The Flight
“Second to the right, and straight on till morning.”
That, Peter had told Wendy, was the way to the Neverland; but even birds, carrying maps and consulting them at windy corners, could not have sighted it with these instructions. Peter, you see, just said anything that came into his head.
At first his companions trusted him implicitly, and so great were the delights of flying that they wasted time circling round church spires or any other tall objects on the way that took their fancy.
John and Michael raced, Michael getting a start. They recalled with contempt that not so long ago they had thought themselves fine fellows for being able to fly round a room.
Not long ago. But how long ago? They were flying over the sea before this thought began to disturb Wendy seriously. John thought it was their second sea and their third night.
Sometimes it was dark and sometimes light, and now they were very cold and again too warm. Did they really feel hungry at times, or were they merely pretending, because Peter had such a jolly new way of feeding them? His way was to pursue birds who had food in their mouths suitable for humans and snatch it from them; then the birds would follow and snatch it back; and they would all go chasing each other gaily for miles, parting at last with mutual expressions of good-will. But Wendy noticed with gentle concern that Peter did not seem to know that this was rather an odd way of getting your bread and butter, nor even that there are other ways.
Certainly, they did not pretend to be sleepy, they were sleepy; and that was a danger, for the moment they popped off, down they fell. The awful thing was that Peter thought this funny.
“There he goes again!” he would cry gleefully, as Michael suddenly dropped like a stone.
“Save him, save him!” cried Wendy, looking with horror at the cruel sea far below. Eventually Peter would dive through the air, and catch Michael just before he could strike the sea, and it was lovely the way he did it; but he always waited till the last moment, and you felt it was his cleverness that interested him and not the saving of human life.
Peter could sleep in the air without falling, by merely lying on his back and floating, but this was, partly at least, because he was so light that if you got behind him and blew, he went faster.
So, after many moons they did reach the Neverland, and, what is more, they had been going pretty straight all the time, not perhaps so much owing to the guidance of Peter or Tink as because the island was looking for them. It is only thus that anyone may sight those magic shores.
Wendy and John and Michael stood on tiptoe in the air to get their first sight of the island. Strange to say, they all recognized it at once, and until fear fell upon them, they greeted it, not as something long dreamt of and seen at last, but as a familiar friend to whom they were returning home for the holidays.
“John, there’s the lagoon.”
“Wendy, look at the turtles burying their eggs in the sand.”
“I say, John, I see your flamingo with the broken leg!”
“Look, Michael, there’s your cave!”
“John, what’s that in the brushwood?”
Peter was a little annoyed with them for knowing so much, but if he wanted to lord it over them his triumph was at hand, for have I not told you that fear fell upon them?
A15 At first the state of being flying in the sky made Peter’s
companions feel ____.
A16 Wendy was concerned seriously by ____
- the way Peter got food for them.
- the birds following them.
- by the sea.
- by the weather.
A17 Michael was about to drop down ____
- because he fell asleep.
- because he was attacked by the birds.
- due to the heavy wind.
- because he was distracted by Peter.
A18 Seeing Michael falling down into the sea Peter found it ____
1) dangerous.
2) awful.
A19 Peter could sleep when flying because ____
1) he had much experience.
2) he was very light.
- he knew special magic words.
- birds taught him.
A20 For the children the Neverland Island was ____
- as a familiar friend.
- as something long dreamt of.
- as a frightful place.
- as something unreal.
A21 Peter was a little annoyed with the children because they ____
1) didn’t obey his instructions.
2) were afraid.
- knew much about the island.
- flew too slowly.
