themselves down on the sward, 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 Peter s 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 cheque-book of my own! I
don t know what a cheque-book 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, 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
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