At last , with a grand design burning within his brave heart , he begged them to do it once more with him clinging to the tail , and now a hundred flew off with the string , and Peter clung to the tail , meaning to drop off when he was over the Gardens . But the kite broke to pieces in the air , and he would have been drowned in the Serpentine had he not caught hold of two indignant swans and made them carry him to the island . After this the birds said that they would help him no more in his mad enterprise . Nevertheless , Peter did reach the Gardens at last by the help of Shelley 's boat , as I am now to tell you . -LSB- Illustration : Tailpiece to ` Peter Pan ' -RSB- -LSB- Illustration : Headpiece to ` The Thrush 's Nest ' -RSB- III THE THRUSH 'S NEST Shelley was a young gentleman and as grown-up as he need ever expect to be . He was a poet ; and they are never exactly grown-up . They are people who despise money except what you need for to-day , and he had all that and five pounds over . So , when he was walking in the Kensington Gardens , he made a paper boat of his bank-note , and sent it sailing on the Serpentine . It reached the island at night ; and the look-out brought it to Solomon Caw , who thought at first that it was the usual thing , a message from a lady , saying she would be obliged if he could let her have a good one . They always ask for the best one he has , and if he likes the letter he sends one from Class A , but if it ruffles him he sends very funny ones indeed . Sometimes he sends none at all , and at another time he sends a nestful ; it all depends on the mood you catch him in . He likes you to leave it all to him , and if you mention particularly that you hope he will see his way to making it a boy this time , he is almost sure to send another girl . And whether you are a lady or only a little boy who wants a baby-sister , always take pains to write your address clearly . You ca n't think what a lot of babies Solomon has sent to the wrong house . Shelley 's boat , when opened , completely puzzled Solomon , and he took counsel of his assistants , who having walked over it twice , first with their toes pointed out , and then with their toes pointed in , decided that it came from some greedy person who wanted five . They thought this because there was a large five printed on it . ` Preposterous ! ' cried Solomon in a rage , and he presented it to Peter ; anything useless which drifted upon the island was usually given to Peter as a plaything . But he did not play with his precious bank-note , for he knew what it was at once , having been very observant during the week when he was an ordinary boy . With so much money , he reflected , he could surely at last contrive to reach the Gardens , and he considered all the possible ways , and decided -LRB- wisely , I think -RRB- to choose the best way .
But , first , he had to tell the birds of the value of Shelley 's boat ; and though they were too honest to demand it back , he saw that they were galled , and they cast such black looks at XXXXX , who was rather vain of his cleverness , that he flew away to the end of the island , and sat there very depressed with his head buried in his wings .
Gardens Peter Shelley Solomon THRUSH Tailpiece bank-note drowned look-out nestful