`` I do n't understand why they call him the awkward man , '' said Cecily , when he was out of earshot . `` You 'd understand why if you ever saw him at a party or a picnic , '' said Felicity , `` trying to pass plates and dropping them whenever a woman looked at him . They say it 's pitiful to see him . '' `` I must get well acquainted with that man next summer , '' said the Story Girl . `` If I put it off any longer it will be too late . I 'm growing so fast , Aunt Olivia says I 'll have to wear ankle skirts next summer . If I begin to look grown-up he 'll get frightened of me , and then I 'll never find out the Golden Milestone mystery . '' `` Do you think he 'll ever tell you who Alice is ? '' I asked . `` I have a notion who Alice is already , '' said the mysterious creature . But she would tell us nothing more . When the jelly cookies were all eaten it was high time to be moving homeward , for when the dark comes down there are more comfortable places than a rustling maple wood and the precincts of a possibly enchanted spring . When we reached the foot of the orchard and entered it through a gap in the hedge it was the magical , mystical time of `` between lights . '' Off to the west was a daffodil glow hanging over the valley of lost sunsets , and Grandfather King 's huge willow rose up against it like a rounded mountain of foliage . In the east , above the maple woods , was a silvery sheen that hinted the moonrise . But the orchard was a place of shadows and mysterious sounds . Midway up the open space in its heart we met Peter ; and if ever a boy was given over to sheer terror that boy was Peter . His face was as white as a sunburned face could be , and his eyes were brimmed with panic . `` Peter , what is the matter ? '' cried Cecily .
`` There 's -- SOMETHING -- in the house , RINGING A BELL , '' said Peter , XXXXX a shaking voice .
above as between for if in of than through to