and to his amazement it flew after them and went
even higher than they.

Peter screamed out, "Do it again!" and with
great good-nature they did it several times, and
always instead of thanking them he cried, "Do it
again!" which shows that even now he had not
quite forgotten what it was to be a boy.

At last, with a grand design burning within his
brave heart, he begged them to do it once more
with him clinging to the tail, and now a hundred
flew off with the string, and Peter clung to the tail,
meaning to drop off when he was over the Gardens. But the kite broke to pieces in the air, and he would
have drowned in the Serpentine had he not caught
hold of two indignant swans and made them carry
him to the island. After this the birds said that
they would help him no more in his mad enter-
prise.

Nevertheless, Peter did reach the Gardens at
last by the help of Shelley's boat, as I am now to
tell you.

-143-