gradually left them. At first Nana tied their feet to the bed-posts so
that they should not fly away in the night; and one of their diversions
by day was to pretend to fall off buses; 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.
Don t 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 don t 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
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