true they ought not to have had a dog for a nurse Many a time it was Mr Darling who put the handkerchief to Nanas eyes
That fiend Mr Darling would cry and Nanas bark was the echo of it but Mrs Darling never upbraided Peter there was something in the righthand corner of her mouth that wanted her not to call Peter names
They would sit there in the empty nursery recalling fondly every smallest detail of that dreadful evening It had begun so uneventfully so precisely like a hundred other evenings with Nana putting on the water for Michaels bath and carrying him to it on her back
I wont go to bed he had shouted like one who still believed that he had the last word on the subject I wont I wont Nana it isnt six oclock yet Oh dear oh dear I shant love you any more Nana I tell you I wont be bathed I wont I wont
Then Mrs Darling had come in wearing her white eveninggown She had dressed early because Wendy so loved to see her in her eveninggown with the necklace George had given her She was wearing Wendys bracelet on her arm she had asked for the loan of it Wendy loved to lend her bracelet to her mother
She had found her two older children playing at being herself and father on the occasion of Wendys birth and John was saying
I am happy to inform you Mrs Darling that you are now a mother in just such a tone as Mr Darling himself may have used on the real occasion
Wendy had danced with joy just as the real Mrs Darling must have done
Then John was born with the extra pomp that he conceived due to the birth of a male and Michael came from his bath to ask to be born also but John said brutally that they did not want any more
Michael had nearly cried Nobody wants me he said and of course the lady in the eveningdress could not stand that
I do she said I so want a third child
Boy or girl asked Michael not too hopefully
Boy
Then he had leapt into her arms Such a little thing for Mr and Mrs Darling and Nana to recall now but not so little if that was to be Michaels last night in the nursery
They go on with their recollections
It was then that I rushed in like a tornado wasnt it Mr Darling would say scorning himself and indeed he had been like a tornado
Perhaps there was some excuse for him He too had been dressing for the party and all had gone well with him until he came to his tie It is an astounding thing to have to tell but this man though he knew about stocks and shares had no real mastery of his tie Sometimes the thing yielded to him without a contest but there were occasions when it would have been better for the house if he had swallowed his pride and used a madeup tie
This was such an occasion He came rushing into the nursery with the crumpled little brute of a tie in his hand
Why what is the matter father dear
Matter he yelled he really yelled This tie it will not tie He became dangerously sarcastic Not round my neck Round the bedpost Oh yes twenty times have I made it up round the bedpost but round my neck no Oh dear no begs to be excused
He thought Mrs Darling was not sufficiently impressed and he went on sternly I warn you of this mother that unless this tie is round my neck we dont go out to dinner tonight and if I dont go out to dinner tonight I never go to the office again and if I dont go to the office again you and I starve and our children will be flung into the streets
Even then Mrs Darling was placid Let me try dear she said and indeed that was what he had come to ask her to do and with her nice cool hands she tied his tie for him while the children stood around to see their fate decided Some men would have resented her being able to do it so easily but Mr Darling had far too fine a nature for that he thanked her carelessly at once forgot his rage and in another moment was dancing round the room with Michael on his back
How wildly we romped says Mrs Darling now recalling it
Our last romp Mr Darling groaned
O George do you remember Michael suddenly said to me How did you get to know me mother
I remember
They were rather sweet dont you think George
And they were ours ours and now they are gone
The romp had ended with the appearance of Nana and most unluckily Mr Darling collided against her covering his trousers with hairs They were not only new trousers but they were the first he had ever had with braid on them and he had had to bite his lip to prevent the tears coming Of course Mrs Darling brushed him but he began to talk again about its being a mistake to have a dog for a nurse
George Nana is a treasure
No doubt but I have an uneasy feeling at times that she looks upon the children as puppies
Oh no dear one I feel sure she knows they have souls
I wonder Mr Darling said thoughtfully I wonder It was an opportunity his wife felt for telling him about the boy At first he poohpoohed the story but he became thoughtful when she showed him the shadow
It is nobody I know he said examining it carefully but it does look a scoundrel
We were still discussing it you remember says Mr Darling when Nana came in with Michaels medicine You will never carry the bottle in your mouth again Nana and it is all my fault
Strong man though he was there is no doubt that he had behaved rather foolishly over the medicine If he had a weakness it was for thinking that all his life he had taken medicine boldly and so now when Michael dodged the spoon in Nanas mouth he had said reprovingly Be a man Michael
Wont wont Michael cried naughtily Mrs Darling left the room to get a chocolate for him and Mr Darling thought this showed want of firmness
Mother dont pamper him he called after her Michael when I was your age I took medicine without a murmur I said Thank you kind parents for giving me bottles to make me well
He really thought this was true and Wendy who was now in her nightgown believed it also and she said to encourage Michael That medicine you sometimes take father is much nastier isnt it
Ever so much nastier Mr Darling said bravely and I would take it now as an example to you Michael if I hadnt lost the bottle
He had not exactly lost it he had climbed in the dead of night to the top of the wardrobe and hidden it there What he did not know was that the faithful Liza had found it and put it back on his washstand
I know where it is father Wendy cried always glad to be of service Ill bring it and she was off before he could stop her Immediately his spirits sank in the strangest way
John he said shuddering its most beastly stuff Its that nasty sticky sweet kind
It will soon be over father John said cheerily and then in rushed Wendy with the medicine in a glass
I have been as quick as I could she panted
You have been wonderfully quick her father retorted with a vindictive politeness that was quite thrown away upon her Michael first he said doggedly
Father first said Michael who was of a suspicious nature
I shall be sick you know Mr Darling said threateningly
Come on father said John
Hold your tongue John his father rapped out
Wendy was quite puzzled I thought you took it quite easily father
That is not the point he retorted The point is that there is more in my glass than in Michaels spoon His proud heart was nearly bursting And it isnt fair I would say it though it were with my last breath it isnt fair
Father I am waiting said Michael coldly
Its all very well to say you are waiting so am I waiting
Fathers a cowardly custard
So are you a cowardly custard
Im not frightened
Neither am I frightened
Well then take it
Well then you take it
Wendy had a splendid idea Why not both take it at the same time
Certainly said Mr Darling Are you ready Michael
Wendy gave the words one two three and Michael took his medicine but Mr Darling slipped his behind his back
There was a yell of rage from Michael and O father Wendy exclaimed
What do you mean by O father Mr Darling demanded Stop that row Michael I meant to take mine but I—I missed it
It was dreadful the way all the three were looking at him just as if they did not admire him Look here all of you he said entreatingly as soon as Nana had gone into the bathroom I have just thought of a splendid joke I shall pour my medicine into Nanas bowl and she will drink it thinking it is milk
It was the colour of milk but the children did not have their fathers sense of humour and they looked at him reproachfully as he poured the medicine into Nanas bowl What fun he said doubtfully and they did not dare expose him when Mrs Darling and Nana returned
Nana good dog he said patting her I have put a little milk into your bowl Nana
Nana wagged her tail ran to the medicine and began lapping it Then she gave Mr Darling such a look not an angry look she showed him the great red tear that makes us so sorry for noble dogs and crept into her kennel
Mr Darling was frightfully ashamed of himself but he would not give in In a horrid silence Mrs Darling smelt the bowl O George she said its your medicine
It was only a joke he roared while she comforted her boys and Wendy hugged Nana Much good he said bitterly my wearing myself to the bone trying to be funny in this house
And still Wendy hugged Nana Thats right he shouted Coddle her Nobody coddles me Oh dear no I am only the breadwinner why should I be coddled—why why why
George Mrs Darling entreated him not so loud the servants will hear you Somehow they had got into the way of calling Liza the servants
Let them he answered recklessly Bring in the whole world But I refuse to allow that dog to lord it in my nursery for an hour longer
The children wept and Nana ran to him beseechingly but he waved her back He felt he was a strong man again In vain in vain he cried the proper place for you is the yard and there you go to be tied up this instant
George George Mrs Darling whispered remember what I told you about that boy
Alas he would not listen He was determined to show who was master in that house and when commands would not draw Nana from the kennel he lured her out of it with honeyed words and seizing her roughly dragged her from the nursery He was ashamed of himself and yet he did it It was all owing to his too affectionate nature which craved for admiration When he had tied her up in the backyard the wretched father went and sat in the passage with his knuckles to his eyes
In the meantime Mrs Darling had put the children to bed in unwonted silence and lit their nightlights They could hear Nana barking and John whimpered It is because he is chaining her up in the yard but Wendy was wiser
That is not Nanas unhappy bark she said little guessing what was about to happen that is her bark when she smells danger
Danger
Are you sure Wendy
Oh yes
Mrs Darling quivered and went to the window It was securely fastened She looked out and the night was peppered with stars They were crowding round the house as if curious to see what was to take place there but she did not notice this nor that one or two of the smaller ones winked at her Yet a nameless fear clutched at her heart and made her cry Oh how I wish that I wasnt going to a party tonight
Even Michael already half asleep knew that she was perturbed and he asked Can anything harm us mother after the nightlights are lit
Nothing precious she said they are the eyes a mother leaves behind her to guard her children
She went from bed to bed singing enchantments over them and little Michael flung his arms round her Mother he cried Im glad of you They were the last words she was to hear from him for a long time
No 27 was only a few yards distant but there had been a slight fall of snow and Father and Mother Darling picked their way over it deftly not to soil their shoes They were already the only persons in the street and all the stars were watching them Stars are beautiful but they may not take an active part in anything they must just look on for ever It is a punishment put on them for something they did so long ago that no star now knows what it was So the older ones have become glassyeyed and seldom speak winking is the star language but the little ones still wonder They are not really friendly to Peter who had a mischievous way of stealing up behind them and trying to blow them out but they are so fond of fun that they were on his side tonight and anxious to get the grownups out of the way So as soon as the door of 27 closed on Mr and Mrs Darling there was a commotion in the firmament and the smallest of all the stars in the Milky Way screamed out
Now Peter
Chapter 3 COME AWAY COME AWAY
For a moment after Mr and Mrs Darling left the house the nightlights by the beds of the three children continued to burn clearly They were awfully nice little nightlights and one cannot help wishing that they could have kept awake to see Peter but Wendys light blinked and gave such a yawn that the other two yawned also and before they could close their mouths all the three went out
There was another light in the room now a thousand times brighter than the nightlights and in the time we have taken to say this it had been in all the drawers in the nursery looking for Peters shadow rummaged the wardrobe and turned every pocket inside out It was not really a light it made this light by flashing about so quickly but when it came to rest for a second you saw it was a fairy no longer than your hand but still growing It was a girl called Tinker Bell exquisitely gowned in a skeleton leaf cut low and square through which her figure could be seen to the best advantage She was slightly inclined to EMBONPOINT plump hourglass figure
A moment after the fairys entrance the window was blown open by the breathing of the little stars and Peter dropped in He had carried Tinker Bell part of the way and his hand was still messy with the fairy dust
Tinker Bell he called softly after making sure that the children were asleep Tink where are you She was in a jug for the moment and liking it extremely she had never been in a jug before
Oh do come out of that jug and tell me do you know where they put my shadow
The loveliest tinkle as of golden bells answered him It is the fairy language You ordinary children can never hear it but if you were to hear it you would know that you had heard it once before
Tink said that the shadow was in the big box She meant the chest of drawers and Peter jumped at the drawers scattering their contents to the floor with both hands as kings toss hapence to the crowd In a moment he had recovered his shadow and in his delight he forgot that he had shut Tinker Bell up in the drawer
If he thought at all but I dont believe he ever thought it was that he and his shadow when brought near each other would join like drops of water and when they did not he was appalled He tried to stick it on with soap from the bathroom but that also failed A shudder passed through Peter and he sat on the floor and cried
His sobs woke Wendy and she sat up in bed She was not alarmed to see a stranger crying on the nursery floor she was only pleasantly interested
Boy she said courteously why are you crying
Peter could be exceeding polite also having learned the grand manner at fairy ceremonies and he rose and bowed to her beautifully She was much pleased and bowed beautifully to him from the bed
Whats your name he asked
Wendy Moira Angela Darling she replied with some satisfaction What is your name
Peter Pan
She was already sure that he must be Peter but it did seem a comparatively short name
Is that all
Yes he said rather sharply He felt for the first time that it was a shortish name
Im so sorry said Wendy Moira Angela
It doesnt matter Peter gulped
She asked where he lived
Second to the right said Peter and then straight on till morning
What a funny address
Peter had a sinking For the first time he felt that perhaps it was a funny address
No it isnt he said
I mean Wendy said nicely remembering that she was hostess is that what they put on the letters
He wished she had not mentioned letters
Dont get any letters he said contemptuously
But your mother gets letters
Dont have a mother he said Not only had he no mother but he had not the slightest desire to have one He thought them very overrated persons Wendy however felt at once that she was in the presence of a tragedy
O Peter no wonder you were crying she said and got out of bed and ran to him
I wasnt crying about mothers he said rather indignantly I was crying because I cant get my shadow to stick on Besides I wasnt crying
It has come off
Yes
Then Wendy saw the shadow on the floor looking so draggled and she was frightfully sorry for Peter How awful she said but she could not help smiling when she saw that he had been trying to stick it on with soap How exactly like a boy
Fortunately she knew at once what to do It must be sewn on she said just a little patronisingly
Whats sewn he asked
Youre dreadfully ignorant
No Im not
But she was exulting in his ignorance I shall sew it on for you my little man she said though he was tall as herself and she got out her housewife sewing bag and sewed the shadow on to Peters foot
I daresay it will hurt a little she warned him
Oh I shant cry said Peter who was already of the opinion that he had never cried in his life And he clenched his teeth and did not cry and soon his shadow was behaving properly though still a little creased
Perhaps I should have ironed it Wendy said thoughtfully but Peter boylike was indifferent to appearances and he was now jumping about in the wildest glee Alas he had already forgotten that he owed his bliss to Wendy He thought he had attached the shadow himself How clever I am he crowed rapturously oh the cleverness of me
It is humiliating to have to confess that this conceit of Peter was one of his most fascinating qualities To put it with brutal frankness there never was a cockier boy
But for the moment Wendy was shocked You conceit braggart she exclaimed with frightful sarcasm of course I did nothing
You did a little Peter said carelessly and continued to dance
A little she replied with hauteur pride if I am no use I can at least withdraw and she sprang in the most dignified way into bed and covered her face with the blankets
To induce her to look up he pretended to be going away and when this failed he sat on the end of the bed and tapped her gently with his foot Wendy he said dont withdraw I cant help crowing Wendy when Im pleased with myself Still she would not look up though she was listening eagerly Wendy he continued in a voice that no woman has ever yet been able to resist Wendy one girl is more use than twenty boys
Now Wendy was every inch a woman though there were not very many inches and she peeped out of the bedclothes
Do you really think so Peter
Yes I do
I think its perfectly sweet of you she declared and Ill get up again and she sat with him on the side of the bed She also said she would give him a kiss if he liked but Peter did not know what she meant and he held out his hand expectantly
Surely you know what a kiss is she asked aghast
I shall know when you give it to me he replied stiffly and not to hurt his feeling she gave him a thimble
Now said he shall I give you a kiss and she replied with a slight primness If you please She made herself rather cheap by inclining her face toward him but he merely dropped an acorn button into her hand so she slowly returned her face to where it had been before and said nicely that she would wear his kiss on the chain around her neck It was lucky that she did put it on that chain for it was afterwards to save her life
When people in our set are introduced it is customary for them to ask each others age and so Wendy who always liked to do the correct thing asked Peter how old he was It was not really a happy question to ask him it was like an examination paper that asks grammar when what you want to be asked is Kings of England
I dont know he replied uneasily but I am quite young He really knew nothing about it he had merely suspicions but he said at a venture Wendy I ran away the day I was born
Wendy was quite surprised but interested and she indicated in the charming drawingroom manner by a touch on her nightgown that he could sit nearer her
It was because I heard father and mother he explained in a low voice talking about what I was to be when I became a man He was extraordinarily agitated now I dont want ever to be a man he said with passion I want always to be a little boy and to have fun So I ran away to Kensington Gardens and lived a long long time among the fairies
She gave him a look of the most intense admiration and he thought it was because he had run away but it was really because he knew fairies Wendy had lived such a home life that to know fairies struck her as quite delightful She poured out questions about them to his surprise for they were rather a nuisance to him getting in his way and so on and indeed he sometimes had to give them a hiding spanking Still he liked them on the whole and he told her about the beginning of fairies
You see Wendy when the first baby laughed for the first time its laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about and that was the beginning of fairies
Tedious talk this but being a stayathome she liked it
And so he went on goodnaturedly there ought to be one fairy for every boy and girl
Ought to be Isnt there
No You see children know such a lot now they soon dont believe in fairies and every time a child says I dont believe in fairies there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead
Really he thought they had now talked enough about fairies and it struck him that Tinker Bell was keeping very quiet I cant think where she has gone to he said rising and he called Tink by name Wendys heart went flutter with a sudden thrill
Peter she cried clutching him you dont mean to tell me that there is a fairy in this room
She was here just now he said a little impatiently You dont hear her do you and they both listened
The only sound I hear said Wendy is like a tinkle of bells
Well thats Tink thats the fairy language I think I hear her too
The sound came from the chest of drawers and Peter made a merry face No one could ever look quite so merry as Peter and the loveliest of gurgles was his laugh He had his first laugh still
Wendy he whispered gleefully I do believe I shut her up in the drawer
He let poor Tink out of the drawer and she flew about the nursery screaming with fury You shouldnt say such things Peter retorted Of course Im very sorry but how could I know you were in the drawer
Wendy was not listening to him O Peter she cried if she would only stand still and let me see her
They hardly ever stand still he said but for one moment Wendy saw the romantic figure come to rest on the cuckoo clock O the lovely she cried though Tinks face was still distorted with passion
Tink said Peter amiably this lady says she wishes you were her fairy
Tinker Bell answered insolently
What does she say Peter
He had to translate She is not very polite She says you are a great huge ugly girl and that she is my fairy
He tried to argue with Tink You know you cant be my fairy Tink because I am an gentleman and you are a lady
To this Tink replied in these words You silly ass and disappeared into the bathroom She is quite a common fairy Peter explained apologetically she is called Tinker Bell because she mends the pots and kettles tinker tin worker Similar to cinder plus elle to get Cinderella
They were together in the armchair by this time and Wendy plied him with more questions
If you dont live in Kensington Gardens now—
Sometimes I do still
But where do you live mostly now
With the lost boys
Who are they
They are the children who fall out of their perambulators when the nurse is looking the other way If they are not claimed in seven days they are sent far away to the Neverland to defray expenses Im captain
What fun it must be
Yes said cunning Peter but we are rather lonely You see we have no female companionship
Are none of the others girls
Oh no girls you know are much too clever to fall out of their prams
This flattered Wendy immensely I think she said it is perfectly lovely the way you talk about girls John there just despises us
For reply Peter rose and kicked John out of bed blankets and all one kick This seemed to Wendy rather forward for a first meeting and she told him with spirit that he was not captain in her house However John continued to sleep so placidly on the floor that she allowed him to remain there And I know you meant to be kind she said relenting so you may give me a kiss
For the moment she had forgotten his ignorance about kisses I thought you would want it back he said a little bitterly and offered to return her the thimble
Oh dear said the nice Wendy I dont mean a kiss I mean a thimble
Whats that
Its like this She kissed him
Funny said Peter gravely Now shall I give you a thimble
If you wish to said Wendy keeping her head erect this time
Peter thimbled her and almost immediately she screeched What is it Wendy
It was exactly as if someone were pulling my hair
That must have been Tink I never knew her so naughty before
And indeed Tink was darting about again using offensive language
She says she will do that to you Wendy every time I give you a thimble
But why
Why Tink
Again Tink replied You silly ass Peter could not understand why but Wendy understood and she was just slightly disappointed when he admitted that he came to the nursery window not to see her but to listen to stories
You see I dont know any stories None of the lost boys knows any stories
How perfectly awful Wendy said
Do you know Peter asked why swallows build in the eaves of houses It is to listen to the stories O Wendy your mother was telling you such a lovely story
Which story was it
About the prince who couldnt find the lady who wore the glass slipper
Peter said Wendy excitedly that was Cinderella and he found her and they lived happily ever after
Peter was so glad that he rose from the floor where they had been sitting and hurried to the window
Where are you going she cried with misgiving
To tell the other boys
Dont go Peter she entreated I know such lots of stories
Those were her precise words so there can be no denying that it was she who first tempted him
He came back and there was a greedy look in his eyes now which ought to have alarmed her but did not
Oh the stories I could tell to the boys she cried and then Peter gripped her and began to draw her toward the window
Let me go she ordered him
Wendy do come with me and tell the other boys
Of course she was very pleased to be asked but she said Oh dear I cant Think of mummy Besides I cant fly
Ill teach you
Oh how lovely to fly
Ill teach you how to jump on the winds back and then away we go
Oo she exclaimed rapturously
Wendy Wendy when you are sleeping in your silly bed you might be flying about with me saying funny things to the stars
Oo
And Wendy there are mermaids
Mermaids With tails
Such long tails
Oh cried Wendy to see a mermaid
He had become frightfully cunning Wendy he said how we should all respect you
She was wriggling her body in distress It was quite as if she were trying to remain on the nursery floor
But he had no pity for her
Wendy he said the sly one you could tuck us in at night
Oo
None of us has ever been tucked in at night
Oo and her arms went out to him
And you could darn our clothes and make pockets for us None of us has any pockets
How could she resist Of course its awfully fascinating she cried Peter would you teach John and Michael to fly too
If you like he said indifferently and she ran to John and Michael and shook them Wake up she cried Peter Pan has come and he is to teach us to fly
John rubbed his eyes Then I shall get up he said Of course he was on the floor already Hallo he said I am up
Michael was up by this time also looking as sharp as a knife with six blades and a saw but Peter suddenly signed silence Their faces assumed the awful craftiness of children listening for sounds from the grownup world All was as still as salt Then everything was right No stop Everything was wrong Nana who had been barking distressfully all the evening was quiet now It was her silence they had heard
Out with the light Hide Quick cried John taking command for the only time throughout the whole adventure And thus when Liza entered holding Nana the nursery seemed quite its old self very dark and you would have sworn you heard its three wicked inmates breathing angelically as they slept They were really doing it artfully from behind the window curtains
Liza was in a bad temper for she was mixing the Christmas puddings in the kitchen and had been drawn from them with a raisin still on her cheek by Nanas absurd suspicions She thought the best way of getting a little quiet was to take Nana to the nursery for a moment but in custody of course
There you suspicious brute she said not sorry that Nana was in disgrace They are perfectly safe arent they Every one of the little angels sound asleep in bed Listen to their gentle breathing
Here Michael encouraged by his success breathed so loudly that they were nearly detected Nana knew that kind of breathing and she tried to drag herself out of Lizas clutches
But Liza was dense No more of it Nana she said sternly pulling her out of the room I warn you if you bark again I shall go straight for master and missus and bring them home from the party and then oh wont master whip you just
She tied the unhappy dog up again but do you think Nana ceased to bark Bring master and missus home from the party Why that was just what she wanted Do you think she cared whether she was whipped so long as her charges were safe Unfortunately Liza returned to her puddings and Nana seeing that no help would come from her strained and strained at the chain until at last she broke it In another moment she had burst into the diningroom of 27 and flung up her paws to heaven her most expressive way of making a communication Mr and Mrs Darling knew at once that something terrible was happening in their nursery and without a goodbye to their hostess they rushed into the street
But it was now ten minutes since three scoundrels had been breathing behind the curtains and Peter Pan can do a great deal in ten minutes
We now return to the nursery
Its all right John announced emerging from his hidingplace I say Peter can you really fly
Instead of troubling to answer him Peter flew around the room taking the mantelpiece on the way
How topping said John and Michael
How sweet cried Wendy
Yes Im sweet oh I am sweet said Peter forgetting his manners again
It looked delightfully easy and they tried it first from the floor and then from the beds but they always went down instead of up
I say how do you do it asked John rubbing his knee He was quite a practical boy
You just think lovely wonderful thoughts Peter explained and they lift you up in the air
He showed them again
Youre so nippy at it John said couldnt you do it very slowly once
Peter did it both slowly and quickly Ive got it now Wendy cried John but soon he found he had not Not one of them could fly an inch though even Michael was in words of two syllables and Peter did not know A from Z
Of course Peter had been trifling with them for no one can fly unless the fairy dust has been blown on him Fortunately as we have mentioned one of his hands was messy with it and he blew some on each of them with the most superb results
Now just wiggle your shoulders this way he said and let go
They were all on their beds and gallant Michael let go first He did not quite mean to let go but he did it and immediately he was borne across the room
I flewed he screamed while still in midair
John let go and met Wendy near the bathroom
Oh lovely
Oh ripping
Look at me
Look at me
Look at me
They were not nearly so elegant as Peter they could not help kicking a little but their heads were bobbing against the ceiling and there is almost nothing so delicious as that Peter gave Wendy a hand at first but had to desist Tink was so indignant
Up and down they went and round and round Heavenly was Wendys word
I say cried John why shouldnt we all go out
Of course it was to this that Peter had been luring them
Michael was ready he wanted to see how long it took him to do a billion miles But Wendy hesitated
Mermaids said Peter again
Oo
And there are pirates
Pirates cried John seizing his Sunday hat let us go at once
It was just at this moment that Mr and Mrs Darling hurried with Nana out of 27 They ran into the middle of the street to look up at the nursery window and yes it was still shut but the room was ablaze with light and most heartgripping sight of all they could see in shadow on the curtain three little figures in night attire circling round and round not on the floor but in the air
Not three figures four
In a tremble they opened the street door Mr Darling would have rushed upstairs but Mrs Darling signed him to go softly She even tried to make her heart go softly
Will they reach the nursery in time If so how delightful for them and we shall all breathe a sigh of relief but there will be no story On the other hand if they are not in time I solemnly promise that it will all come right in the end
They would have reached the nursery in time had it not been that the little stars were watching them Once again the stars blew the window open and that smallest star of all called out
Cave Peter
Then Peter knew that there was not a moment to lose Come he cried imperiously and soared out at once into the night followed by John and Michael and Wendy
Mr and Mrs Darling and Nana rushed into the nursery too late The birds were flown
Chapter 4 THE FLIGHT
Second to the right and straight on till morning
That Peter had told Wendy was the way to the Neverland but even birds carrying maps and consulting them at windy corners could not have sighted it with these instructions Peter you see just said anything that came into his head
At first his companions trusted him implicitly and so great were the delights of flying that they wasted time circling round church spires or any other tall objects on the way that took their fancy
John and Michael raced Michael getting a start
They recalled with contempt that not so long ago they had thought themselves fine fellows for being able to fly round a room
Not long ago But how long ago They were flying over the sea before this thought began to disturb Wendy seriously John thought it was their second sea and their third night
Sometimes it was dark and sometimes light and now they were very cold and again too warm Did they really feel hungry at times or were they merely pretending because Peter had such a jolly new way of feeding them His way was to pursue birds who had food in their mouths suitable for humans and snatch it from them then the birds would follow and snatch it back and they would all go chasing each other gaily for miles parting at last with mutual expressions of goodwill But Wendy noticed with gentle concern that Peter did not seem to know that this was rather an odd way of getting your bread and butter nor even that there are other ways
Certainly they did not pretend to be sleepy they were sleepy and that was a danger for the moment they popped off down they fell The awful thing was that Peter thought this funny
There he goes again he would cry gleefully as Michael suddenly dropped like a stone
Save him save him cried Wendy looking with horror at the cruel sea far below Eventually Peter would dive through the air and catch Michael just before he could strike the sea and it was lovely the way he did it but he always waited till the last moment and you felt it was his cleverness that interested him and not the saving of human life Also he was fond of variety and the sport that engrossed him one moment would suddenly cease to engage him so there was always the possibility that the next time you fell he would let you go
He could sleep in the air without falling by merely lying on his back and floating but this was partly at least because he was so light that if you got behind him and blew he went faster
Do be more polite to him Wendy whispered to John when they were playing Follow my Leader
Then tell him to stop showing off said John
When playing Follow my Leader Peter would fly close to the water and touch each sharks tail in passing just as in the street you may run your finger along an iron railing They could not follow him in this with much success so perhaps it was rather like showing off especially as he kept looking behind to see how many tails they missed
You must be nice to him Wendy impressed on her brothers What could we do if he were to leave us
We could go back Michael said
How could we ever find our way back without him
Well then we could go on said John
That is the awful thing John We should have to go on for we dont know how to stop
This was true Peter had forgotten to show them how to stop
John said that if the worst came to the worst all they had to do was to go straight on for the world was round and so in time they must come back to their own window
And who is to get food for us John
I nipped a bit out of that eagles mouth pretty neatly Wendy
After the twentieth try Wendy reminded him And even though we became good at picking up food see how we bump against clouds and things if he is not near to give us a hand
Indeed they were constantly bumping They could now fly strongly though they still kicked far too much but if they saw a cloud in front of them the more they tried to avoid it the more certainly did they bump into it If Nana had been with them she would have had a bandage round Michaels forehead by this time
Peter was not with them for the moment and they felt rather lonely up there by themselves He could go so much faster than they that he would suddenly shoot out of sight to have some adventure in which they had no share He would come down laughing over something fearfully funny he had been saying to a star but he had already forgotten what it was or he would come up with mermaid scales still sticking to him and yet not be able to say for certain what had been happening It was really rather irritating to children who had never seen a mermaid
And if he forgets them so quickly Wendy argued how can we expect that he will go on remembering us
Indeed sometimes when he returned he did not remember them at least not well Wendy was sure of it She saw recognition come into his eyes as he was about to pass them the time of day and go on once even she had to call him by name
Im Wendy she said agitatedly
He was very sorry I say Wendy he whispered to her always if you see me forgetting you just keep on saying Im Wendy and then Ill remember
Of course this was rather unsatisfactory However to make amends he showed them how to lie out flat on a strong wind that was going their way and this was such a pleasant change that they tried it several times and found that they could sleep thus with security Indeed they would have slept longer but Peter tired quickly of sleeping and soon he would cry in his captain voice We get off here So with occasional tiffs but on the whole rollicking they drew near the Neverland for after many moons they did reach it and what is more they had been going pretty straight all the time not perhaps so much owing to the guidance of Peter or Tink as because the island was looking for them It is only thus that any one may sight those magic shores
There it is said Peter calmly
Where where
Where all the arrows are pointing
Indeed a million golden arrows were pointing it out to the children all directed by their friend the sun who wanted them to be sure of their way before leaving them for the night
Wendy and John and Michael stood on tiptoe in the air to get their first sight of the island Strange to say they all recognized it at once and until fear fell upon them they hailed it not as something long dreamt of and seen at last but as a familiar friend to whom they were returning home for the holidays
John theres the lagoon
Wendy look at the turtles burying their eggs in the sand
I say John I see your flamingo with the broken leg
Look Michael theres your cave
John whats that in the brushwood
Its a wolf with her whelps Wendy I do believe thats your little whelp
Theres my boat John with her sides stove in
No it isnt Why we burned your boat
Thats her at any rate I say John I see the smoke of the redskin camp
Where Show me and Ill tell you by the way smoke curls whether they are on the warpath
There just across the Mysterious River
I see now Yes they are on the warpath right enough
Peter was a little annoyed with them for knowing so much but if he wanted to lord it over them his triumph was at hand for have I not told you that anon fear fell upon them
It came as the arrows went leaving the island in gloom
In the old days at home the Neverland had always begun to look a little dark and threatening by bedtime Then unexplored patches arose in it and spread black shadows moved about in them the roar of the beasts of prey was quite different now and above all you lost the certainty that you would win You were quite glad that the nightlights were on You even liked Nana to say that this was just the mantelpiece over here and that the Neverland was all makebelieve
Of course the Neverland had been makebelieve in those days but it was real now and there were no nightlights and it was getting darker every moment and where was Nana
They had been flying apart but they huddled close to Peter now His careless manner had gone at last his eyes were sparkling and a tingle went through them every time they touched his body They were now over the fearsome island flying so low that sometimes a tree grazed their feet Nothing horrid was visible in the air yet their progress had become slow and laboured exactly as if they were pushing their way through hostile forces Sometimes they hung in the air until Peter had beaten on it with his fists
They dont want us to land he explained
Who are they Wendy whispered shuddering
But he could not or would not say Tinker Bell had been asleep on his shoulder but now he wakened her and sent her on in front
Sometimes he poised himself in the air listening intently with his hand to his ear and again he would stare down with eyes so bright that they seemed to bore two holes to earth Having done these things he went on again
His courage was almost appalling Would you like an adventure now he said casually to John or would you like to have your tea first
Wendy said tea first quickly and Michael pressed her hand in gratitude but the braver John hesitated
What kind of adventure he asked cautiously
Theres a pirate asleep in the pampas just beneath us Peter told him If you like well go down and kill him
I dont see him John said after a long pause
I do
Suppose John said a little huskily he were to wake up
Peter spoke indignantly You dont think I would kill him while he was sleeping I would wake him first and then kill him Thats the way I always do
I say Do you kill many
Tons
John said How ripping but decided to have tea first He asked if there were many pirates on the island just now and Peter said he had never known so many
Who is captain now
Hook answered Peter and his face became very stern as he said that hated word
Jas Hook
Ay
Then indeed Michael began to cry and even John could speak in gulps only for they knew Hooks reputation
He was Blackbeards bosun John whispered huskily He is the worst of them all He is the only man of whom Barbecue was afraid
Thats him said Peter
What is he like Is he big
He is not so big as he was
How do you mean
I cut off a bit of him
You
Yes me said Peter sharply
I wasnt meaning to be disrespectful
Oh all right
But I say what bit
His right hand
Then he cant fight now
Oh cant he just
Lefthander
He has an iron hook instead of a right hand and he claws with it
Claws
I say John said Peter
Yes
Say Ay ay sir
Ay ay sir
There is one thing Peter continued that every boy who serves under me has to promise and so must you
John paled
It is this if we meet Hook in open fight you must leave him to me
I promise John said loyally
For the moment they were feeling less eerie because Tink was flying with them and in her light they could distinguish each other Unfortunately she could not fly so slowly as they and so she had to go round and round them in a circle in which they moved as in a halo Wendy quite liked it until Peter pointed out the drawbacks
She tells me he said that the pirates sighted us before the darkness came and got Long Tom out
The big gun
Yes And of course they must see her light and if they guess we are near it they are sure to let fly
Wendy
John
Michael
Tell her to go away at once Peter the three cried simultaneously but he refused
She thinks we have lost the way he replied stiffly and she is rather frightened You dont think I would send her away all by herself when she is frightened
For a moment the circle of light was broken and something gave Peter a loving little pinch
Then tell her Wendy begged to put out her light
She cant put it out That is about the only thing fairies cant do It just goes out of itself when she falls asleep same as the stars
Then tell her to sleep at once John almost ordered
She cant sleep except when shes sleepy It is the only other thing fairies cant do
Seems to me growled John these are the only two things worth doing
Here he got a pinch but not a loving one
If only one of us had a pocket Peter said we could carry her in it However they had set off in such a hurry that there was not a pocket between the four of them
He had a happy idea Johns hat
Tink agreed to travel by hat if it was carried in the hand John carried it though she had hoped to be carried by Peter Presently Wendy took the hat because John said it struck against his knee as he flew and this as we shall see led to mischief for Tinker Bell hated to be under an obligation to Wendy
In the black topper the light was completely hidden and they flew on in silence It was the stillest silence they had ever known broken once by a distant lapping which Peter explained was the wild beasts drinking at the ford and again by a rasping sound that might have been the branches of trees rubbing together but he said it was the redskins sharpening their knives
Even these noises ceased To Michael the loneliness was dreadful If only something would make a sound he cried
As if in answer to his request the air was rent by the most tremendous crash he had ever heard The pirates had fired Long Tom at them
The roar of it echoed through the mountains and the echoes seemed to cry savagely Where are they where are they where are they
Thus sharply did the terrified three learn the difference between an island of makebelieve and the same island come true
When at last the heavens were steady again John and Michael found themselves alone in the darkness John was treading the air mechanically and Michael without knowing how to float was floating
Are you shot John whispered tremulously
I havent tried myself out yet Michael whispered back
We know now that no one had been hit Peter however had been carried by the wind of the shot far out to sea while Wendy was blown upwards with no companion but Tinker Bell
It would have been well for Wendy if at that moment she had dropped the hat
I dont know whether the idea came suddenly to Tink or whether she had planned it on the way but she at once popped out of the hat and began to lure Wendy to her destruction
Tink was not all bad or rather she was all bad just now but on the other hand sometimes she was all good Fairies have to be one thing or the other because being so small they unfortunately have room for one feeling only at a time They are however allowed to change only it must be a complete change At present she was full of jealousy of Wendy What she said in her lovely tinkle Wendy could not of course understand and I believe some of it was bad words but it sounded kind and she flew back and forward plainly meaning Follow me and all will be well
What else could poor Wendy do She called to Peter and John and Michael and got only mocking echoes in reply She did not yet know that Tink hated her with the fierce hatred of a very woman And so bewildered and now staggering in her flight she followed Tink to her doom
Chapter 5 THE ISLAND COME TRUE
Feeling that Peter was on his way back the Neverland had again woke into life We ought to use the pluperfect and say wakened but woke is better and was always used by Peter
In his absence things are usually quiet on the island The fairies take an hour longer in the morning the beasts attend to their young the redskins feed heavily for six days and nights and when pirates and lost boys meet they merely bite their thumbs at each other But with the coming of Peter who hates lethargy they are under way again if you put your ear to the ground now you would hear the whole island seething with life
On this evening the chief forces of the island were disposed as follows The lost boys were out looking for Peter the pirates were out looking for the lost boys the redskins were out looking for the pirates and the beasts were out looking for the redskins They were going round and round the island but they did not meet because all were going at the same rate
All wanted blood except the boys who liked it as a rule but tonight were out to greet their captain The boys on the island vary of course in numbers according as they get killed and so on and when they seem to be growing up which is against the rules Peter thins them out but at this time there were six of them counting the twins as two Let us pretend to lie here among the sugarcane and watch them as they steal by in single file each with his hand on his dagger
They are forbidden by Peter to look in the least like him and they wear the skins of the bears slain by themselves in which they are so round and furry that when they fall they roll They have therefore become very surefooted
The first to pass is Tootles not the least brave but the most unfortunate of all that gallant band He had been in fewer adventures than any of them because the big things constantly happened just when he had stepped round the corner all would be quiet he would take the opportunity of going off to gather a few sticks for firewood and then when he returned the others would be sweeping up the blood This illluck had given a gentle melancholy to his countenance but instead of souring his nature had sweetened it so that he was quite the humblest of the boys Poor kind Tootles there is danger in the air for you tonight Take care lest an adventure is now offered you which if accepted will plunge you in deepest woe Tootles the fairy Tink who is bent on mischief this night is looking for a tool for doing her mischief and she thinks you are the most easily tricked of the boys Ware Tinker Bell
Would that he could hear us but we are not really on the island and he passes by biting his knuckles
Next comes Nibs the gay and debonair followed by Slightly who cuts whistles out of the trees and dances ecstatically to his own tunes Slightly is the most conceited of the boys He thinks he remembers the days before he was lost with their manners and customs and this has given his nose an offensive tilt Curly is fourth he is a pickle a person who gets in picklespredicaments and so often has he had to deliver up his person when Peter said sternly Stand forth the one who did this thing that now at the command he stands forth automatically whether he has done it or not Last come the Twins who cannot be described because we should be sure to be describing the wrong one Peter never quite knew what twins were and his band were not allowed to know anything he did not know so these two were always vague about themselves and did their best to give satisfaction by keeping close together in an apologetic sort of way
The boys vanish in the gloom and after a pause but not a long pause for things go briskly on the island come the pirates on their track We hear them before they are seen and it is always the same dreadful song
Avast belay yo ho heave to
Apirating we go
And if were parted by a shot
Were sure to meet below
A more villainouslooking lot never hung in a row on Execution dock Here a little in advance ever and again with his head to the ground listening his great arms bare pieces of eight in his ears as ornaments is the handsome Italian Cecco who cut his name in letters of blood on the back of the governor of the prison at Gao That gigantic black behind him has had many names since he dropped the one with which dusky mothers still terrify their children on the banks of the Guadjomo Here is Bill Jukes every inch of him tattooed the same Bill Jukes who got six dozen on the WALRUS from Flint before he would drop the bag of moidores Portuguese gold pieces and Cookson said to be Black Murphys brother but this was never proved and Gentleman Starkey once an usher in a public school and still dainty in his ways of killing and Skylights Morgans Skylights and the Irish bosun Smee an oddly genial man who stabbed so to speak without offence and was the only Nonconformist in Hooks crew and Noodler whose hands were fixed on backwards and Robt Mullins and Alf Mason and many another ruffian long known and feared on the Spanish Main
In the midst of them the blackest and largest in that dark setting reclined James Hook or as he wrote himself Jas Hook of whom it is said he was the only man that the SeaCook feared He lay at his ease in a rough chariot drawn and propelled by his men and instead of a right hand he had the iron hook with which ever and anon he encouraged them to increase their pace As dogs this terrible man treated and addressed them and as dogs they obeyed him In person he was cadaverous dead looking and blackavized dark faced and his hair was dressed in long curls which at a little distance looked like black candles and gave a singularly threatening expression to his handsome countenance His eyes were of the blue of the forgetmenot and of a profound melancholy save when he was plunging his hook into you at which time two red spots appeared in them and lit them up horribly In manner something of the grand seigneur still clung to him so that he even ripped you up with an air and I have been told that he was a RACONTEUR storyteller of repute He was never more sinister than when he was most polite which is probably the truest test of breeding and the elegance of his diction even when he was swearing no less than the distinction of his demeanour showed him one of a different cast from his crew A man of indomitable courage it was said that the only thing he shied at was the sight of his own blood which was thick and of an unusual colour In dress he somewhat aped the attire associated with the name of Charles II having heard it said in some earlier period of his career that he bore a strange resemblance to the illfated Stuarts and in his mouth he had a holder of his own contrivance which enabled him to smoke two cigars at once But undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his iron claw
Let us now kill a pirate to show Hooks method Skylights will do As they pass Skylights lurches clumsily against him ruffling his lace collar the hook shoots forth there is a tearing sound and one screech then the body is kicked aside and the pirates pass on He has not even taken the cigars from his mouth
Such is the terrible man against whom Peter Pan is pitted Which will win
On the trail of the pirates stealing noiselessly down the warpath which is not visible to inexperienced eyes come the redskins every one of them with his eyes peeled They carry tomahawks and knives and their naked bodies gleam with paint and oil Strung around them are scalps of boys as well as of pirates for these are the Piccaninny tribe and not to be confused with the softerhearted Delawares or the Hurons In the van on all fours is Great Big Little Panther a brave of so many scalps that in his present position they somewhat impede his progress Bringing up the rear the place of greatest danger comes Tiger Lily proudly erect a princess in her own right She is the most beautiful of dusky Dianas Diana goddess of the woods and the belle of the Piccaninnies coquettish flirting cold and amorous loving by turns there is not a brave who would not have the wayward thing to wife but she staves off the altar with a hatchet Observe how they pass over fallen twigs without making the slightest noise The only sound to be heard is their somewhat heavy breathing The fact is that they are all a little fat just now after the heavy gorging but in time they will work this off For the moment however it constitutes their chief danger
The redskins disappear as they have come like shadows and soon their place is taken by the beasts a great and motley procession lions tigers bears and the innumerable smaller savage things that flee from them for every kind of beast and more particularly all the maneaters live cheek by jowl on the favoured island Their tongues are hanging out they are hungry tonight
When they have passed comes the last figure of all a gigantic crocodile We shall see for whom she is looking presently
The crocodile passes but soon the boys appear again for the procession must continue indefinitely until one of the parties stops or changes its pace Then quickly they will be on top of each other
All are keeping a sharp lookout in front but none suspects that the danger may be creeping up from behind This shows how real the island was
The first to fall out of the moving circle was the boys They flung themselves down on the sward turf close to their underground home
I do wish Peter would come back every one of them said nervously though in height and still more in breadth they were all larger than their captain
I am the only one who is not afraid of the pirates Slightly said in the tone that prevented his being a general favourite but perhaps some distant sound disturbed him for he added hastily but I wish he would come back and tell us whether he has heard anything more about Cinderella
They talked of Cinderella and Tootles was confident that his mother must have been very like her
It was only in Peters absence that they could speak of mothers the subject being forbidden by him as silly
All I remember about my mother Nibs told them is that she often said to my father Oh how I wish I had a chequebook of my own I dont know what a chequebook is but I should just love to give my mother one
While they talked they heard a distant sound You or I not being wild things of the woods would have heard nothing but they heard it and it was the grim song
Yo ho yo ho the pirate life
The flag o skull and bones
A merry hour a hempen rope
And hey for Davy Jones
At once the lost boys—but where are they They are no longer there Rabbits could not have disappeared more quickly
I will tell you where they are With the exception of Nibs who has darted away to reconnoitre look around they are already in their home under the ground a very delightful residence of which we shall see a good deal presently But how have they reached it for there is no entrance to be seen not so much as a large stone which if rolled away would disclose the mouth of a cave Look closely however and you may note that there are here seven large trees each with a hole in its hollow trunk as large as a boy These are the seven entrances to the home under the ground for which Hook has been searching in vain these many moons Will he find it tonight
As the pirates advanced the quick eye of Starkey sighted Nibs disappearing through the wood and at once his pistol flashed out But an iron claw gripped his shoulder
Captain let go he cried writhing
Now for the first time we hear the voice of Hook It was a black voice Put back that pistol first it said threateningly
It was one of those boys you hate I could have shot him dead
Ay and the sound would have brought Tiger Lilys redskins upon us Do you want to lose your scalp
Shall I after him Captain asked pathetic Smee and tickle him with Johnny Corkscrew Smee had pleasant names for everything and his cutlass was Johnny Corkscrew because he wiggled it in the wound One could mention many lovable traits in Smee For instance after killing it was his spectacles he wiped instead of his weapon
Johnnys a silent fellow he reminded Hook
Not now Smee Hook said darkly He is only one and I want to mischief all the seven Scatter and look for them
The pirates disappeared among the trees and in a moment their Captain and Smee were alone Hook heaved a heavy sigh and I know not why it was perhaps it was because of the soft beauty of the evening but there came over him a desire to confide to his faithful bosun the story of his life He spoke long and earnestly but what it was all about Smee who was rather stupid did not know in the least
Anon later he caught the word Peter
Most of all Hook was saying passionately I want their captain Peter Pan Twas he cut off my arm He brandished the hook threateningly Ive waited long to shake his hand with this Oh Ill tear him
And yet said Smee I have often heard you say that hook was worth a score of hands for combing the hair and other homely uses
Ay the captain answered if I was a mother I would pray to have my children born with this instead of that and he cast a look of pride upon his iron hand and one of scorn upon the other Then again he frowned
Peter flung my arm he said wincing to a crocodile that happened to be passing by
I have often said Smee noticed your strange dread of crocodiles
Not of crocodiles Hook corrected him but of that one crocodile He lowered his voice It liked my arm so much Smee that it has followed me ever since from sea to sea and from land to land licking its lips for the rest of me
In a way said Smee its sort of a compliment
I want no such compliments Hook barked petulantly I want Peter Pan who first gave the brute its taste for me
He sat down on a large mushroom and now there was a quiver in his voice Smee he said huskily that crocodile would have had me before this but by a lucky chance it swallowed a clock which goes tick tick inside it and so before it can reach me I hear the tick and bolt He laughed but in a hollow way
Some day said Smee the clock will run down and then hell get you
Hook wetted his dry lips Ay he said thats the fear that haunts me
Since sitting down he had felt curiously warm Smee he said this seat is hot He jumped up Odds bobs hammer and tongs Im burning
They examined the mushroom which was of a size and solidity unknown on the mainland they tried to pull it up and it came away at once in their hands for it had no root Stranger still smoke began at once to ascend The pirates looked at each other A chimney they both exclaimed
They had indeed discovered the chimney of the home under the ground It was the custom of the boys to stop it with a mushroom when enemies were in the neighbourhood
Not only smoke came out of it There came also childrens voices for so safe did the boys feel in their hidingplace that they were gaily chattering The pirates listened grimly and then replaced the mushroom They looked around them and noted the holes in the seven trees
Did you hear them say Peter Pans from home Smee whispered fidgeting with Johnny Corkscrew
Hook nodded He stood for a long time lost in thought and at last a curdling smile lit up his swarthy face Smee had been waiting for it Unrip your plan captain he cried eagerly
To return to the ship Hook replied slowly through his teeth and cook a large rich cake of a jolly thickness with green sugar on it There can be but one room below for there is but one chimney The silly moles had not the sense to see that they did not need a door apiece That shows they have no mother We will leave the cake on the shore of the Mermaids Lagoon These boys are always swimming about there playing with the mermaids They will find the cake and they will gobble it up because having no mother they dont know how dangerous tis to eat rich damp cake He burst into laughter not hollow laughter now but honest laughter Aha they will die
Smee had listened with growing admiration
Its the wickedest prettiest policy ever I heard of he cried and in their exultation they danced and sang
Avast belay when I appear
By fear theyre overtook
Noughts left upon your bones when you
Have shaken claws with Hook
They began the verse but they never finished it for another sound broke in and stilled them There was at first such a tiny sound that a leaf might have fallen on it and smothered it but as it came nearer it was more distinct
Tick tick tick tick
Hook stood shuddering one foot in the air
The crocodile he gasped and bounded away followed by his bosun
It was indeed the crocodile It had passed the redskins who were now on the trail of the other pirates It oozed on after Hook
Once more the boys emerged into the open but the dangers of the night were not yet over for presently Nibs rushed breathless into their midst pursued by a pack of wolves The tongues of the pursuers were hanging out the baying of them was horrible
Save me save me cried Nibs falling on the ground
But what can we do what can we do
It was a high compliment to Peter that at that dire moment their thoughts turned to him
What would Peter do they cried simultaneously
Almost in the same breath they cried Peter would look at them through his legs
And then Let us do what Peter would do
It is quite the most successful way of defying wolves and as one boy they bent and looked through their legs The next moment is the long one but victory came quickly for as the boys advanced upon them in the terrible attitude the wolves dropped their tails and fled
Now Nibs rose from the ground and the others thought that his staring eyes still saw the wolves But it was not wolves he saw
I have seen a wonderfuller thing he cried as they gathered round him eagerly A great white bird It is flying this way
What kind of a bird do you think
I dont know Nibs said awestruck but it looks so weary and as it flies it moans Poor Wendy
Poor Wendy
I remember said Slightly instantly there are birds called Wendies
See it comes cried Curly pointing to Wendy in the heavens
Wendy was now almost overhead and they could hear her plaintive cry But more distinct came the shrill voice of Tinker Bell The jealous fairy had now cast off all disguise of friendship and was darting at her victim from every direction pinching savagely each time she touched
Hullo Tink cried the wondering boys
Tinks reply rang out Peter wants you to shoot the Wendy
It was not in their nature to question when Peter ordered Let us do what Peter wishes cried the simple boys Quick bows and arrows
All but Tootles popped down their trees He had a bow and arrow with him and Tink noted it and rubbed her little hands
Quick Tootles quick she screamed Peter will be so pleased
Tootles excitedly fitted the arrow to his bow Out of the way Tink he shouted and then he fired and Wendy fluttered to the ground with an arrow in her breast
Chapter 6 THE LITTLE HOUSE
Foolish Tootles was standing like a conqueror over Wendys body when the other boys sprang armed from their trees
You are too late he cried proudly I have shot the Wendy Peter will be so pleased with me
Overhead Tinker Bell shouted Silly ass and darted into hiding The others did not hear her They had crowded round Wendy and as they looked a terrible silence fell upon the wood If Wendys heart had been beating they would all have heard it
Slightly was the first to speak This is no bird he said in a scared voice I think this must be a lady
A lady said Tootles and fell atrembling
And we have killed her Nibs said hoarsely
They all whipped off their caps
Now I see Curly said Peter was bringing her to us He threw himself sorrowfully on the ground
A lady to take care of us at last said one of the twins and you have killed her
They were sorry for him but sorrier for themselves and when he took a step nearer them they turned from him
Tootles face was very white but there was a dignity about him now that had never been there before
I did it he said reflecting When ladies used to come to me in dreams I said Pretty mother pretty mother But when at last she really came I shot her
He moved slowly away
Dont go they called in pity
I must he answered shaking I am so afraid of Peter
It was at this tragic moment that they heard a sound which made the heart of every one of them rise to his mouth They heard Peter crow
Peter they cried for it was always thus that he signalled his return
Hide her they whispered and gathered hastily around Wendy But Tootles stood aloof
Again came that ringing crow and Peter dropped in front of them Greetings boys he cried and mechanically they saluted and then again was silence
He frowned
I am back he said hotly why do you not cheer
They opened their mouths but the cheers would not come He overlooked it in his haste to tell the glorious tidings
Great news boys he cried I have brought at last a mother for you all
Still no sound except a little thud from Tootles as he dropped on his knees
Have you not seen her asked Peter becoming troubled She flew this way
Ah me once voice said and another said Oh mournful day
Tootles rose Peter he said quietly I will show her to you and when the others would still have hidden her he said Back twins let Peter see
So they all stood back and let him see and after he had looked for a little time he did not know what to do next
She is dead he said uncomfortably Perhaps she is frightened at being dead
He thought of hopping off in a comic sort of way till he was out of sight of her and then never going near the spot any more They would all have been glad to follow if he had done this
But there was the arrow He took it from her heart and faced his band
Whose arrow he demanded sternly
Mine Peter said Tootles on his knees
Oh dastard hand Peter said and he raised the arrow to use it as a dagger
Tootles did not flinch He bared his breast Strike Peter he said firmly strike true
Twice did Peter raise the arrow and twice did his hand fall I cannot strike he said with awe there is something stays my hand
All looked at him in wonder save Nibs who fortunately looked at Wendy
It is she he cried the Wendy lady see her arm
Wonderful to relate tell Wendy had raised her arm Nibs bent over her and listened reverently I think she said Poor Tootles he whispered
She lives Peter said briefly
Slightly cried instantly The Wendy lady lives
Then Peter knelt beside her and found his button You remember she had put it on a chain that she wore round her neck
See he said the arrow struck against this It is the kiss I gave her It has saved her life
I remember kisses Slightly interposed quickly let me see it Ay thats a kiss
Peter did not hear him He was begging Wendy to get better quickly so that he could show her the mermaids Of course she could not answer yet being still in a frightful faint but from overhead came a wailing note
Listen to Tink said Curly she is crying because the Wendy lives
Then they had to tell Peter of Tinks crime and almost never had they seen him look so stern
Listen Tinker Bell he cried I am your friend no more Begone from me for ever
She flew on to his shoulder and pleaded but he brushed her off Not until Wendy again raised her arm did he relent sufficiently to say Well not for ever but for a whole week
Do you think Tinker Bell was grateful to Wendy for raising her arm Oh dear no never wanted to pinch her so much Fairies indeed are strange and Peter who understood them best often cuffed slapped them
But what to do with Wendy in her present delicate state of health
Let us carry her down into the house Curly suggested
Ay said Slightly that is what one does with ladies
No no Peter said you must not touch her It would not be sufficiently respectful
That said Slightly is what I was thinking
But if she lies there Tootles said she will die
Ay she will die Slightly admitted but there is no way out
Yes there is cried Peter Let us build a little house round her
They were all delighted Quick he ordered them bring me each of you the best of what we have Gut our house Be sharp
In a moment they were as busy as tailors the night before a wedding They skurried this way and that down for bedding up for firewood and while they were at it who should appear but John and Michael As they dragged along the ground they fell asleep standing stopped woke up moved another step and slept again
John John Michael would cry wake up Where is Nana John and mother
And then John would rub his eyes and mutter It is true we did fly
You may be sure they were very relieved to find Peter
Hullo Peter they said
Hullo replied Peter amicably though he had quite forgotten them He was very busy at the moment measuring Wendy with his feet to see how large a house she would need Of course he meant to leave room for chairs and a table John and Michael watched him
Is Wendy asleep they asked
Yes
John Michael proposed let us wake her and get her to make supper for us but as he said it some of the other boys rushed on carrying branches for the building of the house Look at them he cried
Curly said Peter in his most captainy voice see that these boys help in the building of the house
Ay ay sir
Build a house exclaimed John
For the Wendy said Curly
For Wendy John said aghast Why she is only a girl
That explained Curly is why we are her servants
You Wendys servants
Yes said Peter and you also Away with them
The astounded brothers were dragged away to hack and hew and carry Chairs and a fender fireplace first Peter ordered Then we shall build a house round them
Ay said Slightly that is how a house is built it all comes back to me
Peter thought of everything Slightly he cried fetch a doctor
Ay ay said Slightly at once and disappeared scratching his head But he knew Peter must be obeyed and he returned in a moment wearing Johns hat and looking solemn
Please sir said Peter going to him are you a doctor
The difference between him and the other boys at such a time was that they knew it was makebelieve while to him makebelieve and true were exactly the same thing This sometimes troubled them as when they had to makebelieve that they had had their dinners
If they broke down in their makebelieve he rapped them on the knuckles
Yes my little man Slightly anxiously replied who had chapped knuckles
Please sir Peter explained a lady lies very ill
She was lying at their feet but Slightly had the sense not to see her
Tut tut tut he said where does she lie
In yonder glade
I will put a glass thing in her mouth said Slightly and he madebelieve to do it while Peter waited It was an anxious moment when the glass thing was withdrawn
How is she inquired Peter
Tut tut tut said Slightly this has cured her
I am glad Peter cried
I will call again in the evening Slightly said give her beef tea out of a cup with a spout to it but after he had returned the hat to John he blew big breaths which was his habit on escaping from a difficulty
In the meantime the wood had been alive with the sound of axes almost everything needed for a cosy dwelling already lay at Wendys feet
If only we knew said one the kind of house she likes best
Peter shouted another she is moving in her sleep
Her mouth opens cried a third looking respectfully into it Oh lovely
Perhaps she is going to sing in her sleep said Peter Wendy sing the kind of house you would like to have
Immediately without opening her eyes Wendy began to sing
I wish I had a pretty house
The littlest ever seen
With funny little red walls
And roof of mossy green
They gurgled with joy at this for by the greatest good luck the branches they had brought were sticky with red sap and all the ground was carpeted with moss As they rattled up the little house they broke into song themselves
Weve built the little walls and roof
And made a lovely door
So tell us mother Wendy
What are you wanting more
To this she answered greedily
Oh really next I think Ill have
Gay windows all about
With roses peeping in you know
And babies peeping out
With a blow of their fists they made windows and large yellow leaves were the blinds But roses—
Roses cried Peter sternly
Quickly they madebelieve to grow the loveliest roses up the walls
Babies
To prevent Peter ordering babies they hurried into song again
Weve made the roses peeping out
The babes are at the door
We cannot make ourselves you know
cos weve been made before
Peter seeing this to be a good idea at once pretended that it was his own The house was quite beautiful and no doubt Wendy was very cosy within though of course they could no longer see her Peter strode up and down ordering finishing touches Nothing escaped his eagle eyes Just when it seemed absolutely finished
Theres no knocker on the door he said
They were very ashamed but Tootles gave the sole of his shoe and it made an excellent knocker
Absolutely finished now they thought
Not of bit of it Theres no chimney Peter said we must have a chimney
It certainly does need a chimney said John importantly This gave Peter an idea He snatched the hat off Johns head knocked out the bottom top and put the hat on the roof The little house was so pleased to have such a capital chimney that as if to say thank you smoke immediately began to come out of the hat
Now really and truly it was finished Nothing remained to do but to knock
All look your best Peter warned them first impressions are awfully important
He was glad no one asked him what first impressions are they were all too busy looking their best
He knocked politely and now the wood was as still as the children not a sound to be heard except from Tinker Bell who was watching from a branch and openly sneering
What the boys were wondering was would any one answer the knock If a lady what would she be like
The door opened and a lady came out It was Wendy They all whipped off their hats
She looked properly surprised and this was just how they had hoped she would look
Where am I she said
Of course Slightly was the first to get his word in Wendy lady he said rapidly for you we built this house
Oh say youre pleased cried Nibs
Lovely darling house Wendy said and they were the very words they had hoped she would say
And we are your children cried the twins
Then all went on their knees and holding out their arms cried O Wendy lady be our mother
Ought I Wendy said all shining Of course its frightfully fascinating but you see I am only a little girl I have no real experience
That doesnt matter said Peter as if he were the only person present who knew all about it though he was really the one who knew least What we need is just a nice motherly person
Oh dear Wendy said you see I feel that is exactly what I am
It is it is they all cried we saw it at once
Very well she said I will do my best Come inside at once you naughty children I am sure your feet are damp And before I put you to bed I have just time to finish the story of Cinderella
In they went I dont know how there was room for them but you can squeeze very tight in the Neverland And that was the first of the many joyous evenings they had with Wendy By and by she tucked them up in the great bed in the home under the trees but she herself slept that night in the little house and Peter kept watch outside with drawn sword for the pirates could be heard carousing far away and the wolves were on the prowl The little house looked so cosy and safe in the darkness with a bright light showing through its blinds and the chimney smoking beautifully and Peter standing on guard After a time he fell asleep and some unsteady fairies had to climb over him on their way home from an orgy Any of the other boys obstructing the fairy path at night they would have mischiefed but they just tweaked Peters nose and passed on
Chapter 7 THE HOME UNDER THE GROUND
One of the first things Peter did next day was to measure Wendy and John and Michael for hollow trees Hook you remember had sneered at the boys for thinking they needed a tree apiece but this was ignorance for unless your tree fitted you it was difficult to go up and down and no two of the boys were quite the same size Once you fitted you drew in let out your breath at the top and down you went at exactly the right speed while to ascend you drew in and let out alternately and so wriggled up Of course when you have mastered the action you are able to do these things without thinking of them and nothing can be more graceful
But you simply must fit and Peter measures you for your tree as carefully as for a suit of clothes the only difference being that the clothes are made to fit you while you have to be made to fit the tree Usually it is done quite easily as by your wearing too many garments or too few but if you are bumpy in awkward places or the only available tree is an odd shape Peter does some things to you and after that you fit Once you fit great care must be taken to go on fitting and this as Wendy was to discover to her delight keeps a whole family in perfect condition
Wendy and Michael fitted their trees at the first try but John had to be altered a little
After a few days practice they could go up and down as gaily as buckets in a well And how ardently they grew to love their home under the ground especially Wendy It consisted of one large room as all houses should do with a floor in which you could dig for worms if you wanted to go fishing and in this floor grew stout mushrooms of a charming colour which were used as stools A Never tree tried hard to grow in the centre of the room but every morning they sawed the trunk through level with the floor By teatime it was always about two feet high and then they put a door on top of it the whole thus becoming a table as soon as they cleared away they sawed off the trunk again and thus there was more room to play There was an enormous fireplace which was in almost any part of the room where you cared to light it and across this Wendy stretched strings made of fibre from which she suspended her washing The bed was tilted against the wall by day and let down at 630 when it filled nearly half the room and all the boys slept in it except Michael lying like sardines in a tin There was a strict rule against turning round until one gave the signal when all turned at once Michael should have used it also but Wendy would have desired a baby and he was the littlest and you know what women are and the short and long of it is that he was hung up in a basket
It was rough and simple and not unlike what baby bears would have made of an underground house in the same circumstances But there was one recess in the wall no larger than a birdcage which was the private apartment of Tinker Bell It could be shut off from the rest of the house by a tiny curtain which Tink who was most fastidious particular always kept drawn when dressing or undressing No woman however large could have had a more exquisite boudoir dressing room and bedchamber combined The couch as she always called it was a genuine Queen Mab with club legs and she varied the bedspreads according to what fruitblossom was in season Her mirror was a PussinBoots of which there are now only three unchipped known to fairy dealers the washstand was Piecrust and reversible the chest of drawers an authentic Charming the Sixth and the carpet and rugs the best the early period of Margery and Robin There was a chandelier from Tiddlywinks for the look of the thing but of course she lit the residence herself Tink was very contemptuous of the rest of the house as indeed was perhaps inevitable and her chamber though beautiful looked rather conceited having the appearance of a nose permanently turned up
I suppose it was all especially entrancing to Wendy because those rampagious boys of hers gave her so much to do Really there were whole weeks when except perhaps with a stocking in the evening she was never above ground The cooking I can tell you kept her nose to the pot and even if there was nothing in it even if there was no pot she had to keep watching that it came aboil just the same You never exactly knew whether there would be a real meal or just a makebelieve it all depended upon Peters whim he could eat really eat if it was part of a game but he could not stodge cram down the food just to feel stodgy stuffed with food which is what most children like better than anything else the next best thing being to talk about it Makebelieve was so real to him that during a meal of it you could see him getting rounder Of course it was trying but you simply had to follow his lead and if you could prove to him that you were getting loose for your tree he let you stodge
Wendys favourite time for sewing and darning was after they had all gone to bed Then as she expressed it she had a breathing time for herself and she occupied it in making new things for them and putting double pieces on the knees for they were all most frightfully hard on their knees
When she sat down to a basketful of their stockings every heel with a hole in it she would fling up her arms and exclaim Oh dear I am sure I sometimes think spinsters are to be envied
Her face beamed when she exclaimed this
You remember about her pet wolf Well it very soon discovered that she had come to the island and it found her out and they just ran into each others arms After that it followed her about everywhere
As time wore on did she think much about the beloved parents she had left behind her This is a difficult question because it is quite impossible to say how time does wear on in the Neverland where it is calculated by moons and suns and there are ever so many more of them than on the mainland But I am afraid that Wendy did not really worry about her father and mother she was absolutely confident that they would always keep the window open for her to fly back by and this gave her complete ease of mind What did disturb her at times was that John remembered his parents vaguely only as people he had once known while Michael was quite willing to believe that she was really his mother These things scared her a little and nobly anxious to do her duty she tried to fix the old life in their minds by setting them examination papers on it as like as possible to the ones she used to do at school The other boys thought this awfully interesting and insisted on joining and they made slates for themselves and sat round the table writing and thinking hard about the questions she had written on another slate and passed round They were the most ordinary questions—What was the colour of Mothers eyes Which was taller Father or Mother Was Mother blonde or brunette Answer all three questions if possible A Write an essay of not less than 40 words on How I spent my last Holidays or The Characters of Father and Mother compared Only one of these to be attempted Or 1 Describe Mothers laugh 2 Describe Fathers laugh 3 Describe Mothers Party Dress 4 Describe the Kennel and its Inmate
They were just everyday questions like these and when you could not answer them you were told to make a cross and it was really dreadful what a number of crosses even John made Of course the only boy who replied to every question was Slightly and no one could have been more hopeful of coming out first but his answers were perfectly ridiculous and he really came out last a melancholy thing
Peter did not compete For one thing he despised all mothers except Wendy and for another he was the only boy on the island who could neither write nor spell not the smallest word He was above all that sort of thing
By the way the questions were all written in the past tense What was the colour of Mothers eyes and so on Wendy you see had been forgetting too
Adventures of course as we shall see were of daily occurrence but about this time Peter invented with Wendys help a new game that fascinated him enormously until he suddenly had no more interest in it which as you have been told was what always happened with his games It consisted in pretending not to have adventures in doing the sort of thing John and Michael had been doing all their lives sitting on stools flinging balls in the air pushing each other going out for walks and coming back without having killed so much as a grizzly To see Peter doing nothing on a stool was a great sight he could not help looking solemn at such times to sit still seemed to him such a comic thing to do He boasted that he had gone walking for the good of his health For several suns these were the most novel of all adventures to him and John and Michael had to pretend to be delighted also otherwise he would have treated them severely
He often went out alone and when he came back you were never absolutely certain whether he had had an adventure or not He might have forgotten it so completely that he said nothing about it and then when you went out you found the body and on the other hand he might say a great deal about it and yet you could not find the body Sometimes he came home with his head bandaged and then Wendy cooed over him and bathed it in lukewarm water while he told a dazzling tale But she was never quite sure you know There were however many adventures which she knew to be true because she was in them herself and there were still more that were at least partly true for the other boys were in them and said they were wholly true To describe them all would require a book as large as an EnglishLatin LatinEnglish Dictionary and the most we can do is to give one as a specimen of an average hour on the island The difficulty is which one to choose Should we take the brush with the redskins at Slightly Gulch It was a sanguinary cheerful affair and especially interesting as showing one of Peters peculiarities which was that in the middle of a fight he would suddenly change sides At the Gulch when victory was still in the balance sometimes leaning this way and sometimes that he called out Im redskin today what are you Tootles And Tootles answered Redskin what are you Nibs and Nibs said Redskin what are you Twin and so on and they were all redskins and of course this would have ended the fight had not the real redskins fascinated by Peters methods agreed to be lost boys for that once and so at it they all went again more fiercely than ever
The extraordinary upshot of this adventure was—but we have not decided yet that this is the adventure we are to narrate Perhaps a better one would be the night attack by the redskins on the house under the ground when several of them stuck in the hollow trees and had to be pulled out like corks Or we might tell how Peter saved Tiger Lilys life in the Mermaids Lagoon and so made her his ally
Or we could tell of that cake the pirates cooked so that the boys might eat it and perish and how they placed it in one cunning spot after another but always Wendy snatched it from the hands of her children so that in time it lost its succulence and became as hard as a stone and was used as a missile and Hook fell over it in the dark
Or suppose we tell of the birds that were Peters friends particularly of the Never bird that built in a tree overhanging the lagoon and how the nest fell into the water and still the bird sat on her eggs and Peter gave orders that she was not to be disturbed That is a pretty story and the end shows how grateful a bird can be but if we tell it we must also tell the whole adventure of the lagoon which would of course be telling two adventures rather than just one A shorter adventure and quite as exciting was Tinker Bells attempt with the help of some street fairies to have the sleeping Wendy conveyed on a great floating leaf to the mainland Fortunately the leaf gave way and Wendy woke thinking it was bathtime and swam back Or again we might choose Peters defiance of the lions when he drew a circle round him on the ground with an arrow and dared them to cross it and though he waited for hours with the other boys and Wendy looking on breathlessly from trees not one of them dared to accept his challenge
Which of these adventures shall we choose The best way will be to toss for it
I have tossed and the lagoon has won This almost makes one wish that the gulch or the cake or Tinks leaf had won Of course I could do it again and make it best out of three however perhaps fairest to stick to the lagoon
Chapter 8 THE MERMAIDS LAGOON
If you shut your eyes and are a lucky one you may see at times a shapeless pool of lovely pale colours suspended in the darkness then if you squeeze your eyes tighter the pool begins to take shape and the colours become so vivid that with another squeeze they must go on fire But just before they go on fire you see the lagoon This is the nearest you ever get to it on the mainland just one heavenly moment if there could be two moments you might see the surf and hear the mermaids singing
The children often spent long summer days on this lagoon swimming or floating most of the time playing the mermaid games in the water and so forth You must not think from this that the mermaids were on friendly terms with them on the contrary it was among Wendys lasting regrets that all the time she was on the island she never had a civil word from one of them When she stole softly to the edge of the lagoon she might see them by the score especially on Marooners Rock where they loved to bask combing out their hair in a lazy way that quite irritated her or she might even swim on tiptoe as it were to within a yard of them but then they saw her and dived probably splashing her with their tails not by accident but intentionally
They treated all the boys in the same way except of course Peter who chatted with them on Marooners Rock by the hour and sat on their tails when they got cheeky He gave Wendy one of their combs
The most haunting time at which to see them is at the turn of the moon when they utter strange wailing cries but the lagoon is dangerous for mortals then and until the evening of which we have now to tell Wendy had never seen the lagoon by moonlight less from fear for of course Peter would have accompanied her than because she had strict rules about every one being in bed by seven She was often at the lagoon however on sunny days after rain when the mermaids come up in extraordinary numbers to play with their bubbles The bubbles of many colours made in rainbow water they treat as balls hitting them gaily from one to another with their tails and trying to keep them in the rainbow till they burst The goals are at each end of the rainbow and the keepers only are allowed to use their hands Sometimes a dozen of these games will be going on in the lagoon at a time and it is quite a pretty sight
But the moment the children tried to join in they had to play by themselves for the mermaids immediately disappeared Nevertheless we have proof that they secretly watched the interlopers and were not above taking an idea from them for John introduced a new way of hitting the bubble with the head instead of the hand and the mermaids adopted it This is the one mark that John has left on the Neverland
It must also have been rather pretty to see the children resting on a rock for half an hour after their midday meal Wendy insisted on their doing this and it had to be a real rest even though the meal was makebelieve So they lay there in the sun and their bodies glistened in it while she sat beside them and looked important
It was one such day and they were all on Marooners Rock The rock was not much larger than their great bed but of course they all knew how not to take up much room and they were dozing or at least lying with their eyes shut and pinching occasionally when they thought Wendy was not looking She was very busy stitching
While she stitched a change came to the lagoon Little shivers ran over it and the sun went away and shadows stole across the water turning it cold Wendy could no longer see to thread her needle and when she looked up the lagoon that had always hitherto been such a laughing place seemed formidable and unfriendly
It was not she knew that night had come but something as dark as night had come No worse than that It had not come but it had sent that shiver through the sea to say that it was coming What was it
There crowded upon her all the stories she had been told of Marooners Rock so called because evil captains put sailors on it and leave them there to drown They drown when the tide rises for then it is submerged
Of course she should have roused the children at once not merely because of the unknown that was stalking toward them but because it was no longer good for them to sleep on a rock grown chilly But she was a young mother and she did not know this she thought you simply must stick to your rule about half an hour after the midday meal So though fear was upon her and she longed to hear male voices she would not waken them Even when she heard the sound of muffled oars though her heart was in her mouth she did not waken them She stood over them to let them have their sleep out Was it not brave of Wendy
It was well for those boys then that there was one among them who could sniff danger even in his sleep Peter sprang erect as wide awake at once as a dog and with one warning cry he roused the others
He stood motionless one hand to his ear
Pirates he cried The others came closer to him A strange smile was playing about his face and Wendy saw it and shuddered While that smile was on his face no one dared address him all they could do was to stand ready to obey The order came sharp and incisive
Dive
There was a gleam of legs and instantly the lagoon seemed deserted Marooners Rock stood alone in the forbidding waters as if it were itself marooned
The boat drew nearer It was the pirate dinghy with three figures in her Smee and Starkey and the third a captive no other than Tiger Lily Her hands and ankles were tied and she knew what was to be her fate She was to be left on the rock to perish an end to one of her race more terrible than death by fire or torture for is it not written in the book of the tribe that there is no path through water to the happy huntingground Yet her face was impassive she was the daughter of a chief she must die as a chiefs daughter it is enough
They had caught her boarding the pirate ship with a knife in her mouth No watch was kept on the ship it being Hooks boast that the wind of his name guarded the ship for a mile around Now her fate would help to guard it also One more wail would go the round in that wind by night
In the gloom that they brought with them the two pirates did not see the rock till they crashed into it
Luff you lubber cried an Irish voice that was Smees heres the rock Now then what we have to do is to hoist the redskin on to it and leave her here to drown
It was the work of one brutal moment to land the beautiful girl on the rock she was too proud to offer a vain resistance
Quite near the rock but out of sight two heads were bobbing up and down Peters and Wendys Wendy was crying for it was the first tragedy she had seen Peter had seen many tragedies but he had forgotten them all He was less sorry than Wendy for Tiger Lily it was two against one that angered him and he meant to save her An easy way would have been to wait until the pirates had gone but he was never one to choose the easy way
There was almost nothing he could not do and he now imitated the voice of Hook
Ahoy there you lubbers he called It was a marvellous imitation
The captain said the pirates staring at each other in surprise
He must be swimming out to us Starkey said when they had looked for him in vain
We are putting the redskin on the rock Smee called out
Set her free came the astonishing answer
Free
Yes cut her bonds and let her go
But captain—
At once dye hear cried Peter or Ill plunge my hook in you
This is queer Smee gasped
Better do what the captain orders said Starkey nervously
Ay ay Smee said and he cut Tiger Lilys cords At once like an eel she slid between Starkeys legs into the water
Of course Wendy was very elated over Peters cleverness but she knew that he would be elated also and very likely crow and thus betray himself so at once her hand went out to cover his mouth But it was stayed even in the act for Boat ahoy rang over the lagoon in Hooks voice and this time it was not Peter who had spoken
Peter may have been about to crow but his face puckered in a whistle of surprise instead
Boat ahoy again came the voice
Now Wendy understood The real Hook was also in the water
He was swimming to the boat and as his men showed a light to guide him he had soon reached them In the light of the lantern Wendy saw his hook grip the boats side she saw his evil swarthy face as he rose dripping from the water and quaking she would have liked to swim away but Peter would not budge He was tingling with life and also topheavy with conceit Am I not a wonder oh I am a wonder he whispered to her and though she thought so also she was really glad for the sake of his reputation that no one heard him except herself
He signed to her to listen
The two pirates were very curious to know what had brought their captain to them but he sat with his head on his hook in a position of profound melancholy
Captain is all well they asked timidly but he answered with a hollow moan
He sighs said Smee
He sighs again said Starkey
And yet a third time he sighs said Smee
Then at last he spoke passionately
The games up he cried those boys have found a mother
Affrighted though she was Wendy swelled with pride
O evil day cried Starkey
Whats a mother asked the ignorant Smee
Wendy was so shocked that she exclaimed He doesnt know and always after this she felt that if you could have a pet pirate Smee would be her one
Peter pulled her beneath the water for Hook had started up crying What was that
I heard nothing said Starkey raising the lantern over the waters and as the pirates looked they saw a strange sight It was the nest I have told you of floating on the lagoon and the Never bird was sitting on it
See said Hook in answer to Smees question that is a mother What a lesson The nest must have fallen into the water but would the mother desert her eggs No
There was a break in his voice as if for a moment he recalled innocent days when—but he brushed away this weakness with his hook
Smee much impressed gazed at the bird as the nest was borne past but the more suspicious Starkey said If she is a mother perhaps she is hanging about here to help Peter
Hook winced Ay he said that is the fear that haunts me
He was roused from this dejection by Smees eager voice
Captain said Smee could we not kidnap these boys mother and make her our mother
It is a princely scheme cried Hook and at once it took practical shape in his great brain We will seize the children and carry them to the boat the boys we will make walk the plank and Wendy shall be our mother
Again Wendy forgot herself
Never she cried and bobbed
What was that
But they could see nothing They thought it must have been a leaf in the wind Do you agree my bullies asked Hook
There is my hand on it they both said
And there is my hook Swear
They all swore By this time they were on the rock and suddenly Hook remembered Tiger Lily
Where is the redskin he demanded abruptly
He had a playful humour at moments and they thought this was one of the moments
That is all right captain Smee answered complacently we let her go
Let her go cried Hook
Twas your own orders the bosun faltered
You called over the water to us to let her go said Starkey
Brimstone and gall thundered Hook what cozening cheating is going on here His face had gone black with rage but he saw that they believed their words and he was startled Lads he said shaking a little I gave no such order
It is passing queer Smee said and they all fidgeted uncomfortably Hook raised his voice but there was a quiver in it
Spirit that haunts this dark lagoon tonight he cried dost hear me
Of course Peter should have kept quiet but of course he did not He immediately answered in Hooks voice
Odds bobs hammer and tongs I hear you
In that supreme moment Hook did not blanch even at the gills but Smee and Starkey clung to each other in terror
Who are you stranger Speak Hook demanded
I am James Hook replied the voice captain of the JOLLY ROGER
You are not you are not Hook cried hoarsely
Brimstone and gall the voice retorted say that again and Ill cast anchor in you
Hook tried a more ingratiating manner If you are Hook he said almost humbly come tell me who am I
A codfish replied the voice only a codfish
A codfish Hook echoed blankly and it was then but not till then that his proud spirit broke He saw his men draw back from him
Have we been captained all this time by a codfish they muttered It is lowering to our pride
They were his dogs snapping at him but tragic figure though he had become he scarcely heeded them Against such fearful evidence it was not their belief in him that he needed it was his own He felt his ego slipping from him Dont desert me bully he whispered hoarsely to it
In his dark nature there was a touch of the feminine as in all the great pirates and it sometimes gave him intuitions Suddenly he tried the guessing game
Hook he called have you another voice
Now Peter could never resist a game and he answered blithely in his own voice I have
And another name
Ay ay
Vegetable asked Hook
No
Mineral
No
Animal
Yes
Man
No This answer rang out scornfully
Boy
Yes
Ordinary boy
No
Wonderful boy
To Wendys pain the answer that rang out this time was Yes
Are you in England
No
Are you here
Yes
Hook was completely puzzled You ask him some questions he said to the others wiping his damp brow
Smee reflected I cant think of a thing," he said regretfully
Cant guess cant guess crowed Peter Do you give it up
Of course in his pride he was carrying the game too far and the miscreants villains saw their chance
Yes yes they answered eagerly
Well then he cried I am Peter Pan
Pan
In a moment Hook was himself again and Smee and Starkey were his faithful henchmen
Now we have him Hook shouted Into the water Smee Starkey mind the boat Take him dead or alive
He leaped as he spoke and simultaneously came the gay voice of Peter
Are you ready boys
Ay ay from various parts of the lagoon
Then lam into the pirates
The fight was short and sharp First to draw blood was John who gallantly climbed into the boat and held Starkey There was fierce struggle in which the cutlass was torn from the pirates grasp He wriggled overboard and John leapt after him The dinghy drifted away
Here and there a head bobbed up in the water and there was a flash of steel followed by a cry or a whoop In the confusion some struck at their own side The corkscrew of Smee got Tootles in the fourth rib but he was himself pinked nicked in turn by Curly Farther from the rock Starkey was pressing Slightly and the twins hard
Where all this time was Peter He was seeking bigger game
The others were all brave boys and they must not be blamed for backing from the pirate captain His iron claw made a circle of dead water round him from which they fled like affrighted fishes
But there was one who did not fear him there was one prepared to enter that circle
Strangely it was not in the water that they met Hook rose to the rock to breathe and at the same moment Peter scaled it on the opposite side The rock was slippery as a ball and they had to crawl rather than climb Neither knew that the other was coming Each feeling for a grip met the others arm in surprise they raised their heads their faces were almost touching so they met
Some of the greatest heroes have confessed that just before they fell to began combat they had a sinking feeling in the stomach Had it been so with Peter at that moment I would admit it After all he was the only man that the SeaCook had feared But Peter had no sinking he had one feeling only gladness and he gnashed his pretty teeth with joy Quick as thought he snatched a knife from Hooks belt and was about to drive it home when he saw that he was higher up the rock that his foe It would not have been fighting fair He gave the pirate a hand to help him up
It was then that Hook bit him
Not the pain of this but its unfairness was what dazed Peter It made him quite helpless He could only stare horrified Every child is affected thus the first time he is treated unfairly All he thinks he has a right to when he comes to you to be yours is fairness After you have been unfair to him he will love you again but will never afterwards be quite the same boy No one ever gets over the first unfairness no one except Peter He often met it but he always forgot it I suppose that was the real difference between him and all the rest
So when he met it now it was like the first time and he could just stare helpless Twice the iron hand clawed him
A few moments afterwards the other boys saw Hook in the water striking wildly for the ship no elation on the pestilent face now only white fear for the crocodile was in dogged pursuit of him On ordinary occasions the boys would have swum alongside cheering but now they were uneasy for they had lost both Peter and Wendy and were scouring the lagoon for them calling them by name They found the dinghy and went home in it shouting Peter Wendy as they went but no answer came save mocking laughter from the mermaids They must be swimming back or flying the boys concluded They were not very anxious because they had such faith in Peter They chuckled boylike because they would be late for bed and it was all mother Wendys fault
When their voices died away there came cold silence over the lagoon and then a feeble cry
Help help
Two small figures were beating against the rock the girl had fainted and lay on the boys arm With a last effort Peter pulled her up the rock and then lay down beside her Even as he also fainted he saw that the water was rising He knew that they would soon be drowned but he could do no more
As they lay side by side a mermaid caught Wendy by the feet and began pulling her softly into the water Peter feeling her slip from him woke with a start and was just in time to draw her back But he had to tell her the truth
We are on the rock Wendy he said but it is growing smaller Soon the water will be over it
She did not understand even now
We must go she said almost brightly
Yes he answered faintly
Shall we swim or fly Peter
He had to tell her
Do you think you could swim or fly as far as the island Wendy without my help
She had to admit that she was too tired
He moaned
What is it she asked anxious about him at once
I cant help you Wendy Hook wounded me I can neither fly nor swim
Do you mean we shall both be drowned
Look how the water is rising
They put their hands over their eyes to shut out the sight They thought they would soon be no more As they sat thus something brushed against Peter as light as a kiss and stayed there as if saying timidly Can I be of any use
It was the tail of a kite which Michael had made some days before It had torn itself out of his hand and floated away
Michaels kite Peter said without interest but next moment he had seized the tail and was pulling the kite toward him
It lifted Michael off the ground he cried why should it not carry you
Both of us
It cant lift two Michael and Curly tried
Let us draw lots Wendy said bravely
And you a lady never Already he had tied the tail round her She clung to him she refused to go without him but with a Goodbye Wendy he pushed her from the rock and in a few minutes she was borne out of his sight Peter was alone on the lagoon
The rock was very small now soon it would be submerged Pale rays of light tiptoed across the waters and by and by there was to be heard a sound at once the most musical and the most melancholy in the world the mermaids calling to the moon
Peter was not quite like other boys but he was afraid at last A tremour ran through him like a shudder passing over the sea but on the sea one shudder follows another till there are hundreds of them and Peter felt just the one Next moment he was standing erect on the rock again with that smile on his face and a drum beating within him It was saying To die will be an awfully big adventure
Chapter 9 THE NEVER BIRD
The last sound Peter heard before he was quite alone were the mermaids retiring one by one to their bedchambers under the sea He was too far away to hear their doors shut but every door in the coral caves where they live rings a tiny bell when it opens or closes as in all the nicest houses on the mainland and he heard the bells
Steadily the waters rose till they were nibbling at his feet and to pass the time until they made their final gulp he watched the only thing on the lagoon He thought it was a piece of floating paper perhaps part of the kite and wondered idly how long it would take to drift ashore
Presently he noticed as an odd thing that it was undoubtedly out upon the lagoon with some definite purpose for it was fighting the tide and sometimes winning and when it won Peter always sympathetic to the weaker side could not help clapping it was such a gallant piece of paper
It was not really a piece of paper it was the Never bird making desperate efforts to reach Peter on the nest By working her wings in a way she had learned since the nest fell into the water she was able to some extent to guide her strange craft but by the time Peter recognised her she was very exhausted She had come to save him to give him her nest though there were eggs in it I rather wonder at the bird for though he had been nice to her he had also sometimes tormented her I can suppose only that like Mrs Darling and the rest of them she was melted because he had all his first teeth
She called out to him what she had come for and he called out to her what she was doing there but of course neither of them understood the others language In fanciful stories people can talk to the birds freely and I wish for the moment I could pretend that this were such a story and say that Peter replied intelligently to the Never bird but truth is best and I want to tell you only what really happened Well not only could they not understand each other but they forgot their manners
I—want—you—to—get—into—the—nest the bird called speaking as slowly and distinctly as possible and—then—you—can—drift—ashore but—I—am—too—tired—to—bring—it—any—nearer—so—you—must—try to—swim—to—it
What are you quacking about Peter answered Why dont you let the nest drift as usual
I—want—you— the bird said and repeated it all over
Then Peter tried slow and distinct
What—are—you—quacking—about and so on
The Never bird became irritated they have very short tempers
You dunderheaded little jay she screamed Why dont you do as I tell you
Peter felt that she was calling him names and at a venture he retorted hotly
So are you
Then rather curiously they both snapped out the same remark
Shut up
Shut up
Nevertheless the bird was determined to save him if she could and by one last mighty effort she propelled the nest against the rock Then up she flew deserting her eggs so as to make her meaning clear
Then at last he understood and clutched the nest and waved his thanks to the bird as she fluttered overhead It was not to receive his thanks however that she hung there in the sky it was not even to watch him get into the nest it was to see what he did with her eggs
There were two large white eggs and Peter lifted them up and reflected The bird covered her face with her wings so as not to see the last of them but she could not help peeping between the feathers
I forget whether I have told you that there was a stave on the rock driven into it by some buccaneers of long ago to mark the site of buried treasure The children had discovered the glittering hoard and when in a mischievous mood used to fling showers of moidores diamonds pearls and pieces of eight to the gulls who pounced upon them for food and then flew away raging at the scurvy trick that had been played upon them The stave was still there and on it Starkey had hung his hat a deep tarpaulin watertight with a broad brim Peter put the eggs into this hat and set it on the lagoon It floated beautifully
The Never bird saw at once what he was up to and screamed her admiration of him and alas Peter crowed his agreement with her Then he got into the nest reared the stave in it as a mast and hung up his shirt for a sail At the same moment the bird fluttered down upon the hat and once more sat snugly on her eggs She drifted in one direction and he was borne off in another both cheering
Of course when Peter landed he beached his barque small ship actually the Never Birds nest in this particular case in point in a place where the bird would easily find it but the hat was such a great success that she abandoned the nest It drifted about till it went to pieces and often Starkey came to the shore of the lagoon and with many bitter feelings watched the bird sitting on his hat As we shall not see her again it may be worth mentioning here that all Never birds now build in that shape of nest with a broad brim on which the youngsters take an airing
Great were the rejoicings when Peter reached the home under the ground almost as soon as Wendy who had been carried hither and thither by the kite Every boy had adventures to tell but perhaps the biggest adventure of all was that they were several hours late for bed This so inflated them that they did various dodgy things to get staying up still longer such as demanding bandages but Wendy though glorying in having them all home again safe and sound was scandalised by the lateness of the hour and cried To bed to bed in a voice that had to be obeyed Next day however she was awfully tender and gave out bandages to every one and they played till bedtime at limping about and carrying their arms in slings
Chapter 10 THE HAPPY HOME
One important result of the brush with the pirates on the lagoon was that it made the redskins their friends Peter had saved Tiger Lily from a dreadful fate and now there was nothing she and her braves would not do for him All night they sat above keeping watch over the home under the ground and awaiting the big attack by the pirates which obviously could not be much longer delayed Even by day they hung about smoking the pipe of peace and looking almost as if they wanted titbits to eat
They called Peter the Great White Father prostrating themselves lying down before him and he liked this tremendously so that it was not really good for him
The great white father he would say to them in a very lordly manner as they grovelled at his feet is glad to see the Piccaninny warriors protecting his wigwam from the pirates
Me Tiger Lily that lovely creature would reply Peter Pan save me me his velly nice friend Me no let pirates hurt him
She was far too pretty to cringe in this way but Peter thought it his due and he would answer condescendingly It is good Peter Pan has spoken
Always when he said Peter Pan has spoken it meant that they must now shut up and they accepted it humbly in that spirit but they were by no means so respectful to the other boys whom they looked upon as just ordinary braves They said Howdo to them and things like that and what annoyed the boys was that Peter seemed to think this all right
Secretly Wendy sympathised with them a little but she was far too loyal a housewife to listen to any complaints against father Father knows best she always said whatever her private opinion must be Her private opinion was that the redskins should not call her a squaw
We have now reached the evening that was to be known among them as the Night of Nights because of its adventures and their upshot The day as if quietly gathering its forces had been almost uneventful and now the redskins in their blankets were at their posts above while below the children were having their evening meal all except Peter who had gone out to get the time The way you got the time on the island was to find the crocodile and then stay near him till the clock struck
The meal happened to be a makebelieve tea and they sat around the board guzzling in their greed and really what with their chatter and recriminations the noise as Wendy said was positively deafening To be sure she did not mind noise but she simply would not have them grabbing things and then excusing themselves by saying that Tootles had pushed their elbow There was a fixed rule that they must never hit back at meals but should refer the matter of dispute to Wendy by raising the right arm politely and saying I complain of soandso but what usually happened was that they forgot to do this or did it too much
Silence cried Wendy when for the twentieth time she had told them that they were not all to speak at once Is your mug empty Slightly darling
Not quite empty mummy Slightly said after looking into an imaginary mug
He hasnt even begun to drink his milk Nibs interposed
This was telling and Slightly seized his chance
I complain of Nibs he cried promptly
John however had held up his hand first
Well John
May I sit in Peters chair as he is not here
Sit in fathers chair John Wendy was scandalised Certainly not
He is not really our father John answered He didnt even know how a father does till I showed him
This was grumbling We complain of John cried the twins
Tootles held up his hand He was so much the humblest of them indeed he was the only humble one that Wendy was specially gentle with him
I dont suppose Tootles said diffidently bashfully or timidly that I could be father
No Tootles
Once Tootles began which was not very often he had a silly way of going on
As I cant be father he said heavily I dont suppose Michael you would let me be baby
No I wont Michael rapped out He was already in his basket
As I cant be baby Tootles said getting heavier and heavier and heavier do you think I could be a twin
No indeed replied the twins its awfully difficult to be a twin
As I cant be anything important said Tootles would any of you like to see me do a trick
No they all replied
Then at last he stopped I hadnt really any hope he said
The hateful telling broke out again
Slightly is coughing on the table
The twins began with cheesecakes
Curly is taking both butter and honey
Nibs is speaking with his mouth full
I complain of the twins
I complain of Curly
I complain of Nibs
Oh dear oh dear cried Wendy Im sure I sometimes think that spinsters are to be envied
She told them to clear away and sat down to her workbasket a heavy load of stockings and every knee with a hole in it as usual
Wendy remonstrated scolded Michael Im too big for a cradle
I must have somebody in a cradle she said almost tartly and you are the littlest A cradle is such a nice homely thing to have about a house
While she sewed they played around her such a group of happy faces and dancing limbs lit up by that romantic fire It had become a very familiar scene this in the home under the ground but we are looking on it for the last time
There was a step above and Wendy you may be sure was the first to recognize it
Children I hear your fathers step He likes you to meet him at the door
Above the redskins crouched before Peter
Watch well braves I have spoken
And then as so often before the gay children dragged him from his tree As so often before but never again
He had brought nuts for the boys as well as the correct time for Wendy
Peter you just spoil them you know Wendy simpered exaggerated a smile
Ah old lady said Peter hanging up his gun
It was me told him mothers are called old lady Michael whispered to Curly
I complain of Michael said Curly instantly
The first twin came to Peter Father we want to dance
Dance away my little man said Peter who was in high good humour
But we want you to dance
Peter was really the best dancer among them but he pretended to be scandalised
Me My old bones would rattle
And mummy too
What cried Wendy the mother of such an armful dance
But on a Saturday night Slightly insinuated
It was not really Saturday night at least it may have been for they had long lost count of the days but always if they wanted to do anything special they said this was Saturday night and then they did it
Of course it is Saturday night Peter Wendy said relenting
People of our figure Wendy
But it is only among our own progeny children
True true
So they were told they could dance but they must put on their nighties first
Ah old lady Peter said aside to Wendy warming himself by the fire and looking down at her as she sat turning a heel there is nothing more pleasant of an evening for you and me when the days toil is over than to rest by the fire with the little ones near by
It is sweet Peter isnt it Wendy said frightfully gratified Peter I think Curly has your nose
Michael takes after you
She went to him and put her hand on his shoulder
Dear Peter she said with such a large family of course I have now passed my best but you dont want to exchange me do you
No Wendy
Certainly he did not want a change but he looked at her uncomfortably blinking you know like one not sure whether he was awake or asleep
Peter what is it
I was just thinking he said a little scared It is only makebelieve isnt it that I am their father
Oh yes Wendy said primly formally and properly
You see he continued apologetically it would make me seem so old to be their real father
But they are ours Peter yours and mine
But not really Wendy he asked anxiously
Not if you dont wish it she replied and she distinctly heard his sigh of relief Peter she asked trying to speak firmly what are your exact feelings to about me
Those of a devoted son Wendy
I thought so she said and went and sat by herself at the extreme end of the room
You are so queer he said frankly puzzled and Tiger Lily is just the same There is something she wants to be to me but she says it is not my mother
No indeed it is not Wendy replied with frightful emphasis Now we know why she was prejudiced against the redskins
Then what is it
It isnt for a lady to tell
Oh very well Peter said a little nettled Perhaps Tinker Bell will tell me
Oh yes Tinker Bell will tell you Wendy retorted scornfully She is an abandoned little creature
Here Tink who was in her bedroom eavesdropping squeaked out something impudent
She says she glories in being abandoned Peter interpreted
He had a sudden idea Perhaps Tink wants to be my mother
You silly ass cried Tinker Bell in a passion
She had said it so often that Wendy needed no translation
I almost agree with her Wendy snapped Fancy Wendy snapping But she had been much tried and she little knew what was to happen before the night was out If she had known she would not have snapped
None of them knew Perhaps it was best not to know Their ignorance gave them one more glad hour and as it was to be their last hour on the island let us rejoice that there were sixty glad minutes in it They sang and danced in their nightgowns Such a deliciously creepy song it was in which they pretended to be frightened at their own shadows little witting that so soon shadows would close in upon them from whom they would shrink in real fear So uproariously gay was the dance and how they buffeted each other on the bed and out of it It was a pillow fight rather than a dance and when it was finished the pillows insisted on one bout more like partners who know that they may never meet again The stories they told before it was time for Wendys goodnight story Even Slightly tried to tell a story that night but the beginning was so fearfully dull that it appalled not only the others but himself and he said happily
Yes it is a dull beginning I say let us pretend that it is the end
And then at last they all got into bed for Wendys story the story they loved best the story Peter hated Usually when she began to tell this story he left the room or put his hands over his ears and possibly if he had done either of those things this time they might all still be on the island But tonight he remained on his stool and we shall see what happened
Chapter 11 WENDYS STORY
Listen then said Wendy settling down to her story with Michael at her feet and seven boys in the bed There was once a gentleman—
I had rather he had been a lady Curly said
I wish he had been a white rat said Nibs
Quiet their mother admonished cautioned them There was a lady also and—
Oh mummy cried the first twin you mean that there is a lady also dont you She is not dead is she
Oh no
I am awfully glad she isnt dead said Tootles Are you glad John
Of course I am
Are you glad Nibs
Rather
Are you glad Twins
We are glad
Oh dear sighed Wendy
Little less noise there Peter called out determined that she should have fair play however beastly a story it might be in his opinion
The gentlemans name Wendy continued was Mr Darling and her name was Mrs Darling
I knew them John said to annoy the others
I think I knew them said Michael rather doubtfully
They were married you know explained Wendy and what do you think they had
White rats cried Nibs inspired
No
Its awfully puzzling said Tootles who knew the story by heart
Quiet Tootles They had three descendants
What is descendants
Well you are one Twin
Did you hear that John I am a descendant
Descendants are only children said John
Oh dear oh dear sighed Wendy Now these three children had a faithful nurse called Nana but Mr Darling was angry with her and chained her up in the yard and so all the children flew away
Its an awfully good story said Nibs
They flew away Wendy continued to the Neverland where the lost children are
I just thought they did Curly broke in excitedly I dont know how it is but I just thought they did
O Wendy cried Tootles was one of the lost children called Tootles
Yes he was
I am in a story Hurrah I am in a story Nibs
Hush Now I want you to consider the feelings of the unhappy parents with all their children flown away
Oo they all moaned though they were not really considering the feelings of the unhappy parents one jot
Think of the empty beds
Oo
Its awfully sad the first twin said cheerfully
I dont see how it can have a happy ending said the second twin Do you Nibs
Im frightfully anxious
If you knew how great is a mothers love Wendy told them triumphantly you would have no fear She had now come to the part that Peter hated
I do like a mothers love said Tootles hitting Nibs with a pillow Do you like a mothers love Nibs
I do just said Nibs hitting back
You see Wendy said complacently our heroine knew that the mother would always leave the window open for her children to fly back by so they stayed away for years and had a lovely time
Did they ever go back
Let us now said Wendy bracing herself up for her finest effort take a peep into the future and they all gave themselves the twist that makes peeps into the future easier Years have rolled by and who is this elegant lady of uncertain age alighting at London Station
O Wendy who is she cried Nibs every bit as excited as if he didnt know
Can it be—yes—no—it is—the fair Wendy
Oh
And who are the two noble portly figures accompanying her now grown to mans estate Can they be John and Michael They are
Oh
See dear brothers says Wendy pointing upwards there is the window still standing open Ah now we are rewarded for our sublime faith in a mothers love So up they flew to their mummy and daddy and pen cannot describe the happy scene over which we draw a veil
That was the story and they were as pleased with it as the fair narrator herself Everything just as it should be you see Off we skip like the most heartless things in the world which is what children are but so attractive and we have an entirely selfish time and then when we have need of special attention we nobly return for it confident that we shall be rewarded instead of smacked
So great indeed was their faith in a mothers love that they felt they could afford to be callous for a bit longer
But there was one there who knew better and when Wendy finished he uttered a hollow groan
What is it Peter she cried running to him thinking he was ill She felt him solicitously lower down than his chest Where is it Peter
It isnt that kind of pain Peter replied darkly
Then what kind is it
Wendy you are wrong about mothers
They all gathered round him in affright so alarming was his agitation and with a fine candour he told them what he had hitherto concealed
Long ago he said I thought like you that my mother would always keep the window open for me so I stayed away for moons and moons and moons and then flew back but the window was barred for mother had forgotten all about me and there was another little boy sleeping in my bed
I am not sure that this was true but Peter thought it was true and it scared them
Are you sure mothers are like that
Yes
So this was the truth about mothers The toads
Still it is best to be careful and no one knows so quickly as a child when he should give in Wendy let us lets go home cried John and Michael together
Yes she said clutching them
Not tonight asked the lost boys bewildered They knew in what they called their hearts that one can get on quite well without a mother and that it is only the mothers who think you cant
At once Wendy replied resolutely for the horrible thought had come to her Perhaps mother is in half mourning by this time
This dread made her forgetful of what must be Peters feelings and she said to him rather sharply Peter will you make the necessary arrangements
If you wish it he replied as coolly as if she had asked him to pass the nuts
Not so much as a sorrytoloseyou between them If she did not mind the parting he was going to show her was Peter that neither did he
But of course he cared very much and he was so full of wrath against grownups who as usual were spoiling everything that as soon as he got inside his tree he breathed intentionally quick short breaths at the rate of about five to a second He did this because there is a saying in the Neverland that every time you breathe a grownup dies and Peter was killing them off vindictively as fast as possible
Then having given the necessary instructions to the redskins he returned to the home where an unworthy scene had been enacted in his absence Panicstricken at the thought of losing Wendy the lost boys had advanced upon her threateningly
It will be worse than before she came they cried
We shant let her go
Lets keep her prisoner
Ay chain her up
In her extremity an instinct told her to which of them to turn
Tootles she cried I appeal to you
Was it not strange She appealed to Tootles quite the silliest one
Grandly however did Tootles respond For that one moment he dropped his silliness and spoke with dignity
I am just Tootles he said and nobody minds me But the first who does not behave to Wendy like an English gentleman I will blood him severely
He drew back his hanger and for that instant his sun was at noon The others held back uneasily Then Peter returned and they saw at once that they would get no support from him He would keep no girl in the Neverland against her will
Wendy he said striding up and down I have asked the redskins to guide you through the wood as flying tires you so
Thank you Peter
Then he continued in the short sharp voice of one accustomed to be obeyed Tinker Bell will take you across the sea Wake her Nibs
Nibs had to knock twice before he got an answer though Tink had really been sitting up in bed listening for some time
Who are you How dare you Go away she cried
You are to get up Tink Nibs called and take Wendy on a journey
Of course Tink had been delighted to hear that Wendy was going but she was jolly well determined not to be her courier and she said so in still more offensive language Then she pretended to be asleep again
She says she wont Nibs exclaimed aghast at such insubordination whereupon Peter went sternly toward the young ladys chamber
Tink he rapped out if you dont get up and dress at once I will open the curtains and then we shall all see you in your negligee nightgown
This made her leap to the floor Who said I wasnt getting up she cried
In the meantime the boys were gazing very forlornly at Wendy now equipped with John and Michael for the journey By this time they were dejected not merely because they were about to lose her but also because they felt that she was going off to something nice to which they had not been invited Novelty was beckoning to them as usual
Crediting them with a nobler feeling Wendy melted
Dear ones she said if you will all come with me I feel almost sure I can get my father and mother to adopt you
The invitation was meant specially for Peter but each of the boys was thinking exclusively of himself and at once they jumped with joy
But wont they think us rather a handful Nibs asked in the middle of his jump
Oh no said Wendy rapidly thinking it out it will only mean having a few beds in the drawingroom they can be hidden behind the screens on first Thursdays
Peter can we go they all cried imploringly They took it for granted that if they went he would go also but really they scarcely cared Thus children are ever ready when novelty knocks to desert their dearest ones
All right Peter replied with a bitter smile and immediately they rushed to get their things
And now Peter Wendy said thinking she had put everything right I am going to give you your medicine before you go She loved to give them medicine and undoubtedly gave them too much Of course it was only water but it was out of a bottle and she always shook the bottle and counted the drops which gave it a certain medicinal quality On this occasion however she did not give Peter his draught portion for just as she had prepared it she saw a look on his face that made her heart sink
Get your things Peter she cried shaking
No he answered pretending indifference I am not going with you Wendy
Yes Peter
No
To show that her departure would leave him unmoved he skipped up and down the room playing gaily on his heartless pipes She had to run about after him though it was rather undignified
To find your mother she coaxed
Now if Peter had ever quite had a mother he no longer missed her He could do very well without one He had thought them out and remembered only their bad points
No no he told Wendy decisively perhaps she would say I was old and I just want always to be a little boy and to have fun
But Peter—
No
And so the others had to be told
Peter isnt coming
Peter not coming They gazed blankly at him their sticks over their backs and on each stick a bundle Their first thought was that if Peter was not going he had probably changed his mind about letting them go
But he was far too proud for that If you find your mothers he said darkly I hope you will like them
The awful cynicism of this made an uncomfortable impression and most of them began to look rather doubtful After all their faces said were they not noodles to want to go
Now then cried Peter no fuss no blubbering goodbye Wendy and he held out his hand cheerily quite as if they must really go now for he had something important to do
She had to take his hand and there was no indication that he would prefer a thimble
You will remember about changing your flannels Peter she said lingering over him She was always so particular about their flannels
Yes
And you will take your medicine
Yes
That seemed to be everything and an awkward pause followed Peter however was not the kind that breaks down before other people Are you ready Tinker Bell he called out
Ay ay
Then lead the way
Tink darted up the nearest tree but no one followed her for it was at this moment that the pirates made their dreadful attack upon the redskins Above where all had been so still the air was rent with shrieks and the clash of steel Below there was dead silence Mouths opened and remained open Wendy fell on her knees but her arms were extended toward Peter All arms were extended to him as if suddenly blown in his direction they were beseeching him mutely not to desert them As for Peter he seized his sword the same he thought he had slain Barbecue with and the lust of battle was in his eye
Chapter 12 THE CHILDREN ARE CARRIED OFF
The pirate attack had been a complete surprise a sure proof that the unscrupulous Hook had conducted it improperly for to surprise redskins fairly is beyond the wit of the white man
By all the unwritten laws of savage warfare it is always the redskin who attacks and with the wiliness of his race he does it just before the dawn at which time he knows the courage of the whites to be at its lowest ebb The white men have in the meantime made a rude stockade on the summit of yonder undulating ground at the foot of which a stream runs for it is destruction to be too far from water There they await the onslaught the inexperienced ones clutching their revolvers and treading on twigs but the old hands sleeping tranquilly until just before the dawn Through the long black night the savage scouts wriggle snakelike among the grass without stirring a blade The brushwood closes behind them as silently as sand into which a mole has dived Not a sound is to be heard save when they give vent to a wonderful imitation of the lonely call of the coyote The cry is answered by other braves and some of them do it even better than the coyotes who are not very good at it So the chill hours wear on and the long suspense is horribly trying to the paleface who has to live through it for the first time but to the trained hand those ghastly calls and still ghastlier silences are but an intimation of how the night is marching
That this was the usual procedure was so well known to Hook that in disregarding it he cannot be excused on the plea of ignorance
The Piccaninnies on their part trusted implicitly to his honour and their whole action of the night stands out in marked contrast to his They left nothing undone that was consistent with the reputation of their tribe With that alertness of the senses which is at once the marvel and despair of civilised peoples they knew that the pirates were on the island from the moment one of them trod on a dry stick and in an incredibly short space of time the coyote cries began Every foot of ground between the spot where Hook had landed his forces and the home under the trees was stealthily examined by braves wearing their mocassins with the heels in front They found only one hillock with a stream at its base so that Hook had no choice here he must establish himself and wait for just before the dawn Everything being thus mapped out with almost diabolical cunning the main body of the redskins folded their blankets around them and in the phlegmatic manner that is to them the pearl of manhood squatted above the childrens home awaiting the cold moment when they should deal pale death
Here dreaming though wideawake of the exquisite tortures to which they were to put him at break of day those confiding savages were found by the treacherous Hook From the accounts afterwards supplied by such of the scouts as escaped the carnage he does not seem even to have paused at the rising ground though it is certain that in that grey light he must have seen it no thought of waiting to be attacked appears from first to last to have visited his subtle mind he would not even hold off till the night was nearly spent on he pounded with no policy but to fall to get into combat What could the bewildered scouts do masters as they were of every warlike artifice save this one but trot helplessly after him exposing themselves fatally to view while they gave pathetic utterance to the coyote cry
Around the brave Tiger Lily were a dozen of her stoutest warriors and they suddenly saw the perfidious pirates bearing down upon them Fell from their eyes then the film through which they had looked at victory No more would they torture at the stake For them the happy huntinggrounds was now They knew it but as their fathers sons they acquitted themselves Even then they had time to gather in a phalanx dense formation that would have been hard to break had they risen quickly but this they were forbidden to do by the traditions of their race It is written that the noble savage must never express surprise in the presence of the white Thus terrible as the sudden appearance of the pirates must have been to them they remained stationary for a moment not a muscle moving as if the foe had come by invitation Then indeed the tradition gallantly upheld they seized their weapons and the air was torn with the warcry but it was now too late
It is no part of ours to describe what was a massacre rather than a fight Thus perished many of the flower of the Piccaninny tribe Not all unavenged did they die for with Lean Wolf fell Alf Mason to disturb the Spanish Main no more and among others who bit the dust were Geo Scourie Chas Turley and the Alsatian Foggerty Turley fell to the tomahawk of the terrible Panther who ultimately cut a way through the pirates with Tiger Lily and a small remnant of the tribe
To what extent Hook is to blame for his tactics on this occasion is for the historian to decide Had he waited on the rising ground till the proper hour he and his men would probably have been butchered and in judging him it is only fair to take this into account What he should perhaps have done was to acquaint his opponents that he proposed to follow a new method On the other hand this as destroying the element of surprise would have made his strategy of no avail so that the whole question is beset with difficulties One cannot at least withhold a reluctant admiration for the wit that had conceived so bold a scheme and the fell deadly genius with which it was carried out
What were his own feelings about himself at that triumphant moment Fain gladly would his dogs have known as breathing heavily and wiping their cutlasses they gathered at a discreet distance from his hook and squinted through their ferret eyes at this extraordinary man Elation must have been in his heart but his face did not reflect it ever a dark and solitary enigma he stood aloof from his followers in spirit as in substance
The nights work was not yet over for it was not the redskins he had come out to destroy they were but the bees to be smoked so that he should get at the honey It was Pan he wanted Pan and Wendy and their band but chiefly Pan
Peter was such a small boy that one tends to wonder at the mans hatred of him True he had flung Hooks arm to the crocodile but even this and the increased insecurity of life to which it led owing to the crocodiles pertinacity persistance hardly account for a vindictiveness so relentless and malignant The truth is that there was a something about Peter which goaded the pirate captain to frenzy It was not his courage it was not his engaging appearance it was not— There is no beating about the bush for we know quite well what it was and have got to tell It was Peters cockiness
This had got on Hooks nerves it made his iron claw twitch and at night it disturbed him like an insect While Peter lived the tortured man felt that he was a lion in a cage into which a sparrow had come
The question now was how to get down the trees or how to get his dogs down He ran his greedy eyes over them searching for the thinnest ones They wriggled uncomfortably for they knew he would not scruple hesitate to ram them down with poles
In the meantime what of the boys We have seen them at the first clang of the weapons turned as it were into stone figures openmouthed all appealing with outstretched arms to Peter and we return to them as their mouths close and their arms fall to their sides The pandemonium above has ceased almost as suddenly as it arose passed like a fierce gust of wind but they know that in the passing it has determined their fate
Which side had won
The pirates listening avidly at the mouths of the trees heard the question put by every boy and alas they also heard Peters answer
If the redskins have won he said they will beat the tomtom it is always their sign of victory
Now Smee had found the tomtom and was at that moment sitting on it You will never hear the tomtom again he muttered but inaudibly of course for strict silence had been enjoined urged To his amazement Hook signed him to beat the tomtom and slowly there came to Smee an understanding of the dreadful wickedness of the order Never probably had this simple man admired Hook so much
Twice Smee beat upon the instrument and then stopped to listen gleefully
The tomtom the miscreants heard Peter cry an Indian victory
The doomed children answered with a cheer that was music to the black hearts above and almost immediately they repeated their goodbyes to Peter This puzzled the pirates but all their other feelings were swallowed by a base delight that the enemy were about to come up the trees They smirked at each other and rubbed their hands Rapidly and silently Hook gave his orders one man to each tree and the others to arrange themselves in a line two yards apart
Chapter 13 DO YOU BELIEVE IN FAIRIES
The more quickly this horror is disposed of the better The first to emerge from his tree was Curly He rose out of it into the arms of Cecco who flung him to Smee who flung him to Starkey who flung him to Bill Jukes who flung him to Noodler and so he was tossed from one to another till he fell at the feet of the black pirate All the boys were plucked from their trees in this ruthless manner and several of them were in the air at a time like bales of goods flung from hand to hand
A different treatment was accorded to Wendy who came last With ironical politeness Hook raised his hat to her and offering her his arm escorted her to the spot where the others were being gagged He did it with such an air he was so frightfully DISTINGUE imposingly distinguished that she was too fascinated to cry out She was only a little girl
Perhaps it is telltale to divulge that for a moment Hook entranced her and we tell on her only because her slip led to strange results Had she haughtily unhanded him and we should have loved to write it of her she would have been hurled through the air like the others and then Hook would probably not have been present at the tying of the children and had he not been at the tying he would not have discovered Slightlys secret and without the secret he could not presently have made his foul attempt on Peters life
They were tied to prevent their flying away doubled up with their knees close to their ears and for the trussing of them the black pirate had cut a rope into nine equal pieces All went well until Slightlys turn came when he was found to be like those irritating parcels that use up all the string in going round and leave no tags ends with which to tie a knot The pirates kicked him in their rage just as you kick the parcel though in fairness you should kick the string and strange to say it was Hook who told them to belay their violence His lip was curled with malicious triumph While his dogs were merely sweating because every time they tried to pack the unhappy lad tight in one part he bulged out in another Hooks master mind had gone far beneath Slightlys surface probing not for effects but for causes and his exultation showed that he had found them Slightly white to the gills knew that Hook had surprised discovered his secret which was this that no boy so blown out could use a tree wherein an average man need stick Poor Slightly most wretched of all the children now for he was in a panic about Peter bitterly regretted what he had done Madly addicted to the drinking of water when he was hot he had swelled in consequence to his present girth and instead of reducing himself to fit his tree he had unknown to the others whittled his tree to make it fit him
Sufficient of this Hook guessed to persuade him that Peter at last lay at his mercy but no word of the dark design that now formed in the subterranean caverns of his mind crossed his lips he merely signed that the captives were to be conveyed to the ship and that he would be alone
How to convey them Hunched up in their ropes they might indeed be rolled down hill like barrels but most of the way lay through a morass Again Hooks genius surmounted difficulties He indicated that the little house must be used as a conveyance The children were flung into it four stout pirates raised it on their shoulders the others fell in behind and singing the hateful pirate chorus the strange procession set off through the wood I dont know whether any of the children were crying if so the singing drowned the sound but as the little house disappeared in the forest a brave though tiny jet of smoke issued from its chimney as if defying Hook
Hook saw it and it did Peter a bad service It dried up any trickle of pity for him that may have remained in the pirates infuriated breast
The first thing he did on finding himself alone in the fast falling night was to tiptoe to Slightlys tree and make sure that it provided him with a passage Then for long he remained brooding his hat of ill omen on the sward so that any gentle breeze which had arisen might play refreshingly through his hair Dark as were his thoughts his blue eyes were as soft as the periwinkle Intently he listened for any sound from the nether world but all was as silent below as above the house under the ground seemed to be but one more empty tenement in the void Was that boy asleep or did he stand waiting at the foot of Slightlys tree with his dagger in his hand
There was no way of knowing save by going down Hook let his cloak slip softly to the ground and then biting his lips till a lewd blood stood on them he stepped into the tree He was a brave man but for a moment he had to stop there and wipe his brow which was dripping like a candle Then silently he let himself go into the unknown
He arrived unmolested at the foot of the shaft and stood still again biting at his breath which had almost left him As his eyes became accustomed to the dim light various objects in the home under the trees took shape but the only one on which his greedy gaze rested long sought for and found at last was the great bed On the bed lay Peter fast asleep
Unaware of the tragedy being enacted above Peter had continued for a little time after the children left to play gaily on his pipes no doubt rather a forlorn attempt to prove to himself that he did not care Then he decided not to take his medicine so as to grieve Wendy Then he lay down on the bed outside the coverlet to vex her still more for she had always tucked them inside it because you never know that you may not grow chilly at the turn of the night Then he nearly cried but it struck him how indignant she would be if he laughed instead so he laughed a haughty laugh and fell asleep in the middle of it
Sometimes though not often he had dreams and they were more painful than the dreams of other boys For hours he could not be separated from these dreams though he wailed piteously in them They had to do I think with the riddle of his existence At such times it had been Wendys custom to take him out of bed and sit with him on her lap soothing him in dear ways of her own invention and when he grew calmer to put him back to bed before he quite woke up so that he should not know of the indignity to which she had subjected him But on this occasion he had fallen at once into a dreamless sleep One arm dropped over the edge of the bed one leg was arched and the unfinished part of his laugh was stranded on his mouth which was open showing the little pearls
Thus defenceless Hook found him He stood silent at the foot of the tree looking across the chamber at his enemy Did no feeling of compassion disturb his sombre breast The man was not wholly evil he loved flowers I have been told and sweet music he was himself no mean performer on the harpsichord and let it be frankly admitted the idyllic nature of the scene stirred him profoundly Mastered by his better self he would have returned reluctantly up the tree but for one thing
What stayed him was Peters impertinent appearance as he slept The open mouth the drooping arm the arched knee they were such a personification of cockiness as taken together will never again one may hope be presented to eyes so sensitive to their offensiveness They steeled Hooks heart If his rage had broken him into a hundred pieces every one of them would have disregarded the incident and leapt at the sleeper
Though a light from the one lamp shone dimly on the bed Hook stood in darkness himself and at the first stealthy step forward he discovered an obstacle the door of Slightlys tree It did not entirely fill the aperture and he had been looking over it Feeling for the catch he found to his fury that it was low down beyond his reach To his disordered brain it seemed then that the irritating quality in Peters face and figure visibly increased and he rattled the door and flung himself against it Was his enemy to escape him after all
But what was that The red in his eye had caught sight of Peters medicine standing on a ledge within easy reach He fathomed what it was straightaway and immediately knew that the sleeper was in his power
Lest he should be taken alive Hook always carried about his person a dreadful drug blended by himself of all the deathdealing rings that had come into his possession These he had boiled down into a yellow liquid quite unknown to science which was probably the most virulent poison in existence
Five drops of this he now added to Peters cup His hand shook but it was in exultation rather than in shame As he did it he avoided glancing at the sleeper but not lest pity should unnerve him merely to avoid spilling Then one long gloating look he cast upon his victim and turning wormed his way with difficulty up the tree As he emerged at the top he looked the very spirit of evil breaking from its hole Donning his hat at its most rakish angle he wound his cloak around him holding one end in front as if to conceal his person from the night of which it was the blackest part and muttering strangely to himself stole away through the trees
Peter slept on The light guttered burned to edges and went out leaving the tenement in darkness but still he slept It must have been not less than ten oclock by the crocodile when he suddenly sat up in his bed wakened by he knew not what It was a soft cautious tapping on the door of his tree
Soft and cautious but in that stillness it was sinister Peter felt for his dagger till his hand gripped it Then he spoke
Who is that
For long there was no answer then again the knock
Who are you
No answer
He was thrilled and he loved being thrilled In two strides he reached the door Unlike Slightlys door it filled the aperture opening so that he could not see beyond it nor could the one knocking see him
I wont open unless you speak Peter cried
Then at last the visitor spoke in a lovely belllike voice
Let me in Peter
It was Tink and quickly he unbarred to her She flew in excitedly her face flushed and her dress stained with mud
What is it
Oh you could never guess she cried and offered him three guesses Out with it he shouted and in one ungrammatical sentence as long as the ribbons that conjurers magicians pull from their mouths she told of the capture of Wendy and the boys
Peters heart bobbed up and down as he listened Wendy bound and on the pirate ship she who loved everything to be just so
Ill rescue her he cried leaping at his weapons As he leapt he thought of something he could do to please her He could take his medicine
His hand closed on the fatal draught
No shrieked Tinker Bell who had heard Hook mutter about his deed as he sped through the forest
Why not
It is poisoned
Poisoned Who could have poisoned it
Hook
Dont be silly How could Hook have got down here
Alas Tinker Bell could not explain this for even she did not know the dark secret of Slightlys tree Nevertheless Hooks words had left no room for doubt The cup was poisoned
Besides said Peter quite believing himself I never fell asleep
He raised the cup No time for words now time for deeds and with one of her lightning movements Tink got between his lips and the draught and drained it to the dregs
Why Tink how dare you drink my medicine
But she did not answer Already she was reeling in the air
What is the matter with you cried Peter suddenly afraid
It was poisoned Peter she told him softly and now I am going to be dead
O Tink did you drink it to save me
Yes
But why Tink
Her wings would scarcely carry her now but in reply she alighted on his shoulder and gave his nose a loving bite She whispered in his ear You silly ass and then tottering to her chamber lay down on the bed
His head almost filled the fourth wall of her little room as he knelt near her in distress Every moment her light was growing fainter and he knew that if it went out she would be no more She liked his tears so much that she put out her beautiful finger and let them run over it
Her voice was so low that at first he could not make out what she said Then he made it out She was saying that she thought she could get well again if children believed in fairies
Peter flung out his arms There were no children there and it was night time but he addressed all who might be dreaming of the Neverland and who were therefore nearer to him than you think boys and girls in their nighties and naked papooses in their baskets hung from trees
Do you believe he cried
Tink sat up in bed almost briskly to listen to her fate
She fancied she heard answers in the affirmative and then again she wasnt sure
What do you think she asked Peter
If you believe he shouted to them clap your hands dont let Tink die
Many clapped
Some didnt
A few beasts hissed
The clapping stopped suddenly as if countless mothers had rushed to their nurseries to see what on earth was happening but already Tink was saved First her voice grew strong then she popped out of bed then she was flashing through the room more merry and impudent than ever She never thought of thanking those who believed but she would have like to get at the ones who had hissed
And now to rescue Wendy
The moon was riding in a cloudy heaven when Peter rose from his tree begirt belted with weapons and wearing little else to set out upon his perilous quest It was not such a night as he would have chosen He had hoped to fly keeping not far from the ground so that nothing unwonted should escape his eyes but in that fitful light to have flown low would have meant trailing his shadow through the trees thus disturbing birds and acquainting a watchful foe that he was astir
He regretted now that he had given the birds of the island such strange names that they are very wild and difficult of approach
There was no other course but to press forward in redskin fashion at which happily he was an adept expert But in what direction for he could not be sure that the children had been taken to the ship A light fall of snow had obliterated all footmarks and a deathly silence pervaded the island as if for a space Nature stood still in horror of the recent carnage He had taught the children something of the forest lore that he had himself learned from Tiger Lily and Tinker Bell and knew that in their dire hour they were not likely to forget it Slightly if he had an opportunity would blaze cut a mark in the trees for instance Curly would drop seeds and Wendy would leave her handkerchief at some important place The morning was needed to search for such guidance and he could not wait The upper world had called him but would give no help
The crocodile passed him but not another living thing not a sound not a movement and yet he knew well that sudden death might be at the next tree or stalking him from behind
He swore this terrible oath Hook or me this time
Now he crawled forward like a snake and again erect he darted across a space on which the moonlight played one finger on his lip and his dagger at the ready He was frightfully happy
Chapter 14 THE PIRATE SHIP
One green light squinting over Kidds Creek which is near the mouth of the pirate river marked where the brig the JOLLY ROGER lay low in the water a rakishlooking speedylooking craft foul to the hull every beam in her detestable like ground strewn with mangled feathers She was the cannibal of the seas and scarce needed that watchful eye for she floated immune in the horror of her name
She was wrapped in the blanket of night through which no sound from her could have reached the shore There was little sound and none agreeable save the whir of the ships sewing machine at which Smee sat ever industrious and obliging the essence of the commonplace pathetic Smee I know not why he was so infinitely pathetic unless it were because he was so pathetically unaware of it but even strong men had to turn hastily from looking at him and more than once on summer evenings he had touched the fount of Hooks tears and made it flow Of this as of almost everything else Smee was quite unconscious
A few of the pirates leant over the bulwarks drinking in the miasma putrid mist of the night others sprawled by barrels over games of dice and cards and the exhausted four who had carried the little house lay prone on the deck where even in their sleep they rolled skillfully to this side or that out of Hooks reach lest he should claw them mechanically in passing
Hook trod the deck in thought O man unfathomable It was his hour of triumph Peter had been removed for ever from his path and all the other boys were in the brig about to walk the plank It was his grimmest deed since the days when he had brought Barbecue to heel and knowing as we do how vain a tabernacle is man could we be surprised had he now paced the deck unsteadily bellied out by the winds of his success
But there was no elation in his gait which kept pace with the action of his sombre mind Hook was profoundly dejected
He was often thus when communing with himself on board ship in the quietude of the night It was because he was so terribly alone This inscrutable man never felt more alone than when surrounded by his dogs They were socially inferior to him
Hook was not his true name To reveal who he really was would even at this date set the country in a blaze but as those who read between the lines must already have guessed he had been at a famous public school and its traditions still clung to him like garments with which indeed they are largely concerned Thus it was offensive to him even now to board a ship in the same dress in which he grappled attacked her and he still adhered in his walk to the schools distinguished slouch But above all he retained the passion for good form
Good form However much he may have degenerated he still knew that this is all that really matters
From far within him he heard a creaking as of rusty portals and through them came a stern taptaptap like hammering in the night when one cannot sleep Have you been good form today was their eternal question
Fame fame that glittering bauble it is mine he cried
Is it quite good form to be distinguished at anything the taptap from his school replied
I am the only man whom Barbecue feared he urged and Flint feared Barbecue
Barbecue Flint—what house came the cutting retort
Most disquieting reflection of all was it not bad form to think about good form
His vitals were tortured by this problem It was a claw within him sharper than the iron one and as it tore him the perspiration dripped down his tallow waxy countenance and streaked his doublet Ofttimes he drew his sleeve across his face but there was no damming that trickle
Ah envy not Hook
There came to him a presentiment of his early dissolution death It was as if Peters terrible oath had boarded the ship Hook felt a gloomy desire to make his dying speech lest presently there should be no time for it
Better for Hook he cried if he had had less ambition It was in his darkest hours only that he referred to himself in the third person
No little children to love me
Strange that he should think of this which had never troubled him before perhaps the sewing machine brought it to his mind For long he muttered to himself staring at Smee who was hemming placidly under the conviction that all children feared him
Feared him Feared Smee There was not a child on board the brig that night who did not already love him He had said horrid things to them and hit them with the palm of his hand because he could not hit with his fist but they had only clung to him the more Michael had tried on his spectacles
To tell poor Smee that they thought him lovable Hook itched to do it but it seemed too brutal Instead he revolved this mystery in his mind why do they find Smee lovable He pursued the problem like the sleuthhound that he was If Smee was lovable what was it that made him so A terrible answer suddenly presented itself—Good form
Had the bosun good form without knowing it which is the best form of all
He remembered that you have to prove you dont know you have it before you are eligible for Pop an elite social club at Eton
With a cry of rage he raised his iron hand over Smees head but he did not tear What arrested him was this reflection
To claw a man because he is good form what would that be
Bad form
The unhappy Hook was as impotent powerless as he was damp and he fell forward like a cut flower
His dogs thinking him out of the way for a time discipline instantly relaxed and they broke into a bacchanalian drunken dance which brought him to his feet at once all traces of human weakness gone as if a bucket of water had passed over him
Quiet you scugs he cried or Ill cast anchor in you and at once the din was hushed Are all the children chained so that they cannot fly away
Ay ay
Then hoist them up
The wretched prisoners were dragged from the hold all except Wendy and ranged in line in front of him For a time he seemed unconscious of their presence He lolled at his ease humming not unmelodiously snatches of a rude song and fingering a pack of cards Ever and anon the light from his cigar gave a touch of colour to his face
Now then bullies he said briskly six of you walk the plank tonight but I have room for two cabin boys Which of you is it to be
Dont irritate him unnecessarily had been Wendys instructions in the hold so Tootles stepped forward politely Tootles hated the idea of signing under such a man but an instinct told him that it would be prudent to lay the responsibility on an absent person and though a somewhat silly boy he knew that mothers alone are always willing to be the buffer All children know this about mothers and despise them for it but make constant use of it
So Tootles explained prudently You see sir I dont think my mother would like me to be a pirate Would your mother like you to be a pirate Slightly
He winked at Slightly who said mournfully I dont think so as if he wished things had been otherwise Would your mother like you to be a pirate Twin
I dont think so said the first twin as clever as the others Nibs would—
Stow this gab roared Hook and the spokesmen were dragged back You boy he said addressing John you look as if you had a little pluck in you Didst never want to be a pirate my hearty
Now John had sometimes experienced this hankering at maths prep and he was struck by Hooks picking him out
I once thought of calling myself Redhanded Jack he said diffidently
And a good name too Well call you that here bully if you join
What do you think Michael asked John
What would you call me if I join Michael demanded
Blackbeard Joe
Michael was naturally impressed What do you think John He wanted John to decide and John wanted him to decide
Shall we still be respectful subjects of the King John inquired
Through Hooks teeth came the answer You would have to swear Down with the King
Perhaps John had not behaved very well so far but he shone out now
Then I refuse he cried banging the barrel in front of Hook
And I refuse cried Michael
Rule Britannia squeaked Curly
The infuriated pirates buffeted them in the mouth and Hook roared out That seals your doom Bring up their mother Get the plank ready
They were only boys and they went white as they saw Jukes and Cecco preparing the fatal plank But they tried to look brave when Wendy was brought up
No words of mine can tell you how Wendy despised those pirates To the boys there was at least some glamour in the pirate calling but all that she saw was that the ship had not been tidied for years There was not a porthole on the grimy glass of which you might not have written with your finger Dirty pig and she had already written it on several But as the boys gathered round her she had no thought of course save for them
So my beauty said Hook as if he spoke in syrup you are to see your children walk the plank
Fine gentlemen though he was the intensity of his communings had soiled his ruff and suddenly he knew that she was gazing at it With a hasty gesture he tried to hide it but he was too late
Are they to die asked Wendy with a look of such frightful contempt that he nearly fainted
They are he snarled Silence all he called gloatingly for a mothers last words to her children
At this moment Wendy was grand These are my last words dear boys she said firmly I feel that I have a message to you from your real mothers and it is this We hope our sons will die like English gentlemen
Even the pirates were awed and Tootles cried out hysterically I am going to do what my mother hopes What are you to do Nibs
What my mother hopes What are you to do Twin
What my mother hopes John what are—
But Hook had found his voice again
Tie her up he shouted
It was Smee who tied her to the mast See here honey he whispered Ill save you if you promise to be my mother
But not even for Smee would she make such a promise I would almost rather have no children at all she said disdainfully scornfully
It is sad to know that not a boy was looking at her as Smee tied her to the mast the eyes of all were on the plank that last little walk they were about to take They were no longer able to hope that they would walk it manfully for the capacity to think had gone from them they could stare and shiver only
Hook smiled on them with his teeth closed and took a step toward Wendy His intention was to turn her face so that she should see the boys walking the plank one by one But he never reached her he never heard the cry of anguish he hoped to wring from her He heard something else instead
It was the terrible ticktick of the crocodile
They all heard it—pirates boys Wendy and immediately every head was blown in one direction not to the water whence the sound proceeded but toward Hook All knew that what was about to happen concerned him alone and that from being actors they were suddenly become spectators
Very frightful was it to see the change that came over him It was as if he had been clipped at every joint He fell in a little heap
The sound came steadily nearer and in advance of it came this ghastly thought The crocodile is about to board the ship
Even the iron claw hung inactive as if knowing that it was no intrinsic part of what the attacking force wanted Left so fearfully alone any other man would have lain with his eyes shut where he fell but the gigantic brain of Hook was still working and under its guidance he crawled on the knees along the deck as far from the sound as he could go The pirates respectfully cleared a passage for him and it was only when he brought up against the bulwarks that he spoke
Hide me he cried hoarsely
They gathered round him all eyes averted from the thing that was coming aboard They had no thought of fighting it It was Fate
Only when Hook was hidden from them did curiosity loosen the limbs of the boys so that they could rush to the ships side to see the crocodile climbing it Then they got the strangest surprise of the Night of Nights for it was no crocodile that was coming to their aid It was Peter
He signed to them not to give vent to any cry of admiration that might rouse suspicion Then he went on ticking
Chapter 15 HOOK OR ME THIS TIME
Odd things happen to all of us on our way through life without our noticing for a time that they have happened Thus to take an instance we suddenly discover that we have been deaf in one ear for we dont know how long but say half an hour Now such an experience had come that night to Peter When last we saw him he was stealing across the island with one finger to his lips and his dagger at the ready He had seen the crocodile pass by without noticing anything peculiar about it but by and by he remembered that it had not been ticking At first he thought this eerie but soon concluded rightly that the clock had run down
Without giving a thought to what might be the feelings of a fellowcreature thus abruptly deprived of its closest companion Peter began to consider how he could turn the catastrophe to his own use and he decided to tick so that wild beasts should believe he was the crocodile and let him pass unmolested He ticked superbly but with one unforeseen result The crocodile was among those who heard the sound and it followed him though whether with the purpose of regaining what it had lost or merely as a friend under the belief that it was again ticking itself will never be certainly known for like slaves to a fixed idea it was a stupid beast
Peter reached the shore without mishap and went straight on his legs encountering the water as if quite unaware that they had entered a new element Thus many animals pass from land to water but no other human of whom I know As he swam he had but one thought Hook or me this time He had ticked so long that he now went on ticking without knowing that he was doing it Had he known he would have stopped for to board the brig by help of the tick though an ingenious idea had not occurred to him
On the contrary he thought he had scaled her side as noiseless as a mouse and he was amazed to see the pirates cowering from him with Hook in their midst as abject as if he had heard the crocodile
The crocodile No sooner did Peter remember it than he heard the ticking At first he thought the sound did come from the crocodile and he looked behind him swiftly Then he realised that he was doing it himself and in a flash he understood the situation How clever of me he thought at once and signed to the boys not to burst into applause
It was at this moment that Ed Teynte the quartermaster emerged from the forecastle and came along the deck Now reader time what happened by your watch Peter struck true and deep John clapped his hands on the illfated pirates mouth to stifle the dying groan He fell forward Four boys caught him to prevent the thud Peter gave the signal and the carrion was cast overboard There was a splash and then silence How long has it taken
One Slightly had begun to count
None too soon Peter every inch of him on tiptoe vanished into the cabin for more than one pirate was screwing up his courage to look round They could hear each others distressed breathing now which showed them that the more terrible sound had passed
Its gone captain Smee said wiping off his spectacles Alls still again
Slowly Hook let his head emerge from his ruff and listened so intently that he could have caught the echo of the tick There was not a sound and he drew himself up firmly to his full height
Then heres to Johnny Plank he cried brazenly hating the boys more than ever because they had seen him unbend He broke into the villainous ditty
Yo ho yo ho the frisky plank
You walks along it so
Till it goes down and you goes down
To Davy Jones below
To terrorize the prisoners the more though with a certain loss of dignity he danced along an imaginary plank grimacing at them as he sang and when he finished he cried Do you want a touch of the cat o nine tails before you walk the plank
At that they fell on their knees No no they cried so piteously that every pirate smiled
Fetch the cat Jukes said Hook its in the cabin
The cabin Peter was in the cabin The children gazed at each other
Ay ay said Jukes blithely and he strode into the cabin They followed him with their eyes they scarce knew that Hook had resumed his song his dogs joining in with him
Yo ho yo ho the scratching cat
Its tails are nine you know
And when theyre writ upon your back—
What was the last line will never be known for of a sudden the song was stayed by a dreadful screech from the cabin It wailed through the ship and died away Then was heard a crowing sound which was well understood by the boys but to the pirates was almost more eerie than the screech
What was that cried Hook
Two said Slightly solemnly
The Italian Cecco hesitated for a moment and then swung into the cabin He tottered out haggard
Whats the matter with Bill Jukes you dog hissed Hook towering over him
The matter wi him is hes dead stabbed replied Cecco in a hollow voice
Bill Jukes dead cried the startled pirates
The cabins as black as a pit Cecco said almost gibbering but there is something terrible in there the thing you heard crowing
The exultation of the boys the lowering looks of the pirates both were seen by Hook
Cecco he said in his most steely voice go back and fetch me out that doodledoo
Cecco bravest of the brave cowered before his captain crying No no but Hook was purring to his claw
Did you say you would go Cecco he said musingly
Cecco went first flinging his arms despairingly There was no more singing all listened now and again came a deathscreech and again a crow
No one spoke except Slightly Three he said
Hook rallied his dogs with a gesture Sdeath and odds fish he thundered who is to bring me that doodledoo
Wait till Cecco comes out growled Starkey and the others took up the cry
I think I heard you volunteer Starkey said Hook purring again
No by thunder Starkey cried
My hook thinks you did said Hook crossing to him I wonder if it would not be advisable Starkey to humour the hook
Ill swing before I go in there replied Starkey doggedly and again he had the support of the crew
Is this mutiny asked Hook more pleasantly than ever Starkeys ringleader
Captain mercy Starkey whimpered all of a tremble now
Shake hands Starkey said Hook proffering his claw
Starkey looked round for help but all deserted him As he backed up Hook advanced and now the red spark was in his eye With a despairing scream the pirate leapt upon Long Tom and precipitated himself into the sea
Four said Slightly
And now Hook said courteously did any other gentlemen say mutiny Seizing a lantern and raising his claw with a menacing gesture Ill bring out that doodledoo myself he said and sped into the cabin
Five How Slightly longed to say it He wetted his lips to be ready but Hook came staggering out without his lantern
Something blew out the light he said a little unsteadily
Something echoed Mullins
What of Cecco demanded Noodler
Hes as dead as Jukes said Hook shortly
His reluctance to return to the cabin impressed them all unfavourably and the mutinous sounds again broke forth All pirates are superstitious and Cookson cried They do say the surest sign a ships accurst is when theres one on board more than can be accounted for
Ive heard muttered Mullins he always boards the pirate craft last Had he a tail captain
They say said another looking viciously at Hook that when he comes its in the likeness of the wickedest man aboard
Had he a hook captain asked Cookson insolently and one after another took up the cry The ships doomed At this the children could not resist raising a cheer Hook had wellnigh forgotten his prisoners but as he swung round on them now his face lit up again
Lads he cried to his crew now heres a notion Open the cabin door and drive them in Let them fight the doodledoo for their lives If they kill him were so much the better if he kills them were none the worse
For the last time his dogs admired Hook and devotedly they did his bidding The boys pretending to struggle were pushed into the cabin and the door was closed on them
Now listen cried Hook and all listened But not one dared to face the door Yes one Wendy who all this time had been bound to the mast It was for neither a scream nor a crow that she was watching it was for the reappearance of Peter
She had not long to wait In the cabin he had found the thing for which he had gone in search the key that would free the children of their manacles and now they all stole forth armed with such weapons as they could find First signing them to hide Peter cut Wendys bonds and then nothing could have been easier than for them all to fly off together but one thing barred the way an oath Hook or me this time So when he had freed Wendy he whispered for her to conceal herself with the others and himself took her place by the mast her cloak around him so that he should pass for her Then he took a great breath and crowed
To the pirates it was a voice crying that all the boys lay slain in the cabin and they were panicstricken Hook tried to hearten them but like the dogs he had made them they showed him their fangs and he knew that if he took his eyes off them now they would leap at him
Lads he said ready to cajole or strike as need be but never quailing for an instant Ive thought it out Theres a Jonah aboard
Ay they snarled a man wi a hook
No lads no its the girl Never was luck on a pirate ship wi a woman on board Well right the ship when shes gone
Some of them remembered that this had been a saying of Flints Its worth trying they said doubtfully
Fling the girl overboard cried Hook and they made a rush at the figure in the cloak
Theres none can save you now missy Mullins hissed jeeringly
Theres one replied the figure
Whos that
Peter Pan the avenger came the terrible answer and as he spoke Peter flung off his cloak Then they all knew who twas that had been undoing them in the cabin and twice Hook essayed to speak and twice he failed In that frightful moment I think his fierce heart broke
At last he cried Cleave him to the brisket but without conviction
Down boys and at them Peters voice rang out and in another moment the clash of arms was resounding through the ship Had the pirates kept together it is certain that they would have won but the onset came when they were still unstrung and they ran hither and thither striking wildly each thinking himself the last survivor of the crew Man to man they were the stronger but they fought on the defensive only which enabled the boys to hunt in pairs and choose their quarry Some of the miscreants leapt into the sea others hid in dark recesses where they were found by Slightly who did not fight but ran about with a lantern which he flashed in their faces so that they were half blinded and fell as an easy prey to the reeking swords of the other boys There was little sound to be heard but the clang of weapons an occasional screech or splash and Slightly monotonously counting—five—six—seven eight—nine—ten—eleven
I think all were gone when a group of savage boys surrounded Hook who seemed to have a charmed life as he kept them at bay in that circle of fire They had done for his dogs but this man alone seemed to be a match for them all Again and again they closed upon him and again and again he hewed a clear space He had lifted up one boy with his hook and was using him as a buckler shield when another who had just passed his sword through Mullins sprang into the fray
Put up your swords boys cried the newcomer this man is mine
Thus suddenly Hook found himself face to face with Peter The others drew back and formed a ring around them
For long the two enemies looked at one another Hook shuddering slightly and Peter with the strange smile upon his face
So Pan said Hook at last this is all your doing
Ay James Hook came the stern answer it is all my doing
Proud and insolent youth said Hook prepare to meet thy doom
Dark and sinister man Peter answered have at thee
Without more words they fell to and for a space there was no advantage to either blade Peter was a superb swordsman and parried with dazzling rapidity ever and anon he followed up a feint with a lunge that got past his foes defence but his shorter reach stood him in ill stead and he could not drive the steel home Hook scarcely his inferior in brilliancy but not quite so nimble in wrist play forced him back by the weight of his onset hoping suddenly to end all with a favourite thrust taught him long ago by Barbecue at Rio but to his astonishment he found this thrust turned aside again and again Then he sought to close and give the quietus with his iron hook which all this time had been pawing the air but Peter doubled under it and lunging fiercely pierced him in the ribs At the sight of his own blood whose peculiar colour you remember was offensive to him the sword fell from Hooks hand and he was at Peters mercy
Now cried all the boys but with a magnificent gesture Peter invited his opponent to pick up his sword Hook did so instantly but with a tragic feeling that Peter was showing good form
Hitherto he had thought it was some fiend fighting him but darker suspicions assailed him now
Pan who and what art thou he cried huskily
Im youth Im joy Peter answered at a venture Im a little bird that has broken out of the egg
This of course was nonsense but it was proof to the unhappy Hook that Peter did not know in the least who or what he was which is the very pinnacle of good form
Tot again he cried despairingly
He fought now like a human flail and every sweep of that terrible sword would have severed in twain any man or boy who obstructed it but Peter fluttered round him as if the very wind it made blew him out of the danger zone And again and again he darted in and pricked
Hook was fighting now without hope That passionate breast no longer asked for life but for one boon it craved to see Peter show bad form before it was cold forever
Abandoning the fight he rushed into the powder magazine and fired it
In two minutes he cried the ship will be blown to pieces
Now now he thought true form will show
But Peter issued from the powder magazine with the shell in his hands and calmly flung it overboard
What sort of form was Hook himself showing Misguided man though he was we may be glad without sympathising with him that in the end he was true to the traditions of his race The other boys were flying around him now flouting scornful and he staggered about the deck striking up at them impotently his mind was no longer with them it was slouching in the playing fields of long ago or being sent up to the headmaster for good or watching the wallgame from a famous wall And his shoes were right and his waistcoat was right and his tie was right and his socks were right
James Hook thou not wholly unheroic figure farewell
For we have come to his last moment
Seeing Peter slowly advancing upon him through the air with dagger poised he sprang upon the bulwarks to cast himself into the sea He did not know that the crocodile was waiting for him for we purposely stopped the clock that this knowledge might be spared him a little mark of respect from us at the end
He had one last triumph which I think we need not grudge him As he stood on the bulwark looking over his shoulder at Peter gliding through the air he invited him with a gesture to use his foot It made Peter kick instead of stab
At last Hook had got the boon for which he craved
Bad form he cried jeeringly and went content to the crocodile
Thus perished James Hook
Seventeen Slightly sang out but he was not quite correct in his figures Fifteen paid the penalty for their crimes that night but two reached the shore Starkey to be captured by the redskins who made him nurse for all their papooses a melancholy comedown for a pirate and Smee who henceforth wandered about the world in his spectacles making a precarious living by saying he was the only man that Jas Hook had feared
Wendy of course had stood by taking no part in the fight though watching Peter with glistening eyes but now that all was over she became prominent again She praised them equally and shuddered delightfully when Michael showed her the place where he had killed one and then she took them into Hooks cabin and pointed to his watch which was hanging on a nail It said halfpast one
The lateness of the hour was almost the biggest thing of all She got them to bed in the pirates bunks pretty quickly you may be sure all but Peter who strutted up and down on the deck until at last he fell asleep by the side of Long Tom He had one of his dreams that night and cried in his sleep for a long time and Wendy held him tightly
Chapter 16 THE RETURN HOME
By three bells that morning they were all stirring their stumps legs for there was a big sea running and Tootles the bosun was among them with a ropes end in his hand and chewing tobacco They all donned pirate clothes cut off at the knee shaved smartly and tumbled up with the true nautical roll and hitching their trousers
It need not be said who was the captain Nibs and John were first and second mate There was a woman aboard The rest were tars sailors before the mast and lived in the focsle Peter had already lashed himself to the wheel but he piped all hands and delivered a short address to them said he hoped they would do their duty like gallant hearties but that he knew they were the scum of Rio and the Gold Coast and if they snapped at him he would tear them The bluff strident words struck the note sailors understood and they cheered him lustily Then a few sharp orders were given and they turned the ship round and nosed her for the mainland
Captain Pan calculated after consulting the ships chart that if this weather lasted they should strike the Azores about the 21st of June after which it would save time to fly
Some of them wanted it to be an honest ship and others were in favour of keeping it a pirate but the captain treated them as dogs and they dared not express their wishes to him even in a round robin one person after another as they had to Cpt Hook Instant obedience was the only safe thing Slightly got a dozen for looking perplexed when told to take soundings The general feeling was that Peter was honest just now to lull Wendys suspicions but that there might be a change when the new suit was ready which against her will she was making for him out of some of Hooks wickedest garments It was afterwards whispered among them that on the first night he wore this suit he sat long in the cabin with Hooks cigarholder in his mouth and one hand clenched all but for the forefinger which he bent and held threateningly aloft like a hook
Instead of watching the ship however we must now return to that desolate home from which three of our characters had taken heartless flight so long ago It seems a shame to have neglected No 14 all this time and yet we may be sure that Mrs Darling does not blame us If we had returned sooner to look with sorrowful sympathy at her she would probably have cried Dont be silly what do I matter Do go back and keep an eye on the children So long as mothers are like this their children will take advantage of them and they may lay to bet on that
Even now we venture into that familiar nursery only because its lawful occupants are on their way home we are merely hurrying on in advance of them to see that their beds are properly aired and that Mr and Mrs Darling do not go out for the evening We are no more than servants Why on earth should their beds be properly aired seeing that they left them in such a thankless hurry Would it not serve them jolly well right if they came back and found that their parents were spending the weekend in the country It would be the moral lesson they have been in need of ever since we met them but if we contrived things in this way Mrs Darling would never forgive us
One thing I should like to do immensely and that is to tell her in the way authors have that the children are coming back that indeed they will be here on Thursday week This would spoil so completely the surprise to which Wendy and John and Michael are looking forward They have been planning it out on the ship mothers rapture fathers shout of joy Nanas leap through the air to embrace them first when what they ought to be prepared for is a good hiding How delicious to spoil it all by breaking the news in advance so that when they enter grandly Mrs Darling may not even offer Wendy her mouth and Mr Darling may exclaim pettishly Dash it all here are those boys again However we should get no thanks even for this We are beginning to know Mrs Darling by this time and may be sure that she would upbraid us for depriving the children of their little pleasure
But my dear madam it is ten days till Thursday week so that by telling you whats what we can save you ten days of unhappiness
Yes but at what a cost By depriving the children of ten minutes of delight
Oh if you look at it in that way
What other way is there in which to look at it
You see the woman had no proper spirit I had meant to say extraordinarily nice things about her but I despise her and not one of them will I say now She does not really need to be told to have things ready for they are ready All the beds are aired and she never leaves the house and observe the window is open For all the use we are to her we might well go back to the ship However as we are here we may as well stay and look on That is all we are lookerson Nobody really wants us So let us watch and say jaggy things in the hope that some of them will hurt
The only change to be seen in the nightnursery is that between nine and six the kennel is no longer there When the children flew away Mr Darling felt in his bones that all the blame was his for having chained Nana up and that from first to last she had been wiser than he Of course as we have seen he was quite a simple man indeed he might have passed for a boy again if he had been able to take his baldness off but he had also a noble sense of justice and a lions courage to do what seemed right to him and having thought the matter out with anxious care after the flight of the children he went down on all fours and crawled into the kennel To all Mrs Darlings dear invitations to him to come out he replied sadly but firmly
No my own one this is the place for me
In the bitterness of his remorse he swore that he would never leave the kennel until his children came back Of course this was a pity but whatever Mr Darling did he had to do in excess otherwise he soon gave up doing it And there never was a more humble man than the once proud George Darling as he sat in the kennel of an evening talking with his wife of their children and all their pretty ways
Very touching was his deference to Nana He would not let her come into the kennel but on all other matters he followed her wishes implicitly
Every morning the kennel was carried with Mr Darling in it to a cab which conveyed him to his office and he returned home in the same way at six Something of the strength of character of the man will be seen if we remember how sensitive he was to the opinion of neighbours this man whose every movement now attracted surprised attention Inwardly he must have suffered torture but he preserved a calm exterior even when the young criticised his little home and he always lifted his hat courteously to any lady who looked inside
It may have been Quixotic but it was magnificent Soon the inward meaning of it leaked out and the great heart of the public was touched Crowds followed the cab cheering it lustily charming girls scaled it to get his autograph interviews appeared in the better class of papers and society invited him to dinner and added Do come in the kennel
On that eventful Thursday week Mrs Darling was in the nightnursery awaiting Georges return home a very sadeyed woman Now that we look at her closely and remember the gaiety of her in the old days all gone now just because she has lost her babes I find I wont be able to say nasty things about her after all If she was too fond of her rubbishy children she couldnt help it Look at her in her chair where she has fallen asleep The corner of her mouth where one looks first is almost withered up Her hand moves restlessly on her breast as if she had a pain there Some like Peter best and some like Wendy best but I like her best Suppose to make her happy we whisper to her in her sleep that the brats are coming back They are really within two miles of the window now and flying strong but all we need whisper is that they are on the way Lets
It is a pity we did it for she has started up calling their names and there is no one in the room but Nana
O Nana I dreamt my dear ones had come back
Nana had filmy eyes but all she could do was put her paw gently on her mistresss lap and they were sitting together thus when the kennel was brought back As Mr Darling puts his head out to kiss his wife we see that his face is more worn than of yore but has a softer expression
He gave his hat to Liza who took it scornfully for she had no imagination and was quite incapable of understanding the motives of such a man Outside the crowd who had accompanied the cab home were still cheering and he was naturally not unmoved
Listen to them he said it is very gratifying
Lots of little boys sneered Liza
There were several adults today he assured her with a faint flush but when she tossed her head he had not a word of reproof for her Social success had not spoilt him it had made him sweeter For some time he sat with his head out of the kennel talking with Mrs Darling of this success and pressing her hand reassuringly when she said she hoped his head would not be turned by it
But if I had been a weak man he said Good heavens if I had been a weak man
And George she said timidly you are as full of remorse as ever arent you
Full of remorse as ever dearest See my punishment living in a kennel
But it is punishment isnt it George You are sure you are not enjoying it
My love
You may be sure she begged his pardon and then feeling drowsy he curled round in the kennel
Wont you play me to sleep he asked on the nursery piano and as she was crossing to the daynursery he added thoughtlessly And shut that window I feel a draught
O George never ask me to do that The window must always be left open for them always always
Now it was his turn to beg her pardon and she went into the daynursery and played and soon he was asleep and while he slept Wendy and John and Michael flew into the room
Oh no We have written it so because that was the charming arrangement planned by them before we left the ship but something must have happened since then for it is not they who have flown in it is Peter and Tinker Bell
Peters first words tell all
Quick Tink he whispered close the window bar it Thats right Now you and I must get away by the door and when Wendy comes she will think her mother has barred her out and she will have to go back with me
Now I understand what had hitherto puzzled me why when Peter had exterminated the pirates he did not return to the island and leave Tink to escort the children to the mainland This trick had been in his head all the time
Instead of feeling that he was behaving badly he danced with glee then he peeped into the daynursery to see who was playing He whispered to Tink Its Wendys mother She is a pretty lady but not so pretty as my mother Her mouth is full of thimbles but not so full as my mothers was
Of course he knew nothing whatever about his mother but he sometimes bragged about her
He did not know the tune which was Home Sweet Home but he knew it was saying Come back Wendy Wendy Wendy and he cried exultantly You will never see Wendy again lady for the window is barred
He peeped in again to see why the music had stopped and now he saw that Mrs Darling had laid her head on the box and that two tears were sitting on her eyes
She wants me to unbar the window thought Peter but I wont not I
He peeped again and the tears were still there or another two had taken their place
Shes awfully fond of Wendy he said to himself He was angry with her now for not seeing why she could not have Wendy
The reason was so simple Im fond of her too We cant both have her lady
But the lady would not make the best of it and he was unhappy He ceased to look at her but even then she would not let go of him He skipped about and made funny faces but when he stopped it was just as if she were inside him knocking
Oh all right he said at last and gulped Then he unbarred the window Come on Tink he cried with a frightful sneer at the laws of nature; we dont want any silly mothers and he flew away
Thus Wendy and John and Michael found the window open for them after all which of course was more than they deserved They alighted on the floor quite unashamed of themselves and the youngest one had already forgotten his home
John he said looking around him doubtfully I think I have been here before
Of course you have you silly There is your old bed
So it is Michael said but not with much conviction
I say cried John the kennel and he dashed across to look into it
Perhaps Nana is inside it Wendy said
But John whistled Hullo he said theres a man inside it
Its father exclaimed Wendy
Let me see father Michael begged eagerly and he took a good look He is not so big as the pirate I killed he said with such frank disappointment that I am glad Mr Darling was asleep it would have been sad if those had been the first words he heard his little Michael say
Wendy and John had been taken aback somewhat at finding their father in the kennel
Surely said John like one who had lost faith in his memory he used not to sleep in the kennel
John Wendy said falteringly perhaps we dont remember the old life as well as we thought we did
A chill fell upon them and serve them right
It is very careless of mother said that young scoundrel John not to be here when we come back
It was then that Mrs Darling began playing again
Its mother cried Wendy peeping
So it is said John
Then are you not really our mother Wendy asked Michael who was surely sleepy
Oh dear exclaimed Wendy with her first real twinge of remorse for having gone it was quite time we came back
Let us creep in John suggested and put our hands over her eyes
But Wendy who saw that they must break the joyous news more gently had a better plan
Let us all slip into our beds and be there when she comes in just as if we had never been away
And so when Mrs Darling went back to the nightnursery to see if her husband was asleep all the beds were occupied The children waited for her cry of joy but it did not come She saw them but she did not believe they were there You see she saw them in their beds so often in her dreams that she thought this was just the dream hanging around her still
She sat down in the chair by the fire where in the old days she had nursed them
They could not understand this and a cold fear fell upon all the three of them
Mother Wendy cried
Thats Wendy she said but still she was sure it was the dream
Mother
Thats John she said
Mother cried Michael He knew her now
Thats Michael she said and she stretched out her arms for the three little selfish children they would never envelop again Yes they did they went round Wendy and John and Michael who had slipped out of bed and run to her
George George she cried when she could speak and Mr Darling woke to share her bliss and Nana came rushing in There could not have been a lovelier sight but there was none to see it except a little boy who was staring in at the window He had had ecstasies innumerable that other children can never know but he was looking through the window at the one joy from which he must be for ever barred
Chapter 17 WHEN WENDY GREW UP
I hope you want to know what became of the other boys They were waiting below to give Wendy time to explain about them and when they had counted five hundred they went up They went up by the stair because they thought this would make a better impression They stood in a row in front of Mrs Darling with their hats off and wishing they were not wearing their pirate clothes They said nothing but their eyes asked her to have them They ought to have looked at Mr Darling also but they forgot about him
Of course Mrs Darling said at once that she would have them but Mr Darling was curiously depressed and they saw that he considered six a rather large number
I must say he said to Wendy that you dont do things by halves a grudging remark which the twins thought was pointed at them
The first twin was the proud one and he asked flushing Do you think we should be too much of a handful sir Because if so we can go away
Father Wendy cried shocked but still the cloud was on him He knew he was behaving unworthily but he could not help it
We could lie doubled up said Nibs
I always cut their hair myself said Wendy
George Mrs Darling exclaimed pained to see her dear one showing himself in such an unfavourable light
Then he burst into tears and the truth came out He was as glad to have them as she was he said but he thought they should have asked his consent as well as hers instead of treating him as a cypher zero in his own house
I dont think he is a cypher Tootles cried instantly Do you think he is a cypher Curly
No I dont Do you think he is a cypher Slightly
Rather not Twin what do you think
It turned out that not one of them thought him a cypher and he was absurdly gratified and said he would find space for them all in the drawingroom if they fitted in
Well fit in sir they assured him
Then follow the leader he cried gaily Mind you I am not sure that we have a drawingroom but we pretend we have and its all the same Hoop la
He went off dancing through the house and they all cried Hoop la and danced after him searching for the drawingroom and I forget whether they found it but at any rate they found corners and they all fitted in
As for Peter he saw Wendy once again before he flew away He did not exactly come to the window but he brushed against it in passing so that she could open it if she liked and call to him That is what she did
Hullo Wendy goodbye he said
Oh dear are you going away
Yes
You dont feel Peter she said falteringly that you would like to say anything to my parents about a very sweet subject
No
About me Peter
No
Mrs Darling came to the window for at present she was keeping a sharp eye on Wendy She told Peter that she had adopted all the other boys and would like to adopt him also
Would you send me to school he inquired craftily
Yes
And then to an office
I suppose so
Soon I would be a man
Very soon
I dont want to go to school and learn solemn things he told her passionately I dont want to be a man O Wendys mother if I was to wake up and feel there was a beard
Peter said Wendy the comforter I should love you in a beard and Mrs Darling stretched out her arms to him but he repulsed her
Keep back lady no one is going to catch me and make me a man
But where are you going to live
With Tink in the house we built for Wendy The fairies are to put it high up among the tree tops where they sleep at nights
How lovely cried Wendy so longingly that Mrs Darling tightened her grip
I thought all the fairies were dead Mrs Darling said
There are always a lot of young ones explained Wendy who was now quite an authority because you see when a new baby laughs for the first time a new fairy is born and as there are always new babies there are always new fairies They live in nests on the tops of trees and the mauve ones are boys and the white ones are girls and the blue ones are just little sillies who are not sure what they are
I shall have such fun said Peter with eye on Wendy
It will be rather lonely in the evening she said sitting by the fire
I shall have Tink
Tink cant go a twentieth part of the way round she reminded him a little tartly
Sneaky telltale Tink called out from somewhere round the corner
It doesnt matter Peter said
O Peter you know it matters
Well then come with me to the little house
May I mummy
Certainly not I have got you home again and I mean to keep you
But he does so need a mother
So do you my love
Oh all right Peter said as if he had asked her from politeness merely but Mrs Darling saw his mouth twitch and she made this handsome offer to let Wendy go to him for a week every year to do his spring cleaning Wendy would have preferred a more permanent arrangement and it seemed to her that spring would be long in coming but this promise sent Peter away quite gay again He had no sense of time and was so full of adventures that all I have told you about him is only a halfpennyworth of them I suppose it was because Wendy knew this that her last words to him were these rather plaintive ones
You wont forget me Peter will you before spring cleaning time comes
Of course Peter promised and then he flew away He took Mrs Darlings kiss with him The kiss that had been for no one else Peter took quite easily Funny But she seemed satisfied
Of course all the boys went to school and most of them got into Class III but Slightly was put first into Class IV and then into Class V Class I is the top class Before they had attended school a week they saw what goats they had been not to remain on the island but it was too late now and soon they settled down to being as ordinary as you or me or Jenkins minor the younger Jenkins It is sad to have to say that the power to fly gradually left them At first Nana tied their feet to the bedposts so that they should not fly away in the night and one of their diversions by day was to pretend to fall off buses the English doubledeckers but by and by they ceased to tug at their bonds in bed and found that they hurt themselves when they let go of the bus In time they could not even fly after their hats Want of practice they called it but what it really meant was that they no longer believed
Michael believed longer than the other boys though they jeered at him so he was with Wendy when Peter came for her at the end of the first year She flew away with Peter in the frock she had woven from leaves and berries in the Neverland and her one fear was that he might notice how short it had become but he never noticed he had so much to say about himself
She had looked forward to thrilling talks with him about old times but new adventures had crowded the old ones from his mind
Who is Captain Hook he asked with interest when she spoke of the arch enemy
Dont you remember she asked amazed how you killed him and saved all our lives
I forget them after I kill them he replied carelessly
When she expressed a doubtful hope that Tinker Bell would be glad to see her he said Who is Tinker Bell
O Peter she said shocked but even when she explained he could not remember
There are such a lot of them he said I expect she is no more
I expect he was right for fairies dont live long but they are so little that a short time seems a good while to them
Wendy was pained too to find that the past year was but as yesterday to Peter it had seemed such a long year of waiting to her But he was exactly as fascinating as ever and they had a lovely spring cleaning in the little house on the tree tops
Next year he did not come for her She waited in a new frock because the old one simply would not meet but he never came
Perhaps he is ill Michael said
You know he is never ill
Michael came close to her and whispered with a shiver Perhaps there is no such person Wendy and then Wendy would have cried if Michael had not been crying
Peter came next spring cleaning and the strange thing was that he never knew he had missed a year
That was the last time the girl Wendy ever saw him For a little longer she tried for his sake not to have growing pains and she felt she was untrue to him when she got a prize for general knowledge But the years came and went without bringing the careless boy and when they met again Wendy was a married woman and Peter was no more to her than a little dust in the box in which she had kept her toys Wendy was grown up You need not be sorry for her She was one of the kind that likes to grow up In the end she grew up of her own free will a day quicker than other girls
All the boys were grown up and done for by this time so it is scarcely worth while saying anything more about them You may see the twins and Nibs and Curly any day going to an office each carrying a little bag and an umbrella Michael is an enginedriver train engineer Slightly married a lady of title and so he became a lord You see that judge in a wig coming out at the iron door That used to be Tootles The bearded man who doesnt know any story to tell his children was once John
Wendy was married in white with a pink sash It is strange to think that Peter did not alight in the church and forbid the banns formal announcement of a marriage
Years rolled on again and Wendy had a daughter This ought not to be written in ink but in a golden splash
She was called Jane and always had an odd inquiring look as if from the moment she arrived on the mainland she wanted to ask questions When she was old enough to ask them they were mostly about Peter Pan She loved to hear of Peter and Wendy told her all she could remember in the very nursery from which the famous flight had taken place It was Janes nursery now for her father had bought it at the three per cents mortgage rate from Wendys father who was no longer fond of stairs Mrs Darling was now dead and forgotten
There were only two beds in the nursery now Janes and her nurses and there was no kennel for Nana also had passed away She died of old age and at the end she had been rather difficult to get on with being very firmly convinced that no one knew how to look after children except herself
Once a week Janes nurse had her evening off and then it was Wendys part to put Jane to bed That was the time for stories It was Janes invention to raise the sheet over her mothers head and her own thus making a tent and in the awful darkness to whisper
What do we see now
I dont think I see anything tonight says Wendy with a feeling that if Nana were here she would object to further conversation
Yes you do says Jane you see when you were a little girl
That is a long time ago sweetheart says Wendy Ah me how time flies
Does it fly asks the artful child the way you flew when you were a little girl
The way I flew Do you know Jane I sometimes wonder whether I ever did really fly
Yes you did
The dear old days when I could fly
Why cant you fly now mother
Because I am grown up dearest When people grow up they forget the way
Why do they forget the way
Because they are no longer gay and innocent and heartless It is only the gay and innocent and heartless who can fly
What is gay and innocent and heartless I do wish I were gay and innocent and heartless
Or perhaps Wendy admits she does see something
I do believe she says that it is this nursery
I do believe it is says Jane Go on
They are now embarked on the great adventure of the night when Peter flew in looking for his shadow
The foolish fellow says Wendy tried to stick it on with soap and when he could not he cried and that woke me and I sewed it on for him
You have missed a bit interrupts Jane who now knows the story better than her mother When you saw him sitting on the floor crying what did you say
I sat up in bed and I said Boy why are you crying
Yes that was it says Jane with a big breath
And then he flew us all away to the Neverland and the fairies and the pirates and the redskins and the mermaids lagoon and the home under the ground and the little house
Yes which did you like best of all
I think I liked the home under the ground best of all
Yes so do I What was the last thing Peter ever said to you
The last thing he ever said to me was Just always be waiting for me and then some night you will hear me crowing
Yes
But alas he forgot all about me Wendy said it with a smile She was as grown up as that
What did his crow sound like Jane asked one evening
It was like this Wendy said trying to imitate Peters crow
No it wasnt Jane said gravely it was like this and she did it ever so much better than her mother
Wendy was a little startled My darling how can you know
I often hear it when I am sleeping Jane said
Ah yes many girls hear it when they are sleeping but I was the only one who heard it awake
Lucky you said Jane
And then one night came the tragedy It was the spring of the year and the story had been told for the night and Jane was now asleep in her bed Wendy was sitting on the floor very close to the fire so as to see to darn for there was no other light in the nursery and while she sat darning she heard a crow Then the window blew open as of old and Peter dropped in on the floor
He was exactly the same as ever and Wendy saw at once that he still had all his first teeth
He was a little boy and she was grown up She huddled by the fire not daring to move helpless and guilty a big woman
Hullo Wendy he said not noticing any difference for he was thinking chiefly of himself and in the dim light her white dress might have been the nightgown in which he had seen her first
Hullo Peter she replied faintly squeezing herself as small as possible Something inside her was crying Woman Woman let go of me
Hullo where is John he asked suddenly missing the third bed
John is not here now she gasped
Is Michael asleep he asked with a careless glance at Jane
Yes she answered and now she felt that she was untrue to Jane as well as to Peter
That is not Michael she said quickly lest a judgment should fall on her
Peter looked Hullo is it a new one
Yes
Boy or girl
Girl
Now surely he would understand but not a bit of it
Peter she said faltering are you expecting me to fly away with you
Of course that is why I have come He added a little sternly Have you forgotten that this is spring cleaning time
She knew it was useless to say that he had let many spring cleaning times pass
I cant come she said apologetically I have forgotten how to fly
Ill soon teach you again
O Peter dont waste the fairy dust on me
She had risen and now at last a fear assailed him What is it he cried shrinking
I will turn up the light she said and then you can see for yourself
For almost the only time in his life that I know of Peter was afraid Dont turn up the light he cried
She let her hands play in the hair of the tragic boy She was not a little girl heartbroken about him she was a grown woman smiling at it all but they were wet eyed smiles
Then she turned up the light and Peter saw He gave a cry of pain and when the tall beautiful creature stooped to lift him in her arms he drew back sharply
What is it he cried again
She had to tell him
I am old Peter I am ever so much more than twenty I grew up long ago
You promised not to
I couldnt help it I am a married woman Peter
No youre not
Yes and the little girl in the bed is my baby
No shes not
But he supposed she was and he took a step towards the sleeping child with his dagger upraised Of course he did not strike He sat down on the floor instead and sobbed and Wendy did not know how to comfort him though she could have done it so easily once She was only a woman now and she ran out of the room to try to think
Peter continued to cry and soon his sobs woke Jane She sat up in bed and was interested at once
Boy she said why are you crying
Peter rose and bowed to her and she bowed to him from the bed
Hullo he said
Hullo said Jane
My name is Peter Pan he told her
Yes I know
I came back for my mother he explained to take her to the Neverland
Yes I know Jane said I have been waiting for you
When Wendy returned diffidently she found Peter sitting on the bedpost crowing gloriously while Jane in her nighty was flying round the room in solemn ecstasy
She is my mother Peter explained and Jane descended and stood by his side with the look in her face that he liked to see on ladies when they gazed at him
He does so need a mother Jane said
Yes I know Wendy admitted rather forlornly no one knows it so well as I
Goodbye said Peter to Wendy and he rose in the air and the shameless Jane rose with him it was already her easiest way of moving about
Wendy rushed to the window
No no she cried
It is just for spring cleaning time Jane said he wants me always to do his spring cleaning
If only I could go with you Wendy sighed
You see you cant fly said Jane
Of course in the end Wendy let them fly away together Our last glimpse of her shows her at the window watching them receding into the sky until they were as small as stars
As you look at Wendy you may see her hair becoming white and her figure little again for all this happened long ago Jane is now a common grownup with a daughter called Margaret and every spring cleaning time except when he forgets Peter comes for Margaret and takes her to the Neverland where she tells him stories about himself to which he listens eagerly When Margaret grows up she will have a daughter who is to be Peters mother in turn and thus it will go on so long as children are gay and innocent and heartless
THE END