hrank so slowly that she could scarce believe it
was shrinking, yet she soon knew that it could not contain her now. It
always remained as complete as ever, but it became smaller and smaller,
and the garden dwindled at the same time, and the snow crept closer,
lapping house and garden up. Now the house was the size of a little
dog's kennel, and now of a Noah's Ark, but still you could see the
smoke and the door-handle and the roses on the wall, every one
complete. The glow-worm light was waning too, but it was still there.
'Darling, loveliest, don't go!' Maimie cried, falling on her knees, for
the little house was now the size of a reel of thread, but still quite
complete. But as she stretched out her arms imploringly the snow crept
up on all sides until it met itself, and where the little house had
been was now one unbroken expanse of snow.

Maimie stamped her foot naughtily, and was putting her fingers to her
eyes, when she heard a kind voice say, 'Don't cry, pretty human, don't
cry,' and then she turned round and saw a beautiful little naked boy
regarding her wistfully. She knew at once that he must be Peter Pan.

VI

PETER'S GOAT

Maimie felt quite shy, but Peter knew not what shy was.

'I hope you have had a good night,' he said earnestly.

'Thank you,' she replied, 'I was so cosy and warm. But you'--and she
looked at his nakedness awkwardly--'don't you feel the least bit cold?'

Now cold was another word Peter had forgotten, so he answered, 'I think
not, but I may be wrong: you see I am rather ignorant. I am not
exactly a boy; Solomon says I am a Betwixt-and-Between.'

'So that is what it is called,' said Maimie thoughtfully.

'That's not my name,' he explained, 'my name is Peter Pan.'

'Yes, of course,' she said, 'I know, everybody knows.'

You can't think how pleased Peter was to learn that all the people
outside the gates knew about him. He begged Maimie to tell him what
they knew and what they said, and she did so. They were sitting by
this time on a fallen tree; Peter had cleared off the snow for Maimie,
but he sat on a snowy bit himself.

'Squeeze closer,' Maimie said.

'What is that?' he asked, and she showed him, and then he did it. They
talked together and he found that people knew a great deal about him,
but not everything, not that he had gone back to his mother and been
barred out, for instance, and he said nothing of this to Maimie, for it
still humiliated him.

'Do th