This meal happened to be a make-believe tea , and they sat round the board , guzzling in their greed ; and really , what with their chatter and recriminations , the noise , as Wendy said , was positively deafening . To be sure , she did not mind noise , but she simply would not have them grabbing things , and then excusing themselves by saying that Tootles had pushed their elbow . There was a fixed rule that they must never hit back at meals , but should refer the matter of dispute to Wendy by raising the right arm politely and saying , ' I complain of so-and-so ' ; but what usually happened was that they forgot to do this or did it too much . ` Silence , ' cried Wendy when for the twentieth time she had told them that they were not all to speak at once . ` Is your calabash empty , Slightly darling ? ' ` Not quite empty , mummy , ' Slightly said , after looking into an imaginary mug . ` He has n't even begun to drink his milk , ' Nibs interposed . This was telling , and Slightly seized his chance . ' I complain of Nibs , ' he cried promptly . John , however , had held up his hand first . ` Well , John ? ' ` May I sit in Peter 's chair , as he is not here ? ' ` Sit in father 's chair , John ! ' Wendy was scandalised . ` Certainly not . ' ` He is not really our father , ' John answered . ` He did n't even know how a father does till I showed him . ' This was grumbling . ` We complain of John , ' cried the twins . Tootles held up his hand .
He was so much the humblest of them , indeed he was the only humble one , that XXXXX was specially gentle with him . '
John Nibs Peter Slightly Tootles Wendy calabash mummy right so-and-so