PART II THE NEVER-NEVER-NEVER LAND
Far away in the Never-Never-Never Land the Lost Boys lived in thedepths of the forest, on the banks of a lake now covered with ice. Thetrees were bare without their summer dress, and wolves prowled andhowled in the distance, and wild beasts snarled in the undergrowth,and Pirates sailed villainously up the lake, and Red Indians, who werefriends of the boys, lived secretly in their wigwams hidden in theglades of the woods.
The Lost Boys, who, in their fur coats, looked more like bears thanboys, were anxiously awaiting Peter's return. There were six of them:Slightly Soiled, the eldest; then came Tootles, and Nibs, and Curly,and the Twins, who were so much alike that one name did for both ofthem, so each was called Twin. They lived like moles under the ground,for fear of the Pirates and the wolves. Each one had a specialstaircase hollowed in a tree-trunk, so that they could easily run downamong the roots of the trees into their home. They were playing abouthappily, although they were beginning to be a little anxious thatPeter was so long away. Slightly was tootling on a whistle, anddancing quite merrily, with an ostrich for partner (a queer companion,you will say), when suddenly the gruff voices of the Pirates wereheard. Nibs, who was very brave, slipped away through the trees toscout, but the others had only just time to scuttle down the stairs inthe hollow trees before the big ugly buccaneers came tramping up,hauling their captain, who was sitting in state upon a sledge.
SLIGHTLY WAS DANCING MERRILY WITH AN OSTRICH.]
You could not imagine a more dreadful-looking villain than that manwas. His name was James Hook, and it suited him! He had two mostevil-looking black eyes, his face was seamed with lines which seemedto express his wicked thoughts, his hideous chin, all unshaven, was asblack as ink and as prickly as a furze-bush, his hair was long andblack, and it hung around his face in greasy curls. He was singing ahorrible song about himself, keeping time by swinging in the air thegruesome stump of his right arm, on which a double iron-pronged hookwas fixed instead of a hand. Hence his name. That man was the mostwicked pirate who ever lived! He simply wallowed in wickedness! Evenhis own crew dreaded him; and they were as bad as could be! So nowonder the Lost Boys darted like rabbits to their cave.
Now Captain Hook most of all wanted to find Peter Pan, for it wasPeter who, a long time before, in an encounter between the Pirates andthe Lost Boys, had cut off his right arm and flung it to a passingcrocodile. The crocodile had liked the taste of it so much that eversince he had wandered from land to land and from sea to sea lickinghis lips for the rest of the Captain.
The Captain had naturally some reason for hating Peter, for he had adreadful time in eluding the pursuit of the voracious crocodile, butstill the beast dogged his footsteps, and followed him on and on andon by land and sea wherever he went. The Captain only got a start whenthe crocodile was asleep, and with that and a swift ship he hadmanaged so far to escape. It was an awful life!
Fortunately for Hook, the crocodile had once, in an ill-advisedmoment, swallowed an alarum clock (one of those patentninety-nine-years clocks, warranted to go any time, anywhere andanyhow). Go it did, and it ticked so loudly that the Captain couldalways hear it coming, and it was the signal for him to bolt!
Hook sat down on one of the enormous forest mushrooms (in theNever-Never-Never Land mushrooms grow to a gigantic size) todeliberate about his mode of revenge. He was in the middle of atorrent of braggings and boastings when he felt his seat getting notonly warm, but much too warm, and little wonder in that, for when hefuriously leapt up he found that he had really been sitting on achimney of the underground home which Peter had cleverly disguised.He realised at once that the Lost Boys must be living in safety downbelow.
Very soon he had a wicked, treacherous plan settled. He determined tocook a huge rich cake, with beautiful green icing and a poisonedinside. He was sure that the Lost Boys, who had no mother to lookafter them, would eat it greedily, and die with awful pains inside.Smee, as the Captain's wily lieutenant was called, was overjoyed atthis plan, and chuckled loudly.
"Shake hands on't," said Hook, but Smee did not want to, and begged tobe excused.
"THE CROCODILE! THE CROCODILE!"]
"Paw, Smee, paw," said the Captain in an awful voice, so Smee had totake the horrid hook in his hand, and they both danced round whileHook sang with diabolical grimaces:
"Yo ho, yo ho, when I say 'Paw' By fear they're overtook; Naught's left upon your bones when you Have shaken hands with Hook."
Just as he was gloating over his pleasant scheme a queer sound washeard, like a corncrake coming nearer and nearer through a barleyfield. "Tick, tack, tick, tack, tick, tack."
"The Crocodile! the Crocodile!" the Pirate Captain yelled, and in amoment was flying for his life.
The Pirates had scarcely disappeared in the depths of the forest whenthe Indians crept silently up in pursuit of them. Tiger Lily, theirchieftainess, was at their head, now running swiftly under the trees,now listening with her ear to the ground, to know where her enemieshad gone. For, like Tinker Bell and Wendy, she loved Peter Pan, andhis enemies were her enemies.
The Redskins slid along, following the Pirates with steps as quiet asthose of a beetle crawling through the grass. They soon passed far outof sight, and then, one by one, the Lost Boys peeped from theirtree-trunks and, seeing that all was quiet, came out again to theirplayground in the woods.
THE INDIANS CREPT SILENTLY UP]
But their safety did not last for long. A fierce barking of wolves washeard, and Nibs, who had gone off by himself, rushed, quite out ofbreath, into the midst of the Boys, closely pursued by a pack of leanand hungry wolves with glittering fiery eyes. What were the Lost Boysto do in this terrible plight, when their leader was far away?Fortunately, one of them remembered Peter's plan. Whenever he wasattacked by wild beasts Peter used to run at them backwards, jumpingalong the ground, squinting at them through his legs. The Lost Boysdid this all together, and really, it was so astonishing that thewolves fled with terrified howls to the thickets where they lived.[1]
[1] This is a good way of scaring away mad bulls and wild animals, but it is always safer to practise on cows or in the Zoo _first_.
Then Nibs told the Boys how he had seen the loveliest white bird youcould imagine.
"It was flying this way," he said, "it looked so wearied, and as itflew it moaned 'Poor Wendy'."
"Are you sure it was a bird?" they asked.
Nibs was quite sure, and almost at once they saw Wendy flying throughthe trees in her white nightgown. Tinker Bell was by her side, dartingat her, and telling the Boys that Peter wanted her shot, for Tinkerwas rather a bad little fairy sometimes. She said this because shewas jealous of Wendy, since Peter and Wendy had kissed each other.
Instantly, Tootles seized his bow and arrow, and shot at the bird, ashe thought, and she fell fainting to the ground.
At once the Boys saw that she was no bird, but a little girl, andperhaps the very mother whom Peter had promised to bring them. Theywere very frightened, and soon were sure that they had done a dreadfulthing, for Peter came flying down with John and Michael, andimmediately inquired after Wendy.
"She flew this way, haven't you seen her?" he asked.
"Yes," said Tootles, and pointed to her as she lay motionless on theground.
Peter bent over her and took the arrow, and, in his anger, would havekilled Tootles with it, if Wendy had not stayed him by feebly movingher hand. Then they were all glad, for Wendy was not dead, as theyhad thought, but only stunned. The arrow had fortunately struck thebutton which Peter had given her in mistake for a kiss. Soon she wasquite well again, but so faint and tired after her long flight throughthe air.
The Boys did not know what to do. They did not like to carry her downinto the cave, as it might not be sufficiently respectful, so theyplanned to build a house over her. Only they did not know what kind ofhouse to build.
Then Wendy sang in her half-sleep the kind of house she wanted:
music]
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sp; I wish I had a dar-ling house, The litt-lest ev-er seen. With fun-ny lit-tle red walls, And roof of mos-sy green;
and the Boys fetched logs out of the forest, and a grate and a rugfrom the underground cave, and built a beautiful home for her out ofwood, and tarpaulin, and make-believe. They made a chimney out ofJohn's tall hat, which he had been Londony enough to bring with him,and they made a splendid knocker out of the sole of one of Tootles'boots.
When it was finished--it was built round Wendy as she lay on theground--Peter knocked solemnly at the door, and Wendy opened it andcame out, very pleased and happy. The Lost Boys knelt before her, andbegged her to be their Mother, and tuck them in at night-time, andtell them stories before they went to bed. She said that she was notquite sure if she could, but she would do her best, if only Peterwould be Father, and that now, if they liked to come in, she wouldtell them the story of Cinderella.
THE LOST BOYS KNELT BEFORE HER.]
In they bundled, one after the other, to listen to the tale. And theywere so big, and the house was so small, that they must have beenpacked like sardines inside. But a sort of cosy feeling like that was,I expect, just what they wanted, and they were very happy.
The evening fell softly down on the forest, and the shadows rose, sothat everything was dark and still, save for the occasional baying ofa wolf. Lights were lit in the little house, and at last, when it wasquite night, Peter came out with his sword, and walked up and downlike a sentry, to guard the new little mother he had brought for theLost Boys.
The Story of Peter Pan, Retold from the fairy play by Sir James Barrie Page 2
