“See me dance the polka!” went the old tune—and then again and again—and Peggy lay in bed listening to it and staring at the fire. The children next door were having a party in their[44] hall, and every time the front door opened the sound of the music came crashing out, and jumped in through Peggy’s open window. Of course, she ought to have been at the party too, but, for one thing, she had had a cold all day, and for another, Nurse didn’t think the children next door had properly got over measles, so she was afraid to let Peggy go.
Peggy hadn’t much minded until now. Nurse had petted her all day and given her little bits of buttered toast at tea with apricot jam on them, and then had let the housemaid come up and play dominoes with her until bedtime, and now she had tucked her up warmly in bed with a hot-water bottle and told her to go to sleep quickly, so that she should be quite well before Mother came home the next day.
But go to sleep was just what Peggy couldn’t do. For one thing, thinking of Mother coming back was enough to make her keep wanting to jump out of bed and dance all over the room. And then the music too had begun to make her rather long to run into the house next door and play musical chairs with all the other children.
It was then that she suddenly felt the Ring pressing on her thumb, and realised that she had quite forgotten to wish at all that day!
“Oh dear, suppose it hadn’t come, I might have forgotten altogether,” she thought in dismay. “And now I’m rather frightened of seeing the Giant, in case he’s angry about the Mayor. I wonder what I’d better wish?”
She lay in bed thinking about it for quite a long time, until suddenly hearing some carriages driving off and the music stopping, she realised she was too late to wish to join the children’s party next door anyway.
[45]“Oh, I wish the Giant was here,” she said at last. “He can always think of lovely things to do.”
“Your window’s uncommonly small,” said the Giant, climbing in through it, and bringing with him big bits of the wall on each shoulder. “Gracious me, what a mess I’m in!” He shook himself and lay down on the floor with his face close to the fire. “I’ve been looking in at the party next door,” he went on. “Great fun—but they’re gone now. I saw ’em into their cabs. Why weren’t you there?”
“Because I’ve a cold,” said Peggy, sneezing three times. (The Giant seemed to have brought in all the cold night air with him.) “Nannie thinks I caught it hiding behind the laurels so long yesterday, but I know it was going through that lovely wet yellow cloud!”
The Giant’s face clouded over. “Least said soonest mended about that,” he said shortly. “I particularly told you of my aversion to Mayors, and you at once take one for a drive and leave me behind! That was not in the least what I meant. However, I will say no more. This is your last day but one with me, so we won’t waste it with quarrelling. What’s your wish? Be quick now, for this lovely hot fire makes me very sleepy.”
Peggy jumped out of bed, caught hold of the Giant’s little finger and hugged it.
“I’m so sorry,” she said coaxingly. “I like you better than any Mayor that ever was born, Giant darling. And I didn’t mean to leave you behind. Did you have an awful time?”
“Well, I went wandering about the sky for the rest of the night looking for you,” said the Giant. “I heard you’d been on the rainbow, but after that I lost all trace of you. Still, never mind; as you’re sorry, I don’t mind any more. Go on, wish away.”
[46]“It’s no good, I’ve tried to,” said Peggy. “We seem to have done everything exciting. We’ve been up——”
“How about going down for a change?” asked the Giant.
“Down?” said Peggy. “But we are down!”
 
This is a picture of the fifth Adventure. The mark on the ceiling is the awful hole the Giant and Peggy made coming through. The Giant is waving his hand to Cook as they go down. The footman has only just seen the hole, and is showing it to everybody. The housemaid who played dominoes with Peggy is screaming out “Stop them, Cook!” and the scullery maid has sat down on the floor with her hands over her face. Cook is fainting by the table. She had just put a pudding on it for the servants supper. Peggy couldn’t put Nurse into the picture because she wasn’t sure if she was in the kitchen then or not. You do see the Ring, don’t you?
 
“Do you call this down?” said the Giant laughing. “Come along, get on my hand and wish,” and he laid his hand palm upwards on the hearthrug.
“Wish what?” asked Peggy, putting on her blue dressing-gown and slippers.
“To go down, of course,” said the Giant impatiently. “Has your cold made you deaf?”
“Oh, all right, I wish to go down,” said Peggy, clambering up on to the Giant’s hand. “But............