pulled out like corks. Or we might tell how Peter saved Tiger Lily s
life in the Mermaids Lagoon, and so made her his ally.
Or we could tell of that cake the pirates cooked so that the boys might
eat it and perish; and how they placed it in one cunning spot after
another; but always Wendy snatched it from the hands of her children,
so that in time it lost its succulence, and became as hard as a stone,
and was used as a missile, and Hook fell over it in the dark.
Or suppose we tell of the birds that were Peter s friends, particularly
of the Never bird that built in a tree overhanging the lagoon, and how
the nest fell into the water, and still the bird sat on her eggs, and
Peter gave orders that she was not to be disturbed. That is a pretty
story, and the end shows how grateful a bird can be; but if we tell it
we must also tell the whole adventure of the lagoon, which would of
course be telling two adventures rather than just one. A shorter
adventure, and quite as exciting, was Tinker Bell s attempt, with the
help of some street fairies, to have the sleeping Wendy conveyed on a
great floating leaf to the mainland. Fortunately the leaf gave way and
Wendy woke, thinking it was bath-time, and swam back. Or again, we
might choose Peter s defiance of the lions, when he drew a circle round
him on the ground with an arrow and dared them to cross it; and though
he waited for hours, with the other boys and Wendy looking on
breathlessly from trees, not one of them dared to accept his challenge.
Which of these adventures shall we choose? The best way will be to toss
for it.
I have tossed, and the lagoon has won. This almost makes one wish that
the gulch or the cake or Tink s leaf had won. Of course I could do it
again, and make it best out of three; however, perhaps fairest to stick
to the lagoon.
Chapter VIII.
THE MERMAIDS LAGOON
71