Certainly they did not pretend to be sleepy , they were sleepy ; and that was a danger , for the moment they popped off , down they fell . The awful thing was that Peter thought this funny . ` There he goes again ! ' he would cry gleefully , as Michael suddenly dropped like a stone . ` Save him , save him ! ' cried Wendy , looking with horror at the cruel sea far below . Eventually Peter would dive through the air , and catch Michael just before he could strike the sea , and it was lovely the way he did it ; but he always waited till the last moment , and you felt it was his cleverness that interested him and not the saving of human life . Also he was fond of variety , and the sport that engrossed him one moment would suddenly cease to engage him , so there was always the possibility that the next time you fell he would let you go . He could sleep in the air without falling , by merely lying on his back and floating , but this was , partly at least , because he was so light that if you got behind him and blew he went faster . ` Do be more polite to him , ' Wendy whispered to John , when they were playing ` Follow my Leader . ' ` Then tell him to stop showing off , ' said John . When playing Follow my Leader , Peter would fly close to the water and touch each shark 's tail in passing , just as in the street you may run your finger along an iron railing . They could not follow him in this with much success , so perhaps it was rather like showing off , especially as he kept looking behind to see how many tails they missed . ` You must be nice to him , ' Wendy impressed on her brothers . ` What could we do if he were to leave us ? ' ` We could go back , ' Michael said . ` How could we ever find our way back without him ? ' ` Well , then , we could go on , ' said John . ` That is the awful thing , John . We should have to go on , for we do n't know how to stop . '
This was true ; XXXXX had forgotten to show them how to stop .
John Leader Michael Peter Wendy cleverness danger saving shark sport