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. 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 stay-at-home she liked it.
And so, he went on good-naturedly, there ought to be one fairy for
every boy and girl.
Ought to be? Isn t there?
No. You see children know such a lot now, they soon don t believe in
fairies, and every time a child says, I don t 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 can t think
where she has gone to, he said, rising, and he called Tink by name.
Wendy s heart went flutter with a sudden thrill.
Peter, she cried, clutching him, you don t mean to tell me that
there is a fairy in this room!
She was here just now, he said a little impatiently. You don t hear
her, do you? and they both listened.
The only sound I hear, said Wendy, is like a tinkle of bells.
Well, that s Tink, that s the fairy language. I think I hear her too.
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