He had no sooner grasped it and stood up than he began to sail gently up into the air. He was so astonished that his eyes nearly fell out; but it was pleasant, too, to be wafted gently up and up as if he were a fluff of thistledown instead of a clumsy country boy with the heavy shoes that poor Pat feared.
Little by little the road and trees and houses and barns and broad fields below him faded out of sight. "How far can I go?" wondered Peter, and he grasped the satin-smooth little stick closer than ever. He felt sure that if he dropped it he would go to the earth with a bump that would give him a severe headache; for surely his rise in the world must have had something to do with this shining thing which gleamed now between his brown, and not very clean, fingers.
He looked at it as he sailed, and suddenly there came to him a remembrance of stories he had heard in the village about fairies—fairies with wands. Yes, every fairy had a wand, and by waving this wand he could go everywhere and get everything he wanted.
"I wonder if I'm a fairy now," muttered Peter, "that I feel so light. Have I got wings, and am I flying?"
He looked over the shoulder of his old, brown coat, but there were no signs of wings there.
"Still, this must be a wand," said Peter to himself, "and I'll see if I can get anything with it."
The earth had vanished completely now, so he held out the silver stick and said, "I'm tired of standing up. I wish I had a nice, soft cloud to sit on."
No sooner had he made the wish than a lovely cloud floated toward him. It looked like a bank of swansdown. He climbed into it and sank luxuriously into the softness and lay there and wondered, looking at his shining treasure.
While he was musing he became conscious that he was not alone on the cloud; and raising himself on his elbow he looked down to the next terrace of fleecy white, and there sat the most charming little fairy you would care to see. Peter noticed at once that she carried a wand like his own, and that her wings, so thin and airy, yet looked strong enough to carry her slight figure.
She smiled up at him. "I'm so glad I found you, Peter," she said in a sweet voice. "I told Rose-Petal that I was sure I could, and that you would be glad to bring back her wand."