He looked up with a grunt and a laugh, flung down the oil-can, and drew a big clasp-knife out of his pocket. “One o’ thae yins?” he asked in a kind voice.
She nodded, and pointed to the branch she specially desired.
“What’s your name, please?” she asked.
“James, missie,” he said, hacking away at the branch while he spoke, and in a minute he handed her the lovely long spray she had wanted.
Oh, what a wand it was!—longer a great deal than herself, and so supple that it bent just like a whip.
“See here, missie,” said James; “ye’ll no can manage it that way; I’ll peel it to ye.” He took the branch and began peeling off the outer skin till it showed a satin-like white wood.
“Oh, let me peel!” cried Peggy; and together they peeled away till the branch was bare—all except a beautiful bunch like a green tassel at the tip.
With this in her hand, Peggy walked away across the lawn, and you may fancy how delightful it was. She pretended she was a fairy queen, and a touch of her wand would do whatever she chose. She walked about muttering charms to the flowers, and then saw her friend Patrick lying on a bank. She graciously extended the tip of her wand to him, and he played with it for a minute quite like a kitten.
But then it struck her that she would walk round the house. And outside one of the windows she saw the funniest thing hanging. It looked like a little bottle made of flimsy gray paper. She wondered what it could possibly be; and standing right under it, she poked up her hand and tickled the mouth of the gray-paper bottle. The next moment, she heard a terrible buzzing noise, and a cloud of wasps came flying down upon her. Peggy never knew what she did. Down went the wand, and she screamed aloud, for the wasps were stinging her all over her hands and face. The next moment James came running up the bank to her. He caught her up in his arms and ran across the lawn. They both seemed surrounded and followed by the wasps, and a new sting came on poor Peggy’s face or neck every moment. There was a gate in the garden wall, and James ran to the gate, opened it, and crossed the road. The next minute Peggy saw that he was wading into the sea with her and dipping her under the water.