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 back-yard, 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 night-lights. 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 Nana s 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 wasn t going to a party to-night!
Even Michael, already half asleep, knew that she was perturbed, and he
asked, Can anything harm us, mother, after the night-lights are lit?
18