If they broke down in their make-believe he rapped them on the
knuckles.
Yes, my little man, Slightly anxiously replied, who had chapped
knuckles.
Please, sir, Peter explained, a lady lies very ill.
She was lying at their feet, but Slightly had the sense not to see her.
Tut, tut, tut, he said, where does she lie?
In yonder glade.
I will put a glass thing in her mouth, said Slightly, and he
made-believe to do it, while Peter waited. It was an anxious moment
when the glass thing was withdrawn.
How is she? inquired Peter.
Tut, tut, tut, said Slightly, this has cured her.
I am glad! Peter cried.
I will call again in the evening, Slightly said; give her beef tea
out of a cup with a spout to it; but after he had returned the hat to
John he blew big breaths, which was his habit on escaping from a
difficulty.
In the meantime the wood had been alive with the sound of axes; almost
everything needed for a cosy dwelling already lay at Wendy s feet.
If only we knew, said one, the kind of house she likes best.
Peter, shouted another, she is moving in her sleep.
Her mouth opens, cried a third, looking respectfully into it. Oh,
lovely!
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