`` But he 'll laugh at us for a year , and tell the story to every soul that comes to the place . '' `` You ca n't blame him for that , '' said the Story Girl . `` I shall tell it , too . I do n't care if the joke is as much on myself as any one . A story is a story , no matter who it 's on . But it IS hateful to be laughed at -- and grown-ups always do it . I never will when I 'm grown up . I 'll remember better . '' `` It 's all Peter 's fault , '' said Felicity . `` I do think he might have had more sense than to take a clock striking for a bell ringing . '' `` I never heard that kind of a strike before , '' protested Peter . `` It do n't sound a bit like other clocks . And the door was shut and the sound kind o ' muffled . It 's all very fine to say you would have known what it was , but I do n't believe you would . '' `` I would n't have , '' said the Story Girl honestly . `` I thought it WAS a bell when I heard it , and the door open , too . Let us be fair , Felicity . '' `` I 'm dreadful tired , '' sighed Cecily . We were all `` dreadful tired , '' for this was the third night of late hours and nerve racking strain . But it was over two hours since we had eaten the cookies , and Felicity suggested that a saucerful apiece of raspberries and cream would not be hard to take .
It was not , XXXXX any one but Cecily , who could n't swallow a mouthful .
Peter as at for grown-ups if like of on to