admiration of him; and, alas, Peter crowed his agreement with her. Then
he got into the nest, reared the stave in it as a mast, and hung up his
shirt for a sail. At the same moment the bird fluttered down upon the
hat and once more sat snugly on her eggs. She drifted in one direction,
and he was borne off in another, both cheering.
Of course when Peter landed he beached his barque in a place where the
bird would easily find it; but the hat was such a great success that
she abandoned the nest. It drifted about till it went to pieces, and
often Starkey came to the shore of the lagoon, and with many bitter
feelings watched the bird sitting on his hat. As we shall not see her
again, it may be worth mentioning here that all Never birds now build
in that shape of nest, with a broad brim on which the youngsters take
an airing.
Great were the rejoicings when Peter reached the home under the ground
almost as soon as Wendy, who had been carried hither and thither by the
kite. Every boy had adventures to tell; but perhaps the biggest
adventure of all was that they were several hours late for bed. This so
inflated them that they did various dodgy things to get staying up
still longer, such as demanding bandages; but Wendy, though glorying in
having them all home again safe and sound, was scandalised by the
lateness of the hour, and cried, To bed, to bed, in a voice that had
to be obeyed. Next day, however, she was awfully tender, and gave out
bandages to every one, and they played till bed-time at limping about
and carrying their arms in slings.
Chapter X.
THE HAPPY HOME
One important result of the brush on the lagoon was that it made the
redskins their friends. Peter had saved Tiger Lily from a dreadful
fate, and now there was nothing she and her braves would not do for
him. All night they sat above, keeping watch over the home under the
ground and awaiting the big attack by the pirates which obviously could
not be much longer delayed. Even by day they hung about, smoking the
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