Peter replied bitterly , ` You should see the letters Solomon gets from ladies who have six . ' Just then they heard a grating creak , followed by creak , creak , all round the Gardens . It was the Opening of the Gates , and Peter jumped nervously into his boat . He knew Maimie would not come with him now , and he was trying bravely not to cry . But Maimie was sobbing painfully . ` If I should be too late , ' she said in agony , ' O Peter , if she has got another one already ! ' Again he sprang ashore as if she had called him back . ' I shall come and look for you to-night , ' he said , squeezing close , ` but if you hurry away I think you will be in time . ' Then he pressed a last thimble on her sweet little mouth , and covered his face with his hands so that he might not see her go . ` Dear Peter ! ' she cried . ` Dear Maimie ! ' cried the tragic boy . She leapt into his arms , so that it was a sort of fairy wedding , and then she hurried away . Oh , how she hastened to the gates ! Peter , you may be sure , was back in the Gardens that night as soon as Lock-out sounded , but he found no Maimie , and so he knew she had been in time . For long he hoped that some night she would come back to him ; often he thought he saw her waiting for him by the shore of the Serpentine as his bark drew to land , but Maimie never went back . She wanted to , but she was afraid that if she saw her dear Betwixt-and-Between again she would linger with him too long , and besides the ayah now kept a sharp eye on her . But she often talked lovingly of Peter , and she knitted a kettle-holder for him , and one day when she was wondering what Easter present he would like , her mother made a suggestion . -LSB- Illustration : If the bad ones among the fairies happen to be out -LRB- missing from book -RRB- -RSB- ` Nothing , ' she said thoughtfully , ` would be so useful to him as a goat . '
` He could ride on it , ' cried XXXXX , ` and play on his pipe at the same time . '
Betwixt-and-Between Gates Lock-out Maimie Peter Solomon ayah day kettle-holder night