But she did n't . I could see that . So I 've done wrong and made her do wrong -- and there 's nothing to show for it . '' The night was scented and mysterious . The wind was playing an eerie fleshless melody in the reeds of the brook hollow . The sky was dark and starry , and across it the Milky Way flung its shimmering misty ribbons . `` There 's four hundred million stars in the Milky Way , '' quoth Peter , who frequently astonished us by knowing more than any hired boy could be expected to . He had a retentive memory , and never forgot anything he heard or read . The few books left to him by his oft-referred-to Aunt Jane had stocked his mind with a miscellaneous information which sometimes made Felix and me doubt if we knew as much as Peter after all . Felicity was so impressed by his knowledge of astronomy that she dropped back from the other girls and walked beside him . She had not done so before because he was barefooted . It was permissible for hired boys to go to public meetings -- when not held in the church -- with bare feet , and no particular disgrace attached to it . But Felicity would not walk with a barefooted companion . It was dark now , so nobody would notice his feet . `` I know a story about the Milky Way , '' said the Story Girl , brightening up . `` I read it in a book of Aunt Louisa 's in town , and I learned it off by heart . Once there were two archangels in heaven , named Zerah and Zulamith -- '' `` Have angels names -- same as people ? '' interrupted Peter . `` Yes , of course . They MUST have .
They 'd be all mixed up XXXXX they had n't . ''
about across because by if in of so to with