Edith Nesbit

I will only tell you the really astonishing things that happened, and you may leave the book about quite safely, for no aunts and uncles either are likely to write "How true!" on the edge of the story.

Grown-up people find it very difficult to believe really wonderful things, unless they have what they call proof.

At last hunger and fright and crossness and tiredness—four very nasty things—all joined together to bring one nice thing, and that was sleep.

And that, my dear children, is the moral of this chapter. I did not mean it to have a moral, but morals are nasty forward beings, and will keep putting in their oars where they are not wanted. And since the moral has crept in, quite against my wishes, you might as well think of it next time you feel piggy yourself and want to get rid of any of your brothers and sisters.

She was very sleepy, but she jumped out of bed and put her face and hands into a basin of cold water. This is a fairy charm that prevents your wanting to get back into bed again.

The leader wiped away a manly tear, exactly as a leader in a historical romance would have done,

I never can see what happens during a fight, even when it is only dogs.

The verdict was 'Guilty.' And the sentence was 'Five years' Penal Servitude.'

Chapter I. The beginning of things.

Chapter II. Peter's coal-mine