CHAPTER XVI
THE RETURN HOME
By two bells that morning they were all stirring their stumps; for therewas a big sea running; and Tootles, the bo'sun, was among them, with arope's end in his hand and chewing tobacco. They all donned pirateclothes cut off at the knee, shaved smartly, and tumbled up, with thetrue nautical roll and hitching their trousers.
It need not be said who was the captain. Nibs and John were first andsecond mate. There was a woman aboard. The rest were tars before themast, and lived in the fo'c'sle. Peter had already lashed himself to thewheel; but he piped all hands and delivered a short address to them;said he hoped they would do their duty like gallant hearties, but thathe knew they were the scum of Rio and the Gold Coast, and if theysnapped at him he would tear them. His bluff strident words struck thenote sailors understand, and they cheered him lustily. Then a few sharporders were given, and they turned the ship round, and nosed her for themainland.
Captain Pan calculated, after consulting the ship's chart, that if thisweather lasted they should strike the Azores about the 21st of June,after which it would save time to fly.
Some of them wanted it to be an honest ship and others were in favour ofkeeping it a pirate; but the captain treated them as dogs, and theydared not express their wishes to him even in a round robin. Instantobedience was the only safe thing. Slightly got a dozen for lookingperplexed when told to take soundings. The general feeling was thatPeter was honest just now to lull Wendy's suspicions, but that theremight be a change when the new suit was ready, which, against her will,she was making for him out of some of Hook's wickedest garments. It wasafterwards whispered among them that on the first night he wore thissuit he sat long in the cabin with Hook's cigar-holder in his mouth andone hand clenched, all but the forefinger, which he bent and heldthreateningly aloft like a hook.
Instead of watching the ship, however, we must now return to thatdesolate home from which three of our characters had taken heartlessflight so long ago. It seems a shame to have neglected No. 14 all thistime; and yet we may be sure that Mrs. Darling does not blame us. If wehad returned sooner to look with sorrowful sympathy at her, she wouldprobably have cried, 'Don't be silly; what do I matter? Do go back andkeep an eye on the children.' So long as mothers are like this theirchildren will take advantage of them; and they may lay to that.
Even now we venture into that familiar nursery only because its lawfuloccupants are on their way home; we are merely hurrying on in advance ofthem to see that their beds are properly aired and that Mr. and Mrs.Darling do not go out for the evening. We are no more than servants. Whyon earth should their beds be properly aired, seeing that they left themin such a thankless hurry? Would it not serve them jolly well right ifthey came back and found that their parents were spending the week-endin the country? It would be the moral lesson they have been in need ofever since we met them; but if we contrived things in this way Mrs.Darling would never forgive us.
One thing I should like to do immensely, and that is to tell her, in theway authors have, that the children are coming back, that indeed theywill be here on Thursday week. This would spoil so completely thesurprise to which Wendy and John and Michael are looking forward. Theyhave been planning it out on the ship: mother's rapture, father's shoutof joy, Nana's leap through the air to embrace them first, when whatthey ought to be preparing for is a good hiding. How delicious to spoilit all by breaking the news in advance; so that when they enter grandlyMrs. Darling may not even offer Wendy her mouth, and Mr. Darling mayexclaim pettishly, 'Dash it all, here are those boys again.' However, weshould get no thanks even for this. We are beginning to know Mrs.Darling by this time, and may be sure that she would upbraid us fordepriving the children of their little pleasure.
'But, my dear madam, it is ten days till Thursday week; so that bytelling you what's what, we can save you ten days of unhappiness.'
'Yes, but at what a cost! By depriving the children of ten minutes ofdelight.'
'Oh, if you look at it in that way.'
'What other way is there in which to look at it?'
You see, the woman had no proper spirit. I had meant to sayextraordinarily nice things about her; but I despise her, and not one ofthem will I say now. She does not really need to be told to have thingsready, for they are ready. All the beds are aired, and she never leavesthe house, and observe, the window is open. For all the use we are toher, we might go back to the ship. However, as we are here we may aswell stay and look on. That is all we are, lookers-on. Nobody reallywants us. So let us watch and say jaggy things, in the hope that some ofthem will hurt.
The only change to be seen in the night-nursery is that between nineand six the kennel is no longer there. When the children flew away, Mr.Darling felt in his bones that all the blame was his for having chainedNana up, and that from first to last she had been wiser than he. Ofcourse, as we have seen, he was quite a simple man; indeed he might havepassed for a boy again if he had been able to take his baldness off; buthe had also a noble sense of justice and a lion courage to do whatseemed right to him; and having thought the matter out with anxious careafter the flight of the children, he went down on all fours and crawledinto the kennel. To all Mrs. Darling's dear invitations to him to comeout he replied sadly but firmly:
'No, my own one, this is the place for me.'
In the bitterness of his remorse he swore that he would never leave thekennel until his children came back. Of course this was a pity; butwhatever Mr. Darling did he had to do in excess; otherwise he soon gaveup doing it. And there never was a more humble man than the once proudGeorge Darling, as he sat in the kennel of an evening talking with hiswife of their children and all their pretty ways.
Very touching was his deference to Nana. He would not let her come intothe kennel, but on all other matters he followed her wishes implicitly.
Every morning the kennel was carried with Mr. Darling in it to a cab,which conveyed him to his office, and he returned home in the same wayat six. Something of the strength of character of the man will be seenif we remember how sensitive he was to the opinion of neighbours: thisman whose every movement now attracted surprised attention. Inwardly hemust have suffered torture; but he preserved a calm exterior even whenthe young criticised his little home, and he always lifted his hatcourteously to any lady who looked inside.
It may have been quixotic, but it was magnificent. Soon the inwardmeaning of it leaked out, and the great heart of the public was touched.Crowds followed the cab, cheering it lustily; charming girls scaled itto get his autograph; interviews appeared in the better class of papers,and society invited him to dinner and added, 'Do come in the kennel.'
On that eventful Thursday week Mrs. Darling was in the night-nurseryawaiting George's return home: a very sad-eyed woman. Now that we lookat her closely and remember the gaiety of her in the old days, all gonenow just because she has lost her babes, I find I won't be able to saynasty things about her after all. If she was too fond of her rubbishychildren she couldn't help it. Look at her in her chair, where she hasfallen asleep. The corner of her mouth, where one looks first, is almostwithered up. Her hand moves restlessly on her breast as if she had apain there. Some like Peter best and some like Wendy best, but I likeher best. Suppose, to make her happy, we whisper to her in her sleepthat the brats are coming back. They are really within two miles of thewindow now, and flying strong, but all we need whisper is that they areon the way. Let's.
It is a pity we did it, for she has started up, calling their names; andthere is no one in the room but Nana.
'O Nana, I dreamt my dear ones had come back.'
Nana had filmy eyes, but all she could do was to put her paw gently onher mistress's lap; and they were sitting together thus when the kennelwas brought back. As Mr. Darling puts his head out at it to kiss hiswife, we see that his face is more worn than of yore, but has a softerexpression.
He gave his hat to Liza, who took it scornfully; for she had noimagination, and was quite incapable of understanding the motives ofsuch a man. Outside, the crowd who had accompanied the cab home werestill cheering, and he was naturally not unmoved.
'Listen to them,' he said; 'it is very gratifying.'
'Lot of little boys,' sneered Liza.
'There were several adults to-day,' he assured her with a faint flush;but when she tossed her head he had not a word of reproof for her.Social success had not spoilt him; it had made him sweeter. For sometime he sat half out of the kennel, talking with Mrs. Darling of thissuccess, and pressing her hand reassuringly when she said she hoped hishead would not be turned by it.
'But if I had been a weak man,' he said. 'Good heavens, if I had been aweak man!'
'And, George,' she said timidly, 'you are as full of remorse as ever,aren't you?'
'Full of remorse as ever, dearest! See my punishment: living in akennel.'
'But it is punishment, isn't it, George? You are sure you are notenjoying it?'
'My love!'
You may be sure she begged his pardon; and then, feeling drowsy, hecurled round in the kennel.
'Won't you play me to sleep,' he asked, 'on the nursery piano?' and asshe was crossing to the day nursery he added thoughtlessly, 'And shutthat window. I feel a draught.'
'O George, never ask me to do that. The window must always be left openfor them, always, always.'
Now it was his turn to beg her pardon; and she went into the day nurseryand played, and soon he was asleep; and while he slept, Wendy and Johnand Michael flew into the room.
Oh no. We have written it so, because that was the charming arrangementplanned by them before we left the ship; but something must havehappened since then, for it is not they who have flown in, it is Peterand Tinker Bell.
Peter's first words tell all.
'Quick, Tink,' he whispered, 'close the window; bar it. That's right.Now you and I must get away by the door; and when Wendy comes she willthink her mother has barred her out; and she will have to go back withme.'
Now I understand what had hitherto puzzled me, why when Peter hadexterminated the pirates he did not return to the island and leave Tinkto escort the children to the mainland. This trick had been in his headall the time.
Instead of feeling that he was behaving badly he danced with glee; thenhe peeped into the day-nursery to see who was playing. He whispered toTink, 'It's Wendy's mother. She is a pretty lady, but not so pretty asmy mother. Her mouth is full of thimbles, but not so full as my mother'swas.'
Of course he knew nothing whatever about his mother; but he sometimesbragged about her.
He did not know the tune, which was 'Home, Sweet Home,' but he knew itwas saying, 'Come back, Wendy, Wendy, Wendy'; and he cried exultantly,'You will never see Wendy again, lady, for the window is barred.'
He peeped in again to see why the music had stopped; and now he saw thatMrs. Darling had laid her head on the box, and that two tears weresitting on her eyes.
'She wants me to unbar the window,' thought Peter, 'but I won't, not I.'
He peeped again, and the tears were still there, or another two hadtaken their place.
'She's awfully fond of Wendy,' he said to himself. He was angry with hernow for not seeing why she could not have Wendy.
The reason was so simple: 'I'm fond of her too. We can't both have her,lady.'
But the lady would not make the best of it, and he was unhappy. Heceased to look at her, but even then she would not let go of him. Heskipped about and made funny faces, but when he stopped it was just asif she were inside him, knocking.
'Oh, all right,' he said at last, and gulped. Then he unbarred thewindow. 'Come on, Tink,' he cried, with a frightful sneer at the lawsof nature; 'we don't want any silly mothers'; and he flew away.
Thus Wendy and John and Michael found the window open for them afterall, which of course was more than they deserved. They alighted on thefloor, quite unashamed of themselves; and the youngest one had alreadyforgotten his home.
'John,' he said, looking around him doubtfully, 'I think I have beenhere before.'
'Of course you have, you silly. There is your old bed.'
'So it is,' Michael said, but not with much conviction.
'I say,' cried John, 'the kennel!' and he dashed across to look into it.
'Perhaps Nana is inside it,' Wendy said.
But John whistled. 'Hullo,' he said, 'there's a man inside it.'
'It's father!' exclaimed Wendy.
'Let me see father,' Michael begged eagerly, and he took a good look.'He is not so big as the pirate I killed,' he said with such frankdisappointment that I am glad Mr. Darling was asleep; it would havebeen sad if those had been the first words he heard his little Michaelsay.
Wendy and John had been taken aback somewhat at finding their father inthe kennel.
'Surely,' said John, like one who had lost faith in his memory, 'he usednot to sleep in the kennel?'
'John,' Wendy said falteringly, 'perhaps we don't remember the old lifeas well as we thought we did.'
A chill fell upon them; and serve them right.
'It is very careless of mother,' said that young scoundrel John, 'not tobe here when we come back.'
It was then that Mrs. Darling began playing again.
'It's mother!' cried Wendy, peeping.
'So it is!' said John.
'Then are you not really our mother, Wendy?' asked Michael, who wassurely sleepy.
'Oh dear!' exclaimed Wendy, with her first real twinge of remorse, 'itwas quite time we came back.'
'Let us creep in,' John suggested, 'and put our hands over her eyes.'
But Wendy, who saw that they must break the joyous news more gently,had a better plan.
'Let us all slip into our beds, and be there when she comes in, just asif we had never been away.'
And so when Mrs. Darling went back to the night-nursery to see if herhusband was asleep, all the beds were occupied. The children waited forher cry of joy, but it did not come. She saw them, but she did notbelieve they were there. You see, she saw them in their beds so often inher dreams that she thought this was just the dream hanging around herstill.
She sat down in the chair by the fire, where in the old days she hadnursed them.
They could not understand this, and a cold fear fell upon all the threeof them.
'Mother!' Wendy cried.
'That's Wendy,' she said, but still she was sure it was the dream.
'Mother!'
'That's John,' she said.
'Mother!' cried Michael. He knew her now.
'That's Michael,' she said, and she stretched out her arms for thethree little selfish children they would never envelop again. Yes, theydid, they went round Wendy and John and Michael, who had slipped out ofbed and run to her.
'George, George,' she cried when she could speak; and Mr. Darling woketo share her bliss, and Nana came rushing in. There could not have beena lovelier sight; but there was none to see it except a strange boy whowas staring in at the window. He had ecstasies innumerable that otherchildren can never know; but he was looking through the window at theone joy from which he must be for ever barred.