Peter's Goat
him by the shore of the Serpentine as his bark drew to land, but Maimie never went back. She wanted to, but she was afraid that if she saw her dear Betwixt-and-Between again she would linger with him too long, and besides the ayah now kept a sharp eye on her. But she often talked lovingly of Peter, and she knitted a kettle-holder for him, and one day when she was wondering what Easter present he would like, her mother made a suggestion.
‘Nothing,’ she said thoughtfully, ‘would be so useful to him as a goat.’
‘He could ride on it,’ cried Maimie, ‘and play on his pipe at the same time.’
‘Then,’ her mother asked, ‘won’t you give him your goat, the one you frighten Tony with at night?’
‘But it isn’t a real goat,’ Maimie said.
‘It seems very real to Tony,’ replied her mother.
‘It seems frightfully real to me too,’ Maimie admitted, ‘but how could I give it to Peter?’
Her mother knew a way, and next day, accompanied by Tony (who was really quite a nice boy, though of course he could not compare), they went to the Gardens, and Maimie stood alone within a
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