Oh , he felt sure of it , and so eager was he to be nestling in her arms that this time he flew straight to the window , which was always to be open for him . But the window was closed , and there were iron bars on it , and peering inside he saw his mother sleeping peacefully with her arm round another little boy . Peter called , `` Mother ! mother ! '' but she heard him not ; in vain he beat his little limbs against the iron bars . He had to fly back , sobbing , to the Gardens , and he never saw his dear again . What a glorious boy he had meant to be to her . Ah , Peter , we who have made the great mistake , how differently we should all act at the second chance . But Solomon was right ; there is no second chance , not for most of us . When we reach the window it is Lock-out Time . CHAPTER I PETER BREAKS THROUGH All children , except one , grow up . They soon know that they will grow up , and the way Wendy knew was this . One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden , and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother . I suppose she must have looked rather delightful , for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart and cried , ` Oh , why ca n't you remain like this for ever ! ' This was all that passed between them on the subject , but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up . You always know after you are two . Two is the beginning of the end . Of course they lived at 14 , and until Wendy came her mother was the chief one . She was a lovely lady , with a romantic mind and such a sweet mocking mouth . Her romantic mind was like the tiny boxes , one within the other , that come from the puzzling East , however many you discover there is always one more ; and her sweet mocking mouth had one kiss on it that Wendy could never get , though there it was , perfectly conspicuous in the right-hand corner .
The way Mr. Darling won her was this : the many gentlemen who had been boys when she was a girl discovered simultaneously that they loved her , and they all ran to her house to propose to her except Mr. XXXXX , who took a cab and nipped in first , and so he got her .
Darling East Gardens Mother Peter Solomon day old right second