Posted by Robert Dilley on September 08, 1998 at 21:00:39:
Having been talked into reading the stories out loud for the 5th? 6th? time, I came across a minor reference to the issue discussed from time to time about the children's ages: specifically those of Susan and Peggy. At the end of S&A, when they are sheltering from the storm, they imagine themselves survivors of a shipwreck. Nancy (I don't have the book with me) describes the Mate issuing orders, and adds "That's you, Susan". Peggy inquires, naturally enough, why not her? "You're the Second Mate" she is told, and Peggy seems quite satisfied. Would Nancy have relegated her own No 2 to a subsidiary role if she had been older than the Swallows' Mate? I doubt it -- and if, in an excess of politeness, she had tried, I think Peggy would have protested longer, or Susan -- equally politely -- would have demurred. Somehow one notices these details more when reading aloud.