第32章

Look 'ow fat she is.W'en she married Dad,you could 'ear 'er bones rattle.I wouldn't mind if she did the washin'.But she puts the things in soak on Monday,an'then on Saturday I 'ave ter turn to an'do the lot,'cause she's delicate.I ain't delicate.I'm only skin an'bone."Her face was flushed and eager;her eyes sparkled.Chook remembered the song about eyes and stars,and agreed with the words.And as suddenly the sparkle died out of her eyes,her mouth drooped,and the colour left her face,pale as ivory in the faint gleam of the stars.

"Yous don't think any worse o'me 'cause Lil's crook,do yer?"she asked piteously.

Chook swore a denial.

"P'raps yer think it runs in the family;but Lil 'ud 'a'gone straight if she 'adn't been driven out o'the 'ouse by Sarah's nasty tongue."Chook declared that Lil was spotless.

"No,she ain't,"said Pinkey;"she's as bad as they make 'em now;but.wot makes yer tail up after me?"she inquired suddenly.

Chook answered that she had sent him fair off his dot.

"Oh yes,that's wot yer said to Poll Corcoran,an'then went skitin'that she'd do anythin'yer liked,if yer lifted yer finger.I've 'eard all about yous."Chook swore that he would never harm a hair of her head.

"The worst 'arm is done without meanin'it,"said Pinkey wisely,"an'that's w'y I'm frightened of yer."

"Wotcher got ter be frightened o'me?"asked Chook,softly.

"I'm frightened o'yer.'cause I like yer,"said Pinkey,bursting into tears.

Mrs Partridge was disappointed in Chook.He was too much taken up with that red-headed cat,and he ate nothing when he came to tea on Sunday,although she ransacked the ham-and-beef shop for dainties--black pudding,ham-and-chicken sausage,and brawn set in a mould of appetizing jelly.

She flattered herself she knew her position as hostess and made up for William's sulks by loading the table with her favourite delicacies.And Chook's healthy stomach recoiled in dismay before these doubtful triumphs of the cookshop.His mother had been a cook before she married,and,as a shoemaker believes in nothing but leather,she pinned her faith to good cooking.The family might go without clothes or boots,but they always had enough to eat.Chook's powerful frame,she asserted,was due entirely to careful nourishment in his youth."Good meals keep people out of jail,"was her favourite remark.Chook had learned this instead of the catechism,and the sight of Pinkey's starved body stirred his anger.What she wanted was proper nourishment to cover her bones.

The next Sunday,while Pinkey was frying some odds and ends in the pan to freshen them up for breakfast,Mrs Partridge,who was finishing a novelette in bed,heard a determined knock on the door.It was only eight o'clock.She called Pinkey,and ran to the window in surprise.It was Chook,blushing as nearly as his face would permit,and carrying two plates wrapped in a towel.He pushed through to the kitchen with the remark "I'll just 'ot this up agin on the stove.""But wot is it?"cried Pinkey,in astonishment.

Chook removed the upper plate,and showed a dish of sheep's brains,fried with eggs and breadcrumbs--a thing to make the mouth water.

"Mother sent these;she thought yer might like somethin'tasty fer yer breakfast,"he muttered gruffly,in fear of ridicule.

Pinkey tried to laugh,but the tears welled into her eyes.

"Oh,Sarah will be pleased!"she cried.

"No,she won't,"said Chook,grimly."Wot yer can't eat goes back fer the fowls."While Mrs Partridge was dressing,they quarrelled fiercely,because Chook swore she must eat the lot.Sarah ended the dispute by eating half,but Chook watched jealously till Pinkey declared she could eat no more.

The next Sunday it was a plate of fish fried in the Jewish fashion--a revelation to Pinkey after the rancid fat of the fish shop--then a prime cut off the roast for dinner,or the breast and wing of a fowl;and he made Pinkey eat it in his presence,so that he could take the plates home to wash.One Sunday he was so late that Mrs Partridge fell back on pig's cheek;but he arrived,with a suspicious swelling under his eye.He explained briefly that there had been an accident.They learned afterwards than an ill-advised wag in the street had asked him if he were feeding Pinkey up for the show.During the two rounds that followed,Chook had accidentally stepped on the plates.

Whenever Ada met Pinkey,she wanted to know how things were progressing;but Pinkey could turn like a hare from undesirable questions.

"Are you an''im goin'to git spliced?"she inquired,for the hundredth time.

"I dunno,"said Pinkey,turning scarlet;"'e sez we are."END OF PART I.