{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_39755/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_39755","id":"gutenberg_39755","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39755","summary":null,"tags":["Category: British Literature","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Novels","Children -- Juvenile fiction","Fairies -- Juvenile fiction","Fairy tales","Fantasy literature","Mermaids -- Juvenile fiction","Pirates -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"Produced by David Edwards, Matthew Wheaton and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Canada Team at\nhttp://www.pgdpcanada.net (This file was produced from\nimages generously made available by The Internet\nArchive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: WITH THE SPRING COMES WENDY].\n\n\n\n\n    THE STORY OF PETER PAN\n\n    RETOLD FROM THE FAIRY PLAY\n    BY SIR J.M. BARRIE\n    BY DANIEL O'CONNOR\n\n\n    ILLUSTRATED BY\n    ALICE B. WOODWARD\n\n\n    TORONTO\n    THE MUSSON BOOK COMPANY\n    LIMITED\n\n\n    PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY PURNELL AND SONS\n    PAULTON, SOMERSET, ENGLAND\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nSir J. M. Barrie's delightful creation, \"Peter Pan,\" has by this time\ntaken a secure place in the hearts of children of all ages, and there\nare few nurseries in the land in which Peter, Wendy, Tinker Bell,\nCaptain Hook and his Pirates, the Mermaids and Redskins, and the\nexciting world in which they lived, are not as familiar as the most\ntime-honoured lore of fairyland.\n\nThe popularity of Mr. Daniel O'Connor's version of the story, issued\nwith Sir J. M. Barrie's kind consent, and illustrated so charmingly by\nMiss Alice B. Woodward, has induced the publishers to bring out the\npresent re-issue at a lower price.\n\nThe selections of music which will be found in it are included with\nthe permission of Mr. John Crook, the composer, and Messrs. Price and\nReynolds.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n      PART I EARLY DAYS\n     PART II THE NEVER-NEVER-NEVER LAND\n    PART III THE MERMAIDS' LAGOON\n     PART IV THE UNDERGROUND HOME\n      PART V THE PIRATE SHIP\n     PART VI HOME, SWEET HOME\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n    WITH THE SPRING COMES WENDY                         _colour-plate_\n    WITH MICHAEL SITTING ON HER BACK                    _colour-plate_\n    THE SHADOW HELD ON BEAUTIFULLY\n    WENDY GENTLY KISSED HIS CHEEK                       _colour-plate_\n    AWAY THEY FLOATED\n    SLIGHTLY WAS DANCING MERRILY WITH AN OSTRICH        _colour-plate_\n    \"THE CROCODILE! THE CROCODILE!\"\n    THE INDIANS CREPT SILENTLY UP\n    THE LOST BOYS KNELT BEFORE HER                      _colour-plate_\n    SHE WAS COMBING HER LONG TRESSES\n    SHE SLIPPED OUT OF HIS GRASP\n    A FIERCE FIGHT ENSUED\n    SPREADING HIS COAT TO THE WIND, HE SAILED MERRILY   _colour-plate_\n    SEIZED BY ONE OF THE SWARTHY RUFFIANS\n    HE PERCEIVED TINKER BELL IN HIS GLASS               _colour-plate_\n    THE PIRATE SHIP\n    \"THAT MAN IS MINE!\"                                 _colour-plate_\n    RIGHT INTO THE JAWS OF THE CROCODILE!\n    NURSE TO THE PAPOOSES!\n    HE WOULD LIVE IN THE KENNEL TILL HIS CHILDREN'S RETURN\n\n\n\n\nPART I EARLY DAYS\n\n\n[Illustration: music score]\n\n    LULLABY\n\n    Gold-en slum-bers kiss your eyes,\n    Smiles a-wake you when you rise, Sleep, pret-ty dar-ling,\n    do not cry, And I will sing a lul-la-by.\n\nIn one of the nicest nurseries in the world there were beds for three\nyoung people called John Napoleon, and Wendy Moira Angela, and\nMichael, the children of Mr. and Mrs. Darling. The nursery was wide\nand airy, with a large window, and a bright fire with a high\nfire-guard round it, and a big clock, and prettily-coloured\nnursery-rhyme pictures over the walls. It was in many ways a most\ninteresting household. For one thing, although there was a pretty\nlittle parlour-maid called Liza, the children were bathed and dressed\nby a big dog called Nana, whose kennel was kept in the nursery.\n\nOn the evening on which our story begins, Nana was dozing peacefully\nby the fireside, with her head between her paws. Mr. and Mrs. Darling\nwere getting ready to go out to dinner and Nana was to be left in sole\ncharge of the children. Presently the clock went off with a whirr, and\nstruck--one, two, three, four, five, six--time to begin to put the\nchildren to bed.\n\nNana got up, and stretched herself, and carefully switched on the\nelectric light. You would have been surprised to see how cleverly she\nmanaged to do that with her mouth. Then she turned the bedclothes\nneatly down and hung the little pyjamas over the fire-guard. She then\ntrotted up to the bathroom and turned on the water; after feeling it\nwith her paw to make sure that it was not too hot, she went off to\nlook for Michael, who, being the youngest of the three children, must\ngo to bed first. She returned immediately with him sitting astride on\nher back as though she were a pony. Michael, of course, did not want\nto be bathed, but Nana was firm and, taking him to the bathroom, shut\nthe door so that he should not be in a draught. Then Mrs. Darling came\nto peep at him as he splashed about in the nice warm water.\n\nWhilst Mrs. Darling was in the nursery she heard a wee noise outside\nthe window, as a tiny figure, no bigger than a little boy, tried the\nwindow-latch, and vanished suddenly at her cry of surprise. She flung\nthe window open, but there was nothing to be seen, nothing but the dim\nroofs of the neighbouring houses, and the deep blue sky above. She\nbegan to frighten herself with eerie bogie tales, for the same thing\nhad happened the day before, when Nana had gone to the window and shut\nit down so quickly that she had cut off the boy's shadow. Mrs. Darling\nhad found it in Nana's mouth, and had carefully folded it and put it\naway. But she soon felt reassured when her children came in together\nin answer to her call. John Napoleon and Wendy were playing at their\nfavourite game of being Father and Mother, and Mrs. Darling's\nbeautiful face beamed with delight as she listened to them. Suddenly,\nin rushed Mr. Darling, very much excited because he could not\nfasten his evening tie (evening ties are difficult things to fasten,\nyou know). Mrs. Darling easily managed that for him, and he was soon\nskipping about the room with Michael on his back, dropping him finally\ninto his bed with a big \"bump-ah!\"----\n\n[Illustration: WITH MICHAEL SITTING ON HER BACK.]\n\nUnfortunately, in going to the bathroom, Nana accidentally brushed\nagainst Mr. Darling's beautifully pressed black trousers, and left\nsome of her grey clinging hairs upon them. Now no grown-up person\nlikes hairy trousers, so Mr. Darling was very cross with Nana, and\nspoke of dismissing her. But Mrs. Darling told him about the weird\napparition at the window, how Nana had barked at it and shut the\nwindow down so fast that its shadow had been cut clean off and left\nbehind. She showed him the shadow, and told him how glad she was to\nhave such a treasure as Nana for a nurse. \"You see how very useful\nNana is,\" concluded Mrs. Darling, as the faithful dog came in with\nMichael's bottle of cough mixture. But Michael was naughty, and would\nnot take it; there was a fine fuss over it, when Wendy, being a clever\nlittle girl, hit on a brilliant idea.\n\n\"Father should take some of _his_ medicine to keep Michael company.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said Mr. Darling, \"we shall see who is the braver.\" Two\nglasses were fetched and filled in a moment. \"One, two, three,\" cried\nWendy; Michael took his like a man, but Mr. Darling only pretended to,\nand quietly hid the glass behind his back. John caught him in the act:\n\"Father hasn't taken his!\" he cried, and Michael, seeing that he had\nbeen tricked, burst into a loud \"Boo-hoo-oo!\" Mr. Darling, to appease\nMichael, thought of what seemed to him an excellent joke. He poured\nhis medicine into Nana's drinking-bowl, and when poor Nana, thinking\nthat it was something nice, ran eagerly to lap it up, he roared with\nlaughter to see the reproachful eyes she turned upon him. The\nchildren, who loved their old nurse very dearly, were terribly\ndistressed as she slunk to her kennel, looking as woeful and as hurt\nin her feelings as ever a dog did. Mr. Darling, angry that they did\nnot enjoy his joke in the least, coaxed Nana out of her kennel, seized\nher by the collar and dragged her off in disgrace, to be chained up in\nthe yard, \"the proper place for dogs,\" he said, in spite of the\npersuasions and pleadings of them all. Mrs. Darling comforted the\nchildren, kissing them very tenderly as mothers always do, tucked them\nup in their beds, sang them to sleep and, leaving the night-lights\nburning for company, crept softly out of the room to go to the\ndinner-party with Mr. Darling.\n\nEverything in the big nursery was now still and quiet. Suddenly the\nnight-lights flickered, waned, and went out one by one, and there\ndarted into the room a tiny ball of fire, which flitted uneasily about\nand finally vanished into a jug. Then the same slender graceful figure\nthat had so startled Mrs. Darling leapt from the darkness outside the\nwindow. There was just one click, the window was open, and the little\ncreature stepped cautiously in. He seemed to be looking for something;\nand you will easily guess that what he was looking for was his shadow.\n\"Tink, where are you?\" he whispered, and as then the light shone on\nthe jug he went on: \"Tink, do you know where they have put it?\"\n\nNow this little ball of light was really a fairy girl who knew\neverything worth knowing. Most fairies do. All you could see of her\nwas the little flame, but you could _hear_ her distinctly, she made a\ntinkling noise like a little silver bell, and that was why she was\ncalled Tinker Bell. Tinker Bell at last rested a few moments on the\nsecond drawer of the nursery dresser; instantly the boy ran joyfully\nto it, and pulling open the drawer snatched out his shadow neatly\nrolled up, just as Mrs. Darling had left it. He had found it\ncertainly, but the next trouble was to put it on again. A happy\nthought struck him; he would stick it on with soap! Sitting on the\nhearthrug, he soaped his feet and then he soaped his shadow, but\nwhichever way he soaped they would not stick together. There is no use\nin having a shadow if it will not stick to you. After trying and\ntrying in vain the poor little fellow gave up the attempt, buried his\nface in his hands, and sobbed despairingly.\n\nIt was then that Wendy awoke. She sat right up in bed, and, not at all\nfrightened, said: \"Little boy, why are you crying?\"\n\nThe elfin creature sprang to his feet, and taking off his cap, bowed\nvery politely. Wendy curtsied in return, though she found it a\ndifficult thing to do in bed.\n\n\"What's your name?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"Wendy Moira Angela Darling. What's yours?\"\n\n\"Peter Pan.\"\n\n\"Where do you live?\"\n\n\"Second turning to the right, and straight on till morning.\"\n\nThis seemed to Wendy a very funny address, but she was all sympathy\nwhen she heard that Peter had no mother. No wonder he was crying! But\nthat was not the reason for Peter's tears; he was crying because he\ncould not get his shadow to stick on. This made Wendy smile, and she\nemphatically declared that soap was no good. It must be sewn on.\n\n\"Shall I do it for you?\" she suggested, and, jumping out of bed to get\nher work-basket, she set to work at once. It hurts a good deal to have\na shadow sewn on to your feet, but Peter bore it bravely. It was the\nright thing to do, for the shadow held on beautifully, and Peter was\nso delighted that he danced up and down the nursery watching it making\npatterns on the floor as he flung his arms and legs about.\n\n\"Oh! the cleverness of me!\" cried Peter, overcome with joy, and he\ncrowed with pleasure, for all the world just as a cock would crow.\n\n\"You conceit,\" exclaimed Wendy indignantly, \"of course _I_ did\nnothing!\"\n\n\"Oh! you did a little!\"\n\n\"A little! If I am no use I can at least withdraw,\" she said, jumping\nback into bed and covering her head in a dignified way with the\nbedclothes.\n\n\"Oh! Wendy, please don't withdraw,\" Peter exclaimed in great distress.\n\"I can't help crowing when I'm pleased with myself. One girl is more\nuse than twenty boys.\"\n\nThis was rather clever of Peter, and at these sensible words Wendy got\nup again. She even offered to give Peter a kiss if he liked. Peter\nlooked puzzled, but seeing the thimble on Wendy's finger he thought\nshe meant to give him that, and held out his hand for it. Now Wendy\nsaw at a glance that the poor boy did not even know what a kiss\nwas, but being a nice little girl of motherly disposition, she did not\nhurt his feelings by laughing at him, but simply placed the thimble on\nhis finger.\n\n[Illustration: THE SHADOW HELD ON BEAUTIFULLY]\n\nPeter admired the thimble very much. \"Shall I give you a kiss?\" he\nasked and, jerking a button off his coat, solemnly presented it to\nher.\n\nWendy at once fastened it on a chain which she wore round her neck,\nand, forgetting the puzzle in his mind, she once more asked him for a\nkiss.\n\nImmediately he returned the thimble. \"Oh! I didn't mean a _kiss_, I\nmeant a thimble!\"\n\n\"What's that?\" he asked.\n\n\"It's like this,\" replied Wendy, and gently kissed his cheek.\n\n[Illustration: WENDY GENTLY KISSED HIS CHEEK.]\n\n\"Oh!\" cried Peter, \"how nice!\" and he began to give her _thimbles_ in\nreturn, and ever afterwards he called a kiss a thimble, and a thimble\na kiss.\n\n\"But Peter, how old are you?\" continued Wendy.\n\n\"I don't know, but quite young. I ran away the day I was born.\"\n\n\"Ran away--why?\"\n\n\"Because I heard my father and mother talking about what I was to be\nwhen I became a man. I don't want to be a man. I want always to be a\nlittle boy and have fun. So I ran away and lived among the fairies.\"\n\nWendy was almost speechless with delight at the thought of sitting\nbeside a boy who knew fairies, and after a minute said: \"Peter, do you\nreally know fairies?\"\n\n\"Yes, but they're nearly all dead now. You see, Wendy, when the first\nbaby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand\npieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the\nbeginning of fairies. And now, whenever a new baby is born, its\nfirst laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be a fairy for every\nlittle boy and girl, but there isn't. You see children know such a lot\nnow. They soon won't believe in fairies, and whenever a child says: 'I\ndon't believe in fairies,' there's a fairy somewhere that falls down\ndead.\"\n\nPeter suddenly looked about the room, as though he were searching for\nsomething. Tinker Bell had disappeared! Before he could grow anxious,\nhowever, a tinkling of bells was heard, and Peter, who knew the fairy\nlanguage, of course understood it. He pulled open the drawer in which\nhis shadow had been hidden, and out sprang Tinker Bell, very angry\nwith him for shutting her up accidentally in the drawer. She skipped\nabout the room, but Wendy gave such a cry of delight that Tink was\nfrightened and hid behind the clock.\n\n\"But Peter,\" continued Wendy, \"if you don't live with the fairies,\nwhere do you live?\"\n\n\"I live with the Lost Boys.\"\n\n\"Who are they?\"\n\n\"Why, they are the children who fall out of their perambulators when\ntheir nurses are looking the other way. If they are not claimed within\nseven days, they are sent far away to the Never-Never-Never Land to\ndefray expenses. I'm their Captain.\"\n\n\"Oh! what fun! But, Peter, why did you come to our nursery window?\"\n\nPeter told her that he came to listen to the lovely stories Wendy's\nmother related to her children, for the Lost Boys had no mothers, and\nno one to tell them any stories. He also told her how he led them\nagainst their enemies, the pirates and the wolves, and how they\nenjoyed bathing in the Lagoon, where beautiful mermaids sang and swam\nall day long.\n\n\"I must go back now,\" he went on, \"the boys will be anxious to hear\nthe end of the story about the Prince and the Glass Slipper. I told\nthem as much as I knew, and they're longing to hear the rest.\"\n\nWendy begged him to stay.\n\n\"I'll tell you lots more,\" she promised, \"ever so many stories if\nyou'll only stay.\"\n\n\"Come, Wendy!\" exclaimed Peter, struck with a new idea. \"You can tell\nus all the stories there, and darn our clothes, and tuck us in at\nnight. None of us has ever been tucked in. All the boys long for a\nmother. Oh, Wendy, do come!\"\n\nIt was a tempting idea to Wendy, but a sudden thought came across her\nmind. \"Peter, I can't! Think of Mummy! Besides, I can't fly.\"\n\n\"I'll teach you, Wendy.\"\n\nThis was too much for her. \"Peter, will you teach John and Michael to\nfly as well?\"\n\n\"Yes, if you like.\"\n\nSo John and Michael were awakened, and directly they heard that there\nwere pirates in the Never-Never-Never Land they began to clamour to go\nat once. They watched Peter fly about the room, and tried to imitate\nhim, flapping their arms clumsily at first like unfledged birds, and\nflopping about all over the place.\n\n\"That will never do,\" Peter said, \"I must blow the fairy dust on you.\nNow waggle your shoulders as I do.\"\n\nSo they tried, and found that they could fly; just a little at first,\nfrom the bed to the floor and back again; then over the bed and across\nthe room, and then, as they grew braver, almost as freely and easily\nas Peter himself.\n\n\"Tink, lead the way!\" called Peter, and the fairy shot out like a\nlittle star. None of the children had time to put on their day\nclothes, but John snatched his top hat as he flew out of the window,\nfollowed by Michael. Peter Pan held Wendy's hand, and away they\nfloated into the dark blue depths of the starry night.\n\nA minute afterwards Mrs. Darling, who had just returned from the\nparty, rushed into the nursery with Nana at her heels, for Nana had\nbeen anxious about her charges, and had just succeeded in breaking\nher chain. But it was too late. The children were already on their way\nto the Never-Never-Never Land.\n\n[Illustration: AWAY THEY FLOATED]\n\n[Illustration: piano score: THE ARRIVAL OF WENDY ]\n\n\n\n\nPART II THE NEVER-NEVER-NEVER LAND\n\n\nFar away in the Never-Never-Never Land the Lost Boys lived in the\ndepths of the forest, on the banks of a lake now covered with ice. The\ntrees were bare without their summer dress, and wolves prowled and\nhowled in the distance, and wild beasts snarled in the undergrowth,\nand Pirates sailed villainously up the lake, and Red Indians, who were\nfriends of the boys, lived secretly in their wigwams hidden in the\nglades of the woods.\n\nThe Lost Boys, who, in their fur coats, looked more like bears than\nboys, were anxiously awaiting Peter's return. There were six of them:\nSlightly Soiled, the eldest; then came Tootles, and Nibs, and Curly,\nand the Twins, who were so much alike that one name did for both of\nthem, so each was called Twin. They lived like moles under the ground,\nfor fear of the Pirates and the wolves. Each one had a special\nstaircase hollowed in a tree-trunk, so that they could easily run down\namong the roots of the trees into their home. They were playing about\nhappily, although they were beginning to be a little anxious that\nPeter was so long away. Slightly was tootling on a whistle, and\ndancing quite merrily, with an ostrich for partner (a queer companion,\nyou will say), when suddenly the gruff voices of the Pirates were\nheard. Nibs, who was very brave, slipped away through the trees to\nscout, but the others had only just time to scuttle down the stairs in\nthe hollow trees before the big ugly buccaneers came tramping up,\nhauling their captain, who was sitting in state upon a sledge.\n\n[Illustration: SLIGHTLY WAS DANCING MERRILY WITH AN OSTRICH.]\n\nYou could not imagine a more dreadful-looking villain than that man\nwas. His name was James Hook, and it suited him! He had two most\nevil-looking black eyes, his face was seamed with lines which seemed\nto express his wicked thoughts, his hideous chin, all unshaven, was as\nblack as ink and as prickly as a furze-bush, his hair was long and\nblack, and it hung around his face in greasy curls. He was singing a\nhorrible song about himself, keeping time by swinging in the air the\ngruesome stump of his right arm, on which a double iron-pronged hook\nwas fixed instead of a hand. Hence his name. That man was the most\nwicked pirate who ever lived! He simply wallowed in wickedness! Even\nhis own crew dreaded him; and they were as bad as could be! So no\nwonder the Lost Boys darted like rabbits to their cave.\n\nNow Captain Hook most of all wanted to find Peter Pan, for it was\nPeter who, a long time before, in an encounter between the Pirates and\nthe Lost Boys, had cut off his right arm and flung it to a passing\ncrocodile. The crocodile had liked the taste of it so much that ever\nsince he had wandered from land to land and from sea to sea licking\nhis lips for the rest of the Captain.\n\nThe Captain had naturally some reason for hating Peter, for he had a\ndreadful time in eluding the pursuit of the voracious crocodile, but\nstill the beast dogged his footsteps, and followed him on and on and\non by land and sea wherever he went. The Captain only got a start when\nthe crocodile was asleep, and with that and a swift ship he had\nmanaged so far to escape. It was an awful life!\n\nFortunately for Hook, the crocodile had once, in an ill-advised\nmoment, swallowed an alarum clock (one of those patent\nninety-nine-years clocks, warranted to go any time, anywhere and\nanyhow). Go it did, and it ticked so loudly that the Captain could\nalways hear it coming, and it was the signal for him to bolt!\n\nHook sat down on one of the enormous forest mushrooms (in the\nNever-Never-Never Land mushrooms grow to a gigantic size) to\ndeliberate about his mode of revenge. He was in the middle of a\ntorrent of braggings and boastings when he felt his seat getting not\nonly warm, but much too warm, and little wonder in that, for when he\nfuriously leapt up he found that he had really been sitting on a\nchimney of the underground home which Peter had cleverly disguised.\nHe realised at once that the Lost Boys must be living in safety down\nbelow.\n\nVery soon he had a wicked, treacherous plan settled. He determined to\ncook a huge rich cake, with beautiful green icing and a poisoned\ninside. He was sure that the Lost Boys, who had no mother to look\nafter them, would eat it greedily, and die with awful pains inside.\nSmee, as the Captain's wily lieutenant was called, was overjoyed at\nthis plan, and chuckled loudly.\n\n\"Shake hands on't,\" said Hook, but Smee did not want to, and begged to\nbe excused.\n\n[Illustration: \"THE CROCODILE! THE CROCODILE!\"]\n\n\"Paw, Smee, paw,\" said the Captain in an awful voice, so Smee had to\ntake the horrid hook in his hand, and they both danced round while\nHook sang with diabolical grimaces:\n\n    \"Yo ho, yo ho, when I say 'Paw'\n      By fear they're overtook;\n    Naught's left upon your bones when you\n      Have shaken hands with Hook.\"\n\nJust as he was gloating over his pleasant scheme a queer sound was\nheard, like a corncrake coming nearer and nearer through a barley\nfield. \"Tick, tack, tick, tack, tick, tack.\"\n\n\"The Crocodile! the Crocodile!\" the Pirate Captain yelled, and in a\nmoment was flying for his life.\n\nThe Pirates had scarcely disappeared in the depths of the forest when\nthe Indians crept silently up in pursuit of them. Tiger Lily, their\nchieftainess, was at their head, now running swiftly under the trees,\nnow listening with her ear to the ground, to know where her enemies\nhad gone. For, like Tinker Bell and Wendy, she loved Peter Pan, and\nhis enemies were her enemies.\n\nThe Redskins slid along, following the Pirates with steps as quiet as\nthose of a beetle crawling through the grass. They soon passed far out\nof sight, and then, one by one, the Lost Boys peeped from their\ntree-trunks and, seeing that all was quiet, came out again to their\nplayground in the woods.\n\n[Illustration: THE INDIANS CREPT SILENTLY UP]\n\nBut their safety did not last for long. A fierce barking of wolves was\nheard, and Nibs, who had gone off by himself, rushed, quite out of\nbreath, into the midst of the Boys, closely pursued by a pack of lean\nand hungry wolves with glittering fiery eyes. What were the Lost Boys\nto do in this terrible plight, when their leader was far away?\nFortunately, one of them remembered Peter's plan. Whenever he was\nattacked by wild beasts Peter used to run at them backwards, jumping\nalong the ground, squinting at them through his legs. The Lost Boys\ndid this all together, and really, it was so astonishing that the\nwolves fled with terrified howls to the thickets where they lived.[1]\n\n    [1] This is a good way of scaring away mad bulls and wild\n    animals, but it is always safer to practise on cows or in the\n    Zoo _first_.\n\nThen Nibs told the Boys how he had seen the loveliest white bird you\ncould imagine.\n\n\"It was flying this way,\" he said, \"it looked so wearied, and as it\nflew it moaned 'Poor Wendy'.\"\n\n\"Are you sure it was a bird?\" they asked.\n\nNibs was quite sure, and almost at once they saw Wendy flying through\nthe trees in her white nightgown. Tinker Bell was by her side, darting\nat her, and telling the Boys that Peter wanted her shot, for Tinker\nwas rather a bad little fairy sometimes. She said this because she\nwas jealous of Wendy, since Peter and Wendy had kissed each other.\n\nInstantly, Tootles seized his bow and arrow, and shot at the bird, as\nhe thought, and she fell fainting to the ground.\n\nAt once the Boys saw that she was no bird, but a little girl, and\nperhaps the very mother whom Peter had promised to bring them. They\nwere very frightened, and soon were sure that they had done a dreadful\nthing, for Peter came flying down with John and Michael, and\nimmediately inquired after Wendy.\n\n\"She flew this way, haven't you seen her?\" he asked.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Tootles, and pointed to her as she lay motionless on the\nground.\n\nPeter bent over her and took the arrow, and, in his anger, would have\nkilled Tootles with it, if Wendy had not stayed him by feebly moving\nher hand. Then they were all glad, for Wendy was not dead, as they\nhad thought, but only stunned. The arrow had fortunately struck the\nbutton which Peter had given her in mistake for a kiss. Soon she was\nquite well again, but so faint and tired after her long flight through\nthe air.\n\nThe Boys did not know what to do. They did not like to carry her down\ninto the cave, as it might not be sufficiently respectful, so they\nplanned to build a house over her. Only they did not know what kind of\nhouse to build.\n\nThen Wendy sang in her half-sleep the kind of house she wanted:\n\n[Illustration: music]\n\n    I wish I had a dar-ling house, The litt-lest ev-er\n    seen. With fun-ny lit-tle red walls, And roof of mos-sy green;\n\nand the Boys fetched logs out of the forest, and a grate and a rug\nfrom the underground cave, and built a beautiful home for her out of\nwood, and tarpaulin, and make-believe. They made a chimney out of\nJohn's tall hat, which he had been Londony enough to bring with him,\nand they made a splendid knocker out of the sole of one of Tootles'\nboots.\n\nWhen it was finished--it was built round Wendy as she lay on the\nground--Peter knocked solemnly at the door, and Wendy opened it and\ncame out, very pleased and happy. The Lost Boys knelt before her, and\nbegged her to be their Mother, and tuck them in at night-time, and\ntell them stories before they went to bed. She said that she was not\nquite sure if she could, but she would do her best, if only Peter\nwould be Father, and that now, if they liked to come in, she would\ntell them the story of Cinderella.\n\n[Illustration: THE LOST BOYS KNELT BEFORE HER.]\n\nIn they bundled, one after the other, to listen to the tale. And they\nwere so big, and the house was so small, that they must have been\npacked like sardines inside. But a sort of cosy feeling like that was,\nI expect, just what they wanted, and they were very happy.\n\nThe evening fell softly down on the forest, and the shadows rose, so\nthat everything was dark and still, save for the occasional baying of\na wolf. Lights were lit in the little house, and at last, when it was\nquite night, Peter came out with his sword, and walked up and down\nlike a sentry, to guard the new little mother he had brought for the\nLost Boys.\n\n\n\n\nPART III THE MERMAIDS' LAGOON\n\n\n[Illustration: SHE WAS COMBING HER LONG TRESSES]\n\nOne fine summer evening Peter, with Wendy and their little\nfamily, went down to the Lagoon where the Mermaids lived. The\nNever-Never-Never Land, as you see, is full of the most strange and\ninteresting creatures; some of them dreadful, like the Pirates,\nwolves, and crocodiles; others, like the fairies and the mermaids,\naltogether beautiful and charming. Wendy and her brothers, who had\nnever seen a real mermaid with a tail, were very much excited, and, as\nluck would have it, just as they arrived at the lagoon, one of them,\nseated on a rock, was combing her long tresses, on which the sunlight\ngleamed, until they shone like a mixture of gold and bronze, for they\nhad a beautiful greenish tinge. As she combed her hair she sang such a\nwonderful melody that the boys longed to catch her. They instantly\ndashed into the water, but with a piercing cry of \"Mortals!\" the\nMermaid dived out of their reach into the lowest depths.\n\n\"But look! here is another little mermaid! Surely we can catch her!\"\nsaid John Napoleon Darling, and he very nearly did. Mermaids, however,\nare hard to catch, and when caught, are still harder to hold. John\nsucceeded in getting the little sprite in his hands but, wriggling\nlike an eel, she slipped out of his grasp. Breathless with\nexcitement, the whole band of children clambered on to the rocks, when\nall at once a cry went up: \"The Pirates!\" Sure enough a boat was\napproaching, and in it were seated the two pirate lieutenants, Smee\nand Starkey. The boys were already swimming to the shore as fast as\nthey could, when to his horror Peter recognised Tiger Lily sitting in\nthe stern, tightly bound with ropes. In a flash he guessed what was\ntheir intention. The wretches meant to leave her, all bound as she\nwas, upon the rock, until the tide came up and drowned her.\n\n[Illustration: SHE SLIPPED OUT OF HIS GRASP]\n\nDetermined to save her, Peter thought of a clever trick. Imitating the\nwicked Captain's voice he called out: \"Cut her bonds and let her go!\"\nThe effect was marvellous: the astonished buccaneers, fearing to\ndisobey their Captain, instantly released Tiger Lily, who leapt into\nthe water and swam towards the boys.\n\nThe Pirates had turned and were rowing back, when they saw Hook\nswimming towards them, and learnt from him how they had been duped.\nHorribly enraged, he chased them out of the boat, leaving them to swim\nback to the ship as best they might, while he himself set about\nrecapturing Tiger Lily.\n\nBut the Pirates once safely out of the way, Peter and his friends went\nback to the rock to attack the Captain, who was now single-handed. A\nfierce fight ensued, Hook using his iron prong to some purpose on poor\nPeter, while the boys, seizing Hook's boat, rowed off with Tiger Lily\nin it. At last, finding himself outdone, the Captain gave up the\nfight, and in all haste swam back to his ship.\n\n[Illustration: A FIERCE FIGHT ENSUED]\n\nPeter, left alone on the rock with Wendy, found her so exhausted that\nshe could neither swim nor fly any farther. With difficulty he managed\nto help her to a firm footing, but the tide was rising, and they\nwere both in great danger. As he watched the water silently creeping\nnearer, Peter almost despaired. But all at once a large kite came\nflying slowly over the lagoon. In a second Peter had seized its tail\nand, binding it tightly round Wendy, he sent her sailing away in\nsafety, bravely calling, \"Good-bye Wendy!\" until she was out of sight.\n\nThen indeed, as the tide rose steadily, Peter was in great peril. The\nwater reached his feet, and he was beginning to think it would be a\n\"tremendous adventure to die,\" when who should come sailing by but a\ngreat sea-bird on its nest, which had been blown off the cliffs by the\nrising storm. \"Hurrah!\" cried Peter, \"there's a lovely boat for me!\"\nand chasing the bird off, in he stepped, curled himself round and,\nspreading out his coat to the wind, sailed swiftly and merrily after\nWendy.\n\n[Illustration: SPREADING HIS COAT TO THE WIND, HE SAILED MERRILY.]\n\n\n\n\nPART IV THE UNDERGROUND HOME\n\n\nThe days passed merrily in the underground home, where Wendy was the\nsweetest little mother, and Peter the bravest father you could ever\nhave found anywhere. The cave was large and roomy, and the rocks out\nof which it was hollowed were of a deep brown colour. There was a fine\nlarge fireplace, and overhead, near the ceiling, were hung baskets and\nfishing-tackle and all sorts of things likely to be useful to\ncave-dwellers.\n\nWendy had not been long there before she had improved the home and\nmade it as comfortable as her own nursery. It is wonderful what\nclever girls can do, even with the poorest materials. There was now a\nhuge bed for all the Boys, and a basket for Michael, because he was\nthe littlest and because a cradle is such a homely thing to have about\nthe house. And in a corner of the room, hidden behind a tiny crimson\ncurtain, there was a wee little room for Tinker Bell, daintily\nfurnished to suit the tastes of girl fairy. There were stools made of\nmushrooms for the Boys, and two comfortable chairs made of pumpkins,\nwhere Peter and Wendy could sit in state, as was fitting the father\nand mother of the little family.\n\nOne Saturday night, Wendy and the Boys were all downstairs together,\nwaiting for Peter to come back from a hunting expedition. Outside, the\nfaithful Tiger Lily and her Red Indian band were keeping guard against\nthe Pirates.\n\nPresently the crackling of branches indicated Peter's approach through\nthe underwood. Tiger Lily sprang up to meet him, and the Lost Boys ran\nto the tree-trunk stairways to welcome him on his return. He was the\nbest of fathers; and never forgot to be a little boy, for he had\nfilled his pockets with fruit for the boys who had been good, and he\nlet them rummage through and through his coat like rats in a corn\nsack.\n\nThen he turned towards Wendy, who was very busy mending the children's\nsocks by the fireside. She looked very charming in her pretty brown\nfrock the colour of autumn leaves, with scarlet berries in her hair,\nand she made Peter very happy as they exchanged thimbles and talked\nover the boys and their doings as if they had really been their father\nand mother. When the children clamoured for a dance, Peter even said\nthat he was too old for such a game, and that his old bones would\nsimply rattle, and Wendy also thought that the mother of such an\narmful could not go skipping about with her children. So Peter sang\n\"Sally in our Alley,\" which song Wendy thought no one else in all the\nworld could sing so sweetly as the darling of her heart, while the\nothers danced pillow dances, and bolster dances, and turned\nsomersaults on the beds, and did all the other jolly and lively things\nthat everyone wants to do just about bedtime, when one ought to be\nthinking of going to sleep.\n\nAt last they quietened down for Wendy to tell them just one more story\nbefore they were tucked in for the night. They clustered eagerly\nround, interrupting every sentence, as children always do, even the\nbest of them, while Wendy told her story. And the story somehow seemed\nfamiliar to John, and Michael, and Peter, for it was the tale of Mr.\nand Mrs. Darling, poor dears, who had lost their children one winter\nnight; and how sad they were about it, how lonely they felt, and how\nthe nursery window would always be kept open, ready for the children,\nif ever they should come flying home again.\n\nWhen she had finished, Peter stood up sadly. \"No, Wendy,\" he said, \"I\nthought so once, but you cannot be sure that the window will be kept\nopen. When I went back to my mother, the window was barred, and there\nwas another little boy sleeping in my cradle.\" At that thought, Wendy\nstarted up with a look of horror in her face: \"Perhaps by this time,\nMother may be in half-mourning,\" she exclaimed, and John and Michael\nfelt they dared not stay another moment in the Never-Never-Never Land.\n\nWhat would they do if they were too late in coming back, and found\nother children in their beds, other children being bathed and dressed\nby Nana? They must go home at once.\n\nThe Boys crowded round Wendy, imploring her not to leave them, but she\nwas firm. Not only would she return with John and Michael, but she\nwould take all the Boys with her, for her mother to adopt. The Boys,\nas soon as they heard themselves invited to come too, were as happy as\nlarks. For now each of them would have a true mother in Mrs. Darling,\nand would live in a house like other boys. In a moment they were\npacking their baby clothes, and were ready to start on their journey.\n\nPeter alone refused. He was miserable at the thought of losing Wendy,\nbut he couldn't consent to grow old and have a beard, as he knew he\nmust do if he left the Never-Never-Never Land. Never, never, could he\ndo that! There was nothing for him, then, but to stay behind. Wendy\nwas as careful as a little mother in pouring out Peter's medicine, and\nmade him promise faithfully to take it every night.\n\nBut suddenly there was a stamping overhead, and banging and a\nclashing, and a shouting, and a sound of heavy people wrestling and\nstruggling to and fro. The Pirates had taken the Red Indians by\nsurprise. The children heard the fighting, and listened like mice to\nthe squalling of cats, as frightened as could be, while Peter waited\nwith his sword. The battle was very soon over. The Redskins were\nbeaten and ran like hares, or crawled dangerously wounded into the\nthickets. The triumphant Pirates were left victorious, though a little\nout of breath, close above the children's heads.\n\nHook, their captain, more wicked-looking than ever, listened at the\nmushroom chimney. \"If the Indians have won,\" Peter was saying,\n\"they'll beat the tom-tom.\"\n\n\"Aha!\" thought Hook, and he picked up a tom-tom that one of the flying\nIndians had left behind, and sounded it loudly; \"rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub,\ndub, dub, dub.\"\n\n\"Hurrah!\" shouted the children down below. \"An Indian victory!\"\n\n\"All will be safe,\" said Peter. \"You may go now! Tink will show you\nthe way,\" and bidding a hurried good-bye to Peter, away they all\nwent up the stairways in the tree-trunks, out into the forest.\n\nThe Pirates were ready for them. As each child came above the ground,\nhe was seized by one of the swarthy ruffians who stood waiting. One by\none, and silently, they were captured and flung into boats and\ntransported to the pirate ship, which had anchored in the lake close\nby.\n\n[Illustration: SEIZED BY ONE OF THE SWARTHY RUFFIANS]\n\nEverything had been done so quietly that Peter was quite unaware of\nhis friends' sad fate. He only knew that he was all alone, that Wendy\nhad left him, and that she, and Michael, and John, and all the Lost\nBoys who had been his companions were on their way from the\nNever-Never-Never Land to the country of the ordinary people who wear\ntall hats and tail-coats as soon as they are old enough, and grow up\none after the other. Poor Peter threw himself on his bed and sobbed\nhimself to sleep.\n\nHook was still lurking about, for the one thing that annoyed him most\nwas that Peter had not left the cave with the rest, and was as yet\nsafe.\n\nBut in his wicked heart a wicked scheme had already risen by which he\nhoped to kill his enemy. He had carefully listened to Wendy's last\nwords: \"Be sure and take your medicine, Peter.\" Here was the Captain's\nlast chance. Creeping down to the door of the cave, he stretched his\nlong arm round the ledge just inside, and poured a few drops of deadly\npoison into the glass, and, with a grin of triumph on his ugly face,\nhe threw his cloak over his shoulder and stole away.\n\n\"Tap, tap, tap.\" Somebody was knocking at the door. \"Who's there?\"\nasked Peter sleepily.\n\n\"Tap, tap, tap.\"\n\nHe got up and opened the door. Tinker Bell, tinkling excitedly, flew\ninto the room. \"The Pirates have captured them!\" she tinkled, \"the\nPirates have captured them!\" As Peter excitedly snatched up his sword\nand sharpened it very sharply on the grindstone, he perceived Tinker\nBell in his glass of medicine. He soon learnt the reason, when his\nlittle fairy told him, in a weak voice, that it was poisoned, and that\nshe had drunk the poison as the only way to save his life. It was\nindeed an act of self-sacrifice; for too well did Tink know how much\nPeter loved Wendy, and that no warning of hers would prevent him from\nkeeping his promise.\n\nPoor Tinker Bell was dying, and die she would have done were it not\nthat Peter, in a frenzy of grief and with tears in his eyes, made this\npassionate appeal to all children: \"Do you believe in fairies? If you\ndo, clap your hands, and that will save poor Tinker Bell.\" As his cry\nrang round the world, there came an echo of sound as of millions of\nlittle hands clapping, as if all the children throughout the world\nknew suddenly that of course they believed in fairies.\n\nThe result was magical. Tinker Bell was saved; her light, which had\nbeen getting fainter and fainter, grew brighter and brighter again;\nthe merry sound of tinkling (her way of speaking to Peter) which had\nalmost become inaudible, now grew stronger and stronger. She was once\nmore the bright little fairy that escorted Peter to the Darling\nnursery, and again, under her guidance, Peter set forth to rescue the\nBoys and Wendy.\n\n[Illustration: HE PERCEIVED TINKER BELL IN HIS GLASS.]\n\n\n\n\nPART V THE PIRATE SHIP\n\n\nThe pirate ship was a terribly evil-looking craft with its painted\nsails, its heavy tarred cordage, and its flag with the skull and\ncrossbones upon it, flapping grimly at the stern. The poor children\nwere at once driven into the dark and dirty hold, while Hook walked\nthe deck, rubbing his hands and chuckling to himself to think that at\nlast he had them in his power.\n\n\"Are all the prisoners chained so that they can't fly away?\" he asked\nSmee, who was very busy at his sewing-machine.\n\n\"Aye, aye, Captain,\" answered Smee.\n\n\"Then hoist them up,\" shouted the Captain.\n\nHe seated himself on a chair covered with a white bearskin, waiting\nwhile the Boys, whose wrists were chained together, were dragged out\nof the hold and brought before him. Six of them, he said, were to walk\nthe plank at once, but he would save any two who were willing to be\ncabin boys. The children were not at first sure what walking the plank\nmeant, but Hook soon enlightened them by roaring out a song in\nexplanation.\n\n[Illustration: music]\n\n    Yo ho! yo ho! the fris-ky plank, you walk a-long it\n    so-- Till it goes down and you goes down to too-ral loo-ral lo--\n\nhe sang, waving his hook to show how, when the plank tipped, they\nwould be shot into the water and drowned.\n\n[Illustration: THE PIRATE SHIP]\n\nTurning towards John Napoleon Darling he shouted: \"You look as if you\nhad some pluck in you!\" John hesitated. In his schoolboy days he had\nalways thought a pirate's life very attractive, so stepping forward,\nhe said: \"Will you call me Red-handed Jack?\" The Captain laughed with\ndelight, and promised to give him that name if he joined the crew.\nThen Michael went up to him and slapped him on the shoulder. \"What\nwill you call _me_ if I join?\" he asked. \"Black-Bearded Joe,\" answered\nthe Captain, and until another question arose Michael was much\npleased. The cabin boys were told that they must of course swear \"Down\nwith King George!\" and to this neither boy would consent. John and\nMichael were then pushed on one side and told that their doom was\nsealed, while Hook shouted, \"Bring up their mother.\"\n\nIn a moment Wendy was dragged from the hold, and when the Boys rushed\nto protect her they were pulled back, leaving her standing alone,\nlooking very frightened but pretty in her brown dress, with a long\nbrown cloak wrapped round her. Hook asked her if she had any last\nmessage for her sons who were about to die. Wendy spoke beautifully to\nthe Boys, telling them she was sure their real mothers would wish them\nto die like English gentlemen. Her courage so inspired the children\nthat they all cried they would do what their mothers wished. Upon\nthis, Wendy was cruelly tied to the mast whilst Hook's orders were\nbeing carried out.\n\nBut, just as the Boys' fate seemed determined, something happened to\nchange Hook's glee into terror. \"Tick! tick! ter-ick, tick, tick!\" he\nheard, and at the dreaded sound he yelled: \"The crocodile! hide me,\nhide me!\" In abject fear he rushed to a corner of the ship while his\nmen crowded round him, intent only upon shielding their captain from\nthe jaws of the monster. The Boys, too, waited breathless with horror,\nuntil with sudden relief and rapture they saw not the crocodile but\ntheir beloved captain Peter Pan appearing over the ship's side. In one\nhand, at arm's length, he held an alarum clock, the ticking of which\nhad made Hook believe that the crocodile was upon him.\n\nMaking a sign to his friends, Peter dashed into the cabin, unseen by\nthe Pirates, and shut the door. The ticking ceased directly, and\nHook's terror vanished.\n\nReturning to his dreadful purpose he cried: \"Now here's to Johnny\nPlank!\" Again he began to sing, \"Yo ho, yo ho, the frisky plank,\" but\nthe Boys, filled with hope and excitement, drowned his voice by\nsinging \"Rule, Britannia,\" and just as the Pirate was about to vent\nhis rage upon them he was silenced by a shrill and piercing\ncock's-crow from the cabin.\n\nStruck motionless with terror, the crew looked to their Captain for\nsome explanation, who ordered Gecco, one of his men, to enter the\ncabin and see what was the matter. Hook waited, but Gecco did not\nreturn, and once again was heard the awful mysterious crowing.\n\"Someone must bring me out that doodledoo,\" roared the Captain, and,\nas no one volunteered, \"I thought I heard Starkey volunteer,\" he said,\npointing his hook at Starkey. Mad with terror of the hook as well as\nof the uncanny creature in the cabin, Starkey rushed wildly round the\ndeck, and finally, to escape both, flung himself overboard.\n\nFurious at this mutinous behaviour, Hook shouted, \"I'll bring that\ndoodledoo out myself,\" but he had no better success, and came rushing\nback in a cowardly fashion, saying: \"Something blew out the light.\"\n\nA happy idea now struck him. \"Drive the Boys in--let them fight the\ndoodledoo--if they kill him so much the better, if he kills them we're\nnone the worse.\"\n\nThis, of course, was just what the children wanted, but, concealing\ntheir delight, they allowed themselves to be driven into the cabin. In\nthe meantime, all the Pirates huddled together, hiding their faces.\nSailors, you know, are very superstitious, and they all thought the\nship was bewitched. So terrified were they that no one saw Peter steal\nout, followed by the Boys, who crept silently up the ladder to the\nhigher deck. No one saw Peter cut the ropes which bound Wendy, and\ntake her place at the mast, and cover his face with the brown cloak\nshe had left, while Wendy joined the Boys.\n\n\"It's the girl!\" cried Hook, \"there's never luck on a pirate ship with\na woman aboard; let's throw her over.\" All the men knew that their\nCaptain was right, and one of the Pirates started up and shook his\nfist at the brown-robed figure at the mast. \"There's nothing can save\nyou now, Missy,\" he cried. \"There is one,\" came a ringing voice, and\nthe brown cloak was flung aside and there stood Peter Pan. \"Down,\nBoys, and at them,\" he shouted, and with a rush the Boys, armed with\nweapons which Peter had found and given them in the cabin, swarmed\ndown upon the lower deck. The Pirates believed that all the Boys had\nbeen slain by the mysterious doodledoo, and were panic-stricken as\nthey saw them with swords and daggers. Some of the crew rushed to the\nbulwarks and leapt overboard; others with their knives fell upon the\nBoys, while Hook backed into the cabin fighting for his life. \"Put\nup your knives, Boys, that man is mine!\" cried Peter, pointing to\nHook. The Boys turned their attention to the remaining members of the\npirate crew, who were one by one forced into the sea, while the two\nmortal enemies appeared at the cabin door closed in deadly combat.\nEach was determined to kill the other. Step by step Hook was driven\nback to the side of the ship. He felt himself weakening. In despair he\ncried out: \"'Tis some fiend fighting me! Who are you, Pan?\"\n\n[Illustration: \"THAT MAN IS MINE!\"]\n\n\"I'm youth!\" cried Peter, \"I'm a little bird that has broken out of\nthe egg. I'm youth! I'm joy!\"\n\nWith that he wrenched Hook's sword from him and pushed him into the\nsea, right into the jaws of the waiting crocodile, who caught him at\nlast.\n\n[Illustration: RIGHT INTO THE JAWS OF THE CROCODILE]\n\nThe Boys burst into ringing cheers as they and Wendy crowded round\ntheir hero, who stood like a conquering Napoleon while the pirate flag\nwas lowered.\n\n\nTHE FATE OF THE PIRATES\n\nAll the pirates save two, Smee and Starkey, jumped into the sea and\nwere drowned.\n\nSmee, the Irish Pirate, who was not so wicked as the rest of the crew,\nmanaged to swim ashore, and subsequently became a reformed character\nand a brave sailor in His Majesty's Fleet.\n\nStarkey, who had never shed blood, but had been guilty of many cruel\ndeeds, was captured by the Redskins and led a miserable life, for\nGreat Big Little White Panther, the Indian chief, compelled him to act\nas nurse to the papooses of the tribe--a sad come-down for a pirate!\n\n[Illustration: NURSE TO THE PAPOOSES!]\n\n\n\n\nPART VI HOME, SWEET HOME\n\n\nBut at home in the Darling household all this time there was deep\nsorrow. Mr. Darling, as a punishment to himself for taking their\nguardian Nana away, had vowed that he would live in the kennel till\nhis children's return. For months now he had lived in it, and had been\ncarried to business in it every morning, much to the disgust of the\nprim little housemaid Liza. Mr. Darling had become quite a celebrity,\nand great ladies, leaders of society, found him so interesting and\ntouching, that they all cried out as he passed by, \"Oh, do come to\ndinner at our house, do come in the kennel!\" All the newspapers had\nasked him to write the cricket and football news for them, and his\npicture postcards were to be seen in every shop window.\n\nBut it happened one evening, when he returned from business, carried\nas usual in the kennel, he was taken up to the now desolate nursery,\nwhere Mrs. Darling spent most of her time mourning for her lost\nchildren, while the faithful Nana tried in vain to cheer her up.\n\"George, George, I believe you are beginning to _like_ that kennel,\"\nshe said reproachfully, as he crawled out. He denied the charge,\nhowever, and tried to comfort Mrs. Darling, who never for one moment\nforgot the little empty beds and the silence and cheerlessness of the\nnursery. Then he left her, and sitting down by the fire, Mrs. Darling\nwas alone with her sad thoughts.\n\n[Illustration: HE WOULD LIVE IN THE KENNEL TILL HIS CHILDREN'S\nRETURN]\n\nScarcely, however, had she closed her eyes when three little figures\nflew in at the window and nestled cosily in their beds. Then softly\nWendy called to her mother. But when Mrs. Darling looked round she\nsimply couldn't believe that the children were really there. So many\ntimes before she had dreamt of their return, that it was not till they\nall three crowded round her that she realised that they had indeed\ncome home. Oh! what joy to feel once more those dear faces, cool and\nfresh from the flight through the night air, pressed against hers, hot\nwith tears; to hear once more the sound of those sweet voices as they\nall talked at once. At last, when she was a little calm, Wendy began\ntelling her about Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, who with Peter Pan\nhimself were all waiting outside. Directly Mrs. Darling saw them, and\nheard that they had no mothers, she instantly adopted them all. Though\nthe house would be rather crowded, she could easily put up extra beds\nin the drawing-room, she said, and with a screen on her \"At Home\"\ndays, all could be comfortably managed.\n\nThe only difficulty lay with Peter. Much as at first sight he loved\nMrs. Darling, much as he loved Wendy, he couldn't consent to grow up.\nSo at last it was arranged that he should fly back alone to the\nNever-Never-Never Land, and that once a year Mrs. Darling would allow\nWendy to go and stay with him for a whole week to do his spring\ncleaning.\n\n\nTHE TREE TOPS\n\nHigh in the tree tops of the Never-Never-Never Land, Tinker Bell\nplaced the little house that was built for Wendy. The tree tops are\nsoft as velvet, and in the evening at twilight are all bejewelled\nwith tiny mauve, and white, and blue lights. The mauve ones are boy\nfairies, the white, girl fairies, and the blue lights are darling\nlittle sillies who are not quite sure what they are.\n\nAnd the still air is filled with the singing of birds and the ringing\nof hundreds of little fairy bells. But the sweetest sound of all is\nthe fluting of Peter Pan's pipe as he sits outside the little house\nand calls to the spring to make haste, because with the spring comes\nWendy.\n\n[Illustration: THE END]","title":"The Story of Peter Pan, Retold from the fairy play by Sir James Barrie","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":9392}