`` The last thing he ever said to me was , ` Just always be waiting for me , and then some night you will hear me crowing . ' '' `` Yes . '' `` But , alas , he forgot all about me , '' Wendy said it with a smile . She was as grown up as that . `` What did his crow sound like ? '' Jane asked one evening . `` It was like this , '' Wendy said , trying to imitate Peter 's crow . `` No , it was n't , '' Jane said gravely , `` it was like this ; '' and she did it ever so much better than her mother . Wendy was a little startled . `` My darling , how can you know ? '' `` I often hear it when I am sleeping , '' Jane said . `` Ah yes , many girls hear it when they are sleeping , but I was the only one who heard it awake . '' `` Lucky you , '' said Jane . And then one night came the tragedy . It was the spring of the year , and the story had been told for the night , and Jane was now asleep in her bed . Wendy was sitting on the floor , very close to the fire , so as to see to darn , for there was no other light in the nursery ; and while she sat darning she heard a crow . Then the window blew open as of old , and Peter dropped in on the floor . He was exactly the same as ever , and Wendy saw at once that he still had all his first teeth . He was a little boy , and she was grown up . She huddled by the fire not daring to move , helpless and guilty , a big woman .
`` Hullo , XXXXX , '' he said , not noticing any difference , for he was thinking chiefly of himself ; and in the dim light her white dress might have been the nightgown in which he had seen her first .
Jane Peter Wendy crow evening fire first floor night spring