Peter's Goat
played, by sailing his hoop on the Round Pond, and so on, she was simply horrified.
‘All your ways of playing,’ she said with her big eyes on him, ‘are quite, quite wrong, and not in the least like how boys play.’
Poor Peter uttered a little moan at this, and he cried for the first time for I know not how long. Maimie was extremely sorry for him, and lent him her handkerchief, but he didn’t know in the least what to do with it, so she showed him, that is to say, she wiped her eyes, and then gave it back to him, saying, ‘Now you do it,’ but instead of wiping his own eyes he wiped hers, and she thought it best to pretend that this was what she had meant.
She said out of pity for him, ‘I shall give you a kiss if you like,’ but though he once knew, he had long forgotten what kisses are, and he replied, ‘Thank you,’ and held out his hand, thinking she had offered to put something into it. This was a great shock to her, but she felt she could not explain without shaming him, so with charming delicacy she gave Peter a thimble which happened to be in her pocket, and pretended that it was a kiss. Poor little boy! he quite believed her, and to this day he wears
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